#my point being i literally looked for her favorite brand so i could get the employee discount there

[boredkitkulover]

.

[wearepaladin]

I would like a second opinion on something, to get an internal gauge on my own biases from other people familiar with Soulsborne material. I kind of went on a tangent about this, so feel free to skip.

With the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, people have been comparing their favorite villains of the series and I’ve found myself looking in askance at people who call Marika Elden Ring’s villain. She’s certainly the most influential character in the story whose actions lead to the events our Tarnished find themselves in, and a legacy that created many of the enemies we face across the story, but also in turn has given us the means to be here and fight for how we decide the next step. We also never fight her directly, unless you count Radagon, but given that her other half is at cross purposes with her by strong implication, taking the form to combat us at the conclusion of the story. Given that I have no doubt Marika was equal or stronger than Radagon in matters of divine power or combat (the weapon he uses is explicitly her hammer after all), Radagon taking form after Marika being imprisoned/crucified says either Radagon was in agreement with The Elden Beast, The Beast chose the vessel of Radagon to do battle, or Marika, a deity with a history of war and at least one god (the fell god of the giants) bested personally just made her husbandsona fight us just because?

Don’t get me wrong, Marika can be attributed with many actions that would make her a villain in any story, genocide, oppression, conquest, etc. I just don’t see her as the villain/antagonist of our story, given that with both the guidance of grace and Melina, Marika’s daughter, is willing to go above and beyond to help us. The fact that we can continue to see grace even when Melina can choose to part ways with us permanently, and that we have so much freedom to do largely as we please, indicates that Marika might even be desperate enough to have us as her means of ensure death as her only means of release since either the destruction of her being (Ranni/Friendzied Flame) or the simple restoration of her fractured shell are the only consistent result across the endings.

I digress into the lore speculation: my point is that unlike the other prominent Soulsborne antagonists, Marika doesn’t invoke the same role as a villain in the story to me. Compared to a few prominent examples:

King Allant: Allant fulfills the category of villain and antagonist to us, given that he directly triggered the Demon Crisis of the story for out of nihilistic desire for mutual destruction, and we even face him twice, both as a demonic avatar and the corrupted remains of his physical being after we have nearly completely foiled his plans.

Lord Gwyn/Soul of Cinder: Probably the antagonist I have the strongest negative association for, since we’ve been dealing with the consequences of his actions throughout the trilogy and faced him in combat twice. And for me, as the story went from chapter to chapter, I tried to sympathize Gwyn, given that his physical portrayal is very paladinial and on the surface, trying to preserve the First Flame and all it represents. In our first battle with him, we even see the cost this has taken from him as he is essentially a hollow shell, a cinder of the former Lord of Sunlight. But as we progress through the series and learn more of the extent of his actions, Aldia’s description of him as the First Sinner, and the Ringed City dlc unveiling that the dark sign that forces humanity into undeath was his own creation, a literal brand upon our being, and that he still exists as the Soul of Cinder, his continued existence withering the world down to ash, burns away any desire to see him more than a villain.

Nashandra: Nashandra is a somewhat more traditional villain than many in this list as her motivations and methodology are something you could find in many stories, including Macbeth: The Wife of a powerful figure manipulates their partner into a position to either improve their power at the expense of others or to weaken them so their marital partner can betray and ascend at their expense, and Nashandra does both. Unlike other villains in this list, there is no grand metaphysical debate on the reason for her actions: she’s villain who wants power and utilized several methods to achieve it.

Aldia: Aldia is the other possible final boss of Dark Souls 2 and he’s certainly the more esoteric of the pair. In fact, like many things about Dark Souls 2, I consider him something of a prototype of concepts and characters we would later see in Elden Ring. Taking on the likeness of a bonfire and living in some undefinable state between life and death, Aldia made the plot of DS2 possible, given that he created the Emeral Herald who summoned us into the plot and his experiments and studies in the nature of the universe made the unique bubble of events and circumstances that Dark Souls 2 represents in the timeline, and largely I think if he did it intentionally it was so he could have someone to talk to about it. His role in the plot of the story reminds me of Marika, given that he’s doing much to help you achieve an ideal state, up to including other life forms to make it possible.

The Moon Presence: The most eldritch creature on this list, but hedges closer to Marika in their role on the plot given that its their influence that makes your success in the game possible, providing you with the Hunter’s Dream and the many benefits it provides, but like Marika we cannot ask it why it has done this, but unlike Marika we can choose to face it in combat by taking the correct path. In the more cosmic horror genre Bloodborne leans on, it’s less an antagonist and its existence is more along the lines of opening to a door to realize the eldritch truth you’ve accumulated is still the tip of the iceberg, and step through the door is be changed permanently and once more being rendered the least among creatures in the greater cosmos.

Laurence and Willem: Laurence is often brought up as the villain of Bloodborne, given a lot of what we face is due to him meddling with affairs man what was not meant to know, but he is not a ruling dominant force as a result, but trapped in microsm of the horror of the Bloodborne universe, being forced into a mindless burning husk of a monstrosity that only has enough awareness to be aware of what it has lost. His instructor Willem likewise has become a largely inert lump of flesh, his attempts at ascension turning him into a blind husk with eldritch growths. Both men had their own philosophy on how to achieve the Eldritch Truth, only to cause mass suffering and be rendered into husks of their former humanity, all their achievements to understand what should have never been disturbed making them ideal antagonists in a cosmic horror story because they are that horror turned upon humanity personified.

In other words, compared to these other characters and antagonists, Marika doesn’t fill the proper niche for me, and I worry that my own biases might be leading me to fail to see her as antagonist or villain. What do you think?

[mandalaysworld]

everything.

your friend introduces you to a newfound crush and you get your wish because you guys start to hang out. it starts out something small and over time, feelings grow.

momo yaoyorozu model!gf x r&bsingery/n

you are one of the newest and hottest r&b singers in the world right now. and single for the longest. you had a track record of being a serial lover. you couldn’t help it! your life was fast, you never had time to settle down. plus every where you went, you saw the prettiest women and damn sure couldn’t handle yourself! you had situationships with men in the past but you just came to the realization that you preferred women more. men never understood why because you was beyond beautiful despite your talents.

one evening you promised your good friend and fellow pop star ochaco that you would go to an event with her. as a great friend you are, you always keep your word and attend the event. it was a new make up brand launch called MYBeauty by momo yaoyarazu, one of the hottest models right now. when you say hottest, you had literal heart eyes for the girl. the first time you laid eyes on her was in tokyo during a fashion show she walked in. and ever since then, you’ll see her here and there to the point you’ve developed a crush on her. and of course ochaco knows about your little crush she thought it was a perfect idea to come to launch party so you guys can finally meet.

“hey girl! you made it!” ochaco said as she ran up to you and hugged you

you smiled and hugged her back.

“of course. momo got her thing going on here.” you said looking around. ochaco nodded.

“hell yeah! i love her lip line! she sent me a pr kit in the mail and i’m wearing one of her lip sticks now.” she said.

you zoned out immediately once you saw her smiling and hugging different people.

“fuck…” you mumbled. ochaco stopped talking and followed my gaze.

“yes yes! let me introduce you two! give me second!” before i could protest, her little figure pranced her way towards momo.

you looked around to look nonchalant and not nervous out your mind. it’s a difference when it’s a pretty girl and she’s nervous over you…but you being nervous over momo? your thoughts got interrupted when ochaco tapped on your shoulder. you turned around to see ochaco linking arms with momo.

“y/n, this is momo. momo, y/n.” you looked her from head to toe. she looked much more beautiful in person.

oh my god, you thought to yourself.

“hey it’s finally great to meet you.” she said as she extended her hand out.

you reached your hand out and shook it. you rubbed your thumb over the back of her hand softly as you looked her in her eyes.

with a smile you say, “likewise. congratulations on your new business venture.” she smiled and shook a few more seconds and let go.

“thank you so much. if i knew you was going to come i would’ve sent you a pr kit.”

you shrugged. “i rather you send me one personally. it’ll be most definitely appreciated.”

in the corner of your eye, you watched ochaco sneak off leaving you and momo together alone.

“personally? well as you can tell, i’m quite a busy woman. i can say the same for you. as far as i see, you’re never home.” she said.

you felt a dominant energy from her, and you liked it.

maybe i’m reading into this too much already, you thought.

“i have homes in my favorite cities. choose a city and i’ll make it worthwhile.”

momo giggles. “is that a way to invite me to your home?”

you shrugged. “i mean…how ever you take it. i just wanted to you to give me my pr kit personally.”

she smooths her hair behind her ear. “i’ll think about it. but until then let’s exchange contact so we can collaborate.” she said as she pulled her phone out her silver padlock hermes bag.

you literally have the exact purse at home. you pulled your phone out and butted the top of your phones together. it vibrates and her contact picture pops up. your eye widens. momo furrows her eyebrow.

“does there seem to be a problem?” you shook your head no.

“nah…love the contact picture.” she smiled and walked away. you watched her walk away and bit your bottom lip. then you looked down back at the contact picture. it was of her, in a two piece light pink lingerie set with a big ass pair of iridescent looking wings. her tits looked so big and soft.

i can’t wait to put my face in between them!

you kept looking at her picture. a literal fucking angel.

months later…

you smiled as you watched momo do her makeup on face time.

“you always give me that goofy smile when i put on my make up y/n.” she said with a giggle.

she had you propped up on her vanity, front and center. lighting hitting and all.

“cause you’re so beautiful. why don’t you just come over and practice on me?” i asked.

you guys been hanging out a lot lately. and yes she did give you your makeup kit at your doorstep with a bottle of your favorite wine and it’s crazy to say, this was no longer a little crush on momo. your feelings for her are immense. “because you’re only going to try to mess me up. you always want to play around.” she said as she playing rolled her eyes.

all you would do was try to distract her or joke around with her. the energy between you guys is so top tier, it’s like you’ve known each other for forever.

“i can’t help it. you look so mean when you’re concentrating so i have to put a smile on your face every time.” you said with a little pout.

when she’s in business mode, she is so focused, serious, almost nonchalant.

“well sweet pea, i can’t help it. but you know im sweet to you. that’s all that matters, right?” she asked as she put blush on her nose, your favorite part about her routine. you smile.

“yeah that’s all mama.” she gave me a little wink and put her brush down.

“how do i look?” she asked. you looked at her.

“honestly?”

she nodded then stopped. “well…i’m kinda nervous.” she said sheepishly.

“don’t be. come over so i can see it in person.”

•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙ •̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙ •̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙ •̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙ •̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙ •̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙

“i feel you squeezing around my fingers baby. pussy just greedy.”

her juices trickled down my fingers to my knuckles as i fingered her tight pussy. momo came over in 30 minutes and the moment you let her in, it was on.

“you look so gorgeous angel i really hate to mess up your makeup this time.” you said before grabbing her neck and kissing her.

right now you had her humming in pleasure as in watched her pussy glisten under my touch. momo throws her head back in pure ecstasy as she massages her breasts.

“y/n baby…don’t stop please. faster.” she was able to get out.

“you don’t have any manners sweetheart? ask me nicely and i just might consider giving you what you want.” you taunted.

she looked at you with a pout.

“please baby? you making me feel so good. go faster please.” she begged.

you hovered over her lips as you sped up.

“like this baby girl?”

the squelching noises from her pussy gets louder. momo’s mouth is parted, eyes rolling to the back of her head.

“yeeeeeeeah baby yeah. fuck fuck FUCK i finna cum baby.” she squeals. you smirked.

“really baby? finna cum all over my fingers? im wearing that pretty pussy out already?” you asked as you curled your fingers up.

you watched as her eyebrows knitted together in concentration, just waiting for the knot in her stomach to untie. she moaned as her body jerked uncontrollably as her juices sprayed my forearm and all in the bed.

“give me that shit baby girl! give me all of it! yeah baby…” you praised as you worked your way through her orgasm.

she tried to sit up and scooch up to her headboard. you pulled her legs down and pinned her down.

“don’t try to run away now angel. we just getting started.”

you grabbed her by her neck and moved her head to the side gently to expose her neck. you littered her neck with soft kisses. she squirmed under you as you nibbled on her neck, sure enough it’ll be bruised up by the morning. you go under your pillow and grabbed your light purple, double sided dildo.

“open.”

momo opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out, revealing a hot pink snake eye tongue piercing. you shoved the dildo in her mouth.

“get it nice and wet for mommy.”

you watched as her head bobbed up and down. she was gagging and slobbering all over it.

“suck it just like that. im training you so well.” you said as she looked up at you with her big, beautiful eyes.

“you look so innocent swallowing our dick baby. fuck, you look so sexy.”

you twirled it and took it out her mouth, spit strung out falling on her big juicy breasts.

“turn around on all fours.”

she did as she was told, pussy just pretty and pink. you spreaded her lips apart and it was just sticky and wet. you watched her pussy clench on to her imagination.

i’ll never get over this sight!

“i just want a little taste baby.” i said before circling my tongue around her clit.

“ooh…y/n…”

you flicked and sucked, not too much because you don’t want to lose her just yet. you pulled away followed by a groan from her. you slapped her ass cheek twice, hearing some whines. you rubbed the tip of the lilac colored dildo around in her slick, you inserted it. she let out a sweet ass moan, such a beautiful tune to your ears. you watched as her pussy grips around it, her juices are already dripping down the dildo. “fuck baby…just like that. fuck me mommy.” she moaned out. whole time, you’re so aroused by this sight. you turned around and got on your knees as well. you inserted your end of the dildo inside your already wet pussy.

“throw that ass back baby. i want to feel that fat ass clap on mine.” you directed as you reached back to hold the double side dildo in place.

you and momo rocked back and forth simultaneously. you felt her juices drip down the dildo to your finger tips. then you let it go and we was just fucking that dildo inside one another.

pfft, pfft, pfft, was all you could hear and momo’s cries.

“that’s it that’s it FUCK THATS IT!” you squealed out until you squirted.

momo smacked you ass as she felt your juices spray over her back side.

“yesssss mommy. fuck yes, come sit on my face i want to taste you.”

and you did what was told. you held on to your headboard as you grinded your pussy on her face. she caressed your breasts as she fed you little cat licks.

“there you go mama. eat this pussy, you’re doing fucking amazing.” you praised as she started to slurp on your clit.

“ohh fuck…” you moaned out as she stuck her tongue inside me.

momo started to hum as she gave your ass a good squeeze. you leaned back a little and rubbed her pussy. she reached behind you and grabbed her leg back so you can gain better access.

“as much as you’re eating my pussy so fucking good, i can’t leave you hanging. i wanna see your pussy cream.” you spoke out as you stuck your two fingers back inside her. she gave me deep groan.

“my pretty pussy. pretty and pink, fuck look at this.” you managed to get out after a moan. her eyes rolled back as she continued to eat. you felt the pleasure rising in your gut.

“fuck momo don’t stop, don’t fucking stop. right there…right there angel.” you was about to cum.

“you wanna taste right? hmm?” you asked knowing the answer.

momo nodded as you felt her hips buck up. you came hard following momo and her squirt flying.

“my fucking angel! yes! fucking beautiful!” you said before putting you fingers in your mouth.

she breathed heavily as you got up. you saw her foundation smudged from where you was sitting and saw your glossy remnants on the sides of her mouth. you go in your nightstand drawer and grabbed you harness. she watched you seductively as you adjusted it around your thighs. then you reach over and pull her down to the edge of the bed, folding her legs back.

“hold them and don’t move. understand me angel?” you asked as rubbed my dildo’s head around in her juices. she nodded.

“words.”

“yes mommy.”

you inserted yourself in.

“oh my god…fuck.” she moaned out.

you went slow, giving her long deep strokes. you leaned down and started to kiss her slow.

“tell me how you want it baby. i got it all. i’ll keep giving it to you mama." i spoke out as i hovered her lips.

her lips parted, trying to get it out. you started to go deeper.

“what is it baby doll? am i fucking you that stupid now?” you asked lightly smacking her in the face. better yet, you stuck your thumb in her mouth.

“suck.”

fuck she look so good doing that.

you pulled your thumb out and started to rub on her clit in small, fast circles.

“yeeeeah…harder mommy please. please!”

you pushed her hands away and placed your hands where hers were and pounded her until you felt like yall could’ve knocked the bolts out your bed. momo arched her back off the mattress and moaned. you looked down to see her cum dripping down your brown strap.

“look at you! keep making a mess and shit. i’m making you. feel. good. baby?” you asked as you pounded in her four times.

you started to slow your pace and lean back in. you moved her hair off her forehead.

“hm?”

she nodded as you kissed her all over her face softly.

“mommy’s gone fuck you so good and dumb.” you said in her ear and you grinded your hips in deep strokes.

she wrapped her legs around your waist, trapping you in between her legs.

“yeah….there we go. i got you baby.”

moments later, your pelvis was warm and getting wet. you looked down to see a little trickle.

“yeah baby. keep giving it to me….”

after another hour of fucking and switching, you guys both end up in the bath tub. you was sitting behind momo kissing her shoulders.

“how do you feel? are you okay?” you asked.

she hummed and leaned her head back to look at you and pulled my head down for a kiss.

“breathtaking…”

you smiled, taking pride in what you’ve done. then she turned around all the way to face you. the water trickled down her body. her pink nipples perked from the cool air.

“but i know there’s more you have up your sleeve…” she said sucking on your neck.

you let off a small moan. she giggled.

“i want you to give me everything.”

[ladykailitha]

A Valentine’s Day to Remember Steve’s POV Part 2

Just a reminder: if you want to be tagged in the Eddie POV, you have to let me know both, otherwise I’ll assume you just mean this story.

Part 1

*

Over the course of the week, Eddie would pop into the store asking Steve about his favorite foods, places to go, and even his favorite color.

“What do you want my favorite color for?” Steve had asked with a laugh.

Eddie just shook his head. “Just answer the question, pretty boy.”

Steve shook his head. “It’s blue. Like baby blue.”

Eddie grinned and just flounced out the store like his mission had been accomplished.

“You want to know what I think?” Robin asked, one hand on her hip.

Steve slumped dejectedly. “Come on, Robs. Don’t start.”

“He’s got the hots for you,” she continued, completely ignoring his pleas.

“It might not have anything to do with date at all,” Steve said. “He could just be asking random questions to throw me off.”

“Or...” Robin said with a grin, “and hear me out...it could be that he really wants to get to know you and give you the best date you’ve ever had.”

Steve slammed his head on the counter in frustration.

*

Steve had to go shopping and Eddie decided to come with. And while shopping with Eddie was chaotic, it wasn’t the out and out screaming match that it was when he had one or more of the nuggets with him.

Steve had gotten everything he needed but was wandering the candy aisle looking for the Atomic Warheads El had asked him to buy for her. Apparently Mike had been dipping into her Gobstopper stash and she was going to teach him a lesson he wouldn’t soon forget. And who was Steve to get in the way of sweet, sweet revenge.

Eddie had went off in search of something he wouldn’t tell Steve about when he literally came bounding up to him.

“Steve! Steve! Steve!” Eddie greeted.

Steve smiled at him fondly. “Hey, Eddie.” As if they had been apart far longer than then the two or three minutes it actually had been.

“If you were stranded on a deserted island with a crate of candy to subsist on, which one would it be?”

Steve looked around the small aisle and turned to Eddie with a blush. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? It’s bad enough I got ragged on all throughout middle school for liking them.”

Eddie furrowed his brow. “I wouldn’t.”

Steve walked to the end of the aisle where all the knock off brand candy was and picked up a small bag. He carried it back to Eddie and handed it to him, eyes cast down.

Eddie gently took the bag from him and looked down at it. “Circus peanuts? But that’s‒” he almost said poor people candy, but he stopped himself in time.

“Disgusting? Gross? Lame?” Steve asked, bitterly.

Eddie shook his head. “No, no. I was going to say...but that’s my favorite, too.”

Steve looked up at him through his eyelashes. “You mean that?”

Eddie nodded. “They have to be soft though.”

Steve grinned. “Absolutely. I always give the bag a squeeze to make sure they aren’t stale.”

��Fondling candy, tsk, tsk, Steve,” Eddie teased.

Steve laughed. “Toss them in, you menace,” he said, pointing to their basket.

Eddie laughed too and did as he was told.

*

Steve woke up Saturday morning feeling less like shit then he had all the other Valentine’s days he’s had before. There was no queasiness about whether the flowers would arrive on time. No stress about calling the restaurant twelve more times to make sure they still had his reservation.

Eddie had even told him not to worry about what to wear, him and Robin would have it all taken care of by the time he had gotten off work.

So he was happily humming along, being cheerful even to the customers that wanted movies that had all been rented out by yesterday, because you know, people planned in advance and shit.

And then Tommy Hagen walked through that door.

Steve sighed, but straightened up. “Welcome to Family Video,” he greeted with now false cheer.

Tommy spotted him and laughed. “You still at this dump?”

Steve sighed, but kept the smile plastered on his face. “I like the hours, I get work with my best friend, and I get to watch all the movies I want for free. What’s not to like?”

Tommy rolled his eyes. “You were going places, man. Look at you now.”

Steve put his hand on his hip and let Tommy take a good hard look at him. Because Steve was in better shape than he had been in high school. He still ran every morning and swam as often as he could. He could break Tommy’s face with a single punch. Steve knew how he looked. He looked good.

“I’m very satisfied with my life, Tommy,” Steve said with the cock of his head. “Can you say the same? Because yeah. I’m working here on Valentine’s day. But you’re the sad schmuck who’s here looking for a movie for Valentine’s day.”

Tommy scoffed turning his head. “At least I have a date, Steve-o.”

Steve smiled at him. “And who says I don’t?”

Just then, Keith walked in from the back. “I’m just gonna go take a piss and then you can go,” he told Steve.

Steve and Tommy just watched until Keith was out of sight.

“Nice try, Harrington,” Tommy said with an eye roll. “Word around town is that no girl in her right mind will go near your scaly ass with all your scars.”

The bell above the door rang out and in walked Eddie Munson.

Steve’s brain went offline as he took in the metalhead. From what Steve could see under his leather jacket was grey vest and a black button-up. He had paired this with tight leather pants and chunky combat boots.

“Like what you see, Stevie?” Eddie asked with a grin.

Tommy whirled around and took him all in. He gulped and turned beat red.

“Take a picture, Tommy,” Eddie said. “It’ll last longer.” He sauntered up to Steve. “You about ready to go, babe?”

Steve grinned. “Just waiting for Keith to get back from the bathroom.” He jutted his thumb toward the back of the store.

And sure enough, out came Keith.

“All right, Steve,” he said. “Go ahead and clock out. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Bye, boss!” Steve replied. He clocked out at the computer and made his way around the counter to where Eddie and Tommy were standing.

“Looking good, Eds,” he said, completely ignoring Tommy.

Eddie grinned. “Just wait until you see what Robin and I picked out for you to wear tonight.”

Tommy’s eyes went wide. “Since when do you like the boys, Steve?”

Steve turned to Tommy with a small frown of confusion. “Always?”

The noise Tommy made was somewhere between a whine of frustration and whimper of defeat. “The fuck?”

Eddie licked the top row of his teeth as he took Tommy in. He put a possessive hand on Steve’s lower back. “We need to go, babe. I have plans tonight.”

Steve blushed, but let Eddie lead him out of the store.

Tommy blinked and then turned to Keith. “Did you just fucking see that?”

Keith looked up from where he had been straightening the display by the register. “No.” And he went back to what he was doing.

Tommy tried to protest, but Keith steadfastly ignored him.

Steve just shook his head as Eddie chatted away happily.

*

“Did you see the look on his face?” Eddie crowed.

“I know, right?” Steve laughed. “I wonder who he paid to pretend to like him enough to let him fuck them tonight.”

Eddie let out a sputtering laugh. “Give a guy some warning before you say shit like that, man.”

Steve just grinned.

They arrived at the Munsons’ new house. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for two bachelors, and some day, just one.

“Your uncle going to be home tonight?” Steve asked.

Eddie grinned. “You looking to score, pretty boy?”

Steve blushed. “No, I’m just not sure I could shower with him home...”

Eddie tilted his head. “Babe, you’ve showered completely naked next to boys all throughout high school. Why are you suddenly shy about my uncle in the house? You’re not his type.”

Steve blushed and looked down. “It’s not that. I‒I mean‒” Eddie just continued to stare at him.

“It’s my scars, all right!” he said, finally exploding.

Eddie pulled him for a hug. “Shit, sweetheart. I forgot. No, baby. He’s not home. Okay?”

Steve just nodded into Eddie’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Eddie asked, looking down at him.

“I sure got this date off to such a great start...” he mumbled.

“Hey, now,” Eddie cooed. “It hasn’t started yet. You still need to get ready, okay?”

Steve nodded.

“Your clothes and everything you’ll need is in the bag on the vanity in the bathroom,” Eddie said, leading the way. “I just need to step out for a few minutes and I’ll be right back.”

Steve’s shoulders slumped. “If this is about the scar thing, don’t. I don’t mind you seeing them. I just wasn’t sure I was ready for your uncle to yet.”

Eddie kissed his forehead. “Nope. This was already part of the plan. You go get ready.”

Steve blushed but did as he was bid.

He striped down and pulled open the black duffel bag that was right where Eddie said it was going to be. On the top was his shampoo and conditioner as well as his body wash, deodorant, hair dryer and hairspray. He grinned. He loved his friends. They knew him all too well.

He carried his shampoo, conditioner, and body wash into the warm spray of the shower and was a little surprised to see four bottles already on the little caddie hanging over the shower head. One was a three-in-one. The other three were a shampoo and conditioner especially formulated for curly hair and a body wash.

Steve flipped open the body wash and took a sniff.

Oh.

He had always assumed Eddie wore cologne because he always smelled so nice. But it was this.

Christ.

He looked down to see that his body was taking a vested interest in this new information.

He put the bottle down quickly and began lathering himself up with his own body wash, trying to think of disgusting things to calm down.

It worked for the most part and he was able to shower without incident.

He dried himself off with the towels Eddie had provided and tried not to think of Eddie doing the same thing earlier that day.

Steve put on his deodorant and dried his hair. He then pulled out the underwear and again, his thoughts went dirty because there was no way on god’s green earth was Robin going to go through his underwear drawer.

He quickly got dressed. Inside were dark grey jeans, a black sweater, and the stupid black suit jacket he had wore to Tina’s Halloween party. He sighed. He couldn’t fault them for grabbing it. He did look good in it. They just didn’t know why he kept in the back of his closet.

But he set it aside so he could style his hair. Maybe he’d get some good memories with it. But if he struck out tonight, he was burning the damn thing.

The last thing besides the socks where a pair of shiny Oxfords he didn’t remember having. He hoped they didn’t buy them for him.

He threw his dirty clothes into the bag and grabbed the shoes and jacket. He took all them out to the front room to put them on.

He tied the shoes and buffed them a bit with the sleeve of his sweater. He smiled, feeling pleased with himself.

Part 3

Tag List: @zerokrox-blog @bidisastersworld @carlyv @swimmingbirdrunningrock @bejeweledbaby @maya-custodios-dionach @makewavesandwar @estrellami-1 @princess-josephina @abstractnaturaldisaster @a-little-unsteddie @madamonsieur-silvrene

[mrsnancywheeler]

i was thinking abt that one scene in priscilla where elvis tells that girl that he likes the perfume she’s wearing and then she says it’s Chanel no 5 (literally the same perfume cilla uses)

and like i was thinking, this scenario but with billy and “his” girl. like he could be talking to some random girl and then like be all flirty n shit and then he’s like omg that perfume is so nice (or something) and then the girl is like all smiles and giggles and happily tells him the name and the brand of the perfume and then once billy hears the name he recognizes it from seeing it in reader’s like bedroom or purse or something!

-🩰

imagining like this during one of those periods when they've had another blow up fight so you've gone back home, he's been able to push the need of having you around for a while with the writing, rehearsing, recording, the drinking, the drugs, the other girls, so the piece of him you were filling he's able to push away for a while. that's until he's flirting with one of the groupies and he likes that she smells familiar, he doesn't know why or how, but it feels comforting.

he's so close to her face, so close to kissing her and he's keeping that cocky smirk on his face, "nice perfume you got there." maybe if he has her it'll fill the void he's ignoring, the void of you.

she's smiling up at him, flashing a grin, "it's sweet honesty from avon." and boom, billy knows why it's so comforting. you refused to use anything else, you always had a bottle in your purse and one in the bedroom just in case. he misses being engulfed by it, misses you, the longing takes over. he needs you to come back, he can't function fully without your presence. he misses your laugh, messing around on the guitar while you smoked a cigarette on the floor, how animated you were when you talked, cuddling you in his bed, when you'd convince him to go swimming, he misses all of it. he's headed towards the nearest phone, trying to call you and you don't pick up. you always pick up. you're reliable, you're always at the phone when he calls, and now he's scared because maybe he's finally done it. he's told you how replaceable you were one too many times and you'd accepted it even though he was sure you weren't. you were like all the best and worst parts of him, he was attached to you and unbelievable amount.

so he's driving over to your house (more accurately the place your dad pays for) knocking on your front door and a friend of yours opens the door. she's rolling her eyes, sighing, yelling back at you, "he's here!" and he can't deny the way his heart skips a beat when you run up the door.

you've got a small spark of hope in your eyes, "billy!" before realizing you're not supposed to. even if you'd been eaten up inside because this call had taken longer then usual to happen.

"hi, baby." his face has the whisper of a smile on it, "I called."

then you're looking regretfully at the floor, that was the point, if he called you weren't supposed to answer. you were supposed to take care of yourself, but what could you do when he was driving all the way out here just to see you? it made you remember the best of times, made you immediately want to hop back into his car. he can see it on your face, that you'd done so on purpose. "billy..." you trail off and the suddenly you're crying. and he feels terrible.

"hey, come here." billy's playing with your hair, comforting arm around you. "let me take you out, baby. we can go to our place, get some burgers by the pier. need to spend some time with my favorite girl."

favorite, the word favorite rather than him saying 'his' girl irks you, maybe it shouldn't, but you don't want to fight again so you ignore it for now. "yeah, I'd like that." you're meeker after fights, softer when it's time to fix things. now you're playing with the buttons on his denim shirt, which he loves. "can I come back 'round?" you're not looking at him and he's smiling because he knows not to be worried this time, he's won her another highest of the highs with you.

"of course, baby. need my muse around." he's kissing you and you're back to being all smiley. you run inside to grab stuff and as he's standing on the doorstep he can hear your friend berating you for going back, but you don't have a care in the world. you've grown to need billy and you're feeling that lovely high that reminds you why again. before you're out the door back to him again. his arm around your waist as he pulls you with him, "you know, baby, that perfume smells real good on you."

you're smile is so bright, "really?" he's nodding and lighting you a cigarette as you climb into his car, driving off into a repeat of the cycle.

[gorematchala]

I finished re-reading Claymore a few days ago and I'm happy to say that manga held up to highschool me's memories

Coming at it from the perspective of being almost twice as old as when I first read it, and having just caught up on Berserk, I was worried. Because in middle and highschool I was easily manipulated by greatswords and pretty girls. I still am but thats besides the point. So I was thinking about the series again because Angel at Dusk reminded me of that specific brand of body horror, and I was like oh no, did that shit have any depth or was I reading a Berserk ripoff with no context. But no its good

My feeling on it is basically that it isnt, to me, a life changing sort of work. I didn't come away from it feeling the way I felt at the end of Dungeon Meshi or current Witch Hat Atelier, but the characters are all likeable, and basically every reveal, plot twist, and surprise they introduce hits sufficiently. Theres never a point where you get a close up shot of a character saying something and you dont go "oh fuck". Which is interesting since I was not impressed with the world building in the first half. Later on once they start traveling the map a bit it starts to feel more like a thought out world, but initially when theyre just going around hunting monsters its like is this whole world just several small villages with monsers in them lol

The art style progresses a lot through the series. Initially its hard to tell if its really good or kinda bad sometimes but by the end characters intended beauty is being fully conveyed. Theres one who is basically supposed to look like an angel and by the end she kinda does. I also have to give the artist credit for coming up with so many unique body horror creature designs because no two look the same for the whole run of it. And it isn't too monster of the week either but they do all have unique powers, even if some of the Claymore's abilities are stretching the internal consistency a little as time goes on. Especially by the end where one characters special move is she wiggles her head really fast and it lets her sweep her entire body like one centimeter off the ground to cut peoples legs off because its impossible to fight an enemy who is on the floor. But in the moment youre like, oh no!! The characters I like need their legs!!

And I guess lastly I really like Clare, even though shes sort of barely keeping up or not keeping up during the events of the whole thing. I say that as in, I can see why someone else could criticize some of her agency in the plot and in the final battle. Because she is often handed new techniques and powers, but she gives it her all to survive and achieve her goals despite being literally half as strong as everyone else by default, and she never feels over or underpowered. Shes often balanced by her own mental state, which usually involves being a little too impulsive despite her appearing to be a calm Vergil type. My favorite characters other than her and Stretchy Helen were probably Riful and Dauf, because of their dynamic of unimaginable horror, and shlubby husband who is invincible but very stupid, but they're so in love that you can almost forget they spend all day torturing women by stabbing them until they turn into monsters. And then they introduce the power dynamic between her and the other Abyssal Ones and you kinda start to root for her if only because she would be easier to deal with than Priscilla lol. Priscilla felt a little bit underdeveloped perhaps but i have no real complaints because she does tons of cool shit and at the end of the day thats all you can ask of a shonen antagonist

[raveneira]

Friendly reminder these are feats Sarada was pulling at 11-12, this isnt something new or groundbreaking & definitely doesnt scale her to Otsutsuki. If that were the case then that'd make her stronger than B0ruto who had to flee from them ���� which your crazy if you think she is

A Chidori is not hard to dodge if you have the sharingan and reflexes to match it which Sarada does, why I bring this up is because yall were the same ppl who attacked me and anyone else who said she was more than capable of fending for herself against Kawaki both here & here

Yall said he was too fast, that she would've died, and my favorite 'what did you expect her to do?'

I dunno, THIS?

Dont even try to argue that base Kawaki without karma, and V1 karma Kawaki was stronger and faster than a 10 tails Rinnegan amped Sasuke.

Also just wanna point out yet another glaring power scaling flaw, which is why the hell is her chidori weaker than it was when she was 12? she grabbed a whole chunk outta Boro but 3 years later she just gives bee stings? Hidari should be missing part of his abdomen.

For the record heres the damage Chidori typically does if you think Im just nitpicking no, this is a literal power scaling flaw.

Dont get me wrong Im glad shes doing something, but she was always capable of doing this all along so its not really impressive but more of why'd it take yall so long to show her actually use her arsenal & fend for herself like she always could? where was this in 58? 78? 81? 82?

It took 4 years, 4 YEARS for her to do what shes always been able to do again, shes done this since Gaiden, Sasuke has done the same at 12, yet for 4 years all she did after Boro was stand there or cry and yall response was 'what could she do?' stfu.

THIS is what she could do, if a 12 year old Sasuke could dodge a semi Kurama amped Naruto then Sarada can handle a base karmaless Kawaki and a V1 Karma Kawaki.

And before anyone mentions, the only reason Sasuke stopped being able to dodge is because Kurama had a mind of his own, he could predict Narutos movements and dodge accordingly but he couldn't predict Kuramas.

Now yall wanna gas when yall didnt even believe she could do THIS much, the bare damn minimum, DODGE, yall didnt even think she could do that but now all of a sudden when she does its this incredible feat? but I thought we were the haters for sayin she was always able to do this?

Isnt it ironic that the ones who were called haters are the ones who were saying Sarada was better than that, and the ones who were called 'real fans' were the ones saying she was too weak and slow to even dodge with her 3T sharingan? funny how that works.

See how fast ppl switch up and forget their own narratives they put out there. Be honest, you knew she was always capable of this, you just made excuses either because of a ship or because it made your goat look good.

I already know Im still gonna get branded a hater for literally saying she's always been this strong and capable of fending for herself, but Im not gonna pretend this is some impressive feat when it isn't, 3 years ago yea, but 3 years later? this SHOULD be light work for her now.

If next chapter we see some MS abilities then we can talk about impressive feats, but this? thats how I know yall didn't think much of her and still don't if you think this is a big moment just dodging an attack and doing a low damage chidori 🤦‍♀️

This is what yall clowned Naruto for when he came back in the timeskip still using his same arsenal he left with, so lets not pretend this is any different for Sarada, everything shes done in TBV so far she was doing in part 1, there's no difference YET but hopefully in 11 we'll finally see her growth, OR a dodge and chidori is all she gets and will immediately need saving now.

As long as Boruto stays outta the way then the odds are higher for her to actually hold her own, but if Boruto is coming back to the scene its game over for her so here's hoping his ass has to take a back seat the entire invasion so everyone else can actually do they thing without him draggin them down.

For context, what I mean by that is whenever Boruto is involved everybody else gets dragged down to make him look good by comparison, for example in 58, 78, 81, and 82 Sarada for some reason completely forgot how to move, dodge, react, or activate her own sharingan, but as soon as Boruto has to stay away hiding, suddenly she remembers she has the sharingan, reflexes to dodge, and defend herself. I used Sarada as the example but this is a problem with the entire cast not just her, but since this post is about her thats why I used her for reference, but everybody immediately got better as soon as Boruto was written out of the way.

I said it before and I'll say it again, HES the problem, not from any fault of his own, but because the writers cant seem to make him shine and stand out on his own without draggin everybody else down so he looks cool and badass by comparison, rather than him just standing out on his own merits.

Think about it, name one 'cool' or 'badass' moment he's had in the timeskip that hasn't been handed to him at someone else's expense

His win against Mitsuki came with Mitsuki was already wavering and feeling doubt and willing to die

His win against Code came after he just rescued Sarada who just stood there

His win against Kawaki came after he had spent the last 8 chapters being easily knocked out and knocked down

The entire invasion everybody was getting sneaked, caught off guard, barely holding their own, and needed saving, while Boruto was just casually beating Code and his grimes with zero effort.

Now? with Boruto removed? Inoshikacho holding their own against Jura and Hidari, the strongest two clones

Shikadai done restrained Jura and pulled his branches apart to free Himawari

Inojin saved Himawari and bought them time to get away from the village

Chocho pushed Jura out of the way to make his bijuu bomb miss and expanded herself when Inojins bird was hit to cushion everybodies fall.

Himawari awakens Kuramas power

Sarada remembers shes an Uchiha with the sharingan who can dodge and react accordingly

Kawaki got his brain back and prioritized Himawari's safety over hunting down Boruto.

The difference between when Boruto was involved and when he wasn't is night and day. Again its no fault of his own, but it seems like the writers cannot make Boruto shine without dragging everyone else down, and the only way everyone else will shine is if Boruto is FORCED outta the way.

[titaniasthings]

Weasley Family Dynamics as a quidditch team

I reread Orchards by @whinlatter and it's really got me thinking about Weasley kid family dynamics. So here's a not well-articulated long meta :)

The analogy? Metaphor? A comparison I can make that sums up the dynamics well is the kids as a quidditch team.

First, you have your Keeper, that's Ron, who does exactly what it sounds like. I think Ron can function as a literal and emotional maintenance of his family. We see him be a buffer between his siblings during conflicts, comfort his mom when she's distraught, and experience genuine depression when he's not around them.

During Harry and Ron's fight in Deathly Hallows, Ron's boiling point is Harry's "impassiveness" for the other Weasley's safety.

"Didn't you hear what they said about my sister? But you didn't give a rat's fart, do you, it's only the Forbidden Forest,... Yea, I get it you don't care! And what about the rest of my family, 'the Weasleys don't need another kid injured ,' did you hear that?"(Deathly Hallows 347).

Being apart from his family, that keeper role, only exacerbated his insecurity about being a failure. Ron is the sibling that takes after his mother the most. He looks after his siblings and their well-beings no matter how unintentional. This includes Harry and Hermione as well. As we see him grow up, we see him accept this role more because he loses the need for external validation.

Next are our Chasers, Bill, Charlie, and Ginny, which you could argue are the main characters of the game. They do the most gameplay and have the important role of scoring the points. Bill, Charlie, Ginny are they only kids to leave the country for work. In the family, we see them develop similarly personality-wise. They all have lives and experiences outside their family, but that doesn't takeaway from their duty to their families.

"You all right ," said Bill, grinning at Harry and shaking his hand. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail." (Goblet of Fire 608).

They are the epitome of the Weasley brand. The cool kids of the family. They're funny, popular, and confident. The favorites.

This dynamic between the siblings changes depending. Bill and Charlie get to be role models to their other siblings because their the oldest. Ginny has the role of being the family mascot. After all the Weasley's have left Hogwarts, her presence is vital to the school. In the family, They are a living representation and reminder of the values that the family was brought up with. This informs their relationship with her brothers(i.e. Ron always wanting to protect Ginny).

The next positions are the Beaters, Fred and George. Beaters are some of the lesser essential players, but they make the game interesting. Without them quidditch would not be as dangerous nor as fun. Remember how I said Ginny was the Weasley mascot? Well Fred and George are too in a more literal way. They bring the fun to the family, the jokes, the bants. They are also the center of most family conflicts.

"She's furious at them anyway. They didn't get as many O.W.L.s as she expected," (Goblet of Fire 59)

They fail to meet their parents(Molly's fairly reasonable) expectations repeatedly and often go head to head with their parents(Molly) about it. This affects the dynamics of the family because conflict builds bonds. All the siblings love each other, but they do fight. When Fred and George cause conflicts, it stirs throughout the whole house. It forces the siblings closer together or farther apart.

Prefacing this by saying, I don't blame Fred and George for every conflicts that happens or think they do anything any other brother wouldn't. Their role here is important in deepening the relationships of the siblings.

Although I am Team Fred's death was unnecessary and lazy, I do like to think about how his death made the siblings a millions times closer as adults. The twins create challenge that make "the game" better.

Last but certainly not least, our Seeker, Percy Weasley. Like Percy, The seeker is often alone, spectating for most of the game. Percy is a lone wolf in his family. He's without a pair and at first glance doesn't necessarily fit into the group. He's stern, meticulous, and uptight. To many outlookers, it's a wonder he made it into Gryffindor. He is very much a Gryffindor, just not on the same scale or intensity of his siblings.

Percy has a different perspective of the same Gryffindor/ Weasley values. He, as a Seeker, isn't in the game but sees things other's would miss.

"He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's reputation ever since joined the Ministry and that Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been --you know-- not had a lot of money, I mean--" (Order of the Phoenix 93).

Percy does value family, the reputation of his family. We can't expect Percy to not want to succeed and want more for them. He's the 3rd oldest and saw his mother raise his family(basically by herself)on his father's low-income salary. He saw his siblings get bullied, his mother be shamed, and even his siblings get physically hurt. In his eyes, it's selfish for his father and his brothers not to want more.

Percy's role is to be an outsider and look in places the others wouldn't. He finds success and happiness in ways the other's wouldn't have known. Would the twins have pushed for WWW, if not to prove Percy wrong? Like the twins, he pushes his siblings to think more and do more.

He may be wrong sometimes but he means well. He'll also pull through in the end.

All in all, the Weasley children are a well-oiled team. They love each other and need one other. There's a reason Harry chose this family to latch on to. I'll continue obsessing over them in my head.

[the-yuri-librarian]

Bloom into You Analysis: Ch. 3

Its finally here! This time, its Bloom into You Chapter 3. This one is going to be a little shorter just because there is not as much to talk about, story progression wise. A lot of this chapter is more dedicated to progressing the student council election arc than it necessarily is progressing Yuu and Nanami’s relationship. Either way, lets get into it. My favorite panel is actually the title card:

I just think its cute! Analysis below the cut:

Yuu and Nanami are now in a brand new post-kiss world. Yet, the kiss isn’t the only thing on their minds. As I said above, a lot of this chapter deals with the student council election. The characters are putting up fliers, taking candidate photos, conducting interviews about their candidacy, etc. And, because Yuu is Nanami’s campaign manager, she is heavily involved in all of this, and is spending a lot of time around Nanami, which gives her a lot of time to reflect on the kiss. But first, Nanami pulls her aside and apologizes for what happened, insisting that she only asked Yuu to be her campaign manager so they could work together as friends. Yuu forgives her, says it is fine, and they move on. It is not until after the apology that Yuu begins to truly reflect on what happened. And, the truth is, she is frustrated. Her thoughts reveal that that was her first kiss, and she, in her words, “didn’t feel anything” (Ch. 3, pg. 8; emphasis original). While she does not seem surprised by this fact, she is definitely disappointed. But, she cannot get this moment out of her head, her thoughts circling around and around it. This comes to a head when all the candidates and their campaign managers line up together for a photograph. Yuu’s and Nanami’s hands bump together, and Yuu takes this opportunity to conduct a test. She takes Nanami by the hand behind their backs, where the camera can’t see, and she watches Nanami’s reaction. Nanami, of course, gets flustered because she didn’t expect this and she blushes, which seemingly infuriates Yuu. She glares at Nanami behind her back, literally thinking, ��It’s not fair” (ch. 3, pg. 18; emphasis original). Her thoughts continue:

This moment, more than any other, the confession, the kiss, or anything else Nanami has done seems to be what confirms for Yuu that they are not the same. Which leads to the next page:

And this is where Yuu’s character arc is introduced into the story, and it is set up wonderfully in this panel through, what is effectively, the “show don’t tell” rule. Any writer or creative who partakes in storytelling has heard this rule. It boils down to this: when you are telling a story, it is, generally, better to show the audience what happens as opposed to telling them what happens. For example, if you were writing a short story and you wanted to convey that a character is scared, you wouldn’t write “Yuu was scared” because that is telling the audience she is feeling. Instead, it is generally better to write, “Yuu clenched her sweat soaked palms and took a small step back.” (This is not the best example, but its gets the point across). This shows the audience that Yuu is afraid through her actions and has the potential to produce a more visceral emotional reaction in said audience. Nakatani is likely well aware of this “rule,” and, since Bloom into You is being told through a visual medium, she is able to utilize a blend of showing and telling to depict Yuu’s complex emotional state. By doing so in this scene, Nakatani is setting up Yuu’s internal conflict, or what her story is really about, by creating a situation in which Yuu’s actions contradict her words. The above panel is an excellent example of this. Look at Yuu’s thoughts on the page. Her inner monologue is claiming that the situation is not fair, is claiming that Yuu doesn’t know know what it is like to have someone special. She thinks that she cannot feel love and therefore cannot love Nanami. Through Yuu’s thoughts in this scene, Nakatani is, in some ways, telling the audience how Yuu feels. But, look what the physical actions Yuu is taking. Nanami starts to walk away, and Yuu steps towards her, holding her hand out. She is reaching for Nanami. It almost looks like she is going to call out to her. But why would she do that unless she already has some feelings for Nanami? In an updated version of the part two analysis, which is linked in the master link document at the end, I focused on two moments in chapter two, in which Yuu repeatedly insists that Nanami can’t like her because, according to her, ““We’re both girls” (pg. 4 & 26). Yuu clings to these notions, according to my interpretation, because she is trying to protect herself from the fact that she is attracted to Nanami. This scene supports that intrepretation, while also implying that it may already be too late for Yuu; she may already like Nanami. The problem is the way Yuu feels doesn’t match up with the romanticized version of these feelings in the love songs she likes and romance manga she reads. And, because of that, she stops herself from reaching out, giving in to her own beliefs and ultimately cutting herself off from the way she feels, instead isolating herself. In this panel, the night sky in the background symbolizes how far away from Nanami Yuu feels. She’s not even on the ground, and is instead floating up with the stars. This contradiction in character — the Yuu who simultaneously has feelings for Nanami and cannot have feelings for anyone at the same time — is the main internal conflict of this story. It drives Yuu’s actions forward from chapter to chapter, as she learns, slowly, that though love may never be what you expect it to be, it will always find you, because there is plenty of love in the world. And, now that this contradiction is in place, it can begin to affect the story, which it does at the end of this chapter (lots of images below):

After the election events, Yuu and Nanami go home, and Nanami invites Yuu to a coffee shop (this shop will become important to the narrative later, but for right now its just a coffee shop). Yuu agrees, and they have this exchange. In this scene, Yuu’s actions reveal a lot about her mindset. Nanami asks if she can just stay by Yuu’s side and be in love with her, and Yuu agrees, but she doesn’t know why. Internally, she is calling Nanami unfair and acting as if Nanami is twisting her arm about the situation. But is she? Yuu is being a bit of an unreliable narrator here, and to prove it I want to talk about Can’t Defy the Lonely Girl (blog spoilers: review on this coming in a few weeks). Can’t defy the Lonely Girl is another girl’s love manga that tells the story of Ayaka and Sora. The general gist is this: Ayaka desperately wants to get into a good college, but she has bad test anxiety. As a result of this, she did not get into her first choice high school. One of her teachers is aware of this, and cuts her a deal: “Sora Honda has not come to class a single this semester; if you can get her to come to class refularly, I will write you a recommendation letter to whatever school you want.” Ayaka agrees, and goes to Sora’s house to talk to her. Sora agrees to come to class on one condition: Ayaka must agree to one “request” everyday. The first request? Sora wants to kiss her. As the story progresses, whenever Ayaka doesn’t want to do something that Sora wants her to do, Sora uses her request to get her to do it (its mostly harmless stuff). During some of these moments, Ayaka internally relents that Sora is being “not fair.” And this brings us back to Bloom into You. Compare this scene to the description of Can’t Defy the Lonely Girl above. How is Nanami being “unfair” to Yuu here? Yuu can just say no. It is not like Ayaka’s situation, where her and Sora have an agreement that she desperately needs to keep in order to achieve her goals. What is stopping Yuu from walking away? Nothing about Nanami’s mannerisms or speech imply that she would not respect Yuu’s wishes if asked to leave her alone. If Nanami is not the one pressuring her, then who else is left to pressure her but herself? This is not to say that I think Yuu loves Nanami yet; its far too early in the story for that. But, I definitely think her feelings extend beyond just platonic friendship. The question only remains: How does their relationship develop from here?

Not that these are back, I’m only going to do them twice a week, but there won't be a set upload schedule. This is probably not a good idea for blog growth, but with my current schedule, it will be better for me if I stay flexible. Please look forward to chapter four later this week. Also, if you missed chapters 1 and 2, here is the masterlist with all the links: https://hero.page/theyurilibrarian/personal. Each time a new analysis goes up, the previous analysis will be added to this list, and it will always be attached at the end.

Thanks for reading! Here’s the bonus panel for this chapter:

[sevicia]

you WILL perceive my OC process / thoughts / ETC . had an idea for a game the other day while in the shower (they weren't kidding that shower can think) . two main characters they are sisters , you start playing as the older one ETC , and the idea is that she is withdrawn , nervous , responsible and insecure about where she is in life (she is about to start college this is important to the plot but not for what I'm talking about rn) . first instinct was to give her short spiky black hair

first thing I drew (did a couple alt hairs tho) but I felt like the expression did not match what I was going for at all (she is the type to try her best to look calm and reliable) , and neither did the clothes which I drew with the beauty of the opossum in mind . very prevalent today for no reason still a wonderful animal . I did like the hair though and I wasn't ready to give up on the opossum vibe (lol) , so I decided to do a paper doll type thing and start drawing by clothing layer so I could go slowly and think about what she'd be wearing

did not have the willpower to try & make the hair look the same in the paper doll version , didn't wanna overthink her expression either so I really ended up with a completely different character . . . who I really like !!

I have always wanted to do a story set in a cold climate , really had an idea for a different character back in high school (blonde, earmuffs, cheeks are always pink), but gave up on her when I just couldn't figure out what I wanted her to look like . . .

I got the idea for this character to be either in the 3rd or 4th year of high school , she's pretty much an outcast out of habit at this point , enjoys taking walks and being in places she has no business being in . I thought of her being talked to by a teacher (librarian?) on the subject of not just her grades but mostly her behavior at school, gives me the chance of saying if there is something bothering her and affecting her behavior then there is something she needs to get over but I really dunno how to write (think) about something like that ;_;

^ her & her bag . . . NOTHING IS TO SCALE !!!!!!! she has:

- notebook: ripped the used pages from a previous notebook and just kept the empty ones, the thing is beat up to the point the spiral's coming off and the corner of the cover is peeling off ... the cover design is a cloud castle with rainbows , a bundle was on sale and while she doesn't really like it , she doesn't particularly dislike it either .

- pencil case: heart-themed , the fabric is starting to fray after years of use . in it she has: a highlighter, a ballpoint pen, a regular pencil (chewed up), a tiny colored pencil, a container + sharpener combo, and three erasers: one of them is just a formless little thing, the other is a brand new one that she doesn't really wanna use because it's brand new, and the last is one of those useless decorative ones, shaped like a flower. no white-out because she is very very brave .

- water bottle: literally just a plastic bottle she bought a while ago & keeps washing & reusing . getting more & more crumpled up by the SECOND . . .

- strip of paracematol: self explanatory . doesn't get headaches TOO often, just often enough to justify carrying a strip of it around lol

- juice box + tupperware: her mom cuts apples for her and always gets her apple juice cause apples were her favorite fruit growing up ... she really prefers oranges now but doesn't have the heart to tell her . tupperware also has soda crackers . must be mentioned that this is NOT her lunch, just a snack. she gets free lunch at the school cafeteria ! only tasty less than half the time tho ....

- library card: she uses it a lot and has been doing so for a very long time . usually reads non-fiction about unexplained events (she likes ones involving forests the most), but is starting to enjoy horror & sci-fi a bit more lately

- Frankenstein (borrowed from the library): her current read, which she is really enjoying , though she's not sure if she is really getting the "message" of it . happens a lot with fiction books, which is why she doesn't read a lot of them

- flashlight: permanently borrowed from her dad (he insists he's gonna ask for it back eventually so she needs to take good care of it), she uses it for exploring. it gets dark pretty early and the library closes pretty late, so she just goes wherever she wants while her parents think she's at the library . they believe her because she does spend a lot of time there and she keeps feeling guiltier and guiltier ...

- opossum plushie: pretty much her best friend, she carries him everywhere . very soft fur , nice and squeezable too !!

OK ramble over for neow maybe . . .

MILA

[itchyeye]

Okay, on the discussion of characters, I was LITERALLY thinking earlier today of how Sasha is one of my favorite characters in TMA. (Sorry I went on a tangent but hear me out-)

Sasha. A character who we BARELY hear from in the one season she's alive in, has had such a MASSIVE impact on the entire fandom that to this DAY people still make AU's where she lives, of her relationship to multiple other characters, to what could have been or WHO she was based on a few one liners, a statement, and her final moments. After that it's the impact she had on other characters that helped us see her for who she was. We were fed some information on her (Ex. Jon thinking SASHA would have pranked him with a statement and not Tim, Gertrude wanting to make Sasha the next Archivist because she knew she would've been smart enough to see what was happening, Sasha choosing to follow Micheal who was clearly a Not Human Thing,-), but we weren't spoon fed information on who she was if that makes sense? We, through context clues and just idk, good writing on Jonny's part, were able to put together this character in our minds of who Sasha was in and out of the office and her relationship with the other characters, even though she only existed for BARELY ONE SEASON.

Cut to TMAGP, and, like you said, we're being force fed these characters and archetypes. LOOK THIS IS GWEN SHE'S SUPER SERIOUS , THIS IS ALICE SHE'S ~QUIRKY~ AND HAS A BROTHER SHE'S TAKING CARE OF (WHICH SIDE NOTE: WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW TIM HAD A BROTHER UNTIL LATER and it's revealed to us in such a great, tragic way and shows some things about his character we hadn't noticed before, or let us explore ideas about him!) THIS IS LENA SHE'S DARK AND MYSTERIOUS MAY BE A BAD GUY WHO KNOWS WHAT'S HAPPENING OOOOH SPOOKY- And I feel nothing towards any of them. I think it's funny that so far a lot of people who don't like the series all admit that we like Gwen the most because she's the most down to earth and idk, realistically written character? But it just makes me so... Idk, it makes me laugh angrily that this new show that is so focused on these new characters so far doesn't have me liking any of them (Gwen's on thin ice-). They're being shoved in our faces way too quickly and are just thrown their entire wikipedia articles to listen to.

Like, that one comment about how Sam and Alice are exes makes me think of how when Melanie mentioned to Jon that Georgie knew him, he didn't go "OH YES MY EX GIRLFRIEND GEORGIE." He was just like, "Oh! You know Georgie huh? Hm..." and it's later we find out they dated.

SORRY THIS IS SO MUCH I JUST AHSIDOAHS dude. Like. I only like Colin and sort of Gwen and that's it. Everyone else is so annoying, and seeing that the show is BARELY focused on the statements, it's a SLOG to get through.

So sorry for such a long message ; -Z

i will say as politely as i can that the amount of attention this fandom gives a particular character is not generally indicative of their story impact BUT i fo agree that i really like the part sasha plays in the story and the way her death + replacement send huge ripples of drastic effect across all characters

and i 100% agree with the rest of this. even gwen is wearing on me because when a character is just. rude? and the only thing you know about them is that they are someone's coworker? why would i like them? why would i be sympathetic to them? i've started plenty of jobs where people are huge assholes for now reason other than already being super burnt out on the position. but it's awful to take that out on a brand new employee? so gwen is on thin ice for me as well.

but yeah i think you've contrasted very wel the way tma created its characters vs the like bullet point lists of Traits™️that tmp characters have instead

[bumblingbabooshka]

id love to hear about your ideal tuvok-seven and tuvok-b'lanna relationships!!!!

THIS IS VERY LONG AND /ALL/ OFF THE DOME PLEASE FORGIVE ME. Seven&Tuvok: Tuvok is the first person on board who Seven forms a friendly bond with. They understand one another’s methods of communicating very well. They’re both seen as cold and unsocial by others. Tuvok is excused from this because he’s Vulcan but Seven is constantly told she’s wrong for this because she’s human. Perhaps a bit of resentment from Seven about this but it’s not a huge problem. Tuvok is one of the few people Seven feels she can relax in front of

(B’Elanna too - though they argue more than Tuvok/Seven that’s another kind of relaxing. She can talk to her like a friend where they’re on equal footing rather than the Doctor or Janeway who tend to talk ‘down’ to her by which I mean they present themselves as being a mentor figure and Janeway is also literally her boss).

Seven does not need a father figure or another mentor in my mind. She has enough of that, EVERYONE is that. I know people view Tuvok showing care for Seven as fatherly but I personally view it as more friendly concern. In my mind Vulcan parenthood or Tuvok’s particular brand of fatherhood seem to stem more from teaching. (Ex: The children from Innocence or his lessons with Kes). Tuvok does obviously care about Seven but not in what I perceive as a fatherly way. It’s far more interesting to me that Seven is often helping/protecting Tuvok or that they’re often in some kind of dangerous situation together. I think it’d be interesting to lean into that more. Like, it’d be sort of sweet if the relationship Seven finds confidence in caring for someone else in was with a Vulcan. I know they have that whole borg children thing, I couldn’t care less about that honestly. The Naomi-Seven relationship is cute enough on its own! 

Both Seven and Tuvok go to and through hell for each other.

My personal favorite Tuvok-Seven moment other than Comfortable Silence one we all know and love is the one where Seven believes the borg are calling her and she tells Tuvok to get out of the shuttle so he won’t be assimilated. Tuvok then says no, he’s not leaving her. It’s just so fucking sweet to me. Both of them. Seven’s like ‘I want to spare you this’ and Tuvok’s like ‘I’ll walk headfirst into this for you’. 

I see both Seven and Tuvok as traumatized people, both of whom would probably deny this citing either ‘borg’ or ‘vulcan’ as the reason this is so. However they both seem to suffer a lot, especially when it comes to their minds. Tuvok even parallels Seven’s initial trauma in being fully assimilated into the borg yet this never comes up between them. Look more into that!! What was that like?? They both suffer traumas, in some cases even similar (Repression, Retrospect) or the same traumas but the reaction of the crew to those traumas is very different with Seven being badgered about her emotions & reactions and Tuvok being left alone with his. I just think it’d be nice for them to have a certain solace. Tuvok would have a shoulder to lean on Seven would have someone who wouldn’t be expecting anything out of her.

Regarding the Borg thing: If ANYONE could understand how being part of an interconnected network of minds would be comforting it would be Tuvok. If ANYONE could understand how being suddenly and traumatically separated from that network via the actions of a certain captain Janeway could be confusing and painful it would be Tuvok. Not that I think Tuvok blames Janeway, I don’t at all. He’s Vulcan (it would be illogical) and also Kathryn’s #1 stan so I think that could again be a point of friction between them. Tuvok doesn’t push Seven in any direction but doesn’t ever admit that Janeway could be wrong. I think at one point in Year of Hell he literally tells Seven she shouldn’t disagree with her? But just Tuvok’s general behavior in the show (like not commenting on her attempting to torture information out of a guy and going on a bloodthirsty quest for vengeance in Equinox) shows that despite what lipservice the show pays to him being her ‘moral compass’ in earlier seasons he mostly just agrees with her after that one instance of him going against orders. He has a tremendous amount of faith in her and would probably encourage that same faith in Seven. That or he’d just excuse himself from the issue by saying he’s Vulcan and can’t really comment on what it means to be human.

Long story short Tuvok is in desperate need of characters he’s not seen as a mentor figure for and Seven is in desperate need of characters that aren’t trying to mold her into what their vision of a good human/starfleet officer is. I think they could and should find that in one another.

B’Elanna & Tuvok: Both B’Elanna and Tuvok have a lot of similarities in their backstories that are unexplored. They both at one point wished they were not the race they are (for different reasons and to differing degrees as Tuvok grew out of this and B’Elanna still has it). They were both sent to a temple to better connect with their heritage. They both quit Starfleet (at different times). They both are seen by people chiefly with regards to their species ‘It’s because [s]he’s Vulcan/Klingon’ and they have both taken issue with it in the past. They both seem like they have had a complicated relationship to humanity with B’Elanna lauding it and Tuvok loathing it (not actively in canon I mean in the past for Tuvok).

B’Elanna from a young age viewed humanity as Good. Full stop. No matter how much humans hurt her the lesson she seems to take away from it is that she needs to change, not that humans should change. She covered her ridges, she lies about not knowing Klingon, when she knows her baby will be born with her features she’s TERRIFIED of how her daughter will be treated and tries EVERYTHING in her power to “fix” (HEAVY air quotes) her and make her socially acceptable to humans. 

Tuvok on the other hand, when faced with similar (though not as dire, sustained or internalized as B’Elanna) issues went the opposite way. He grew to really resent how humans pushed their own beliefs and values onto him. I think it’s interesting how he mentioned humor specifically, implying that Tuvok has and had his own sense of humor - of personhood - that humans didn’t understand and thus ignored or viewed as lesser.

Now for how these elements would interact…B’Elanna in her dreamscape in Barge of The Dead places Tuvok as the arbiter of What is a Good Klingon which I interpret as meaning she views him as very upright and traditional. This makes sense as we see Tuvok is a very staunch person. In canon he doesn’t struggle at all with his cultural identity. He is Vulcan and he’s at peace with that no matter what anyone has to say about it - unlike B’Elanna. He even has a holoprogram of a temple which is interesting when you take into account the fact that B’Elanna denies her cultural spirituality.

I think B’Elanna would see Tuvok as a bit intimidating and very frustrating. He’s stubborn like her and I can’t imagine them working well together. They don’t interact much but the two times I can remember him doing so he says something that could be interpreted as very hurtful (though the narrative hates B’El- doesn’t see it that way).

1 After B’Elanna tells him a painful story about her past in which she was bullied to the point of snapping and attacking another student Tuvok immediately uses the same jeer to incite her to anger yet again. After he intentionally does so he criticizes her for being angry and says she’s too easily riled up.

2 After B’Elanna is acquitted in Random Thoughts Tuvok says something along the lines of “You know for a brutal and illogical Klingon you actually control yourself somewhat well.” and B’Elanna says “Thanks??” which…B’Elanna…you can punch him, it’s okay. I know you don’t punch people but you can do it just this once. Again, I don’t see them being either father/daughter or mentor/mentee. (I assume them having a father/daughter bond is just conceptual as Tuvok IS a father and B'Elanna has a bad relationship with her own) They don’t interact with one another much and seem like they would aggravate each other as they’re both stubborn and kind of similar. I think in fact that Tuvok constantly being relegated to ‘Mentor Figure’ is side-eyeingly similar to the ‘Magic N*’ trope by which I mean Tuvok is used in both canon and fan narratives ONLY to advance other characters’ stories, give them advice etc but his own personhood remains unexplored or seen as unimportant. 

I think B’Elanna-Tuvok could really bring that out. Both of them being just two people. B’Elanna and Tuvok arguing, learning about one another, coming to respect each other. B’Elanna questioning Tuvok and his ideas and Tuvok being unused to that, caught off guard - and through that questioning and response we learn more about both of them as people.

Tuvok, at the end of the day, is not a therapist. He’s just some guy who’s part of a culture which is known for controlling themselves. He doesn’t even seem to really WANT to do what little exercises of control he does with B’Elanna (he says Chakotay insisted). Tuvok is not a people person and doesn’t seek out interactions with others. When he talks to others they often view him as either cold (perception of Vulcans) or superior (Tuvok-specific trait) neither of which I think B’Elanna would jive with well. 

I think it would be very interesting if B’Elanna called Tuvok out on how he’s implied to view Klingons. I think she’d be way more likely to do this with Tuvok because he’s not a human. Like, imagine if after rising tensions Tuvok makes one little comment too many and B’Elanna’s like “Hey. Do you remember when you were an ensign and people kept making these comments about YOU??? Do you think maybe you’re doing the exact same fucking thing right now to me???”

ALSO one last thing I find interesting is (I’m sorry) LITERALLY ONE line in Innocence that’s NEVER brought up again. Tuvok saying that he used to believe in the concept of a katra and the Vulcan afterlife but “in recent years” he’s begun to experience doubts. Let B’Elanna and Tuvok talk about spiritual doubts.

At the end of the day I DO ABSOLUTELY want them to be friends. I want them to stick up for each other when a human makes a little comment. I want them to have each others fucking backs. Maybe it's not the fact that I'm Vulcan or You're Klingon that's the problem.....maybe it's the whi- humans...that are wrong. This could also connect to Seven's personal journey with humanity. Seven seeing that two people she cares about have been hurt by humanity and humanity's perception of them could be an interesting thing for her to notice and think about in regards to what sort of person she wants to be.

[themswritinwords]

Songs and Ships

Tagged by @athenswrites (many thanks!) and tagging @stesierra, @silvertalonwritblr, and @arigalefantasynovels (if you want, no pressure)

rules: write two to five songs that represent a ship between your ocs (it can be platonic or romantic or a secret third thing). then add a quote from said wip (if possible!) underneath it.

I know you shouldn't play favorites with your (brain)children, but I'm going with my all-time favs, Evan and Rowan, from The Rockbridge Experiment.

I Guess I'm In Love by Clinton Kane

I mean, the title says it all. He fell first, she fell harder, a little obliviously mutual pining (and everyone around them rolling their eyes) later, they're the embodiment of "this might as well happen." But make it romance.

Have Rowan's "oops! Feelings!" moment.

If she’d been anyone else, he might have just done it. Acted on impulse and kissed her right then, two-weeks-acquaintance be damned. But if there was a way to ruin everything, that would have been it. You didn’t just accept having a crush on your brand new coworker, let alone act on it. Is that why he was so hung up on her? He saw a pretty girl, but she was automatically off limits, so his brain threw a fit and refused to let the idea go without closure. That was then misinterpreted as attraction. Desire. Whatever this was. Was that really it? The thought gave him a peculiar, distasteful feeling in the pit of his stomach and he frowned to himself, turning another corner. He… didn’t want it to be just some fleeting attraction. And it wasn’t, was it? Yeah, sure, that came with it, but… Oh gods, he liked her. As in, ‘I want to kiss you because I really like you,’ not ‘I like you because I really want to kiss you.’ He stopped midstep, heart pounding with both joy and terror at the realization that this wasn’t a cut and dry case of having the hots for his coworker. “Well,” he said, putting his hands on his hips, “shit.” What did he do now?

Pas Peur by L.E.J.

Is it cheating if it's in a different language? Not if the character speaks said language. A song for the spicy Cajun girl who built a huge chunk of her identity on being Not Scared Of Anything, but is deeply terrified of the fact that she's crushing on someone for the first time in her life. (Bonus points because she literally didn't realize it for 3/4 of the manuscript. I'm not getting over that.)

Have the Terror of Realization.

She glanced surreptitiously to the side, scanning Rowan for any hint of how he was interpreting it. He had his hair down, running his fingers through the ends as he watched the alley ahead of them with a residual smile. Evan’s stomach did that weird twisting thing again, and a tiny jolt went through her as something shifted into place in her mind. Something totally foreign to her, a murky, terrifying unknown slowly fading into focus as her eyes traced the angles of his face.

Falling, by Florence + the Machine

What can I say? I'm a sucker for the scared-of-vulnerability and helpless-descent-into-madness vibes. This one applies to both of them. They're both terrified in different ways and for different reasons-- Rowan because he's usually the smooth talking player who dates around and is always chill, and now he's totally off his game with the facade stripped away. Evan because she's never actually cared for anyone like this, and she also doesn't know how to be the vulnerable, needy one.

Alas, there's not a ton of other quotes I could draw from because Major Spoilers, but have a snippet of a lil heart-to-heart that was particularly fun to write.

“You know,” she said after a moment, “a while back you told me that if the detective thing didn’t work out, I had a future as a therapist.” She looked up with a smirk. “I didn’t realize you were projecting.” “Side effect of your mom having a doctorate in psychology,” Rowan said with a smile. “The analysis, anyway. The awkwardly saying it out loud uncalled for is all me, unfortunately.” “Hey now, you don’t get to give a speech like that and then go calling yourself unfortunate.” With no witty comeback to be had, he just chuckled quietly. “Thank you,” Evan said, quickly and quietly. “I… I think I kind of needed that.” “I meant it,” Rowan said. “You really are incredible.” Their eyes met and lingered in a warm, fragile silence.  “I don’t know why this feels like the time to say it,” Evan said after a moment, “but for all the insanity and general screwed-up-ness of this whole situation… if nothing else, I’m glad it means I got to know you.” “The feeling’s mutual,” Rowan said quietly.

.

Maybe it's time to get back to focusing on rewrites and shortening this one. I forgot how much fun I had writing these kids.

[basedhighsenberg]

Have you ever met somebody, and talking with them is so easy and you get along so well, feel like you've known them a long time?

That was about how yesterday went.

I planned on maybe spending 10-15 minutes visiting this girl at her LeVian show, depending on the vibe.

I wound up staying for an hour talking to her the whole time.

When she first saw me at the counter her jaw -literally- dropped, and she's like "I recognize you! I'm so glad you actually came!"

The store was fairly busy. I made no attempt to pull her away from anyone or anything, but she was whipping the crowds such that somehow she was able to break away every few minutes just to come talk to me. She showed me a few pieces, a massive signet ring she had in mind for me, a dragon ring she designed herself (that she made me promise not to show anyone else lol).

Amusingly, after a bit several of the customers started talking to her and I like we were some sort of pair. I don't blame them because I felt like I had been talking to someone I've known for a minute. She interjected at one point too and said I was her "friend who came to visit". This one couple asked us how long we've known each other, and when I said we only met last Friday they were like "huh?"

At some point,some of the other employees at the store noticed I was lingering and talking to her so they came over to 'vet' me (as they should). I was honest and told them I was from a competitor store, and joked that I was here to "spy". I wound up discussing business with them as well, and I "accidentally" flexed on them- their store does 1.2m a year, mine should about 5m this year. I also mentioned how I essentially forced the old manager out for being incompetent, and one of the employees there apparently knew him and thanked me because he had also had to deal with his asshattery as a customer over a year ago.

Her and I also discussed business a little bit when she got free. She was at the JCK show in Vegas in June, and I mentioned had clients there that rang out the first sale of the show for like $94k. I showed her the pieces my clients bought and she was like "oh my god, that was them!" We also discovered we have mutual friends with LeVian, my store rep and his wife are good friends with her.

My store was also having a jewelry show for the Lalli brand, which I tried to invite her to, although it was a lot smaller and we had already hit goal by the time I went out. We discussed a few brands- Lalli, Kallati, Effy- but Levian was very clearly her favorite. So I showed her the LeVian ring I wear on my left hand and she LOVED it- apparently she had only ever seen it once before and remarked about how rare it was.

I also showed her my other ring, the 18k gold Alexandrite. At first she thought it was tourmaline, but when I told her it was Alexandrite her jaw dropped again, and she literally grabbed my hand hard with both of hers (her hands were hot to the touch, as were mine) and brought it super close to her face so she could get a better look- it was a little surprising and for a split second I thought she was gonna eat my hand to get the ring lmao.

I got a little more bold and decided to ask her about how she liked staying in Utah, and if she's been doing anything fun here. She mentioned she was in Park City Sunday and got a sunburn, and motioned to the burn on her chest. I laughed and asked her how much longer she was gonna be in town, and she, sensing where i was going with the conversation I'm sure, smiled and essentially gave me her entire detailed itinerary for the rest of the week- she's doing a bunch of shows up in Salt Lake and was flying out Saturday.

At this point I was actually going to ask her out, but the store got busy and another employee stepped in to pull her away. Great timing but no problem, I continued to browse and made some more small talk with the other employees. Then I noticed that I had been there for like an hour already.

She sensed that I was angling to leave, so she got free one more time and came over to say goodbye and thanked me for coming to see her show. I also thanked her and said I had a good time.

I truly did, I've met few people with a personality/vibe that warm. The feeling that I've known her longer than a few days still sits pleasantly heavy with me.

Before I walked away, I had my hands resting on the class counter. She reached out and put her hand over mine, smiled and squeezed gently before we both turned to go back to our days. I must have had the biggest, dooffiest smile on my face walking back to my truck.

As soon as I got inside, I immediately texted her. I told her that if she wanted to see the sights a little more before she left, that I'd love to take her out and get to know her better. She thanked me for the offer and said she'd let me know.

I had planned/preferred to actually ask her in person, but the crowd were not allowing it- which is fine. I have no idea if anything will happen- I know what the life of a traveling rep is like and on the road it's hectic and schedules are down to the wire. But I think given the context and how the hour went, overall it was a very positive experience. I'm glad I have it a chance, and extremely grateful that I didn't listen to my initial doubts.

At this point, all I can do is put it in God's hands.

Who knows, right?

[blueskittlesart]

Your thoughts on the phantom thief’s costumes?

oh this should be fun!! i included akechi and sumire also because i love talking so the more the better

joker: solid 9/10. easy to remember and draw which i appreciate. not a lot of color variation except for the red gloves, which i actually like ON HIM but i generally dislike the bright primary colored gloves as a common motif among all the thieves because i think it hinders most of their designs, with joker being the one exception.

ryuji: 8/10. harder to remember than joker's but i also don't draw him that much. again not much color variation but like. they're thieves. that's normal and makes sense. i love the metal spinal cord detailing on the back of his jacket!! my only real problem with it is the yellow gloves and red scarf. i think if the gloves HAD to be yellow then the scarf should have also been yellow to match, because since they're so similar in terms of saturation they end up fighting for attention.

ann: 0/10 god i hate this outfit. i literally cant stand it it's so god awful. the fact that they put a 16 year old girl in a skintight cat bodysuit with a boob window is one thing but like. they couldnt even make it look good. the pink gloves clash with the monotone red of the rest of the outfit. the boots are ugly and don't match the aesthetic of the catsuit. the zippers on the suit are clearly meant to add visual interest but just look stupid and impractical. NOT TO MENTION she breaks the theme of a primarily black outfit that (most of) the rest of them have going despite her codename being panther, a BLACK CAT??? why is it red. if i could kill the designers of this outift i would

yusuke: 6/10. would be infinitely better if it was a shirt and pants instead of a bodysuit. also the giant sleeves look stupid as hell <3 once again the bright blue gloves suck ass but at least they're SLIGHTLY brought in to the rest of the design with the blue stripes on the belt. honestly i think it would be better if they just ditched the gloves and made the belt stripes red to keep with the kitsune mask aesthetic but whatever. it could be way worse ig

makoto: 8/10. her mask is ugly let's get that out of the way first. sorry queen its the truth </3 aside from that i think she's got one of the better designs of the thieves. very cohesive aesthetic and it's almost exclusively black but doesn't lose detail (the silver metal accents help with this and are a very nice touch!) she's one of the few that doesn't suffer from the glove problem because her gloves are gray but if it were me i might have made them black. overall solid design

futaba: 7/10. one of the more practical designs which i think is cool! she's got arm and kneepads and pockets on her thighs which i think is very on-brand for a support character like her. she also keeps some aspects of her real-world fashion sense like her legwarmers and big platform shoes which is cool!! her color palette could be a liiiiitle bit more cohesive, she's got both gold and silver metal accents which throws me off a bit and the red of her goggle lenses ends up looking somewhat out of place with the rest of her green accents. she doesn't suffer from the glove problem though despite her gloves being bright neon green, i think because that same green is used just enough in other parts of her design that the gloves blend in more as an accent color.

haru: 10/10. my favorite design in the game BY FAR. she's got such a cool and cohesive aesthetic going. the pink accents are noticeable but don't overpower the black enough to make her look out of place with the other thieves, and the frilliness and puffiness of it also reminds me of her real-world fashion sense! she unfortunately is probably the biggest victim of the glove problem. the purple gloves absolutely destroy an otherwise beautiful color scheme and distract from all the beautiful details of her outfit because they just look SO out of place. i don't hate them enough to dock her points but if they were just. black. or pink even. then she would be completely perfect

pre-reveal akechi: 10/10. ok i laughed out loud when i first saw this because it looks fucking stupid and i recognize that objectively it looks fucking stupid. but from both a design and lore standpoint its. good. it is genuinely very good. it's got a cohesive color scheme and aesthetic which visually places him opposite joker--he is white with red and gold accents in direct contrast to joker's black with red and silver accents. certain aspects of his design seem to deliberately parallel joker's--the v-shaped buttons on his coat are an obvious imitation of the v-shaped accents on joker's waistcoat, the cuffs on his sleeves look just like joker's, the v-cut of his cape is reminiscent of the slit in the back of joker's coat, etc etc. even his gloves (which have to be spotlighted because ive done it for everyone else) are a parallel to joker's--white against red cuffs as opposed to red against black cuffs. from a design standpoint everything about this design is SCREAMING at you that akechi is a direct parallel of joker, and it's done very well imo. from a lore standpoint i can't help but wonder if he made these decisions deliberately, as some sort of challenge to joker or something, since he's the only character who mentions putting actual thought into their outfit.

post-reveal akechi: 3/10. i don't want to be mean but this was a huge downgrade. it's got some good things going for it--the mask is cool, and definitely better than the ugly shit he was wearing before, and the way certain aspects become almost corrupted, like the cape and belt, is a cool touch. however i think a lot of what i praised his pre-reveal design for made things difficult for the designers of this outfit. so much of white knight akechi seems deliberately designed to mirror joker, to be the white to joker's black. so when the designers had to do a dark version of akechi, they ended up backed into a corner, because simply turning akechi's old design black would leave him looking far too similar to joker, who, crucially, he is rejecting completely in order to attain this form in the first place. what the designers settled on was an evil candycane, which. well. i think we could maybe have done a little better. i think leaning into the prince thing might have helped--going from a prince of justice to a prince of darkness, keeping that aesthetic but twisting it into something more disney-villain-esque. at the very least he needs to not be wearing a striped bodysuit. please. im sympathetic to the problems the designers must have faced with this one but im SURE there's a solution that isn't a skintight purple monstrosity.

sumire: 5/10. sigh. this one is hard for me. because if i look at it objectively i think that her design is GOOD. like it's cohesive, it's pretty, the elements fit together, etc etc. but i can't get past the fact that they just straight up made her female joker. like the poor girl can't even get her own outfit. i know she's the love interest but COME ON can we give her a little more agency here PLEASE. the leotard is the only thing that feels definitively like HER because gymnastics and everything else just kind of feels like a genderbent joker cosplay to me. for every other character in this game their thief costume's aesthetic can be related somehow back to them as a character--their motivations, their innermost desires, their personality, SOMETHING. sumire just. gets none of that. she gets to be Joker's Girlfriend. and yeah maybe you could make the case that she like doesn't know who she is or whatever and that's why she defaults to him but it still feels CHEAP. she doesn't even get her own glove color. EVERY OTHER CHARACTER IN THE GAME has a uniquely ugly glove color except sumire who has to share with joker because she is his girlfriend. ugh

[soulerflaire]

Long post of me rating various animes I've been keeping up with the past few weeks. A note: I watch these shows with original language audio and English subtitles, so I can't rate the English voice acting, which I know can make or break a show for a lot of people.

Tearmoon Empire Synopsis: 20-year-old Princess Mia (basically anime Marie Antionette) is executed at the guillotine after a rebellion overthrows her empire. But then she wakes up 8 years in the past, with all her memories leading up to her execution written down in a blood-stained diary. She makes it her goal to do everything she can to avoid her terrible fate. Rating: 7/10 This is the first "character wakes up in the past with all their memories" show I've watched, so I can't comment on how original it is in that regard, but I think it's pretty good! The show is very tongue-in-cheek in the beginning, with Mia still being a fairly self-centered spoiled princess, but all her attempts to avoid her past mistakes get misinterpreted as her being wise and kind. She quickly ends up with a large following of loyal friends and gains a reputation as "the Wisdom of the Empire". It does eventually start leaning into more heavy story as it goes on, though, so it's not all lighthearted silliness. But what really brings this show up to a 7 for me is the narrator. His deadpan disappointment every time someone misinterprets Mia's intentions kills me. I think the story has some holes here and there, and Mia can get kinda grating at times, but I'm definitely enjoying it regardless.

Shangri-La Frontier Synopsis: Rakuro Hizutome prides himself on his ability to beat really shitty VR games (advanced anime VR, think Sword Art Online). But one day, he decides to try the most popular VR MMO in the world, Shangri-La Frontier. Rating: 10/10 That's it, that's the synopsis. It's such a simple plot, but it's so good. The writer clearly understands video games, and so everything about the game and Rakuro's strats while playing makes sense. Imagine your favorite speedrunner or challenge runner taking a stab at a brand new anime VR MMO; that's basically this show. Rakuro uses all the skill and strategy he's built up over the years playing awful, awful games, and while this does make him really good at the game, he doesn't feel OP out of nowhere. Everything he does in the game is something anyone else could do, he's not breaking the game at all. Also, so far there's been zero fanservice-y nonsense. In fact, it feels like they're making a point of avoiding typical fanservice tropes. The (possible) love interest always wears a suit of heavy full plate armor in the game. There's a bunny girl NPC in Rakuro's party, but she's literally a small bunny. She can take on a human form, but it rapidly drains her mana so she can only do it for like a minute at a time, and her human form just looks like a normal person. Heck, the person showing the most skin in the show is Rakuro himself, because (in typical souls-like speedrunner fashion) he runs around in shorts and a mask, and people call him out on it frequently. The show is very low-stakes, lighthearted fun, I highly recommend it!

The Apothecary Diaries Synopsis: Maomao, the daughter of a smalltown apothecary, is kidnapped and sold as a servant in the harem of the emperor's palace. Her plan is to keep her head down until her servitude is up, then go home. But when the newborn imperial heirs fall ill, she steps in to provide a cure, drawing the eye of Jinshi, the head official of the harem. Rating: 8/10 This set up sounds ripe for skeezy creepy fanservice crap, but it couldn't be further from that. It's more along the lines of a mystery of the week show, where Maomao is tasked by Jinshi to unravel a medical mystery, or perform detective work, or give her take on the goings on in the palace. Maomao is bright, sarcastic, and genre-savvy, and has no shortage of scathing remarks for Jinshi any time he tries to get too friendly. She is probably my favorite character out of all the shows I've watched recently. What brings the show down a bit for me is that I'm not particularly attached to any of the other characters. I can't tell most of the attendants apart, I don't really care about the top four consorts, and Jinshi himself is a total creep (the show does treat him like a creep, it does not condone his behavior, but I still don't like him). This is really the Maomao show, and that's enough for me to give it an 8, but not really anything higher. Side note: the show does not confirm it, but I headcanon Maomao as ace. Edit: Forgot to mention I've also been listening to Hana ni Natte on repeat most of today. The opening theme of Apothecary Diaries didn't need to go that hard, but it does anyway.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Synopsis: A party of heroes have defeated the Demon King and restored peace to the land. Frieren, a long-lived elf who was the mage in that party, returns to her life of solitude. 50 years later, she visits Himmel, the leader of the party, to fulfill a promise she made, and finds him to be a wizened old man. He passes shortly thereafter, and Frieren is forced to face the reality of human mortality. Rating: 9/10 This is a heavy, heavy show. Frieren is an elf, a race that lives for thousands of years. To her, the 10-year journey to defeat the Demon King was the blink of an eye, and the following 50 years were almost as brief. But at Himmel's funeral, she realizes that was almost his entire life, and she never really knew him. Despite Frieren seeing their journey together as brief, Himmel had a huge impact on her, and she deeply regrets not getting to know him. This show focuses a lot on Frieren's personal struggle to comes to terms with the short lifespans of everyone around her, but it doesn't generally do so directly. We don't hear Frieren's thoughts on this; instead, we have to interpret her thoughts and feelings through her actions and what little she says. She's extremely reserved and her expression and tone rarely change; you have to pay attention to her words themselves, and think about her motivations for what she's doing, and connect the dots. Frieren eventually takes on an apprentice, Fern, and later they recruit a fighter, Stark, and those two serve as helpers for discerning Frieren's thoughts. Stark will often express confusion about something Frieren is doing, and Fern will provide as good an explanation as she can. The show also touches on "what comes after" as the world recovers from the threat of the Demon King. In some places, the party of heroes are remembered with statues and parades, while in others, the party is all but forgotten. There are remnants of the Demon King's forces scattered about. The world is moving on, but still bears the scars of the Demon King's tyranny. What brings the show down from a 10 for me is a couple things. 1, there's some fairly immature humor sprinkled in that feels tonally dissonant to me. Nothing too awful, but it's a little jarring when compared to the super heavy first few episodes. 2, the show has recently been focusing more and more on Fern and Stark's developing relationship. I don't know if there's a goal in mind with it, or if it's just a desire to include romance in the story. Either way, I don't really care if they get together or not, I just don't want it to be such a focus. It's not really what I'm here to see. Side note: Unlike with Apothecary Diaries, I don't have to headcanon Frieren as ace; in the show, all elves are canonically ace, which is why there are so few of them.

My New Boss is Goofy Synopsis: Momose quit his previous job because his boss was extremely abusive and cruel. He finds a new job at a new company, and is overwhelmed with anxiety, but it turns out his new boss Shirosake is a lovable goof with his head in the clouds. Rating: 7/10 This show is adorable; Momose is frequently scared and anxious because of memories of his old boss, but Shirosake's goofiness always puts him at ease and makes his stress disappear. It's just episode after episode of Shirosake being an amazing boss and a great friend to Momose while also being adorably goofy. The show at first kind of waggles its eyebrows about whether it's meant to be taken as queer or not, then winks knowingly while elbowing you, then starts jumping up and down and pointing at a pride flag, then eventually yells "HEY REPLACE 'BOSS' WITH 'BOYFRIEND' DO YOU GET IT NOW DO YOU GET IT?" There is a lot of blushing. It's very cute. But a warning: when you replace 'boss' with 'boyfriend', Momose's ex-boss suddenly becomes a lot darker, and it can get pretty heavy at times. His ex-boss is clearly a metaphor for a controlling, abusive ex-boyfriend (even going so far as to take Momose's phone and block all his contacts), and I know that can hit close to home for people. So just a heads up that the show is 90% gay fluff and cuteness and 10% main character trying to recover from the severe trauma of an abusive relationship. I give it a 7/10 because I doubt Momose and Shirosake are ever going to actually get together; shows like this tend to do the "will they won't they" forever, and I know I'll lose patience with it long before it's done. But for now, it's a lot of fun. I also identify with Shirosake's forgetfulness and social awkwardness : p