#really excellently foreshadowed too

[the-descolada]

utena episode 23 was so fucking crazy

[thenationofzaun]

Thoughts on Act 1 of Arcane Season 2

The positives:

- The animation is fucking incredible.

- Jinx and Sevika teaming up watered my crops and cleansed my skin.

- Underwater goodbye with Jinx and Silco. That scene was made specifically for me.

- Jinx's voice actress continues to be excellent.

- Loved the designs of all the Chembarons. The glimpse we got of the gang wars was also interesting. Unfortunately, too tiny a glimpse. Which brings me to...

The negatives:

- Too many plotlines. They stuffed the season with too much shit which is why each individual plot gets a much shorter screentime than it should. Smeech is introduced and killed in the same episode. Chembarons' gang wars, a huge issue which has repercussions on the entire Undercity, gets only one musical montage before moving on. And this is coming from someone who loved that montage, as well as the song. My favourite on the soundtrack so far. But musical montages shouldn't come at the expense of the story and definitely shouldn't replace the story. There are just way too many music video scenes in general that feel like a way to condense a storyline into the sparknotes version because they don't have the screentime to flesh it out. And they would have the screentime if they cut out all the extra stuffing. Look I'm happy for the League fans who are excited for the Black Rose and all that, but what the hell is it doing in a Piltover/Zaun show. And with zero foreshadowing in Season 1 too. It would definitely be easier to swallow if they had at least hinted at it in the first season. They could have kept Ambessa's beef with this magic cult for a Noxus show. The P/Z narrative has enough to deal with, enough characters to handle already.

- The new side characters are uninteresting and generic. Maddie and the two other enforcers (we don't even know their names after three episodes LMAO) are bland. We know nothing about their characters or personalities. Maddie looks like a rookie, and one of the dudes is an alcoholic, yet they get chosen for an elite strikeforce to capture Jinx? Isha is pretty generic too - the token cute kid that needs protecting. I get the role she will play in Jinx's arc. But that's the problem - she should be a character in her own right, not just a vehicle for someone else's character development. A good example is Mylo. He died for Jinx's arc, but when he was alive he was a distinct character with his own personality. We had a sense of his insecurities, his goals, who he was as a person. Name a single personality trait of Isha and Maddie other than "generically nice person". That's right. You can't.

- Whatever the hell is going on with Viktor. He wakes up from his coma and immediately rejects Jayce so quickly that it was funny. Apparently disapproves of Jayce using the Hexcore to save his life, but then immediately goes to use the Hexcore to save random Undercity people. Bruh. I also don't really like the way the fridged woman from last season seems to be his motivation so far. Nor the way he seems to have no agency in his Machine Herald arc. Instead of Viktor himself believing in transhumanism and mechanizing himself, Jayce does it for him. Instead of Viktor having an ideological drive and wanting a "Glorious Evolution", he is driven by guilt over Sky. Meh. Also he's not even mechanized, instead he's weirdly fleshy?? In a magical way?? More like The Magic Herald :(

- Vi. Her whole character is a mess. Insanely rushed arc which I find unacceptable for one of THE main characters and one of the faces of the show. She and Jinx are supposed to be the leads, their relationship the heart of the story, but so far only Jinx is a well-written fleshed out chaacter with a believable arc. I have too much to say about Vi so I'll expand more on this on another post.

- So much nuance and detail is missing. How does Heimerdinger feel about his ex-colleagues being killed? Does he care? Does he feel guilt? Relieved that he wasn't in the chamber when the bombing happened? No clue! Let's have comedy Mission Impossible instead! How does Ekko feel about the Council attack? Does he approve of it? Think Jinx went too far? How does he feel that she even survived their fight to begin with? No clue! Here, have him joking around with a Councilor for a bit (someone whom Ekko logically should despise), then he can talk Science with Jayce and all three get sent to another dimension together. Yay. What does Vi think happened to Ekko? The last time she saw him, he was fighting Jinx to the death to give Vi and Cait time to escape. He could be dead for all she knows and she doesn't give a fuck. Doesn't even think about him nor mention him once. It's like the writers forgot they're childhood friends. What does the entirety of Zaun make of Silco's death? I assume they heard about it from Piltover (who heard about it from Caitlyn), but how do they think it happened? His body is gone and to Zaun it seems he just mysteriously disappeared. Are there conspiracy theories? Conflicting accounts and rumours? So much nuance that would give the world and characters more depth, sacrificed so we can pack in more rushed subplots and music videos.

- Caitlyn "Wifebeater" Kiramman. And Caitvi in general. So far Caitlyn has guilt-tripped Vi, manipulated her into joining the enforcers, insulted her and then physically abused her. After Vi sacrificed everything for Cait, wore a badge she hates for Cait, even let Cait kill her own fucking sister (and only intervened when the random kid got involved). Why should I give a shit about such a one-sided relationship lmao. "B-but Cait's mom is dead so she's sad about it", every other fucking character in this show has dead parents. Half the cast has faced unfathomable amounts of trauma and pain that make Cait's pale in comparison. Nothing justifies her hitting Vi. "B-b-but it's a parallel to when Vi hit Powder", a shit parallel then. Because the circumstances are not even remotely comparable. "God forbid lesbians do anything🤪", give me a break with this corny bullshit. Be serious for a second. I'm not even a Vi fan and I think she deserves better than this mess of a relationship. The power dynamic between them makes it worse. The way Caitlyn is one of the richest people in the city and Vi is broke. The way Caitlyn is highly educated and Vi never went to school and spent her entire teen years locked in a box. Did the writers think about all this when writing their relationship? Keep in mind, Vi met Caitlyn like a week ago. She barely knows this chick. She's been out of prison FOR A WEEK. Where she was physically abused every fucking day. Putting her in a relationship with a cop who hits her would certainly be a choice! Do I have faith this show will handle it with care? Not really, no. They already ignore Vi's prison trauma. Most likely they will make Vi forgive Cait way too easily because "muh mummy muh grief".

[wingedshadowfan]

⚠️arcane s2 act iii spoilers⚠️

i've seen the edits but i've not heard a single soul talk abt caitlyn fighting ambessa in the last battle. so i will: first abt how she was able to do what she did, and then the fight itself and what i think it symbolizes for her.

ppl complained abt caitlyn getting too close to ambessa on the noxian ship to zaun, all friendly like this was a mother-daughter sparring lesson, but let's not forget caitlyn is an amazing strategist. she saw an opportunity to not only improve her own hand-to-hand combat skills by learning from ambessa, a formidable warrior (bcuz caitlyn is a long range sharpshooter and even tho she's an excellent shot, she isn't a strong opponent in melee and she knows it), but also because to make herself familiar with ambessa's fighting style would mean to know what to expect.

when ambessa fights dirty as part of her lesson, caitlyn takes her anger out on her immediately and attacks her from the back to show two can play that game. this is a great moment of foreshadowing - caitlyn's patience is wearing thin, she's frustrated with ambessa. she might turn on her, betray her and use her own tricks to do it (of course, her and vi's unconditional trust in each other, something foreign to ambessa, is what sells it). this is just my interpretation and i don't know when but i think at one point caitlyn realized she might eventually have to fight ambessa for real - their disagreements were becoming more frequent, the tension between them more palpable and if she really knew ambessa was manipulating her the entire time like she said...

fast forward and caitlyn's got the element of surprise, sure, but all vi's been doing since the last time they saw each other is bashing people's skulls in at an underground boxing ring (and getting drunk, i guess). vi has always been a much stronger opponent in hand-to-hand combat, she "blocks with her face" and isn't scared to take a punch bcuz she's extremely good at it. she's tough and willing to take a lot of damage as a trade off if she can deal a lot back. caitlyn is a more careful and less robust type. but if you look more closely, she tackles vi to the ground brutally using the same exact combo she learnt from ambessa during their earlier spar. fast learner.

in the last fight, caitlyn gets roughed up, gassed up (here's how she fights in melee in low vision just before that by the way, already so much improvement from season 1), she gets stabbed in the side and leaves the dagger in there (rightfully so - smart choice for a smart character). she's brought to her knees with a gun to her head, and as soon as maddie falls dead on her, she's up again and fighting. but it's not like that doesn't affect her, she becomes slower, shakier, and proceeds to take the most hits she's ever taken on screen, potentially the hardest ones too, even with mel's help and shields. she falls and falls and keeps getting up, showing insane resilience. ambessa can't put her down for good. she's fighting like a woman gone mad, female rage and all that, having forgotten all self-preservation.

like she's got a death wish, she punches ambessa mid-sentence and tells her to shut up and fight. caitlyn kiramman interrupted a warmonger's villain speech bcuz she's bleeding out and has no time for this shit. all she can do before she goes down is try to buy mel time, give her a good opportunity to use the black rose necklace. she's centimeters away from getting stabbed in the eye and she can't overpower ambessa whose dagger is sticking through mel's shield when she realizes the talismans on ambessa's arm are protecting her. so she pushes forward, literally trading her eye off to find herself within range, and she takes the dagger out of her own side to slice the talisman free. she's literally bleeding out at this point but one smart decision, a few tremendous sacrificies and it's over.

in my interpretation, caitlyn regrets going too far in her pursuit of jinx, making vi a cop, gassing up the undercity, shooting with isha on top of jinx, hurting vi, joining ambessa and all the atrocities that came out of their partnership when caitlyn became commander. she wishes she'd never made those mistakes but she knows she can't undo them now. the way caitlyn fights against ambessa here - reckless, desparate, like she's got nothing to lose - shows how much she wishes to fix things because that's all she can do now. that's her purpose, her salvation from her guilt, but also the right thing to do.

it reminds me of her talk with imprisoned jinx and then her talk with vi after that. caitlyn seems to be projecting onto jinx bcuz of her own guilt for what she's done when she tells her she can't turn back time, undo her mistakes or make up for what's already done. no one can. but vi asks her, "who are you to decide who gets a second chance and who doesn't?" and it makes caitlyn realize she still has agency. she can always attempt to fix things, right her wrongs to the best of her abilities. and what does she do immediately after that conversation? she sends all the guards to the hex gates so vi can free jinx.

UPDATE: here's another post talking about what cait sending those guards away meant, how much she sacrificed in her attempts to do right by vi, including a comment about what it means for a sniper to lose her eye that i found brilliant.

[muzetrigger]

Nevermore Theory: It’s not about “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Okay, it’s time for another Friday night rant.

Recently, I’ve been coming across some excellent thoughts and predictions about Season 2, so now I’m ready to throw own my hat in the Nevermore Theory ring.

In Nevermore, almost every character is based off of one of Poe’s works. Lenore is from the poem “Lenore”, Morella is from the short story “Morella”, Prospero is from “The Masque of Red Death”, etc. There are also some characters that draw on more than one of Poe’s works, most notably Duke who takes inspiration from “The Cask of Amontillado” (Fortunato) and “The Duc de L’Omellete” (Duke).

Now, Annabel Lee is obviously based on the poem “Annabel Lee”, which the webcomic even opens with, but @moxiepower2 and @takescrackseriously have also made the connection between Annabel Lee and “The Tell-Tale Heart” and theorized that Annabel might also be a dual-themed character like Duke. I personally find that reading very convincing too!

(I mean c’mon, her spectre has a giant heart-shaped hole in it, the logo for the WEBTOON is beating heart with wings, it’s one of Poe’s most famous works, so on and so forth.)

But today, I’m going to stick my neck out and say, it’s NOT about “The Tell-Tale Heart” (at least not entirely. Annabel Lee could be based on even more than two works!).

I think Annabel Lee’s character points to another of Poe’s stories that lines up really well with the direction of Nevermore as a whole:

That’s right, it’s time to talk about “The Pit and the Pendulum”.

First, I’m going to need to explain this leap in logic, because it’s definitely not as clear as Annabel’s heart motif. Let’s start with the visuals.

Yes, Annabel Lee and Nevermore in general have a strong heart motif, but isn’t it a little odd that Annabel’s heart isn’t totally empty?

It’s a great visual focus for her character design, but that shape is awfully familiar, and it swings around an awful lot like a pendulum, doesn’t it?

And we know that Annabel (as an actual ghost-type spectre) can control the pendulum.

AND Annabel Lee gives the pendulum back to Lenore, with a lock of her hair tied around it, literally binding herself to the tool.

That’s… an awful lot of interaction with an item that is unrelated to her inspiration poem AND has served exactly zero purpose in the story so far. There HAS to be a reason Red and Flynn keep bringing this damn thing up because they play the long con with their foreshadowing (Dirt on Ada’s hands, Annabel Lee’s panic attack, Lenore taking Annabel’s blot, the gun having no bullets at the very beginning of the webcomic).

So now, I want to delve further into the actual text of “The Pit and the Pendulum” because it mirrors a lot what we’ve seen so far in season 1 and could be a good start for predicting what comes next in season 2!

For those who haven’t read “The Pit and the Pendulum” it follows an unnamed narrator who has been arrested by the Spanish Inquisition, pronounced guilty to some crime (it could have been anything, that’s just how the Inquisition rolls), and is subjected to all kinds of unusual torture methods before being rescued by the French army.

What I find so interesting about this story though is that its structure loosely matches the trials that the Deans have set up at Nevermore Academy.

For instance after swooning at his sentencing, the narrator wakes up in a pitch-black room and tries to figure out the shape of his prison by making a circuit. He finds that it’s around a hundred paces, but because of the “many angles in the wall” he can “form no guess at the shape of the vault”. In reality however, the room is perfectly square and only half the number of steps in circuit.

How did the narrator make such a big error in estimating the size of the room? Because he passed out right after missing the marker he had been using to keep track of his location, thus making two laps instead of one.

Now let’s compare it with the first obstacle for Nevermore students, the Labyrinth. Students are thrust into the maze without any knowledge of how to manifest (Annabel only knowing how to because of the Deans making a surprise appearance in class). So metaphorically, they’re also in the dark, and as Lenore and Duke find out as soon as they enter the maze, the labyrinth’s geometry also seems to shift.

Most convincingly (in my opinion), Lenore also looses track of herself during the Dementophobia trial, just like how the Pendulum narrator faints, which is one of the main reasons the misfit trio almost fail.

That near failure also mimics what happens next in the short story, the narrator trips and narrowly avoids falling into a giant pit (hence the title).

That really ticks off the Spanish Inquisition, just like how Lenore pisses off the Deans by surviving, and so the Inquisition does what it does best, and devises a new torture method. This time, the narrator awakens to find himself strapped down to a plank and gazing up at a figure of Kronos, only instead of Father Time wielding a scythe, he’s wielding a massive bladed pendulum (there’s the second half of the title, you’re welcome).

I find this image very telling because it’s supposed to relay the message that the narrator’s death is inevitable. You can’t fight the passage of time, and it doesn’t get less subtle than the god of time killing you with a clock part.

Similarly, ringing the bell in the widow’s watch is supposed to be an impossible task, meant mainly to give the students who have manifested a chance to flex their powers. The Deans admit as much:

But back to the short story, the narrator doesn’t exactly realize his predicament at first. He just thinks it’s kind of an interesting change of scenery and he’s more worried about the fact that his captors have provided him with “meat pungently seasoned” and no water to quench his thirst, which he figures is the real torture method. Oh and the rats. They’re pretty scary too, especially when it occurs to him that he’s definitely not the first person to be shoved in this room, and those rats have to have been eating something.

Eventually, he does notice the pendulum slowly lowering and spends the next *checks notes* 9 paragraphs alternating between despair, apathy, and frenzy. (There’s actually quite a lot to dissect here with regards to Nevermore’s treatment of madness, but let’s save that for later.)

Then he gets a bright idea and rubs spicy meat all over his bonds with the one free arm the Inquisition left him to presumably eat said meat.

Why does he do this?

To entice the rats into eating his bonds, of course! He has to play dead for a bit, and also let rats crawl all over him, but it works and our narrator escapes after a few cuts.

Okay, now let’s take a look at the parallels to that trial in Nevermore. I’ve already gone over the comparison to the bell ringing class as a kind of Sisyphean task, but Lenore also almost gets eaten by Prospero’s rats:

She also succeeds because the people, who are supposed to be her enemies, help her, just like how the rats aid the narrator in escaping. Did I just compare Ada, Pluto, Morella, and Annabel Lee to rats? Yes. Yes, I did.

But I’m going to specifically single out Annabel Lee in this case because Lenore also has to play dead in order to ring the bell. Specifically she pretends to give in to Annabel’s “Kiss of Death”.

So both Lenore and the narrator are momentarily successful after reports of their death are greatly exaggerated.

Then they have the crushing realization that they’re still trapped. Then narrator in the dungeons of Toledo, and Lenore with…

(Minor aside, this is some phenomenal scene work.)

And now the final trial (for our hapless narrator at least). The Inquisition, having been denied their sliced prisoner sandwich, decide to roast him alive instead. You see, the metal walls of the cell can actually be heated up, oh and also they can flatten themselves by pulling the corners apart like a collapsing square.

So the narrator has two choices. Death by being burned alive, or death by falling into the pit at the center of room (remember that detail? It’s still the same room).

To put it in Nevermore terms, Lenore can either test her luck with the Deans OR:

This guy :)

Now, do I think the Deans created The Wild Hunt? No, and I would be very interested in if the Stag turns out to be related to Theo in some way, but I bet the Deans purposefully invited The Wild Hunt into the Academy in order to corral them back into obedience/kill off the troublemakers. (Or maybe they were just bored, who knows?)

NOW FOR THE ACTUAL THEORY PART (How in the world did it take so long to get here? I only have a paragraph left in the short story to use for theory crafting!)

”The Pit and the Pendulum” ends with the narrator being saved literally as he is falling into the eponymous pit by General Lasalle of the French army. That doesn’t make sense because Lasalle wasn’t in the Battle of Toledo where the story takes place, but anachronisms are incredibly prevalent in Nevermore. Pretty much every character comes from a different time and place than the others, most prominently Eulalie, who is probably Japanese and probably died in WWII (though who knows, maybe she was a proto-weeb and died in the firebombings of Dresden).

My theory is that similarly, the main cast is going to be saved by a third party who intervenes during the Hunt. Then, the narrative is going to shift away from Nevermore Academy and towards the afterlife at large. We’ve gotten plenty of hints about the outside, particularly towards the end of Season 1, so I don’t think it’s that unlikely, and if I may make a second literary connection, Nevermore is kind of like the Hunger Games.

Wait! Let me explain.

You have a group of kids/young adults fighting in a premade arena designed by antagonistic game makers where only one of them can come out alive. Generic? Yes? But looking at the Hunger Games Trilogy’s structure, we start with the Hunger Games, get a variation in the Quarter Quell, and then abandon the games to explore a broader scope of the world.

Now, I have the utmost faith in Red and Flynn’s ability to keep the dark academia setting fresh, but the path of least resistance might be getting out of the classroom.

It’s a weak and vague theory, that I don’t even really subscribe to myself, but I thought I should follow the short story to its end at least.

But if I don’t believe in my theory, why did I bother spending the last two hours writing this post?

Well, one, I really like pointing out the parallels between Poe’s work and Nevermore. It’s clear that Red and Flynn put so SO much effort into Nevermore and I genuinely think getting to be in on all those details enhances the reading experience.

But two, do you remember how I started this post?

That’s right, talking about Annabel Lee.

I’ve been doing a lot of comparison between Lenore and the actual text of “The Pit and Pendulum” but I want to show you this illustration of the short story by Harry Clarke:

Does that outfit remind you of anything? Maybe…

Now, Clarke drew the above piece nearly 80 years after “The Pit and the Pendulum” was first published, but considering how prominent this illustration is for the short story, I bet Red and Flynn studied it when writing Nevermore, and I find that really intriguing considering where they chose to reuse the outfit.

There are ribbons all over Nevermore (everyone with a ponytail has one to tie up their hair, Ada uses hers to set Lenore’s broken fingers), but the motif of being bound by ribbons occurs when the narrative is invoking ideas of madness and memory, specifically for Annabel.

And would you look at that. “The Pit and the Pendulum” brings up both of those ideas together: “the madness of a memory which busies itself among forbidden things.”

That’s the last line of the third paragraph, and it’s exactly what Annabel is doing in the bathtub, recalling taboo memories of Lenore.

Plus, this passage happens as the narrator is trying to recover from a swoon, and what do you know? There’s only one character in Nevermore who swooned in season one: Annabel Lee.

Okay? So? Nevermore already has a lot of parallels to this damn story, and I’ve spent the entire post point them out for crying out loud.

But! Poe is very specific about how we recover from a swoon:

“In the return to life from the swoon there are two stages; first, that of the sense of mental or spiritual; secondly, that of the sense of physical, existence. It seems probable that if, upon reaching the second stage, we could recall the impressions of the first, we should find these impressions eloquent in memories of the gulf beyond.” (Emphasis added)

Again, doesn’t that sound familiar? Throughout season 1, the main cast have all been slowly recovering their memories and thus unlocking their spectres which represent fragments of their true selves and desires.

So here’s my actual theory: in the past, Nevermore Academy was used by lost souls to recover their “mental and spiritual” identities, before they reclaimed their “physical existence” at the light beyond the grounds in order to “return to life”.

More importantly, I think the final arc of Nevermore (or epilogue I guess is more likely?) will take place in the mortal world and be about the cast “[recalling] the impressions of [their mental or spiritual senses” (ie. their time at Nevermore Academy) post-second stage, thus completing Poe’s perfect recovery.

Reincarnation isn’t Nevermore’s endgame.

Maybe they have to leave their spectres behind at Nevermore Academy like in the “Theo is the Stag” theory and the final act is about them reclaiming their personas stands spectres to fight against the Deans, or maybe we’re going to go Kimi no Na wa and just get them running into each other and remembering (which would be lame) or Annabel being the only one who remembers and gradually hiking across the globe to find the others (which would be a very cool reversal given how Lenore is usually the one trying to form genuine connections [we’re starting to see some promising Prospero-Annabel friendship development though!] but now we’re also getting into fanfic territory).

Personally, my happy ending at the moment would be Annabel and Lenore teaming up, kicking the Deans out, and reestablishing Nevermore Academy as a sojourn for reincarnating spirits. That way we don’t have to go through reincarnation drama (again) and everyone who sticks around can just chill out and lead peaceful (after)lives or be teachers and show newcomers how to awaken their spectres. But again, fanfic territory.

Wow, that was a whole lot of text that didn’t really amount to an actual theory, but I hope you guys enjoyed reading it?

TLDR if you didn’t: Nevermore season 1 is actually a sapphic rewrite of “The Pit and the Pendulum”, the Deans are the Spanish Inquisition, and the Nevermore’s endgame is going to take place in the mortal world after reincarnation.

Also, I have no spine like Ada and don’t have any conviction in my theories lmao

[strawberrysnoopy]

ACT ONE: The Photo-shoot, Part Two

prologue, part one

warnings: basic stuff (infidelity, mentions of sex and masturbation, ada slander, yadda, yadda), i also don't know how an er really works so..., brief mention of disordered eating habits but not an eating disorder (if that makes sense), foreshadowing (in the same chapter), almost sex but not yet sugar, blah blah, blah. I also can't write fight scenes so whatever. Also I promise that this will be the last dinner party esque scene in a while lol.

tags: @heylesamis, @sweetserial, @iloveyousomuch1989, @galactict3a, @m1sery-busin3ss, @ssulfurr, @julia13123, @nic-stars, @stillhavingdaddyissues, @greywardensaywhat thank you anons for your submissions and helping motivate me to continue this series!

Leon sat beside you in the emergency room, holding up an ice pack to his eye. You hated that out of all things to be concerned about right now, you were staring at his thick biceps and his veiny forearms like some cheap whore. The nurses who saw the both of you come in had looked at Leon first, so you were justified in staring. At least a little. "How's the eye?" You asked, reaching over and pulling the ice pack back a little so you could see the damage. A few capillaries in his eye had burst open, making his eye look all bloody and gross. The beginnings of a dark bruise were beginning to form. "Hurts. But nothing I haven't felt before." True, he was a government agent assigned to save the world over and over again: so this might be just a blip in his entire career. You nod, patting his arm and settling back into your seat beside him. Tonight hadn't been what you anticipated at all. You just wanted a cozy dinner with Leon and your husband to ease his loneliness. He was cooped up in his house and you knew he would neglect to feed himself. Leon wouldn't really consider himself a lonely man. He had friends to bide his time with when Ada was gone doing a mission. Your husband was one of those people, and of course, by instinct: the invite of friendship was gracefully extended to you. However, Leon would really hate to admit that you're the better in maintaining the friendship than your husband ever was. You were the one to start inviting him over for dinner when Ada was gone because you knew he'd probably put some half-assed attempt in feeding himself everyday. Not that he didn't know how to cook (he was quite an excellent one, in fact), he felt that it was kind of pointless if you ate when there wasn't someone to share the meal with.

Tonight was one of those nights for him. You texted him earlier this afternoon, offering him dinner and the company of friends. He could practically hear your soft voice from over the phone: the kindness you radiated with your mere presence lighting him up like the Fourth of July. Of course he had to accept your invitation, it's not like he had plans: other than sitting in his boxers, drinking and stare at the ceiling while he laid in bed. You were rather quick to trot over to the door when Leon came knocking. There was a stupid grin plastered on your face and with the way your eyes looked at him with a bright, glimmering shine glazing over them. "Leon!" You squeal, capturing him into your arms and swaying him back and forth. A low and rumbly chuckle escaped his throat while he hugged you, arms finding their home around your waist. Your husband's off somewhere in the house, if you had to guess accurately: by the fridge, contemplating how plastered he was planning on getting tonight in the shortest amount of time. Perhaps he'd go a little slower tonight, but you don't have much hope in him with the fact Leon's there. It might encourage him. Who knows.

"I appreciate you having me over tonight. So nice of you to make sure I'm never lonely." Among other things. But he's not squealing too soon. Your eyes longingly rake over his body, and god, the gall of this man to not appear in your life sooner and sweep you off of your feet. Noticing he's wearing something different, he smiles at you and pinches your cheek, muttering the same nickname he always called you.

Silly Girl.

God, fuck this man to the highest degree, you curse to yourself. And his attire?! Oh fuck him. You tried not to notice his attire. It was that of a somewhat dorky husband. Perhaps that’s what attracted Ada, perhaps that’s what made her hate him so much. Regardless, you loved the somewhat silly outfit on him of a gray sweatshirt he’s had since police academy, the lip of his boxers visible from above his jeans if he stretched his arms up (maybe bless your eyes and existence with the token appearance of his happy trail), and some semi-baggy jeans with his beat up shoes. He was a handsome man, and he seemed to know it. Yet, he still had enough a heart to be humble. Dinner was served quickly, everyone taking their seats at the table. Leon had praised you on your cooking skills with words (and a hand patting your thigh under the table. Hot.) The conversation was light-hearted, cheerful, but most of all, refreshing. The table had even gotten to the topic of firsts: obviously dancing over the first time any one of you had sex but you had a sneaky feeling your tipsy turning drunk husband would bring it up. "So, who was your first kiss, Leon?" You asked, taking a bite of the braised rib on your plate (that you worked your ass off on, might we add) while your head slowly turned over to meet his gaze. "Some girl in like...4th grade. She kissed me first. I don't even remember her name." You laugh, jokingly raising your hand to signal you were the same. "Anyone after that?" Leon shakes his head. "Just some college girls and Ada." The table falls silent, the sound of forks scraping against the plate and quiet chewing beginning to get on your nerves due to the fact nobody was speaking. "And after that?" Your husband chimes in and you realize you would rather just have the sounds of chewing and forks scraping than having him say something stupid. Leon shakes his head, assuming whatever your husband was trying to imply was a joke, but you knew better and you had a feeling he knew better as well. "Oh, come on, Leon. You're telling me you haven't at least kissed another woman after marrying Ada." He fights back an eye roll. You laugh. "Can't say I have." "No? Seriously. That's what makes relationship so healthy. Just a once in a while business trip where you're drowning in pussy." Your mouth dried. Blink and you'd miss it, Leon's cool facade cracks and shatters, a scowl overtaking his face. "Well. I'll have to think about that sometime." You look at him, noticing that he was threatening to say something. Something ballsy. Something that might, quite literally, have your soaked panties flung across the room. The look in your eyes was daring him to say it. The fucked part of you wanted to hear it.

"What if someone fucked your wife? Would it be any different?" And just like that, you're on fire. Of course you found it hot. Because his best friend, who is not supposed to have any romantic feelings towards his friend's wife mind you, was actually standing up for you. "The fuck you just say to me?" Leon gets up from his seat with a death glare that could kill any man but oh lord, you? You're fucking living for this. "You heard me. What if I fucked your wife? Would it be any different?" Your eyes widen, head snapping over to Leon. Oh, he wanted to fuck you? He wanted to fuck you? Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit! Within minutes, your husband tackles Leon and tries punching him but if you think he's winning this fight, you are sorely mistaken. Leon was a government agent and in seconds, he's on top of Ezra beating the lights out of him. After the shock (let's be honest here, giddiness) passes, you pull Leon off of your husband, mumbling to him to calm down. You were surprised when he had apologized and asked to take your husband to the emergency room.

Leon sat beside you in the emergency room, holding up an ice pack to his eye. You hated that out of all things to be concerned about right now, you were staring at his thick biceps and his veiny forearms like some cheap whore. The nurses who saw the both of you come in had looked at Leon first, so you were justified in staring. At least a little.

"How's the eye?" You asked, reaching over and pulling the ice pack back a little so you could see the damage. A few capillaries in his eye had burst open, making his eye look all bloody and gross. The beginnings of a dark bruise were beginning to form.

"Hurts. But nothing I haven't felt before." True, he was a government agent assigned to save the world over and over again: so this might be just a blip in his entire career. You nod, patting his arm and settling back into your seat beside him. Tonight hadn't been what you anticipated at all. You just wanted a cozy dinner with Leon and your husband to ease his loneliness. He was cooped up in his house and you knew he would neglect to feed himself. "I'm sorry." He murmured to you, referencing the least important elephant in the room. "About him...cheating on you. If it's any consolation, I'm sure he's not—" You interrupt him.

"He is. It's nothing I don't already know." He nodded, finally taking your hand in his own and running his calloused thumb across the soft and vastly explored top half of your hand. Your husband cheated on you. Something you had dreaded for so long when you first met him but now the fact was spoken into the air just felt like...relief. Like you didn't have to play the guessing game anymore. You weren't acting in a role of a dumb, clueless housewife bobbling around with her mouth and legs open if your husband so chose to have mercy on your needs and finally have mediocre sex with you. "And I also want to apologize for what I said. About fucking you. I wouldn't actually do that to you, yeah? I was just pissed he said that stuff to you." You both know it's bullshit. You both know he wants to fuck. You both know he sleeps with Ada wishing it was you. You pat his arm. "It's okay." A nurse arrives into the waiting room, clipboard totted on her side and a much too relieved poker face gracing her features. "Your husband is alright. We admitted him for a few days to monitor his status, make sure nothing odd pops up. Just needed a few stitches and painkillers so he should be fine." The both of you took that as a cue to take off for the night. Although Leon had been wondering if you'd even visit him in the hospital after the whole cheating confession thing, probably not. Getting up from your seats, Leon takes you by the hand and walks you out to your car. The night air was a soothing chill against your skin, the warmth of Leon's palm bursting through the layers of cold your body temperature had managed to build up. "If you ever decide to....y'know...divorce him. You can always stay with us for a bit while you get back on your feet." His hand rubbed up and down your arm, soothing you like you had lost something very special to you. Which you had: your husband. But that was long ago and the admission was a long time coming: the band-aid had been ripped off of your skin and the pain had subsided. "Thank you." You whisper. He nods. His eyes flicker down to your lips, hand moving from the side of your cold arm to your cheek. His thumb caresses your bottom lip and moving dangerously close to the inside of your mouth. In his eyes, they're zoned out, almost like he's reminiscing of Ada. But you're not Ada. You're you. And that's what has him writhing with lustful agony. But the problem was that there was still a woman he was betrothed to and as much as he hated it, he had a duty to be loyal to her. He hadn't ever broken that loyalty to her and he's not starting anytime soon. With a sigh, he pulls away from you. "I'll see you around, yeah?" He doesn't even let you respond before he awkwardly pats your arm and leaves you alone in the hospital parking lot, leaving you wanting for more. "...Bye." You mumble, getting into your own car to drive home. But on the ride home, Leon's left you wondering. Wondering what would happen if he had just thrown caution to the wind and kissed you. But he was right. You were both married. The most tragic thing of all being that it's not to each-other.

[romantichopelessly]

invitation to speak more about the secret good td3 in your head, if you so desire!

Ok so I sat on this ask for DAYS because I wanted to have some cohesive, great answer, but the thing about The Dreamer Trilogy that haunts me is that I can never come up with good concrete thoughts about how to fix the issues I have with it, which is why I reference the “secret good td3 in my head” because it can never fully leave my head in any real way. That being said here’s a list of some elements I would change to make my secret good td3, in no particular order.

The visionaries don’t exist. Liliana, Persifal, etc. are just psychics that keep getting visions of the end, and die for reasons other than their power. Explaining what Visionaries are and subsequently over explaining the magic system of td3 is part of what made the trilogy so confusing and ruined a lot of the magic that the TRC universe already had for me. We don’t need concrete explanations, and psychics can still fill this role. The changing age and exploding added nothing?? to the narrative?? that I can think of?? We can even keep the age gap for Carliana if we want to, just make Liliana an older psychic like Maura/Persephone/Calla. It will even add to the excellent Carmen-Mr. Gray parallels.

Lean more into the themes of the age group. TRC is a coming of age story. It’s about being 17/18. It’s about learning your inner self and getting others to see the true you. TD3 should be more about being 19/20/21. To me, TD3 at its peak is like Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 6. Which is uniquely about the horror of being in your early 20s, losing support systems, having to learn to be a full self-reliant person, grappling with what your parents did to you, and the crushing loneliness of not being around Your People anymore. TD3 has all of these themes, but I really think they need to be fleshed out more, and given proper conclusion that isn’t just “yippee everything is fine now!”

Greywaren is longer. I think almost everyone agrees that Greywaren, as a book was just too short to wrap up all the plot lines set up, and does almost none of them justice. That book needed a whole rewrite. In theory, I’m completely fine with how it opens—Ronan being in a dream coma was foreshadowed from CDTH, and is an idea that I’d actually thought of as interesting before even reading the book. Other elements of this book like Declan’s rampage, Matthew going rogue, etc are great directions for the characters, I’d just want to rework them. I could make solo posts about any of these.

The Pynch breakup either doesn’t happen, or is set up further in advance and lasts longer. Personally, I lean towards the latter. Adam and Ronan’s conflict is set up from the very beginning of CDTH, or even from Opal (Adam warring between wanting to stay with Ronan and needing to follow through with his lifelong plans, and being frustrated that Ronan never asks for anything from Adam (specifically, to stay) ((side note: perhaps Adam’s insecurity here about Ronan respecting his boundaries so thoroughly stems from both having a family that never would respect his wishes, and Gansey (Adam’s model of love, Adam’s model of everything) having to learn not to ask things like that of Adam. What does it mean that Ronan never even tries?)) AND Ronan dealing with the crushing loneliness of being left and dealing with the consequences of having a long distance bf who is more successful than him). So they needed to have an argument about this. It’s also just in character that these two would not be perfect communicators. So. My idea: In CDTH we get no Adam POVs, just Ronan’s side of the story. We see, rather than Ronan just getting upset over one missed text, that Adam begins to pull away after the murder crab incident. We the audience don’t know why, other than Ronan’s unreliable narration and insecurity. So when Adam doesn’t respond to that one text at a vital fraught time, Ronan does what he does best, shuts down, pulls away and self destructs. Then MI rolls around and we start getting Adam POVs. We learn that after the murder crabs, Adam was throwing himself into trying to fix the nightwash situation for Ronan (Adam is not in contact with Declan here, unfortunately). After visiting for Ronan’s birthday and seeing the Lace, Adam starts to have dreams/premonitions about the end of the world (no visionaries in this universe, just psychics who are/were close to dreamers getting the visions!!). So he obviously sets out to fix this alone too. He calls his best approximations to contacts in this underground world that aren’t Declan. Henry and Mr. Gray. (+ maybe also Maura & Calla) ((Also don’t worry Henry doesn’t leave the Sarchengsey trip, just advises Adam on where to start)). Now that Adam has lost contact with Ronan (he was busy and missed the message and Ronan went off the grid like in canon), he goes full throttle into trying to solve everything while managing being his perfect Harvard persona (this gets him close to a breakdown, very reminiscent to Dream Thieves). Perhaps we get to see Adam and Declan working together to acquire sweet metals and understand the underworld of magic together. He and Ronan fight the one time they get to talk over the phone, Adam because he is truly scared Ronan will be the one to end the world, Ronan because he feels like this is another person perceiving him as a failure and wanting to control/baby him (+ he hates Adam hanging with Mr Gray and Declan of all people). By the time Greywaren starts, Adam is wrung out and hurting and Ronan is dead to the world, so yeah. He doesn’t think he can spend emotional energy playing safeguard to his boyfriend’s coma corpse. And then by the end of the book they have an actual argument/discussion no “they didn’t need words” cop out.

The number of Dreamers/Dreams has to be reduced. It’s cool to say that dreams were always integrated into this world, but it creates so many plot holes it isn’t even funny. There is no way Niall could have passed off the Greywaren being a box that brings dreams to life if Dreamers were such a common occurrence. No secret can be kept that well, someone in the black market would have known, and thus Greenmantle/Mr. Gray/Laumonier/ect WOULD HAVE KNOWN !!!

Declan does not have all his character erased by suddenly loving his mommy and daddy. Seriously what the fuck was that. Declan suddenly deciding to forgive his father because actually Declan was secretly the favorite child first is INSANE. Especially after seeing that that changed because Niall and Mor WANTED TO KILL HIS BROTHER!!! The two tenants of Declan Lynch in TRC were protecting his remaining family and fucking hating that Ronan idolized Niall just because Niall loved him best. So why make Declan turn around and do the same??? Suddenly Niall wasn’t so bad because actually he let Declan be shoved into a car trunk during a shootout out of love. I hate this plot line. Family doesn’t have to be forgiven. Understood, that’s one thing. Forgiven?? Not always. Sick of it. The real takeaway from seeing those memories should have been closure to Declan’s arc of learning that dreams should be viewed as people completely.

I definitely have other points but I cannot think of them right now. And I want to post this so I will. But TD3, as you can see, makes me an insane person.

[leafy-m]

Because I'm autistic and because I love Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen, I page-by-page compared the recent Kodansha USA English release of volume 1 to its Japanese and fan-translated counterparts.

If you've read the official English translation, you may have noticed that some of the big Orufrey moments are.... a bit underwhelming, word-wise. You may have even noticed that the word "wine" is suspiciously missing from the final chapter's WillowGrape Wine recipe, in which wine is kind of an important and obvious factor in it! And you would be correct!

While most of this manga volume is pretty accurate to the original text, there is absolutely a concentrated effort to tone down the more tender Orufrey moments, as well as minimize the alcoholic nature of the final chapter's recipe and related contraptions.

And that's frustrating!

The entire draw of this manga spin-off is seeing these gay witch dads take care of each other and their four daughters in an idyllic countryside setting while also making yummy food that you the reader can try make too. Why is Kodansha USA trying to no-homo these gays?? (Is this a reflection of how bad things are in the USA now?) And while you might say, "But Jade! Qifrey and Olruggio are not actually dating in canon!" — and I would agree with you! But there is nothing straight about these mens' behavior in this comic, and if Qifrey is going to look in Olruggio's direction while tenderly saying his name in Nearly Every Chapter, I expect to read that in English, dammit!

So I'm activating my autism trap card and presenting ya'll with a thorough comparison of every mistranslated and omitted Orufrey or wine moment, complete with discussion and screenshots from the Japanese, fan-translated, and USA English versions. This post is ridiculously long and maxed Tumblr's 30-image limit so chapter 10's discussion is actually in a reblog (sob sob), so I'm putting it all under a cut (you're welcome), and you can be sure that I'll be doing this again if need be for the translated volumes releasing next year.

For now? Let's go.

CHAPTER 1: pg 10

Japanese: フフ...

Fan translated: Heh heh

English version: Ahh...

This is a small moment, but it's important because it's foreshadowing. Qifrey is "airing out" the kitchen, but what he's really doing is sending those delicious smells into Olruggio's room. He's trying to lure him into the kitchen! And that little フフ/heh heh panel is evidence that he's up to something. If you've noticed in the main series, whenever Qifrey is doing something shady or it has a double-meaning, the 'camera angle' focuses on this side of his face with the dark lens.

But the English version obfuscates this by changing フフ to "Ahh..." like, 'isn't that better,' even though it keeps the ellipsis thought bubble indicating that something is up. Why the mixed messaging?

CHAPTER 1: pg 13

Japanese: オルーギオ!

Fan translated: Orugio!

English version: Excellent!

This is the first of many moments where Qifrey will directly say Olruggio's name, and yet the English version will translate it to something else, or drop it entirely. And no, "there wasn't enough room" is not a valid excuse for most of these. Especially when Olruggio's name can (and often is) shortened to Olly.

Look at Olruggio's little smirk at making Qifrey beam happily like that. My God. Kodansha USA/translator Stephen Kohler, why would you take this from us.

CHAPTER 1: pg 14

Japanese: 二人共 今日も一日　お疲れ様でした!

Fan translated: These two people are together tonight. Another day's work well done, you two!

English version: Here's to another long day... ...and a well-earned break!

The omnipresent narrator from the beginning of the chapter is back, and clearly highlighting that 'these two people' are together tonight. And yet the English version removes all that. It may be redundant since we can see they're together in the illustration, but the whole page has that type of text redundancy, like focusing on 'eating that first bite,' or how 'a laugh bubbles up' with Qifrey. And combined with all of the other later omissions, this becomes an obvious trend of targeting these specific types of moments.

Update: Thanks to Farlynthordens for additional insight on this Japanese phrase!:

二人共: (the) two of you [the "tomo" implies the narrator is talking "to" them rather than "about" them] futari-tomo means in a literal sense "(you) two people who are together", but in terms of actual usage/definition it's just identifying a specific pair of people who the speaker is talking to.

今日も一日お疲れ様でした: the rest of this can't really be separated. this whole phrase is meant to be like "good work for all the things you did over the course of this whole day". the fan translation seems to have not understood that the two text blocks were meant to be all one sentence. so if you put this all together, it's like "Good work for everything today, guys!"

Knowing this, I'll still keep it as part of the list because it does omit addressing the two of them in the English version, which follows that trend of minimizing these moments between them. But thank you for the clarity! 💕

CHAPTER 2: pg 28

Japanese:　料理も魔法器も相手のことを一番に考えるのは　君の美德だね　半分ずつだ オルーギオ

Fan translated: Whether you're cooking or performing magic, you always think of others before yourself. It just goes to show your good character. We'll share it, Olruggio.

English version: I've always admired that about you. Whether in your work of in the kitchen... ...You always think of others' needs before your own. All right. Let's split it, then.

The English version has two mistranslations here. I'll start at the top. In it, Qifrey is observing how Olruggio puts others first, and then compliments how it shows his good character. The 'good character' bit is changed to "I've always admired that about you," which at first I thought was sweet! Points for Kohler. But now that I really look at it, there is still some shady translating happening here.

In writing and communicating, what is said last has the most importance. This is how people "bury the lede," by hiding important information in the early part of a speech or amid other sentences, and then distracting them with other stuff.

In that English version top panel, even though Qifrey is complimenting Olruggio, by having it be said first it makes the second speech bubble (and therefore Olruggio's flustered response) be about Qifrey remarking on Olruggio's own behavior, rather than Qifrey's nice compliment about his character. Which changes the meaning of what's going on here. Olly is not flustering because he puts others first, he's flustering because Qifrey is saying something really nice about him, right to his face!

And then of course, in the bottom panel, Qifrey saying Olruggio's name is once again removed.

And I have to say, this bothers me not just because of autistic AcCUraCY! needs, but because he is very specifically saying his name. They are the only people in the room, it's very clear who Qifrey is addressing, and yet here he is once again, putting that man's name in his mouth.

It is intentional.

It is heartfelt.

STOP REMOVING IT!

CHAPTER 3: pg 36 and 37

Japanese: (Olruggio): キーフリー それいらないならこっちに..してくれ (Qifrey): オルーギオ　ひとつおねがい!

Fan translated: (Olruggio): Qifrey, if you won't be needing those, send them my way. (Qifrey): One pot please, Olruggio!

English version: (Olruggio): Mind if I grab those breadcrumbs from ya? I'm gonna use 'em as a binder for the patties. (Qifrey): Could you bring that pot over here for me?

This is a sweet segment because it shows how well Qifrey and Olruggio work in tandem in the kitchen. As someone who has repeatedly failed at working harmonically with others while making food, them being in sync in the kitchen is more fantastical than the actual magic.

And once again, Olruggio and Qifrey saying each other's names are removed. The Olruggio panel translation is also a bit misleading because (as you can see in the larger fan-translated photo), it's Qifrey who is controlling that wind spell! Olruggio is not "grabbing" the breadcrumbs from him, it's Qifrey who is sending them to him. It also lends to the back-and-forth of these moments because as soon as Olly's done with that pot, he gives it to Qifrey to use.

CHAPTER 3: pg 41

Japanese: ありがとうオルーギオ　行ってきます

Fan translated: Thank you, Olruggio. We'll see you later.

English version: Thank you, my friend. We'll be on our way now.

We're now at the part of the manga where Qifrey saying Olruggio's name is changed to "my friend" in the English version. Which is a phrase I'll admit I have some Daevabad baggage with, so idk, is this some platonic ray-beaming or is it code for tender feelings for that person you like but aren't ready to date yet because of trauma and societal complications? Is Stephen Kohler a Daevabad fan? So many unknowns. Still counting it as a wrong though.

CHAPTER 4: pg 56

Japanese: (Olruggio): ま... 眩しくて眠れやしない (Qifrey): がんばれ! オルーギオ

Fan translated: (Olruggio): Really... I can't sleep with all this shimmering... (Qifrey): Do your best! Olruggio.

English version: (Olruggio): Hmph. How's a man supposed to get some sleep with this thing sparklin' away over here? (Qifrey): Keep at it... ...my friend.

Qifrey literally made a bouquet of rose-shaped tarts for Olruggio to cheer up his room, so of course the English translation needs to tamp down that gayness by unnecessarily bringing up Olruggio's manhood when he complains about not being able to sleep from the tarts' sparkling. Even though this chapter's cover image is of Olruggio sitting in a field of flowers, pondering quietly as he holds one in his hand. Maybe later chapters will have Olruggio edited so he's sitting 5 feet away from Qifrey.

And again, Qifrey saying Olruggio's name in the bottom panel is changed to "my friend" in the English version.

CHAPTER 6: pg 95

Japanese: いい出来だろ? 家事の分担が大変だなんて思ってたら こんなものは作れねえぜ

Fan translated: Turned out pretty good, right? If I really thought sharing the housework was a pain, then I couldn't make something like this.

English version: Whaddya think? Not bad, huh? Sorry for leavin' you stuck with all the chores these last few days. I figure this is the least I can do.

Of all the mistranslations, this one bothers me the most. Olruggio is a wonderful malewife! He is constantly trying to help Qifrey out with the Atelier chores, in Kitchen and the main series. And yet the English translation changes the entire context of what these panels are saying.

The right panel is Olruggio proud of how good the soup tastes (it's even in a fancy bread bowl!), and yet the English translation downplays it by saying, 'Not bad, huh?'

Then the left panel, with it's sparkly background and close-up on Olly's face, goes further into how if he thought helping out with the housework was a pain, he wouldn't be capable of making stuff like this. Which is an understated way of saying that Qifrey can rely on him for things like this. (and he says it more outright in other chapters/the main series) But instead the English version is treating this soup like it's an apology for not helping out more. It's also really stupid because Olruggio was not making the soup as 'the least he could do' for Qifrey — he made it because he was hungry and wanted to eat it now! He literally admits this a few pages back!

Olruggio is not someone trying to do the bare minimum, he's someone trying to tell his control-freak of a friend that he wants to share in helping out. And the English version disappointingly misrepresents that here.

CHAPTER 10! Has several issues both Orufrey and wine related, and has several comparison segments. But because I maxed out Tumblr's 30-image limit, I can't include it here and so have to post it in a reblog. UGH. 😔

(Here is the link to the Chapter 10 comparison/discussion!)

In the meantime, image credits! The Japanese scans are from Comic-Days.com, the fan scanlations are thanks to Don't Quit Your Day Job, Robot Garden Scans, Brimhats/Nyaruhodou, and Kirbypoyopoyo, and the English version photos are from my own copy. And thank you AskeFinns for help with reading Chapter 2's kanji 💖

If chapters weren't mentioned, it's because I didn't notice anything significant enough to comment on. But if you know of something I missed, do let me know! And thanks for reading this far!

[fuckyeahgoodomensfanfic]

Good Omens Fic Rec: Wild Hearts

In the idyllic English countryside, far from the hustle and bustle of the big city, two teachers at Willowbrook Hall set out to transform their students’ lives through the world of theatre. But for Mr. Crowley, the challenge of navigating his long hidden feelings and dear friendship with Mr. Fell may prove to be the greatest drama of all.

Length: 145,589 Words

AO3 Rating: Explicit/ Spice Level 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Best for: Mostly Safe in Public, Human AU, Romance, Slow Burn

Triggers: None

Read it here, fic by foolishlovers

*Minor Spoilers* Welcome to Willowbrook Hall, or as I like to call it, The Gay and Trans School for Gay and Trans Teens. Come meet professors Mr. Fell and Mr. Crowley, and their colorful cast of teens as they spend the school year getting ready for the performance of a lifetime in the school play. This place has it all: hijinks, dances, costumes, drama, and best of all a cat.

What I really loved about this story was how cinematic it felt. Sure, some scenes intentionally reference a movie (Wild Child, so fun and camp!), but that's not what I mean. The whole thing plays out like a movie or its own TV show. We get big dramatic moments of romance and heartbreak, plus fun ones like a mini makeover, the school dance, and the play. And there is tons of subtle foreshadowing along the way that will make you jump up and down when things come to fruition. It's thrilling and engaging, and waiting for updates when this was a WIP was excruciating because I wanted to know what was going to happen next so badly!

The side characters especially are so much fun! I loved the kids and their side plots. Even though we don’t follow their story directly, we see enough to get hooked. Adam and Warlock are standouts, but they aren't the only ones I enjoyed! Honestly, I'd read a standalone from the kids perspective! The teachers are excellent too. I have a soft spot for Newt, who pops in now and then, always a sweetheart. Crowley could be in the depths of heartbreak and still manage a smile for Newt. All the teachers (plus Nina) don't feel like they're just there. I was interested in them, and you really get a sense of how much of a family they all are. It's a real skill to make side characters as interesting as the main duo.

Of course, the main attraction is Crowley and Aziraphale. They’ll make you fall in love with them all over again. They’re the perfect domestic couple well before they admit anything. So many lovely details about them, from note passing and bets, to their shared bond with Beethoven the cat (aka the best character ever). You'll experience everything with them: the highs of gender discovery and euphoria, and the lows of miscommunication and misunderstandings. What drama is complete without that? Yes, they’re a bit thick headed, and yes, a single conversation could have fixed everything. But where's the fun in that? I'm here for the drama! The pang of heartbreak and yearning makes the reunion so much sweeter! They are wonderfully characterized, and yet still have an air and life of their own. Unique to this story, but true to their characters.

You’ll be mostly safe reading this in public. There are a handful of explicit scenes but you should have enough notice to get away from prying eyes. The sex here is delicious and heart pounding! Plus the way that Crowley's gender fluidity plays into those scenes was very beautiful. There are so many reasons to love this story. It's engaging, cinematic, dramatic, funny, and romantic. This was an incredible achievement and I hope you have just as much fun and I did!

Read it here, fic by foolishlovers

[jinxedshapeshifter]

this is really interesting, it indicates that the mission mentioned is clearly a mission he wants no part of.

ryunosuke asks about it too:

kazuma basically tells him to ignore it.

really interesting bit of foreshadowing. it's obvious when you're replaying the game, but it's subtle enough to not bring a whole ton of questions to mind when you play the game the first time. in fact, i forgot about this by the time i got to the second case.

tgaa absolutely excels at foreshadowing.

[lawbin-archive]

Lawbin Wano Analysis Part 2 - you're not alone anymore

I actually want to wait Law to reappear before writing this analysis but we probably need to wait a long time for him to reappear *sigh* So I will just finish writing this :'( this is the last part but also imo the most romantic part haha

Since I have talked about this chapter for sooo many times, so I will try to talk about something that I haven't mention before. But if I said the same thing again, just scroll through haha -> *INCLUDE MANGA SPOILERS*

-> highlighted in purple are my delulu~

-> Again, don't read if you don't like Lawbin. Includes lots of bias.

~LAWBIN DATING PHASE~ ~LAWBIN A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN FRIENDS PHASE~

Chapter 1055: Learning history with you

my bias ass want to say they are literally dating here!!! again I think I have been reading too much fanfic so in my mind, they definitely went on a date after I don't care what other says.

The little bickering they have in the beginning is so adorable! Like Robin knew exactly why Law follow along but she needs to tease him a bit haha

Law searching through the whole palace or the whole flower capital just to find Robin is just really cute to me. You can tell Law really cares about Robin a lot, otherwise he wouldn't notice that she's not with her crew and he wouldn't spend time just to look for her. Like why did people missed that?!

Law trying to explain himself is also so funny, like yea sure...of course she is really suspicious that you need to find her haha I think someone also mentioned he looks like a high school boy trying to get close with his crush so pretend to be interested with the same hobby?! that's so funny

I also did a bit of research about hyena, they have excellent hearing and smell which is what Law referring here. Hyena also have a metaphor for people who are greedy for money or privilege which I think is not applicable in this case. But I'm surprised that there's a lore that hyena have long been thought to be a beast that can change sex. So did Oda put a little foreshadowing here?! (source: https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%83%8F%E3%82%A4%E3%82%A8%E3%83%8A-112682)

And I think Oda purposely make it ambiguous here, he has a lot of ways to make them find poneglyph together without making Law a stalker (jk) But he has to shown it in this way that seems like Law is interested to Robin. He is definitely stirring something up here!

Robin demeanour is also really different in front of Law. Me and the other lawbin enjoyers have talked about this in the discord before. When Robin flirting with other men, her tone is full of confidence and showing that she is a grown and mature women. And I think she always acting tough and has a "big sister" energy as a habit because of her past experience. She acted like this because that's her mechanism to protect herself. She grew up in an environment that she's afraid people will abandon her or hurt her when she is showing any weakness.

Not that I think her flirting is not genuine or being a "big sister" is not her real personality, she definitely is complimenting the person and she definitely want to take care of the straw hats like a big sis or mom.

What I'm trying to say is she doesn't show her weakness or her soft side to others easily. And I think she will show it only when she thinks she can rely or trust that person. And the only time she has shown her soft and cute side outside of straw hats is in front of Law!!

I have read some japanese readers' comments and some of them is saying usually Robin will say "ずるいわ…" to others (even to her own crew) but for Law, she said "ずるい…" which is a closer way to communicate. I will translate a few comments from japanese fans here: After all, Robin-chan doesn't seem to have her usual older sister vibe when she's with Law, right? Also, this time she said 'that's not fair… (zurui...)' but if it were with someone else, she would have said 'that's not fair…(zuruiwa....)' with a slightly different tone. This difference is quite significant; in many ways, it feels like there's something special. (source: ひさぎ@hisagi_cfa85c) I started shipping Lawbin from Chapter 1055. Normally, she would probably say 'That's not fair…(zuruiwa...)' but with Torao, she said 'That's not fair…(zurui...)' It feels like they have a classmate-like vibe that's different from Franky, Zoro, or Sanji, and I really like it. (source: aria2372)

+ plus one more comment from Chapter 996! It's probably because 'you're the survivor of Ohara and researching the Void Century' that he told you, but even knowing that, the choice of words is surprising. It's like a typical behavior or phrase one would use towards someone of the opposite sex they want to be conscious of, so I was really surprised. (source: user-xk4ru8cv9q)

And yes there are LOTS of comments about Robin's "it's not fair...(ずるい…)" and Law's "I told you because it's you (��前だから話した)" that the wording they chose is surprisingly ambiguous and hinting that they have a close relationship. And they wouldn't act like this with other people. I think that's one of the reasons why lawbin is so much popular in Japan because they can read the tone and wordings with more depth.

Also, as @/cericebelle mentioned we haven't seen Law called Robin since zou so maybe they changed how they called each other already?! Like maybe Law will called Robin as "Robin" instead of "Nico-ya" and Robin will start calling "Law" instead of "tora-o" again.

*BELOW HAVE MANGA SPOILERS* Now that we knew Clover's brother died just because he is a D. And we know that having a D in your name is dangerous which can get yourself killed, can we all agree that Law NEED to trust Robin in order to tell her his full name?! Especially he grew up with a childhood that he doesn't trust people easily. Like Law just tell her you like her! (my delulu again)

Since we are talking about the "true name" culture in Japan, I want to add this in the last analysis. I saw @/happytact reblog that Tales from Earthsea is written by an American author Ursula K. Le Guin. I'm really sorry for the misinformation and putting out the wrong references ><! There are so many anime that have the true name concept and yet I picked out the wrong one -.-

I will add more references to it, in "Spirited Away", the story is focus on true name, Chihiro signed contract by giving her true name and she needs to take her name back in order to go back reality. At the end, Haku also found his true name and he regains his freedom again. In "Natsume's Book of Friends", if you know the monster's true name you can control it. And in "Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle", sakura and syaoran they fell in love and saved each other along their journey, they confessed with each other and only at the end, they exchanged their real name. Not to mention there are lots of anime that express exposing your true name is important or dangerous like "Death Note" or "Your Name" . Telling your true name has a significant meaning in japanese culture, it almost means you're giving yourself to the person (only depends on the context, sometimes it's implied) so when Law told Robin his true name voluntarily, it's really important!!!

When they are looking old wano in the little tunnel and standing really close to each other is way too cute!! When did you see Law self-willingly to get this close with a person that's outside of his crew?! (well maybe except when he is mad at Zoro and trying to fight him haha) Also because Robin teased him in the beginning so he flexed his ability in front of her and try to make her annoyed is so funny. Law act cool in front of anyone but being a little kid in front of his crush is just so him!!! They really show off a classmate vibe here!

so y'all probably know one of the arguments from lawbin haters is "Law is just interested in the road poneglyph" "It's just for the plot" I always laugh at these comments because did you see Law didn't even get close to the poneglyph?! LOL he just standing behind like "I'm good" When Robin stand on a level higher to get close with the poneglyph, Law is also just down there.

And if he is only interested to the poneglyph, he didn't need to the flex in front of her to see the under water wano. He can just stand outside of the tunnel like Sukiyaki.

So in my opinion, Law wants to accompany with Robin. Not that he is completely non-interested to the poneglyph but I think most of it is because he is interested to learn history and find road poneglyph with Robin. Also, it really seems like he wants to get close with her and protect her from behind.

Oh no that's the end of their interactions T^T there is one more from 1056 but I already wrote a long post about it so I wouldn't repeat it again. Hopefully we can see them interact again soon so I can write more analysis!!!

Chapter 1056 analysis:

So some of my future lawbin delulu thoughts are: - they exchanged vivre card - they will meet at elbaf again and will learn more history together - robin will worried about law when she learnt that...you know

hopefully at least one of it will come true haha Thank you so much for reading this!! I really blab a lot haha Please always share your thoughts or comments with me. And also I will promote the lawbin discord group here if you're interested!

[fandomwe1rd0]

Every Rick and Morty episode ranked!

This took me 3 hours and Mircosoft excel was being a bitch but I did it! The ranking is under the cut! I really hope you enjoy! Sorry if my reviews leave some to be desired, this took a VERY long time!

~ F tier, this tier is for episode. I just don't like, they have little to no redeeming qualities and just aren't good. There's very little here since most Rick and Morty episodes are really good! ~

71. Claw and Horder Special Ricktim Morty. Horrible episode with no redeeming qualities. Rick is unlikable. There's no funny jokes, and it's just a really uncomfortable episode overall, F tier.

70. Rickdependence Spray. Very little redeeming qualities. Rick is really the only good thing in this episode, and even then it's just because he wasn't a complete ass to Morty. There's only like…one funny joke and that's it. Also Rick and Morty writers, PLEASE STOP SEXUALIZING A 14-year-old boy. I BEG of you!

69 (heh). Rise of The Numericons: The Movie. Just a really boring episode, it focuses on 2 characters who I don't give a shit about, and it has a forced romanced subplot and just has a very uncomfortable scene.

68. Raising Gazorpazorp. Rick sucks in this episode. He's a sexist asshole, and the sexualization of Morty is really insane. There was one funny joke in the beginning and everything else sucks.

67. A Rickcovient Mort. Romantizing groomers is crazyyyy. The B story is also just overly sexual.

66 & 65. A Rick in King Mortur's Mort & Ricktional Mortpoon's Rickmas Mortcation. Lumping these 2 together due to similar problems. Rick is a douchebag, unfunny jokes, and I do NOT like the focus of Morty's…manhood in Rick in King Mortur's Mort.

64. One Crew Crewcoo's over Morty. Rick was an asshole in this episode, and there's not even funny jokes to make up for it like in The Vat of Acid episode, I just feel bad for the poor boy.

~ D tier, these episodes are bad, but have more redeeming qualities than the episodes in the F tier. ~

63. Mortyplicity. There was a sweet moment between two of the decoy familes but that's it.

62. Anatomy Park, just a really boring episode, really it's only redeeming quality is that it can be used for like a biology class but that's it! There's not really anything I spefically dislike about it, it's just kinda boring.

61. Rick Dinner Andre. Eh. This episode was lame. I expect better premires. But at least Morty was a little badass and there was 1 funny moment. And I appreciate the foreshadowing to Rick's backstory.

60. Childrick of Mort. Eh this episode is fine. The joke at the end was funny and Rick and Beth did have some sweet moments, but this episode was mostly just boring and unfunny.

59. How Poppy Got His Poop Back, definetily the weakest premire, this episode again is just boring, I liked Rick and Morty's interaction at the beginning but besides that there's like…nothing. Just a really forgettable episode.

58. Forgetting Sharick Mortshall. Meh. There was an emotional moment at the end but that's really it. Not much to say about this episode. I mean I liked Morty here at least.

57. Rickmancing the Stone. Eh, it's just kinda boring. Nobody was particually good or bad in this episode. I thought Beth was cute in the episode but that's it, this is just..meh.

56. The Jerrick Trap. I dunno if this opinon is unpopular or not, but it's just not that funny or interesting, Morty was cool here though.

55. Rickstar Ricklatica. Rick was an ass in this episode, there was 1 funny joke and I like Jerry here, but Rick was too much of an ass here for me to rank it higher.

54. Never Ricking Mort. There is some funny jokes, but that's it. And the forehead kiss scene makes me uncomfyyyyy

53. Auto Erotic Assimulaton. Wooboy gonna get chased by an angry mob for this one. This episode is heavilllyyy overrated. It's not funny and just really boring. It's only up this high because the ending scene in fucking amazing and heartbreaking.

52. Ricksy Business. Boring episode, but the ending was cute, but overall the weakest finale.

51. Rick: A Mort well Lived. I liked seeing Morty doubt that Rick cares about him, but this was done leagues better in Fear No Mort, here it was just kinda bland, same thing with the side story with Summer.

50. Juricksic Mort. There's a lot of good Rick moments here, and I liked some of the jokes, but other than that, there's not much here.

49. Pickle Rick. Probably my most controversial pick for the list. I mean this episode isn't bad persay, just extremely overrated. I thought some jokes were funny, and I liked Dr. Wong's speeches, but besides that this episode was just boring.

48. Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion. Some funny moments, but other than that, meh. The ending scene haunts my nightmares though.

~ C Tier every episode here is average to good! They aren't the best to offer, but they are ok! ~

47. Rick & Morty's Thanksplotation Spectacular. Funny moments, but that's really it.

46. Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate. Ik this is a controversial pick, but I think people are too hard on this episode, yes the focus on dicks is gross, but there's funny bits and Rick is actually likable here.

45. Air Force Wong. It's good for seeing how much Rick has changed, but besides that, there's just not much to this episode.

44. Amortycan Grafetti. Great for Rick's development,and there was one funny joke, but other than that eh. I LIVE for Summer calling Morty a creepy little grandpa's boy though.

43: The Old Man and The Seat. Fine episode. some jokes are funny and the end is sad, but there's not much else to it.

42. Promortyus. A controversial pick to be sure, but besides the facehugger part, the human part was very funny and the aftercredits scene is also funny.

41. Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort. This is kinda overrated, but I see the appeal. It's not very funny, but Rick is likable here, and Birdperson was back. I do appreciate them showing Rick's sexuality, but that's about it.

40. Night Family, not really funny, but the story and action are great. Not much else to say.

39. Bethic Twinstic. Again, yes the 2 Beths being in love is gross. BUT the B story is cute and funny, and the jokes about the rest of the family being traumatized are funny.

38. Wet Kaut American Summer. This was funny, and Rick was likable here, but the story and Kauto part is too weird for me to put it in B tier, but it's a really solid episode!

~ B Tier, these episode vary from good to great! Solid, enjoyable episode! ~

37. Pilot. I tend to flip flop a lot on how I feel about this one…but the jokes are funny, there's some cute moments, and it started the show to begin with. So B tier you go!

36. Lawnmower Dog. There's funny moments, I like the inception plot, and the ending was really cute!

35. Big Trouble in Little Sanchez. This is another one I flip flop on, but the B story is enjoyable enough with some funny jokes, same with the A story, it's not spentacular, but an enjoyable watch nonetheless.

34. M Night Shaym-Aliens! We get a bit of protective Rick in this one babyyy. I like the plot, everyone was likable here, and the crystal fight was too adorable for words. There wasn't that many funny jokes, but this episode doesn't try to hard to be funny, so it doesn't bother me.

33. Final Desmithlation. Yes, yes, the incest part is gross. BUT Rick is likable, the fight scenes are cool, and there's legitmately funny jokes but…don't watch this one with family.

32. Edge of Tomorty. Eh this episode wasn't amazing, but it has some funny jokes, both stories were enjoyable, if not a little unmemorable, not a great episode, but a good one.

31. These Ricks Must Be Crazy. Another one I flip flop on. I'm not crazy about the plot, but there's a lot of funny jokes, so I'll give it a pass.

30. The Abcs of Beth, not very funny, but it is plot important and it shows Rick in a pretty likable light for the most part, this was also the first Rick and Beth episode and they did it MUCH better than Childrick of Mort.

29. Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri. Good episode, enjoyable plot, introduces Space Beth, funny jokes, and emotional ending. Not the best episode ever, but a really good one.

28. Vindicators 3: Return of World Ender. Jealous Rick in this one babbyyy. I LIVE for his pettiness in this episode, the Vindicators are enjoyable characters, even if they get killed, it's not the best episode, but it's definetily an enjoyable watch.

27. The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy. Rick is likable here, the B plot is enjoyable, Rick's "The reason why you suck" speech to Jerry was pretty on-point. Deducted some points because it's not very funny, but solid episode!

26. Morty's Mindblowers. Does it deserve to be ranked this high? …Probably not. But it's one of the first episodes I watched and it holds a special place in my heart for that. It's funny and has some good Rick moments.

25. Mortynight Run. I like Morty trying to do good, but failing at it. Rick is a little unlikable here, but he has some good moments, it has memorable side characters, and a good song, but it's not that funny.

24. Mort: Raganrick. Rick's character development is shown amazingly well here. I'm so proud! There's also quite a few funny moments, I think the B story is a little overrated, but still good, solid episode!

23. Get Schwifty. I like the song, Rick was funny here and was likable in an asshole way, it also introduces the president. So yeah, good episode!

22: Something Ricked This Way Comes, this episode is really funny! Rick is pretty likable, I don't really like Summer, but that's really it, I also really like the B plot and Jerry was really likable!

21. The Vat of Acid Episode. Very funny and I liked Morty a lot in this one, Rick was just an asshole just to be an asshole here, but it's too funny for me to place it any lower.

20. Total Rickall. The ending scene is fucking amazing holy shit. But unlike Auto Erotic Assimulation, it has good stuff besides that, the jokes are funny and the action is fucking awesome! Would definetly recommend!

19. A Rickle in Time. Okokokok. This might be a little too high for it but HEAR ME OUT! Ok, it isn't very funny, but the B story is very cute, and there were a few funny jokes. The ending scene also reveals SO MUCH about Rick's character and is SO amazing and fun to anaylze! PLEASE watch this episode if you haven't already!

18. Rixty minutes. Funny episode, with really good emotional beats and both the A and B story are really good. Defineity check it out!

17. That's Amorte. This episode is really really good. It handles it's serious theme exceptionally well! I had to dock it a little bit since the jokes weren't funny, but this episode is phenominal.

16. Anaylze Piss. Again great episode! It handles it serious theme well, Rick is amazing here, so proud! I didn't like all of the jokes about piss, but everything else makes up for it. Please PLEASE check it out!

15. The Rickiture Mortyidate. Rick is likable here, very funny story, good pacing, character development for Beth, and there's even some cute bonding moments between Rick and Morty! Very good finale!

14. Rick Potion #9. Very good episode! Funny jokes, powerful ending, and it's very important to the plot! Some points were deducted because Rick was insuffable here and Morty was a creep, but still an amazing episode!

13. Full Meta Jackrick. UGH I love Rick so much here! There's a lot of funny jokes, an interesting story, and Rick is sooo likable! The pacing can be a bit slow at times, and I wasn't a big fan of the last few minutes, but great episode nonetheless! Go watch it!

12. Rest and Ricklaxation. UGHHH THIS FUCKING EPISODE! It makes me go feral in the best way, there are some funny bits, sure, but really it's the Rick character development for me, the line "irrational attachments lives rent free In my head ughhh. Please watch this one! It's sooo fun to anaylze!

11. Look Who's Purging Now. Very good episode! This one has funny bits, but it's the Morty character development for meeee. His repressed rage really needs to be explored more! And Rick lying about the candy bar to make Morty feel better was sweet.

10. The Rickshank Rickdemption. DAMN this is a good premire! It's very plot important, the action is awesome and we get Rick's backstory (although it isn't confrimed canon till later) and the garage rant was hilarous! Terrific episode!

9. The Wedding Squanchers. Great finale! It's funny, it's plot-important, and everyone is likable, and the ending STILL makes me sob.

~ S Tier. These episodes are great and nearly FLAWLESS! These are also my top eight!

8. Meeseeks and Destroy. I might be giving this one a bitttt too much credit, but it's really important to me, and I love it a lot! The jokes are funny, and they handle the serious topic near flawlessly, Everyone here is likeable (Besides Mr. Jellybean but he's not supposed to be) and I will NEVER not cry over it! Such a good episode!

7. Rickfending Your Mort. Such an amazing episode! Rick is so likable here! Everyone is! There's so many funny and heartwarming moments and it's amazing proof for Rick's character development! Please watch/rewatch it when you get the chance!

6. The Ricklantis Mixup. UGHHH the plot episodes are ALWAYS amazing! This episode shows Evil Morty's manipulation well and makes you excited for his next apprerance! It's not very funny, but the plot is so awesome that I can excuse it!

5. Close Rick-counters with Rick kind. Really great episode! Introduces Evil Morty (My Evil Babyboyyyy) and Doofus Rick! Rick crying over Morty always gets to me and Morty is amazing here!

4. Solaricks. Morty is a sweet little baby angel here, the emotional moments HIT! Everyone is likable and it's just a good episode overall, it's not very funny but it's a phenomial episode, please watch it!

3. Rickmurai Jack. I mean c'mon. Rick's backstory revealed? Rick treating Morty like an equal? THE FUCKING ENDING?! This episode did damn near everything right. Unmortricken is slightlyy better because I find it to be more emotional and is a lil more unique. This episode is fucking amazing though holy shit.

2. Unmortricken. Do I even really need to explain myself? It's funny, we got my three favorite characters center stage here (Rick C-137, Morty Prime, and Evil Morty) The death scene is POWERFUL and the ending scene really knows how to kick you in the stomach! The only reason why it's not the top is because I'm not crazy about Rick Prime as a villian, but amazing episode nonetheless. It's also very funny and Rick and Morty's hug at the end is everything to me!

Fear No Mort. MORTY CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FUCK YEAH! The exploration of Morty's trauma is incredible! And it has so legitmately funny jokes! The emotional moment really hits you in the gut! The pacing is really great, the montage is amazing, and the hug is EVERYTHING! This episode is so much fun to anaylze and just ughhh! It's so so sooo great! Please watch it!

[selkiemaidenfae]

Fellow spuffy shipper here, and i'm so curious to know how you became such a spuffy lover considering this is your first watch and you're only in s2?? Excellent taste btw !!

hi fellow spuffy shipper!!

the thing you need to know about me is that i’m a big time spoiler girl lol. so even though i’m only on season 2, i’ve seen fan edits, watched clips, read metas, and read a lot of spuffy fics.

i’ve always been into enemies to lovers so spuffy was always on my periphery even before i really noticed. and then i was impatient so i spoiled myself and started consuming a lot of fan media lol.

but also— i firmly believe i’d ship spuffy even going in blind based on a few things.

spike not wanting to fight kendra and gleefully switching to fight with buffy when she offers… him sending vamps out to learn her fighting style… buffy’s “honey, i’m home!” when she knocks out of her trance to beat him in the halloween episode…

plus i think they’re foreshadowing their future alliance pretty well. it’s clear that spike only went along with the whole ~rebuilding the judge~ thing to make dru happy, and james’ acting in the background when he’s resurrected is great.

it’s this weird mix of “dru is happy, i did good!” and “oh fuck, i think i might regret this” and it all plays out on his face without being focused on too much.

plus buffy is about to lose angel to angelus, and it’s clear that dru isn’t capable of the love spike is, and can’t give him what he’s deep down wanting from a partner.

it’s all coming together!!!

so yeah. spoilers and fics. but also, season 2 is feeding me good already.

[stormandforge]

Raw reactions to X-Force #5

Yup, someone dies.

MASSIVE spoilers (and controversial opinions) below.

It's Nori. There'd been so much foreshadowing in the comic - and so much fan discussion about the upcoming character death - that I had started believing it wouldn't be her. But no, it was always going to be her. When you consider the way she joined the team, her post-Krakoa trauma, her selflessness and her relationship with Forge, it makes complete sense.

That death scene goes hard. We actually see her burned-up corpse, we hear her farewell words - oof, my heart. Rest in power, little blue-haired hero.

This said, everyone attacking Geoff Thorne over Nori's death needs to calm down. I would understand this amount of upset if he'd done her dirty, but he really hasn't. He's consistently written her with respect, gave her as much spotlight as he could in a team book, and gave her a heroic death. Stories kill characters, people. That's just the way it is.

Also: Nori's coming back, maybe even in this run. We just don't know yet. And don't give me nonsense about the resurrection protocols being gone - mutants came back from the dead before Krakoa, they will continue to do so.

"Forge always has a plan." YES. Nothing to do with his power; he's just always up to something. That's Forge 101. Fuck me, it's so good to have a writer who understands him. And because Thorne has done his homework, I believe what we're witnessing is a typical Forge plan: something that he believes will benefit the greater good, but that is also misguided and full of hubris and will repeatedly backfire in his face.

Forge can be cold, but this is subzero. He loves Nori, he wouldn't act that way if he was fully himself. Something's going on. Someone needs to shake him real hard - beat him to a pulp, really - and realign his neurons. The two most qualified people to do that are showing up in the next issue, so I'm thinking this is what will happen.

Why does he take her gauntlets? It can't just be for the sake of getting his tech back. As i said he's not that cold, and also he can probably make those again in his sleep.

FORGE ALMOST KILLED AN ALT VERSION OF STORM IN COLD BLOOD. The man is not well, I'm telling you.

There's a theme of Forge hurting the women he cares about in this issue. Trust Sage to see the pattern and get the hell out before anything can happen- the hurting or the caring.

OK, now he's levitating with a big shiny triangle around his body. That's magic, isn't it? For a second I started thinking the Analog must be magic after all, but then I remembered Sage loves staring into it too, so it can't be. Mmm...still processing.

Thorne understands Forge's power better than any writer I've seen (yup that includes Claremont), and I appreciate that he mentions his need for materials to build anything. It should be obvious, but most writers have him make things out of thin air. There's only so much he can fit in that utility belt.

So many people, so many things! Poor Marcus To.

Marcus To is still doing excellent though. Do I need to tell you that Forge is hot? I think I've been clear on that already, but let me reiterate: FORGE IS HOT.

"Slippery as ice": oh, that made me hap-py. Such an evocative, accurate way of describing Sage.

No, Forge's power doesn't let him see what will happen. But you know whose power can see every eventuality? Sage's. This was highlighted in the very first issue, and Forge repeats the exact same words from this moment in this issue. THERE'S SOMETHING TO THAT.

I continue to dig the dynamic between Forge and Sage, curses and all. The little cerebral push and pull they have going on is very interesting.

Also continue to adore Tessa herself. The way she challenges Forge at every opportunity, the way she always asks the right questions *chef's kiss*. Everyone obviously wants to murder Forge on that last page, but I love that she's the one who tells him to go fuck himself, even though she's been the person closest to him on the team. She's my girl. I'm this close to opening a side blog entirely devoted to her awesomeness. (I see what Geoff Thorne means when he says she tries to steal the show. She does!)

OK, so, there's no way Forge has a team anymore at this point, so I assume the next issue will be a downtime one. I imagine he'll go home, have an existential crisis featuring his two exes (as you do) and then get back on the road. Or something? Also, the next issue has a Sage variant cover, which could imply she plays an important part in it. One can only hope. If it's the issue of Forge getting his ass kicked by awesome women, she should take part.

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

I kind of love this scene at the beginning of Nope where OJ and Lucky (the horse) are on set because it foreshadows the rest of the movie so well: OJ and Emerald explain to the actors and crew how to interact with Lucky — how a horse, even one trained for TV, responds to the world around them according to their instincts — and the crew ignore him. One of them says to "tell the horse we're ready to do one," like he's a human actor who speaks another language and OJ is the translator.

And it keeps happening all through the film. In the narrative of the Gordy's Home, Gordy is treated as essentially another human member of the family, albeit one who can't tell time or speak English (and I've seen some excellent commentary on how Ricky, an Asian child actor, is commodified and exoticized in the same way). But the chimp who plays Gordy is not a person; he, like Lucky, is an animal being exploited by a production company uninterested in and unwilling to accommodate his needs, and so he reacts on instinct — to the sound of balloons popping, to eye contact, to the people around him screaming.

Maybe Ricky survives because the tablecloth kept them from making eye contact, or maybe the chimp would have killed him, too, if he hadn't been shot at that moment. But Ricky doesn't process what happened as an animal reacting on instinct, at least not that final moment. He still anthropomorphizes this chimp as Gordy, his friend from his TV family with whom he has a special connection. And so years later, he assumes Jean Jacket is a ship piloted by sentient aliens. He assumes they trust him, when really all he's done is teach an ambush predator to expect a regular food source —  it's the equivalent of drawing bears to a camp ground because you forgot to put away the cooler.

[vickyvicarious]

Today's entry is really not Dr. Seward's best on display. He's matter-of-factly drugging his patient and rifling through his belongings. He's daydreaming about a cause worthy enough to justify even greater breaches of ethics than he's already doing. But in amongst these musings, there's some interesting foreshadowing too.

How well the man reasoned; lunatics always do within their own scope. I wonder at how many lives he values a man, or if at only one. He has closed the account most accurately, and to-day begun a new record. How many of us begin a new record with each day of our lives? To me it seems only yesterday that my whole life ended with my new hope, and that truly I began a new record.

Seward's interest in Renfield's skillful reasoning "within [his] own scope" and subsequent curiosity at how he measures the worth of men is of course ironic. He himself has been guilty of reasoning that only goes so far because of his own bias (about this guy in particular, in fact) and also values lives differently depending on the person. Or at least in different ways - we'll see the distinct difference between how he cares for Lucy in her illness (even when there is a question of potential 'madness') versus how he has behaved with Renfield. Obviously, there's other factors at play there too, but I can't help but think of the distinction here, particularly when it comes right before he moves on to thinking more directly about Lucy.

Renfield ends his first account when Seward denies him a cat, and eats all his birds to put a close to the whole process. But then he begins anew the next day. Seward muses about endings and beginnings, and claims that to him it feels like only yesterday that his life "ended with [his] new hope." This refers of course to Lucy rejecting him, and his beginning again was our first introduction to his audio diary. By his count, we're already on his second record. And those of us who have read the book before can recognize that a third will be coming up. Once again, a loss of Lucy will mark the end of his account - according to him, but then he will have to start again when he's inducted into the vampire-hunting. And that's when, as I've seen other people joking about, he gets his "strong, unselfish cause to make [him] work" - but it's far from happiness. (Though he in particular does get a line about savage delight in killing vampite!Lucy, it's another instance of unfulfilled potential in a way. The statement is anticipatory, and when it comes time to actual kill her, Jack is firstly the support, and secondly recognizes it as a terrible task. If he were the one staking, would he take a savage joy in doing so as he expected, or would it be a burden he bore out of love for the woman she was, as Arthur did? He actively participates in beheading her afterwards, in filling her mouth with garlic, in sealing her up. We don't hear his thoughts on any of that in any depth, and that happened after she apparently returned to her former self in death anyway, so... who knows.)

So it will be until the Great Recorder sums me up and closes my ledger account with a balance to profit or loss.

This line is also really interesting. In line of what happens later - both in how important records are throughout this story, and also in the epilogue making it clear that the entire book we've read is a preserved account.

But it also draws a comparison with Renfield's notebook. When Seward looked in it previously, he directly compared Renfield to an accountant, balancing numbers representing what we now know represent lives. This wording is kind of placing Renfield in the position of God; at the least imitating a Godly approach. That also goes along with what happens later on with Mina being burned by the Host and the characters seeming to interpret that as God deeming her unworthy (marked down as 'a loss') for no fault of her own.* It could link back to that line about reasoning within one's own scope again. I'm reminded of this excellent meta by @animate-mush which talks about how transgressing or occupying multiple roles is key in so many ways throughout this book. Staying within one's (typical/expected) scope is limiting, while Doing Both is strengthening. A madman's reasoning only goes so far - but then again, so does his doctor's. In that sense, having a straightforward binary of profit/loss is unhelpful. But of course, all this is happening within the context of the Good People fighting Bad Vampires book. As a rule, the novel doesn't delve too deeply into realizing moral dilemmas, even though it raises the question of them multiple times. So this whole line of thought I've been led down by these lines is kind of another instance of that, and there's no clear resolution to it. But it's interesting to think about.

*Pretty sure I've read at least one meta suggesting the mark was actually a warning to instill the necessary sense of urgency they needed to motivate them to save her before it became too late. That it was never meant as a mark of shame at all. In this case it's fully the characters' own limited view affecting their understanding of the situation, and the accountant view of a God tallying up more 'objective' pluses and minuses is lessened.

[greenthena]

The Eldritch Ball or Aziraphale's Macabre Danse

I'm a huge sucker for dark classical music (I'm using the term "classical" broadly, not referring to the specific period. Music-y folks, please forgive.) As such, Saint-Saëns's "Danse Macabre" is one of my all time favorite pieces. It's spooky. It's intentionally dissonant. It's even got a jump scare! Like, literally, the perfect piece of music.

The story behind "Danse Macabre" goes like this: Each Halloween at midnight, Death enters the graveyard with a fiddle. As he plays, the skeletons rise from the ground and dance through the cemetery, resurrected by Death's power and possessed by his instrument.

In S2 E3, the Bentley plays "Danse Macabre" as Aziraphale drives up to Edinburgh. "What do we do? We play classical music that stays classical music." (And the Bentley listens to him! Because the Bentley is an expression of Crowley's subconscious and wants to please him and make him happy...and I'm sure you can find lots of excellent metas to that end. Or maybe you have another theory about why the Bentley is so pliant toward the angel? I'd love to hear it. But that's not what I'm talking about right now. I'm just getting distracted.)

Why is this song so perfect for a bit of subtle foreshadowing and repeated metaphor? So glad you asked. I have reasons. And evidence. Please, peruse my wares.

In the A Plot of this episode, Aziraphale travels to Scotland to visit a pub called The Resurrectionist. (Ya know, like Death? Like how Death resurrects people in the song? Okay, just wanted to really hit that nail into the coffin.) The pub is, of course, named for a certain Mr. (not Dr., he's a surgeon) Dalrymple, whom Crowley and Aziraphale meet in the accompanying flashback minisode entitled (you'll never guess) "The Resurrectionist." The minisode plot involves Crowley and his the angel encountering young Elspeth, a grave robber who, like Death, releases the bodies of the deceased from their earthly bonds of soil and stone. My interpretation is that Elspeth becomes Death incarnate, first in the process of using her instrument (her shovel) to resurrect the dead, and later when she inadvertently brings about the literal death of her partner, Wee Morag. Rather than allow Wee Morag's body to turn to dust in the ground, Elspeth "resurrects" her, selling her body to Dr. Dalrymple (sorry, Mr. Dalrymple, he's a surgeon, not a doctor), who will use Wee Morag's body for research, which will in turn save the lives of countless others by furthering the field of medicine. A form of resurrection, indeed. There's also the plot thread of Crowley and Aziraphale providing Elspeth with a nest egg to escape the cycle of poverty into which she has been born. This, too, is another form of re-birth. Or, say it with me, resurrection. Alright, you're getting it now.

Okay, now I get to delve into the fun stuff. Let's talk about that cotillion ball, shall we? You know, that danse party where Aziraphale persuades all the shopkeepers on Whickber street to attend a Jane Austen-style ball?

I personally refer to this whole fiasco experience as the Eldritch Ball. On the surface, it seems fairly innocent. The shopkeepers need a little bit of encouragement to attend the Whickber Street monthly meeting, but the angel manages to convince everyone to join with the help of some coercion-via-bribery. When they show up, they're transmuted into Austen-esque characters, from their clothes, to their speech patterns, even to some extent, their perception of reality. This is where it starts to get a little uncomfortable if you peel back the layers. Mrs. Sandwich can't talk about what she does for a living, which is a great comedy bit, but also demonstrates that her speech is being significantly censored and altered by an outside force. With the exception of Mr. Brown (hidden agendas here, Neil? I honestly don't know), all the shopkeepers find themselves in new, slightly-period-appropriate garments. What's really weird, though, is that no one notices the changes. When the dancing begins, to the music of Mr. Anderson's piano and an accompanying string quartet (strings...as in violins...as in fiddles. Remember Death's fiddle?), Nina appears to be the only one who realizes that something is off.

Maggie: This is something new.

Nina: This is something completely bonkers. Are we...? Why is everyone talking like they've escaped from Pride and Prejudice?

Maggie: Just getting into the spirit of things, I suppose.

Nina: The spirit of what things? This is meant to be the shopkeeper association monthly meeting.

Maggie: Hmm. Yes. Now that you put it like that...

Nina: Are we dancing?

Maggie: Yes.

Nina: Did you ever learn the steps to this dance?

Maggie: It's just what we do, isn't it?

Nina: No. No, it isn't. This is something mad. This is their [Crowley & Azirapahle's] fault. They're doing this.

Something is definitely mad. One might even say it's macabre. Aziraphale has become Death the Resurrectionist. He has lured the shopkeepers of Whickber Street through a portal (as Death leads his flock from the world of the dead to the world of the living.) Aziraphale's instrument is his clipboard and pen, held almost as one might hold a fiddle and bow, as he invites the various shopkeepers to the monthly meeting. Once they all arrive, he miraculously gives them new clothes (as Death knits together the bones of the dead), and then proceeds to control their bodies and minds, as though they are merely marionettes. They dance and speak in the way Aziraphale imagines, fulfilling his fantasy of a perfect Jane Austen-style ball (quite literally, the Danse Macabre.)

The shopkeepers have become the dead and Aziraphale controls them until the spell is broken--or rather until the window is broken.

To be honest, I don't think Aziraphale is really aware of how much he is able to transfigure his environment, including the humans who happen to be close by. Or, at least, I don't believe he does any of this with ill intent. He's just a bit blind to anything outside his fixation of wooing Crowley, at the moment. As a result, he creates a situation that is profoundly problematic and unnatural. Just like the dead in the graveyard have no agency when Death plays his fiddle, the Whickber Street shopkeepers are possessed by Aziraphale's intricate romantic fantasy and must dance as long as the music plays.

It is, in fact, only when the music stops, that the shopkeepers begin to realize that something is most certainly weird. The diagetic music (Mr. Anderson & Co.) abruptly cuts off when an approaching demon horde tosses a brick through the bookshop window. Now the spell, or in this case, miracle, begins to break down. While the shopkeepers still appear to be somewhat under the influence of Aziraphale's persuasive aura, a few of them glance down at their clothes in confusion and look around the bookshop, as though waking from a dream. And at this point, after a little finagling, Crowley escorts the humans out of the bookshop and out of Aziraphale's Danse Macabre.

Once the demons attack the bookshop Aziraphale's influence on his surroundings really starts to deteriorate. Throughout the season, he's been able to structure and manipulate reality (sometimes with Crowley's help) to suit his needs: protecting Gabriel, altering the Bentley, organizing the Ball, etc. But once the bookshop, his safe space, has been breached, he loses control of the situation. From this point in the narrative, nothing goes according to Aziraphale's plan. Aziraphale wants to protect Jimbriel, but the former archangel insists on giving himself over to the demons. Crowley leaves and Aziraphale has to defend the bookshop on his own, when he'd expected Crowley to come right back and save him. While defending the bookshop, Aziraphale reaches his "last" resort not once, but twice: first allowing Nina and Maggie to use his books (!!!) as weapons and then blowing up his halo in a last ditch effort to fend off the invaders. This was not on the agenda for today!

Things just continue to go downhill from there, Aziraphale losing all control of the situation. And by the time the Final Fifteen wraps up, the angel has lost his bookshop and possibly his most important relationship. By the end of the season, Aziraphale is no longer Death the Resurrectionist, the manipulator and puppeteer. Now the angel has become the puppet, dancing to Heaven's music.