#like obviously its set in the past during the cold war

[oifaaa]

have you read superman: red son?

Yeah I read it ages ago its a very weird story at least in my opinion for those who dont know its meant to be a what if Superman landed in the soviet union as a baby and not America but it changes so much about every single character that its hard to really call it a superman story and more a wasn't the soviet union and communism bad story

[tacomedli]

Tainted Hero - Chapter 2

It actually happened?!?!? I actually wrote chapter 2?!?!?! genuinely did not expect to have that in me and honestly it's all thanks to the support i got from you guys when posting about it tysm

Link to the fic is here but if you don't want to read it on ao3 then chapter 2 is under the cut :)

Please leave comments/tags! Genuinely makes me so happy you have no idea

The air felt solemn as they set up camp that night. 

Wind’s stomach felt sick. He hated how familiar he was with kidnappings—how familiar they all were with kidnappings. Why did it have to happen again? And to two of them at once?!

As much as he wanted to help strategize and come up with a plan to rescue Legend and Warriors, he had to admit that there wasn’t really anything he could do. To be completely honest, there wasn’t anything any of them could do. They had no way of knowing where the Shadow had disappeared to—that had been a mystery even before Legend and Warriors were captured, and they sure as hell weren’t any closer to figuring it out now. Wolfie tried digging at the spot in the ground where Leg and Wars had vanished, but found nothing. Time pulled out a strange looking spyglass and examined the area, but with the same result. Wind was disappointed, but not surprised. It was probably magic related—the Shadow seemed to be well versed in things like that.

Wind shifted, absently stirring his bowl of soup. He was sure on a normal night it would have been delicious, but tonight he just couldn’t seem to taste anything. He had no appetite, which was a shame since Wild had made more than enough—he tended to do that when he was anxious.

All they could do was scout the area during the day, and keep an ever-vigilant watch by night. Surely there was something the Shadow wanted from them. A ransom of some kind? Their surrender? Whatever it was, it would have to make the next move. Another appearance, or some kind of sign, anything.

They just had to be ready for it.

* * *

“Legend? Leg!!” Warriors whispered, not-so-gently grabbing Legend’s shoulder and shaking it. Legend groaned, but didn’t wake up. 

At least he was alive.

They were both in a small, dark cell. The temperature was freezing, and the air was stale and smelled of something foul. His sword was gone, as were all his items. Legend’s, too. He felt distinctly bare without a weapon at the ready. It made him vulnerable. He couldn’t afford to be vulnerable.

But what unnerved him the most was the fact that they were seemingly alone. It was unsettling.

The last thing Warriors remembered was reaching out for Legend, his fingers barely grazing the boy’s shoulder, when his vision went dark and a feeling of nausea overwhelmed him. He must have passed out, because his eyes opened to find him and Legend on the floor of this cell, their weapons and items gone.

Warriors rolled Legend over so he was at least laying on his back instead of the awkward position he’d been in before. As far as he could tell, the boy was uninjured. All traces of the strange black sludge that had enveloped him before were gone.

He frowned. He’d never encountered anything like that before. What was it made of? What were its properties? Legend had said it didn’t hurt, but it held him in place quite firmly. It was obviously some sort of dark magic…

Vaguely, he remembered Sky raising his sword, the blade glowing with a Skyward Strike. Light magic against dark—typically successful, no? But had it ever landed? Warriors couldn’t remember. 

“Two birds with one stone, hm?” a voice murmured, cold and sharp, like poison. 

It sent a chill down Warriors’ spine, the hair rising on the back of his neck. His eyes flitted to the front of the prison cell, looking past the iron bars that trapped them there.

Dark Link stood there, his hands folded behind his back. A faint crimson glow illuminated his eyes, which stared unblinkingly back at the hero. “I only meant to bring one of you, but I suppose I’m not complaining,” he said. “After all, it just makes one less thing to take care of later, doesn’t it, dear hero?”

“What do you want?” Warriors bit out, rising to his feet. Goddess, he was about to snap just by looking at the Shadow for more than a second.

Dark Link smiled. “To see you suffer,” he said simply. The temperature dropped at least ten degrees when one of his hands moved from behind his back to reveal a small, thin blade no longer than Warriors’ hand. “One. By. One.”

Warriors’ hand curled into a fist. He glanced down subtly at Legend, feeling a surge of protectiveness come over him at the sight of his companion still unconscious and vulnerable. His thoughts jumbled together as he tried to come up with some kind of plan. He didn’t have a lot to work with here - his weapons were gone, he had someone to protect, and the extent of Dark Link’s abilities was still a mystery. Then again, when had he ever let the odds hold him back before?

“That’ll be a bit difficult when you’re hiding behind that wall like a coward,” Warriors scoffed.

Dark Link had no visible reaction, other than a slow tilt of his head. He studied Warriors for a long moment, making the hero force himself to remain still. He wouldn’t give the bastard the satisfaction of seeing him squirm.

Then Dark Link’s form seemed to shudder, and his body twisted as he morphed into a silhouette made up of a familiar black sludge. The grotesque blob bubbled, squished, and descended to the ground, sending ripples across its form as it gripped ahold of the metal bars of the cell and pulled itself through. Warriors took a step back, feeling sick to his stomach as he watched. Now in the center of the room, the blob stretched and grew again until it was hylian-sized again, transforming into Dark Link once more.

“You seem eager to meet your fate, darling,” Dark Link said, his tone amused. “But you’ll have to wait your turn.”

Warriors blinked. “What?”

Suddenly, an invisible force gripped his body and threw him across the room, sending him crashing into the stone wall. Warriors cried out upon impact, falling to the floor and cradling his head, which had taken the brunt of it all. The effect was immediate, his head pounding with a headache and his vision somewhat blurry. The unseen force pressed him up against the wall again, less painfully this time since he was already there, but still a problem nonetheless. It was like a giant hand holding him in place, rendering him unable to move. Warriors forced his eyes open, trying to see what was going on.

Dark Link held a single arm outstretched, his hand glowing with a red light as he used what must be some sort of dark magic to hold Warriors in place. Not lowering his arm, he stepped forward, closer to Legend.

“--rgh, no!” Warriors grunted, fighting against the hold. His efforts did nothing.

“I told you, you need to wait your turn,” Dark Link smiled. “One at a time, hero. Just because you decided to tag along at the last second doesn’t mean you get to have all the fun.”

Warriors’ head spun. Dark Link had one hand occupied by trapping Wars, but what was he going to be able to do to Legend one-armed? Why hadn’t he used the red hand on Legend as well?

“Or maybe I should let him decide!” Dark Link laughed. “We have all the time in the world.”

Maybe he could only focus on one person at a time. Warriors was the only one awake, so of course he was the more pressing issue. So why was Dark Link focusing on Legend first? What did he mean by “wait your turn”?! Was this some sort of game to him? He struggled anew, desperately trying to free himself. 

Surprisingly, Dark Link turned to glare at him. Did…that mean it was doing something? Was the magic harder to control when he worked against it? He choked as the invisible hand shifted to press against his throat.

Legend’s left hand twitched. 

Warriors’ eyes widened, biting the inside of his cheek. He had to keep the enemy distracted long enough for Legend to hopefully wake up.

“Y-you’re…” he struggled to force the words out of his lungs.

Dark Link’s eyes narrowed, even as a sadistic smile crept onto his face. “Yes? Speak up, dear, I can’t hear you very well.”

Warriors pretended to glare, which wasn’t very hard. “You’re such--such a coward.”

Legend’s eyelids fluttered. They cracked open ever so slightly, blinking a few times.

Dark Link’s smile faded. “I believe you said that already, just a moment ago.” he sniffed. “Can’t you get any more creative than that, oh Hero of Warriors?”

“You know you wouldn’t--argh! You wouldn’t last in a real fight against us,” Wars insisted. “So you…you take away our weapons, separate us from the group…you only stand a chance when we’re not even awake to defend ourselves.”

“HA!” Dark Link laughed, flexing his glowing hand and causing his grip to get ever tighter. Warriors coughed, fighting for air. “What a joke,” the shade sneered. “I’ve beaten all of you at once, countless times. Or did you forget that you and your little friends have yet to catch me?”

“My point--” he choked again, unable to finish. Dark Link’s expression was unreadable, but he lessened his hold slightly, allowing Warriors to gasp as blessed air filled his lungs. “My point exactly. You’ve never won because you retreat as soon as you know we have the advantage. You’re a coward, a cheater, always running away to save yourself the embarrassment--”

“You think I care whether you think I cheat or not?” Dark Link snapped. “You’re an idiot. You’re all idiots. The fact that you’ve been running around in circles all this time trying to chase me is a victory in itself.” He leaned closer, his eyes burning with fury. “I suggest you watch your tongue, hero, before I snap each individual bone in your body until you can’t even scream for--”

Dark Link tumbled to the ground with an alarmed “Oof!” as Legend kicked his feet out from under him. Warriors felt the magic that held him captive suddenly dissipate, and he gave himself but a moment to recover before struggling to his feet.

Legend wasted no time in tackling Dark Link, giving him no chance to react before he swung his fist into the man’s face.

Dark Link growled in pain and frustration before shoving the boy off of him, then did that same stupid red hand move and threw Legend backwards. He didn’t have time to throw him very far, though, because a split second later he had to roll out of the way of an attack from Wars.

“Now this is getting interesting!” Dark Link laughed breathlessly, chest heaving. He grinned at Legend, a manic look in his eye. “You caught me while I was distracted, congratulations. It won’t happen again.” He snapped his fingers, and a long black sword appeared in the air next to him, which he caught.

Warriors was shoved to the floor by the magic force again, but this time he felt Dark Link’s boot press roughly against his spine and the tingling cold of steel barely graze across his throat.

Legend froze, also breathing heavily. He still had one knee on the ground, having been in the process of standing up after he was thrown.

“How do you feel, Hero of Legend?” Dark Link asked calmly, like he wasn’t holding Legend’s friend at swordpoint. “You were out for quite a while there.”

Legend glared at him. “I feel fine,” he replied, sparing a glance at Warriors. For a brief moment, Wars saw concern in Legend’s gaze. Then he swallowed and the mask was back.

“Good!” Dark Link smiled brightly. “Then why don’t we have a little chat?”

Legend’s frown deepened. “The hell do you mean?” he demanded.

“Let’s play a game, hero,” the shade had a dangerous look in his eye. “Who should play first, you or your friend here? It’s your choice.”

[the5n00k]

M*A*S*H and the power of pure unadulterated sorrow

(this series is marketed primarily as a comedy! :D what a scam! /hj)

⚠️long post⚠️

I want to point out one of my favorite aspects of this series which is how different it presents its drama compared to other shows marketed as dramas that I've seen. ESPECIALLY modern film

The last movie I can remember portraying this sheer level of raw grief and despair was Hereditary. Such a powerful film about how grief can tear a family apart, it's honestly uncomfortable to sit through because of how well written and acted some of the scenes with the family are. And that's the point; tragedy isn't pretty. So many times you will see characters die on screen and the actors around them reacting to it with a single tear or burying their face into their stone cold main protagonist's shoulder. I have been craving that Hereditary level of despair from something for a long time now. That raw emotional breakdown that completely shatters the mask of a usually well put together facade.

Then my friends recommended M*A*S*H to me.

Yes you can make all the "crying breakfast friends" jokes you want about how often I latch onto a heart wrenching emotional moment in a show but I can't help it when it's so well executed. I can see a million silly Disney sidekicks die and feel nothing but this show has made me cry even on rewatch. And that is RARE for me, usually it's a one and done thing but this show still manages to tear me to pieces.

Not saying the show doesn't have any fun in it, of course it does, that's how the emotional moments hit harder. If you never saw the characters at their highest highs, seeing them at their lowest would just become numbing and unengaging.

Spoilers ahead obviously, I'm going to be talking about a lot of really important character moments throughout the show please if you are at all interested watch the show and come back. It's 11 seasons but it's well worth your time

Something that has always been powerful to me has been grown men crying. Perhaps it's because I never really had a good emotional connection with any men in my life and always saw them as stronger (emotionally) than someone who is erratically emotional like myself. Especially during the timeframe this is set (the 50's) and shot in (70's-80's) I was not anticipating the level of raw acting talent from the guys in this show. Especially once you get past season 4 and shit really starts hitting the fan

To see these grown men who take so much pride in their important positions as doctors and men and who they are just break down weeping like a scared child. It never ceased to break something in me. I cried the hardest at the amnesiac soldier who lost his brother (FANTASTIC scene it should have won 60 awards) but the two characters that have always stood out to me with this particular subject have been Hawkeye and BJ

Clearly if you've watched the entire show you understand what I'm talking about and obviously the other cast members have their moments (Winchester my beloved one day I will put you under a microscope and pick you apart) but for this subject, I'm going to use the two of them as examples because I consider these moments the most prominent to me personally

I'll start with BJ because there's a lot to unpack with him and simultaneously not a lot at the same time. Because he's so closed off and disconnected from most things happening all the time, choosing to opt out of anything whenever he can unless provoked, characters don't really know that much about him. As an audience, you're forced to pick apart his little mannerisms and priorities to see where his head's at. Some people might not like that but frankly I love it. He's a simple character on the surface but underneath, he's a terrified father and husband trying to keep his head down long enough to snap out of the nightmare that is war and wake up at home. I relate to him in that way, just trying to stay in my own corner and occupy myself until I have to wake up and do it all over again. Coping with the monotony is slowly driving him crazy

Then in Period of Adjustment, he gets a letter from his wife about how she and their daughter Erin saw Radar at the airport when he got sent home. And his thin thread of stability finally snaps. He's pissy for the entire day and doesn't want to tell anyone why, he'd rather just go through the motions and repress it just like everything else. But it keeps outwardly affecting everything around him whether he likes it or not. Then, at his lowest, he physically assaults his best friend in their own tent and destroys their only lifeline, the still they use to (poorly) make gin, and runs out.

After getting so intoxicated he can't stand up, Hawkeye finally finds him again and laughs that he's wearing a helmet to see him, still trying to make light of how much he's suffering. He tells him he's sorry for punching him and Hawkeye sits down with him. He finally is completely and truly honest for probably the only time in the entire series. He is completely vulnerable and open and tells him what's been bothering him. His infant daughter mistakenly called Radar her dad. The first person she ever called dad wasn't him. And he breaks down. He barely got to see her when she was born before he got drafted, he missed so many milestones of parenthood with her already and she ends up calling someone else dad. BJ tells Hawkeye he is furious at Radar and knows it's not his fault but he's still jealous. He even mentions how he's envious of Trapper, Hawkeye's old bunkmate from before he got there, which is still a huge sore point for him because of how abrupt his departure was. But he doesn't reprimand him for speaking badly about two people he'd considered close friends. He holds him closer and lets him cry. This isn't a single tear cry, this is a full vulnerability twisted face cry of pure pain. He can't say anything to ease the pain either, nothing he could say right now could help his friend. He just has to let him work through it.

They rebuilt the still together but BJ still remains broken. This is sort of touched on in Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen when he tries to get sent home before Erin's second birthday and misses it. It's not held on but you can obviously tell that he's still barely holding onto mental stability whenever he brings up his family. If you go into this series thinking every conflict has a resolution or closure of some kind I have bad news for you lol it's safe to assume when he went home, there was a rough adjustment period reclaiming his place in the house since Peg took on so much responsibility by herself but we don't really know what happened after everyone went home.

My next example is from Bless You, Hawkeye and I always rag on this episode with my friends but the scene between him and Sidney physically shook me. Everybody probably talks about That One Scene with Hawkeye and Sidney from GFA so I'll refrain from using it as an example here, I think this one is more appropriate for the point I'm trying to make anyways.

Hawkeye has never been mature. At all. His entire character is built on being obnoxious and causing trouble. Unlike BJ, he will share nearly anything about him when asked. Except when it's serious.

In comes everyone's favorite coping mechanism, ✨ unconscious repression! ✨

Again, a part of his character that got used again in GFA, whenever something upsets him in a way he can't manage, he buries it. He rewrites the memory into something happy or positive. So when a wounded soldier soaked in dirty water smelling of mold and musty clothing triggered a psychosomatic response, nobody knew why.

Processing scenes like this is something I remember so vividly from my first watch. Seeing all the pieces fall into place until that sinking feeling fills you is something this show is so good at.

Hawkeye starts talking to Sidney about something from his childhood; being out on a lake with his cousin Billy when he was seven. He claims Billy saved his life by pulling him out of the water but the more he talks, the more his story changes. It gets to a point where even he realizes he wasn't saved. He was pushed. Billy had to have been around 13 at the time, old enough to know how mean pulling something like that is. The way he admits it is when the gravity really sank in for me. His voice breaks, he starts loudly and violently sobbing like a scared child, he's probably been holding in this breakdown for 20ish years. In any other show, I could see them trying to play this for laughs. Oh Hawkeye, you shouldn't be so upset by a silly prank from when you were a kid! Look at this grown man break down! What a baby! But they don't treat it like that. It's treated completely seriously, it's allowed to play out and he slowly works through grief for someone he idolized in his childhood, anger, and acknowledgement. It was a permanent scar that wasn't allowed to heal.

This wasn't the first time in the series Hawkeye has cried but it was the first time he truly let it out. Every other time he knew he'd have to pick himself up, dust himself off, and keep going. I'm not certain if he properly processed anything he went through in Korea because he kept (pardon my language here) drowning himself in alcohol and burying himself in work and antics. So his eventual breakdown just. Getting it all out in one gutteral, primal cry, borderline screaming was cathartic for both him as a character and myself personally. Very rarely do I ever get a moment to have an emotional release like this so I also bury myself further into my job and hobbies until I can't feel what's bothering me anymore. His man's father better have booked him therapy when he got home because I know for damn sure this jackass won't do it himself

Overall, I'll say it again, the actors in this show are insane. None of the emotions felt cheap and the way the characters are written feels accurate to how most people approached the horrors of war and the mental health crises that followed. I'm so happy this show exists. I'm a little disappointed in myself that it's taken me this long to give it a chance but I love it nonetheless. I'll make a post about the characters specifically sometime like I said I would, I just want to make sure I do everyone justice and I'm not just repeating what everyone already knows. I want to add to this wonderful community that I'm happy to see is still active on this app/site and I hope you all enjoy my ramblings lmao there is more where this came from

[sepublic]

Also what the hell is Anna's story. Her presence in the communist camp, plus her immediate hostility towards our American protagonists, seems to indicate that she's a communist and was in fact allied with the Russians there as a local guide. I'd like to know more about that, and how she navigated being rescued by an American chopper; Did she get back home or not? She might respect Dutch and his comrades posthumously, a bit more if she learns they were duped and were otherwise disapproving of the U.S.’s interventionism. But it wouldn’t exactly work out in the long run given their conflicting politics.

For all their macho bravado that is itself deconstructed, Dutch's squad seems to have an implied backstory of their own as well; Dillon alludes to him and Dutch being veterans of Vietnam when he mentions Hue, not to mention Mac's recollection of his past with Blain. And the obvious callbacks to the Vietnam war with the jungle setting, Cold War U.S.-interventionism, an unseen threat that lacks numbers but manages to win by hiding in the trees and ambushing our protagonists this way. The triumph of 'primitive' traps made from the local environment, over advanced machinery and guns.

Dutch doing a caveman yell to summon the Predator in the film's climax seems a bit of a nod to the "savage" being the one who wins out over the "civilized" one. But for all the Predator's advanced technology, it is arguably more "savage," because what defines "savage," especially when you think of how the ‘first world’ U.S. killed so many on such a vast scale?

And that gets me to my point; Dutch insisting to Dillon that he and his team are not "assassins" has its connotations. Even when Dillon claims the group prevented a communist invasion, it's clear that Dutch's sympathies vanished when he found out the hostages weren't civilian politicians but CIA operatives who fucked around and found out. There's definitely a clear skepticism towards U.S. interventionism, and I feel it's implied that everyone in Dutch's squad became cynical of such things after participating in the Vietnam War and witnessing atrocities committed towards the locals.

Because the word "assassin" pretty clearly paints them as murderers, people who go after innocents; It's not just that they don't want to die in the grinder for people who don't care. It's that they don't want to kill either, not for an unjustified cause. Dutch's team obviously has their internalized biases and they did still quip as they slaughtered an entire camp, but I think it's worth considering that people like Mac and Blain probably left the military out of a moral stance against war crimes towards civilians. Plus Billy is Sioux, which should also be taken into account regarding his views on the U.S. and its military actions during the Cold War.

In the end though, all of the characters are tricked into killing communists in a jungle for U.S. Cold War interests, and die because of it. They are picked off by someone who hides in the trees and uses ambush to take them out; It's the Vietnam War all over again. The general who orchestrated all this appears at the end in the chopper, to remind you that like in real life he gets off scot-free because the incident with the Yautja and its murders doesn’t matter so long as those communists are dead; He is the real winner* when everyone else loses, and he sat away from the action all soft and cushy. So despite a lack of explicit references to it, you can really tell how the specter of Vietnam, and the public's skepticism towards the nation's global interests, hangs over the entire story.

*That is unless Anna shoved the prick out of the helicopter and to his death once the credits rolled.

[theskylarkin]

KHOC Week Day 5 - Game

While Relai struggled to connect with the other kids of San Fran, Mariss made some new friends when they joined their highschool bot fighting team, the South Bay Surfriders.

What is bot fighting exactly? Bot fighting, or “Competitive Robotics” as it’s officially called, is a combination of robot combat (like the old tv show Robot Wars), an organized team sport (compared to the back alley fight club setting that Hiro is involved in at the beginning of Big Hero 6), and an esport MOBA. The teams of five competitors build their own robots and set them against each another team on a split field with a “home base” at each end. The team who manages to get through their opponent’s defenses and capture their base first is declared the winner.

Bot fighting is a very popular sport in San Fransokyo, as it's exciting and violent without any chance of serious human injury (unlike the football games of the past century). The sport is played in official ranked leagues from an elementary school level to teams of paid professionals who are treated like celebrities.

There are some restrictions on what it permissible on the field. Certain weapons that can get through the transparent energy fields separating the bots from their operators and the spectators are obviously banned, as is any (human) physical contact or verbal abuse between the teams. Everything else? Fair game.

Competitors at a highschool level are supposed to build their own robots with the parts funded by the school itself. South Bay Highschool, like every other school, encourages (but doesn’t require, hint hint wink wink nudge nudge) the teams to seek outside sponsorships to gain additional funding and better bot parts. The South Bay Surfriders are currently sponsored by New Wave Industries (a division of Kaneko Mega Corp.), hence the name “Surfriders”.

The roles of the competitors on the field vary between the individual teams but typically fall into three general categories: damage dealers (offense), tanks (defense), and supports. Mariss, being a pacifist, has the role of main support and secondary tank. Their bot is actually several smaller drones able to project hard light holograms as shields and barriers. Mariss did built these themself, so they’re perfectly legal…as long as no one notices the magic they use to power the drones since San Fransokyo isn’t supposed to know about magic existing.

Off the field, Mariss is also the team’s mechanic, able to quickly fix up everyone’s bots between matches. They’re perfectly happy in their role as they’re not into the competitive aspect of the sport; Mariss joined the team to build their own robots and meet new friends.

Here’s the rest of the South Bay Surfriders:

Tahira Al-Amin (She/Her)

Picrew Used (Removed)

Age: 17 (Junior)

Team Role: The Leader, Strategist

Field Role: Overwatch/All-Rounder

Aside from being the leader of the school’s bot fighting team, Tahira is also ASB Secretary and co-captain of the Chess club. She thrives in competitive and stressful environments, able to keep an ice cold demeanor and lead the team to snag a victory from the jaws of defeat, but comes off as aloof and unnecessarily combative in less pressing situations because she can’t turn that intensity off sometimes. Tahira is (childishly) concerned with appearing mature and “grown up”, which works on Mariss as they want to be like her "when they grow up."

On the field, Tahira’s bot is an adaptable glass canon, able to quickly maneuver around where needed and hit enemy weak spots with its energy lance as long as it can duke attacks.

Quinn Caldwell (She/They)

Picrew Used

Age: 16 (Junior)

Team Role: The Personality/Hype Beast, Promotion and Social Media Manager

Field Role: Front Lane/Left Field Damage Dealer

Quinn manages the team’s socials and speaks on their behalf during school events because she’s got the kind of brash and loud personality needed to get apathetic highschool students to get hyped up about the team. She’s very extroverted and can trash talk like no one else, but is prone to getting sulky and passive aggressive when things don’t go her way. Mariss might be projecting onto Quinn a little bit because she’s got a similar temperament to Relai but actually cares about the stuff they’re into like bot fighting and video games.

Quinn is prone to going for style over substance, and the design of her bot is the perfect example of this. It’s piled up with as many weapons as the frame can carry, making it slow but powerful and versatile. The excessive RGB lights are also an extra source of weight and battery drain.

Gabriel Delgado (He/Any)

Picrew Used

Age: 17 (Senior)

Team Role: The Heart/Emotional Rock, Conflict Mediator

Field Role: Primary Tank, Secondary Support

Compared to the rest of the team, some people might mistake Gabriel as a lazy hanger-on, especially since his primary reason for joining the team was to have something under extracurricular activities for his college applications. He’s the oldest upperclassmen and should be the leader…but he’s totally fine listening to Tahira because he hates the responsibility of authority. In truth, Gabriel is just very chill and amazing at managing his levels of stress compared to the rest of the high-strung team, totally pulling his weight as a team member and being serious when the situation calls for it. His calmer mindset makes him a good conflict mediator and motivational speaker when things aren’t going great, as Mariss found out when he talked them out of impulsively quitting the team after their first loss.

Just like how Gabriel has a lot more going on below the surface, so does his bot. It might look like a slow-moving metal brick until the front plating slides back to reveal the EMP pulse launcher or the hidden rocket jets send it careening across the field to ram into an opponent.

Osamu “Sam” Kaneko (He/Him)

Picrew Used

Age: 15 (Sophomore)

Team Role: The “Financier”, Brand Manager

Field Role: Back Lane/Right Field Damage Dealer

The only other sophomore on the team besides Mariss and arguably the person responsible for them joining in the first place, Sam has aspirations of becoming a professional bot fighter someday. However, his primary contribution to the South Bay Surfriders is funding the team with his dad’s money. Sam is well-meaning, trying to use his family connections and social clout to help his friends on and off the field; after their first tournament, he bought the whole team new and expensive shoes like Mariss’ Osaka Bengals sneakers. However, he’s still got the typical rich kid flaws of failing to fully understand his economic privilege and being insufferably self-centered at times.

On the field, Sam and Quinn have to be kept apart as much as possible because both damage dealers are aggressive attackers and selfish glory hounds, prone to infighting if one tries to kill steal from the other. Sam’s bot is always rocking the trendiest frame, the coolest decals, and the most powerful weapon set up according to the current meta game…but that’s because he’s so cavalier with his bot that it always ends up smashed to pieces and needs to be completely rebuilt. It’s no big deal to Sam, it’s not like he can’t afford new parts.

@khoc-week

[kalliasandi]

03: Set up for failure | Wrongfully arrested | “I warned you”

Drarry :’)

Note: I wanted to do something very fluffy, so I did. It is still whumptober so obviously later in the fic is where the fluff sort of disappears …

Word count: Roughly 5,200

Today, the atmosphere surrounding Malfoy was one of bleakness, and Harry began to wonder what it was that made him dispirited almost daily. They were not that close though, Harry could never straight up ask him what it was that was bothering him. Or who it was. He knew many students despised Malfoy for his past actions. Though Harry tried talking to many people that Malfoy was not who he was, that he was changing and needed support in becoming a better man, no one listened. After the war, trust was not really there for those who were even forced upon the actions they did. There was nothing Harry could do or say to stop them from hating on those who have been trying to change.

Harry didn’t know how to help Draco, he didn’t want Draco to feel horrible all the time. Looking at him now, only focusing on his notes from today's classes, he was hunched down, head resting on one knee whilst sitting on his bed. Hair blocking his eyes that constantly wander off into space. Harry wanted to sit beside him, to study his face and body till he knew it like his own.

As an excuse, Harry fumbled through his bag, finding his potions workbook and textbook. He approaches Draco slowly, wanting to back down now but it was too late, Malfoy paused and looked up at Harry, question lingering in his eye as to what Harry’s intentions were.

“You’re much better at potions than I, though I was wondering if we could study together again?” Why was Harry so scared? They studied together before. Though it hadn’t quite felt like this.

“Sure.” Draco’s tone showed no emotion, Harry couldn’t read if he actually wanted to or not. But Draco moved to the other side of his bed, allowing room for Harry to sit next to him. On his bed.

“Well, you're gonna stand there all day Potter?”

Harry shakes his head and goes to sit on Malfoys bed. It was soft, much softer than his, probably due to the blankets. This made Harry wonder if he gets cold a lot. He feels like he knows he would. Harry wanted to test that himself, he wanted to reach towards Draco's pale hand that held the pencil, delicately writing notes.

They sat sort of quiet for the first few minutes, and during this Harry couldn’t even focus on his potions homework because he was hyper aware of his breathing and posture this close to Malfoy. But then Malfoy nudges Potter back to reality.

“I thought you wanted to study?”

“I do, sorry.” Harry didn’t know why he was sorry, he also didn’t know why he wasn’t brave at that moment. He was Harry bloody Potter, he should be brave. Especially at this moment, sitting on the bed of his erstwhile rival.

Malfoy moved towards Harry, pointing his pencil at an answer to a question in Harry’s textbook. “This is the answer. Looks like I am smarter than the one and only Harry Potter.”

“Oh shut it Malfoy, you wish.” Harry smiles when he looks up at him, blonde hair falling into Malfoy's eyes. Harry wanted to reach out and push aside the loose strands of hair. It took a lot for Harry not to. He knew he couldn’t, they were once sworn enemies. Ex-deatheaters and Auror’s were not supposed to be friends. If Harry even wanted that anyways. “I’m confused, how is that the answer?”

“It is a simple recipe the potion calls for, how dense can one get?”

“Well, still. Isn’t that supposed to cause a chemical reaction with the other ingredients? According to its compounds, it should blow up!” Harry did not understand potions at all. The only year he had been good at it was 6th year, and that was because of the textbook he had, Snapes textbook.

“It’s called balance.” And that was all Malfoy responded with, not explaining any further. If he did, Harry thought, would he be able to understand what he says? The chances are slim, potions is just a hard subject for Potter, and no amount of help could squeeze all that information into his brain.

Harry continued, hearing his own heartbeat too loud. He had hoped Malfoy wouldn’t be able to pick up on it. All Harry could do was try to distract himself by submerging his head into all of the notes and questions for potions.

Though after a while, Harry began to feel very tired, he tried all he could to stay up and do his work like Malfoy was, but at one point he couldn’t take it. Whatever, he had written and studied enough already, Hermione would help him if all else fails.

“Done!” Harry lies and packs up his notes from Malfoy’s bed as fast as he can.

“Pfft, yeah right.” Malfoy stays still though, continuing reading whatever textbook he has open. Malfoy either thought Harry was too dumb to finish that quickly, or he paid too much attention to Harry’s notes. Each of those possibilities had Harry feeling a weird tightening in his chest. Of course, Malfoy being himself, two of those at the same time were very probable. Malfoy needed to pay attention to Harry in order to find any flaw to mock him with, that had to be the correct answer. Of course. Harry could never be that interesting to Malfoy, never.

— — —

The next morning, Malfoy awoke before Harry, like always. When Harry put on his glasses the figure became very clear. Malfoy was forlorn, staring down at his left arm. He knew only a fragment of what Malfoy was thinking about, and it didn’t take much at all to guess. Malfoy, hunched forward with loose blonde hair blocking his furrowed eyebrows, looked ashamed. Possibly not wanting to be in the present at all. Harry dealt with that feeling almost everyday in fifth year. He vaguely knew what it was like, and if Malfoy had known that it would’ve been able to calm him.

Instead, Harry turned away, pretending like he didn’t see anything despite every bone in his body aching to comfort Malfoy. Harry just assumed that would take their progress in friendship back twenty steps, if that's what you even call their relationship. It was rather confusing.

After Malfoy abruptly got up and put on his waistcoat then left, Harry went to the showers to clean himself up. Malfoy already has, he gets up earlier than Harry every single day no matter how hard Harry tries to beat him at this. One time Malfoy caught on to this, and when Harry had gotten up after him like always, he teased him. It was now a recurring joke every so often that they had turned into a game, Malfoy winning every time. Harry pretended to be angry, but he loved it, he loved seeing Malfoy’s face light up every time this happened.

As the water warms up, Harry tries brushing his hands through his messy hair before getting in to make it easier to wash. Though as everyday, his hair was too fussy to go the way Harry liked. He wondered how soft Malfoy's hair would feel. He definitely would be able to run his hands through it without getting caught.

The now hot water ran across his rough body, and this is why Harry loved the showers at Hogwarts. Unlike the Dursleys, time was pretty much unlimited, as well as the heat. He was only allowed to take cold, short showers there. But here, here he could really enjoy his time, soaking in the shower, allowing the heat to relieve tense muscles that were always there, even after the war. He thought peace promised him to stop being so tense, but he was wrong. Wrong about many things.

—

Pansy and Malfoy were awfully close. Yes, Harry has mentioned that to Malfoy so many times and Malfoy said, ‘We are just friends Potter, you pervert!’ though for some reason this didn’t settle Harry’s stomach. His friends used to call this obsession, but this year there was no reason for that. None but one, and Harry didn’t like to go thinking about that. What would Hermione and Ron think, if he ever got the chance to speak to them.

Blimey they’d tell him he’s obsessed! Harry’s not obsessed, just curious about the people around him and their lives. Yes, with Luna he was curious about who had her blushing within the letters she received, maybe not as much interested as he was with Malfoy’s life, but that was because he was a bloody bully for every year at Hogwarts. No way Harry could be jealous. If he was, it was best to blame it on the fact that Malfoy had more of a love-life than Harry had. That was it.

Though the more Harry stares at Malfoy sitting with his group, he picks up details that make blood rush to his head, he knows he is blushing as he thinks this. As he does, he cannot stop staring at his light eyelashes, his grey eyes and his pink lips. Harry wonders how it would feel, he assumes it would be soft.

Ron started waving his hand in front of Harry as he was talking. He had to redirect his attention and focus back to the present. “Harry, are you going to touch your food? Class starts in ten minutes and I’ll bloody need you in there as my partner. I am sure you finished the assigned questions he had given us.”

“Oh Ron, you didn’t finish it? At this point why do I even bother putting faith in you that you learned to do your work.” Hermione placed her palm on her forehead, sighing as she did as Ron frowns and shrugs his shoulder.

Harry hurries with his breakfast, practically inhaling it before Hermione pushes him up to head to class with Ron. Hermione hadn’t come to potions today, as she and only a few selected others had a field trip to an excellent wizarding contest in arithmancy, why she was excited Ron will never know. Though he tried to, for Hermione’s sake. He was happy at this opportunity for her, it would look good to anyone looking to hire. With this she could practically be guaranteed a nice job in the future, after Hogwarts.

“Goodbye Hermione, goodluck I hope you win!” Harry says enthusiastically before giving her and Ron some space. “Meet you in potions. By the way I hadn’t finished the work either so we’re both going down.” Harry pats Ron’s back before turning away, leaving Ron’s jaw agape. Harry smiles to himself.

Just before the professor gets there, Ron sneaks in right beside him. “It’s okay Ron, she will be back for dinner.” Though Harry knew he didn’t look upset for that reason.

“Bugger off, I wish Hermione was here with her potions workbook.”

“Me too.” Harry just nudges Ron, and everyone silences as Slughorn comes through the door. The class goes on but Harry looks at Malfoy every now and then, making sure he is okay after the state he saw him in this morning.

Malfoy stared ahead, looking at nothing in particular and this seemed to make Harry’s heart drop. He hated this sight, not of Malfoy, Malfoy was a handsome bloke, though the distressing part was that Malfoy looked plagued, and he wanted to make Malfoy feel better.

He tried paying attention in all of his classes, but he couldn’t. He just kept thinking of Malfoys troubled state and by lunch time, he was happy Ron, Seamus, and Dean talked about an upcoming event, Hallowe’en event. Ron begged Harry to agree to coming, so finally he succumbed to agreeing. Seamus thought of doing many games, and lots of drinking. They were all eighteen at this point so going to Hogsmaede and visiting Aberforth sounded like a very fun idea. Harry wondered if Malfoy would come if he asked him to.

“Will any Slytherins be coming?” Harry said abruptly, while Ron and Seamus were in a discussion.

“It would be splendid the more people come! Ask Malfoy and see if his friends would want to come.”

Ron just groans at this but, nonetheless, agrees that it would be a great chance to see any of Malfoys friends get pissed. Harry laughs along, glancing again at Malfoy. He was quietly eating with Parkinson, Zabini and Greengrass. They all were speaking except Malfoy, and at this Parkinson nudged him. Immediately Malfoy stares up at Harry, and at this Harry has to lower his grabby eyes. Harry could feel the blush hit his cheeks, and at this Harry just says he swallowed the tea wrong. Coughing to make it believable.

As Harry leaves his last class, transfiguration, and heads down a secluded, hidden stairwell no one really went to. As he did, he saw Malfoy on the ground as another, younger student was whispering to him, harshly. The child then proceeds to kick Malfoys stomach while Malfoy just sits there, doing nothing.

Harry knew he shouldn’t be there, so he turned back, feeling guilt poke at him for whatever reason. Though, he instantly regrets it a few minutes later. He didn’t want to keep ignoring Malfoy’s pain. And right now he stops thinking so much and cares no more that it’s Malfoy and he shouldn’t be running after him, so right after classes he rushes into their shared room as he knows Malfoy mainly only studies in there rather than the library. He prefers less of a crowd.

“Potter! What are you doing here so early?” Malfoy looked up in confusion at Harry, who was breathless.

“I have stopped caring so much about what I am expected to do instead of what I want to do. I care, Draco, even if you don’t think I do, I do. Even if I am not supposed to, I care. I care too much if anything!” He pauses, Harry doesn’t know what he is really saying, just that his heart is beating too damn fast. He was here to comfort him, not admit to whatever feelings Harry had that even he himself did not know what those feelings were. “I don’t want anyone to come after you, you don’t deserve it. You’ve changed. I saw what that kid did, why didn’t you do anything back?”

Draco just stays still for a while, searching Harry Potter's eyes. He stared at Harry as if he were stupid at that moment. “I think you know what will happen if I do. I will be right beside my father in Azkaban,” Draco carried on bitterly, "and what made you suddenly care for my well being?”. Harry ignores that question, because truly he doesn’t know why he started caring so much. Has he always cared like this?

“Then you should at least tell someone! The headmistress will be happy to help, I am sure of it.” One thing was for sure, Harry’s feelings for Draco were complicated and confusing, but at this moment he never wanted to hold him so badly. “Please, at least tell me if anyone bothers you. They shouldn’t.” Harry steps forward, to Draco as he sits at the edge of his bed. Draco doesn’t stop him. He goes further, and sits right next to Draco.

“Look at me, if this ever happens again I want you to talk to me, to tell me, to call me immediately before anything further happens. I want you to go to the Headmistress tomorrow morning.” Harry reaches for Draco's hand, and Draco allows him to take it. He unravels his palms and accepts Harry’s hand and even squeezes it.

“I will.” They sit there for a few minutes, not moving. Harry pays attention to his own breathing, trying to calm down. He was holding Draco’s hand, it was no big deal.

“Stay with me.” Harry catches his breath. Did he hear that right?

“If you seriously care about me you’d stay here in my bed tonight.” Harry looks up, blushing and taken aback by what Draco had just said. When he saw his face, his smirk, he knew Draco was mainly teasing.

“Fine, just because your bed is so soft and you are practically begging me too.” Harry responds, quickly gaining his confidence back. He reciprocates Dracos smirk, and at that Draco rolls his eyes.

“I want to see you keep that statement after dinner.” Draco gets up after this, pink lining his ears. Harry wondered if Draco was actually serious, and at this moment he thought he wasn’t just joking. He’ll see tonight, he just has to be patient.

—

When Hermione comes back right before dinner, she can clearly see that Harry is not paying attention to anything. It’s almost as if Hermione could look right through him. All Harry could think about is tonight, if Draco was serious, how would Harry be calm, how could he even focus on anything right now?

“Did Slughorn beat you for not completing your work or what?” Hermione towers over Harry as he coughs and tries to get out of his thoughts.

“Actually, Harry has been quite distracted all day. Though even more so now.” Ron replies for Harry.

“I have not been distracted! I’m just tired.”

“I would be too if I had to room with Malfoy. Has he hexed you yet?” Ron looks over at Harry, raising his eyebrows as if he expects Harry to be hexed at that very moment.

“What? No. Malfoy has nothing to do with this!” Draco had everything to do with Harry’s distractions. He just could not stop thinking about him, no matter how hard he had tried.

“It’s just, you acted similarly in sixth year, I wouldn’t be surprised Malfoy had been root to your focus.” Hermione just shakes her head. “You need to get your potions work finished pr Slughorn is actually going to punish you.”

Hermione was right, he had to get it done, even if he was thinking of Draco the whole time. There were fifteen minutes left for dinner, but Hermione made him start working now anyways. Because ‘time is valuable’ or whatever sort. Harry just rolls his eyes then laughs at Ron because he is also being forced into this by Hermione.

By the time dinner comes, Harry is actually almost done with his workbook for potions. Hermione made sure he kept focused on it, and she did a good job too. Helping him out whenever he was stuck. Though every few moments his mind would wander to studying with Draco. He wanted to study some more with Draco after dinner, if he could face him without the embarrassing thoughts of sharing his bed due to Draco possibly being serious.

Throughout the whole dinner, like lunch and breakfast, Harry continues to keep glancing at Draco, and sometimes he glances back and smirks so slightly that no one except Harry could have possibly noticed.

Harry attempts to pay attention to the topic Hermione and Ron were discussing, one of Hallowe’en. Hermione tells Ron not to have as much firewhiskey as he had last time they went drinking, and Harry hardly remembers that night, only remembering the morning Ron complaining and swearing he will never drink again. He forgot how horrible that hangover was, and was definitely planning on getting pissed again. Hermione just sighs at this before smiling at Ron.

Harry leaves Ron and Hermione to whatever they were going to do, and heads for his own room. If Draco wasn’t there, he would start on his other work, leaving the last bit of his potions for a reason to ask Draco for help. Harry wasn’t sure why he did, but Draco was extraordinary at potions and it was a good way for Harry to excel at that subject. Or, at the least, pass with an exceptional mark.

To be honest, he hadn’t cared so much after all. He didn’t necessarily want to become an Auror, contrary to many people's expectations. He actually didn’t know what he wanted to become afterall.

Like Harry thought, Draco wasn’t there quite yet so he sat on his bed, beginning other assigned work. Once he got into focus, everything else was pretty much drowned out. He barely registered when Draco came in, until he had spoken up.

“I am assuming now that I am here you are going to ask stupid questions about the work on potions.”

Harry finally looks up, a little surprised, and before he can respond Draco sits on his bed with his notebooks and motions for Harry to go over there. He does, bringing his work along with him, and sits down next to Draco. As usual, he helps him with potions, whilst discussing other classes. When Harry asks Draco for some of his notes on herbology, Dracos cold hand brushes against Harry’s, making Harry’s breath catch.

As the time passes, and Harry gets sleepy, he remembers Draco's words earlier. Right before he asks Draco about it, he saves him the embarrassment.

“You still care enough to actually sleep in my bed?” Draco challenges, whilst smirking.

“I am a gryffindor after all, and a sucker for how soft this mattress is.” Harry wasn’t going to back down on Draco after he made it a clear challenge to see if Harry actually went through with it or not.

Harry changed into his sleepwear, actually self-conscious about it, the whole thing. But Harry was not going to back down first, Draco would have to be the first in order for Harry to win this challenge.

Harry returns to Draco already in his nightwear, silk dark-green of course. He moves to allow space for Harry. So Draco was not backing down. Harry was fine by this. So there he went to lay down next to him, and immediately was set with relaxation and comfort at Dracos soft and silky bed sheets. He now knew why Draco must get up so early, great sleep was guaranteed. Though this set another question, how could Draco get out of bed so easily.

Harry lay stiff, turned away from Draco and aware of every bone and muscle in his body. He wonders if Draco can feel his heartbeat. Beside him, he feels Draco move. Wordless spell to get rid of the light.

Now they lay in the dark, and Harry is conscious of everything around him. He feels Draco shift. He clears his throat.

“You meant what you said? You care?” Malfoy’s voice is unsure, even shaky.

“No I don’t care I said all that stuff for no reason,” Harry breathes sarcastically, then turns to Draco. “Of course I did, why else would I be here? Your past doesn’t define who you are now, and you should know that Draco.”

Draco's eyes widen before he speaks up, “You’ve been saying my name.”

It was at this point, Harry realized Malfoy had turned to Draco.

“Yes, I have, Draco.” He repeats, smiling as Draco lays there, jaw opened. “Do you have a problem with it?”

“No I don’t, Harry.” Draco tries out his name, and it sounds surreal coming from Draco’s mouth. Harry liked it. Without thinking, Harry moves a strand of hair in Draco’s eyes, pausing hesitantly before pulling his hand away.

Before Harry has the chance to pull away, Draco’s hand goes up to his, and he grasps Harry’s hand, intertwining their fingers. Harry knew where the jealousy arose, he knew why he got so flustered around Draco, why he had cared so much about him. Harry was falling in love, too fast.

All their studying together, games, jokes, teasing, Harry was too far in to ignore these feelings by now. So he swallows his cowardice, and leans in tentatively. He pauses, to see if Draco’s eyes hold the answer to Harry. Draco then leans in the rest of the way, lightly pressing his soft lips onto Harry’s. So that’s how it feels to kiss him.

Harry’s free hand moves up to Draco’s hair, combing through the softness. He pulls Draco in more, as their kiss turns from tenderness to passionate. Draco grabs onto Harry’s hips under the cover, whilst still holding hands. It felt surreal.

It held more feeling than with Cho or Ginny’s, which is why Harry wanted to hold onto this moment for so long. But he knew air was important, and that they both needed to sleep. Which is why he pulls apart, slowly.

“Was that okay?” Harry asks, between breaths.

“Yes, welcome anytime scarhead.” Draco teases before messing with Harry’s already messy mop of hair. He smiles at him, and it might’ve been the most genuine smile he ever saw Draco give. “Goodnight, Harry.”

“Goodnight, Draco.”

—

The next morning Harry woke with Draco clinging onto his arm, still asleep. Harry woke up first, and this felt rewarding. Harry glanced at Draco again, imagining the look on Draco’s face when he will see that Harry woke up before him. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep, face rested and no muscle tension. It was perfect, seeing Draco there, holding onto Harry’s arm. Harry was practically panicking inside, what would happen when Draco wakes? He knew he should wake him up now.

Harry attempted pulling his arm away, but sleep Draco was holding onto it hard. He wouldn’t be able to move away without waking him. Also the fact that Draco took up the majority of the bed, leaving Harry no room to back away anyways. Forget waking up first, he needed to calm his breathing and get away from Draco so he could recollect himself.

“Draco.” Harry tries whispering, when that doesn’t work he shakes his arm. “Draco, wake up.”

Finally, Draco stirs, and wakes up. At first, he pulls Harry’s arm in, clinging to it even more before regaining consciousness. Then he pulls away and moves down the bed. His face turns shades darker, and he clears his throat.

“We won’t speak of that. Ever.” Draco says only that before burying his head in the pillow. At this, Harry chuckles and throws the other pillow on top of him. Draco lays still, till Harry gives up and puts his guards down. Exactly what Draco wanted, as now he took this moment to bombard Harry not only with a pillow, but his own body weight.

“Gotcha now scarhead.” Draco says while looking down on Harry.

“You’re only upset I finally woke up before you.” Harry smirks, eyes squinting at Draco. As he reaches for his glasses to get a better view Draco moves in and suffocates him, with his lips.

��

“Harry, you look like you’re far away from this dimension. As if Merlin took you.” Hermione states as Harry secretly passes Draco another smile this breakfast.

“What, no!” Harry shakes his head as Ron sighs.

“Bloody hell what’s with you this morning? Finally got snogged this year?” Ron’s face is mocking but his guess is not far-fetched, Harry could say.

“What? That’s absurd, where did that come from?” Harry tries to regain his heartbeat as he gets utterly embarrassed.

“You look like Ron did after we finally kissed,” Hermione says matter of factly, “who was it?”

“What? It was- it was no one.” Harry tries his hardest to get himself out of this situation, but he practically just dug himself his own grave when he looked right at Draco after denying that. To help Harry’s case, Draco smiled at him and Hermione and Ron saw this.

“Oh bugger me, Harry.” Ron looks physically ill, and Hermione just snorted in shock.

“No, it’s not-”

“We can tell when you lie Harry.” Hermione interrupts Harry, then just shakes her head while chuckling.

“As long as you’re happy mate.” Ron says, still visibly ill.

Their laughs and conversation had come to an end as classes began, day carrying on as per usual. Though when Harry got back to his dorm to see Draco, he wasn't there.

—

Harry waited but still, no Draco. Dread started to fill Harry, and the only thing Harry could do was go to headmistress.

—

Harry felt like all the happiness got sucked out of him by dementors. Ron and Hermione accompanied him to Wizengamot, but Harry felt alone and out of it. Draco did nothing wrong, there was so much proof he did nothing wrong! There were witnesses to attest to that!

The ministry of magic didn’t care. Draco Malfoy was a death-eater, his father was locked away in Azkaban, his grandfather followed evil as well. They thought it was in his blood and that Draco never felt sorry. He did, and Harry knew that, and was mad at anyone who didn’t know that.

As soon as he heard that Draco was arrested and taken to court, Harry rushed after him. He was going to testify, surely they would listen to him because he was the damn one who saved the world from voldemort!

When Harry entered, he saw Draco chained up and the rest of the room washed away. It was just Draco there, in Harry’s eyes. He tried running up but something stopped him from doing so, he focused in. He shouted.

“Let me testify!” And so Harry went on and on, trying to explain the situation to everyone there in the courtroom. Harry couldn’t even hear his own words come out of his mouth. He just hoped everyone else could.

In the end, Draco was put in a cage till the court decided what to do with him. No matter how hard Harry pleaded, they would not let him go tonight.

Now Harry sat on the cold hard floor in the cold dark room in front of the bars keeping Draco in. He was able to hold Draco’s cold hands through the bars, and that was all that mattered at this moment. This small contact.

“I told you to tell someone, to go to me! You didn’t tell the headmistress when you said you would. I tried to warn you, and you didn’t listen.” Harry searched Draco’s eyes for anything.

“I was going to, but I felt like a coward. Like no one would care” Draco looks down helplessly at their interlocked fingers through the bars.

“You are anything but a coward Draco, and I know that. Look,” Dracos grey eyes meet Harry’s at once. “I wouldn’t be here if I did not care for you, Mcgonnagal wouldn’t have taken me here if she didn’t care. Hell, Ron and Hermione even!”

A tear fell to their hands, Harry didn’t know if it was Draco’s or his own. It didn’t matter. All Harry wanted was to hold Draco in this moment.

Note: I was super sick while writing this, and it took over the span of many days and discarded work that I still have yet to do. And don’t worry, they agree and set Draco free again, after Harry’s multiple pleads. I honestly should’ve started writing for whumptober in the first week of september but oh well, a challenge isn’t a challenge without blood sweat and tears :’)

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group B Round 1: #B2 vs #B7

#B2: High school performers

The Kouka High School trains talents for its Revue, where young women play all the roles in the theatrical musicals they have produced for over 100 years—the same as in Takarazuka.

For their hundredth anniversary, the school admitted colorful students. On one hand, aiming for male roles: the eccentric Sarasa Watanabe, incredibly tall and naïve, but fiercely determined to perform one day the role of her dreams: Lady Oscar in The Rose of Versailles!

On the other hand, in the female roles-wannabe: the ex-idol Ai Narata, a cold beauty running away from past traumas, who barely knows how to interact with others. The two of them become obviously roommates.

We follow their daily lives at this very demanding school, where jealousy, disillusion, and the harsh realities of show business put their mental fortitude to the test. Will Sarasa and Ai be able to rise to the top and stand on the silver bridge?

#B7: Kid epicly procrastinates during class

All Rumi Yokoi wants to do is focus during school, but she is constantly distracted by Toshinari Seki, her neighboring classmate. Paying attention during class is the least of Seki's worries, as he obsesses over intricate setups created using an assortment of items, from an elaborate domino course on his desk to a treacherous war played out with shogi pieces.

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#B2: Kageki Shoujo!!

Propaganda:

If theatre setting/schools is your thing, you’re probably going to love this series! We follow our protagonists and their schoolmates following their dreams to become actresses for the prestigious Kouka Revue. Not an easy road as they will have to face and overcome many challenges, the hardest ones coming from themselves. Indeed, the story is not afraid to address sensitive topics and their resulting traumas (see TW list) always rightfully handed. These episodes may be a bit hard to see if you’re sensitive to these topics, but the show never leaves you in discomfort: everything is properly addressed, and characters are cared for realistically.

The characters are all very well-written, portraying individuals with way more depth than they may appear at first glance. We follow their growth—or its start—during the series. Sarasa is a walking sunbeam, and her blooming friendship with the withdrawn Ai is a delight to watch. We learn to know—and love—all their classmates as well, as episodes switch focus to one or the other.

The OST is really good, with a catchy opening, and no less than five different versions of the ending song, a fabulous duet voiced by the cast! The animation features really pretty art with iconic details like the stars in Sarasa’s eyes. The series is a homage to Takarazuka and scatter references to famous real-life Revues and older famous shôujo manga series like “Versailles no Bara” or “Glass no Kamen”. Actually, it feels like a modernized version of their essence: roses, sparkles, spotlight, drama, all while staying safe!

This anime is like candy for eyes and soul, and I really hope we'll get a season 2 to explore the girls' voices further!

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Pedophilia, Self-Harm

Nothing is too graphical nor explicit, just the right amount to let the unsettling situations be clear enough to watchers, and they’re always addressed correctly.

Child abuse/ Pedophilia: episode 3 (+4), about Ai’s traumas

Self-harm: episode 5 focuses on a girl with an eating disorder, forcing herself to vomit (not sure if that really counts as TW?)

#B7: Tonari no Seki-kun: The Master of Killing Time

Propaganda:

Seki-kun is the sort of anime that stays underrated because it seems overly simple, but it really shines in its simplicity. The episodes are short tales of Seki’s epic procrastination and they’re absurdly amusing. Both the opening and ending are super funny and really well-thought-out.

It’s the anime equivalent of a hard candy. You can have an episode at the end of the day or between tasks, and it entertains you well without asking for much.

Trigger Warnings: None

If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

[denimbex1986]

'Every movie belongs to its time. This might sound obvious, but the true meaning behind it is that a lot of what happens in a film can be explained by the time in which it was conceived/premiered.

Of course, this doesn't mean that any analysis or findings from viewers/critiques are intended messages from the directors, writers, and crew behind the film, but it does imply that what goes on during the feature's premiere/production is heavily influenced (which is not the same as "determined") by current issues. Among the multiple cultural phenomenons this year, from Barbie's rise to Marvel's fall, Oppenheimer falls in a curious place when analyzing the powerful message for modern audiences regarding the invention of the nuclear bomb.

To set records straight, yes, Oppenheimer happens mostly in the middle of the 20th Century, by the end of the Second World War II (and the beginning of the Cold War), but this doesn't mean that Nolan's new atomic blockbuster isn't connected to the present. In particular, there's a link between the father of the nuclear bomb and the current issues society faces with the advances in AI technology. Intended or not, it is a good comparison to think of what's to come and how to address it.

How Oppenheimer Is the Story of Technological Misuse

Back in the 1950s, after World War II came to an end, science was still going through a positivism stage. In other words, the social and scientific understanding of this discipline provided cumulative knowledge as long as it could be rationally justified and verifiable (even to prove them wrong), long before the discussions of postpositivism, where the influence of the researchers is acknowledged to impact in what's observed.

In that scientific context, J. Robert Oppenheimer was making fundamental breakthroughs in nuclear science which ultimately led to the development of the nuclear bomb, the facts portrayed by the homonymous 2023 movie.

Science history discussions on the side, the movie is deeply marked by the protagonist's progressive view of nuclear physics, the optimistic idea of coming together with a team of top scientists to make a brilliant breakthrough which collides with the bitter consequences of it.

With a three-hour run, Oppenheimer shows viewers the evolution of J. Robert's hope for the future to his fall under the political misuse of his big discovery, something he is obviously to blame for as well. Technology itself is hardly neutral, as its development usually responds to powerful interests, such as governments, multinational enterprises, and all sorts of entities whose decisions weigh heavily in what goes on in the world. The movie shows how good intentions can easily fall short, and tragedy strikes even with the brightest and most noble minds behind the pursuit of valuable knowledge.

Stereotypes on the side, nuclear energy is also still relevant to this date. Oppenheimer's work (alongside many others who contributed to the field in the past and today) didn't go all to waste, as there are applications to it that actually serve a positive purpose.

Nevertheless, Oppenheimer sheds some light on the non-neutrality of every scientific development, as some, like the research used to develop the A-bomb, dropped in Hiroshima, Japan, changed the world completely, not just in the number of fatalities but in the psychological consequences of those bombed but also for the geopolitical effects of it and the impact on the worldwide population because of this atrocity, brilliantly depicted in Nolan's film.

Oppenheimer's Work Versus AI

Although it's obvious, this is a good point to clarify that nuclear power and artificial intelligence are abysmally different for reasons that can easily be justified by watching Oppenheimer. However, there are some interesting points in common, given the particular moment the world is facing with AI.

For starters, many of the data scientists and workers who developed this technology are warning about the threats of it. Though some have reached the point of saying it should be stopped, the caution is mainly aimed at the misuse of this technology (Sam Altman, father of ChatpGPT, among them). The bridge between AI and nuclear power is that they both have the nature to change humanity for better or worse.

Secondly, though not fatal like nuclear energy, AI has shown signs of producing problematic social consequences. The recent SAG-AFTRA strike proves that corporate decisions favoring AI can make many lose their jobs, affecting their lives completely. Again, the problem in this situation is not AI per se but how its application affects humanity in general, especially in aspects that provide people with a sense of safety, such as labor. Stopping its development is hardly an option, as it was for Oppenheimer right before the Hiroshima bombing, but the film is quite revealing when it comes to big decisions being made by an elite of powerful men before tragedy strikes.

Again, despite the profound differences between nuclear power and AI, the two mark a before and after in the world's history. Oppenheimer's work might have been one if not the most important breakthrough of the 20th century, but the 21st is marked by artificial intelligence.

Its effects are becoming more and more palpable on a daily basis, and Oppenheimer is an interesting parallelism of how these kinds of events occur. As said, every movie belongs to its time, and every detail of each film speaks volumes about its context. Art conveys a powerful message and intended or not, Nolan's recent masterpiece holds some fascinating ideas on how technology should be adopted onward.'

[qqueenofhades]

I don't follow you but I would just like to thank you for your thorough research about this queen bullshit. I hate how people tend to have selective memory about the terrible history of certain important figures and it just boils my blood. So thank you for all your hard work. :)

You're welcome. The way I see it is like this. Vladimir Putin has not set foot in Ukraine, or fired a weapon, or personally killed any Ukrainians in the current war, but everybody (except for tankies, but they don't count) has no problem understanding that he is ultimately responsible for what is happening there. He gave the order, it is happening under his government and with his say-so, and in pursuit of policies which the entire Russian state apparatus has long supported. No, QE2 is not functionally equivalent to an autocratic dictator with essentially absolute power over the degraded political systems in his country, for any number of reasons. But she was likewise the head of state and ultimate authority of the British government and the many terrible actions it took both at home and abroad between 1952-2022 (the period of her reign). Any idea that she doesn't know or bears no responsibility for her enthusiastic, unwavering, and lifelong support of the institutions that facilitated and carried them out, often with her direct advice and counsel (see: weekly meeting with the PM, privileged access to state papers) is just... wrong.

As others and myself have pointed out, the monarch actually does have considerable power in the UK system, even without getting into the shadowy process of Queen’s Consent and backroom wrangling to get the Palace exempted from diversity laws (because what are they going to do, say no to her?) She opens Parliament, she gives the speech laying out the government's agenda (even if it is written for her), she has to give "consent" to all draft laws, and so forth. Besides, her figurative and symbolic role also confers a great deal of assumed social and cultural authority on her, which is why she was often held up as an impartial "beacon" somehow above the muck-slinging of regular party politics. To act as if the literal Queen of England, head of that entire system, when even the minority party in parliament has to style themselves "Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition" to demonstrate that they're opposing the other party, but not her personally, is totally exempt from that, is, to say the least, strange.

This is obviously, again, rooted in white supremacism, the Anglo-American cultural background, and the fact that the British (and the British Empire) are still largely portrayed as "cool," "aspirational," or "universal" (why does everyone in every period piece have modern British accents, regardless of the time or place, and why do we accept that was how the past sounded?) In other words, it's the "good" empire, rather than the "bad" empire (as the rhetoric was during the Cold War in re the USSR). This ignores the fact not just of the British monarchy itself and the actual things that QE2 did in support of that paradigm, but the fact that an empire is by its nature an inherently harmful, exploitative, and assimilationist political structure. Besides, you would think that the least she could do would be to proactively address the bad stuff of the past and try to fix it, right? Nope. All the "modernization of the monarchy" came under extreme duress and only in moments of reactive crisis, and even after all the shit that England did to Ireland over the centuries (including the height of the Troubles during QE2's reign) she could only, on one occasion, offer something that was described as "the closest thing" Ireland had ever gotten to a formal apology, without being an apology. Even the goddamn Pope has apologized for the historical injustices/sexual abuse scandals of the institutional Catholic Church. If those guys are doing better than you in the historical-atonement department, there's something REALLY wrong.

Likewise, there is no doubt that overall, QE2 will have an absolutely glowing, lavish, and uncritical epitaph, and people who call that legacy into question will be stigmatized. Which is the last thing Britain needs right now, with a new hard-right government, a massive cost-of-living crisis (splashing out on a state funeral while people cannot both eat and heat their homes? Huh), and all the economic and social crunch that will be put on its most vulnerable citizens as a result. QE2 was sitting on massive amounts of automatically granted taxpayer money, and yet she steadfastly resisted any attempt to let the public have any notion at all of how she spent it (along with, as noted, sealing Philip's will and that of other senior royals). That alone was a massive moral failing of the country she supposedly "dedicated her life to serving," and it is neither bad nor disrespectful to point that out and seriously question all the saintly hagiography we are expected to uncritically embrace.

[fe-semi-decent-scenarios]

what do you headcanon life with dimitri would be like post-game, once he n reader are married? what is there ever-so-precious alone time like? (love your writing!! sending good vibes!)

{Sure thing :) Here are a few general headcannons of the life we’d see with Husband!Dimitri. I’m sorry it’s late, I hope this is to your liking if you are still in the fandom! }

I am sure you’ve guessed this, but the wedding is nothing to sneeze at. You’re wedded at Garreg Mache as a symbol of unity and peace. This was obviously protested by the Fargean royal court (wanting it to take place at the palace), but they knew better than to protest against their soon to be king.  

I won’t make any assumptions about who you want on your side of the party, but Dedue is his best man. He takes Sylvain as his ring bearer.

 Sylvain had suggested it during a meal together and while he was joking, Dimitri took it seriously. 

The rest of the lions are in attendance as well, you can decide where and what they’re doing :) (Mercedes makes your wedding cake. Not the one everyone gets to eat but the one you both cut/share the next day) 

No expense is spared. He has no requests other than the planning be left in your hands and that he gets to be involved every step of the way. No pressure from the outside, and obviously the ceremony has to follow royal tradition (which is negotiable if you would rather have the crowning ceremony -as the new rulers- separate from your wedding). 

He also asks for the wedding to be open to the public. All are welcome into Garreg Mache for the celebration, and the ceremony will take place in the main courtyard where it can be seen from all angles. No ‘seats’ are reserved for anyone aside close friends and family. This is an open event 

He dresses in his Father’s wedding garb, and for a moment he’s fearful. Not because he’s getting cold feet, but because this is the first time he truly sees his resemblance to King Lambert. If not for Dedue calling him for the ceremony, Dimitri could have stared into the mirror for hours 

It was like looking at a ghost

Humor me here, as this is something my family does for our deceased loved ones and I think Dimitri would like the idea. 

He requests a table to be set with portraits of his parents on it. They each have their own set of dining ware, and the table is decorated with symbols that meant a lot to them during their time alive. I can see him requesting a bouquet of his mother’s favorite flowers, or his father’s medals being put on display. Both of their respective crowns sit next to their portraits as well 

Anyone who wishes to pay their respects is welcome to come and speak to their past king/queen 

He does this right before the ceremony begins, asking his father to forgive his sins and bless his marriage 

All worry leaves him the moment you enter the room. All the people gathered fall silent, and its as if he’s falling in love all over again. The officiator’s words fall deaf to his ears as all he can think of is spending his life at your side 

He says his vows, loud and proud compared to the meek confession he had given you after the war. This confidence fades when you say your own, and he feels tears fall when your union is sealed with a kiss 

Now let’s fast forward a bit into the future 

Dimitri is a dedicated husband. No matter how busy he is with his kingly duties, he will not forget about his spouse 

He would rather go the night without any rest than let a day pass without having some alone time at your side 

Naturally this is worrying, and I can see you both compromising with taking breaks together- having tea, going for a stroll, sitting by the fire place while finishing the day’s paperwork, etc. 

I will say this now. You are Dimitri’s life and his will to live. He loves his people, he loves his country, he loves his friends...but there is nothing more that he loves than you. 

Many people promise ‘in sickness and in health’ during their vows, but Dimitri lives and breaths it.  

You both share a room, obviously. He thought it would be difficult with his nightmares, but nothing calms him more than seeing your sleeping figure after awaking from one. The first time you woke up from it he apologized profusely, but noticed that some of the pain would alleviate if he held you. Felt your steady breathing, your hands running through his hair, sharing a comforting warmth he hadn’t felt since his parents lived...

He loves the close proximity, knowing that you are alive and that he is there to keep you safe should anything unexpectedly happen

He hopes to give the same comfort to you. If you tell him to jump then he’ll ask “how high,” and the palace staff finds it adorable how you have him wrapped around your finger 

Sometimes expect to see random presents sent to your office, or a chunk of your work miraculously finished in your stead.

Don’t start me on the travelling. Once things have settled down, Dimitri will want you to see his country. He’ll never go on a buisness trip without you unless you have your own work to attend to (and if you do, expect him to be a bit upset. He understands obviously, and trusts his guards to keep you safe...but he prefers to have you as near as possible)

Meals are always together unless forced otherwise. He will have a table moved into his office if necessary. Food is already bland, but your company makes him want to eat more -not to mention your constant nagging about how he never eats enough veggies- 

I have made a post about children before, but I want to make note of this. Dimitri is scared to have a family, yes. He also doesn’t want you to have kids only because of the ‘bloodline’ bull shit. However...he wants them. Deep down he wants a family so badly. 

He watches his friends create their own families and is always sending presents over for the children. He visits the orphanages in Fargeus, giving as much aid to the children who’s parents were lost to war as he can 

He would happily adopt or have biological kids if you’re willing. 

To cradle his child in his arms, watch them grow in the world he fights for, see his spouse give them the same love he receives, and experience the joy of fatherhood that he hopes his own father felt. 

It’s up to you if you want to make this dream of his a reality. Either way, he is grateful to be your husband. Until the day he draws his last breath, Dimitri will protect and care for you more than anything else in the world

[saturnsstufff]

The Empress Pt.VI

I hope you all have a lovely day🖤🖤

Warnings: light hint to sexual innuendo, Swearing

   Its been about a couple of months now since we found Tommy. The palace was up in a baby craze due to the new little prince they inherited. Once we got past the first couple week's of tommy living with us, we saw his true nature. He was a nice and sweet kid, don't get me wrong. But oh, he was also a trouble maker.

   Tommy would often bounce between hanging around Wilbur, Techno, Phil and even you. When you would be working at the forge Tommy would sometimes just slip in unannounced and make himself comfortable on a spare stack of metal. You'd only really notice him when he would ask you what something was, or what it did.

   That was the new update as well. After returning Techno had requested that you practice making earrings. Saying that he wanted to see how dainty you could work. Of course you didn't mind, back at your village you would often make rings, pendants, and sometimes earrings for those who asked. So making him a earring was no fuss at all. 

   Techno did start to wonder around to the forge often. usually seeing what you were making or what you were in the process of. Sometimes he would even make off hand comments to make you laugh. Your favorite visit’s from him were always when he would bring tommy. The two would walk in, Tommy holding Techno’s finger as his hand was a little too big for the young boy to fully grasp.

   Since you were a familiar face around the palace Techno had stopped wearing his Skull. Instead replacing it with his all to familiar golden reading glasses. You still stood by the ideal that you preferred him with no skull. Since he was, to you, very handsome. You did find out later that the skull he wore was for outsiders. He didn't feel the need to show his face to those who wouldn't be present very long in the empire. Choosing instead to leave them with the impression that he was a monster of a man, rather than a young prince with a heart of gold. When you say he had a heart of gold, you meant it.

   Recently techno has really opened up around you, becoming more relaxed in your presence. Phil had mentioned that it would only be a matter of time before he did, and sure enough he was right. If you didn't have anything to do with the forge that day you would sometimes read within his office well he worked. He never made tones of disagreement, or ask that you leave, instead he would just watch you sit before offering a ‘Hello’. It had become something that you often looked forward too.

   You and Wil were still thick as thieves. Techno would rag on Wil about how you two could sit and talk for hours, before declaring that you were bored with each other. Only for you two to part then reconcile in the library a hour later. Techno couldn't understand it, but in the end just accepted it for what it was.

   You had just finished cleaning up the forge for the night when you herd some light pitter patter of feet. Tommy. You slowly turned to face him. He was in his night wear, obviously he had just gotten out of bed. he looked distraught however. “What’s up bud?” you asked, putting the tongs and the spare metal away. He slightly shifted in his spot, his little teddy bear behind him.

   “I had a nightmare” he quietly mumbled. your eyes softened. Ever since you three found him he would have a recurring nightmare about ‘loosing my new family’ as tommy put it. Usually when he had this dream he would seek Techno, or you out for his comfort. Since you two were mostly together when he would look.

   “Want me to read to you?” you asked, kneeling down to his level. His bright blue eyes dancing about. He gave a little nod. he put his arms out for you to carry him. you shyly smiled at him.

   “buddy I'm a bit dirty...” You said softly, unsure if he was ok with getting dirty right before bed. He only shook his head and said ‘I don't mind’ as a response. So you gently took him into your arms as you stood. He didn't hesitate to curl into your neck. you glanced back at the room that held the forge, you mentally shrugged figuring the rest could wait until tomorrow. With Tommy in your arms you wondered out, heading for his room. On the way there Techno crossed path’s with you.

   “Oh (y/n)” he said as he looked from you to tommy. he furrowed his brows, asking what was wrong without physically saying it. You mouthed out that it was a nightmare, Techno slowly nodded understanding. He rested is hand on tommy’s head giving a reassuring rub to it. “Not havin’ such a good night big man?” he asked gently. Tommy turned his head to look at Techno, slowly shaking his head. Techno pondered a moment as he watched tommy. slowly he gained a idea. “You wanna hear somthin’ cool?” he said with a small smile. tommy nodded in response, gripping to your shirt.

   “Can (y/n) come?” Tommy asked quietly, watching Techno's kind eyes. Techno patted Tommy’s head before he nodded.

   “Yeah I mean, I guess she can come. Only if you deem her cool enough that is” Techno mused, glancing to your eyes. you raised a brow in question, watching Techno bite back a playful smile. Tommy nodded again. “You think she’s cool enough?” Techno asked Tommy, having him confirm his nod. “Yeah I think she’s cool enough too” He said, ruffling your hair before he walked off. queuing you to fallow him. You smiled and fixed your hair before fallowing him. Instead of leading you towards Tommy’s room, he lead you two to the Library. “Go sit on the couch over there” Techno said, pointing to the sofa closest to the fire. You nodded and wondered over, curious of what Techno had planned. 

   when you sat, you adjusted tommy so he sat in your lap. he pulled his bear close to his chest, hugging it tightly well the two of you waited for Techno. Luckily he didn't take long. When he returned, he had a Violin in hand. He was casually tuning it well he walked. You tiled your head curiously at him. “I didn't know you played” you said to him. He sent a bemused smile to you. taking a relaxed stance.

   “Trust me Princess... There's a lot you don't know about me” He waisted no time on starting a soft tune. Well Tommy eased into you, slowly becoming entranced with the peaceful notes, you became more interested in how he swayed to the light swing of his arms. His hands ever so delate as he held the bow, dancing it along the strings. working the instrument to cry out a melody ever so sweet. His face was that of concentration, focused on finding the proper notes to lull his younger sibling to sleep. This was just another reason why you found Technoblade so interesting. He could talk politics and war strategies so easily, sounding like a primed veteran well past his years. But then he could retire to the library and look like a young boy falling in love with the craft he just found.

   Well Techno played away, his eyes fell to you. Tommy had fallen asleep in your arms, finding security within them. His teddy bear tightly locked within his own arms. When he glanced up to you he almost had the breath knocked from his lungs. You sat so beautifully. Your eyes were ever so soft well watching him. You looked at him like he was the most important thing you had ever seen. Your face held a little bit of dirt, and ash from the hard work you did for the day, but he didn't mind. He actually preferred it. Too many times had the Court tried to set him up with a prim, and proper woman. One that was elegant, clean, pure, dainty. But He didn't want that. He wanted strong, hands calloused, smudged makeup, sweat dripping, imperfect, but yet somehow at the same time, perfect. He wanted flaw. He wasn't perfect, he had scars, he wasn't the most handsome boy, he was often classified as too bulky, and too tall. He also couldn't be held back with someone who wanted him, to pamper and please. He wanted someone who would treat him as a equal, who praised his knowledge on war instead of shunning it. Someone who embraced the flaws of the world, and turned them into works of art. His eyes wondered back over you, you had moved your head down to check on tommy. Your fingers delicately tracing over Tommy's cheek. Brushing the curls from his face.

   You looked back up to techno as he came to a stop. “That was beautiful... Why didn't you tell me you played?” you asked softly. Being mindful of the toddler asleep in your arms. Techno slowly lowered the Violin to the couch.

   “I didn't think it was that important to bring up” He said, returning the soft tone. Well he sat the instrument down his eyes met yours. You couldn't help but feel drawn to his eyes, they looked like beautiful glass, the fire’s reflection dancing within, making his eyes dance lively. “If you would like to talk more we should take him to bed first” he said, his eyes flickering to Tommy. You nodded slowly.

   “Right, of course.”

   After Techno and you had put Tommy to bed it was well into the night. Most of the servants and palace guards had retired to their beds, making way for the changing of the guards. Techno and you weren't really feeling the effects of sleep yet. Rather the two of you wanted to stay within each others company longer. Techno had walked you you to the garden, having snatched two blankets from the library before wondering out into the cold. Techno, having no where to be ended up taking his hair out from his braid. replacing it with a lower pony tail, giving his hair a moment of freedom from it’s confinement.

   The garden was beautiful. They couldn't grow flowers of course, but there were elegant sculptures that replaced them. in the middle of the whole garden was a artesian well fountain. although long frozen when the two of you passed by you could hear the water running within the ice. It was peaceful to walk with Techno. It was rare when the two of you would make late night walks. Usually you would take them during the day, or after dinner. But nothing past 10 o’clock mostly. 

   “So what’s something else I should know about you?” You inquired to him. He smiled to himself before turning to you. 

   “Are you really going to start school yard type questions with me?” He teased. You smiled and lightly laughed. He was smiling at you, admiring how you looked when you laughed.

   “Yeah, yeah I guess I am. You going to answer them?” You couldn't help but tease back. He chuckled and hummed.

   “Mmn. Maybe” he said bemused.

   “What’s your favorite color?” You asked, now aiming for the most basic questions just to make him laugh in turn. He leaned onto the railing that over looked the kingdom, pondering a moment.

   “Red’s a nice color, Or Plum Purple” He said looking at you. Taking a moment to ask you a question in turn. “Besides the forge what do you like to do?” You sat and thought a moment. 

   “I like to read, Action and Romance are a lot of fun” you mused, earning a laugh from him.

   “Romance eh? Waiting for someone to sweep you off your feet? Lamee” he said jokingly. You laughed and took a swat at his chest. 

    “Oh hush up, I bet you’d like someone to sweep you off your feet Techno” You said, your eyes scanning the horizon. He sat and thought on your words a moment.

   “Eh not particularly. Only lame nerds think of that” He said, turning, heading back for the garden door’s. you scoffed and laughed a bit. 

   “Jerk” you said between laughs. You were going to fallow, but then you had a wicked idea. You scooped up some snow in your hand and bit your lip trying to muffle your laugh. once you had a decent snowball you threw it at him. Bullseye. You had nailed him in the back of the head. He went still, You were a giggling mess now.

   “Oh, your in for it now Princess” He said, smirking has he turned. Running after you, his blanket long discarded as he ran to grab you. You squealed out laughing, running from him, discarding your blanket too. You didn't get far before he hooked his arm around your torso, pulling you into his chest well you flapped about like a fish. “Your gonna’ be pullin’ snow out of your shirt for a week when I'm done with ya’!” he said Laughing. Picking snow up before putting it on your head. Some of it even went down your shirt. You flopped about, laughing the whole time until he dropped you into the snow bank. He laughed at you and how you were practically buried within the snow. This only fueled your fire. you threw two more snowball’s the first one missed, but the second one he grabbed out of mid air. You tried to free yourself from the snow bank before he came over to you, but it was no use. he climbed into the bank and shoved the snow down the back of your shirt. But this time you caught him off guard. You grabbed his arm and pulled. setting him off balance so he fell into the snow. Now it was your turn to laugh. tossing more snow onto him. It didn't take him long to recover of course, he simply rolled and grabbed your arms. Pinning them down to the snow. His body hovered over yours. You could feel the warmth radiating from his body. His face was that of pure joy, the long stoic look gone. he was at his happiest with you right now. He looked down at you, smiles adorning both of your faces. You two were happy. Happy with the moment, you just wanted it to last as long as it could. Well you two looked into each other’s eyes everything else lost meaning.

   Without you two realizing, Phil watched above from one of the windows. He was smiling fondly at the little snowball war you just had. whether Techno had realized it yet or not, Phil did. Techno cared for you. Phil saw how he looked at you. During dinners, Lunches, casual talks, or even when the two of you hung out together. Techno looked at you with pure love and adoration. Phil knew if anyone was capable of wining Techno’s love it was going to be you. You were a hard worker, You cared for Techno’s brothers, got along well with all the servants, were mindful and respective of Techno's space, you also had enough spunk to rise up and toss back the teasing he threw. Phil knew this was the beginning of a love story.

   After your snowball fight with techno the two of you did end up going back inside rather quickly. Well Techno may have not been cold, you were definitely cold after all that. You could feel the snow melting on your back, the drops of water running down your skin. But that didn't stop Techno from walking beside you. The two of you walked side by side, your arms around each other to share the warmth. The lingering giggles were etched onto your faces in wide smiles.

   “I didn't hurt you at all, right?” Techno asked, double checking incase he was too rough. You shook your head smiling. Drawing your side of the blanket- that was wrapped around you both- closer to preserve the upcoming heat.

   “Nah, I coulda’ have taken ya’ if you had stayed above me more” Techno laughed fondly. Amused with your spurt of spunk.

   “Oh really now? You think you could take me?” This was now your turn to giggle. purposefully running into his side, shoving him lightly.

   “Mmn.. I think I could have found a way” You said looking up towards your room. You had offered to walk techno to his room, but he declined. He said he would feel better if ‘The lady was at her room safely’. You didn't mind, you figured next time you would walk him to his room in turn to make it even, maybe fire back with ‘I must make sure the young prince is safe’.

   He chuckled bemused. “If you really have that much spunk maybe I should teach you sword play, or maybe something more military related. you tilted your head up to him curiously. 

   “You would teach me something?” You asked, semi surprised, but also heart warmed that he would take time aside for you.

   “Of course, Princess. I’ll teach you anything you want” He looked down to you as he spoke. He was smiling gently. His tone was fond as he addressed you. “Now don't think I’ll go easy on you though” 

   “Oh, I didn't think you would” You said, resting your hand on the door handle, opening it. “Would you wanna come in and warm up a bit?” You inquired, looking up to him. He went a faint pink before biting back a shit eating grin.

   “Princess... Young men shouldn't be within young ladies chambers during such late hours... Unless, your trying to bed me?” He leaned on your door way. Biting back the largest grin. “Are you trying to bed me, Princess? I knew you had gotten some spunk but I never thought-” You laughed as he teased, going a bit red. trying to wave it off.

   “No- No, you know what I mean-” He laughed and cut you off.

   “Oh no, I know exactly what you mean” You smiled leaning on your door, looking up at him.

   “Are you done?” You asked giggling. He hummed, his face towards yours as he shifted a little closer.

   “Maybe” He said amused. “Go get some sleep, and warm up. I'm going to teach you sword play tomorrow” Your eyes lit up. Taking in a small gasp of excitement.

   “Are you really?” You asked almost unsure that he was still teasing.

   “I mean, Only if that interests you...” He said, his eyes lingering yours. You nodded fast and hugged him without much thought. Techno couldn't help the blood that ran to his face. He lightly cleared his throat as he rested his arms on you. A bit hesitant at first, but he slowly relaxed into your hold. Now understanding why Tommy liked to hug you a lot.

   “Thank you...” You mumbled into his chest.

   You swore if techno knocked you off your feet one more time you were going to find a way to shove his pretty head in the snow.

   Techno was a monster- in the sense of strength. You thought when fighting him, it would be a mutual teaching before he actually started going ham on you. But no, he literary just started striking with no hesitation. Only when he had your swords in a lock did you voice your lag.

   "Tech, please can we ease up?" You pleadded. He only watched you briefly. His inner General having come out a while ago.

   "Your strong. You can take it" he said sharply. Earning a whine from you. You weren't strong. You didn't do this on a daily. You only made the swords. But he was pushing you. Pushing your strength, and your nerves for one.

   "Techno I'm not strong, I- I've never done this-" he grabbed your sword and threw it away from you. Putting his own away. He grabbed your arm and pulled it to him. Pushing your sleeves up.

   "Flex your arm." He commanded. You hesitated, looking up at him. "Don't look at me like that. I said flex your arm" you slowly did as he said. Drawing your fist, and flexing your arm. He grabbed your bicep and squeezed a bit. "Notice how hard it is?" You nodded slowly. A slight sting from where he squeezed. "That's pure muscle. You are stronger than you realize. If you convince yourself that you are weak or that you cannot do this, then that's what will become of you" he paused his eyes flashing to yours. "I understand that you are no warrior, but you have strength. As soon as you stop telling yourself that you are weak, you will make progress." He pulled your sleeve down, fixing it for you. "Rome wasn't built over night, Princess. It took time, planning, care, and had to show promise. When I look at you, I see great promise."

   When he released your arm you walked over to pick your sword up. Techno readying his stance again. However, before you could break into another spar Phil had wondered out.

   "Ay' Techno you have a letter on your desk. You may want to read it" Phil said with a bit of concern. Techno dropped his stance his brow furrowing. He gave a 'Heh?' In confusion. He glanced to you and to Phil.

   “Can it wait a bit? I'm in the middle of teaching” Phil shook his head slowly. Techno paused as he thought a bit. "If I go, could you teach (y/n) a bit more? She feel's I'm too strong for her." He mused. His military side slowly fading away for his more domestic side.

   "I suppose so." Phil said with a gentle smile. Techno gathered his things and ruffled your hair before leaving. Phil turned his attention towards you. "What has he showed you?" Phil inquired, walking over to you.

   "Nothing besides showing me the ground.. seriously my back hurts.." you whined. Phil chuckled lightly at you.

   "I should have known. Here I'll teach you some basic's" Before long Phil had you doing simple moves and stances. Things he felt would be easy for you to ace. After a while you got a bit curious.

   "Why does techno think I can pick this up so easy? He fights so hard" You questioned. Looking over to Phil. He hummed a moment well he pondered.

   "I uh, think that he just wants you to be able to defend yourself. He knows your strong, and besides. He thinks pretty highly of you, y'know'" you went a bit wide eyed. Techno thinks highly of you?

   You looked to Phil with a bit of shock on your face. "He does?" He nodded, Smiling gently. Phil gently took the sword from your hands and hung it on the wall with the others.

   Since you within the training hall, there was a plethora of weapons and armor of all kinds. The room was large, made for incasing many people. But the detail never faltered. The floor was of stone, pillars lining the outside to support a second floor. The ceiling was framed with gold, dark oak and a smooth white to open the room up more. It was a good place to spar and just ramble off thoughts.

   "Oh, of course. He's said it multiple times to me. That's why he was fine with you coming with us to the mansion. Don't think that he hasn't been paying attention to you on the daily." Phil said looking up to you.

   "He watches me?" You furrowed your brow slightly. Phil saw and continued.

   "Not in the creepy way. He just takes notes of things you do, say you like, ect. He knows your kind with tommy, that you are very organized with your work. Your very detail oriented. He's become quite smitten with you" Phil chuckled. Finding it all amusing.

   You were taken aback by this. You thought you two had a good friendship, but it looks like he's paid a lot of attention to you after all. It started to dawn on you. 'I don't really know much about him' you thought to yourself. Sure you knew his mom passed, his favorite color. But you never really dove into his personal life much beyond that. Maybe it was time you got to know him more. "If I wanted to know more about him... could I ask him?" You asked, looking up at Phil. He patted your head and started walking with you towards the hall.

   "Of course. Something tells me he wouldn't turn you away." Phil said, biting a smile back. He remembered you two last night playing within the snow. He knew Techno would never turn you away, he was in love with you, even if techno wasn't aware of it.

   After dinner you wondered towards Techno's office. You wanted to talk to him, get to know him better. You know he was powerful and kind, but you wanted to know more. What was his ambitions? His hopes, fears. You just wanted more.

   When you walked up to the doors you carefully knocked, hearing talking within. When you herd the 'come in' you pushed the doors open. Techno was sat in his chair per usual, he had his reading glasses on with papers on his desk. When you entered he complied them together neatly. Setting them aside for later. However there was also a rather tall woman. she was beautiful, dripping with total control. Her hand was rested on her sword. When she turned to face you. You saw Her face, It was hard but something told you their was more too her. Her skin looked like it was kissed by the sun himself. She looked like she wasn't from here, but the way she dressed herself in armor told you elsewise.

   "Hello (y/n)" techno said. The woman glanced to Techno and back to you. She offered a kind smile. "This is General Hawthorne, she's my leading General of the Empires army. I don't believe you two have met before" He said formally. Not having the tone he normally used with you.

   She offered her hand. "Its nice to finally meet you (y/n). His Imperial Majesty said we would have a new Blacksmith. But I never expected someone as young as you" Her smile was warm. When you took her hand to shake it you were shocked with the grip she had. Under her glove you could feel some rings digging into your hand. "Don't worry about addressing me as Hawthorne. Seraphina is fine, or Sarah" you nodded smiling to return hers. Wanting her to drop your hand, her grip a tad to much.

   "Its a pleasure to meet you, too" you said looking up to her. She turned back to Techno, taking a scroll from his desk.

   "I'll see you there then sire" Sarah said, smiling before she walked out. You watched her go, your eyes lingering on the door as you thought. Turning back to Techno.

Techno took his reading glasses off and set them aside on his desk. Leaning back in his chair. When he looked up at you his eyes softened, his tone also becoming casual. "What do you think about weddings?".

@goldensunshineshit @snobunns @olyink @lolitsellieletsgobro @jackalopedoodles @angelic-scent @coolleviauchihadreamerlove @artsimatsu @justabalroginthenet @seme1e @fangirl570 @sweeetteaa @awlawdtheycoming @idkwhatusernametohave @sugarandspicebutnonice @bambibunz @lynnarts @buzzybeebee @feathersthewinged @prefesro

[stillness-in-green]

MVA In Memoriam (4/5)

The Comprehensive Account of the Butchering of My Villain Academia

(Introduction and Part One, Episode 108: My Villain Academia) (Part Two, Episode 109: Revival Party) (Part Three, Episode 110: Sad Man's Parade)

Part Four, Episode 111: Origin: Shimura Tenko

Chapter 233 – Bright Future

• Twice clearly having arranged a Skeptic puppet to where its arm can be used as a pillow for Toga’s neck. A cute little character detail while also being kind of disturbing? Very on-brand for the League! A not-immediately-plot-crucial visual of a member of the League demonstrating obvious care for another member? The guillotine awaits!

• A little explanation about how clones’ physicality and memories work relative to the last time Twice saw the people the clones are based on. This is a very useful little nod of explanation to something that remained unclear from the dialogue of Mr. Clone-press last chapter. Twice’s quirk is pretty arcane in its ins and outs, frankly, and the clearer those details are, the fewer plot holes you’re leaving for later.

• The scene of Skeptic being right on the verge of confronting Twice. Skeptic has, oh, about five moments where he’s obviously a big tense neurotic who’s unpleasant to be around if things aren’t going his way, and the anime deleted or downplayed all but two of them. As ever, it’s obscenely damaging to the characterization of the MLA cast, who we have little enough time with as it is. Further, it was a particularly weird choice to make with Skeptic, who is as of this writing the only major MLA character who’ll emerge still free and active from the War Arc. Why shaft the characterization of the one of new characters who’s going to be getting the most attention out of any of them in the next arc, with yet more scenes yet to come after?[1]

• A full page’s-worth of Spinner’s rationalizations on targeting Trumpet and ordering the Twice doubles to do the same. This lays out the details on why targeting Trumpet stands to relieve some of the load on Shigaraki. It isn’t because Trumpet’s quirk makes the crowds more dangerous, though that is true. Spinner targets Trumpet because he’s seen enough to know that attacking the MLA’s leaders gets them crazy riled up; he knows that if he makes himself a threat to Trumpet, then all Trumpet’s followers’ attention will shift focus to Spinner, leaving Shigaraki with less to deal with.           Spinner also knows that that is ludicrously dangerous to him personally, given his weak quirk, but he actively makes that choice anyway, because that’s how much he’s devoted himself to Shigaraki without (yet) quite articulating the nature and reasons for that devotion. Targeting Trumpet without any of that reasoning made for a perfectly sound tactical decision, but it missed the regard Spinner shows the unnamed mobs of the MLA, and it really missed the probable savage beatdown and even possible death that Spinner consciously chooses to risk for Shigaraki’s sake.           Of course, a chunk of what the episode deleted is flashbacks to scenes the anime also cut, so they couldn’t figure into Anime!Spinner’s reasoning. This does not excuse yet more cuts to Spinner’s arc and characterization; it only adds to how badly the anime maimed him.           Also, on a less salty but still confused note, deleting all the Twice clones from the beginning of the scene and just having Spinner running along a wall past mobs of people instead of laboriously fighting his way through the street to the van was really dumb. Why did all those MLA people just stand there and let him run by? Where did all the Twice clones that just helped save Spinner from a huge flurry of long-distance attacks disappear to? Come on.

• Trumpet’s thought that using Sevens Loud will draw every bit of strength from their warriors, but that it’s necessary. Setting aside that it looks far less necessary when there hasn’t been a crowd of Twice clones fighting Trumpet’s people this whole time, just Spinner by his lonesome, we still lost quite a bit to this cut. Firstly, a nuance on the trade-off Incite gives—that its stat-boost is temporary, and that it’s borrowing from the future to pay for the present, a stock that is limited and a bill that will come due when the effect wears off.           Secondly, it’s another demonstration that the MLA leaders aren’t just thoughtlessly wasting their followers’ lives; they’re very consciously doing cost/benefit analysis on how much danger their people are in versus what stands to be gained by the potential exertion or outright deaths those people will suffer. It’s cold reasoning, yes, but that’s how the Liberation Army operates: not for the personal gain or lackadaisical ease of the people on top—Trumpet would just have been in the tower speaking through city-wide loudspeakers, if that were the case—but for the advancement of the group’s ideals.           It also just grants Trumpet some interiority, but of course the anime can’t have that.

• The note in Trumpet’s meta-ability explanation that the more his voice causes the air to vibrate, the stronger Incite’s effect. This is—good god, it is literally the entire design mentality behind Sevens Loud! Sevens Loud purpose isn't to make his voice louder so more people can hear him (which I would think is the most logical assumption an anime-only person would make as to why he puts it on); it’s to make himself louder because being louder enhances the boost. It’s about the quality of the effect, not the quantity of targets. This is why Trumpet has the thought about how using Sevens Loud will drain the strength reserves of his people. There’d be no correlation there if Sevens Loud were only about boosting his range.

• When Spinner got porcupined in the anime, they did a close-up on his face, possibly to avoid the gore of showing the spines piercing through his forearm. That’s fine, but they also emphasized the reaction by having him lose his grip on the huge fuck-off knife he had clutched in his teeth. In the manga, sure, he yells in pain, but he doesn’t lose the knife. Indeed, he gets the guy off him by slashing at him with it—a shot the anime dropped. So Spinner doesn’t even get to keep displays of his pain tolerance, a trait he doubtless improved during those six weeks against Machia. Why does the anime hate Spinner so much, you guys? Why did it go out of its way to make him look lamer, when Dabi and Toga were out there getting anime-original flourishes to make them look cooler?

• Spinner’s thoughts, “When I get inspired to act, I don’t know what the heck I’m doing! I’m just a loser jumping on a bandwagon. Or at least that’s what it looks like.” A humorous bit of self-awareness from Spinner here. The anime got at the self-awareness. The humor, as we’ll see, not so much.

• Spinner’s thoughts, “Look at me. Look at me!! With all that prejudice in your eyes!” Hah hah, laughed BNHA the anime nervously, what prejudice are you talking about, Spinner? No idea what you could possibly be referring to there! This one’s particularly annoying because, while one might think that the anime was just dodging the heteromorphobia angle it eradicated all references to back at the beginning of the arc, the prejudice line isn’t even about heteromorphobia, not really.           See, the Japanese line there literally translates to, “With those colored glasses!”—to see with colored glasses being a Japanese idiom for seeing something from a biased viewpoint. So aside from being a wordplay jab at Trumpet’s choice in eyewear, it’s also about Trumpet’s expressed view that Spinner, having been a shut-in with a weak quirk who decided to take his resentment out on the world, can’t possibly amount to anything much. So, what, did the people in charge of making those cuts think Trumpet was right? Why even keep the line where he disparages Spinner if you’re not going to let Spinner call it what it is? He’s not calling out fantasy racism there, anime! He’s calling out the bias against weak quirks that even the good guys in this world sometimes partake in!           Possibly it’s because non-villains in the world[2] sometimes use reasoning that leads logically to quirk supremacism that the anime got gunshy with it, or it was more reluctance to give the villains—and the Too-Real Iguchi Shuuichi especially—moral ground for accusations against their society that get too close to real life. Whatever the motivation, it’s a bullshit cut.

• Shigaraki calling RD “Detnerat,” presumably because he neither knows RD’s real name nor cares to dignify him by using his code name. The anime, again, made neither the connection nor Shigaraki’s recognition explicit, so it lost the specificity and pettiness of that little snub.

• A little exchange between Giran and a Twice clone as they flee. It doesn’t give you much you wouldn’t assume just from seeing them flee, but it always feels more immediate and empathetic when the characters talk and you can see their expressions, instead of just a quick shot of them from behind as they run away in complete silence. Heck, running away in complete silence is actively out of character for Twice!

• Because the anime has some kind of aversion/restriction on showing hand-related violence, it radically changed how Shigaraki lost his fingers,[3] resulting in the loss of several important shots. To the best of my parsing, in the manga, when Re-Destro makes that first big jump to avoid Shigaraki’s decay wave, he comes back down specifically aiming for Shigaraki’s outstretched left hand, spread wide and flat on the ground. Shigaraki tries to evade (you can see the blur of his left arm in the panel where RD lands), but either RD does manage to clip the hand or he simply hits the ground with so much force that the sheer explosive burst of rock shreds Shigaraki’s hand and part of his coat sleeve. Being so much larger, RD then simply snags Shigaraki by the wrist before he can get out of range. It’s very fast, a burst of speed and violence, and very different (read: cooler) from Shigaraki flipping end over end in slow motion in a way that seemed to imply visually that he was thrown well out of RD’s grabbing range.           As to the shots we lost? I counted three. First, Hana’s hand crumpling amidst all the flying debris. Second, that big dramatic panel of Shigaraki’s maimed hand ribboning blood into the air as the narration box finally drops Re-Destro’s identity and code name. Third, the shot of him catching Shigaraki, almost delicately, between one thumb and forefinger and delivering the, “Was it this hand that committed such evil acts?” line—a clear threat to what of that hand Shigaraki has remaining—as we find out what his meta-ability is.           This is all hugely dramatic in the manga, because, of course, readers always assumed Shigaraki needed all five fingers to activate his quirk, and here Re-Destro nigh-effortlessly robs him of fully half his capacity to use it. It’s a shocking turn-around and instantly ups RD’s threat level by allowing him to permanently maim Shigaraki in a way that no one, hero or villain, has done before or since. Robbing Re-Destro of the immediacy of that seemingly devastating blow—inflicted within moments of meeting the real Shigaraki—did immeasurable damage to his credibility as an arc boss.           The shot in the manga is also just arresting visually, with RD finally getting to properly loom over Shigaraki. Most of the shots up to this point have been framed such that, while RD is obviously bigger, he and Shigaraki have still been moving and fighting in a pretty level way. This is the first place where the viewer is situated so squarely behind Shigaraki that they can really feel how massive RD is in comparison. It’s certainly a more impressive visual than this mess—thanks, anime; thanks, whatever broadcasting standards forced overworked and uninspired animators to undertake a redraw of RD’s quirk reveal panel when every other member of the MLA brass had theirs carried over directly from the manga.

• A chapter-ending cliffhanger of Slidin’ Go helping direct traffic on the outskirts of Deika and the warning rumble as Gigantomachia approaches. Aside from being a nice little tension boost—Will Gigantomachia roll up just in time to see Re-Destro making a mess of Shigaraki? Who will he target? Will Shigaraki ever be able to win him over if he sees a scene like that?—it’s good foreshadowing for what the news reports will eventually be saying. Remember, the claim is that a bunch of villains lured Deika’s heroes away and then attacked the city while it was defenseless; that’s why we never see any of the MLA’s heroes involved with the fight once it starts. And now, here, we find out where they’ve been the whole time: making sure no outsiders get in who might be able to undermine that narrative.

Framing Shifts

• Once again had an MLA member using their Detnerat item say its name out loud, when it’s clear in the manga that they’re just thinking the names internally. Once again, it was kind of silly.

• When Spinner flashes back to watching Stain on TV and being inspired, the manga uses a shot of Stain’s face, snarling and defiant. The anime used—a shot of Stain from behind, only visible from the shoulders to the knees, hunched so that his lower back and ass were towards the camera. Bones… What exactly were you implying lit Spinner’s fire there? Or did you just not have the time or budget to go pull Stain’s reference sheets for drawing his face?

• A tone issue, but a major one: Spinner should be grinning, face alight with accusatory challenge, as he hurls his accusations of the MLA/Trumpet being the same bandwagon-jumping nobodies that he is. This is the moment in the manga where we see Spinner truly throw his hesitations and his doubts to the wind and embrace Shigaraki’s nihilistic fervor and the beauty, value and profundity of emptiness. So what if I’m empty? So what if he wants emptiness? Who cares about other peoples’ ideals if their ideals leave no room for me? It’s not a heroic triumph, but it’s a triumph all the same, and losing Spinner’s smile made the moment far too bitter.

• Meanwhile, in exactly the opposite problem, Shigaraki by this point is not smiling. In fact, he’s barely on his feet, swaying violently in place with accompanying sound effects. While his words are openly mocking, he seems to wholly lack the energy to back them up with his usual verve. The anime didn’t have him smiling, admittedly, but the whole time the ‘camera’ wasn’t directly on his face, his voice actor was reading the lines with an uneven, chuckling cadence that suggested Shigaraki was seconds away from breaking into howls of laughter. He was also, of course, impossibly clean, at a point at which his manga counterpart is muddy, bloody and tattered from the horrifically extended combat he’s been living for six weeks. It’s stuff like this that made it so impossible to take the Army or even Machia as much of a threat in the anime, when, other than the red cords on his hands being broken, Shigaraki looked absolutely no different than usual.

Additions

• Gave Spinner a tiny bit of new animation when he got mobbed by people hopped up on Incite. It was nice, but if they were going to give him a flourish, I’d rather it have come when he swipes Porcupine Dude off him with a combat knife. Or, you know, just kept the bit of him telling the Twices to attack and his reasoning on why.

• Cut inside briefly to show a ballerina girl dancing through a darkened apartment right before she sliced a neat circle out of the wall. I love it, A+, exactly the kind of expansion on the action of the manga I wanted to see. My only complaint is that her manga self looked more like Pearl from Steven Universe.[4] XD

• A quick new shot of RD when Shigaraki was hounding him about his feelings. His teeth were visibly gritted, the corners of his mouth pulled down. It stands out because there’s only one shot of RD there in the manga, and in it, he’s smiling, close-mouthed and calm. The anime copied said shot, smile and all, then cut away, and when it cut back, Re-Destro had a totally different expression on his face. Baffling. Anime!RD having a dour scowl everywhere manga!RD is smiling in a tight, controlled way was all over the fight scene, and it detracted from the sense of RD’s menace every time.

Chapter 234 – Destruction Sense

• The illustration(s) accompanying Re-Destro’s, “Let’s not judge people by their quirks,” line. The pictures are cute, but the real loss there was the note informing us that they’re excerpts from a children’s book published by Shoowaysha—Curious’s outfit—called Quirks and Us. That’s a very concrete illustration of the kinds of things the MLA is getting up to in the world, and an equally concrete thing an anime-only viewer lost. Of course, that viewer never even found out Curious was in publishing, so it wouldn’t have meant anything on that front, but there is one other thing I think is notable: the way that book implies that the only people explicitly pushing a “don’t judge other people by their quirks” message are the radical Liberationists.           See, the rest of the story touches on the virtues of a nonjudgmental attitude here and there, but actually finding people willing to say it out loud is—unprecedented, I think. Deku comes across situations where he could say something like that multiple times and he never, ever does—not to Shouto, nor to Shinsou, nor to Eri, nor to the giant fox lady. And that’s not even touching on Shouji’s mask, or the discrimination Spinner faced, or the CRC “losing support” without being declared illegal. I think the manga itself is against judging people by their quirks, but it’s interesting that it doesn’t make its characters into mouthpieces to say as much. This is because its characters are thoroughly enmeshed in a society that very much does judge people by their quirks, regardless of whether or not it will say that doing so is bad or rude or prejudiced.           Re-Destro and the MLA aren’t immune, of course—Re-Destro himself says that quirks are linked to personality—but they adhere to a different set of values than the larger society does. While Hero Society talks about quirks in terms of being heroic and/or useful versus villainous and/or useless, the MLA spectrums instead emphasize how capable a person’s quirk is of helping them exert their will and how ambitious the quirk’s bearer is in that exertion. That is, their ethics are less about morality and utility-to-society than they are about aspiration and utility-to-self.[5] Both worldviews have their pros and cons, but that, I think, is what the children’s book is getting at when it says not to “judge”—don’t assign an arbitrary moral value to a quirk; judge a person by their actions.           And isn’t it interesting, that the only explicit verbal statement of that value comes from the leader of a radical cult descended from a famous insurrectionist quoting a children’s book published by a member of selfsame radical cult? The value is not ever stated by a member of the heroic cast, so are we to assume that the heroes don't actually believe it? Do people profess to believe it but everyone knows it’s only for courtesy’s sake, with only the MLA willing to breach that wall of “things we don’t talk about in polite society” to actually talk about it in anything other than platitudes? Obviously, you lose this entire line of discussion when the "don't judge people by their quirks" value is just never mentioned at all.

• The phrase, “In that case,” from RD’s, “You will never measure up to me.” It establishes continuity to what RD was saying before. He’s not taking breaks from talking while Shigaraki has flashbacks; the two are happening concurrently.

• RD’s, “Cracking apart…?” reaction to his Decayed fingertip, and the dripping blood from the injury. I’m not hugely fussed about the former, but I like the latter as indicative of what Re-Destro’s Stress powers actually do. That is to say, he isn’t covering himself in a thick shell of Stress power or something; his Stress powers make him physically larger, infusing his body and swelling his size. That’s why he bleeds when Shigaraki touches his fingertip.           Admittedly, the size distinction was more obvious in the anime, where the audience watched RD’s shoulders inflate like balloons last episode, compared to the manga, where you don’t get in-between animation. Still, given that RD still has that wound even when he goes back down to normal size, and is still wearing bandages for his speech a week later,[6] it’d be nice to mark the severity of the wound with a bit of blood. Oddly, the anime did keep the wound for the crater scene, visible red slices opened in the flesh along the length of his finger, very obviously the sort of injury that would have bled upon being first sustained. Maybe RD ran afoul of whatever the studio mandate is on when Decay has a dust effect and when it leaves gore? (More of that later.)

• Shigaraki’s, “Mother!” for the first panel we see of her. It’s obvious enough who she probably is, but odd that we got a whole bunch of narration for Hana, and likewise an acknowledgment of his grandparents, but not even a single word for Nao.

• Very significantly drops the grandfather’s, “Eating yummy things helps make the sadness go away.” Grandpa’s not just randomly handing Tenko his favorite snack in that memory—he’s trying to treat some kind of grief or wrong without actually addressing the wrong, opting to just put a flavorful band-aid on it. That could be fine if it were something outside Grandpa’s control, but we’ve already gotten some early hints from Hana’s phrasing that things are not okay in the household, and thus the grandfather’s attempt to bribe Tenko with sweets is just as ominous a sign of what’s to come as the grandmother’s attempt to guilt him into not crying lest he make her cry too.

• A little shot of Shigaraki stirring in the rubble when RD answers the phone. It’s a nice demonstration of their size difference, especially comparing both of them to Machia, who we just saw tearing through buildings like the kaiju his theme music declares him to be.

Framing Shifts

• When Shigaraki narrates that Hana always took him by the hand when he got weepy, she actually does take his hand in the manga, her fingers wrapped around his, his clasped over hers. It emphasizes that this is what he can’t do anymore, simply hold hands with people, the innocence lost aspect, and it suggests the closeness he once had with his sister.           In the anime, she reached out a hand but wound up taking him by the wrist instead, his hand splayed open beneath hers. This suggested, albeit very implicitly, that maybe that innocence was something he never had from the beginning; it also suggested less reciprocity in his relationship with Hana. Even though Tomura said in narration that their hands were joined, what we saw was that Hana just pulled him where she wanted him and he didn’t fight her on it, not that he held her hand in return.           Alternatively, the anime could have been drawing a parallel to how her hand would eventually be gripping his wrist in a much different context (a more necrotic one, for starters) later in life, though if that's what they were going for, they could have stood to tweak the dialogue so it actually matched the onscreen action. (Credit to @robotlesbianjavert and @aysall respectively for these two theories!)

• Shigaraki still having his fingers when Re-Destro squeezed his hand made RD look like a real moron. I assume the intention was that he assumed he’d done enough damage—broken bones, torn ligaments, etc—to prevent Shigaraki from being able to move his hand in more than spastic twitches, but like, if all it takes is a hard enough spasmodic clench to dust you, you are playing much riskier games than the MLA is generally portrayed as favoring. (Not that the anime kept many of the scenes that demonstrated all the planning and prep that the MLA did as groundwork for their attack, as I have complained about at length.)           In the same sequence, Anime!RD turned and bodily hurled Shigaraki away from him, while Manga!RD threw him a similar distance with nothing more than a flick of a finger. Anime, why you gotta make Re-Destro look so lame all the time?

Additions

• Just one episode prior, the anime managed to turn in an entirely reasonable assemblage of swiping and dodging between Shigaraki and Re-Destro while RD was rambling on about the Mother of Quirks. What the hell was the excuse for this episode’s ridiculous shot of Shigaraki literally running circles—big, broad circles—around RD multiple times in the time it took RD to finish one (1) thought? For heaven’s sake, if you don’t have the budget for flashy, just use slow motion or more flashback animation or something. I know there’s more leeway for long thoughts in manga, where the reader understands that thoughts are moving far faster than action, and that it can be hard to bridge that gap for anime, where motion is motion but voice acting still has to rattle its way to the end of a sentence. I understand that measures have to be taken to account for that. Still, I promise, something that just looks a bit padded is much preferable to something that looks outright dumb.

• I admit to having found huge Stress monster RD pulling out a teeeeeny-tiny cellphone very funny—even more so the distinct cracking sound it made when Skeptic reported in bad news and RD’s fingers tightened infinitesimally—but the manga suggests fairly strongly that RD’s just answering on some kind of earpiece or micro-receiver, the same kind of thing Ujiko hands out and that Skeptic is associated with on multiple occasions. It’d be nice if RD could have kept more of the jokes he actually makes, the ones that stem from his native good humor, rather than the anime making up new ones based entirely in the contrast of Re-Destro and the viewer’s expectations of Re-Destro.

Chapter 235 – Shimura Tenko: Origin

• The man at the door, whom Nao is apologizing to at the beginning of the Tenko flashback and the apparent reason Tenko got busted for playing hero. I don’t love the way deleting this obscured that Tenko, in some fashion, troubled someone to lead to Kotarou dragging him down the hall (the anime also dropped Kotarou’s subsequent line, “Causing trouble?!” that’s supposed to supplement his, “Playing hero again?”), but it’s not like the manga doesn’t imply that the same thing would happen for any hero-based rules infraction, regardless of whether it troubled strangers or not. No, the much, much funnier thing to me is how it just fuckin’ torpedoed the most obvious thing people point to when they posit that All For One gave Tenko Decay, kicking off the entire tragedy: the man at the door with the conspicuously shadowed face and the even more conspicuously AFO-like suit and dress shirt with the top button unfastened.           Listen, I hate that theory and what it would do to the narrative of Shigaraki Tomura/Shimura Tenko as Hero Society’s long-overdue reckoning, the villain they can’t put down and the victim they can’t silence, so watching the anime summarily cut out the scene that really kicked the theory into overdrive was very validating! Conversely, I still can't deny that it's a plausible theory, so if it does turn out to be true, that means the anime shot itself in the foot on the most obvious bit of foreshadowing this side of AFO addressing Tenko by name when he finds him in the alley. The schadenfreude of that would also be very funny. Really, unlike every other cut this season, I regard this one as win-win for my personal experience with the anime.           Incidentally, I was very prepared to complain about the anime dropping all the changes of clothes the Shimura family goes through over the course of the flashback—I regard the timelapse as one of the major points against the AFO Gave Tenko Decay theory, since it’s never taken a quirk bestowed by AFO multiple days, maybe even multiple weeks, to kick in before—but it turns out I’m a lot less bothered about them not taking the time to change the side characters’ clothes when the anime also deletes the dude at the door who is the only reason I care about clarity re: how much time the flashback covers! But just for the record, while they had more outfits than I was expecting them to, the family did go through fewer changes of clothes in the anime than in the manga.

• The full echo of the line about kids being sneaky and simple in favor of Narrator!Shigaraki just letting out this exhausted, rueful, “Ahhh, kids are…” I actually rather like it. It’s a clear reference back to the earlier line without having to restate the whole thing, and Uchiyama Kouki’s delivery is really excellent.

• Kotaro’s first slap of Tenko, the only one directly portrayed on-panel, and Mon-chan’s barking in response. On the one hand, I think there’s an argument to be made for the scene flowing a bit better like this—why wouldn’t Grandpa try to stop him from going for that second slap; why wouldn’t Nao pass Hana off to Grandma and do something instead of just standing there yelling for the entire scene? It makes a bit more sense if they’re hesitant to intervene because Kotarou has “only” grabbed at Tenko’s collar and they don’t yet know how that it’s going to escalate to naked physical violence in a way that it never has before.           On the other hand, that first slap is so visceral and shocking. Nowhere else in the manga is domestic violence portrayed more sharply and directly, in greater detail or more cruelly generous panel space than in this moment. It’s in the difference in size between Kotarou and Tenko, the force behind the hit that’s enough to knock Tenko clear off his feet, the pages upon pages of gut-churning lead-up to this moment and what we know will be following soon after.           Also too, it makes the family’s failure to help Tenko much worse that no one else acts when Kotarou pulls back for a second hit. The first one, you could almost excuse because no one saw it coming; the second throws those justifications out the window and spits on them afterward. Two hits are important—not only for what they tell Tenko in the moment about his family's inaction, but because two hits speak in ways one hit doesn't to how wildly uneven the power balance is in the house, that Nao and her parents could witness something like that and not only fail to intercede, but then take who knows how long to work up the courage to confront Kotarou afterwards.           I understand very well the fear of showing this in a family TV timeslot—the violence is so much more real than any big fantasy beat-‘em-up could ever be—but it’s the kind of thing that really drives home what Tenko needed to be saved from even back then, a social issue that heroes as they currently exist were in no position to address. Far from demonstrating that heroes aren't at fault for what happened to Tenko, though, what this scene truly does is vividly illustrate the flaws in All Might's social contract, in which his power and smile seem to promise that he can save absolutely everyone, only to leave children like Tenko out in the cold with no explanation as to why. It's brutal because it has to be, and the anime shying away from depicting Kotarou's physical abuse undercut that.

Framing Shifts

• There was a bizarre, nonsensical change to the scene at the beginning of the chapter where RD is figuring out how Shigaraki survived/got back up after taking a Burden attack head-on. The manga’s explanation is that Shigaraki didn’t actually take a full force hit because he was Decaying it even as it was blowing him back. This is somewhat silly, given that even a reduced-strength Burden is still strong enough to put him through multiple buildings. It is, however, less silly than the anime’s take, in which Shigaraki touched Re-Destro rather than the corporealized Stress of Burden. How Re-Destro survived a full-fingered touch from Shigaraki’s completely uninjured right hand[7] went totally unexplained; the problem was then compounded by Re-Destro delivering manga-accurate lines about Burden not being an evadable attack despite “evasion” having nothing to do with Shigaraki’s actions.           Anime!Shigaraki didn’t dodge the Burden attack any more than Manga!Shigaraki did; unlike Manga!Shigaraki, however, Anime!Shigaraki also did nothing to reduce the impact of the attack. So not only was how Shigaraki survived the Burden attack not explained, the change to the material also opened up the plot hole of how Re-Destro survived a direct touch attack that Shigaraki in the manga never lands.

• There was also an extremely weird decision made to give Tenko dark, gray-blue eyes, obviously reminiscent of Nana’s, and suggest that they became red at the same time as his hair was changing to white. But in the manga, other than the size, there’s no difference between young Tenko’s eyes and how Shigaraki’s eyes have always been drawn—an unshaded iris with a visible pupil and a relatively thick line delineating the iris from the white of the sclera. Tenko’s eyes never matched those of anyone else in his family, least of all his dark-eyed grandmother. His hair changed color because of a trauma response,[8] but his eyes were always red.

• Relocated Shigaraki’s first, “Little kids…are sneakier than you’d expect. And simpler,” to underscore Hana showing him Nana’s picture in the study, squarely centering the line on her. And like, yes, that line does get its bitter echo later when Hana panics in the face of her father’s fury and throws the blame onto Tenko—but that line isn’t just about her; it’s also about what Tenko wanted to hear from the other adults in his life. It didn’t matter that his father didn’t approve; if he could get at least one adult to say he could be a hero, to take his side, then he could feel vindicated.           It’s a child’s sneaky, simple reasoning: if an adult’s words are absolute, you just have to get one (1) adult to agree with you. It’s asking Dad if you can do something you don’t think Mom will agree to, and then going to Mom with Dad’s permission held defensively in-hand. Laying the line over Hana obscures that it’s as much about Tenko’s craving for external validation as it is Hana’s (entirely understandable) deceitful streak.

• After half a season full of internal monologue being voiced aloud even when it made little sense to do so, the anime decided to render clearly talk-bubbled dialogue—Tenko’s chatting at Mon about how he feels like he could take on the world—as internal monologue instead. Who talks to their animals in their heads when they could be talking at them directly like pet owners the world over?

Additions

• Added a few extra stills of Kotarou rebuking Tenko and dragging him around. I don’t think they’re inaccurate to the situation, though I wonder if it really needed to be underlined two more times than the manga did. Maybe they were trying to make up in advance for deleting the first slap?

• Added a few new stills of Nana and child!Kotarou. They hurt my soul and I love them without reservation.

Chapter 236 – Shimura Tenko: Origin, Part 2

• Hana’s second apology. What needs to get across was communicated with her first apology, but I do think the second one adds some naturalism to the dialogue. It feels very normal for a child feeling extremely guilty to apologize multiple times, like the more times they say it, the more true/convincing it will become.

• A bit of Tenko’s internal monologue—thinking Hana’s name, and Mon’s, and that he can’t talk. The anime slipped some attempts at verbalizing “Mon” into the dialogue, and it was painfully obvious just from listening to him gag and choke that he was too horror-struck to get words out, in ways that would be a little harder to convey on the page. Also, he thinks again that he can’t talk just as Hana runs away, so it gets across regardless. No real complaints here.

• Some thoughts about how he’s itchy, which, given what his itch represents (or at least what he thinks it does), they probably should have kept for continuity’s sake.

• Tenko’s last, “Hana-chan!” just as he grabs for her. I can imagine it having just that little bit more desperate impact, especially given Sekine Arisa’s great delivery of the first “Hana-chan!” but his delivery of the first one was great—weeks later, I can still remember it clearly—so it’s not a snip I’m inclined to doomsay about.

• Hana’s verbalization as the Decay hits her. Given that they kept Mon-chan’s last whimper, it’s kind of inconsistent not to keep this. It’s grueling, sure, but no more so than the rest of the horror show shortly to follow.

• An echo of Nao’s defense of Kotarou’s anti-hero stance. Frankly, I think anime already over-indulges in echoing dialogue we’ve heard not ten minutes prior, so I don’t mind losing this—in the manga, the moments would have fallen in different chapters, so it makes more sense to squeeze in the little reminder, but that wasn’t necessary for the anime, in which the original moment and the callback happened barely more than five minutes apart. It was obvious what the mental image was meant to draw attention to, since Tomura was narrating about exactly what his grievance was, and the image was followed by the two equivalent moments with the grandparents. (Admittedly, it hurt that correlation a bit that Grandpa’s line about the ohagi being intended to make the sadness go away got cut, but the sentiment was pretty clear from the man’s expression of nervy, abashed guilt regardless.)

• The line of Decay that splits Nao’s eye, one of the more vividly horrific little grace notes in the chapter. It undercut the grotesquerie just the tiniest bit, but the scene’s grotesque as-is, so I can understand that slight edit for TV standards. The discrepancy between Decay-to-dust and Decay-to-gore, discussed below in Framing Shifts, was much more damaging.

• A shot of Kotarou just after he hits Tenko with the tree pruning shears in which he looks, briefly, incredibly distraught, like he’s just realized what a monster he’s become. The anime didn’t make the slightest of attempts to keep that spasm of horror, grief, and regret, and thus lost that last moment of sympathy for a man deeply traumatized by a heroic character’s actions. It’s my only complaint about Anime!Kotarou, who I was otherwise far more pleased with than I was afraid might be the case, but it’s a complaint I must register nonetheless.

• A bit of inarticulate yelling before Tenko screams, “You... Die!!” It helps get across Tenko’s rage overflowing, to have that wordless garble before he can actually wrap words around it. He was still having trouble talking, too, so it makes sense that his first vocalization would just be a long, incomprehensible screech. That said, with the music there to supplement the mood in a way the manga would lack, I don’t think the anime’s rendition of the scene suffered overmuch from its absence.

Framing Shifts

• The anime, of course, has always gone the dust route for Decay because Decay is a little too gruesome for family hour TV, and anyway, when Tomura gets as fast with Decay as he is in Deika, he really is just insta-dusting people, such that not even blood remains. But he wasn’t that fast or that thorough as a child, hence why it’s all so much gorier—and it needs to be, because it’s hard to imagine Hana freaking out like she does if all she sees is a pile of dust instead of, well, dog gobbets. (Also, if his family had gone the dust route, it would have been very hard to convince the audience that Tomura’s hands are his family hands and not fakes provided to AFO by Ujiko.)           This obviously put the anime in a difficult spot, but apparently the decision they settled on was—to not decide? Everyone we saw in the active process of decaying decayed into dust as usual, but then once they were done decaying, once that transition from person to ruin was complete, there were all these heaps of gore everywhere. It was a very strange and distracting inconsistency that hurt the scene much more than any of the nearly invisible cuts, and I hope the blu-rays will change it.

• Added Grandpa catching Grandma as she staggered at the sight of things in the yard. Since his body language in the manga (the only non-Decayed shot of him in the sequence) has him leaned more forward, like he’s still halfway through running towards the kids, I thought this was a nice little touch on why he stopped, for reasons other than just the obvious.

                                                         ---

Episode 111 was about half of a really strong episode. Most of my complaints about the Shimura Family flashback are very minor, and most of the ones that are less minor are still easy to overlook when the rest of the presentation was so strong. Unfortunately, the non-flashback half of the episode had as many problems as ever, and those aren't over yet.

Come back next time for Part Five, Episode 112: Origin: Shigaraki Tomura. Assuming my complaining about the finalized gutting of Spinner's arc doesn't get too out of hand—which it may; if so, I'll tack on one final part to wrap things up—I'll also be running down a quick overview of the Paranormal Liberation Front scenes in the Endeavor Agency arc and some various odds & ends.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Yes, I know the Skeptic Confronts Twice scene goes nowhere, but maybe, instead of deleting it, they could have patched it up by showing Skeptic turning away from the confrontation when the tower went down? You know, actually made an effort to improve on the material?

[2] Bakugou, of course, but also Inko, Kotarou, and, very prominently, even All Might. Deku circa MVA has an entire arc lying in wait for him about how much he’s internalized All Might’s paternalism re: having the strongest quirk.

[3] Indeed, as of the scene in the crater, he still hadn’t lost them at all! He had his prosthetic by the time of the speech, so I guess we’re meant to assume that Ujiko or some MLA doctor declared them past saving and amputated them. I hope I don’t need to tell you how unbelievably lame it is to have a shounen manga character sustain a permanent injury like that off-panel.

[4] It’s the pointy nose.

[5] That, at least, is the best way I’ve found to reconcile all the related-but-distinct values professed by the various members of the MLA brass, from Re-Destro’s focus on liberation and purpose, what exactly Trumpet chooses to cite when he’s talking about Spinner not “amounting” to anything much, Geten’s open extolling of quirk supremacy, and so on.

[6] In the first big double-page spread. Oddly, no bandaging is visible in the other panel that has a good shot of that hand, possibly because Horikoshi was more focused on drawing RD’s empty pant leg. The anime kept the obvious wound during the crater scene, but not the bandages during the speech.

[7] I assume, anyway, that Re-Destro only survives Shigaraki’s first touch because it’s a weaker Decay, coming as it does from only from two fingers rather than five.

[8] The fabled Marie Antoinette Syndrome. Never been scientifically documented as such (hair can whiten because of extreme stress, but not overnight) but it endures in fiction because it’s pleasingly dramatic. Trauma-based eye-color changes, not so much.

[otnesse]

Commentary on Peace Walker’s lionization of Che Guevara

Well, guys, as I promised earlier, I’m going to do coverage on a particularly infamous aspect of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and quite frankly if you ask me, one of its worst elements. Sorry for the delay, didn’t realize that Peace Walker was actually released on April 29 in Japan and not the 30th. I’m basically going to cover the game’s lionization of Che Guevara in the various briefing files, and in particular Big Boss and Kazuhira Miller’s lionizing of that monster. For a bit of background, Peace Walker was the second canon PSP entry into the Metal Gear series, after Portable Ops (yes, Portable Ops is in fact canon, and if you ask me was a superior game to Peace Walker in terms of story and characterizations at least, but I digress…). The game has some controversial elements, namely it being very overtly anti-American even by its usual standards, not to mention pushing left-wing values to a far greater degree. One of these values is in the blatant promotion of Che Guevara in the briefing files (in the main story itself, ie, strictly going by the actual missions you undergo, the Che love was at least limited to the Sandinistas and to Vladimir Zadornov, with it being left ambiguous as to whether Snake and Miller actually were fond of him, and while you could argue that the Sandinistas’ sympathetic portrayal could point toward a promotion, Zadornov’s promotion was definitely meant to be a negative since he was planning on having Big Boss reenact Che’s well deserved execution after successfully changing Peace Walker’s target to Cuba in a disinformation op. The Briefing Files, however, aside from obviously Amanda and Chico, members of the Sandinistas, they also had Big Boss and Miller singing praises for that jerk.).

My commentary is on how Big Boss and Miller’s promotion of the guy was a complete and total betrayal of their characters, and also a betrayal of the explicit themes of the game, and also how it’s just one sign of Kojima just being a hack writer, not to mention was extremely poorly done even if we were to assume Kojima intended for Big Boss and Miller to be seen as the villains.

Out of character

For the first part, I’ll cover how the gushing for Che Guevara was completely out of character for Big Boss, and especially for Kazuhira Miller, aka, Master Miller from MG2 and MGS, not just going by past entries, but even when taking into account Peace Walker itself and any supplementary materials. I’ll give separate sections for the two of them, since it’s going to be lengthy.

Big Boss

For Big Boss, I’ll acknowledge that he was meant to be the main villain in the MSX2 games, or at least the main antagonist. However, his singing praises for Che Guevara even knowing that tidbit still didn’t make any sense at all, for a variety of reasons. First off, the games, namely Metal Gear Solid 2, strongly implied that Big Boss adhered to a more, for lack of a better term, right wing outlook. For starters, the New York Mirror review for Nastasha Romanenko’s book gave brief coverage on the official reports of what went down on Shadow Moses. In particular, as you can see with the screencaps down below, they specifically called the Sons of Big Boss a “radical right-wing group”, and the group itself for all intents and purposes, was modeled after Big Boss (even Liquid, despite hating his father, nevertheless was influenced by his ideology).

And then we get into the character Solidus, who unlike Liquid, or even Solid Snake, practically idolized his “father” (I put it in quotes since Solidus is a clone of Big Boss, as are Liquid and Solid), to the extent that he was practically ecstatic that Raiden shot out his eye and made him look even MORE like his dad. Aside from that, as you can see below with these screencaps, he was also depicted as a proto-Tea Party type, heck, a proto-MAGA type even, basically wanting America to return to the way the Founding Fathers envisioned it. There’s definitely no way Solidus would have been the type to sing praises for a scumbag like Che Guevara, knowing that, and considering his idolization of Big Boss, it’s also unlikely Big Boss would have sang praises for that creep either.

There’s also the fact that in MGS3, he wasn’t fond of Communism at all, and had already interacted with a guy similar to Che in many respects (well, other than maybe in terms of sexuality), Colonel Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin, as both were renowned sadists, and even directly attempted to cause nuclear war. In fact, even before the torture, Big Boss, more accurately Naked Snake at that time, learned a bit about Volgin’s past, in particular his involvement in Katyn, and presumably Bykivnia and Kurapaty as well due to EVA’s references to similar massacres occurring in Western Belarus and the Ukraine, as you can see below:

His reaction in that conversation with EVA, in particular Volgin’s personal role in executing those guys, had him downright horrified. Bear in mind that Che Guevara actually DID do several of those things himself, shot innocent and unarmed people, and if anything, unlike Volgin who at least allowed Snake to have weapons on hand to fight him, Che outright dithers when confronted with people using guns, even if they’re his own allies based on his interaction with Jorges Sotus, and to a lesser extent Jesus Carreras. It says a lot when even someone like Volgin, a psychopathic mutant, had more honor than Che Guevara. Plus, in Peace Walker, Big Boss when recalling the Cuban Missile Crisis implied that he blamed that event for his ultimately having to kill The Boss (with Miller even noting it was uncharacteristic of him to get into hypotheticals), as you can see in these screencaps below.

The reason that ties in to Che Guevara is because, believe it or not, Che is the reason why the CMC nearly caused the Cold War to become hot. He and Castro even attempted to launch nukes at the United States, and it actually spooked Khrushchev enough that he had to muzzle Che and agree to end the standoff with the United States via the Turkey Deal (or retrieving Sokolov). Knowing that bit, it’s extremely unlikely Big Boss would have been particularly fond of the guy who essentially set the ground for Operation Snake Eater and his having to kill The Boss. And that’s not even getting into how he tried to stop a nuke being launched not just once in the game, but TWICE, and the second time was a perfect opportunity for him to emulate Che Guevara and succeed where Che failed. When Paz hijacked ZEKE, she revealed that she intended to nuke the Eastern Seaboard and pin the blame on MSF under Cipher’s orders, and yet Big Boss fought her in an attempt to stop her. That definitely wouldn’t have been something Che Guevara would have done, and if anything, he bragged to the London Daily Worker that he WOULD have launched the nukes at America preemptively had they been allowed to remain.

Heck, in Portable Ops and even Peace Walker, or at least the backstory for those games, Big Boss specifically served western interests after Operation Snake Eater. In the former, Big Boss was revealed to have participated in the Mozambique War of Independence, and a comment made by Null, aka, Gray Fox, aka, Frank Jaegar, after being bested the second time around, implied that Big Boss had fought alongside the Portugese during that time (Jaegar at that time was siding with FRELIMO), as you can see from the following screencaps:

And in the tape detailing how he and Miller met (not to mention the extended version included in the Peace and Harmony Blues drama tape that was later included in the Japanese version of Ground Zeroes, specifically chapters 1 and 2), it was mentioned that Kazuhira Miller at the time was a mercenary operating with an implied communist rebel group in Colombia, while Big Boss was clearly siding with the Western-backed government.

I think the events proper for Peace Walker was the first time Big Boss explicitly sided with Communists (not counting Portable Ops, since it’s implied the Russian soldiers renounced their Communism after being abandoned by the Soviet government), and even there, he did it more out of his own personal motives of getting closure regarding The Boss’s true motives after learning she may have somehow survived Snake Eater than out of any liking of Mena/Zadornov’s objectives.

Besides, Big Boss is former CIA, and grunt or not, he'd still need to have at least some degree of knowledge about Che, namely stuff like how Che tried to commit to the Cuban Missile Crisis and make it a hot war, among other things like his instituting gulags in Cuba. And let's not forget, when Gene in Portable Ops tried to pull a similar stunt, Big Boss was genuinely horrified by what he was planning to do.

Kazuhira Miller

Now we get to Kazuhira Miller, aka, Master McDonnell Benedict Miller. Unlike Big Boss, Miller was consistently up to that point depicted as a good guy (probably the closest he got to engaging in villainy was in MGS1 regarding manipulating Snake into arming REX, and even there, he was dead three days before the events of the game, and that had been Liquid who did so). He was also shown to be a huge Che fanboy, and if anything he was depicted as being an even bigger fanboy than Big Boss himself in that game. And Peace Walker also retconned his origins by revealing he was in fact born in Japan with bi-racial ancestry (Japanese and American Caucasian), as he originally was third-generation Japanese American. He was made clear to have more love for America than his own home country of Japan, and only recognized the meaning of peace when talking to his hospitalized mom. He also was mentioned to have been influenced to get into the mercenary business by Yukio Mishima’s suicide, though he does imply that he wasn’t on the same political spectrum as him. Him singing praises for Che Guevara doesn’t work well at all, especially considering that he repeatedly stressed that they not allow another Cuban Missile Crisis to happen, and going by his comments in these screencaps below (in the same briefing file as Big Boss’s uncharacteristically going into hypotheticals, and if anything happened immediately before then), he was fully aware about how Japan itself was almost nuked again thanks to that event (with the only difference being that the Soviets were more likely to nuke them), as you can see with the following screencaps.

Having him sing praises for Che Guevara, whom as I pointed out earlier actually attempted to launch nukes and jumpstart World War III, comes across as ESPECIALLY distasteful knowing that bit, since it comes across as him basically cheering for the guy who tried to wipe out his fellow Japanese, to say little about the Americans, whom back then, he idolized. It would be the same thing as a Holocaust survivor singing praises for Adolf Hitler after narrowly surviving being killed by him. It also doesn’t match up at all with his characterization in MG2 or even MGS1 (and believe me, Liquid posing as Miller or not, his statements to Snake would have been what Miller himself would have said since Snake didn’t seem suspicious at all about him.), the latter regarding the bit about Meryl after she was captured. Even his not being fond of Japan doesn’t cut it, especially when, ignoring that he put that to the side after his mom was hospitalized, the character Sokolov ALSO wasn’t fond of the Soviet Union at all, risked crossing the iron curtain alongside his family to get away from it, and would have been free as a bird had the CMC not happened, and almost got away again until The Boss interfered. Even THERE, however, he still retained at least some degree of love for Russia itself, as when Gene decided to try to nuke Russia (or at least, that’s what Gene led everyone to believe at the time), he secretly went against Gene and adopted the alias of Ghost to aid Big Boss specifically to prevent a nuke from being launched there, being THAT against harming Russia despite hating the Soviet policies. I would have expected Miller to not be fond of Che Guevara at all for that reason.

Overall

The whole thing also didn’t work since if they were meant to be seen as heroes, it ticks off a whole lot of players who are fully aware of some of the crap Che Guevara caused and know his true nature, and regarding painting them as a villain, the problem is that the story DOESN’T depict them as villains for that. Heck, they don’t even STATE any bad things Che did other than maybe dying, and if anything, the way everyone was talking, you’d think he’d walk on water. If Kojima wanted to depict Big Boss and Miller as villains by having him sing praises for Che, the very least he could have done was make sure to specifically reference Che Guevara’s role in nearly causing the Cold War to go Hot by the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis and his being upset at the nukes being removed.

Apparently, if Kojima’s secretary is of any indication, the reason the Che love was in the game was because Kojima himself tried to force in his socio-political views into the game in blatant disregard for the narrative and characterizations therein, as you can see below with links (screencaps will have to be in an addendum post since, unfortunately, I've hit my limit regarding screencap postings):

https://twitter.com/Kaizerkunkun/status/900937994143649792

https://twitter.com/Kaizerkunkun/status/1179860611297153038

https://twitter.com/Kaizerkunkun/status/1190763430497542144

Themes

The Che praise doesn’t work too well with the themes either, since he was not a peaceful man, even called himself the opposite of Christ, and tried to start a nuclear war. It definitely goes against the stated themes of the game, which was peace, not to mention the anti-nuke themes of the overall franchise. Heck, if anything, specifically referencing Che’s attempt at nuking the US and causing Nuclear War, and by extension outright condemning him for it would have worked much better with the themes of anti-nukes, especially considering that they made sure to reference Vasily Arkhipov’s actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis at one point, not to mention referenced both Katyn and the fact that the Turkey silos were already rendered obsolete even before the Turkey Deal made removing them required due to the advent of nuclear subs in Snake Eater earlier. And without the references to that, or any other bad stuff, you’re literally left thinking that he must be a good guy. I’d know because I fell for that myself, especially after getting the game (I didn’t follow the briefing files, but I did follow the cutscenes on YouTube back when it was still in Japan, and I also was baffled as to how people were talking about Big Boss and Miller were Che fanboys since the cutscenes never even pointed in either direction, and if anything, Big Boss nearly being killed by Zadornov would probably point to him NOT liking Che afterwards due to nearly being forced into Che’s fate).

The only thing it did was just have Kojima force in his political and social views, and I’ll be blunt, that kind of crap is something I have distaste in, I hate having propaganda pushed onto me. Ironically, Kojima or at least the Benson books for MGS1 and MGS2, instilled that view onto me. So my anger at Kojima doing that, after learning what Che was truly like in one of the Politically Incorrect Books (either Vietnam War or the 1960s one), is very much personal as well as political and social.

Aftermath

Well, as I said, I did buy into the narrative around the time Peace Walker was released, but then I learned I was being tricked by Kojima after reading the PIG books. I’d argue that event definitely was a watershed event for me. Not only did it have me lose any respect I might have had for Kojima, it also influenced my outlook on life, left me becoming distrustful the second I started picking up how they’re trying to push an agenda instead of, say, actually teaching the material in college. It also may have influenced my later views on Star Wars and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (specifically, George Luca’s open admission to basing the Ewoks/Rebels on the Vietcong, and especially modeling the Galactic Empire after American soldiers; and Linda Woolverton admitting that she was trying to push a radical feminist agenda in Beauty and the Beast, the same one she tried to push in that awful Maleficent movie. Though I also was becoming disturbed with Belle for reasons other than that bit due to researching the French Revolution, though I will acknowledge Big Boss and Kazuhira Miller’s fanboying of Che Guevara, and in particular their reference to Sartre and his infamously singing praises for Che as “the most complete human being of the century”, certainly worsened my views on Belle, thinking that she may turn out like Sartre and throw her lot with the Jacobins and other groups.). It also left me distrusting of whatever Metal Gear had to say, may have also led to my not liking Chris Redfield after Resident Evil 5, or heck, some of the more anti-American commentary in 5 and other games, and also Dead Rising. It also influenced my decision to become a Dead or Alive fan (especially when before, I wasn’t particularly fond of the game due to the fanservice stuff), and in particular a Tina and Bass fan. May have also influenced my later distaste of Greg Berlanti’s writing of Arrowverse shows, in particular Supergirl starting with Season 2 (though that also had Heroes Redemption as a factor, which predated Peace Walker, thanks to how it changed Claire Bennet).

[duskandstarlight]

Wings & Shadows

Notes: I had a few of you asking me for Azriel’s POV during Wings Flames & Shadows and eventually the idea stuck! This is set at the end of the fic, when Azriel finds Cassian at the Winter Court to address the fact that Nesta is Cassian’s mate. I loved writing this and I really hope you like it, too. It was strangely easy to get into Azriel’s head for this one <3

For those of you who want to refresh your memories of what happens in WF&S then you can descent into this smutty pit of hell here. 

Let me know what you think! And just a friendly reminder that if you like what I write I’d love you to reblog so it can reach more people--thank you <3

Wings & Shadows Azriel POV

Despite being alive for over half a millennia, Cassian had never truly learnt to master his emotions. Whilst Azriel had honed the true art of a cold, blank mask from a young age, the general’s hazel eyes had always been a pathway straight to his heart if you knew where to look. But since the war—since living with Nesta—those underlying expressions had become something else entirely. Something stark and intensely sad. Something more distant and troubled as he worried over the ghost of a girl he had once known and loved.

That was not to say that Cassian did not attempt to hide the torment that wanted to wrangle its way across his features whenever he was forced to leave Nesta. Usually he laced over the agonised expression with barked, easy laughter and arrogant, drawling banter, but for the entirety of their trip to Kallias’s Winter Court, Cassian was… not present. Oh, he still plastered on his carefully orchestrated blend of fake, wide smiles and deathly calm as he usually did—a combination that should not be possible (although Azriel supposed Cassian had always defied the impossible)—but it was as if a light had flickered out somewhere and none of it rang true.

Rhys had clocked it immediately but knew better than to comment. He had learnt to keep his mouth shut when it came to his mate’s sister, even if it meant that Cassian’s duty to protect was reliant on muscle-memory and reflex rather than calculated assessment during a court visit. So his High Lord’s eyes had only flickered with faint starlight, the way they always did when a cog turned and clicked into place in his mind, before he turned back to congratulate Kallias and a glowing Vivianne on their pregnancy.

But given Azriel’s presence in Illyria the night before their trip to Winter, he knew just how fiercely every troubled thought and every laboured breath of Cassian’s was consumed with her—with the too slim female he had left behind. The female who was most likely slipping back into the lifeless husk she had been before Azriel’s hands had run over her body and Cassian’s mouth had lavished love and adoration with every press of his lips to her bare skin.

When the three of them had finished, it had only taken one look at his Cassian’s face and the outstretched wing he had thrown over Nesta’s body for Azriel to know that he should keep his distance. He had trodden dangerous ground when he had willingly engaged in that tryst—if it could even be called that. Whatever humming energy that whipped between Cassian and Nesta was certainly not just fucking, even if they wanted to pretend that was all it was. In the past, he and Cassian did not make a habit of discussing their shared social conquests, but slipping back into that brotherly familiarity had felt… tenuous this time. And whilst all memory of Nesta had been erased from Azriel’s skin, vanilla and jasmine still remained entangled with Cassian’s pine and musk, like the imprint of a frozen memory in time. Of when Nesta had been awake and glowing. Of when Cassian had wrapped her in his wings—protecting her from the trauma he seemed to know would come knocking as soon as he left her again.

But after three days of subtle distance to let Cassian cool off, all Azriel had achieved was an icy chasm of separation between he and his brother and a look on Cassian’s face that was so tortured Azriel couldn’t believe that nobody else had stepped in to ask what was wrong.

That was not to say that Mor’s chocolate brown eyes weren’t shimmering with concern or that Feyre hadn’t examined Cassian for a touch too long, but neither of them had dared to broach the subject. And whilst Mor would have usually probed Azriel for more information or fretted to him about what they should do, that easy familiarity between them had been severed.

Azriel could not see it ever being mended.

So, perhaps it was Azriel’s own grief that had him seeking out his brother on that third morning. Because even though his own heart was battered and aching, Cassian’s was worse. Azriel had learnt that the moment Cassian had sunk his teeth into the pale column of Nesta’s neck as she shattered between them—a mate territorially claiming his mate.

Mates. They were mates, for fuck’s sake.

Azriel should have known. He had suspected, of course, that Nesta Archeron was not just a female who’d managed to get under Cassian’s skin. Azriel knew Cassian better than anyone, after all. His brother had more female conquests than anyone he knew, his sexual appetite ravenous, yet Azriel’s shadows hadn’t needed to whisper to him in order for Azriel to glean that Cassian had not bedded anyone since Rhys had returned to the Night Court. Had not even glanced a female’s way since his eyes had first locked with the eldest Archeron sister in the mortal realm and snarled at her that he saw someone who had let her younger sister risk her life everyday whilst Nesta stayed safely at home. And even as Cassian’s eyes had gleamed feral as she had dismissed him, Azriel had known then that Nesta was not just another opponent. That she was in fact, most likely, the only person who was evenly matched to the male who was rumoured to be a warrior-God given flesh.

And maybe if Azriel’s judgement hadn’t been so fogged with Mor’s rejection then he would have been clear-headed enough to clamp down on his arousal and refuse to engage in a game of strip poker that could only have gone one way. But Azriel hadn’t been thinking straight. Had only thought about how even if Nesta was too gaunt, she was still undeniably devastating: her curves sweeping; her breasts full and aching. She had tasted like sin and distraction, and when her smoky grey eyes had turned from closed off to vulnerable and eager to please, his shadows had eddied out of control, flinging themselves out wide as he spilled onto her chest, her stomach...

That had been the final straw for Cassian.

Azriel didn’t blame him. He would not have had the same self-restraint himself.

The bitter winter air was sharp enough to burn when Azriel stepped out onto the otherwise deserted balcony of the breakfast room. Cassian’s wings should have been tucked in tight, but it was obvious that he was too far into his head, even as he seemingly stared out at the landscape before him. At the rolling slopes of white that stretched out for miles and miles until they were cut off by the green stripe across the landscape, where the pine trees of the forest lined the horizon.

Scuffing his shoes on the stone to alert Cassian of his arrival, Azriel stepped beyond the magical shields protecting the palace from the elements outside. The fiery crackle of pine logs was replaced by the crisp, bracing scent of winter as Azriel’s long legs carried him smoothly to the stone balcony wall to stand beside his brother.

He did not glance sideways at Cassian. Did not risk it, as he asked bluntly, “Did you want to do it?”

Cassian’s chest jerked and Azriel knew he was holding in a huff of breath—or more likely, a snort. A ginormous polar bear stepped out from between the snow-dusted pine trees, and together they watched the way the animals fur rippled with power and unimaginable strength as it padded across the ice covered fields. “Obviously,” he drawled.

Azriel’s sharp look was enough for Cassian to finally turn his head.

“You’re mates,” Azriel stated. His voice remained deep and lifeless—simple—but his words were soft and private. Only for he and Cassian.

Pain struck across his brother’s expression, the movement so swift and blinding that Azriel felt his heart clench. Shadows coiled and whispered around his ears, but Azriel silently ordered them to cease and they became quiet. “Yes,” Cassian forced out between gritted teeth.

Fists curled and uncurled at his friend’s sides, as if waiting for the questions and the derision, but Azriel only dipped his chin. “I suspected,” he said, “but when you initiated it all, I thought you couldn’t be, because there would be no way that you’d allow me to join you both otherwise.”

The grunt that emitted from Cassian’s throat curled downwards at the end, threatening to turn into a growl. Those fists tightened again and Azriel wondered how soon he’d have to blend into shadow. “You both wanted it. I wasn’t going to let you do it without me, was I?”

The torturous truth in the words hit home. Had Azriel been too blinded by his recent conversation with Mor to have judged what was right and what was wrong? But… no. Azriel had scented that room—the consensual desire thrumming between all of them. And he had not forgotten the look Cassian had shared with him that had told Azriel he was game—the raised, taunting eyebrow.

“You know I wouldn’t have done it without you,” Azriel replied carefully. “Nesta wouldn’t have done it without you.”

Cassian’s silence vibrated with a tense energy and Azriel understood the words his brother still could not voice aloud: he needed to be home with his mate. To check that she was ok. How could the others not see how badly Cassian was faring? He looked as if he had barely slept. Dark rings hung beneath his eyes as sharp as bruises and the agony wrought upon his face was so fierce it made Azriel’s shadows cluster to his brother, tendrils coiling out towards him.

His brother did not acknowledge them, even as one curled around his shoulder—a cold, gentle hand.

“Does she know?” Azriel asked.

It had been something Azriel had already considered. Feyre hadn’t recognised when the mating bond had snapped into place for she and Rhys and she had been human just like Nesta—had not grown up knowing about the bond and what it meant. Azriel couldn’t bring himself to ask Cassian when he had understood what he and Nesta were. There were so many times that Azriel had suspected that something far greater than lust or even simply love existed between the two of them. But then the war had finished and Nesta had become… empty—a byproduct of grief and death—and any obvious hope on Cassian’s part that the two of them might become something more had disintegrated into ash.

Steamed breath clouded the sky as his friend exhaled. The sound was bitter, somehow. “You should have asked, Does she care?”

“She cares,” Azriel replied, not waiting to pause for breath or to even blink. He had seen the way they interacted together now after all—how their bodies blended into one being, as if they had orchestrated a dance that only they knew. “Her eyes have this hollow quality most of the time. But sometimes, when she looks at you, it’s as if you have woken her up.”

Silence again as Cassian stared fixedly out at the expanse of white—at the fae that were bundled in thick furs and holding on tightly to leather reigns as they guided velvet-antlered reindeer and their curved sleighs through the snow.

“She’s good for you,” Azriel continued, offering up a truth—a blessing he knew his brother so desperately craved.

He was pressing far more than he usually did. Azriel was often a male of few words, but it was not often he saw his brother this lost. And Azriel supposed he had been privy to something nobody else had besides Cassian—a Nesta that was not sharp and prickly but open and unguarded in a way that had both hurt and given him breath. Azriel had seen the light spark back in her eyes when Cassian had bowed to kiss her. But Azriel wondered if Cassian knew how much she had woken him up, too. How for once, Cassian had not tried to be anyone but himself.

His brother’s brow furrowed with what Azriel translated as disbelief. “She doesn’t let you pretend,” Azriel clarified simply, in a tone that was not up for discussion.

A muscle ticked in Cassian’s jaw, but he merely crossed his arms tightly over his broad chest. The leather of his armour creaked, the sound swept away with the moaning of the wind. “It was hard not to be territorial,” he admitted eventually, glancing quickly at Azriel.

It was an apology, Azriel realised and a chuckle left his lips before he could stifle it. Cassian’s eyes widened in surprise. It was not often the Shadowsinger laughed so easily, but Azriel couldn’t help it. Cassian had certainly been restrained beyond measure, but there had been times when every muscle in Azriel’s body had been braced for Cassian to launch himself across the room and throttle him.

But Azriel did not bother saying any of that, even as his lips curved at the memory. He only pushed away from the railing wreathed in frost-covered ivy. It signified an end to the conversation but more importantly, what had occurred between the three of them—a clear line that would not be crossed again.

“Who knew you were so restrained,” he deadpanned, his voice falling into a near drawl that had Cassian barking a laugh. Rhys had asked Azriel to travel to Illyria in order to gather the latest intelligence from the camps and report back on the latest whisperings of the rebellion. He was already late. So he only nodded at his brother as his power swirled around him, ready to bleed him in and out of shadow until he arrived where he needed to be.

“I’ll see you in a week,” he told Cassian, and then everything went dark.

Tags (let me know if you want to be added/removed): @arinbelle @superspiritfestival @sayosdreams @perseusannabeth @mylittlebigplanet @biggestwingspan-az @bellsqueen @ekaterinakostrova @bookstantrash @prophecyerised @rainbowcheetah512 @awesomelena555 @wannawriteyouabook @iammissstark @lovelynesta @melphss @nestalytical  @darkshadowqueensrule @laylaameer01 @a-trifling-matter @grouchycritic7794 @thalia-2-rose @champanheandluxxury @swankii-art-teacher @princessconsuela02 @lavendergoomsltd @little-diyosa @princessofmerchants-reads @jeakat @sjm-things @imwritingthesewords @nestable @inejbrekkxr @silvernesta @inyourmindeye @amelie775 @iwastoowildinthe70s @helen-the-weirdo @pizzaneverdisappoints @wishfulimaginings @trash-for-nessian @my-fan-side @sophilightwood @hatemecozuaintme @vidalinav @onceupona-chaos @inardour @thesunremembersyourface @teagoddess99 @dontgetsalmonella  @jungtaekwoonie-is-life @finallyrosie

[antiloreolympus]

8 Anti LO Asks

1. It doesn’t really make sense for a long term comic such as LO to have such a drastic change in the artstyle, and even more you can’t really call it an improvement when all the interesting parts of the art style are now gone and all that it is now it’s just some basic same-face and body art style with barely any backgrounds. RS is incredibly talented for illustrative artwork and it’s really a shame she’s not doing that anymore and instead has left it to her team, with leaving them very messy sketches. The artstyle in the beginning had life and glamour and now it’s just very dull and boring. That’s not an improvement

2. I genuinely can’t think of any man in LO that’s even half way decent. Poseidon maybe? Hephaestus? Those are the only two I can manage, meanwhile the rest are either Rachel purposely ruining them because of her own biases (Zeus, Apollo, Thanatos to an extent) or are “good” men who are just creeps who disrespect all the women around them and are super creepy and obsessed over a literal teenager who acts like a child (Hades, Ares, Hermee, Eros, etc). The women aren’t much better either. 

3. About Perse making Hades childish: (this is no way defending him, just some speculation, and tbh I doubt that RS has thought this through haha) I wonder if he becomes a horny teenager around her because she’s a goddess of fertility? Would that have any affect on him? Doesn’t excuse his creepy ass behavior, but could explain it a bit, I guess?

4. Okay so I'll be honest I dont really see any reason to 'simp' over Any of the LO characters?

Also, not to start sh*t, but - I think part of the reason why some of the LO fandom does not like Zeus (and perhaps gives Hera more leeway - at least in terms of cheating) is because:

Mythologically Zeus is a known cheater / rapist (Io for example, or Semele)

They see Hera cheating a Zeus as okay (its not) because he's been known to cheat on her in the past / fans see Hera cheating on Zeus with Hades as 'justified revenge' for what he's (Zeus) put her through

I'll be honest I dont really see Zeus (or Hades for that matter) as good rulers because

Despite other deities (like Eros) doing 'acts of wrath' - they get away with it because they often have someone to back them up (like Aphrodite offering to sleep with Zeus to get her son out of trouble) - but the one time Persephone does something wrong (an act of wrath) - Zeus wants to give her the Prometheus treatment - mainly so he can feel like an in control king whos subjects respect him

The reason this sound so odd is because of RS writing choices. Zeus is a grade A d*ck who is willing to destroy a 'young girls promising career' because she made 1 mistake that one time. But at the same time the act of wrath is framed oddly because Demeter doesn't want her daughter to get in trouble so she covers it up (its like the equivalent of hiding a murder from the cops).

Zeus wanting to Prometheus Kore seems overly harsh because she is a Child. (Well a teenager) - so it adds to the "Zeus is a d*ck" card, because she doesnt have the life experience to "get away with" stuff like the other deities because she is young AND sheltered.

Like again, the whole concept of Human Laws applying to Gods is so confusing:

Would Zeus have been this harsh if Demeter had simply come forward in the first place about Persephone's murder rampage? Why did she blackmail / get other deities involved to cover it up? Is Zeus THAT much of a d*ck in Demeters eyes that she knows he would harshly punish a child for something "she didnt mean to do" (killed mortals based on a feeling?)

Why is there a motherf*cking trial in the first place? Do All the other deities get the right to a fair trial or is this a special case? (Like can any deity just offer to sleep with Zeus and he'll let them off the hook?). If the other deities had commited the same crime would the trial / punishment be the same or does Zeus just have a rage boner because he was lied to? If thats the case then why are the other deities taking Persephones side during the trial? (Ares I can maybe understand cause hes the God of War and stuff but everyone else is taking Perse's side because their either her personal friend or family member (Hecate, Hermes, Demeter, Hades etc).

Why are there certain laws like "Zeus cant get to Persephone because she has clemency in the underworld" but other deities - including Leto, Demeter and others (like Perse's nymph family) can just stroll into Hades house? Why is Hermes still on house arrest? Why are Hades + Persephone throwing a house party when shes on trial for scythe crimes??!!!

Why are the gods bound by such petty squabbles?

The way RS set up the governing "laws" in universe just doesnt make a whole lotta sense. Also, sorry this got ramblely.  

5. Tbh i don’t think that Hades acting differently when he’s with Persephone is a bad thing, as a concept. But there are many issues with this such as the fact that Persephone is barely legal and Hades act like an actual child around her. Obviously when you’re with someone they are going to act different than they do when they are at work. The problem is that Hades essentially goes from the “cold-scary king” to a 17 year old hormonal boy when he’s with Persephone. And him making out with her in a middle of a store or them golfing with diamonds or him making out with Persephone again in front of his workplace is not exactly acceptable behaviour from a king. If Hades acts all lovey-dovey with Persephone when their at their home together it’s different, but when they’re at a public place they can’t really do that. I would say that he has to keep a status about him but from what we’ve seen all the citizens of the underworld hate him and don’t respect him at all, from yelling at him to actually fighting with him, so idk how much status there is actually attached to him 

6. I swear, the majority of the “cute” HxP moments in LO just seem like a single father dealing with his hyperactive 8 year old over the supposed future intimidating rulers who Rachel is obsessed about talking and drawing their sex life. Is it really that hard to depict Persephone even acting like a smart teenager at the very least, as opposed to an airhead grade schooler? It doesn’t scream cute to me, it seems more like a father/daughter relationship. It’s just weird. 

7. i mean, i have a LO oc who's persephone's brother (fertility god) between demeter and zeus. dude got thrown into tartyrus to cover up the affair and now serves cronus. he was the god of summer, and my reasoning was demeter's seasons/harvest + summer thunderstorms. wrote a whole minific i will never post about him and persephone realizing everyone around them are assholes and healing together. so the mistress-of-zeus oc isnt that weird.

8. I’m not a Zeus stan by any means, but I do find him one of the most interesting characters, and one that RS has, in her attempts to make him be the worst ever to make Hades look better, actually way more interesting and compelling than the majority of the cast. He doesn’t lie or whine to the audience he’s some good person like Hades when he’s not, he owns that he’s a dick and doesn’t bullshit the audience into thinking he’s someone he’s not. RS tries to show us he’s a “bad” king, yet we see no proof it beyond what, he wants to uphold the law P broke and doesnt kiss Hades’ butt? That’s not a bad king, it’s a good one that he doesn’t let family ties or lust cloud his judgement, unlike Hades or Hera, for example. I don’t condone his cheating either, but it’s not fair to hate him for it, but love it that Hades cheated on Minthe so he could get into a teenager’s skirt and praise Hera for sleeping with her brother in law while punishing Zeus’ mistresses because she’s being a fake “loyal” wife. Just because he’s a deeply flawed, even a bad person doesn’t make him a bad character. Hades and Hera and even Persephone are awful people who do worse than Zeus, yet they’re loved and praised for it, all while being written with the depth of a puddle. 

[dilucids]

Childe oneshot; Blinded dreams

001. angst && death/mentions of death.

summary; you don't know who childe thinks of when he calls you, but you know it's not the you you wish you were.

( i feel bad for ditching y'all for this long so have one of my drafted oneshots originally written for wattpad, && if the reach on this is good, i'll let you guys have more [teehee] )

You met during summer.

And despite the sun blaring down, sending harsh rays to melt the skin right off your flesh, you did not know if the reason you were red faced was because of said sun, or because there was a pretty boy ( one of the prettiest, mind you ) that lived right next to you and he was currently hanging on the fence, waving at you with a smile on his face.

"Heya, (name)!" The way he says your name is breathtaking, almost as if it lived on the tip of his tongue yet he seemed foreign to it, as if he had not uttered the syllables in many years. Like a flower blossoming over the years, finally pulled out premature by small, fat fingers belonging to a mere child who wanted to see the flower in bloom. ( You forget you have never seen this child before. ) The flower is ruined however, its fragile petals fall into their palm and they shrug, as if they hadn't taken a life and move onto the next one, repeating the process. ( How does he know your name again? )

He peers at you ( it's similar to the way you would look at an old friend or the way your mother looks when you're going to family reunions and she has the bittersweet revelation that her father is still dead, ) and you blink, head rolling to the side, holding the bouquet of freshly picked dead flowers close to your chest, "How'd you know my name?"

His jaw slacks for just a second before his smile is back on his face, pulling himself up and flinging himself over the fence, landing right in front of you and causing you to take a tiny step back, "magic?" He tests the answer and shakes his head to revoke it when you furrow your eyebrows, not appreciating the joke. "Your mum was talking to mine," he speaks the truth when your face is unchanging to his plain joke.

You hum, and then walk back to the flower bed that was left behind by the previous family, and continue snapping stems off as collecting them in a heap next to you. The ginger boy follows you, although he doesn't sit down like you do but squats, hands close to his chest and watches as you pluck the flowers straight out of the earth. Although he followed you, he seemed more interested in the dead flowers, staring at one until you ripped it out the earth and then moved onto the next one.

He reaches out for a flower but you stop him, holding his fingers in yours and shaking your head when he looks over at you, questioning. "Thorns." An understanding breath escapes him as he continues watching you instead, your fingers dig against the dirt slightly, pushing it away before gripping the stem with your pointer and thumb before tugging ( there are many times when the force causes you to fall backwards slightly sometimes but it doesn't stop you. )

"Ajax!" You both hear coming from the boy's, probably Ajax, garden and you peer over him to when he suddenly stands up, going to jump back over the fence.

You test the name in your head a few times before your mouth follows, "Ajax," you stumbled a little but he turns around anyways, humming with a smile on his face, "I'll bring you a proper flower one day."

He nods and then disappears over the fence. You hear scoldings from his mother but tune them out. ( You didn't like the way his name felt new on your tongue, it didn't match the way he called you. )

You begged your mother to buy purple carnation seeds later that day.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

You are ten and 'Ajax' still sounds weird to you but you persevere.

It doesn't sound weird when your mother is the one calling him, asking him if he had enough pillows to be laying on your bedroom floor and he nods, leaning against the frame on your bed as you both bid goodnight and your mother nods, closing the door behind her. Almost immediately after the door clicks close, Ajax leans back onto your bed, making you quirk an eyebrow. "I can only sleep with two pillows."

You peer down at the head of his makeshift bed, at the foot of the closet next to your bed. There was only one pillow, you sigh and drop the pillow onto the floor. You don't wait until he says anything and slip into your own bed, pulling the cover over yourself, facing the wall rather than Ajax.

( You dream that night.

You dream of a world where man had the powers of Gods and Gods walked amongst men. Where the world was shaped by years of wars and work, where statues of Seven Gods were erected upon the land, granting peace and protection for people and animals alike.

You are sat around a marble circular table, the smell of food and tea hitting your nose. You peer up, there's a man sat a little across from you, clad in colours of cor lapis. His amber eyes hold no emotion, a diamond of memories steeping in his eyes as he brings up the cup to his lips and sips behind the hand he also brings up. His form is nothing less than godly and he sets the cup down without a sound━━━━ like a warrior. His shoulders roll down like waterfalls cascading from mountains, his hair is pulled back and bangs freely fall like leaves of a tree and you can see the scenery of Liyue in his very soul.

You don't know his name but it slips off your tongue perfectly, "Zhongli, where is Hu tao?"

(( Who is Hu Tao? ))

"The Director will be late, she is dealing with," he clears his throat in a way that lets you know his following words are a lie, "other troubling matters within the funeral parlor."

You nod, although you have no idea what he is talking about. "Do you know how late she will be?" You inquire, watching his eyebrows furrow and fingers flex, linen gloves pressing against his fingers as he does so.

You see Morax in him for a little while before his thinking subsides and he presses his lips into a line, "The Director did not state how long she will be."

You hum with nothing else to say and begin bringing your attention to the food that was beginning to grow cold on the table, "help yourself please," you signal Zhongli to the food and before he speaks, an amusing smile breaks out on your face, "I will be taking care of the bill."

His troubles subsides and he follows your words, grabbing the chopsticks by his ceramic plate. You two fall into a comforting silence, which is a peculiar yet nice feeling. Rather than a business meeting, it feels more like two old friends meeting up for a small chat.

A while passes with no sign of Hu Tao and you see Zhongli peer up from his food, eyes tracking another entity who had walked into the building, so you throw your head back a little.

"Childe." The boy looks eyes with you and a smile breaks out on his face when he sees you, the waves in his eyes crashing against the shore as his eyes crease. (( Childe? That was Ajax. ))

And you wake up to the sea washing up on shore eyes gazing down at you. )

━━━━━━━━━━━━

You are twelve, two years have passed and the dream you had stayed with you like a distant memory. Ajax's name still doesn't sound nice when you speak it and you feel like you're ruining it so you settled on a nickname, Aj. ( Only two letters, how could you make them sound wrong? )

"Aj," you call out the boy, whose smile widens when he sees you. Two syllables, but that's how you know him. He dismisses himself from the bind of conversation of two girls, who seemed pretty interested in him ( as a man ) and you knew that for sure because when you stepped your foot into their conversation, they glared at you slightly before stomping away.

The walk home was slightly awkward. For you anyways, because there were words that were burning at the tip of your tongue and sometimes letting lava erupt was a bad idea but leaving it to build up is also a bad idea.

"You okay?" Ajax almost gives you a 'go', peering up at you slightly ( you were taller than him, a feat you were quite proud of ).

You clear your throat slightly, starting off cautiously, "remember when we first met?"

And you don't know what you had expected because a stupid smile lights up on his face and he answers straightly, "no."

( Your poor two years of taking care of purple carnations, down the drain for a boy like this. )

━━━━━━━━━━━━

You are fifteen, stood in front of Ajax, holding a bouquet of purple carnations and a box of assorted chocolates behind your back. Sweat collects in the palms of your hand and you know it's not from the heat, you wipe both palms on the side of your sweater, watching him talk to his friends to give yourself a little more time for confidence before walking over there.

But the time shortens when his friend notices you, pointing out your figure to Ajax and he turns to you, a whole 180 degrees with his entire body and waves at you with his entire arm, you wave back with a shaky smile on your face when he begins to run your way after bidding his goodbyes to his friends.

He skids to a stop when in front of you, and can obviously see the flowers you were attempting to hide because a sly smile perks itself on his face. ( You would never admit to it, but he looked really good when he was smiling. )

"What are you hiding?" He hums, leaning down slightly with his hands behind his back as he attempts to see, you turn away, hiding the gifts for a little while longer. "Hold still," you press him down with one hand on his shoulder, stopping him and he straightens his back, humming.

"Listen," you take a deep breath because it's inescapable for you to not ramble this out, "we've been friends for a really long time, yeah? And I know this is really weird and out of the blue but I really like you and I'm sorry if I'm ruining our friendship but I've weighed the pros and cons of not having you as a friend and as someone I walk past in hallways and glance away awkwardly at, and the cons actually outweigh the pros but I really don't know if I can keep these feelings to myself because you're the only re━━"

A hand on your head stops you from talking anymore ( he's taller than you now, taller than most your peers actually ) and his smile is still there, "you're not breathing dear."

You don't realise he's called you 'dear', you feel like he's always been calling you that so it skips past your mind, and you take a deep breath. Presenting the gifts from behind you, Ajax stares at you with little expression on his face.

"I love you, Childe."

( Who is Childe? Why did he come to your mind now and why is Ajax tearing up?

There were many questions that entered your mind then, but they were all quickly forgotten when Ajax pushes your gifts aside, placing both hands on either side of your cheek and quite literally pulling you up to his height, pressing his lips against yours. You're both deaf to the sounds of whoops, whistles, and claps by his friends in the background as your arms circle his waist and his tears enters your kiss. )

━━━━━━━━━━━━

You are nineteen, and the way Ajax calls you is deafening to your heart.

"(name)," he breaths, in an indescribable way as if to say 'my (name)' and it should give you butterflies but the way he looked at you made you feel as though you were a soul trapped in the wrong body. He was giving you everything you had ever wanted in a way you had never wished.

You should stop him, because he's not in love with you. He's in love with the person he sees in you, but who is that person? Why do they mean so much to him? Can't he forget them? Why do you remind him of them? Is he stupid?

And most importantly, why the hell isn't he letting you go? You've died already━━━━ even if he still retains all his past memories, does he even know how unfair his gaze is? The way he says your name? It makes you want to wake from your grave, located near Liyue ( because though Childe was from Snezhnaya, you lived and loved near the peaks of Liyue and qingxin flowers were made to bloom above your resting place, delicately and preciously ).

The way his breath was hitting your bare skin, his cold lips were barely touching your burning flesh, the goddamn way he was muttering your name under his breath and you think you've finally snapped but you come completely undone when he stops, glancing back up at you with his eyes.

( Memories wash over you in an instant, the years you spent with him in Liyue, even if he was a Fatui Harbinger and Zhongli advised you, albeit indirectly, not to get involved with them and Xiao, not so indirectly, with a scowl on his face and then the memory of him taking your life in Liyue, with a single arrow through your chest and the last thing you see is the tsunami of emotions in his eyes and Xiao pulling him off of you. You've lived for so long, through so many lives and yet he is the only one who could completely tear you apart and make you lose all reason. )

"I love you, Childe, but please," the way you call his name makes his heart ache, in ways it has never before. "Let me go." And you wash away from his shore like a fleeting memory.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

Childe wakes up with his back sore and face cold due to leaning against your gravestone, he takes one hand to run through his hair, the other is placed above the grass where your body was buried and he peers down, grass entangled in his fingers, stabbing through the thin fabric of his glove like your hair did.

"Childe," he knows it's not you behind him, because you don't sound like a man nor a God and the way you called his name is more endearing, as if you were speaking a poem of two lovers but he turns anyways, and in his heart he hopes it's you.

But it's not, it's the Adeptus who held you close to his heart. Xiao's and Childe's relationship has never been good, simply because; a) their personalities clashed and b) they were on opposing sides but after your death, an unexplainable hatred grew in Xiao's heart for him.

( In Xiao's mind, Childe was the one who cared for his job more than you and heeded orders to end your life. ) Childe cracks a smile on his face, waving Xiao off before he says anything and pushes himself off your grave, "you don't need to say anything, I'm going," he says in a playful tone, as if he were leaving a party.

Xiao's eyebrows furrow, lips curling into a snarl when Childe walks past him, "despicable," he spits. ( But if Childe had asked you to, you would've taken your own life. )