#not just in this arc either a lot of characters loose their little moments to shine

[anoant-haikyuu-dump]

I love the Land vs Air OVA with all my heart but i'm so upset that they cut most of Tora's arc from the manga. Obviousy he and Tanaka have very similar storylines with both of them being taunted by the other team/doubted as the ace but Tora's comes from the interesting perspective of the ace on a team known for it's defense. Nekoma is typically seen by their opponents as more of a unit than individual players so Tora already doesn't stand out as much as other aces. Then there's the added pressure of him being one of the few second-year aces in the series. He's got a lot to prove and playing against a tricky team like Nohebi is a great way to put that to the test.

At one point he gets overshadowed by Lev, who definetly aligns with what an ace is expected to be. He's taller, his reach is insane, his spikes are strong (when they actually make it over the net lol), and he stands out to the crowd. Then Nohebi starts targeting Tora with serves and he gets even less chances to hit. But instead of being spiteful towards Lev or falling for Nohebi's provocations Tora knows that getting the ball up is just as important as scoring points.

Even on a team like Nekoma where everyone's a fantastic reciever Tora's really kills it! He's super consistent with good aim, and when your setter's as picky as Kenma that's important. Also he's good with both underhand and overhand recieves Again, it's a similar situation to Tanaka's arc with the other team aiming their serves at him to break his spirit but I think it has it's own charm. One thing I like about Tora in general is that he's always shown a lot of admiration for recieving even if it's not the flashiest skill on the court. Think the first-year flashback when one of the first things he did was admire Yaku's perfect A-pass. Guess that's par for the course for any Nekoma player.

Then there's the moment where he bumps Lev's failed blocked and immediately goes in for the spike, AND HE LANDS IT. After all his patience he finally gets to redeem himself ughhh.

Overall I love how these few chapters show that there's more to being an ace than amazing spikes. It's consistency, it's being an amazing all-around player, it's being a reliable teammate and coming back strong when your underclassmen need you. This mini arc is a great showcase of Tora's mental fortitude— despite his looks and short-temper he's great under pressure.

This whole page is golden. From Akane's adorable little reaction to the Kenma/Tora high five to Tora immediately ruining the moment. He's so annoying.

also this panel :')

ALSO Fukutora crumb cause you know me. Anyways I love Tora Haikyuu, thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

[tastywormfood]

Ive tried to get my feelings about Moominvalley s4 into words, but im having a really hard time even accepting them. But ill try!

So here's my thoughts in Moominvalley s4.

Im 23 now and i remember being 12 - 15 figuring out my identity, and the only "representation" in mrdia being basically either "Bury your gays" trope or just queerbaiting. I grew up on a base level thinking i wasnt allowed to exist, and if i still dared to, tragedy would be my only birth right.

I believed i wasnt allowed to live a happy, soft AND queer life, cause no media i had seen had ever showed me that, that was a possibility.

Both the 90's Moomin series and Moominvalley 2019 are my comfort shows. I fall asleep to them at night, i listen to them like a podcast while im working or outside, they even calm my panic attacks. I collect cups, plushies, i collect the Comics and even some of the books.

I have 3 Moomin tattoos. This universe means a damn lot to me, and to thousands of ppl world wide.

As a queer person i find incredible comfort in Tove Janssons work, and you have to be a fool to be unable to see the way Snufkin and Moomintroll are written together.

I have been following this show since early 2020 and have watched interview to interview, ive listened to the podcast more times than i can count, and they knew what they were doing.

From the beginning of the show they deliberately wrote Snufkin and Moomin to be something more, they even confess In a BTS that their Moomin might like Snufkin more than Snorkmaiden. Even the podcast talked about it!! We are not crazy!!!

I feel incredibly gaslit by the entire situation, and suddenly im 14 again being told im reading too much into it.

Idk what happened inbetween S3 and 4, but it felt like all the love and care that came from the show, just disappeared?

Ignoring Snufmin for a second, every episode this season felt like a filler. It has no plot, followed up on nothing from the last seasons, and had an extreme amount of loose ends.

The former seasons, especially s1 and 2 has such amazing writting, character development and just a feeling of patience and of softness, i would watch it and think everything would be okay... But this season felt stripped of every inch of the care Tove Jansson put into her universe.

I want to talk a little about Moomintroll.

One of Moomins character Arcs is his want to grow up, its his need to be taken seriously and his need for independence and adventure. His need to step out of his dads shadow, and to be his own moomin! The character development he had built up through out the seasons, completely and utterly disappeared. There is no trace of anything in s4.

He is right back to where he started in s1, not being able to stand up for himself and say no, not having the confidence to go on adventures and right back to idealizing his dad. If anything this entire season felt like a prequal! Cause at least s1 Moomintroll wanted to learn, and was activily trying to change.

Moomintroll truly felt like a side character this season, i dont even think he has any important moments. Unless you count Comet in Moominvalley (which i dont), where all his independence has disappeared. Moominpapa literally has to push him out. He made one decision that eps, which was to float down the river instead of walking, which ended up being the wrong and slower way.

The regression Moomintroll went threw this season is heartbreaking, and thats not my Moomin.

Focusing for a bit on Snufkin, this season felt like a slap to the face.

They know that Snufkin is one of their most popular characters right? If not the most popular. If anything he is at least in the top 3, not only in Moominvalley but in the rest of the moominverse.

So why did this season feel like Snufkin erasure?

He was barely in it, and when he was all of that glow that normally radiats from him was all gone. He felt like the husk of a character.

This version of Snufkin was on of my favs, cause you could actually see his flaws and disagree with his actions. He had room to grow, and he did, he truly did.

He learned from Moomin just like Moomin learned from him. Their characters Arcs co align witch each other, their relationship and interactions are the pillars of the entire show. Snufkin and Moomintroll are what make the show proceed.

Finding the 2019 show for the first time as an 18 year old gave me confirmation and trust, that i was allowed to live a soft and slow life as a queer person. If Moomintroll and Snufkin could have that kind of beautiful queer slow burn romance, then i had a chance to as well.

They knew that a big part of their viewers are queer, and they knew how popular Snufmin was. They knew what kind of ppl they attracted, or they wouldnt have made it like that.

All the soft moments, the longing, the zoom in on eye contact, the zoom in on hand holding. They said trust us, they said be patient, and then they threw everything they had been building up out and set fire to it.

We got Queerbaited, and i truly havnt felt this feeling for a while. We got actual queer shows now, ofc they all end up being cancelled! But they exist!

This show felt like it was crafted with so much love and care, that i completely let my guard down. The entire queer Moomin community did a 5 year long trustfall, just to hit the floor the last second.

Season 4 of Moominvalley felt empty. It felt lost of all care and love. The first 3 seasons felt handcrafted by warm hands, season 4 felt machine made. Easy to digest, with no real soul.

Season 4 of Moominvalley feels souless.

I have chosen to live in a world where Comet in Moominvalley is a prequal to s4 and that s4 is a prequal to s1. The true last season was S3 and Moominvalley ended with Snufkin and Moomin walking arm in arm. Thats the only way i can Rationalize everything.

I have so much more to say, but ill stop here for now. Hope all of you are doing okay<3

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

jjk chapter 270 spoilers under the cut !!

GODDDDDDDDD I LOVED THIS CHAPTER. I LOVED IT SO SO MUCH . i feel so high rn you guys don’t UNDERSTAND 😭😭😭 it gave me literally everything i wanted (minus gojo stuff but we’ll get to that) AND I’M JUST !!!!!!!!!!!! i feel so satisfied . all is right with the world . i am a happy mouse

i love love loveeeee the fact that akutami finally decided to pick up (most) of the loose ends — at least the ones from the culling game !!!!!! it’s my favorite arc and i really adore all the side characters, so getting to see them all again was so nice 🥹 and my biggest criticism for akutami’s writing in general has been how he leaves these loose threads behind him, so i’m glad this chapter went back to piece them together. there’s still obviously a lot i would’ve liked to see before the finale, but this chapter finally made me feel somewhat satisfied with it all …..

buuuuut okok!!! let me get through some stuff <3

^^^^ THIS . THANK YOUUUUUUUUU GOD 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 ALL I WANTED WAS SOME FINAL SHOKO CRUMBS . THAT’S LITERALLY ALL. i love her so much chat …………. THE BUN :((((((( i wonder if she’s paying tribute to suguru, in a way. since she can’t make his grave all nice like she did with tsumiki’s. <- WHICH IS ALSO . so heartbreaking :((((( shoko has been the closest to death and corpses out of everyone.

’that moron should’ve let me handle geto’s body, too’……… gojo thought he was doing her a favour by not forcing her to dispose of him, but i wonder if his decision only caused her more suffering? :’) either way i loveeee shoko and i think her character is so wonderful. her not believing in an afterlife is also so in character LMAO, my little cynicist <3333

^^^^^ AND THEN THIS . PEEEEEERFECT. SO PERFECT. shoko and her cigarette motif :’)))))))) SHE FINALLY QUIT AGAIN . SHE IS AT PEACE . also need to mention how fucking cute she looks ……. i neeeed to squish her cheeks !!!!! she’s my baby !!!!!!!!!!

i will say that . obviously . i would’ve loved for her to get a more concrete final moment with stsg :’) like her being at the airport, or something. overall i’m satisfied with this being her ending of sorts (though if gojo is alive i’d obviously like to see them talk)…… she hasn’t gotten as much spotlight in this manga as she’s rightfully deserved, but i do think her character writing has been lovely and consistent throughout everything, and she remains one of my ult favorites <3333333 i LOVE my wife. love all her little quirks . i hope she quits smoking forever and ever!!!!!!!

ahh, it was also nice to see them mention tengen!!!! and how the barrier techniques worked. again, i’m just really happy that we’re not letting plotpoints go unfinished 😭😭 i also think it’s . a little romantic. that tengen’s barriers will exist as long as sukuna’s remnants remain . the tengen / sukuna / kenny trio is very interesting to me (MORE ON THAT . LATER.)

THEN WE ALSO HAVE THIS !!!!!!!!!

^ this moment means . soooo much to me. will try to get my thoughts out coherently but this theme really resonates with me so deeply :’) since the beginning of the manga, jujutsu society has been built on the foundation that is the suffering of youth — adults casting blame and burdens on children. like the higher ups who hide up at the top and force the children to work themselves to the bone. we saw this so clearly in hidden inventory most of all. and gojo is the anti thesis of that society — he wants to preserve youth !!!!!! even nanami, who didn’t really have any clear desires to change the fundamentals of their society, did his best to protect children as an adult.

so to see gakuganji refer to utahime and nitta as young (even though they’re both grown adults)….. and say that ’they needn’t worry over this just yet’…… i think. it shows how much the society is already improving. with someone like gakuganji in charge. and also kusakabe, who basically told the trio to just be kids last chapter, and leave the hard stuff to the adults (can’t remember his exact wording lmao but he said it so perfectly)…… it just warms my heart. jujutsu sorcery is still a shitshow but as least the children won’t be as exploited anymore (or at the very least, there are good adults around them, who will bear most of the burden on their own backs). idk. i just loved this moment sm :’))))))

ahhhhh, and and and !!!!!! mr katana and mr sumo 🥺 IT WAS SM FUN SEEING EVERYONE AGAINNNN and it was so sweet seeing maki try to look out for them a little after they helped her ……..

^ maki and her middle aged man besties …… :3

AND THEN CHARLES !!!!! MY BOY !!!!!!!!!!! just needed to mention him lmao. i love him T_T happy that he’s working on his trashy little manga. keep up the good work king <3333333 SAME WITH THE FORMER BULLY . sorry can’t be bothered to remember his name ….. the pudding guy. you know who i mean. seeing him apologize and try to make amends was rlly heartwarming …….. i really am so happy to see all culling game characters happy and alive . WHERE IS REMI THOUGH . 🤨

…… but okay . okay. okayyy.

actually yk what we’re saving the best for last ^^ ONTO HANA AND MEGUMIIIIIII WHAT A CUTE MOMENT . SOOOO CUTE . i don’t ship them at all i think they’re adorable though …… AND HANA IS SOOOOOOO GODDAMN CUTE I CAN’T EVEN EXPLAIN IT ????? :((( I NEED TO SQUISH HERRR

^ LOVE this line . my brother pointed this out but isn’t it like …. eerily similar to that akiangel scene 😭 lmao. i just really love this. megumi offering to be her right hand because ’he’ was the one who took it from her ……. he’s such a good boy :< also instantly pictured him being her scary knight/guard dog and yk what maybe this ship could sail after all…..

^ THEN THISSSSS 😭 THEY’RE SO CUTE. MEGUMI IS SO FUCKING AWKWARD HANG IN THERE BUDDY ………….

ah i forgot to mention higuruma …… i love him!!!!!!!!! i love him a ton!!!!!!!!!!!! :’3 i think seeing his junior demand a retrial for the sake of justice meant a lot to him. i could go deeper into it because higu’s character is so dense but yeah !!! very fitting ending for him …… i’m kinda sad that he’s cursed to be an overworked sorcerer though 💀 hang in there king…

AND THENNN WE HAVE :333c A NEW MISSION… feels kinda nice to go back to our roots. i have literally NO idea what’s gonna happen though 😭 hopefully tied to gojo….??? for the record i obviously want him to live and will have Many things to say if it turns out he’s really been dead this whole time, but. we’ll save that for the next chapter <3 for now i’m just happy to see the babies back together….

^ noba being gay ……. all is right with the world 🥹

BUT OKAY . ENOUGH. ENOUGH ABOUT THATTTT ENOUGH ABOUT EVERYTHING ONLY ONE THING REMAINS AND IT’S THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS. akutami loves me and only me and this chapter finally confirmed that once and for all…..

I FUCKING . SCREAMED. YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND.

TAKABAAAAAAAAAAAAAA FIRST OF ALL? I MISSED HIM . I MISSED MY BABY 🥺🥺🥺 BUT SECOND OF ALL WHAT THE FUCKKKKK WHAT THE FUCK ALL MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED???? THIS IS ALL IVE EVER WANTED????????? i’ve been telling my brother that if i could manifest one thing i’d want jjk to end with takaba on stage with kenjaku without it ever been elaborated on AND MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED . I’M SO HAPPY YOU DON’T GET ITTT

there’s so much to say ……… truly ………. these two make me insane ………… will start with: they’re so funny. they’re so gay. kenny wanting to make sex jokes like the freak he is. THEY’RE TOGETHER GUYS 🥹 THE KENKABA SPINOFF MANGA I WANTED IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES .

….. but also !!!!! truly truly trulyyyyy — i love this. i love how akutami did this. this is kenjaku’s final scene, and it’s perfect for them!! it’s so chaotic…. they left sorcery behind for a life of stand up comedy 😭 AND IT’S SOOO IN CHARACTER . IT REALLY IS. what kenjaku wants, what they’ve claimed to want since shibuya, is to create chaos that not even they will be able to control, using cursed energy. and takaba is exactly that. kenny created takaba’s cursed technique using the culling game, and takaba is chaos personified!!! a chaos kenjaku can’t control!!!!!! as dissatisfied as i was with yuuta just swooping in and cutting their head off i did think that the takaba fight was a really clever and perfect end to kenjaku :3

soooo — it makes sense that kenjaku would go back to takaba. they had fun with him!!!! he matches their energy!!!!!! and takaba could easily have saved his life using his ct, which i think is the implication here. i love that kenny’s face is obscured, it just feels like such a fun little thing to throw in at the end 😭 but i doooo genuinely think this is akutami’s way of implying that kenny is alive and living the happy yaoi life with takaba . as they fucking should.

i also wanna say !!!!! that i think it’s so thematically fitting that kenjaku’s ending is soooo different from tengen’s and sukuna’s . i LOVE this aspect of it so much; kenjaku is the most morally corrupt of the three, and also the most human. sukuna is a human turned calamity, who slumbered for centuries, and tengen is a shut-in who ended up mimicking sukuna’s appearance while only maintaining human contact through a barrier. kenjaku laughs at them for it. he hates them for being so passive, because kenny is the opposite of that — he’s lived through it all!!!!!! changed with the centuries!!!!!!! so i think it’s just ….. soooo perfect and tasty that sukuna and tengen now only exist as remnants, as barriers, just like they did before — while kenjaku chooses to live, and takes an entirely different approach. they’re so fucking chaotic and i adore them. i can’t explain how much i love their character …… i really can’t ……… :’3

i’m just . still so happy . i really thought it was kenover…… i didn’t think they’d get an ending so perfect………………. i really, really hope akutami comes in clutch and gives gojo the same treatment :’) even if the chances are slim. i thought this chapter was absolutely lovely and i hope with allllll my heart that i end up enjoying the final chapter too.

……….. i think ……. that’s all 😭 (if you’ve read this far i’m kissing you with tongue btw). THANK YOU FOR BEARING WITH ME !!!!!! this chapter made me feel so genuinely satisfied and giddy and i’m super sleepy and tired but i just needed to rant :’3 i love kenjaku. they’re so silly . such a brat. i wanna kiss them. takaba too actually. we are in a happy polycule

[mystic-myrtille]

Didn‘t want to make a salt post about the finale bc I just want to be done with canon but also I have thoughts especially now that I‘ve went through some fan discourse

So Adrien wasn‘t involved in the finale and an argument for this are that the what-if episodes show that Adrien would not be able to handle the truth, be akumatized as a result and end up destroying the world. And I understand because the messed up things Gabriel did are a lot to take in so Adrien being overwhelmed and anything but okay does make sense. However that makes me wonder

Why is Adrien even a permanent hero who wields one of the two most important miraculouses if him fighting Monarch is not only completely unhelpful but ultimately a guarantee for the heroes to loose?

If literally anyone else who didn‘t have this connection to Gabriel was the cat, this wouldn‘t be a problem at all! All of Marinette‘s friends are either indifferent towards Gabe or hate him. Of course they would have a moment of shock but most likely not to an extent where they‘d be akumatized into world destroyer, so Adrien being replaced as the cat would actually be beneficial.

Or the writers could‘ve given Adrien actual relevant character developement outside of his relationship with Mari and have him realize his dad isn‘t really a great person and have him find out before the finale what Gabe has been up to so that he has a little time to deal with everything before he tells Lb and they plan their final attack. Like there are ways to write him as a compelling and interesting character who overcomes the control his dad has over him, metaphorically and literally, which would actually be an inspiring character arc for him to get his autonomy he severely lacks.

But no, the writers think of Adrien as a little weakling who will never be able to handle anything that doesn‘t fit his world view bc god forbid he ever feels overwhelmed about anything so he needs to be coddled by Marinette and the narrative and everyone.

The way they‘ve set this up, Adrien is literally the worst choice for the black cat.

[aquaquadrant]

Popping in to say that I’ve been following ur htp au since like,,, October last year? I’ve left some asks before about how much I love it (I was that anon who was needing out about tango and bravo’s names and the international flag code from several months ago + a few other asks)

The ending was the most beautiful and SATISFYING piece of literature I’ve ever written. Genuinely. Wtf. And I’ve read a lot of books. I’m an English/creative writing major and your work is so beautiful, the story arcs, every loose end was tied up, you’re like the new standard for awesomeness. Seriously.

every loose end was wrapped up so well, all the closure and follow up we wanted, explanations of things like Scáil, hels meanings, their admin, even other hermits at the end there that were mentioned about in asks before but I never thought would be relevant in the main story. Things we didn’t even need to know like bX I was not expecting at all, I was content with just what we knew about him but you made it even better.

also the callbacks to earlier chapters, earlier moments and little jokes, bravo and Timmy’s not a builder moment was awesome, the way you portrayed bravo and tangos mindsets was phenomenal and with such intricacies. Stunning. And you didn’t force a reconciliation between bravo and timmy either, so natural.

Everything had a reason, an explanation, even the intricacies of herobrine? wasnt expecting that at all. Or Alex???! You didn’t need to include that detail BUT YOU DID AND I LOVE IT

the way you explained the greater player universe learning about hels, also the pausing on the red stone tutorial!! Loved that part. The pov switches and pacing of the last chapter p 1 and 2 were perfect. Well executed to keep the reader able to understand but still enough suspense. Not to mention once again your way of capturing each persons way of talking. Bravo having similar vocab to tango especially really drives home their similarities.

The way atlas breaks. It’s so hard to make an ending with someone like him SATISFYING because man I’ve read so many stories where it’s just not it. But you did it so fucking well. And subjected to retail salesman lifestyle on top of that? Wonderful. His damn glasses finally broken. Good. Or The watchers and listeners in the background too! Loved that. You explained things that were talked about in asks so well that even those who don’t read the asks could understand.

Most of all emotional and moral nuance. So perfectly explained. As someone who used to have a hard time with moral ocd I relate a lot to the obsession with good vs evil that I’ve had to come to terms with in my own journey and I can really see that mirrored in this fic, just like the characters learn.

And in addition to it all, I loved the ending with the Minecraft credits end message. You not only made it interesting and beautiful story and awareness of the player’s existence without being too confusing, but perfectly replicated the voices of the end credits characters. The tone and language that the original has. Last week I beat the enderdragon for the first time. I used to only play on public servers or private worlds with friends, even in single player I was a big coward and hated fighting mobs even with keep inventory and no mob griefing, they just stress me out!! But I did it for the first time and I read through the entire end credits of a game I’ve loved for so long for the first time and it made me cry. And you replicated it perfectly which is SO hard to do. The benevolence of the universe, no plot holes to be found about the logic of hels, the voices of the two people and their storytelling and acknowledging of the story. The universe is described so similarly in cannon about the good and bad that it’s like the au fits perfectly. The “why them?” Beautiful. It was like deja vu scrolling through like the end credits with the same benevolent warmth that envelops you like a wordless, comforting presence from this fictional universe. A touching moral about games and stories and people. And just like the end credits of both the game and this fic said, there will be another game and another story. The universe still loves the player just as it did before. This was such a special story to read and I am so glad I did. Genuinely, this will stay with me for a long time, we can learn a lot not just about writing and storytelling techniques, but about ourselves and eachother too.

Thank you.

AUUGHHHH…. genuinely one of the loveliest reviews i’ve ever gotten… your reaction to the finale is everything i could’ve hoped to achieve. thank you thank you THANK YOU <333

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Here's a collection of Trigun Stampede thoughts and observations I had from someone who has only seen this series, since big long posts rarely go over well lol. I'm really intrigued to contrast with the manga later and see if I get similar takeaways... I'm eagerly willing to expand on any of these if anyone is interested but for now they will exist as loose point forms! Hopefully this is coherent!

Firstly: Vash my beloved... please be nicer to yourself... please... you are so kind...

Meryl and Knives are the lead active/driving forces of the show, in contrast to most everyone else's passivity and Vash's reactivity

Meryl's influence on Roberto over the course of the story - she actually has him taking a pretty firm stance later on (which is likely the opinion he held all along, he just buried it), which brings me to the next point-

Conrad and Knives claim to be looking to the future but ignore the present - Roberto dismisses this because those who won't even save a life in front of them in the present moment won't save anyone (this is more in keeping with what Vash does)

The juxtaposition between Conrad and Luida's methods are great and I hope we return to that in the next season

I love Meryl. This is not an observation or analysis it is merely a statement of fact. :)

I wonder if we'll get more Zazie and Meryl interactions. Zazie seems to find Meryl intriguing at the very least. I also just like Zazie and think this could be a really interesting dynamic.

I would also like to see more of Rem, hopefully outside of the biased recollections of Vash and Nai... I still don't feel like I know anything about her :(

Ideals in the service of people (Vash) vs people in the service of ideals (Knives)

Most of the children in the series literally age too quickly. There's a lot to examine there.

Given the attempts to create Independent-like humans by Conrad and the rapid aging of these children... is the serum created from Plants?

Vash 🤝 Me: "Wolfwood" 🥺 (I'm kidding, I'm kidding... mostly.)

Vash and Wolfwood are not fundamentally different, as they first appear to be, but are actually quite similar in their drives (protection of others at personal cost) - the difference in their perspectives comes down to the scope of what they swore to protect (with Wolfwood's being far more limited, thus there are outsiders) and propensity to hope (Vash will act on hope without solid proof, while Wolfwood needs the proof but will jump on it if he sees it - interesting for someone who is associated with religion and faith)

Wolfwood's version of mercy is an unfortunate form of projection (aka Legato is a fucking idiot for thinking removing Wolfwood's attachments would lead him to be solely devoted to Knives. my dude, I am pretty sure that attachment plus raw survival instinct is the only thing keeping him going)

Vash: allows himself to get shot and reveals his scars / Wolfwood: >:O !!! / also Wolfwood: repeatedly takes hits either shielding people or just plain not dodging when he 100% could / Me: 😐

I wish we'd gotten some breathing room in the series. That's my number one gripe about it. Specifically, I wanted a little more time with Wolfwood to get to know him in the present before we got into him having the worst life of his fucking life in the span of two episodes... I also wanted to see a little more of this world that Vash cares about so much! I understand the manga and 98 series do this a little better so I'm excited to see that. Meryl's arc was great though!

Loved the really clever way the flashbacks are done!!! Nai is barely focused on at first, then as his character is slowly revealed, he gets the camera focus and childish behaviours more and more!!!

Huge themes of autonomy and choice. I think they're actually more the point than the whole morality aspect. It's not as important that Vash be perfectly moral and right than it is that his philosophy allows people the chance to choose and change for themselves - Knives' doesn't grant anyone that choice, and in fact, he and the people under him actively remove free will (breaking Vash's mind, the experimentation on Rollo, Wolfwood and Livio, what he did to... the Plants... etc.)

Vash is genuinely angry at Nai in a way he doesn't seem to be with anyone else. I do think a part of him can't forgive what happened to Rem or the emotional strain that comes with watching someone you love repeatedly do horrible things. I don't know if humanity could hurt him the way Nai has. The worst part is that I don't think Nai fully comprehends how badly he has hurt Vash. He looked so confused and hurt when Vash trained the gun on him for the first time. The "ominous piano playing" probably isn't meant to be ominous at all, once we see they used to play that piece together. Nai's been playing it on loop for so long. He wants his brother to come home. :(

The twins treat each other like an extension of themselves for a lot of the story, which is somewhat ironic for a couple of Independents. Vash blames himself and seeks to atone for his brother's actions, Nai thinks any differing opinion his brother has is a result of corruption instead of him being his own person. That is why it is a triumph when Vash finally asserts his identity away from Knives in episode 12, declaring himself his own person. That is why it is a tragedy when Nai would rather let his old self die, figuratively and literally, than accept that.

Nai did not want Rem dead. I stand by this strongly. His anger at her is I believe in part to justify her death in his mind.

Nai wants to return to a time of safety more than anything (the higher dimension is like an "egg", the ship's dome around the two as children, the quietness of the tree, etc.).

Tesla 🤝 Livio: products of human experimentation who really ought to be dead but apparently... aren't??? I am putting them both in my pocket and running away

[damagedintellect]

Dazai Osamu x reader

💌 Reading into the palms of isekai bullshit: Chapter 6 💌  

Summary: You were no stranger to isekai bullshit. It’s not like you had a problem with it. The genre took over the anime scene for years now but you try to stay away from thinking about how you would handle the situation. The last time you thought about inserting yourself into your favorite show you wrote a 100k word xReader fic for your favorite characters and you didn’t want to spend all your time consumed by the brainrot again. Never again, you promised yourself that was the last time you’d let the devil on your shoulder win. You clicked on chapter 1 to start the adventure over again but when you opened your eyes and saw Dazai O-FUCKING-samu getting choked by Kunikida you honestly hoped it was a dream.  

Notes: Another isekai so I can play around with BSD like dolls.   

 This will be the last update for a while because Artfight starts in a few days and it takes place during the whole month of July. The theme is Vampire vs Werewolves which has me laughing my ass off, IT'S LITERALLY BSD THEMED I CAN'T IT'S TOO MUCH!!! I'm planning on siding with Vampire's since *SPOILERS* home boi is under the vampirism.

💌 Word count: 2,457 💌 <= Previous Chapter | Next Chapter =>

Everyone celebrated the fall of the guild that night. You shared a few drinks with Yosano and Kunikida but noticed that Dazai was missing. He must be at the art gallery with Hirotsu. Things were only going to get harder moving forward. This will probably be the only time you could have a drink and relax. You don't even want to think about it because you have a feeling Ranpo is going to threaten you for answers during the cannibalism arc but at the same time he’s seen that your knowledge isn't always indefinite. It's either that or once again Chuuya is an outlier. Before you could refuse it, one drink turned into two and the next thing you knew you were sitting in Yosano's lap as your arms were tangled with hers as you shot back your sixth or seventh bottle. Both of you were cackling about something Ranpo said as Kunikida was bringing you both water. You don't think you drank the water either. You only vaguely remember sharing another drink with Yosano before attempting to get back to the dorms. Kunikida was escorting Yosano while Ranpo begrudgingly helped you up the stairs. He was complaining that his room was directly below yours and he would have to walk twice as far. You told him you could make the ten feet on your own as he cheerfully bid you farewell for the night. The last thing you remember was inserting your key into the lock before you passed out.

Dazai decided to grab a drink at Lupin's after meeting with Hirotsu. There was a lot to think about after the fall of the guild and he knew he needed to take a break before looking into the rats. He had an eerie premonition he'd be crossing "his" path again but for now he needed to de-stress. Feeling the smooth burn down his throat calmed his active mind somewhat but it wouldn't be enough alcohol to get him tipsy. He rarely let himself get that loose so after the drink he casually strode home taking in the quiet walk observing the interesting nightlife.

When he got to the top of the stairs he knew something was off. He felt a presence but who could be out and about at this hour. All he knew is that thankfully it wasn't Chuuya. When he turned the corner he saw (Y/N) on the floor, key in hand just outside his room. Dazai couldn’t help the chuckle that passed his lips. She must have had drinks with Yosano. The doctor had a knack for drinking everyone under the table. Odd that you were on the floor outside his room but if he had to guess Ranpo got lazy. Dazai knelt down beside you to see if you were awake. The moment he was eye level with you he lightly tapped your shoulder as he spoke.

"Silly little Belladonna, you can't sleep out here. Let's get you to bed okay?"

You slowly stirred from the movement but it was clear you were too far gone. "Dasaiiii!" you slurred as you threw yourself on him nuzzling into his warmth. It had been cold on the floor. You were sad after your key didn't work and you were too exhausted to go to someone else's room. Thinking back you had your phone in your pocket you definitely could have called for help but it slipped your mind until right now. Once you lost your ability to stand you opted to sit down for a bit. That's when you fell asleep so this must be a dream. "Of course I'd dream of Dazai. God mmm pathetic." You scoffed at yourself, not hiding your smile because you didn't realize you were thinking out loud.

The brunette laughed at your outburst but quirked an eyebrow at its context. Past his name you mumbled the rest. "You're pathetic?" He was curious as you shuffled closer to him pulling away enough to look him in the eyes, he didn't move.

"I'm pathetic cause mmm in love with Osamu,” You said it so soft and gentle he thought he misheard you until the panic set in your voice. “Dream-zai you can't tell him! Because-" You stopped talking trying to come up with a reason. Ultimately you didn't know why you shouldn't tell him. Yeah of course rejection was a possibility but the way you see it your love is more unconditional. At this point you would rather Dazai be Dazai than have the feelings be mutual. You wanted him to know someone cared without expecting anything in return and that he can have what he wants without it being taken away. Or at least you think that’s what he wants, wait what were you talking about? Oh right! "I hav to tell hm so don't say anyfing or I’ll kill you myslef!" You pushed your fist to his chest as a threat.

Dazai blinked. You love him? Why? He's tried to threaten you, teased you and has tried to annoy you at every opportunity since you started working beside him at the ADA. It worked well for everyone else to be kept at arm's length but he guessed your little game was the difference. It did mean that you both shared some, moments. Why were you always so difficult and why did he feel warm like he wanted to believe you. His heart was beating erratically and not by his doing, he hated it. "We should get you to bed, you're already speaking nonsense." He helped you off the floor but you clung to him. It was cute but it made ushering you inside his room harder than it needed to be.

The moment you got inside you flopped down on his futon unprompted. The look you gave him at the prospect of him joining you was adorable and it made his heart clench as he frowned, getting you some water. You were much more honest when you were drunk. He almost missed the playful banter to get you to spill your secrets. He still couldn’t put a finger on how your intuition was flawlessly comprehensive or at least from what he’s tested and witnessed. Chuuya refused to give him any details of your meeting. He expected as much but there was a sliver of hope that Chuuya might spare a few details. Instead the redhead didn’t bother which could only mean that you were able to answer his questions otherwise he would have given Dazai an earful about how he was just wasting his time. Which brings him back full circle at how much could you realistically know by looking at people’s palms? It’s been eating at him slightly every day because there was no logic behind it. The fact that you know so much about him and his past yet you so proudly claimed to love him vexed Dazai. Which begged the question,

“Why do you love me?” He handed you the glass as you happily gulped down every last drop. “Dream-zai has to promise not to tell Osamu first.” You held out your pinky for him to take. Everytime you called him by his first name he felt miffed, there was this incessant tingling across his skin that made him feel warmth in the pit of his stomach. He knew you were only using it to distinguish between what you thought was the real and fake Dazai but it was starting to drive him up the wall that you couldn’t tell the difference. Then again he couldn't tell if he liked or hated the way hearing his first name from your lips made him feel. When he extended his pinky he noted how sweaty his palms were. Why was this happening to him he didn’t understand.

“For the longest time he couldn’t see the value in living and I can sympathize with that, I don’t know if he still doesn’t but he thinks he isn’t worthy of it and for someone so intellectually gifted and self aware it’s cute that he’s so emotionally inept. With his smile he could get away with murder and he knows it, he knows he’s not a good person but still chose to side with helping people and is willing to sacrifice everything for it. But it must be lonely to push everyone away because deep down he’s terrified of losing everything important to him. He refuses to have wants and desires without trying to rationalize or justify them in some way and that’s stupid.” You laughed eyes half lidded, not even sure if any of this is making any sense to Dream-zai. The water seemed to help sober you enough to speak in full sentences at least but you still slurred a few words here and there.

Dazai on the other hand has been marveling you wide eyed at a complete loss for words. Where did all this come from? He’s even more confused now and his heart was working overtime to the point it ached. He needed you to stop talking before his “symptoms” got any worse. He couldn’t fight the urge to reach out as you were blissfully unaware continuing your line of thought. 

“At the end of the day I don’t think he knows that love can be unconditional. That people don’t need a reason to care for him-”

It barely registered that he placed his lips on yours but when it does you smile. Your eyes slipped shut as you slumped backwards on the futon. It took Dazai a minute to process everything that just happened as he threw himself on the floor next to you both hands clawing at his face as the realization hit him like a bus. It was the only way to get you to shut up. That was a lie and he knew it but it’s what he kept repeating to himself as his blood ran cold. He wanted to run away but if he did then you’d get suspicious. Would you even remember? This was supposed to be a simple game of chicken. It wasn't supposed to end with him developing feelings of any kind, but no one has ever been so painfully honest with him before. His heart was still racing as he was trying to find an out. He got up and started pacing. He looked back at you, he knew what he must do.

The next morning your head was killing you. It was a mistake to drink with Yosano but at least you can say you did it. You tried to sink back into the covers but you noticed it was hard to shift your position almost like someone was holding you in place. You remembered Ranpo accompanying you back to the dorms. Your eyes shoot wide open as you fight the dizziness. The more you moved the more you felt the need to purge the contents in your stomach. You took some deep breaths as you weighed out your options. You decided to slowly remove the hand around your waist first but when your fingers felt bandages your mind was sent into a different panic. Part of you was relieved it wasn’t Ranpo but this wasn’t any better. The more you woke up you realized you were only wearing your undergarments. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT!

Before you could spiral any further, strong arms pulled you closer as Dazai’s sultry morning voice almost lulled you back to sleep. “Good morning love~” he kissed the crook of your neck “How’re feeling?”

You leaned into the pleasant sensation for a moment as you snapped back to reality. You could panic all you wanted in your head but you couldn’t let him have the satisfaction. “Like shit but I really should have seen this coming honestly.” You shifted to lay on your back feeling the liquids slosh around. You were going to be sick. Dazai was laying on his side using one hand to prop himself up and  using the other one to curl your hair behind your ear and out of your face. He was looking at you like you were his world. It was charming if not almost unsettling since you don’t remember anything from last night at all. “So Love~” You mimic the pet name “Care to fill me in on what we got up to last night?” Based on Dazai’s current lack of shirt and snarky demeanor you could only imagine that you guys finally had at it but it doesn’t bridge the gap for how you ended up here with him.

“Ah so you don’t remember.” Dazai acted smug but hearing that was a huge relief to him. The last thing he needed was for you to remember him being mildly flustered by your words alone. He let his finger trace along your jaw tipping your chin up at him. “Want me to jog your memory?” 

“Depends on who caved, but you could always give me a demonstration.”

How peculiar, he wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction. You must genuinely not remember anything from last night. Out of all the ways he planned for this to go down he half expected you to see through him immediately as you have in the past. Maybe the alcohol was to blame? Whatever the case he intended on using this to his advantage as he leaned in to close the distance between you. The longer you guys spent fooling around the more time Dazai had to ignore his responsibilities. Victory was sweet, the kiss however taste of stale liquor. 

He smirked as he pulled away “Last night you waited outside my door and threw yourself at me confessing your undying love for me-” You started laughing but stopped feeling a wave of nausea. You sat up gesturing your hand for him to give you a minute to assess whether you should go throw up or not. Even if you could keep all the fluids inside you it was probably better that you did. It would be less for your liver to process later. Dazai seemed to understand as he helped you to the bathroom. He even helped get your hair out of the way and rubbed circles on your back while he mentioned this is why no one drinks with Yosano anymore. Once you got most of it out, you wipe your mouth with the back of your hand. “Going back to last night, I call bullshit.” He was being too overly dramatic for you to gauge any semblance of what really happened.

“Aw but I thought you trusted me~”

“I do, which is why I'm not even going to bother with what I don’t remember.”

He frowned, you weren’t playing fair at all.

[miss0atae]

Random thoughts about Pit Babe the series Ep 9:

This episode was packed with many information and twists. I'm never bored when I watch this series.

▪️ First of all, let's talk about Babe. I felt for him so much in this episode. The betrayal he had to feel when he learnt about Way being the Enigma, hiding his work for Tony and basically lying from the very beginning. Babe really saw Way as his best and most trusted friend. It was hard to watch. I have to admit, I never watched Pavel in another series before, but I admit he really know how to cry. He do it beautifully. It's weird to say it this way, but I hope it's understandable. It must be really hard when you can't trust anyone. I'm sad for Babe. He quoted all the people who betrayed him and Charlie is quite lucky that he didn't say his name. Even if I like them together and think they are a cute couple, Charlie took his sweet time to tell the truth to Babe. Thankfully, Babe really loves him and I don't doubt that Charlie loves him back but he hasn't been trustful from the beginning either.

▪️ Charlie had many opportunities to use Babe's gift in this episode. I like how he was the one who had to deal with the consequences before the race. He can now fully understand what Babe was living before. I also found that so sweet how Babe came to me and was so lovable with him. I appreciate all the fluff and domestic vibes they have together. However, I wish Charlie was better at learning from his past mistakes. He told Babe he would tell him the truth but he is still hiding things from him. I wanna talk about when Jeff told him about his vision and they made a plan together but they haven't told anyone else about it. It's again going to break Babe's heart and as much as I find Pavel pretty when he is crying, I think Babe had enough sorrow. He doesn't need to cry more.

▪️ Jeff and Alan... We got robbed again! Yes, they had their little cute moment and it seems that Alan understand now that he has feeling for Jeff (thanks to the love matchmakers that are Sonic and North, they may be bad at rescuing people but at least they are better at being love gurus). I melted a little bit when Jeff called himself "Alan's boy". I thought they would kiss right at that moment... but no! It's frustrating! You like each other, time to have some action.

▪️ I understand now why Pete called Kenta, Ken. It's because he is "buying/saving" all those kids. They may have met this way. It is not said in the series but I haven't found a better explanation. Babe learnt from him that he is actively trying to convict Tony. He also knows him (it seems almost every character is Tony's son now which hilarious) and is the second Enigma. I hope he'll succeeded in his mission but also that he will save Way.

▪️ Now, we need to say something about Way... Of course, he was the second Enigma and he also tried to sexually assaulted Babe. I never liked him but for the first time I felt pity for him. What he did was terrible and there is no excuses. However, I feel like he has a lot of self-loathing. He was threatened by Tony. Way is afraid of him and when you're living in such bad environment it's hard to act rightly. We also learnt that he was homeless before Tony took care of him. I don't know what is going to be his redemption arc but I hope he'll get it. He seems so miserable. Tony is just so toxic. I felt like it was a miracle that Babe, Charlie, Pete or Jeff are not more f****d up in the head because of it. I don't know, I feel like Way could have turned differently.

▪️ We got nothing from Kenta or Kim and I'm starting to think that it is not meant to be. Also, what is Kenta's deal?! He seems to not really be on board with what Tony is doing but at the same time he is doing his work. I need answers!

▪️ Dean is also back in the team? Can we really trust him? I'm not sure. Especially after seeing the trailer.

▪️ By the way, why is Charlie always loosing?! He got special ability and he was trained by Babe. You need to do better Charlie! I wish he won this race. I'm stressed now with what I saw on the trailer.

I can't wait to be next Friday.

[armed-and-rwby]

So, and I know this is kind of bad timing in June, but I can't deny any longer than Yang's character was seriously compromised after V5

This isn't really a scripted thing and I've not written analysis in a while, so forgive the loose formatting here, just something I needed to get out.

I think the overall issues can apply to more of the MCs than Yang, which I'll bring up later, but RWBY has an unfortunate tendency of resolving character arcs without much overlap with the plot, and Yang definitely gets it worse than most (and she's my favourite).

Back in V5, Yang was exploding with directions for her character and I think the writers worked hard to touch on all of them, from her recovery, to her growing mistrust of authority, to her issues with her mom, to her reconnecting with her team (and of course the deeper angst with Blake in that), but resolution for all of these largely fell short IMO. The last time she's even talked about the scheming of Oz was in V6 when she called him a bastard, Raven has never been mentioned or some up since V5, and I don't think she's even spoken to Weiss since their heart to heart in V5 outside of plot functional dialogue. The same can be said on her relationship with her sister, which, beyond her sacrifice in V8 and an unresolved conversation earlier in the volume about Salem and their mom, also haven't actually interacted with each other. The only thing really addressed was her lost arm, which was an extension of Bumblebey and closed off when they killed Adam in V6, a great fight with very little to do with the actual plot.

In V7 and 8, she's a complete third wheel, she talks with Robyn and fights the Ops in 7, and doesn't even get a fight in V8. Weiss certainly got it almost as bad, she was a bit more involved, but still not much given how this is her kingdom and her family that was so central to the plot. It's a condition of a bloated cast, which they've addressed a couple times, such as the start of V6 and all of V9 (though with their various guides, the girls don't make a lot of relevant decisions on the flow of that story either). It really did suck that we got to see Ruby's suicide through Yang's eyes, only for us to not see any of their reactions, and even when they see her it's all pretty surface level stuff (Yang even just repeats what Weiss tells her about Ruby).

My favourite scene in the whole show was her confronting her mom, I thought that was such a perfect direction for her character, tying together both her conviction to her family with her backstory of her mom to drive her arc forward in some unique ways, only to be sidelined in following chapters as her ship left port. And while this post isn't here to bash Bumblebey, I guess there's a bit of a warning that, since that was almost all of her drama and driving force for the last 4 volumes, with it canonized, I worry she'll only drift further away from the plot and her own unique character moments.

Wish I had some gifs or something to break up these paragraphs, but I'm just kind of vomiting out all these nagging issues that've been building up these last few years. Really does hurt to love a character like that and not see them utilized in the show

[talaofthevalley]

You've done Rin, so how about Ruri for the ask meme?

Ruri!! My tiny tweety girl.

Why I like them/why I don’t I like Ruri, but pre-Duel Links a lot of that came from being able to assume a lot of her personality because she just didn't get a lot of screentime during Arc V not brainwashed. But it was super cool to see a lot of the hc's and thoughts I had about about her personality was right on the mark and very close to how she was characterised in DL. So now I like her a lot more thanks to that.

What I like about their appearance The haaaaiiirr. And the eyes as well, they're a really gorgeous shade somewhere between purple and red. Ruri has one of those colour schemes that works on pretty much any character you put it on. Her war outfit is very cool, I really like her feather earrings and wing hairclip as well. The long, silky hair against her messy, spiky bangs is such a good look as well.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names? Sub definitely.

OTP Swiftshipping. Again, the energy of two girls who haunt the narrative.

NOTP Mmmm, none I can really think of. I guess maybe Fallenangelshipping? It just doesn't interest me in the slightest, but I'm not averse to seeing it either.

OT3 Gonna make it an OT4 and put in Natureshipping here.

Favourite card they use Assmebled Nightingale is So pretty. And also a beast in Duel Links as I've found out.

Favourite moment they were in Feels like this is an obvious one-

When Ruri manages to break free of the mind control during her duel against Shun. It's not only a sweet moment, but shows Ruri's strenght of mind and unwillingness to hurt her brother. We've been shown before that Ruri hates dueling being used to hurt people, but it's only when Shun is her opponent that she manages to break loose and stop herself. This is how a possession plot should go and be used for.

Least favourite moment All the rest of the time she spent mind controlled can go here though, which hurts a little nlg cause her tag duel with Serena against Yuya has one of the coolest and most iconic moments in all of Arc V. But at that point it was tired as hell since it came after Ruri's duel against Shun. We'd been shown that defeating the girls in a duel would not free them of the mind control, so it felt rather pointless. I think it'd have been better if Ruri had been replaced with Yuzu here, and we're left in the dark of if defeating them would rid the girls of the parasite or not until the end.

[disventurecamptakes]

If I may ask: Thoughts on the finale? Hope you're doing well Mod Jake!

Thank you anon! Honestly I don’t know where to really stand on the finale? Rambling under cut:

There were some parts that I really liked (Fiore and Alec reuniting, Gabellie and Tomjake being kinda cute even if I didn’t really like their writing this season, Jake and Ellie interacting, etc.) but overall it felt really sad and more focused on shock than anything else. I liked Riya a lot in season two and even early season three but I felt by the end that she wasn’t really built up well, her little moments of regret didn’t really sell me on her “complexity” when the rest of the time she was so comically evil. And while I can admit that Jake was also badly written for the most part this season, idk I felt like not having him win after being built up as an unlikely hero was just kinda lame and sad? I know they were going for the whole “Riya won the money but Jake won in life” thing but like, it’s really not that deep, I feel like emotionally the outcome would’ve been the same for both characters either way. I think an anon on here once said that season three seems like it restructured itself around episode 14 to push the Riya win at the expense of the rest of the story and I agree, as much as I like Riya I don’t think they did her will with this finale, and also I just really don’t like characters making the finale more than once in general. Also Ally’s elimination was bs. And while Gabellie is cute, having Ellie just all at once realize that Gabby’s more important than the money that would’ve changed her whole life is not how I would’ve ended her arc at all, especially considering how strong of a character she was in season one because of how much she needed the money and how much she’d do for it. Idk, I’m probably being really nitpicky but I walked away from the finale pretty disappointed that most of these characters ended their tenures on such dull notes with so many loose plot threads and random off-screen arcs. Like Connor marrying some random woman. Like what even was that. But also I feel like a lot of the flaws with the finale were just things that built up over time this season and not necessarily flaws with the actual episode if that makes sense, and I’m not like mad about it I just would’ve written this season very, very differently.

[dbphantom]

Watched the first 2 episodes of the Fallout show and was pleasantly surprised. I have a few complaints but I actually did enjoy the first episode a lot and the 2nd was pretty decent too

I really really enjoyed the sets, especially the Vault. Really well done and the vibes are perfect. The scene in the farm where the film of the projector burns and looks like bombs going off around them during the raid was great. A touch cheesy but I appreciated it bc I am a cheesy media connoisseur

I really like Lucy and the ghoul (don't remember his name). Maximus is on thin ice cuz dude is... a bit unhinged in the first 2 episodes. But he was raised by the brotherhood so I'm wishing him the best character arc. I am hoping he realizes how shitty the brotherhood is and defects by the end of the season... I'm convinced that's what's going to happen, but we will see what they do.

One scene that made me roll my eyes was the raider husband coming back to life after Lucy cut his jugular so that the dad could get the kill on him. Like why not let that moment impact her more?? Why did the dad have to be the one to kill him? Was it supposed to foreshadow that the dad was a raider or something? Cuz honestly I'm mostly suspect due to the raiders taking him with them, it's classic to have the father be a criminal but he's reformed because of his dead wife and kid... Would be awesome if they twisted it so it's the mother who was the raider, but didn't they already say she was from this Vault and the dad was the one transferred over? Regardless, that totally ripped away a character moment for Lucy. That man stole her kill...

Another thing I didn't like was the appearance of the Brotherhood so soon in episode 1. They appear before the viewer even knows what the wasteland looks like for everyone else. You see the Prydwen before you see your first established settlement and that kind of ruins the idea imo. People are struggling to live, but the brotherhood is hoarding tech. Show the people struggling first, THEN have the Brotherhood appear.

Maybe they're doing it this way because you're supposed to be viewing things like Maximus (loosing his faith in the brotherhood as the season goes on because he was raised by them and was indoctrinated, please, it would be a nice parallel to Lucy), but it still makes the pacing feel off. The friend I watched it with (hi @bautistawithadrive) agreed w/ that and he isn't even a Fallout fanatic. It just feels weird. I get that pacing is gonna be wack cuz it's an 8 (?) episode season, but it just isn't working for me.

The ghoul is fine. His intro scene at the start was cute. I found it interesting the shot of the bombs going off around them, but I'm 90% sure it's canon in lore that the Fallout nukes are less powerful than ours so I have no real complaints. If it's not canon, then it's a widely accepted fanon. I was just confused why the little girl wasn't blinded by the flash because I'm pretty sure there are logs in the games of people who were blinded when they saw the flashes? I could be misremembering tho I don't have enough room for all the Fallout lore in my brain. Anyway it's an insignificant detail overall afaik, so I'm being fussy, I think.

I am kinda bummed the ghoul doesn't look worse tho. Weird complaint probably but I was hoping he'd be a bit more idk... Ragged? Given all the other gore in the show, I was interested to see how they'd do the makeup for the ghouls, but just like nexus modders, they took the cowards way out. He looks (and sounds, oof) like a generic bald dude with some liquid latex on his cheeks and a missing nose.

The best friend of Lucy is another fave, I really.enjoyed every time she was on screen. Good actress, I hope she either becomes a villain (that eyepatch in the end credits bit of ep 2 is throwing me haha) or follows Lucy out of the Vault (or both).

I'm also curious to see where the brother's character is going to go because they could do a lot with him since he was pretty bland at the start. He could follow Lucy out (maybe with the best friend) or start some kind of political change in the people of the Vault so it will cause conflict when (if) Lucy returns, or he could convince them all to leave the Vault. It'd be cool if he found what their specific Vault experiment was meant to be, then either put it in action or made sure no other Overseer would be able to continue it. Maybe I have too much hope for such a short season... But it would be a fun way to introduce Vault experiments to the audience.

One thing I am VERY nervous about is if they're going to make Lucy pregnannte. I could see them doing it bc that sex scene with the raider felt like a Chekov's gun situation (plus the BFF being like "I can't wait to raise our kids together!" which initially had me like 'wait what are they a lesbian couple forced to get with dudes to make babies? That'd be an awesome storyline!' but thinking abt it I'm wondering if it is foreshadowing for the bestie to also leave the Vault and track her down. Which I want to happen, I loved her character). Idk they could have just included a sex scene for the sake of having one... But I'm also thinking about all the morning sickness vs radiation sickness jokes they could be making, so if there is a scene of her puking in the next few episodes (beyond the gore-fest), I am SO calling it

But like to be clear I don't WANT it to happen, usually that kind of thing in shows makes me turn it off immediately because I'm so not interested in watching a character slowly become 2D for a wailing potato we're just supposed to like because it's a kid, so I hope they surprise me, but I also wouldn't be shocked if it did because all the set-up is there 😬

[worldsokayestdragon]

so I never learned my lesson about getting attached to supernatural characters that aren't Sam and Dean so Jack became my late in the game new favorite and I am outraged by how badly the narrative treated him!

truly the most heinous shit happens to him constantly, and it's never even about his character development or story arc because the writers don't care enough to give him his own arc. like I said on that other post season 13 is entirely about traumatizing as much as possible as fast as possible (because that's the only way they know to make characters interesting) while also using him to advance the plot with all the apocalypse world Lucifer vs. Michael round 2 stuff.

then in season 14 the overarching plot is so weak and all over the place that it barely even feels like they're using him for that so much as hurting Jack to hurt Sam and Dean and Cas. he gets sick so they have to go through the pain of losing a child. it's discussed in those terms way more than how Jack feels about it is brought up. he gets brought back with the Lilly Sunder spell so they'll have to grapple with whether risking his soul to save his life was the right call. they say they're going to let him decide but the whole situation with the empty makes it so he doesn't really have any options while also letting them set up Cas dying/destiel confession in what should be an episode about Jack.

him choosing to burn out his soul to kill Michael and save the others could have been a big moment for him, but the way they wrote him up to that point made it a little unclear if he fully understood how dangerous loosing his soul could be (which I mean is fair. his only reference for someone without a soul is Donatello who was always nice to him, Jack wasn't born yet for soulless Sam or Amara leaving a bunch of soulless people around, and he was in apocalypse world when Donatello went crazy. he's physically 18ish and chronologically 2 so as much as he's a smart person and not actually a baby you can't really expect him to have the best understanding of consequences and his own mortality. him not fully getting the risk could also be interesting for his character but they didn't commit to that either, they just had him say he got it while repeatedly using his powers and never seeming all that concerned about it.) the show focuses so much more on the Winchesters and Cas being worried and guilty about his soul than having Jack react to or deal with that loss.

and then he kills Mary. the one thing he was always afraid of, the one thing he never wanted to do, was hurt his family. and the writers made him lose control for one second and kill one of the most important people in his life and break the hearts of all the other people he loves. and again it's all about hurting Sam and Dean to drive them to try and contain or kill him, while also driving a wedge between Dean and Cas. like of course, of course, that's devastating for Sam and Dean, I'm not trying to minimize that. but even after Jack gets his soul back his trauma and grief around it are never addressed. even his guilt is only touched on so far as it's the motivation for him sacrificing himself for them again. directly afterwards when talking to Rowena and imaginary Lucifer he's horrified and maybe not sad or guilty exactly (no soul) but he obviously understands the magnitude of what he did. but then for some reason when he's talking to Sam and Dean in Jack in the Box he's very casual and dismissive, all like well it was an accident, anyway let's move on. that scene is really the only time he acts like a lot of the other soulless characters. for the most part he seems to understand emotions and morals much better than anyone else without a soul, and almost feel a little even if it's not the same as someone with a soul. (I think the angel grace mitigates some of the effects of not having a soul. angels don't have souls but do have the capacity to feel and tell right from wrong. Jack tells Donatello that he feels different but doesn't feel nothing, and I think that's because the emotions coming from the grace are different than the ones from a soul and it takes practice to identify and develop them to be as strong as what he was used to.) it feels like between Mary acting pretty out of character during her last scene and Jack being so weird about it when he talks to the boys I suspect Chuck was supposed to have been meddling before he actually showed back up, but they never outright say that. regardless they fridged Mary Winchester for the second time and forced Jack through his worse nightmare because they needed to motivate Dean with pain.

his second death was explicitly meant to punish the rest of team free will. Dean couldn't and wouldn't kill Jack, so Chuck did it to hurt his dad's. they wouldn't play his little game so Jack had to die so they'd learn their lesson about defying him. even when he was dead his corpse gets puppeted around to hurt the others. like I also like belphegor as a character, he's bitchy and funny, but narratively making him possess Jack's body was just a way to hurt Cas specifically. (Sam and Dean were way less bothered. maybe the whole casifer situation had numbed them a bit to the horror of working with something evil that has your loved ones face for the greater good.)

then when he comes back it's all "kill yourself to save the world" which is a pretty common plot point for supernatural, but it's also "die to absolve your sins, it's the only way Dean will ever forgive you" which I find significantly more fucked up. and then that plan fails, and Cas dies so Jack loses the only parent who never gave up on him, and then he becomes God.

and Jack becoming god is like...it doesn't really work any of the themes of the show, and it also is the worst way to end his story. he's always been powerful, but he's only ever cared about that in as much as his powers can help his family. when he loses them he's upset because he can't protect the people he loves anymore, not because he isn't special or whatever. all he wants is to be with the people he loves without having to worry about his powers hurting them. and the end they came up with for his story is to get a massive power boost and have to leave his family so he can "be everywhere" or whatever. it's so dumb!

this post got super long, and I'm sure that people have already said all of this better than me, but it's driving me nuts. I just love Jack so much, he's such a good character, and supernatural has so many instances of wasted potential, but Jack's story could have been amazing if there were more than three or four episodes that treated him as an actual character instead of a plot device or a prop for other characters stories.

[yedithwrites]

This or That Tag Game

I was tagged by @indigowriting. Thank you so much for the tag! Find their post here.

|| HISTORICAL or FUTURISTIC ||

Historical! IDK why, but I just think historical is more interesting to write, even though the research is a lot of work. Especially if it's a subject I'm really familiar with. Futuristic is fun to read, but I don't really gravitate towards it as a writer.

|| OPENING or CLOSING CHAPTER ||

Every time I have to write an ending, I do it crying and screaming lol. Endings are so hard for me. I wrote the ending of Good Friends and then re-wrote it and then re-wrote the whole thing and then hated the ending again lol. It's so hard knowing the right place to stop, or if I tied up all the loose ends, or if I've explained too much, or if I made the right choices. I'm fighting for my life every time I write a closing chapter.

|| LIGHT+FLUFFY or DARK+GRITTY ||

I'm going to say both because I think my writing is usually somewhere in the middle. When I write horror (especially when I'm writing a novel vs a short story), I can't stop myself from inserting moments of hope or lightness. And when I write romance, I can't stop myself from putting in some heavier topics.

|| ANIMAL COMPANION or FOUND FAMILY ||

Found family 100%. I actually very rarely write animals into my stories. I guess I just never really considered it. Writing people is more fun for me. I love creating different dynamics between characters.

|| HORROR or ROMANCE ||

I am physically incapable of choosing one or the other. I write both and I mix the genres together a lot. There was this tweet from Hailey Piper recently that said horror and romance are lovers and they belong together and that's exactly how I feel lol.

|| HARD MAGIC SYSTEM or SOFT MAGIC SYSTEM ||

I don't need an explanation for a magic system and I don't like explaining it in my work. I think explaining too much can dull some of what makes the magic magical, if you know what I mean (though not always, of course). Yeah, my magic systems will have some rules, but I like writing the sort of magic that not even the protagonist really understands.

|| STANDALONE or SERIES ||

I've never once written a series lol. I have one I'm planning (a vampire trilogy) and I am way out of my comfort zone with it.

|| ONE PROJECT AT A TIME or ALWAYS JUGGLING 2+ ||

I'm always sort of working on more than one thing. Like right now, I'm revising two novels and plotting another (plus... I need to finish a novella I started on a whim). But I don't actually work on them at the same time. One will grab my attention for weeks or months and then I'll go back to another and so on and so forth.

|| ONE AWARD WINNER or ONE BESTSELLER ||

I would cry if I got an award, don't get me wrong. But for practical reasons, it's gotta be bestseller (as I am in need of more money, thank you). Plus, a bestseller would probably lead to more exposure and more opportunities.

|| FANTASY OR SCI-FI ||

I have a complicated relationship with sci-fi. I definitely have some favorite sci-fi novels, but it's typically a genre I have trouble getting into. It's not like I've never written sci-fi or plan on writing it either, but fantasy comes to me much easier.

|| CHARACTER DESCRIPTION or SETTING DESCRIPTION ||

One of my greatest sins is how little I care about describing setting. It's to the point that I'll write a first draft and then force myself to go back and fill in the setting descriptions. I'm careful about describing characters too, and I try to do it only when it makes sense, but I like it more than setting descriptions.

|| LOVE TRIANGLE IN EVERYTHING or NO ROMANTIC ARCS ||

Yeah... I love a good romance and I can't write anything long form that doesn't have one. I write love triangles sometimes, but it's more like "dating the wrong person" than a true love triangle. For Good Friends, I have a list called "casualties of Ruben and Ari's romance" and there's like five characters on it lol. When there's a real love triangle, it definitely tends to lean more poly.

|| CONSTANT SANDSTORM or RAINSTORM ||

I've lived in Oregon my whole life so I know rain really well. I wouldn't even know where to start with a sandstorm.

Gently tagging @kaiyo @thesorcerersapprentice @queenkalico and anyone else who might be interested!

[the-ghost-king]

so you shared your thoughts on tsats and i think most if not all of the points you made seemed to be criticisms (many of which i agreed with) but did you have any positive thoughts on the book? what were some moments, plot points, scenes etc etc you really liked? or maybe none at all thats fair too I guess lol

Odd one, but I liked seeing Nico cry! Personally I feel like it showed growth on his part and showed him being more vulnerable with his emotions and such, it was something I said I would like to see before the book came out and even though Nico crying was more plentiful in the book than I anticipated it was still kind of nice. I had personally hoped for a single dramatic scene where he felt like he couldn't go on, too scared to actually go to tartarus, or something where he lost Will, as the big emotional scene where he let some tears loose but I guess the few throwaway lines were nice too!

I believe I mentioned liking the hut scene as well? Something about them setting up camp there felt domestic and sweet, I liked as well Nico wanting to wake Will up to share with him his emotional state as it showed a lot of growth on Nico's part again in terms of being vulnerable, and a desire to share himself with others. I do wonder if he would have actually woken Will up if they were in a more peaceful setting and Will missing an hour of sleep wouldn't have been such a big deal in a more day to day life setting.

I thought Will and Naomi's relationship was cute and sweet from just the brief portions we got to witness of it, and I would love a short story like some of the others Rick's written about the two of them doing something. I can totally see Will growing up chilling in the tour bus or just off stage tbh. Him traveling around with her so much also makes me wonder if he was homeschooled? I like that there's some stuff to explore there I wish we would have had more of his perspective and more memories of Will, not just of his mom but of his siblings, and camp, and such. Even if there was a lot of missed potential there, and I'm not super in love with the direction they took Will's character (and even less pleased with the fact it doesn't line up with previous arcs of his) I do like the little snippets of the life he has lived that we got to see.

Another thing I can say I did like about Will's characterization was the choice to be really explicit in him having SAD. I always have headcannoned Will to have depression and anxiety and I've considered over the years if he has OCD or not too, and even though I never particularly headcannoned him having SAD specifically it was still nice to see mental health discussed, especially a specific form of depression that can be less often talked about.

I liked the brief bits of Maria we got to see and hear about as well (except for the end scene with Hades, I'll be honest, I didn't care for that one) and I wish we would have gotten a deeper look into Nico's past, though I've always wished for that.

And while I didn't necessarily care for the way they bonded entirely, I do think Will and Persephone could have a cute son-in-law/mother-in-law relationship. To me it's similar to the way people talked about Nico and Apollo getting along well, though maybe Apollo seemed a little too interested in Nico at points, but I could see in the future playing around again with the idea of those Underworld family reunion dinners Hades probably (definitely) hosts and Will being able to come along and him and Persephone walking in the gardens after or something along those lines.

I liked as well when Will sang to open Orpheus's entrance to the underworld that those little flowers bloomed 1) because I'm in love with the idea that Will is very over powered and either doesn't know it or doesn't care and 2) I thought about Orpheus and his (sometimes) stated ability to beckon plants towards him when he sang and I think it would again add a layer to Will's abilities that would be nice! I've always thought it would be cool for the infirmary to have planters or a garden nearby full of medicinal things and it could be kind of neat to connect those abilities together in Will. I'm also just in love with the fact that Will has all these weird nontraditional abilities from Apollo sort of hodgepodged together in himself, the mismatch nature of it feels extra Apollo to me as so much of what Apollo sees to is a miscellaneous assortment.

There's some other smaller things, and I'm sure I'll find some additional enjoyment in my reread but those are some of my highlights for now!

[shinxeysartgallery]

In regards to your post about the themes in your au:

You mentioned that Topaz is scared of starting any kind of relationships with people because of his trauma.

But aren't he and Dragoon dating or something?

Both of those are true. Sort of.

While he was still at the labs, Topaz had made friends with a few of the other lab drones. However, every single one of them ended up either getting infected with the Solver (and being taken away for further experimentation) or outright dying from the experiments, leaving him with no one. After that, he kinda became afraid of trying to befriend anyone else over fear that the same thing would happen to them, so he just stopped trying. He still WANTED friends, but couldn't deal with the grief or heartache of constantly losing everyone he cared about anymore.

And that all happened several years before the core collapse happened, so he was a very lonely boi for a long time. I haven't completely mathed it out yet (prolly should though), but estimated age at the time was in his teens. (And as of the current events, he's in his early 30s, for a reference.)

Then all hell broke loose after the core collapse happened, and that other fear was now paired with the fear of allying himself with someone who would turn on him. The man was constantly living in fear until he managed to break himself out, but the paranoia of something coming to get him never completely went away, either.

Dragoon and Blunderbuss arrived on Copper-9 a few years after the core collapse occurred and were supposed to be investigating the disappearances of the Disassembly Drones that were sent before them. They ran into Topaz and had a bit of a scuffle. Originally, them sticking together was just kinda "well if I say no, the other is gonna kill me" as an attitude. Though, after talking with them a bit, Topaz started to realize that they were more or less just as scared and confused as he was, so it became more of an obligation of sorts for him. "Well, if it were me in their shoes, I'd want me to help, too."

And then as they began their little investigation, they started genuinely bonding with one another. Now they're a nice little friend group. :) While he didn't completely trust them at first and some questionable information came out that made him question their loyalties and true motives, they ended up getting past all that together.

(And then he and Dragoon ended up developing a mutual crush on each other during the lab incident, but neither were aware of the other's feelings for a while. So eventually they DO become a thing, just not in the current canon yet. A relationship he thought he'd never be able to have.)

I'm sure it's obvious, but a lot of his character arc is the ol' cliche "power of friendship saves the day" thing. But it's also him learning to let go of his trauma and allow himself to love people again. Obviously, he never truly "gets over" the trauma, but he copes with it better. There are still moments where he worries that something bad is going to happen to those two or that there's some sort of ulterior motive to staying with him, but he manages to get past that. Even though he learned to let go and make friends again, it still doesn't completely erase everything that he went through, either.