#so a storyline like that wouldve been perfect

[ironladders]

if nrs was smarter, they would've included frost in the same group as cyrax/sektor and have their subplot be a parallel to tomas/kuai liang/bi-han: a lin kuei trio that has a falling out with one of its members due to disagreements on what the clan is doing

[hirookouji]

in my head the last game movie didnt happen, but i do think the premise of kagami going to america for college and meeting the jabberwocky is made way funnier with the backstory of them already meeting in high school w the vorpal swords vs jabberwocky match

[somewhereincairparavel]

hii new follower here i love ur blog!!

heres my opinion

(if youve read toa) i kinda forgot how they were but do u think lester/apollo and jason wouldve bonded had they had more time to?? i think they definitely wouldve!!

i haven't read TOA! But I have read snippets and read the basic storyline of Jason's timeline in TOA. I actually have a whole analysis on this one on the top of my head rn even though I haven't read the books.

There were lots of moments of bonding between them like Lester coming into Jason's room in his boy's dorm, and yknow trying to talk him out of sacrificing himself for Piper. Jason also greeted him like they were old friends even though that was the first time they had seen eachother after BOO (correct me if I'm wrong)

And Jason is someone who is a little secretive (according to annabeth, which is true) and is VERY calculative about the information he shares to people. So him being vulnerable about his secret of sacrifice, and just spilling this to Apollo simply because he's his half brother is actually super sweet. He TRUSTED apollo with very dire information.

Apollo is someone who looks like he can't keep secrets (I'm sorry- he's just dramatic and he still had that his god complex, so he had no obligation to keep Jason's secret) and Jason was very well aware of that. But still did it anyway.

Lester was the only one Jason was involuntarily vulnerable with. He was also the only one to know the truth about Jason and piper's relationship. That Piper was the one who broke up with Jason and not the other way around.

He also expressed sympathy when he told Jason that mellie was mad at him (for thinking that jason broke her heart) and he had no reason to do that. Apollo had other stuff he could focus on, especially with his ego, but he took the time to feel bad for Jason over something slightly trivial (in lesters pov, atleast)

I also noticed the symbolism in Lester always being the one to give Jason good news. He was the one who told Jason that Leo was alive, he was the one who delivered a message from Thalia to Jason ("your sister says hello") which legitimately made Jason's eyes brighten.

Lester was also super intuitive (despite losing his powers) and was the only one who understood Jason's tragedy firsthand. His whole description of Jason while he was looking at his diorama after his death made me cry tbh.

He also made tiny observations of Jason, like "Jason's eyes were sad" (or something along the lines of that, idk it was something else but you get my point)

Lester was also able to interpret Jason's words just by looking at his expression. ("Jason's expression told me his plan with perfect clarity")

In the end, Jason is probably one of the most significant mortal who Apollo had immense respect for even after he became a god.

So yeah, could they have been closer? Sure. But in my opinion, they were as close as a demigod and a god could possibly be tbh. If they had more time, I'm very sure Jason and Lester would've been almost as close as meg and Lester.

[shawshankshadow]

my relationship with the sonic movies is that i adore the character designs they settled on, and really like how they’ve played with sonic’s personality and writing to give us one of the most vulnerable and kid-like versions of him we’ve ever had. almost everything else makes me :c

in no particular order:

their voices.

the fact that it’s live action

tom being a cop who aspires to work for the LAPD because he “wants to help people and make the world a better place” (DHEHDBFJSJJCJFJDJCJFJ)

the misogynoir

tom in general? like, he’s not a necessary character, there is nothing he does that maddie cannot do. we could have had a “vet finds an alien freak” storyline with a subplot exploring her relationship with rachel. the second movie having a plot line where he struggles to call tom his “dad” - wouldn’t it have been more moving if we’d instead had a plot about him struggling to call maddie “mom,” due to unresolved grief over longclaw? then we could have had a subplot where tails calls HIM “brother”, and juxtaposed his found family conflict with knuckles, who ALSO has unresolved grief over his slain tribe + family. we could have had themed n shit, about mourning and healing and letting yourself have family again. but no whatever okay WHATEVER

where the fuck is amy. how are you going to adapt the classic games and then ignore amy and skip straight to the adventure era. amy was a pivotal part of sa2. what happened to sa1. back the fuck up.

i know its supposed to be “the year of shadow” or whatever the fuck - and i LOVE him i GET IT - but shadow is not nearly good enough to warrant skipping amy’s introduction AND sa1 just to speed to the shadow debut. sonic 3 could have been adaptations of cd (introduces amy and metal sonic) and sa1 (tikal, chaos), while seeding foreshadowing and plot buildup in the background for the eventual lore drop and character-reveal of shadow in sonic 4.

i pirate everything anyways but the. industry support of idf. are you for fucking real

sonic was originally a subversive freedom fighter who hated the military and engaged in direct action against shitty people (blowing up eggman’s stuff, having zero respect for institutional authority). so what is this copaganda pro-military bootlicker shit. UM.?)

my god, animation is not “lesser cinema”, it’s perfectly possible to have an incredible kickass story without using live action. i promise it’s not “cooler” for it to be live action, spiderverse was the coolest shit ever and it didn’t need fucking live action to make it so. please. live action fucking sucks so much it’s so boring if i wanted to look at people id go outside why are you making me pay money to look at REGULAR PEOPLE I COULD SEE ON THE STREETS FOR FREEEEEEE

the child trafficking joke???????

how’re you gonna give us our most CHILDLIKE BABY SONIC EVER insofar as characterization and character profile, and then saddle him with the voice of an 18 year old high school senior. this guy should sound like those squeaky kids from the amazing world of gumball. he should sound like a kid who’s barely hit puberty but insists he’s got a beard. instead he is, writing-wise, dipper pines, but voice-wise, jean-ralphio from parks and rec.

i cannot believe they gave us maddie the vet and then made us experience meeting sonic through the eyes of tom. TOM. MADDIE IS RIGHT THERE

sorry i’m still not over the disrespect for amy. shadow’s fucking heel-turn in sa2 is directly because a conversation with AMY made him realize the truth about maria’s wish. AMY DID THAT. SHE TURNED THE TIDES OF THE PLOT. SHADOW WOULDVE JUST MURDER-SUICIDED EVERYBODY FULL VILLAIN-MODE. OH MY GOD.

R O U G E .

so yall just hate women. this bad. yall hate women so bad yall will make the perfect girl character and proceed to completely neglect her in favor of her white male police officer spouse. and make us watch you do that. tom could have been a footnote. an email.

what the fuck is this longclaw vs echidna tribe backstory. like these story lore drops are crazy, how are you gonna say that and then not go back and develop it fully. how are you gonna keep it vague about mobius and NOT develop it. i’ll kill you.

THE RING ZONE PORTAL THING????????????? HELLOO????

THE PLOTS WE COUOD HAVE GOTTEN. BUT INSTEAD WE STAY ON EARTH AND USE THE RINGS TO PORTAL AROUND LOCALLY. FUCK OFF.

can you imagine a world-domination!robotnik getting his hands on the portal rings. and using them to conquer planets in his quest for domination of the universe. and sonic having to protect the rings from him while evading detection from the humans. like, a real Classics robotnik, instead of the “formerly a government employee” plot line we got.

WHATEVERRRRRRRRRR

could have had a pom poko ass plot line where mobians are aware of earth but earth isn’t aware of them, and sonic has to lay low on earth while trying to protect the portal rings and work with other freedom fighters to try and save his zone/world from robotnik’s reign. that would have given us the earth plotlines from sa2 while allowing for the mobius plotlines from classics era.

blah blah blah “portalling mobians land on earth and return to their home planet while accidentally take away a baby!robotnik from his family on earth. they don’t know how to return him but decide to raise him. he grows up different, has a Grinch Villain Arc, and it combines with his incredible genius to make him a mad scientist bent on world domination so that everybody HAS to like me!!! the mobians accidentally portal to earth after their portal accidentally crosses paths with another portal (this one going across space AND time) which throws off their trajectory. the other portal is eventually revealed to be a time tracker using chaos control to do something - the set up for silver the hedgehog.

[spider-stark]

(mouse crumb anon) Also your TASTE, ive always had a soft spot for tobey before i developed an equally big one for dane and andrew, which is surprising bc i actually didnt think about tasm that much when it first came out, and now i just wish tasm and its cast was given better! like i think these were interesting interpretations of the characters that are distinct from raimi’s and ripe enough to really explore

if it were only done a bit more justice 😔 especially dane’s harry because i think he nails a certain mixture of bitterness, desperation, and ruthlessness that i wouldve liked to see progress in a less rushed movie. it’s such a different vibe from raimi’s harry osborn. and maybe i wouldnt have gone the blood route, but i do think there was some cool storytelling potential in adding that genetic curse element to the tasm osborns

god. i don’t mean to be so forward, but truthfully, i might be in love with you lmao but no, seriously, i have SO many opinions on dane’s harry osborn and tasm2 as a whole!

i think that dane dehaan was quite literally perfect for portraying harry, especially this version of him. but you’re right, the writers really didn’t do him justice and the storyline as a whole is just kinda messed up in my opinion? i agree that the genetic curse side of things is a very interesting take that had a lot of potential, but i have so many issues with the i need spider-man’s blood thing.

truthfully, with the way it was written, it actually ended up just making me feel terrible for harry and understand why he snapped and hated peter? like he’s supposed to be a horrible villain, but aside from him killing gwen i truly just feel bad for him and that’s it.

i mean, let’s really look at this: he’s got extensive trauma from his upbringing and his dad throwing him away like trash, then his dad dies, he finds out he has an incurable genetic disease, he’s suddenly in charge of a multi billion dollar company, peter shows up and acts like he wants to be there for him, and then when harry could actually use any form of support, peter is just gone. even if peter was anti giving harry his blood, it’s extremely out of character for him to have not wanted to try at ALL to save his friends life? make it make sense.

regardless, i very much so agree that i would’ve liked to see a better and less-rushed progression for harry’s character. because you’re right, he is bitter, he is desperate, and he is ruthless! but almost all of these things are rooted in having been traumatized, mistreated, and turned away. his character had so much potential to be a truly incredible villain, but it just felt like they looked over so much with him. this is exactly why in the tasm story i’m writing, i very much so plan on fleshing his character out the way i felt he deserved lol cause otherwise i’ll never rest

if you can’t tell, i’m very much so a harry osborn sympathizer over here and could talk about it forever lol but also yes tobey <3 love him <3

[silencingspellsongs]

woke up at 12:30am and saw that the summit finally dropped so i spent the last hour listening to it and now i can't go back to sleep my brain is WHIRRING ohh it was everything i could've wanted and more

porter was a petty bitch, alexis and darlin' argued, alexis and sam SPOKE to each other, quinn was mentioned (he hasn't been executed yet ooooh please give us at least one more taste of this fucker before he gets killed)

what i was absolutely NOT expecting was for the vampire storyline to have a tie in with closeknit 😳😳 and for porter to know about it??? and the inversion?? hmmm

i will say maybe im just a certified porter girlie but he really stole the show here like he was perfect. i got the dramatic asshole i wanted and now he's here orchestrating things and playing the game i love it i love it so much. i am a little disappointed he didnt actually bring treasure bc that wouldve been so funny but also it fits now knowing that he seemed to know shit was gonna go down like aww he wanted to keep them safe (or just didnt want to have to babysit while also doing all the behind the scenes things he needed to do)

it really feels like william knew that some shady shit was gonna happen and called in porter to act on his behalf both as a way to keep the king and prince of the solaire house from falling under scrutiny of being involved. like william HAD to know. he even invited the shaw pack like was that just to get sweetheart there as a department investigator to listen in on the bennet house's dealings? and to have extra allies on hand if things went south??

i love this so much literally NOTHING hits like a fancy party where everyone has their own secret agendas and now we've got knives out: the monarchal summit to look forward to! the mystery of who killed the king?

(the bennet house prince being the murderer is too easy, i smell a red herring. and sweetheart may end up being the suspect but i don't think they did it either. my money's on it being william bc hey no one suspects him to be at the summit, what better chance to kill off an enemy than at a party you explicitly said you wouldnt be at 🤔)

listen if there is one thing to know about me it's that i am a slut for a good murder mystery. i need more right now i am frothing at the mouth. i have so much more on my mind but it's 2am and i have to be up for work in 2 and a half hours ok GOODNIGHT

[kirbytripledeluxe]

i haven't played any kirby games.what should i play first

GOOD FOR YOU BECAUSE IVE PUT SO MUCH THOUGH INTO THIS QUESTION

so my first game was triple deluxe back in 2016 because it was easiest to access . and... tbh if i wasnt immediately intrigued and did a bunch of research from the get go i wouldve been cooked. as much as i love it its .. not very good as an introductory game. that doesnt define whether its good or bad though tbh

in terms of what i DO recommend.... it depends on what youre going for! i think any of the three mainline switch entries would be good.

- star allies has a lot of characters from past games, a BANGER storyline, and is pretty much a perfect difficulty for newcomers. its not "too easy" despite what some may tell you, and even if it is it didnt take away the enjoyment for me tbh

- forgotten land is considered the best modern kirby game and was a LOT of peoples introduction. its the first and so far only 3d entry (aside from blowout blast) and strays from the usual formula a LOT more than most other entries do, if that's a deterrent in any way. but it seems to have set the standard for the games to come, if youre interested in playing any future titles ^^

- return to dreamland deluxe is like. the complete kirby package. it doesnt have a lot of characters but it DOES have who is considered to be the main four and a fan favorite. the base game itself on the wii is a fan favorite on its own. that and it has a bunch of minigames, a bunch of references to past characters (masks), magolor epilogue, etc! this is my personal pick but the other two are pretty notable as well

[winderlylandchime]

3/3 ‘This hurts, this is really fucke- that’s a really nice shirt, do you think i could find something like that, i think id look good in it. Anyway *waves his hands at Brian* PAINFUL’ he is now bouncing up and down and standing with his hands clasped waiting for Mikey to get punched ‘cmon!! Who cares about some fucking forks?! SHOW ME WHAT IVE BEEN WANTING TO SEE SINCE THE PILOT! Whats gonna get him punched tho? I forgot what I thought earlier..OH the stay away. Oh Brian doesn’t look happy about that. *another pause while he towers over me with hands on waist and pointing at Brian*okay BUT remember when he told Justin in season 1 to fuck off out of his life or some shit like that and now he’s all ‘why would you tell him that?’ GROWTH! LOVE! CARE! *looks at Brian* my man! Now let’s get to punching! Okay, he did do SOMETHING..he cheated.. can Justin hear him? Is the selfish lil shit gonna get him punched? Cause if so…i wouldve gotten my ass handed to me by now, HE DIDNT USE BRIAN! brian is mad! Yes Michael be quiet! *huge gasp* HE SAID WHAT NOW?! *arms in the air* HELL YEAHHH PUNCHED IN COLOR!!! BUT HOLD UP *pauses just as mikey gets hit* haha nice. HE SAID WHAT?! HE FUCKING SAID WHAT?!?! He did not just say that he should’ve died?! He deserves to get kicked too! PLEASE TELL ME EVERYONE HEARD HIM! Oh of course nobody heard him. ANIMAL?! ANIMAL?! YOUR KID JUST WISHED DEATH ON SUNSHINE! OH BEN YOU BETTER NOT! HE JUST WISHED DEATH ON SOMEONE! PUNCH HIS BORING ASS TOO! OH FUCK YOU LINDSAY! FUCK YOU TOO MEL! ITS MICHAEL WHO SHOULD LEAVE! DID DEBBIE JUST SAY ASSHOLE? WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?! JUSTIN PLEASE TELL ME YOU HEARD HIM!’ He paused the tv and with his arms opened wide went ‘am i the fucking only one who heard him say that?! HOW did nobody else hear it? *looks at me* please tell me everyone finds out what happened! Cause this shit is fucked up, i cant even appreciate the punch anymore cause I’m mad at everyone’ ‘NO BRIAN! Why are you here? You better not apologize! He needs to apologize! Oh boo fucking hoo little mikey is playing the victim again. YOU DESERVED TO GET HIT YOU LIL BITCH! Tell him Brian! Okay nevermind he knows he deserved it, EVEN MICHAEL KNOWS YOURE IN LOVE! So you didn’t believe in love when you met him, but you do now because now you know him. *looks at me* like how I didn’t believe in santa until i saw him at the mall…but then mom couldn’t explain why he was always different races so i guess that’s different. Makes sense to me tho *plays ep* HE WANTS THEM TO MAKE UP?! For the comic?!?! I AM…..i am having a lot of thoughts and feelings. HE HAS PLANS! THE LAST TIME HE SAID THAT TO MIKE JUSTIN WAS WAITING FOR HIM WITH THE DINNER!! REMEMBER?!?! Maybe Justin is waiting for him to talk to him about Mike!’ The hustler scene comes up *jumps up in the air* ‘AHHHHHHH!!!*pauses ep* I WAS FUCKING RIGHT!!! I CANT BELIEVE I WAS RIGHT! Not gonna lie, most of the time i just say shit and hope something sticks BUT I WAS ACTUALLY RIGHT! MY BLONDIE IS BACK!!! (The hustler is revealed) you’re not my blondie. What is this?! *hands over his mouth while he’s still standing* IS HE WHAT HES LOOKING FOR?! BRIAN LOOKED FOR A SEX WORKER THAT LOOKS LIKE JUSTIN?! (brian ignores the kiss) *literally has teary eyes and boy, do I wish this was a joke* he isn’t kissing him! He’s still following the rule! (brian plays with the guys hair) He misses him so much. Neither of us are okay with this storyline….how many condoms do you think he has..im surprised durex isn’t one of his account, he’d be perfect for their ads since they’re always funny anti kids ads. How many condoms do you think they went through while filming? hold up, I didn’t appreciate it enough *rewinds the fucking scene and once again has teary eyes while watching* it’s the music and Brian’s expression. I could literally write a short essay about Bri as a person at this point, that’s how well I know him! Oh this all hurt. I gotta go somewhere, literally anywhere just away from *points to tv*’ He is now outside talking to my neighbor and giving her a dramatic recap.

He wants Brian’s shirt? Aw!

GROWTH! LOVE! CARE! See!?! Yes! Brian grows over the course of the show! He cares! OMG. (Until it’s all erased in S5)

And here’s the heartache. Michael deserved to be punched and no one hears what he said so…again… everyone blames Brian. And Brian… apologizes. Because he would let himself get burned if it means everyone else is okay.

Ohhh the parallel “I have plans” yeah this time it’s a cheap imitation (cheap as in it’s not Justin, I’m sure the escort was not cheap)/

Teary eyes about Brian not kissing the Justin look-alike escort? And noting the playing with the hair? Could he be anymore in the fandom?!? Nope.

“I could literally write a short essay about Bri as a person at this point” ANON YOUR BROTHER IS A HALF STEP AWAY FROM WRITING FANFIC.

Your poor neighbor…

[scalproie]

soundwave (was HE in the blue character poll? or do i need to hit someone w my car) for the character ask game. and sure do all of them why not

NO HE WAS DW he was against optimus but if he wasnt there it wouldve been my last straw

• My first impression of them

Oh so he's the coolest character in transformers prime huh

• When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

Oh so hes the coolest character in transformers as a whole huh

• A song that reminds me of them

I did not go insane over him on this song two years ago to not put it here

• How many people I ship them with

ONE I either dont really care or dont like most soundwave ships

• My favorite ship of them

Soundrod You Will Always Be Famous.

• My least favorite ship of them

Theorically I UNDERSTAND the appeal but I CANNOT see him with any of the other decepticon high command whether itd be megatron, starscream or shockwave

• A quote of them that you remember

[clown music]

• Your favorite outfit of them

Prime, Cyberverse and Earthspark You Will Always Be Famous.

• Your least favorite outfit of them

the comics. Like YEAH its his g1 design and you cant improve perfection but I wish there was a bit more edge to him yknow?

• Describe the character in one sentence

Play that funky music, blue bot

• What’s the first thing you think about when thinking about the character?

The perfect decepticon didnt need to go as hard as it did

• Sexuality hc!

Autobot-sexual which is synonymus with moro-sexual

• Your favorite friendship they have

His kids and pets dont count so get over here shadowstriker

• Best storyline they had

Hey guys are you perhaps familiar with a little arc called the quintesson arc from transformers cyberv

• Worst storyline they had

Remember him in rid2015? I wish i didnt

• A childhood headcanon

NEVER A CHILD

• What do you think their first word was?

edm

• How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)

NEVER A CHILD

• The most random ship you've seen people have with them

bro its transformers theres a random ship everyday

• An headcanon

So autistic even by tf standards. Always a surprise to him when bots are like wow... soundwave is so mysterious and kinda creepy...

• When do you think they were at their happiest?

Cyb soundwave somehow cemented himself as the definitive soundwave in my mind. Anyway when the peace treaty got signed.

• When do you think they were at their lowest?

The whole fucking war babeyyy

• Future headcanon

:) one day he will finally finish a series alive with an autobot bf

• What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

has a really normie taste in music actually

• When do you think they acted the most ooc

Its transformers theyre always OOC depending on who you ask

• When do you think they were being "themselves" the most?

that stupid cyberverse dance

• If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

put that beast in no straight road

• The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

I will literally never get over him fucking walking everywhere in cyberverse. Hes one of the decepticons weve seen the most are you telling me they COULDNT afford an armored SUV model? God bless

• How do you think they would be as a parent? (and if they are a parent, how do you think they would be if they weren't?)

Cybertron's best single dad by default

• The funniest scene they had?

When isnt he funny. [clown music]

[x1e3ju]

im replaying persona as my sister sees it for the first time (yes, i am that annoying abt my fixations) and i didnt even realize there was so much nuiance with morgana’s character that went soo untouched (and lots of hypocrisies with akechi’s on the other hand lol) im not the biggest fan of morgana and his character, i dont rly like his dialogue most of the time and i dont believe his little moment that completely stripped haru of her’s was necessary or needed at all. i very much believed and still do that his character should’ve been more plot heavy instead of feeling like a character side plot since he’s like. connected to everything. and akira's fate with yaldabaoth and all that, i dont like how they handled him a lot but seeing some of his dialogue when they started handling his story more it makes me think damn i rly wish his character development wouldve been more plot heavy cuz it feels way too well with the storyline and the message of the story.

i attached some screenshots i got from playing the game (taking them was very humbling lmao) and UGH, there’s nothing more i hate than unexplored nuiances. and i rly hate it because the only reason why p5 falls so flat bc of how anime-y they tried to be, seeing the first 3 games the nuiances flowed rly well bc the games rly had that indie feel that rly tied everything together in a rly nice way, yk?

i think morgana’s rly annoying desire to be human fits so well into the plot bc it builds this sense of perfection morgana feels he needs to build, the ultimate form of a being due to society’s confused manifestions. society has built this “ideal human” that even other humans dont feel they fit, and i say this knowing well that idea myself. but morgana feels farther from it bc well, yk. and i wish they wouldve expanded more on that and it even goes well with my own headcanons lol but even morgana’s human form is like. complete stereotypes of like everything ever, knowing damn well if morgana was human he would NOT look like that but that couldve been an even bigger conversation to bring into the picture, if atlus wasnt such a horrible company like many of them are. and that idea is even brought up in p2 with eikichi and cozy and even a bit with lisa but switched around. for some reason? its weird but its things i wish this game had nuiance for as well. smaller conversations in practice but things that can be even more established in theory.

ok so thats all i rly wanted to shed some light on lol, thought it was something very note worthy. now im back to playing it with my sister lol

[imaginelegends]

Arcane is Mid

Like in the proper sense of the term, its not fucking horrible - its not the worst thing in the whole wide existence of stories and media. Its not a flawed masterpiece, and certainly not a flawless masterpiece either.

It's just mid.

Like let's be real. You cannot fix the problems of Zaun within the lifespans of Ekko et al. This is a deeply rooted problem born from generations of pain and prejudice. And it wont be fixed by having Sevika on the Council (which credit where due, the show was skeptic of).

Change, the kind needed by the undercity - the goodness shown in that alternate timeline, requires work from the ground up. It would require foundation and community building between topside and the undercity - people from the undercity moving next door to topside folks, that sort of shit. It will require round table discussions, town halls, hospitals, and libraries - all sorts of resources and effort - the likes of which, a montage cannot and should not cover.

The amount of debt that topside has accumulated deserve a long and drawn out season to focus on and fix. And here's the piece de resistance: it will be BORING AS HELL. the kind of reformation and reparations that topside needs to give - it aint a showstopper. Audiences will be bored as fuck.

At least, granted such a political show would require audiences not to sit through fight scenes every episode and watch so much talking. LIKE SO MUCH. it would be chess and chess is exciting but its not blockbuster pew pew wham bam exciting.

And for all we know, the writers fully inteded for the ending to be bitter. Not bittersweet. Just bitter. Theyre all back to square one. Zaun has no guarantee that Piltover will look more kindly on them after fighting together through a war. This is implied by the dirty looks thrown Sevika's way. And maybe the memorial at the bridge could be a start. But its a cottonball in the wind. Its all maybe. Uncertain.

And honestly, I will take an uncertain future over a bullshit perfect future that is not informed by any of the hardship that has come before to this cast. I dont want to see an Act 3 ep 7 be a reality bc that future reeks of bullshit and abandons the complixeties that the story introduces.

So the story introduced a problem that it couldnt fix. It compromises by focusing on the big blockbuster fights by a proper hollywood-esque villain. Wows the audience with production. Wraps up the storylines as best as it can (with Jayce, Vik, Ekko, Vi, Cait, and Jinx - Mel is confusing to me so im not including her). Lampshades the continuing struggles that the undercity is going through, will keep going through, bc no one has a clean solution for generations of class warfare (AS THERE SHOULDNT BE).

And calls it a day.

And you know what? Alright.

I can live with that. I can live with an uncertain, bitter ending where we're right back from the start. Am I a huge raving fan? No. Am I huge raving hater? No. I think its fine - perfectly adequate. It's mid.

If Arcane had not set up such a banger of an S1, i might not be so disappointed by that. But for like any other show of lesser expectations, this wouldve been a fine ending.

As it is, Arcane raised the standards for me, failed to meet them. But Arcane shot for a different galaxy so you know, the fall is still freakin high. By the standards it set for itself, its a disappointment. By the standards of other shows, its pretty damn good. So you take the two and average out.

You get mid.

[appleciders]

#like ok u don’t show her home life bc it’s too boring or w/e… her marriage too stable & perfect or w/e…#but like. give the bitch something else to do! give her something to do at all!#for 2 consecutive seasons the only significant development/backstory shes had has been the eye thing… literally nothing else :/#she’s just there to look hot & make her little quips & occasionally have an emotional moment. but an actual storyline? NEVER#bad sisters#they should all be more affected tbh but bibi especially#everything she’s ever done has been for her sisters…#and now ur telling me gracie dies alone & afraid and bibi’s just sorta bothered by it and not guilt ridden and spiraling??#everyone else turns to drugs/their boring love interests meanwhile bibi’s just kinda there for the ride#this is the woman who could think abt nothing but murder for months… who wouldve done anything to save her sister…#and what is she even doing abt it??#we know for a fact she’s not talking to her wife abt it or having an ill-advised baby or even looking after her kid#so what is she doing to cope????? nothing at all! (from op's tags)

you’d think bibi being the obsessive detail-oriented control freak that she is and the one who set everything in motion by coming up with the murder plan in the first place would be more affected by their sister still dying despite their best efforts but instead she’s just occasionally sad and resigned to everything like…

[insecxreasalwqys]

and then he smiled, and thats what im after. (The series)

Edit:This is horrid. For your well being, I recommend you would scroll past this. If you would like to stay, be ready to be forever traumatized by horrible writing, and a crappy storyline.  Proceed with caution! ⚠️

Ch. 1 : remember it all

Kuzuryu chose chishiya, because he felt chishiya needed it. As soon as he chose him, he started talking with chishiya, this place was hell, anyways.   They got put in a game together. Chishiya made kuzuryu drive. They entered the game together, with about 5 other people.   Registration closed.

Game: remember it all : 3 of hearts

Time and player limit: 10 players, 1 hour.

Rules: enter the room up ahead, and take the pill. Adjust your expression to a calm one, and sit down. The big screen infront of you all will light up, and it will show clips of your life. It will choose people randomly. If you change your expression anytime throughout you or someone elses clips, its game over for you. There will also be an illusion.  

Game start

They entered the other room together, and took the pill just like everyone else did. Kuzuryu and chishiya had no need to adjust because, like always, they were already calm.   First player: Kuzuryu keiichi

Kuzuryu didnt really have a bad childhood. He grew up in an average house hold, and they treated him well.   The first one was about him telling his friend that he thought that the world was so unfair, especially the people in it.   The second was about him fighting for something he believed. That all lives were created equally, and that there shouldnt be any debate between that. Kuzuryu still agreed with what he thought in those 2 clips. Chishiya just watched a little more intently then he thought he woud, just because he knew kuzuryu and wanted to know more about the man. Others just didnt care.  The third one, though, caught quite the attention of some people there. It was a clip of him driving, right before borderland. He had come back from america, and went back to japan. When he was driving, he was looking out the window. There were what appeared to be fireworks, but they looked a bit, different. He didnt think he missed anything, but looked closely anyways. Well, he was looking a bit to much, as, on kuzuryus end, he felt as if he had been pushed, by someone quite strong. Then he realized that it was a car that crashed into him. And all of a sudden, the screen went black. 1 person screamed by the sudden change. Kuzuryu didnt find this event too scary for him, as, he knew that he was fine, and he only injured his arm, and it had recovered now. But his car? Oh he didnt know about that.   Then came the illusion. It was someone being excluded. In one scenario they were blamed and the person in charge of it was believing the other person just because they were friends with the accuser.

It didnt stun kuzuryu or make him change his expression, no. But, it did trigger Kuzuryu in a way, even though it wasnt visible.   Next player: Shuntaro Chishiya

Kuzuryu held chishiyas hand, and chishiya responded with trying to tug it away, but he was unsuccessful. Kuzuryu was doing it to give chishiya some comfort. So chishiya would calm down if he saw something he didn’t want to. He didnt want chishiya not to die just because he himself wanted to live, but mostly because he didnt want to die knowing he failed. It wouldve made him ashamed, and he felt he wanted to do something good.   The first clip had chishiya, who looked about 2 there, was crying, and all his parents did was buy some food, and give it to him. Kuzuryu didnt change his expression, but he was more triggered by this than that illusion he had for his. He hated when this stuff happened.   The second clip had chishiya finishing middle school with perfect grades. He ran up to his fathers door when he came home in excitement. Yet, before he knocked on the door, he paused. He looked down at his report card, and just walked away with it. He cursed himself for even trying. Why would his father care, anways? He showed him at the end of 5th grade and his father just kept working. As if chishiya didnt even exist.

The last clip was about him coming home. He looked about 14 there. He took his shoes off, and went to his bedroom. He started doing all his left over homework he hadnt done in school (he did most of it during his lunch time). After he did his homework, and studied right away. He studied, and studied, and studied. He didnt even grab anything to eat. He knew it was bad for him to not eat, but he did it to get good grades. He didnt even know why he tried. He almost fell asleep, when he realized he hadnt finished writing the 15 page essay he had. He was also almost falling asleep because he forgot why he was doing all of this, so he wrote himself a note, and it read : When you get into med school after all of that studying, maybe your “father” will love you. -chishiya

That made kuzuryus blood boil, but he didnt give any physical reaction. Chishiya didnt do anything at all, and just sat there, staring at the scene. A girl laughed, not understanding why anyone would find that sad, but then, a laser shot through her head. Neither kuzuryu or shuntaro cared.

The illusion finally came, but it wasnt what chishiya was expecting. It showed chishiyas dad hugging him, and saying he was proud of him. Kuzuryu felt chishiyas body tense a little, but chishiyas expression didnt change. Keiichi held chishiyas hand tighter, and chishiya relaxed.  

Throughout the game, their expression never changed. At the end, there were only 3 more people including them. 

Chishiya decided he would drive. “Thank you.” He said. “Your welcome.” Kuzuryu replied. They talked a bit, and kuzuryu took the chance to tell chishiya that what his father did was not okay. And when chishiya got out, he should do something about it. Try to talk to his father, get a therapist.   When they got back, they both knew that they were slightly closer, and for kuzuryu, that was enough for now.

Ch. 2 : Run fast

“Are you playing tonight?” Kuzuryu asked chishiya. “Mhm. I asked hatter, as the game we played just gave us 3 days.” Chishiya replied. “Im going too.” Kuzuryu stated. Chishiya just nodded.   Chishiya entered the game arena. It was pouring outside. As he walked in, he saw about 19 other people. He grabbed a phone, and went to a corner.  (A few minutes later) Registration closed.

Game: Race : 6 of spades

Time limit: 50 minutes

Player limit: 20  Rules: Every player will be put together in twos. You will enter a room with your partner. There will be a starting and finish line. Take 5 weapons max from the table. The count down will go from 10 to 0. When it says go, the laser preventing you from going will disappear, and you must start running. You can use weapons to sabotage the other player. This will keep going between the winners of each round, and whoever is the last man standing, wins. If there is not enough players, the leftover one with no partner will be safe until there is a place for them.

Game start.   Now, chishiya wasnt the best at spades, but he knew he could run. He wasnt too sure, though, as most people there looked like the type to be good at spades, but he didnt let that thought intimidate him.

He got paired with some buff dude. They entered the room, and the buff guy chose a knife, an axe, a bat, some weapon chishiya didnt know the name of, and a hammer. Well dang. Chishiya was surprised they guy didnt choose a gun, though. After the guy turned around, chishiya took a gun he learned in the other world had good range, so he took it, closed fire, and put it in his pocket. He knew he had good aim, so he didnt worry about that.

3, 2, 1, go!

Chishiya started walking, while the man ran as fast as he could. It was a good distance, so chishiya took his time. When the man was pretty far ahead, chishiya ran and caught up in a few seconds. The finish line was pretty far, and chishiya thanked the fact that when he ran, he didnt make much noise. He got close to the man, took out the gun he had in his pocket, opened fire, and shot. The man of course looked at him before he shot, but, it was too late anyways. Chishiya made sure to shoot him in the head, so that it would for sure kill him, and he ran as fast as he could to the finish line. Well that was easy.   Chishiya decided to not try the exact same approach, as he figured the first guy was just dumb. He got paired up with a girl, a little taller than him. “Don’t underestimate me just because im a girl.” She said, in a serious tone. “I wasnt going to, but okay.” He replied, putting his hands up. 

Kuzuryu was in his game, but all he could think about was chishiya. Just then, the seeker in his game came near.   He got past the other girl, and was now in the final round. They entered the room. His competitor was a girl, with short black hair, a t-shirt, and baggy sweat pants. She took a knife, a rifle, and a kunai. He grabbed a pocket knife. When the voice gave them the ok, the girl bolted off immediately. Chishiya gave her a head start, but quickly caught up with her. When he had the chance, he took it and pushed her. He threw a punch at her, and she stabbed him. It was in the thigh, and didnt go too deep, but was bleeding badly. He stabbed her back, and she threw a punch. He kicked her, and left it at that. She was knocked out, so chishiya took his chance to run.  

 He got out of the arena as quickly as he could, and grabbed a pressure bandage. He wrapped it around his thigh, and sat in the car seat. It hurt, but not badly enough to make him cry. When he got back, he parked the car, and got out. He tried to get out, but failed to do so. He fell, and scraped his whole arm. Well this is great, isnt it, shuntaro. He thought to himself. And it was bleeding badly aswell. He got up, took his box of supplies incase of emergency, because he knew if he left his wounds, he would probably die. He sat back in the car seat, and cleaned his scrape. He put a bandage over it, and wondered what to do. Just then, niragi came to the parking lot. He was there to make sure no one was out this late, until he saw chishiya in the distance. He ran up to chishiya, ready to yell at him, but saw chishiya limping slightly, with a bandage over his arm. Niragi decided he wouldnt scold him. “Oh dang, uhm, you good?” Niragi said. Chishiya gave him glare. “Is that what it seems, suguru?” Chishiya replied, rolling his eyes. He was about to fall, when niragi caught him. “Ok, ok, geez, no need to be fresh.” Niragi said. Niragi took chishiyas hand, and put it over his shoulder. He took the box, and put it in his free hand. He helped chishiya back.

When they were inside, Niragi brought chishiya to his room, and layed him down on the floor. Chishiya sat up right. “Thanks, i guess.” Chishiya said. “Yeah, no problem.” Niragi replied. “I’ll go call over that kuzuryu guy you hang out with, and that kuina?” He added. “Yeah, sure. Thanks again.” Chishiya replied. When niragi left, chishiya wondered why he even went with the approach he did. He couldve done something else. His thigh was killing him now (literally), and his arm went numb. Chishiya checked up on the bandage, and when he saw it, it was soaked in blood. He wondered why, though, because he didnt think the cut was that deep. Well, it mustve been Chishiya hallucinating, because it was that deep. He quickly grabbed another pressured bandage, and put a gauze under it. He took off the old one, and as he expected, the was more blood. He quickly put the new bandage with a gauze under it on, and it felt slightly better. Just then kuzuryu and Kuina came in. Niragi told them it was bad, but it didnt seem this bad to them. Kuinas eye’s widened and she rushed to chishiya. Kuzuryu did the same. “What game were you in?” Kuzuryu asked, sitting by chishiya. “Some race.” He replied. Kuina and kuzuryu nodded. “Does it hurt bad?” Kuina asked. “Well, my previous bandage is on the floor, and instead of being a beige color its now maroon red. I also cant feel my arm. So, based on that analysis, what is your hypothesis?” He asked. Kuina just pursed her lips. Chishiya fell asleep on the floor that night.

In the morning, there was an executive meeting. Kuzuyru went over to chishiyas room and opened the door. “Hey, shiya?” He said, walking over to chishiya. Chishiya opened his eyes slowly, and looked at keiichi. “Hm?” He said. “We have a meeting in like 10?” Kuzuryu replied. “We do?” Chishiya yelled. “You bet.” Kuzuryu said, trying to lighten up the mood. “Well okay.” Chishiya said, trying to get up. “Absolutely not!” Kuzuryu said, bringing chishiya back down lightly. “Atleast let me help you.” He added. “Fine.” The shorter one pouted.

Ch. 3 : maybe its the way you say my name

“Did we do something?” Chishiya said, as him and kuzuryu came into the metting room. No one said anything. “Ok, carry on, hatter” kuzuryu said. Sitting next to chishiya. Hatter was ranting on about how there were traitors and he wanted them gone after the meeting, discussing games, that stuff.  

After the meeting, everyone left. Mira called kuzuryu over to her room.   “Hows it going?” Mira asked. Patting the chair next to her. Kuzuryu sat down. “I mean, its been okay.” He replied. “You?” He questioned. “Agnis rough. I didnt choose anyone, so i got paired up with him.” Mira stated. “Yeah, youve told me thay you got put with him for this past month or two.” Kuzuryu said.  Mira giggled. “Yeah, i have.” She replied.

Chishiya sat on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was trying to count each dot on the ceiling to pass time. Just then, kuina walked in. “Shu-” she started, but got cut off by chishiya yelling ‘ah!’. “You made me loose count!” He said. “Sorry.” She replied. “I was just gonna tell you im out tonight.” She added. Chishiya gave her a nod. Kuina left and closed the door behind her. Chishiya sighed, and got up. Then, kuzuryu walked in aswell. “Chishiya?” He managed to completely say, as chishiya was in the bathroom. “Hmm?” He said, turning on the water. “We’re supposed to go looking for things at some stores later.” Kuzuryu stated, leaning on the bathroom door frame. Chishiya turned around to dry his hands. “Okay.” He replied. And with that, kuzuryu left. Chishiya took one of his jackets (and no, you wont change my mind that chishiya has like 10 of the same jacket) he folded last night, and put it on. He changed his pants, and he didnt from the night before and they were covered in dried blood.   Chishiya knocked on the door, and kuzuryu opened the door. “Oh hey, shiya.” Kuzuryu said. “Hi.” He responded.

“So where are we going first?” Kuzuryu asked, trying to strike up a conversation. “I dont know, you pick.” Chishiya answered, hair blowing slightly in the wind. Kuzuryu and chishiya headed over to what seemed to be a pharmacy.   “Hey kuzuryu!” Chishiya yelled from the other side of the pharmacy. Kuzuryu paused, as he was surprised chishiya said his name. Or maybe he did alot, he didnt notice, but still, he kinda wished he said it more.  “Hmm?” He yelled back, shuffling through some painkillers. “Do you need any, like, medicine, and stuff?” He asked. “No, do you need painkillers?” Keiichi responded. “Im good! Thanks.” Chishiya stated. Kuzuryu found a med kit, somehow, and took it. They left that store, and went to the food store.  

 They searched for food that wasnt rotten. Alot of it was, as the beach had been going out for food for a long time. But there was some food that was still good. Chishiya picked the stuff in cans, and put it in his bag. He learned that, if it came to food options, canned stuff is the best way to go. Chishiya never ate too much, but he grabbed alot, as it was for the beach anyways. He grabbed some vegetables, because most nights there were vegetables. He never trusted them enough for meat, though, so chishiya and kuzuryu just ate vegetables and canned stuff. Some others ate the meat, but to kuzuryu and chishiya, it just didnt look very promising.   They went to stores for clothes, more food, and now were heading back to the beach. It wasnt, per say, dark. It was still fairly bright, but it started getting dark.  They talked about stuff back in the real world, and funny enough, how much debt kuzuryu was in. “Yeah, im still paying it off.” Kuzuryu laughed. “Im almost there, though.” He added.   As they were walking back, they heard noises coming from the main room. They realized it was people partying, and drinking. They both sighed, as they found these things silly. Why are you partying, and drinking, when youve been put in a place where you play games to live, and if you don’t participate, or fail, you die. It made no sense to them. They also knew if you drink this heavily each night, you would probably die.   They both headed back to there rooms, and took a shower.

Ch. 4 : im never not going to be there

Chishiya sat on his bed, thinking about his dad. He thought about the game a few nights before. He wondered what happened to his mother, she was never there either. Chishiya laughed at his last clip of him writing the note, as, he got into med school, and his parents couldnt have cared less. No matter what he did, how far he went for his parents attention, they wouldnt care. (No, bc when chishiya was in his hospital bed, almost dying, and having his heart stop for 1 minutes, his parents were never there. F..k chishiya’s parents.) Not a drop, a milimeter, a fraction of a millimeter of attention they gave him. They married just to look good and for a position. Chishiya hated that, every, single, time when his  3rd grade teacher would ask what they did over the weekend, he would always say nothing. Other kids would say they went to the park, or ate out, or made crafts at home. And what did chishiya do? Nothing. He stayed home, wondering every night, why he existed. Everyone else seemed like they had a purpose. Even here in borderland, people were fighting so hard to leave, and they had a reason, someone out there waiting for them, praying they would live. But Chishiya? Chishiya had no idea was he was fighting for. Chishiya was a smart man, dont get him wrong, but this was something he never understood. If nobody loves me, or cares, why am i here? I shouldnt even be here. Why do i live. These were reoccurring thoughts he had. Yet, he never had the answer. He got up, and figured he would talk to kuzuryu.   

Kuzuryu opened his door, and let chishiya in. “Whats up?” Kuzuryu asked, sitting down next to chishiya. “Its my parents, ive been thinking about them, recently.” Chishiya stated. “Your parents?” Kuzuryu asked. Chishiya gave him a nod. “You mean the people who gave birth to you, put you in their house, just to call you their child, without ever caring?” Kuzuryu said, wanting to make sure. “Yeah.” Chishiya laughed. He wasnt laughing because he was happy, it was because he wanted to make himself feel a bit better. Kuzuryu sighed deeply. “Listen to me, chishiya shuntaro.” Kuzuryu said in a serious tone. “I dont want to ever, see you upset again about the fact that these two sick people you call parents didnt take care of you, because thats sick.” Kuzuryu started. “Thank y-” Chishiya tried saying, but got cut off. “Shush, let me finish.” Chishiya pursed his lips and nodded. “Your ‘parents’ dont deserve a child, especially one that has worked so hard for their attention, and they didnt care.” Kuzuryu stated. “But, i also dont want you to go with ‘No one cared for me, so why should i care for anyone else.’ Because, that doesnt make you any better.” He finished. “I wont, i promise.” Chishiya said. “If you ever think about it again, which i would hope you dont, i will give you a nice scolding.” Kuzuryu threatened. It wasnt empty, but wasnt very threatening. They both knew that. As chishiya was leaving, Kuzuryu stopped him. “Wait!” He shouted. Chishiya turned back around. “Just know, im never not going to be there.” He said. Chishiya thanked him and left.   Kuzuryu cursed himself. He couldve said anything else. But not, im never not going to be there. He knew it was a lie. He didnt know why he said it. He fell back onto his bed, and sighed. (Lots of sighing, i know.)

Chishiya went to go eat, and thought about what kuzuryu said. He didnt know where he would be without kuzuryu, and he was thankful for keiichi.

Kuzuryu looked in his notes of how many days he had left, and opened to see 1. His visa would expire tomorrow. It was almost time for people to go to games, and he ran up to hatter. “Can i go out to a game tonight?” (Ok, now, manga readers, i know citizens dont play games to extend visas, but hear me out, in this au, if they were required to make the person smile, they had to play games to extend visas.) “Sure.” Hatter replied.   Kuzuryu went to a game arena. There were maybe 4 other people? He grabbed a phone.

Registration closed

Game: 7 of hearts, hide and seek.

Ch. 5 a little squeeze

Kuina and chishiya were back at the beach. They were at the pool, and talking about something. “I have, about, maybe like 8 days left? Yeah 8.” Chishiya said. “I have 10, because i went yesterday to add on to it.” She replied. Chishiya nodded. “So, i w-” Chishiya started, but he felt something touch his waist. “Niragi- if youre trying to scare me, for the last time, it wont-” he started, but when he turned around, it wasnt niragi. It was some guy, who looked quite tall, with short, black hair. It was one of the militants. Chishiya hated those guys, (with an exception of niragi) always had their nose in the air, thinking they looked cool, when they were really just some people with guns that they technically couldnt even fire with if they werent in a game. “What do you want now.” Chishiya said, glaring at the man. “Look, i know niragi hates you and stuff,” the dense little sh.t started. “He doesnt.” Chishiya said. “Ok, whatever, i know agni doesnt take a liking to you,” he started again, but chishiya just rolled his eyes. Agni didnt hate him, they just didnt talk. “But that doesnt mean we cant have fun.” The ugly a.s dense guy said. “F.ck off.” Kuina said, standing up. The guy looked at chishiya, and raised an eyebrow. Chishiya shrugged when the guy looked at him. “Did you miss the part where she had said ‘f.ck off’?” Chishiya asked. The man just rolled his eyes. “F.ck off!” Chishiya yelled in the mans ear, just for good measure. “Fine, geez, no need to overreact.” The man said, walking away. “Overreact, my a.s.” Kuina said, rolling her eyes.   Kuzuryu was the wolf, and was fighting somebody while looking down. He didnt hide, as he found it would be unfair to everyone else, and there was 2 minutes left. The guy he was fighting threw a punch, and it hit kuzuryu in his side. It didnt really hurt, though. When the man was distracted, he ran. Kuzuryu didnt find heart games particularly difficult, as he had nothing to lose. Well, that was a lie, he had chishiya to lose. But, thankfully, chishiya wasnt there. He heard footsteps chasing after him, but he knew he had already won. The timer went down: 3, 2, 1. He heard a splattering sound behind him, and knew what had happened. He left the place quickly, and drove back.

When he got back, chishiya was waiting there for him. Chishiya ran up to kuzuryu and gave him a hug, a little squeeze. “What game were you in?” Chishiya asked, checking kuzuryu to make sure he was okay. “Hearts, it was hide n seek.” He said, relaxing his shoulders. “Oh, well, was it bad?” Chishiya asked. “No, it was fine.” “Okay.”   Kuina, kuzuryu, and chishiya were all in kuzuryus room. “It was kinda sad, honestly.” Kuina said. They were talking about their job, or what they were doing before borderland. Kuina was talking to someone who wanted the shirt they had in a baby size, after kuina told them that a shop for baby clothes would be the way to go.  

“The food today really didnt look good.” Chishiya said to kuzuryu, walking down the corridor. “No, it didnt.” Kuzuryu laughed. Kuzuryu stopped in his tracks. Chishiya noticed, so he stopped aswell. “Mm?” Chishiya said, turning around. “Shiya?” Kuzuryu said, in a soft voice. “Whats up.” Chishiya replied. “Uhm, you remember what i said, about, me never not being there?” Kuzuryu asked. “Yeah?” Chishiya answered. “Uh, well, thats kinda not true.” Kuzuryu said. “Oh, i know! Dont worry, i wont always be here either, but im sure itll be a while!” Chishiya said, his mouth faltered at the end, but not going into a full smile. Kuzuryu nodded. It hurt kuzuryu, sure, but he didnt want to lie to chishiya.

Ch. 6 : Benefit 

He sat on his bed, and looked down. He realized that doing this whole smile thing had no benefit. He would make chishiya happy, die, and make him sad. Chishiya could also die. So there was no real benefit. He cursed himself, as, he realized that choosing chishiya and then leaving him would make chishiya never trust, or get close to anybody again. You bet he hated it.   No real benefit from doing what he was doing, and he hated that.   He couldnt sleep at all that night, and was shuffling trying to go to sleep. He felt bad. It felt like someone punched him in the stomach. (Actually someone did.) He wanted to throw up, and just back away from all of this, but he couldnt. He buried his head in his pillow and pondered what to do. How could he do this without hurting Chishiya? He spent that night thinking, crying, and hating himself.

“Shiya?” Kuzuryu said, knocking on his door. Chishiya opened the door, and once he did that, he was met by kuzuryu embracing him with a hug. Chishiya just patted his back, pursing his lips. When kuzuryu pulled away, chishiya raised his eyebrow. “I just wanted you to know that, i care about you. Dont do anything stupid.” Keiichi said. Chishiya nodded, and thanked him.   

They went out together just because chishiya wanted to. Kuina tagged along. As they were outside, they found a mall, but it was abandoned. “Do you want to go in?” Kuina offered. Before they had the chance to, though, kuina dragged them along.

There was an escalator that had stopped, and kuina went up it. Chishiya and kuzuryu went to the arcade, and thought it looked cool. Kuzuryu chased chishiya around the mall.

Ch. 7 : maybe its a cruel joke on me.

“Come back here!” Kuzuryu yelled. Chishiya laughed. He laughed, and smiled. He smiled. Kuzuryu’s face turned back. Chishiya looked at him, confused. “Kuzuryu?” Chishiya said, stopping. He walked over to kuzuryu. “You okay?” Chishiya asked. “Yeah, im fine.” Kuzuryu replied. “Im just going to go to the bathroom.” He added. “But the bathroom probably isnt cl-” Chishiya tried saying, but kuzuryu already left. Chishiya went to where kuina was, and asked her why she thinks that kuzuryu left. “Im not sure.” Kuina said, shrugging her shoulders.   They waited about maybe 20 minutes? Chishiya went to the bathroom to go check up on kuzuryu. He walked up the stairs to the bathroom, and knocked. Yet, there was no answer. He knocked again, but harder, yet there was still nothing. He tried opening the door, but it would move. He was guessing it was locked, so he tried kicking it open. It didnt work, so he called kuina over. Kuina tried for about 10 minutes to open the door, and they couldnt. “You know what, lets just go around the mall and look for things?” Chishiya said. Kuina went downstairs, and chishiya went upstairs.

Kuina found a bicycle, and chishiya found nothing. Kuina came back up, and tried bashing the door with the bicycle, and after a few minutes, there was a hole in the door. It wasnt too big, but big enough for chishiya to look through. Chishiya peaked through the hole, and saw a figure, with glasses, laying down on the floor. Chishiya leaned away, and kuina saw his eyes widen. “What happened?” She asked worryingly. Chishiya didnt say anything, and buried his face in his hands. He took the bicycle, and bashed it against the lock. In a matter of seconds, the door unlocked, and they both walked in. Kuina didnt see anything, until she felt something near her foot. She looked down, and to her horror, was kuzuryu. Chishiya sat down, and looked down at kuzuryu. Kuina looked at chishiya, and saw that he was on the verge of crying. Chishiya saw a hole in the top of kuzuryus head. Kuina saw a tear fall on the floor, and when she looked, it came from chishiya.  

 When they got back to the beach, they went to mira and hatter first. Mira looked upset, and a little sad, but not too sad. Chishiya went to kuzuryus room to see if there was anything that could tell him why it happened. He knew it wasnt because of a visa. While chishiya was looking, he found a note. On kuzuryu’s desk. It read: mira, dont you think this whole smile thing is kinda unfair? I mean, you make them smile, you die, and then they live the rest of their life probably never wanting to get close to someone again. I kno That was the end of it. Chishiya took the note, and left.

 Chishiya finally figured out what it was. Citizens needed to make someone smile, and once they did, they would die. Chishiya was angry, but at himself.   When there was an executive meeting the next day, chishiya’s nose was red, and his hair was up. The meeting was about kuzuryu and that just made it worse for chishiya. Niragi sat down next to chishiya, in hopes that after that meeting, they could talk.

After the meeting, chishiya was the first to get up and try to leave, but niragi grabbed his hand, and stopped him. “Shun?” Niragi said. Chishiya turned around to look at niragi. “Im sorry about what happened.” “No need, its not as if it was your fault, anyways.” Chishiya said, pulling his hand away and leaving.

  It took chishiya weeks to stop crying (or stop crying every night). He still cursed himself for getting close to someone. He was afraid, too. He didnt want to push kuina away, but he didnt want something to happen to her, either.   The executive members had buried kuzuryu infront of the beach. And chishiya went there every single day he could. Today, he went to kuzuryus grave first thing in the morning after brushing his teeth. “You dense-” chishiya tried spitting out, but failed, as he didnt want to swear at kuzuryu. “Poop.” Chishiya finished. Yeah, that sounded okay. “You dense poop!” He yelled, laughing at the end. His nose was already red, and a tear had already fallen down his face. He wiped it with his sleeve. He heard 2 laughs from behind him. He turned around and saw niragi and kuina. “Dense poop?” Niragi said. “Really?” Kuina added. “Dense poop.” Chishiya said with a nod.  

“Now, we will give you a choice. Either stay in borderland as a permanent resident, or go back into the real world.” The voice on the PA said. Permanent resident. Thats what kuzuryu was. Kuzuryu told chishiya that when he got out, he should try to talk to his dad, or get a therapist. Chishiya wasnt going to stay as a resident, as much as he loved kuzuryu. Kuzuryu and told chishiya he regretted staying as a resident. “Go back, not just for you, shuntaro, go back, for the greater good.” Kuzuryu told him.  

Chishiya had been in therapy for a year now, and had graduated from medical school. He was doing much better, yet never quite forgot about kuzuryu. He was much kinder, and open now. And he was sure that if kuzuryu was there, he would be very proud of him.

One day, he had a patient come in. “Hey werent you that guy whos heart had stopped, and was bleeding out when you were in the hospital bed?” Chishiya laughed and gave him a nod. “Son, thats rude.” His dad said. “Oh, no, youre fine.” Chishiya said “So your name is….kiro….kuzuryu?” Chishiya said. “Mhm!” The kid confirmed. Kuzuryu. The kid started talking again, but the father shushed him. “We have to go visit your uncles grave with his friends soon.” The father said. “But all his friends are gonna do is say how its sooo unfaiirrr he died, and some more things they learned in law school.” He whined. The father gave him a glare. Chishiya saw the fathers face, and thought to himself oh if looks could kill. The kid was fine, and they left in a matter of minutes, but chishiya couldnt help but thinking if it was kuzuryu they were talking about, or if it was just a coincidence.

[ncssian]

Honestly there are times where I completely ignore what is canon in the ACOTAR world. For example: SJM said that the reason Nesta didn’t help Feyre when they were poor was because she desperately wanted her father (the adult) to step up for once and help, which is understandable. However it is never explained why Nesta was not friendly with Feyre and instead protective over Elain in their youth.

My head canon that I will forever stick to is that Nesta was abused, broken down, and rebuilt into the perfect wife and “lady” since an incredibly young age, so then when Elain was born Nesta’s mother and grandmother didn’t need to mild Elain because she was already seen as the perfect housewife, this then lead Nesta to want to protect Elain in case their mother and grandmother decided to sink their claws into her. When it came to Feyre though, Nesta knew that she was different then the other sisters in the sense that she didn’t have the spirit or the qualities of a ‘perfect’ wife.

So, to protect Feyre and make sure that she would never be broken the same way Nesta had, she made sure Feyre couldn’t read and chased her out of the house with her words in hopes that her mother and grandmother would never set their sights on her, but rather discipline Nesta for whatever words she said as it wasn’t “lady like”. The best thing Nesta could do to protect Feyre was to make sure that she was never in the same house as the other women and to keep their focus on her rather than Feyre. Though Nesta knew that she was doing what she could as a child to protect Feyre, she also couldn’t help but feel guilt over the fact that she was still saying insults towards someone she loved and because Feyre never knew why she was mean, Nesta thought that she would never have her sisters love and continued to push her away.

Idk this is kind of a crack theory (with many holes probably) but I would have loved this direction as it would so much more interesting rather than “Nesta was mean because Nesta wanted to” which is kind of the route SJM took when it came to the relationship between the sisters. It also would have made sense as to why Nesta went out and nearly crossed the wall to get Feyre back when she was taken. It also would have allowed her to relate to the IC a bit more because they too wore certain masks to protect those they loved. I just…really wanted to see a dynamic like this happening and was really disappointed and dissatisfied with how Feyre and Nesta’s relationship was handled.

Sorry for the long ask😅

this is a great theory, and i agree that nesta’s background deserved more depth and sympathy than what it got. but at the same time, i personally never needed an explanation for why nesta was the way she was. i didnt really need (or want tbh) nesta to secretly have a heart of gold and a bunch of love for feyre, though that storyline wouldve still been way better than what we got. since the archerons’ past is so half-baked and riddled with plotholes, it’s hard for me to make conclusions about the sisters from any of it, but from what i remember from the books, nesta was groomed to be cold and calculating from the start. i dont think she had a personal vendetta out for feyre in their wealthy years any more than she just generally disliked and distanced herself from everybody, because that was her nature. elain was the exception because elain is everybody’s exception—she’s like a baby or puppy in the way that everyone that comes across her feels the need to protect and adore her. idk i liked nesta because of her coldness, not because i thought her coldness was faked. im not friendly with all of my siblings either, bc being related doesn’t make us close besties, so while i believe that nesta always loved feyre the way you are born loving your family, i dont think she liked her. and she doesn’t really need an excuse for that.

(this is all based off the assumption that i’m getting canon correct and nesta wasn’t an outright bully in their earlier years. it always seemed to me like she grew up cold but she wasn’t mean spirited until they went into debt)

[sortagaysortahigh]

Wow the more that i think ab it Sigyn as a variant (not of fucking loki) wouldve been PERFECT as a love interest for loki because hello heres some background: thats his literal wife in the comics except yk he was an ass and killed her fiance and yadda yadda she hated him but learned to love him but their relationship was a god damn disaster. Being that marvel didnt rlly have to follow the comics for the loki series and they rlly didnt since they pulled the TVA out of the deepest pits of their 1950s assholes, if they wouldve rewritten sigyn and casted her in instead of sylvie the romantic storyline wouldve honestly been so much BETTER. Especially with the context that some hundreds of yrs ago he killed the love of her life so she eventually betrays him like sylvie does. It would literally be a redemption arc for her character from a dif timeline w the same foundational event (being married to loki fter he kills her fiance). Marvel needs to hire me, i have a sociology degree but im a dork and an artist. GIVE ME A CHAIR IN THAT GOD DAMN WRITERS ROOM

[softness-and-shattering]

And then they tried to do the little-guy thing, in falcon + winter soldier, which was the last marvel thing, other than ms marvel which I made an excrption for, that I was actually into. The first scene, the ice monster prologue, was falcon on some military assasination mission. And then what an episode later hes sitting in the bank "oh no we avengers dont get paid, Im struggling to take out a loan to save my dads boat" or whatever. It is unfathomable that theyre not paid big bucks by the government or minimum stark isnt bankrolling them. Its ludicrous. Theyre out there physically throwing around countries and youre telling me falcon cant afford a lawyer? Especially this is after the sokovia accords. The "we're gonna police the avengers oops guess not". So whys he not sitting in prison for international terrorism or whatever? But he cant get a bank loan? But he'll drop everything to go avengering and hes out on military missions, youre telling me he's volunteering for the military for no pay? In the equipment only he can operate, that they havent taken from him by force?

And then even more so than the "oh were the antagonists I guess we better blow up a building" scene, a bit later the lead antagonist woman is talking to Sam and hes like "I get your mission but your methods are wrong youre hurting people" and it wouldve been perfect if she responded "and how many people have you killed in the name of the greater good sam wilson?"

But of course she doesnt. Because status quo and agreeing with the superhero comes before good storytelling. If they were really wrestling with this question that wouldve been fantastic. He'd hve to face his own hypocrisy. But no hes not a big avenger man hes poor little sam who cant get a loan.

If he was a vigilante he might even go rob idk tony stark or some billionaire or smth, like, hes been an avenger for how many years now and you wamt.me to believe he has no income? And is ok with that?

I dont really remember Buckys storyline but I do remember they took his arm at the end and we were supposed to be okay with that, like a limb has to be earned with compliance.

The thing is, theres nothing wrong with power fantasy, superhero comocs have always been power fantasy. But theyre the fantasy of the little guy becoming powerful and then using that power to save the other little guys. I mean Disney is doing this too, they made Mulan some magic girl instead of someone who did what had to be done despite her ordinariness. (Full disclosure I didnt actually watch that movie).

And the end of TFATWS wasnt the big vistory that sam like, nodded at a senator and said nu nu nu do better? And took on the mantle of captain america of course.

Its also like how detective and PI stories have all become copaganda. Theyre all about working within the law officially and then when they flagrantly break laws its ok because it was necessary and no one will ever know. Get to the suspect before they lawyer up and invoke their rights. Oh no now we'll never get the evidence in time because they have legal support, naughty suspect.

Its all boring and theres no escapism. If heroes dont start out small we cant project onto them. If they are the establishment, we're already very familiar with the establishment and it being powerful isnt a fantasy its just reality. Theyre not protecting the little guy anymore. Theyre working with the military theyre siding with the government so ok theyre just flashier...not even law enforcement. Theyre just people who can do whatever and theres nothing anyone can do. Thats not fun.

The irony of Tolkien plundering Norse mythology to create Lord of the rings and then the MCU Thor franchise plundering the lotr movies to create a generic fantasy vibe.

The irony that MCU Thor borrows aesthetics from lotr as a source material but somehow missed the whole fucking moral and has recast Mordor as the protagonist

All the things that were supposed to elicit horror in lotr? They're good now actually

The horror of Sauron's ever-seeing eye, watching everything, knowing everything? Actually that's good, odin's ever-seeing eye is actually here for our protection

The horror of the empire that is trying to consolidate all the wealth and resources of all the lands into theirs? Asgard is a utopia, where resources are so easy and plentiful that they guild their walls in gold

The unnatural orcs of Mordor and the uruks of isengard, who understand nothing but violence, fighting and swarming at their enemy as if untouchable by fear or pain, spreading fear and pain wherever they go? Actually they're Asgardians now and that's their very noble warriors code actually

But yeah, the MCU is totally not an unsubtle vehicle for casual authoritarianism