#one of the more gut wrenching scenes in this fuck ass anime

[gk-clips]

s4ep9

DO NOT TAG AS TSURUSA

[constantfragmentation]

Arcane S2 Act 1 Thoughts

Maybe I'm in the minority here, or just an unpopular opinion:

I have to admit, after watching all of S1 and then Act 1 of S2....

I must say that S1E3 (The Base Violence for Change) is the most gut wrenching, amazing episode still in Arcane. The writing, drama, pacing, editing, emotion... ALL of it was a fucking suckerpunch of brilliance, followed closely by S1E9 (The Monster You Created).

S2 is good but I feel it doesn't quite have the gravitas as S1 -- so far. Maybe Act 2-3 will change my mind. Right now, it seems more like scenes thrown inbetween music videos than a fully engaging plot.

S1E1 had me hook, line and sinker. I'm not quite feeling that after watching all of S2 Act 1 at the moment. I'm more curious to see where they're going with it than, OMG, I can't wait for the next episode.

Yes, there's some brilliant animation and I do like many elements but it's not hitting me like S1.

Awaiting the next acts to see if they can change my mind.

Sevika and Viktor are the only ones that I'm invested in at the moment.

Plus, the ending scene of S1E1 (Silco's intro) had me literally at:

YES! There's my new badass blorbo I will obsess over for YEARS and write fanfics dedicated to his pancake ass!!!!!

Where's my S2 blorbo?

[wings-of-sapphire]

ANNY ANNY OHMIGOSH

LIVE CHAPTER 16 REACTION

GO CHECK OUT @annymation’s “KINGDOM OF WISHES” REWRITE

(Spoiler warning for Wish and ig some Hazbin Hotel and The Owl House too since I reference them)

(Regular warning bc MATE THIS IS LONG AS FUCK)

(Oh also swear warning)

That gif of Magnifico in the beginning looks way too adorable to be a psychopath

SCREAMS YES instead of “ow my chest has heartburn” I NEED THE GUT-WRENCHING SCREAMS

LIKE VAGGIE HAVING HER WINGS RIPPED OFF SCREAMS

UGH he’s evil but he loves his wife

WAIT IS HE GONNA BRAINWASH HER INTO BEING A PRINCESS

DRAWING YES IS IT GONNA BE THE MAGIC CARPET

Oh bubbles that works too (also irony)

Imma trust that Valentino made it in a bubble too bc YOU ARE NOT killing off the animal sidekick okay I would rather Magmaya win than Val be killed

YES BABY IS OKAY

Man Dahlia you gonna leave your mother behind?

”ANOTHER PERSON I LOVE” YES GIVE US THAT CONFESSION ASHA

Disney Channel

It’s giving Onward

OOH or Frozen yk Elsa and the staircase scene

NOOO ASTER BABY

“Love of his life” DAM YOU ANNY WHY MAKE OUR BOY SUFFER

Amaya is channeling her inner Gothel rn

Ooh I love Lydia the Bard!

ARGH THEY’RE EVIL BUT THEY LOVE EACH OTHER

Mysterious language? Star dialect?

”Last star I see tonight” ANNY

AHAKSJAKS THIS IN A MINOR KEY

ASTER BABY THE SCREAMS

Oh so they’re becoming Stars interesting

CALLING HER A WITCH OUTRIGHT

Dam Eris was one of my first fictional crushes (bisexual ass) so now I’m wondering if Amaya should be one too

”Hate but also love” it’s giving “Out For Love” by Carmilla

But Magmaya is out for love too… SHEJWJSKJS COUPLE GOALS IF THEY WEREN’T MENTALLY DERANGED

SINGING AT THE SAME TIME >>>>>

THE TROPE EVER

LIKE A MADRIGAL BUT SAME VIBES

Noooo Aster

Hey orchestra of stars above where the heck are you

Aster I love you but they have no humanity left

HE’S DYING ASHA GIVE HIM THE TRUE LOVE’S KISS

YOU BOTH CONFESSED MAKE IT BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Yikes Amaya you’re usually the brains now you’re choosing to spare her?

Ig since you’re in love it would be torture for you but cmon girl

FUCKING “I LOVE YOU” NO WHERE’S THE FUCKING MAGIC OF TRUE LOVE WHY IS HE NOT REVIVING

AGSJAJSKSJS IT’S GIVING LUZ NOCEDA

Oop gotta add a ToH spoiler warning now too ig

Brb

Okay back YK THE LIGHT ORB SHE FADES INTO

AND WE GOT ASHA PARALLEL TO AMITY HOLDING HER SOULMATE’S SOUL GLOW THING

AHSJAJSKS HAVE ASHA GO EDA/ KING FERAL

SHE FUCKING CONFESSED BACK ANNY MAKE THEM ALIVE AGAIN

Omfg battle outfit (AND MORE! THAN! JUST! SPARKLES!)

Omg yeah the dress fits so well with the star-chest thing

SHE HAS PUPILS idk why I was so hyped about that

IT’S GIVING “You’ll Be in My Heart”

VAL BABY

Wait next chapter? This seems like the conclusion Anny I’m scared

Omigosh these two royal idiots in love

I I bet they’re giggling and holding hands while destroying precious memories of their citizens

”Feels something changing” eh? Sorry it’s just canon!Wish didn’t give us much but the novelization is very AshaxDahlia heavy

YES SIMON HELPS THAT WOULD’VE MADE HIS MOVIE COUNTERPART BETTER

HE STANDS UP AND SINGS AND PROVES HE’S WILLING TO GO AGAINST MAGGIE

THE YOUNG GENERATION IS SINGING IT, BREAKING THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

Although Asha has her Sabino… maybe ghosts/ spirits of her loved ones? I always imagined the scene “A Wish Worth Keeping” would have her family’s spirits (in blue) smiling and cheering her on… sparkly ofc

YES this scene in the movie was my favorite bc it FELT DRAMATIC

I said before “Knowing What I Know Now” was my fav but Anny I changed my mind “Wish (Reprise)” is my favorite

YES TAKE BACK YOUR KINGDOM FROM THE STRAIGHT WHITE FOLK (Amaya is Greek… what is Magnus? I’m assuming white too)

SWORD YES make it Prince Phillip’s

Gotta admit that falling wish scene in the movie was gorgeous, reminded me of Wall-E

Wait omigosh Asha looks so pretty in that photo where did you get that

*stares at it for hours bc she looks gorgeous*

Referenced as a wand now!

Smiling as she falls bc she knows HER BAE WILL CATCH HER

HOW are they not dead. The gays only have the power of plot armor

So it was nighttime okay

AW HE CARES FOR HER

Yep definitely giving Belos

NOW I WANT TO SEE A KOWxTOH CROSSOVER

Told you idiots you shouldn’t have spared her. Pride really does come before the fall

Seriously Gothel wasn’t a pussy she stabbed Flynn why didn’t you stab Asha (sorry bby just wondering how they’re so stupid)

THAT’S what you’re worried about man

HE WANTS TO KEEP AMAYA SAFE IN HIS ARMS AND PROTECT HER AT ALL COSTS

Lol I’m just imagining a giant whoosh of power and light and Amagnus squeezes their eyes shut waiting for a painful death and then they just. Sneeze. Itchy magic glitter poof

Is this a reference to a past Disney movie? They’re really going the PJO route huh

DAM ANNY THAT’S HARSH

Uh. Wow. Okay Aster I guess they did kill you

Yay we have the citizens standing up!

Wait you make your wish at 18 was this women pregnant really early orrrr

Later? Oh goodness I’m worried for the next chapter

Uh Starsha is being a bit sadistic and Amaya is sobbing for her love…

MAGGIE TURN AND COMFORT YOUR WIFE

Oh btw is Magnus part Spanish? “Mi vida” since Amaya is Greek…

NO NO DANCE PARTY I DON’T TRUST YOU YET

Someone get Gabo some therapy mate

NO WHAT

ASTER WHAT

NO THE STARS WILL COME DOWN AND LEGO BATMAN HIS ASS

VIOLIN-STAR TELL THEM THAT THEY FOUND LOVE AND THEREFORE THEY WILL STAY

WHY DID HE SAY IT SO SOFT AND MATURE WHERE IS MY GOLDEN RETRIEVER BOY

DID HE HEAR ASHA TELL THEM SHE LOVED THEM? DOES SHE HAVE TO DO IT TO MAKE HIM STAY?

”Love is all they needed” Amaya you’re clever but this was all sort of your fault witch

FUCK YOU MAGNUS COMFORT YOUR WIFE OFH WAIT TOO LATE

Tbh I would’ve agreed with Gabo had they injured Val in some way

YEAH THEY DESERVE IT BUT THEY GOT THE PERCY JACKSON HEPHAESTUS CHAIR TREATMENT

Discord DID turn to stone too… how about they turn to stone and THEN get pushed off a cliff

OKAY that was long but it was good

Uh I’m scared for the next chapter? We get Amable’s backstory so do they escape? Will Asha become the FG? Will Aster get LEGO Batman-d by the school marching band of Stars? Is their magic the North Star magic? SO MANY QUESTIONS

Overall though great job Anny! This has been an amazing journey and I can’t wait for the final chapter!

[hikennosabo]

#tristampparty day 7, episode 7: wolfwood

this is another episode i've watched multiple times, but mostly just the first half for Livio Reasons. once again... LET'S GOOOOO

i've seen ppl say this is razlo at the start of the episode... i wonder... he is more razlo-like in his movements, and he starts yelling a lot... but his expressions are still livio-like, i think... i mean he is more expressive BUT he's not grinning like razlo usually does? sigh... see the problem is that we ALSO have a level of EoM brainwashing (and whatever the fuck else is going on) on top of everything which throws a wrench in trying to figure things out. I Just Wanna See My Boy.

i love vash holding his gun backwards and using it as a bludgeon and i love going frame by frame to get cool screencaps like this 💖

wolfwood vial count: 4

at the very least, by the time of this next scene, it's definitely livio and not razlo because he's mumbling about "catching up" again which is a livio thing

when i saw the corresponding manga panel for this my brain neurons activated so hard LOL i wonder even more how orange will adapt razlo... since originally livio was trying to catch up with razlo. which i love and think is super interesting. so what is orange planning? ...is livio even aware razlo exists at this point...?

oh also livio looks a bit older here. which once again has me wondering about the timeline. the way the experiments were presented with rollo and nicholas, it looked like they were just on that table forever. as in there were no breaks in between. so... when is this? how long is it between livio volunteering himself for EoM and the experiments on him taking place?

i think it's cute that nico bumps into him :(

let's take ibuprofen together

i wonder who these people are... i thought they might be the EoM soldiers that razlo killed, but those aren't EoM uniforms... it looks like the prison uniform wolfwood was wearing... wolfwood tried to run away, so it makes sense that he wouldn't be the only one, although the phrasing "stand in our way" more implies they tried to stop the operation altogether. but... hmm... they just had regular goons as guards at the time of wolfwood's escape attempt. livio is special... would they really give him a job like guard duty?

CHAPEL JUMPSCARE

razlo sweetiepie there you are!!! mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah

HE'S SUCH A FUCKING DRAMA QUEEN HE'S SO FUNNY

since zazie is the one talking, our attention is drawn to them, so i'm glad i paused on this because the fact that legato is also looking up at wolfwood and smirking is so funny to me. EYES ON THE ROAD BESTIE!!!!

this line is always so funny to me. shonen protagonist ass

i love the scene of vash at the spaceship controls, the animation when he's working the keyboard is so smooth. hmmm, it also reminds me of wolfwood's introduction episode in 98... serves the same narrative purpose of Vash Knowing Things He Shouldn't about spaceships

i love that wolfwood thinks shooting the base of the cannon will do anything. like that's the first thing he tries. shoot first ask questions later i guess

going frame by frame on scenes of legato because i'm unwell... his eyebrows are surprisingly thick! and his eye color is grey... it was gold in 98... oh, i just noticed his eyelashes are light blue!! cute!!

i just think this is a handsome angle for him. his facial features are so pretty and delicate

this is why he buckled his seatbelt :)

... i need to stop posting legato pictures

no because what the hell is this

wolfwood vial count: 5

episode 5 had me asking about the wind... legato asks zazie if they were the one who caused the sandstorm (which they deny)... could it be... is it possible...?

my dumb ass watching this for the first time: damn it's so sad that livio is dead and now they're even gonna use his corpse for nefarious purposes :(

vash's plant markings are so pretty fr <3 orange was big brained for this too

everyone always points out the episode title card being a gut punch but THIS was an unexpected one:

this is how wolfwood is credited this episode and because i'm insane i immediately had to go back and check - this is also how he's credited in episodes 5 and 6: as "nicholas d. wolfwood/nicholas the punisher". in episode 4, he's only listed as "nicholas d. wolfwood". haha ouch!

this post ended up being a little less substantial than expected LOL but we'll soon be getting into the episodes that really give me psychic damage so :^) looking forward to it!!

[trizy0]

Descendants- Entry #2: The Villains

I'm going to make a quick analysis of the Villains as parents and of their character in Descendants

The Villains

Maleficent

Maleficent's character is quite solid during D1, her being based off in her counterpart of the animated movie, even when we see her in Merlin Prep we can see that counterpart of hers.

What I don't understand is why they didn't use her counterpart's past from the Maleficent movie (2014) that would've been even more gut wrenching since it would've added depth for both her versions. But, utilizing her version of the Maleficent movie wouldn't make sense for her to be a bad mother (given that we see her being like a mother to Aurora).

Evil Queen

For me, the best interpretation of the Evil Queen was Regina from UOAT, she was misunderstood and had a stronger affinity with magic (and better character development).

We don't see that much of her during D1, but the little we see about her, I interpreted her as a mother that tried to do her best, who tried to get past that 'fairest of them all' thing to be a better mother to Evie, even tho we later learn that Evie was scared of her mother.

For me, the Evil Queen was the best parent between all the villains, who was proud of her daughter because of everything she could do and become, but thought that her daughter would only gain success if she married someone with royal lineage, which made her the kind of mother who a daughter would think that she'd never make proud.

Jafar

The biggest mistake that D1 made was making him have a kid (even tho I love Jay and his fantastic) and that he could live in a house with two teenager girls (I think that everyone was weirded out by the scene where Jafar kissed Jasmine).

But other than that he would just ignore the existence of a son and would just use him to make his dirty bid.

Cruella De Vil

Cruella being one of the big bads in D1 didn't make any sense, she isn't considered a fairy tail nor had magic to make others so afraid of her (but the , só having her as one of the 'absolute rulers' of the Isle of the Lost didn't make sense.

Hades

Hades being the CEO of daddy issues is so funny to me (since his dad literally ate him), and he didn't even apologize to Mal for draining her magic.

Other than that he was a fantastic character and was really coherent with his animated version (plus the way he was portrayed in D3 was super good, because that was exactly how I would imagine Hercules' Hades in a modern setting)

Ursula

With what we know about Ursula (basing in her tentacle appearance in D2 and Uliana whole personality and actions) is that she's someone that both her daughter and her sister looked up to her, wanting to be her (Uma wanting her mother's influence and Uliana wanting her sister's power).

We cannot determine if she was a good mother to Uma, but we can determine that she had that sisterly relationship with Uliana where both of you are a pain in the other ass.

Captain Hook

Same goes with Hook, we don't know if he was a good father, but we can speculate that Harry looked up to him (since he tries to act like his father) and that he was a rather ambitious man (D4 Hook).

As a character, younger Hook having already lost his has was like "where TF is this kids parents", my man already had beef with Peter Pan (and the probability of Peter being a goddamn baby is too funny for me).

Dr. Facilier

Facilier being a good dad to Celia is cool as fuck, I, personally, can't think of him as a girl dad, but is rather good his relationship with Celia.

And his character is not consistent when we compare him with his animated version. I just hoped we saw more about him.

Drizella and Lady Tremaine

Drizella not appearing was a crime and Lady Tremaine trying to be a good grandma (D3) did make sense, but them trying to redeem her in D3 didn't make sense.

Lady Tremaine character was consistent in ROR, but in D3, it wasn't that much.

Mr. Smee

Him being a good dad made sense, we know shit about his version in Descendants

[quinntamsin]

One Piece: Amazon Lily Arc

Kizaru tore through the pirate Captains and their cfews without abandon. SHe watched as the Supernovas did their best to fight the strange giant humans. Light flshed so brightly she had to cover her eyes. A loose growl in her throat as she used her zoan form to leap from her hiding place atop the giant mangrove. Landing on her feet she dodge an oncoming blast of fire as a Marine company sent a volley of bullets her way. Each movement she did required all of her enhanced reflexes, Only when she went sailing over the edge, though, did she truly know fear. --- The Amazon Lily Arc, whoa! WE got this far! Luffy is sent flying after a moment of pure gut- wrenching despair. His body is struck by the power of Kuma's Nikyu Nikyu no Mi and on his way at high speed through the air. After he strikes the ground we find him in the one place perhaps he shouldn't be. Amazon Lily, home to the all-cisfemale (YES I AM INCLUDING OKAMA and NEWKAMA IN THIS ASSESSMENT!) Kuja Tribe. We get to meet Marguerite and her friends as they discover poor Luffy after he stupidly consumes a parasitic mushroom. Bouncing forward and skipping over the anime dick jokes with the Kuja, what is most important here is how Luffy reacts. He wakes up, freaks out and yet as he gets chased he doesn't intentionally try to ruin a bunch of stuff. Instead, he nearly dies and get's saved by Marguerite while her friends, Sweet Pea, and Aphelandra do their best to support her. A few things about the Kuja I like. One yes, some have the pretty curvy designs of the typical One Piece women, but many also have pretty different body types. WE see broad-chested women, short, plump and more. Plus, yes, they all wear bikini's in a pretty blunt manner which is all the better when Luffy ignores everything. I love how Luffy is easily this lovable Ace motherfucker who just wants to make people happy. Now skipping through all the shenanigans Boa Hancock comes in after turning entire Marine Crew to Stone. After Luffy pops into her bath and sees her back she flips out (with good reason). The Snake Princess is shown in parts of this arc as cold and distant. Her looks and her fruit make people love her without any really deeper feeling. They see her as an object, and this makes her painful backstory all the worse. Plus I wanna say that I love her sisters, Sonia is just a fucking darling. And, Marigold is just this awesome fat goddess who can kick serious ass. The scene after they take over Luffy's execution after he defeats their giant panther is, funny and interesting. It sets up the Boa sisters as cold, and brutal. They use their Haki to easily defeat and toy with Luffy. When they move to smash the stone forms of Marguerite, Sweetpea and Aphelandra I was calling for Luffy to destroy them. There is a point to this brutality though, the sisters have been shaped by their society which forbids men, and they were tortured. So just as Luffy first unleashes a mega Conqueror's Haki burst and soundly starts kicking their asses I cheered loudly for him. One Piece is a show I can just watch for Hours and just feel good about. With gusto! I was lost in writing when I saw Sonia knocked toward the sharpened spikes and heard how her mark would be exposed. Seeing Luffy just leap onto Sonia's back even after she eagerly threatened to smash one of her own people was a clincher for why I love him. Wait no, it was him say, yup fuck my freedom, save your people please! Yeah, Luffy has a level of goodness that just makes me feel better. Boa Hancock's Backstory So, I didn't go much into my feelings on the Celestial Dragons, but lets ignore the fact that they are literal caricatures of what rick people really do! SO. All three young girl were captured as cabin girls on their own ship and then branded with the "Dragon's Claw". Let that sink in, these were young teens sold into slavery for some monsters. I swear if these fuckers were wearing crosses and were part of a mega-church or even a republican meeting! Yup, the girls got away after they were experimented on and wow. The amount of trauma they all went through and the fact they can still lead a country is pretty impressive. All of the stories and the coldness they show to their people is kind of explained in their trauma. Honestly, I am so glad they ran with how blunt the story was. Because any other idiot would have turned this into a tragic villain scene. Instead, we got a scene that shows us how a ruler can easily become distant from her own people. If they show weakness they think the people will turn on them. Damn, you think that the kids making a homemade statute would prove the opposite. I think the dissonance I felt as I watch them threaten to smash Marguerite versus revealing their trauma was surreal. It really shows how much emotional distant and masking the three do. All to maintain the false story of the Gorgon Sisters. Preparing For Impel Down After Hancock acquiesce to Luffy's request to save (and yes I realize I'm skipping a plot beat or two) she gets a pretty thorough verbal comment from Granny Nyon. As Luffy prepares to leave Hancock becomes suddenly sick. WE learn that all of Luffy's compassion has given her reason to fall head over heels in love with him. This was a bit of a weird scene, that her cold heart would come to fixate so much she could die outside his presence. The scenes where we see Luffy and her traveling aboard the ship alone was strange. Hancock's lovesickness seems a bit out of left field for me, I would have preferred if it was a little less sudden. Now,  know beforehand she had a thing for Luffy. Hell, I even tried to find a few fanfics that played around the relationship. The problem is I couldn't find any really shorter than 50k words that kept my interest. Please don't blame me that I prefer Nami and Luffy. Please note, I headcanon Luffy as a nonbinary ace hero. Overall This setting does a good job of showing more abilities derived from Haki. The idea that up until now we've barely seen it becomes more realistic as it seems it's not a widely practice gift outside of the New World. Sentamarou was a master of Armament Haki and it appears the Kuja use it as well to empower their attacks. This was a decent continual show of what Haki can achieve and it was a nice way to show how Devil Fruits can be defeated by Haki users. If Luffy didn't have his experience in battle he wouldn't have dodged all those Kuja arrows. If he didn't have Second Gear, he wouldn't have defeated Sonia or Marigold without it really. The increased speed was the only way he really got around Sonia's observation Haki and the increased velocity for his strikes assisted him against Marigold. This is a big change from when we first saw a certain annoying Skypeian using "Mantra" (Satori) against Sanji. Or hell, Shank's in episode one from the get-go. Conclusion This Arc focused on Luffy regaining a sense of hope. Watching him break down in Saobody when everyone disappeared was nerve-wracking. As someone who has felt a sense of despair, I will never reach Luffy's level. The poor kid loses his entire found family and finds out his brother is to die not long after. The actual way they emphasized each disappearance by Kuma by a bubble popping was tightened the anxiety I felt as I watched. Switching suddenly to something a bit more filled with hope was a nice change of pace. I say hope because both Hancock and Luffy brought it to each other. Luffy brought about the physical beating of two Celestial Dragons. Plus saving a friend of his from slavery ups the reality of how much Hancock can show some trust. Hancock, on the other hand, and as she treats her people better gives Luffy stability. It also seemed to give him time to remember his crew wasn't dead. They were all just sent flying everywhere. A pause to recover from watching everyone almost die. Hottakes:

That poor giant boar at the beginning, he deserved better.

The entire scene with Luffy being considered a girl was, so weird for me.

Like I was happy that the girls were like "ah yes another woman", but then the mushroom jokes and body washing. eeeww.

Mageurite deserves a bigger part in a side story, watching her help Luffy was interesting.

Sweatpea was a fucking amazing bean.

Aphelandra really shows how people in One Piece can be super tiny or fucking giants, and NOT BE ACTUAL GIANTS.

Momonga, wtf is up with the naming of this world.

The Mero-Mero no Mi is such a weird fruit, it's a fruit that creates a great sense of attraction and can turn people to stone if they have lewd thoughts.

THE FUCK ODA?!

The snake forms on Sonia and Margold into big titty nagas, shows that furries are well loved in ONe Piece.

I like how they are emphasizing this weird sort of fated pairing of Luffy almost in a folkloric way. He and her have Conqueror's Haki which is pretty damn rare.

Hancock needs a good Polyam ship with Vivi and Nami.

Robin would adore Amazon Lily since it appears to have constant sense of archaeological history.

[darkredehmption]

Take Hold Part One

#SL #TakeHold #PartOne 

@DamagedBrother and @OfFeatherNFang 

*~*~*

Mal:

These were the nights that reminded me of hunting. The rush. The adrenaline. The balls to the wall fucking chaos that changed every second. 

My feet pounded the pavement, Rhage at my left, as we pursued three Lessers. The stink of them alone was enough to track them through the streets, but one was wearing an obnoxious orange hoodie, making him a beacon as we raced down the back alleys and side streets. 

We weren’t the only ones on the hunt. I could sense Zsadist and Tohr getting closer, hunting their own prey, and I realised a few streets before it happened that we were coming to a head. Were the Lessers grouping together? Maybe they’d planned it. The thought earned a growl as I cast my angelic senses wider, trying to detect more of that oily darkness. 

“I’m going airborne,” I called to Rhage, who only grunted his agreement as I summoned my wings and launched into the air. Unlike dematerialising, I didn’t need to concentrate anymore to get my wings - they were right there, always, ready to appear the second I thought of them. I also wasn’t limited by steel or things like other vampires, so I had that going for me too. 

Hitting the rooftop, I sprinted across to bisect the alleys. Tohr and Z with their Lessers were about to merge with Rhage and ours, and I knew, without knowing ‘how’ I knew, that it was a trap. 

As the two Lesser groups came together at a junction they pivoted, forming one group as one black blooded fuck at the centre drew out an assault rifle. The gun pointed toward Zsadist, and there was no other thought. I tasted my heart in my throat as I leapt off the building. Slamming into the Lesser from above, I took the one with the rifle to the ground, vanishing my wings as we rolled across the pavement. 

Whatever else the Lessers had been expecting, it hadn’t been an aerial assault, and the others shouted their confusion at the game change. The rifle went off a couple of times, at least one bullet hitting one of the Lessers and perfuming the air with the stench of sweetened roadkill. But I didn’t feel pain, and Zsadist wasn’t hit, so that was all that registered as I wrenched the weapon free and went to town on the fucker beneath me. 

Zsadist:

 I could smell my mate. He was too far from Tohr and I. I couldn’t help but wonder how things were going for him and Rhage. My male was strong, a warrior just like my Brothers, but I still worried about him getting hurt. Fuck. If his wings were out, and a lesser laid their hands on them, I would gut them like a fish.

“We got em!”

Tohr hollers as we speed up. My shitkickers pushed into the pavement as we ran after the trail of baby powder. It felt nice to be out and chasing after the enemy. So much has been going on that has left me in a funk lately. The whole Hadrian thing was a mess. I cared for the male, but ever since we became bonded it all changed. He kept his distance from me, and Mal wanted nothing to do with him. At least Wrath was smart enough to keep them off rotation together. I couldn’t imagine how well that would go.

Suddenly I’m brought to a halt.  Here came the group of lessers, followed by not only Rhage but another batch of the enemy. They trapped us. Fuckers weren’t as always dumb as we thought. Before I can ask Hollywood where Mal was, I watch as a lesser raises an assault rifle at me. Then suddenly he was crashing down as my mate fell from the sky and tackled him to the ground. 

I didn’t know whether or not I should be impressed or upset that he took the fall like that. My golden eyes flash black as my body takes over. The warrior coming out in me as my Brothers and I leap forward to take on the rest of the lessers. Lunging towards one that tries to grab Mal from behind. Don’t get me wrong, it bothered me when someone came after my Brothers, but when someone touched my mate, it awoke an animal in me. 

I growled loudly as my fist connected with his jaw, having the satisfaction of watching the fucker’s pale head snap back. I took him down, my fangs latching onto its throat as I roughly tore it open with a violent shake to my head. Black blood splattered over my face, the sounds of him screaming was like music to my ears. 

Pulling back I spit out a piece of his flesh, letting out a low laugh before I brought out my blade and finished him. The bright light flashes in my face, but I ignore it as I shift up, my eyes searching for Mal.

Mal:

There was chaos, but it was a familiar sort. The kind that adrenaline recognised because it mainlined it through your system and got you moving at just the right speed with just the right strength to break bones, spines and jaws. 

I delved into that chaos and let the adrenaline guide my hand, my blades, and I minced my way through the Lessers if they remained standing. Without Butch here, there was no disabling them for a final vacuum moment. It was straight up massacre, pop flash and buh-bye fuckers. Catch you later.

With every Brother and my lover around me engaged, and Lessers bleeding out at our feet, I inhaled sharply and looked around. A chill traced down my spine and I paused a second longer, frowning as I tried to get a fix on it. Was it just the Lessers? The lingering essence of the Omega as one of its denizens was stabbed back into the dark ether? 

Scowling, I pivoted as another of the fuckers came at me, brandishing my black slick blades and pretending I was a sushi chef as I carved him up. The darkness had to be them… and soon there’d be none of them left to poison the night.

Getting to meet Zsadist’s gaze for a split second, I grinned at the black, the furious protective nature in that gaze, and drove my dagger straight into a chest cavity. His eyes were lost to me in the burst of light that followed.

Zsadist:

I kept my gaze on my mate’s until I felt the presence of another behind me. Quickly I turned, dagger held high, ready to strike, only to see the enemy wasn’t behind me. 

What?

Looking around to see each of my Brothers and Mal squared off with the remanding lessers. I almost thought it was the demons inside my head messing with me until I felt something creep up on me once again. But before I could turn I’m surrounded by darkness. My golden eyes go wide, lips parting as I back myself up into a wall. Pressing into the bricks as I try to shake off this feeling. My vision seems hazy as I tried to focus on Mal, who had a lesser down on the ground. 

I screamed internally, then suddenly it felt like I was looking out as an outsider. As if something else was controlling me, taking over my body. I wanted to be sick and purge out whatever was brewing inside of me.

[Get the angel.] 

A voice whispered in my head. 

What? Shaking my head to rid the thoughts, but it didn’t stop. Soon I was pushing off the wall and heading straight for Mal. It was like my legs were moving on their own accord. Like I wasn’t controlling my body. I wanted to scream, I tried too, but nothing came out of my mouth. 

[Shh. Get the angel.] 

Before I reach my male, my head turns to watch the Escalade pull up. Butch appears and exits the vechile to play vacuum. Inhaling any lesser left over from the fight. I just stood there watching. Even if I wanted to move I couldn’t. All I could do was watch the scene unfold in front of me. 

[Watch the angel. Watch him.]

Mal:

As the final Lesser went down, I brandished my blade, the black blood slicking off to make a dark line against the pavement. I was panting, but everyone was standing, and so I was grinning. The adrenaline rush was real. 

Glancing up, I took in Z, his powerful body stock still and spattered with gore. I did a sweep, checking for red, but there was no blood I could see. He looked whole. Yet I felt… unease. My smile faded.

“...Nallum?” I wiped my blade on a Lesser’s shirt, right before Butch staggered over and went blackhole on his ass. Sheathing the blade, I approached Zsadist, frowning. “You okay? Sorry if my aerial manoeuvre didn’t go over well,” I add, suddenly worried the somewhat reckless move had inspired his bonded male side. 

“Hey!” A quick glance over my shoulder at Vishous, supporting a green looking Cop, and I gave a hasty nod. This probably wasn’t the best place for a relationship themed chat, and the stink eye V was giving me said as much. 

“M’ coming. I can drive. You guys can finish checking shit out here and head back,” I offered, moving to hold Cop’s other side as I look back toward Zsadist. He sheathed his blade, the action almost mechanical as his still vacant expression stared out at the world. “You wanna ride with us?” I offer hesitantly, feeling my heart skip a little with concern I couldn’t voice yet. 

Every part of me that adored the male wanted to drop Butch in a heap and rush to Zsadist’s side, wrap him in my wings and stroke his face as I figured out what was wrong. What had upset him. Yet this was the deal we’d made, out fighting together. We loved one another, but we were warriors. That was how this shit went.

“C’mon,” I said, my tone firm. “You’re comin’ with us.”

Zsadist:

[Yes. Follow the angel. Get the angel. Go.]

My body moved automatically towards the SUV. Following Mal as he moves into the driver seat. I practically pushed Vishous out of the way to get to the passenger side. Sliding in and turning my head to gaze at the angel. My angel. 

[My angel.]

Once Butch was in car, it started to move. My eyes stayed trained on the angel. Watching his every move. When he lifted a hand, my eyes followed it. Watching as he messed with the ac, or turned the dial on the radio.

[Get the angel. My angel.]

I wanted to scream again. To tell Mal that something was wrong. That I wasn’t myself and I needed help. If I could only move my hand, touch him, and alert him about the situation. But I couldn’t. I was trapped and all I could do was watch. 

[Shh. My angel.]

The voice was like no other. A voice that would cause nightmares even from the strongest warrior. It made me cringe, turned my stomach upside down every time it spoke. 

Mal! Please Mal!

I screamed in my head over and over again. Hoping that one of the times my lips would part and he would hear me. But he didn’t. He just focused on driving us home. He was too distracted checking on Butch who was groaning in the back seat of the Escalade. 

Mal:

I set the tunes to a reasonable volume and pulled out of the alley, leaving Vishous and the others to finish the clean up routine. The irony was they’d still beat us back to the manse, but neither Butch or I could do the disappearing act, so the SUV was where it was at.

Eminem was interspersed with Butch’s occasional groaning and moaning, and I checked the rearview whenever I could. 

“You need to hurl you lemme know,” I called out, getting only a muttered curse and ‘fuck off’ for my trouble. I shrugged and grinned, letting the amusement bleed into my voice. “I mean, it’s your car man so however fucked up you like it is entirely up to you.”

Another curse. This one came with the bird being flipped. I chuckled and glanced to Zsadist in the passenger seat, hoping the interaction would’ve provoked some kind of relaxing to his intensity. But no…

The smile faded from my face, and I reached across the space, wanting to put a hand to his knee. It was the most I could allow myself in this moment, still being out and watching the streets. Nevermind if I let anything happen to Butch - V would fuckin ash me in seconds…

The second my hand touched his knee though, my Divinity sparked down my spine. It was a rush of energy, a burst of power totally undetectable to any creature other than myself. But it was there. And it was a warning.

My eyes widened as I looked around, trying to cast that power out and find the problem, the threat. But all I got was a nauseating punch to the gut. As if it was right there, in front of my face, and I was missing it. Looking back to Zsadist as we pulled onto the highway, I squeezed his knee.

“Talk to me. Are you okay? You’re… really quiet. Even for you.”

Hopefully once we were at the manse, I could figure this out. Maybe even ask V to run a city sweep for weird things that might trigger my holy side. But Zsadist had to come first. Something was definitely up with mine male. 

Zsadist:

It was so hard to just stare at my male and not be able to talk to him, especially when he spoke up. I didn’t even feel his touch as he placed a hand on my leg. Nothing. Everything around me felt dark and cold. Almost like I was back in the dungeon once again.

“Yes, my angel.”

The demon replied in a voice that sounded exactly like my own. When I saw relief on Mal’s face I lost it. No! Don’t believe a thing it says! Fuck, please help me. 

My hand lifted automatically and landed on Mal’s shoulder, fingers clenching as it gave my mate a squeeze. “We better get Brian home then we can head to our bedroom.” 

Butch snorts loudly from the back. “First of all, Brian? And can you keep your dick in your pants until I’m far away from you two. Damn.” He groans, rolling on his side. “Like I’m happy for y’all, but that doesn’t mean that I wanna know how anxious you are to get down and dirty.” 

My chest rumbles as laughter erupts from me. But it wasn’t me. No. It was something sick that was playing the role of me. And doing a shitty job, if I may add. “Just relax, we will be back soon.” 

The mansion comes into view moments later as we pass the mhis. I watched as Fritz buzzed us in, the car pulling around the fountain in the front, and as soon as it stopped I was getting out. 

[Follow the angel. Follow wherever he goes. My angel.]

[canumoveurseatup-no]

belonging

summary: Life was wonderful for you and steve but when the opportunity to go back arises... does he take it?

word count: 1.9k (something slight)

pairings: steve x black!reader

warnings: y’all have a son, angst af, jumps right in

a/n: been thinking about this for a long ass time and needed to get it out.

——————-

You knew what the words meant when they were spoken. You held your son, Eli, in your hands and you didn’t want to make a scene in front of him, he just wanted to see time travel happen before his four year old eyes.

“Y-you’re kidding right?,” you felt your chest tighten so much, you thought you were going to have to call for medical attention, “Sam, take Eli inside... now.”

Sam didn’t argue. He knew what was about to go down.

“We did not go through all of this for you to just fucking leave... especially your son, Steve!,” you wanted to keep your voice down you really did.

“It’s not like that, Y/N. You don’t understand,”

He had the be kidding right? No way he was really thinking about leaving you just to live out his glory days and for another woman.

“You can’t be s- you know what?,” you turn to Bruce and shrug, “fucking send him. If you don’t care to stay here for me or our son, then I don’t care enough to try to fight for you to stay,”

Steve gave you a somber look, you told Bruce to just push the fucking button. You felt sick to your stomach, you couldn’t even bear to look at him.

“What am I gonna tell Eli?,” you whimpered to yourself. Bucky came over to stand by you, he wanted to comfort you, but he knew you wouldn’t allow it.

“Alright, 3...2...1,” Bruce hit a button and Steve was gone. A gut wrenching sob left and you turned to Bucky, “How the fuck am I supposed to tell my son that we weren’t good enough for his father?,”

“It’s not like that,” Bucky tried to reason. But you weren’t having it. How else was it supposed to be.

“I can’t bear to look at you either. How dare you defend this?,” you storm away inside and grab Eli in your arms, sobbing. Sam didn’t know what to say to make it better.

“Mommy, why are you crying? Where’s daddy?,”

“I- I don’t think... he’s coming back,”

—————

Eli was heartbroken. He cried himself to sleep, he wouldn’t leave your arms. You cried along with him. Held him tight, and whimpered through the nightmares.

You were shaken awake, it was Sam, “I need you to come here,”

Eli stirred awake in your arms and just looked at you, “Is daddy still gone?,”

“Yes, baby,” he whimpered at your reply but you had him curled in a throw blanket and he hid away in the crook of your neck.

You followed Sam into the living room and saw the golden haired man sitting on the couch.

“I hate him,” Eli cried. He didn’t even see Steve yet, he was just talking. He was so hurt. An impressionable little boy whose dad left him.

“Y/N,” Steve stood up and stepped toward you, only for you to take a big step back.

“Take him to the play room,” you told Sam. He simply nodded and Eli curled right into his Uncle Sammy.

It just left you and Steve standing in the middle of the living room.

“Were we not enough for you?,” that’s the main question you had on your mind. That’s all you wanted to know, “He cried himself to sleep for you,”

Steve’s heart skipped a beat and his chest hurt worse than any wound.

“Do you know how hard it was to hear him scream for you?,”

Steve watched a tear drop drip down to the tip of your nose, “Steve, he was in a type of pain that I didn’t know how to fix. Fuck how I feel, how could you do that to my son!,”

You didn’t even say ‘our’- he wanted to leave, he didn’t get that privilege of calling himself a father.

“You have to believe me it’s not like that, Y/N,”

“Then fucking enlighten me, Steve,”

“You’re both more than enough-,” he’s cut off by a scoff from you

“If that’s the truth then that thought shouldn’t have even crossed your mind if you truly loved us,”

He knew you were right but how does he explain these feelings to you?

“It’s not like that,”

“Well to me it looks like you still love her,” if looks could kill, he’d drop dead right there.

“I don’t feel like I’m good enough for you!,” he blurted out and you two are left standing there in a huge awkward silence. He raised his voice, and Steve never raises his voice.

“What-,”

“I don’t feel like I’m good enough for you,” he sighs defeated, “I feel out of place all the time. You run circles around her, no doubt, Y/N but-,”

Steve felt conflicted. He didn’t know if this was resolving the situation at all or making it worse. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream. So much shit has gone down these past few years and he’s suffering from survivors guilt. Everything is in shambles for him.

“Our son is a gift! A miracle! A top tier blessing. But in that split second of taking those stones back- I felt responsible for so many things going wrong. I felt like I dragged you into all of this mess and caused you all this pain and I felt like had I not been in the picture, things would be better,”

Steve suffered from self-esteem issues. He hated himself sometimes, he blamed himself for a lot of things. He couldn’t stand to look at himself most days. He hid behind a facade and here it is breaking down, he’s letting himself be vulnerable.

“What?,” you wrap your arms around yourself. Confusion written all over your face. Steve stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed, so disappointed in himself again, just another thing added to the long list.

“You’re the best thing to ever happen to me. Screw the serum, screw the world knowing my name- that doesn’t compare to you and the life we built,” he looked up at the ceiling, trying to stop the tears, “If I can prevent you and our baby from getting hurt then I’m going to do whatever it takes,”

“You don’t get to make that choice,” you wiped your face and turn your back to him, “You should have talked to me, to our baby boy. I knew what I was getting myself into when you asked me out on a date, I knew what I got myself into when you asked me to be your girlfriend. When you asked me to move in, when you asked me to marry you, when I stood in front of you at the altar and said I do!,”

Turning around on the heels of your feet, hands animated as you went on your tangent. He could see how tired your eyes looked, veins heavy and bright red, cheeks chaffed from wiping tears.

“I knew what I was getting into when I told you I was pregnant. God, we survived the snap for crying out loud, twice! Steve, I’m not going anywhere and it hurts to hear you say you were going to back and leave us- to reverse everything we have now,”

He didn’t want to be selfish. He thought he was doing the right thing for you two. He’s given you a look you’ve never seen before. Such conflict and hurt.

“I never meant to hurt you,” shaking his head defiantly, “But I can’t help but have this burden that I put you both through so much,”

You just shake your head, he should have known that if it was such a problem, you would have been gone a long ass time ago.

“Steve, Eli loves his dad. He didn’t see any of it as you hurting him or putting him through nothing. His dad is a hero and that’s all he sees! His dad protecting him and his mommy,”

You wanted to go back to Eli and just hold him, love him, let him know everything is going to be okay.

Steve sits down and holds his head, thinking deeply how this all had caused to hurt he wanted to avoid in the first place, “I just want you two to be absolutely safe... I don’t know what I’d do if I lost one of you,”

“You almost lost us both,” you pointed out, you didn’t want to patronize him, but it was true. “I think the worst has already come and we survived it all. We’re still here, Steve. If anything would have happened, it would have happened during the New York attack, or Ultron, we would have been dusted but we fought and fought, Steve. We’re okay,”

He got the guts to look at you and saw that you were right. He was stupid to think going back would make things better

“Now go see your son,”

———

He had to work up the courage to walk into the playroom to see his son. He heard his son say he hated him.

He stood in the doorway and saw how Eli cried in Sam’s arms. Sam trying to comfort the young boy as best as he could.

“Why’d daddy leave? Is it my fault?,”

Steve held in a sob as he heard his son’s words, “No Eli, it’s not your fault at all, I’m not going anywhere, I’m here” Steve hiccuped. He saw Eli tense up in Sam’s arms.

Eli sits up and glares at Steve. Lips trembling and fists clenched, “But you thought about it! And left us! So just go back!,” his little voice cracked and Steve shook his head. Seeing the look of our hatred in his son’s eyes shattered the world around him. Eli buries his face in Sam’s shoulders and cries harder than he’s ever cried.

Steve stepped into the room and came close to his son. Kneeling and resting an arm on himself, “But i didn’t want to go, that’s why I’m here now. It was a bad choice and I regret it so much. I never meant to hurt you, I love you more than life itself, you’re my son.”

Eli hiccups and shakes his head, “You don’t love me,”

“Eli, I love you so much it hurts. I thought me leaving would be better for you and mommy because I felt I hurt you enough. I don’t know how to explain it but, I thought it would be better for you guys rather than me cause more but it looks like I already did that,” he didn’t want his some hating him, not at all. He just wanted his son to understand, “I just love you so much,”

Eli heard his dad’s sniffling and mewling. He didn’t want his dad to be sad, but he definitely wanted him to know the damage he caused.

“You promise,”

“A thousand times,” he takes his son from Sam’s arms and Sam takes it upon himself to finally depart and give the two some space, Steve kisses his son’s head over and over, “I’m not going anywhere. I promise you,”

He hated that he made is son so upset. He swore to never do it. Eli was a miracle and he swore to always treat him as such. It took so long for you and Steve to finally have him- and he was born in the midst of the whole Thanos mess. He’d never let himself live this down.

“I’m so sorry. Dad is staying right here. I could never leave you or mommy...I just felt bad for bringing you all into this and I wanted to make it right,”

“I love you, dad,” Eli practically choked Steve with his death grip of a hug but Steve was okay with it.

He’s spend a lot of time making this up to them, but he’d do anything for you two. Moving forward was the only way to make things right.

——————

Alright here’s another angst fic for you, I couldn’t help it.

Comments and reblogs are always appreciated!!!!

tags- @blackreaders-assemble @mbaku-babygirl @dumbchick @warmchick @vozit @veryhellshdia @valkyriesnymph @valentinevirgo @persephones24 @here-for-your-bullshit @retroxvailles @yournonlocalpoc @spideys-wife @hisxblackxqueen @chonisberonica @xye-weirdo @crawlingnightmares @kamahriii @alyssaj23 @never-enough-time-for-sleep

[missvalerietanner]

The Last of Us - Part II

Completion time: 24 hrs. 48 mins.

After lots of reflection on the story and reading a lot of other people’s takes on the game as a whole, here’s my two cents:

The #1 feeling I had at the end of TLOU2 was relief.

And I’m SO surprised I don’t see more people saying they felt this way. 

After almost 25 hours of emotional turmoil and a lot of tears and rage and disgust, I felt as weary and drained as Ellie. I was ready for it to be over. No matter the outcome, I wanted an ending. I wanted everything to stop.

When we’re first placed in Abby’s shoes, I knew it was leading no where good. And when Abby starts saying she’s looking for “him,” I know the “him” is Joel, no question. Then Tommy and Joel stroll into that room, the Wolves close the door behind them. Joel says his name. Everyone sits up a little bit straighter, and the camera widens to show Abby holding a shotgun. 

I jumped when she fired the shotgun, and I was instantly in tears, just chanting out loud, “Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him.” The tears slowed; then we pan down to Joel’s grave, and I lost it again. 

From that point on, I wanted Abby to die. I wanted revenge as badly as Ellie. But as the story crawled onward, Dina almost dying, struggling to catch up to Tommy, Owen and Mel’s deaths, Jesse’s death, the looming threat of Tommy’s death, I started thinking, “Maybe this has gone too far.”

Then we get placed in Abby’s shoes again. That was a real struggle for me. I didn’t want to play as Abby. I didn’t care about her (and after finishing the game, I still don’t care about her or her loss or any of her friends). Honestly, Mel was the only one I really felt anything for, and that was mainly because Owen was a total piece of shit, clearly didn’t want the baby, and was willing to run off and leave her and the baby behind. Otherwise, her death didn’t really shake me ‘cause ultimately, I still didn’t care that much about her fate.

Then we have to play as Abby and attack Ellie. Excuse me, Naughty Dog, but wtf? Also: I did resist fighting Ellie at first, but she legit kicked my ass a LOT. But the conflict ends, Tommy’s bleeding out in the main hall with an arrow to the knee and Dina’s got a knife to her throat, and all I’m thinking is, “Tommy has to live. We can’t lose him too. And Dina has GOT to live ‘cause we (Ellie) dragged her down with us.”

Then we cut to the farm, and I think this is the end, the game’s over. But no. Ellie’s starving herself, suffering from PTSD, and having flashbacks and horrible nightmares. Then Tommy shows up just to be a dick.

1. That scene with Tommy felt really out of character. I was even yelling at screen: “Don’t do that, Tommy. Don’t you put that off on Ellie. She’s just a fucking kid.” But I think Tommy does what he does, placing the need to “finish it” at Ellie’s feet because he’s mad at himself for not being able to finish it. Maybe he even blames himself for not fighting Joel harder and being the one to take Ellie to the Fireflies in the first game. If Tommy was the one to deliver her to Saint Mary’s, I think he would have left her there. He would have let the cure be made. And I think that is part of his anger here. Even though he told Joel he would’ve done the same, I don’t believe him.

2. Dina became my absolute favorite character when she passed JJ to Ellie and stormed onto the porch to get in Tommy’s face like an absolute perfect wife should. I was so proud of her. You go, Dina!

Side Note: I adored Yara and Lev. Their whole story is tragic, and huge shout out to Yara, Ms. MVP, for killing Isaac ‘cause damn, he needed to go. He was a sick fuck. The Apartments? Housing and torturing Seraphites like that? Yikes, and the WLF acts shocked when their kind is being strung up and disemboweled. Yara’s death was almost as horrible as Joel’s; it certainly was more violent, but damn, she was a fighter. It sucked she had to go through all the pain of losing half her arm just to be gunned down, but Lev is an absolute treasure. I am so proud of him.

By the time we make it to Santa Barbara, I honestly didn’t care anymore. I didn’t care if Abby died. I didn’t see the point in it any longer, and much like Ellie, I was just tired and drained and emotionally empty. I had nothing left. 

So we start in Santa Barbara as Abby. I still don’t care about her at this point, but the radio call to the Fireflies? Honestly, I’d love to make it to Catalina Island and see what they’re up to. I would absolutely play DLC of Abby and Lev making it to that island and meeting the Fireflies. That radio call was the first moment in TLOU2 that I felt any kind of hope. 

Then the Rattlers appear. For maybe half of the game, I thought the story would turn and have Ellie and Abby working together. When the Rattlers came in, I thought, “This is is. Abby got taken, so now as Ellie, we have to save her.”

Eh, I was half right.

So we fight through Santa Barbara. We cut through the Rattlers, as mentally fucked as they were, and reach the end. We finally confront Abby after months of traveling to Seattle for 3 blood-filled days, then two years of some kind of peace on the farm, and now weeks of traveling to Santa Barbara.

Again, by this point, I was so tired, so ready for the game to end, I didn’t care. We find Abby as tired and beaten down as Ellie. She saves Lev, and we walk together to the beach. I thought that would be the end. But Ellie felt guilty; she felt she owed something more to Joel, something conclusive. So she pushes the fight, loses her fingers, and as she’s drowning Abby, she finally lets herself cry. She finally pushes through the wall of anger and cries, openly and honestly. 

I cried right along with Ellie, and I really felt nothing when she let Abby breathe. Her and Lev are gone, and there’s Ellie, all alone. 

I was relieved. There was an ending. It wasn’t a warm hug from Dina back at the farm. It wasn’t a huge party in Jackson with everyone smiling and laughing, but there was happiness in the ending.

Abby moved on; she found peace and a new family in Lev, and I know she’s on her way to Catalina Island. And Ellie set off to Jackson to makeup with Dina and try to heal her relationship with Tommy. And I hope when Ellie sees Tommy and he asks what happened, if Abby’s dead, I hope Ellie looks him square in the eye and says, “It’s finished.”

‘Cause it is. It’s over.

Abby lost herself and refound herself in her mission to save Yara and Lev, letting her life hold some value again ‘cause she had been so blinded by her rage and her need for revenge for too long. She probably hatred herself for what she had done, even though she felt compelled to do it. (Look at the way she talks about herself to Mel early on, “What kind of a person could do something like that?”) She thinks herself a monster, but by saving the lives of those kids, she balances the bad with the good and forgives herself. 

And Ellie stopped just shy of losing herself ‘cause she thought her life had no meaning because of Joel’s choice to save her form Saint Mary’s. But she let go of her anger and her hatred. She forgave Abby at the last moment ‘cause she knew she had already found her new purpose in Dina and in JJ and in her life in Jackson as a whole. And her anger was misguided the whole time anyway. She hated Joel for taking away her choice. She hated Abby for taking away her chance to find forgiveness and time to heal with Joel. But in the end, as others have pointed out, that’s all she really wanted: to forgive Joel. And in the end, she could do it when she finally let herself truly grieve losing him. 

Whew.

I really don’t know what to think of this game as a whole. On one hand, it’s hard to argue that is isn’t a masterpiece in all aspects: sound design, animation, visuals, controls/gameplay, acting, and of course storytelling. But on the other hand, this is the most depressing shit I have ever played, and I wouldn’t recommend that anyone play it. It is 25 - 30 hrs of pain that I don’t think I’ll ever revisit.

I don’t even feel any compulsion to edit GMVs or even think about the game, really (which is odd for me). The whole experience was so draining for me, emotionally and mentally, that I just feel exhausted by the very thought of the game.

And throughout the experience, I found myself comparing TLOU2 to Bioshock (beginning with Joel’s death, since he literally got Andrew Ryan’d via that golf club). And since Bioshock 1 & 2 both deal so closely with similar themes as TLOU2, I really feel like those games did a better job in all aspects; they found a better balance between the gruesome cruelty, the themes of loss and found family, and ultimately offered better resolutions to their stories with small glimmers of hope.

Sure, the fantastical side of Bioshock (splicers, plasmids, etc.) offer some relief from the intense brutality, but I can and have played B2 countless times. I still tear up at the end when Subject Delta dies, but your choices, good or bad, are reflected so immediately in Eleanor, that I really felt more connected to their struggles than to TLOU2. Despite all the pain and heartache, B2 inspires hope. TLOU2 just left me empty. For that reason, I don’t feel it was a great game. A brilliant movie, yes, and a compelling and gut-wrenching story, but not a great gaming experience.

It’s not the TLOU2 I would’ve wanted, but that’s obvious. I do feel that it is an honest game. It is the best answer to the first game because Joel’s choice at the end had to mean something. We needed to see the consequence of such a monumental decision. 

Mostly, I’m just glad it’s over.

So there’s my recount, as messy and wild as it is. 

... last thing, the birthday flashback to the museum was my absolute favorite segment. Joel is such a wonderful father, and when Ellie wanders into the space side of the museum and loses her shit, and Joel goes, “You don’t like this? Ok, we can go.” I started crying immediately. Then she says the fact about fruit flies being the first animals in space, and Joel is all, “You’re smart, kid.” I became a blubbering mess. 

And when they’re in the shuttle and he gives her the Apollo 11 launch tape and the camera hovers on her face just like it did in Left Behind when Riley acted out the Angel Knives segment: I cried through the entire scene. Joel is the best fucking father; he is a prize, and I miss him terribly. 

[tokumusume]

tokumusume’s list of best and worst movies and dramas watched in 2019:

There’s a new category this year. Inspired by kpopalypse, welcome the Honorable Mentions! Movies that weren’t exactly bad but also weren’t good. Movies and dramas are qualified to enter if I watched them for the first time this year, not that they were released this year. Click on ‘keep reading’~~

Best Movies:

1.      Parasite

Another masterpiece from the director of Snowpiercer (let’s pretend Okja never existed). A poor family con their way to a rich household. Choi Woo-Shik from The Witch (see below) is the eldest son and mastermind, fabulous as always. Definitely the best movie of this year. For me, movie of the decade.

2.      The Witch Part 1 The Subversion

This movie is amazing, hard to describe without spoilers. A perfect mix of Stranger Things and Hanna. Choi Woo-Shik can come to my house and kick my ass anytime. I can’t wait for part two.

3.      Death Trance

Visually stunning, kinda like Amemiya Keita’s style in early Garo or Mad Max. I wish the movie was longer and the characters were better fleshed out, Ryuen the monk and the little girl had so much potential... The most interesting thing about this movie is how sexualized the main male character is compared to the female ones, and apparently, the swords were designed to look like veiny penises (can’t find a source for this info), and yes, they do look like veiny penises. The final showdown is heavy with sexual energy. Have I already said that Ryuen deserved better? #RyuenRights

4.      Gintama 2: Rules are made to be broken

The barber shop scene is a fucking cinematic masterpiece. I never laughed so much like I did with this movie. The way it doesn’t take itself seriously, the meta jokes, everything is perfect. Even better than the first one.

5.      Kingdom

While I think that some fight scenes were way too long (like the bamboo forest one), the dynamics between Shin and Hyou/Eisei were highly entertaining, at least in my shipper eyes. I like that (SPOILER) the King of the Mountain People is a woman and not once they try to call her Queen. She is a King. Hashimoto Kanna is adorable as a Ten, Kanata Hongo does a great job as Eisei’s psycho brother, Sakaguchi Tak waves his sword around, the usual stuff but with added layers of dirt and sweat.

6.      Bravestorm

A movie I lovingly call “Japanese Pacific Rim”. Full of Kamen Rider stars (Hino Eiji! Misuzawa Haruka! That girl from Heisei Generations, the one with a sword! She has a sword in this as well!) and giant robots (god, I love giant robots!), I waited so much for this movie and it exceeded my expectations. I just wish I could’ve watched in theaters, it had a limited showing in my country.

7.      Twelve Suicidal Children

What begins as a murder mystery ends with a twist you won’t see coming. All of the actors are amazing, but special mention to Sugisaki Hana and that guy from that one boy group I forgot the name but can’t be bothered to Google.

8.      Gakkou Gurashi

Four girls and their teacher try to survive the zombie apocalypse trapped inside the school. This one destroyed me for days.

9.      Forest of Love

I’ve watched some Sono Sion movies but nothing prepared me for this. Be aware of extremely gory sequences and sensitive topics. Hinami Kyoko is so amazing as blue-haired, punk girl crush Taeko that I totally didn’t notice she was AkibaBlue in Akibaranger.

10.  The Host

After watching Parasite I decided to go on a Bong Joon Ho binge and watched this horror movie. Not as good as Snowpiercer and Parasite in my opinion but heart-wrenching nevertheless. The little girl is the star of the movie.

11.  The Hungry Lion

A story about the dangers of social media and slut-shaming. I want to punch Mizuishi Atom in the face.

12.  Cromartie High

A little absurd comedy about yakuza-style high school boys (played by middle-aged men lol) forming a club to battle aliens summoned by themselves just because. It made me laugh like a child. A hidden gem.

Honorable Mentions:

1.      River’s Edge

Depressing as fuck. Warning: the cats die. It’s not graphic but it’s traumatizing. Yoshizawa Ryo is a gay boy who sleeps with old men for money. There’s a graphic sex scene (not Yoshizawa, sadly) where my only thought was “That thing is gonna get stuck in there! Use a condom!” Can’t remember much from it except for these three scenes.

2.      The Disastrous Life of Saiki K

Yamazaki Kento has the acting chops of a dead fish but it comes handy for playing a teen with psychic abilities and zero social skills. Hashimoto Kanna is one of the prettiest girls in Japan. Yoshizawa Ryo with white and blueish hair looks more like Sakata Gintoki than Oguri Shun in the Gintama live action. The end is a huge let down but the fun ride is worth it.

3.      Ano ko no, Toriko

Congratulations to Yoshizawa Ryo, he has FIVE movies in my list of favorite movies this year! This is to make up for crowning GIVER as the biggest waste of time of 2018, this list is totally not biased, lol. “Ano ko” could be just another romance movie but the (very) little insight into how the entertainment industry works and not focusing on school life made me love it. Poor Sugino Yosuke being left behind again, when will this boy get the main girl?

4.      Monstrum

It doesn’t reinvent the wheel but it’s pleasant enough to fill a rainy afternoon with a lot of blood and spilled guts. Hyeri of Girl’s Day is the heroine and Choi Woo Shik is the commander she falls in love with.

5.      Weirdo Go

I confess I watched this one just to see Ji Li (aka my snake son Nie Huaisang) dressed as a woman but it was enjoyable and not that problematic.

6.      Real - Kanzen Naru Kubinagaryu no Hi

Directed by the same guy that did “Creepy” and “Before we vanish”, there are lots of twists you won’t see coming. And a dinosaur. A fucking dinosaur.

7.      Tomodachi Game: The Final

The movie loses its focus halfway through then picks up again minutes before ending. Yoshizawa Ryo delivers again as the sadistic Yuuichi, much like his role in Gintama. The plot twists are the star of the movie.

8.     The Living Dead

Sorry Wen Ning. I saw the plot twist coming in the first 30 minutes of the movie, not very smart of the writer. His personality did a 180° turn for worse and I’ll demote the movie to an honorable mention for it. Gao Han is cute though, I would like to see him as a better character.

9.      Backstreet Girls

Some recycled scenes from the drama to situate the viewers, a completely new story for the movie, it is certainly funny and enjoyable, if you can get past the forced gender reassignment surgery background and transphobic jokes (you shouldn’t get past it btw). I like the soundtrack.

Best Dramas:

1.      The Untamed

Do I need to say more?

2.      The Tale of Nokdu

This Korean romance had everything to be a mess but it wasn’t!!! *claps* I don’t hate the main female character and the whole palace politics actually kept me interested until the end. The complete shift of atmosphere mid-season was strange at first but ultimately very welcomed.

3.      The Naked Director

Netflix original Japanese content is amazing. This one is a look at the life of a legendary porn director in the late 80s, I learned a lot about the history of Japanese porn and censorship (yay pixels!) and went looking for his, erm, works. Very graphic, 69/10 don’t recommend watching with people in the house.

4.      Channel wa Sonomama!

I don’t remember it well but it’s about a news station and what is like to be a journalist and it was very interesting and funny.

5.      SCAMS

Forgettable. Sugino Yosuke with black hair cons old people via phone calls.

Worst Movies and Dramas:

1.      The cat in their arms

The cats spend 90% of the movie in human forms, and halfway through it they simply abandon the cats’ plot to show a fucking long montage of a weird guy painting a picture of a nude girl. It’s also super creepy to see a grown-up man acting like a cat, getting belly rubs and eating cat food from a bowl. Yoshizawa needs to choose his roles more wisely.

2.      Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun

A waste of Suda Masaki’s talent. Can Japan stop casting Tsuchiya Tao already?

3.      Samurai Marathon

Almost two hours of dirty men running through a forest. Maybe Japanese History experts will enjoy it, because I certainly didn’t.

4.      Lady Vengeance

While there are legit great moments, I didn’t find this “classic” to be anything special. The animal cruelty was too much for me.

5.      Hot Gimmick

This movie makes Bohemian Rhapsody’s editing look like a work of art. There are more flashing cuts than a T-ARA music video. I have no idea who likes who, who’s banging who, what even are they saying. Too much poetic shit for my like. I wanted to see Shimizu Hiroya naked. I was bamboozled.

6.      The Divine Fury

While some parts were interesting, at the end I still don’t know if the protagonist is possessed by a demon (if yes, then why would he help a priest destroy his friends?) or if he was blessed by God when his father died and talked to him (the glowing hand thing, why and how??). The exorcism parts are really, really scary, or maybe I’m just a chicken, but I had to avert my eyes. The best (only) part is that the protagonists are hot. Hello Woo Do-Hwan, you can sacrifice me to Satan any time…

[mintea-in-space]

This is also on ao3!!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21844570/chapters/52133791#workskin

And as another warning, a suicide attempt is highly implied, but not out right stated, so please use caution!

Tar in His Veins Part 2

An inhuman scream ripped through the living room.

Delia had to grab Lydia’s arm to keep her from running back into the circle.

The demon writhed, screaming and sobbing, his back arching off of the couch.

And the blood.

More of it seemed to pour from him like a fountain as he howled.

Delia began chanting the words on the page.

The crystals seemed to glow, and the powder on the floor lit up. All while Beetlejuice made noises that no human ever could.

Lydia clamped her hands over her ears, sobbing, crying out.

That was her friend dammit!

And she couldn’t do anything!!

Her will almost broke when he screeched the first word he’d said since she found him.

“LYDIA!!”

She couldn’t do it. She shoved her face into Barbara arms. She couldn’t watch him suffering anymore. She couldn’t. Barb clutched the teen, feeling her shake with fear and sobs.

After what felt like years of pain and hurt, Delia finished the spell.

All was quiet.

Delia let out a shaky breath and collapsed into a kitchen chair. Lydia ripped her face from Barb, and ran to him.

He still looked like shit.

But. She could just barely see his chest rise and fall with weak breaths. His face was pinched in agony, although it was slowly smoothing out.

Lydia put a hand on his cheek.

“Beej?”

And his eyes snapped open.

His hair rippled, first blue, purple, and finally starch white.

“NononononoNONONONONONO!”

He scrambled at his chest.

“I WAS THERE I WAS ALMOST THERE NO WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!”

Lydia could see the whites of his eyes as they rolled in his head. It was like a cornered animal, he radiated fear.

She flailed, finally grabbing one of his wild hands and squeezing it. She couldn’t help the tears that welled in her eyes.

“It’s okay! Look Beej you’re alright! You’re okay! And look you’re home! We took care of you! You’re okay!-“

“IM NOT SUPPOSED TO BE!”

Again the room fell silent.

Beetlejuice’s hair melted into purple and that sickly yellow.

“I’m-“ a sob. “I’m not supposed to be okay! I was supposed to be gone so you never had to worry about me coming back! And so I couldn’t be stupid and selfish and give in and come back because I know if I do I’ll just ruin everything again, and I can’t hurt you again Lyds I can’t do it, I can’t bare the thought of-“

His rambling cut off. Wrenching his hand from her grasp he scrabbled at his jacket, muttering.

“Where is it is it still here please let it still be here.”

Lydia’s heart froze when he pulled it from his pocket, a grin on his face that looked strangled and wrong.

It was a knife. A nasty one. It looked to be carved from some kind of gem or crystal, and the edge glittered wickedly.

And the black ooze that dripped from it put ice into the hearts of everyone.

“See! I can fix this! It’ll be fine! I’ll just put right here and no one will ever have to worry about the horrible no good useless-“

Again he broke. Choking back sobs.

The knife clattered to the floor as Beetlejuice clutched himself. Of course. He couldn’t do it.

Juno always said he was too chicken shit, and it was a spur of the moment decision that actually made him do it in the first place. He couldn’t do it again. And now they brought him back.

Why?!?

Why did they even bother?!?

Thoughts spiraled into panic and confusion. Why would they even bring him back? He was nothing but trouble, a horrible blemish on their lives. He did nothing but ruin and destroy and mangle, it’s the only thing he was good at.

And they saved him.

He barely registered that he dropped the wicked thing.

It didn’t matter anyway.

He couldn’t do it himself, at least not again, so why-

Again, the grin that looked wrong spread across his face.

Blue replaced the purple in his hair, and that sickly yellow burned against it.

And when he opened his mouth the mangled laugher that came out sent goosebumps across the living residents’ skin. It was desperate and choked and awful.

“I get it! Ha! HaahhHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The family looked on in horror.

“He’s lost it.”

Delia whispered.

“I GET IT NOW!”

Flying from the couch, he landed on his feet, and snatched up the knife.

“I REALLY GET IT! YOU WANTED TO DO IT YOURSELF RIGHT? FINE! I CAN DO THAT!”

And Lydia found the hilt of the wicked thing shoved into her hands.

“I get it!! I really do! Go ahead! FINISH ME!”

She just trembled, tears rolling down her cheeks, heart twisted in knots.

“Ohhhhh come on Lyds! I know you have it in ya! Ya did it before! Come on now don’t make me beg for it, I will!! JUST DO IT”

She shook hear head, sobs finally starting to break free.

She howled when he landed on his knees.

Thrusting the blade against his chest, he held her hands in place. And he completely changed, whispering now.

“Lydia please I’m begging you. Please. I don’t care how you do it just please stop making me wait for it I can’t handle the suspense Lyds. Please just-“

“ERGAAAAA”

With a animalistic howl, Lydia yanked her hands from his grip and threw the knife on the ground.

“I WON’T I JUST GOT YOU BACK!! I CANT LOSE YOU!! I WON’T DO IT!!”

And she sunk to her knees, head bowed as she cried.

“Why do you want me to hurt you?!”

Grinning that awful, broken grin, the demon just snatched the knife and turned to the Maitlands.

“You then! Come on Babs! I know hot stuff doesn’t have it in him, he couldn’t hurt a fly but you? Come on! I know you have the guts to do it!”

Barb barely managed to catch it when he tossed it towards her.

“I-“

His face twisted in a sneer.

“Do I need to remind you? Come on. It hasn’t even been that long up here!!”

Steeling herself, Barb shook her head. With a clatter she dropped the knife to the floor.

“I won’t.”

Beetlejuice sighed.

“Okay where do I start? So, I molested both of you, killed at least one person, tried to have you exorcised, married Lydia, uuuh, Oh! Trapped you in the attic! And totally jacked up the house! Come on that’s gotta be enough to make you wanna stab me right? Please?”

Turning, she kicked the knife as far away from him as possible.

Then she marched up to the demon and shoved her finger in his chest.

“YOU”

Another shove.

“DON’T”

Shove.

“GET. TO DO THAT.”

She snarled.

“WE BROUGHT YOU BACK BECAUSE WE CARE ABOUT YOU DIPSHIT! WE AREN’T GOING TO EVER GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN IF WE CAN HELP IT! EVER! SO YOU SIT YOUR ASS DOWN, AND HUG LYDIA FOR THE LOVE OF FUCK!”

Stunned, Beetlejuice simply opened and

closed his mouth.

That was when he really saw everyone.

Lydia was still shaking on the floor, Adam had a white knuckled grip on a kitchen chair, Delia was pale and breathing heavily in another kitchen chair, and Barb was steaming, face red with anger and unshed tears.

Both Adam and Delia looked like they were going to be sick.

That sickly yellow that Lydia hated spread, and covered Beetlejuice’s head.

“I-I just-“

He felt like he wasn’t in control of his body, he felt himself lower to the floor. He trembled. Self loathing finally taking over completely.

“I don’t wanna hurt you anymore.”

And with that the tension shattered.

Lydia launched herself into his arms, Adam and Barbara kneeling to wrap their arms around him. Delia hesitated, but joined them on the floor.

They stayed like that for a while. All of them crying and leaning on one another.

And they kept Beetlejuice there with them. Just holding him.

Eventually, he fell asleep.

Feedback is always welcome! I’ve read through it a few times, but I’m sure that things still slipped through. So if you see a typo please let me know! I’m definitely going to continue this, and probably draw stuff for it too! If anyone wants to draw scenes from this I would love to see it!! Please don’t tag a beetlebabes!

Also fuck Juno

[felassanis]

Everything I love about Assassin’s Creed

1. Ezio da la la la

2. If you idle for long enough in Odyssey Ikaros comes and lands on Alexios’s/Kassandra’s arm and then alexios/Kassandra will greet him.

3. Edward’s outfit is by far my favourite Assassin robe. It looks so fooking cool.

4. Alkibiades

5. The first mission in Assassin’s Creed III. Finding the temple and it coming alive with all the lights and the humming was so fucking cool and the theatre with Haytham was such a good way to start the game, I loved the environment that went with the theatre and the parkour was really good too, everything was good even though I had no idea why we were there in the first place lol.

6. SHAUN HASTINGS

7. Edward’s tattoos being the only reason why I go whaling in AC:Black flag

8. The dynamic between Jacob and Evie, I’ve always wanted a twin duo in a game and Jacob and Evie Frye were awesome and y’all keep sleeping on them.

9. The different colour schemes in Assassin’s Creed 2 for the different cities gave the locations their own feel and vibe and it differentiated them from each other while also ensuring that the landscapes were utterly gorgeous. For example, Venice had cooler colours, very blue and silver while Florence was warmer, with more orange and brown thrown into the mix. It really gave those maps their own identity and it was great.

10. All of Lineage. all of it, it was flipping fantastic and I know it’s not a game but it was brilliant and the other Assassin’s Creed movie will never top it despite Michael Fasbender being in it.

11. That cutscene in Black Flag where Blackbeard lights his beard on fire, I love that historical accuracy because it was very likely true and it’s so SO bad-fucking-ass

12. Alkibiades

13. How quickly I fell in love with Frederico Auditore despite the fella only having about 5 lines.

14. Also just how quickly I came to love the Auditore family, that was how well written they were, that I fell in love after 30 minutes with them. 

15. LEONARDO DA VINCI

16. Desmond Miles’s snark.

17. ‘Hey whatta matta with you altair,’

18. SHAUN HASTINGS

19. How buffy Kassandra is

20. The hookblade was actually amazing in Revelations and I’m in full support that it shouldbe brought back. The noise it made was also oddly satisfying too?

21. The Glyphs in AC2 were spooky and ominous and I refused to do the last mission until I had found all of them and uncovered the Truth. Because that entire side quest was full of anticipation and the creepy vibe the Glyphs gave off and how the footage of Adam and Eve was cut up and glitchy was just really interesting and it peaked with a climax.

22. LEONARDO DA VINCI

23. The golden beads in Alexios’s hair.

24. And Alexios just being an overall gorgeous human being who’s face was chiselled by the gods.

25. The flying machine mission in AC2 while really aggravating if you didn’t do it the first time was also really fun and getting to see Leonardo all giddy and happy made it worth it.

26. I don’t know if it’s just me? but Connor’s hair? like I know for a fact that I like men with long hair but something about his hair and the feather intertwined into it was just really appealing? and while I know why Connor shaved his hair I couldn’t help but screech when he did lmao but that’s because it’s obviously not my tradition and it’s abnormal to me. pfft

27. Revelations is one of the best AC games and I’ll fight anyone on this. It was phenomenal given how it finally concluded Ezio’s story (and remember Ezio was the face of the franchise for years and he was fan favourite and still is so there were some pressure and expectations) and how it also concluded Altair’s story.

28. Altair wasn’t that interesting in the original game but Revelations added depth and layers to his characters and made him way more intriguing. The game also gave this character important significance to the lore and I think that’s the perfect way to honour the guy who started it all. As much as we love Ezio, Altair came before and without him, Assassin’s Creed wouldn’t quite be the way it was today. (although it’s up to you if that’s a bad thing or not lmao)

29. And seeing Ezio old and matured, becoming this wise legend of a man was really cool and getting to play as him in his final journey was both heartbreaking but satisfactory.

30. I have to give a massive applause to Ubisoft for making Leonardo gay as well in Brotherhood prominently. I don’t think it was ever proven historically if he was? but it was rumoured? and yet Ubisoft went and made it canon giving that representation while also having Ezio outright say he’s okay with Leonardo dating men?! Like, in that time period if you were gay you could go to prison and the general view of homosexuality was that of disgust and yet Ezio is just here supporting his best friend? hell yes.

31. ALKIBIADES

32. I have certain feelings with Unity, but I won’t lie that the parkour was spot on in that game.

33. Gideon Emery....just Gideon Emery as Reginald Birch. The character’s a massive prick but god...that voice.

34. Connor mentioning his grandfather Edward as he’s sailing the Aquila.

35. Getting to see the wreck of the Jackdaw in Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry was gut-wrenching.

36. Finally getting to pet animals in ACIII.

37. Finally getting to feed pigs in a video game ^^

38. SHAUN HASTINGS

39. OKay, I like Shaun because the guy is really entertaining and he’s British like me and I need to see this fucker in future games again...because after Syndicate he just vanishes and we got...Fucking Layla ugh.

40. The Naval combat in Black Flag is unmatched, fighting other ships never felt like a chore and it was fun and thrilling and the rewards felt deserving. And the feeling of taking down your first Man’o War is RIVETING.

41. Rebecca calling the Animus ‘Baby’

42. She’s another character I want to see come back. And she and Shaun better come back and be alive.

43. Lucy being a Templar was a plot twist I never saw coming but I was all for that angst especially when it seemed like they were setting up what I thought was the inevitable Desmond x Lucy romance. But I guessed wrong.

44. Yusuf Tazim being the joy and light of Revelations. fuck you Ubisoft

45. Ezio’s family theme song is the most iconic video game songs ever.

46. The introduction of Alkibiades in Odyssey, what a great way to introduce a character. like seriously, I fell in love with that fucker the moment he started speaking and felt up Kassandra’s arms while being half naked and wasted.

47. Bayek being a breath of fresh air in wonderfully written complex characters whose story was powerful and tragic. He needs a sequel.

48. Assassins Creed Brotherhood’s trailer being iconic.

49. When returning to Florence to retrieve the apple and you bring Ezio back to his old home only to see the ghosts of his entire family waiting for him. I was gobsmacked when that happened and it’s such a beautiful detail.

50. Mary Read/James Kidd being one of the best characters in Black Flag and leader in the ‘did not deserve it’ club. Every minute of her was flipping terrific and her significance in Edward’s story as one of the driving points that turned him into a better man was great.

51. I cried at the end of Black Flag.

52. The little text about Shaun sobbing when you look at the database on Desmond the dog in Syndicate.

53. The lip scar being shared between Desmond, Ezio and Altair was a cool detail.

54. The interchangeable cloaks in ACII.

55. Henry Green was so soft, kind and lovely and I honestly adore him.

56. Cane swords in Syndicate WERE AWESOME

57. NO fall damage in Odyssey. Keep this feature I don’t care how impossible it is for me to survive a jump off of a giant statue of a naked god it’s cool and I want it for every other game about to be released.

58. If you walk through grass in Origins Bayek sticks his hand out like that scene in Gladiator.

59. The scene in ACII Where Ezio uncovers his father’s robes from the chest and holds it up, It’s an incredible scene and the music fits so well with it and if you’ve watched Lineage it’s all the more amazing.

60. Rosa being pretty and terrifying in ACII.

61. The Bleeding effect being that other thing in lore that is SO BLOODY INTRIGUING and I wish it was explored a bit more. Can you actually imagine having the bleeding effect? where you can’t tell the past and the present apart? where you see ghosts from the past and hear voices no one else hears? jesus,..

62. getting answers about Clay/Subject 16. Ever since he left that writing in the wall with his own blood I was hooked on his story and thank god we got answers and a face to the legendary name. I wouldn’t mind more of him though.

63. I’ve always been fascinated with Native Americans and finally getting to explore them a bit more in ACIII proved to be interesting and I hope it was satisfactory representation for Native Americans.

64. finally getting to play in the present day in assassin’s creed brotherhood and 3, like actually getting to run around and explore as Desmond.

(I did a post like this on my old blog and I’ve rewrote them on here but I also got some new things, I just like having a post like this on my blog and I like seeing people who also agree with these brilliant features in this franchise, you can pretty much tell which two games are my favourite lol, Black Flag and 2 will always have a special place in my heart,)

[themattress]

Rewatch: My Bride is a Mermaid Ep 23 - 24

Two episodes that are absolutely hilarious...and then sucker-punch you HARD with Feels.

Episode 23: The Man Without a Past

The episode opens up with a Masa Today, which launches us right into the main conflict: Masa is revealed to have no memories of his past beyond when he began working for the Seto Gang 10 years ago. At the same time, Akeno reveals that she is searching for her older brother, who disappeared 10 years ago while on government business to the Seto Inland Sea, and she wants to kill him for bringing shame upon the Shiranui family...and on a more personal level, for abandoning her. Yeah, anyone can see where this is going: Masa is Akeno’s brother who got amnesia after being struck in the head by a drunk Gozaburo. Desperate to save Masa’s life, Nagasumi and Gozaburo team up to stop him from recovering his memories, but their crazy attempts only end up causing that very thing to happen.

There is a lot that is funny in this episode: Gozaburo and Nagasumi actually needing to work together for a common goal, Sun constantly addressing Akeno as “Aki” which she never did before and never will again as though she just randomly decided she’d give Akeno a pet name for that day and that day only, Akeno briefly losing her memory and reverting back to her 4 year old state of mind, and the ultimate pay-off to Nagasumi’s homoerotic feelings for Masa with him pretending to be outright in love with him in order to keep his memories suppressed...a choice that he is seriously, hysterically regretting by the end of the episode.

But when Masa actually recovers his memories, the episode takes a shocking turn into true emotional sincerity. Masa has a mental encounter with his past self and expresses shame and disappointment in his whole existence being nothing but a lie, and he is willing to fade away to give the original persona his body back. His past self, however, makes him see all of the friends - family, really - that he made in the 10 years he’s been around, telling him that he can’t just disappear from their lives. And so it’s his past self that fades away, with parting words asking Masa to be there for his sister. Akeno, in 4 year old mode, is crying for her big brother and it’s legitimately heart-wrenching: for all her teenage self’s declarations of hatred and a desire for fatal vengeance, deep down all she really wants is to have him back. Masa goes over and hugs her tight, saying that even if he’s not the brother that she remembers, he wants to be the brother that she has now. And at the end, he even tells the guilt-stricken Gozaburo that he bears no grudges toward him for accidentally causing him amnesia, and that he loves him, Sun and the whole Seto Gang. It’s beautiful, and it actually got to me.

Can the show possibly top it? Yes. Yes, it can.

Episode 24: Farewell, My Friend

Kai Mikawa and Hideyoshi “Chimp” Sarutobi have consistently been two of the most unlikable characters on this show, but this episode pulls off one of the best redemptions for jerks that I have ever seen, up there with Eddy from Ed, Edd n’ Eddy and Lars from Steven Universe. And it must be noted that it’s the other episode in this anime that has no basis in the manga, which means this show’s writers must be applauded for pulling such a fantastic turnaround. 

It starts when Kai, in a typical narcissistic mindset, is trying to hide the fact that he was visiting a hospital because he’s developed a boil on his butt. While the rest of his classmates actually guess that this was the case, Chimp refuses to believe it because he’s grown to care for Kai as a true friend and doesn’t think he would keep information from him unless it was something serious. This leads to Chimp staking out the hospital and overhearing part of a conversation that makes it sound like Kai has something terminal. He confronts Kai about it and Kai, thinking Chimp knows the truth about his “ass acne”, swears him to secrecy, which Chimp takes as Kai being so noble that he doesn’t want everyone else distraught and worried over him. However, Chimp is unable to keep this promise as he has to tell his classmates what’s going on so that they won’t act antagonistic toward Kai even when he’s being a jerk. This info then spreads to the rest of the class, and to the teachers, and to the whole freaking town, with absolutely everyone pitching in to pamper Kai and celebrate his existence in order to make his “last days” the best possible for him. What a wacky misunderstanding, eh?

But even amidst the natural humor in this situation, legitimate character insight is being given to Kai. As an agoraphobic who grew up around a bunch of yes-men, Kai has developed the belief that nobody loves him naturally and that he can only get love through flaunting his money, his good looks, his material goods, etc.  And from this he developed an entitlement complex when he feels he isn’t being given his rightful due from others. So when everyone starts showering him with love and kindness, he can’t recognize it for what it truly is and instead thinks that everyone has just “come to their senses” and are treating him the way he “deserves” to be treated. Even when he learns of his “terminal illness” from a TV report, he can’t connect the dots between it, the way people have been treating him, and how they feel about him - he’s too consumed by the horror of believing himself to be dying. The fear turns to sadness, and then to anger and hatred toward one target: Nagasumi Michishio. Kai decides that if he’s dying, then he wants to take his rival whom he is so envious of with him.

A showdown at high noon ensues, with Kai even taking off his protective space helmet and suddenly having white hair for...reasons. But Nagasumi’s improved reflexes from all the time he’s spent dodging attacks across the series combined with the emotional breakdown Kai is having leads to Nagasumi being victorious. The scene transitions into a huge tear-jerker once Kai begins sobbing and admitting what his real problem is: he genuinely thinks he has no real friends and no-one that truly loves him, whereas Nagasumi does and he’s jealous of that, and the thought that he’s now going to die without that being rectified while Nagasumi gets to live a Happily Ever After with Sun is more than he can bear. “SOMEONE LOVE ME BEFORE I DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!” he screams up toward the sky, all onlookers choked up with pity.

With Sun and Nagasumi leading the way, all of Kai’s classmates gently protest his claims: they’re his friends and they love him, they wouldn’t have done all that they’ve done for him if that wasn’t the case. And Kai never needed to ask for love from them, or buy it from them, because otherwise that isn’t really love. Sun may not love him romantically, but she still loves him all the same, and so does his rival Nagasumi which is the whole reason why he even accepted his potentially fatal challenge. And then the episode delivers the biggest gut-punch when Chimp, fucking CHIMP, rushes to Kai’s side, crying his eyes out as he declares that he loves him more than anything in the world and that if he could he’d gladly take his place and die instead of him. In-universe, this is what fully breaks Nagasumi, who has to turn away as he begins sobbing uncontrollably (MAJOR props to Eric Vale and Anthony Bowling’s voice-acting; they sell their emotional lines in this episode and especially in this scene perfectly.)

Kai flashes back to the various times he’s hung out with his classmates and realizes that he was never alone, he never lacked love and friendship. He was just too self-absorbed to recognize what was right in front of him the whole time. As he lays down to die, he sums it up by saying “All of you have shown me how big your hearts can be...but me, all I did was show you how small mine was.” He apologizes to Chimp for taking him for granted, saying that he’s the best friend a guy could have, and then he thanks Sun and Nagasumi and tells them to be happy together. And then...he passes on. OK, not really, but the scene plays it totally straight and does it so well that for a moment you might actually forget that his terminal illness isn’t real and was just a misunderstanding. Naturally, this creates a huge mood whiplash when we suddenly get the final scene where the status quo reasserts itself at school, with everyone hilariously reacting to the fact that they went through all that emotional turmoil for nothing.

But as we’ll see in the two-part series finale, Kai and Chimp have come out of this experience somewhat changed: they aren’t the complete pricks they were before and even play a major heroic role, with Kai especially showing how much both Sun and Nagasumi mean to him. While Chimp on his own still isn’t a particularly good character, he is an excellent accessory to Kai, whom this anime has made one of the strongest characters in the cast over the course of just this single episode. Kai, you definitely have my love. (And Kai/Chimp OTP 4evah!)

[grimtwin]

Top 10 anime/manga and why?

I really don’t watch a whole lot of anime, and most of the manga I read I can’t consider the best, but I’ll give it a shot. 

Yu Yu Hakusho - My favorite anime. The English dub is incredible, full of witty new dialogue and near perfect voices. The series itself is full of bad ass fights, amazing characters, with even the villains being likable in their own ways and has the bae Botan in it. One Piece - By far my favorite manga of all time. The art took some time to get used to at first, but it quickly grew on me. The adventures, the fights, the hilarious comedy and interactions between the crew mates as they struggle through one hellish situation after the next. It’s glorious. It’s had it’s downs, but will always be the number one for me. Monster -  An amazing psychological horror anime that kept me on the edge of my seat at all times. Johan Liebert is easily one of the most terrifying villains, and this is a guy without some planet destroying super powers. He’s just a normal psychopath. Dragonball/Z - This series revolutionized anime as we know it. It’s what got me into battle driven anime in the first place. Super powered fights, ki blasts, all the screaming and powering up, had me amped as a teen. I never cared much for the Saiyans, preferring Piccolo, Krillin, and 18, but still very enjoyable.Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - One of the only series I read, that while at the time of reading it, felt it could hold a candle to One Piece for me. Thrilling and interesting plot, multiple doses of gut wrenching sadness and heartbreak, incredible characters, and alchemy is just cool. 

Cowboy Bebop - Amazing music and voice acting. I still listen to the opening and closing songs to this series regularly. I mentioned it the other day, but the fight scenes were designed by one of my favorite animators, so obviously those are incredible. That and I dig space stuff. It’s not a long series, but it’s so good. 

Kingdom - A manga about the warring states in ancient China. The art isn’t the greatest ever, but it shows the fierce struggles of not only the main characters, trying to become a Great General of China, and uniting China under one ruler,  but demonstrates some incredible strategic and political battles outside of the physical ones too. 

G Gundam - A gem in a sea of Gundam anime for me.This series was jut so over the top fun, there’s little else I can say about it. Every Gundam different and nation themed, ridiculous attacks and fight scenes, and the greatest attack in a gundam rendition: “THIS HAND OF MINE IS BURNING RED! IT’S LOUD ROAR TELLS ME GRASP VICTORY! ERUPTING! BURNING! FINGEEEEEEEEER!”

Pokemon - Specifically the Indigo Plateau and Orange Islands seasons. This is some next level nostalgia for me. When Pokemon was first getting hot in the US, back when I was a wee child, it was my LIFE. I had to have the toys, the cards, the game, wake up extra early on Saturday to see the new episodes. It was a phenomenon…and is still incredibly popular today.

Outlaw Star - It’s opening is so fucking good. I still have it on my phone to this day. I won’t say it’s one of the quintessential, must see anime, but it’s so fun, the space battles so incredibly cool, and there’s a lot more emotional scenes than I expect in it. Like with Cowboy Bebop, I’m a sucker for space stuff, and these two series are two of the best in that regard.

[westcoastprancer]

My Auto-Spaz-Ography

***WARNING - WAY TOO MUCH UNNECESSARY PROFANITY***

Getting past the only child bullshit...sue me I guess? Not my fault my parents could only handle one of me. Pretty annoying growing up hearing from morons that I must be a spoiled little shit...

Can’t really argue there. Aside from self-inflicted hunger (you know...that junior high self image bullshit..starve and lose 5 lbs in a weekend), I’ve never gone hungry. I’ve never been cold, without clothes, or a roof over my head. I was taught values. So yeah, I am fucking spoiled rotten. No apologies there.

People who continuously stay “stuck” royally piss me off. These weirdos are toxic. Avoid them at all costs. They will not change. You will thank me for this piece of advice sometime in your life. Everybody’s got a problem. So do I. Set goals for yourself. Get the fuck off your sad ass every couple weeks. Find your best friend (if you don’t have one of those...you should seriously consider working on finding one) get trashed, talk it out and let that shit go for a while. If you’re stuck in a rut for more than 2-3 months, get help. Seriously. It’s not embarrassing. It’s way more shitty in the long run when you turn out to be the aforementioned person who just stays fucking “stuck”. On another note, subject of the week has been middle aged divorced broads with kids and how sly and bitchy they are. If they go ape shit on me before getting their facts straight, imagine what they do to all these poor men? No fucking wonder a good, non hot dog throwing down hallway status, loyal, no bullshit broad like me can’t find a solid dude. The good dudes are out there getting berated by these broads they knocked up and can’t get out of it now because...you know...the kids and stuff. I’m glad I took a different path. Can’t imagine being in that desperate place looking for affection because I am 37-47 year old wrinkly, loosey goosey broad thinking I was tossed aside by a shitty man, when I am the nutbag...just looking for attention. It’s easy to get laid. No strings. No problems. Many people make it way too complicated. My friend’s brother is hilarious. He is kinda a douche and I love his stories about profiling chicks. My favorite was when he told this broad at the bar she looked beautiful and she said how he made her day! (First red flag) They go to exchange numbers and she once again tells him what a nice time she had meeting him ( nothing wrong with that) but then goes on daily wishing him a good day. That’s another desperate sign. Come to find out...middle aged. Divorced. Kids. Lonely in the panties. You know the drill. I used to host this radio show called Cryin’ Lovin’ Laughin’ or Leavin’ so I learned these things sort of young. You remember the patterns of people. You know warning signs of crazy. Here’s the most invaluable lesson, most people are batshit crazy. Keep the wall up a while. Test people. I have caught so many good people (so I thought) in lies through the years. Even little irrelevant lies. It doesn’t matter if it’s a friend, relative, colleague, or significant other. When you catch someone in a lie of even the smallest, you wonder what else they are capable of lying about. It changes everything. Be like me. Don’t lie. Sometimes it’s hard, but then you have nothing to hide and having the truth on your side keeps you out of some really shitty situations.Even if it is so embarrassing and you have to put a towel over your head to face the truth...do it. If you don’t believe a word of anything else I say...believe me when I tell you about people. The good and the bad. Just take the time to get to know a person. You don’t want a lazy middle aged squinty eyed salmoncake real estate selling Mom moving her and her kids asses into your house all of a sudden. You ain’t that desperate. Oh and dudes, I’m coming for you...don’t act desperate either. Just don’t. I tend to take your sides on this shit because dudes on the other sides of things are usually just happy to be free, so their demeanor is totally different. But that doesn’t mean I won’t flip sides on you if you guys start getting weird. Covid seems to have made everyone crazy.

Even in a good mood, there is nothing better than a super depressing 90’s country song...am I right? It’s that sad shit that always gets me in my damn near non-existent soul. Look, I randomly placed 6th out of 20 on a totally impromptu Roast Battle at the Laugh Factory in LA one night. One of the roastmasters told me I did so well for my first time because I have no soul. HA HA HA...that one fucking stuck with me. Back to the point - if you can’t sit down with a couple good homies now and then and blast “Alibis” on 10 while chugging Crown, you should really address some things in your monotonous life. Just sayin for someone who doesn’t do the bar scene much anymore and barely has feelings...I know every color of every neon sign. I’m always hashin out a heartache in the back of my mind. Makes me remember not to go there ever again. People suck. I feel like I have already mentioned this. I’m not a “hard” person. I’m a realist. I don’t want to miss fantastic opportunities with people, but I also know those people are few and far between so I really keep my guard up. The right people always tear it down in time. 

People who get offended by profanity seriously piss me off more than a hive of wasps chasing me. Let me be clear...if I wasn’t dropping at least 72 f-bombs a day...I’m not sure where I would be in life. It’s turning all negative events in my life into positivity. I mean when you think about the F word. No matter how you slice or dice it...it does have a positive meaning in any context. “Go fuck yourself.” - Ok! “Fuck that!” - With what?! “Fuck You!” - Time and place please? Etc… Do you know what I am fucking saying?

Seriously asked my father the other day why he didn’t own Hilton chains or something. I’m sick of this fucking sweaty ass work too hard lifestyle with hardly any time to do fun shit. The idea of being some stuck up heiress with holes in my pockets sound fucking fantastic to me sometimes. Maybe just not the stuck up part. Could you imagine me that way? Snap my fingers and a drink comes! First class flights to St. Croix with my inner posse.  Living the goddamn dream. Me and my doggies on a private island!

I’ve become a bit dramatic, I think. For an extremely hard headed Portagee, I can still call myself out when needed. It’s kinda weird not living alone anymore. I’ve got a badass homie around now (wish I would have met years ago) who actually gives a shit how my day was. So I kinda get called out now on my bullshit. (Side note: It’s important to keep company around you who doesn’t enable your negative traits. Your best friends will call you on your shit and help you grow.) Sometimes I’ll lay down and pout all day over some shit that is NOTHING. Just get stoned and forget the fuck about it. I’m sure this is something I’ve been doing for years. Never caught it til now. Checklist to work on. No one likes even a small percentage of a drama queen. Yuck.

Amazing the shit I think of while stoned. What’s the point of dating? Attach yourself to another person for life? Is that even natural? Attach yourself to yourself...not American Pie style you pervert. Attach yourself to doggies. I cannot stress enough how fulfilling life is raising pups. Watching them grow and learn. I’m not even talking about the ones you raise from babies. Even at an older age, your dog will still learn and grow with mental stimulation and affection. It’s so amazing to watch the new things they learn and pick up on. If you treat your dogs well, they will treat you double as well until death do you part. Sure, it’s shitty you get so attached and they don’t live very long, but it teaches you perseverance. True value of cherishing your pals and moving on in your life always keeping a piece of them with you. Sounds fucking gut wrenching sad. It is, but I promise you the time you spend with your pups outweighs the sadness in the end.( If you’re planning on spending zero time with your animal, leave your pet in constant confined spaces, starve or beat it...don’t fucking get one. Don’t even get close to one. They are better off in the wild than with your crazy ass. You ain’t right.)

You can’t be a lying dickface all the time and expect everyone to be nice to you. Saw a good one on Family Guy that touched my sweet heart a little. Stewie to Brian: “You’re not my friend. Friends come and go. You’re family. That’s for life.” Sounds so sweet. In fact I wanted to call my bestie and tell him that. Then I snapped out and realized “family” can be a super toxic F word. Sad thing is I have a pretty big “family” on each side, yet the older I get, I have realized my only family is my parents. In fact, I have created my own family full of non-blood relatives. Life is wonderful in the positive environment I have created for myself through the years. It’s amazing to form bonds with amazing people who have no ulterior motives like wills and money. Fucking money brings out the true colors in people. It’s sad. People spend their whole lives trippin balls over money. That must suck. 

Those dorks at Central Catholic. Even at 15 made me laugh like hell. They’d interview the football “stars” getting full rides to Notre Dame and shit. My favorite was when asked about their favorite band... “Creed man. Such great “hard rock” with such powerful, positive messages.” Those dudes are probably miserable in their physical therapists jobs with their cheating whore wives who come home smelling like ratty vaginas. Someone had to fucking say it. Embarrassing confession: “My Sacrifice” is a FANFUCKINGTASTIC song!

I have a hard time with people. I try my best. I always learn and continue to grow. I got that goin for myself. People suck. People are cruel. (3rd time I’ve said this today?)  People take no time to disappoint me for the most part. If you’re kind to me, I will be twice as kind to you. If you’re a fuckface to me, expect me to be an extra double fuck with a cherry on top. Add some nuts too and suck on that shit. I’m a badass person to have in your life and on your team. If you’re lucky enough to make it into my inner circle, I’ll probably be one of the best friend’s you’ve ever made. If you can’t look at yourself in the mirror and see the person that you would like to be friends with, you need to make some changes. It took me a long time to become my own best friend. If you can’t be solid with spending time with yourself, you can’t be solid with anyone and you’ll eventually become a dead weight. Take the time to get to know yourself and work on it...for me it’s constant. I know there is other people with my qualities in the world. If you find one, take the time to learn about them and ease your way into friendship slowly. Actions speak louder than words. Prove yourself to be a good human. Be patient. The best relationship of any type comes with time and work.

Let’s see…

Don’t be a fucking retail investor.

Don’t be a fucking commie.

Don’t be a fucking douchebag. 

Don’t fucking settle.

Don't stop bettering yourself for you and those you care for.

Don’t stop fucking being YOU!

LO

[caleocross]

so first off, i fucking loved the war arc. holy shit, that was so good- nagato and itachi seeing naruto? absolute banger. sasuke and itachi meeting up and fighting kabuto? holy fuck that was good. naruto and kurama becoming friends and fighting hoes? yessssssss that shit was so amazing. also, i didnt hate the orochimaru redemption, shockingly. there was good build up, and he wasnt completely irredeemable to start with anyways, so i think his redemption was pretty okay. i really really liked the reanimation aspect, but i wish they had delved into that a bit deeper (cough cough none of it made me cry besides itachi, so im a bit dissatisfied).

i think for the most part, aside from reanimated madara completely slaughtering the army at the very beginning, i was super unsatisfied with the fight scenes. they always seemed to be lackluster? like instead of showing us more hand to hand combat (which is the most satisfying fighting animation to watch in my opinion), they just replaced it by showing a bigger, more powerful jutsu. personally, it left me craving more, and wishing they hadnt just given us giant, slow moving beings like nine tails mode and susanoo to cover up the fact that there wasnt any high paced hand to hand. theres also so much more emotion you can put into hand to hand combat compared to big scaled fights, so the big fights kinda just left me feeling empty.

back on to some positives, i absolutely loved the kakashi and obito arc. it was so good, and so moving??? like seeing the flashbacks to rin's face whenever she was being killed hurt in the best way possible. seeing kakashi's determined yet sorrowful expression was so :cri:, yknow? and then obito's heartbroken look, the way his face crinkled and completely broke was gut wrenching. i think, as a whole, what they did with obito was great. do i think they dragged on his death (he was set to die like three times before he actually did, so the shock factor really lost value after awhile, which was annoying) for way too long and could have resolved that shit a lot sooner? absolutely. did it still hurt to watch him die? absolutely. he was a good character, and watching him be reunited with rin did make me tear up quite a bit.

now onto kurama and naruto. holy fuck. it was amazing. its basically what i want to happen between itadori and sukuna in jjk (which probably isnt going to happen considering certain events in the manga, but i digress), which made me so so happy. they're really great for one another, and i really really hope i can find an au where they become friends a lot earlier on (like when naruto is a kid) so that i can get some "giant fox demon raises five year old child bc no one else is there to do it". like thats such a good concept and i want to read it immediately.

now. madara. i have a lot of thoughts on his arc, as well as obito and kaguya's. i felt like everything after obito becoming the jinchuriki/sage of the six paths was kinda underwhelming? like in the battle/war sense of it? like dont get me wrong, i loved obito's arc as a character, i just feel like everything that happened after he got sage of the six paths powers was kinda shit (again, in the war aspect). especially in the sense of the progression. first we have "madara" (whos really obito), then we get the actual, reanimated madara, then the obito reveal, then six paths obito, then six paths madara, then black zetsu actually being kaguya's child/will, and THEN we get kaguya, who was the mastermind behind everything. OH, AND LETS NOT FORGET SASUKE'S LITTLE REBELLION. like cmon man, you cant just pull a new antagonist out of your ass right as things are about to get resolved/the antagonist from before is about to lose.

the pacing got really weird after while, and it kinda just got boring to watch up until sasuke and naruto's fight (which ill be getting to in a second). i kinda wish the whole kaguya thing didnt happen, because it made the story take a much more sci-fi aspect that was kinda weird considering what naruto as a series is. like cmon man, kaguya's a fucking alien? is that really the best you could do? it would have been cooler if they had made her an actual god, and have idolization similar to the six paths. i would have been able to get on board with that, but instead you made her a chakra alien who can go between dimensions. i also thought her characterization was weird as fuck?? she was so fucking weird, which i guess was the point, but it still feels extremely out of place in this show.

now onto the big boy topic: naruto and sasuke's fight.

the whole "rebellion" thing felt so fucking stupid. it seemed like there was no build up, and they were just pulling it out of fucking no where. like yes, they did establish the whole "sasuke becoming hokage" beforehand, but how the fuck was that supposed to equate to him killing a ton of people and the tailed beasts so that he can "become the center of everyones hatred". like yes, we know itachi left you with more than one complex, but that doesnt mean you can just killed people broski. like that just felt super weird to me. that whole transition was so weird. 

that being said, it did get us to the fight. and my opinion on said fight was that it was cool. kinda. im going to be comparing it to their first fight back in naruto part one a lot, so be prepared for that. they went pretty hard on the hand to hand combat, which i really fucking appreciate. it was really cool to see, and it made the fight much more enjoyable to watch. on the other hand, i could have gone without a lot of the fighting with them in their kyuubi and susanoo forms. that kind of fighting always feels very impersonal, which is the complete opposite of what this fight was supposed to be, im sure. 

ofc, that wasnt the whole fight. 

i liked how there was a chunk of it that didnt have any music. it made it hit so much fucking harder. like the scene with them in the river, punching at each other while being completely exhausted and unable to do anything else was so good. that had an impact, and thats exactly what i wanted from this fight. in conclusion, the fight itself was great. now lets get into what happens after the fight, when they're both without an arm.

while the fight left something to be desired, the scene afterwards was so good. so fucking good. i loved it so much. they're going through their memories of each other, finally being honest, and finally getting through to one another. it was beautiful, and brilliant.

the moment that sasuke realizes that naruto is the only one who never gave up on him, the only one who didnt leave, was so good. the animation was so smooth, and his expression of guilt and understanding and complete loss was unparalleled. that was the most emotion i have ever seen on his face, and it was so worth it. watching over 400+ episodes of this 2000's anime about fucking ninjas was worth it, solely to see sasuke finally acknowledge naruto.

my final thoughts: the naruto and sasuke fight was obviously the best part of this and i will take no criticism. the build up for the whole arc was weird tho, and the pacing was also kinda fucky, but it was still satisfying to see sasuke finally acknowledge him.