#seriously top 10 most fucked up things my brother has done easily

[basedandlovepilled]

i still don’t even know what the emotion is that i felt when i heard my brother stole my stories of abuse and being molested to get sympathy points from people. never trust a male with ur traumatic stories cus they literally will just steal that shit

[makeste]

What are your favorite hero names?

oh man there are so many. I had to limit myself to a top twenty, and even that was rough. anyway so first off, a few runner ups because I couldn’t go without mentioning these:

Vlad King - to be clear, this isn’t actually one of my top hero names. but I’m mentioning it here because back when I was first reading the series, one of the fan scanlations -- either Fallen Angels or Mangastream, I forget which -- had originally translated his hero name as Brad King. which, to be frank, would have been one of the greatest hero names of ALL TIME. you can’t imagine my disappointment when I finally learned the truth. it still haunts me to this day.

Jack Mantis - this is Kamakiri (a.k.a. the guy from class 1-B who can grow knives out of his body)’s hero name. my question is, why the Jack. the mantis part, I get! that’s fairly obvious! but the “Jack” is forever a mystery to me. it just adds this little layer of intrigue.

Mr. Brave - this guy is one of the few good things to come from the Basement arc. don’t get me wrong, he is completely useless. but his name? absolutely legendary. this guy, with his power of ripping his own hair out and turning it into a sword (yes that’s his quirk), an ability that could be easily duplicated or bested by literally any jackass who just went out and bought their own damn sword, really thought to himself, “I am going to be the BEST MCFUCKING HERO THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN. I AM GOING TO NAME MYSELF... MISTER BRAVE.” and they let him, you guys. they let him.

anyway so now for the top twenty!

20. Can’t Stop Twinkling - this isn’t a name so much as it is poetry in three words. I still cannot believe that Aoyama went up to Midnight with a hero name that sounds more like the world’s greatest Dear Abby letter, and she actually let him keep it. I’m not 100% clear on how this all works, but I like to think this means that Aoyama’s fellow heroes have an actual legal obligation to call him this in battle. I don’t think we as a fandom and as a people really take enough time out of our lives to stop and be grateful for Aoyama’s existence.

19. Uravity - it’s a pun!! it’s so cute and I love it!! and it’s such a perfect name in that it just instantly sums up and defines her whole brand, bringing to mind both Ochako the person and Zero Gravity the quirk. honestly she is one of only a few kids whose hero name I never space out on. with a lot of the others I usually have to pause for a sec and be like “wait, what was their name again?” but never Ochako.

18. Present Mic - this would make a really great band name honestly. I just like it. I’m pretty sure Horikoshi was going for “present” as in the verb meaning “to perform”, like in “presentation”, but to tell the truth I always pronounce it like “present” as in “gift” or “the present time”, which doesn’t make any sense at all, but IT’S JUST WHAT MY BRAIN DECIDED TO DO. anyway.

17. Tsukuyomi - I know this name has its origins in Japanese mythology, but to be completely honest I’ve always just associated it with Itachi’s infamous genjutsu attack from Naruto. I just think it’s the gothest thing ever and absolutely perfect for Tokoyami lol.

16. All Might - there’s just something about this name that kind of makes me just want to pump my fists and go “YEAH!!” I really like the use of “might” as a noun rather than “mighty” as an adjective like you see in so many classic superhero names. it’s just so much cooler somehow. this name really does conjure up the image of the strongest guy in the universe.

15. Midnight - honestly I’m almost mad that this wound up being a hero name, because it would have made a perfect villain name. it’s dark and mysterious and sexy. it’s no wonder why Midnight chose it lol. anyway so my girl is a bit kinky, nothing wrong with that, and it’s also a perfect name for someone whose quirk puts other people to sleep. it’s just such spot-on branding, I love it.

14. Ingenium - fun fact, I had no idea what this meant when I first came across it because I don’t speak Latin! apparently it means “genius” or “talent.” which is a very good meaning for a hero name! but honestly the real reason I love it so much is because it’s Iida’s tribute to his brother, and I am just such a sucker for that kind of shit. damn you Iida siblings. quit giving me all these feels.

13. Shouto – yes, seriously. I know a lot of people hate this name, and it’s always getting flak for being bland and uncreative. but I honestly think it’s a perfect name for Shouto. firstly because Shouto himself is very much the opposite of flashy in a lot of ways. he’s not particularly animated or attention-seeking; he is a very calm, sort of still-waters-run-deep person, and I think the lack of a snappy brand name fits that personality. I’m even more delighted that it hasn’t remotely curbed his popularity at all (at this point I think the only kid hero with more in-universe fans out there is Momo, and even then it’s probably a close thing), and I think a big part of that is that people are drawn to his unpretentious nature, especially in comparison to a lot of the other heroes out there. but most of all, I like the name because of the simple yet powerful way it serves as a declaration that he is his own person. he’s not his father, and he’s more than just a Todoroki. he is himself; he is Shouto. anyway so yeah, to me this is a fantastic name with so much depth and meaning.

12. Battle Fist - this is Kendou’s hero name AND IT’S PERFECT. like, holy shit. what should we call the girl who goes around punching bad guys around all day with her giant hands. how about BATTLE FIST. there really isn’t much more to say about this one, honestly. its greatness speaks for itself.

11. Vantablack - imagine being such an enormous douchebag that word of your douchey exploits made it all the way over to some guy in Japan who spends 95% of his waking hours writing a manga and has almost no free time. fun fact, although Anish Kapoor is the only one licensed to use the color Vantablack, the name Vantablack is still owned by Surrey NanoSystems (a.k.a. the guys who actually invented it), and so I’m pretty sure they’re the ones who decide whether or not someone else gets to use it. I wonder if Kapoor is pissed about his color being referenced in a popular shounen manga. anyways, all of that speculation aside, it really is the perfect name for someone with Kuroiro’s quirk.

10. Endeavor - look, say what you will about Endeavor the person (although I’m personally a big fan of the way his redemption arc is being done and think he’s a fascinating character, albeit a very flawed one), but there’s no denying that Endeavor is a badass name. but what’s really great about it is how it so perfectly captures the admirable part of Endeavor, the one thing about him that’s actually worth praising. he never gives up. he’s always pushing, striving, struggling forward no matter how hopeless it seems. and that’s a worthy trait, and it says something about him that this is what he chose for his hero name. a name that has nothing to do with fire, nothing to do with his quirk, nothing even to do with his goal of becoming #1. it’s simply a name that means to make an effort; to try and achieve something. and I like that.

9. Sugarman - this IMO is easily the most overlooked and severely underrated hero name in the series. it’s a hidden gem. everyone always forgets about Satou just because his power of being a Strong Punching Guy doesn’t particularly stand out in a manga chock full of strong punching guys. but he is a badass and a great character, and honestly “eating candy makes me super strong” is possibly the single greatest quirk in the history of time and I am jealous. anyway, so this is a really straightforward name, but it’s really smooth and catchy somehow and so it’s one of my favorites.

8. Gale Force - this is Inasa’s hero name! it’s another one which is criminally underrated, much like Inasa himself. airbender powers are just so badass you guys. wind is so badass. this name is all hurricaney and tempesty and super cool and powerful-sounding. this is one of those names that I’m honestly surprised wasn’t already a mainstream superhero name. Marvel was all “nah, we’ll just go with ‘Storm’”, like come on you guys where is the creativity.

7. Red Riot - this name is a fucking grand slam. it’s alliterative! it’s catchy! it’s got the word “riot” in it! it’s an absolutely perfect name for a passionate guy whose quirk lends itself towards good old fashioned brawlin’ and head bashing. the fact that it’s got additional meaning as a tribute towards Kiri’s own personal hero is just the icing on the cake. this is another name that Marvel probably legit wishes they had thought of first. it’s easily the best hero name out of everyone in class 1-A imo.

6. Sir Nighteye - hilariously for the longest time it was not confirmed whether or not Nighteye actually had a real name (he does! but I’ve forgotten it lol), and so there was this lingering question, absurd as it was, of whether or not Nighteye’s parents, whoever they are, were descendants of some proud Nighteye clan, and whether they had really, actually named their child “Sir.” anyways though, I love this name. it’s super cool and mysterious and perfect for someone with future-seeing powers, and the “Sir” just makes even awesomer because it implies that the Queen really liked him or something.

5. Mt. Lady - this name is a stroke of genius. supersize-me powers are a dime a dozen, but the characters always have names like Giant Man or Giganta or Goliath. as far as I know, no other superhero characters have ever thought to name themselves after mountains, let alone to name themselves as if they WERE a mountain. like, she isn’t “mountain lady”; she’s “MOUNT Lady”, as if she were an actual tectonic peak. it really bothers me that I can’t adequately describe in words why I love this so much. I just do!! I think she should get an award.

4. Suneater - Tamaki is out here proving to everyone that your hero name doesn’t need to have jack shit fuckall to do with your actual quirk in order to be completely badass and iconic. sometimes I wonder what Tamaki does when people ask him “out of curiosity, why did you pick that name?”, which someone surely must have done at some point. he probably turns beet red and tries to dissolve into the background. but anyway, the general public does not need to know the meaning of his hero name in order for it to have meaning; we know what the meaning is, and that it’s his way of saying “I believe in myself because my friend believes in me”, and honestly that’s all that matters. I am still of the opinion that certain other people whose childhood friends held a lot of unwavering belief in and admiration towards them could do worse than going down this same hero name route, but we will see! anyways Suneater deserves all your respect.

3. Best Jeanist - I had so much love for this name from the start, and then I found out it was a real, actual award. for people who make good jeans, or are good at wearing jeans, or something. it’s run by the Japan Jeans Council, which is also a real and actual thing. but anyway, despite it not being as wholly original of a name as I thought, it’s still iconic, and I love that he went with something that was recognizable while still fitting his quirk, and which has the added implication that he is the motherfucking best, because he is. also, given that he probably chose this name while he was still in school, and that only public figures generally seem to be eligible for the award, this implies that he chose the name Best Jeanist first, and then went on to win the actual award eight years running. presumably because the JJC got very flustered and were all, “IT’S LITERALLY HIS NAME... WE HAVE TO GIVE IT TO HIM... WE HAVE TO”, and so they did. anyway so that was a goddamn power move on his part.

2. Gang Orca - first of all, if you are an orca man, then naming yourself after orcas is a pretty apt thing to do and I have to respect that. but then along comes the “gang” part, out of absolutely NOWHERE, and it absolutely SMASHES. like, this name comes up to you and it slaps you in the face. GANG ORCA. HE’S A BIG AGGRESSIVE DOLPHIN MAN AND HE’S NOT HERE TO FUCK AROUND. IS HE ACTUALLY IN A GANG?? WE DON’T KNOW. BUT HERE HE IS, READY TO YEET YOUR DELINQUENTS AND HUNT YOUR MOTHERFUCKING SEALS. this name fucks so hard it came within inches of the number one spot. he is a ruffian and a champ.

1. Eraserhead - last but not least, the guy who DIDN’T EVEN PICK HIS OWN NAME. his best friend had to do it for him, and out of love, came up with the SINGLE BEST HERO ALIAS IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. first of all, this name sounds like a very funky and electronicy Thom Yorke song. second, it conjures up the image of a man with a big no. 2 pencil head, which could not possibly be further from the truth. it’s just so whiplashy in the best way possible. third, the very existence of this name is seriously a goddamn miracle. he could have been “Power-Stopping Man.” or “Sleeping Bag Man.” or “Scruffy Hero: Tired Man.” or just “Shouta”, but unlike Shouto there wouldn’t have been any actual meaning to it; it would have simply been a case of him not giving the slightest of fucks about coming up with a real name. but rather than any of these, thanks to the power of friendship we were blessed with the greatest hero name in recorded memory. this is one of the few kindnesses fate has ever bestowed upon Aizawa Shouta in his tragic, exhausting life, and I for one am eternally grateful.

anyway so that’s my list! sorry if I left out anyone’s favorites! but I think all of these are deserving of love. also if you want to see the single best thing Japan has ever come up with, please go visit best-jeans.com. they even have an instagram lulz.

[iam93percentstardust]

buckytony for the ask game?

1. Coffee shop AU: Who is the barista, and who frequents the coffee shop?

Tony frequents the coffee shop. Bucky has been working at Bean True to Yourself (the owners are hipsters) for the last three years, trying to put himself and Steve through college because while they both got scholarships, it wasn’t enough and Steve’s health doesn’t let him hold a study job. Bucky has gotten pretty good at latte art actually. Only Natasha knows that it’s because he’s got a crush on the cute brunet with the messy hair and Bambi eyes that comes in sleep-deprived every single morning and probably doesn’t even notice the hearts Bucky puts in his lattes.

Tony definitely notices and it’s only because he’s spent so much time in the spotlight that he doesn’t blush every single time he sees the new art. Besides, he remembers when he first started coming here and the latte art was terrible. Bucky’s probably just testing out his artistic skills on Tony cause he knows he won’t judge him. There’s no feelings involved, right?

2. Highschool/College AU: Who is the straight-A student, and who’s the backrow slacker?

Tony has come to the conclusion that the only way to get Howard’s attention is if he puts absolutely no effort into anything at all, which is why he’s currently taking graduate-level courses as Edward Carbonell but Tony Stark is failing out of high school. Any attention is better than no attention, right?

And maybe it helps that his teachers come to him after class and suggest that he find himself a tutor and did you know that Bucky, Mr. Gorgeous himself, works in our tutoring program? I’m sure he’d love to help you, Mr. Stark. Okay, so maybe they don’t call Bucky gorgeous, maybe that’s just Tony’s own mind, but it’s not like he’s wrong. But Tony gave up on school a long time ago and Bucky has a motorcycle and wears leather jackets and is super popular all while having straight-A’s. There’s no way he even knows Tony’s name, let alone would ever like him.

3. Rivals to lovers AU: Who takes their rivalry seriously, and who is half in it just to push the other’s buttons?

Bucky isn’t entirely certain how he ended up as a supervillain’s sidekick and he definitely isn’t sure that he really wants to be there but he won’t deny to himself that the best part of the job is facing off against Iron Lad while Captain America and the Black Widow are fighting each other for control of the Deathstick of Destiny or whatever it is this week.

Iron Lad’s just so cute with his sense of justice and his wit and the conviction that he and Bucky are destined to be nemeses for life. And one time, a building fell on top of them and Bucky got to peel him out of his compromised suit and that was the best thing ever because he got to see Iron Lad’s flight suit, which accentuates the most perfect ass ever. Seriously, Bucky just wants to reach down and squeeze but he’s pretty sure that then Iron Lad might actually use the unibeam that he’s been threatening to use for ages.

4. Enemies to lovers AU: Which one switches sides?

Oof, Bucky does. He comes back from HYDRA to find a world that’s absolutely a bigger mess than he remembers it being and maybe that’s those rose-tinted glasses Sam keeps accusing him and Steve of wearing but he looks at Iron Man, taking out the ultra-wealthy and distributing the money back to the people, and then he looks at the Avengers and how they keep causing more property damage than they can fix and decides that he knows what side he wants to be on.

He slips out of the compound in the dead of night, unnoticed by all except Natasha who just wishes him luck, and tracks Iron Man across two continents and an ocean back to his secret hideout - in Latveria of all places, who knew that Doom could share? - knocks on the door and when a man with the prettiest brown eyes Bucky has ever seen answers the door, Bucky announces, “Hi, I’m here to be a villain.”

In retrospect, he decides as he’s dragging a fainted Tony inside, that might not have been the best way to introduce himself to his future employer.

5. Soulmate AU: Who is eager to meet their soulmate? Who absolutely does not want to meet their soulmate?

The thing is, Tony knows that soulmates aren’t always perfect. His parents were soulmates and they absolutely hated each other. But Ana and Jarvis were soulmates too, and so is Aunt Peggy and Uncle Daniel, and they loved each other very much, so even though he’s been alive for almost 40 years and never once met his soulmate, he still has high hopes.

Bucky fell from the train without knowing his soulmate and the only thing he can thinks is Good. They won’t wind up with someone like Bucky, someone who has nightmares from his time as a lab experiment, who kills people without even blinking, whose main purpose in life is to be the shadow that dogs Steve Rogers’ heels. But then he wakes up.

And then he forgets he ever even had a soulmate.

The next time Bucky remembers anything, it’s 2014, he’s in a glass room (cage, really), and there’s someone standing with their back to him outside of the cage, doing something on a tablet.

“What’s it gonna take to let me out of here?” Bucky asks.

The person jumps, turns, and then a slow smile spreads over his face. “I don’t know, how about dinner?”

Fuck.

6. Single parent AU: Which one is the single parent? (Alt. if they’re both single parents: Which one is open to starting a new relationship from the start? Which one is never planning on finding love again… Until they meet the other and are instantly smitten?)

Harley’s got a protective streak a mile wide (Bucky thinks he’s learned it from Uncle Steve), which is why Bucky isn’t surprised when Harley comes home with a black eye and immediately proclaims that it wasn’t his fault, there were these two big kids picking on a younger girl on the playground.

“Oh yeah and here’s this, I guess,” Harley mumbles and shoves a piece of paper with a phone number on it in Bucky’s direction.

Bucky holds an ice pack up to Harley’s eye and asks, “What’s this?”

“Mr. Stark’s phone number. I said I wanted it in case Peter wanted to play but he seemed nice and looked like your type and I’m tired of you going out with jerks who don’t like me so I got it for you.”

Well, leaving that aside, “Who’s Peter?”

“Morgan’s brother. He’s in my class and he helped when he saw I was helping her out.”

Right, like that explains anything. He dials the number, intent on seeing if this Peter can tell him the full story, only for someone to say, “Stark residence, can I help you?”

Bucky doesn’t believe in love at first sight (er, voice) but whoever it is has got such a pretty voice and he kind of wants to hear them moaning his name so he purrs, “You sure can, doll.”

Maybe he shouldn’t be so surprised when they make an offended sound and hang up.

7. Doctor AU: Which one is the longsuffering doctor? Which one is the patient?

“Mr. Stark, please, I’m begging you, wear PPE when you’re working in your lab.”

“But then when would I get to see you?” Tony chirps, seemingly uncaring that Bucky is setting his fingers.

“At dinner,” Bucky says before he can think better of it.

They both freeze. Then Tony slowly says, “And that’s okay?”

Honestly? Probably not but Tony has been coming to the ER for months for his lab-related injuries and Bucky is always his doctor and they always end up flirting and he’s tired of this back-and-forth. So when he’s done splinting Tony’s fingers, he raises his hand to his mouth and brushes the softest of kisses over the back, smiling when Tony gasps.

8. Bodyguard AU: Who is the bodyguard? Who are they protecting? Which one is secretly pining for the other?

Howard Stark is convinced that someone is out to get him, his wife, and his son. He can easily take care of him and his wife but Tony recently moved out of the mansion, insistent on making his own way in the world so surreptitiously, Howard hires Bucky to keep an eye on Tony by moving into the apartment next door.

It’s probably the easiest job Bucky has ever had because Tony almost never leaves their building, too caught up in his projects as he is. He gets food delivered and sometimes, he has friends over but otherwise, he’s pretty much a recluse.

And that’s a damn shame that is because Bucky has really only seen Tony twice so far and both times have about knocked him flat out on the floor.

9. Pirate AU: Who is the pirate? Who is the member of the royal family who did not sign up for this?

Crown Prince Anthony Edward Stark, first of his name, heir to the throne, would like everyone to know that he absolutely did not sign up for this, no way, no how. Just about everyone on the ship though, sees it when he gives Captain Barnes what he obviously thinks is a secretive wink. And they all know that they’re going to hear it when the captain and his “captive” go below the deck that night.

Sam scratches his head awkwardly and looks over at Admiral Rhodes on the other ship. “You want to come over?” he calls. “They could be down there for a while.”

Rhodes sighs and crosses over. “Chessboard still set up?” he asks.

“Nope, Nat had to move it for one of her poker games. But I remember where the pieces were.”

10. Childhood best friends AU: Which one was super obviously in love with the other the whole time? Who was oblivious until they were older?

Everyone knows that Tony and Bucky are going to get married someday - except for Tony and Bucky themselves. Steve has been trying for ages to get Bucky to see that Tony is pining just as hard for him as Bucky is and Rhodes has been doing the same for Tony but they’re just...so oblivious. It makes Natasha want to bang her head against the wall - or maybe just lock them in a closet.

Except Clint tried that, right after Tony gave Bucky his first kiss when they were fifteen and Bucky just thought it was because they were friends. They’d been in that closet all night and when Clint finally opened the door in the morning, they were snuggling but still not together so he thinks they’re just too oblivious. There’s a school-wide betting pool on if they’ll get their act together before graduation.

(It’s okay though because Tony and Bucky have been dating since they were freshman. They’re just waiting to see how long it takes everyone else to notice.)

[dandyvespa]

I-Land Final Episode and Thoughts *SPOILERS! duh*

For anyone who has kept up with I-Land, I understand how emotional and nerve-wracking this episode was for them.  After developing a connection with a lot of the participants and sharing in their memories, its hard to see anyone being let go.  It has been just as much of journey for them as it was for the fans who supported them and at the end of the day, regardless of who debuts, there will be people who will be disappointed by the final results.  But please please PLEASE understand that you should not put the blame on them or even break them down just because your favorite did not make it.  All of these boys worked hard to get where they are and though it stings for those who did not make it, please support whatever flower path any of them have taken and continue to support and spread love.  With that being said, I would just like to use the rest of this post on my final thoughts on the episode and debut line.  If you are caught up with the show, please read ahead.  Thank you :)

First I would like to say that the preparations done for the final performance, the OT22 interaction and performance, the funny bits of preparing PR videos, dividing roles, and playing Truth or Dare, and the home-cooked meals sent from their parents were all just an emotional roller coaster.  I laughed and I cried.  To see those boys grow was something very special to me and to see their individual selves shine through personalities or skills were always a treat.  Having these segments were really meant to lighten the mood for the final lineup to come.  Personally, Sunghoon developed the most out of his shy exterior and his personality was so confident and funny in the pre-recorded videos.  I also thought Jay... could never escape his dark history LOL.   Also Heeseung’s brother teasing him and telling him to tell Jay he adores him was very cute.  Seeing everyone help each other with the PR videos was adorable and heart-warming (Heeseung even had a whole production team haha).  Jungwon dressed up as a sheep still sticks with me though haha.  Seeing OT22 come together also had me in tears and stitches.  It was so cute seeing them all hang out in I-land and despite how whack it was for the Grounders to never experience it, they looked so happy being with their friends and taking part in this little world even if it was for a short time. Also loved how they would easily throw others under the bus during Truth or Dare and the Questions they voted on.  The love and support their parents got and how each of them could not hold back their tears was really the icing on the cake.  No matter where these boys go, their family will always be their for them more than anything else.  Just all those moments leading up to their debut lineup really put a toll on me and it just made me feel like a proud mom

Okay the team name?  I am sooooooooooo glad its not Dragon Gee or Dee or whatever that speculated name was going around on Twitter.  Enhypen is odd but in a good way.   Its different and it will stick with time even though I still may just call them the I-Land group for now lol.  Pretty curious about what the fandom name will be too (but honestly I think I would still call myself an Eggie haha).

TXT and BTS’s presence was neat.  I wish more of the TXT member’s got to speak but having them all physically there was nice.  Though I will say it was just awkward not seeing them cheer as much.  I also felt like BTS was just bored at some points or were just glazing over when having to wait on each member getting called out.  They did have their humorous moments which was nice to see, definitely lifted the tension in the room and I’m glad they joked a bit (especially Suga losing it lol) instead of remaining completely serious.  Their advice and encouragement were all appreciated too.  Jhope being an avid viewer really showed.  Also plus points for Jungwon getting Jungkook’s attention uwu.   I still wish they could have interacted more and mentored some of them over the course of the show.  The slim TXT interactions with Heeseung such as Taehyun and Yeonjun’s reactions made me wanting more damn it.  But hey, at least we get to see them more often in the BigHit building.  I love a good family.

So the Calling performance was A M A Z I N G.  I personally thought they were so coherent as a group and made me wishing OT9.  There were some who really shine in their parts, but I think all of them stood out one or more times to me.  The dance was pretty powerful and a lot of them improved vocally.  Again, it makes me feel like a proud mom seeing them all at this point, grown and amazing.  The Into the I-Land performance also made me feel that way as well.  They all looked so good together and were pretty in sync given that they were fucking 22 of them.  The nostalgia was really hitting in me and I also teared uo like a big ass baby.  But can I just say... and let’s be real here.... Every single song on this show has been a bop and I would be thrilled to see a whole Soundtrack Album for I-Land on Spotify.  Like P L E A S E.

Now onto the debut line! I was S H O C K E D.  You can clearly tell these votes were not rigged in the slightest and this was solely based on global votes always shifting which was appreciated.  I did not see this order coming and it did turn out slightly different then my post on my preferred I-Land debut line.  So starting with number 1.... YANG FUCKING JUNGWON.   I was pleasantly surprised and I literally jumped out of my bed when I heard him place first instead of Sunoo.  This was the complete definition of people who initially slept on him finally waking.  I was soooo thrilled.  Bro really came in last by the last Producer vote and then climbed all the way to first.  Our lovely sheep garden and hidden ace, a big congrats!  

Jay also left his cursed 6th spot and got second! Again another well-deserved man who gave it his all from the beginning and was no stranger to being straightforward and a go getter.  His stubbornness and hilarity will lead this group lol.  

Jake getting third was a big shock as well.  Our icon of improvement!  To think he was always on the verge of getting placed out of the top 7 members and made it here? Also considering his benefit put him in 7th once when he literally could have been the eliminated member that episode.  UGH.  Our Aussie boy did great and seriously improved performance after performance.  

Next up.... NIKIIIIIII.  Now I’m gonna be real I thought it was gonna be K.  I never placed Niki in my debut prediction, but his Flame On performance really change everything for me.  Actually, just the whole second part of I-Land was very impactful for him.  I was always hesitant about his sportsmanship and whether he was too selfish in the first part (the constant evil-editing did not help, Mnet...), but thanks to other members, he really matured and took a greater lead in things.  I really began to fall for him when we got to see him more playful and interactive with other members.  Like I really thought he was much happier and understanding throughout the second half of the show.  So kudos to him!  

Coming in 5th place was Heeseung.  I was actually confused man.  When he was called first at this point, I just knew this global vote line up will be verrrry different.  I was still relieved that he made it and seeing him choke up, this boy who has been going at it the longest among the 9 participants at 3 years to finally debut.... Gosh I could not.  As someone who is also Heeseung biased, I was so so so happy for him.  Think we all know regardless of which place he got, the boy was destined to debut.  My Ace heart feels full ^^.  Go get him Leader!!!

Now 6th place... my Ice Prince... Sunghoon! I was actually the most nervous for him.  I saw so many people saying that Sunghoon was last in votes or was in danger because a lot of people had the mentality that given his popularity they should reserve the votes for the people who would most likely be eliminated.  I think that’s why Heeseung and Sunoo were scored low too.  Now I am also biased towards him.  I was thinking like what would I do if none of my favorite Bighit trainees (Heeseung, Jay, Sunghoon, and Jungwon) do not make it?  But when he was called to take up the last spot in global voting, I did a back flip (not really but yeah lol).  Given that Sunghoon has never gotten any brutal feedback from the Producers and has always adapted to each concept, he deserved this.  Just everything he has been through... And shifting his life from being an ice skater of 10 years to this path as an idol.... hold up let me get some damn tissues.  May he continue to break out of his shell and show his continuous charms!

Ok the producer choice for 7th place... Again did not see that coming.  Sunoo constantly ranking high in global votes only to be one of the deciding factors was another big surprise.  I have said that Sunoo’s sunshine personality would be needed, especially if the group were to do cute or youthful concepts.  His health had been concerning, but he was able to manage himself so well.  Even with powerful choreo!  He is not really one of the best dancers but he had always been able to do his part.  I really thought the Producers would choose K, but I really thought Bang PD boiled it down to overall skill and personality appeal.  He even claimed that Sunoo would connect best with the world with his joyful outlook.  I honestly could not agree more. I just people do not rail him for being picked as they should now understand he is not just some cute face and has proven that multiple times.  Sunshine Fighting! :)

The eliminated trainees were K and Daniel.  Though I thought Daniel has improved a lot, he was just outshined.  I also think at his age he should have more time spent in sharpening his skills.  What was more devastating was K.  He looked like he was obliterated.  I mean both of them were naturally sad, but K was just gone to me.  I was really hoping that he would make the debut line.  K has shown himself as a performer multiple times and was praised for his choreography skills.  He even showed to have learned from past behaviors and matured more as a person when taking the leader role.  To see him grow and understand where he went wrong.... ugh I really could not bear him looking that way.  His thoughts were all over the place and he could barely choke out what he wanted to say.  I just hope he meant what he said and actually continues to enjoy music and develop himself as a performer.  I knew how much his mom was initially livid at the idea of him becoming an idol so I hope he gets another chance at showing her that he can still do this. Now understand this does not mean you should blame Sunoo for being chosen or complain that Sunoo does not deserve it.  I already feel like he is gonna be haunted with the grim reminder that he was chosen instead and think that he doesn’t deserve this because he is not as skilled as K.  And people are gonna bandwagon hate on him... and again I say please DO NOT DO THAT.  At the end of the day, no matter how much you want OT9 or OT22, this is a survival show and these participants signed up for this.  Yes there will be fans who are disappointed, but you shouldn’t waste your anger on the other trainees who were able to succeed instead of your faves. I don’t want this moment to completely wreck K or Daniel’s chances at being an idol again.  Same goes for rest of the eliminated I-Land members.  This is definitely not the end for any of them so please go on with hope guys because I know you will still have many people’s support!  They will end up on the same stage as their colleagues one day.  

The last thing I want to say is that though this has been a tough journey and though there may be people who will not be satisfied with the debut line, everyone worked hard.  From the participants to the fans and even the Producers, all of them played a special role in making I-Land bearable and exciting to watch.  This is a big congrats to everyone who took part in the show despite having to go through many hardships.  With that being said let us continue to support the futures of the eliminated I-Land members as well as the grand success of Enhypen.  I smell 4th gen leaders :D. Welcome to the BigHit family Enhypen and may your fans, your wings, fly you even higher once you officially debut. F I G H T I N G!

Now... will you guys join in during the next season of I-Land for the next global girl group? :3

.... Ya’ll already know I am lol.

[leonardhoee]

Why TROS (The Rise of Skywalker) is better than Endgame (AKA absolute trash)

SPOILER WARNING!!! SCROLL IF YOU HAVENT SEEN TROS

Ok so apparently there’s actually a debate about which is better. First of all. I acknowledge that TROS may not be the best Star Wars movie to ever come out but compared to the trash that endgame/Infinity War are it was 10000x better.

TROS did a pretty good job with character development. Even though I’m not happy that Ben died, he had a purpose. There was no other choice in that situation but to do what he did and his death was more bittersweet than acutely painful. They did a great job redeeming him and the moment he talked to Han Solo made me so emotional. 8.5/10. the ending was satisfying and it left room for fans to make their own headcannons about the future.

Just some of the best moments

Look at the difference from the beginning to the end. *chefs kiss

Meanwhile...

Endgame and IW:

Carol?: reduced to a deus ex machina

Thor?: a fat joke; has no purpose for even being there anymore since anyone can use his hammer now

Steve?: threw away his entire new life to go back to the past with Peggy

Tony?: dead when it should've been nebula who killed thanos and his abusive dad got redemption

Natasha?: JUST found a family and redemption and happiness but she sacrificed herself for no reason

Wanda: had her trauma erased and basically made to not be taken seriously by the audience when thanos said he didn't even know who she is. And that’s exactly what happened.

Loki?: died for ABSOLUTELY no reason other than drama; undid his redemption arc

Gamora?: proved the trope that in the end you won't escape your abuser

Black panther/ wakanda?: reduced to ash in .5 seconds after they were supposed to be this great advanced nation

Banner?: basically useless bc he can't bring out the hulk. This couldve been their moment to truly show what BANNER can do but no. Apparently he's nothing without the hulk

And that’s just some of the characters they fucked up

1) The movie perpetuated a lot of misogynistic stereotypes (can’t expect anything better from the Russo’s), reducing most of the female characters to emotional wrecks (Wanda, nat), deus ex machinas that are shelved for most of the movie (carol) sacrificial lambs (gamora, nat), and plot devices for male characters (Peggy). And they think adding one “token feminist scene” is going to cover up their horrid treatment of the women in the rest of the movie

2) It supported basically most of the abusers in the MCU. Showing Gamora being sacrificed supported the trope that you can never escape your abuser. Loki being violently murdered for no reason showed that you can only find redemption in death (even though he was already redeemed). And tony easily forgiving Howard supports the idea that no matter how bad they are, you should forgive your abuser because they’re family.

3) Thor was ridiculed throughout the movie, undoing everything Ragnarok did for his character development. It’s like that movie never even existed at this point. Instead of showing him healing from his trauma, his weight, mental health, and destructive coping mechanisms were made fun of by all the characters. Would tony stark ever actually mock Thor for alcoholism when he struggled with the same thing? Would Valkyrie seriously just leave him alone to drink and forget his pain when she went through the same thing?

4) Another thing is Mjolnir. I get that steve was able to lift mjolnir in the comics. However what exactly makes him worthy in the MCU? We know that Hela and Odin were able to use mjolnir and there’s a pattern there. People who are blood related to Thor are worthy of wielding mjolnir. That’s why loki was never able to lift it. So why is steve Rogers, a human, able to use it. And with lighting powers on top of that. After the way Thor was treated in the movie (basically being useless until the fight at the end) what is the purpose in him even being there if now even humans are able to summon lighting like he can?? Lightning is something only Thor can do. Not even Odin can do it. It doesn’t make sense with the logic they’ve established in the MCU.

5) Going back to loki. Ragnarok already finished his redemption arc. He was ready to go to earth with thor and the rest of the asgardians. He was finally being treated as an equal yet the Russo brothers decided to kill him pointlessly and violently before even the title credits. That’s just disrespectful they reduced him to a plot device for drama, to make thanos seem dangerous. Now, Looking at the scene. Thanos was literally ready to let him go. He did not need to die. Loki had to have known that attempt to kill him wouldn’t have worked after being tortured by thanos for so long. He can’t be killed by a dagger. Loki isn’t that dumb. And he’s not that selfless. He wouldn’t sacrifice himself for no reason especially when he could’ve walked away unscathed. His death scenes was one of the most unnecessary, gruesome, graphic deaths I’ve ever seen from marvel. It made me feel sick. The sound of his bone snapping seeing the blood running down his eyes was it. They could’ve done so much with this character but they chose to do this instead. Hopefully the Disney + show fixes his character arc.

Overall, my expectations were low for both movies. But endgame was the biggest disappointment to the marvel franchise I’ve ever seen. TROS was truthfully very satisfying and did everything endgame wishes it did.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. I hope the sun will shine on us again.

[sherlollydramoine]

Another WIP Preview

Here’s another random update on some stuff that I’ve been working on. Anything posted here may possibly be a huge chunk of the fic, or just a snippet. All of these works are unedited and are in the rough draft phase of writing. Please leave me your feedback either via an ask, a message, or a comment. 

1. Love At the Shore, requested expansion from a fic title request. RAMI X READER

Getting invited by your best friend, Alicia, from college to hang out with her in her hometown of LA for the last month of summer before you headed back to school was the best thing you’ve ever done. Glad to be free from your toxic family for a few weeks left you feeling excited, and perhaps way more than willing to let loose. So when Alicia suggests that you head to the beach for the afternoon, you were more than happy to go. You were going to miss this though, as the summer was quickly coming to a close, soon enough it was back to the grind of textbooks, tests, and the stress that accompanies college life. 

Maybe it’s because she’s from LA, or just part of her personality but Alicia is a force to be reckoned with. She doesn’t take shit from anyone and is the biggest badass out of everyone you’ve ever met. Her enthusiasm and energy was relentless and also somehow infectious. She has always had a way of lighting up a room and brings the fun to everything. Most people assume that her attitude and demeanor makes her stupid which couldn’t be further from the truth. She’s pre-med, always made the deans list and is in the top 1% of your graduating class. 

“Y/N did you grab the beer from the fridge and put them in the cooler?” she asks, as she throws her gorgeous brown hair up on top of her head.

“Yes. I also put all the snacks in there. Why do we need so much food?” 

“The boys are joining us for some sun and fun, and they can eat.” she laughs out.

“Oh God Al-is this a good idea? I mean that suit is-it’s tiny.” 

Her laughter was infectious and her brown eyes full of amusement. 

“That’s the point. You are here to party before you get bogged down by school responsibilities. It fits you perfectly and honestly, you’ll have no problem finding some decent dick later if that’s what you are aiming for. And Sami’s brother is fucking hot. I mean, I may be biased, but they are also identical twins.. soooo.” she continues laughing.

“It always comes back to getting dicked with you doesn’t it?”

“Not always, I don’t get any when I’m at school unless Sami or I decide to visit each other. The pain of having been in a committed relationship for well over six years. So I guess, I don’t know, I need to live vicariously through you.”

“Living vicariously through me? You’ve pretty much been getting dicked the entirety of the summer, and you’ve disappeared on me several times while I’ve been here; for Sami’s dick.”

“The boy will be here soon, so go get your ass into your suit!”

Doing as she said you went to her spare room to change. Silently cursing her for insisting that you wear the tiniest black bikini known to man. It barely covered anything, and you felt uncomfortable. Throwing on the cutoff shorts and off the shoulder top she picked for you to wear over your suit, you head into the living room in search of your sandals your body.

“Hey Allie, can I borrow your-” you started, as you came around the corner of the hallway into the living room you collided with someone.

“Oh! I’m so sorry.” you mutter out an apology.

“It’s alright. You must be YN, I’m Rami, Sami’s brother.” 

“Yeah I kind of figured.” you smile, as he shrugs and you watch something you think is amusement play across his face.

2. Animals - this is piece currently sitting pretty at over 7k. Enjoy this chunk. WARNINGS: THIS CONTAINS LANGUAGE & SMUT.. RAMI X READER

“C’mon babe it’ll be fun! Seriously, there is no privacy for us anywhere and I’m tired of sneaking around just to get an opportunity to give my girl some proper lovin’” he whined, in your ear. “It’s bad enough that neither of us have been able to travel as much since I left for school, and I miss you so fucking much. I  get so much crap from my classmates about how much time I spend thinking about you.”

You were laying down in the backseat of his car, with him still on top of you, as you had just finished have some pretty incredible sex. And now he was trying to convince you that both should go on your first random road trip together. Or rather a spontaneous adventure as he kept referring to it.

“I don’t know. I have to work and you are only going to be home from school for a very short period of time. Your family misses you a lot and I don’t want to take you away from them more than I already have. I don’t want them to hate me more than I’m sure they already do.”

“Well, that’s up to you. I know you have quite a bit of savings, as do I. Believe it or not, I’ve managed to put away a decent chunk of money, even as a poor college student. Mama taught me how to be frugal. And don’t talk like that because you know for a fact that my family adores you. My brother keeps giving me shit about the fact that we aren’t married yet. He said that he was certain that it would have happened the day I turned eighteen.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that statement because marriage was something that both of you had talked about since we were sixteen. Both of you are fairly certain that it was an inevitability for you both.

“You know what? We are young, in love, so why the hell not. Let’s do it. I hate my stupid fucking job anyway and there will always be other job opportunities.”

“That’s the spirit! I love you. I’m so happy that you decided to say yes, because I have a few surprises that I had planned, if you had said yes to this.”

“When should we leave?”

“Tonight?” 

“Great, but what time tonight? I get off work at 10, but I don’t want to smell like the diner so I’d want to go home and at least shower first.”

“Since I was going to drop you off at work, I can pick you up and take you home so that you can shower and then we go after that. Does that sound like a plan?”

“Yes. Now come here lover boy. I want you so bad right now. We’ve got time to make up for.”

“Again? Didn’t we just-” you cut him off mid sentence with a kiss. His mouth not putting up much of a fight against yours. Your fingers threading through his wild hair as you pull him closer. 

Your naked bodies already tangled together in the backseat of the car, your hips bucked into his, and you can feel his hardening member against your thigh. He stops momentarily to grab his jeans off the floorboard to grab another condom out of his pocket, and he wastes very little time slipping it on. 

“Mmmm baby.. I want you so fucking bad.” you murmur against his ear.

Your body so easily turned on by him, was already slick and ready, and you couldn’t help the low moan that escapes you as he slides into you. Wrapping your arms around his neck and your legs around his waist you buck your hips in time with his thrusts. 

The only sounds you could hear was the squeaking of the car as it rocked in time with your joint movements, and the quiet moans that you were both letting out.

“Ohhhh. Yes baby… don’t stop…”

“Fuck baby, always so tight for me. I love you. You feel so good. Just.. uhhh.. Fuckkkk.. Yesss..” 

Skin slapping skin as your hips meet in time with each other, your desperation for each growing in this heated moment. Your nails clawing at his back as his thrusts become more frantic in their pace. 

Unable to restrain your pleasure you let it all out with a series of moans as you continued your assault on his back. Your moans only spurred him on further, your bodies slick with sweat, his moans in your ear getting louder.

“Yesss baby…. Godddd… yesss….please don’t stop baby.. Fuckkkk…. I’m so close… So close…. “ you whined in his ear. 

His lips descend on yours for a heated kiss as he his hips pounded into yours, working to push you over the edge and into the depths of your orgasm. 

It took a few more thrusts of his hips to get you there, but you came around him with a muffled scream of his name, your nails digging further into his back. You felt his cock twitch, body stiffen, as he followed you into orgasmic bliss. 

His body collapsed on top of yours, as you held on to him tightly until you both were recovered enough to finally move again.

“Damn babe. That was hot.” he smiled, your naked bodies still tangled together.

“It always is with you my love.”

“I can feel it now babe, but seriously, I think you fucked up my back. Jesus woman, you are seriously like a fucking cat. I can’t take my shirt off for a while now, or my brother will give me so much shit and the rest of my family will know exactly what the hell we’ve been up to. They know we are together, but I think with them, ignorance is bliss.”

You giggled and could feel yourself turning red with embarrassment,”I’m sorry my love. I wasn’t even aware that I was doing it, but if it makes you feel better, I won’t walk right for a week.”

The smug look on face told you that he was happy with that compromise.

“I wouldn’t worry about your back anyway since we are leaving tonight, so who gives a fuck who sees you with a clawed up back. Maybe I was just marking my territory. Hell, I’ve got enough hickies all over me that I might as well be a walking advertisement for ‘committed relationships’” you shrug, as you both sat up in the back seat, and started to re-dress. 

“I hate when our time together comes to an end like this, but I should probably get you home so that you can get ready for work.” 

“Me too. I should just say ‘fuck it’ and just go to work all mussed and smelling like sex.” you giggled again.

“Oh fuck babe, that would be so hot, but no, I promised my brother that we’d go to dinner tonight. He knows how bad I want to see you though, so he suggested that we go to your diner for dinner. Their burgers at least are delicious.” he smiled into your hair.

“I love you so much Rami. I swear you are the best and bless your brother for giving up some of his precious little time with you just for us. Maybe I fell in love with the wrong twin.” you tease, laughing at the mock hurt on his face.

“How dare you!” he gasps in shock, as he dramatically places his hand over his heart.

“Oh you!” you poke him in his stomach and he yelps. “Always so freaking dramatic…”

“Ha! I’m an actor, that’s what I’m supposed to do. Ya know? Be dramatic!”

You roll your eyes at him,”You’ve always been a dramatic ass bitch, but it’s alright, I still love you anyway.” 

“Ugh.” he dramatically sighed.

“Seriously? The dramatics again.”

His laugh was loud as he playfully shoved you, before he opened the back door of the car and climbed out, stretching his body. God you almost started drooling watching his body as it stretched. His shirt riding up on his stomach just a little bit, and for some reason you had to resist the urge to bite it. Next time, you are definitely going to leave a little mark there, right above the ‘v’ of his delicious hips. Leave your mark on him, like staking a claim, a little something that temporarily marks him as yours.

You followed his lead and exited the back of the car, smoothing your dress down over your hips before leaning against the drivers side door waiting for him to wander his way back to you. Once he was in front of you, you throw your arms around his neck and give him a sweet chaste kiss. 

“I love you so damn much. How the hell did I get so damn lucky?” you smiled, tears filling your eyes from all of the random emotions swirling around inside of you.

“Aw baby don’t cry. I love you too! Don’t doubt yourself love, because I’m the lucky one. The luckiest man alive because I have you.” he reassured as you sniffled into his chest. 

“No way. Me. I’m… I’m.. I’m.. just.. I’m so plain.” you gestured to your body as if to demonstrate your point.

“Excuse me. No. I wish you could see yourself the way that I see you. I see a beautiful woman with the kindest eyes, beautiful hair, and a generous heart. I’m the lucky one because have you seen me? The guy with big eyes that looks so different from the majority of my peers.” he tried echoing your earlier movements.

“NO! DON’T YOU EVER SAY THAT! You’re eyes are so expressive and gorgeous. I’ve known you forever and I still can’t figure out exactly what fucking color they are. They are… I call them ‘ocean eyes’ because they are ever changing from green to blue to sometimes gray. You are so talented and anyone that doesn’t see how talented you are is a fucking loser. And you will be successful no matter what because you want it, your live it, you fight for it. You are the love of my life, and I will stand behind you and support you no matter what!” holding him a little tighter now, because you know how insecure he can be about the way he looks.

“Oh babe. Look at us, arguing over our looks. If anyone overheard this conversation would think we are the two most shallow individuals on the planet.” he laughs, trying to lighten the mood.

“Rami, this is fucking LA, ninety-eight percent of the population is made up of a bunch of shallow assholes. So for someone to overhear a conversation about our looks would just think we are another bunch of wannabe somethings.”

Another bark of laughter from him before he kisses your forehead. 

“Okay, we need to get going now or both of us are going to be late.”

It was your turn to laugh again before you pointed out the fact that his name should actually be Rami Late-For-Everything Malek. To which he actually just flipped you the bird and that made you laugh so much harder than you already were. That was your Rami, playful and fun, sarcastic and just.. he was always making you laugh.

Sighing you climb into the passenger seat and buckle up, he puts the car in drive and cranks the radio up. You both singing along loudly and off-key to nearly every song that came on. Time seemed to pass by all too quickly and before you knew it, you were outside your house. You lean over to give him a not so chaste kiss, pulling away all too quickly. 

“I’ll see you in a few hours baby. Oh, I forgot to tell you, bring your birth certificate and passport with you, just in case we decide to do something reckless on our little trip.” he smiled conspiratorially at you, before giving you a wink. He can’t wink for shit, but it's adorable watching him try. 

Confusion racking your brain, but not questioning his motives you shut the door, and watch him drive away. Feeling like you were floating on air you nearly dance your way into the house that share with your parents and begin packing for your trip. 

You decide to pack fairly light, even though you have no clue how long this trip is going to last for and you grab the documents that he requested that you bring with you, putting them in a plastic Ziploc bag, and shoving them into your backpack. 

Deciding to lay down for about an hour to take a small nap before work, your body a little tired from the vigorous activities earlier this afternoon. Waking with your alarm, you get up and take a quick shower, and then get dressed in your ugly work uniform, grab your bags and head out the door. Standing at the end of your driveway waiting for Rami to show,  a little late like always, your mind wanders to what he had said earlier. What could he possibly mean by ‘if we decide to do something reckless?’ The thoughts rolling around in your brain, you must have looked like an idiot standing there lost in thought that you barely registered that he had pulled up. 

“Yoooo babe!!!” he hollered out the window which snapped you out of your thoughts. 

“Sorry, I’m comin!” you holler back. “Oh pop the trunk I’m going to throw my shit in there.”

He does as you ask, and you toss your backpack and small duffle bag into the trunk of his car, and you notice that he has several bags already in there, including what looked like a garment bag.

“Hey Sami!” you smile, as you climb into the backseat. You hadn’t even realized that his brother was in the car with him when he pulled up.

“Hey Y/N. How’ve you been?” he asks, a small smile on his face. 

“Great. But you don’t have to ask, I just saw you last week before Rami came home. So compared to how I was last week I am doing so much better. Happier. Ugh babe, I can’t believe the seat isn’t dry yet. Jesus it’s had a few hours to bake in the sun and it’s still wet. Now my ass is going to be all wet when I get to work.”

Sami nearly spit his water all over the dash as his brother was now speeding down the highway towards your place of work, and Rami just wore a smirk.

“You two are fucking disgusting. Animals.” Sami grumbles.

“That we are Sami-cakes, but the sex is always worth it.” you managed to get out between fits of giggles.

“Dude, she just called me ‘Sami-cakes’ like.. Seriously?”

“She calls me Rami-cakes, so Sam that just means that she likes you. She did tell me earlier that she thinks perhaps she fell in love with the wrong twin.”

The twins laughter rang through the car, against the noise of traffic. 

“So what the hell did you two do while I wasn’t around? 

“The same thing we always do, just bro stuff.” Rami replied.

@txmel @xmxisxforxmaybe @itsme690 @mrhoemazzello @r-ahh-mi @free-rami 

[aliciameade]

Head-First - Ch. 2

Title: Head-First Author: aliciameade Rating: M (eventually...) Pairing: Beca/Chloe Summary:  They’re lifeguards.

Also on AO3 & FFN

“You should bring your rain gear out today.”

Beca glances past her open locker door at Chloe who’s folding her own rain gear into her bag. “Really? It’s supposed to rain?”

“My phone says around 2:00.”

“Thanks.” She drops her whistle around her neck and slings her bag over her shoulder to shove her poncho and pants into it. “Hope I don’t have to see you out there today,” she tries as a joke.

It lands, but not as well as she’d have liked. Chloe looks equal parts amused and shocked.

“Too soon?” She closes her locker and spins the dial on it. “You know what I meant, right?”

“Yeah, I got it,” Chloe says with amusement. “See you later?”

“Sure, yeah.” Beca gives her an awkward wave and takes her leave. She knows they could walk together at least part of the way to their towers but making small talk with Chloe feels impossible after the way Stacie’s and her brains have twisted up her thoughts. Speaking of Stacie, she’s never been so grateful her friend got caught up flirting with the intern working the front desk. Beca didn’t need her there to make assuredly inappropriate statements around the two of them.

The forecast makes for a light crowd. It’s mostly locals, the regulars she sees there almost daily tanning themselves to leather, most of them well past their 60s. She tries not to be judgmental because good for them, being confident in their string bikinis and Speedos. But...she thinks she probably could have gone her entire life and been okay not staring at them every day.

She sees the clouds rolling in and checks the time on her phone: 2:10. She hasn’t even put it away when she feels a raindrop hit her foot, the only thing not sheltered by her umbrella. She hears it hitting the umbrella, a light, steady rain that has the beachgoers packing up their towels and chairs to seek shelter. She hears two quick tweets of a whistle and turns to her right toward Tower 138. She sees Chloe facing her with her hand in the air.

No message follows the signal; it’s not necessary. Beca reads it loud and clear.

“I told you so.”

She tweets back twice in acknowledgment and can’t stop the smile from creeping up on her.

It’s nice that Chloe’s thinking of her, even if it’s to gloat.

~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~

“What a boring day.”

“I needed it after yesterday,” Beca replies as she hangs her rain gear in her locker.

“Good point.” Chloe pulls on a T-shirt that’s had its sleeves cut off over her swimsuit.

“You’re not changing?” Beca immediately bites her tongue and hides her face behind her locker door. 

“Disappointed?” She can hear the smirk in Chloe’s voice and doesn’t dare to look at her. “Suit’s dry.”

“I’m not...no.” Beca fumbles with her own shirt to tug it on before she dares meet Chloe’s eyes again.

She doesn’t wait long enough, because when she does, Chloe replies with, “Bummer,” and a wink that makes Beca slam her locker with far too much force. “See you tomorrow? Can you read chapters four through six beforehand so we can hit the ground running?”

“Yeah, sure. Bye,” she says as she rushes out of the station.

~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~

Beca has to put up with Stacie’s comments and texts all damn day on Friday. It’s a blessing and a curse that Stacie has the day off; it’s another day of not having her in the locker room with them, but she now has all the time in the world to send peach and lips and scissors and tongue and water droplet emojis to Beca.

And one eggplant.

“I seriously need you to stop now,” she texts as she and Chloe walk up the steps to Chloe’s apartment.

She receives a thumbs up in reply and, thankfully, her phone finally stops vibrating.

“So, what do you want tonight?”

Beca looks up from where she’s setting her bag to see Chloe rifling through a drawer in her kitchen. She’s pulling out takeout menus to toss them onto the counter.

“Chinese? Sushi? Tacos? Thai? There’s a really good diner that delivers. They have burgers and sandwiches and stuff.” She bundles up the menus and brings them to Beca to fan them out like a magician with a deck of cards.

“Maybe the diner?”

Chloe smiles. “Exactly what I was thinking.” She peels back the top two menus to prompt Beca to pull the one labeled ‘Eddie’s on Main’ out of the stack.

Beca waits on the couch looking over the notes she brought while Chloe calls in their order: a cheeseburger and fries for Beca and a chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries for Chloe.

“Okay, so, whatcha got?” Chloe asks as she drops down onto the couch on the neutral middle cushion and not the far one.

Beca clears her throat. “Um, I jotted down some thoughts about how we can demonstrate a submerged passive. Figured since that’s what got us this gig…”

“Good idea. Who’s going to play the victim?”

“A volunteer. We have to demonstrate the two-person assist.”

“Oh, duh,” Chloe says with what might be an embarrassed laugh.

The possibility that Chloe could be embarrassed around her strangely gives Beca a dose of much-needed confidence and she’s able to walk Chloe through her lesson plan with ease.

It takes just long enough that their food arrives and they mutually agree to not discuss work while they eat.

Beca learns that Chloe works as a receptionist in a veterinary clinic during the off-season, is from Florida (which explains her affinity for the beach), and has an older brother. Beca shares her lack of siblings, obsession with making playlists, and how despite growing up on the Pacific Ocean in Portland, she’s never been big on beaches.

“How can you not love the beach?!” Chloe screeches, personally offended. 

“There’s always sand in my stuff. Even stuff I don’t bring to work. There’s sand everywhere in my house! And it’s hot. And sunny; I burn so easily.”

“You’re not sunburned now.”

“That’s because I bathe in sunscreen and refuse to leave the safety of my umbrella unless I’m going on a rescue or a break.”

“Then I bet your skin is super soft.”

“I don’t know about that,” Beca says with a frown at her arms. “I just perpetually smell like SPF 70.” When she sees, then feels, Chloe’s fingertip run up her arm from wrist to elbow, her breath catches. “Oh.”

“Super soft,” Chloe confirms and Beca lifts her eyes to find herself being watched. “And I always think you smell nice. Neutrogena, right?” she adds and Beca feels the unexpected moment of tension break.

“Uh, yeah. It’s my favorite.”

Chloe smiles. “It’s a good one. Love a reliable spray-on that lasts.” She glances at something behind Beca and her smile falls. “It’s almost midnight.”

“What? No way,” Beca says, twisting to see the clock she assumes is behind her. “Oh, damn. I had no idea.”

“Where’d the time go?”

They both laugh and then Beca feels tension settle over them again. She thinks about what Stacie said, even insisted: that Chloe pays attention to Beca. She’s certainly paying attention to her now. Beca feels warm under her gaze which seems as soft as it does intense. And they’re still sitting so close. Chloe had begun the evening on the middle cushion and over the course of the hours Beca’s seemed to have lost, is a third of the way onto Beca’s cushion.

“I like you, Beca.”

Chloe’s voice is so unexpected that it makes Beca flinch.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be weird,” she quickly adds, and Beca realizes her reaction to the sound has come across as her reaction to the words based on the look on Chloe’s face.

“No, no, it’s not weird,” Beca says, probably too emphatically.

“It’s not?”

“No, of course, it’s not. I like you, too.” She says it without thinking, out of a need to comfort her.

She watches Chloe tuck her hair behind her ear, a rare moment of bashfulness from the usually confident woman. “I mean I like you. As more than a friend.”

Beca now understands how she lost track of hours of time; she feels the very concept of it disappear.

“I really don’t want to make anything weird between us, and it’s totes okay if you just want to be friends. I just think about you all the time and I think you’re such a cool person and I think you deserve to know that.”

Beca can hear Stacie yelling at her: Make a move! She totally wants you! Take her to bed!

“I really like you, too.” There. She said it. All she can do is wait to see what happens next.

Apparently, what happens next is Chloe’s moment of bashfulness disappears to be replaced with such an air of sensuality Beca can almost taste it. “You do?” she says with a slow smile and a glance at Beca’s lips.

It makes Beca wet them on reflex, suddenly aware they’re dry and chapped from the windy day and that seems to make Chloe bite her own lip. Her palms are sweating and she knows she’s about five seconds from being kissed.

In past scenarios similar to this, Beca has done such idiotic things as jutting out her hand for a fist bump, hugging complete with a buddy clap to the back, sneezed, and literally stood up and ran away from the person. She still felt a little bad about that one; he’d been a nice guy and didn’t deserve her inability to communicate her feelings (or lack thereof).

Tonight, she runs out of time to make a dumb mistake and lets her eyes fall closed when Chloe’s lips touch hers.

It’s nice to not fuck it up right away.

It’s nicer when she stops thinking about not being dumb and actually registers the fact that Chloe has kissed her. She spent so much time being relieved that the kiss has already ended.

Chloe’s still close, and she’s looking at Beca with curiosity. “Was that okay?”

“Yeah,” Beca kind of croaks and clears her throat.

“Are you sure? Because you didn’t seem...into it. And that’s okay if you weren’t; I’m not trying to rush you into anything and I’m sorry if you didn’t want me to do that.”

“Shit.”

“What?”

Beca’s eyes go wide; she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “No, nothing. It’s dumb.”

Chloe’s hand moves to rest over Beca’s. “It’s not dumb; you can tell me.”

“Trust me, it is,” Beca says with a roll of her eyes. “I was so focused on not doing something dumb that I did something dumb. Ironic.”

“What do you mean?” To her credit, Chloe seems unfazed by Beca’s failure to reciprocate.

Beca pushes her hair back and stares at the ceiling for a second. Then, “Usually, when someone tries to kiss me, I panic and do something dumb.”

“Like what?” Chloe says, a smile of amusement sneaking into her features.

“I once faked getting a phone call.”

“We’ve all pretended to be on our phones. That’s not so bad.”

“But it didn’t even ring. Or vibrate. It did ring when I was fake-talking on it. And there was the time I told someone I had diarrhea and had to go home. Jesus, why am I telling you this?” She frowns; she really doesn’t need to share her history of idiocy with others.

“Oh, no!” Chloe laughs. “I guess you really didn’t want to kiss that person.”

“No, I did not,” she says resolutely and Chloe seems even more amused.

“So just now, you did nothing.”

“Right.”

“Because…” Chloe prompts.

“Because I didn’t want to do something dumb.”

Chloe’s amusement has reached her eyes and they’re sparkling to an unfair degree. “And why is that?”

They’re hypnotizing, really. Beca can’t be held accountable for her words or actions. “Because I wanted you to kiss me.” She presses her lips together for their traitorous honesty.

Chloe hums. “Now that I know you might do something dumb, but that you want me to kiss you: can we try that again?”

Beca’s heart races. “You sure about that? I can’t promise I won’t feign sudden illness.”

“I don’t think you will, but I’m ready for anything,” Chloe says and Beca shivers at how lightly her hand is moving up her arm until it’s on Beca’s shoulder and just shy of touching her neck. She’s so close again, leaning in and Beca can feel her breath on her lips where she’s hovering, waiting for Beca’s go-ahead.

She nods.

Chloe’s lips are on hers in an instant and this time, there aren’t a dozen past scenarios running through her brain. It’s crystal clear and empty save for the way Chloe’s lips feel on her own and this time, she kisses her back.

Chloe makes a sound, Beca thinks it’s maybe one of relief, or maybe contentment, but whatever it is makes Beca not simply kiss her back but kiss her.

Her hand lifts to find Chloe’s face, to touch her cheek then the sharp line of her jaw until her fingers weave through windswept red curls to tilt Chloe just-so and tease her bottom lip with a touch of her tongue.

Chloe’s reaction is quick, a sharp exhale and a deep breath and then Chloe’s pulling her in, welcoming Beca into her mouth with her own tongue in such a way that it makes Beca whimper. She’s never been made to feel such things from a kiss before, like she’d give up oxygen in exchange for it to keep going forever.

It’s so warm and soft. Hands on cheeks and shy smiles as their lips meet again and again as their confidence grows and kisses grow more persistent and daring. More passionate.

She feels Chloe pressing closer, one hand behind Beca’s neck, the other somewhere along her waist, or hip, or ribs and Beca, running on instinct, pushes back. With a hand to Chloe’s shoulder, she pushes her away, turns her until she’s not twisted anymore, until she’s sitting back on the couch, and then Beca slips over her lap, knees settling against Chloe’s hips.

She hears Chloe moan and it makes her thighs flex. “Is this okay?” she breathes against Chloe’s lips as she brushes Chloe’s hair from her face and out of Beca’s way.

Hands squeeze her waist and pull her down to settle against Chloe’s lap and there’s a shakey, “Very,” as an answer before they’re kissing again.

It’s easier to lick into Chloe’s mouth from this angle. Easier for Chloe’s hands to slide up Beca’s back over her shirt. Easier for Beca to run her hands through Chloe’s hair when she moves her mouth from Beca’s lips to Beca’s neck.

She feels a mark being left and moans again. Chloe echoes it and it makes her twitch with need. Chloe’s hands drag down Beca’s back but they don’t stop at her waist. They move until they’re both on Beca’s ass and they squeeze, giving a less-than-subtle tug forward and Beca’s hips roll on instinct.

Her thin shorts do little to interfere with the friction that comes as a result and she grabs the back of the couch, suddenly lightheaded in the best possible way.

“Fuck, oh, my God,” she gasps, using the hand in Chloe’s hair to ease her mouth away from her skin.

Chloe, dark eyes and pink cheeks, smiles up at her and Beca has no choice but to lean down and kiss her, hard and deep, until she retreats with Chloe’s lip caught between her teeth to give it the lightest tug.

Beca smiles and sits back, relaxing after every muscle in her body tensing with need. “Wow, okay.”

“Just okay?” Chloe teases and her usual tight, chipper voice is uncharacteristically low and syrupy and Beca can’t quite fathom it’s because of her.

There’s another squeeze of her ass and she bites her lip. Her body is screaming at her, demanding release, but it’s way too soon to go that far. “What time is it?”

Chloe leans and Beca first ducks, then lifts her arm, to try to get out of the way. “Pushing 1:00.”

“Oh, shit,” Beca says with a burst of embarrassing giggles that make her cover her mouth. No wonder she’s wound up so tightly.

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Chloe says with a waggle of her eyebrows. Her hands slide up to hold Beca’s waist and Beca can’t help but be a little disappointed even though she’s the one who’s slowed things down. “How’s your stomach?”

Beca tilts her head. “What?”

“Your stomach. No digestion issues? The restroom is just down the hall.”

It takes her a second, then she remembers her embarrassing confession. “Oh, my God, shut up.”

“No food poisoning?”

“Nope; I’m good.”

“Yeah, you are.” Chloe almost purrs the words and Beca feels like her spine is made of Jell-O. 

She almost melts into a puddle but catches herself, resting her forehead against Chloe’s. She runs her thumb along Chloe’s lip, watching her lips purse to kiss it, before leaning in to kiss her. “I should go,” she says begrudgingly when they part.

The puppy dog eyes and pout she gets in response should be illegal, but Chloe says, “Okay,” and doesn’t try to convince her to stay.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” She doesn’t quite yet have the willpower to extract herself from Chloe’s lap, but she’s working up to it.

“Definitely.” Chloe’s hands leave her after one last squeeze to her waist and Beca’s finally able to slide backward off Chloe and onto unsteady legs. 

She tugs the legs of her shorts down from where they’ve ridden up and tries not to blush when she notices just how turned on she was. Is. “Okay. Um…” She looks around to find her phone, long forgotten on the table and her bag on the floor. She grabs them both. “So...yeah. I...had fun.”

Chloe smiles dreamily up at her. “Me, too.” If Beca didn’t know better, she’d think Chloe was drunk.

“So, yeah. I’m gonna go.” She hooks her thumb over her shoulder toward the door and expects Chloe to get up and walk her out but all she gets in response is a nod. She’s working on being confused and offended when she sees Chloe burst into a smile at her, then throw her head back to do what Beca can only classify as squealing.

“Weirdo,” Beca laughs as she pulls open Chloe’s front door.

“Thanks!” 

She steals one more look before stepping into the warm darkness.

She hopes Stacie is asleep when she gets home.

~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~

“You have a hickey!”

“Dude, how can you possibly see that from there?!” Beca’s hands fly to her throat; she doesn’t even know where it is or how big it is yet. Chloe’s lips spent a long time all over her neck.

“Oh, holy fuck, do you really?” Stacie tosses aside the Cosmopolitan magazine she’d been reading and gets off the couch.

“Wait, what?” Beca drops her bag by the door and in doing so, unmasks whatever mess her neck is in.

“I just wanted to see what you’d say.” Stacie flips the switch for the light just inside the door and grabs Beca’s chin to crane her neck around like a bobblehead. “Oh, shit, you do!”

There’s a flick of a finger against her neck and Beca twists and ducks under her arm to escape. “How bad is it?” she says as she makes her way through the mostly dark house to the bathroom.

“It’s awesome.”

Beca shoots her a look and then looks at herself in the mirror. She does have a hickey, deep purple and roughly the diameter of Chloe’s lips. If she’d realized it would be this obvious, she would have stopped her. Maybe. “Seriously?” she says as she rubs at it as if that will erase it.

“Tell me everything.”

Beca glances at Stacie, now leaning against the frame of the open bathroom door grinning like a Cheshire Cat. “Why do you always need to be up in my business?”

“Because you never have business for me to be up in. It’s fun when you do. Now, tell me.”

“Oh, my God. We made out, okay?” She gestures at her neck, “Obviously,” and then reaches for her foaming face wash to get ready for bed. 

“Was she good? I bet she’s so good. A snacc like that; she knows a thing or two.”

“Don’t talk about her like that.”

“Okay, I take it back. But you didn’t answer my question. Was she good?”

Beca takes a beat to rinse her face and looks at Stacie over the towel as she pats it dry. “You have no idea.”

Stacie shrieks and Beca finds herself in a hug, the towel the only thing from saving her from a faceful of Stacie’s boobs. “I told you she was into you! Didn’t I tell you?”

“Yes, Stace, you told me,” Beca says with a grunt as she frees herself. “Now get out; I have to pee.”

“I don’t care; you can pee in front of me.” Stacie leans against the counter, hip cocked like she has no intention of leaving.

Beca closes her eyes and takes a breath; she knows what she’s about to say will be used against her in the court of Stacie Conrad, but she has no choice. “Look, man. TMI, but I was just on top of her for like an hour and I need to,” she gestures downward, “tidy things up.”

“Oh, shit; she ruined the underwear? How long has it been for you?”

“That doesn’t matter! It’s a perfectly normal physical response to have. Now would you please get out?” 

“Wait, did you say you were on top?”

“Stacie!” She points at the door and her friend finally rolls her eyes.

“Fine. But don’t think this is over; we’re revisiting this event. And I’ll leave Buzz Lightyear on your bed. I know you need it tonight.” She pulls the door closed behind her.

“I still say it’s weird you named your vibrator after a Disney character!” She strips her shorts and underwear down and kicks them aside and sighs. “Thank you!”

~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~

To be continued...

[airlock]

airlock grades the Conqueror archetype

and this one will wrap up the series! or, perhaps, trample it with iron boots -- because this is the realm of the ones who declare the wars, control the huge empires, storm the protagonistic homelands!

(do note: under cut are spoilers for… everything, and also a significant amount of me criticizing or blamming characters that you might like. you’ve been warned! but all hope is lost; whether you read on or not, I will post this and you can’t stop me. ahahahahaaaa!!)

the scourge of akaneia

(8/10)

Medeus is the launcher of some sort of an archetype of his own, in the sense of the big honking draconic/demonic being whose defeat seals up the plot, but he also distinguishes himself very much from that pack -- in that he’s never really idly awaiting for the endgame to come, but instead, he’s pushing the buttons and making things happen, even if his signature pose is the lazy villain slouch.

he’s easily one of the stronger villains in the Akaneia saga -- active, intense, and, quite rarely for this point in technology, a splendid realization of the motivations that drove him to villainy. it’s hard to disagree that he did the “as long as there’s evil” clincher better than Loptyr.

the scourge of valentia

(6.5/10)

the remakes have breathed much of the good and the bad of the series’ modern instances into the man who knocked Mycen up.

there’s a frequent criticism of Rudolf in that the convoluted plots he weaves, leading up to his death, make no sense and feel like deliberate plot behavior; I’d say Shadows of Valentia does good on clarifying the need for all of his scheming, though, as he has to contend with a decadent church that steadily eclipses his crown’s influence and has the furthest possible goals from his.

the problem, of course, is that all of this clarification comes about in the fashion that these things tend to on this side of Awakening: past the point when it’d have fang. why only have the red-armored reindeer start acting like Alm’s father right at the time of the final showdown? there was plenty of time to build him up in the cutscenes before that, but we waste all of that time on him bullying his nephew instead. and that particular thing ends up making no sense at all!

it sucks not only for making Rudolf weaker as a villain, but also for how much it cheapens Alm’s subsequent drama. we’re really supposed to buy that he’s all torn up about committing patricide, when the father he killed was no father to him at all except for a half minute before croaking? and seriously, this time, all the people being like “don’t judge him too harshly” after Alm went and killed him just end up sounding fiercely insensitive to him.

and last but definitely least, seriously, his older sprite was better lookin’.

the scourge of akaneia, book II

(6/10)

what, you give me a chance to use that gif, I use it, plain and simple-

ahem! so what to make of our here fallen hero? his tragic downfall is quite compelling, truly striking as a situation that no particular individual can be blamed for but was merely the sad result of the trappings of the system. alas, that much is cheapened quite a bit when the result of it in actions tends to run the gamut of arbitrary villainy; it feels like the last real character-informed action in his arc is when he finally gives in to the Darksphere, and from there, it’s all because plot.

still, having a formerly playable character turn crooked as a main plot point is a player punch that other titles have rarely shown similar bravery to pull off, and that’s very much to merit. Shadow Dragon even goes the distance in trying to strengthen the punch by giving Marth and Hardin one or two tidbits of extra dialogue with each other, but those sadly end up landing quite stifled and fail to contribute to the buildup.

it has to be said, though, I really hate how this side of the remake makes his evil self look like a lunkering zombie when old Mystery of the Emblem dodged the gonk and gave him some kind of sexy vampire look instead. that was working better. so I guess that makes Medeus the only one of the list here who didn’t strike the remake fortune with a worse character design?

the scourge of jugdral

(11/10)

Arvis is my favorite Fire Emblem villain bar none. he’s the full package, and should be zenith to with any antagonist in this series aspires to.

starting off, he boasts an extensive backstory that not only establishes his motivations, but even his personality, his neuroses. but what’s better yet is that he’s such a good villain, he carries himself perfectly in the game proper despite most of the detail of what made him who he is falling to the wayside of additional material. none of that text exists to make right the deeds that he gets up to, too; it’s hard to blame him in the end, but he’s not to be absolved, anyway.

he’s also masterfully crafty, and unlike certain toadies I’ve covered earlier who dip into his pool and pretend to be the real mastermind, he’s out there doing exactly what needs to be done in order to turn the bickerings of his continent into a cycle of mutual destruction that naturally pulls him all the way to the top. you know how, if you get enough of the gang killed, you can have an ending where Seliph ends up having to take over the whole continent, leaving him stuck being Arvis 2.0? folks sometimes call that a “wtf seliph” moment, but I’d call it the crowning excellence of Arvis’s schemes -- his M.O. is never to take over the empire, but ever to undermine the existing leadership so thorougly as to make himself the only option left.

and what’s more: although the zenith of his arc is the stuff of late-term plot twists, this is that rare occasion when the plot twist is done well and doesn’t just ruin the rest of the story because of the secrecy required. the tipping point is built up to very well, with Arvis’s uncertain allegiances and sketchy character -- masterfully played so that he’s suspect, but hard to instantly point fingers at. the cherry on top is when he fakes coming to your aid at the very end, making it so look like that’s his place in the plot, until it isn’t and he betrayed you and murdered everyone. what magnificent brutality!

my god, is this long enough yet? because seriously, I could keep going. I’ll spare you all since we’re not even halfway done with this list yet, but I think I’ve made this much abundantly clear: Arvis is a master class in how to write a primary villain, and nothing less.

the scourge of leonster specifically

(5.5/10)

technically, a conqueror per se he isn’t, but he’s very much occupying a similar role in Thracia 776, as the one who directly made possible the imperial occupation of Manster and also the one who actively pursues Leif.

as far as villains in that particular game goes, Raydrik is one of the better inserted, having been given a place in the story of Jugdral that doesn’t encroach on anyone else’s but still makes him more than relevant enough of an enemy to Leif. it’s unfortunate, however, that having to play second fiddle to a stooge like Veld dials down the extent to which he can seize on that in full.

the scourge of elibe

(4.5/10)

the world’s sharpest fidget spinner has a fairly interesting concept going, specially with how it fits into the grand scheme of Binding Blade -- is it easy to disagree with the misanthropic antagonist, when the majority of the enemies you’ve faced up to that point were the assholes that were supposed to be on your side?

unfortunately, it’s still pretty easy to disagree with Zephiel in the end. I might be thinking of the earlier and more stifled fanslation, but he’s far too stoic to sell the bread that he’s supposedly growing. were that he ever really showed the sorrow and anger he feels at the lot he’s been dealt, and how it compels him to such drastic lenghts as attempting to erradicate humanity itself, he’d have made for a far more convincing villain; alas, depressive emotionless doesn’t really mesh all that great with the sort of arc he’s trying to build.

in fact, it weakens his impact quite a bit that so much of his backstory only ever goes through in the form of his sister lengthily expositing about it; he only gives his own words on the matter obliquely, and the thing ends up landing like it’s a sob story intended to drum up cheap sympathy, even though it actually explains what he’s doing.

Blazing Blade puts in the valiant effort of showing you in actions not words what led him down the path of villainy, but your prequel should not be tasked with the work of establishing you as the villain you are in your actual game.

credit where credit is due, though, this guy’s theme song slaps so hard, you end up in a dungeon with Sophia. in terms of audibly announcing how fucked you are when he’s in the neighborhood, he’s second only to Arvis.

the scourge of caelin specifically

(5/10)

Blazing Blade is mostly about preventing conquests from taking place to begin with, but this guy fits the bill neatly enough, as someone who sparks the conflict of Lyn’s story by making moves on his ambitions.

I can’t help but feel like he could have been written to be more interesting and compelling -- like, if he didn’t look like he’s roughly as close to death’s doorstep as his brother is anyway, and/or if he’d mentioned having heirs of his own that he wished to pass Caelin down to instead of Lyn... or maybe if he dropped the cacklevillainy for a moment to seize on what a genuinely frustrating feeling it’d have to be, being all but the designated heir for 15-odd years and THEN some random granddaughter appears out of nonwhere.

that said, he wasn’t intended to be a particularly complex villain; he’s the tutorial villain, with the tutorial villainy. I ultimately can’t grade him higher than such a role merits, but it’s ultimately understandable that he wasn’t written better.

the wooden scourge of magvel

(7.5/10)

although he’s not actually there at any point of Sacred Stones, it’s not for no reason that Lyon put his undead inflatable doll self to work -- and I mean that both in the pragmatic sense and in the character sense.

Vigarde’s presence is palpable, echoing through the backstories of a great deal of characters and informing their actions and choices for the greater part of the game; that’s a very impressive thing to accomplish without being there in the first place, and it builds him up to quite the solid character.

the scourge of tellius

(8.5/10)

so, this guy’s motivations are kind of wack; the clear intention there to mirror and contrast the protagonist ultimately lands flat, and his ideology does little to impress meaning upon his actions. also, it’s pretty lame that he has all the cool battle quotes he has when only Ike is special enough to actually hurt him. I’m getting the criticism out of the way now because the rest of this is going to be nothing but gushing.

what an incredibly entertaining villain! his great crooked grin never feels like an affectation -- he may be theatrical and cruel, but he has his firm reasons for doing everything he does. and the plot doesn’t tell him what to do; he tells the plot what to do, with flair. and his master plan, if hard to conciliate as an entirely human thing -- again, his ideology doesn’t land that well as an explanation for the things he does -- shimmers in its sheer audacity: provoking a world war in order to intentionally enrage the gods! holy shit. and he almost succeeds, at that.

his backstory is also a point-for: it’s not the sort of backstory that explains things, per se, but it serves instead to establish that Ashnard has been Ashnard for as long as there has been Ashnard, and that’s splendid. not everything has to go all the way to the egg!

right, right, again I’m going to try not to go on forever, but I’d be remiss in not closing with one of Ashnard’s greatest strengths: the banter. this guy has the guillotine-sharp tongue to match the extent to which he doesn’t give a shit about anyone, and it makes for magnificent lines. the part where he tears Bryce a new one and still gets to deploy him to the final battle is easily one of Path of Radiance’s standout moments, in my opinion.

the scourge of valm and good arcs

(1/10)

this guy gets quite compelling dialogue for what’s easily one of the most batshit villains in the whole franchise, and even Awakening itself.

as usual, the game elects to make the parts of his motivation that makes sense a secret for after you kill him -- which not only makes them irrelevant by the time they land, but also make him sound like he’s bonkers while he’s still around. all of his playing at being Rudolf 2.0 lands seriously flat in a story that has otherwise not really established the gods he keeps talking about breaking free from. and once the cards are down, well, he succeeds in being Rudolf 2.0, in that, as far as I hear, Rudolf made a lot less sense before Shadows of Valentia came about; his M.O. of imperialism to prevent the apocalypse is just one big honking what the fuck??. how hard can it be to just tell people about that? who’s going to stop you, Excellus?

and I will also never forgive him for directly influencing his ancestor’s weaker design in the remakes-

the scourgoo

(??/10)

so from where I’m standing, his plot twist also sounds pretty lame, but hey, I’m not going to start rating Fates people now, right

so, how are you all enjoying your brutal subjugation under The Empire (TM)? do you welcome your new militaristic overlords, or are you already mounting the resistance? the ins and outs of what sort of catastrophe we’ll be facing in the upcoming Three Houses are yet to be revealed, but before we set about blaming the crests, what would you expect from the sort of figure who’d be pushing the lances to make it happen? comment what you will through replies and reblogs, but rest assured that you’ll never figure out the master plan behind this invasion... ahahahahahahaaaa!!

[medea10]

My Review of Happy Sugar Life

[wintersqueenmab]

Silly, do all the questions you definitely deleted. All of them.

Well, since you asked so nicely, sure. Under the readmore to save dashboard space.

1. how tall are you?

I’m 5 foot, 9 inches tall, or 175 centimeters for those of you using metric units.

2. what is your body type?

Softer than I’d like, but otherwise pretty standard.

3. what is your favorite part about your body?

I do like the color of my eyes, and I think my hands are pretty nice.

4. is your current hair color your natural hair color?

Partially, yes. However, the top of my head is currently a cotton candy riot, so not that part.

5. are you more outgoing or more shy?

I like to pull off the shy -> outgoing combo for maximum damage.

6. are you more femme or butch?

Being AMAB, I’m pretty sure I’m automatically on the butch side. Not where I’d like to keep it, though.

7. are you tol or smol?

I don’t think 5′9″ is very tall, or very small. The middle it is, then.

8. wine mom or vodka aunt?

Definitely vodka aunt.

9. weird habit?

Does eating popcorn seeds count?

10. favorite meme?

I’m a sucker for bass boosting in the middle of otherwise normal videos.

11. do you sing in the shower?

Ironically, that’s one of the only places I don’t sing.

12. ever used a bow and arrow?

A couple times, but never in any seriousness.

13. are/were you a theatre kid?

Not currently, but I definitely was in high school. Would love to go back.

14. have you ever seen a broadway musical?

Nah, son. Shit’s expensive.

15. do you think musicals are cheesy?

Yes, but in a good way.

16. have you ever been a part of a protest or a march?

Sadly not.

17. favorite Cards Against Humanity Card?

“Pac-Man uncontrollably guzzling cum.”

18. last movie you watched?

Spider-Man: Far from Home.

19. behind the camera or in front of it?

In front, definitely. Doing theater has shown me that I love being in the spotlight.

20. favorite tv show?

Toss up between Steven Universe and A:tLA.

21. meaning behind your url

Comes from an old username I had a long time ago. I still use Rydyr for most things online.

22. reason you joined tumblr

Kingdom Hearts fandom, then almost immediately comboed into Homestuck.

23. who’s your closest tumblr friend?

Probably samysticeti.

24. what’s something most people love that you hate?

Lord of the Rings.

25. have you ever taken narcotics?

Nope.

26. have you had sex?

Sure have.

27. have you ever gotten caught sneaking out or doing anything bad?

Yes, several times.

28. worst/funniest lie you’ve ever told?

I once told my dad that my brother had destroyed my writing journal to get out of writing in it for the day. It worked!

29. describe your passion without mentioning it.

Getting to know systems and the best way to exploit them is pretty dang neat.

30. describe your best friend.

Always there for me, even when I don’t want them there. But they know better.

31. give us one thing about you that no one knows.

Now, what makes you think you’ve earned that?

32. how do you feel right now?

Slightly irritated at the amount of formatting work I had to do for this (a lot), but otherwise good. Go listen to Starlight Brigade if you haven’t heard it, it’s fantastic.

33. what is your biggest fear?

Not becoming who I want to be.

34. what’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

Glory, by Bastille.

35. what is the best decision you’ve made in your life so far?

Being more outgoing has, in general, done a ton for me.

36. have you ever tried your hardest and then been disappointed in the end?

Yeah. That’s life, though.

37. something you fantasize about.

Financial stability, a harem of cuties, being in a harem of cuties. Lots of unattainable goals.

38. last time you cried and why

A while ago, probably over past relationships.

39. what was the last thing that made you laugh?

A dumb play my friend made in a League of Legends match.

40. do you really, truly miss someone right now?

Always.

41. who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything?

Honestly, nobody. Without sounding like an edgelord, there’s a lot I don’t want people to know because they’d just worry.

42. the last time you felt broken?

Last night.

43. are you starting to realize anything

Many, many things.

44. are you more dominant or more submissive

Depends on the context, obviously. I try to be assertive in everyday life, but I think I’m more submissive in the bedroom.

45. i’ll only date you if _____. (fill in the blank)

I’ll only date you if you treat me with respect.

46. do you prefer to date people the same age as you, younger, or older?

I don’t have any real preference, but I think I’d feel weird if I dated someone significantly younger than myself.

47. describe the person you’re in love with/have a crush on in great detail.

That’s not fair; I have too many crushes to single anyone out. One of the pros/cons of being poly.

48. do you have any kinks?

Look, there’s a whole ass list here. Gotta get more specific.

49. first thing you notice in a person?

Probably their voice if I’m actually interacting with them. If I’m seeing them from afar, it’s their hair.

50. how can someone win your heart?

By being sweet to me.

51. been rejected by a crush?

Of course.

52. have you ever had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back?

Tons of times.

53. would you have sex with the last person you text messaged?

If they were down, yeah.

54. is trust a big issue for you?

Like, do I have trust issues? Not really. Is it a big thing for me in a relationship? Once we hit a certain point, yeah.

55. did you hang out with the person you like recently?

A couple of them, yeah. Not nearly enough, though.

56. is confidence cute?

It’s fucking sexy.

57. what would you say if the person you love/like kissed another girl/boy?

Good for them! They’re living their best life. Fuck jealousy.

58. would you be able to date someone who doesn’t make you laugh?

Probably not. I love being with funny people.

59. does the person you have feelings for right now know you do?

At least one of them does. I try not to make it a big deal.

60. ever embarrass yourself in front of a crush?

I’ve embarrassed myself in front of my partners more times than I care to count.

61. do you want to get married

Not unless the government gets really cool about a lot of things really quickly.

62. worst thing you’ve ever done?

Lied to people that trusted me.

63. three things that turn you on.

Confidence, a nice pair of legs, and the ability to take charge.

64. who do you hate?

Nazis.

65. favorite term of endearment?

Stardust.

66. who was your celebrity/fictional gay awakening?

Probably some fucking Homestuck characters, I dunno.

67. intimidating girls or kind girls?

Both. Both? Both are great.

68. what do you look for in a possible partner?

We gotta like the same stuff. Also want to get freaky in the bedroom the same way.

69. do you tend to like more masculine, feminine, or androgynous girls?

Sixty-nine, eyyyyy. Uh, all of them.

70. are you good at flirting?

Only when I’m unaware I’m doing it.

71. who was the first person you came out to?

My friends in high school.

72. do you have any friends who are wlw?

Yes! Several.

73. is your crush wlw?

Some of them are, yeah.

74. last person to make you reconsider your sexuality?

Pretty much literally any attractive person. I think about it a lot.

75. write a short love poem to your crush/self?

I wish you’d know me

As I’ve gotten to know you

See me as I am

76. do you fall in love easily?

Love, no. Infatuation? Almost pathetically so, yeah.

77. is there something that happened in your past that you hate talking about?

Boy fucking howdy, yeah.

78. are you good at hiding your feelings?

Yep.

79. are you a forgiving person?

Extremely. I just wanna be friends with everyone.

80. what is your “type?”

Kind people that can slam me against a wall and make me thank them for the privilege.

81. fall asleep in her arms or rub her back until she falls asleep in yours?

B O T H

82. tall girls or short girls?

I’d love to be with a girl that just fucking dwarfs me in height.

83. hugs or kisses?

I fucking love hugs. And I’ve had strangers tell me I give great hugs, so I wanna share that with others.

84. twirl her around or get twirled?

Fuck, dude, I’d sure love to get twirled.

85. tummy kisses or thigh kisses?

A tummy kiss that transitions into a big fucking tummy raspberry.

86. hairline kisses or neck kisses?

Neck kisses, hell fucking yeah.

87. play with her hair or stroke her tummy?

Hair, absolutely. Too many people are ticklish.

88. making out or soft kisses?

I don’t understand why I need to choose here. They’re both great in different situations.

89. hugs around the neck or hugs around the waist?

Waist! Easier to pick people up that way.

90. how confident are you in your sexuality?

I’m pretty confident in my ability to be attracted to nearly anyone that’s nice to me.

91. when you like someone do you blush or get butterflies in your stomach?

Butterflies, with blushing only when I get embarrassed around them.

92. have you ever liked a friend as more than a friend? did you tell them?

Yes and yes.

93. how old were you when you realized you were into girls?

Well, being AMAB, this was pretty early. It took me a lot longer to accept being into guys.

94. most embarrassing thing you’ve done in front of a cute girl?

There was this one time I just nerded out about MtG for like ten minutes, and she was just sitting nearby. When I saw her, I almost died.

95. do you have a favorite lesbian ship? is it canon?

Rosemary from Homestuck. It’s so good.

96. what is the most aggravating thing someone has said to you about your sexuality?

“Are you sure you can’t just pick one person and stick to them?”

97. when was the last time a girl made your heart flutter?

Like six hours ago.

98. what is love to you?

Love is caring about another person more than yourself. It’s wanting the best for them at all times. It’s being happy when they’re happy and being sad when they’re sad. It’s seeing the universe in their smile, and glimpsing eternity in how they make you feel.

99. ask me anything.

Well, this sure is awkward. If you read all this, congrats! You know more about me now than my own parents probably do. Have a great night, everyone.

[sulevinblade]

OC Interview Meme

Tagged by: @mocha-writes (hopefully it tags you properly this time? But still, THANK YOU!!)

I’ll tag: @gremlinquisitor ofc, and anyone else who wants to do it! I don’t know who all among you may have already done it for your OCs but I love reading these!!

Since I did Ghilanel here, this one will be with Varevas. I’m... sorry, about him.

1. What is your name?

“You’ve lost my confidence with the very first question.”

2. What is your real name?

“Varevas, First of Clan Lavellan and Lord Inquisitor. I should make you use the entire thing for the duration as penance for not doing the least amount of background research.”

3. Do you know why you were called that?

“The end of it is just titles, of course, and I’m called those because I earned them, more or less. My given name is a variation of one given to at least one child in every generation of our clan in order to ensure someone carries our freedom forward. But no pressure.”

4. Are you single or taken?

“I am taken, frequently and to great mutual satisfaction.”

5. Have any abilities or powers?

“I love hearing them called powers because the implication is I went to bed one night unable to conjure a great fist of stone out of the loose Fade energy pouring from the rifts and then woke up able to do so. Maybe that’s how it looks to people who don’t possess magic of their own. I have many abilities, learned and honed through time and training. I have one power and that is closing rifts. I had nothing to do with that.”

6. Stop being a Mary Sue.

“I have no idea who that is.”

7. What’s your eye color?

“Green, light green.”

8. How about your hair color?

“Dark red. I’m thinking of growing it out.”

9. Have you any family members?

“My mother was killed by human bandits but my father is still alive, and I have one younger brother and a cousin with whom I’m quite close.”

10. Oh? What about pets?

“No, but recently we were in the Emerald Graves and I found a handful of caterpillars all climbing on some sort of communal nest or cocoon site. I didn’t really think anything of it and no one there knew what kind they were or if they were dangerous, but they did seem to respond to the sound of our voices. It was as though it startled them, but it looked like they were dancing, so I spent a few minutes teaching them different rhythms. I don’t think they cared for it but I never said I was good with animals. Bull thought it was hilarious.”

11. That’s cool I guess, now tell me about something you don’t like.

“I don’t like having my ancedotes dismissed. If we’re looking on a larger scale, I really don’t like that there’s an ancient magister threatening to destroy the world and start over and some people’s greatest concern is still how the ears of the person leading the fight to stop that are shaped.”

12. Do you have any hobbies/activities you like doing?

“I enjoy reading. My clan didn’t have many books and what we did have were focused on our history and written by other elves, which is very effective if you don’t ever plan on interacting with anyone other than elves ever. I can understand why many in my clan would have preferred that but I’ll take Skyhold’s library any day.”

13. Ever hurt anyone before?

“Oh yes, it’s a running joke. If you asked Dorian what my hobbies are, he’d tell you it’s indiscriminate murder, but I think I’m very discriminating.”

14. Ever… killed anyone before?

“I got ahead of myself with the last one. Well, asked and answered, but again, it’s not indiscriminate.” He looks unusually serious for a moment. “I learned my history and I know what indiscriminate murder looks like. What Corypheus intends is indiscriminate. What I am doing, as a representative of the Inquisition, is as thoughtful as it can afford to be. I don’t expect the families of people on the other side to thank me but I am doing what I feel has to be done.”

15. What kind of animal are you?

“A bear. Please ignore all follow up commentary from Dorian should there be any.”

16. Name your worst habits.

“I enjoy reading but I’m very bad at finishing books. There’s a stack of them beside my bed, all with bookmarks in them just waiting for my attention span to resolve itself. I don’t spend as much time here [in Skyhold] as I probably ought to but I’m not comfortable here. I interrupt Dorian’s research on a daily basis, though I can’t say that’s really all that bad since he still gets an impressive amount done.”

17. Do you look up to anyone at all?

“It’s disappointing to me that our differing opinions on the sovereignty of mages keeps Vivienne from giving me so much as the time of day because she’s achieved a kind of power and status that defies all expectations I have ever held for myself as a mage, and I was going to be Keeper of my clan. She’s competent, powerful, self-possessed, and a dazzling conversationalist. Many of those same things can be said of Solas but he also hasn’t kept himself apart in the same way so what admiration I may have for him is tempered by familiarity. We’re friendly, though I do still look up to him and now that he knows we share an interest in manipulating the energy coming from the rifts I think we’ll become even closer. Vivienne, however, is a class apart.”

18. Gay, straight, or bisexual?

“Gay. What a strange way to follow up your previous question.”

19. Do you go to school?

“And yet another unexpected turn! I began a mentorship under my clan’s Keeper as soon as I came into my magic. She ensured I studied other subjects as well but the main focus was history and lore; that’s a Keeper’s function, after all, it’s... it’s literally the name. Keeper.”

20. Do you ever want to marry and have kids one day?

“I haven’t really thought about it. I want to spend the rest of my life with Dorian but marriage is complicated for a lot of reasons, and frankly I can’t imagine anyone who takes the threat our world faces right now seriously daydreaming about raising a child. I want to make sure we have a world where raising families is still a possibility at the end of this but for myself, I don’t know.”

21. Do you have any fanboys/fangirls?

"I pay for my drinks at the Herald’s Rest just like anyone else. I really don’t care for being recognized even though I realize it’s inevitable. Except with you, though, you didn’t even know my name.”

22. What are you most afraid of?

“Fucking it all up. Absolutely just ruining everything. I like to keep my fears general so I’m always just a little terrified, it’s very motivational.”

23. What do you usually wear?

“I prefer light clothing that allows me to move easily. I need to ground myself in order to cast but I need to have my arms and body free.”

24. Do you love someone?

“I do. I never imagined that being an outcome of all this but I’m also lucky enough that he loves me back.”

25. When was the last time you wet yourself?

“Have you ever been gripped by the wrist and hoisted like a wet rag doll by a twelve-foot-tall creature made of red lyrium and avarice who wanted nothing more than to snap your hand off and kill you, knowing all your back-up had fled because you sent them away and the only outcome of this encounter was your death? You’d pee a little too, trust me.”

26. Well, it’s not over yet!

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he made me piss myself again, but this time I’ll be ready.”

27. What class are you? (High class, middle class, low class)

“Being the First of the clan meant I enjoyed certain privileges but our clan was not a wealthy one. My life here in Skyhold is an improvement in a lot of ways over life with the clan in that regard, and I suppose I am a lord now.”

28. How many friends do you have?

“More than six but less than ten. Draw your own conclusions.”

29. What are your thoughts on pie?

“Surprisingly difficult to make but worth it.”

30. Favourite drink?

“The water in Skyhold is the cleanest, freshest tasting water I’ve ever had, and it’s often bitterly cold too, so cold your teeth ache when you drink it. The castle is too cold to really enjoy that but I do enjoy it. Dorian thinks I’m mad but it’s the only cold thing I like.”

31. What’s your favourite place?

“My quarters, with all the doors closed and curtains hauled over them, a fire on and my lover close at hand. It’s the only way I can thaw out.”

32. Are you interested in someone?

“Keep. Up.”

33. What’s your bra cup size and/or how big is your willy?

“I've received no complaints.”

34. Would you rather swim in the lake or the ocean?

“Dorian tells me in Tevinter they have great indoor baths for swimming in. Given the option, one of those.”

35. What’s your type?

"Fire and Rift.” He pauses and sighs. “I don’t know that I could ever be with someone who wasn’t a mage. It made life in the clan very isolating because even as the First you were still seen mostly as competition for younger mages who wanted to keep their place in the clan. Having a ‘type’ never occurred to me. It still hadn’t when I ended up here. I don’t know that I have one. I love Dorian. I don’t need a type.” 

36. Any fetishes?

His eyes flash and narrow and Varevas leans forward in his chair. “Whenever possible, I try to convince Dorian to keep his clothes on when I go down on him. I get off on the smell of the leather and the jingle of all those ridiculous buckles and clasps keeping him bound up while I try to make him explode.” He maintains eye contact the entire time he speaks and there’s not a hint of color on his cheeks. “Dorian is an incredibly private man who would be profoundly hurt if I revealed anything factual in a situation like this, so do with that statement what you will.”

37. Seme or uke? Top or Bottom? Dominant or Submissive?

“We’re done discussing this.”

38. Camping or indoors?

“Indoors. Who doesn’t like being warm and dry?”

39. Are you wanting the interview to end?

“If that’s what it takes to end these questions about my private affairs then yes.”

40. Now it’s over!

“Brilliant. You can show yourself out.”

[misadventuresofthatoregongirl]

A little background... I am 27 years old. I have a 9 year old. I have been with his father since I was 12 years old, I have never “dated” anyone else. I have seen others, but never been in a relationship with anyone else. in January 2019 my little brother (we were 4 years apart and very lose) was left for dead by police after he got in a car wreck and had a head injury. He had a pulse for 30 minutes yet was never taken to the hospital, that was 10 minutes away. A week later some rich yuppie blew their entire head off with a shotgun, 80 miles away from the hospital, had no pulse, but was air lifted to the hospital. I strongly feel my brother was left for dead due to the fact he had unpaid fines. Mostly due to no car insurance or “driving while suspended” over no car insurance. But I know only blacks matter in this country, not some mutt who is half native american half white. That has been made ABUNDUNTLY CLEAR. 

If you are one of those stupid cunts with the “driving is a privilege” bullshit mindset, (driving to work should not be a privilege should be a basic human right and “ride the bus” only big cities have busses and many people have to commute to larger cities in Oregon) when basic liability insurance is about $300 a month for people who are never on mommy and daddys insurance, please kindly fuck off. Housing in Oregon is insane, already, most people have half or more of their money going to rent if they can manage to get somewhere to rent to them at all, they should not have to have another 1/4th or more of their income going to basic liability insurance when they have never even had a ticket. I went through the same shit. Eventually police would just wait in the parking lot for me to leave work and just ticket me over and over, I was denied a hardship permit that is also such a scam. Pay a bunch of money for something you aren’t even guaranteed to get. I drove 1000 miles a week just to get to work, because I could not find work in the rural area I live in not could I afford the $1500 a month rent in the city that has jobs (that’s basically how much I made a month) it is what is is. I had no choice. 

Paying for car insurance crippled me financially. I was actually split up with his father at that time but had to come crawling back begging for money due to my $300 basic liability insurance. The tickets are not even on my record anymore, for driving with no insurance and driving while suspended but its still $260 a month. Absolutely sickening. I don’t have a fucking dime left over after i pay bills, and my boyfriend works and we STILL have no fucking money. Ever. We don’t get to go on vacations, we live in the shittiest neighborhood in the entire county, in a shit trailer, drive shitty cars, I assure you we have nothing nice. Nicest thing he had is probably his work boots which were paid for by his boss, working your ass off in Oregon does not pay off. “Get a better job” no shit sherlock, did it ever occur to you its difficult to not get fired from your job you are currently working, and still go to interviews? Employers be like “I know you have a job currently but can you drop everything and come in an hour?” Oh yeah, totally. And if you try and schedule it for a time maybe you won’t get fired its usually “Nevermind.” And the interview process is a begging a groveling process like you’re a god damn peasant. Why do I want this job? MONEY! Why else! Why does anyone want any job? I worked at a staffing agency for 4 years and I can not tell you how many people did well at those stupid cookie cutter questions but were shit workers. I wish places would just let you work a day or two and see. 

Then I got laid off as soon as stupid corona hit in March, they already fired my office manager and a sales person “over discounted bill rates”. Kinda like how the Dollar Tree stays in business because its cheap but more volume is sold (worked there before too that was horrible) so they have just as much profit if not more, as say Walgreens or something. With corporate clowns coming down and saying to clients basically pay the full rate or we are taking you to court, to 3/4 of the clients, sales tanked. They tried to blame corona but the sales were complete shit before that as soon as they fired the two people who had most of the sales, with discounted bill rates. I am still friends with someone who managed to not get fired. They said in a conference call this week they announced they would be lowering bill rates. *Face palm* now that you fired hundreds of people, you are lowering bill rates. How many lives did you ruin before coming to your senses? Companies here are just so fucking awful!

A few years ago I decided I wanted to move out of the country. However if you have a child, both parents have to sign a passport form unless you don’t have the father listed on the birth certificate. Norway in particular I like, its beautiful, free healthcare, minimum wage twice that of Oregon with cheaper rent and free healthcare, they also help with childcare. They claim they do in Oregon but your “copay” is usually so high you might as well just pay out of pocket and not deal with all the states controlling bullshit you have to deal with when you get state assistance. People like to say “Norway has higher taxes” please shut up and go look at Oregon’s income tax rate. One of the highest in the country. Expensive gas, INSANE housing, its just not possible to have a decent life here in Oregon. I love the ocean also. Norway is beautiful and comes in the top countries for quality of life every year, meanwhile USA is at the very bottom. 

Everyone called me paranoid all those years, I just had a bad feeling that something bad was going to happen also and I needed to get out while I still could. Next remark “how can you afford to get there if you are so broke?” Simple don’t pay my outrageous rent and insurance for 1 month problem solved. My child’s father finally agreed to sign the passport form now that its too late and Americans are banned from basically every country in the world, once the racism and virus bullshit started. Super awesome. He will never hear the end of that from me. Its been months and I still do not even have the passport. Even if I did I AM TRAPPED HERE!!!!!!!!!! I can not even go to fucking Canada!

I decided ok, I will try and move to Montana/Idaho/North Dakota or something. Give up my ocean in attempts to get the hell away from all this mask and the non existent “racism” bullshit. Go somewhere with a lower cost of living, more jobs with higher wages. I absolutely can not stand wearing the face masks. There is no evidence they work, just go look at Sweden. Or the states I just named which have no mask laws. Also a lot of rural areas in Oregon do not wear them seems like the entire populations would have been sick or dead. I am not looking to argue with scared little sheep over this. Before you say “I hope your grandparents die” because I don’t wear them, something that I have seen many people say to myself and anyone else without a mask, my grandparents have said many times they would rather be dead than be completely isolated over some bullshit virus with a higher survival rate than the flu. Plus the media has lied so much, how can you believe a word they say? Seriously? They are all left winged biased. I am not even a conservative and I can see it. But people just eat the shit up. That 26 year old who they claimed died in Oregon from coronavirus, turns out did not even have the virus the CDC medical examiner said. So you choose for yourself what to believe. 

I did get a job in Montana very easily. In six fucking months in Oregon I had maybe 5 phone calls for a job, all minimum wage no benefit shit jobs. I did 2 years of business and law classes, 4 years of heavy payroll and accounting for work so its not like I have absolutely no experience in anything worth a fuck. Plus 8 years total of customer service or more I have been working since I was 18 with gaps here and there between jobs. But with my boyfriend and son back in Oregon, 900 miles away, it was really difficult. I had never been alone like that or even stayed a night away from my child. Never in 9 years. First of all staying in some shitty hotel... I hate hotels in general I like my little nest, as shitty as my house may be, even at a nice hotel I would rather sleep in my own shitty bed. I lasted 2 weeks, only having $100  week leftover for food and other bills spending $400 a week at the cheapest motel I could find, before I gave up. I could not save money for a deposit or loan and my boyfriend has absolutely no credit so he could not get approved for a loan or rental either. He also had absolutely no one to watch our child back in Oregon with everything being closed so he could not work during that time and almost lost the job he had. Done landscaping for 11 years and still only makes $2 above minimum wage because companies treat employees like such shit in Oregon. I was so close, had a decent pay (way more than I ever made in Oregon even though Montana has a lower minimum wage) with benefits, but it was impossible to move into a rental. My credit is good enough for a loan, but I could not save money for a down payment staying in a hotel. Plus I was so lonely and miserable. Now winter is coming and we will not be able to go back and forth in that snow in little cars anyways.

If we would have succeeded, I would have gotten us into a rental and then quit as soon as he got a job because we never have anyone to watch our child and the cost of living is so much lower we would not HAVE to both work like we do here in Oregon. Especially now. Seriously, what the fuck do they expect people with kids to do? Schools are closed and even if they weren’t there is no way in hell I would send my kid wearing a mask all day. SO bad for you! They have to wear them all day “except at lunch” ok so might as well just take the damn things off the entire day. These rules don’t even make sense how do people not see that? Or in a restaurant you have to wear them if you walk to the bathroom but not at the table what logic is that? How do people not see through this bullshit? And children are gross they touch everything masks are going to do shit at schools. Notice the schools that did open, masks or no masks still had a shitload of cases. Single parents are especially screwed in particular. I guess if you could somehow both find employers willing to work with your schedule (good luck with that) you could constantly work opposite shifts as your partner/spouse and never seen them and work. 

Anyways, jobs for him paid more up there too, rent is fucking half of what it is in Oregon. Their average rent is the price of “low income housing” in Oregon. But we just could not do it. I tried. I tried so hard. I even learned Norwegian jeg snakker norsk und ich spreche auch Deutsch because Austria was another country I was interested in. You can try and try and try here, but unless you get lucky, or your parents help you, I do not know how people do it. All the old people I know here don’t have enough money to live off either after working 50 years. Its so sad.

I am no perfect person either. I am pretty bitchy, I have horrible anxiety I quit public school at age 12 and finished online, yes I have a high school diploma. I actually did all my high school schooling in 2 years after skipping 3 years of school with no problem. I never even really went to middle school and still managed. I am not stupid. I just have a hard time doing things I am absolutely miserable doing.

I will go into more detail, year by year on what a shitshow it is to live in the USA but in particular Oregon. The entire west Coast really. I hate it here and I just want out but I have tried everything. 

[scrawnydutchman]

5 Comic Book Heroes I Despise

Have I made it clear that I like Superheroes on this blog yet? Because I can always make it clearer. Superheroes have been a centerpiece of my life for a long time, and honestly how could they not be? The modern day all american equivalent of Greek Myths have not only been hugely entertaining and exciting action, but they’ve also made their stay as some of the finest storytelling across multiple mediums. Some of the greatest stories of our time are within the superhero medium like Watchmen, All-Star Superman, The Killing Joke, The Death of Gwen Stacy, The Man Who Has Everything and so on. Of course the number one appeal of these stories is the heroes themselves. All the colorful characters that are arguably the most well developed in our culture, being that they have thousands of issues building themselves up. I’ve grown to love many from both DC and Marvel alike, and to a lesser extent other companies like Dark Horse. But some characters . . . some characters just continue to leave a bad impression on me for one reason or another. I don’t really mean their powers are lame, because a good writer can make even the silliest heroes badass, and I don’t mean how they look because honestly even if a design is undeniably bad it’s nothing a simple revamp can’t fix. I’m talking specifically about personality and reoccurring themes that the writers think are compelling but I just get horribly annoyed about.

Now I want to make ONE THING VERY CLEAR before we get into it. My experience with these characters comes largely from watching them on tv shows like Justice League Unlimited and Batman: Brave and the Bold and other stuff. The truth is, I’m not an avid comic book reader, so my opinion is VERY subjective and could easily be proven wrong by something demonstrated in the comics. Yeah, I’m very biased, but i might as well be honest about it. Take what I say with a grain of salt. And of course, if you like these characters, good for you. I’m a guy who thinks Superman Returns is a good movie, no need to take me so seriously. Enough stalling, let’s do this.

1. Star Girl

Yeah, you saw the intro picture so you knew this was coming. Might as well get this one out first. So my introduction to Star Girl (among many DC heroes) was Justice League Unlimited and she later received my attention in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The above video where she teams up with Blue Beetle in BTBatB is a solid indication of why I dislike her so much. She’s a snarky, condescending, petty and honestly pretty self entitled princess who acts like she’s so much better than everyone else . . .but gets her ass kicked and needs help/saving in everything I’ve seen her in. In the above clip Mantis is ready to break her spine with one hand until BB saves her, and all she has to say in response is calling BB a knock-off (btw hypocritical much?). But honestly this doesn’t come CLOSE to topping the time in JLU where she directly disobeys Green Lanterns orders, gets her ass kicked as a result, Supergirl ends up dealing with her mess and than she gets all petty about Supergirl being popular in Japan. GOD she annoys me. I’ve never seen or heard of her doing anything cool, and in everything i see her in she contributes nothing of real substance.

2. Cyclops

So let’s talk about leader characters for a second. Leader characters can be difficult to get right in fiction because, well, to be honest leaders in real life can be a difficult person to really like. even though being bossy and over authoritative can be necessary in dire times, a lot of people take issue with that and associate people who take charge as self righteous buzzkills with no sense of fun or relatability. Because people who are evidently better than you are ALWAYS hard to relate to and thus you by default don’t really trust them. But some leaders you can’t really argue with. Captain America can be that guy (and he’s had bad moments in comics) but overall he tends more often than not to be in the right on any subject and a major part in how he leads is that he inspires good work, not insists on it. Cap is a prime example of a leader character done right. Cyclops is nothing like Cap. Why? Because not only is he a pompous self righteous asshole, unlike Cap he can’t even back up his own bravado. He insists everybody always pull it together and not do anything to jeopardize the mission but the MOMENT he loses something like, say, Jean Grey (which happens a lot, no secret about that), he has a complete mental breakdown and puts his own personal problems before everybody elses. Yes I know, he was her boyfriend and therefore the closest one to her, but the fact that he’s SO self centered he can’t even recognize how much the loss of Jean effects the rest of his team is just unbearable. Besides, considering how much he cheats on Jean throughout the comics anyway, it’s kind of a moot point that his pain is SOOO special.  And he’s SO entitled to the leadership and gets all jealous whenever another member takes charge. Asshole, you’ve proven you don’t have the emotional capacity to put your duty as leader first, why the hell would we give the position back to you? Storm for all intents and purposes is a better leader than cyclops. She takes charge whenever he’s being a fucking baby (which is a lot) and she ends up being SEVERAL times more competent. She also keeps him and Wolverine from butting heads all the time. And unlike him, she doesn’t let her personal issues get in the way of others. She’s claustrophobic, but she admits to it and doesn’t let it come before the welfare of her team. While Cyclops is self entitled to respect out the gate, Storm earns it without even asking.

Also, in terms of powers Cyclops is kind of useless when his brother Havok is around. He can control his optic blasts AND can shoot in more than one direction at once. Bottom line; Cyclops kinda sucks.

3. Captain Atom

Alright, so conceptually this guy is really cool. Nuclear man that can absorb and blast radiation? Alright, I’m down. But his execution more often than not is really either just a simple means to an end or a result of REALLY shitty decision making on his part. In the Flashpoint Paradox storyline he’s trapped and basically used as a nuke (and I’m pretty sure this isn’t the only time he’s been used like this). For a LONG time in the comics he’s been built up to be somebody who betrays the Justice League in a big grand way. In Justice League Unlimited he chooses his loyalty to the U.S. airforce over his loyalty to the Justice League and boxes Superman, despite the fact that he KNOWS CADMUS ILLEGALLY DETAINED AND TORTURED THE QUESTION FOR INFORMATION. Captain Atom: enabler of terrorist activity. How about in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies when he works for President Lex Luthor? This guy has a reputation for backing the wrong horse, don’t he? Also in Batman: TBATB he’s an arrogant douchebag who blatantly insults Batman for having no superpowers, goes through a whole story arc about what it truly means to be a hero . . and than learns absolutely nothing by the end of it. Yeah, I know, it’s supposed to be comedic, but the point I’m making is that this guy just always seems to make bad decisions or straight up turn evil. Anytime I see him and he’s NOT doing that he’s doing something of no real significance. 

4. Damian Wayne

Alright, so my earlier entries I can imagine a lot of people disagree with. But I think I can get at least a LITTLE sympathy for this one. Everytime I see this punk ass piece of shit kid I wanna deck him right in his arrogant self absorbed face. Now, let me be fair. This is a very difficult type of character to make likable. For one, child characters of any personality are notorious for becoming very annoying very quickly, for different reasons each. I think it’s largely due to the amount of attention they absorb and how a great deal of the viewing audience is inherently a lot more mature and thus can’t relate to them as much. A great deal of the time they take away from the drama of the situation rather than add to it. For another, Damian is deliberately meant to be a very stuck up, unapologetic and unforgiving, relentlessly violent kid. He grew up a bastard child raised by the league of assassins under the world’s most intense martial arts training, and so as a result he’s become almost sociopathic because he just can’t understand the outside world. He has an arc where he grows to respect his father, and that’s all well and good I suppose, but for me personally it’s not enough to distract from the fact that at the end of the day it’s like a 10 year old kid being the edgy badass. If there’s a way to make the “you can’t tell me what to do DAD” character likable I haven’t figured it out yet. Also, in the Injustice universe he betrays his own father for a maniacal Superman. Fuck him.

and now for my final entry . . . . brace yourselves, this is gonna be a hard one.

5. Batman

Oh yes. You bet your ass I went there. I can hear the fanboys rallying around my building now. But honestly, the extent of how defensive people get about this character is precisely why I’ve grown such a distaste for him. Now, I should state that “despise” might be too strong a word for my feelings on Batman. Conceptually I think he’s fine. He’s had great stories, good movies, good tv shows. Conceptually he’s totally fine to me. But this is a situation where hype has not only ruined the character for me by making the expectations too high for him to reach in my view, but it’s actively impeded on DC’s storytelling. Batman is too. damn. competent. Batman has a plan for everything. Batman can beat anyone he wants to. Batman can do no wrong. You can’t criticize him because he’s the GODDAMN BATMAN. This is the mentality that’s been surrounding the character for a long time and it’s gotten pretty old. The fact that he’s done so much amazing feats renders everything supposedly relatable about him completely moot. Being a human with no superpowers doesn’t mean anything when he can accomplish things no average human could possibly do anyways. a master in every form of martial arts? knows every language known to man?? can beat every league member no matter how powerful they are?? The guy who can stop himself from being possessed by spirits??? The guy who ghosts flinch around??? THIS is the guy who’s meant to be the relatable human?? People complain about Superman being too powerful but at least he has exploitable weaknesses. Batman apparently can’t be touched. But honestly, that’s not even the worst of it. The worst part is that his competence completely ruins his whole character conflict. to summarize:

Bruce Wayne’s life was changed forever the night he lost his parents to a mugger in an alley. He became emotionally distant and pessimistic, and became obsessed with vengeance against the forces that too his loved ones from him. So he dawned the mantle of the bat to strike terror into the hearts of criminals. But as he delves more into the Bat persona he loses more and more his capacity to make human connections. He wants to make his parents proud, not realizing that his parents wanted him to have family that could provide him with happiness he so deserves. He needs to let people in and let himself be vulnerable.That’s why the Bat-family is so important. That’s why Alfred is so important. That’s why the Justice League is so important.

But when you make him so competent that he can do everything himself under the circumstances, all that does is justify his delusions. Why SHOULD he trust the league more if he can do everything himself anyway to the point where every other member is a clumsy asshole in comparison? What is the point of having such a colorful and diverse superhero team if the writers constantly insist one should be your favorite? When you make it so he never has to depend on anyone his whole arc as a character is thrown out the window. Now, Batman HAS been displayed right in the past. JLU makes him badass but not overbearing and Lego Batman is oddly enough the best cinematic Batman film in years. But recently the “Bat-God” has been the mainstream, and it’s completely gratuitous.

[lunafeather]

judeehopps replied to your post “If anyone else has seen The Last Jedi already and wants to discuss,...”

I’m curious about what you think. What did you think of it? I have mixed feelings...

Overall I enjoyed it a lot, but it did have a lot of issues. I think I liked The Force Awakens a lot more, so I’m glad that JJ Abrams will be directing Episode IX and not Rian Johnson, though obviously Abrams isn’t perfect. This film also continues Star Wars’ penchant for gorgeousness; so many scenes and shots were absolutely breathtaking in their beauty. This might be my favorite film when it comes to that.

Spoilers below the cut! (Also, fair warning! I have a lot of thoughts)

I wasn’t a fan of the limited interactions between our main trio, especially Finn and Rey -- whose relationship literally drives the narrative of this trilogy. Don’t get me wrong, that hug at the end literally made me squeal with joy it was so pure and sweet, but that is seriously all we got and like??? I DO ship Finnrey but I also just enjoy watching their friendship so this was a major downside.

Speaking of ships, I am VERY anti Rose/Finn. I feel like the kiss at the end of the film was incredibly forced and awkward, and came out of nowhere. They have okay chemistry, but I didn’t get a romantic vibe from them at all, so for her to swoop in with this huge romantic gesture and pull out the “I love you” before passing out was very out of place. I feel like they barely know each other, and Rose’s feelings are heavily impacted by her initial view of Finn as this Rebel Hero, and that her jump from awe to fury to love is just a natural progression of her fangirling, and not actual love. Not to mention the fact that Finn literally just froze when she kissed him, it wasn’t reciprocated at all. I hope that they have an adorable “WOW that was awkward” moment in the next film but that they remain friends only.

I really enjoyed Rey’s arc over the film. I think she is more powerful than we realize and I really hope we get to see that power as she trains to be an actual jedi (I’m sure we will). I also really enjoy her parallel’s to Luke in that she is insistent that Kylo can be turned and tries to sway him against her mentor’s wishes, that she is just SO GOOD inside (I, like others, was afraid they may try to tease her switching to the dark side, but I’m glad this film just reiterated how good she is), but I also love that where Luke succeeded, Rey did not. I think it would be very predictable and boring for Rey to “save” Kylo the way Luke “saved” Vader.

Branching off of that, the trailers had a lot of people spouting that whole, “ohhh this is just another copy cat/rehash of Empire, just like TFA was identical to ANH” (which is bullshit anyway, TFA had many homages to ANH but the story was different in a few key ways) crap that I am glad was destroyed immediately. All this chatter about the AT-ATs and the rebels trying to escape a base and Degobah and blah blah blah. None of it was founded, the film was actually VERY different from ESB. Which isn’t necessarily a good thing.... but I digress.

I am a tad miffed that Finn’s force sensitivity wasn’t touched on AT ALL. As far as I’m aware, someone has to be force sensitive to use a lightsaber and Finn used Luke’s at the end of TFA. I hope they touch back on that in Episode IX.

A big thing I am distressed about is the fact that one of the original trio is basically going to be killed off in each film. Han in TFA, now Luke in TLJ, and obviously Leia will need to be killed off in Episode IX... It’s really fucking depressing. Part of me hopes that they will write IX in a way that Leia doesn’t need to die but never appears on screen -- I feel like of the three, she would be the one to survive. It’s possible, narratively, but I doubt they’ll do that. Still.... Also, seeing as Luke became one with the force or whatever, I feel like he will train Rey from beyond, the same way Obiwan often advised him after his death. So maybe we’ll at least have that.

Upon further reflection, I feel like the Casino excursion was very misplaced and unneeded. It was hectic and rushed and urgent, the whole movie was, and I wasn’t a huge fan of that. Star Wars movies ebb and flow with their pace, usually taking place over a moderate amount of time, but obviously this film had a very short time span and I gotta say, I’m not digging it. I prefer the story building, character building pace of the other films.

Humor was out of place a lot of times. The other movies were funny, yes, but the humor in this one was much too....modern? Even in TFA the humor was more classic, in this film it was annoyingly snappy. I really hated the opening scene and its “joke” with Poe pretending he couldn’t hear Hux. Hux should be scary and looming and menacing but that scene just made a fool out of him, and for that to be the OPENING scene is just.... no. Turned me off immediately. Some of the humor was spot on, like Chewie being watched by the family/friends of the bird thing he was trying to eat. THAT was good. Even Rey knocking that giant piece of rock over the cliff and annihilating those aliens’ cart of stuff was good. But most of the other humor was off.

My favorite moment/shot, and I’m sure it’s a lot of people’s, was Holdo hyperspacing into Snoke’s ship. Everything about that was GLORIOUS. The quick burst shots of the lightning blue spikes cracking the ship, the DEAD SILENCE -- no music, no sound effects, nothing -- until the delayed noise of the explosion, I was AWED. The ENTIRE THEATRE gasped and then hushed in the same awed silence as myself. What an amazing idea and execution.

Other favorite shots, Kylo and Luke standing on opposite sides of the screen, waiting to battle -- the colors and composition were beautiful. Crap, there are more but I can’t remember them now.

Mother fucking LEIA ORGANA, using the force to survive being blown into space. SHE DID THAT, Y’ALL. Do you have any idea how powerful she has to be to do that kind of shit??? I seriously thought they were gonna kill her off.

Luke Skywalker being a sassy shit during his astral projection gave me so much life. I love him.

I’ve seen a lot of disparaging comments about Yoda showing up but I actually liked that bit. I think it was one of the times when the humor was on point, and they had to have used a puppet because he looked great.

After a lot of discussion with my ex, we came to the conclusion that Leia must have known Luke wasn’t really there at the old rebel base. Initially I thought it was a vision/wonder twin connection like Kylo and Rey were having (which..... wtf???? Why was that happening? Could it not?) but then everyone else saw him so.... still, I think Leia knew it wasn’t really him. I think that’s why she didn’t touch him/hug him -- because they are VERY huggy twins -- and why she left Han’s dice behind. I think she knew she wouldn’t see him again, which breaks my heart. Because how alone is Leia now? She lost the love of her life, she lost her son, she lost her brother. Ughhhh.

So yeah, this stupid “connection” between Rey and Kylo the film was trying to force on us just.... irked me. I have heard that R*ylos are fangirling over the movie, which boggles my mind because Rey literally hates his guts?? She was disgusted by his naked chest and demanded he clothe himself?? She literally tried to save him because she’s a good person, not because he’s ever done anything to deserve it or because there’s some kind of “love connection” there?? He fucking mind raped her, guys. He almost killed the first person to ever COME BACK FOR HER. (again, why did this movie focus on the Rey/Kylo shit when there is a goldmine with Rey/Finn??????) Oh he’s also a fucking pyscho murderous asshole who killed Rey’s friend and hero in cold blood.

Anyway.

Snoke as a villain: Disappointing. Boring. Anticlimactic. I pity that we didn’t get backstory on him, though I suppose we never got any for the Emperor until the prequels. Still.... Snoke was a very thin and half assed master villain. Shouldn’t there be waaaaaaaaay more lore about the Knights of Ren? Is that going to come into play in Episode IX, seeing as Kylo is now the Supreme Leader? Also, how the fuck am I supposed to take Kylo seriously as the next major villain when he continues to throw temper tantrums and be easily manipulated by outside forces?

On that note, did he choose to spare Leia because of that conflict inside of him, or did Leia force sense him and mind influence him to not shoot?? WE’LL NEVER KNOW.

Second to last point: Not enough Chewie.

Final point: I liked the examination of perspective. Luke’s story of what happened the night Kylo went crazy, Kylo’s story, and finally the truth. How we twist things to feel better/to get what we want. How every story is biased. I thought that was neat.

I lied, one last thing: I am on the fence but leaning towards hating Rey’s parents being “nobodys”. I think it’s an interesting choice but not one that lends anything to the narrative. I think the hype around her parentage was stoked just so they could say, “HAHA she actually isn’t anyone special, you were speculating for nothing!”. Speculating is fun. Bloodlines are fun. Let nerds discuss! A big part of me hopes that Kylo was lying to Rey to make her more upset and thus “more likely” to swing to the dark side. To encourage her fear that she really was abandoned for no reason. BUT it would also be unique to have her be so special despite coming from nothing.

Alright, I’m done. I may think of more but that’s it for now. My rating would probably be like.... 6.5/10. In the top 5 but not the top 4. Enjoyable and beautiful but nothing special and a let down in regards to story and character development.

[no-white-knights-blog]

Halo - An Etrian Odyssey Novel (Chapter 10/50)

For a musician with bad lungs, Vien could talk a lot. Truthfully, by the time they reached the path leading up the hills, Sage was starting to doubt Vien had respiratory problems at all. He was either arguing with Iliad about some unimportant topic, strumming the strings of his lute while humming, or running forward like a dart to look at something potentially dangerous.

Sage wasn’t worried, though, because each and every time Vien bounded away from the path, Nirim trailed dutifully behind him, suspicion in his eyes as he glowered down at whatever plant or tiny animal Vien wanted to look at. He was certainly taking his new role as Halo’s ronin very seriously. It made Sage smile.

“I still don’t like him,” Iliad argued, watching Nirim walk ahead of the group after dispatching a low-level foe that Vien was harassing with a stick.

Emery didn’t look very effected by the younger teen’s attitude as he cleaned a few smudges away from his glasses with his white coat, humming, “Well, he’s doing his job, isn’t he? The few foes we’ve come across he could easily get rid of.”

“Dyria could have done that just as easily!” Iliad insisted, pointing at his brother before looking over at him and deflating in shock, as Dyria appeared to be completely distracted watching Sage collect leaf samples.

Emery chuckled and slipped his glasses back onto his face, “Of course he could have, but he’s a bit busy at the moment.”

“What the fuck,” Iliad grumbled, shoulders tensing, “What’s the matter with him?”

“You mean in general, or is that a rhetorical question?” Emery asked, and Iliad threw his hands out.

“He’s not even paying attention! What if a monster charges us?! He’s supposed to be focusing so he can protect, or whatever it is he does!”

“He’s doing his job, don’t worry about that,” Emery laughed and waved a hand, “He’s protecting Sage right now.”

“What about the rest of us? His guild?!”

“I think we’re capable enough to stay a few low-level attacks,” Emery stated, “It makes sense he’s focusing the majority of his attention on Sage. I mean, this is his first time back in the Labyrinth after getting attacked, losing literally everything, including his memories,” he held a finger up, “Dyria is just exercising good leadership by staying close to the unsteady explorer in our group,” he looked off to the side and murmured under his breath, “Plus he’s whipped.”

“This is ridiculous!” Iliad grabbed his head, “Everyone’s going insane! This is exactly why I knew letting other people join was a bad idea!”

“I don’t see how,” Emery shrugged, “I think it was a good call actually. Sage needs us, and he’s really useful, like you said before,” Iliad pouted and tugged at the new gloves he was wearing that protected his fingers, “Plus, Nirim isn’t so bad. I mean look,” Emery pointed, “He’s keeping an eye on Vien so we don’t have to. That troubadour is caffeine on steroids, he can make anyone tired just by watching him, but Nirim is doing fine,” he frowned a little when Nirim grabbed the back of Vien’s shirt and dragged him back onto the pathway, looking completely frustrated, “Well, somewhat.”

“No, I don’t like it,” Iliad argued, “We swore, remember? When we left the orphanage, we promised, the four of us, we’d come to Lagaard together and start our own guild, us against the world, we never said anything about other people!”

“Iliad that pact was to swear we would stick together,” Emery corrected, “There was nothing in the fine print that said we were going to willingly and consciously block the rest of the world out. Especially if someone needed our help.”

Iliad’s frown became heavier and he folded his arms, looking down the path to where Vien was holding out a weird looking rock for Nirim, who had a hand on his face, either from embarrassment or exasperation; likely both. If Iliad knew Vien at all, it was both.

“The only reason I’m dealing with Sage is because he’s training me, and because… Dyria seems happy to have him in the guild. I’ll think about dealing with that one,” he pointed over at Nirim, “but I’m not guaranteeing anything. Don’t expect me to be nice or to talk with them.”

“I won’t,” Emery laughed, “I can’t push you too far out of your comfort zone without feeling like a jerk,” he reached up and ruffled Iliad’s hair, much to his annoyance, “Just go at your own speed, you’ll get used to our new guildmates eventually.”

“Hurry up!” Vien yelled back to them, “We’re at the hills!”

Iliad swatted Emery’s hand away, a heavy pout on his face as he attempted to fix his already messy hair and hurried forward to join the group with the medic close at his heels. When they got to the base of the hills, Vien pointed at a jagged boulder sitting just in front of them.

“Iliad, I bet ya I can climb that in ten seconds!”

“What are you, five?” Iliad scoffed, and Vien pulled his lute over his head, shoving it against Nirim’s chest before running forward.

Emery sighed and set a hand on his hip as Vien scrambled up the boulder, slumping over the top before getting to his knees and standing up, holding his arms up, “Ha! Ten seconds!”

“Would you get down?!” Iliad bristled, “You’re gonna hurt yourself!”

“You’re just jealous of my climbing skills!” Vien yelled back down, a few pebbles skidding down the side of the boulder before the area he was standing on crumbled and he slipped, “Whoa!”

“Fucking moron!”

Nirim just shuffled to the side and held his arms out, catching the troubadour easily before he could hit the ground. Vien peeked one eye open before popping them both open, looking at Nirim before patting his chest.

“Thank you, Nirim,” he stuck his tongue out at Iliad, “See? At least Nirim was nice enough to catch me!”

Nirim mumbled something incoherent, more to himself than to the people around him, but of course Sage picked up the words, head tilting in curiosity as he stared at the ronin while he carefully set Vien onto his feet, handing his lute back before turning to walk up the path.

Sage shuffled after, looking at Dyria, “Hey, where did Vien live before this?”

“Hm? The orphanage,” was Dyria’s response, and Sage shook his head.

“I meant before that. He must have come from somewhere, right? You and Iliad were from the same area as Emery, he grew up in town and you grew up on a farm four miles away. I… must have come from somewhere, probably, but what about Vien?”

Dyria was looking down at his feet while they walked, rubbing his jaw, “I wouldn’t know. Whatever happened to him in the past, likely the same thing that scarred him, was so bad he’s never actually talked about it before. I mean, if you ask him, he’ll pretend he doesn’t know, but there’s a look in his eyes... He remembers it, I think. Most of it, at least.”

“I have a theory, myself,” Emery said from behind Sage, hurrying forward to walk at his other side, “When we met Vien at the orphanage I noticed the burn scars, but when I asked about them he just brushed it aside like he couldn’t remember. So, I asked around, found out he’d been at the orphanage since he was nine when they found him wandering around. I snuck into the records room in the nearby village and found a file of categorized fires in the area.

“Most of them weren’t that bad, just a few forest fires, controlled fires that got a bit crazy, but there was one record in particular that was a lot bigger,” he looked forward to watch Vien run up the path, “There was a village seven days walk from the orphanage, it was raided, and set aflame. There were no survivors found, but… who knows. Maybe Vien was from there.”

Sage nibbled on his lip before speaking, “Who raided them?”

Emery shrugged, “The file conveniently left that out. I assume they were pirates or something, because the village was a small trading town just at the ocean’s edge. I don’t know any more than that.”

“Do you think maybe more than one person could have survived?” Sage asked, and Emery rubbed his neck.

“Dunno. Why do you ask?”

Sage looked down, his eyes shifting up towards Nirim, who was rubbing his shoulder and waiting for Vien to reach him. You haven’t changed…

“It was just a thought I had is all,” Sage shrugged.

Vien was halfway towards Nirim, his steps rather sluggish, and he stopped completely so he could lift an arm to his mouth, coughing hard. It was a dry cough, and he bowed forward from the force, prompting Emery to run up to him, putting a hand on his back.

“Easy, I told you not to run around like that.”

“I’m fine,” Vien said before coughing again, one hand holding the chest of his shirt as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, panting, “Just gimme a second to catch my breath.”

“Here,” Emery sifted through his bag and came up with a long vile of gold medicine, “Drink this.”

Vien whined, “But it’s so gross.”

“You need it, Vien,” Emery said sternly, and Vien sighed breathlessly before taking the vile, struggling to pull the top off before downing it, his face twisting in disgust as he stuck his tongue out and made a disgusted noise.

“I hate this stuff,” he mumbled, giving the empty vile back to Emery, who had his lips pressed into a tight line as Vien coughed a few more times, “I can breathe fine.”

“Maybe we should go back,” Emery said, squeezing Vien’s shoulder and looking back at Dyria, “We still have a lot of walking, there and back, I don’t want him to strain his lungs so badly that he has to go to the hospital.”

“But I’m fine!” Vien cried in frustration, coughing against his arm, “We can’t go back yet, this is supposed to be a super easy and simple quest to reintroduce Sage to the Labyrinth, if we go back without finishing it then we suck as a guild!”

“Vien-,” Emery started to argue, but Nirim interrupted him.

“I’ll carry you,” he said, and everyone turned to stare at him as he stepped over to Vien and crouched down, looking over his shoulder, “Come on. We should go before it gets dark.”

Vien stared at Nirim, stunned for a moment, before smiling and flopping forward onto his back, arms wrapping around his neck as Nirim easily picked him up, then stuck his tongue out at Emery, “See? I’m fine! Onward!”

“But-,” Emery stopped himself as Nirim walked down the path, rubbing his head with a sigh, “Alright, as long as he’s not straining himself, I guess it’s fine.”

“Hm,” Sage smiled a little, looking at Dyria, “I think it’s good that Nirim joined us.”

Dyria tensed a little and frowned, mumbling a quick, “I guess,” before they continued on with their quest.

“I’m not too heavy, right?” Vien asked, and Nirim murmured.

“No.”

“You’re really strong anyway, so you could probably carry me even if I was three hundred pounds,” Nirim just shrugged and Vien set his chin on the ronin’s shoulder, frowning a little, “Thanks, by the way. For carrying me I mean. My lungs kinda hurt, so… I probably wouldn’t have made it much further on my own.”

“Why do you have such difficulty breathing?” Nirim asked, and Vien rolled his head to look off to the side.

“Smoke inhalation,” he said, “I was in a fire when I was little, and I breathed in so much smoke it screwed up my lungs. I almost died.”

Nirim didn’t respond for a moment, “Do you remember it?”

“Some of it,” Vien admitted, picking at a loose string on Nirim’s sleeve, “A lot of it is really unclear, but Emery and Dyria are nice so they don’t try and push me into remembering it,” he leaned up a bit, “Like, I remember the flames, what they looked like and how hot they were, and I remember all the smoke, I remember struggling to breathe and thinking I was going to suffocate. I remember how scared I was,” he held one hand up, frowning at it, “I don’t know if it’s just my memories being messed up, but I remember holding someone’s hand, and I remember the heat making my hands sweaty, so… one of us slipped away,” he wrapped his arm back around Nirim and set his chin down on his shoulder, “That part might be from a nightmare, though.”

Nirim was silent, so Vien started to talk about other things, like learning how to play the lute and how he loved singing, but Nirim’s mind was wandering. Fire, heat, smoke, bright flames that blocked out any other view; and a hand clutched in his, a hand that slipped away; spinning around, and screaming for them to come back, surrounded by fire…

“Yea,” Nirim whispered, a soft smile on his lips, “You haven’t changed at all.”

“Hm?”

“Nothing.”

[sambart93]

2017.05.18 Kurobara (Black Rose) Alice Review!

Someone remind me WHY I bought a ticket to this? Oh yeah I was on a slight Sugie high because of Messiah and him being cast in StarMyu and I’d seen and shook hands with Yuusuke the week senkou tickets for this came out xD

Official Website here Official Twitter here Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Videos 1, 2, 3, 4 PreOrder DVD here

Cast and Characters

Ishiguro Hideo as Demitri Le Vander Fowski Iriki Mari as Alice / Annieska Akimoto Ryuutaro as Reo Sugie Taishi (aka Taishin) as Kai Kashiwagi Yuusuke (aka Kashi or Yuusuke) as Reiji Nozeki Yutaka as Ikushima Kouya Hachiya Ami as Kiwakawa Azusa Fujiwara Akino as Akane Nazuka Kaori as Narusawa Touko Ensemble

NON-SPOILER REVIEW:

Overall: This is definitely not a play for everyone; it’s long and the pacing, writing and story is strange. BUT Sugie and Kashi really shine in the show as do their character and newbie Nozeki Yukata did a great job too(!). For the most part I was totally into it and entertained and I was heartbroken in some parts and I personally was not bored nor felt uninterested. ALSO! This is definitely a NSFW stage. To put it simply: there’s implied sex, there’s implied rape, there’s murder, there’s physical abuse, lots of actually kisses. It’s not a happy play. It’s DARK and as you can tell NSFW! Luckily for me I freaking loved all this darkness and I thought the implied sex scenes were very sexy and very well done. I liked it; I don’t think most people did and I don’t think most people will but I enjoyed it. Kashi and Sugie FTW though seriously! Rating: 6/10

Some preshow and staff complaints comments first:

I ended up being on 15th row (which is almost the middle row) and I had an aisle seat which was great. Although the step behind me was creaky as fuck and every time the male staff walked down the steps it made a HUGE noise which was super distracting every time they showed people to their seat during the show -__- the women staff managed to quiet, why can’t the men?! Ugh... anyway I was super happy with my seat BUT (and this is a BIG) but I was the ONLY person on my row and there were only about 4 audience members behind me. The theatre was dead. I’d say the first 10 rows were almost full and then the remaining rows had like one or two people. You could have easily fit everyone into just the FRONT section of the seating area. I felt so bad for Sugie and Yuusuke BUT it was the 10th out of their 14 performances in the show, it was a Thursday night and it started super early (usually they start at 7pm during the weekdays so Japanese people can still get some forced overtime done before they go to the play) at 6:30pm so that didn’t allow many people to be able to go. But I still felt bad for them because the play wasn’t all that bad! And there were a LOT of kankeishas filling up the seats too >.< 

Anyway I’ve rambled on way to much. To the spoilers!

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SPOILER REVIEW:

It’s going to be a little all over the place but I’ll try to make it as structured as possible...

STORY AND STAGE

They did something similar to Shunkinsho were the last ten minutes before the show started, the ensemble came out and walked around the theatre and greeted the guests and played little tricks on one another and everything.

The main story itself is very simple: A girl who was in a car accident and killed was brought back (but in another person’s body) and she has to choose a vampire mate to reproduce with before the rose marks on the vampire’s disappear and they die. At first she’s like ‘I’ll just sleep with you all and get it over with’ but they tell her to take her time and choose carefully. << This scene is actually funny because at the moment she suggests just sleeping with them all Reiji and Kai are in the middle of drinking tea and it makes them spit it out in shock xD and they’re all like ‘no! take your time! choose carefully!’ which I think is sweet. And thus quite a few of them attempting to win her over but ultimately she’s too stuck on her old love and is attracted to the biggest dick head on the plant who has anger issues. 

I will definitely tell you, a lot of people will not like this play. It’s definitely not a normal story and it has a lot of questionable motives and situations and with the implied rape and such, I can see some people being uncomfortable with it. Also the writing and pacing itself is not good and it drags at times, especially when they decide to do Demitri’s entire history smack in the middle of the show and there’s no break. I can imagine most of the play dragging for some people (and some were even asleep in the theatre! Especially the boys xD) but luckily for me I was totally into it. I really enjoyed it!

However, the honest saving grace of this story is the actors and the side side characters. Seriously Sugie and Yuusuke SAVE this stage with their improvised comedy and their fluffy and happy characters lighting up the stage and making the story a little brighter. Their backstory is definitely the most interesting but it was also emotionally ripping for both the characters and me. The scene after Reiji remembers what happens in the past, and him and Kai are just clinging onto each other and crying, my poor heart <3 their poor hearts! Taishin and Yuusuke did an amazing performance and it felt really raw and realistic </3

A lot of the background action is great too. I spent more time focusing on anything BUT the main characters in the scene because what everyone else was doing was more interesting. I feel like Yuusuke adlib’d a LOT in this. A cute example of Reiji being the best is when he’s talking to Alice and Reo is trying to reach out to Alice (to put a hand on her shoulder or something simple like that) and immediately Reiji grabs Reo’s hand and put it’s down. And then Reo tries again and Reiji stops him again - it’s such a cute moment! xD It’s not with malcontent or anything, he just likes Alice and is being a cute child with a crush <3 ALSO! Reiji constantly had this cute but awkward smile, it looked really cute but also slightly fake and it was cute! It made me giggle too. I’m not used to Yuusuke being so smiley or at least innocently smiley because his smile in HakuMyu is like fun and evil/smug!

Lets get the ‘Why this is NSFW’ information out of the way. So I briefly mentioned in my non-spoiler review that there is implied sex, implied rape, murder, physical abuse and lots of kisse, which super surprised me because at least one of the actors is a BABY (he’s like 17) AND there’s no age restriction on the tickets! If it was going to be this dark and this implicatey I think it should’ve at least had a certificate 15 warning. Maybe it’s my old age but anyone who’s not at least high school age (and even then Japanese kids at 15 aren’t mature enough) should not being watching this.

The first sex scene we have is with Alice and Kouya after they reunite - to which I was freaking out like ‘he’s only 17! He’s baby! Why’s he doing this?!’ But also ‘yeah go Yutaka!!’. The sex scene was always the same pattern. it was get ontop of the girl, lean into her, kiss her and then fade to black. There’s also Demitri x Azusa, Reo x Touko and Kai x Akane. I guess you could say Demitri and Reo had a thing too. There’s definitely times where Reo forces himself on Demitri and he drinks Demitris blood while Demitri just stays flat on his back and accepts it and Reo also kisses his hand multiple times so they definitely have something going on too.

Actually, the Kai x Akane is the rape scene. It happens in their past and Kai is jealous because he likes Akane but she’s in love and in a relationship with his sickly brother Reiji and he gets way over jealous and when he and Akane are finally alone he’s like ‘leave me brother, he’s going to die soon anyway’ and she refuses but then he grabs her, throws her down (at this point Japanese separator is brought over them and we can only see their silhouettes and he throws open her dress and gets on top of her and starts to move his hips and then fade to black. The next moment is Reiji opens the door to see her with the bottom half of her kimono up and undone, and Kai with the top of his kimono undone and Reiji loses it, grabs his gun and kills her then his Kai and finally kills himself. Told you this play was crazy!

The physical abuse is the rape and another is that Demitri slaps Alice HARD at least once. Tut tut tut.

There’s so many kisses in this play too. I was shocked when the first one was Kai (Sugie!) and Alice! It happens pretty much 5 minutes into the play and Kai is just watching over Alice as she’s sleeping and she wakes up from her dream/nightmare and thinks it’s Kouya and just kisses him as soon as she wakes up and he’s like ‘ummm thanks but....?!’ xD 

The only guy who doesn’t get a kiss scene or a sex scene is Reiji! Which made me so upset because I love Yuusuke and he deserves some action for once! xD

I hated that Alice chose Demitri in the end. He literally spent the entire play either being angry at her, yelling at her and being angsty and moody for 150minutes. The only time he was nice to her was right at the beginning when he’s like ‘you have to carefully choose one of us’ and right at the end after she chose him. Ugh it just didn’t make sense why she would choose him. He was a right arse. He did not deserve her choice! She had so any amazing moments with Reiji and Kai and I was so desperately rooting for Reiji and Alice as end game but alas as these things go (of course) the two MCs just have to end up together while Kai is left trying to keep Reiji cheerful =‘[ but having said that I wouldn’t’ve wanted her to choose Ka or Reiji either because after she chooses, she has to sleep with them so she can get pregnant and then the guys just die soon after so he can like be reincarnated as her baby. It’s weird right.

ACTORS

Ishiguro Hideo: I was honestly scared of this guy. Seriously, I was (and still am) convinced that he’s a method actor and/or honestly has an anger problem. His character has a lot of angry scenes and at one point he smacks his hand on the human-made table:

and with his power and the weight of his hand, it almost made the top of the table fly off them. I freaked the fuck out. And another part is when his character is having a mental break down and he was going around the stage screaming and so frantically, and practically threw himself up the stairs and then fell over with a smack up the stairs. Again I was freaking out. I was genuinely like ‘is this guy mentally stable and okay to be acting? Especially near my precious Sugie and Yuusuke?!’ BUT he was totally fine and smiley during the curtain call and everything SO he’s either a fucking damn good actor when it comes to angry roles or he seriously does need counselling. I’ve never been honestly scared of an actors performance before but it happened here. I’ve seen him do a few things but mainly on TV (Gokusen,  RESCUE, Hanzawa Naoki etc.) and he clearly gets a lot of work so he can’t be that bad right(?) BUT I don’t know his real personality or got a feel for his personality. If you know he’s a genuinely decent or crazy guy then please let me know!!

Kashiwagi Yuusuke and Sugie Taishi: My note on my phone for Kashiwagi and Sugie is: 

‘THEY ARE TO PRECIOUS FOR THIS WORLD!’

Seriously guys! They played twins in this with Sugie as the older twin and their storyline was so good and I loved their chemistry and the brought the comedy relief and they were so good! I cried at their storyline, especially towards the end of the play because A. we find out about their past and B. they like have a head on towards each other. My poor feelings for both of them and their storyline </3

Kashi messed up one of his lines. He was supposed to say something like ‘Otoko ha otoko no ie. Onna ha onna’ but he ended up saying ‘Onna ha Otoko no ie.’ apologised for it in the aftertalk but Sugie was like ‘nah it was cute so it’s alright’ xD You see what I mean about these two having a great friendship!!

I also giggled because, until this stage, I didn't realise that Taishin and kashi were close/similar in height and that they’re both (as they same but in comparison to me, no) small xD

Nozeki Yutaka: Yutaka you guys! Yutaka did a great job and for a new / young actor. His character was a little shit but god he did so well! His character, Kouya, at first is this innocent high school kid who’s in love with his teacher (who is Azusa who becomes Alice) but they get into the accident and the only way he can be saved is when a vampire picks them both up and she naturally has to become Alice in exchange for the vampire saving his life. So, Alice is the reincarnation of Demitri’s lost lover who left him and died decades (maybe even centuries) ago. But once Kouya is saved, he’s become very introverted and angry and a little shit. He’s very cold towards Alice and doesn’t really care for her or for anything. I really enjoyed his character ^_^ very strangely... xD

Iriki Mari: Alice is pretty you guys! She looks better up close than far away. Same with Akimoto, he looks silly from afar but when he went past me he looked pretty xD

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AFTERTALK

HAHA my note here: ‘Guys remember when I used to not like Taishi?’ If you guys don’t know, I used to really not like Taishi just because (I’m awfully shallow and) visually (especially when he has dark hair) he looks really sickly. But the moment (I think it was just after the first TouStage Shoen) I saw him with blonde / light brown hair, I was like ‘this boy is gorgeous!’. Taishin is unfortunately too damn pale to keep his natural hair but the moment he has lighter hair he looks amazing! And just after that, I started the Messiah series and, his immediate entrance into the show, I fucking loved his character straight away! This little shit! I fell in love straight away! And his cute curly hair! <3 Then I saw him for the first time (in real life) as himself during the Messiah Akatsuki aftertalk and I fell in love; he’s so energetic and so fun and I love how he actually faces his coworkers when they’re talking during the aftertalk (see more of my review here). He’s also very funny <3 and then I saw him at the aftertalk in this. Him and Yuusuke have this amazing chemistry(!), and Taishin’s so fun and he just gives such good vibes off; you can always feel the energy coming from him <3 and slowly but surely I saw him in StarMyu and TouStage Saien and just... I really like this boy now <3 PIC SPAM ROLECALL!

He’s so adorable!

Okay to the aftertalk!

I didn’t realise there would be an aftertalk this night but there was! It was Sugie, Yuusuke, Akimoto and Nazuka Kaori (who turns out to be a seiyuu!). 

The opening to the aftertalk was so funny! Left to Right it was Taishin, Akimoto, Kaori and Yuuuske. After Yuusuke, Kaori and Akimoto introduced themselves, Taishin was like (and I quote) ‘YOU’RE NOT GENKI ENOUGH!’, so they proceeded to yell their introductions and finally Taishin just introduced himself normally and Akimoto was like ‘hang on! You made us do it!’ xD

The first discussion was about Kaori and her seiyuu work and how different seiyuu work is compared to doing stage. Then she asked them if they had any seiyuu experience and Kashi talked about how he’d done it once and was shocked that, even though he was putting a lot of effort and volume into his voice, it came out pretty flat and quiet. He also said you can search for the video on youtube and laugh at it, but I don’t remember the title that he said... then Kaori challenge the guys to do their best seiyuu voice in the situation of a kokuhaku (confessing your love). Personally I think Yuusuke’s was the sexiest and the best but she said Akimoto’s was the better fitting one for seiyuu work. It was like a cool and calm and deep. And then fucking Taishin, he had the voice of an elementary school boy and said ‘Shu-ki da yo’ and everyone died laughing. They made him do it again and we all died laughing again xD

Sugie and Yuusuke have such good chemistry with each other! << I’ve already said it a billion times! Their interactions were gold <3 they also spoke about how they’ve been friends for so long that they do feel like brothers except in the play it’s strange that Sugie is playing the older brother xD BUT one of the questions during the aftertalk was: 

What is something about Sugie / Yuusuke that makes him feel like an older / younger brother?

Yuusuke’s answer said that Sugie is super cute when he eats because a lot of the time he’ll fall asleep part way through eating xD and Sugie said that sleeping is more important than eating “and that’s why I’m so short unlike my siblings!” and Yuusuke was like “what about me?! I eat properly and my brother is 180cm!”. Sugie immediately said ‘you sure he’s your brother?’ (implying Yuusuke is adopted) BURN Yuusuke xD 

Sugie said the younger brother thing about Yuusuke is when he drinks and Yuusuke admitted he’s getting to an age where he no longer remembers what happens when he drinks, to which Taishin replied “I know. I’m always there” xD apparently they go drinking together a lot. 

Seriously these two you guys!! xD

And that’s the Aftertalk done!

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GOODS

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And I’m done! Still got a ways to go with ALL the other reviews though. I think I’d down to 6... oh dear >.<