#overthrow the universe on your down time

[blakescorneroftheunknown]

and the world counts loud to ten

one… here comes the sun.

Tap / click for better quality :)

[deadsetobsessions]

Danny laid across his throne, legs planted across the left arm of the ornate chair and back pressed uncomfortably against the right.

"Listen," Danny started, letting his head flop to the side as he glared at a hovering Observant. "This meeting has wasted enough of my time. You all have been arguing for hours and that's without Clockwork slowing things down."

"Your Majesty, this is a matter of great importance. Belial means to overthrow and rule my-our world!"

"I am distinctly aware aware of that," Ancients, Danny couldn't wait to go home and rid himself of the formal speech he'd had to adopt in order to be taken seriously. Well, as seriously as he cared to be taken when sprawled across his throne instead of sitting on it intimidatingly or something. He slowly placed his gaze on the suddenly still demon sitting across from him. "Yet you've proposed fifteen different plans that were all unviable for whatever reasons you've cooked up. Your conclusion is that I must step in. Does your world not have heroes to take care of it?"

The demon- another lord of hell from this Belial’s universe- fell silent.

“Ah. But if they do, they would also take care of you.”

“No- no, that’s not-”

Danny allowed his voice to drop to the artic freeze he knew his core was capable of. "I opened these these doors to allow all of you to present me with reasonable concerns regarding your own universes and realms. What is not on the table for discussion is your petty politics. Do you think I am unaware of your intentions in tattling to me? That I do not know you are trying to use me to further your own position?"

"Your Majesty, I-" The demon growled out, fear slowly coating its expression.

"It no longer amuses me. You think that I am young and easy to manipulate." Danny froze the demon to its chair. It tried to break free, but Danny isn't the High King of the Infinite Realms for nothing. "Bring to me a miserable problem like this ever again, one that could be easily solved if you used even a smidgen of your intelligence, and you will find exactly how I tore Pariah Dark from his throne."

Not that Danny knew how he did it either, he just did it.

"Yes, Your Majesty. My-my apologies."

The room is dead (Danny patted himself on the back for the pun) silent. Some of the Ancients looked bored, like Clockwork who knew Danny would never hurt them, but everyone else looked close to crying. He held eye contact with the demon until it looked away.

When Danny settled back into the throne and allowed his ice to dissipate, the room let out a collective sigh of relief.

"The next item on the agenda is another demon, by the name of Trigon." Clockwork announced, the large piece of paper comically huge next to his currently toddler-like body.

"Another?"

He flicked an amused look at the previous demon, who kept his trap firmly shut.

"He is attempting to take over multiple worlds in an attempt to conquer the universe. I had thought you would be interested in this one, Your Majesty, as he plans to begin with Earth 135."

Danny stilled. That was his Earth. His haunt.

"Does he know of the Realms?"

"Vaguely, I believe."

"Then he should know the rules. I will wait to see if my Earth's heroes are capable to step to the task."

Danny would be a hypocrite if he doesn’t let the heroes of his Earth try first, even if he is one of those heroes.

"Of course," Clockwork grinned at him, fully aware of the shit Danny's about to stir back home. Ah, the wonders of being able to influence the time stream. Perhaps the young Ghost King will finally get some friends, and maybe get those pesky speedsters to stop making his jobs so hard. Cujo yipped at Danny as the King begrudgingly moved onto the next topic.

——

Raven shuddered as she watched the footage of her "brothers" laughing while steering their human "meatbags" around. She turned back to the giant circle of donated blood and herb filled candles.

“This is a nuclear option, don’t you think?” Green Arrow mumbled, clearly not against it by the half hearted way he’d said it. The Star City billionaire nursed his cracked ribs.

“No,” she floated over to where Zatanna and Constantine kneeled, trying to see if they needed help with the inscriptions. “Trigon is coming soon, and my brothers will no doubt find their way here in a moment. We are out of time.”

“Yeah. Plus, we don’t want Raven to be turned into a portal.” Garfield piped up, switching animal forms rapidly.

“No one dies.” Red Robin muttered. His wrist computer was open, monitoring the surroundings of the open field they found themselves uneasily occupying. Batman grunted in affirmation, eyeing the tree line. Every hero except the magical ones were on look out, preparing themselves for one more battle against the two demons that were trying to take Raven and force her into becoming a portal.

“Hey guys, we might want to hurrythisupbecausethey’re kind of close!” Impulse slammed into the room.

“Done.” Zatanna got up, motioning for everyone to step back. In Superman’s case, he floated back.

“Too bad you won’t get to use it,” a voice drawled, dripping with malice and the screams of a thousand souls.

“Come now, little sister. Why fight fate? Be grateful father has deigned to spare you. If not for your dirty blood being useful, you would be dead, little sister. Give up, before our patience runs out alongside the lives of your little pets.” Another, mocking, voice gleefully rumbled.

Raven would rather gouge out her own heart than to claim these two as any type of family.

“You won’t touch them.” Raven snarled, powers rising even as the marks on her body burned a painful red.

“Buy us some time!”

With that, the group of beaten and battered heroes rose to clash against just two demons, for a chance to save their world.

——

The Circle crackled. Danny felt a tug on his core. He followed the thread of the summoning. Oh. It was his haunt. Earth 135. Hm. It tasted of blood. Desperation? A hint of anticipation. Oh, an overload of fear. Could use some more hope, but Danny understood that it was rather hard to season these kinds of summonings with hope.

“Stop.” Danny commanded, straightening in his chair.

“Sire, we have more-”

“There is an issue with my haunt,” with that, he followed the summons.

——

“Ugh,” was the first thing everybody on the frozen battlefield heard. The demons had smacked away many of the heroes, but they all turned as one when the circle lit up a bright green. “Why do you people always use blood? I’m dead, I don’t need any more iron!”

A boy

Raven’s eldest brother let out a hideous rumble. “You fools tried to summon the king, and you got a dead boy. And now, you’ve doomed another.”

Constantine looked resigned, and regretful. “I am so, so sorry,” he whispered. It was just a kid. John might be a lot of things, but even he found summoning dead kids for demons to devour was just a step too far. “Shite, we got the wrong fucking-”

“Hey, man, that’s rude,” the boy snapped back, waving John off.

“Brother, kill the whelp.”

“I vote on not killing the whelp. Not killing at all, really,” the boy stepped out of the massive blood circle, wrinkling his nose at the drying stains.

“This is not one of your pesky democracies, fool.”

In response, the demons lunged at him, ignoring the screams of the surrounding heroes as they shoved their human arms through the boy’s stomach.

“So,” the boy continues, “I heard your dad was after my haunt?”

“Your haunt, whelp? This earth shall be his! And through him, ours!” Raven slammed against the demons with her power, shadows enlarging and tossing them away from the unharmed… ghost boy?

“Is it?”

——

Wow, these demons are so rude. Normally, it’d be a breath of fresh air compared to the stuffy halls of his throne room. But since they’re attacking his haunt…

“Thanks. You’re… Raven, right?”

Raven nodded, arms outstretched in concentration as she held her brothers back.

“You have to go. We’re- we’re sorry you got pulled into this, but it’s not safe here.”

“Eh. It’s cool. You don’t have to do that anymore, by the way.” Danny stepped forward once more, green skin shifting and gliding as everything about him sharpened. He flew at the demons piloting the human shells, catching them around the necks and dragging the demons out of their stolen bodies. The threw them even further away as he floated in the air, a beacon of green and white. Raven thought it looked like hope.

“My name is Phantom, the High King of the Infinite Realms,” let it be known that Danny always had an eye for dramatic entrances. He shifted into something more off, more eldritch, more kingly. The crown flared to life above his head. “You have invaded my haunt. You have challenged me. What do you plead?”

“You’re not-” they said.

“Wrong answer,” Danny flew at them once more, body contorting into something undeniably terrorizing, his maw unhinging and crunching down on the demons with a sound that made the present heroes cringe.

“Ugh,” Danny grunted, turning back and floating peacefully to the group of heroes- Tucker and Sam would be so stoked he met Wonder Woman and Batman!- and chewed rapidly. He shifted back into his normal form. “Eating demons always leaves me with indigestion. And their bones get everywhere up in my teeth!” Danny pulled out a giant femur looking bone from his mouth, despite it not logically fitting in there.

“Right. No eating demons, solid life advice.” Red Robin said.

“Right? So, you’re Raven! It’s nice to meet you! Think you can summon your dear ol’ dad for me?”

“But we summoned you to stop Trigon, not help him come here.” Superman said, frowning.

“One! That summoning circle is wack. Those things you piled up as offerings? Mid. Also, if you thought you could control me with those terribly written spells, you’re dead wrong. And yes, I am making puns about death.” Danny jabs an aggressive finger towards the shabby circle.

“Have you considered that maybe not every being that can be summoned wants a shit ton of useless blood? Like what if I wanted food? And two, how am I supposed to beat up Trigon if he’s still stuck in the prison realm?”

“I have a cup of coffee,” Nightwing offered. “Kid Flash could probably get you food, right?”

“Yep, surethinganythingyouwantyourMajesty.”

“You wouldn’t catch me alive accepting food from a speedster. You people fuck up the timelines so much,” Danny grumbled, crunching on the last of Raven’s brothers. Raven thought she should probably sit down.

“But you’re dead.” Batman said, something about his voice catching the sharp attention of his protégés who all started making cutting motions at him.

“Fair,” Danny pointed at him, grinning. “I’ll take two pizza and Nightwing’s coffee as payment for taking care of your little demon overlord problem. Raven, summon your dad.”

——

Didn’t much like the characterization of this piece but it’s been in my drafts for a while and I needed it out

[wilwheaton]

The GOP wonders why young people (and others) don't want to vote for them. Some wise scribe assembled this list.

1.) Your Reagan-era “trickle-down economics” strategy of tax breaks for billionaires that you continue to employ to this day has widened the gap between rich and poor so much that most of them will never be able to own a home, much less earn a living wage.

2.) You refuse to increase the federal minimum wage, which is still $7.25 an hour (since 2009). Even if it had just kept up with inflation, it would be $27 now. You’re forcing people of all ages but especially young people to work multiple jobs just to afford basic necessities.

3.) You fundamentally oppose and want to kill democracy; have done everything in your power to restrict access to the ballot box, particularly in areas with demographics that tend to vote Democratic (like young people and POC). You staged a fucking coup the last time you lost.

4.) You have abused your disproportionate senate control over the last three decades to pack the courts with religious extremists and idealogues, including SCOTUS—which has rolled back rights for women in ways that do nothing but kill more women and children and expand poverty.

5.) You refuse to enact common sense gun control laws to curb mass shootings like universal background checks and banning assault weapons; subjecting their entire generation to school shootings and drills that are traumatizing in and of themselves. You are owned by the NRA.

6.) You are unequivocally against combatting climate change to the extent that it’s as if you’ve made it your personal mission to ensure they inherit a planet that is beyond the point of no return in terms of remaining habitable for the human race beyond the next few generations.

7.) You oppose all programs that provide assistance to those who need it most. Your governors refused to expand Medicaid even during A PANDEMIC. You are against free school lunches, despite it being the only meal that millions of children can count on to actually receive each day

8.) You are banning books, defunding libraries, barring subject matter, and whitewashing history even more in a fascistic attempt to keep them ignorant of the systemic racism that this nation was literally founded upon and continues to this day in every action your party takes.

9.) You oppose universal healthcare and are still trying to repeal the ACA and rip healthcare from tens of millions of Americans and replace it with nothing. You are against lowering the cost of insulin and prescription drugs that millions need simply to LIVE/FUNCTION in society.

10.) You embrace white nationalists, Neo-Nazis, and other groups that are defined by their intractable racism, xenophobia, bigotry, and intolerance. You conspired with these groups on January 6th to try to overthrow the U.S. government via domestic terrorism that KILLED PEOPLE.

11.) You oppose every bill aimed at making life better for our nation’s youth; from education to extracurricular and financial/nutritional assistance programs. You say you want to “protect the children” while you elect/nominate pedophiles and attack trans youth and drag queens.

12.) You pretend to be offended by “anti-semitism” while literally supporting, electing, and speaking at events organized by Nazis. You pretend to hate “cancel culture” despite the fact that you invented it and it’s basically all you do.

13.) Every word you utter is a lie. You are the party of treason, hypocrisy, crime, and authoritarianism. You want to entrench rule by your aging minority because you know that you have nothing to offer young voters and they will never support you for all these reasons and more.

14.) You’re so hostile to even the notion of helping us overcome the mountain of debt that millions of us are forced to take on just to pay for our post K-12 education that you are suing to try to prevent a small fraction of us from getting even $10,000 in loan forgiveness.

15.) You opened the floodgates of money into politics via Citizens United; allowing our entire system of government to become a cesspool of corruption, crime, and greed. You are supposed to represent the American people whose taxes pay your salary but instead cater to rich donors.

16.) You respond to elected representatives standing in solidarity with their constituents to protest the ONGOING SLAUGHTER of children in schools via shootings by EXPELLING THEM FROM OFFICE & respond to your lack of popularity among young people by trying to raise the voting age.

17.) You impeach Democratic presidents over lying about a BJ but refuse to impeach (then vote twice to acquit) a guy whose entire “administration” was an international crime syndicate being run out of the WH who incited an insurrection to have you killed.

18.) You steal Supreme Court seats from democrats to prevent the only black POTUS we’ve ever had from appointing one and invent fake precedents that you later ignore all to take fundamental rights from Americans; and even your “legitimate” appointments consist of people like THIS (sub-thread refuting CJ Roberts criticisms of people attacking SCOTUS' legitimacy).

19.) You support mass incarceration even for innocuous offenses or execution by cop for POC while doing nothing but protect rich white criminals who engage in such things as tax fraud, money laundering, sex trafficking, rape/sexual assault, falsifying business records, etc.

20.) You are the reason we can’t pass:—Universal background checks—An assault weapons ban—The ‘For the People/Freedom to vote’ Act or John Lewis Voting Rights Act—The ERA & Equality Act—The Climate Action Now Act—The (Stopping) Violence Against Women Act—SCOTUS expansion.

21.) You do not seek office to govern, represent, or serve the American people. You seek power solely for its own sake so you can impose your narrow-minded puritanical will on others at the expense of their most fundamental rights and freedoms like voting and bodily autonomy.

22.) Ok, last one. You are trying to eliminate social security and Medicare that tens of millions of our parents rely on and paid into their entire lives. And you did everything to maximize preventable deaths from COVID leaving millions of us in mourning.

Source: https://imgur.com/gallery/e8DBZLH

[prezaki]

Bucchigiri?! and 'being Honki' - a Show about Identity and Human Connection

With Hiroko Utsumi's newest work as a director now completed, I want to take a moment to discuss the thematic through-lines of Bucchigiri?! and explain why I think that the story was very coherent even if it first seemed erratic.

At the heart of the series is the concept of the Honki Person(TM) - and that's where the confusion starts. Leaving the word 'Honki' in Japanese for the subs suggests a lore-heavy emphasis on some kind of supernatural mechanic in-story. It caused many viewers expected a well-defined shounen-typical power system - but that isn't what Honki is nor what it was ever meant to be.

"Honki" is the Japanese word 本気, which means Seriousness, Earnestness (or doing something 'in earnest, for real' if used as an adverb). 'Honki People' literally just means 'Earnest People'

And thus "Honki" is doing double duty as a red herring Lore Concept and a regular word - an intentional ambiguity that is inevitably lost by translation.

In the show, the characters do initially think of the 'Honki Person' as a literal thing to become (a supernaturally powerful master martial artist) rather than as a state of being in which one is earnest - but the thing is that the narrative proves them wrong.

But before we get to that, we need to dig a little bit deeper into what a Honki Person is thought to be in-universe:

"Historically", those thought of as Honki were fighters who participated in conflicts 300 years ago - a bit after the end of the Sengoku Period, the continuously warring states that had defined Japan for two centuries. With the advent of the rigidly structured Edo Period, honorable fighters with no clear systemic alliance were no longer needed and the aspiring Honki People(TM) were mercilessly gunned down. This feels out of left field for an anime like Bucchigiri?! to focus on, so I propose a second more allegorical layer to impose over the literal pseudo-historical read.

Even beyond the historical fact that gun imports changed warfare, the usage of guns here is deliberate to represent something. Guns are associated with authorities, and contrasted against the Honki People(TM) shunning weapons and fighting only with their own bodies.

To be Honki(TM) means to be true to yourself and secure in your own identity - this is something that is a hindrance to a social system that relies on rules and groupthink to sustain itself. Supporting this assumption, the theme of 'death' by weapon/authority is mirrored in the show several times:

On the one hand, we have the NG Boys, a gang set apart from the other gangs in the story by their even more rigid hierarchical structure and their willingness to use weaponry. They all follow one leader, have one uniform look, and appear basically brainwashed into blind obedience.

The association of weapons=structure and authority is made pretty clearly through that alone, but is also enhanced by all the members of the NG Boys living under constant threat of being fed to the real authorities of society: the police. Fear keeps everyone in line.

And further, the idea of society as an oppressive force (especially to the lower class) is put into direct focus through Mitsukuni and Matakara. Poverty is brought up briefly before through Senya (our main Honki Person(TM) was a nameless orphan after all) and brought back with the Asamine brothers:

Mitsukuni wishes to escape his social status in order to offer a better life to his brother - and he's forcibly held down by the oppressive system around him.

The cop that causes Mitsukuni to go to jail is equivalent to the guns that shot Senya and Ichiya.

(Utsumi has explored this underlying socially critical current before. Not for nothing, her previous series SK8 opens with the memorable bridge of the title song reading: "before society can kill us".)

But Bucchigiri?! isn't about overthrowing the system. It's about the individual. Understanding the context about authority just helps setting the real theme into focus.

And that theme is to hold on steadfast to who you are and allow yourself to connect with others, even in various kinds of adversity.

After this long, long preamble, let's get to the actual main characters!!

Matakara and Arajin are people who are ruled by fear and who spend 11 episodes running from others and themselves in two very different ways.

Arajin is pretty hated as a protagonist, which amuses me a little, because nobody hates Arajin more than Arajin hates Arajin.

His past cowardice in failing to protect Matakara has clearly shown him that he is a pathetic person and he's spent his whole life since then trying to avoid being reminded of this. He avoids Matakara, the strongest reminder of his failure, but further than that he avoids connection with anybody that he could see as a peer.

Arajin is solely focused on finding love and romance because he feels inherently inferior to every person he would be invited to contrast himself against. He avoids other guys because he hates himself. He shuns connection and pursues only people (girls) he views as different enough to not invite any comparison.

Matakara meanwhile has major abandonment issues - he's lost his parents, Arajin, and his brother. Everyone important to him keeps vanishing from his life and in order to keep himself from feeling powerless about this he decides to blame himself.

If it's his own fault that people leave him (because he's weak) then there is something in his power that he can do in order to avoid being hurt again (becoming stronger). In order to maintain this state of motivational self-hatred, he puts others on a pedestal.

Matakara needs Arajin to be strong, powerful, honest and admirable... because that is the image he holds himself up by. In Mitsukuni and Arajin, Matakara creates god-like icons to chase after. And by doing so, he also shuns genuine connection.

Being confronted with Arajin as a flawed person gives Matakara a breakdown because it makes it harder to run from his own loneliness by focusing on chasing after Arajin.

Arajin is always running, but Matakara is always chasing... because he can't stand to look behind and face his monster.

In a lot of ways, Arajin and Matakara can't connect because they care about each other. Arajin can't stand what he allowed to happen to Matakara because he cared about Matakara. Matakara clings to Arajin because he loves him.

This theme of love hindering connection is again mirrored in two other characters - Senya and Ichiya, of course.

Ichiya, unwilling to confront his own terminal illness head-on, wishes to avoid it by goading Senya into killing him. By doing this, he can run from his own weakness and put Senya on a pedestal instead.

Meanwhile Senya is attached to their connection as-is and wishes to maintain this master-disciple dynamic forever - going so far as to deny his own strength in order to avoid acknowledging their changing dynamic.

Both of them are denying something about themselves.

It is their self-denial that makes their communication and thus connection break down.

Ichiya can't make Senya go Honki(TM) (which should have definitely been translated as an adverb here, e.g. 'failing to make him get serious') because he is also not HONEST with him or himself.

In the finale, Senya finally admits his motivations (his illness, his perceived weakness) and he is rewarded with the honest fight he'd been craving. They both stopped running.

This theme becomes even clearer through the two leads, of course, but even earlier than that it exists in Mahoro.

Mahoro's scene in episode 6 is the thematic linchpin that carried the whole show on its shoulders. Through Mahoro, everyone in the cast gets their first glimpse at true unrelenting Honki(tm) - and it is something totally unrelated to fighting prowess.

Mahoro is physically powerless against Akutaro, but she won't run. She has a heart that won't run away, the key quality of the Honki Person(TM), because she has an unshakable sense of self-identity.

It would be easy to dismiss her cutesy design as a contrivance to give Arajin a conventional-looking love interest despite going to Delinquent Academy - but it also says something about HER. Mahoro marches to the beat of her own drum. She does not care that she does not fit in, she does not mind being alone - she'll stick right to her own aesthetic and priorities.

So it's easy for her to call out Akutaro - and in doing so, call out the whole cast along with him:

You're empty. You are nothing but a shell, shaped by how you relate to those around you. You have nothing to offer.

And how are you supposed to connect with anybody, when you don't even know who you are?

(Notably, Mahoro is also a character who refuses to compromise on her self even for love - she knows she does not appeal to Marito, but she's not changing herself to be more his type. Her Honki does not budge, even for him.)

And lest you think I am exaggerating by connecting the theme of identity and emptiness back to all of the cast instead of just Akutaro: it does come back with Matakara.

Matakara can't believe anybody would know him and care for him, because he doesn't know himself.

For Matakara, facing himself means acknowledging his fear of abandonment rather than externalizing it as a hallucination of a literal monster.

But facing yourself doesn't just mean facing your demons, it also means facing your own positive qualities. And that is Arajin's story.

Even as Arajin turned into a scummy, evasive and selfish guy, there is a part of him that has a throughline to who he always was. He's someone who can get invested in others with reckless abandon.

Whether as a child with Matakara, or in the present with Mahoro... Arajin wants to connect.

Bucchigiri?! is a show full of innuendo and sexual gags. Merging with a genie gets equated to sex, fighting gets equated to sex... and of course this is for laughs, but it's also thematic.

Because all these things are about connection. About facing someone else with your whole self.

On a literal level, yes, Arajin absolutely wants to get laid. This is his sincere desire, and good for him.

But at the same time, his battle cry of 'I want to lose my virginity!' is him crying out for a real connection, even at a time when he shunned the idea thereof.

In the end, being a Honki Person(TM) has nothing to do with fighting. Fighting is the way a lot of the rough and tumble guys on the show like to connect, but it is not the only way to do so and not the only way to be Honki(TM).

Arajin never learns to love brawling - he did it out of circumstance and necessity, but it's not his hobby. He does not need to discover some hidden love of fighting, because this show fundamentally isn't about how 'fighting is inherently good' or anything.

It's a show about how even when you hate yourself and think you're as low as it can get, acknowledging your own self in full is the first step to finding a real bond with somebody else.

It just also happens to feature a bunch of delinquents who love to punch a lot.

[dw-writes]

Angelic Rip Off - Hazbin Hotel

AN: Okay, so, this is just like....a testing concept I guess? something that came to mind after talking over theories and such with @lpwrites about what's going on, and i thought this would be a fun reader to explore! i dunno if it's gonna be a series, but at least its something fun to maybe add to. this part here i guess serves as the...set up?? if you're curious about anything that happens in it, lemme know and I'll expand - i just threw this together at midnight so...yeah :D lemme know what you think Contains my own headcanons Warnings: Swearing, Violence, Spoilers

A million thoughts went through your head when you spotted Lilith being escorted into Heaven.

The first was of Lucifer. Most of them were of Lucifer, if you were being honest with yourself. How he wasn’t with her, which meant he was alone, which meant something went really fucking wrong if she was in Heaven on her own. Though not alone, which as your next though as you trailed after her and the angels that escorted her – fucking Adam was there, chattering away about something you couldn’t hear from the distance.

That made it double bad.

You were so caught up in your thoughts about what Lilith being in Heaven meant that you didn’t realize you were being too loud. Lute whipped around, glaring as she barred your way from continuing forward.

You stopped short. “Move,” you demanded.

“No.”

“I think you forget your place, which isn’t in front of me, so fucking move.”

“How about you eat shit and stop fucking following us.”

“Excuse me?”

Adam appeared behind her like a cursed shadow, the grin of his mask far more disturbing than it should’ve been. “Is there a problem here?” he asked, gripping Lute’s shoulders to move her. He shifted as he did, giving you a glimpse of Lilith entering an elevator far down the road, with Sera at her shoulder.

The angel’s eyes widened as her gaze locked with yours before the doors slid shut.

Lute stepped to one side of you. Adam, the other.

The silence that pressed in from the street finally told you how you saw something you shouldn’t have been able to see. You exhaled slowly, closing your eyes.

The days following were a blur – it didn’t matter that you’d spun the cosmos into existence, that you’d had an impeccable record for thousands of years, or that you didn’t actually fucking do anything – you were dragged in front of the angelic council with claims of rebellion. Adam and Lute provided testimony that you’d been conspiring to overthrow the seraphim and install yourself in their place, that your age and knowledge of the universe gave you more right to head it than anyone else.

Sera looked you dead in the eye as she found you guilty and dropped you from Heaven.

You landed in the immaculate front yard of one of the Goetia. It took months for him to help you heal correctly – your wings were a disaster for longer than that, all six of them shattered from the fall – but Stolas was happy to assist you, especially when your hand in creating something he loved about the world came to light.

He was less than thrilled when you told him that you needed an audience with Lucifer once you were fully healed almost a year after you crashed.

“Um, no,” he said, turning away from you, releasing the wing he’d been helping you to stretch.

You fluttered the appendage as it settled against your back with the other five, frowning at his statement. “Why not?” you asked. You stood. “You’re a prince of Hell. You’re more than qualified to ask for an audience – it’s practically standard right? You have meetings all the time.”

“Well, yes, of course we do, it’s required to ensure Hell runs smoothly,” he said as he turned back to you. You arched an eyebrow. “As smoothly as it can,” he corrected.

“So, what’s the problem?” you demanded, “I need to speak to him, and I have no foothold here, I have no power. You can sponsor me!”

“I can,” he agreed. He rubbed his claws together, glancing over his shoulder as he quickly waved them at you – keep your voice down.

You crossed your arms, folding into yourself as you perched on the edge of the bed. You were a secret to his wife – one he shared with his very curious daughter. He’d been terrified the day Octavia had stumbled upon you stashed away in one of the many rooms of the mansion, but you’d charmed her with your stories of the stars and galaxies that existed beyond Hell, and his worry had faded. “Why won’t you?” you whispered.

“When’s the last time an angel fell from Heaven, hm?” he asked as he gently sat next to you.

You pressed your wings tighter to your back. “That’s the whole point – that’s why I need to speak with him,” you murmured. You look up at your friend, whose wide red eyes stare at you with obvious concern. “Please, Stolas. I wouldn’t be asking for such a large favor if it wasn’t important.”

He rubbed his claws together again. “If you leave, you won’t be able to come back here,” he sighed. He leaned against his knees with a guilty slump to his shoulders. “It’s far too dangerous to sneak you in a second time,” he explained.

“I know,” you replied, “I wouldn’t want you to trouble yourself again for me. You’ve done far too much as it is.”

He smiled. “You’re my friend, my dear. I’d move stars for you, if I could.”

“I’d move them for you again,” you replied with a smile.

“You’ll visit, though?” he asked after a long moment of silence, “If all goes well.”

“Well, I can’t really leave Hell, Stolas,” you said, “And you’re my friend. Of course I’ll visit you.”

His feathers fluffed, and he smiled.

He didn’t hesitate in making the meeting after that. He made sure that it sounded urgent, said, “It cannot wait, sir, the sooner that we can meet, the better.”

You vaguely heard the reply of, “I have time this afternoon.”

Stolas escorted you, making sure that you would be alright once you were done, ensured that you knew multiple places that you could stay if Lucifer didn’t open his doors to you.

He hugged you before you entered the gates of Lucifer’s palace. You returned it fiercely, and promised to call him before the day was done. He passed you off to an imp waiting nearby, insisting that you were attending the meeting in his place, and disappeared.

You were led inside without a word.

The imp scurried off once you were led into the parlor, leaving you to look around the room unsupervised. There were large portraits with a very familiar Lucifer and equally familiar Lilith, and a young woman you didn’t recognize. There were plenty of apple motifs around the room, balancing out the wallpaper covered in patterns of long trees. It was a lovely parlor, and you wondered how much of it was Lucifer’s decorating or Lilith’s.

Though, if she had left him in Hell, you weren’t sure you cared too much about her decorating choices.

“Prince Stolas,” came a bored but familiar drawl, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

You turned to the door that the imp had disappeared through. He hadn’t changed. He looked a bit taller than when you’d last seen him, though he had been dragged through the very empty streets of heaven at that time. He was dressed sharper, but didn’t wear a smile until he finally looked up from the floor to meet your gaze.

Then he froze.

Lucifer didn’t know what to say when he saw you in his palace. There was supposed to be a gangly owl Goetia standing in his parlor, not an angel, and especially not one he’d been ashamed to say he missed over the last ten thousand years. He hadn’t seen you since the day before his fall. You’d both watched the stars you had worked so hard to make move across the sky as you talked about what you both hoped the world would be, and he told you about Lilith, and Eve, and the Garden, and joked about Adam.

“I know,” he remembered you saying, “You told me when it happened, Luci.”

“Well, you can’t blame a guy for being excited!” he’d replied. He’d sighed, leaned into your shoulder, and wistfully told you how beautiful she was. And you had told him how happy you were for him.

No, he thought as he sluggishly moved forward, eyes scanning over your face. No, the last time he’d see you was when you’d been running after him while the angels had dragged him before the council.

He whispered your name as he got closer, glancing at the door behind you, then laughed nervously. “Is this a joke?” He moved around you, staying close to the wall of the parlor as he inched towards the door. “Lil?” he laughed again, “You playin’ a prank? You come home and bring me an old friend?”

“Luci,” you whispered.

“No, no, no,” he said, shaking the apple atop his cane at you. “You’re not supposed to be here!” he trills, turning back to you, “You’re supposed to be in Heaven! You’re supposed to be there—”

“Where Lilith is?” you cut in.

He audibly swallowed.

You moved towards him, stopping short when he backed up against the wall. “They kicked me out, Luci,” you said with a sigh, “About a year ago, I saw Lilith up there, and I questioned it, and they put me in front of the council and kicked me out.”

Lucifer all but lunged towards you, dropping his cane as he gripped your arms. “You saw her? Is she alright? Did they hurt her?”

You squeezed his arms with a frown. “No, she was fine. Sera was escorting her somewhere, what?” your frown deepened, “Why was she there in the first place, Luci? What happened?”

His grip on your arms tightened for a moment. Turning, he guided you towards a couch set near the fireplace in the parlor. He moved for you to sit, then fell into the spot next to you.

“Heaven asked for a meeting,” he sighed, pulling his hat from his head, “Said that they were worried that, with our growing number of Sinners, we would start a rebellion.”

“What?” you asked. You shook your head. “That’s never come up. Who…”

“Sera,” he said, slumping, “And Adam, of course, can’t keep his nose out of people’s business.” He fiddled with the snake on the edge of his hat. It slithered, it’s head resting on his hand. “They wanted to come down and do a mass extermination. Wipe out,” he paused, his breath hitching in his throat, “Wipe out everyone. From the imps to the sins.”

“That would change the face of Earth,” you said, shaking your head, stuttering over your worlds, “That would change everything.”

“We know,” he whispered. He scrubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “We made a deal. All of the hellborn would be safe from the extermination,” he said. He smiled, weakly, looking up at you, “We have a child, you know. A girl. Her name’s Charlie, and she’s amazing.”

You blinked slowly. Your heart twisted in your throat at the news, realizing why the girl in the portraits looked so familiar, but you smiled and whispered, “You’ll tell me all about her, I’m sure,” followed by, “She went in exchange.”

“Lilith did, yeah,” he replied, “Said that we couldn’t just include Charlie in the deal, we had to include everyone. She’s attached to them all, like they’re her own children, too.”

You sat back, sliding your hands over your face as you sighed, “Because she’s the mother of all demons.”

“Exactly,” he groaned. He flopped back next to you, allowing the snake to crawl over his fingers. “So, she’s there. Collateral or…a hostage, I dunno. She offered herself up. Not that there was a choice, there was no fucking way they were letting me back in under any circumstances.” He slumped. “I’m glad you’re here, though,” he said with a small smile, “I’ve missed you, starlight.”

You leaned against his shoulder. “I’ve missed you, too, sunshine,” you whispered. You held your hand out for the golden snake to investigate. “I’m here now, you know. I’ll help you however I can.”

“Thank you,” he replied. You both watch the snake wrap around your wrists in lazy circles. “I’ve made, like, a shit ton of rubber ducks ever since Lilith left. You wanna see them?” he suddenly said, breaking the comfortable silence.

“Is this because you can’t see the ducks on Earth?” you asked with a slow smile.

“Obviously. I worked so hard on them, I’m fucking furious that I can’t see them," he scoffed, shifting, a large pout on his face, "And there’s no ducks here, I can’t get them to thrive, it’s annoying.”

You snorted. Gently pulling your hand free from the snake, you patted Lucifer’s knee and stood. “Show me your ducks,” you stated, “And tell me all about Charlie.”

[hail-brod]

Smile, Smile. 2

Gwen Stacy x FReader

Previous chapter: Part 1 || Masterlist

Gwen promised to herself that she would be sweeping you off your feet with elation the moment she sees you again. Well, a year of her disappearing into dimensions didn't sit quite well for the both of you. Or not.

Gwen was finally back home, in her own universe and this time she makes sure that she didn’t end up in a different one. A repeat of what happened to Miles the first time was disastrous as it is.

One call for her father was all it took before she was met by his paused form from the kitchen and not like before, he looked to be doing fine. For a second Gwen thought she did actually end up in a different universe but as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, her shoulders sagged in relief.

“Welcome back.”

She didn’t waste a second to run up to his arms for a fairly long embrace.

Everything up to now was tough. Her father was one of the many important things in her life and she almost tried to abandon that warmth after her best friend’s death. It feels as though, she had lost hope on the people that was close to her but deep down inside, there was only one thing she wanted- and that was for them to understand her.

She was no longer a stray spider, webbing her way into one universe after another. This is where she belonged and she’ll cherish her time wisely because there is only one sole universe that she can call home. And she has one purpose that she intends to do. One of the many reasons that made her long to go back. That have always been nagging her mind ever since she was pushed in the light of things about your variants.

Your variants. Your other selves.

In some other dimension, you were dead. In some, you were alive and well. And in some, you were hopelessly trying to live until it does eventually start to swallow you whole.

You hid so many things with that same, damn. fucking. smile.

Gwen had so many questions about why. Why were you hurting? Why were you suffering? She wanted to know and it proved to be hard to find herself meddle about your life’s experiences. With Lyla’s help in gathering data about you, she came to understand some more things. You always know how to mend that perfect smile, easy to fool anyone with how optimistic it looks, until one certain thing happens that would crack your display as it will leave room for the following things that was meant to always happen to you. It was a part of your existence, and what lies behind your façade is your struggle to look at the brighter side of things.

And one major event that always happen is when you lose your one and only anchor in life, your older sibling.

Death would always play a big part on things and she hates it. Like a phase in life that no one can escape, but that’s life trying to overthrow the joys of living. Getting through it is never easy but there are always times that will make way for a new start. She believes that. There will always be someone that’ll come to wipe the tears away and someone that’ll crumble the walls down.

And Gwen doesn’t give a shit if she wasn’t fated to be by your side. She damn well knows what she wants and she won’t resist anymore, because you were her anchor when she felt like tearing the world apart.

Even her little crush on you seemed to bloom into something more. If she cared so much about you before—that that was clear enough when her mind was always finding ways to think of you—then now, it seems like she values nothing else but making your smile truer than you want it to be. She’ll be a friend to you even if she harboured feelings to you that you might not accept. She’ll be someone you can rely on whenever you’re at your lowest.

She’ll be the one to see the widest smiles that you can show.

She knows she’d been only speculating from different variants of you and she might be wrong in assuming your situation, but that doesn’t mean she won’t try to make things better. She has knowledge that she can put to use and she’s not about to waste a second in pondering over it. Way before knowing anything, you were not just someone she admired, you were also her friend. There’s no way something like canon can stop her. She learned that the hard way.

But there is one problem she has to face.

She has been away for a year

How would you feel about her suddenly appearing out of nowhere and being all buddy-buddy with you? She’d never really warn you about going away for quite a long time and she feels like a jerk for not doing so. How were you doing? Did you already forgot about her? Do you still consider as a friend? How funny is that when all this time she has been thinking about you throughout different dimensions then comes back to find out that you might’ve already been out of her reach.

It unnerves her, making her stomach churn.

She just hopes that isn’t the case.

But then, she almost paled when she discovered you haven’t been going to classes for the past few days. Her anxiety boiled within her like an incoming eruption of regret, and despair was about to fill her heart. She didn’t want to believe anything her mind whispers to her nor the uncanny way they mocked her for failing to be by your side.

“Gwen?” Then you called.

 

She can only frown at the voice. It was so familiar she immediately turned to look behind her. And you were standing there, alive and….well.

Were you?

But she could only freeze on the spot while she took in your sudden appearance (considering she was supposed to be the sudden one), a moment spent to readjust her thinking process that, you were there. Every inkling feeling of dread was washed down the drain once she completely realized that she hasn’t lost you. She wasn’t too late. Your shocked look was what she saw first- but that faded away when Gwen saw how your shoulders tensed down at the sight of her.

Then you smiled.

That same damn smile. Still blinding and enthralling. But she couldn’t help but doubt the honesty in your expression. Because she knows. Then again, she didn’t want to assume.

“You remember me.” Her stiff shoulders relaxed, chuckling lightly. “I thought you’ve already forgotten about me after a year.”

“What are you saying?” You frown, a hint of disbelief in your tone. “I may not have the best memory but you have left quite the impression on me, Gwen Stacy.”

Then you chuckle back before asking. “How…How have you been?”

Gwen stares at you. You were…lighthearted. From this simple reunion with you, it was hard not to think about how you actually feel but then, you hit her with the impression of an easygoing girl who has been nothing but peachy.

Scratch that. If she’s going to keep being a worrywart, that’s surely only going to make you feel obligated. She had one purpose and that is to be a close friend to you that you can lean on anytime.

“I’m quite fine actually.” She replies with a gentle smile. “Look, [Y/N], sorry about disappearing on you. I don’t want to give you excuses but- I just don’t want you to think that I left without thinking about you.” Gwen breathes out.

You find yourself speechless at her words before blinking. “Oh- Wha- H-Hey, no big deal. It’s fine really. I understand where you’re going with that and I’m not mad about it.” You let out a nervous laugh.

Gwen only gives you a pointed glance, observing your slight frantic form, still smiling at her genuinely that she can’t help but stare longer. No matter how many times she told herself that you were an angel, she still can’t wrap it around her head how forgiving you can be. Though, she won’t just let herself get away from a simple forgiveness just because you were too nice. She wants you to know how much she regrets leaving you for a year and she’s not backing down.

Smiling, she retorts. “Well, whether you like it or not, I’m going to annoy you every single day from now on. I’m back now and you’re the only one that I can really think of in this entire school so….beware.”

Giggling, Gwen locks her arm with yours as you could only look up to her with round eyes and gaping lips. Your visible shock wasn’t all that exaggerated but it was enough for Gwen to see the transition when you eventually cracked up a small laugh out of your lips.

Gwen’s heart swelled.

“I think… I don’t have a problem with that.” You commented, bringing out a modest smile. Though, she surely didn’t miss the way your cheeks flushed. Then you look at her with something that seemed so soft than your usual gaze. “Welcome back, Gwen.”

As simple as those words coming from your lips, it was enough to make her heart pound for you more. But she contains it- she tries.

“Only for you, [Y/N].” She says without hesitating.

Was that too much? Did she sounded like she was flirting?

Her thoughts wanted to spiral out of control but by that time, it was unavoidable to feel the rising embarrassment up her cheeks and one last resort she could only think of was drag you deeper in the halls of your school. She likes to think that she handled that quite smoothly but she knows she faltered and flinched at how she acted out.

Awkward, maybe.

But fortunately, when Gwen sneakily glanced at you- she pretended she didn’t just see how you meekly shifted your gaze away from her as your face burned darker in red.

Oh.

She can feel her pride rising up.

Even if that gives her some sort of hope for a higher relationship with you, she’s going to set that aside…for now. After all, being friends with you has always been one of the many things she came to cherish.

.

You liked Gwen.

She was…a great friend. She was someone you never thought would be willing to stick by your side; longer than you’d expect. You saw her as someone that’s so easygoing and a good-hearted person. But on the contrary, some of the people you know say the opposite views about her.

Gwen Stacy.

The girl that you only saw in the corridors of your school and a schoolmate that you never really paid much attention to. She was just someone that you knew from afar, her name mentioned here and there from a few of your other friends, the common and casual way of hearing about someone. You never judged her based on the whispers and gossips that the other students would mumble about because you simply didn’t want to be that kind of person who adheres to baseless claims of people they clearly didn’t knew anything about. So when you got to meet her personally, you didn’t threw her under the bus.

You didn’t really care much if your judgments were to be proven wrong but the fact that Gwen herself was the one to approach you was enough for you to accept her friendship.

But at the end, you thought it was only going to be a one-time friendly interaction that will eventually fade after a few weeks. You knew people didn’t found you interesting enough to stick by and it was always the case with everyone you knew.

You never had deep connections with others and you weren’t aware you could actually do. People will always leave no matter what the stakes are and you’ve come to accept that as the norm.

But you were wrong.

Gwen proved you wrong. For as much as many times you see each other at school, hallways, library or even bathroom—she never failed to give you attention and acknowledge your presence as if you were the most interest thing she had ever seen that day. Her smiles greet you with so much elation that you never really came to acknowledge how different she makes you feel. How gentle she taps unto the corners of your mind and that in a single moment, you’ve considered her as a friend that you never had.

In no time, you became fond of her.

Though, neither of you tapped into closer bonds. Or more like, you feel that Gwen was holding herself back. And that pinched something inside your heart.

But the more the days went by with her distancing herself from you, the more you feel like- that was it. You really thought you could have the one single thing you have always wanted. That one belonging feeling you’ve always wanted to experience with a peer that can understand and share whatever feelings or sentiments you genuinely want to show. A newborn fear enraged itself inside you and it felt like...you were being dragged down deeper in the hells of your mind.

Then…

You never saw Gwen again.

You never thought you were capable of feeling a different kind of ache in your heart after that, leaving a crack that you didn’t know would fare far worse in the future.

At least, supposedly.

Because when you recognized her back facing you, blonde hair with an undercut on the side, your heart almost leaped out of your chest.

That day…...you genuinely smiled.

Previous chapter: Part 1 || Masterlist

Ko-fi?

[the-ninjago-historian]

Ninjago: Into The Deep (Master Post, Summary, and Q and A!)

Hello everyone! Thanks for stopping by! If you've been on my blog, you probably know about this upcoming project. But for those of you who don't, what is Ninjago: Into The Deep? I'll tell you! Ninjago: Into The Deep is a fully fleshed out Ninjago fan season inspired by legendary fantasy works such as Narnia, Lord of The Rings, and even classic Disney films and more modern adventure stories like Avatar: The Last Air Bender. Here's the summary!

Things are looking up for the Ninja since their battle with the Crystal King! Jay and Nya have gotten married, Lloyd is now training to become a sensei, and Ninjago City hasn't had a major disaster in over a month! (A new record!) Everything seems to be going well, until the team receives a mysterious letter from Queen Vania, requesting their presence.

Once they arrive, they discover an evil plot, orchestrated by former king Vangelis, to overthrow Vania and take the throne again! And having a taste of conquest while on the Crystal Council, the disgraced monarch has his sights set on the rest of Ninjago as well! Powered by a new energy source, Vangelis is now far too powerful for the Ninja to defeat with their current abilities. They must find a new way to defeat him!

This takes the Ninja on a quest to a new world! The magical and beautiful subterranean kingdom of The Deep Lands! There, they must find the Elemental Beasts. Seven creatures created by the FSM and imbued with elemental powers, to teach the first Elemental Masters how to use their abilities. And who control the very balance of nature itself! From these magical beings, the Ninja will learn new powers and skills that are beyond their wildest dreams, and take down Vangelis once and for all! So join us, as we meet new friends, experience new powers, and journey Into The Deep.🍃🌊🔥🪨❄️🐲⚡

So that's it! I also have some cool concept art that should be finished soon!

Now here's some Q and A to answer all your questions! Some are from one of followers, and others I added in just to give general information. 😁 If you don't see a question being answered that you would like to see answered, please feel free to send it in!

(Under the cut because this is LOOOOOONG.)

First some general info.

Q: How will the episodes be released?

A: Each episode is three chapters long. Therefore, split into three parts. (Kinda like how you would have two commercial breaks in a real episode of Ninjago!) One episode will be released every week! Via a released chapter every Sunday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Q: How many episodes will there be?

A: 16-20. About as many a regular season of Ninjago would have!

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Q: What is this series rating?

A: G - PG! I don't do adult humor or gore. So it will be about as kid friendly as a usual Ninjago Season!

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Q: Will there be exclusive characters?

A: Yes! Several! Some including the Elemental Beasts, and even Cole's Grandfather Rocky! More will be released as the series goes on.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Q: Will the season ever be animated?

A: If I aquire the time, resources, and skills, absolutely!

Now, let's answer some questions from one of my followers and awesome friend @dexter-the-dog!

A: Probably the only thing that makes it an Alternate Universe is that Dragons Rising isn't canon to this story. Other than that, it should fit nicely with the canon.

A: YES! The Elemental Beasts! They are so cool! I can't even put it into words! Currently, there are six Elemental Beasts. One for Fire, Water, Earth, Ice, Lightning, and Air. The Air Beast will have a very important role to play in this story! I'm also partial to Cole's Grandfather Rocky, who will also be making an appearance! He's a very interesting guy. And super powerful too! After all, he fought the Serpentine and the Time Twins! So he has quite a few tricks up his sleeve!

A: As Doc would say, #NoSpoilers! Lol! But there is a really cool scene were Nya uses her powers in a new way! It should be EPIC. So cool in fact, I just might animate it!

A: Ah! I can answer both of these! Since Into The Deep is a fan season, it will try to fit into the canon as closely as possible. That being said, the characters are exactly as you would see them in the canon show. No backgrounds or roles changed. But whether they will gain new abilities or new roles? Well that I can't say without spoiling things.

A: It's definitely the Cole x Vania story I have planned. Lol. Yeah, I ship them. I think they're cute. And they'll have plenty of cute moments in this story!

A: Into The Deep happens about a month or two after Crystalized. :)

A: I've been waiting to answer this one! The Elemental Beasts take on a mentor role for each of their appointed ninja. They will help them learn new abilities and fight their inner demons to truly become their most powerful selves. They're also are basically Nature Spirits. Each one controls a certain element in nature from their base kingdoms in the Deep Lands. Because of this, they can never leave to go up to the surface, or the balance would be offset. This factor is important, so make sure you remember it while reading.

And that's all the questions I got! That was fun!

Before I end this post, I'm gonna tag a few people I remember being interested in this thing! (@rinkunokoisuru @shatteredhope123 @miraculous-stud @nocturnal-nexu @dexter-the-dog) Hope you guys enjoy all this info! And thank you for all your love and support. It's really kept me going.😁🫶

Well, that's all for now! Keep an eye out for updates! And I'll see you around! Bye! - ✒️🐉

[mirai-e-jump]

Animage February 2024 Issue ft. Masato Yano Interview (translation below)

Publication: January 10, 2024 (between episodes 43-44)

"It's time to save the universe."

Up until now, Dagded Dujardin has been playing a game of destroying the planets and life that exist in outer space, calling it "tidying up," by making different beings hate and fight each other. The war between humans and Bugnarak that took place on Chikyu was also due to Dagded's actions.

The succeeding Shugoddam kings were destined to serve Dagded, and Gira's former king and brother, Racules Husty, was also at the mercy of Dagded. However, Racules was carrying out an ambitious plan behind the scenes to overthrow the invulnerable Dagded and save the universe.

Gira, who had inherited Dagded's power, would be trained to obtain the power to kill immortals…to achieve this goal, Racules tried to be a king of evil and tyranny. Gira once confronted Racules, who had said, "People are tools. I am the country," and declared that he would become an evil king. With the brothers belief in saving their people, and daring to go down a false and evil path, it can be said that they have the same underlying motivation.

Although he was sentenced to death, Racules decides to now live as a tool for the Royal Sentai in order to defeat the resurrected Dagded. At last, the paths of Gira, the other members of the Royal Sentai, and Racules cross. The battle against Dagded advances into its final phase!

-Did you find it surprising? Thoughts on Suzume-

"Racules's true objective has finally been revealed, but Yano-san, how much knowledge did you have about Racules's secret?"

Yano: During costume fitting, aside from the Bugnarak, I had heard that there was another enemy, the Uchu King, and that Racules had to play the role of a bad king under his instructions, and that there was a spy in the castle so that the Uchu King was always watching him.

"After understanding the gist of his secret, you played out that role starting from episode 1."

Yano: Right. I wasn't told all the details, but I was in a position where I knew alot more than everyone else did. Still, I knew of future developments, and in the beginning, I played the role wondering if I was going to become an enemy or an ally to Gira and the others. Now, I'm trying to soften my demeanor alittle, hoping to present a genuine image of Racules. In episode 42, there's a scene where he acts like a big brother towards Gira for the first time, but from this point on, I think we'll see more scenes where we can feel that those two are brothers.

"Yano-san mentioned it in another interview, but in episode 42, Gira and Racules fighting together for a common cause was achieved."

Yano: That's right! At the time, when I gave that answer, I didn't know that we'd be fighting together, so my ambitions were achieved. However, while a joint struggle is a joint struggle, Gira is overwhelmingly more powerful than him. The power balance is like, Racules: 10, Gira: 90 (laughs). While it's a very dramatic scene that I like, if possible, I feel that I'd like us to fight together with equal strength.

"Is there anything you're mindful of when expressing your current relationship with Gira?"

Yano: I haven't changed anything in particular from before, but I feel that the atmosphere between the two of us has softened considerably. As for Racules, he'll no longer have to play the role of a bad king, and he won't have to oppose Gira.

"Then, have your impressions of Sakai Taisei-san, who plays Gira, changed?"

Yano: I worked together with Sakai-kun on another production before we appeared in King-Ohger, and I think that he's become very strong. Around the first episode, it felt like he had alot of work to do, and that he was doing his best to learn. However, by the time I came back from my early exit, the look in his eyes had changed. I could see from his behavior that his position was to lead others, and that he was starting to look more like a leader.

"In the interview from the previous issue, we heard from Kaku So-san that the speech scene in episode 34, in which Racules was revived, was met with applause on the film set."

Yano: Everyone likes to imitate Racules's self introduction. I think that was the first time in a long time that I announced myself, so they were like, "Whoa, it's really him!" (laughs).

"It's like if during an impersonation show, the actual person appeared (laughs). What do you consider to be important in your dialogue with Kaguragi, who's played by Kaku-san?"

Yano: Kakkun (Kaku-san) has appeared in Taiga dramas, has a well built body, and his line delivery is also impressive. I clash with him seriously, and although Kakkun also responds, I try to be considerate about it. At times like those, I sometimes consult with him and ask, "Would you prefer if I did this way?"

"The scenes with Suzume, Kaguragi's sister and Racules's wife, are impressive for showing a different side to him than usual."

Yano: Racules doesn't often get closely involved with female characters. When a partner is as close to me as Suzume is, there's a part of me that feels embarrassed as Masato Yano. I think that Racules probably has something like that too, so I feel like I'm expressing a mixture of my feelings and Racules's feelings (laughs). In Suzume's case, I was impressed by the line he says to her in episode 42, "Meeting you was the greatest luck of my life." Does Racules trust Suzume? Does he have romantic feelings for her? I wasn't sure about either. When I saw that line in the script, I thought that Racules was quite devoted to Suzume, and that there was an element of true love for her.

"Was it unexpected that Racules had those feelings for Suzume?"

Yano: I think so. I thought that even if he had romantic feelings for her, he wouldn't express them in words, so it felt like an unexpected side to him.

-Joining forces with Gira, whose feelings overlap-

"Do you have any memorable interactions with Imai Yasuhiko-san, the Suit Actor in charge of OhkuwagataOhger?"

Yano: I often consult with Imai-san on the spot about the untransformed action scenes. He's very kind and answers everything I ask. In the second trial by combat scene (episode 20), there's an untransformed action scene with Gira. I worked on it while talking with Imai-san, Action Director Watanabe Jun-san, and Shige-san (Ito Shigeki-san), who plays KuwagataOhger. I also have fond memories of Imai-san using an air blower from the action department to blow air onto my back during filming. It was very hot that day, and because Racules's costume was designed to prevent heat from escaping, it was difficult. The makeup artists and production staff also used large fans to blow air, but the blower Imai-san brought with him made me feel much better and was very helpful.

"It's the kind of wisdom only a Suit Actor can offer."

Yano: Yes. It was my first experience putting an air blower inside my costume (laughs).

"Other than Racules, if you had to name your favorite character, who would it be?"

Yano: That's a tough one……This is going to be a pretty bland answer, but it's Reiniol. Reiniol's (costume) decorations are more dignified and flashy than that of Gira, Racules, and Causus, his father, also played by Nakamura Shido-san. In the wedding scene with Suzume (episode 20), I wore the gorgeous cape that Reiniol wore, but I felt that it was still too early for me (bitter smile). When I get alittle older, I'd like to play a role similar to Reiniol.

"Including filming and events such as the first pitch ceremony, please tell us about any memorable memories you had while working on King-Ohger."

Yano: Kakkun may be older than me, but it was great to stay involved with cast members who were younger than me for an entire year. I haven't had much experience with that, and even when I was in my early 20s, I spent my life as an actor with few opportunities to play student roles and such. It was fun for me to work with younger people on the same production. I think the first pitch you mentioned earlier was something I was able to do because I appeared in King-Ohger. It was very emotional for me to stand on the mound of Seibu Dome (currently Belluna Dome), where I used to go and watch baseball games with my father.

"For Yano-san, this production was a valuable experience."

Yano: Yeah. The fact that I was able to transform into a Sentai hero, and a silver one at that, gives it a special feeling. Actually, in my second or third year of elementary school, I appeared in "Kamen Rider" (Agito, episode 4). At that time, my role was that of a child being killed by the enemy, but now, I'm the one who transforms and protects them from enemies, which is pretty amazing.

"I sense a strange connection. From the episodes so far, which scenes have left the strongest impression on you?"

Yano: It's episode 42, where Gira and Racules fight against Dagded together. Even though he's attacked by Dagded and is about to die from being pierced by the sword, he asks Gira one final question. Since his revival, he hasn't had a chance to properly interact with Gira, so I was acting with the feeling of "do your best" not only to Gira, but also to Sakai-kun.

"In a sense, was it a scene where Racules and Yano-san's feelings for Gira and Sakai-san overlapped?"

Yano: Yeah, that might be it.

"Finally, please tell us about some future highlights."

Yano: The climax is approaching, and every episode until the final episode is full of highlights, but there'll be "break" episodes inbetween. There's a mysterious episode that makes me think, "Is it really okay to have such an exciting episode now?" (laughs). While everyone is playing a certain game, Racules becomes the referee. I feel like he looks more like Masato Yano than Racules (laughs). There was a previous episode (episode 11) that depicted Racules in everyone's imagination. I feel like you can watch it with a similar feeling to that one, so I'd like to mention it as a highlight (laughs). _

Question from Kaku So-san! (Kaguragi Dybowski's Actor)

Q: Why do you think Shugo Mask's mask makes noises, and that he has a raspy voice even though his mouth is sticking out?

I was also surprised when I saw the broadcast (laughs). The Director of that story (Kato Hiroyuki-san) likes comedic elements, so I think that's why he intentionally chose that kind of direction. As for my own theory, it's that the mouth of the mask is actually covered with some kind of transparent screen. There's various types of technology in the world of King-Ohger. Since he's actually speaking through a screen, you can hear the sound of his breathing, and his voice is different than usual……so, what do you think? (laughs). (-Yano)

[burningclocks]

Lesbian date ideas:

Ghost hunting for eight hours

Start a community garden

Tell eachother your deepest fears and darkest thoughts

Swordfight at dawn

Exorcise a demon

Get a cat

Hold a knife to each other's throats

Get another cat

Open your third eye and achieve godhood

Build a cottage in the woods

Become a local folk tale

Solve the mystery of your mothers disappearance

Swim in a lake and then come out mysteriously different as if you've been fundamentally changed or entirely replaced

Accidentally kill a man

Bathe in his blood (totally by accident tho)

Intentionally kill a man

Burn down a church and kiss in the ashes

Start a cult

Make out in an abandoned building

Go through the five stages of grief

Invent more stages of grief

Steal a bus

Get yet another cat

Go to a bookstore

Destroy a corporation

Overthrow the government

Learn to time travel

Visit Sappho of Lesbos, worship at her feet

Exist in Rome for a day

Exist in the Victorian era for a day, disappear mysteriously from the ball

Start a conspiracy

Knit the fabric of your souls together

Stab Julius Caesar

Steal from the British Museum

Steal the Mona Lisa

Go back in time and kiss Mona Lisa

Learn the way of the sword

Be present at every major historical event

Exist in front of HP Lovecraft and watch as he loses his shit

Add a gay sex scene to every HP Lovecraft book

Do piracy

Rule over all pirates

Kiss in front of a shocked audience of Victorian people

Night at the Museum

Just the plot of Night at the Museum

Swim in the moonlight

Get another cat

Lead the lesbian revolution

Charge into battle

Slaughter your enemies alongside your wonderful beautiful amazing wife

Kiss passionately surrounded by corpses

Have highly symbolic and metaphorical gay sex

Love eachother in every universe as every couple to ever live

Breed flowers to be new beautiful and bizarre colors

Become happy

Achieve enlightenment

Ascend to a high plane of being

Put flowers in each other's hair

Get coffee

Become villains

End a bloodline

Kill eachother in a really homoerotic way

Experience catharsis

Sleep in each other's arms each night

Wake up next to eachother every morning rain or shine

Make breakfast and coffee for each other

Hold eachother closer when you have nightmares and are plagued by visions

Be old and be healed

Have the sun glow brighter and the flowers bloom in more colors

Love each other so much it changes the narrative

Love each other so much it changes the universe

Wait with each other. Wait for the next thing to come your way and then when that's over wait together again. Except it's not waiting. Imagine you cannot wait to wait with each other. Watching and waiting as the world comes at you

Cry

[dotster001]

The Aquarius Mildly Concerning Couple

Summary: Cater x Reader. What a relationship looks like for NRC's hottest Aquarius'.

Sagittarius Capricorn Pisces Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer-coming soon

How it happens

Magicam trend gone wrong right.

Even in the Twst universe you can't escape dance trends. Cater asked you to do one with him, but you tripped and fell into him, promptly making him fall as well.

And with you laying on top of him, looking down at him with very concerned eyes…he realizes how far he let you into his heart without meaning to. 

He's kissing you before he even realizes what he's doing. He's kissing you fast and hard, relishing in your gaps, cupping your face, and whispering how much he adores you between kisses. 

He's not big on letting people in…but for you he's willing to take the risk.

What these Aquarius' get up to

Both of you spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to psychoanalyze the other, while at the same time trying to outplay their psychoanalyzing…Ace watches every conversation like "what the fuck just happened?" Meanwhile you two are trying to out Sherlock each other, and having way too much fun doing it.

There's a constant air of "trying not be too into it" between the two of you. Both of you are like, "yeah it could end whenever, but that's totes chill" while internally freaking out that something beyond your control will force the relationship to end. Cater has definitely never silently cried while you slept in his arms, thinking about how the mirror might take you away from him…. definitely not.

One minute you're talking about Cay Cay's latest favorite trend, the next you're both waxing on wondering if any of this is real, or is it all just a simulation created by Olympos Inc. An actual conversation you both had once:

This pic came out totes perfect!

Yeah! You look great! But I thought you were going to do that dance video?

Oh, turns out that's a ritual that the sunlight fae introduced to magicam so they could trick the youth of today into joining their army, and finally overthrowing the dark fae.

Sevens! Glad you stayed away from that!

Same. Oh look! My pic's already trending!

"Psst. I'm bored." Everytime one of you drops that line, the other is immediately on the move to find some mental stimulation for the both of you. Be it stealing a tart and blaming it on Ace, or joining Rook in his stalking of Malleus so that you can get the perfect picture of him, it's like you both are always chasing the next adrenaline rush. Be careful though. There's no one to stop you from going too far.

You don't always have to be together. In fact, you both would feel pretty trapped if you were. So sometimes one of you will just disappear for a couple days and come back with a bunch of new stories. But you trust each other. You're both loyal, even if you need some space and independence once in a while.

In summary, your relationship confuses everybody. But somehow you make it work? There's a lot of trust in your relationship, while also focusing on your feelings of independence. My only advice to you both is to try and stay out of your heads. (Lmao jk I know you can't do that)

[hubristicassholefight]

Swordswoman Showdown Round 1 Part 2

Alanna of Trebond (The Song of the Lioness) vs Mu Nihuang (Nirvana in Fire/Langya Bang)

(Better here in a "preferred character" sense, not "who would win in a fight")

Propaganda below cut

Alanna of Trebond

Literal lady knight, has never lost a duel as King's Champion

Disguised herself as a boy to train as a knight and learn the sword. Practices with a giant sword to increase inductance. Finds (is found by?) a special magic sword. One of the best swords people in her country.

She was the first lady knight in Tortall in centuries and paved the way for other lady knights like Kel. She's also a shortstack hero who regularly kicks butt. Won several sword fighting tournaments against her male peers while disguised as a man.

Can't stand the idea of getting sent to a convent, so she switches places with her twin brother and disguises her gender to go off and become Tortall's first lady knight. Engages in much sword-wielding badassery, not just through inherent talent but through working twice as hard as the boys who skate by on their size and comparitive strength. In later Tamora Pierce books she shows up again as a mother, but even having kids doesn't stop her from going off and doing more heroic sword-swinging. H*ck yeah.

She’s her realm’s first Lady Knight in centuries and a genuine hero. She disguised herself as a man to earn her shield. She was the King’s Champion for decades; One of the first major women heros in YA fantasy, from the 1980! According to the author, if Alanna had the words for it, she would be gender fluid

disguised herself as a boy entirely to learn swords and become a knight, becomes the first lady knight in her country in centuries; Alanna is so iconic that decades of queer fans have seen themselves in her and any author signing is accompanied by a mob of sobbing millennials over how much finally meeting and thanking the author for writing Alanna meant to them

Mu Nihuang

She's introduced to the narrative riding to the gates of the capital at the head of a caravan. She sees two characters we've just spent a couple of scenes getting to know, grins with delight, draws her sword, jumps off her horse and engages them in a two-versus-one duel, handily defeating them after a short exchange of blows and promptly complimenting them that they've obviously been practicing, because she would have won much faster last time. She's the most eligible bachelorette at the Imperial Court due to her control of a personal army of several hundred loyal soldiers. She's a respected general, whose favoured tactic is to personally lead a cavalry unit to outflank the enemy on a daring raid to kill their general, at which point the superior discipline of her troops will win the day; I'd love to say more about the quiet tragedy of her deep love for Lin Shu and the way she circles around Mei Changsu for most of the story, full of love and respect and pain from past loss, but if I get into it I'll have to do the fandom's traditional ritual: lie down on the floor, try not to cry, and cry a lot.

She arrives on screen to duel two competent swordsmen to a standstill (while her former (current? unclear) fiancé pines piningly from a distance). She's highly ranked on the in-universe BuzzFeed listicle of Swordspeople Who Will Kick Your Ass. When she's manouvered into being the prize in a martial arts contest for her hand, she stipulates that the winner has to defeat her to truly win, which is generally recognised as Not Going To Happen; She's also extremely proficient with a polearm on horseback, being the Gandalf-at-Helm's-Deep to everyone else's Everyone-Else-at-Helm's-Deep in a climactice battle. Also, she is just. So very ready to overthrow the emperor. (He deserves it.)

[tigerlyla-of-metinna]

Why the world and Nilfgaard can't be changed by someone else not Cirilla? She might be one of the main character for the Saga but not the main character for Nilfgaard (and even being Emhyr's biological daughter doesn't make her "familar" to nilfgaardians.) There are other characters to save the world and especially Ceas'raet.

Yo!

I knew I'd get something in my inbox after re-blogging my old opinion piece about the Empress Ending.

Let's answer this one sentence at a time.

Why the world and Nilfgaard can't be changed by someone else not Cirilla?

Nothing in my re-blog states that it is only Ciri who can change the world and Nilfgaard. Anyone with a goal and determination to change the world for the better (or worse) can. But in the games' Empress Ending, Ciri decided if she wants to do this, she must do it from there: in Nilfgaard. By finally accepting her birthright as Emhyr's heir apparent.

She might be one of the main character for the Saga but not the main character for Nilfgaard (and even being Emhyr's biological daughter doesn't make her "familar" to nilfgaardians.)

She is a "main character" for Nilfgaard because she is an Emreis, the direct bloodline, Emhyr's firstborn and only child. And in the ancient monarchies, kingdoms are passed down from parent to child. In the absence of a direct lineage, there is the heir presumptive (Morvy-bebe!). Morvran may not have seen Cirilla in person but he, and perhaps the inner circle and those close to Emhyr knows Ciri is Emhyr's daughter and successor, and in Morvran's own words, "ceding the throne to Cirilla is the best the emperor can do". There is your "familiar to nilfgaardians", at least to those who really matter.

There are other characters to save the world and especially Ceas'raet.

Definitely, there are others who can take up the mantle of emperor/ empress. We all know Morvran becomes one regardless if he is married to Ciri or not, the Jan Calveit succeeds him. But this is the Empress ending, and in that ending- as much as you dislike it- Ciri becomes the new ruler and will use the coffers and her power to change the world for the better.

Then there are the Alternate Universes, thank god for fan fiction. We can create AU's where some sympathizers of the late Stefan Skellen picks up his cause and turns the empire into a democracy. Radovid or Djikstra finally has the numbers and resources to stage an invasion and assimilate the empire into one big Northern Realms.

AU's of original characters who has the support of the masses and overthrows the current regime... Just about anything! Anything is possible with fan fiction!

Personally, I like the AU where Morvran is actually Morvranne and becomes the Empress of Nilfgaard 👑👑👑.

[kourabiedes]

Carmine and Kieran Roleswap AU: Indigo Disk Edition

A while back I posted this thing, here's the rest of it! Long AU under the cut, there be turtles afoot. No pictures this time, sorry folks!

Right, so, the Indigo Disk.  Carmine is still the one who promotes you to Cyrano as an ideal exchange student, because she wants you to show yourself and be crushed.  She's changed dramatically in appearance, and the aggressive part of her personality is fully on display.  Kieran has been the one running around with Briar in various regions.  Carmine has taken over the Blueberry League and is running it with an iron fist.  She's also tweaked her team to be thoroughly savage.  Maybe Sinistcha in this universe has a third evolution, or her ace is a different Pokemon entirely.  Point is, she has basically laid a trap for you.  It's not a very good trap, since her whole goal is just to smack you down with witnesses, but it's a trap nonetheless.

So you go to Blueberry Academy, get initiated, then Kieran calls and is excited you're here!  But he's also worried about his little sister because she's acting fuckin weird and he hopes you can help... again, Kieran is kinda oblivious to emotional cues and probably doesn't entirely realize Carmine would happily disembowel you right now.  Drayton shows himself and invites you to the League Club Room.  The scheming bastard is hoping to use your presence to overthrow Carmine as Champion, as in canon.  He invites you to the cafeteria to meet with the rest of the E4 and Herself, to discuss you formally joining the BBL*.   Carmine doesn't notice you at first, since she's busy eyeballing Drayton hatefully, but the minute she's aware of your presence she laser locks on you.  She knows why you're here.  She doesn't even really register the E4 debating whether you should be allowed to join, until Drayton asks for her opinion.  She eyeballs him  --  she knows he's scheming, but he's also played exactly the card she wanted to come up.  Of course she wants you to join.  What could be better, in fact?  She can pull strings and let you start at the level that lets you challenge the 4.  The unusual nature of the situation will draw gossip.  The rest of the BBL* will be fascinated.  There will be eyes everywhere.

And when you make it to the top, she'll be waiting, ready to cut you down in front of the entire student body.

So you're in.

It's only when he walks in on half the E4 and his sister inducting you into the BBL* that Kieran realizes how bad the situation actually is.  He tries to reason with Carmine, only to be dismissed coldly.

For a while, everything proceeds exactly as she wants it to.  She knew you could defeat the E4.  She knew you would make it to her.  She knew you would be across the field from her, and she's worked so hard to be ready for you.

Then, you fight her down to the wire.  She pulls out all the stops.  You're down to one Pokemon apiece and she has her ace out and Terastallized and she knows she has you.

Your final Pokemon... is Ogerpon.  The monster.  The martyr.  In either case, a symbol of Kitakami, of home.

And for a moment, just a crucial, critical moment, Carmine no longer knows why she's doing this.

Ogerpon Terastallizes her mask, swings her cudgel, and Carmine's ace falls, vanishing into its Pokeball in a flash of light.  Ogerpon roars, and Carmine wants to scream, but she can't manage so much as a whimper.

Her trap sprang, and you turned it back to bite her instead.  Now it's her that's on her knees, while the student body turns its back.

Of the people who are still able to react, Drayton moves first, and he does so to get a little of his own back at her.  He leans down and taunts her, and now, she does scream.  You and Kieran both want to help her, but now everyone with a Problem with this event is gathering to air them and getting in your face.

Then the intercom goes off, and you and half the rest of those present are summoned to a classroom, and Briar's discussing a trip into Area Zero  --  your second at least!  --  and it could not be a worse time.  Carmine agrees immediately when Briar mentions Terapagos, and Kieran agrees when she does because he's not sure what she might do in this state, and you agree because among other things, Geeta is gazing at you from across the room and she knows you went down there once already and her expression says I will come down on you like Hell itself if you don't agree to help with this.  So you go.

Area Zero is as much a Lost World as ever and you descend, down, down, down to the Lab where you fought for your life not so long ago, and then further because of the weird disk Geeta gave you before you left.  You didn't think Area Zero could get weirder, but it does.  There are Pokemon down here doing things you have never seen before, and you can't help but wonder if this weird Terastal energy is messing you up too.  Meanwhile Carmine's got a strange closed expression you don't trust, though now she's starting to act a little more like the girl from Kitakami and not the BBL* Champion in this unfamiliar place.  Kieran is watching her, but he's as off balance as you are down here.  Briar is absolutely no help.

Then you're in the deepest spot, and there's a crystal that could be Terapagos, and Carmine comes to life.  Surely, if she has a legendary Pokemon of her own, she can finally take you down.  Briar eggs her on and Kieran tries to dissuade her.

They wake up the turtle.

The turtle takes a look around and its gaze locks on to you.

In canon, Kieran has the Ogerpon experience foremost in his mind when Terapagos almost chooses you.  Carmine doesn't have that, but she's no less quick to throw her Master Ball and capture it.  Letting it reach you would be another win for you, and she cannot have that, not now, not after all this!  The Master Ball does its job, and she picks it up with an expression torn between exultation and terror.

Briar then does exactly the wrong thing in a situation that was already bad and pushes her to use the damn turtle so she can study it.  She locks eyes with you.

But Terapagos, like many legendary Pokemon, has a mind of his own, and he clearly doesn't care for being woken up and stuffed into a ball.  He fights for her, but his power is minimal, and Ogerpon beats him easily.  Then Briar suggests Terastallizing, and Carmine floods the little fella with energy, and suddenly a young god is awake... and angry.

At that moment, everyone present learns what happens when someone tries to capture a legendary Pokemon who feels nothing for them.  The Master Ball shatters, and Terapagos strikes out at Carmine.  She recoils in terror and it could have ended there for her, except that you're there, and your partner 'raidon is faster than any crystal turtle.  She looks at you as if she's seeing you for the first time, and maybe, in a way, she kind of is.

If you had a nickel for every time a berserk legendary Pokemon had tried to kill you in Area Zero, you'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird it happened twice.  Now you have to fight the tiny, overwhelmed turtle, and Kieran's down to his Hydrapple, and Carmine has locked up in horror because now she realizes how much of this was her fault and also completely unnecessary.  But she finally snaps out of it and comes to your aid, and hot damn if you both don't kick the ass of a legendary turtle.

Then, on the way home, it takes Carmine the entire trip to work up the courage to ask you to start over again.  Maybe you could be friends this time, for real.

You tell her "fuck no" and skip off into the sunset holding hands with Kieran and Ogerpon.

Okay no please don't do that.  Maybe the thought crosses your mind though, because man she has put you through the wringer...

Oh yeah and like a month later Kieran does the mochi dance

*brazilian butt league

[momo-de-avis]

ana can you explain the liberal wars in simple terms? i visited algarve recently and the tour guide (like yours where it's mostly related to history) talked about the war between the brothers and a guy named remexido(?)

Just yesterday I told my boyfriend to please ask his coworker who graduated in history for a book on the civil war because thats the one thing I'm not good at lmao I didn't even know who Remexido was but apparently he was a guerrilla fighter from the Algarve which yay but fought on the side of Miguelistas which nay

The liberal wars was between Pedro IV of Portugal, better known as Pedro I fo Brazil, who was its first Emperor after declaring its independence, then to quote a brazilian client I had once, homeboy was a better king for the portuguese than he was an emperor for the brazilian... He basically stepped down and answered the plea from Portugal to come back here and kick his brother off the throne.

Now, his brother is Miguel I, the absolutist

Important background is that Portugal was an absolutist country thruoghout the 18th century, which means the king held absolute power. Think Louis the XIV level. Not only does the king have last say about everything government related, he works hand in hand with the church, who is below him (except the Inquisition) and he is celebrated as Godsend's. He is the centre of the universe. Its a time of extravagance, of theatricality, of excess, and the people, as you might imagine, are dirt poor.

This is essentially a kicker into the French Revolution, as you might imagine.

But with portugal, there's the Napoleon problem. Napoleon sends out General Junot to invade Portugal after successfully capturing spain, and on 1808 Junot arrives.

The Portuguese monarchy realised we did not have the arms to face off this guy, and the english, with whom we'd signed a treaty in 1387 and had always upheld it, said they were too busy fighting the french elsewhere... we needed to sort ourselves out. It was obvious by now that an invasion would be unstoppable. We did not have the navy nor the weapons to fight it off. So, the king, John VI, who by now is king because his mother, Maria I, went insane, decided to deceive Napoleon. He uprooted the government and took everyone to BRazil. He established court there and changed the name of his kingdom slightly to the kingdom of Portugal and brazil, it was something like that And then he made the capital city Rio de Janeiro. All in all he took with him about 100.000 people, nobility and court members as well as government. When Junot arrived, he was greeted by a Regency Government that basically said "step right in"

It was a way to show Junot that there was no government to overthrow and that he and his troops had been formally invited. Junot lived here until Napoleon told him to go pound sand somewhere else, and in the time he did, he fucked everyone's wife, lived in complete excess, and angered virtually everyone.

So, two more "invasions" happen, and by the third that's when Wellington and his beef come along to (this time, successfully) fend off the french.

And then, what happened was that this single event changed the country forever.

You'd be surprised to find how many in portuguese society were for Napoleon. Overall in Europe Napoleon was seen as the dude who was going to change the modern world, and it was actually accepted that he was undefeatable. When looking at the case of Portugal and Spain, most countries just went "submit bro there's no turning around". So it was a bit of a surprise that in the end backwards catholic portugal and the english won.

For example, the painter Vieira Portuense, arguably the most celebrated artists of portuguese neo-classicism and someone who met and hung out with Angelica Kauffmann, was so in favour of Napoleon not only was he arrested for it, he had to leave the country to escape persecution. There are paintings of him that originally had Napoleon's eagle hidden in it, but he had to repaint it to not offend anyone.

Basically, Napoleon offered a liberal alternative to the absolutist nightmare that was our country. Napoleon was the opposite of what Portugal was: a country ruled by a royal family who relished in absolute excess and also ruled by the church, and a country where the church held not just a monopoly on riches but controlled the country, so much so that the inquisition was still here despite the Marquis of Pombal's efforts to reduce its power. And a country that was mostly rural, ignorant, illiterate and extremely, painfully catholic. Liberals saw in Napoleon the chance to grow past this, embrace enlightenment, to evolve past catholic fervor.

These ideals, even long after Napoleon's death, will remain. Napoleon will influence the country enough that it will infect it with new liberal ideas and change the 19th century forever.

The absolutist monarchy stood against everything Napoleon defendedm because if those things were abolished, they would go to shit.

So when the french are kicked out, the english stay. General Beresford basically becomes a de facto king in the king's absence, because John VI turns out enjoyed the brazilian weather a lot more.

Now excuse me cause this is the part I'm not too familiar with. I was actually looking at a series of books by Laurentino Gomes on the topic. he's a brazilian historian who wrote about the portuguese court in brazil and slavery, so here's a tip for those like me who want to know where to start. What I'm not very familiar with is the court in brazil.

Basically, at a certain point, the king is forced to come back and get rid of General Beresford. The anti-british sentiment in the country that prevailed through the 19th century starts here, with Beresford benefitting a lot of his countrymen and repressing anyone who stands against him. THe book Felizmente Há Luar, which we had to study in school and is about the failed revolt by Gomes Freire, is about this exact fact.

There's a character here I haven't mentioned. Carlota Joaquina, wife of John VI, and arguably the vilest woman to have ever lived in this country. By "vile" I mean, spotting a hot guy on the way, finding out who he is, and having his wife killed so she can fuck him. It's downright insane. And Carlota Joaquina was the great manipulator behind her son, Miguel I.

WHile the royal family comes back to portugal, Pedro IV stays in Brazil. What led to the Ipirange scream is another thing I'm not familiar wiht but the presence of the royal family in Brazil reinforced the wish for independence. Maybe a brazillian follower can chime in and explain this a lot better (I'd actually REALLY appreciate that!!)

Pedro IV ends up declaring Brazil an Empire, this becoming Pedro I. I think it's shortly after that John VI, the man who hid chicken legs in his coat pockets out of fear of being poisoned, died by poison. Thus, his son Miguel gets to the throne

Now Liberal sentiment since Napoleon had grown considerably, and by now, Miguel is not happy, so he conducts a "purge". He leads a very repressive regime against Liberals, which lead them to contact Pedro in Brazil and ask him to come here and get rid of his brother.

I seriously don't know what leads to Pedro stepping down and his daughter Maria ascending to the throne (again, if another brazilian wants to either fact check me or teach me, I'm more than happy to hear), but Pedro comes to Portugal precisely to fight a war against his brother.

And that's the civil war.

Listen, in the middle of all of this, the root cause of the fight, is the Constitutional Charter. The Constitutional Charter had been approved in 1821, but barely upheld. I believe Miguel's mistake was to refuse the Constitutional Charter, as it was against absolutist ideals. Think of the constitutional charter as something like the 19th century Magna Carta, what limited a king's ability to jsut rule over everything and delegate the government to a parliament.

Another point of contention was the church. By now, the Inquistion is finally abolished (1820) but the church still holds IMMENSE power over the country. Liberals want something VERY CLOSE to a secular state. They want the people to have access to education outside of the church, and they want the extinction of monastic orders (which they will achieve in 1834). The absolutists can only exist with the church and its power, so Miguel is naturally against this.

Pedro IV ends up winning the war, and his brother is sentenced to exile and signs a contract stating his side of the family can never, ever take the throne. Fun fact: the "Duque of Braganza", the only remnant of the royal family we have today and who is at the head of the monarchist party, actually descends from Miguel. So you want to have an argument against him, just say "maybe your ancestor shouldn't have lost the war".

I don't know much about the liberal wars, but I know that, like the war againsat napoleon, it involved a lot of guerrilla. A notorious moment was the siege of Porto, in which Porto held strong agaisnt the absolutists (so, Miguel) so spectacularly (they even bombed Clérigos), Pedro IV left it in his will that his body should be buried in Brazil but his heart belonged to Porto. His heart is still there lmao

Again, if any brazilian reading this wants to add whatever, I'm more than happy to hear cause this is an episode of both our histories I am lacking in a lot

[jankwritten]

jasico bingo challenge: crossover

Nico tries extra hard to keep his ears still as the humans descend to the surface. 

His suspicion is reasonable, even if Leader keeps snapping at him to reel his emotions in. Nico might be young, but he isn’t naive. He’s heard whispers throughout the universe of what humans do to each other, do to their planet, for the sake of greed and power. 

In his not so humble opinion, humans and Galra are not different in the slightest. If humanity had even a sliver of the technology that exists this far out in the cosmos, Nico’s positive they’d have two empires to overthrow. 

Tucked near the back of the group (likely to hide his obvious opposition to this alliance), Nico can only kind of hear what the human donning black armor says to Leader on his approach. His handshake looks solid enough. 

“That’s the one who was captured,” Hazel whispers to him, always flanking his side. Her fingers curl around his forearm, digging in. “He’s dangerous. Titan Slayer.” 

Nico can’t stop his ears from swiveling flat. He wishes he had the facade of his mask to hide behind, so he could bare his teeth in displeasure. 

He knows of the Titan Slayer. One of the only survivors of Kronos’s coliseum. A being so wholly destructive, so eager for blood, he was rumored to feast on the remains of those he slayed. 

“I thought he’d be taller,” Nico mutters back. 

Hazel snorts, just loud enough that Leader’s right-hand woman turns on her heel and stakes them with an evil eye. 

The Paladins, so called defenders of the universe, are the sort of lively that Nico associates with space madness. A chaos created by a mind untethered. The one dressed in red sticks by the Titan Slayer and speaks to him so fast, Nico’s translators can hardly keep up. The one in green and the one in yellow monitor the edges of the room, observing from a distance, occasionally peeling apart some piece of technology that they then stitch back together before someone of importance catches them. The blue one is the friendliest to the Blades, though it doesn’t earn her much, in Nico’s books. She speaks as if they’re all equals here. It puts his teeth on edge. 

“Quit your brooding,” Melinoe says. She tugs once on Nico’s hood, then wraps her arm around him when he’s off balance, holding him hostage to her side. “You don’t have to like them, but you have to respect them.” 

“Do I?” Nico mutters, bitter. What have these Paladins done to earn his respect, aside from endangering some of their most vital members, threatening their whole network of undercover agents within the Empire? 

“If you ever want to be off base again you do,” Melinoe says. She flashes her teeth at him and nips not-so-playfully at his ear. “Your choice, kitling.” 

“Don’t call me that.” 

“I call you whatever I like.” 

Nico’s ears flatten down as he slumps, folding his arms across his chest, glaring daggers in the opposite direction. 

Melinoe’s laugh is more of a bark, hard and ringing. 

As the base lights begin to dim in preparation for the sleep-sequence, Nico escapes the still ongoing welcome celebration for the more secluded decks. He’s sure his disappearance will be noted, but Leader can’t hold it against him if his excuse is habit and schedule. Nico has hardly slept well a day in his life, but he always goes to bed on time. 

This cycle, he taps into one of the common areas and slouches onto the plush cushioning arranged by whomever used the room last. He doesn’t want to go to his own room yet, worn out as he is. He needs to keep an eye out. It seems everyone else is swept up in the revelry of their guests, but Nico isn’t fooled. 

In the common area, he’ll be able to hear unfamiliar, human footfalls coming or going. He can remain on his guard in an open area. His room would just feel claustrophobic. 

Arranging himself so the entrance remain within sight, Nico finally allows himself to relax just the slightest bit into the comfortable cradle of cushion. 

He snaps awake to the sound of the doors wooshing shut. 

The Titan Slayer blinks at him. “Oh,” he says, in that strange, human tone. “Sorry. I- didn’t know, uhm, someone was here.” 

Nico bristles, unable to keep himself from going on the offensive. His shoulder hike, and he bares his teeth. 

“I’ll just go,” The Titan Slayer says. He puts his hands up. “My bad.” 

“You are sneaking,” Nico hisses, rising to his feet. He’s still in his armor. If he needs to, he can yank his hood on and strike fast, strike hard. Strike first. 

“I was just trying to find some water.” The Titan Slayer keeps his hands up, perhaps a defense? “I’ll go back to my quarters.” 

“I will follow,” Nico says. The Titan Slayer’s eyes widen slightly, as if shocked. Nico wants so badly to bare his teeth. “To make sure you find your way.” 

The human lowers his hands, finally. He tips his head forward in a nod not dissimilar to those given in respect to commanders, generals. “I’d appreciate that,” The Titan Slayer says. 

Though he takes the long way, there are no deviations from the path the paladin leads back to the guest quarters - a sliver of space set up with cots, furnished just enough to feel better than nothing. 

Nico watches from the doorway as the Titan Slayer pads near-silently to the empty cot across the room, between two of the others. The yellow and blue, Nico thinks. They look smaller without armor. 

The Titan Slayer looks up at him. If he’s surprised to see Nico still there, he does not say. Instead, in the otherwise silent space, he murmurs, “I look forward to working with you. I don’t believe I caught your name?” 

The translator catches for a moment over the word name, though the translation suits Nico fine. A name is not a title. There is not much to giving it. 

“Nico,” he says, gruff and short. 

The Titan Slayer smiles, that strange, bare human expression. “I’m Jason,” he says. “It’s nice to meet you, Nico.” 

Nico narrows his eyes suspiciously, parsing apart the tone, the word choice. To meet under these circumstances is not nice. What games do the humans play with their words? To lie so blatantly? 

“We will see,” Nico says. He steps backward through the still-open doorway, refusing to look away from the Titan Slayer. Jason. Danger. 

The door hisses shut. 

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

ofmd s2e3 rewatch where i pause to jot down my thoughts and other random shit

squeezing this one in riiiiight before the next two eps drop lol. anyway these posts are about me processing these episodes and if you want to read them then that's cool too. but fair warning this is gonna be a fucking mess.

s2e1, s2e2, s2e3, s2e4, s2e5, s2e6, s2e7, s2e8

show opens on zheng leading a raid and INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH. this might be the first time we've seen a raid where like. the background music is kinda moody. and what's odd is that it has like the same level of comedically over-the-top violence and characters just having a casual conversation as like, the e5 cold open. but there's sad piano and strings doing tremolo in the background. i have no idea what this means.

god. zheng is so fucking hot.

i love olu's "no, no, sorry, bruv." and the FACE HE MAKES AFTER!!! so good

olu's a feminist

ZHENG IS SO FUCKING HOT

~champers?~ stede you are such a dork. i need to pinch ur cheeks.

yeah fuck the english!!

zheng saying "everyone's cracking down on the little guy" makes me wonder if the show is gonna do anything abt how the end of the golden age of piracy was like. a year off. which i only know from reading a few fics where the authors incorporated that into the plot. and there was the one trailer where we see zheng in jackie's bar while stede's giving everyone a speech so yknow what that might be where all this is going. big pirate battle at the end of the season, right?

another thing ive been wondering abt tho is just how much is this show gonna completely fuck with history. because like. is zheng yi sao gonna conquer the fucking caribbean. are we just going completely off the rails re: historical accuracy and inventing entire major historical events?? like crocs and pinocchio and pirates from different historical periods all existing at the same time and in the same place is one thing but if the characters like. overthrow england. then ofmd just straight-up exists in an alternate timeline at that point.

stede "the gentleman pirate kills with kindness" bonnet being so impressed with zheng is so cute to me tho

fhsjkgdhfushl oh my god when zheng snaps her fingers and stede hurries to refill drinks the other captain guy grins and flashes finger guns at stede and this is SO fucking funny to me

zheng being like "noooo it's stupid teehee" tucking her hair behind her ears ALSO very funny to me

whose job was it to make the letter N out of caviar for the title card in this episode bc it looks fantastic. got little serifs and everything

stede taking his towel duties VERY seriously and just. dropping them on zheng's desk for no reason. even olu is like "stede what the fuck are you doing"

obsessed with the running gag of stede being like "i always say that!" and other characters being like "no you fucking dont"

stede having zero impulse control and seeing the abacus and just being like "hey what the hell is this thing" and shaking it around. me too, king.

i wont lie tho part of me wonders if stede like. going overboard with towel duty and messing shit up is on purpose. like is he playing dumb so zheng lets her guard down just in case he needs her to think he's completely helpless?? bc at the end of the episode he does get one over on her and i assume it's partly bc she underestimated him. or am i just reading too much into it lol.

but idk it's weird that olu's like "ok stede zheng is busy" and stede's just like "im gonna shake this thing now teehee"

WAIT ALSO backtracking a bit. why were stede and olu shadowing zheng at the beginning of the episode. i mean olu i get, it's bc she has a crush on him (who can blame her) but what's the in-universe justification for zheng being like "yeah alright white boy u can come too"

stede's gay little run out of the room. GO GET YOUR MAN!!!!

awww the crew all look so sad at how messed up the ship is :( THAT'S THEIR HOME!!!

I KNEW THE GNOSSIENNE NO. 5 WAS GONNA KILL ME WHEN IT SHOWED UP IN S2 BUT THIS WAS TOO FUCKING MUCH. THE WAY IT TRAILS OFF AND WE JUST HEAR THE WIND ECHOING. FUCKINGGGGG CLAWING AT MY EYES

i love that there's knife stuck in the painting guy's dick. stupid gags like that never get old. also if that was izzy it's extra funny like what the fuck did he even do that for

also have we ever actually seen the outside of the door to stede's cabin like this before??? we saw those dutch guys get chased down this hallway but idk about. the door.

the crew is too busy feasting on raw bird like they're extras in a zombie film to hear stede calling for ed. love that.

the two people that the camera focuses on individually are jim and izzy. makes sense bc these are the characters who i think are gonna have the most important shit going on re: the fact that they all tried to kill ed.

stede's painfully awkward smile after "um... hi." i mean honestly tho what the fuck else do you say to walking in on this

oh shit jim was totally about to tell stede what happened tho. and then archie interrupted with "oh shit, you're stede?????"

this must be so fucking funny from archie's perspective tho. must've heard so much abt this guy and now she finally gets to meet the main character of the story she stumbled into about a third of the way through. and he's kinda just some blond guy.

stede sounds so defensive too tho when archie's like "i thought you'd be taller, charismatic, muscly" bc god that's exactly what he thinks he should be. i mean ok stede is charismatic in a very unique way but his whole e1 fantasy of having a beard and being all macho and badass was just putting all his insecurities on blast. and now archie is like "this is the guy blackbeard was so fucked up over?? really????"

shoutout to archie saying "got tired" when theyre all saying ed retired

also why was wee john in this shot. like not even just in the shot he's just sitting RIGHT behind stede listening to the whole thing. he doesn't have a single line.

stede rolling his eyes and ignoring izzy is so good. yes king dont take the bait

oh ok wee john was there so that we can see frenchie go over to him and give him a fist bump in the background while stede walks away to stare off into the distance

eddie on tha beach

piggie!

cave! remember when we were all like "CAVE KISS???? ARE THEY GONNA KISS IN THE CAVE??????" it would be funny if this is it for the cave. just off in the distance for one shot. cant actually tell if this is the cave they were posting pictures of last fall tho and idrc enough to try and figure it out

pig's name is ruthie. ed why did your subconscious name the pig ruthie.

why did ed's subconscious make hornigold tell him "open up for the cargo ship" ed your daddy issues are fucking insane

hornigold fully like rubs ed's chest for a second there. kinda a weird choice there.

"last time i saw you, you said you were gonna flay my skin and feed it back to me" man what is it with these pirates and forced autocannibalism, huh? i think getting flayed would hurt more but skin's probably easier to eat than toes so idk which i'd prefer. no i dont know why im pondering this either

smthng abt how this is ed hallucinating this whole bit where hornigold pinches his nose and force-feeds him soup is so funny to me. it's a metaphor for ed dragging himself kicking and screaming to therapy.

frenchie telling fang to stfu scjgdfchjxgk

fucking incredible line delivery from joel fry through the whole "it's quite hot, im burnin up here! should we go and get some coolin' bevvies?" bit. love it.

uhh line break

also bro auntie is dead-on about the guilt. i dont blame the crew at all for what they did but this + the whole bird-eating sequence bro. they all liked ed. they cared abt him. other than archie, they all knew him as a pretty cool person. like BRO im gonna have to make another post abt this but the trauma of like, someone you liked becoming so suicidal that he puts you in increasingly miserable situations hoping you'll snap and kill him and he keeps escalating it until you have no choice but to kill him for your own safety. but you know he was a funny and chill person before this. and you know he only did this bc he wanted to die. dude this shit is fucking heavy.

anyway cut to jimolu lol

bro what IS going on in towels. i love how stede just passes around towels for smelling. is this something people have done literally ever or is this just so we can have chloroform towels at the end of the episode

sorry i know in the last post i was sort of squinting at the bit where olu forgot how to pronounce china but the was he mispronounces eucalyptus is just so satisfying to hear i cant even be mad abt it

awwwwgh u can tell jim was scared to tell olu abt kissing archie

lmaoooo when jim says "i saw her boobs" olu's head WHIPS around and he's like "oh??" all wide-eyed dbhjgkhdfyjsk

naw im sorry this is cute. this is a cute tealoranges scene. yes it's jim telling olu abt how they hooked up with someone else but bro i LOVE relationships with this kind of comfortable discussion abt sex and abt relationships in general. i mean there's a lot more for them to talk about still but in a worse show this wouldve been a whole screaming match. instead we got jim saying "you're kinda the best friend i tell everything to" and joking about boobs and UGH. it's so cute!!!!

it's also so fucking funny tho. "i saw her boobs" "oh?? okay, nice" "both of them" "nope, too much" WHY IS THAT WHERE HE DRAWS THE LINE HFKHSGJKFKKJFHK

also when did jim see archie's boobs tho. like ok realistically they've seen each other in varying stages of undress just bc it's not that big of a ship and there's only so much privacy. but the funnier answer is that after ed kicked them out of the secret room and a few minutes later a gunshot went off (who did the rest of the crew think pulled the trigger, i wonder) and they think izzy's dead probably. and then jim and archie decided this was a good time to hook up.

wait i forgot abt the nebulous amount of time between the mutiny and stede walking in on them all eating a dead bird. who fucking knows how much time that was tho. but they could've hooked up then i guess

GNOSSIENNE NO. 5 PART 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO. IM SOBBING.

the song gets to play out more in this scene and ohhhh baby i missed this piano piece. also stede looks more annoyed than upset. he's just casually yoinking things out of the wall. and then he sees the ones on the ceiling and is like "really, ed?"

i think i said this in the tags of a gifset but izzy says "don't cry, bonnet" when stede's back is to him and i just think it's funny bc stede literally wasnt crying. he just looked kinda pissed off. izzy continues to not understand ed or stede even a little bit.

also i love how the music changes by just playing a minor chord and then there's like a spooky echo and then. no more background music.

i just realized izzy's crutch is literally just a mop he's holding upside down. this is funny to me for some reason

"he was a wild dog and we dealt with him like one" izzy hands racism moments

why does izzy even lie about this. why does he say "no i could never do that" when literally he did. he looked right at ed's face as jim hit it with a fucking cannonball. like. what fucking purpose does lying about this even serve. in what way does that benefit izzy. idgi

also ive heard that apparently ppl think he did this to spare stede or something but 1. why would he not want to specifically torture stede as much as possible 2. this is literally not sparing stede bc stede would spend the rest of his life scouring the entire caribbean hoping to find the island where they dropped ed.

RANDOM fucking idea tho but what if they did maroon him but it was on the island from 1x02. that wouldve been great for ed probably. get therapy from the old guy. have some coconut rum drink. chill out. oh well instead they shoved ed into a secret closet and left him there to die from a traumatic head injury.

hornigold calling ed "bro" was such a dead giveaway for me that this was a dream sequence or whatever. like from trailers and stuff i had already figured that this guy was hornigold and that he was probably a ghost or something but i think i mightve been questioning it a little bit at this point. but yeah anyway ed says "bro" and while obviously we dont know exactly what hornigold was like, he didnt sound like the kind of guy to say "bro"

i do love how hornigold's like "you worried you're insane?" and ed's just like "yeah a little bit!"

hornighost: you gotta move on or blow your brains out. or... we can make some soup. ed: yeah let's do soup.

wait stede told zheng that they marooned ed. and then zheng is like "well it's at least mutiny-adjacent" like no im pretty sure that's literally just a regular mutiny

bro rubio qian is so good at making faces

i love how ed's like "you ever thought about selling these shoes?" like who the fuck is hornigold going to sell them to. where does ed think they are.

OUGH RETURN OF ED'S HAIR ALL UP IN A BUN!!!!

ough... return of ed's trauma :(

ughughghuhguhughughgffffff every time i hear ed's voice in the bathtub scene i want to cryyyyy SOMEONE HUG THIS MAN I SWEAR TO GOD

also hornigold's mouth definitely moves in this shot where ed climbs off his body lol

hnnng... ed arm

oughuhgu and a strand of the wig came out of the bun WHY IS HE SO PRETTYYYYYYYYY

i cant believe for months i had my fingers crossed for the "person A thinks person B is dead" trope with ed hearing about the fuckery but instead i got it THE OTHER WAY AROUND. AAAAAAAAAAAHH

yo is hornigold wearing like. a flag. idk why i just noticed this but there's like a giant metal rung with rope tied through it holding his whole robe-ish situation together. is that a flag

very random thought but i love how tv shows just cut back and forth btwn plots and one plot might basically be one conversation but every time we cut back theyre in a different setting and we dont see how they got there. like the cut from stede walking in on the crew eating a bird to all of them back on zheng's ship eating soup. and now we went from ed yelling "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON" at hornighost's hut and now they're on a beach talking abt what the fuck is going on. why did they go there. who knows. doesnt matter.

ed is so fucking stressed abt being in the gravy basket. poor man is nervously playing with the big stick and trying so hard not to lose his cool.

damn he threw that stick really far tho. good arm.

im sorry but it's SO fucking funny how zheng is trying to seduce olu in this scene and she's like "whats the status of your boatmance is it... ongoing?" *unsheathes sword* like girl that's not seduction that's a full-on threat. i mean it's still hot dgmw but it's unclear what exactly you're going for here

YES STEDEY-BOY

loving the jaunty little escape music

archie and jim holding haaands

stede: you always say you have perfect aim black pete: ive never said that roach: you always say that lucius, throwing his beloved boyfriend under the bus: you said it today

buttons is so fucking loud fhjkhgyejkthfjkhg. ngl i relate tho

obsessed with the noise button makes when he slides across to the Revenge

and they use tea towels to slide over!! god stede really made the most out of his time in towels

~~

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE how olu is the one sitting on the desk with his legs dangling and kicking during this makeout session

also obsessed with how theoretically olu could've seduced zheng out of killing the crew and it's possible that none of this was necessary

wait i literally just realized that they stole the wheel not just so that zheng couldn't follow them but bc the Revenge didnt have one lol

ugh ed's tits look so good what the hell

ed in his head instantly associates the phrase "calico jack" with someone going "WHOOHOO" at the top of their lungs

oughu FUCK i did not fucking realize this but ed is taking hornigold's presence here as confirmation that he's not loveable. earlier hornighost said "you're afraid you're unlovable" but then when he's on the cliff and he's like "you brought me here because you hate yourself" ed is like "im not loveable." ohhhhhh fuck

and then hornigold is like "and you're afraid to do anything about it. but im not" and then throws the rock off the cliff. this is the shittiest part of ed's brain calling him a pussy for not killing himself and telling him he deserves to die. fuuuuuuuuck me.

oh boy okay. ed got yanked off the cliff. stede is heading into the secret room. idk if i even have anything to say about the mermaid sequence like i cant believe this shit is real. fuck. this is a fever dream. they really just... wrote this. filmed it. put rhys darby in a fish tail. FUCK

ok the two things i have to say about this. first: the fucking flashback montage in this sequence makes me stop breathing like every single fucking time. secondly: when theyre face-to-face in ed's mermaid fantasy there's a split second where ed sort of jolts forward a tiny tiny tiny half of an inch. and i have no idea if it's intentional. but it makes me think of how in the "you wear fine things well" scene ed TOTALLY STEPS IN THINKING STEDE'S ABOUT TO KISS HIM.

WRITTEN BY ALYSSA LANE AND ALEX SHERMAN. SHOUTOUT TO THOSE GUYS.