#should’ve given him a cat in the later seasons

[spectral-kitkat]

Miraculous Rant.

Where the hell do I begin…

Season 1:

The show was decent in season 1. Some episodes were just mindless filler and probably weren’t needed in the grand scheme of things but they helped us get introduced to the characters, we got to know the plot and the world our characters inhabit. It was good. The love story between Adrien and Marinette was cute and off to a touching and fluffy start.

Season 2:

This season was immediately better than season 1. It had character development, it went more into detail about the lore surrounding the Miraculous and we got to learn more about our characters and their families and the villian’s motives. (HM really went from “I wanna destroy the world” to “I wanna wake my wife from the coma she’s in”).

We got to see new heroes which was fun! We got new characters like Luka and Kagami.

The season finale was epic! The Miraculous team all taking down all the previous villains in the show was awesome. At the end we even got Mari kissing Adrien on the cheek. It was great! (Even though it clearly reset itself in season 3 cause it’s never mentioned again)

I really enjoyed season 2 and it’s probably my favourite out of the 4.

Season 3:

Season 3 was kinda good and kinda bad. We had some great episodes but this is where the show took the wrong turn.

Marinette lost some of her character in season 3. This was the start of her descent into being the Queen of Mary Sues. It’s also where she was crowned the Queen of Stalkers! Her character took a fucking nose dive in this season. We had so many moments that just creeped me the fuck out.

1. The ENTIRETY of Puppeteer 2 🤢🤢🤢 I could not stand that episode. When we reached the dreaded statue scene I physically had to pause it like 10 times. That scene takes about 3 minutes to watch… it took me about 20. I cringed so fucking hard because of the secondhand embarrassment I was feeling. That was not sweet, it wasn’t romantic, it wasn’t the least bit cute… it was a train wreck! It was creepy and stalkerish and it’s a wonder Adrien even spoke to her again after that atrocity!

2. LB delivering the present in Chat Blanc. Two words: STALKER BEHAVIOUR!!! I genuinely could not believe my eyes when I saw LB run her hand across everything in his room and then actually SNIFF Adrien’s pillow. Like WTF!!! 🤮 I’m pretty sure whoever was responsible for that scene clearly thought it was the equivalent of when someone gets their S/O’s jumper or something and it still smells like them. But this turned it up to the nth degree and way passed the line of sanity.

Adrien was extremely under-utilised in this season. He didn’t really do anything. The only episodes we got about him didn’t really focus on him. ‘Felix’ whilst focusing on Adrien’s family didn’t really feature him. ‘Party Crasher’ while a beautiful mess was more about Mari trying to get into the party than the party itself. ‘Chat Blanc’ again focused more on Mari trying to fix her mistake.

We got even more heroes in season 3, not in the right order but they were there. It was fun seeing everyone’s transformations.

Season 3 was also the season of destroying redemptions. The big one obviously being Chloe. Season 2 was setting up this amazing redemption for her and before it could go anywhere it was wiped off the face of the earth during the finale (and don’t worry we’ll get to that dumpster fire later). Gabriel also had any remaining sympathy ripped away from him. How did the guy who stopped Gorizilla from letting Adrien die when he only thought he was CN go from that to using his son like fucking baseball in Chat Blanc when he knew his son was CN. Like I knew you were a shit father but you still cared about Adrien in some way shape or form but after that episode I can see I was clearly mistaken!

Before we get to the finale I want to talk about probably my 2 least favourite episodes from this season: Desperada and Reflekdoll

Desperada:

I fucking hated this episode! The only good thing was Luka getting to be Viperion, other than that this episode was awful!

Marinette was a selfish cringey bitch. Completely ignoring Luka to gush about Adrien to Jagged. Brushing Luka off as soon as Adrien turns up. Immediately cuddling up to Aspik and flirting with him when she needed to focus on the akuma (something which she has told CN not to do many times before)

Adrien, I love you kid but Jesus Christ you were a dumbass in this episode! Aspik’s design was terrible! Aspik himself was awful. I know Adrien tried his best but dude you were given the Black Cat miraculous for a reason! He shouldn’t have tried to be Aspik but even when he did he should’ve called it quits after like 5 resets not 25,913 times.

The only person with a brain this episode was Luka. So well done guitar boy, gold star!

Reflekdoll:

This episode was annoying! It was basically the start of the Marinette can do no wrong streak! When they have to swap miraculous I was happy cause it meant we got to see new outfits and see how they each handle the different powers. It would also serve as a way to get LB and CN to see what their partners role is first hand. Until we actually get to it…

LadyNoire is of course amazing and needs no introduction to using this new miraculous that she’s never used before. She’s cocky and confident and basically just LB in Chat’s costume with his powers.

Mister Bug on the other hand is just useless. He struggles with this new miraculous (like anyone would!) and is stupid and goofy. He has to rely on LadyNoire to solve the lucky charm. They swapped miraculous so shouldn’t that mean that Mister Bug should get the lucky vision and the creative powers that the earrings give him.

Overall Reflekdoll is awful. It was shitty writing and the start of Adrien getting the short end of the stick.

And now the season 3 finale… Just what the fuck. That is my only reaction: what the fuck!

Chloe you poor fucking child! What did they do to you!!! So much potential SQUANDERED!!!!

What was the point in bringing in all these different superheros with unique skill sets, costumes and transformations if you were just going to immediately reveal them to the main villian so they can’t be used again. That’s stupid! If you wanted the shock value that is “Oh no HM knows some of the heroes identities!” Then keep it as only some. Have like Max, Kim and Kagami outside trying to find somewhere to hide but unfortunately they get hit. Or Nino and Alya are hiding but the windows open and they get hit. Have some of the heroes hide so they’re fine! Taking away every ally of LB and CN’s was a stupid move! (Even if they wanted Alya to become a spy have her as part of the like 4 that get revealed or something, it’s not that difficult)

Season 3 was 50/50 for me

Season 4:

So I know season 4 isn’t even halfway through yet but so much is wrong with this season already that I need to vent!

So my biggest problem with this season of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybitch and Rena Rouge, I mean Rena Furtive… shit, Chat Noir! Is that CN is basically pointless! Adrien has been flung over a rainbow and is only remembered when he’s needed as

1. Marinette’s love interest

2. Someone for LB to shout at

3. A plot device

He has basically been sidelined. Partners my ASS!!!

Adrien is being blown off by pretty much EVERYONE! It’s coming to a point where this poor sweet summer child is going to crack! And it is not gonna be pretty… I definitely feel like the writers are leading up to a big fight between CN and LB which will probably end with Chat Blanc 2.0.

I REALLY HATE MARINETTE/LADYBUG!!!! In Season 3 I said it was the beginning of her descent, well in season 4 she’s done it. She’s descended, she has hit rock fucking bottom. She is so unlikable I don’t actually care about her as a person. She has entered full blown stalker territory it’s only a matter of time before she starts killing people for even looking at Adrien! Not to mention that Miss Mary Sue here can’t do anything wrong! She never has to suffer the consequences of her actions, she is always perfect no matter what she does… it pisses me off!)

She’s the Guardian now big whoop. I know what it feels like to be stressed and under pressure so I do understand why she needed to tell someone about it all. I just don’t see why that person had to Alya! Especially considering she has someone by her side every akuma attack going through pretty much the exact same thing. I know she’s worried about CB happening again but as I said before the more she leaves him out the more she is actually pushing that to become a possibility! Plus it makes sense for them to reveal their identities now since LB is now the guardian it’s probably a good idea to know who holds the cat miraculous, she knows everyone else’s identities!

Even if she didn’t want to tell CN her identity she could still explain the situation to him. If she didn’t want to tell him anything (which she doesn’t anyway) then instead of Alya she should’ve talked to Luka! Her boyfriend for all of half an episode (thanks writers…). He’s so sweet and caring and clearly loves her so much! If she wanted someone to confide in then why not choose the person you clearly wanted to date but couldn’t because of that very reason! (Yeah I know it’s kinda a moot point now since Luka knows both identities but still). He wanted to try and comfort her so it would’ve been the perfect moment for it. That way you could still date him and he’d know why you had to suddenly leave dates halfway through! But no break the boys heart instead!

Adrien and Marinette were both such fucking idiots in the first 2 episodes. Like why would you start a relationship with someone when you know your heart isn’t in it! That’s called leading someone on and is a really shitty thing to do to someone! No wonder Kagami and Luka ended up akumatized!

Another aspect of season 4 I don’t like is Rena Furtive. Yes ok having a spy for your side is a good strategy but when said spy basically tells an important member of a duo that the 2 person job doesn’t involve them… it just really ticks me off! Alya you are the sidekick to LB and CN! Chat isn’t!

Miraculous specials:

The Miraculous World specials suck! Shanghai is better than NY but still has its problems. Both specials add nothing to the overall plot/lore of the show apart from trying to set up some weird cinematic universe…

NY special:

One of the worst things I’ve ever had to sit through! The plane scene alone I paused a few times. I want to say well done to Mari for trying to move on from Adrien (especially considering I’m pretty sure she’s dating Luka at this point) but I can’t help but think it’s just to give her character some pointless development that goes nowhere and doesn’t actually develop anything!

LB can pretty much fuck off at this point! I hate her! She put all this shit on CN (like she doesn’t know exactly how that feels). It’s like why does she get to go off on holiday but CN can’t. LB should’ve stayed in Paris for 3 reasons:

1. She’s recently become the guardian meaning it would probably be best that she stayed with the Mircle Box

2. She’s the only one who can purity the akumas

3. If she’s so sure about being the boss then she should take responsibility of Paris and the citizens.

What really pisses me off about her is what she says to CN during the big fight. “I can’t trust you”… surely you could have this conversation afterwards since you’re supposed to be focusing on taking down the villian! Plus everyone bashes Adrien for giving his miraculous up in this episode but look at it from his point of view: His partner and best friend just said she couldn’t trust him which in turn caused him to cataclysm someone and essentially kill them. That’s gonna take a toll on anyone, especially a 14 year old! He probably thought in that moment. “Ladybug needs a partner she can trust and someone who won’t mess up and kill someone. She needs a better partner.” It makes sense he renounces his miraculous! I’m just upset that in doing so he loses Plagg who is pretty much his only friend who actually understands what Adrien goes through at home.

When Uncanny gets CN to come back, LB acts like it’s not her fault in the first place that he feels inadequate! She didn’t even apologise for saying what she did! He apologised for lying about not being in Paris but nope LB wasn’t in the wrong at all and didn’t have anything to apologise for 🙄… (yes the LadyNoir hug was amazing but I just wish it was under different circumstances!)

Also are we not gonna mention Gabriel Agreste almost starting WW3??? He wanted to launch a fucking missile!!!

Shanghai:

As I said before, this special is way better for several reasons.

We got MariChat! (Best side to the love square imo). This special actually had some semblance on a plot. Fei, whilst a bit op, was a cool character. It was nice to see Wang Cheng again.

However once again there were many problems.

A big one being Marinette yet again! (What a shock! 😒 I’ll come back to this). Another was that once again HM’s motivation has changed. How is getting the Prodigious gonna help bring back Emilie??

Back to Marinette… The fact that the words “Huh?! There must be some kind of mistake! I always know what's up with Adrien! … His 5 first names and every corresponding name date, his yearly schedule, even his shoe size! If there were anything to know about him, I would know it!” come out of her mouth whilst she is flipping through his schedule that she keeps in her pocketbook is a hugh red flag!!! That is not cute or adorable! That’s messed up and Adrien needs to fucking run and maybe possibly go into witness protection… Marinette is a full blown stalker! Not to mention the GPS she has (that could just be the find my friends app on iphone but still).

It also is extremely rude of her to use not only her great uncle’s birthday but also a lie about wanting to know her Chinese heritage in order to go to Shanghai to stalk her obsession, I mean crush. This could’ve been avoided if the Dupain-Chengs were going to Shanghai for the purpose of celebrating Wang Cheng’s bday and then Adrien just so happened to be in Shanghai.

Also this means LB left Paris without telling CN! I know CN did the same but again he can’t purify the akumas. Plus he has a reason he couldn’t stay in Paris, Mari just went cause her crush did. Great guardianship there Marinette.

This was also the last time CN actually did something. Even if it was for a short while before LB and her female partner took over (the beginning of a theme…)

Other things:

There are 2 other things that I wanna say but felt they needed a separate bit.

In Furious Fu, Su-Han has a rule book that he uses to tell Marinette which rules she has broken. At the end of the episode he tells her that is she breaks 1 more rule that he will take the Miraculous and the Miracle Box off her, which fair enough but wouldn’t it be helpful to leave the rule book with her?! How can she be wary of not breaking anymore rules when she doesn’t even know what the rules are??

Now the big one: Master Fu…

Where do I even start with him. He is so fucking manipulative!! He is Asian Dumbledore!

He decides to leave these extremely powerful jewels in the hands of 13 year olds! Surely leaving the miraculous to someone in their 20s would’ve been better!

He clearly favours LB over CN even though the Ladybug and Black Cat are supposed to be partners! Wouldn’t it make sense for them both to be in contact with the guardian from the start?? He randomly started introducing rules such as if LB and CN find out each other’s identities they would lose their miraculous… what kind of bullshit rule is that? It also came out of fucking nowhere!

Final Thoughts:

But to summarise all of that: Miraculous is on quite a steep decline but I’m invested at this point and I am genuinely curious as to where the fuck this will go.

Marinette needs professional fucking help before the writers even consider canonising Adrienette cause at the moment she is not what Adrien needs!

Adrien needs to stand up for himself! He needs to pull LB to the side and tell her what he feels and what he’s going through cause he is on the precipice of a breakdown!

(Small point that’s more to do with the fandom: when searching for fanfics it’s really annoying that Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir Bashing is a tag but Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug Bashing isn’t. Why does everyone think Marinette can do no wrong???)

[unitchiefs-blackbirdphoenix]

No Nuance November (some may contain spoilers in seasons 12, 14, and 15):

Will and JJ’s relationship somewhat improved in the later seasons.

I think the fandom treats Spencer like a precious little fragile object that should not be broken. That he is all perfect. Well, he’s not. He’s human, and he makes mistakes. Some of the Reid stans I’m cool with, but MAJORITY of the fandom babies him too much.

Luke, Matt, and Tara are all underrated characters. I hate that we didn’t see their characters develop more in the later seasons (since those were the seasons they were in).

The second half of season 12 (the one with Spencer in prison) should have been given to Luke and/or Tara at the time, so that we see their characters grow more. The show shouldn’t have focused on Spencer at that time, since he was already there since the beginning of the show.

I like Spencer to an extent, but the last few seasons pretty much became the Spencer Reid show because of fan service. The production crew knew that he was the fan favorite, so they decided to give him more storylines than the other characters, which annoyed me so much.

JJ and Spencer would NOT have made a great couple. They don’t have that much in common, and it would be more so one-sided because Spencer would be the one invested in the relationship.

JJ and Spencer are a lot like siblings. They had an “older sister always annoyed by her little brother” vibe. They do care for each other, but they also have made some snarky remarks about one another. JJ didn’t care that much about what Spencer was talking about most of the time, then again, the whole team doesn’t. But they all still cared for him.

I understand the opinion of disliking a character, but make sure they have a valid reason for it. I hate seeing this type of hate with JJ’s character because she “hurts Reid’s feelings” ALL OF THE TIME.

Also, while I’m at it. It was SPENCER’S idea to split up in “The Big Game/Revelations” episode, not JJ’s. (That’s a fact, I just needed to clarify for some people)

As much as I would love for Jemily to be endgame (and that confession to be between JJ and Emily), it would also be better off to have all non-canon ships to stay non-canon because it leaves any interaction between ships open to interpretation. Also, because the writers are terrible at writing romance.

Jemily and Matt and Kristy (Misty? Idk their ship name) were the only two relationships that made sense on the show to me. The only difference is one of them is canon.

I don’t like when Cat and Spencer are shipped together. I feel like people ship them together because they are both attractive. But if you look at both their characters, especially Cat’s, it would be a toxic relationship. Cat tormented his life!

Same goes for Emily and Ian. After she was tortured, I can’t imagine Emily being in love with him. Maybe Ian and Lauren, because Lauren and Emily are two different people.

I don’t like when people say they see Emily as a lesbian, but go and ship her with a man. If you think she likes men but also loves women/you can see her with a woman, then say she’s wlw or sapphic.

People say that Spencer is the smart one in the group, but can we talk about Emily? She was able to solve clues that Spencer couldn’t sometimes, speaks and understands about six languages, reads a lot of books, and graduated from Yale (and Georgetown, I think?). Some people underestimate how smart Emily really is on the show, and I wished we’d seen more of that show. (I do however love chaotic dumbass lesbian Emily)

I wish we’d seen more bonding moments between Emily and Spencer, like over foreign movies and all.

A lot of people say that without Spencer, the team would be lost. I think without Penelope, the team would be lost, especially since she was working indoors most of the time and they were out in the field.

The confession between JJ and Spencer should’ve been between JJ and Emily. Especially in 15x02, since there was a lot in JJ’s confession that made sense for her to say to Emily. 

Most of the time, if not all the time, I blame the writers for everything. I don’t blame the characters often; I blame the writers.

The character plots should’ve been explored more in than just one episode.

JJ’s character had one of the best developments in the show (except for that thing in 14x15-15x02 bc I fucking hate the writers, and AJ hated the storyline, too). Even Rossi had pointed out the development he had seen from her in the years he’s known her in “The Tall Man”.

I don’t know if the writers really don’t know how to write storylines or some cases very well that may involve POC, LGBTQIA+, etc. 

I ship Morcia (Morgan and Garcia). If you see it as platonic, then ok. But please. PLEASE. Do not compare their relationship to siblings. That’s concerning and uncomfortable.

Even though some people think Emily as unit chief was the female Hotch, I think she was a little more sympathetic towards the team members than Hotch was.

As much as I love Emily as unit chief, JJ would’ve been a great unit chief.

I’m convinced nobody in the BAU is straight. Oh, wait, that's facts. 

[musical-chick-13]

And Theon bc I love him

WHAT A COINCIDENCE I LOVE HIM TOO (this answer is gonna be a combination of books and show)

Send me a character and I’ll tell you the following:

• Did they live up to their potential? / In what ways was their potential unachieved?

-I would say yes. The only negative I have about his general arc is his death (which, see below). But Theon from the very beginning was, though not a particularly nice person, still relatable. Feeling othered, wanting to be accepted by an immediate environment that doesn’t accept you, isolated from and ostracized by your family, and the tension that comes between serving the different types of familial relationships in your life. Theon has no idea who he is, tossed aside by his blood family for not growing up with them and being “soft,” aka sort-of moral and having emotions that aren’t selfish rage or smugness (which, yep, that second part is a mood, see: my entire childhood and how no one wanted to be around an “emotional” “soft” child). And from there, he spirals out of control in a way that, while certainly not admirable by any stretch of the imagination, is still understandable in the context of the narrative and his characterization. And from there, after going through hell and quite literally losing himself (even to the point of straight-up denying rescue), he builds himself back up gradually, to the point where he expressed extreme regret for what he’s done, helps an innocent woman escape a truly horrifying situation, acknowledges that his family is generally garbage, and (in-show b/c again books aren’t finished), helping to restore his sister to power, rescuing her after his PTSD relapses while confronting Euron, and ultimately opting to protect the Starks come hell or high water in order to genuinely atone for what he’s done. He is no longer conflicted because he wants to do the right thing, and that right thing is defending the kingdom from the White Walkers and making sure Sansa and Bran are safe. And it’s no longer about fulfilling a duty or finding a family to fill the void. Because now he has found himself. I will contend that Theon has one of the best, most nuanced, most organic redemption arcs of all time. I will forever be grateful that I got to see that piece of storytelling unfold.

Although, I would love to know what he thought of Dany. A missed opportunity, that.

• How they negatively and positively affected the story.

-Positive: His arc of identity and finding where your loyalties lie ties into the overall theme of “How do you find yourself in a world where goodness, authenticity, and honesty are often punished and increasingly rare?” And it proves that governmental politics aren’t the only defining factors in decisions: familial politics can be just as difficult and dangerous, which adds yet another rich, complicated layer to the overall story. He has a genuine, honest-to-Drowned-God redemption arc, which is...not really present anywhere else in the story (no, Jaime is not on a Redemption Quest, I will die on this hill). But I think the biggest draw of Theon’s presence is that it deconstructs the whole “Character Revenge Fantasy” idea. He does bad things. We want him to be punished. But not like that. No one deserves that. How far is too far? What does retribution really look like? Given how easily that idea can be abused and go off the rails, is retribution even something to strive for? What is the point of using extreme violence/torture/mutilation/breaking someone’s psyche when it doesn’t really accomplish anything? Isn’t atonement and genuine justice a better option? It certainly was for Theon. He could only piece himself back together and do anything meaningful once he was out of his abusive environment. All of these are imporant questions that are posed by his existence in the narrative.

-Negative: Idk if I have much to say here. My biggest problem is his death (see below), but that’s not really a negative story effect so much as...being disappointing and narratively irrelevant. I gotta say, his introduction via his sister was...really weird. I genuinely have no idea why GRRM wrote that. It never came up again or had any kind of narrative ramifications and kind of cast a strange, uncomfortable light on his relationship with Asha/Yara for the remainder of the story. I can ignore and enjoy their later relationship it if I don’t think about it too hard, though, so I guess I’ll chalk it up to GRRM having a Bad Idea.

• What my favorite arc for them is.

-All of it?? Theon’s journey is kind of...one big arc, which is why I think it works so well. He has this overarching redemption plot which spans the entire series and informs every decision he makes (for good or for bad, depending on where in the aforementioned journey he is). The redemption arc isn’t bogged down with side plots or other pieces of narrative clutter, meaning it has time to grow and, thus, be gradual and realistic. If I had to choose a specific point, it’s probably when he tries to reintegrate back into society via supporting Yara. Gaining the Iron Islands’ support for her ruling, spiriting away with Euron’s fleet, and ultimately rescuing his sister after her capture. He can’t just go back into society. He’s scared. He has really bad PTSD. But he recognizes that putting his home in good hands is something bigger than just him because it’s Yara’s home, too. I just...I really love family relationships, y’all.

• What I think of their ending.

-I’m not really sure how I feel about this one. I get that the series is GrimDark™ and that people who make the right choice and fight for good die all the time, but Theon dying just felt...wrong. To me.

And, like...I get it. It makes sense to parallel his original descent into villainy (cemented by executing those two boys and pretending they were Bran and Rickon) with him dying to protect Bran himself. It ties into the whole very common trope of completing a full redemption arc by committing a completely selfless act at great personal cost. It’s kind of like the whole Missy thing in Doctor Who (which...hoo boy, that post is coming, make no mistake), where selfishness is directly opposed by making the ultimate sacrifice with no motivation for personal gain. And the fact that the last words he ever heard were “You’re a good man?” I cannot even begin to describe how much that makes me sob. But...honestly, I’m really tired of this idea that redemption has to end in death in order to be achieved or “complete.” I think it’s much more poignant to have a redeemed character live to help build a better world. Because what’s the point of telling people to be better if the “reward” is death? No one’s going to want to reform themselves if they think that’ll be the result.

I think the thing that Bugs Me™ the most is that Theon never really got to have a moment of peace when he was alive. Sansa gained the North’s love and at least had a secure childhood. Ned and Cat were happily married for years. Arya had parents who loved her and a good relationship with Jon. Jon fell in love with Ygritte and found his Night Watch Bros, and Robb (in show verse) had some very happy moments with Talisa. Davos put great stock in what he considered fulfilling friendships with Stannis and Shireen; Brienne was treated respectfully by Renly, Catelyn, and Sansa; Missandei and Grey Worm had each other and their friendship with Dany, who herself had many personal successes in her quest for the Iron Throne and saw the death of her abusive brother. Cersei even had moments with Jaime (who himself had several notable military victories and at least some time with Myrcella, as well as being gladly and deeply in love, however dysfunctional that love was), times when she successfully fought off enemies (including her dad), and some sweet moments with Tommen, as well as a huge victory via blown-up sept at the end of season 6. Theon was treated as a second-class family member by the Starks his whole life by being “traded” to them as a condition of war resolution AS A BABY, is immediately disparaged and mistreated by his immediate family when he tries to return to them, makes terrible decisions that almost cost him his conscience completely, is brutally tortured by Ramsay, is on the run with his sister from Euron almost immediately after, and has a PTSD attack that ultimatly results in him having to launch a rescue mission. And then he fights ice zombies. And then he dies. He never really...got to be happy at all? There was never any kind of “win” for him. Not even survival. The narrative couldn’t even give him that.

TLDR: Theon’s death seemed less shock-value-y than others (like, for example, Shireen or Missandei or, heck, Melisandre even), and it isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever seen. It’s narratively-informed and it makes sense as an emotional through-line, but, ultimately, Redemption Cemented By Selfless Death is a tired trope, and I honestly thought this story (which...you know...serves as a deconstruction of common fantasy tropes/book tropes in general) was better than that.

• When I wish they had died. / If I think they should’ve died.

-So here’s where we get personal™ kids.

So, it’s no secret that I am...severely mentally ill. I’ve talked about expression/presentation of mental illness in regard to Cersei a lot on this blog, and how that (as paradoxical as it may seem) helped bring a sense of comfort and emotional resonance to me. Theon, post-Ramsay, has, I think, a very clear case of PTSD. Theon is one of the few characters I’ve seen where his mental illness isn’t the cause of the bad, violent, dangerous choices he makes. It only takes root after he has made the decision and conscious effort to better himself, and it, rather than demonizing him, serve to humanize him. His trauma didn’t define him. And although a PTSD attack led to him unintentionally losing Yara to Euron’s capture, he makes every effort to rescue her, a goal he does end up achieving. It is so rare I get to see a character who goes through these things, successfully fight them and come out with positive qualities at the end. Like...switching topics a bit here, Jaime going back to King’s Landing to (try to) escape and ultimately die with Cersei made sense to me because, as Jaime says, he is a hateful man. He never made much of an honest effort to be anything else. And he never truly wanted to be good; he just wanted to be liked. He wanted to adopt some personality that would make him feel less disconnected from the rest of the world. But Theon...genuinely feels remorse for everything he’s done. He makes a concerted effort to do everything in his power to improve the lives of people he believes are good and deserve to be safe. So, just...killing him off in a Completely Selfless Sacrifice (like...you know how a lot of mentally ill people put themselves through suffering-like OCD rituals, bottling feelings, self-harm, even suicide-in a misplaced attempt to “help” or “protect other people”) seemed antithetical to everything we saw of his arc.

Ultimately, with such a humanizing, empathetic portrayal of trauma and mental health struggles, seeing Theon be killed off just...pissed me off. I am so tired of seeing mentally ill characters die. I really want to believe that I can live through and thrive in spite of the things that afflict me, and I get example after example of characters not being allowed to do that. It feels awful, quite frankly. And it makes hope that much harder. 

I also just feel like...there was nothing the story gained from his death? I get the thematic parallels as mentioned earlier, but it didn’t really move the story forward in any significant way. It didn’t motivate other characters to do anything, it had no political ramifications, it didn’t serve to contribute to any kind of happy ending or commentary on society, it just...was sad. Again, I thought this story was better than that.

[loptrcoptr]

Yknow, season 3 of bsg was not as messy as I expected.

spoilers, etc.

—————————

I super did not expect four episodes of love rectangle bullshit to be the alluded to big-cringe-point of the season, because what writers in their right minds would lean so hard into that??? damn, I almost quit after the eye of Jupiter two-parter, ugh. There is a reason television shows dangle romance in front of viewers like a cat toy and yank it away constantly. It’s because the promise of what could be is exciting, and making that exciting thing a part of every episode completely nullifies the excitement. That whole four episode shitshow was just miserable to watch, I’m not sure what part of the clusterfuck was supposed to be enjoyable to any viewer.

The character writing has been patchy since season two, so it’s not like that was new. I think it was just easier to focus in on in this season because they kept timing things so poorly too, revealing plot holes, which reveals weaknesses in the characters as people and firmly yeets them back into the “two dimensional” category. For instance, if they just hadn’t mentioned the love rectangle crap for four episodes after Unfinished Business, no one would’ve bailed on the show out of misery, I imagine. They dug in when they should’ve backed off. If they had sprinkled some more angst in after a sizeable break, the average viewer would have dealt with it much better. Also? Kara’s “death” and the subsequent lack of a grieving-themed episode, they totally showed their hand on that one. By rushing through it–no funeral, no one crying but Bill, just Lee looking sad and Sam being drunk– they made it painfully obvious that she wasn’t dead. If they had just “killed” her a few episodes earlier, dragged the viewer through a sad aftermath episode, and then moved forward, it would’ve stuck! They clearly either a) didn’t have any clue how they were gonna finish the season, or b) they did but couldn’t figure out how to get there until the last ten or so episodes, because they had a lot of chances for really solid foreshadowing that they absolutely ignored, or just didn’t know enough about at the time to be able to factor them in. (The final four out of five. They could’ve been setting up for that since new caprica, throwing in weird details, things they know, etc. but no! And why four at once, that’s so stupid, it should’ve been three so they still had two surprises left that they could work out later!! The only hints at those four were planned to be Cylons since the beginning of the season, that I can think of, are maybe that Tigh fought off Bulldog fairly easily, and Galen beat the shit out of Bill in the ring and also did better after the airlock disaster than Cally did. But they sure didn’t have the group planned out in season two, because in season two Anders was briefly dying of pneumonia, which is not very Strong Cylon Type of him.)

So it all felt half-baked, most of the time, which lets you, the audience, hone in on the things that don’t track. Like.... Seelix going from determined executioner to friendly local ray of sunshine. Bill thinking Lee would throw Saul under a bus just because Bill’s lawyer father was kind of an asshole and of Lee is interested in law, so now he must be a cunt too. Laura throwing dissenters in jail for protesting poor working conditions when she herself is as staunchly pro-union as they come. Bill threatening to have Cally murdered just because she helped Galen organize a strike. Lee ruining his relationship with Laura just because some lawyer he met is charismatic. The list goes on.

Case in point, I think, that proves how little consideration for each character’s motivations went into this season: Kara’s reason for promising to be with Lee and then asking Sam to marry her a few hours later is never given. The show spends a ridiculous amount of time focusing on this “plot twist”, but never, ever gives a reason for why it happened at all. How can they expect the audience to both engage with this storyline and ignore the fact that there’s no motivation for it? Why would they treat their audience like morons who haven’t been paying attention? This was the Big Drama for the whole first half of the season (ugh, gag me) and the powers that be don’t seem to have invested any time or effort into the whole debacle at all. Maybe they’ll come up with the rationale for Kara’s decision in the next season, but they sure don’t have it figured out as of the last ep of season three. (And, actually, it seems implied in the finale of season two [when Tigh tells Kara “that was a long time ago, people change”] that something else went down, I mean unless Lee or Kara told no one else in the fleet... but told Tigh?)

I mean I guess any season that begins with a fat suit, sham marriages, and a time jump was bound to be a little messy.

[yellowmagicalgirl]

All the ways we couldn't save you

Ladybug and Chat Noir defeat Hawk Moth and Mayura late on Friday night. On Monday morning, Mme. Bustier tells the class Adrien won't be coming to school anymore.

I don't consider myself to be in the Miraculous Ladybug fandom anymore, and I haven't watched most of seasons 2 and 3 nor do I have any desire to. However, I had this idea and I wanted to write it.

Timeline-wise, I guess this takes place sometime after Marinette becomes the Guardian? Though, the episode "Dark Owl" did not occur in order for this to properly work.

TRIGGER/SPOILER WARNING: This fic is about suicide. There is no happy ending.

AO3

FFN

Ladybug and Chat Noir defeated Hawk Moth and Mayura late on Friday night. Ladybug had taken the Miraculous from the two unconscious adults, pocketing them to take back to the Miraculous Box when she and Chat were done. Chat had found rope, and he and Ladybug had tied up Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancouer. When the police arrived, the superheroes handed over the now ex-supervillains and re-entered the mansion, looking for any underlying threats.

"Should we wake him? Tell him?" Ladybug asked as they passed by the portrait of Adrien and his father.

"No," Chat said, eyes oddly downcast. "When Adrien wakes up, he's not... I don't think he's going to like having to live in the world he wakes up to. Let's not force him into it so soon."

Ladybug shivered as they made their way up to Hawk Moth's lair. Not because she felt cold, but something felt very wrong about this situation. She couldn't place why, though.

She shook her head, briefly. It must have been being so close to the Peacock Miraculous. That was what was setting her off. It had to be.

They found notes. Blueprints to a secret room. Ladybug pressed her lips together and glanced at her partner. She couldn't tell if it was the lighting or something else that made him seem so pale.

They found the coffin in an underground garden. There was something beautiful about it, in a horrifying way.

Adrien's mother looked so peaceful. She looked like might just be sleeping.

She wasn't breathing.

Chat Noir gasped. It was an ugly, wet, choking sound. "Why?"

"I don't know. Let's face it, Gabriel Agreste was an evil man. He kept his son locked up for years. Of course he'd keep his wife's corpse locked up, too."

"And not even tell his son."

After a minute of searching (and Chat staring at Emilie Agreste with an odd look on his face), Ladybug found the plugs to the life support. She wrapped her hand around one.

"What are you doing?" Chat asked her. He did not move.

"Chat, she's already dead."

"You don't know that."

Ladybug took out the butterfly miraculous, and pinned it to her suit. "Is she alive?" Ladybug asked, looking between the kwami and the woman in the coffin.

"No. Well, technically yes, but only because of life support. Her mind is gone," they said, shaking their head. "I already told Ma- Gabriel this before he even formed his first akuma, but he wouldn't listen."

"Is there a way we can bring her back?" Chat's voice was strained.

"That's why he wanted your miraculous," Nooroo said. "If you combine the Ladybug and Chat Noir miraculous together, you can grant a wish. But, that wish comes at a great cost. I tried to tell Gabriel this, too, but he wouldn't listen."

"What sort of cost?" Chat asked. Ladybug wrapped her fingers around the plug once more.

"A human life, and probably the one of someone he cared about," Nooroo said. Ladybug pulled the plug loose.

"What are you doing?" Chat turned to Ladybug, horror evident on his face. Ladybug continued pulling the plugs. "We're not the bad guys, Ladybug! We save people!"

"She's already gone. She's been dead for months," Ladybug said, dropping the last plug. "And sacrificing someone, anyone, isn't the right thing to do."

Chat stood rooted to the spot, eyes vacant.

"I'm going to go tell the police about her, so they can take her so she can finally get buried," Ladybug said. "Trust me, Chat, I didn't want to do this either."

"Go ahead." Chat's voice was flat.

Ladybug gave him a soft smile. "I'll meet up with you later. I'm glad this is over, but I'm also really tired."

"Yeah. I'm tired, too. It's over."

Marinette went to school on Monday morning, a smile on her face and a spring in her step. She had a box of celebratory cookies with her.

Hawk Moth and Mayura were gone, so she could be a normal girl with a normal life. She could go through school without worrying about having to miss class because of an akuma, or that her frustration with a failed quiz would lead to the downfall of Paris. In fact, she probably wouldn't fail as many quizzes, now, because now she could spend more time studying.

Adrien and Chloé weren't at school. Marinette frowned slightly as the minutes passed and neither of them walked into the classroom.

Mme. Bustier walked into the classroom, her arm around Sabrina's shoulders. Sabrina went to her seat, hugging herself. Sabrina seemed paler than normal, and her clothes seemed darker. Mme. Bustier's eyes were downcast, and her lips were pressed together. Her face looked slightly red.

"Adrien isn't going to be coming to class, anymore," she said. "Chloé will be... when she returns, don't press her about it. She's already not doing well."

"What? Why?" Alix asked. "Do the police think Adrien was working with his dad?"

"He did never get akumatized," Max said, and shrank down into his seat when the class turned to glare at him. "I'm not saying that he's at fault, I'm just saying it looks bad to an outside observer!"

Sabrina sank further into her seat.

"Okay, but didn't M. Agreste get akumatized himself? Into the Collector?" Alya said.

"Yeah, he did, Adrien was really torn up about it afterwards," Nino said, looking sadly at the empty seat.

"So the authorities shouldn't be blaming Adrien, then," Max said.

"Adrien isn't in any trouble," Mme. Bustier said. "He... Adrien was sick, and he succumbed to his illness on Saturday evening."

"Stop using euphemisms," Sabrina said. Her glare was so icy that it could've frozen the tears in her eyes. "Adrien killed himself."

On Monday night, Ladybug tried to call Chat Noir. She had given him space, because she had known he was mad at her, but she needed the one human who'd know why she felt so guilty.

He didn't respond.

On Tuesday, Marinette saw a tabloid wondering if Adrien's death was a cover up - if someone thought he was a threat. Thought that he would become the next Hawk Moth.

Marinette had never wanted to become Lady Noir again so badly as she did then, wanting to cataclysm the entire stand.

She called Chat Noir again that night. She still got no answer.

She didn't think he killed Adrien. If anything, Ladybug had killed Adrien.

Chloé came back to school on Wednesday, but it took Marinette a moment to recognize her.

Her long blonde hair was in a loose, low, lopsided ponytail. She didn't wear any of her usual eye makeup, and her foundation did little to disguise the redness around her eyes, the bags under them, and the paleness of her complexion. Her posture was hunched, like she was trying to make herself smaller. A plain golden ring was on her middle finger, but she wore no other jewelry.

Sabrina went to hug her.

"The funeral's on Saturday," Chloé said; her voice was soft and hoarse and didn't sound like her at all.

Throughout the lesson, Chloé stared at her ring with unfocused eyes.

On Friday, Mme. Bustier gave a lesson on mental health, and how to recognize signs of depression in someone else. It surprised her, that suddenly being happy after being sad for so long wasn't always a hopeful sign.

Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette saw Chloé flinch when their teacher mentioned that a suicidal person will give things important to them away.

Marinette didn't remember seeing most of these signs in Adrien. She remembered seeing some of them in Chat Noir.

Chat Noir still wasn't answering her calls.

It was a double funeral for both Emilie and Adrien. It made sense. Gabriel had not been allowed to go to his son's funeral, so the task fell to foreign relatives. It would be easier to bury both at the same time.

It was an open-coffin funeral. Emilie looked the same as she did when Ladybug had killed her.

Adrien looked so peaceful. He looked like might just be sleeping.

He wasn't breathing. If Marinette squinted the way she did when she used her lucky charm, she could almost see the signs underneath the mortician's makeup, showing where his neck had broken. They also hadn't covered up the tan line where Adrien's silver ring had been.

Chloé hugged Adrien's cousin, still wearing the gold ring she had worn to class.

Ladybug went out on patrol again on Sunday evening. She needed to clear her head so that all she would be able to think about would be way she had to swing in order to not fall.

She checked her yo-yo's map, to see where she was because she got too caught up. She saw an indicator to Chat Noir's location.

It was time to go find her partner.

The holder of the Cat Miraculous sat on a rooftop, knees curled to their chest. They stared at the Agreste mansion with unfocused eyes, specifically where Adrien's room had been.

They weren't Chat Noir.

She had long blonde hair was in a loose, low, lopsided ponytail, held by a dark green ribbon. Her torso, legs, and arms were coal-colored. Her collar, gloves, and thigh-high boots were the color of midnight, and all were at v-shaped angles. Her bell was on a dark green ribbon, and a dark green ribbon formed her tail as well. Her blue eyes had tears in them.

The Cat Miraculous holder looked up at Ladybug, and then back at Adrien's room. "I couldn't stop him." Her voice was soft and hoarse.

"Stop who?" Ladybug asked, sitting a few feet from the girl.

"The previous Chat. I couldn't stop him, and I should've known better. I should've known something was wrong. I should've known that something was wrong when he gave me a small jewelry box. Not that he had been Chat, of course, because it was a plain black box. But he wasn't wearing his ring when he gave me the box. I should've stayed with him."

"What happened to Chat?"

"It was all over the news."

"I didn't know his identity. He didn't know mine."

The girl's eyes narrowed as she glanced towards Ladybug. Her eyes unfocused again as she started staring at the Cat Miraculous.

"He hung himself. And his name was Adrien Agreste. And his body was still warm when I found him."

Ladybug hugged Chloé as she burst into tears.

Author's note: Here is how Chloe looks when she uses the cat miraculous.

[winifredsandersonsbitch]

“Den Mom”

Warnings: season 7 spoilers, drinking, implied sex.

Description: If you’re going to have a bunch of teenage girls over at your house who are basically just biding their time until a battle that will determine the fate of the world, then you might as well make sure they have a little fun.

You’ve always wanted to be a camp counselor. This isn’t exactly it, but hey. You’re not complaining. You’ll participate in the good fight anyway you can, and if that means setting up movie nights and taking the potentials to the mall, then so be it. It’s Buffy’s job to train them, but you remember exactly how difficult it was for her to accept that she was the Slayer. It’s best, you think, to ease the girls into it.

That’s how you and Spike get into your first real fight since he came back with a soul.

You’ve been tender with each other recently, both of you trying to prove that you do in fact know how to have a semi-normal functional relationship. He’s been through so much for you, given up everything, so you’ve been as gentle as possible. The perfect doting partner.

Except in your haste to be a good den mom, you might’ve let a few things slip about your relationship.

“I can’t believe you told them that,” Spike repeats when you apologize. He’s stalking down the sidewalk with his stupid vampire speed, which means he’s about twice as fast as you and you’re forced to run after him like an idiot.

“I’m sorry! I thought you’d be proud! You used to terrorize Xander with the details, I didn’t think that you’d mind if I shared just a little—”

“A little?” he scoffs without turning around. “You gave them the whole bloody story! No one’s going to take me seriously in there! Especially not your sisters.”

“They already knew most of it!”

“That’s not the point!”

You have no doubt that the girls are leaning out the windows of the house, gathering on the front porch in an effort to hear the rest of this argument. The two of you are certainly being loud enough, although you’re almost all the way down the street now.

“Spike, I was only trying to have some fun with them. Teenage girls love gossip, especially about boys, and they’re so interested in you—”

The flattery gets you nowhere. He whirls around the corner and you let out a frustrated sigh. You’re almost certain he’s going to the graveyard, which has become your least favorite place over the years. You tolerated it when he had his own crypt—it even became kind of cozy—but now, there’s nothing there for you.

In your hesitation, you lose him. You fully consider going home. But after having all that girl talk about your relationship and the potentials telling you how lucky you are, you don’t especially want to face them after a fight that woke the whole block.

Still, it’s not safe for you to be out on your own. You always keep a stake and holy water in your jacket, but that won’t be enough if the First decides to send something after you. With this in mind, you hurry to Xander’s to ask if you can crash there for the night. Normally, you’d consider it rude to come over uninvited, but God knows he’s stayed over at the Summer’s residence enough times to rack up a bill.

It’s a weekend, and even in a town with as many dangers as Sunnydale, there are people out and about. Not many, but enough to make you feel a little safer. Whole crowds wouldn’t stop the First from trying something, but you’re comforted by the living. The Bronze is open and although it’s not as full as it once would’ve been, the music is good and people are dancing. It reminds you of better, easier days when the world ending could be solved by Buffy and Co. instead of an entire army that might not win anyway. 

One drink, you tell yourself. You’ll hit the bar, grab something light-ish, and then be on your way. 

“You here by yourself tonight?” the bartender asks when you sit down. 

“Not for long,” you say, pulling out an emergency twenty. When he smiles, you backtrack, realizing how you must sound. “I mean–– Not like that. I’m not looking for anyone. I just wanted a quick drink.” 

“Uh-huh.” 

“Really.” 

“It’s like the Hotel California in here. No one comes in for one anything.”

When he sets down your drink and moves on, you down it quickly. Determined to prove him wrong, you head for the door. Only–– the music tonight is so inviting and you’ve been so focused on the girls lately. You join the crowd on the floor before you’ve even made a conscious decision. Two, three, four songs later you’re sweaty and laughing as you finally exit back out into the cool night. 

It’s late now. Xander might not even be awake. You’re willing to bet money that the girls will be, though, and you take the risk. Sunnydale is a small town. You know you can make it to the apartment in maybe ten minutes. 

You’re feeling good about this decision and don’t even snap at the man who bumps you on the sidewalk, until he opens his mouth to reveal a nasty set of fangs.

“Excuse you.”

“You know what? Just for that, I’m going to bite you.” 

He lunges at you, but you’ve already got the stake out of your jacket pocket and you slam it into his heart. It takes more muscle to do this than Buffy ever lets on, makes your wrist ache a little with the effort, but he’s dust soon enough. The vamp doesn’t concern you so much as your boyfriend, who stepped out of the shadows when things got rough. 

Spike tries to retreat, but it’s too late. You wrinkle your nose at him. 

“You followed me?” You put the stake back in your pocket and shake the cremation off yourself. “I thought you wanted your space.”

“That doesn’t mean I wanted you dead. You should’ve gone home.”

“I was going to stay at Xander’s.”

“It wasn’t enough to tell the girls all of our problems? You have to tell him, too?”

He’s poking the bear, but there’s no heat in his words, so you turn right around and resume your walk. You’re not taking the bait. If he wants to talk about this, then you can talk. Tomorrow.

“Stop following me. I can take care of myself. Obviously.”

There’s no response. If you spun around now, you wouldn’t see him. You wouldn’t hear his footsteps either. But you know he’s there. Spike’s never given up that easily. 

“I wasn’t telling anyone our problems,” you mumble, more to yourself than to him, though you know he can hear you. “I wanted them to like me.”

The girls worship Buffy, even if they do think of her as a kind of demanding drill sergeant, and they hang out with Dawn. They all giggle over Spike and ask Willow all sorts of questions about witchcraft. But you worry that they think of you as the same stiff older sibling you’ve always been, the one who reminds them about lights out and takes requests for the grocery list and agonizes over money. You want them to have fun while they still can and you want to be part of that fun. 

“You were bragging.” Spike appears next to you, light-footed as a cat, and you flinch. You’ve never gotten used to that and he knows it. “You wanted them to be impressed with you, so you used me.”

He’s actually preening, spiking up his hair with his hands and subtly flexing underneath all that jacket. You roll your eyes.

“That is not what I said.”

“It’s what you meant. You knew that they all had little crushes on me and you wanted to make them jealous, show them that you were at least cool enough to land me.”

“First of all, Kennedy is gay. Second, I was not trying to make them jealous! And if I was, then I would use my savings account, or my job, or my many skills and hobbies!” 

You’ve quickened your pace and Spike matches it casually. When you get stuck at a stoplight, briefly considering jaywalking just to cut this torture short, he wraps his palm around your upper arm. 

“No need to be embarrassed, love.”

He’s trying to get you to look at him, passing his thumb gently over the cloth of your jacket, allowing you to imagine what it would feel like on skin. You keep yourself focused on the destination, but you don’t pull away.

“I’m not.”

“I think you are, a little, but it’s all right.” 

“I said I’m not.” You pivot to glare at him, but he catches you off guard with his eyes. He’s so clearly laughing at this, at you. You guess he has a right to. This time was your fault. 

“Why don’t you come back to the house with me?” he asks after a minute or two have passed. “I guarantee I can make you more comfortable than Xander. And it’ll give the girls something to talk about, too.”

“You’re awful.” 

“All you had to say was no.”

He heads back toward the cemetery in a dark flash and he’s halfway down the block before you call out, “Wait!” 

[sailormoonandme]

Checking Out other Magical Girls shows Part 4: Miraculous

Of all the Magical Girls shows I’ve been researching this was one of the ones I was most hotly anticipating. See, in addition to Sailor Moon, American superheroes are a big passion of mine and Spider-Man is my all time fav. So a show that ostensibly combines the two was fascinating to me.*

I checked out three episodes from the first season, ‘Stormy Weather’ and the two part ‘Origins’ episodes. I was initially recommended the former as the best place to start but honestly I kind of regret doing that. Every ‘watch list’ I consulted recommended I NOT start with the origin episodes and I do not know why, they were a perfectly natural jumping on point and a far better introduction than ‘Stormy Weather’ was. Not that ‘Stormy Weather’ was bad, but I was a little lost.

Let me get some negatives out of the way before I move onto positives.

So the origins episodes I think at times dropped the ball as far as laying out the ‘rules’ of how Ladybug and Cat Noire’s powers work.  

-The five minute time limit comes out of nowhere and I don’t understand if it applies just to Cat Noire or to both of them, when the timer begins (from the moment they transform or from when they use their unique powers).  

-I’m uncertain if Ladybug has some kind of special visionary power because in 2 episodes items are lit up in a ladybug pattern in sequence and this is how she deduces how to use her Lucky Charm. But I don’t know if that’s a power of if it’s just an artistic representation of her figuring out what to do herself

-I also think the show should’ve clarified that when they refer to their ‘super powers’ they mean their special unique abilities, because obviously they both get enhanced reflexes and whatnot.  

-I guess also they seemed to know their the special phrases to activate their abilities without anyone telling them, but that’s standard Magical Girl fare I won’t hold that against the show. Same thing with how intuitive the characters seem to be with their powers, although I don’t know why Adrienne seems better with his powers off the bat than Marinette did?

-Finally, I’m very much in two minds about Ladybug’s unique powers. It’s certainly novel as super powers go and I guess works with the magical aspect of the characters. But…she gets a random item that will somehow help her resolve the issue? So…are things just predestined here? Her powers just know  what will happen because she clearly needs to make certain events happen for the Lucky Charm to help her, and even then it doesn’t seem to just fix the problem outright. I can see that power being problematic from a creative POV and possibly overpowered. I hope the sow addresses that going forward. The same applies to her ability to essentially undo all the damage caused, including restoring a collapsed building. I mean…does this apply to anyone who’s died too?

One other issues I noted were how Hawk Moth seems to know Cat Noire and Ladybug’s names when he wouldn’t, especially the latter since Marinette had yet to even label herself as Ladybug.  

I know that sounds like I’m really down on this show but the opposite is true. I think those are issues with it but I nevertheless REALLY LOVED THIS!

Marinette is charming and relatable and even Adrienne, in a more abstract way, can be understoof by his desire to feel normal whilst also feeling like an outsider. These might not be brand new teen hero archetypes but they’re classic, and the classics stick around for a reason. Marinette reminds me of Usagi and Adrienne is vaguely Bruce Wayne esque, although given this show’s influences perhaps Tuxedo Mask would be a better comparison.

The show also built up a decent supporting cast in it’s origin episodes, giving both characters a best friend, a rival/possible romantic interest in Chloe and decent tertiary characters ripe for expansion in their parents and body guards. Plus the school setting is a great story engine for the show, capable of giving us emotional drama but also a possibly endless supply of super villains for Hawk Moth to exploit. I also love the Parisian setting if for no other reason than t is refreshing to see a superhero story set outside of New York, Tokyo or an fictional American city like Metropolis or Gotham.  

Hawk Moth himself, whilst perhaps standard, worked for me. He sort of reminded me of Professor Tomoe, but with a little extra spice since he’s drawing upon the same powers as our heroes. And of course…he’s clearly Adrienne’s father (unless the show is setting me up for a huge twist). Again, MAYBE that’s nothing new but…it’s still a fun trope to play. And if I’m right I think I also know his motivation but that’s probably me having consumed super hero media all my life. Aeshetically he’s cool and the moth motif works well for his character.

In fact the look of the show over all works very well. It is a sad fact that the CGI in this show will look dated sooner rather than later since that’s the nature of CGI. But the animation style also allows for dynamic camera movements and action set pieces so I don’t mind. And frankly, this is the closest I’ve ever seen CGI come to evoking anime style animation so I’d be happy to see this style continue/evolve over time in other shows (honestly, a Spider-Man show might look really good in this style).  

In particular I was surprised that the show allowed for decent facial expressions and body language, which I was concerned about since I know the show plays in some romance and that might’ve been hard to watch if the animation wasn’t up to snuff. Thankfully it was and I’m invested in seeing their relationship evolve. I particularly like the dynamic in play here. In Sailor Moon you had 2 people who disliked one another as civilians but were very much attracted to each other as superheroes. There they get on in both identities, but whilst Marinette tries (and funbles) to initiate things with Adrienne, Cat Noire is the one coming onto Ladybug who seems to rebuff his charms (even though she seems to like him). That’s at least relatively unique for this genre and I’m here for it!

So overall, I really liked this and would watch more if I got the chance.  

*Cat Noir is even named similarly to Spidey’s girlfriend the Black Cat.  

P.S. I enjoyed the reference to Wonder Woman/Captain Marvel in the comic book Alya’s comic book.  

[thorne93]

Inside the Criminal Mind (Part 39)

Prompt: You’re married to Dr. Spencer Reid of the BAU, and are a distinguished doctor yourself on the team. You’re sent down to Miami, Florida for teaching and as a side request from the FBI, to investigate a string of missing persons. When you think you’ve figured out who the unsub is, your life becomes more complicated than you ever could’ve imagined.

Word Count: 3091

Warnings: (throughout the fic –>) death, blood, gore, killings, language, disturbing mental notions, mentions of rapes/murder/etc (You know, Dexter and Criminal Minds related business)

Notes: Thank you so much to @arrow-guy​​​​​, @carryonmyswansong​​​​​, and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​ - without each of you, I couldn’t have finished, written, or properly navigated this story. Each of you helped me fish out details that were incredibly important to me. Beta’d by @carryonmyswansong​​​​​ and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​… Aesthetic by @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​​​​​

This is a crossover of Criminal Minds x Dexter. First time writing Dexter.

Also, the timeline is after Season 1 of Dexter, but during season 14-ish of Criminal minds into Season 15. Enjoy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JJ knelt beside him too, across from you.

"What happened?" she wondered, no accusation in her voice. 

"I don't know," you admitted. "I was only gone an hour or two. He was perfectly fine when I left." You stared at his body in horror, wondering what went wrong. Wondering if it was your fault. 

Soon, an ambulance, police, and firefighters arrived. 

You rode with Spencer to the hospital and JJ said she'd let the team know and be behind you. You were trying to keep your crying back, but it was hard as the EMTs worked on him. 

Finally, you got to the hospital where Garcia and JJ met you. The doctors asked you questions and you focused long enough to answer them quickly and directly. Then they wheeled him away to the CCU. JJ and Garcia said they were being called in, so you nodded, telling them to go, that the team needed them. 

With trembling hands, you called Diana, Spencer’s mom. In a little under an hour, Diana arrived and Spencer was out of the CCu, but he wasn’t doing much better. The doctor informed you of the options. 

“The conservative approach would be surgery. It may reduce the swelling around his brain faster. There is risk, it could cause seizures and even more bleeding.”

You nodded and asked them to give you a moment. You spoke with Diana and as you were weighing your options, he began to seize again, causing monitors to go off everywhere. You went around the side of the bed and hugged Diana, trying to comfort her and not focus on your own pain. 

Your husband was dying and you had no idea if he even loved you anymore.  

When they finally got him calmed down, and the seizing stopped, someone appeared in the doorway of Spencer’s hospital room. You turned your head, and it was Max. 

A million emotions slammed into you at once, but the main one was confusion. 

“What are you doing here?” you asked. Diana turned to see the newcomer. 

“Who’s this?” she asked. 

“A friend of Spencer’s,” you answered absentmindedly. Max looked like a lost puppy. Maybe she didn’t realize you’d be here. “Diana, I’ll be right back.” You stood up and walked towards Maxine. “Do you wanna go grab some coffee?” you offered. You weren’t about to sit in the same room with her as your dying husband. You wanted her far away from him. 

“Sure,” she said, looking a little afraid. 

You two walked to the cafeteria and got coffee, sitting down. 

“So, what are you doing here? Who told you he was here?” 

“JJ.”

“Ah, I should’ve figured that out.” 

“I’m uh, sorry for showing up like this--”

“Why did you show up, knowing now that he’s a married man?” you took a deep breath and remembered what Dexter had taught you. “How do you and JJ know each other?” you figured this would  be a good start to finding out more.

“After the thing with Cat, we talked for a bit. Your team had briefed me about what might have happened and then afterwards, she said she was close to Spencer and gave me her number in case I had any more questions about what had happened. Then, I got the text about him being in the hospital. She said I might want to know.” 

This fueled the fire within you about JJ. she had no reason to tell her about what was going on with your husband. “So….how did you and my husband meet?” This was the most awkward situation you were in and you just wanted this to get over with. “It seems you’ve become the center of his attention and that’s not something I'm okay with.”

She twiddled her fingers, toying with her coffee cup. “Yeah, I’m probably not your favorite person. Um, we met at the park. My nephew was talking to him, then he started to have a panic attack and Spencer came over and did a magic trick to distract him. It really impressed me, that a guy could take time out of his day to make a boy he didn't know happy and feel better.”

“Spencer’s always had a soft spot for kids, he’s a great uncle.” You smiled fondly hearing that he had helped a child in need. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy he was able to help but how does that in turn end up with you and him constantly being together?” You took a sip of your coffee. “Wasn’t there a point where you asked if he was seeing anyone or if he was married?” You couldn’t see how that would never cross a person’s mind

“It did, but we were having such a good time, I didn’t want to think anything was wrong. He never talked about you, and I never thought to bring it up. He seemed so sweet and decent, I didn't think there was any way he could do something like that.” 

“You never thought to ask if he was single or taken?” That sounded incredulous to you. “Did he ever ask you?” At that point you were starting to believe that the man you loved really didn’t love you and this was just a confirmation. “I’m going to be frank with you. He and I are going through a tough situation and JJ was the cause of it and then you showed up and things got worse, I’d really appreciate it if you could tell me what exactly it was that you two did so much that he couldn’t bat an eye at me.” You moved your hands under the table to hide their trembling.

She took a breath. “Okay, well, first of all, I didn’t mean to make anything worse. I’ve never intended to cause issues in a marriage. But, all we did was go to lunch, dinner… We went to a few museums and shops. He gave me a couple of things.” 

“Were there ever moments where you two got to be closer than friends?” You massaged one temple trying to think things through like Dex had told you to. “I’m just trying to figure all this out and I’d like to know everything, if you could tell where you guys went and what you did I would really appreciate that.” You were being sincere as much as it pained you, this needed to be done there was so much you were unsure of and Max was the key to knowing the truth. “ Do you have pictures by any chance?”

“I have a few. Yeah.” She pulled her phone out and began to show you pictures. “This was us at the science museum. This was us at the park.” She glanced at you, making a face of worry. “I know this is probably really weird, but as you can see we’re never kissing or holding hands.” She put her phone away, sighing before trying to list everywhere they went. “We talked about books, movies, a little bit about his work, but that was only for a few minutes. He gave me some of his favorite books to read, and showed me a few poems. He told me places I should go visit.”

Hearing all of this was hurting you far worse than you thought it would. He gave her the books that you had given to him, the places they went to were some of the few places that only you and him had ever gone to.the same poems he showed to her were the ones he would recite to you when he felt that they were meant for you. Your shoulders sag and you wanted to hate her but you couldn’t she did know he was married he chose to keep that from her. He chose to keep you hidden from his life to someone else and that, that's what broke your heart.  “Did he ever hint at wanting more than what you two had?” you hoped this would give you the answer to the question that's still gnawing at you.

“Not really, no. He made it clear he liked being around me but…” She bit her lip. “I was falling for him. I was going to tell him I loved him, soon. Probably the next time we met. That was before I found out he was married though. But I still can’t turn off those feelings, that's why I came to the hospital, I think…. Because I love him, and if he died…” 

“If he died what? He died knowing that you fell in love with him?!” you winced hearing your voice rise. “I’m sorry but knowing that he’s married you shouldn’t have even thought of that, it’s bad enough I had to deal with JJ doing the same shit while I was away for work but I don’t need someone else doing that and especially not now when he’s like this.”

“I know. I shouldn’t be here but… I had to be true to myself. I love Spencer, and I wanted to tell him that, but… I won’t get in the way of your marriage. I’d still like to be his friend and I won’t let us go anywhere past that.”

“I don’t really know much about you so it’s hard for me to even trust you’ll keep that promise and that you won't try later on.” you finished your coffee cup “But I do appreciate you telling me everything that’s happened.”

She nodded. “Of course. If I was married, I’d want the same courtesy. Besides, you’re really intimidating.” She nervously laughed. 

“You smiled a little at that. “I don’t do it on purpose, it's just part of the job.”  you make a move to leave. “I should probably get back. I need to check on Spencer.”

“Right, yeah, of course. I’m just gonna go. I’m so sorry to have come, but… now at least you know the truth. I hope whatever damage I caused, you two can fix it.” 

“I’ll let him know you stopped by to say hello, and I hope we can fix this too.” You nod your head and head back to the room. 

You headed back, and Diana had a hold of his hand. A few hours later, he opened his eyes and he was fully awake. After they ran some more tests, they cleared him. His bleeding had stopped and he was going to be okay. Diana said she was tired and she went back to the live-in home, wishing you both a good night. 

Now that Spencer was finally lucid, you were sitting beside his bed, holding his hand. 

“Hey,” you softly said. “I thought I lost you there for a while. I came home from the hotel and found you on the floor. I’ve never been more scared in my life.” 

Spencer smiled at you.

“I wondered if the last thoughts in your head were about Max,” you admitted with a bit of an embarrassed laugh. 

He shook his head. “No. They weren’t about Max. I was thinking about the case. Everett Lynch is still alive.”

“We know, sweetie,” you assured. “The team is tracking him, we’ll find him.” You bit your lip to look down for a second. “Spencer, I talked to Dexter, and actually Max stopped by too.”

“Oh? What did they have to say?”

You noticed he didn’t ask about why Max was here. “I had talked to Dexter and he made me realize that I was overreacting and I didn’t give you a chance to explain yourself and try to see your side of this.” You looked away from him, not being able to meet his eyes about Max.

“Well, that’s good. He won’t hurt any more women… Y/N… I’m so sorry that you were put in the position to even think I was thinking of another woman before I collapsed… I never should’ve done that to you. You’re right. I was completely in the wrong for keeping you a secret from each other. I just… It was nice to talk to someone who had nothing to do with work, or Miami, any of it. It was a breath of fresh air. But I made you feel second best, and you’ve never done that to me. Ever… I should’ve paid you the same respect.” 

“Thank you, Spence…” You really didn’t know what to say. Things were happening left and right and you didn’t know what to believe. “I just wish you’d thought of giving me that respect before all of this happened.” You still couldn’t look at him. “We spoke… Maxine and I.”

He made a look of uncertainty and worry. “Really? How did that go? She came by? What did she have to say? Why was she here?”

“She… She came to see you and well we got to talking and she confessed that she’s in love with you and that if you died she wanted to do right to herself and tell you.” you moved yourself away from him a bit. “She told me about everything Spencer. The places you guys went to, the books you gave her” you looked away trying to calm your emotions. “Why Spencer? What happened to those places being just for us, I gave you those books.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. Nothing. And everything. I know the case in Miami is done but that doesn’t mean my head or my heart were in the right place. I was in profiler mode the whole time we were down there. Working the case, protecting you. Then we got back here,and reality hit me of everything that had happened. And I just wanted the taste of a normal life for a little bit with someone that wasn’t on the team or even you. It wasn’t a romantic choice. It could’ve been anyone. It just happened to be her. I’m sorry that she told you she loves me… That.. that was never my intention. I just wanted a friend, a close friend, a good friend like you and Dexter. I needed to digest everything that happens, and at the same time, be away from it all with someone who could just be my friend, not a profiler or a killer. But I don't love her… at all. I love you, and only you. It’s always only been you, I swear.” 

“Spence, it's hard for me to believe that, all of the things she told me you did were the exact same thing we did when we first got together, how do you expect me not to feel like i’ve been pushed aside for someone new,” There was no stopping the tears. “Like you said she’s outside of all of this I wouldn’t put it past you to move on from me.”

He reached over, taking your hand and sitting up on his elbow. “The last thing I will ever want or do is move on from you. I didn’t spend the last several months using every waking moment trying to protect you and your freedom because I don’t love you more than anyone in this world. I made a mistake. I distanced myself from you, but to be fair, you did it too.” He held up his hand to stop you from protesting. “I’m not faulting you. I know why you did it. I’m keenly aware as to why you did what you did. But the fact remains that when both of us are afraid of hurting the other person, we distance ourselves. The only problem with that logic is, the distancing ourselves does hurt. I did this all wrong. I know I did. But Max is just a friend. I was caught up with feeling.. No longer bogged down by our work, or the Miami business. For that, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for making you feel second best. I’m sorry for not making you a priority. I’m sorry for making you feel anything but all the love I have for you. I'm sorry for not handling my emotions better and coming to you when I had a problem. I can’t fix what I did, or correct my mistakes, but I’m here now, telling you that none of it matters to me anymore. All I want, all I’ve ever wanted, is you.” 

“You mean it? You're not just saying this to get me to not overthink? It’s been hell, Spence. Every time I wanted to be with you, it’s like you didn’t think twice to run to meet with Max.” You looked up at him. “I was honestly waiting for you to tell me that you were leaving, that you never wanted to see me again, I wanted to blame you for this but I blame myself because if it hadn’t been for me you wouldn’t have had to find confidence and search for someone else to find some semblance of normalcy.” You wiped the tears away, not wanting to get too emotional.

He leaned all the way up and put his hand on the side of your face. It was some of the first physical contact you’d had in forever since this whole Maxine thing began. “No,” he cooed. “No, none of this is your fault, don’t even think that. I’m an adult. I should've handled it better. It’s just… well you already know I’m envious of you and Dexter. Between JJ, and Miami, and Dexter, and Maxine and our jobs in general. So much has been so messy with us lately, I didn’t even know how to begin talking to you about it. That’s my fault. Not yours. It’s a reflection of me, not you. I got caught up in distancing myself so far away from work, that I distanced you too, and I never meant to do that. I just… I want us to find our way back to each other. That’s all.” 

“I would really like that too, just please no more lies?” you asked of him as you leaned into his touch realizing you’d been very deprived of his touch. “What do you say when we go back I cook you up some of your favorite foods to make you feel better?” you hoped that this would be a good start to getting back to what you two had before everything went wrong. 

“Yes, please. No more lies. I swear. I’m done with Maxine. It’ll just be about us, from now on.” He promised, leaning forward to kiss you and it felt like you could finally breathe again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[stereostevie]

The Rap Grammy Nominations Are Weird As Hell | Nov 25, 2020 11:12 AM BY TOM BREIHAN

The very first time that the Grammy Awards recognized rap music, it was an utter fiasco — a clear case of an aging pop-music establishment failing to understand this vital new youth music that had sprung up and rewritten the rules. For the 1989 awards show, the Grammys added one rap category, Best Rap Performance. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince won it for “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” beating out LL Cool J and Salt-N-Pepa and Kool Moe Dee and JJ Fad. The show didn’t deign to recognize Public Enemy, N.W.A, EPMD, Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, Eric B. & Rakim, or Ice-T, all of whom had released classic albums within the voting window. The award wasn’t televised, and most of the nominees, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince included, skipped the show, attending a “Boycott The Grammys” party instead.

Since that night, the history of rap at the Grammys has been a series of baffling, embarrassing decisions. It’s Steely Dan winning Album Of The Year over The Marshall Mathers LP. It’s Gretchen Wilson winning Best New Artist over Kanye West. “It’s weird and it sucks that I robbed you.” It’s also a history of rappers getting angry over the Grammys: “I never let a statue tell me how nice I am,” “You think I give a damn about a Grammy?” In 2019, Drake showed up to accept Best Rap Song. In his acceptance speech, he talked about how the Grammy voters weren’t necessarily the right people to define rap success. The broadcast cut him off mid-speech. Earlier this year, Kanye West, a man who once cared more about Grammy Awards than anyone else not named Neil Portnow, tweeted a video of himself pissing on one of his Grammys. (The Grammys still nominated West this year, for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album.)

Yesterday, the Grammys nominated Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist’s Alfredo in the Best Rap Album category. That’s great! Freddie Gibbs is a great underground rap success story, a guy who bet on himself and kept doing great work in his own lane even after multiple major-label situations fell apart. Gibbs has never made a hit song in his life, and he’s gotten himself into a position where he doesn’t need to make hit songs — where he can just follow his instincts and keep his own style intact. Alfredo isn’t my favorite rap record of the year. (Even in the field of Alchemist-produced 2020 rap albums, I’d give the slight edge to Boldy James’ The Price Of Tea In China.) But the nomination for Alfredo is still a very cool surprise, the kind of thing that I would’ve never expected to see from the Grammy nominating committee.

And yet Gibbs’ nomination doesn’t exactly announce a new golden age of Grammy rap consideration, a time when Recording Academy voters are finally figuring out how to approach the genre. Instead, his nomination points toward something else: An institutional recognition of middlebrow, middle-aged, respectable rap music.

All of this year’s Best Rap Album nominees are Black men between the ages of 35 and 47. The oldest nominee is Nas, who is now on his fifth Best Rap Album nomination and who has never won the award. (The Best Rap Album Grammy didn’t exist in 1994, when Nas released Illmatic, but there’s no way in hell that Nas would’ve won it anyway. The Academy would’ve given the award to Coolio’s It Takes A Thief or something.) The youngest nominee is D Smoke, a former high school Spanish teacher who is also the brother of the TDE R&B singer SiR. D Smoke made his way into Grammy contention after winning the first season of Rhythm + Flow, the Netflix rap-competition show. (Two of the three judges from Rhythm + Flow, Cardi B and Chance The Rapper, have won Best Rap Album themselves. T.I., the other judge, has been nominated three times and never won.)

D Smoke isn’t exactly a revered or popular rapper, and I have’t seen anyone calling his perfectly-OK album Black Habits a masterpiece, though the man has certainly done better than anyone could’ve expected from a rap reality-show winner. But D Smoke raps exactly like a diet version of Kendrick Lamar, so his nomination works as a clear indication that the Grammy voters really, really wish they had a Kendrick album to nominate. D Smoke is also up for Best New Artist, alongside fellow rappers Chika, Megan Thee Stallion, and (I guess) Doja Cat. Presumably, Megan’s Good News would also be nominated if it had come out early enough to be eligible. Meanwhile, Chika hasn’t released an album, and Doja Cat is nominated in the pop categories, not the rap ones.

Instead, then, we’re looking at five guys hovering around the age of 40, all of whom are respected technicians with boom-bap inclinations. Jay Electronica, who’s nominated for A Written Testimony and who should probably be considered the front-runner, is technically a New Orleans native, but nobody thinks of him as a Southern rapper. (Jay-Z is all over A Written Testimony, to the point where anointing Jay Electronica feels a bit like throwing awards love to Jay-Z in a year with no Jay-Z album.) All the albums up for Best Rap Album are, at the very least, solid. A couple of them, Alfredo and A Written Testimony, are very good. But this is still a remarkably stodgy list — one that shows that the whole middle-aged respectability fetish that’s long plagued the Grammys is now embedded in its rap voting wing.

Freddie Gibbs and Nas and Jay Electronica and D Smoke and Royce Da 5’9″ are all gifted rappers who have done great work. Most of them could justifiably be considered legends. But none of them really show the world where rap music is, let alone where it’s going. By recognizing those albums, the Grammys have pointedly elected not to recognize something like Lil Baby’s My Turn, which is probably 2020’s most popular album in any genre and which is also a fine example of the 808-heavy depressive melodic-goo rap music that currently dominates the genre’s mainstream.

Other hugely popular, artistically important albums are also absent: Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake, Roddy Rich’s Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial, Polo G’s The Goat, Gunna’s Wunna, Rod Wave’s Pray 4 Love. Instead, the rap albums getting nominated are the 2020 equivalents of the Steely Dan album that famously beat Eminem. That’s not an indictment of the nominated albums. It’s an indictment of the stuff the Recording Academy values. It’s also a cautionary look of how things might look if the Recording Academy ever gets its way, if rap comes to rely on accepted ossified skill-sets instead of its current state of constant, furious stylistic evolution.

As someone who’s around the same age as this year’s Best Rap Album nominees, I’m not all that amped to see emotionally troubled, pill-gobbling 20-year-olds dominating rap music. But those kids are crucially moving the genre past whatever old men like me might want it to be. Fortunately, there’s at least one Grammy category that has done a pretty good job capturing where things are right now, and that’s Best Rap Song. The list of nominations there — Lil Baby’s “The Bigger Picture,” Roddy Ricch’s “The Box,” Drake’s “Laugh Now, Cry Later,” DaBaby’s “Rockstar,” and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” — isn’t necessarily perfect, but it’s a fairly accurate representation of the kind of rap that moves people right now. I don’t know why the division between the Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song nominees is so stark. Maybe it’s a signal that the album is increasingly irrelevant. Maybe it reflects two different voting bodies. Either way, it’s striking.

Look, the Grammys are weird. They are always going to be weird. Fiona Apple’s Fetch The Bolt Cutters should’ve been the biggest lay-up in the world, but it isn’t up for Album Of The Year. Instead, the Academy’s voters went for Coldplay and Jacob Collier and a deluxe edition of a Black Pumas album that didn’t even come out in the eligibility period. “Rockstar” and “Savage” are both up for Record Of The Year, but Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding is the only album that’s even rap-adjacent that’s nominated for Album Of The Year this year. I thought for sure that Lil Baby’s My Turn would be the token rap album that would inevitably lose to Taylor Swift. Instead, we didn’t even get one of those, and My Turn got snubbed even in its own category. Nothing makes sense.

But this year’s Best Rap Albums nominations still show a weird alignment between Grammy Voters and a certain streak of real-hip-hop rap conservatism. Watch out for that. Nothing good, except maybe a Freddie Gibbs Grammy win, will come out of that.

FURIOUS FIVE

1. Roc Marciano – “Downtown 81” It’s not on streaming services yet, but Roc Marciano’s new album Mt. Marci is out in the world now, and it is marvelous. (I can’t tell you whether the digital download is worth the $40 that Marci is charging on his website. Make your own financial decisions.) Right now, the only song out for general consumption is one of the few that Marci didn’t produce himself. (It’s a Jake One beat.) But otherwise, “Downtown 81” is exactly the sort of laid-back, intricately worded deadpan splendor that you can expect to hear on the LP, whenever it goes wide. So maybe that’s worth the price of a full tank of gas.

2. Meek Mill – “GTA” (Feat. 42 Dugg)

Meek Mill released his Quarantine Pack EP on Friday, and the track currently getting the big push is the downbeat Lil Durk collab “Pain Away.” But the real thrill here is in hearing Meek and 42 Dugg getting bracingly urgent over a Detroit-ass bassline.

3. Chief Keef & Mike Will Made-It – “Status” Sosa and Mike Will have evidently chosen to name their new song after this column. Gentlemen, I see this tribute, and I appreciate it. I love you too.

4. Willie The Kid & V Don – “Mother Of Pearls” (Feat. Eto) This is pretty.

5. Statik Selektah – “Play Around” (Feat. Conway The Machine, 2 Chainz, Killer Mike, Allan Kingdom, & Haile Supreme)

Once upon a time, maybe 13 years ago, I was apparently such a recognizable and influential part of the New York rap press that Statik Selektah noticed me at an MOP show, introduced himself, and tried to get me to listen to his mix CD. All these years later, Statik is a globally acknowledged boom-bap specialist with enough juice to put three of the world’s greatest middle-aged rappers on a track together. I’m proud of Statik. I bet he gets nominated for a Grammy someday.

[strxga]

Thoughts & Review on V7C12

This is my personal review for the latest chapter of RWBY. I tried to keep my points objective and organized, and to not take too much time discussing each, and I would sincerely appreciated if it could be given a read. Thank you if you do read it.

Well. It’s finally happened.

After a hazy but relatively positive start, I can say that Chapter 12 is yet another tipping point in a direction. The last chapters of Volume 6 were certainly… A lot, but compared to this one, Volume 6 pales in comparison. This one is… A doozy for several reasons. Let me preface by saying this: I love this show.

I sincerely adore it and the characters, and the reason I’m writing this think piece is precisely because of that. Because it could be so much better, it could be truly a love letter towards Fantasy, anime, and its fandom… But the writers specifically seem to not know how to balance that… But enough ranting. Off to the meatier sections, which I will progressively go from what I liked the most to what I liked the least.

Penny & Winter Scenes

This was, by far, the best written scenes in the episode, and coming from an unlikely pair of friends. Penny has always been emotional despite being a robot while Winter, despite being human, has always acted mechanical. This episode provides a nice contrast between the two, with Penny emphasizing with Winter and trying to get through to her only for Winter to refute her claims, but doing so with a sadness to her face because deep inside she knows James Ironwood’s plan is flawed. In a way, one acts as the other should, but doesn’t. Their awkward but working friendship makes that its mold and comfortably rests atop it.

It’s flawed, but realistically, it’s the best option to take over having to fight Salem with depleted and exhausted forces. The two play off one another marvelously, and this keeps up until Cinder’s entrance (which is another point I’ll discuss later) and the entire time they keep up this great dynamic. Penny asking if it’s going to hurt Fria to transfer her Aura directly to Winter, only for her to once more act as Penny’s foil and say that it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is following orders and keeping the Relic and Maiden Powers safe.

Team ORNJ Scenes

Thankfully this time, it doesn’t take an entire episode to figure out where Oscar is. Frankly, there isn’t much to talk about here, but what little there is of it is good! A problem is established, and then it’s swiftly solved by Neopolitan’s confidence only for everything to fall apart when the real Oscar appears, confirming he wasn’t taken away but had been actually fighting solo against Neopolitan for the lamp.

It establishes he’s no longer the wimp he once was and is making full use of Ozpin’s cane, but I honestly do feel like it was mostly a cat-and-mouse game with Neopolitan stealing the lamp and him chasing after her, because I don’t think he could’ve beaten her on his own. Team ORNJ then sets up to fight Neopolitan, spicing up the fight between them that’s going to take place in the upcoming chapter.

(Upcoming) Neopolitan vs. Team ORNJ

There honestly isn’t much to talk about this regarding on what happened in the episode, but what it did amazingly is set up the fight. We know Neopolitan is an experienced fighter, and strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Cinder without her using her Fall Maiden powers. We also know that Jaune and Ren aren’t the strongest fighters, but they can still hold their own, and them accompanied by Oscar who is slightly below-average but still powerful enough to hold his own and Nora who is, now that Pyrrha’s gone, the strongest member of what remains of Team JNPR, I think the battle between them and our favorite ice cream girl is going to be a highlight of this season, especially with how it was set-up.

Cinder’s Entrance

This is when we start to get into the ‘meh’ section of this episode. Cinder is usually compelling in small doses, but extremely dull, boring and irritable in extended scenes due to how confident, smug and self-assured she is despite her multiple failures ever since the Fall of Beacon. But from a writing perspective, she was amazing. She showed how fearsome she is yet again and that her cleverness is part of her character and not just a plot device. She sent Ironwood into a paranoia and then tracked Winter knowing he’d send her after Fria.

Now, the only thing I don’t get, but this might be just me having forgotten, is if there was one point in which Cinder actually learned Winter was the next candidate to be the Winter Maiden… After all, prior to this point, Cinder had never met or encountered Winter or even less have known of her affiliation with Ironwood in the sense that she is her second-in-command. I have difficulty following that thread of logic… Unless Neopolitan told her at some point? I don’t know. Not knowing is what makes me ‘meh’ about this scene.

Clover, Qrow & Tyrian’s Fight

Taking away the connotations and context from the fight and looking at it purely from a choreography perspective, the fight was amazing and showed all of the fighter’s individual styles and strengths. As per usual, Tyrian was shown as crazed and psychopathic. There is no rhyme, reason or logic to his moves, and therefore there is no pattern or proper way to attack other than improvise. Qrow was versatile in using both his hand-to-hand skills and Harbinger to get the job done, but who stands up the most to me is Clover.

Clover really shows why he’s the leader of the AceOps. He was strategic in using Kingfisher to constantly tie-up Tyrian a few times (I cannot remember if he caught Qrow though) and managed to actually keep up with both of them for a long time! Had it not been for Tyrian’s interference while Clover and Qrow spoke, well… I’ll mention that later. But the point is, Clover was an absolute king in the battlefield and despite his weapon being a fishing rod, he was able to use it tremendously.

Furthermore, what surprised me the most is the fact Qrow and Tyrian worked so well together. They made-up for each other’s flaws whenever Clover had one of them against the ropes, and this surprises me even more considering the fact Tyrian was responsible for Qrow’s closest brush with death. It was… Surprisingly bittersweet.

(Upcoming) Cinder vs. Penny & Winter

Nothing much to talk about here given that this hasn’t yet happened, but as per usual Cinder is flaunting and showing off her power while severely underestimating her opponents. It has been approximately three years since she last saw Penny and since she was rebuilt stronger than before, not to mention the combat experience she’s accrued defending Mantle from the Creatures of Grimm and the occasional bandit and the like.

Winter has also presumably gotten stronger since then, but the scope of her abilities are still unknown since she only engaged in combat once and it was against Qrow all the way back in Volume 3. There’s so many ideas up in the air regarding this upcoming fight that nothing’s stopping me from theorizing Fria will wake up and use her Winter Maiden abilities to kick the snot out of Cinder.

But I am looking forward to what the fight has to offer. I don’t think any of them will die though. Cinder is still too important to the plot as are Penny and Winter for as long as the setting is Atlas.

Clover, Qrow, Robyn & Tyrian Scenes

Yeah. This whole encounter was… It wasn’t exactly ‘bad’ but I felt like the characters here acted completely out of character. Well, sans for Tyrian of course, given that at his core, he is simply a psychopath.

Clover has always been one who acted as one of the most morally-upstanding member of the AceOps as well as the one who was, arguably, given the most screen time. But for some reason, this episode had him betray everything he stood for and wanted to arrest Qrow even though Qrow… Well, what did Qrow even do for Ironwood to want him arrested? That’s another minor nitpick I have about the situation. But with how closely Clover and Qrow had bonded, you’d think he’d try and make sense of the situation instead of acting as a drone even though before he had never done so.

Robyn went from a pragmatic and understanding leader-like figure to, well… Whatever that was. I sincerely can’t understand her character because she isn’t cohesive at all. The only trait about her that remains is her loyalty to Mantle… But that’s it. One moment she’s against Ironwood, the next moment she’s siding with him… Then she sides against him and then once more sides with him. It’s honestly very boring and for someone who is supposed to be based on Robin Hood, she’s never done anything Robin Hood-esque. Even her aesthetic doesn’t match him. She feels like an incomplete character and the only side of her we see is a temperamental, indecisive leader. She couldn’t even tell it wasn’t Penny who attacked her at the election party even though almost every single part of her, weapons included, are bioluminescent. It’s frustrating, really. She should’ve known something was wrong from the get-go when Ironwood gave the order instead of immediately resorting to blind anger.

Qrow… There has never been an instance in the show when Qrow reacted with direct violence ever since Volume 3 while he was drunk. He saw Robyn attack Clover first and decided that he was going to attack Clover when he was the one being assaulted. Robyn and Qrow, as far as I know, never even had a single interaction together one-on-one, and even if he did, he’s always been one to stand against wrongdoings despite his shady demeanor. It honestly sucked seeing him being so out of character this entire chapter because he is a fan-favorite and for good reason. He has had a good amount of development. But he acted on violence instead of simply sitting down and having a talk with both Clover and Robyn. It simply didn’t make sense to me.

AceOps vs. Team RWBY

Just like before, I will focus entirely on an unbiased analysis of how this fight went and criticizing the things that particularly stood out for me whether bad or good. I’ll also be dividing this into subsections because it’s going to be a more direct and easier way for me to do so, and in case anyone’s reading this, that way they can skip ahead to their favorite fight. I watched this battle several times in an attempt to breakdown as best I could. So, let’s start with the main show and the one we saw the most of:

Ruby Rose vs. Harriet Bree

Arguably the most balanced fight out of the four short ones we saw. While I am apprehensive of aspects such as Ruby’s Semblance being able of breaking through iron barricades so easily despite never having alluded or shown her Semblance doing something like that before… I can give it a pass if anything because it made the environment more malleable. Despite that, however, I did like the fast paced match between the fastest members of their respective teams. It’s a very fast battle, but we can see it fully and what we see… Is a fight in which Ruby is on the defensive the entire time, and a battle she should’ve completely lost.

Ruby landed exactly zero hits on Harriet. Zero. Well… Not entirely. She does push Harriet down once but Ruby… Isn’t good at hand-to-hand combat and it’s been shown time over time that she’s not very physically strong so I’d hardly say that counts as a hit… But it does happen. Yet we’re supposed to believe that she was taken out by running into an ice wall created by Weiss at the last moment and that her Aura broke from that? Harriet landed exactly 5 very powerful attacks on Ruby and yet her Aura never even budged. I find that hard to believe. First Ruby got kicked on the face with enough strength to send her flying towards an elevator and break the doors off the wall.

Then he got double-kicked by Harriet on the gut and sent flying back. Then she got punched right on her back by Harriet’s weapon, Fast Knuckles, which are basically Yang’s gauntlets. An attack like that should’ve, at least, done significant damage to her Aura given it was strong enough to buckle her legs and crash her against the floor, which in and of itself should count as another impact given how hard she hit it. Then after that, Ruby got headbutted on the face by Harriet and then choked on the neck by Harriet with her legs and once again slammed with tremendous force on the floor. But her Aura is unscathed for some reason?

Then in comes Weiss, puts an ice wall in front of Harriet for her to crash into, and somehow that takes her down and breaks her Aura. Objectively, this battle was amazing, but Ruby never even once had the advantage. Ruby should’ve been knocked out by Harriet when her Aura broke, but for some reason… That didn’t happen. Good choreography, however.

Weiss Schnee vs. Marrow Armin

I frankly can say this one was expertly choreographed as well. We finally get to see a fight in which Weiss gets to use her Semblance at its full capacity, and this time she doesn’t abuse ice dust only. While it’s still in the vast majority of her attacks, she also relies on fire dust, which does add a degree of excitement and a fresh take to her battle style. Not to mention she now isn’t as reliant on the Arma Gigas only. It was a good balanced diet of everything Weiss can do! There still was very little of her in actual close-quarters combat, but that’s never been her specialty. She’s more of a mid-ranged fighter than anything else with lots of tricks and gimmicks. As for Marrow– well, Marrow… Could’ve made things so much easier if he had used his Semblance effectively.

When it comes to the battle itself though it was… Very lackluster on Marrow’s end, but then again it is heavily-implied by Harriet that he’s not fighting seriously at all and was purposefully holding back, so perhaps the fact he was defeated so easily really isn’t that hard to believe considering his heart wasn’t on the fight and even then he still put up a good fight. But like with Harriet… I find his Aura breaking so easily to be… Weird? He only got hit one time by Weiss’ homing fire dust… Flames? Bullets? Rays? I don’t know what to call it, but he got hit just once with Weiss’ dust and I don’t really count it as a hit but he got pushed to the wall once, but nowhere with near the same intensity as Ruby getting slammed and thrashed all over the environment by Harriet.

But ultimately while it is a nice fight… Again, I find Marrow going down to a single attack borderline offensive and humiliating for one of the members of the AceOps, but then again this was the only battle that felt like a member of Team RWBY deserved to win, and that’s saying something given Weiss’ battle track record isn’t exactly the cleanest and she’s lost the most fights out of any Team RWBY member when it comes to one-on-one encounters.

Blake Belladonna & Yang Xiao Long vs. Elm Ederne & Vine Zeki

Honestly, this is probably the best fight out of the ones regarding Team RWBY vs. the AceOps. It is nice to see this fight’s choreography because it was quite enjoyable. It was very dynamic and there was a lot of movement which made it flow just like a river of water, but there were also… Lots of inconsistencies regarding the character’s power levels and how they performed in this fight, especially regarding Elm and Vine who, from an objective standpoint if one sits down and analyzes the fight as I did, it’s also easy to tell that… Elm and Vine should’ve won.

While it’s disappointing that we didn’t get to see Vine’s weapon in this final bout, we did see Blake and Yang working together as well as Elm and Vine despite their personality conflicts. There really wasn’t a lot of team coordinating, but both sides performed admirably. Yang & Elm with their brawn and ferocity as well as Blake & Vine with their strategic minds and nimbleness. Now… While I can only praise the dynamics, the battle was, again, stacked against Blake and Yang. Like I did with the battle between Ruby and Harriet, I went through this one thoroughly and counted the amount of hits each character received.

Yang landed a total of three direct blows against Elm. A punch to the face that sent Elm staggering back a few steps, and then she didn’t land a single hit on Elm until she punched the ground with her Semblance, destroying it and sending her flying, but this doesn’t count as a hit because Elm wasn’t harmed when Yang did this. She was only sent flying in mid-air and then Yang and Blake both delivered a single attack on Elm before she fell to the floor, shattering her Aura. Now, we know Elm is basically the Yang of the group, except bigger, stockier and presumably stronger, so with how tough she’s been portrayed up until now, that she was defeated so swiftly surprises me… Especially when she herself beat Yang down to the point her Aura should’ve broken as well.

First she headbutted Yang, knocking her off-balance and later swinging her hammer with enough strength to send Yang, the strongest and bulkiest member of Team RWBY, flying a considerable distance with her massive hammer. This didn’t happen just once, twice or thrice though. Elm hit Yang on the chest with Timber, her hammer, four times, and every single time she was sent flying. We’ve seen the ridiculous feats of strength Nora Valkyrie’s performed with Magnhild. Well, Elm is at least twice stronger than Nora. The fact Yang’s Aura never even budged despite getting hammered on the chest with the heaviest and most powerful hammer we’ve seen in the show is beyond me. It doesn’t help that she got also hit directly by Vine with a rock the size of her entire body and pushed back. If anything, Elm and Yang’s fight is the most balanced one so Elm being defeated is not the issue. The issue is how despite receiving double the punishment, Yang’s Aura never broke while Elm’s broke with just three hits that didn’t pack the same punch and power all of Elm’s attacks which connected did.

Now regarding Blake’s encounter with Vine… Like Ruby with Harriet, Blake landed a total of zero hits against both Elm and Vine. Coincidentally, however, Blake also was also hit the most in this battle to the point her Aura actually did break. Why only her’s though is not something I can answer. I could describe how Blake got hit, but two of those times she got crushed by Vine’s Semblance and slammed against the wall twice, the second time enough to break the wall as well, and the one time she got hammered on the chest by Elm with enough strength to send her several feet on the air, which likely hurt a whole lot since every single one of Elm’s hits pack two massive punches. Now if any of you are curious about how many hits Vine took before his Aura broke…

It was one. He got sent flying to the ground by Yang and his Aura broke. I don’t count the explosives that detonated near him because he was using his Semblance to hold onto them, reducing the explosion’s power and size, but it still destabilized him and sent him careening to the air for Yang to grab. But Yang’s explosives aren’t exactly the strongest anyways so even if they did do some damage, it was still extremely minuscule damage for his Aura to break from a single hit like Marrow’s did. It was honestly disappointing, especially after we got to witness how strong they truly are by perfectly fighting against a Geist in the earliest episodes of the Volume.

My overall rating of the fight is that, objectively, it was amazingly choreographed… But the power level in RWBY is still awful and largely-irrelevant, since there is no instance in which Team RWBY will actually lose a fight even if throughout the encounter they are taking more hits than their opposition. This is an issue they still need to fix…

Team RWBY’s ‘Plan’

This one is… Upsetting. Even more so than the above because, at this point, Team RWBY is devoid of any and all potential consequences of their actions, and frankly I’m tired of it. Ever since Volume 6 their ‘plans’ if they can even be called that, have been compromising even more things for the sake of their so-called righteousness. In Volume 6 they endangered all of Argus and attacked an entire military base, and to this day they’ve suffered exactly zero consequences for their actions. If anything, they got rewarded for their criminal activity by getting a free pass to Atlas. Ironwood didn’t even look in their direction after they did that too. All for their selfish righteousness too, which in most occasions isn’t even right. They just do whatever they can even if it comes at the cost of other’s safety as long as it serves them

Now they even refuse to even see where Ironwood is coming from. They don’t offer him help, all they do is judge him and criticize him both to his back and in front of him and only side with him when it benefits them. They are, physically, mentally and emotionally incapable of sympathizing with others yet they want others to sympathize with them and their hypocrisy only continues to go rewarded. The narrative is very obviously in their favor and attempts to sway the viewers into thinking Ironwood is the villain for… Doing the only few remaining things he can do to try and keep not just Atlas and the Mantle survivors safe, but all of the world. They don’t even bother to see his point. At no moment during that confrontation do they go ‘we see your point and where you’re coming from, but that’s just playing into Salem’s hands and we can’t do that.’ No, all they do is yell at him and tell him he’s wrong, that he’s an awful person.

They don’t see the greater scheme. All they see are their own lofty ideals. They physically cannot save all the people of Mantle. They physically cannot keep the Lamp and the Staff, and they certainly, at this point in time, physically stop Salem if she is coming. They need ships to save the people of Mantle, they need to be on guard duty to protect the Staff and the Lamp. They need to keep Fria safe to keep the Winter Maiden powers from being robbed, but how are they physically going to do that? By ‘standing their ground?’ That is such a nonsensical, idyllic solution. They can’t do all of those things, but somehow, someway, they are ‘right’ because they want to do ‘the right thing.’ Except. There is no right thing thing to do. Not everything is as black and white as they want it to be. And every single time they do this and experience zero consequences while reaping many rewards for their hypocritical and catastrophic reckless decisions, the more faith I lose in the writers and the show.

Team RWBY defeating the AceOps

Like I said above, this was something I really didn’t enjoy… As I’ve mentioned above, it seems Team RWBY’s recklessness and inconsiderate behavior that endangers far more lives than they save will always go rewarded, and here is no different. I’ve gone through the battle several times and the only fight which deserved to be won by a member of Team RWBY was Weiss’ battle against Marrow, and this was largely because Marrow was holding back and implied he could push Weiss more against the ropes if he wanted to. Not to mention that it was due to Marrow’s hesitation Team RWBY even had a fighting chance. Had he used his Semblance at the very beginning he could’ve frozen all of Team RWBY where they were and have them apprehended immediately because they’d be unable to move.

Besides that one, the only other one who could’ve gone in Team RWBY’s favor is Yang’s fight against Elm, but even so it was… 75/25 in Elm’s favor. But the proof is in the animation, and it shows Elm landing far more attacks on Yang than Yang ever did on her, but since Team RWBY’s victory is required for the plot to progress, they were able to defeat the AceOps. Blake’s fight against Vine and Ruby’s fight against Harriet is not something I can even justify if I tried to do so because it was entirely one-sided on the AceOps’ favor. I try to give a lot of leverage to the show and its writing, but I cannot suspense my disbelief for such a one-sided fight, especially when the AceOps dished out punishment after punishment for Team RWBY and none of their Auras broke nor did they look even remotely tired while the AceOps all went down with two-to-three hits that I find hard to believe would take down the most elite Hunters in all of the Atlas continent.

We don’t know the AceOps’ members’ age, but what we do know is that they’ve been serving directly under James Ironwood for years now, and as the most elite, that makes them the strongest military platoon in all of Atlas with several years long specialized training years under their age while Team RWBY received not even a year of formal training at Beacon Academy and fought some Creatures of Grimm on the way to Mistral, had very limited and minor training under Ozma/Ozpin and then had small bouts against Salem and Raven’s forces in the Battle for Haven. Then after that they faced off against more Creatures of Grimm on the way to Atlas except for the one time they teamed-up to fight against Caroline Cordovin’s Colossus. Compared to the AceOps’ rigorous daily training and constantly having to carry out extremely difficult tasks under Ironwood’s leadership, Team RWBY’s training really pales in comparison.

There are many other ways that Team RWBY’s physical, mental or emotional strength without having them win fights they don’t deserve, because at this point it simply feels like no matter what happens, no matter how gray the situation the writing team behind RWBY attempts to portray, the narrative always tries to portray Team RWBY as being in the right even though for the past two Volumes they have been wrong in their methods without suffering any consequences. It’s exhausting and frankly, not good writing. I understand this is said a lot, but in this case, it can really be attributed to bad writing. Team RWBY doesn’t have to win every fight, they don’t have to always come out on top. They don’t always have to be right. And they most certainly don’t have to always be at the center of everything. That’s what side characters are for, side characters that they rarely use at all but keep around and keep increasing the amount of side characters for the plot. It’s overwhelming in all the wrong ways.

By the way, it was Team RWBY who attacked the AceOps, not the other way around. They could’ve stood down, they could’ve calmed down and realized they were in the wrong in this scenario, and Harriet herself said it first. They decide what happens next. Ruby draws out her weapon and escapes the room, forcing Harriet to chase her. They were the ones who forced the AceOps into acting, not the other way around. But the next moment Ruby is begging Harriet to team up with her to fight Salem even though a moment ago she was challenging Harriet to a fight because of her arrogance and unjustified massive ego. At this point, Ironwood might be paranoid and making bad decisions, but Team RWBY certainly poured gasoline all over his paranoia.

Qrow

I think most of the FNDM can agree that what they did with Qrow makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. There are a lot of things wrong with his character this chapter. For starters, at no point since he was introduced did Qrow try to solve the problems he faced with outright violence. He always preferred the diplomatic and peaceful approach because that’s what Ozpin taught him to do and what he genuinely believed was the right step today, because violence leads to panic, and the panic leads to Creatures of Grimm… Except in this case where he… Decided to rely on violence.

But the greatest offender was the fact he teamed up with Tyrian of all people– that’s right. Qrow willingly teams up with Tyrian, the same person who has tried to slaughter both Ruby and himself and has successfully murdered dozens of innocent civilians for his own amusement to attack Clover… What? Then he has the audacity to blame Clover for what happened and feels awful when, to no one’s surprise, Tyrian betrays him and stabs Clover with Harbinger when it was him who knocked out Clover’s Aura in the first place.

It’s awful, and I can understand why so many Qrow fans are enraged by this, because even I was and I don’t relate to Qrow that much. Just as the meme goes, ‘everything happens so much…’

Clover’s Death

Didn’t need to happen. Literally that’s my entire point on this section. It didn’t need to happen, it shouldn’t have happened, and this was RWBY’s writing team attempt at shock for the Volume. Because Qrow is just not allowed to have happy endings or friends. Qrow has no rights mourning Clover’s death when he himself was the direct catalyst for it to occur in the first place. But there is something else that is horrifyingly atrocious in the writing department going on with Clover in the last moments of his death. Seconds before getting stabbed with Harbinger, Clover states that he would trust Ironwood with his life… Then, all that changes right after he is nearing the end of his life.

The moment he realizes his life is fading away, once again, Clover goes against anything and everything he stands for by wishing Qrow good luck when the other claims he’s going to make sure Ironwood takes the fall for what happened, when Ironwood is doing nothing wrong. Ironwood keeps getting painted as the villain even by his most loyal soldier, the one who claimed he would trust the general with his life, but that ultimately doesn’t matter based on the show’s writing. Clover previously also talked about how Ironwood was doing the right thing by making the toughest decisions, the decisions that realistically could and would save thousands of lives unlike Team RWBY’s lofty goals.

Goals which by the end of the episode continue being unanswered. How are they going to accomplish all the naïve promises they want to fulfill? From a non-biased opinion and how they tend to solve the writing’s plot holes in past volumes, what most likely’s going to happen is yet another Deus Ex Machina. In Volume 4 it was the ‘random’ troops that just happened to arrive to Kuroyuri on time to escort the group all the way to Mistral and seek medical first aid for Qrow. In Volume 5 it was Blake showing up with an entire militia of the reformed White Fang as well as Vernal, somehow, still living to get that cheap shot in for Raven to have an opening to knock Cinder off the vault’s cliff. In Volume 6 it was Ruby’s empty speeches somehow convincing Cordovin to give them a free ship so they could travel to Atlas even though Team RWBY and company were responsible for everything bad that happened to Argus because of their selfishness.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Deca-Dence 5 - 6 | Moriarty 3 - 4 | Yashahime 4 - 5 | Maou-jou 4 | I7 s2 5 (22) | Akudama 4 - 5 | HypMic 5 - 6 | Taiso Samurai 4 | HPGC 4

Deca-Dence 5

“…cannon won’t ignite in time!” The subbers spell cannon as “canon” later as well.

Off to the cliffside, where Kaburagi goes to die…

Deca-Dence 6

“Maybe someone intervened.” – I think Minato did, somehow.

This Death Dive reminds me of Wipeout.

Moriarty 3

I once made up a quote that goes, “When life detests you, fight back.” I think it’s also roughly along the lines of advice Albert needs.

I remembered an odd line from Macbeth: “Brother, he has killed me!” Seriously, Moriarty is scarier than some actual horror anime, I swear…Update: It’s actually “he has killed me, Mother!”, but same impact.

I had my hands over my mouth from the moment the fire began. That’s how intense this is.

This ED…doesn’t sound like an ED. It sounds like the OP for a different anime, like Joker Game or something. Also, having Saito Soma as Gentaro and Moriarty…is a bit unsettling because they have a lot of overlap but one’s basically the evil twin of the other.

Yashahime 4

“…was raised here…”

“…we can…”

I felt a heart twinge when I saw Towa tear up…man, it’s been years since I last dealt with Inuyasha properly.

“…nights where I can’t fall asleep.” – So…you’ll play it a lot then, Setsuna.

Oh, so Kirara is a nekomata? I never knew until now.

Kikyo!

According to the mythology, the kirin rules over the middle…so why is Kirinmaru the monster in the east?

Is “s***” unwarranted here? I didn’t have the volume on, so I don’t know…Going back, I think Moroha said “kuso”, but it’s still kinda weird to have a swear word in a mostly family-friendly series in a slot near Detective Conan. (Then again, Detective Conan is where I learnt “kuso” from…so my standards are probably not as up-to-scratch as they should be.)

Rin! People keep saying Rin is the mother of the girls and it’s basically the only conclusion that could be done, considering the relationship the two had…but it’s still kind of squick…(Says a person who has no problem with SGRS s2’s ending.)

Update: Someone on ANN said the teacher’s name (Osamu Kirin) being similar to Kirinmaru is sketchy and I agree.

Maou-jou 4

There’s no pun for Rocket Turtle…that’s kinda startling, actually.

I’m not going to translate the eyecatches anymore. Seems they were actually translated in the manga and someone just copies them over or something.

I’ve seen some characters use wa when they really aren’t that feminine. However, the voice Suwabe uses for the Sorceror leads me to believe this guy really is trying to be feminine, even if in just a vocal capacity.

…aw, no puns here too.

Oh no, the seal…!

…hmm? The Scissors Sorceror’s info is…we’re not allowed to look at it. That’s what the red text says.

…my brain exploded for a second when I suddenly heard jazz music. It’s a Detective Conan parody! *screams*

Iina! doesn’t really mean “Lucky!” It means more like “cool!” or “It’s good, isn’t it?”

I7 s2 5

I missed these boys!

I like the Kinako transition. It’s cute.

I don’t really like it when Tenn looks at the screen…it gives me 1st person cam vibes.

Why is Tsunashi being called “this”, anyway?

Oh yeah…mensore = youkoso = welcome.

Uh oh…is Yuki actually evil???

Riku (earth) vs. Tenn (heaven). Hmm.

I still can’t believe they don’t believe Gaku is the soba guy. It’s so obvious!

Chikuzen-ni.

Someone on staff ships Gaku and Tsumugi together…hmm…

Oh! So this is DESTINY, huh? I’ve probably heard it on Spotify before, but I don’t recognise it by sheer sound like I do HypMic. (Then again, the half-year off the airwaves probably really hurt I7, man…)

Akudama 4

Say what you will about how bad Funi translations can get…they’re definitely entertaining!

Geesh, Doctor gets all the sexy shots, but Brawler gets all the ab shots. Can I get a sexy Courier shot…?

“…she’s right.” – There’s a lot of dialogue here, so…uh, who’s “she” in this case?

What’s a “bro fro”?

Wow, Brawler, talk about being punched into next Tuesday…(partially joking)

Swindler’s face, LOL. (I know she’s an ordinary gal, but calling her “Swindler” is shorter to type.)

I remember reading around and people agree Swindler works at the Seal Centre.

The shark and bunny’s shirts say things like “Kanto/Kansai”, “earth, air/water” and “pollution/clean” during their montage.

“feminist” – Uh, ex-squeeze me?! Feminism does not equal “ladies first” or “going easy on ladies”. Update: I went and listenend to it and although one of my ears is mysteriously almost constantly plugged these days, I’m fairly sure Doctor did not say “feminist” (in katakana). Update 2: Then I listened to it again and…I’m not sure anymore.

LOL, Hoodlum hit the in-series camera. With his face.

Oh, vault = garage or storage. Right, how did I not know that?

Cat, nooooooooooooooooo! Don’t die!

HypMic 5

After the two “darker” divisions, it seems almost strange to not have a “dark” introduction about the seedy underbelly of alt. future Japan…

Oh, my gosh. That’s Ichijiku on the phone.

The studio has the word “drops” on it.

Lemme guess: Neither hand!...Yup.

The only spoiler I know for this ep. is it’s a Halloween episode, and “Ramuda ruins Halloween”. That quote is way too subjective to mean anything, though…

…hmm, Gentaro doesn’t say “shousei” in that sentence involving “this humble bard” (not that I heard, but one of my ears is mysteriously plugged after I stayed up late browsing Twitter on my phone – don’t tell anyone that, though! They’re not meant to know!). Gentaro is not a humble bard (although that would translate “shousei” quite correctly in the Shakespearean), he’s an author.

LOL, that “ding!”

Gentaro actually says “ghostbusters” in katakana, LOL.

I almost thought this Shinjuku man was Doppo…but no, this Aoyama Cemetery exists. It has nice cherry blossoms.

The “dun dun dun” soundtrack is great. It really sets the atmosphere.

Gentaro really is an idiots’ minder, just as I used to characterise him. (Then the FP and M manga and developments regarding Ramuda being evil changed my mind.)

I-Is this just gonna be an episode of FP being scared and Ramuda yelling? It’s fun for a bit, but when you’re stopping to analyse every few seconds, Ramuda’s voice is gonna get annoying eventually…

Kurosu seems to be a cross between Jyushi and Doppo.

This ep…makes FP look money-crazy. Dice is only money-crazy when he’s broke…because of course you would be…but the others aren’t.

That rock track that plays when FP hand out flyers is cool!

Are they…eating squid?...Welp, squid jerky. I’d say I’m correct.

Oh, so they’re all street photographers? Not just Tom?

I was wondering…how would the “tie to a different division” occur in episode 5, considering episode 6 is where the plot really kicks in? Turns out…they tie back to BB, which is not a thing I was expecting at all.

BB have a BB tablet…makes sense, because I think Hypster have iPhone cases for each division.

Oh, they’re planting the seeds of Ramuda’s ability here, so to speak. By knowing what Hypnosis Mics are capable of doing, you can see the building blocks of Rap Abilities as well.

Okonbanwa! The extra O is meant to make things formal, but only in front of nouns (sometimes it’s “go”, e.g. goshujin), so it’s Ramuda being overly formal to be cutesy and unconventional.

*lightbulb goes off in head* It makes sense that the group affiliated with illusions and randomness does the Halloween episode, actually.

…Yargh! Of course all these onee-sans are FP stans!...*lightly touches temple, as if to get rid of a headache* I should’ve known.

The new song is “Shibuya Ghost Night” by Tokyo Health Club, Yuki “T-Groove” Takahashi and Yuma Hara.

*stops video before the darn airhorn sounds* Thank goodness…hey, isn’t this quote from Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka…?

This episode is very seasonal, but doesn’t really make sense outside of airing on Halloween. C’mon, couldn’t you have given us a Sasara appearance instead of having Ramuda yell down the house…? I knew the FP episode was going to be either lighthearted with a dark undercurrent, like the BB ep (considering we haven’t gotten to Ramuda dying yet), or full-on lighthearted, but…I somehow wonder if the staff had an empty spot labelled “Fling Posse episode” due to COVID and went, “Okay, it airs on Halloween this year, let’s make it Halloween-inspired”…or something. Also, I feel Gentaro got the short end of the stick here.

Update: As for yakuwarigo, Ramuda trends towards the feminine side, which is not something I noticed until my groupwork partner pointed it out to me. The message in this episode has a “yone”, which proves that point even further. “Dayo~n” is a variant of the gender-neutral “yo” ending. Meanwhile, I have game samples that prove Dice uses “ze” like BB/MTC, while Gentaro uses “yo” and desu/masu like Jakurai, so it was really Ramuda anyone wanted to pay attention to since his speech patterns are the most feminine-leaning, possibly due to his extensive hanging out with ladies. (I once read a Tofugu post on how non-binary people deal with language that said if you hang out with ladies a lot, you take on feminine yakuwarigo and if you hang out with guys a lot, you do the same in that direction, but I clearly remember Ramuda using “sa”, which is a slightly male-leaning ending.)

Taiso Samurai 4

There’s something in the background which stops me from listening to it and one of my ears is blocked, but I gotta find out what Tackey was saying about the NHK Cup (the joke, I mean). Update: So I think it’s ninja/nukihara/kekkou, but I may have heard that wrong due to my blocked ear…I should get someone to clean it out properly.

Here’s the YoI monologue about competitions again. <- (neutral on it) Also, NHK is in English letters/romaji in the term “NHK Cup”, but the “Cup” isn’t (it’s in kanji).

Sekigahara had a huge historical battle.

Huh? This episode’s called “Samurai Musume (daughter)”, so…where did “Battling Samurai” come from? That’s one of the previous episodes, right?

Selfies, before they were cool.

I was wondering if Leo actually calls Rei “Rachel” like he calls Jotaro “Joe”…and he does. I just haven’t paid much attention to the audio, that’s all.

The Battle of Chibi? Never heard of it until now, but the Battle of Red Cliffs is the same thing.

Leo Naruto runs…LOL.

If Rei was in 4th grade in 2002…are we going to see the characters in the present in the end? She would be 28 in 2020.

I guess I should’ve guessed from “hat trick”, but a Bergkamp trap is related to soccer.

There’s a random Japanese-sounding track in the background…didn’t expect that.

A cemetery…on the day after Halloween.

“Grandma’s place” = the bar…Ohhhhhhhhhh. I was wondering, didn’t the grandma and Rei live together? Then it all came together.

Jim Beeam (sic), LOL.

I wonder, are Tackey and Ayu dating like he asks?

Gotta love a man in a suit! *chef’s kiss*

Yashahime 5

Who’s this Tokotsu guy again…? Also, the “ja” in Jakotsumaru means “young”.

Oh, Myoga. It’s been a while.

Can there be 4 Perils when there’s only 3 of them…?

Well, it makes sense that a dog demon would have demon fleas…in a sense.

Why is “trying to swallow up this world and turn it into a degenerate age” (or whatever Kirinmaru’s aim is) so vague? You could say the present is already an age of mass degeneracy…

Maybe the Dream Butterfly took Moroha’s memories…?

Wait, why is Myoga only allowed to drink Moroha’s blood when she puts on the rouge?

So this is an arhat. Also, aren’t morals an Anglophone ideal imported into Japan and the rest of Asia? That’s what separates Towa from Setsuna.

Akudama 5

This drone definitely won’t come in handy at all…(sarcastic)

There’s an Evangelion feel to these “masks”…

That box is like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs! It’s great!

I like how the kids jump to the potential fact (?) this is a Swindler trick.

You can see Courier’s bike in the background when the bunny says “…and I mean everything.”

*Knights of Sidonia music starts playing* Search! And! Destroy! *record scratch as music stops*

I think this little discussion between Courier and Swindler will go down in Akudama Drive history as one of my favourite moments because it’s the little conversations that count. Also…does Courier have a mechanical hand, or is that just me thinking weird things…? Is that a glove?

Ooh, scars. Sexy. (On the Executioner Master, at least.)…Now I get why the guy wears that mouth covering.

HypMic 6

Halfway through the season already…? Yikes, how time flies. By the way, my assignment’s come and gone so I don’t need to focus on it anymore.

Hmm? Why did the subbers put “Prime Minister” when Ichijiku merely says “yes”…?

Wait, 1st question: how does one sign up for a rap battle? I don’t think that’s ever been answered. 2nd question (well, not a question): Dice is paying attention to Otome now…

I’m fairly sure that red brick warehouse was just that…as in the Red Brick Warehouse in Yokohama, which was also featured in Bungou Stray Dogs. Update: Oh, it’s (partially) a shopping mall…? I didn’t know that until now.

See, I told you they’re (Tom, Iris and Rex) probably foreigners…

That one shot of Jakurai? *chef’s kiss* Beautiful. Give me a million of ‘em. (Okay, I’m kidding to some degree, but I can’t help staring at it. Jakurai’s just too pretty…)

“Tweet-like lyrics”? Eh? When was Twitter a collective pessimist?

Oh, that’s basically the scene from the drama track. Where the heck is Jakurai fishing though…? I always imagined it to be at a river or a pier, not some concrete complex. Update: According to a user on Twitter, the fishing place is called “Ichigaya Fishing Centre”. It is, as you would expect, found in Shinjuku. Apparently, even Osomatsu-san featured the place...which would explain why it looks vaguely familiar to me.

Wow, I can’t believe how upfront they’re being about Ramuda breaking up TDD.

Ramuda thought in his deep voice…I almost didn’t recognise it for a second. It doesn’t even sound like Shirai. It sounds more like…Hayami, in fact.

“F*** yeah!” - …and they’re still going with the F bomb. Keep being you, subbers, keep being you.

That shot of Saburo in a dimly-lit room almost looks like the SR card in ARB, except in that one he has his headphones on (and might be outside, to my memory).

Oh, so the round thing really is Ichiro’s ring. It’s got an “I” on it too, i.e. the Roman numeral for one.

*Ichiro explains what happened to TDD from his and Samatoki’s side* - I don’t think we’ve ever seen the story from Ichiro’s or Samatoki’s perspective enough to know either thought this (or this way).

“Jiro! Saburo! Let’s go!” - …and Tom’s just taking photos as they leave, LOL.

I didn’t expect the TsudaKen guy to be back again, really.

Well, if this Google route is to be believed, “Sadamezuka’s soul” only lasts about 30 minutes by car crossing from one point to the other, hence Jiro’s remark.

Googling “Toyotama” and “Toyotama Line” gets you…Ghost of Tsushima links…?

…hmm. I’m not listening to it on a hugely loud volume, so I can’t quite tell what the pun is, but I think the word for “monk” in this case is “bouzu”. Then what’s the word for “electric dynamo”…? Update: The pun, according to Takahisa Maeyama, is Erekiteruteru Bouzu.

That ticking thing was really effective in terms of the song…but sasuga HypMic. Things went ka-blammo again.

So we’re probably going to see BB’s first DRB round next ep…or Matenrou doing another takedown similar to ep. 3. Or both. Both is good. (Or it could be the FP/M side of things, much like we got the BB/MTC side of things here.)

...Uh, shouldn’t that be “dawn”? The anime’s generally been very good about this (aside from the obvious typo in the BB logo), but…welp, they’ve done it now.

Update: The LOVE you see Hifumi and Doppo near is this one.

Update 2: As for the yakuwarigo, it…turns out, to no one’s surprise, it stays oddly consistent across all media, although individual treatment of the characters can differ depending on the author.

HGPC 4

Ooh, is this Element of Light?

Fate/Stay PreCure! Here we come!

Moriarty 4

Why is the “to” capitalised? (Is that even capitalised?)

Quinine.

I kind of knew the grapefruit and the heart condition and/or quinine would be relevant somehow…and boy howdy, was I right! I just didn’t really know what it was going to do, that’s all.

I thought the ED didn’t match very well, but looking at the translated lyrics…now it kind of makes sense.

[ae0nx]

FRUITS BASKET ‘19 EPISODE 24 VS FRUITS BASKET ‘01 24-26 (PART 2)

Link to Part 1 here

So just to start it off again... I just wanna reiterate...

When I think of the True Form Arc, I think three simple points are vital to be shown:

Kyo’s true form is to be revealed to the audience and to Tohru

Kyo’s past with Kazuma and his mother/(partly)father

Tohru still accepting Kyo and declaring her love need for them to be together and share each other’s pain and joy

Also, if you’re more invested in my review of the 2019 version, scroll further down as most of this is gonna be the 2001 rewritten bits recap. Sorry?

-------------------------------

- Again, I really appreciate that the 2001 version left us with that pre-transformation cliffhanger. It’s a really great separation and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Plus, gives the horror and effects of Kyo’s transformation much needed time. I love the 2019 version too but it could’ve been excellent with a WHOLE episode dedicated to Kyo’s true form transformation rather than just half of one... Plus, aren’t these events are supposed to take course during an entire night leading into morning? 

I can’t decide which iteration of the Kyo transformation I like the most. I just know that the manga version doesn’t live up to the animated versions...

They’re both pretty horrifying and scary and look incredibly painful. I’d probably give it to ‘19 cos Kyo had tears in his eyes as he was transforming which hurt my heart and also just cos you know it’s in high def andddd the transformation isn’t a cloud, it’s fire embers. This is great gore-y content and I’m a little desensitised cos I had to watch/read this scene three times in one sitting so... 

I loveeee Tohru’s resilience. Kazuma’s here saying soliloquies and philosophical questions and Tohru just takes off after Kyo! And the manga and ‘19 version definitely wanted to highlight this message to the upmost: Tohru’s love is so STRONG. And BADASS. But, a part of me also loves the time ‘01!Tohru takes to evaluate the situation cos in all fairness... it is a very shocking reveal (if Tohru wasn’t already shocked enough from them turning into animals)

I like how in ‘01 anime we don’t get the inner monologue of Tohru evaluating what she saw. It leaves the whole notion of Tohru chasing after Kyo a little more mysterious as to whether she will or not. And the silence says it all anyway. Only the sound of the falling rain... I like it better. I tend to lean towards scenes with more action and less dialogue as someone who apparently learns better through visuals rather than dialogue. 

Akito appearing like a fuckin ghoul out of nowhere is still ridiculous haha but I have to give kudos to the ‘01 English VA Chad Cline. He definitely elevates the scene when he says this one sentence:

- I also like that this event (and also Akito) feeds into Tohru’s insecurity of not truly being a part of specifically Kyo and Yuki’s world. Not truly understanding them. She’s been living with them for almost a year by now(?) and I’m sure she felt because she knew the worst secret of them already there couldn’t have been anything even worse. And in a way, she feels cheated? ALSO KYO JUST TURNED INTO A FREAKIN ALIEN CAT MONSTER. I know Tohru’s very much aware that she still has much to learn about them but she couldn’t have predicted this. And it kinda puts her on the level of being an outsider once again. I like that it concentrates on Tohru’s own feelings towards her place rather than just her feelings towards Kyo. 

...I’m gonna get into some heavy 2001!Shigure defending, so I’m sorry if you don’t favour this iteration - stick with me for a sec lol

I’m ignoring all the ‘it’s not accurate, it’s not real’ chants in my head because... LOOK HOW DEJECTED HE LOOKS.

...

2001 gave me everything I wanted from Shigure as a character. Yes, he’s very interesting and conniving and fun as he was originally depicted. But... this Shigure has emotions and is fully showing them! That’s all I FUCKIN WANT. I just want him to show that even though he’s making these dangerous moves and manipulating people for his own benefit, that he has a conscious that is eating away at him and eventually will break. It may be too early in the story for an event like this to take place but I do appreciate that it’s shown. I get very frustrated with the fact that Shigure stays somewhat the same throughout the course of the manga but I guess the only person who does stay the same in the story is the narrator...

- I don’t know if the director of the 2001 version knew that they only had one season to translate Fruits Basket somewhere in the making of these three episodes, or even before. But, it definitely shows with the choices they make with the inclusion of Shigure, Uo, Hana, Kagura and Yuki in the search for Kyo. It’s almost as if they read future arcs and felt to just mash an iteration (or bastardisation) of it to try and conclude the whole story... which was quite a desperate move.

I also like the way this scene closes.

👌🏾

I actually really like this moment from Kagura! She’s actually being mature! And rational... and sort of letting go of Kyo at the same time. I do think if Fruits Basket ‘01 was given another season, it would’ve been fleshed out (obviously) but it’s such a great moment. Again, these are all signs that the end was nigh and they felt they had to tie up all the character arcs that were involved very quickly and I don’t necessarily blame them for trying. It just made them look a bit silly when looking from a 2019 view.

- But yeah, Yuki being involved is a no-no. He felt the most out of place when it comes to ‘characters that should’ve not been involved’. He makes a point when he finds Kyo about how they should both stop running away but it’s not fully fleshed out enough before this event for me or anyone else to care about. It’s kind of unfortunate cos I quite like the concept of Yuki being there especially tying in to how Yuki comes to a realisation of himself and Tohru’s relationship. 

- Also, are Yuki and Kagura tight like that? Lol for him to go rushing after Kyo basically cos she asked? mmmm.... 😓

This is actually my favourite moment from the 2001 version of the True Form Arc! It’s visually stunning and haunting and just... interesting. I like that they included the cats. Cats that would normally gravitate to Kyo but are now taking the voices of haunted figures of his past. Whether it’s in his head or not. 

In general, I felt Kyo’s mental anguish in the ‘01 version was a lot more artistically styled and creative. Very creepy and even more sad.

I do like that Tohru went to her mother’s grave for comfort/guidance before finding Kyo. I probably would’ve included a scene like that myself in the 2019 version as it adds a preliminary to Tohru’s future conflict between her love for her mother and her love for Kyo. AND it also adds time between the night Kyo transforms and the eventual sunrise when she finds Kyo. How far is Kyoko’s grave from the Sohma house? Lol

But yep, Uo and Hana being there was irrelevant but it’s pretty funny that Hana’s waves were used as a last minute explanation as to why they felt they had to attend Kyoko’s grave. But, I guesss the writers wanted to use this as a moment of Uo and Hana letting go of their ‘daughter’ to let her become a woman (reminds me of Yuki’s comment of how he saw Tohru as a woman when she ran after Kyo) and go after her man. It’s a conclusion... but it’s meshed with so many other themes and conclusions that it ALL DOESN’T MATTER. Plus, I don’t really like this as a thing; Uo and Hana will always be Tohru’s surrogate parents. ALWAYS.

Anyway, look at this beautifully depressing visual that ‘01 gave us for THREE EPISODES *sips wine*:

But seriously, while the visuals are so drastically dark compared to rest of the ‘01 season and are dragged out for sooooo longg, it is a very beautifully, depressing design. I love the way that all background music is edited out. Everyone is crying. Everyone is confused. The sound of rain is a constant throughout it. Honestly? It almost broke me cos the heaviness of it is exhausting, haha. And I have to commend it on pure shock value cos ‘01 Fruits Basket was barely dark until this arc. I think that’s what essentially made me adore it when I first discovered the ‘01 anime. I hadn’t read the manga so I didn’t know any better, but the darkness and pain in this arc is so beautifully shown and I feel like people forget that when critiquing the ‘01 version.

They jam packed a whole lot of character arcs in here when really the story should be focused on Kyo and Tohru’s reaction to Kyo. And I honestly, don’t blame them. It’s just too much at once that you don’t get to appreciate any arc at all because it’s not pushed to it’s full potential. It’s mostly just a feeling of sadness... that you later equate into genius...  because it’s sad? Which, I guess, could be seen as manipulatively clever? But now that we have the 2019 version, I think people will be more likely to decipher the bad from the good. Like, I have :)

- BACK TO 2019 VERSION: Wow, Kyo, really took out a whole cliff, huh?

I honestly got impression from the manga that Kyo did push and injure Tohru enough for her to get a huge amount away from him but not so far that she fuckin DIVES INTO A LAKE. My God, this was a bit dramatic lol

Ouch... that wound looks worse in the anime than the manga...

QUEEN TOHRU. I love everything about this.

You guys know I LOVE a good parallel and look at this couple meeting each other’s needs and taking their first steps. I can’t. I’m going to be crying into my wine soon. Nothing needs to be said about this scene, except excellence in ALL AREAS.

🎵TEARS STREAM.

 🎵DOWN YOUUURRR FAAACEEEE

🎵AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII....

I can’t get over Kyo’s face in this moment. I just- MY HEARRRTTTT. GOD TAKE ME. PLEASE. Couples that cry together, stay together. Omggg.

Even if we can’t agree on much when it comes to 2001 vs 2019, we can both agree that Tohru stays being an ethereal goddess. OUTFIT APPRECIATION. LIFE APPRECIATION. I’m so tired. haha.

So in conclusion, I think 2001 succeeded at showing all the three main points of the True Form Arc. I just think it got the message of this being a Kyo/Tohru centric tail a bit misconstrued because they wanted to make this a general zodiac tale of them finding freedom and release through Tohru. And it definitely takes away from the Kyoru centric storyline that runs through the True Form Arc. And while I think the True Form Arc could’ve used another episode in the 2019 version, it’s quite clear that 2019 wins this battle in all areas of it being a more whole and complete yet emotional and stunning version of the True Form Arc.

I would go into what happens at the end of episode 26 in the ‘01 version but it honestly kinda angers and frustrates me? And I’m mentally exhausted soooo, I might go into it some time next week before the next 2019 episode drop. Also, I’ll tie up some thoughts of the ‘01 version of Kyo and Kagura’s date. This was fun! Only took half a day to organise my thoughts, ahaaaa.

[teenwolfseason7]

Red Eyes

Stiles Slightly trembling fingers ghosted over numerous pictures and newspaper excerpts pinned to an old and stained wall, tracing imaginary connections and patterns. Stiles sighed in desperate frustration. With one brisk step, he turned around and angrily started tugging at his already chaotic-looking hair. Agitated and tired eyes locked with the bottle holding the auburn potion that would help him in a way no one else could, or would. He harshly swallowed, before getting a glass to pour himself a double one. Partially submitting to the ever-growing feeling of pure exhaustion, he sat down onto his messy bed and took a sip, whilst still exploring certain possibilities. The liquid happily leaving the usual burning sensation in his throat on its way down. Three refills later and frustration had leisurely progressed to boiling aggression whilst he paced relentlessly through his single dorm room. Abhorring the incessant discussion in his head, but unable to distract himself. Alcohol fueling wicked ideas, edging them to go beyond reality. Whispers of insanity latched themselves onto his brain. Posterior to contradicting yet another one of his intricate theories, he lost it, smashing the glass, holding his last drops of comfort, against the wall. Sending both his visualized and obscure thoughts and patterns to the ground. Incompetence chuckling in a vacant corner somewhere. Once again, he found himself onto his bed, gazing at the shatters of lunacy on the amber hardwood floor. Out of the blue, a faint rustling sound pierced the silence. Instantly, he cocked his head to the direction of the sudden noise, omitting the pounding of his own heart. Whilst questioning his debilitating mental state for imagining it, he kept listening. A negligible source was dismissed within seconds as the particular vibration re-emerged. Every sign of intoxication miraculously dissolved when a calm hand reached for the gun underneath his mattress, the cold metal stealing the warmth of his skin as it tightened around the material. Another re-occurrence had his adrenaline levels high enough for him to actually take a leap to the wall next to the window, whilst his heart thudded stridently into his ears. The anticipation built up, as he counted to three in an attempt to gather the necessary intrepidity. On his “three”, he darted upward in search for his target. Relief washed over him like a cold shower as Musafa, his favorite stray cat on campus meowed loudly, demanding treats. A harsh breath escaped him, anxiety releasing slightly as carbon dioxide left his body. “Seriously?!” Another shuddered exhale made him pause. “You have to stop doing this.” A cat parting ways whilst purring in contempt, and bunch of deep and calming gulps of air and frustrated groans later, he started cleaning up his mess from before the stupid scare, clearly in deep thought. Just as he was washing the sticky alcohol infused substance from his palms, a short ping rang like a fire alarm through his eardrums, coming from his laptop. Whilst quickly and mindlessly drying them off, he rushed towards his laptop, to click on the new notification. It was displayed rather strangely. Not the usual pristine and advanced Apple display, but blank white typewriter text, seemingly with more numbers than necessary, against a plain dark grey background popped up onto his screen. Some hacking technology he found on deep web pages he should have never been browsing on in the first place, the usual. He and one of his more “nerdier” friends perfected it, to hack in to places that should’ve never been hackable in the first place. However, not all FBI cases were kept behind the typical unbreachable doors imbedded with their ever so striking emblem. Yet another lie portrayed by the movie industry. No, the less important ones, were kept on poorly secured computers in blandly furnished offices, with incapable and uninterested agents working on them. One of those happened to be the one that was a threat to his existence. And because of that exact reason he did not feel any guilt whatsoever, for tapping into a secured briefing about that very case. Of course, his incompetence of keeping his nose out of other people their cases and business was what had landed him in this situation in the first place. But then again, if they knew what he knew, they would’ve probably meddled too, at least that’s what he was telling himself. That and the fact that the guys working on it are complete and utter douchebags, so guilt wasn’t necessarily in the top three of emotions he was dealing with right now. “Witness places M. Escobar in Campeche, Mexico.” The gears in his mind started spinning aggressively once more, as he read up on the details, instantly ordering his printer to make him a handheld cop of it, whilst absentmindedly rubbing a particular spot on his left knee. “Why Mexico?”, he debated out loud. Escobar had no relatives or friends there, which were mostly based somewhere in and around Seattle, nowhere near Mexico. So maybe the witnesses were wrong, het thought. That theory in itself was quite difficult to believe, since Escobar had a very distinct tattoo design on his face, confusing him with someone else was quite unlikely. He did not like to admit it, but given the current development of Escobar’s location, there was not much left for him to do here. It was completely implausible for the high-profile criminal to come back here after what he had done. Stiles believed that Escobar’s IQ was high enough for the him to realize that trying to come after a rookie like him again, would be impractical, to say the least, this was now confirmed with him going to Mexico. A fresh amount of wry tension crept along his neck. If only he could prove that Escobar was not some naïve kingpin, but a distinguished human trafficker with a booming business, evidently though, his clean-up crew had a bigger pay-check than everyone working on his case. But, other than the occasional location pin, no new information had surfaced. That and he had submitted his last paper of the term two weeks ago.  For months, he had been stalling it, with the obvious excuses that went something along the lines of “It’s not safe”, but going back to Beacon Hills wasn’t something he could keep postponing forever.  Teen Wolf Season 7 Teaser: https://teenwolfseason7.tumblr.com/post/189867393637/teen-wolf-sequel-teaser-the-fire-erupted-in Part 1: https://teenwolfseason7.tumblr.com/post/613061122944319489/old-habits-die-hard Part 2: https://teenwolfseason7.tumblr.com/post/613061389444071424/deja-vu Part 3: https://teenwolfseason7.tumblr.com/post/613792223778291712/headlights

[hermionemonica]

I ended up watching Ladybug. Zero self control. And I need to rant. This is probably going to be a scene to scene analysis, which is why I need to mark it for spoilers. Although, from what I gathered, there didn’t seem to be any spoilers for the other episodes. If anything, this seems to be much earlier in chronological order (not production order). Whatever, I leave it up to you.

So, spoiler alert!

This is the opening scene. Adrien making Marinette’s birthday gift. (This scene at least comes before Befana. But given the back and forth shifting of narration in the first part of this episode, the rest of it might as well be much afterwards. Although I don’t think it’ll be almost a season and a half later.)

Look at my baby boy, making a gift for his girlfriend! He could have bought her anything else, he is the son of a fashion tycoon after all! But he chose to make a gift for her by his own hands. Something meaningful and special. This just goes on to show how much Marinette’s lucky charm means to him, and how much he cares about her. Isn’t this so sweet?

“She’s a really awesome girl, she loves helping others...”

Aww, sweet child, gushing on about his girlfriend! 

Take a look at this face and tell me he isn’t totally in love with Marinette!

Look how he begged for permission to go to Marinette’s birthday party! And how happy he was on being allowed! 

“I thought you were supposed to be protecting Adrien from Marinette, the one you said was a bad influence.”

Oh Gabriel, you don’t really think you can keep those two away from each other? Also, I hate Lila even more, if that’s possible.

Okay, so I know Caline Bustier is supposed to be the best teacher and all. But I really believe that a good teacher would never humiliate her best student in front of the entire class, judging solely by an anonymous note. Why, just because unlike in Zombizou, no other student was directly involved here? Miss Bustier should really have had a talk with Marinette in private before bringing this up in class.

“Miss Bustier, Marinette always scores high in your tests.”

“Excuse me Miss Bustier, but everyone here knows it isn’t like Marinette to cheat.”

Bestie and boyfriend to the rescue! I love how they both stood up for her, and had her back till the end. (We’re getting to that.)

My poor baby! 

Also, the music in this scene was spot on. 

“You know Lila’s lying, don’t you Adrien?”

Look how his expression changes, when his girlfriend appeals to him for help.

I’ll say this once. I don’t like Mr Damocles as a Principal. He is naive and easily misled. And this isn’t even the first time something like this has happened.

Catalyst and Scarlet Moth in action once more. Also Gabriel, I cannot believe you would target a 14-year-old’s social life just to make her and her loved ones a prey to your akuma! None but you would stoop to such levels, you evil man!

Ah, my baby girl looks so sad! Someone hug her!

The heroes standing strong in the face of akumas, just like before. (Where’s Nino?)

Also Chloe protecting Sabrina is a beautiful sight.

Marinette’s purse got infected by the akuma. Does that mean Tikki was affected by it somehow?

Princess Justice and Verity Queen. (I’d have loved to see their akumatised forms.)

“...disappointed by she who you once admired so much...”

Rose, Juleka, you didn’t believe in Marinette too? That makes me think, there were others like Mylene, Alix, Kim and Max in the locker room too, but they weren’t akumatised apparently. So does that mean they trust Marinette more than Rose and Juleka do?

What? Was she about to hand over her Miraculous right there?

Perfect timing Nathalie! Phew! That was a close call!

“If you had been akumatised, nothing could have stopped you from handing your Miraculous over to Hawkmoth!” “And there would have been no more Ladybug, end of story.” “We can’t let that happen!”

The well-being of all of Paris rests on her shoulders. Someone help my child!

“I’m so glad I called you. Thanks for your support.” 

Was it just me who thought Marinette was being sarcastic, that she was fed up of Alya thinking all Marinette had against Lila was her jealousy?

“You’re my best friend, Marinette. I totally believe you.” 

Please stay with her till the end Alya. She needs you.

“Until we found a new school for you, we’ve decided that you should help us with the bakery.” 

A roundabout way of saying “You’re grounded”?

“I warned you, using a broken Miraculous ends up breaking its wearer. The wounds of the Miraculous are becoming your wounds.” “I don’t care Gabriel. I want to help you.” “Not at that cost. Never at that cost again.” 

Further confirmation of Emilie’s condition? (And also some good GabeNath.)

Ah, Nathalie, you sneaky lady! She just shushed Nooroo, and he let her go with the Miraculous? Despite knowing her condition? Also, what is the significance of the Eiffel Tower key ring? The way she looks at it, is there something special about it?

“Woo yayy, you’re doing better already–oh no, spook too soon.” “No, don’t do that, you should be resting!” “Boo-hoo-hoo, it’s so romantic!” 

Wacky or not, Duusu sure is a sweetheart! I’m glad we’re getting to see more of her.

“Gabriel so desperately wants the Miraculous, and I want to be the one to give it to him.” 

Nathalie, you love Gabriel too much for your own good.

Woah, I love this twist. So a Sentimonster doesn’t always have to be born out of sentiments? Mayura is even powerful than Hawkmoth, it seems. New information.

She looks flawless!

“Chat Noir, I don’t feel so good.” “There’s something wrong, you’re supposed to be nearly invulnerable.” “Chat Noir, don’t leave me.” “What, what’s going on?” “I’ve always gone out of my way to hide my true feelings for you, but I just can’t do it anymore.” “But I thought you said you loved somebody else?” “It’s-it’s over. After all this time, I’ve realised, you’re always here for me. Even when I keep rejecting you.Your feelings for me haven’t changed, and mine are growing stronger, every day. I can’t keep pretending anymore.”

YOU DARE PLAY WITH MY SON’S FEELINGS LIKE THAT!?

Also, is this supposed to a catharsis of what Nathalie desires to hear from Gabriel?

“Watch it Chat Noir, you’re confusing fantasy with reality.”

“Oh, listen to your brain!”

“Sorry kitty, but you should’ve known. I’m nowhere near as perfect as her.” “I love you just the way you are, M’Lady.” 

Ah, my heart!

“Okay, you’re definitely the real one.” 

Lol!

“Nooroo, why didn’t you wake me up?” “I couldn’t bring myself to, Master. You were sleeping so peacefully.” 

Aw, Nooroo is such a precious bean!

And this is why Ladybug is a Queen.

“We can call ourselves Chat Noir and his Ladybugs.” “I prefer the Bugettes and Kitty-Cat. What do you think?” “You’re in charge, Ladybug.” These three would have made such an awesome team!

“Release him!”

“Release her!”

“Don’t mind me.”

“Don’t listen to him.”

Something about this part felt so... good.

“You had Mayura right where you wanted her. I could’ve managed by myself. Why’d you do that?” “Because we are Ladybug and Chat Noir, Ladybug by itself doesn’t sound half as cool.” “You shouldn’t say things like that to me.” 

This is so sweet!

“I guess even your Miraculous Ladybug can’t bring our Bugette back.” 

Aww, they were looking for the Ladybug Sentimonster! They were really counting on another teammate-cum-friend, huh?

“I warned you once already Lila, but you didn’t listen. You hurt my friend Marinette, and that’s not okay.” “Me, hurting Marinette? But she’s the one who-” “I don’t know how to prove you lied Lila, because you’re good at it. So you have to come up with another lie, just as convincing, only this time it’s gonna prove Marinette’s innocent.” “Why would I do that, Adrien?” “Because we’re friends, aren’t we?” 

Ah, my boy protecting his girlfriend! Look at his angry face! Look how he is lowkey threatening her! He is not going to stand and watch, not when someone he cares about has been threatened. Watch and learn, salty-fic writers! 

Also, he is defending and protecting Marinette, without letting her know. Just how a caring boyfriend should.

P.S.: I love the Adrienette + Ladynoir content in this episode! 

[wordywarriorwrites]

Chapter 1: New Blood, Old Flame

Masterlist: The Boss of Brooklyn A03 Link Author: @wordywarriorwrites​ Summary: When it comes to being The Boss, James Buchanan “JB” Barnes rules with an iron fist. For him, there’s no room for sentiment, and certainly no time for distraction, even if it is in the form of an old flame. Steve Rogers had bowed out of the life a long time ago, but a twist of fate brings him right back into the fold, and face-to-face with a man he once loved. When a game of cat and mouse turns into a matter of life and death, both will be forced to decide whether they’ll be loyal to the business, or faithful to each other.  A/N: Bucky Barnes Mob Boss AU. Stucky. For: Star’s Multi-Fandom Follower Celebration & Sherry’s Fall Into You Challenge. Warnings: Language, violence, drug use, alcohol, smoking, explicit sexual content, illegal activities. 

Many Months Earlier…

The greed, the thirst, and the struggle – it was the ultimate, unholy trinity, and the Families lived by it.

They all died by it, too.

Bucky offered condolences he didn’t feel because that was his duty. After all, they’d put a lot of money into the dearly departed. Him, the wife, the house, the Golden Retriever – they hadn’t just looked the part. Their pedigree, educations, and backgrounds had been impeccable, they’d photographed and interviewed so well, and the polling numbers had been more than favorable.

The young senator in the coffin could’ve eventually been President of the United States, but alas, he’d gotten greedy. He’d lost sight of the bigger picture, held out his grasping hand one too many times, and when the Families admonished him and rapped his knuckles, he’d broken the cardinal rule.

He’d threatened to talk and they’d responded accordingly.

After Bucky showed feigned deference to both the corpse and the grieving widow, he planted a small tracking and listening device on her car. The boys in blue and the coroner had ruled the death accidental, but the wife hadn’t been fooled, and though they’d given her more than enough money to keep her mouth shut, she’d been in love with her husband.

Bucky had been in the business long enough to know what loss could do to someone. Anger and righteous indignation always supplanted sadness and self-preservation, and he knew just by the way she behaved at the funeral that she would go to the cops. However, given the high-profile nature of the situation, his gut instinct alone wouldn’t be enough reason for the Families to risk bloodying their hands again so soon.

This would require proof and he had a feeling he was about to get it.    

When he got back to his penthouse, Bucky immediately fired up the laptop, and plugged in a pair of headphones. Eyes glued to the screen, he held his breath; lines of text and code appeared, but in the less than a minute, they cleared, and revealed a location. A few moments later, the radio was turned down, a door open and shut, and as he’d predicted, she talked.  

“That you, JB?”

Bucky yanked the buds from his ears and slammed the laptop shut. He’d forgotten all about his latest bed warmer, and the sight of the naked man both aroused and annoyed him. Though Bucky didn’t normally double-dip with a one-night stand, violence and anger always got his blood pumping, and who he’d witnessed skulking around at the funeral had made him even hornier.

Steve Rogers had been out of the game for five years, and the last time Bucky had seen him, he’d had a duffel bag of cash slung over his shoulder and two remarkably well-made fake identities in his hand. He’d begged Bucky to leave town with him; promised they could have a normal life; insisted things would be better.

Bucky had responded in what had now become his trademark fashion – he’d been cold, blunt, and cruel. He’d called Steve’s notions of escape a pipe dream and a fairy tale. In their world, a happy ending didn’t mean riding off into the sunset; for them, it meant hopefully surviving long enough to retire, and maybe getting to die with dignity. He’d rejected love because it meant nothing to him – Steve had meant nothing to him – and within seconds of those words being spoken, Steve had taken off.

If someone had asked him if he ever expected to see or hear from Steven Grant Rogers ever again, he would have emphatically said no. Nevertheless, Bucky had seen him, and it stirred up all those pesky emotions he thought he’d buried long ago.

Though Steve should’ve stood out, he hadn’t; he’d always had an uncanny ability to camouflage himself when he wanted to, which meant he’d blended in seamlessly with the other black suits and ties, and managed to go unnoticed right up until the very end.

Their eyes had met through the sea of the griever’s tears and trembling handkerchiefs. A split-second glance was all it had taken for Bucky to understand why Steve had made an appearance. Somehow, he knew the man they’d put to rest, but unlike Bucky, he’d actually been there to pay his respects.

He’d blinked and Steve had disappeared right back into the crowd. It had only been a moment, yet somehow, even after so many years, Bucky had felt it all the way down into his marrow, and he hated both himself and Steve for it.

All Bucky had to do was push back his chair and undo his pants. The man – whose name Bucky didn’t remember or even attempt to recall – immediately went to his knees, pulled his boxers down past his erection, and deep throated him in one go. The eyes that looked up at him were brown, but Bucky pictured them blue, and imagined the locks clenched in his fist were golden blond instead of black.

This was not the mouth he wanted to fuck, but it would do, and as soon Bucky reached the brink, he pulled the man away harshly by his hair. Quick retrieval of a condom and lube from the desk drawer and then, they were both down on their knees. The erection the man sported suggested he appreciated the rough handling, and Bucky barely had to prep him before he all but begged for it.

“Give me your cock, JB,” he pleaded.

“Just shut the fuck up,” Bucky snarled as he pushed his way inside.

It was merciless and the noises the man made were pornographic. If he hadn’t been fisting his own dick and pushing his ass up higher in a silent plea for more, Bucky would have thought he was overselling his pleasure, but it seemed the more brutal Bucky was, the more he enjoyed it.

Eyes screwed up tight and breathing hard, he listened as, “JB! JB, oh, fuck, JB!” was called out again and again. It wasn’t the name he wanted to hear, who he was fucking most certainly wasn’t the man he wanted to make scream and come for him, but when needs must...

The orgasm had been phenomenal, but only because he’d thought of Steve.

Disgusted with himself, Bucky told him to get dressed, and get out. He’d just finished cleaning up when the man appeared again, and though he didn’t say a word, he pointedly placed his card on the desk, and promptly left. As soon as he heard the front door shut, Bucky picked it up; apparently, his name had been David, and he practiced criminal law.

“Go fuckin’ figure,” he muttered as he dropped it into the trash

Laptop reopened and attention refocused, he listened to the playback, and knew what he had to do. An encrypted communication with all evidence included was sent, and within five minutes, the Families responded with approval to move forward. After Bucky assured them all he would take care of the matter personally, he erased the messages, and hit the showers.

Even though he practically vibrated with the need to address the matter immediately, he didn’t. The Families had chosen him to be their leader and that meant occasionally allowing others to play in the sandbox. Bucky would need to extend a hand on this one and he already knew who his choice would be.

With a towel wrapped around his waist, Bucky stepped out of the bathroom and into the adjoining walk-in closet. The lights immediately illuminated the space and after he settled on the Armani, he dried off, and prepared to dress. He’d just selected a tie when his phone pinged, and when he glanced at the screen, he grinned.

“Speak of the devil,” he murmured as Natasha’s name popped up.

Her self-motivation was just one of the many reasons why Bucky invited her to bring her shovel and pail, and he didn’t have to wait long before she replied with a time, location, and a demand for sustenance afterward. Since it cost him nothing to cater to Natasha’s bloodlust and whims, he agreed.

With dinner plans now in play, he switched up the wardrobe. Bucky went with black-on-black Dolce and Gabbana; powerful, but understated, and the tie-tac was a small sapphire. Though he preferred to conduct such business at a distance, Natasha liked to get up close and personal, which meant he needed to bring his best cutlery. Unsure of whether or not he’d want to go on the prowl afterward, he pocketed a few condoms as well, because it was always better to be safe than sorry.

A little over an hour later, he rolled to a stop under the awning at the Four Seasons just in time for Natasha to step out onto the sidewalk. A valet opened the door for her and once she was settled, they were on their way.

“I saw him,” she confessed quietly. “And if I saw him, that means you saw him, too.”

Bucky sighed and signaled to change lanes, “I haven’t decided what to do about it yet.”  

“If you plan to resolve the problem, don’t do it yourself,” Natasha insisted. “Let me take care of it.”

It hadn’t been anything she hadn’t offered to do for him dozens of times before, yet, this time, her words made him swallow hard. The last time he’d ordered someone to be put down, he hadn’t felt a damn thing, but as Bucky merged off the highway, he couldn’t help but think it would be wrong for Natasha to be the one to do it. If that’s what it came down to, it would need to be him, because Steve wasn’t a man who could be caught unaware and wouldn’t let anyone else get close enough…

“So, the wife, too, huh?” Natasha muttered.

“You always said she was cagey,” Bucky remarked with a slight shrug.

“But we had plans for them. I didn’t want to be right.”

He pulled into the driveway, parked, and killed the engine. His car and their faces were familiar, which meant they didn’t have to be discreet in their arrival, just in the execution and exit. He reached into the breast pocket of his jacket, retrieved the knife, and placed it into Natasha’s waiting palm.

“Oh, you brought my favorite one? You really shouldn’t have.”

Bucky winked at her, “I know.”

Natasha hummed, slid the blade from the sheath, and opened the door, “Michael’s for dinner.”

“I’ll get us a table.”

The reservation had only taken a few minutes, and apparently, so had Natasha, because she returned almost as quickly as she’d left, but did not look at all satisfied.

“She’s in the wind,” she spat. “Closet empty, cash gone. She left in a hurry and made sure to leave her cell and everything else we could’ve used to track her behind.”

Bucky slammed his fist on the steering wheel, “Fuck!”

“It gets worse.”

“How?” he snarled. “How could it possibly get worse?”  

Natasha handed him the wife’s cell, which had been left unlocked, with a video ready to be played. The first couple of seconds were silent, and then, Steve’s face came into view.

“Tomorrow. Prospect Park. Three PM. Come alone.”

The or else was implied. Chapter 2: Nothing Personal

Everything: @jennmurawski13 @nerdy-bookworm-1998

Steve Rogers: @patzammit @hearttoearth The Boss of Brooklyn: @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan @jamesbarnesappreciationsociety @captain-rogers-beard

[woofools]

This was supposed to be a Valentines fic, but life prevented me from working on it until the last minute, and as per usual I rambled too much and ended up writing more than I originally intended. Whoops.

This is set sometime mid-season one, in case I failed to make that clear within the work itself.

Love’em Day was probably the most boring holiday in creation as far as Yang was concerned. There wasn’t an opportunity to get cool presents like with Family Day – just flowers and jewelry and girl stuff. The chocolate was okay, but at this time of year it was all heart-shaped. Bleh. There wasn’t even anything fun you could do to get the chocolate; with Weenie Howl you at least got to dress up and do scary stuff. Love’em was a whole day dedicated to love and romance and oh someone please gag him with a fluffy pink heart already.

The fact that Lina was out of town at a farmer’s market with her family and Yang had no opportunity to give her the very expensive (eh, decently expensive, Master Yo still wasn’t giving them an allowance) box of chocolates he’d gotten her definitely had nothing to do with it.

So instead he was sat on the couch, videogame controller in hand, eyes glued to the tv, box of chocolates open next to him. (Look if Lina wasn’t going to be around to eat them, that really left him no choice but to eat them himself. They could go bad by the time she got back home sometime tomorrow. He couldn’t give the girl he liked bad chocolate. But he’d spent good money on it, so he couldn’t let it go to waste…)

He was in the process of repeatedly slamming a mini-boss into the floor when he caught movement in his peripheral. He didn’t bother looking up, he knew who it was.

“Hey, um, have you seen Master Yo?” Yin asked.

Yang shook his head, still not looking up from the screen. “Nah. I think he went down to the bank to hit on the teller again. Or the car dealership, or the real estate office, or anywhere else he could think of to pick up someone so he wouldn’t be alone on Love’em Day.”

“Aw, that’s kinda sad…”

“Yeah, and pathetic.” Yang shrugged as he mashed buttons. “As long as he doesn’t get so desperate he calls Carl’s mom or something, I really don’t care.”

He was half expecting some kind of lecture from Yin here, so he was a little surprised when all she did was murmur something noncommittally. Hm. Weird and very not-Yin-like. Taking first opportunity to pause his game, he looked over towards her.

“Where are you going?”

Yin froze in the doorway for a second, then spun to face him, smiling. She had a wicker basket dangling off her arm, which was positively overflowing with pinks and reds and hearts coming out the wazoo. Yang’s innate boy-ness felt queasy at the sight of it.

“I’m going to hand out Love’em Day cards!” she said cheerfully, holding up the basket slightly. “Wanna come?”

A shudder the likes of which could only be brought on by frilly, girly things crawled up his spine. “Pass,” he said returning to his game.

“Suit yourself.”

He heard the door close behind her as she left, and after a few more combo-moves he crammed a handful of chocolates into his mouth. A realization hit him mid-chew, and after reflexively swallowing a(n honestly, should’ve been chewed more) wad of chocolate, he blurted, “Aw, man!”

He’d meant to make some kind of crack about Coop to Yin today! What kind of brother was he if he didn’t take every possible opportunity to tease his sister?

He redoubled his efforts to crush the boss (his momentary distraction had cost him a fair chunk of his HP), pouting slightly. Oh well. He’d catch her when she got home.

*****

Love’em Day was probably Yin’s favorite holiday of all time. For starters, there was always lots of pink everywhere – always a major perk in her opinion – there was always lots of flowers, and there was always lots of chocolate. And it was centered all around showing people you cared about how much you loved them! It was the best!

And Yin had an especially good feeling about this Love’em Day.

She’d left Yang and Master Yo’s Love’em cards on their beds. She’d made them herself. She’d tried to make Yang’s as over-the-top and flowery and pretty as she could (what kind of sister would she be if she didn’t antagonize her brother with non-offensive things he’d hate?), but she did really hope Master Yo would like his. She felt kind of bad for him, being all alone on Love’em Day… with any luck her card would make him feel a little better.

She made her rounds to her friend’s houses, depositing Love’em cards in their mailboxes and slowly making her way towards the park. As she was closing Lina’s mailbox, she noticed movement down by her feet.

“Aww, hey there little guy!”

It was a cat. A kind of mangy one, granted, but it looked to be a stray. That was hardly its fault. Anyway it was still a kitty, so it was still cute. Plus it had really big, pretty amber eyes—

Wait…

“Yuck?” she asked dubiously, then glanced around. She’d probably said that a little too loud. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be anyone near enough to hear.

The cat tilted its head, offering her a grin too sharp to be from an actual cat.

An incredulous laugh bubbled out of her. “Ohmygosh, I literally didn’t recognize you at first! Transfoomate?”

The cat nodded. “Y’might wanna stop talking to a cat like you think it’s gonna talk back though,” it added in an undertone, lazy grin still in place. “People’ll think you’re nuts.”

“Oh, right,” she giggled. “Um— hey kitty-kitty! Wanna come to the park with me, you little fluffy bundle of cuteness? Yes you do!”

The cat looked suddenly displeased at the baby talk, but it offered no resistance when she picked it up and placed it in the now practically empty basket, before resuming her trek.

“You’re sitting on your card by the way, don’t crush it!”

The cat looked up at her curiously, then began shifting a bit, presumably with the intention of digging the card out from underneath it. Yin giggled again.

“Me talking to a cat will make people think I’m nuts, but a cat reading won’t be weird?” As the cat froze, she said, “Just wait to read it until we get to the park, we’re almost there!”

There was a bit more of a pause, then the cat huffed and settled back into the basked, sulking slightly.

Yin didn’t mind. This was going to be her first Love’em Day with an actual, real date. She was excited, and nothing could ruin it for her.

*****

The “Brett Incident” had been the catalyst, as uncomfortable as it was to think back to that. She told herself everything was fine afterward. So she’d been lied to and tricked and gotten her heart broken; it wasn’t like she was the first girl that had ever happened to. And it had resulted in her brother admitting he was wrong and being genuinely protective, neither of which were things he did often. That balanced out, right? Yeah, it kind of stung, but something good had come out of it, so there was no need to regret it or stay upset about it, right?

…her self-pep-talk didn’t exactly do much to cheer her up. But the thought of trying to talk about her feelings with Yang or Master Yo (both of whom she loved, she really did, but they had the respective sensitivity of malfunctioning chainsaws) made her feel stressed and overall kind of icky. So she slapped a grin on her face and bore through it, mentally chanting that it would stop bothering her eventually.

Weirdly, the part that felt like it was tearing a hole in her heart hadn’t been that she’d been tricked by one of their enemies. It hadn’t been that the mega-cute guy who’d been interested in her wasn’t actually a mega-cute guy or actually interested. It hadn’t been that she’d given up her first kiss when it didn’t count, or any of the things she felt should be what was bothering her.

It was that… she’d been having fun with Brett. She’d liked talking with him. She’d liked going out and doing things with him. She’d liked how it’d felt to hug him and have him hug back, even if it had left her kind of woozy afterwards. And even though she knew it had all been fake, she wanted that back.

After nth night of not being able to sleep after the fallout, she’d snuck out of the Dojo in the middle of the night and gone on a walk. It wasn’t something she realized was dumb in hindsight, she’d been fully aware even as she was doing it that what she was doing was a bad idea.

Point 1: This certainly wasn’t the first time she’d been out at night, but every other time before Yang had been with her. If anything/one were to attack her now, she’d be on her own.

Point 2: She hadn’t wanted to bother with the questions Yang or Master Yo would ask if she’d woken either of them up to say she was going out (or, likely in Master Yo’s case, the blunt no and go back to bed), so she just hadn’t. As such, if something did happen to her, no one would know.

Point 3: Even if nothing happened and she got back to the Dojo just fine, if Master Yo ever found out what she’d done she would be in so much trouble.

She ignored all three of those very good points, and went out anyway. She liked walking around at night. She always had. And if there was a chance something was going to make her feel better, by Foo she was going to take it.

It was going well, all things considered. It wasn’t making her feel better per se, but there was something pleasantly mind-clearing about being in familiar spaces while everything was quiet and peaceful and empty.

She heard something rustling in an alleyway as she moved through town. She hadn’t paid it much attention at first; probably a cat or raccoon or something. She walked past and didn’t investigate. But when she looped back later (because she wasn’t actually walking anywhere in particular, she was just walking, so she doubled back and forth as she saw fit), she could still hear the same rustling. She abruptly wondered if something had gotten caught in something else and was stuck. Her heart hurt a little bit picturing some poor, defenseless creature trapped and all alone, so she headed down the alley to see if she could help.

It wasn’t a poor, defenseless creature trapped and all alone, because why would anything ever be that clean cut or simple? It was probably the last person she wanted to see, rummaging through dumpsters trying to find something to eat.

She looked at Yuck. For a minute, he looked back at her. What looked to be a stale pizza crust dangled from his mouth. Then his face scrunched, brow furrowing, and opening his mouth a bit wider he dragged the crust in with his tongue. He chewed maybe twice before swallowing thickly.

“Whaddya you want?” he spat, Woo Foo flaring around his hands.

Yin glared back at him, her hands lighting up as well. She was honestly not in the mood for a fight right then, even if it would mean having a chance to kick the butt of the jerk who’d smashed her heart on the ground. But she didn’t think “I’m not feeling it right now, leave me alone,” would cut it with Yuck.

“I’m walking,” she spat back. “I don’t ‘want’ anything, especially from you.”

“Aw, what? You still sore about before?” he sneered. “Get over it! You started it!”

Hm, her desire for a fight was rising. “I’m sorry – what?! How’d you get there?”

“Uh, you and your dumb brother killed me? When you reabsorbed your bad traits?”

Ooh, well that was an uncomfortable way to hear that phrased…

“You were attacking us!” she countered. “And we needed our bad traits back! And you didn’t actually die, you’re right here?!”

“I didn’t have a body or a heartbeat, that’s pretty dead to me!”

She was about to come back with something (she wasn’t entirely sure what, but her honor and burning desire to not feel guilt over her actions against a complete jerk demanded she try anyway), when all of a sudden Yuck faltered. He wobbled where he stood, and the Woo Foo encompassing his hands flickered.

She raised an eyebrow, hands lowering a little. “Well you look like you’re doing good.”

“Still recovering from when you when you drained me,” he grunted, Woo Foo still sputtering. “I can still— still kick your butt, though—���

“I kinda doubt that,” she said, letting her hands drop fully and her own Woo Foo extinguish. Her already shaky will to fight had just died. She wasn’t particularly interested in getting retribution for what he did, she realized. She never had been. She mostly just wanted to stop feeling so crummy about it and not have to think about it anymore.

Yuck didn’t take kindly to this. “You don’t think I could beat you like this?! You think you’re enough to win in a fight against me all by yourself?! It took both you and your brother to beat me before, and even then it was just barely—”

“I’m gonna go play mini-golf,” she said suddenly, decisively. “If you wanna come and keep blowing up that’s fine. Just don’t get me caught.”

Yuck blinked and went quiet. When he did say anything more after a few seconds, Yin turned and walked away, not caring if he followed her or not. She was halfway to the mini-golf course when she heard a voice behind her say, “You know that place isn’t open right now, right?”

“Gee no duh,” she threw over her shoulder (though she was admittedly surprised he’d actually bothered to follow her). “It’s like one in the morning.”

“So… you’re gonna break in? Willingly? Doesn’t that kinda go against your whole… everything?”

She stopped, turned to face him, hands on her hips. “I’m not going in to do anything bad like vandalize the place or steal anything. I’m just gonna go play a few holes. There’s nothing wrong with that.” She turned back around and kept walking.

This wasn’t wholly true, and she knew it. She was about to break into somewhere she wasn’t supposed to be, and while she didn’t mean any harm it certainly wasn’t right. But the thing was, she found she really didn’t care. Her emotions had been in a total knot for a while now, and for whatever reason it made the notion of doing something completely reckless and just a little bad sound like the best thing in the world.

They got to the course, and since really the only thing keeping the public out was a locked fence, it was easy enough to get in. She just levitated over it (Yuck scurried up and over in a way that reminded her of a feral, potentially rabid squirrel). The golf clubs were a bit trickier to get to, given they were all locked in a locker, but it turns out she had the ability to Transfoomate something unlocked. She selected her club, grabbed a few golf balls, then headed out to the course, still mostly ignoring Yuck.

She wasn’t surprised when Yuck appeared next to her with his own club and ball, not exactly but it still hadn’t been what she’d been expecting him to do. Maybe it should have been, considering he’d compliantly followed her all the way here, but still.

They played back and forth in silence for a while. Yin was actually starting to fall into the trap of relaxing when Yuck asked, “There a reason you picked this mini-golf course?”

Yin’s face twisted, but she didn’t look up from her tee. This was where her and “Brett” had gone on their first date. She hadn’t forgotten; she’d been trying to ignore it.

“It’s the only mini-golf course in town?” she supplied, putting a little harder than she meant to. Darn. That’d cost her. “And it was close by when I decided I was sick of walking?”

“Why were you out walking?”

“Couldn’t sleep. Why were you out in a dumpster?”

“I was hungry.”

Yin huffed, crossing her arms. “And you have to go through the dumpster for that? Aren’t you with the Night Master now? Doesn’t he feed his minions?”

“I’m not like… ‘with’ him full-time. S’not like we have a contract or anything, I mean. I can do whatever I want.”

She tilted her head now. “He gave you a whole robotic suit to get a new body with, how did he not lock you is as ‘full-time’ for that?”

He shuffled his feet agitatedly. “I’m on call, technically, but like. I’m still a free agent. I didn’t go begging for a job as soon as he found me, I’m not making that mistake twice.”

Yin blinked. She’d meant more “why didn’t the master of evil demand your eternal soul for apparently bringing you back from the dead or whatever it was he’d done,” but Yuck had apparently taken it as “why didn’t you accept the job opportunity.” Combining it with the “not making that mistake twice” comment made his reaction… interesting.

Yuck teed up, but right as he was about to swing, he paused. He slowly lowered his club, staring off into the distance. Just as she was about to ask what the holdup was, he suddenly said, “I bet I can hit that purple thing from here.”

Yin followed his gaze. The “purple thing” in question was a statuette of a hippo further down the course. She turned back to him, raising an eyebrow. “The point of the game is to try to get the ball into the little hole? Not hit stuff.”

Yuck grunted, adjusting his stance to aim towards the hippo and squinting in concentration. “Yeah, well, I’m bored of hitting the dumb ball into the dumb hole. I wanna hit the purple thing.”

He swung hard, the ball making a high-pitched tok! as the club hit it. Yin watched it sail through the air into the distance, and shortly after there was indeed a secondary tok! as it hit the hippo.

“Bullseye!” Yuck cheered, pumping his fist.

Yin rolled her eyes. It was a little unnerving how strong she could see her and Yang’s traits in Yuck (presently it was just Yang, but still). As she was rolling them, though, she caught sight of the windmill at the far end of the course.

“That was an easy shot,” she said, drawing his (now indignant) attention. “Check this out.” She lined up her shot, called out a hearty “fore!” (no one was around, there wasn’t really a point in bothering to be too quiet), and swung her club as hard as she could. The ball was launched, and seconds later there was a distant sound of it hitting the windmill. She turned back to him smugly.

To her amusement, he looked to be somewhere between surprised and grudgingly impressed. “Not bad,” he mumbled. His gaze darted over her shoulder. “Okay, double or nothing: I bet I can get my next ball over the fence and across the street from here.”

A while later and their golf game had been mostly forgotten. They’d instead taken to selecting random targets and smacking balls in their direction. Yin succeeded in smacking her ball through the center of the ‘o’ in the ‘Mini-Golf’ sign, and gave a loud cheer.

“I wish Yang could’ve seen that!” she said, grinning. As Yuck gave her a strange look, she raised an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“Do you two even actually like each other?” he asked, which caught her off guard. “I mean… one second you’re trying to tear each other’s ears off the next you’re getting all defensive over each other. I mean… what gives?”

“Uh… we’re brother and sister? It’s kinda what we do?” She snorted. “‘Do we actually even—’ Of course I like my brother.” She paused. “I mean. Usually. Most of the time. I always love him, though.”

Yuck’s face was bizarrely neutral. “And he actually likes you?”

“Um, yeah? He’ll tell you he doesn’t of course, but I’ve got him on record saying he does, so there’s that.” She rolled her eyes. “Heck, you were there one of the times he admitted to it.”

“What’s that like?” he asked, sounding suddenly – almost childishly – grumpy.

She tilted her head. “What’s what like?”

“Being liked.”

She stared at him for a second. Something churned inside her.

“I did like you, y’know,” she finally said. Her voice sounded much harder than she’d meant it too, but she quickly decided she didn’t really care. “I’d had fun with you, even.” Then, before she could stop herself, and faster than she intended, “If you’d just been honest with me, I probably would’ve been okay with it. I probably would’ve helped.”

He seemed momentarily taken aback, but then his face fell back into muted, sullen anger. “No you wouldn’t of,” he said. “You didn’t like me. You liked Brett.”

“You were Brett,” Yin insisted, brow creasing, grip tightening around the club still in her hands. “You acted more – I dunno – cool? But everything else – how you joke, show off, how you walk – it’s the same. I’ve been noticing it all night. It— it really—”

Do not start crying in front of him. Do not cry. Do not let him know how much it still hurts.

“I liked you before that even,” she said, desperate to move away from the subject of Brett. “When you first showed up. I liked you plenty right up until you started attacking me and Yang.”

“Yeah, ‘cuz you had to,” he shot back. “‘No bad traits,’ you liked everything.”

“I was liking you now,” she said forcefully, challengingly. She realized her mistake a second too late.

Before she had time to ruminate or regret it too much, he snarled back, “I was liking you too!”

(Well, at least she wasn’t the only one oversharing tonight.)

His face fell. He didn’t look angry anymore; he looked horrified and lost and… and scared. His arms (hand also still gripping his club) fell limply to his sides, and for a moment he just looked at her.

“I—” he started, “I-I mean— I—”

Maybe it was just because Yin was up way past her bedtime and wasn’t thinking clearly. Maybe it was one of those sweeping, “heat of the moment” –emotional things she always read about. She wasn’t entirely sure. But before Yuck could attempt to explain what he’d purportedly meant, she leaned over and prevented him from doing so by covering his mouth with hers.

She kind of expected Yuck to push her away. He didn’t. He tensed, but that was about it.

She pulled back after a second or two. This was only her second kiss, so truthfully she wasn’t entirely sure how it was supposed to go. She suspected Yuck wasn’t supposed to still be looking so lost and scared though. Or starting to shake like he was.

Something was building in her chest, bubbling up her throat, and then suddenly she hiccupped. And her eyes started stinging. And then she was shaking too.

Everything still kind of hurt… was that normal? Shouldn’t she feel better now?

Yuck’s face crumpled, and his breathing got choppy. It was weird to realize, but she’d never actually categorized Yuck as someone her age in her head. Like, she knew he was, but he’d been classified as a villain before he’d been classified as a kid.

He looked like a kid now. He looked like a kid who was scared and hurt and confused and needed someone to give him a hug and tell him everything would be okay.

Yin hiccupped again, distantly aware that her face was now wet, and wrapped both arms around his neck. She wasn’t entirely surprised when his arms locked around her waist like he’d float off without her, or when his face went into her neck.

“Sorry,” he blurted, and both their shoulders were shaking at this point. “I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t’ve –l-lied to you or hurt you n’d I’m sorry.”

“M-m’sorry we killed you,” she half-wailed back.

She couldn’t have said whether the sound he made was a laugh or a sob if someone had held a gun to her head. “S’okay, I woulda too.”

They stayed like that for a while. By the time she made it back to the Dojo, she was utterly exhausted. But, she supposed, she’d also managed to fill up the hole that had been eating its way through her heart. So she supposed she’d do it all again, if given the choice.

(Particularly since she was in a relationship again. And it was a real one that counted this time, too. Yay!)

*****

There were a couple slight problems that came with dating Yuck. Their names were ‘Yang’ and ‘Master Yo.’ Yang could deny it all he wanted (and hoo baby would he try), but Yin knew that deep down he was kind of protective. Kind of violently protective. And the last time he’d seen Yuck, he’d stated in no uncertain terms that he would, quote, “break him into parts, whether he’s in a robot suit or not.” While Yin appreciated the sentiment, she was kind of firmly of the preference that Yuck stay in one piece now. And since Yang was Yang, the odds of convincing him that everything was okay now without forcibly beating it into him in were slim to none.

With Master Yo she foresaw as doing something similar, but honestly with him she was more worried about him just plain ordering her not to see Yuck anymore, either for her well-being or “the Woo Foo scrolls say to never date your enemy something-something blah blah blah.” And because he was in charge, it meant that she’d be constantly at risk of getting in trouble when she inevitably disobeyed him. If he didn’t know, he couldn’t stop her.

(There was also the fact that Yuck was formerly a villain, and she was a Woo Foo Knight trying to uphold good. As far as she knew, Yuck wasn’t particularly well known to the general public by the time they’d started dating, but regardless, word getting out about them wouldn’t do either of their reputations any good. Best to keep it under wraps for now.)

Sneaking around from date to date was by no means a permanent solution to this problem; she knew she’d have to find a way to break it too them at some point. But for the moment she couldn’t bring herself to deal with it. She was enjoying Yuck’s company too much to complicate things with other people’s opinions or interference.

The park was a pretty spot for a date in general, but the major draw for her and Yuck was the trail that led off to an almost completely ignored and forgotten bench, blocked from view of the rest of the park by a small grove of trees.

It wasn’t super secluded, all things considered; in fact they’d had people walk up on them during prior dates. But there was also enough nearby foliage where one or both of them could dive into the brush and out of sight if anyone got too close. The trick was keeping a constant ear out for people who might be approaching.

When they were far enough down the trail, Yuck transfoomated himself back to normal, at which point they linked hands. They continued walking to their spot, talking about nothing in particular, and then they got there. And then Yin’s mental thought process shut down.

There were people already at the bench.

Not that big of an issue, they seemed pretty distracted, there was still time to duck out of sight and go somewhere else.

They were pretty distracted because they were making out.

Awkward, but nothing too weird. Her and Yuck could probably turn it into a joke later.

One of the people making out was Master Yo.

Undeniably something that would haunt her dreams later, but she suspected with enough therapy she’d be able to move on with her life.

The other person—

The other person was—

[file failed to load] [yin.exe has stopped working]

Reboot, reset:

Master Yo – her mentor, her very, very old mentor – was sitting in the park, making out – theywereusingtheirtonguestheywereusingtheirtonguesabortabortABORT – with the Night. Master.

…and the award for most mind-meltingly horrible image she’d ever had the displeasure of getting seared across her brain goes to…!

Her basket slid from her now limp grip, making a soft noise as it hit the ground. The Night Master’s ear flicked, and he peeped an eye open to what the source of the sound had been. Seeing them, he made as strangled sound of alarm, both eyes flying open, and began frantically pushing Master Yo off of him.

Master Yo, startled, looked behind him to see what had caused the sudden panic. Yin and him locked gazes with each other. His eyes went immediately wide with horror, and he hastily retreated from the bat sitting next to him (who incidentally now seemed very resolute in studying the woodgrain of the bench).

Yin continued to stare, eyes wide and uncomprehending, before she took a deep, steadying breath inward.

“Yuck, catch me,” she said.

Yuck turned to her, confused. “Um… ‘catch y—‘? Holy—!”

Yin’s knees gave out from under her, and she only just narrowly avoided hitting the ground through Yuck’s frantic flailing.

“This isn’t real,” she said calmly from Yuck’s arms. “I’m having a vivid hallucination, and when I close my eyes and count backward from ten, it’ll be gone.”

“I admire your optimism,” the Night Master snarked, not looking up, “but you aren’t that lucky.”

Oh, she wished he hadn’t talked. Hearing him talk made the whole thing seem so unbearably real, and having to acknowledge it as real was making her fight-or-flight response kick in.

“What, exactly,” she asked as evenly as she could, fighting the instinct to either run off screaming or beat a bat’s face into soup, “is going on here?”

Master Yo’s eyes flicked to Yuck, then back to her. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could manage she heard herself blurt, “Since when do you like guys?”

The horror and humiliation previously branded across his face took a small recess, and then he just looked indignant. “Since when do you like—?” he grumbled and gestured agitatedly at Yuck.

(Yuck, for his part, looked increasingly awkward, and seemed to be avoiding eye-contact with the Night Master at all cost. Yin sympathized, but at least Yuck didn’t live with him.)

“Since we started talking,” Yin snapped defensively, pushing herself out of Yuck’s arms.

“Uh-huh. And how did you two start ‘talking,’ exactly?” Master Yo asked suspiciously.

“Wh—” An incredulous pause. “No. Absolutely not. You are not going to give me a lecture or ask me questions when you’re the one out here playing tonsil hockey with the stinkin’ Night Master!!”

Master Yo flinched. The Night Master sank into the bench, the red marks framing his eyes almost lost amongst his mortified flushing.

“How are you even out here?” Yin demanded, staring at him. “Aren’t you supposed to not be able to go out into the light?”

The Night Master glanced at her, then huffed. “I can manage if I take certain steps beforehand, keep to the shade,” he gestured at the trees at their backs, “and don’t stay out too long.” Looking away and sinking still further into the bench, he added miserably, “Since it’s a special occasion I decided to put in the effort.”

Special occ—? Oh. With all the trauma, Yin had actually forgotten the reason her and Yuck were out here themselves. But that meant…

“He’s your Love’em Day date?!” she balked at Master Yo.

Once more looking indignant, Master Yo gestured at Yuck again. “He’s yours?”

“Hey, you wanna go Gramps?” Yuck demanded, apparently managing to break out of his shell of awkwardness with a little help from Annoyance and Desire For Wanton Violence.

Master Yo looked less than impressed, but rather than respond, he took a deep breath.

“Look: let’s just take a minute here and acknowledge we’ve both crossed the same line—”

“You’re farther over it,” the Night Master pointed out sullenly.

Master Yo turned to him sharply. “Whose side are you on?”

The Night Master gave him an incredulous look before tapping his chin exaggeratedly in mock-thought. “Well huh, I’m essentially the avatar for all that’s evil in the world, and you’re duty-bound to disband all forms of it. So if I had to wager a guess I’d say: not yours.”

Master Yo rolled his eyes to stare up at the sky imploringly.

Yin put her head in her hands and tried to take calming breathes. “How did this happen?” she eventually managed to grind out.

Master Yo and the Night Master exchanged brief looks. “I technically asked you first,” Master Yo said.

Yuck looked ready to move to the defensive, but Yin softly touched his shoulder to stop him. “We met up by accident, argued a bit, ended up hanging out, apologized for what we did to each other, and now we’re dating,” she supplied, tone clipped.

“And the fact that you already dated once and he was using you to get a new body?” Master Yo asked, throwing a hard look at Yuck.

“He only needed a new body because me and Yang destroyed his first one, and we covered both those things when we apologized. Now you guys.”

Once again, the two masters shared a look before Master Yo looked back to them. “We— uh… ’texted’? the wrong number, started talking, accidentally liked each other. Now we’re…” he paused, glancing back to the Night Master questioningly. She didn’t know what kind of telepathic conversation they had, but when Master Yo looked back to them he finished, “now we’re together.”

“And the fact that he’s plotting to blot out the suns and kill all of us?”

“I’ve revised that plan, actually,” the Night Master interjected. “Not the ‘blotting out the suns’ bit, that still stands, but the ‘killing all of you’ part.”

Yin crossed her arms. “Revised it to what? Instead of killing all of us, you’ll just kill me and Yang?”

The Night Master made a face. “Are you kidding? I’d never hear the end of it. He’d probably break things off just to spite me.” (Master Yo was giving him the ‘you’d be lucky if that’s all I did’ –look he sometimes gave her and Yang; the Night Master ignored him, looking only mildly annoyed.) “Anyway, really all I have to do is keep you three captive until after I’ve blotted out the suns and established my armies in enough of the world where I’ll be able crush any rebellions that happen to crop up. After that there won’t be much you could do to stop me, so you’ll be free to go.”

“…that’s all, huh? You’ll just let us go? No paranoia that we’ll strike back at you at a later time or anything?”

“None at all,” the Night Master said confidently.

Yin noticed Master Yo shifting uncomfortably, so she turned her attention to him. “We, uh. Kinda made a deal.”

“You what.”

“If he manages to actually take over the world, we won’t take it back from him—”

“We WHAT.”

“And if you manage to defeat me when I finally make my move,” the Night Master continued calmly, “I won’t attempt to do so again.”

Yin paused. “You expect us to believe that?”

The Night Master shifted, sitting up slightly, and then to her complete surprise he leaned over to press into Master Yo. “He does.”

“…and… you’re okay with that? Not getting to try to take over the world anymore?”

He shrugged. “I don’t really intend to lose, so I don’t see why not.” Before Yin could respond, he turned to looked at Yuck, eyes narrowed. “And if you wouldn’t mind perhaps giving me some kind of definitive sign as to whose side you’re actually on, that would be great, thanks.”

Yin glared, moving to stand in front of Yuck instinctually. Unnecessary, maybe, considering it was Yuck, but she didn’t particularly care.

“…How come you didn’t tell me?”

Yin looked back to Master Yo, who was glancing between her and Yuck. He looked…

…huh. He looked a little sad, honestly.

“…how come you didn’t tell me or Yang?” she asked back.

Master Yo hesitated a second, then sighed. “Lots of reasons,” he admitted. “Mostly didn’t think you’d agree with it or understand.”

She glanced back at the Night Master. “…a fair concern.” She then looked down to her feet as she shuffled them. “Same here, I guess.”

Master Yo nodded. “…have you told Yang?”

Yin looked up. “Are you kidding? He’d freak.”

Master Yo looked like he might try to debate that point, then nodded again decisively. “Yeah. He’s pretty much gonna hit the roof when he finds out.”

“He’s gonna hit it harder for you. You’re dating the Night Master.”

“Uh, no, guess again. I’m just his grumpy old master. You’re his sister.”

“…aw pellets.”

Master Yo offered her a weak smile. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

Yin considered this, then sighed. “Yeah, alright.”

Master Yo’s smile became a little stronger before vanishing completely as he gave Yuck a stern look.

“Don’t you dare hurt her again,” he said, and Yin was a little taken aback to hear an actual note of menace in his voice. It was… oddly sweet, in a way. He wasn’t usually this candidly protective. Granted she wasn’t entirely thrilled that he was indirectly threatening a person she really cared about and was dating, but she supposed she could appreciate the sentiment.

That said, if he was gonna threaten her date…

Snapping on her heel to face the Night Master, she fixed him with a glare that promised bloodshed. “If you do anything to hurt my master, or try to betray him or— or anything, so help me I will stuff a closet with every high-powered flashlight I can find, turn them all on max, lock you in there, and forget about you.”

(She was exhilarated to note the bat seemed decidedly apprehensive about her threat. And though she didn’t notice, Yuck now stared at her starry-eyed.)

Master Yo suddenly coughed. “So, uh… are we gonna have to fight you for this spot now, or…?”

As Yin shuddered, Yuck stepped forward and said essentially what she was thinking. “Yeah, no, we’ll go find somewhere else. This spot is tainted now.”

Master Yo pursed his lips. “What’s that supposed to—?”

“TAINTED,” Yin and Yuck both asserted in unison.

“Alright, fine, ‘tainted’!” Master Yo said, throwing up his hands. “You two gonna get outta here or what then?”

“Believe me, we’re gone,” Yin said, taking Yuck’s hand and pulling him back up the path (he swiped her basket off the ground as they went).

Pausing for a split second’s consideration, Yin threw a “Happy Love’em Day!” behind her as she moved.

“Keep your clothes on,” Yuck advised over his shoulder.

Yin shuddered again in complete revulsion, but also couldn’t hold back a laugh at the scandalized and embarrassed exclamations Master Yo and the Night Master threw at their backs.

*****

Yang heard the door open and close. He briefly checked over his shoulder to see who had come home, and his sister came skipping into view.

“Yeesh, that took a while,” he said. “How many cards did you have, anyway?”

“A lot,” she said happily. Hopping over the opposite armrest, she plopped down beside him on the couch, sighing contentedly. “I love Love’em Day…”

Yang rolled his eyes. “Speak for yourself.” Now back to focusing on his game, he nudged the now nearly-empty box of chocolates towards her with his foot. “There’s some coconut left in here if you want ‘em.”

“Don’t mind if I do!” she said cheerfully. Her attitude quickly dropped once she actually opened the box.

“Ewww, Yang! You bit into all of these!”

“Duh. How do you think I found out they were coconut?”

“There’s a guide on the lid of the box, you dope.”

“What?” Yang’s character stuttered to a stop in the game (he was just dungeon crawling right now, so his attention wasn’t life-or-death) as he turned to look at what his sister indicating. “Since when?”

“Uh, since forever.”

Yang stared at the printed guide that was indeed on the lid of the chocolate box before groaning. “Aw, pellets! Do you know how much time that woulda saved me??”

He heard Yin laugh, which threw him off guard. Honestly, he’d been expecting a snappy comeback.

(He should’ve known it was a trap.)

Yin’s arms were suddenly wrapped around his neck, and he refused to be held accountable for the noise of displeasure he made.

“Happy Love’em Day, Yang.”

He made an effort to dislodge himself. No such luck. “If I say it back, will you let go??”

“Mm-hm!”

“Ugh, fine: Happy Love’em Day, Yin.”

She released her grip, beaming at him. “Thank you!”

He grumbled something back, focus back on his game. Yin bounced out her seat and headed out of the room, off to do whatever—

Oh— wait—!

“Coop!” Yang blurted.

Yin jumped. “Where?!”

“No, I mean—! Have you seen him today?”

Yin relaxed. Aw pellets, he hadn’t meant it so sound like a legitimate question!

“No,” she said, then tilted her head to the side. “I’m honestly kinda surprised? Usually he would’ve bothered me at least once by now… I would’ve thought he’d have dialed that up to 90 considering what holiday it is.”

Yang sagged, his big opportunity blown. For a whole year, and wasn’t that just depressing?

“Maybe he’s outta town,” he offered disinterestedly.

Yin scoffed, moving towards the kitchen. “Yeah, well, ‘outta town’ can keep him.” As Yang snorted a little, she asked, “Was there any leftover spaghetti left?”

“Yeah, it was delicious.”

Yin groaned.

“Eh, Master Yo’s gotta call it a day and stop striking out with women eventually, right? Bug him to make us some dinner when he gets home.”

Yin suddenly offered a very strained, high-pitched laugh, babbling something to the effect of “yeah, striking out… all those women…”

Yang ignored her. He was coming up on his next boss. If she wanted to be weird, that was her call.

*****

“…listen to me, this is important. Where is he?!”

Flaviour huffed, spinning on his heel and turning his back to the mantle he’d been in the process of dusting. “I told you: I don’t knooow. One minute he’s here being all—” he made a sound that was both the approximation of a menacing growl and a haughty huff all at once, with a sweeping gesture to match, “—and then next thing I know he says he’s going out and – poof! – gone.”

“I thought the whole point of being in hiding was that he didn’t ‘go out’?!”

“You would think, wouldn’t you?” With another huff, Flaviour turned back to what he’d been doing. “He never tells me anything, you know, not unless it’s ‘Flaviour, go clean that,’ or, ‘Flaviour, go sew this,’ and does he ever say ‘thank you’?” He clicked his tongue. “You know, I don’t know anyone else who’d put up with what I do from him, where would he be without Flaviour? All alone, that’s where, with no one to talk to him, or listen to his silly plans, or put up with his drab taste in— eugh!!”

He’d been forcefully spun around, and was now being held off the ground by the front of his shirt.

“This is an original Louis Vitatooie!!” he squealed, clutching at the hands holding him aloft in a futile attempt to take his weight off the shirt. “You’re going to rip it!!”

“Listen. To. Me.”

Having a highly expensive and fashionable shirt on the line, Flaviour did.

“Someone who I’ve seen working with him is fraternizing with the enemy. No, not just fraternizing, he’s— h-he’s—” labored, furious breaths, “dating her!!”

Flaviour was abruptly dropped to the floor. His shirt was safe now, at least (though by this point it was hideously wrinkled).

“I need you to have him contact me immediately once he gets back. He’s got a traitor on his hands, and that traitor is – baaawww – that traitor is – baaww-buhkawww – moving in – buhkaw – on my Yin!!”

Flaviour watched, irritated, as Coop turned on his heel and stalked out of the lair. Once he heard the door slam, he took the opportunity to blow a raspberry in its direction before hefting himself back onto his feet. He observed the damage done to his shirt with poisonous disdain and a tragic sense of loss. He’d have to change, now, and he’d looked so good in this shirt…

He made a mental note to demand some form of workers compensation before mentioning the chicken’s ravings about an alleged “traitor.”

*****

[A/N:] So this fic is 100% dedicated to @yuckisalesbian and was based entirely off of this AU she came up with. I would’ve put the dedication at the beginning, but I didn’t want to spoil what was going to happen.

This was a lot of fun to write, though as usual I see flaws everywhere. I have lots more ideas with where to go with this, and if I get the chance I’d like to add more to it.

Anyway, happy (belated, by this point) Valentines Day!