#no capitalization again my back is killing me T_T

[iceywrites]

"you're going to get in trouble", eiji whispers but michael only snickers and continues doodling on ash's face.

eiji is sitting on the floor where ash had laid down a few moments ago to take a nap. ash uses the book he was reading to cover his face and rests his legs on eiji's lap. michael decided that he absolutely must use this vulnerability and quickly fished out a marker for himself.

presently, ash's palms are covered with flowers, with weeds reaching a little over his wrists. satisfied with his artwork, michael leaves the rest of his arms and moves the book away to "beautify" ash's face.

"do you really think he's sleeping through this?" eiji reasons, sipping his tea.

that shocks michael. he pokes ash's cheek twice, it doesn't get him any reaction. "no, he's definitely sleeping." he pats ash's head. "good for you." he says and proceeds to draw an inverted triangle on the tip of ash's nose.

eiji smiles softly.

for the fifth time in the afternoon, ash softly - and almost inconspicuously - nudges eiji's abdomen with his foot twice begging for help. eiji smiles to himself as he makes no attempt to physically stop michael.

michael has now drawn three whiskers on each side of ash's face. "i think you should draw hearts to complete your masterpiece," eiji suggests.

ash chooses that moment to open his eyes scaring michael in the process. michael is quick to get on his feet and starts running, screaming and laughing through the room. ash chases after him making empty threats to add to his pretense of being the pissed off big brother.

eiji laughs with them as he fishes out his phone. "ash, look here." he calls out catching him off-guard. he quickly snaps a picture for himself.

ash lunges at him to get his phone but eiji is quick to duck and bury the phone under him.

"delete that!"

"no!" eiji laughs as ash tries to tickle him to fish out that phone. "i'm using that as my wallpaper."

"don't you dare!"

[soobasaur]

are you mine?

— a lee minho au

genre: enemies to lovers minho x gender neutral!reader

a/n: this is for my bestie who has been in a minho obsession lately and needs more content, you know who you are :]

« masterlist

you and minho didnt exactly,,,get along very well for a while

the only reason you both even knew each other was two of your best friends were dating and merged ur friend groups

(thanks a lot binsung 〴⋋_⋌〵)

you wouldnt go as far as to say you hated him

but you liked to pretend you did

you just barely saw him around so why not just mke him your mortal enemy??

it was easier to hate him then admit he was decent company!!

you had a reputation to uphold!!!!

and apparently he did too because he never really disagreed,,,,

you guys just ever had a chance to get off on the right foot and really talk

mutual disagreement <33

the thing is, the both of you were never left alone together

like ever

until that one time yall were abandoned (-д-；)

you and ur friend groups planned a hang out but everyone ended up cancelling last minute with no excuse

it was just you two who didnt get the memo and ended up alone

now that you think about it,,,that sounds like smth ur friends would do on purpose

(again, fuck u binsung!! ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ )

so just picture this,,,you and minho both showing up to an arcade and sitting in silence for an hour before getting a text that everyone cancelled

your immediate thought was to go home bc why would minho want to hang out with you???

but after the both of you read the text in the groupchat he got up and made his way inside, holding the door open and quirking his eyebrow up at you

“well, are you coming or not? I wanna try the new vr game.”

and you were just like \\(⊙︿⊙)// ???

he? wants?? to hang out??? with just you????

but u ended up following him in and he paid for your guy’s tickets ≧◡≦

“just buy me lunch after and we’re even”

lunch??? now this mf wants to get lunch together?!$%

you learned one thing about minho that day

he was,,,competitive,,VERY competitive

like what demon possessed him kind of competitive

whenever he won he would flash you a smirk and skip to the next game as he dragged his row of tickets along

it INFURIATED U!!!

ur pride was in shambles

so you unleashed everything after that and won a good amount of games ;)

u had been eyeing a cute cat plush the entire time but u didnt have enough tickets at the end :((

o(╥﹏╥)o damn it capitalism u just wanted a plushie

you didnt rlly want anything else so you gave your tickets to minho and waited to the side for him to get his prize

he came out with tHE SAME PLUSHIE YOU HAD BEEN EYEING \\( ಠ_ಠ)//

but before you could sulk about it he handed it to you and started to make his way to the exit Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

and during lunch this bitch ended up paying even after saying you should (｀ε´)

\(▰˘◡˘▰)//\\ (▰˘◡˘▰)//\\ (▰˘◡˘▰)// \\(▰˘◡˘▰)//

After that...hang out if you will,,u started to notice minho everywhere

LIKE E V E R Y W H E R E

why was this bitch all over your college campus?

you never noticed minho was in ur class for the longest time jsskkfk

like all of a sudden u just spotted him out of the corner of ur eye and were like o h

once he noticed you too there was no going back

say good bye to paying attention in class

(as if you ever did anyways)

he started to inch closer to you during class

he even started sending you notes

ಠ▃ಠ and u were so paranoid the professor would catch you

but this bitch was slick so u were fine

ヽ(๏∀๏ )ﾉ

he was the type of guy to throw little crumpled sticky notes at you whenever he wanted to say something during class

they’d be covered with doodles of cats and his scribbly messy handwriting + little hearts

it was usually just some dumb thought he had or a crude drawing of the professor (. ﾟーﾟ)

other than those few notes you guys never really talked outside ur friend group

there was one incident late at night tho

you had a big project coming up and it was 2am and you were...2 sentences in T_T

you deserved a coffee break <3

so that was how you found under the awning of an all night coffee shop

except it wasn't all night and closed right after you got ur coffee!!

and now u were stuck under the awning!!

all you had was your measly hoodie that you stole from changbin and your now soggy cup of coffee as you waited for the rain to pass

you might as well of just stayed home since ur wasting all this time you could’ve been working on your project standing outside

were you gonna work on the project once you got home? no

but did the thought of wasted time still make you mad? yes

you slumped against the shop as you bitterly drank your coffee, crushing the cup between your hands

after a couple minutes you felt the rain above you stop

you look to your side to see,,,minho?!

this mf was holding an umbrella above your head

“here, take my umbrella.”

thats when you noticed the cafe uniform he had on

“you work here?” you asked, before taking the umbrella from his hand

“yeah, your observant ass didnt see me literally make your coffee,”

“oh whoops,,,i thought you hated me, why are you giving me our umbrella?”

“i do, but id rather you uh...not die in the cold looking like a dead rat.”

was it just you or were his cheeks dusted pink?

probably the cold

(y/n you dumb bitch-)

you both walk back to your dorms after that

and he insists you carry the umbrella

cus his poor arms are tired from making coffee all day :((

and maybe it's an excuse to be closer to you

since hes a bit taller he has to crouch and scoot closer to you in order to not get wet >_<

⊙﹏⊙ ⊙﹏⊙ ⊙﹏⊙

over the next few weeks your find urself at the cafe he works at more often

one time you got the hours wrong and he wasnt on shift :(

but when you got up to leave he walked in and spent the day helping you study instead of working

you went for the coffee!! not for him!! definitely not,,,

(¬‿¬)

“look, im only hanging out with you cus you get the employee discount.”

“sure, and not cus you enjoy my company-”

“i 100% despise your company.”

ok but u didnt

u actually /REALLY/ liked his company

like WTF

where has he been all ur life

ew that sounded too romantic

but like fr where was he hiding

(・ε・｀)

soon you both were joining binsung on their dates

but it wasn't a double date!!

it was just four friends hanging out and two happened to be a couple

and they liked to hang out at fancy restaurants and do couple like activities

totally normal!!

there was one incident where you were about to pay for your meal but minho placed his hand on top of yours and slid his card instead

“you can pay on the next date.”

NEXT? DATE??

excuse me sir what do u mean-

you ignored changbin and jisung’s snickers behind you the entire night

when minho walked you home you couldnt help but let urself blurt out

“was this a date?”

minho gave you an incredulous look

“...was it not??”

oh my god this is embarrassing

“OH MY GOD WAS IT NOT?!!”

you ignored how minho was now turning crimson red and panicking and tugged on his collar, pulling him down for a kiss

“it was...a date” you mumble, now shy at the close proximity between the two of you

“...im gonna kill jisung.” he muttered, pulling you in for a hug, “he told me this was a double date”

“that can be our next date, the murder of our best friends.”

“wow i am in love with you.”

＼（＾○＾）人（＾○＾）／

minho and y/n murder besties!!

for legal reasons that is a joke

( ˶˘ ³˘(˵ ͡° ͜�� ͡°˵)♡

thank you for reading !!

[sapphicdalliances]

Dear Chocolatier,

thank you so much for being here!! my sincere apologies for the lateness and messiness of this letter! sorry about my incredibly inconsistent capitalisation! it has been updated on the 8th of january, and may receive more updates this week.

I’m a simple bitch with simple tastes; here is a general summary of my preferences, and fandom-specific notes and prompts can be found further down!

I very much enjoy:

Fics that are short, but imply a longer, deeper verse; since this exchange is for short fics, but some of my prompts seem expansive, I just want to give you carte blanche permission to dip into an AU, splash around in it, and simply not provide additional details.

Comedic tones, slice-of-life, lighthearted fun, any amount of improbable romcom tropes

Am also on board with misunderstandings and drama as long as there is a happy ending!

I’m deeply okay with AUs, and most likely would be down for any modern, romcom, fantasy/fairytale, gender swap, or remix/crossover AUs you feel inspired to explore! My favourite settings include mundane/urban fantasy (witches! werewolves!), anachronism-stew-with-magic western fantasy jumbles, and disney’s Tangled.

Writing tropes I love:

Proposal fic

Wedding fic where the couple getting married is not the main couple

Outsider/third character POV of the main couple

Exes who are still in love/getting back together

Friends-with-benefits-with-feelings/did a bad job keeping it casual

Shipfic where two or more couples are contrasted

Oblique declarations of love/saying i love you without saying i love you

Provision and caretaking (acts of service!)

Aggressive matchmaking/wingmanning by an enthused friend

Hanahaki, or any other improbably dramatic instances of Cannot Spit It Out

Arranged marriage/fake marriage/fake dating

Epistolary fic

Regrettably I also love a/b/o, especially the kind that emphasises on scent safety and contains little to no actual sex

Art tropes I love, if you offered art:

Art where the characters simply look fond.

Fashion remixes – street fashion, cultural/traditional clothes, festival clothes, renfaire-esque clothes, beach photoshoot, get wild with it

Putting animal characteristics on one or both of them

Botanical motifs + celestial motifs

When plants grow directly out of people

The thing where character A is focused on something they’re doing or seeing, and the character B is focused only, wholly, desperately on A. please… the Gaze

Depictions of intimacy where faces are partially or fully hidden, but the body language is gentle

Characters SLEEPING next to each other, or comfortably doing separate activities in each other’s presence

If you wish to get frisky with your fills:

Yes!

Go for it!

I don’t have strong top/bottom preferences (and usually enjoy it when they switch or are otherwise generally equitable) so whatever you’re in the mood for is fine!

Kink tropes I very much enjoy include oral, restraints, praise kink, when proud characters cry during sex because they love their partners so much, and xeno tropes.

I love non-horny sex scenes; comedic, silly, charged, fraught, or simply affectionate exchanges that happen to include sex are my favourite. Feelings are the real kissing disease.

But like, if you wanna get horny about it.

Chase your bliss.

They simply must be in love.

I’m not as into:

Kidfic

First person narration

Soulmate AUs specifically

Kink wise, my only major squicks are incest, teacher/student, and public sex/getting caught, but i’m also not super keen on daddy kink, toilet stuff, or anything with blades or needles.

In general, please avoid:

Character death or serious/permanent injury

Animal abuse or death

Infidelity

Hopeless or downer endings

Fandom specific info:

Haikyuu!!

changed my life, cured my depression, what can be said about it? truly one of the most important series to me of all time. all musings on craft and creativity aside, let’s focus on the TRUE LOVE!!

i’m all caught up with the manga and supplementary materials!

suggested prompts: - sakuatsu, being mean to each other on purpose vs. being soft to each other by accident - kagehina or iwaoi dealing with LDR - kyouhaba are forced to cooperate on an innocuous, preferably wholesome task, such as gardening, or finding the owner of a lost dog, and it goes approximately As One Would Expect - bokukuroo + overheard phone conversation: and you've slept together how many times now? hmm. yeah, that's not technically a bromance (not in a no-homo way, just in a we-are-both-so-stupid-and-like-each-other-so-much-way) - actually that overheard phone conversation would work for any of these ships.

suggested prompts, art-specific: - festival clothes!! - put some wings on some of them. now it's bird romance, which is for birds - (i lied, this isn't art-specific at all, wingfic is always welcome in any of its forms) - just pick up your whole boyfriend and carry him like that. maybe even kiss him.

Or please do remix it with any of my general tropes listed above!

Oofuri

suggested prompts: - Hanai and Tajima really. struggle to get together. for like a bunch of years probably? Tajima copes with it by patiently processing his emotions in a healthy way and enjoying some casual dating. Hanai copes with it, as he does all things, by not coping - The ways Abe and Mihashi learn to take care of each other… Mihashi cooking 4 Abe… T_T

Promare

i simply think the twink and the himbo are in love.

Ace Attorney

favourite klapollo dynamic goes like this:

klavier: *genuinely and sincerely in love with apollo, in a very soft way* apollo: *furious* he's mocking me. why are you like this? klavier: I enjoy your company apollo: FINE, KEEP YOUR SECRETS

also consider: - what if klavier was a big ol golden retriever and apollo was just an angry liddol bunny. like, think about it

Or please do remix it with any of my general tropes listed above!

Wotakoi

I love that this series has three couples in different stages of a relationship: one who’ve been together for years and love each other like well-worn grooves; one who have history but have only just recently begun a relationship and are discovering each other anew; and one who probably will not bring themselves to share a kiss for another 27 calendar years.

Narumi/Hirotaka: Honestly, the main couple of a series usually goes over my head a bit, but the more i thought about these two the more wretchedly fond of them I became. The thing I think of the most is how Narumi taught him how to smile as a child; how she did things that meant nothing to her, so easily does kindness come, but that meant so much to him; and how now that they are grown, he does things for her that take no effort, but shake her foundations. I think theirs is a love that grows quietly; something that cannot change the world, but can change them.

Koyanagi/Kabakura: My thoughts on these two are not complex, but they are deeply positive. I love how huge their personalities are, and how they fit around and against each other; I love the implication that despite their endless bickering, they are not an on-again-off-again kind of relationship, and have instead chosen each other over and over again for ten straight years. I love that despite everything, they are kind to each other, first and foremost; they find ways to apologise and to take care of each other, and treat each other gently in private.

Kou/Naoya: I love every ship in this manga equally but perhaps I love Kou/Naoya more equally than the other two? They are just so kind and so silly, and so sweet to each other in exactly the way both of them didn’t realise they were missing. I think about Naoya being told that Kou is “okay with being alone”, and realising that “okay with it” and “have accepted it” are different, and taking his little baby steps to fix it. I think about Kou giving Naoya every last drop of patience he’s trained himself not to accept, and doing so because it simply makes her happy. My only concern is that they are both bottoms. I don’t have a solution for this.

suggested prompts, fic:

- accidentally dating ft. Kou and Naoya, or, “and you’ve made out how many times now? Hmm. Yeah, that’s not technically a bromance.” - 5 times Hirotaka and Narumi almost, almost kissed, and 1 time they did; the unresolved romantic tension may kill me and it would be worth it - what Hirotaka and Narumi taught each other (apart from the more mundane gaming and life skills, i believe that she taught him how to smile and be loved by others, and he taught her how to be loved by herself!) - smutty domesticity ft. Koyanagi and Kabakura — a lazy Sunday, laundry in the sun, fucking on the couch, everything easy with familiarity - (addendum to above: pegging)

suggested prompts, art: - festival clothes - someone’s getting married - naoya: *hands kou a tangerine* *hands kou a tangerine* *hands kou a tangerine* *hands kou a tangerine* *hands kou a t - red string of fate motifs

Or please do remix it with any of my general tropes listed above!

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun

seowaka: they are idiots, and they like each other very much, but they do not know. i love a tall crying boy and his short but much more powerful girlfriend.

chiyo/nozaki + chiyo/nozaki/mikorin: im rooting for her in the face of such overwhelming stupidity. one himbo is difficult enough to seduce but two. chiyo is a hero and a woman of rare courage. i like the pair and the trio equally; again, if you go with trio, it’s important that they all love each other please!

suggested prompts: - 5 times any of these ships went on a date without realising, and the time they realised - urban fantasy AU where Waka is a hapless monster hunter and Seo is an annoying but deeply harmless werewolf who’s been terrorizing his town?? - fairytale AU where Seo believes she must rescue the prince from the tower and deliver him back to the kingdom capital, and the prince, who had not realised he’d been kidnapped, thinks Seo is a usurper from a rival kingdom who must be supervised all the way back to the kingdom capital to be served her justice

suggested prompts, art-specific: - festival clothes… - nozaki carrying chiyo, who’s carrying mikorin - (seo carrying waka) - waka sleeping peacefully in seo’s presence… :’(

Or please do remix it with any of my general tropes listed above!

we made it through all the fandoms.

Thank you for making it to the end of this whole disaster; I hope at least one of the prompts sparked joy! The most important thing to me is that whatever you end up doing, you are able to enjoy the process at least somewhat, and deliver a creation that you like! I can also be found on twitter at @hawberries_ (for art) and @popplioikawa (for general ramblings). If you need some more inspo, I recommend going through my art tags for the selected ships because I put a lot of Opinions into my fanart.

[youuuimeanmee]

TPN 132 Thoughts

I honestly have no idea what to think after this chapter.

1. Do you think Norman is going to use Don and Gilda to lure Mujika out of her hiding? Like, maybe the two of them might know something about her since they always travelling with Emma and Ray? It's gonna be very cold-blooded of Norman if he decided to kill her the moment he sees her. But do you think it's possible Norman will question Mujika where she stands and (maybe) makes her an ally? Like maybe a parallel with Norman approaching Ray?

Like, "If you're really an enemy, why would you help Emma and the others? Even though her way of things could possibly put your species in danger, since she's going to reforge the promise. Are you really an enemy?"

*Edit: Heck there's gonna be Son-Ju around Mujika, Norman. Killing her is not gonna be easy bruh, even if you have Zazie around. You're just going to waste your energy ineffectively.

(oh shi* i just realized it's the same pattern again norman using don and gilda to lure his potential enemy/ally asddfghkll Normaan if you still have a heart to spare pls do this instead of killing her pls T_T)

2. Okay, so Emma and Ray have 8 days before the assassination of the Royals and Nobles. That's plenty. I personally think that the Grace Field they see is either:

An illusion (of their memories in their deepest heart/their strong urge to go back to save Phil and others), or

A real GF, but in another dimention because that's where the entrance of the human world lies. (i guess?), or

It's a real, REAL GF, in this dimention, and the entrance of the human world is right there.

3. I'm quite confused with Norman's plan so far tbh, so I'll just write what I understand from it. You guys can correct me if I'm wrong.

So, to anticipate the different strengths between Geelan and Royals' army, Norman decided to divide enemy's attention towards the "demons" who destroyed Lambda, because assuming they've eaten children in there, their strength is no joke and it's a threat that can cause major turbulance in demon world. So while the majority of troops are looking for those nonexistance demons and hideout, the amount of troops who will guard the capital will decrease, and the chance they'll infiltrate the Capital and kill the Royals will increase. The enemy will be anticipating the attacks that happen BEFORE Tifari, but instead, Norman will attack IN THE MIDDLE of Tifari. Is that it?

(wait if he wants to attack in the middle of tifari, shouldn't the security there will be the tightest? What? I'm confused, someone help me)

But as I said before in my last post here (specifically point 3), will that be enough? What will Norman do in the meantime, after he has taken care of Mujika? What about Phil and the others?

We need to see part 2 of his plan, and I'm really looking forward to it, the hype is real.

[valhala90]

The last page, OP chapter 936

Of course, I remembered Benkei. Many of you probably did too, since he’s a popular character in folklore and many games/anime/movies were inspired by him and the stories around him. 

My, should I say, trigger? was...

(Benkei in Orochi warriors 4)

 I have been a fan of Samurai/Orochi/Dynasty warriors since my teenage years. That’s what also (beside anime and movies) what got me interested in Japanese (and Chinese) folklore and history.

To summarize most of the stories, it is said that his father was Kumano-Bettō Tanzō, the head of Kumano-Sanzan's shrine. He stole the daughter of a second rank chief conciliar of state and had his way with her for a night, which led to an eighteenth-month pregnancy, (sounds a little familiar?)  so by the time the boy was two or three years old, he had grown to the size of a normal child. 

Tanzō declared his son to be a devil child and wanted to kill him without delay. Spared by his aunt, however, the child left his home with her and was raised in the capital. In the ode to the incident, he was named "Oniwaka". Oniwaka was accepted for a time at a monastery at Mount Hiei sometime during his youth. Due to his rough behavior and well, the man was a brawler long story short, he was expelled. Upset at the monks, he decided to name himself Musashibō Benkei and left to fend for himself.

So, Benkei became a rogue warrior. He was feared and gained a violent reputation. He had a goal - to take 1000 swords from samurai warriors, whom he believed were arrogant and unworthy. (and also, he had a thing for the swords) 

He armed himself with seven weapons and is often depicted carrying these on his back. In addition to his sword, he carried a broad axe (masakari), a rake (kumade), a sickle (nagigama), a wooden mallet (hizuchi), a saw (nokogiri), an iron staff (tetsubō), and a half-moon spear (naginata). 

He managed to collect 999 swords before facing the man who put a stop to his winning streak, known as Minamoto no Yoshitsune. (Yep, both have characters in Orochi Warriors series).

Benkei only had eyes for the beautiful sword that the stranger had strapped to his waist and challenged the youth for it. However, the rogue monk was surprised by Yoshitsune's agility and lost in a splendid fight. 

They faced on the Gojo Bridge (or Matsubara Bridge as some sources claim), and the smaller warrior defeated him. Benkei was pissed for obvious reasons and sought revenge. He waited for Yoshitsune at the Buddhist temple of Kiyomizu, where he lost yet again. An impressed Benkei gave up on the sword and agreed to be the youth's servant. 

Yeah, Benkei is like a synonym for loyalty. His greatest assets were his unabashed craftiness and nearly inhuman strength, which were used to rescue Yoshitsune whenever it was needed. 

Now, let’s skip to the bitter, yet inspiring ending of the two brave warriors.

In the end, they were encircled in the castle of Koromogawa no tate. As Yoshitsune retired to the inner keep of the castle to commit ritual suicide (seppuku) on his own, Benkei stood guard on the bridge in front of the main gate to protect Yoshitsune. It is said that the soldiers were afraid to cross the bridge to confront him, and all that did, met swift death at the hands of the gigantic man, who killed in excess of 300 trained soldiers.

Realizing that close combat would mean suicide, the warriors decided to shoot and kill Benkei with arrows instead. Long after the battle should have been over, the soldiers noticed that the arrow-riddled, wound-covered Benkei was still standing. When the soldiers dared to cross the bridge and take a closer look, the giant man fell to the ground, having died standing upright. This is known as the "Standing Death of Benkei." Benkei died at the age of 34.

Some other things clicked right? *oyajiiiiii T_T*

 (Statue of Benkei, Cape Benkei in Suttsu)

( Benkei statue in front of Kii-Tanabe Station)

[yume-x-hanabi]

Yeah, I pretty much marathoned the rest of the game, except Elympios.

The party met with the king of Auj Oule, who then promptly started arguing with Milla because of course those two would butt heads. I'm not going to go into detail about that meeting here because I already talked about it in the past. Love Rowen and Elise's little strategy, though I feel sorry for the poor guard who so earnestly vowed to take care of Teepo during the audience. He didn't deserve getting punched :( Oh and also Alvin is a traitor and Jude is maaaaaad about it. Defining Leia moment while they try to flee, where she doubts herself (Elise's words really hurt her, huh). I love how Milla just plainly states she's not useless. I live for Milla plainly stating positive things. They fight Wingul and Presa on the way, where Wingul acts like a disenchanted Rowen fanboy (aaand the booster Long Dau stuff too I guess). No but seriously he spent the fight targeting Rowen, it was hilarious (not for me though cuz I needed the geezer alive to help me cast spells). Back in Xian Du, Alvin strolls in like nothing happened (but Jude is maaaaad and Elise starts sassing him it's the best thing ever) and Yurgen proves to be the most sensible man in the world when he decides he doesn't need to know what happened. Good guy. A pretty animated cutscene later we crash in Kalakh Shal and Driselle is the most precious NPC in the world. I love how she gets the vet to treat the wyverns by telling him they're basically like horses XD Well at least he managed to treat them, so... There's a few Milla Side-exclusive conversations with the party - I especially liked Rowen's and Leia's. Wish Elise's had a bit more consistence though. Then she talks with Jude, who says he wants to protect spirits too, which makes her really happy. She's spent all this time trying to protect both spirits and humans, so it must feel great to have a human want to reciprocate. Those two are really a good pair. I also love how they basically promise to stay together at the end (though we all know how that turns out ;_; ) The time for the confrontation with Nachtigal comes near, but first there's some shenanigans with the Lance of Kresnik and Agria. I'm not too sure whether she actually tried to destroy it (on orders from Gaius?) or just made stuff explode for fun. She's kind of hard to read sometimes. Well, she's completely crazy tbh. It's really sad to see her in that murderous state. I wish she'd been given a chance to heal from her trauma and regain some stability. She's better when she's just with the Chimeriad (and hilariously proper when talking to Gaius), but we barely see any of that in game. What a shame. Talking to Nachtigal goes as well as one would expect, and we beat his ass. Rowen seems to talk some sense into him at the end, but it's far too late, and anyway some mysterious ice attack does him in. Bye Nachty, you were kind of forgettable, wish you'd had a bigger role. But no time to rest, because Gaius is invading from where no one expected him (and this is where my inner Gunshi Kanbee fangirl takes over and gushes about Wingul's clever strategies). But Gilland has a plan and it involves the Lance of Kresnik, which is bad news. To war we go! I spent the whole battlefield map sequence reading the Rieze Maxian writings on the map and laughing my ass off (no but seriously, it contains little gems like "we can fish fish here" and I need to find a video somewhere to take screenshots and translate them all, this needs to be shared). Alvin's acting suspicious again, and again the party just lets him be lol. Anyway, after a very long fight against both Auj Oule and Rashugal forces, we meet three of the Chimeriad blasting off enemies like badasses before deciding to fight us. Honestly I think their deaths were foreshadowed here, with this bit of dialog: Rowen: But it is an unnecessary step, one that could cost your lives. Who would be left to support the king? Presa: His Highness can look after himself. YES HE CAN BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE SHOULD YOU DUMBASSES *ahem* Anyway we win, Wingul faints like a Pokémon after revealing his booster is in his brain, Jiao doesn't answer Elise's questions and Jude convinces Alvin to not off Presa (yes Alvin, don't do that, it's rude). So who's left to face now? Why, King Badass of course. He and Milla resume their debate (may I note how much I love how they're actually listening to each other? At first glance it appears they're just butting heads stubbornly, but every time they meet they show they've given some thought to what the other said before, even if they still disagree. Great dynamics. Also the contrast with Nachtigal is interesting. The pre-battle talk was more about how Nachty was not worthy to be king and how they were going to stop him, while with Gaius Milla actually asks him to let her do her thing. She recognizes he's not a bad guy and tries to leave the door open for a conflict-free resolution. He'll do the same later, too. Aah I love them so much). iirc you don't have to win this fight, but I managed to do it (took me 16 minutes and I ran out of Life Bottles orz). The fight gets interrupted by Ivar, who stupidly activates the Lance (Milla's facepalm lmao). Aaaand that's when everything goes downhill. Elympios invades, it's chaos everywhere, Gaius and the Chimeriad are the most badass characters ever, and then Jiao sacrifices himself and I cry. No srsly whyyyyyy T_T let me just pretend he managed to escape somehow and is just taking time off to recover Milla has a weird dream and wakes up all confused and makes a bunch of mistakes, which is really unlike her. She's noticed the contradiction between her mission and her actions and she's really anxious about it. Still, it doesn't prevent her from reassuring Leia when she's the one sharing her own self-doubts. I love their relationship. When they meet up with the rest of the party, there's a new addition: Milla's "sister" Musee. I think it's good she appeared on Jude Side - it leaves the player completely confused about her on Milla Side, which is basically how Milla is feeling about this whole thing hahaha. After listening to Gilland's announcement that he's taken control of KB (and spouting a bunch of bullshit about it too), Wingul invites us in, and Milla then reveals the truth about the world, and Alvin adds some more information and speculation. Of course Gaius is displeased about a lot of things (I would be too if I just learned I was gonna be used for fuel), so while he's no longer antagonistic, he's not being very cooperative lol. Such a shame. With him and the Chimeriad, the party would have been unstoppable. Well, at any rate, we're fighting on the same side now, even if separately. The retaking of the capital shows once again how badass the king and his aides are (they keep stealing the show lately), and we take the castle back and steal an airship rather easily (no thanks to Ivar lol). While resting, Milla witnesses Agria bullying Leia about Jude (and gets the dokidoki when Agria says Jude has the hots for her), and then Alvin trying to hit on Presa (stomp on him Presa). Wish there'd been a scene with Wingul (AND JIAO), but oh well. Anyway, she's starting to realize why she's so anxious and the reason for the contradiction. That's something I totally missed on first playthrough, I thought it was all about her developing feelings for Jude (due to the Agria and Presa scenes), but it's actually about her identity as Maxwell. Though I guess you can't really know that on first playthrough, since the truth only comes up later. But it's interesting to see Milla knew then, way before it's laid out clearly for the players. Also Musee's creepy. Nothing new here. Oh, but I forgot to mention, Alvin's stopped being shady (or has he?). His momma's dead and he hates Gilland, so he's now 100% on our side. Gaius and the party depart for the Zirnitra, where Gilland and the Lance is. On the way, everyone's mana gets sucked up and sent to Elympios, showing Alvin was right about the fuel thing, and Milla almost confesses to Jude, but they get interrupted by Agria. On the Zirnitra, Ivar decides to join the Chimeriad (the actual Chimeriad's glare when he says that is wonderful), and we go our own way. Alvin explains a bit more about Elympios and how Elympions don't have a mana lobe so that's why they need spyrixes. When we confront Gilland he explains about Celsius and spyrites - spyrixes that don't kill spirits. But to them they're just tools (you're the tool Gilland!) and he's an jerk anyway so we kick his ass. He then dies because of the spyrite. Serves you right. Gaius and the others arrive then and this time they're letting Milla destroy the Lance. Hah, looks like we're cooperating more and more... except we get interrupted by Musee's Gravity spell and Milla gets the grand idea to sacrifice herself to save everyone. Milla bby don't do that :'( But the (now freed) Four interfere and save her soul from cleansing, attempting to revive her as herself. Which doesn't really work at first as she's lost her memories (she progressively gets some of them back though). I gotta say I absolutely love the spirit world part. It seems bland if you just go straight for the story part, but it's actually a lot of fun to explore, talk to NPC, listen to the Four's comments, do the little sidequests... I do wish there'd been more to it, especially when you consider how much stuff happened on Jude Side during that time, but what we do have is really fascinating. Also, Spirits interactions. Good good. Even without her memories, Milla is still Milla and doesn't want the Four to die, and they decide to stick with her, even if it angers Musee and the actual Maxwell. I had to change the difficulty back to normal for the Musee fight because I suck at 1-on-1 battles (esp without healer). After that Milla gets her memory data from Maxwell's replica and goes up the Hallowmont while Musee gets mad about Maxwell's lack of answer and flies to the human world to do who knows what. At the summit, the Four get summoned by Maxwell, and Milla follows them. There, she sees Jude and the others fighting against Maxwell, and she finally remembers who she is, making her come back in style. We absolutely destroy Maxwell's ass (yay Gravity Well spam), and then convince him to stop being a grumpy old man and believe in humanity for once. He agrees, but then enter Gaius, who looks pissed for some reason (it's funny to play this from Milla's Side, because last time we saw him he was almost becoming friendly). He then starts spouting nonsense about becoming Maxwell himself since the old one is useless, traps him with the Lance of Kresnik (he got it in the end...), and then there's that gross scene where he pulls a sword out of Musee I'd rather forget. Srsly developers, couldn't you find another way >_> He tries to send the party back to Rieze Maxia (instead of killing them, he's still nice even when he's mad), but Maxwell sends us to Elympios instead, where we conveniently end in the care of Emperor Peony Alvin's cousin Balan. to be continued...

[killian-whump]

OUAT 2x06: Rewatch Blog

Heeey everybody! Welcome to my rewatch liveblog of episode 2x06, “Tallahassee”. This one’s about the capital of Florida, which is called ‘The Sunshine State’ because there’s a lot of sunshine there when alligators aren’t eating you and/or meth addicts aren’t eating your face off.

Wait, what? Oh, my research team has just informed me that this episode isn’t actually about Florida at all - it’s about beanstalk adventures and flashbacks to Emma’s history with Neal. So no alligators most likely. Okay.

Well, let’s get started!

Well, this is off to a great start already! Every episode should start with Killian Jones tied up in some way, shape, or form. Nice!

“Freakier than I remembered from the story.” YOU AIN’T KIDDING.

“Reminds me of death.” Whoa, now that’s a little melodramatic.

Awww, lookit his face D: “Please untie me missus” *flails at him*

Mmm... Angry untying. That’s nice. The leather’s back. Saucy Hook, yay. “Don’t be afraid to, you know, really get into it.” Haha, he’s so cute <3

I HAVE SUCH A BONE TO PICK AND I’M GONNA PICK IT RIGHT NOW.

Flashback Emma’s glasses really bug me. Like, we see NO sign of poor eyesight in any of the young Emma flashbacks, and no signs of poor vision in present day Emma. It’s like she developed poor eyesight for an isolated year or two in her late teens and it just... cleared up?

Oh, I know, I know, she could’ve switched to contacts. Right. However, we see no evidence of that, either. No glasses in the morning or late at night. No issues with spending an extended time in the Enchanted Forest without access to either glasses or proper contact lens care. No vision impairment on Princess Emma in S6 who wouldn’t have access to glasses OR contacts, etc, etc.

So maybe Lasik surgery? Okay, but how would she have access to an expensive medical procedure that insurance didn’t cover (assuming she even HAD insurance, which, given her age and financial situation, is doubtful)?

It’s like the writers gave her glasses as a cute little character quirk in this awkward “ugly duckling” stage of her life without having any idea how glasses and bad vision actually work. Which would be ridiculous, considering Adam and Eddy both fucking wear glasses.

...and then they went and did it again with Robin in S7. No glasses on her primary persona, but her cursed persona needs them to see. And after the curse is broken... she still apparently needs them. WTF, show?!

Okay, but that outfit is super cute, glasses and all.

Yellow Bug origin story, guys! Is there a ship name for Emma and her car? Like, SwanBug or something? There should be if there isn’t. It’s so pure <3

Hahaha, Neal, you little shit. That grin of his is kinda cute.

~ TITLE CAAAAAAAAAARD!!! ~

Not sure why antis pick on that line of Neal’s about women. I mean, I’m not a huge fan of his, but it’s pretty obvious he’s reading the cop and (correctly) guessing on how to play him to get him to let them off. And Emma even calls him on it immediately - and he basically implies that’s exactly what he was doing. Antis don’t make any sense sometimes.

Okay, not as cute now... kinda smarmy. (Hi Ashley!)

Aaaaaaaaaaaand back to the beanstalk!

Oh, they kinda are getting really into it, aren’t they? Haha.

You know, I find it really hard to believe that Killian Jones would ever use the phrase “Tick, Tock” in casual speech. I’m just saying.

“I was hoping it’d be you.” :D

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ “Don’t think I’m taking my eyes off you for a second.”

“I would despair if you did.” ∩(︶▽︶)∩

One of my favorite Captain Swan moments riiiiight here:

HOLD MY PURSE, BITCH

And he follows after her like an eager puppy. Total subbie.

DRAMATIC MUUUUUSIC!

*sips beverage* Still climbing, huh? Seriously, though. Did they climb that far without talking at all? Or did Hook just chatter endlessly the whole time? Somebody better have written a fic of him babbling at her for hours.

“I love a challenge!” Hee hee! <3

“That’s not perception, that’s eavesdropping.” And he doesn’t deny it, lol.

“No, I’ve never been in love.” Okay, but she’s obviously lying. That’s a terribly transparent lie, Emma. You can do better.

The sniffing face, heehee.

That’s a pretty good ruse, though. I mean, really. People just sort of trust expectant parents. Although I’m sure it worked better 10 years ago than it would today.

Imagine if she’d pointed higher up. “Our future awaits us in... Detroit.” “Umm, lemme point again.” “No, no, that first point was legally binding.”

“I don’t really... sleep now.” Oh, sure. That’s normal.

This scene’s kinda boring :/

♫ Welcome to the laaaaaaaaaand of CGI and Giiiiiiiiiiiants ♫

“What happened here?” I mean, he kinda told you earlier in the episode.

“Giants can smell blood... and I’m always a gentleman.” <3

The cheerful way he says, “It’s rum!” XD

...and now my entire female reproductive system has died. That is the seventh time this month, dammit. This man is a menace.

Milah angst. Someone hold me T_T

I kinda don’t care about Neal’s problems.

I like this shade of lipstick on Emma, though. Okay, actually, I just like that shade of lipstick. Fun KW fact: Whenever I’m out and buy a new shade of lipstick, when I get home, I always discover it’s the same as all the other shades of lipstick I’ve bought, thinking they were different and so pretty. They’re all this color.

Colin sounds weird when he says, “You ready?”

You swing that bone, big guy! The things this show had him do XD

...It’s Jorge!!! :D Hi Jorge!!! :D I love him! I loved him on Lost, too. He’s just got such a lovely smile. He not smilin’ now, tho. Looks kinda grumpy.

“You big git!” Hahaha, that’s the best he’s got, apparently XD “You wanna kill a human, eh? You wanna kill a human?” The way Colin says “human” here makes me laugh for some reason, and he does it twice XD “Come on!”

“Come on then! Come on then!” I wonder if Colin’s flashing back to that role he played as a football hooligan in Love Is the Drug XD

Him popping up. This scene is so silly and ridiculous. I confess, it’s not one of my favorites, because it kinda borders on cringey in it’s ridiculousness, but it’s also unintentionally hilarious, so...

She’s so relieved <3

This is a good scene. I don’t have much to say about it, but it’s a good scene. Laying the groundwork for the big reveal of Henry being in the room. Ooooh. Also, I love Snow looking after Aurora.

And Aurora’s tiara or hair decorations or... whatever that is... is so pretty.

“What’s your rush?” Hahaha, you adorable idiot. “How long do you think magic knock out powder lasts?” “I’ve no clue,” as he sniffs coins like a derelict. “That’s my rush.” Like, why does she even have to explain this to him? XD

“Everything we need is right in front of us!” Everyone always turns this into some kind of big CS line, but I always thought it just... triggered a memory for Emma, hence the segue into the next flashback. They weren’t even really facing each other when he said it, so I don’t think it was intended to be foreshadowing. Just my opinion, though. Not legally binding :P

Nice sword, Jack. Not pompous at all.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Epic scene alert. “That’s a plausible excuse for grabbing me, but next time, don’t stand on ceremony.” Yooou fucking idiot <3

EAR SCRATCH *jumps on him* *rides him home*

Yeah, I know. All the liveblogs are gonna be like this. I’m so sorry.

Emma, too, is wondering what she’s gotten herself into. “Oh no. He’s sexy and absolutely ridiculous all at once. I am so fucked.” I think this was the moment she realized she liked him. That fucking menace.

Ugh. This train is just speeding towards derailment D: I hate storylines like this, when you just know the shoe’s gonna drop and-

Uh huh. Here’s August now, dropping shoes all over the place.

That drove me nuts the first time, not knowing what was in the fucking box.

And why did she have to go to jail? Like, dump her, leave her alone, fine, but sending her to jail is a bit... extra, isn’t it?

Ah, she’s so broken :( Alexa, play Despacito.

“Try something new, darling. It’s called trust.”

WHUMP! It’s whump!!! Buried in Rock Rubble Whump!!! :D

She’s even more panicked this time. Nice.

Jorge is mad.

Hahaha, I can’t stop seeing Jen in the green donut, though.

This scene is all pretty great, really. I forgot I was liveblogging.

Sweet, summer child. You’re so enamored with Emma and the compass and... Aw, geez. This is why Colin’s a menace. It doesn’t matter who he’s playing or what you think of them. He puts these faces on and tugs your heartstrings and suddenly you’re like, “Oh, look at this sweet, sincere little nugget!”

And then this happens...

It’s whump! BUT WHY DOES IT HURT MY SOUL D:

And then his voice shakes a little. “What are you doing?”

“Emma... Look at me. Have I told you a lie?” D:

“Why do this to me now?”

“You’re just gonna leave me here to die? Let that beast eat me, to crush my bones?” T_T

“SWAAAAN!!!!” He’s so fucking scared D: I died.

Hahahaha, SNOW WHITE WITH THE TACKLE.

I love how Aurora’s the only one who asks about Hook XD

Congratulations. You get a car. And a baby. When you get out of jail.

THIS IS THE WORST GAME SHOW EVER.

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUN BIG REVEAL!!!

...and the end! PEW PEW PEW!!! <3