#so yeah I’ll probably give her poppy war next

[flashhwing]

slowly plying my friend with fantasy books to get her into the genre but I think I fucked up by starting with the golem and the jinni because it’s really good and a touch more literary than what I usually read so the rest of my recommendations are gonna seem Meh in comparison. I gave her a kingfisher book today which I think will carry itself but I gotta step up my game for when she finishes it. how fast do you think I can read Babel

[smallrainclouds]

And part b to part six.

Warning:.some spicness, like kissing and stuff.

🌙💤💤🌙

*Reader's pov*

You were bone tired but pleased with your process. You pushed your hair out your face. Lately you had taken to wearing it down, it was nice not to have to fuss with fixing a bun or the headache that came with it sometimes

You hummed a song as you began collecting the next round of scrolls. You

You heard the door open and your eyes widened, "Hypnos! Here for a second time?"

You waved him in with a smile. He gives a smile in return, "Yeah, I got done early so I decided to stop by to check in."

You noticed there was a tension in his body that you haven't seen before but you decided to hold your tongue for now.

"It's going well. Come on, I got the backroom nearly done. I'll give you a tour."

You motioned to Hypnos to follow you, eager to show off your work. You didn't notice how his eyes stayed on you the whole time.

"So I got the history area set up, and I got it broken down by the time period followed by the area…" you chatted as Hypnos floated behind you. He was mostly quiet except for a quick question here or there.

"And that is it for now." You said, fingers brushing across the wooden shelves.

You looked at Hypnos, candle light was always good to Hypnos. It has taken some time to admit to yourself that You did like the strange handsome look of your husband. Now it was something you couldn't stop thinking about.

"Impressive. Do you enjoy doing this?" He asked.

You tilted your head, not expecting that question. "I do. I like the stories and even the non fiction can help give context to what a story is about."

Hypnos smiled, and damn it, you could feel a blush forming.

"Is this what you would do if you had a choice?"

"I…" You bit your lips, not quite sure what to say. "Maybe. I think I would, but I could be happy doing something else."

"Are you unhappy with your work?" You tried to keep your tone casual. It was already unusual for Hypnos to visit twice in one day and ask questions like these. It was silly but you didn't want to scare him off. Even if he was your husband, he was more like an acquaintance right now.

"That would be putting it mildly." Hypnos shrugged. "Not exactly the type of guy you would want doing paperwork, but that's all I do."

"Why do it then?" You frowned, "I mean being the god of sleep would have to be a full time job on its own."

Hypnos didn't say anything for a few moments, and you feared you may have pushed too much.

"What exactly did your family tell you? About the war, I mean?" Hypnos asked, his voice soft.

You crossed your arms and shifted on your feet. This wasn't what you expected. You still didn't like to think about it. That war had cost so much more problems than it fixed.

"My mother told me some things but not what you did. She did say you were the only reason she didn't lose a war. Which is huge if you know what my mother is like." You locked eyes with Hypnos. You could see the guilt on his face, another thing that surprised you tonight.

"Well, Aphrodite helped some. Even if she didn't realize it." Hypnos matched your gaze.

He grinned a little, and held up two fingers."I…put Zeus to sleep. Twice. I don't think he found out the second time, I was much more careful the second time around."

You gasped at him, "How in the world did you even get close enough to do that?"

This time Hypnos laughed and you tried to ignore the warmth in your body.

"I was a determined and a very stupid child back then. I thought I needed to prove I was worthy of being called a god." Hypnos looked amused at the thought of his younger self. "I saw Zeus had a hard time saying no to a pretty face and gave your mother the idea to trick Zeus by using his own ego against him."

You shook your head with a laugh, "No wonder my mother didn't say much, she probably was mad she didn't think of it first."

"After that, my mother wasn't exactly pleased that I was getting involved with the Olympians so much. She talked Hades into keeping me here until I grew up some. So now I'm here, listing off the dead. I think Mom was trying to show me the cost of that war."

"Oh, it's been so long since that war though. Surely she must have forgiven you by now." You had been a child yourself, just on the cusp of becoming a woman. Those hazy days of youth seem so long ago.

"I suspect if it wasn't for the current war right now, I would probably be out of the house."

A moment of silence then Hypnos floated closer, "Actually, could I confess something? You're probably not going to like me much afterwards though. But I need to tell you."

"Hypnos, I doubt that very much." You watched him stop his floating and stand. You noticed that he could block you from the door, but you felt comfortable enough with Hypnos. And you were sure he wouldn't do anything. Honestly, you weren't sure if you would say no if he did try something.

His face turned serious, "I really hope so."

You frowned at him, "Hypnos, just tell me. I don't like these kinds of games." You couldn't help the nervousness in your voice. If this was some joke…

"I helped your mother for a reason. I… I did it for you." Hypnos said quietly.

You stared, not quite understanding. "But we never even met…"

"No, we have once,Y/N. I don't think you noticed me the other times." Hypnos respond desperately.

You shook your head and took a step backwards, the shelves pressed against your back.

Hypnos grabbed your shoulders, firm but not bruising. He got close enough that you could feel his body heat and you looked away from him. You hated how your heart flip flopped between wanting to push him away and pulling him closer.

"This isn't funny, Hypnos." You snapped at him.

"No, it's not." Hypnos grabbed your chin. "Hey, Y/N look at me. Hey."

You gave in the gentle pressure and allowed Hypnos to pull your face up. You realized you were trembling as you met his light golden eyes.

"You really don't remember me, do you?" He whispered. You shook your head, unable to speak.

"I remember. Each time I saw you. The first time, you didn't see me I think. It was a party, you were dancing with one of your sisters. I was there because I wanted to see what the big deal was about the Olympians."

His thumb brushed your face, a small smile on his. "The second time was when I first tricked Zeus, you were in the hallways and I had to hide so no one would see me. I almost got caught anyway since I couldn't take my eyes away from you."

You couldn't look away, you almost felt like you were in a trance, only able to listen to Hypnos' voice. "The third time… I was in your mother's living room, and I could see you in the garden. I sneaked off so I could get a closer look, and that when I found you trying to listen in. You looked like a painting to me, this beautiful little goddess hidden among flowers. I had to send you off before I could even talk to you."

Your eyes widen, an old memory rushing back.

"The red poppies." You murmured and Hypnos' face lit up.

"She tried to offer me anything. Wealth, boons or strength, anything a young god could want. But… I wanted you. My mother tried to stop it, to save you from my foolishness, but Hera had already swore to the river Styx."

"Hypnos- I - this is too much." You shook your head. You placed your hands on his chest, but you were trembling too much to push him away. Your hand just curled into his tunic, shaking in a mix of anger and stock. And hurt, you thought maybe you could trust him.

"How- I can't even talk to you. My sisters-" you pulled your face away from him. Your voice cracked, "my sisters. My home."

Hypnos used both hands to hold your face as he bent down to look at you. "I know. I shouldn't have kept it from you. I would have thought your family would have told you."

You took a deep breath, "I-i thought you were a friend. I thought you were in the same boat as me. I thought maybe you were helpful in a battle or something and my mother saw a chance for some dumb political move and that Nyx was in on it."

You glared up at him, "I didn't know you traded for me, like -like I was some dumb cattle!" You stepped away from the side, back facing Hypnos; trying to get air into your lungs. You hated the fact the only reason you were able to get away was because Hypnos allowed you.

"First of all, you will not talk about yourself like that." Hypnos' voice went hard but you just scoffed at him, too upset at him.

He got close to you again, tone a little softer "And second, it wasn't like that. I honestly didn't think she would offer her own daughter up. I-"

You whirled around to face him, finger in his face. "You didn't have to take her up on it though!"

He grabbed your wrist and pulled you to him. His face is a mixture of anger and desperation. He wrapped his arm around your waist and held you flushed against him. You raised your hand to his chest to push off but the fire in his eyes stopped you.

"I knew I would never get another chance to have you, Y/N. By blood and darkness,it was my only chance and I took it! I know what the almighty Olympians really think of us. I know I would never get to see you again if I didn't take up on her offer."

Hypnos lean down, almost close enough to kiss. "I would have done anything for you. I still would."

You tighten your hand on his chest, unable to move away, not wanting to move away. "You barely know me, Hypnos. Why? Why me?"

"Because I do know you, in the way that matters. I see how hard you try to please your family, how you get lost in the words of a story."

You shook your head, unable to deal with emotions that were building up in you. But Hypnos just kept talking.

"I know you have a soft spot for everybody, even the outcasts, how smart you are and how you always try to make sure to help anyone who needs it."

"I- Hypnos." You whispered.

He let go of your wrist to wrap his other arm around you. "Y/N, I don't know everything, not yet. But I would like to. Will you let me?" He asked softly, desperately.

You couldn't speak if you wanted to. You cupped his face and pulled his lips to yours in a chaste kiss.

Hypnos tighten his hold on you. Gently, he pressed a little more into the kiss. You gasped against his lips and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.

You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and just tried to hold on.

You didn't know how long or short the kiss went on when both you and Hypnos both took a breath. He pressed his forehead against yours, his golden eyes on your eyes.

"I'm still mad at you." You murmured, fingers caressing his cheek. He smiled, "If this is how good you are when mad, I can't wait to kiss you when you're happy."

"Oh, for goodness sake." You rolled your eyes, not able to hide your smile. Hypnos pressed a kiss against your cheek and then another one, slowly working his way to your neck.

You tugged him back up to face you before he could continue because if you didn't, you were to make some very foolish decisions.

"Can I kiss you again?" Hypnos asked, his hand cupped the back of your head and you nodded as you pulled him down for another one.

Suddenly the doors bang open, "Hey Y/N! I got past- oh." Zagreus' voice halted. You hid your face in Hypnos' chest, wishing for a pit to open up and swallow you whole.

"Zagreus, buddy. Ever heard of knocking?" Hypnos snarled, "Let me help, it when you use your head and-"

"You know what, I will come back later. Much later." Zagreus slammed the door shut.

Then opened it again.

"Congratulations you two!"

And slammed close again.

"I'm going to kill him." Hypnos murmured into your hair.

"Be nice, he is your best friend." You murmured into his chest.

"But he gotten used to dying." Hypnos brushed a kiss against your head. You sighed and looked up at him, "I said no, Hypnos. You said anything for me."

"I did." Hydnos agreed easily. He dipped his head down to met you in another kiss.

"Anything for you, Y/N."

[st-just]

Semi-coherent Thoughts on the Poppy War Series

(Because I really need to start forcing myself to write semi-consistently again)

So I’ll say outright that I actually liked the series quite a bit, which does mean I actually got engaged and invested enough to start turning it over and picking it apart in my head after I finished it. So, like, this is probably going to come across as more negative overall than my actual opinions of the books.

Anyway, first off I really do adore Rin as a protagonist (I’d say ‘heroine’, but, well, no). Now partially this is because I always love even minimally sympathetic morally grey (..grey like coal soot, in this case) protagonists. But she’s just also such a complete garbage fire of a person, it’s kind of endearing. Well, that’s a bit callous – her entire personality is more or less a conflict between different kinds of unhealthy responses to powerlessness and trauma. Be she’s also just such a mess, and when she really starts leaning into delusions of grandeur you can’t help but root for her and hope things do actually turn out okay, regardless of how many fivers of blood she’s currently fantasizing about creating.

A big part of that is just how thoroughly awful the entire setting is, and how terrible everyone in it are, of course. Like, there are basically exactly three developed character in the entire trilogy who are unambiguously at least mostly good people (Chen, probably Venka, specifically the amnesiac and semi-delusional version of Jiang, but that’s being generous), and the fact that they stick around with Rin right to the end kind of puts that into doubt, honestly. Beyond that – almost every family has negligent or abusive parents, and literally every political figure is a bloody-handed tyrant ruling through violence and fear. The Hesperians are racist imperialists convinced they have a divine mandate to conquer the world, the Mugenese are every horror story from the IJA during WW2 translated to a pre-industrial fantasy setting, the ruling elite of Nikara are so many racist, scheming, power-hungry snakes with no concerns except their own position....

And, part and parcel with how terrible the setting is, Kuang does an incredible job of making all the worst things Rin does (until the final act, anyway) incredibly cathartic and badass and fun-in-a-fucked-up-way to read. There’s a terrible sort of awe while she turns the main islands of not!Japan into a pyroclastic hellscape. And whenever she gets a chance to enact any of her numerous revenges on some of the many people who abused and betrayed her it’s always poetic, in a Count-of-Monte-Cristo sort of way, and so kind of sickly compelling, even beyond it being some of the only times Rin’s really hopeful and happy. (Also, there are fun villainous monologues and quippy post-murder one-liners!)

Also, all forms of love are a terrible idea 100% of the time and is only going to end in at least one of the parties dead, abused, or (more or less literally) killing themselves in order to keep up with the other/earn their approval/try to keep them together. (I mean, Rin mostly had horrible taste in men, but Chen wasn’t able to stay mad at her for longer than a few months even after the whole ‘genocide’ thing, which he’s just about the only person to react to with any horror whatsoever. And look at how that ended up working out for him, so-)

I’m sure comparing grimdark fantasy to A Song of Ice And Fire is thoroughly out of fashion by now, but the overall perspective really did strike me as incredibly similar to Martin’s, a lot of the time. ‘Legitimate’ power and ‘lawful’ authority are ultimately nothing but polite fictions maintained by violence, terror and brutal oppression. War is a hell suffered most keenly by civilians with the misfortune to live and die in the middle of it, and least of all by the people with the power who actually start and end them. A flawed and unequal peace is very often preferable to dragging everything to hell with you as you die for the sake of freedom. And so on.

Now, to start the nitpicking – this is entirely personal and aesthetic, but it was kind of annoying how each of the first two books ended in moments of megalomaniac grandeur and terrifying empowerment, and then the next book started with a timeskip of things having gone to shit and her back under someone else’s thumb, and then a solid majority of the text is spent getting manipulated, betrayed, and finally crawling and clawing her way back out to the same point (both emotionally and in terms of independence/vision) that she had been at the previous book’s climax.

This isn’t anything even close to unique to TPW, of course – everything going to shit between the end of one story and the start of the sequel is kind of endemic to a lot of genres, really. And it is frankly incredibly in character for Rin to go through cycles flipping between resentment at being manipulated and used, and desperately craving authority figures to tell her what she should do and give her validation as valuable or useful. Still a bit annoying to read, though.

I’m sure it’s more me than the books – not like they didn’t put in the effort – but I could just never get really invested in the whole enemies-to-almost-lovers-to-enemies-again-to-? Thing with Nezha. Like, he’s interesting in that you can do a 180 perspective flip and he’d clearly be just as suitable a protagonist as Rin is, and his life’s very sad and everything. But, like, we get a front row seat to Rin’s internal monologue, and she gets thirsty for plenty of terrible men (and one awful woman), the only thing that makes Nezha special is that he’s not at least twice her age. So I never really got nearly as emotionally invested in them as the books seemed to expect me to. Which does kind of hurt the whole final act of book three.

Speaking of – okay, the ending isn’t awful or anything, but it is kind of disappointing in being exactly what you would expect it to be, as far as Rin’s character arc goes? Which might be just because I was already primed to compare this to ASOIF and she just literally pulls a Daenerys (fire-aligned vengeance/justice character with revolutionary impulses and an autocratic sensibility is willing to burn down the world in the process of freeing it, goes mad with power and paranoia, needs to be put down for the good of the country), but still. Her reading Venka throwing her to the ground to avoid an assassination attempt as a betrayal and burning her to death before she realized what was happening was just really heavy handed, you know? Same with turning on Kitay, who at this point is her actual literal soulmate. (Also sad in a broader sense, because those two are like literally two of the only characters in the entire series I’d actually peg as worthy of/capable of being trusted with political power.)

The specifics aside, I’m a miserable enough person to appreciate how unsatisfying the actual resolution at the end of the book is – imperialism wins! Literally no choice but to sign those unequal treaties and hope you’re eventually able to grow strong enough to force them out! Everything is the same as before this forty-year cycle of wars except much, much worse! - but yeah, I really just don’t actually care about Nezha enough as a character for it to really land. Also Kitay and Venka deserved better, even if literally no one else did.

Anyway, yeah, good series. Would recommend if you like the genre and can stomach all the, well, everything.

[rivers-children]

Chapter 6

    The trek back to camp was somehow quieter than the one going to the gathering. Sprucestar’s head was low, the weight of a new war straining her. Camp was just as quiet, any cats still awake clearly waiting for news of how it went, confusion rising through everyone as their leader simply walked to her nest, not a word spoken. The rest of them did the same, Speckledpaw feeling like she was made of solid stone with how heavy she felt. She dreaded the inevitable announcement of war tomorrow, and the stress it would bring. Sleep didn’t come easily that night to anyone.

    “All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather below High Point.” Sprucestar’s voice rang out early that morning, and the clan groggily pulled themselves to the center of camp. “As the other cats who went to the gathering with me are already aware.” She hesitated slightly. “Skystar is no longer the leader of Cloudclan, and her usurper, Coldstar, has declared open war.”

    Everyone seemed to suddenly be wide awake now, murmuring and shouts mingling. Speckledpaw could barely make any of it out.

    “But why?” Cinderstream’s voice was clear and easily heard as he stood. “Why was Skystar exiled so soon to the end of the war? And why a new one?” The rest of the clan nodded, it was the question on Speckledpaw’s mind as well.

    “I don’t know for certain. There may not even be a proper reason. Coldstar has always been one of Cloudclan’s most… aggressive warriors, this may just be another way for him to keep the fighting going for his own amusement.” Sprucestar finally responded, her voice tense. “But we can’t focus on the why now. All border patrols must now contain at least four warriors, and the Cloudclan border heavily monitored. I would like hunting parties to be wary as well, and our healers to take at least one warrior with them if they must leave camp. Clan dismissed for now. May our ancestors keep us safe…”

    Speckledpaw’s brow furrowed as she watched her aunt duck into the nursery, presumably to talk her ideas through with Riverback. She padded towards the medicine den, hoping that maybe Elderbark would be able to say something that would calm her nerves. The vines that shielded the opening were still damp with dew. “Leafpaw, is Elderbark awake?”

    “It’s uh… its Leafheart now but yeah, she is. She’s not doing too great though.” The tom’s voice was quiet, concern etched into his face. “Did you need something? Is your eye hurting again? Or, or your head?”

    “I. No, I’m fine I just wanted to talk to her. About… well. A lot actually. What happened to her? Oh and uh. Congrats?” Her voice wavered a little, suddenly nervous about the well being on Elderbark. Was she sick? Dying? Oh ancestors what if she was already gone? What would they do without her? Sprucestar would need her advice!

    “Oh uh, you know how it was pretty cold last night? It didn’t really help her. She’s mostly fine, just feeling a bit ill. Nothing that you could catch though.” Leafheart tried to play it off like everything was fine, but he had never been great at hiding his fears. “You can go talk to her, Briarpaw and I were about to ask Blackfoot to come with us to get a few herbs I wanted to have extras of before Riverback has her kits.” He gestured for her to go ahead, sliding past her out into camp.

    Once he left, the sudden silence of the medicine den set in. Speckledpaw hesitated before stepping further in. The scent of herbs washed over her, and she tried to see if she could pick any out. By the time she reached the deeper part of the den, she hadn’t been able to pick out a single one. She peeked into the dimness, seeing Elderbark’s form resting in a nest, chest slowly rising and falling.

    “Elderbark? Are you alright?” She spoke softly, unsure if she was afraid of making the other mad, or that she would get an unhappy answer. Instead, she got a grunt as Elderbark sat up to look at her. Her eyes were a touch red, and she looked… Tired. It wasn’t a look Speckledpaw ever wanted to see again frankly.

    “Alright? Wouldn’t quite say that, but I’m alive. That’s better than I expected.” Her voice was hoarse, but she tried to give the apprentice a smirk. “So what did you need?” Watching the elderly medicine cat struggle to sit up sent a pang of sorrow through Speckledpaw.

    “I well… The gathering last night went, badly.” She explained, taking the time to let Elderbark calm down when she got riled up, already feeling at least a slight bit better just from talking through it. “And so I… thought maybe you’d have some insight or something. Grandpa always said he heard you stopped the last one from getting really bad.”

    “The last war was started because a deputy ate bad prey on the wrong side of a border, not because of a breaking of an ancestral rule. The best bet of stopping this one from getting bad is hope Skystar or Clifftongue are still alive and if they are, get them back into power.” Elderbark shook her head, coughing slightly. “Coldstar won’t win this though, I can tell you that. The ancestors would never give their blessings to someone so arrogant and cruel.”

    “You really think so? I hope it won’t last long then. I’ll… I’ll tell auntie about possibly finding them and maybe everything can be fixed before you know it!” Speckledpaw shifted, trying to look at it hopefully, turning to leave. “Did um… Did you want me to bring you anything?”

    “Just grab me a poppy seed. My head is killing me.” Speckledpaw hurriedly went to find the poppy flower, she at least knew what it looked like. Shaking out a seed, she carefully carried it to the medicine cat, setting it in front of her. “Alright, rest well.” She waited until Elderbark lapped up the seed and settled back down before she left.

    Looking around, she couldn’t see Sprucestar pacing around, so she headed towards the nursery. She poked her nose through the vine curtain, blinking through the dimness before her eyes adjusted. “-going to deal with this? I could make Thrushpaw and Finchpaw warriors sooner rather than later, but Thrushpaw… He’s still so cocky I fear he’d start fights just to start them.”

    Sprucestar was still pacing in front of Riverback, who laid on her side as she listened to her sister, humming softly in acknowledgement. “You could always make Finchpaw a warrior by herself. It might do her some good to not feel like she Has to always be by her brother. And stop pacing so much, you’re going to wear a groove in the ground.” Her ear twitched as Speckledpaw stepped in, the pregnant molly looking over. “Speckledpaw! How are you doing sweetheart?”

    ��O-oh uh. I’m fine Auntie. I wanted to tell Sprucestar something Elderbark said. Is everything ok?” Speckledpaw hurried in further, ear twitching. She settled down to sit close to her aunts. Riverback’s belly was getting big, Leafheart must’ve been right about the big litter thing.

    “Everything… will be fine. What did Elderbark want me to hear?” Sprucestar shifted slightly, clearly not wanting to dwell on whatever Speckledpaw had overheard. Her tail tip flicked quickly, and she didn’t look directly at her niece.

    “She thinks the best thing we can do to, um, deal with Coldstar is to try and find Skystar and or uh, Clifftongue and help them get back into power like they’re supposed to be. And that it’ll end in our favour because the ancestors wouldn’t give their favor to someone like him.” The apprentice shifted, curling her tail around her paws. She was starting to get nervous at the silence in the nursery, 

    “... Yes, that would probably be our best option. I’ll let anyone going towards Cloudclan know they should keep an eye out. I have a request for you though. I want you and Palepelt to take some fish to The Barn to trade. We’ll need all the herbs we can get now.” Sprucestar shifted, sitting further upright. “Redwind should be just about done gathering the ones to trade. Stay safe and Only go to The Barn, alright? I want the two of you in particular to stay away from the border as often as possible.”

    “Of course auntie! I’ll start going right away.” Speckledpaw stood, trying to hide her near stumble over her own tail. She padded out, glancing back at them before pushing her way out. Her nose wrinkled as a cold wind blew past. Looking around, she spotted Springpaw’s tail and followed her cousin. Just outside of camp, Springpaw was helping Rustpaw and Coppereye haul in some large fish while Redwind pulled a few last fish from the river. It looked like the water was starting to freeze over now.

    “Redwind! Are those the fish we’re gonna trade?” The warrior looked up, shaking his paws to warm them. He carefully set the first down, nodding for the other three to keep going. “Yeah, this is them. The ones I’ve got that is. Figured while I was getting these, we could grab a few more. Some cats around here could stand to gain a bit.” He snorted as Springpaw immediately looked over.

    “It’s not my fault I’m skinny! Especially next to Speckledpaw, she’s HUGE! Almost anyone would look skinny next to her! All that fluff.” The grey tom’s cheeks puffed out as he tried to defend his honor, ignoring the barely stifled laughter of Rustpaw next to him. “Redwind sir, if you’re worried about him getting cold this Leaf-Bare, I can promise you none of us will.”

    Springpaw shifted, noticeably flushing a little as he looked away. “Y-yeah! Speckledpaw sleeps so close to the opening she blocks any draft!” Redwind went silent for a moment, before bursting out in laughter, nearly falling over.

    “It seems it runs in the family then! Good to-” He had to stop to breathe, “Good to know when you join the warriors den it’ll be completely draft-free then.” The tom rubbed his face with a paw, taking a few deep breaths. “Alright that should be good. I’ll go get Palepelt so we can go get these fish traded.” He shuffled the fish into a quick pile before padding further into camp to look for the white molly.

    “‘Blocks any draft’? Really?” Speckledpaw practically slugged her cousin in the shoulder. “Couldn’t have found any better wording for ‘I get cold at night so I snuggle with Rustpaw while begging my cousin to switch nests so I’m away from the scary cold’?” She teased lightly as he stuck his tongue out at her.

    “Shut up! You like the cold more anyways! And it is not snuggling! It’s huddling for warmth!” “It’s… It’s definitely snuggling.” Rustpaw piped up, finally managing to fully stifle her giggles.

    “Would you two please keep helping me with these fish? You can keep having your little lover’s quarrel once we’re done.” Coppereye grumbled, a little annoyed at how quickly they stopped helping carry the fish.

    “WE’RE NOT MATES!” Both cats yelped, going bright red and scrambling to drag the catch back into camp. Coppereye just chuckled slightly. “Works every time. Speckledpaw, would you mind telling Daffodil I said hey when you go? And thank her for the advice about training Rustpaw. It’s been real helpful.” She looked over at the remaining apprentice, eye soft.

    “Yeah, no problem! Did you want me to ask for anything special for you? I know some of the stuff they have helps you a lot.” Speckledpaw smiled, having long since gotten used to the scarred mollies appearance, and getting to know the little details.

    “Nah, we should be stocked up enough to get me through the season. Might want to grab something for Redwind, lover boy’s been hyping himself up for something, and ancestors know he’ll need the help just to not trip over his own paws while doing it.” The apprentice snorted and nodded.

   

    Redwind and Palepelt soon arrived, Palepelt carrying a wooden woven basket, they had been given it by Damascus to make travelling with the trade items easier for them. Speckledpaw helped her carefully stack the fish in it, making sure none of them would slip out. No one wanted dirty fish after all. Palepelt then covered the basket with a large leaf, picking it up by the handle. “Let’s go, I don’t want the basket to smell like fish when we put herbs in it. No one wants lavender that smells like carp, much less me.” She started padding out of camp, followed by Speckledpaw.

    The trip to The Barn was tense to say the least, both mollies clearly trying to not think about what had happened last time, and instead, Speckledpaw tried to focus on what she would bring back. She’d ask to look around, maybe she’d find something pretty? They always had a bunch of nice flowers around, that would help Redwind right? One that was the same color as Palepelt’s eyes. She would just have to figure out how to sneak it back without her mentor seeing it.

    The large fence soon came into view, and once again, Speckledpaw was amazed by how gracefully Palepelt leapt up. She decided to finally try that herself, crouching down before springing towards the top of the fence. Her stomach collided with it, causing her to grunt as her back legs scrambled to get her up all the way. Palepelt gave her a slightly amused look as she got up. She just shook her head a little and hopped down, waiting for Daffodil to inevitably materialize to greet them.

    Speckledpaw landed next to her, blinking as she looked at the indentations in the dirt she left under her paws from the landing. She looked up, only to yelp in surprise at a sudden face up close to hers. She scrambled back, getting a better look at the other cat in the process. He was a young tom, maybe a moon or so younger than she was. His wide eyes were a dark blue, and his pelt black with white patches.

    “Uh… are you um… Are you O’Conner?” She asked hesitantly. There weren’t too many black and white cats at The Barn lately, and he did look pretty similar to Damascus and Marianne. The small tom went even more wide eyed and gasped. “How did you know? Are you magical?”

    “Uh, no, You just look a lot like your mom and grandpa is all.” She settled down, calmer now that her brain realized that he wasn’t a threat. She glanced past him to see Daffodil hurrying over, mouth full of twigs.

    “Sorry for the wait! We’ve been busier than a barrel of bees tryna patch up some holes in the old house. Don’t want any folks freezin or nothing. Follow me to the barn so we can get this trade done, yeah?” The yellow molly gestured for them to follow with a flick of her tail, passing by a few cats heading back and forth with various items, preparing for the coming cold season.

    The barn floor was covered with dried grass that crunched under their paws. Speckledpaw took the time to look around, watching O’Conner hopped over to the patch of herbs they grew inside. Everyone inside was bustling about, chattering quietly. Daffodil continued guiding them, leading them up a makeshift ramp made of several planks held up by old hay bales. The upper loft was clean, soft nests gathered in various patches around. At the farthest point, was one of the largest nests, where Damascus was laying, Marianne nearby. Said molly looked up as she heard the creak of the flooring, rushing over to nuzzle Daffodil.

    “I see you came to trade. Father isn’t at his best, so I hope you don’t mind mostly talking with me about it. So what did you need?” Her voice was chipper, but Speckledpaw could hear a tinge of despair and stress underneath.

    Palepelt set down the basket, moving the leaf cover to the side. “Just fish this time, not much else we can spare right now.” She shifted slightly. “We’ve had… quite the moon frankly. Hopefully next time we’ll have more we can part with.” She pulled out the fish one by one, setting them down on the leaf, Marianne’s eyes lighting up more with each fish set down.

    “Oh my! This is still quite a lot! Go ahead and take what you need but… What happened then? Is everything alright in your territory?” Palepelt shifted, gesturing for Speckledpaw to go ahead and start gathering what they needed while she spoke. The apprentice scooped up the basket, a little unwieldy with it as she headed down. She’d get the herbs they needed, and ask someone to help her find some pretty flowers she could choose from. Maybe she’d get something for Springpaw to give Rustpaw too.

    The more she thought about it, even as she got the herbs she needed, with a little help identifying them, the more she thought about just bringing flowers back for everyone. She just had to figure out which ones to get for each cat. She was guided to the flower patch by a helpful brown tom, and she spent a good amount of time searching for good flowers. She grabbed two for Palepelt and Rustpaw each, one from her, and one from Redwind and Springpaw respectively.

    She had just picked the last flower, bundling them all together with a small vine, when she heard Palepelt call out for her. “Are you done there Speckledpaw? I’m finished and ready to go.”

    “Yeah! I just wanted to grab some flowers.” Speckledpaw hurried over, careful to not crush any of them. She adjusted the basket in her grasp, tail swishing. “Did you tell Marianne about everything?”

    “I gave her a shorter version, yes. I figured it best we let our allies here know what’s going on. But now we should head ba-” “Excuse me?” She was interrupted by a molly with the curliest fur Speckledpaw had ever seen. When she looked closer, she noticed that the mollies eyes didn’t exactly go in the same direction. 

    “Yes?” Palepelt seemed slightly confused by the sudden approach. “Can we help you?”

    “I, yes. I heard you two were clan cats and I want to join. My mother always said I was related to clan cats and, as much as I love it here, I want to try and get closer to my family past.” The molly kept shifting, before ducking her head down to groom her yellow chest fur, tail tip twitching anxiously.

    Palepelt blinked in slight surprise, before nodding. “I can’t guarantee Sprucestar will let you join, but there’s no harm in asking. What is your name?”

    “I’m Curly. For obvious reasons. And thank you for giving me the chance!” Curly smiled, a smile that sent warmth through Speckledpaw. She already liked this cat, she seemed very nice already. She even helped move the basket over the fence faster without risking dropping everything.

    On the walk back, Curly happily chatted with Speckledpaw and Palepelt, asking plenty of questions so she could be as prepared to join as possible. “So you’re currently named Speckledpaw but you’ll get a new name soon? That sounds cool! I wonder what my name would be…” Her attitude was so cheery, even Palepelt couldn’t keep her usual calm facade, her face breaking into a smile around the basket handle. The walk back to camp was much warmer than the walk there, that was for sure.

[holylulusworld]

Sometimes wrong is better than right...

Summary: It’s just wrong…but at the same time so good. But all the wrong things have their consequences.

Paring: Bucky Barnes x Reader, Steve Rogers x Reader, a stray cat (named kick-ass)

Warnings: angst, pregnant reader, language, calling names, arguments, a hint of fun, grabby Steve (little pervert), cravings

Wrong-Right Masterlist

Around four months later… France, Provence

Walking along the field you pick one last flower, a poppy. The red flower is the perfect contrast to your purple lavender. The scent of lavender is floral and sweet, the other flowers smell wonderful too, but you prefer the scent of the pretty purple flower since you live here.

Natasha gave you enough money so you could easily buy a little house in the middle of nowhere. No technique, no stress, no super soldiers only silence, and peace.

The only roommate you have is an old stray cat who came around a few days after your moved in and the little fucker decided to stay with you. She’s the only living being you let get close to you. Most of the time you stay to yourself except you need to buy some food.

The little garden behind your house provides fruits and some vegetables but you need more to feed your hunger, so you are forced to walk into town from time to time.

Luckily you found an old bicycle in your house to ride as sometimes your feet won’t carry you that far anymore.

A smile crosses your face when you see the old cat meowing in front of your open door. Wait you never leave your door open, but you don’t lock it either.

You’ve got nothing precious someone could be interested in to steal. Your weapon and passport are always in your purse which you have with you any time so anyone trying to break into your house will be disappointed.

Shrugging you believe the door didn’t shut right, as it happens a lot. Especially during a thunderstorm, it tends to burst open and let the rain in.

Greeting your only friend, you pat the head of the cat and she follows you into the house. You want to put the picked flowers into a vase but then you see the tea kettle on your stove and a cup on your table and you know you didn’t leave the house like this.

You want to get the weapon out of your bag, but Steve is much faster. Pressing you with his full strength into the wall he makes you wince in pain.

“Took us a while to find you as Nat refused to tell us anything. Buck and I against the rest of the Avengers it was, but here we are.” Steve mutters placing one fist against the wall right next to your head and his hand around your arm.

“Please don’t hurt me,” you whisper and Steve cocks a brow.

“I didn’t intend on hurting you, Y/N. We just want to bring you home.”

“You are hurting me…you’re stronger than me…please don’t hurt my babies.” You sniffle and Steve let go of you. Looking down at you in awe his breath hitches in his throat.

“You kept our babies?” Bucky asks before Steve can find his voice.

“I kept my babies, now leave me alone. I’m no harm to you or your life’s. Just leave me be. I was happy. For four months I was finally happy, and you come around to destroy everything again.”

“Happy with a stray cat as your only friend? Hell, you were talking to this bastard.” Bucky chuckles. “He’s not even cute, just a rotten little stinker.”

“Not your problem and it’s a girl, punk.” You grunt. “She’s a good listener in lonely nights.”

“You will pack your things and come back with us,” Steve mutters.

“No way! I’ll stay here. You can’t force me to come back. I don’t want to come back. It’s quite and peaceful here. No wars, fights or men hurting me. Just the cat and me.”

“Y/N you can’t stay here all alone in the middle of nowhere. What will happen during giving birth? Do you want to handle this alone too?” Steve asks staring at your stomach.

“I got a telephone. Believe it or not, there’s an ambulance available any time.”

“I don’t care, doll. You will not give birth to my child in a shitty hospital in Provenceistan.”

“Who asked you for your opinion, Barnes? Answer: No one. Only as you filled me with your cum you got no rights, period.” You grunt stomping your foot onto the ground.

“Can I touch the bump?” Steve asks and you shake your head.

“I don’t want you to touch me. Go away. I don’t want one of you to touch me ever again.” You sniffle.

“Baby, please. I only want to feel my child.”

“I don’t care what you want, Rogers. You didn’t care about my feelings either. You two are as cold as ice. You take what you want without thinking about  consequences. I won’t play your sick games any longer. If you want me to come home you have to kill me as I only leave this house over my dead body.” You state glaring up at the tall Avenger.

“Damn she is one hell of a woman, Stevie. Did she make you hard with her speech too? Look at the boobs, they are bigger too. She looks so beautiful right now…so carefree.”

“Bucky, can you shut your dirty mouth for a second. This is not the way to win her over. Yes, she makes me hard, but I want her back as I love her, not as my sexy kitten.” Steve warns.

“Perverts! Both of you are rotten, dirty perverts. Now get out of my house.” You warn pushing against Steve’s chest.

“You know Nat can’t help you right now. We could just throw you over our shoulder and carry you out of this shithole you call a house.” Bucky chuckles.

“Try me, asshole! I will scream and yell. How does that sound? You’re not that popular in Europe, not after Germany.” You spat and Bucky flinches at your words.

“You promised to never mention Germany.” He mumbles.

“And you promised to love me, to be there for me, just like Captain Asshole over here. Lies, lies and empty promises on your side. Why should I keep mine?”

“You’re better than me.”

“Damn right. I’m a fucking princess, now out of my castle.” You warn and this time Steve starts chuckling.

“She’s damn cute believing she can get rid of us. You see Baby if you refuse to come with us we will stay here. Your decision.”

“You will not stay in my house!”

“We can and we will, doll. Our bags are already in your bedroom.”

“You two are completely insane! You didn’t want me at all and now you want me back. The hell!”

“We always wanted you, doll. Now let me make you my famous buckytastic pancakes and Steve can feed the cat.” Bucky says and you want to strangle him as he walks toward your fridge to poke his head in. “Oh, she’s got no beer, Steve. You need to drive into town. Damn, we need bacon and meat…shit…all green rubbish in here. Nothing to feed a real man.”

“I didn’t invite you to eat my food, asshole.”

“Damn she is stubborn, Cap. I want to bend her over my lap and spank her ass bright red.”

“You can’t hurt me, I’m pregnant.”

“Hmm…then I’ll wait for five months and do it then.”

“Five months?” You gasp staring at the super soldier. The tall man simply shrugs and starts preparing the dough for pancakes.

“We told you we will stay here. Hmm…I better drive into town to get all the stuff we need. How about some ropes to restrain our stubborn lady?” Steve jokes and you gulp hard.

“You can’t do that…this will hurt.” You sniffle.

“Baby, that was a joke. Damn your hormones get you good, huh…Are you horny too?” Bucky asks licking his lips.

“Not for you, pervert.”

“I bet she needs us really bad, Stevie. Could check her out right now.”

“Buck, don’t try anything stupid while I’m on my shopping tour,” Steve warns.

“I need cat food too.” You mutter grabbing your purse. “I’ll come with you…Cap.” You say glancing at a grinning Bucky.

“Uh, she wants the golden boy to go first.”

“Asshole!” You retort.

“We better get going before it gets too late,” Steve says trying to touch your shoulder, but you flinch away. “Sorry.”

“I’m only coming with you as I do not trust this pervert and I need food for my cat.”

----

“You know Natasha is a really good friend. Tony, Fury, everyone tried to get information about your position. About how you made it out of the tower.” Steve tries but you just look out of the window.

“She had nothing to do with my escape. I stole your ID card and grabbed a hidden bag. I spared some money and took the next flight to France.”

“We both know she helped you escaping but I know you would do anything to protect your friend. She did the same.”

“Is she alright or did you hurt her too?” You ask rubbing the bruises at your upper arm Steve caused.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. Sometimes I forget about my own strength. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“You wanted to hurt me as you thought I aborted the babies, Steve. I saw the hatred in your eyes. Don’t think I’m stupid, Rogers. I know you are a bad liar.”

“I was devasted after you left, just like Bucky.”

“Sure. Why didn’t you knock someone else up? There are plenty of chicks waiting for the golden boy to impregnate them.” You mutter.

“As I only imagine you as the mother of my children. Don’t be this stubborn. You are the most complicated woman in the world.”

“Are you kidding me? As if you know every single woman in the world, Captain Stupid.”

“Bucky is right. I should slap your ass…”

“What a pity I kept your baby.” You spat and Steve glares at you. Opening his mouth and closing it his features darken and he stops the car. “I can still make you obeyed.”

“Dream on, Cap. You will not break me…never again.” You mutter poking your finger into his shoulder.

“Hmm…you know you will not make us leave.”

“Pfff…don’t care. You can sleep outside.”

“With the cat?”

“No, the cat is allowed to sleep in my bedroom…in my bed.” You state grinning and a smirk appears on Steve’s face.

“Meow…” He tries and you giggle. “Won’t work Rogers… ’Kick-ass’ is much cuter than you.”

“Kick ass?”

“Yeah, I named her like that. She attacked a goddamn bulldog as he came too close to me.”

“She’s a fighter then…like you.”

“Hmm…he hurt her pretty badly and I had to bring her to a veterinary. She barely survived but she’s still kicking…ya know.” You whisper and Steve gives you a side-glance. Your sad face makes his stomach drop.

“We should probably head into town or Bucky burns your house down meanwhile.”

“I will kill him if does…it’s not much or pretty but it’s mine. The house is like me, nothing special but someone loves it. I love it.”

----

“We should buy this too.”

“Why should you need pickles?” You ask.

“No, those are for you. Pregnant women eat pickles.” Steve insists.

“Not every woman, Captain know it all.” You retort and an elderly woman starts smiling at you and Steve.

“Ah, Y/N is this your boyfriend? The man who is in oversea?”

“Yes, ma’am, that’s me. I’m Steve Rogers. Nice to meet you.” Steve says smiling like a good boy.

“Such a charming man. He’s a catch, ma chere.”

‘If she only knew’. You think to yourself, but you smile politely and nod while Steve takes the opportunity to sling his arm around your waist and squeeze your butt.

Angrily clenching your fists, you want to kick his ass, but the elder lady won’t stop babbling so Captain Pervert presses his body closer to yours and starts sniffing at your hair.

“Au revoir, ma chere.” She finally says.

“I swear as soon as we are out of here I will kick your ass.” You warn but Steve ignores your words. Simply pecking your cheek, he chuckles squeezing your butt once again.

“You loved it, kitten. I know you did.”

----

“What took you two so long? Did you make a stop to screw each other?” Bucky mutters.

“Captain Pervert grabbed my ass in the grocery store. That’s what happened.” You mutter glaring at a grinning Steve.

“I just played along. So, your loving boyfriend is in oversea? Did you tell the friendly lady you are pregnant of two men my dirty little kitten?”

“No! I didn’t tell her anything!”

“Did you bring beer and meat? Tell me you brought all the stuff I wrote on the list.” Bucky asks.

“I bought everything and pickles.”

“Pickles? For the pregnant lady.” Bucky says while his blue eyes are glued to your hidden bump.

“I don’t need that rubbish.” You mutter glancing at the pickles in Steve’s hands.

“Let’s eat the pancakes before my food gets cold.”

“By the way she wants us to sleep outside,” Steve says and Bucky looks at your grinning face.

“With the cat?” Bucky asks.

“No, the cat is allowed to sleep in her bed.”

“Meow?” Bucky tries and Steve starts cackling. “I tried the same, Buck.”

----

“Come on, Y/N. You can’t let us sleep outside.” Bucky pleas while you toss his bag out of the window.

“This is my house and I won’t let you sleep in my bedroom. I do not trust you two a bit. You will try to touch me or worse, you perv!”

“Fine. We sleep outside, heartless woman.” Bucky mutters walking out of your bedroom with Steve hot on his heels.

----

The house is silent so you tiptoe downstairs to reach your kitchen. Almost at your goal, you stretch your arm to grab the… “Are you looking for these?” Steve asks flicking the light on to show you the pickles in his hands.

“Why are you in my kitchen?”

“We are camping here. Did she come for the pickles?” Bucky asks looking up from the floor.

“She did, Buck. Such a greedy little girl.” Steve chuckles with a dark grin but then his eyes land on your exposed swollen belly and his eyes soften.

“Give these to me…I want them.” You mutter trying to get hold of the pickles in his hands.

“Only if I can touch the bump.”

“That’s blackmailing…you’re a bad father. I’m craving this shit only as you told me pregnant women eat pickles. Give them to me…” You sniffle holding out your hands.

“Damn give her the pickles she’s close to tears, Stevie,” Bucky says unusual softly.

“Here…” Greedily grabbing the pickles you try to open the glass and fail. Cursing you try to get access to the sour little bitches, but the lid won’t move.

“It won’t open.” You whine and Steve takes the glass out of your hands to open it for you. Squealing you take the glass to sit onto a chair to stuff the sour cucumbers into your mouth.

“Damn she really is craving odd stuff.” Bucky chuckles sitting next to you. Wearing nothing but his boxers he places his metal hand onto the table to tap his fingers onto the wood.

“Not bad…” You mutter grabbing another pickle until an odd noise disturbs your cravings festival.

As soon as kick-ass starts hissing you know something’s off. “That’s kick-ass…something must be wrong.” You say and both men jump up.

“Stay here with her. I’ll go outside and check the surroundings. Maybe the cat only saw a mouse.” Steve says but then the door to your house bursts open…

Marvel Tags

@stuckys-whore, @notyourtypicalrose, @voltage-my2dlove

Wrong-Right Tags

@allonszassbutt, @joe-mazzello-is-my-dad

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Episode 7

*Finishes re-rewatching Treasure Planet* Ah, what a good movie. That and I,Robot and Terminator 2 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Star Wars and- Wait, why did I start watching all these movies again? I remember it had something to do with Transhumanism. Something about contracts and a Bunny-cat being a dick and girls who were actually lichs… Oh crap, the thread! That is a very big moon.

Sayaka’s slowly walking back to her apartment, her face shadowed and… what, seriously? Madoka isn’t there? What the heck, Madoka? You just let your friend leave on her own after that whammy? She’s entered her apartment now, not being very quiet about closing the door. Does she live on her own? If it turns out she’s an orphan too I’m going to snap. Lights on, Sayaka tosses her Soul Gem (which is actually herself, what the heck) onto the table KYUBEY. GET OUT. BACK TO THE LIST CORNER WITH YOU. “You tricked us, didn’t you?” She didn’t even have to turn around and see he was there, did she? It’s obvious that the little jerk would waltz in uninvited. Oh you are such an asshole! “I just didn’t explain exactly what form you’d be taking to do that”? Oh yeah, that’s such a minor detail, not worth mentioning, really! “Because you never asked.” Because they never asked?! Informed consent, Bunny-cat! Learn it! Aw HELL no. You don’t get to use “even Mami never noticed to the very end” as an excuse. Ever think that maybe if she knew the risks she wouldn’t have worn her literal soul as a hairpin?! The little jerk keep on listing the advantages of Soul Gems. He really doesn’t see anything wrong with what he’s done, does he? Kyubey? What are you doing with Sayaka’s Soul Gem? What the hell is wrong with you, Bunny-cat? You want to show how relatively fragile a human body is to pain? Fine, there are plenty of other ways to show that without inflicting Sayaka with enough pain to make her collapse! WHY ARE YOU STILL DOING IT?! We get it, Soul Gems dampen pain reception between the mind and body! Stop torturing Sayaka! Please, she’s crying! Friggen finally. Sayaka, you need to get up, grab that little demon, and chuck him out the window. And never let him get close to your Gem, alright? As Sayaka recovers, Kyubey is rambling about how Magical Girls can control the degree of pain reception on their own, but he doesn’t recommend it at it lowers reaction time. ...wow, ok. Even I can see that manipulation at work there. You inflict Sayaka with severe pain, and then ‘offhandedly mention’ that she can make it so she feels no pain at all? Real subtle, Bunny-cat. Because why worry about the well-being of these girls when you can make them that much more aggressive in getting you food? And then he uses the “I’ve granted the Wish that you (unintentionally) sold your soul for” card. Yep, I just saw the show’s familiar torture one of the main characters, manipulate her into unlocking a pain-free fighting style (who needs the warnings that a body part is damaged, anyway?) and claim that she owes him for services rendered. So of course, we go into the bright and poppy Intro of Lies! Ugh. Get out of Madoka’s room, you jerk. And get away from Mami, too! Episode 7: Can you face your true feelings? It’s school the next day, seems that Sayaka skipped out. Wonder if the attendance office would accept a “I was tricked out of my soul by a Bunny-cat” as an excused absence. Aw. Looks like she’s been curled up under her blankets since last night, she didn’t even change her clothes. But hey, why worry about what you meat-puppet is wearing, right? On Fancy Rooftop now, Madoka’s meeting with Homura. Hey, that’s right, she knew about the “MGs are actually inside the Soul Gem” thing, right? Why didn’t you say anything, Homura? Damn! Madoka’s actually calling Homura out on it, asking if she really did know… but she says she tried telling others in the past. And nobody ever believed her. Ouch. I mean… yeah, it’s a really farfetched story. And I guess the only way to prove it would be for her to purposefully get far away from her Soul Gem. And that’s way too big a risk to take. Now they’re talking about how Kyubey doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong. Interesting how Homura’s calling him an it now, saying it cannot comprehend human values. I’ll be using that for Bunny-cat from now on, matches the clinical detachment. Sure, it insists that “a (short) lifetime of fighting Witches to feed me” is equal to “granting a single Wish”. Yup, Madoka’s not agreeing to the exchange rate. Healing one person’s non-fatal injuries does not equal service as a Magical Lunch Lady. But Homura’s simply saying that it was a miracle, something impossible made possible. ...oh stop being so moody, Homura. You can’t know that medical science would never be able to heal his hands. The guy’s still in middle school, for crying out loud, he has his whole life ahead of him! Just because current science isn’t able to do it, doesn’t mean you should assume that it never will. I will concede that a miracle, a proper miracle, is a Big Deal. I’m a little more iffy on whether it is of greater value that an entire human life. But you will NOT convince me that healing one person’s hands is equal to the life of a Magical Girl. Ooh, good point Madoka! For all of Homura’s “give up on her” talk, if she hadn’t become a Magical Girl then Madoka, Hitomi, and all the other people in that factory would have died! (Urgh, I’m am so torn between my I WAS RIGHT from that episode and my understanding now of what becoming a Magical Girl does) Oh. “Don’t confuse gratitude with responsibility.” That’s… that’s pretty heavy. Homura’s hammering home the point that Madoka is just a human, who has no ability to save Sayaka Miki. She shouldn’t try to ‘repay’ Sayaka to alleviate her sense of guilt. ...wow. That is… wow. Somewhere the ghost of Thomas Hobbes is applauding Homura’s self-interest philosophy. Well, ok. I guess one’s sense of morality can be slightly affected by being an undead magic user. It’s a lot easier to justify self-interest when the Muggles you know die of old age and your associates keep getting killed by these monsters. Why stay constrained by human ethics when you see yourself as no longer human? So does that make Mami a Pro-Human Transhuman, then? Sayaka’s still in her bed… Oh. Oh DAMN. That’s… Um. I mean, it’s, uh, not really that bad? I mean, just because your soul now fits in your pocket that doesn’t mean you can’t still date and… Damn. That’s something I didn’t even consider. The basis of Sayaka making the Contract was to heal Kamijo, and we have to admit there was a degree of “I can get his affection” in that Wish. But with the realization of how she relates to her former body now? Not to mention the whole “eternally young” thing. Damn it, Bunny-cat. The hell? Who just spoke? Kyoko? She wants to talk? Sayaka’s dressed and following Kyoko through the park now, who’s busy chomping down apples. Huh, she says she’s ok with the whole zombie thing. Well, you can’t deny that the powers of a Magical Girl can be useful, I suppose if you focus enough on the benefits you can rationalize the whole lich thing. Sayaka calls her out on her “you get what you pay for” attitude. Although I’m suddenly wondering if she paid of all the food she’s been eating. Having MG powers probably makes it easier to get five-finger discounts. Kyoko cheerfully agrees. Huh. “And if you live only to benefit yourself, you’ve got to pay for your own mistakes too.” And suddenly you’ve made self-interest sound noble. If you don’t involve others, then you don’t- *Suddenly remembers that Kyoko has advocated letting Familiars kill bystanders in order to get more Grief Seeds* Nope, never mind, still hate you. The sun’s sinking lower as the two girls reach some sort of old building, which Kyoko kicks down the door of. Broken stained glass? So is this an old church or art gallery or something? Well, whatever this place is, it’s certainly seen better days.

We're at the dilapidated stained-glass building, I'm thinking it's a church of some sort as the camera's looking at an altar sort of thing in front of where the biggest window would be.

Sayaka's asking why Kyoko had her come out here, Kyoko says it's a long story and tosses her an apple. Huh, is this like when she offered Homura pocky, a sign of trust?

Ooh, but Sayaka just tossed it to the ground. I don’t mean to nitpick, Sayaka, but it looks like Kyoko’s extending an olive branch here. You don’t have to like the hard-line MG, but maybe a truce could

WHOA ok Kyoko did not like that, she rushed forward and his lifting Sayaka off the ground. And that is a gruesome crackling sound, I really hope that’s just her uniform.

“Don’t ever waste food. I’ll kill you if you do.” Don’t waste food around Kyoko, got it.

Yup, Kyoko is bodily lifting Sayaka by the collar, until she calms down and lets her drop. Then she picks up the apple, dusts it off and puts it back in the bag.

Ooh, new music? Backstory for Kyoko? I still hate her for the whole “letting Familiars go” thing, but after my Homura rage was shown to be a little excessive and Kyubey proved to be a dick I’m willing to hear this story out.

“See… this was my dad’s church.” Aha, it is a church! Wait, ‘was’?

Aw, paper-cutout stick puppets! That’s adorable. We see Kyoko’s pastor dad get passed by two smaller cutouts… little sister? Aw dammit, this is another “How a MG became an orphan” story, isn’t it?

“He thought that in order to save a new generation, we needed to have a new religion.” Well, hopefully without sparking any religious debate, that sounds pretty good to me. Not quite sure about the “preaching stuff that wasn’t in the Bible” part, but he seems earnest at least.

So people stopped attending the church, and he got excommunicated by the overall Church? Harsh.

“From the outside, he probably looked like some raving cultist.” Good to see that Kyoko recognizes that while she believes (believed?) in what he taught she understands it could be seen as radical. Although was it really necessary to dump water on the guy, random person? Yes he’s preaching at your house, but that doesn’t mean you should treat him like that.

Side note: dumping water out a window? Do people still do that, now? Or is this Backstory set in a time when it was more common? After all, with the whole meat puppet thing, I don’t think it’s that much of a stretch to place this way back when.

“It got to the point where our entire family didn’t even have food to eat.” Oh, explanation for why she always has food! Nice touch, show!

...damn it, this show’s making my sympathize with the character who argued for Muggles as Monster Chow by showing how her family was starving… ok, fine, Kyoko. You can have a cushion for your chair.

Nice art style here! Showing Kyoko playing with these paper stick puppets while the girls’ art style stands out against the background.

Little Girl Kyoko just couldn't understand why all this was happening. Why people couldn’t just hear her father out and see that he was right.

And then she met Kyubey.

“And so I asked Kyubey to make everyone listen seriously to what my dad said.”

Oh. Oh no.

The very next day the church was packed full of people again. And each of their paper cutouts has red eyes and an image of Kyoko’s Soul Gem on their chest.

Damn it, Kyubey. She asked for people to listen to her dad, not get mind-controlled by him.

Bunny-Cat Jerk: “What’s the difference? They’re hearing the same words either way.”

It must have seemed so perfect. Her dad’s church is doing well, and she’s got cool new superpowers and monsters to fight. Her dad got to preach to the world, and she took care of the Witches. So she threw herself into Witch-hunting. Because between the two of them, they could save the world.

Hey, cutout of a taller woman holding hands with them! Wasn’t sure there was a mom in the picture until now.

But then her dad found out. And when he found out that the people were compelled to come by magic rather than belief, he “flipped out”. He called Kyoko “a witch who tainted people’s hearts”. WOW. Ok, in any magical setting that would be some harsh words, but when the demons are called Witches…when she hunted real Witches every night...

Oh no.

Yup. Orphan story.

Damn it. This doesn’t excuse her letting innocents die, but when it resulted in her father killing the rest of the family and then committing suicide…

I’ll be right back, going to get Kyoko some pocky to snack on.

“My wish destroyed my whole family.” Kyoko says that because she went and made a wish for someone else, without really knowing what he wanted, it brought everyone misfortune.

“Right then, I vowed in my heart never to use magic to help anyone else again.” Ouch. So Kyoko’s self-interest stems from the results of her Wish. If helping others only ends up in misfortune, then it is best to use if for your sake and yours alone.

This show seems to really be stressing a philosophy of ‘equal and opposite reaction’. Is karma the right term? “If you wish for hope, an equal amount of despair will be rained down upon you, too”. Seems that’s what Kyoko believes now, seeing it as preserving the world’s balance.

Sayaka asks Kyoko why she told her all of this. Huh, Kyoko really is trying to teach Sayaka, isn’t she? Like Homura’s trying to keep Madoka from making a contract and losing her soul, Kyoko’s trying to get Sayaka to, from her perspective, stop wasting her energy on helping others when whatever good she does will be countered by despair… I don’t think that Sayaka’s going to really approve of this philosophy.

Sayaka questions where “teaching others about how the world sucks” falls in a self-interest philosophy, Kyoko says that she’s trying to stop Sayaka from a life that will bring more regrets. You’ve already “paid your dues”, time to get your money’s worth! (Unintentionally) sold your soul? Then live it up on earth!

“I was really wrong about you.” Sayaka?

Oh! She’s apologizing for her initial opinion of Kyoko. But she still doesn’t regret making her wish for someone else’s sake. Go Sayaka!

“I’ve decided that I’ll never regret anything. Ever.” Um. Go Sayaka? I mean, good words, but I’m not sure that anyone could live up to that.

Huh. You don’t think you paid too high a price? We are still talking about your soul here, right?

“Because, depending on how we use it, this magic can be used for wonderful things.” Alright! Ally of Justice, everyone! Screw how dark this show’s gotten, we can still turn this around! Right?

Right?

Oh dear. She wants to know where Kyoko got her apples from.

Aw crap. Just when I get all excited about Sayaka not getting turned away from being a Hero, she goes full-on Paladin. And not the Paladin that you want in your party, either, but the “Almighty Babysitter” type a DM would use to keep the players in check. Yes, you want the rogue to exercise some self-control, but nobody likes partying with a Lawful Stupid character.

Sayaka. Kyoko just told you her Tragic Backstory in the ruins of her father’s church. Are you really going to chastise her about where she stole a bag of apples? Yes, yes you are. *sigh*

Kyoko is not happy about her advice getting so totally rejected, angrily eats an apple while Sayaka walks away.

Well this is just great. I can admire Sayaka not regretting her choice, but you do remember your last ‘fight’ with the more-experienced MG? It did not end well. What makes you think you could do better next time?

Sayaka’s walking to school now, I assume the next day. Hey, Madoka and NPC, I mean Hitomi! All three are walking along, Sayaka claims she was feeling sick the day before-

Hey, Kamijo! Oh. Kamijo. And Sayaka didn’t know he was going back to school

In class Kamijo’s the center of attention, chatting about he’s aiming to set aside the crutches next week. Madoka suggests that Sayaka go talk with him, but she says that she’s fine.

Closeup of Hitomi?

Wait, why are they at Fancy Food Court again? And it’s just Sayaka and Hitomi.

“About love.” Wait. Wait, no. No no no NO.

Hitomi has a crush on Kamijo.

Hitomi, please stop. This is…

Hitomi. You have no idea what damage you are causing right now. I understand from your perspective you are just expressing your intent to a friend of yours in an attempt to prevent any bad feelings. That’s commendable, really, a proper thing to do. Good manners.

But this is the boy that Sayaka, while unintentionally, sold her soul to heal.

I am begging you, do not do this.

Great, a deadline. Hitomi’s waiting until after school the next day to confess her feelings to Kamijo, so Sayaka has a chance to.

Well, great.

Later that night, at Sayaka’s apartment complex…

KYUBEY. SCREW YOU.

Bunny-Cat Jerk: “Ah, whatever. Time for my magical lunch ladies to get me more food!”

Madoka’s waiting for Sayaka again. What a good friend. And after the wtfery of the last few days, from listening to Kyoko’s Tragic Backstory to Hitomi’s deadline, Sayaka starts crying. She had a moment that day where she almost regretted something…

Sayaka, it’s ok to regret things. Nobody is perfect-

WOW OK. That’s a little different, thinking “If only I hadn’t saved Hitomi that time…”

Let me try that again. Sayaka, there are things that it is ok to regret, but succeeding in saving a life is not one of them. By all means, never regret that. And stop trying to hold yourself up to Mami’s level, you are at most a few weeks into the job, if not days. You’ll become a worthy Magical Girl in your own time, there’s no shame in that.

And I’m sorry about the Hitomi situation, that you feel that it’s inevitable and there’s nothing you can do because you’re “already dead”. Please, Sayaka. It sucks that your life is now this because of Bunny-Cat’s dick move, and I can’t see a painless way to get out of this. But please, talk with Madoka. Be a good example to Kyoko and Homura. Don’t let the problems of today weigh you down. You are Sayaka Miki, student of Mami Tomoe. You will be a glorious Magical Girl, a hero. Just stay strong.

Sayaka’s doing a little better after Madoka give a shoulder to cry on. Keep being a good friend, Madoka. Now, let’s go save the Muggles!

In what looks like an old construction site…

Kyoko’s there, chomping on a popsicle as she looks at a labyrinth. Are the others in there already?

Oh hey, Homura! She questions why Kyoko is on the sidelines right now, Kyoko says that Sayaka’s fighting a full-fledged Witch tonight. So since it’s sure to drop a Grief Seed, no reason to let the Familiar go to eat more people. As for why she’s letting someone else fight the ‘prey’? She doesn’t answer. Hmm, did Sayaka’s response leave an impact?

Inside the labyrinth, the art style seems to be black silhouettes against a white background.

Hey, this is Sayaka’s theme, isn’t it?

Sayaka’s charging the Witch, but keeps getting blocked by these dragon-head things. She almost reaches the… bonsai tree? But a branch grows and traps her. Madoka runs forward- oh hey, Kyoko’s here and cut her loose! She scoffs about Sayaka’s performance and gets ready to atta- nope, Sayaka tells her to get out of the way, that she’ll do this alone. Are you sure about that, Sayaka? This is a Witch, after all.

Ouch, that’s got to hurt. Good thing she can heal, though.

Wait. Is she laughing?

Um. She’s not dodging anymore, just charging. And now she’s slashing wildly at the Witch while still laughing.

“It’s really true! If I just detach myself…”

Oh no.

Ranubis said:As Sayaka recovers, Kyubey is rambling about how Magical Girls can control the degree of pain reception on their own, but he doesn’t recommend it at it lowers reaction time. ...wow, ok. Even I can see that manipulation at work there. You inflict Sayaka with severe pain, and then ‘offhandedly mention’ that she can make it so she feels no pain at all? Real subtle, Bunny-cat. Because why worry about the well-being of these girls when you can make them that much more aggressive in getting you food?

Well, this is just GREAT. Sayaka’s gone and turned into a Berserker Paladin, hasn’t she?

“...I really don’t feel any pain! *crazed laughter*”

Sayaka. Sayaka, please. Don’t do this. Going into a Berserker Rage never helps.

Can’t you hear Madoka begging you to stop?!

Well. That was certainly a cheery point to end the episode. Last time we discovered that the girls were lichs. Now Sayaka’s gone and started fighting in Berserker Mode. What’ll happen next, Madoka’s Mom gets killed by a Witch?!

Ugh. This show, you guys.

After Credits Picture! And adorable image of Kyoko, Sayaka and Madoka snacking on fish treats, while Sayaka yanks Kyubey away from the bag. If only this was the show that we had…

“I’m going to be a different kind of magical girl from all of you...That’s what I’ve decided...I don’t need thanks or recompense. I’ll be the one magical girl who won’t use her magic for herself.”

Well, that’s a good Hero Statement. Good for you Saya-

Episode 8: I Was Stupid… So Stupid

...what. No. NO. THAT IS A HORRIBLE EPISODE TITLE, WHY WOULD YOU-

[qveenpoppy]

kingsman the golden circle: a review

so, i kinda just jotted stuff down as my reactions during the movie, so i’m just gonna copy that over here and have that be my review. figured that’d be more authentic and i also just kinda did it for fun. i mean, it made my viewing a lot longer than it should have been but hey, i had the time, so why not? enjoy, my friends. i’ll add some overall thoughts and a score at the tail end. (i’ll bold it, for anyone who wants to jump right to that.)

Gosh that opening action sequence was BONKERS, so high-energy and kinda unrealistic that Eggsy would survive that but incredible to watch nonetheless. And it's been so long since I watched the first film in full, I've forgotten about my love for the theme/score. It's so gorgeous and epic.

I made a mistake starting this before dinner, and that first scene at Poppy's dinner was one of the most disturbing things I ever saw. I find these characters so interesting but the violence in these films is a little too much for me. I tried closing my eyes during the scene but I did so too early and then opened them back up during That part. I gotta make sure to keep them closed if something like that happens again (which I'm guessing it might).

The transitions in this movie are phenomenal, I love continuity with shapes that tie each scene to the following ones.

Because I'm watching this two years late, I saw some spoilers for the movie online. Like,  a while ago. Like, back when it first came out. I was curious and only moderately liked the first movie (it was visually great but as I said, not one for R-rated violence). That being said, the scene in which Harry gets his memories back is WAY better viewed in context. Whether you think of Harry and Eggsy as an item or not, it's very good. Eggsy knew EXACTLY what would bring Harry's memories back, and I adored their hug after Harry calmed down. (The height difference!!! Eggsy went on his toes!!!) Also, I hope Harry got to keep the puppy after that and named him Mr. Pickles Jr.

Anyone else get super hyped when they hear Colin Firth say, "Manners maketh man"? It's like you just Know shit is about to go down when those words are said in these films. I hope the prequel next year gives us an origin of that line being a battle call. Also, I heard Pedro Pascal did some rope training for this film but holy wowness, it's so good! Yeah, it's enhanced with CG effects and probably some switch-ins with stunt doubles, but it still makes for an incredible action sequence! I hope Pedro gets to show off some of these skills somehow next year in Wonder Woman 1984 or Mandalorian s2. (Can't believe I slept on him for so long as an action star, what a talent!)

You know, I can kind of see where this president is coming from? I mean, as his female aid reminds him, it's a gray area, considering those who experiment with drugs or self-medicate or teens/kids, but I can also see how taking out those who use illegal drugs kinda ends the whole "war on drugs". There's logic to it but considering those mentioned parties, it's got a devious, ignorant edge to it. I can at least say I like this movie having a little bit more of a political edge to it than the first one. I wonder if anyone had a debate like this while/after watching the movie, whether they agree with this president's stance or not. I would guess the red tie he wears points to him being a Republican, so you know most Democrats would be quick to disagree, given the climate of the country following the 2016 election (aka, more divided than ever).

Also why is Charlie hotter in this movie than he was in the first one? Is it because he's evil? The shaved head? The robot arm? (I mean, being a legit villain isn't a good thing, but he's not as psychotic as Poppy and kinda has a foot in both sides, at least since he's English and now his girlfriend is infected with Poppy's disease. I wonder if he'll change sides at some point, or just die at the hands of the Kingsman, considering what he knows about them.)

(Oh wait, nevermind, he gave her the antidote. But maybe he went behind Poppy's back to do so? Or it's a placebo version and he'll wind up turning on Poppy??? Also does he know his girlfriend got fingered by Eggsy?)

(Yeah, think I can kiss that redemption arc goodbye. Eh, at least there will be fanfics for that. Or at least ones where he and Eggsy have hot hate sex.)

Oh shit, Whiskey made Eggsy drop the antidote. But at least Eggsy and Harry are okay. But how the fuck are they gonna save the day now?

Was Harry seeing butterflies as part of the delusion stage of Poppy's virus? Did the Statesmen unknowingly treat him with one of the drugs she infected? Is he gonna die AGAIN?! (Oh wait, I saw the spoilers, he'll be fine. But they might have to use the antidote on him.)

Okay I also knew from spoilers that Whiskey wasn't gonna survive the movie but delusional Harry took him out?! Why?! Will he be revived by the Statesmen like Harry was? (Whiskey's just too cool a character to lose in one movie.)

Nevermind about the agreement thing, this president is one sick motherfucker.

Sorry this commentary is becoming much briefer and summary-esque, but Whiskey (aka Jack; they did that on purpose, didn't they?) is back. But I still don't think he'll make it till the end of the film. Is he gonna try and take Harry out? Is he actually a double agent? 

You know, with them bringing Harry back, it kinda lowers the stakes of these movies. Like, is anyone ever fully dead? 'Cause this movie especially seems to keep bringing people back, at least with that Statesman tech. So it's hard to be all that sad about Merlin's death. I mean, obviously him fucking BLOWING UP seems like a pretty permanent way to die, but I thought I saw - again, around the time this came out - behind the scenes photos of Mark with some sort of green motion capture pants, as if they'd given him some metal robot legs like I guess Gazelle's in the first film. Like he just got knocked back by the blast and could no longer use his legs, if revived. But apparently it didn't make the final cut. Still, wouldn't be surprised if they used that footage for the third film as a way to bring him back. 'Cause clearly Merlin, Eggsy, and Harry are the main trio in this franchise. (Sorry, Roxy fans.)

Ohhh, look at Elton getting in on the action sequences. Yes, Sir!!!

I love when action sequences are set to more creative choices of music :)

Harry & Elton, huh? I ship it

Oh, Whiskey is actually a bad guy. Damn. Take back all the praise I had for him. Pedro, I love you, but fuck Whiskey.

Thank god I covered my eyes this time when That happened. Ugh, gross.

Ohhh, an impeachment and removal from office. If only life could imitate art... (But only in that way, nothing else from this movie should happen in real life.)

Tequila works for Kingsman now?!

overall thoughts: a suitable sequel for this franchise. obviously pretty similar tone-wise with the humor and language and violence. i always forget that these films aren’t exactly my taste. kinda triggered my anxiety with all that violence and the whole drug-triggered virus (not that i’ll be experimenting with any illegal drugs anytime soon, but my paranoid brain will definitely keep me even further away from them now.) like, they’re well-shot and i like the characters, and i mostly wanted to watch this for some explanation of how harry was brought back from the dead, but i’m at least glad i chose to watch this at home and on my laptop/tablet. it would not have been good for me to see this on the big screen. (and i managed to watch both movies for free, and completely legally. first on xfinity on demand, this on a free rental from fandago. go me!)

as i said, the political aspects did at least make for some cool thought-provoking moments and debate. i do love when movies make you think like that. mindless action movies are the absolute worst (i’m looking at you, marvel and transformers franchises). 

i’m at least curious about that third film, how they’ll handle the loss of so many significant characters, or if they’ll magically be brought back to life, again. yeah, as cool as it was, bringing harry back may have been a mistake for this franchise. but i understand that it’s the main relationship of the series, even if eggsy is now married to that swedish princess, tilda or whatever. (meh.)

rating: 7/10. it’s hard for me to give a film any lower than that, unless i turned it off or got particularly tired/bored while watching it, so. good action, good characters, fun humor, smidge too violent. 

till next time, my dudes!

[holygayrightsbatman]

Wondering When Lingered Lips: Chapter 3

read this chapter on ao3 or you can read the first chapter on ao3/tumblr

chapter summery:

wade, peter and ned at least try to built that millinium falcon. 1.5k words

Peter and Wade were waiting by the school gates waiting for Ned when he came running up to them, sweaty-faced and out of breathe.

"Okay so bad news guys- my mum said I can't have anyone over today because my brother is having a couple friends 'round and my mum doesn't want to have to deal with 'more kids'."

Wade let out a noise disappointment and that honestly made Peter feel a little sad. He turned to Ned, "Do you have The Falcon with you? Because we could go to mine instead, May is at work and I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

Ned gave him a huge grin. "Yeah I do, it's in my bag!"

"You sure she wouldn't mind?" Wade questioned but he was still smiling.

"Yeah of course, Ned comes over all the time. I'll text her anyway though." He couldn't help but smile back at Wade, oh God I really like him.

"Well come on then guys lets go!" Ned called after them, already making his way out of the gates.

- - -

The three boys made their way onto the tightly packed subway train, Ned just managing to nab the last seat an elderly lady had left. He smiled smugly at them knowing that they would probably have to stand for the whole trip considering how many people took this train and this hour and that even if someone got up they were unlikely to get a seat.

Peter gave Ned a death stare and made his way over to where Wade was standing, holding onto the handles that dangled down from the roof on the carriage. He tried to reach one but he was too short (even getting on his tippy toes didn't help.) Getting a bit worried because soon the train would be leaving and he'd probably get flung into some poor person next to him.

"Here." Wade said, snapping Peter out of his thoughts. Peter looked up at him seeing that he was holding onto the handle Peter had been trying to reach and nodding towards that arm. His faced turned as red as a poppy as he tentively reached up and held Wades arm. Grabbing Wade's arm he could feel that he was surprisingly really muscular. This boy is going to be the death of me. Wade beamed at him, also blushing just as much as Peter was.

"You're so short, you're like a fucking hobit or something." Wade laughed.

"Wow, thanks dude." Peter said sarcasticly.

Wade just laughed more. "You're very welcome shorty."

Peter let himself let out a little laugh and punched Wade in the side with his free hand. "Shut up."

- - -

They made their way to Peter's apartment and as they entered Peter's room, Wade let himself take in all of his posters and other things in the room.

"I knew you were a nerd but, wow."

"Shut up, you're just jealous I have a Mark Hamill signed Star Wars poster."

"Damn, you got me there." Wade joked.

"Are we gonna' make this or are you guys just gonna' flirt the whole time?" Ned questioned.

Peter had the decency to give him and embarrssed blush. "Sorry." He said slidding onto the floor next to Ned, Wade following him.

"I'm not sorry at all." Wade gave Peter a cheeky smile.

Ned rolled his eyes. "Ugh gross, I don't know why I invited you I knew you'd spent the whole time doing this."

Wade pouted. "Because you love me?"

"Yeah keep telling yourself that." Ned said, rolling his eyes again but this time he smiled at Wade afterwards.

"Ugh gross, if I knew you two were going to have the cutest friendship I would of never introduced you guys to each other." Peter imitated Ned which got him a friendly push from the other boy.

- - -

Not much later Ned would realise he really would regret inviting Wade, it seemed the teen was incapable of following any kind of instuction. He seem to much perfer playing around with figures of Han Solo and Chewbaca making them do increasingly strange and frankly disturbing things to each other which only made Peter laugh more and more. Ned was beginning to regret becoming friends with the two most nerdiest gays on planet Earth (excluding himself of course.)

Ned leaned back against the bottom bunk of Peter's bunk bed, staring up at the bottom of the top bunk having completely given up on making the falcon now. Guess I'll have to make it with my sister now, the thought glumly to himself. He was only pulled out of his thought when he heard the other two boys go completely silent, their conversation suddenly dying mid-sentence.

The sound of the front door opening was unmistakable. May was home. Although Peter knew May wouldn't judge Wade for his scars or how he acted he was still very nervous and by looking at Wade's face he looked nervous too. Trying to comfort Wade he smiled at him. It'll be okay, he hoped his smile conveyed. It seemed to help him a bit because he gave Peter a litte smile back.

"Hi boys!" May called out before opening Peter's door. She opened it, beaming ear to ear at the boys. "Hey Ned." She turned to Wade. "And you must be Wade, Peter's told me a lot about you."

"May!" Peter called out, embarrassed.

She ignored him and carried on talking to Wade. "He talks about you everyday, I'm so glad you two are friends."

Wade couldn't help the huge grin come across his lips as he shly hang his head. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Please don't call me 'ma'am', it makes me feel so old! Just call me May."

"Okay, thank you, May."

Peter felt so incredibly mortified but also happy that Wade seemed so ecstatic that May liked him (and probably all those embarrassing things Peter had said about him.)

May turned to the boys. "If I know teenagers, and I do having raised one, you haven't eaten since school and you're all starving but you're going to say that you're fine even though you're definetly not."

Both Wade and Ned looked like deers caught in headlights while Peter just giggled into the palm of hand. "Um, no I'm fine!" Both boys said in unison.

May just laughed. "I'm going to order a Chinese, tell me what you want guys."

"Pad Thai for me please." Peter answered.

Ned sighed. "Chow mein please."

May turned to look at Wade. "Oh, uhhh... chop suey I guess. Please." Wade answered, scratching the back of his head.

"Okay boys, I'll leave you to your LEGO." She said as turned and walked back out of Peter's room to go order their food, closing the door as she left.

Wade let out a sigh of relief. "Okay so where were we? I believe we were in the middle watching Han give Chewie a foot job." Peter almost choked on air. Ned just groaned and fell back against the bed once again.

- - -

Once it was time to leave Ned sighed looking at his half finished Millennium Falcon (which should of been fully completed hours ago.) This is gonna be so annoying to carry home on the subway.

"Thanks for the uh... food?" Ned said to his friends.

Peter looked sheepish and slightly guilt while Wade looked the complete opposite of him. "Sorry we got kinda carried away dude, we could finish it another time?" Peter asked.

"Yeah sure." Despite himself Ned smiled. "See you, Peter. Wade you coming?"

"Oh yeah, course." He answered. "Bye Pete, see you tomorrow." Wade grinned at the smaller boy.

Peter grinned back at him, giving him such a sickly sweet look. "See you then." It was at that moment he remember that Ned was also there. "Y-you too Ned!" He added.

Ned just narrowed his eyes at him. "Right..." He said before leaving, Wade following behind him.

Before he left, Wade looked over his shoulder at Peter, winked and closed the door.

Peter flattened himself against the wall fully flustered, going beet red.

Suddenly May's voice cut though all the thoughts Peter was having about his crush. "Aww, how cute you like him!"

"N-no I don't!" Peter yelled, obviously lying.

"Oh Peter, you're so bad at lying." She smirked. "He really likes you too."

Peter crossed his arms, embarrassed. "Yeah, I know. I just haven't said anything yet."

May smiled at him earnestly. "Sometimes it's good to wait a bit, even if you both know you have feelings for each other. Me and Ben did." He smiled turned into a sad at the mention of his name.

Peter put is hand on her arm. "You're right." He honestly felt quite tired. "I think I'm gonna go to bed now."

"Okay Pete, goodnight." She said pulling him into a hug and kissing his forehead. "I love you."

He smiled up at her. "Love you too."

- - -

Peter got ready for bed and just as he was about to go to sleep he suddenly remembered something very important. He hadn't done any Spiderman-ing that day. He began to mentally chastise himself for letting his crush take over his sense of justice and crime fighting when an even bigger more important thing entered his head. He hadn't gone and watched over Deadpool like he said he would. Fuck. Peter immediately threw his covers off himself, jumped into his Spiderman suit and climbed through his bedroom window, going to search for the 'Merc with a Mouth.'

[magg0t-bible]

Top 20 Favourite Alt-J Songs

The title is pretty self explanatory so I’m just gonna jump right in

(Also I’ll be briefly explaining what I like about each one, so another long post. Feel free to skip through if you just want to know the songs)

20. Left Hand Free

Generally a really nice bop. It is arguably their most poppy song, and quite different from most of their other music, but it’s still recognisably them, which is what I love. Honestly all I have to hear is the guitar intro and I’m already dancing like an idiot

ALSO there’s a really cute interview/live performance that the band did on KEXP  (I’ll insert the link at the end if I can be bothered) where they’re playing this song and in the bit where it goes back to “ain’t shady baby I’m hot”, Gus starts clapping to the beat and makes Joe laugh so much that he can’t even sing it properly and it’s v cute

(Also the little “speakeasy” about halfway through is sexy ngl)

19. Interlude 3 ❦

Strange choice I know, but hear me out. I love the simplicity of this interlude, because it’s literally just 58 seconds of piano and quiet vocalising over the top, but it WORKS SO WELL. Plus it’s placed between a heavier song and a more gentle song on the album, so it’s an interesting way of transitioning.

18. Taro

I have such good memories of the first time I heard Taro. I associate it with getting up early in the morning and going for a walk, as cheesy as that sounds - it just generally fills me with so much happiness. I think it’s very well composed, and that INSTRUMENTAL!! I love it!!!

Not to mention the lyrics about the two war photographers (Robert Capa and Gerda Taro) are very interesting. In general I just really love the different topics that Alt-J write about in their songs.

17. Arrival In Nara

This is such a beautiful, peaceful and gentle song. The piano in the first half sets the song up so nicely, and it’s complemented well with the really light vocals. Especially when Joe and Gus harmonise for the “though I cannot see I can hear her smile as she sings”....I’m dead

16. Intro (This Is All Yours version)

 Even though this song does take some time to build up, I’d definitely say it’s worth the wait. The layers are built up so gradually and effectively, and by the time the drums come in, it’s just....it’s just amazing. Wow.

15. Ms

I actually used to skip this song when I first listened to An Awesome Wave, not because I didn’t like it, just because it didn’t really stand out to me that much. WELL. 

You know that meme that’s been recreated a million times that says “when you listen to that one song on the album you always skip and it’s actually fire”? Yeah, that’s Ms. The lyrics are beautiful, the a cappella on “the dark seeks dark” works so nicely, and the instrumental after “the nights of all my youth pressed into one glass of water/the shadow burns across like embers tide paper” is so incredibly relaxing.

14. 3WW

I remember one day early in 2017, I said to myself, “it’d be really nice to see Alt-J live, but they haven’t made any music in like, three years. Oh well.” 

THE. LITERAL. NEXT. DAY. My friend texted me saying that they’d released a teaser for a new song. So after running round my house hyperventilating and whisper-screaming (don’t worry, I was home alone), I went onto YouTube and listened to the 30-second teaser of 3WW. 

AND MY MIND WAS BLOWN. Even more so when I listened to the full song. Gus’ vocals in the beginning are AMAZING - so glad he finally got a solo. Ellie Rowsell’s vocals halfway through are so perfectly placed, and she was definitely the right woman for the job. The instrumentation is absolutely beautiful. Overall the song is just a masterpiece.

13. Hunger Of The Pine

The first song I ever heard from This Is All Yours. I love the way it begins, with Joe singing without any accompaniment apart from that repeating note. It’s another song that builds up nicely, especially by the time the drums come in, and that Miley Cyrus sample?! I had no idea it was her, it just blends in so well.

This is definitely the sort of song you should listen to with headphones on, preferably also with your eyes closed. It’s such an experience and it really takes me places.

(Also shoutout to Gus and his awesome French skills towards the end)

12. The Gospel Of John Hurt

This song is quite similar to HOTP, in the way that it focuses on layers and starts in a very simplistic way before building up. I really like the drums in the second verse and chorus, and the tempo change right after that. I also thought it was cool that the first time Joe sings “Jeremiah” it’s kind of gentle and airy, but then the second time it’s more like “JeremiAHHHHHH” idk it’s cool

And every chorus after the tempo change just makes me feel like my soul has been awoken because W O W

11. Dissolve Me

The first few months of 2017 were a bit difficult for me, and An Awesome Wave as a whole really helped me through them. However, Dissolve Me stood out because of the line “she makes the sound, the sound the sea makes, to calm me down”. My difficulties were to do with my anxiety, and listening to this song helped me to relax like you wouldn’t believe. So it holds a special place in my heart for that reason.

My favourite part has to be the ending when Joe and Gus are harmonising with the “ohhh” and then the chords from the intro come back, and they take it in turns to sing “she makes the sound the sea makes, knee deep in the north”. Absolutely spectacular, even more so live.

10. Something Good

This song definitely lives up to its title. As far is I’m concerned, if you tell me that you can listen to the drums in the intro and not want to dance, you’re a liar. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.

The vocals in the verses are honestly so groovy, and the choruses are somewhat gentle, but they still make me want to get up and dance. The drums throughout the whole song also give it a really nice vibe.

9. Interlude 1/The Ripe & Ruin ❦

I have a surprisingly strong connection with this song, and I’ll explain why. The lyrics are generally about finding balance in your life, but they more specifically describe a woman who constantly counts her steps while walking and makes sure to “abide by the law that she herself has set”. One of my idiosyncrasies has always been pretty much exactly this, and I’ve always thought I was weird for doing it, so this interlude makes me feel lot less alone. Plus the lack of music makes it feel much more intimate.

8. In Cold Blood

AN ACTUAL BANGER. That’s pretty much all I need to say.

The way it instantly begins. The fact that the numbers in the beginning are backwards binary code for ∆, meaning it’s the world’s most cryptic name drop. The line “all above crowd around so fucking loud”. The brass in the chorus. The way the music at the end of the chorus just instantly stops, Joe sings “in cold blood”, and then the music comes right back. I LOVE IT ALL.

7. Tessellate 

Tessellate was the song that led me to discover Alt-J, thanks to my extreme obsession with the Ellie Goulding cover that spent a long time being my favourite song ever. I will admit that my younger, unappreciative self wasn’t huge fan of the original song initially, partially because I saw some of the dodgy looking people in the music video lip syncing to the song and naturally thought they were the band. But over time, I decided to give Alt-J another go, and it was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. And I obviously LOVE Tessellate now.

6. Adeline

I’m pretty sad I didn’t get to see this song live, but listening to it at home with headphones is a magical enough experience. It has such powerful lyrics, the way everything gradually builds up is just so beautiful (yes I say that a lot, but they do it a lot okay), it’s just incredible. Especially that end bit where Gus is singing “ohhhhh my Adeline” and you hear the “YAAA YAAA YAAA” over the top. MIND=BLOWN.

5. Matilda

I can honestly say that it was love at first listen with Matilda. Given that I’d been introduced to Alt-J with Breezeblocks and Tessellate, it was nice to listen to something that was a little more light and gentle (in my opinion). I love the way the song references the film Léon, and the drum beat right at the start of the first verse is so peaceful and nice to listen to.

4. Fitzpleasure

When I first got into Alt-J and I’d only heard An Awesome Wave, Fitzpleasure was actually my number 1 favourite song of theirs. I obviously still love it, given that it’s now number 4. The bass line (and guitar in general) is so COOL!! It’s such a groovy sounding song and I love the way it switches between Joe singing a cappella and heavy bass. 10/10.

(P.S. yes I know what the song is about, and no, we are not discussing that today.)

3. Pleader

My favourite Relaxer song, the music video for which has made me cry on multiple occasions. The introductory violins, the way everything is layered, the vocals, the lyrics, basically this song just makes me feel every single emotion at once and it gives me goosebumps and it’s AMAZING. What a killer song to end an album with.

2. Bloodflood

This may come as a surprise, but I actually took ages to listen to this song. I didn’t actually listen to An Awesome Wave from start to finish, I kinda just put it on my laptop and listened to each song gradually, which I now realise was not the best idea. But HOLY MOLY. BLOODFLOOD.

I don’t think I need to say much about this song, because every Alt-J fan knows why it’s amazing. However, it is only number 2, because in terms of personal connections and meaning, there is only one song that can top it.

And that song is......

*drumroll*

1. Nara

WOW. Where to even start. The first time I listened to This Is All Yours (actually from start to finish this time), Nara just stuck out to me for some reason. I have always been a huge supporter of the LGBT+ community, and hearing a song about a gay relationship is just really nice for me. It’s incredibly powerful due to its description of how difficult it is to be gay in a situation where that isn’t truly accepted. 

As well as that, the repetition of “hallelujah, Bovay, Alabama” at the end always hits me right in the feels. It’s such a simple motif, yet it works so well as an outro, especially if you understand why they chose those specific words.

So there you go, my top 20 favourite Alt-J songs. Congratulations if you made it this far.

Honourable Mentions

(aka songs that could’ve been on the list but I only thought of them after I’d finished writing the list and I couldn’t be bothered changing it so here they are)

Breezeblocks

Bloodflood pt. II

Deadcrush

Every Other Freckle

Intro (An Awesome Wave version)

Last Year

Portrait

353

Ok I promise I’m done now

[Here’s the interview if you’re interested, Left Hand Free is at 7:14]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrqIws8Q7H4&t=441s

[lightgirlification]

Bungou Stray dogs, as you all know, is one of my favorite series and the promotional/official art is no different. They are some of the most beautiful pieces of art for an anime series I’ve ever seen. One of my favorites is the one with the flowers, which are featured here:

I actually tried to guess the flowers they are holding, even going so far as to look up examples and their meanings. Why? Because I am a sad 23 year old who has no life. <|...D;;;;;;

And THEN I found the actual flowers on the official Twitter for BSD and, no surprise, I got only one right. In fact the only one I got right was Atsushi’s. My favorite character had the flowers I guessed correctly. Made me feel a bit better to be honest. <¦3;;;;;;

So with that being said, you probably think I felt my hard work go to waste. But, no. I actually felt like my choices still were pretty damn good. I honestly like my choices better then the actual ones; mostly due to the meanings of the flowers.

So I figured I’d go over them here. I’ll also type the actual flower types that the characters are holding as well here:

John: Western flower ornithogalum: purity, such as hope. Chuuya: Camellia: not modest and unpretentious elegance and virtues of humility Tanazaki:  Diamond Lily: enjoying the days met and looking forward to happy memories, brilliance and perseverance (A/N: I kinda agree with this one) Kunikida:  "Sennichisou" flower: enduring love or forever in love Ranpo:  Tithonia diversifolia: The lucky person, graceful gesture, you are beautiful, happy (A/N: Again, kinda agree.) Akutagawa: Daffodils: Warm heart, waiting for you Dazai: Roses, Alyssum, Rindo: (A/N: I DID get the rose part right cause they were the easiest to recognize. Yellow roses mean “I won’t forget you”. Ow. Ow my heart. TTATT The other two’s symbolism weren’t given so feel free to look them up! ^0^)

And Atsushi’s flower is the one I got right so I’ll go over them in a bit.

And now lets move on to my choices. These are flowers that I felt looked like the ones shown as well as meanings I felt fit the character best.

Let’s start with John Steinbeck!

Actual Flower: Western flower Ornithogalum My choice: Star Of Bethlehem

Meaning:  “This delicate flower is primarily used to symbolize hope in life...The white color is used to represent innocence, purity and honesty.  This bloom may also be used to symbolize forgiveness after a problem. Problems may include a conflict between spouses or between friends.”

I felt this flower was closer to Steinbeck seeing as he does have a little sister and the meaning of said flower could represent her. The ‘forgiveness’ part might refer to him leaving and not returning for a long while. I really love the name too, Star of Bethlehem. Just...So pretty. X3

Next up, my man Chuuya Nakahara!

Actual Flower: Camellia My choice: Poppy

Meaning:  “Represents eternal sleep, oblivion, sacrifice and imagination. The flower also symbolizes magic, consolations, fertility and eternal life. Poppies are also symbolize war and death during war time.”

Now while the poppy doesn’t really look like Chuuya’s flower thanks to the middle, the petals and the meaning match perfectly. The fact these flowers mean ‘oblivion’ accurately describes Chuuya’s ability. If he goes too long with his true power unleashed, he will end up dying, hence the ‘eternal sleep/sacrifice’ part. Fun fact! These were the flowers used in the Wizard of Oz that made Dorthy and the Lion fall asleep. My Great Grandma actually grew them in her garden and that’s how my grandpa got is nickname! X3

Next in line is our cloaking ability user Tanizaki Junichirou!

Actual Flower: Diamond Lily My choice: Jasmine Flower

Meaning: “The jasmine flower is associated with love, beauty, and sensuality. In some cultures, Jasmine represents appreciation and good luck. When used in religious ceremonies jasmine represents purity. Jasmine’s meanings varies depending on the culture and setting.”

This flower pretty much hits the nail on the head for Tanazaki and his affections for his sister and her in general.

Quickly moving on ((Sorry Tanizaki <|D;;;; )) we have idealist Kunikida Doppo!

Actual Flower: "Sennichisou" flower My choice: Allium

Meaning: “Symbolizes good fortune and prosperity. Allium can also mean unity, humility and patience.”

While this plant can be big balls of tiny flowers there are some small species of it, at least from what I researched. Kunikida is a no nonsense man who has many ideals and ambitions. He does his best to have the agency run at a good pace, with varied results due to some of our favs being, well, ‘full of energy’ as I put it. XDDD He also tries to keep the team focused, he knows humility from being someone who wants to save everyone but knows he can’t whilst also will listen to criticism and tries to better himself, and while he does have outbursts and a short temper he does have patience and can keep a cool head when faced with danger. He’s the kind of level headed companion/partner that the agency needs and I have a ton of respect for this man.

You don’t need to be a detective to know next up is Ranpo Edogawa!

Actual Flower: Tithonia diversifolia My choice: ‘French’ Marigold

Meaning:  “Known as the "Herb of the Sun" and are symbolic of passion and creativity. The Welsh believed that if marigolds were not open early in the morning, then a storm was on the way...Water made from marigolds was thought to induce psychic visions of fairies if rubbed on the eyelids. In some cultures, marigold flowers have been added to pillows to encourage prophetic or psychic dreams.”

Do I really need to go into why this flower fits Ranpo? It’s pretty much spelled out for you with it meaning ‘passion and creativity’ and how water made from said marigold is said to induce psychic visions and/or dreams which can also be prophetic. Super Deduction my ass, Ranpo’s been doing marigolds! LOL Jk jk XDDD

Onto the biggest tsunderes in this series and the one we need to always pray for please Asagiri don’t leT THIS BOY KEEL OVER AND LEAVE US-*Clears throat* Sorry...Akutagawa Ryunosuke!

Actual Flower: Daffodils My flower: ...Wait... I DID choose this flower...Huh...Well I found better explanation for it’s symbolism so leave me alone! dX<

Meaning: “Has contradictory meanings. It represents unrequited love, vanity as well as good fortune. Daffodils also symbolize regard, chivalry, long lasting friendship, happiness, and good wishes.”

Like the meaning itself, Akutagawa can be very contradictory at times. On one hand he is calm and can handle his own on a mission but on the other he has a very angry mental state and will lash out when he is looked down upon or someone else is getting Dazai-Senpai’s attention. *Cough*Atsushi*Cough* Which is where the ‘unrequited love’ comes in at least in the beginning. It is shown at the end of the guild ark that Dazai does truly care for Akutagawa, most likely even knowing he screwed up with him and his learned lesson is shown through his interactions with Atsushi. Both boys mean a lot to Dazai and I know he’s proud of both. He should just...Not give too much praise to our sickly mafia child in short intervals. Seriously, if Akutagawa fainted from just one form of praise/acknowledgment from Dazai then constant praise would most likely give the poor boy a coronary!

Now it’s time for our favorite tiger shifter and precious being, Atsushi Nakajima!

Actual Flower and My choice: Lily of the Valley

Meaning: “Represents sweetness and the return of happiness. It can also symbolize humility. When the lily of the valley blooms, happiness is said to return... Because of the belief in the healing powers of this plant, it is often known as the ‘ladder to heaven’ or ‘Jacob's tears’. Legend tells that Mary's tears turned to the lily of the valley when she cried at the cross. This is the reason for the third alternate name, ‘Mary's tears’.

This flower is Atsushi; plain and simple. He’s generous, very kind, and extremely sweet. He’s been subjected to so much and yet he still has a heart of gold, taking his mistakes to heart and thinks about how he can better himself. And you bet your ass that when he smiles happiness returns. He just blooms and everyone else is doomed XDDDD Hey I rhymed! 8D Also there is a legend about this flower where it fell in love with a nightingale. Just the thought of two polar opposites falling in love even though they are so different, species obviously included, is so romantic to me. Gee, I wonder who this legend reminds me of. >|3c Yeah yeah it’s Dazushi shush. >¦T

And last but certainly not least, our favorite suicidal maniac Dazai Osamu!

Now I saved Dazai for last seeing as he has more then one flower and all, of course, contain different meanings. Let us go over them!

Actual Flower(s):  Roses, Alyssum, Rindo

My choice(s):  Roses, Lily, Heliotrope

We’ll start with the obvious one, the yellow roses. 

“In general, they represent  Long associated with the sun and its life-giving warmth, yellow is the age-old spokes-color for warm feelings of friendship and optimism. In many Eastern cultures, the color represents joy, wisdom and power...the history of the yellow rose in particular has an optimistic, serendipitous character that really makes it the complete package. By the 18th century the worldwide love of roses was in full swing, but they were only cultivated in shades of pink and white. At last, the elusive yellow rose was discovered growing wild in the Middle East, and the European love affair with yellow roses was born. The early yellow rose lacked the sweet scent for which the rose is famous, however, which was not to be tolerated. So, as cultivation methods were developed and refined, the beloved sweet-and-spicy rose scent was soon introduced and the yellow rose achieved all its optimistic and aromatic glory.”

As described, yellow roses are happy flowers! They have a warm, inviting feeling that provides happiness, wisdom, and power; three things Dazai has plenty of. Especially the joy I mean have you seen him? The joy is RADIATING from this man XDDD Well, to an extent, as we know most of that joy is a front cause of what he’s gone through dear GOD boy let us love you or better yet let ATSUSHI love you! Anyway XDDD As I wrote in the beginning, yellow roses can also mean, “I won’t forget you”, obviously referencing Oda. Dammit whose cutting onions...? TT^TT

Moving on to the Lily.

While white lilies symbolize chastity and virtue – and were the symbol of the Virgin Mary’s purity and her role of Queen of the Angels – as other varieties became popular, they brought with them additional meanings and symbolism as well. Peruvian lilies, or alstroemeria, represent friendship and devotion, white stargazer lilies express sympathy and pink stargazer lilies represent wealth and prosperity. Symbolizing humility and devotion, lilies are the 30th anniversary flower - while lilies of the valley are the 2nd wedding anniversary flower.  As the flowers most often associated with funerals, lilies symbolize that the soul of the departed has received restored innocence after death. Pretty much all about friendship and death and ODA WHHHHHHY QAQ

Yeah this flower fits. Humility and devotion? You bet your ass Dazai has both. Sympathy and prosperity? The man has some of the best development in this story guys, don’t deny it. Wealth? Uh.......Let’s skip that one! ^0^;;;;;  The part that gets me though is the ‘restored innocence after death’. Just...Just that thought of Oda at peace being with the kids looking over Dazai with a smile just-just-GAH SO MUCH FEEL BUT SO MUCH NICE <X......3

Wait a second...Dazai, in my eyes, is holding a lily...and another breed of lily, the Lilies of the Valley, are 2nd wedding anniversary flowers...And Atsushi is holding...

O^O..........................

I DID NOT PLAN THIS SHIPPING MATERIAL BUT I AM PLEASED WITH MYSELF

And finally the last flower of this long post, the heliotrope!

Because of its striking beauty and alluring scent, the heliotrope plant has found its way into myth and storytelling. One of the best known stories is of Clytie, a water nymph, who was deeply in love with the sun god Helios – or, in some versions, Apollo. This god, however, had his eye on the princess Leukothoe, and one day abandoned Clytie for her. Finding that she had been forsaken, she spent the rest of her days pining away. Upon her death Helios, taking pity on the forlorn nymph whom he had slighted, turned her body into the heliotrope plant. Ever faithful to her beloved, the plant dutifully followed the sun every day. Other tales tell of this plant having a prophetic effect on sleep; dreaming of the plant itself is said to represent unrequited love, while heliotrope oils are thought to bring about prognostic dreams. Other folkloric tales show this plant’s place in rituals. For instance, if you pick a heliotrope blossom in the month of August and use it for good, then good things will come back to you; if, on the other hand, you use it with bad intentions, the wickedness will be turned around on you ten-fold. In addition to having a varied history in folklore, the heliotrope plant is also considered very useful in alternative medicine and cosmetics. The essential oils are used to help fight fatigue, and are also placed in many perfumes and lotions; while tinctures are made from this plant to help cure viral infections, cleanse the blood, and clear out congested lymphatic systems. This plant was once referred to as the herb of love, which is not surprising as, in general, they are thought to symbolize devotion. In addition to being a romantic emblem, heliotropes are also thought to have a religious bearing; representing a hope for salvation – or “turning towards” God. As a gift, these lovely plants are often given in decorative pots or within small container gardens.

Well if THIS doesn’t flower speaks volumes... First off the legend of this flower just works; why? Let me explain:

The water nymph was in love with the sun god but was abandoned and left behind. Feeling sorry for the nymph, who remained in love with the same god until her death, the sun god turned her into the heliotrope, which always followed the sun everywhere it went everyday.  Think about it, when Oda died Dazai was totally heart broken, and there is no doubt in my mind that he still is. Oda’s death is, in a way, abandonment to Dazai because...well you can’t necessarily come back from the dead can you? Oda was the only person Dazai felt he could truly rely on, and whether it was platonic or not the brunette loved him. Losing someone that close to your heart isn’t just a loss of a person, it’s losing a piece of yourself and as that freaking hurts. But then Oda gives Dazai a purpose to continue his life and Dazai follows through with it, matching up with the sun god turning the nymph into a flower. It may seem a little far fetched but the similarities are definitely there. And this not only transitions into more devotion cause Dazai still has tons of that lol XDDD but also into the religious meaning:

“Hope of Salvation”

JUST-JUST GAH

This flower encompasses everything that Dazai’s promise to Oda means. Seriously, the hope is to achieve the salvation Oda would want for the brunette. Excuse me while I curl onto a ball and start bawling thank you.

Phew that was a long post, but damn am I proud of it! X3

Hope you all enjoyed my insight on a random piece of official art because like I said, I have no life and way too much time on my hands XDDD;;;;;;;

[childoftimeandmagic]

Trust One Another

AUGUST JILY CHALLENGE | @childoftimeandmagic vs @elanev91             first wizarding war + James and Lily find themselves relegated to                                                          mundane chores around the safe house until they                                                  can stand each other enough to not compromise a                                                mission by calling each other “giant ninnies” or                                                      "arrogant pillocks"

You can also read it on AO3 and FF.NET

                                         August 29th, 1979

“That’s it I’m done with these two, Albus they can’t go on another mission together!” Mad-Eyes voice was ringing through the hall. He was also holding his left arm which was bleeding heavily, most likely the result of a hex from their last outing.

               “Alastor calm down, I’ll handle it. Poppy is working with Mrs. Prewett in the kitchen, go on and get patched up,” Dumbledore spoke his voice quiet and his face smooth as glass. The only way you could tell that he was intrigued was the slight lift of his mouth on the left side, like he was trying not to smile or something. Grumbling Moody walked past him blood dripping on the floor as he moved through the house. “Miss Evans would you like to explain what happened to Mr. Moody tonight?”

               “Apologies Headmaster, Potter started it. He got all bloody noble and tried to protect me from the death eaters.” She pushed a strand behind her ear looking at their former headmaster.

               “Excuse me for wanting to protect you considering you’re my girlfriend,” he grumbled crossing his arms looking at their headmaster annoyed.

               “Right well then, I’m not your girlfriend problem solved. Just a regular woman who can fight her own battles, you’re a nimrod,” she snarled at him before turning to their old headmaster.

               “I think I see the problem here, Lily you don’t value James’ efforts to protect you, and James you don’t believe that Lily can handle herself.” Albus was stroking his beard trying to decide a way to solve this problem. He couldn’t reassign them considering that the other teams were working well and it wouldn’t be fair to those teams to be broken apart because of a this rather silly issue. “Ah I have an idea, we have a safe house in Blackpool that we need maintained in case of emergencies, I am asking you two to maintain it and hopefully work on this issue together. You can leave in the morning after collecting your things.”

               Not one to wait to see that he was being listened to Dumbledore walked into the study of the Prewett home to work with McGonagall and some other adults on battle strategies. Lily looked at James who was looking like he’d been punched in the gut. Sighing she walked past him and up the stairs to her room. Packing her things, she thought over what had happened during the ambush that they’d walked into with Moody earlier that night. Lily was prideful and while she knew that James had been fair when she’d lost her wand, to prioritize her over the mission it made her furious that he had that little faith in her.

               “Heard you and Potter are getting transferred to the Blackpool safehouse in the morning,” the gentle voice of Alice Longbottom, her best friend broke through her thoughts.

               “Yeah, we messed up on this last mission with Mad-Eye so Dumbledore is sentencing us to work our shite out in a place no one can get injured if we get into an argument.

               “You know Frank and I used to have a horrible time when we were in training to be Aurors for the Ministry. We wanted to protect each other so much and in the end, we almost cost each other the job we loved.” Alice sat down on the edge of Lily’s cot and looked at her best friend.

               “I was best in our year at defensive magic, and if the ministry hadn’t enacted that ban on hiring Muggleborns for government positions I would be in Auror training right now,” Lily threw herself onto the cot next to her best friend, “it just isn’t fair that he is always trying to save me, it’s going to cost him his life one of these days.”

               “Have you talked to him about how you feel?” Alice nudged her best friend gently and looked down at the fire-head, “maybe he would understand.”

               “Maybe, anyway we’re going to have all the time in the world to talk considering we’re going to be stuck with one another in Blackpool for the foreseeable future.”

               “How the hell did you manage to leave Moody’s back uncovered during that ambush?” Sirius was looking at his best friend like he was an idiot.

               “Lily dropped her wand and I went to have her back, I didn’t know that Jackson had died, he was Mad-Eye’s partner not the two of us,” he said glaring at his best friend.

               “You know Lily has every defensive wandless spell mastered, right?” Peter asked walking in handing Remus some letters from his parents.

               “Actually, I didn’t Peter, otherwise I wouldn’t have been as frantic to protect her now would I,” James growled out glaring at his best friends. Throwing his things into his trunks he continued packing as though they weren’t there.

               “Stop giving him a tough time guys, Peter you took a hex in the leg so Mary MacDonald wouldn’t have too. Sirius, you tackled me when you thought we were being attacked and it was just fire crackers. Point being we all do stupid shite when we want to protect the people we love,” Remus spoke up looking at his three best friends who looked very sheepish.

               “We’re taking the floo at 5 am from the study, so I’m going to bed for the night lads,” James wandlessly turned out his bedside lamp and pulled the blankets over himself.

                “I hope you slept well, I’ve given Miss Evans the key to the safe house, the wards have been recharmed to allow you two to directly floo into the property,” Dumbledore said smiling at his two ex-heads as he gestured to the brick and marble fireplace. “Good luck!”

               Lily hated flooing and since they both had their apparition license she was struggling to see the reason behind this considering that floo networks were just as monitored as apparition records. While James cleared his throat, his trunk handle tightly in his hand and the floo powder in his hand he looked around the room and nodded. “Blackpool Manor!” In a flash he was gone.

               Sighing Lily shot Dumbledore her sincerest glare and copied James’ movements readying herself for the feeling of being stretched through pipes and the soot that always got in her hair. Steading herself she glared at Sirius and Alice who were both making kissy faces before shouting, “Blackpool Manor.”

               The group standing around the fireplace all looked around, before Mad-Eye cleared his throat, “Black did you get a pool going on how long it takes them to kill each other or get engaged?” He asked his one eye twinkling with untold mischief. Sirius laughed and shook his head holding out a charmed paper.

               “You’re the only one not in it yet, Dumbledore and Minny are on the engagement track, while the rest of us think James is going to be dead in a months’ time.” He handed the spelled paper to the Auror head.

               “You lot are right fools, they’ll be shagging and engaged in less than two months, well that’s my estimate,” he huffed signing his bet before handing the paper back. Laughing the group broke up to go get ready for their own missions and responsibilities.      

               Coughing James had just stepped from the fireplace when Lily landed on her feet suitcases in hand. Reaching out his hand to take on of her bags he wasn’t surprised when she waltzed past him and into the strange home. The house was decorated as though an old couple had just left in a hurry, down to the pot of tea and moldy scones on the dining table. At least James thought they were scones. Clearing his throat again he looked at the petite firebird standing by the window looking outside the living room window.

               “We should start by cleaning the house, that way it’s ready for guests and emergency stays,” she said not looking at the goofball standing by the fireplace.

               “You’re probably right Red, this place is dustier than your parents’ house,” he muttered walking around the loveseat to the door to the kitchen. “You’re going to have to go shopping the kitchen is barren.”

Lily shook her head in acknowledgement, while taking her wand from her bun and charming her suitcases to a room upstairs. Turning to the living room she started to clear the dust and the moldy plates and cups left in the dining room. She could hear things moving in the kitchen as the house started to come alive as they cleaned each room. They went about the rest of the day getting the house ready for any eventual guests they might have in the future. It was half seven when they finished and Lily was famished.

“Potter I’m going out to the chipper, would you like anything?” she called as she grabbed her wool cardigan and her tartan scarf. James leaned over the banister and blinked she looked angelic standing there looking up at him her eyebrow raised.

“Wait Evans, I’ll come with you. We should talk,” he came flying down the stairs his glasses sliding down his noes as he slipped into his jean jacket and looked at her hair a mess. Lily had to mentally pinch herself for staring at him. Pushing his glasses up his nose he looked at her confused, “What?”                

“Nothing let’s go, I’m starving,” she said opening the door and stepping out into the early fall air, holding the door for James she was itching to hold his hand.

“Did you mean it?” he started to ask looking down at her, “breaking up with me last night?”

“Can we just get our food first, I can’t talk about this on an empty stomach,” she asked throwing out her patented puppy dog pout.

“Sure, forget I brought it up,” he shoved his hands into his pant pockets and started taking the lead through Blackpool towards the direction of town. Rolling her eyes Lily had to race to catch up. Sighing she looked at him hooked her arm through his. She just winked at him and then kept pace with him through the town till they got to the chipper.

 “Alright Evans, we’re home and you’ve been dodging this question all evening,” James said taking her scarf from her as her hung up his jacket in the coat closet.

“Oh, quit being a dolt you ninny, of course we’re still dating,” she said while she wandlessly lit a fire in the fireplace.

“You sure could have fooled me last night though,” he said wrapping his arms around her waist while tugging her back towards the loveseat.

“Well you were being a shit-for-brains last night,” she murmured squirming to get out of his hold, “James I want to make tea let me up.”

“Not until we talk about the mission last night and the fact that it landed us in this safehouse,” he said his voice muffled by her hair.

“What’s to talk about you were being a massive dolt and not watching our team members remember Jackson died because you were so focused on me,” shifting around to look at him, her eyes hard and glaring at him. “We can’t be partners if you’re going to keep forgetting the mission to keep me safe.”

“Lils, you’re the love of my life,” he pulled his hands back to slide a few inches over on the loveseat, “what is so wrong about wanting to keep you safe?”

“We’re in a war James. Our lives are on the line every day and I need to know that when it comes down to it you’ll trust that I know my shit and let me protect myself,” she stood to have few inches on him.

“Lily I know you can, but I don’t want you to have too,” he said crossing his arms over his chest.

“Remember back in school when you told me that you knew there was no sense in talking me out of joining the order because you knew why I had to fight. Where did that James go?” she asked arms crossed and her voice shaking.

“That James was fucking dolt, it was before Marlene and Dearborn were murdered, we’ve lost friends in and out of the order,” he had stood himself he didn’t look angry at her though, his face was tired and stressed. “I can’t bury you Lily, I would lose my fucking mind if you died, and if that means that you’re my top priority during a mission so be it.”

She gasped as he said what she’d been thinking and then she started to laugh, she was mad because he was being reckless trying to protect her and they were doing it for the same reasons.

“Have you thought about what your death would do to me?” she asked gently placing a hand on his shoulder to try and get him to turn towards her. “I would go out of my mind if I had to bury you next to your parents at Godrics Hollow.”

               His arms wrapped around her and held her tight as he took three shaky breaths trying to keep from crying. Placing a kiss to the top of her head he chuckled himself and pulled her with him back onto the loveseat. “So what do we do?” he sounded so pitiful and terrified as though the answer generally terrified him.

               “We have each other’s back, and we trust each other to protect us without being reckless,” she said smoothing his hair and pushing his glasses up.

               “I love you Potter.”

               “Good, I love you too Evans.”

[himbowelsh]

Prompt for Bill&Babe team: Frannie makes Babe and Bill sit and talk after a fight (because they're both miserable without each other and act like love sick dogs). They fought because one of them is feeling unloved. Either Babe because Bill is focused on Frannie or Bill because Babe started dating Gene. Frannie tells Gene that he better get used to this while they're watching Bill and Babe almost sob into each other arms because "I've missed you", "Don't leave me". Anything about their friendship

“This is ridiculous.”

“Shut up,” Fran retorts, leaning forward with her elbows braced against her knees. Red lips are pressed into a thin line; her eyes are trained on the bathroom door, intently enough to burn holes clean through the wood.

Julian sighs, lowering into a crouch as he, too, glowers at the door. Crossing his arms over his chest, Spina turns the key to the door over in his palm and tries to push a growing sense of unease to the back of his mind. The silence from within is eerie. There’s no reason it should be so quiet in there, considering the two guys locked within are anything but.

There’s always the fear that they might have killed each other. Well, if it came down to it, he figures Bill would be the one to kill Babe, unless Babe got the jump on him. Babe’s endurance, however, is a scary thing. Even if Bill got him good, Babe might be able to bounce back and deliver a fatal blow in return before --

Spina shakes himself, leaping from that train of thought. Theorizing about his friends killing each other isn’t nice, nor is it particularly healthy. There are better things to worry about right now; like what the hell is actually going on in that bathroom.

The banging stopped a few minutes ago; the arguing stopped soon after. Now it’s just... silent.

It’s unnerving the other two as much as it is him. He exchanges an anxious glance with Julian, whose throat bobs as he swallows. Fran doesn’t look at either of them. She’s stone-still, barely breathing, focused on making out whatever is going on behind the door.

Suddenly, a loud shout shatters the silence.

“No! Heffron, don’t you dare climb out that fucking window!”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Fran buries her face in her hands. Julian topples from his crouch, cackling even before he hits the ground. A clatter rings out from the bathroom, followed by a renewed bout of shouting, and the sound of something hitting the wall.

“He’s gonna get stuck,” Spina (the only one who’s retained his wits) states. He aims a kick at Julian when the hysterical boy rolls into the wall.

Indeed, only a few seconds pass before a loud “Aww, hell,” sounds in Babe’s unmistakeable whine. The three friends exchange glances before sighing in unison. Fran slams a hand down on her knee. Julian sits up, still snickering. Spina tosses the key in the air and catches it.

“New plan?” he asks, raising his eyebrows. Julian nods while Fran just shrugs, discouraged. She’s not used to her schemes not working; when they do, she always gets dejected, then frustrated, then fired up all over again. Spina has no doubt that by dinnertime she’ll be drawing up new battle plans.

Of course, they’ll only get to have dinner once they manage to pry Babe from the bathroom window.

“We could shove ‘em in a closet together!” Fran exclaims, looking like she’s just struck gold. “No windows.”

“Yeah, just things to beat each other with,” Spina points out. “Pass.”

“We could lock ‘em out of the house tonight,” pipes up Julian. He doesn’t cringe back even as two heads swivel around to gape at him, but he does look a little surprised by the reaction.

“It’s winter,” Fran enunciates, looking torn between horror and incredulity. “What the hell’s the matter with you?”

Spina waves her off before Julian can start up an inevitable argument. The last thing they need is two more people fighting in this house. That could send them spiralling into full-on civil war, and Spina isn’t sure he can take it. “His brain just works like that. Don’t ask him for ideas and we’ll all be fine.”

He’s become a master at subverting catastrophic arguments before they get the chance to happen. Living with Bill and Fran, who scream at each other as much as they scream for each other, and Babe and Julian, who frankly have all the self control of poppies, he’s learned to be the calm in the storm. He’s the level head. The mediator. The one everyone else goes to when they have problems.

He hates it. If that’s what it take to keep peace in the household, however, Spina is willing to do it. If only to prevent a homicide, which would seriously interrupt his schedule, and that’s something anyone studying medicine really can’t afford.

It would just be so much easier if he weren’t living with four of the most stubborn people on planet earth.

He doesn’t know what the hell is going on between Bill and Babe, but whatever it is has been building up all month long. The two best friends have been distant, shorter with each other, argumentative for no apparent reason. The other day, they finally snapped. Babe swung first, Bill swung last, and Fran broke up the fight with threats of kicking them both out on the street if they ever have it out in the living room again.

Since then, they haven’t been speaking at all. While Bill and Babe on the same page can be holy terrors, witnessing the two of them reading entirely different books is something Spina could have gone his whole life without. It’s not natural. It’s a little terrifying, to be honest. The wall of ice that’s come up between the two of them is ready to shatter at the slightest touch, and the second it does the house will descend into chaos.

They have to get Bill and Babe back together before that can happen.

Since locking them in the same room together didn’t work, there’s only one thing left for them to do. They have to make them talk it out.

He clears his throat, drawing both sets of eyes in the room to him. “How about this? An intervention. We sit both of ‘em down, watch so they don’t kill each other, and get ‘em to talk. Whether they want to or not.”

“It’s no use,” Fran sighs. “We can’t try anything like that, cause they’ll just get pissed off and start fighting and try to kill each other again. Sitting ‘em down will just be a disaster.”

Now it’s Julian’s turn to clear his throat. Alarm bells start ringing in Spina’s head the second he sees the renewed brightness in his friend’s face. Anything that excites Julian is rarely good for anyone else.

“I have an idea,” he says, and a slow smile spreads across his face. “I know just what will work.”

It is surprisingly difficult to tie someone to a chair.

Or maybe it’s just difficult to tie Bill to a chair. Granted, things probably would have gone over better if Spina had waited to ambush him when he was caught off guard -- like during a nap, or while he’s busy eating. Calling Bill’s name from the kitchen and hiding behind a door until he walked in and then jumping him might not have been the best plan.

But, well -- it’s not like he can undo it now.

He finally gets the last knot tied, and steps back to survey his work. Bill is strapped securely to a kitchen chair. A mass of rope constrains his chest, while his arms and legs are fastened to the chair’s wooden limbs. The knots Spina has tied have employed all the knowledge he still retains from his one summer at Boy Scout Camp, but they’re large and secure. This doesn’t stop Bill from bucking like an enraged bull, of course.

His face is bright red, a vein throbbing in his temple. He’s spitting curses that would make Spina’s mother slap his teeth out; his muscles strain from his struggle to escape, but it’s to little effect. The rope holds. It’s clear that Bill isn’t going anywhere. (Spina sends up a prayer of thanks; he’s not ready to die today.)

“What the fuck? Let me out, you little son of a bitch, or I swear to god I’ll strangle you in your sleep --”

“Give it a rest, Bill,” Spina sighs. “You’re gonna be here for a while.”

The chair next to Bill is still empty. Spina doubts it will be for long.

He steps around Bill and begins to make himself a sandwich. He considers bologna, but goes for cheese instead; then mustard, then sausage leftover from dinner, then a bit of lettuce. He sits down in front of Bill and begins to eat it, staring him dead in the eye.

His friend, self-proclaimed “master chef”, looks nauseated by Spina’s concoction. “I fuckin’ hate you.”

“Yep.” Spina pops the ‘p’, and takes another large bite.

He leaves Bill for just a minute to use the bathroom, and when he comes back Fran has a squirming Babe confined to the other chair.

Babe is cursing a blue streak. Next to him, Bill looks fit to kill everyone in the room. Fran steps back, placing her hands on her hips, and nods to herself. A part of Spina really wants to know how she did it, but he realizes it’s better if he doesn’t know.

Bill looks to his girlfriend, desperate for an ally. Fran only shakes her head, lips quirking up in a victorious smirk.

“You,” she says as Spina comes up behind her, “are going to sit your asses down and get along.”

“Get this guy away from me, Frannie,” Bill says in a low voice. “I mean it. I dunno what I’ll do.”

“You’re not doing anything, genius. You’re tied to a chair.”

Fran’s eyes swivel between the two combatants for a moment. Bill and Babe glance at each other; their gazes lock, and quickly morph into heated glares. Spina feels the flicker of hope inside of him sputter.

If this doesn’t work, he has no clue what else they can try. He might have to move out. He can’t stand living on a powder keg, and when these two explode it isn’t going to be pretty.

This needs to get sorted out today, and this is the safest way to do it.

“Talk,” Fran orders, taking a step backwards. “The both of you work this out, and that’s when we’ll untie you. Until then --”

She makes a broad gesture to their current predicament, then steps out into the hallway. When Spina catches her eye, she nods at him to move it.

He scampers out of the room, leaving Bill and Babe alone to settle whatever the hell is going on. He just hopes the house will be left standing once they’re finished.

After ten minutes, it becomes obvious that no one is coming back. Babe and Bill have been left alone.

“So,” Babe begins, tentative.

“Don’t even try it, Heffron.”

Babe’s mouth shuts with a click. He huffs out a sigh, and goes back to counting the flowers in the wallpaper.

No one is expecting visitors, so when Gene Roe walks into the house to find Fran and Spina crouched outside the kitchen door, Spina’s first thought is that somehow Babe must have managed to call for help.

“No way,” Fran hisses, springing to her feet. “I have both their phones in my pocket! What are you doing here?”

Gene, for his part, looks unimpressed. His eyes flicker from Spina (still on the ground) to the enraged Fran, then scan the house as if looking for someone. When he doesn’t seem to find what he’s searching for, he settles back on his heels with a frown. 

“Well,” he says, “I’m looking for my boyfriend. I’ve been waiting for him in the car for fifteen minutes, and now I’m pretty sure we’ve missed the movie we were gonna go see.”

Spina and Fran both deflate at the same time, exchanging guilty glances. They hadn’t counted on Babe having plans tonight. They assumed he came home alone.

Gene raises his eyebrow at the duo. “Somebody wanna tell me what’s going on here?”

“Look, if you would just talk to me and tell you why you’ve been so pissed then maybe we could figure this out!”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Babe!” Bill spits back. Anger colors his voice, words stinging like a hornet’s needle. Babe grits his teeth, muscles tensing against the rope that binds him as he turns as far as he can to face his friend.

“Clearly there is! Get over yourself, huh? You think you get to act like an asshole and not even have a reason?”

“I’ve got a reason! A damn good one!”

“Oh yeah?” challenges Babe. “What is it?”

Fran’s hiss of “they’re talking!” drew everyone to the door. Now Gene has joined Spina and Fran in the ranks of shameless eavesdroppers, and looks as baffled by the conversation as the rest of them.

No matter where this is going, Spina couldn’t be more relieved. Finally, they’re getting over themselves and just talking it out. It took forever, but if they manage to straighten things out then everything might be okay.

“This is great,” Gene murmurs, “but when am I gonna get my boyfriend back?”

The answer doesn’t need to be stated. The sharp look Fran shoots him makes it obvious. They’re only leaving those chairs once they’re ready to kiss and make up, so even if it takes all night, they’re staying where they are.

“Sorry, buddy.” Spina claps his fellow medical student on the back. “Guess you’ll have to miss your movie.”

“You sunuva bitch! You didn’t think it affected me at all?”

“There’s no reason it should affect you!” Babe fires back. Now all of his anger bleeds from his words, exposing the hurt he’s been trying so hard to cover up. “Just because you’re jealous of me and Gene --”

“I ain’t jealous!” Bill exclaims indignantly, but Babe raises his voice over him.

“Yes you are, and just because you’re jealous you think you can kick me around? No! I’m not your mother, I don’t have to look after you! I’m allowed to have my own life! You think it hasn’t bothered me when you’re mackin’ on Frannie while I want to talk to you about something! Sure it has, but I don’t take it out on you, because I’m not an asshole!”

“I didn’t --” Bill starts, but cuts himself off. Babe steamrolls on as if he hasn’t heard a word.

“So, you’re jealous. Okay. Ever tried talking to me? It’s not like I’m trying to ignore you! Jesus Christ, Bill, you’re my best friend! You’re the best pal I could ask for, but if you feel that way, say something to me! We can work it out! I don’t get jealous of you and Frannie because I know you love her, and I know she’s your girl. You love her, but that doesn’t make me not your friend anymore! Gene’s the guy I love, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you anymore! Christ, it’s not that hard, is it?”

For a moment, Bill says nothing. When he does speak, his voice sounds tight. “I never said it was hard.”

Spina is treated to a sharp elbow in the ribs from one side, and fingers digging into his shoulder from the other. He winces under both assaults, but neither one lets up.

“Is this it? Have they done it?”

“There’s been enough yelling. Ain’t they ever heard of indoor voices?”

“What do you think?”

Spina forces himself to his feet, popping out from under both Fran and Gene. He’s in no hurry to be buried by nosy friends, especially not before they find out if a resolution has really been reached. He strains to see around the doorway without being noticed -- a challenge when there are two bodies at his feet, threatening to tip him over any second.

“Hey,” a voice from the kitchen calls. “Quit stickin’ your head in and come untie us already! We’re done!”

At Spina’s feet, Gene has gone very still. “Is Babe -- it sounds like he’s crying.”

Fran takes a moment to consider this, before suddenly springing to her feet. “Oh, thank god!”

The entire assembly barrels into the kitchen, only to be greeted by the most welcome sight they’ve seen all day. Babe and Bill are still sitting in their chairs, side-by-side. Now, however, neither one is struggling, and no one looks murderous. In fact, Babe is smiling ear-to-ear. His eyes are glistening. There’s a few wet streaks rolling down Bill’s cheeks, but he does his best to maintain a tough front as he regards them.

Fran exhales a laugh. “Oh my god, you two are such babies.”

“You worked it out!” Spina cheers, fistpumping in the air. He starts to round Bill’s chair; Gene is already behind Babe, working to free him from his restraints. 

As soon as the ropes fall away, Bill and Babe are out of their chairs. They take a second to stretch their limbs and make sure everything is still in working order; then they embrace each other.

“You rat bastard,” Babe huffs against Bill’s broad chest. “You got something to say to me, say it next time, huh?”

Bill claps Babe on the back, hugging him like a kid who’s just rediscovered his favorite toy. “And don’t you go forgetting about Ol’ Guarnere anymore!”

It’s a heartwarming, if somewhat baffling scene. Maybe he just doesn’t get it. Spina’s never had lifelong friends. He’s definitely never been a part of the same bond that Babe and Bill have with each other. He probably just doesn’t understand the way their brains work, or why this was such a thing, but he’s glad it all worked out anyway. “You know,” Fran pipes up, “double dates are always an option!”

The two don’t reply. Maybe they didn’t even hear her. Gene glances over at her and shakes his head. “Let ‘em figure it out for themselves. They’ll wanna think it was their idea.”

Fran sighs, placing her hands on her hips as she surveys her two favorite idiots. “Gene, I hope you’re prepared,” she says. “You’re part of the family now. You better get used to all of this.”

Gene huffs out a low laugh, crossing his arms. As he watches his boyfriend and his best friend hug it out, there’s a smile on his lips. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

[instantlit]

End of the Year Survey - 2018

Another bookish year has come and gone, and I'm really happy with what 2018 brought me, in terms of reading at least. I've had quite the unexpected year but I've also never read quite so many books I've liked so wholeheartedly. So, here's my year in review! 

Also, you can check out my Year in Books: 2018 Edition on Goodreads!

(Under the cut because it’s hella-long)

Number Of Books You Read: As is becoming a habit, I've put my Goodreads Reading Goal at 25 and, while I did pretty great last year by reading 33 books, I've surpassed that number even more in 2018 with 38 books in total! (I’m stopping at 38 at least, I’m kind of rereading something at the moment, but I’m not including it since it’s just to pass the time) Some might think that I should put a higher number as my goal since I can do it apparently, but know that most of the books I’ve read this year were shorter or, at least, I’ve read less big books in 2018. Also, I like the freedom I feel when I see that I'm ahead of schedule. It allows me to pick bigger books or books that I wouldn't have tried by fear of fucking up my quota. Anyway, I'm really happy and I hope 2019 will go just the same. Number of Re-Reads: Only one this year and that was during the month of January, when I was still at my mom's place for the Christmas holidays, stranded without any new books to read. So, it was with pleasure that I revisited an old favourite: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, my favourite in the series. It made me fall in love with Remus Lupin even more. Genre You Read The Most From: It's so hard to define because it's been all over the place this year. I think, while most of the books I've read don't really fit the Fantasy category, most of them contain some kind of magical element, so maybe I'd say Magical Realism? Without any true conviction though. I could also have easily said Literary or Adult Fiction.

Best Book You Read In 2018: It's so difficult to narrow it down to only just one book, though! After much deliberation, I'll go with Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel, because it's just that good! Also, I think this book's got something in it for every type of reader: it's a character-driven story but in an apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic setting, there are different perspectives but they're done well and connect in the end, there's talk of literature and philosophy, but one of the main focus is also a famous Hollywood actor... I don't know, I feel like I could recommend this book to anyone and they'll probably like it. That's not something that happens to me a lot.       Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t: All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai, which is sort of my own fault. I mean, the reviews are not bad, but I'd just hyped this book so much because it's about time-travel and alternate realities... I even picked it up pretty quickly considering the fact that some books have been in my TBR for years. But, in the end, it was a huge disappointment for many, many reasons. The first of which is that the main character is a complete idiot, who has no redeeming qualities, who doesn't make sensible decisions and who expects people to feel sympathy for him constantly. It's also so obviously written by a man ™ , what with the way that Mr. MC sleeps with every female character in the book, except his mother and sister (thank Merlin for that), while none of them are developed beyond what they bring to the main character. It was ridiculous.     

Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read: It feels like ten thousand years have gone by since I've read this book, but no, it was only last February: My Lady Jane, by Cynthia Hand & Co. The reason I was surprised was because the hype was so strong with this one. I hadn't read a single negative review, and everyone and their mother seemed to have loved it. It's not like I was expecting to hate it. I was hoping so hard that I would end up raving about it but, it still surprised me. It's kind of silly and lighthearted, and not at all the kind of stories you'd expect when you hear "Jane Grey retelling", but it was an amazing read: super quick, terribly hilarious, and just fun all around.   Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did): I don't recommend books to people! My tastes are so specifically mine that I don't like to recommend books, unless I'm one hundred percent sure they'd be interested. That being said, one of my friends has The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss on her shelves, but still hasn't read it, so I allowed myself to vouch for it. Best series you started in 2018 / Best Sequel of 2018 / Best Series Ender of 2018: Except for the Best Starter, which I feel strongly about, most of those are by default (mostly), because series haven't been a big part of my reading life this year.

Starter: The Poppy War, by R.F. Kuang

Sequel: Waking Gods, by Sylvain Neuvel

Ender: Muse of Nightmares, by Laini Taylor Favorite new author you discovered in 2018: It's kind of a difficult question, though. I've read many new authors this year (or at least, they were new to me), but not one of them made me go "Oh my God, I have to read everything they ever published!" simply based on the writing itself. I guess I'll go with Min Jin Lee. Pachinko plunged me into the Korean immigrant experience, and I'm asking for more. I already got my hands on her previous book, and I know that a third one is coming up soon-ish.   Best book from a genre you don’t typically read / was out of your comfort zone: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It's a mystery/ghost story, and I don't usually read those, but it was an amazing experience. The writing was beautiful, the setting was eerie and the story was gripping until the very last page. Total success! Most action-packed / thrilling / unputdownable book of the year: Hands down, the Poppy War by R.F. Kuang wins in terms of Most Action-y. I mean, it's about a war. It's the perfect mix between Game of Thrones and Mulan so, it's not really a surprise, but everything in it was thrilling. There were some really gruesome and graphic moments of carnage but I think it all contributed in making it unputdownable. Book You Read In 2018 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year: Easy: none of them! I already have a pretty tight reread schedule for 2019, six books in total, which is more than my yearly average but I'm committed. In any case, it doesn't leave much room for more, I don't want to crawl through the weight. That being said, I thought I would be rereading the Six of Crows duology in 2018 and I didn't, so... And look at me! I'm doing it in 2019, yeah!

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018:

Most memorable character of 2018: By the end of the year, I fear the full effect of this or that character has usually dimmed quite a bit, but! I nominate Noah from Min Jin Lee's Pachinko, because I thought about him and his story for months, and I mean months (very long months), after I finished the book. Most beautifully written book read in 2018: Well, I've read a Donna Tartt novel this year, so... The Goldfinch. Easy win. Most Thought-Provoking / Life-Changing Book of 2018: I'm going to go with Pachinko again because it marks such a drastic turn in my reading life and my overall interests. I'm getting into Korean culture, I'm learning Korean so, of course, I'm getting interested about what Koreans do in terms of literature. And, while Pachinko was not the first one I picked, it's the one that remained with me ever since. It does such a brilliant job of describing the Korean immigrant experience in Japan that it has to make you react in some way. The story is also very diverse and nuanced, and I loved that. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read: A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare. Okay, to tell this story, I have to go back a little bit. I've studied literature, but not specifically English literature, so Shakespeare has never been a priority on the curriculum. I read Romeo & Juliet for a class in high-school, and was vaguely planning to read King Lear and Hamlet in college when I did a course on Theatre but, while I bought both of them, I never even opened the first page. I was never planning on ever reading anymore Shakespeare, because I thought I was not into reading plays and, anyway, since all my reading is in English now, that means I'd have to read the original which is in Old English. Haha, no way. But, in the meantime, I got interested in this particular play of his, I saw the ballet, knew the story and the characters, but had not read the work in itself. So, I decided to give it a go... and it was absolutely fantastic. It's funny in many different ways, it's clever, entertaining, it's got a bit of magic in it which soothes the Fantasy nerd in me. It was basically perfect and I rated it 5 stars, directly added it to my list of favourites. I'll read more of his plays in 2019, they're on the list!     Favorite Passage / Quote From A Book You Read In 2018: Honestly, I couldn’t think of anything, although I know there has to be one. So, allow me to quote a passage from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream:

[Helena to Demetrius]: Your virtue is my privilege. For that / It is not night when I do see your face, / Therefore I think I am not in the night, / Nor doth this wood lacks worlds of company, / For you, in my respect, are all the world. / Then how can it be said I am alone / When all the world is here to look on me?

Of course, Demetrius, then, proceeds to be a giant dick to her, again, but well...

Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018:

Shortest: Opal by Maggie Stiefvater - 38 pages

Longest: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - 864 pages Book That Shocked You The Most: I don’t think I’ve read any book that shocked me in the sense the question is intended but, since I have to give an answer, I’m going with More Than This by Patrick Ness, because this book just fucks with your head and makes you question reality at every turn of the page.  

OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) Bitty and Jack from Ngozi's Check, Please! To be fair, I already knew about them because of the webcomic and, technically, their relationship is only just starting in this first volume, hasn't technically started yet if you're into specifics, but they’re the best and probably the only pairing that really matches with this category. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year: Last year's answer was about a boy and his father and, well, this year, it's a girl and her mother: Frances and her mom from Radio Silence by Alice Oseman. They have the perfect mother-daughter relationship based on love, trust and independence. They're nerding out together, but Frances' mom is also a huge support system for her and just surrounds her with all the warmth!   Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously: I could answer The Goldfinch but I'm trying to prove that I haven't only read 3 books this year and, anyway, my answer is still relevant: Circe by Madeline Miller. The Song of Achilles is an eternal favourite of mine, and the fact that she took Circe's not very developed/barely mentioned story and turned it into something more and something brilliant, only makes me more curious and excited about what she'll do next.   Best Book You Read In 2018 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else / Peer Pressure: The Poppy War. The hype was SO strong! It's also a 2018 release and, I mean, I didn't really waste any time in picking it up. That's how fast they got me.   Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018: Noah from Pachinko was a strong contender, but I rediscovered Sam in Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray, the third book in the Diviners series, and I loved what I saw. He's not exactly new, but I don't remember crushing on him in the previous books. Best 2018 debut you read: By default, it's the Poppy War. While it's definitely the strongest, I do think that there's room for improvement but, seriously, the author is only like, 22! Who cares?   Best Worldbuilding / Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year: Last year, my answer was Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor and, since I've just read its sequel and conclusion, I could technically answer with Muse of Nightmares, but that'd be the same answer, and I don't want to cheat so, I'm going with Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. The book itself is super short, but it's part of a series of novellas focusing on parallel Narnia-like universes: they're called Portal Fantasy. The first book introduces us to a special school for people who went through magical doors and spent time in these magical universes, who were then sent back to their original worlds, and the repercussions this entails. Basically, it's a look at what would happen after Alice came back from Wonderland, it's a closer look at the PTSD effects the Pevensies should have suffered from after their adventures in Narnia, it's the loss Claire went through in Outlander once she was back in her present day. It is so fascinating, and I loved the fact that multiple universes exist and that each character was completely influenced and molded by the one they were sent to. It opens such a large variety of possibilities and I can't wait to get my hands on the other books. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face / Was The Most FUN To Read: There are a few possible candidates, but I'd like to mention a book I haven't talked about yet: The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang. It's a graphic novel about a young prince who likes to wear dresses. He entrusts a young seamstress with this secret and, together (the prince with his looks, and the dressmaker with her designs) become the talk and the envy of all Paris. It's very light-hearted and the characters are so endearing. It made me laugh and put a smile on my face because of the positive message of acceptance and self-love. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018: The closest I've come to crying was reading Noah's parts in Pachinko. Otherwise, had I been in another setting (and not at the beach), I think All the Lights We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr would have pulled a good cry from me, it's just beautifully heartbreaking. Hidden Gem Of The Year: I'm going with Radio Silence by Alice Oseman. People are starting to be more vocal about it, which is amazing, but I feel like it's not up to where it should be. The story is amazing, terribly relatable, it talks about fandom and internet culture, there's amazing mental health representation AND the cast of main characters is incredibly diverse in terms of ethnicity and sexuality! That last part alone should be enough to make everyone rave about it on Tumblr and draw fanart. Where are you people at? Book That Crushed Your Soul: Pachinko. Sorry. Most Unique Book You Read In 2018: Again, nothing new: Station Eleven, because I don't think I've ever read quite anything like it.

Favorite review you wrote in 2018: Probably my review of Radio Silence. I just had so much fun with it and, unlike many other reviews, the words came to me naturally. It was basically writing itself, and I just love when that happens. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.): PODCASTS! I'm just becoming a true podcasts aficionado. I'm following so many, and many of them are related to books in some way. A lot of them are fictions, but my favourite at the moment is Myths and Legends, where they talk about famous but also not-very-known stories. From Mulan to a very obscure character from Arthurian legends to Viking and oriental folklore, every culture gets its fair share and the stories are all weird but awesome. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year: Only the Goodreads Challenge, as usually, but it's also the only one I participated in.

One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2019: All Out, the short story collection with lots of queer characters in it! I am literally dying to get my hands on it, and I was supposed to read it during Christmas, and then shit happened and my plans got messed up, but it's my absolute priority for 2019! Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2019 (non-debut):The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. At first, I wasn't planning on reading it. Like, yeah sure, she wrote one of my favourite books of all time, but that doesn't mean  that she can do it again. And then, I read the synopsis and, basically, there's no way I'm not reading this book. It's almost too perfect to be real. Fingers crossed! 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating: I can't really think of one, at the moment. But the same thing happened last year, and I did read a bunch of debuts. Series Ending / A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2019: It's already been published, but I will read it in 2019, so I'm counting it: Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel. I'm still surprised by how into this series I am. It's really great and I think the best is to come.   One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading / Blogging Life In 2019: I'm proud to say that my 2018 resolution was completely accomplished. Hurray! Now, for 2019, I want to keep being excited about books and read books that excite me. I DNFed only one book in 2018, but a few were terribly disappointing and, while I know it's not possible to predict which books I'll end up disliking, I want to be better prepared and to choose wisely or, at least, to still keep an open-minded view so as to enjoy as many books as I'll get my hands on.   A 2019 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable): Again, I'm not one to recommend books and, also, I'm not too great on knowing in advance what books are coming up + I don’t receive ARCs, but I know for a fact that the Poppy War sequel is planned for 2019, so that's my pick. I'm hoping for the Dragon Republic to be even better!  

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

SSSS.Gridman 3 - 4 | Double Decker 5 - 6 | Golden Kamuy 15 - 16 | Zombieland Saga 4 - 5 | Merc Storia 3 - 4

Gridman 3

Samurai Calibur is literally what pulled me back into the show – after all, he’s an indicator that despite this show’s serious demeanour, it is campy at heart. So it’s great to see him have a big role, even if he has to look stupid to do so.

Uh…by the way, kaiju (Anti?). What’s so cool about Wolverine blades? I mean, Wolverine himself has healing factor to back that up, but you’re just a kaiju…

That star explosion! There’s the Trigger we know and love!

“A kaiju that eats breakfast with me.”

I always love how anime deal with isolation through framing and other visual techniques. In this case, it’s Utsumi and Rikka in two mirrors of different shapes.

“…over, right?” I thought, as Utsumi said, “…disbanded.” – Close enough.

Literally everyone in this show has blue eyes. It’s striking, but it’s a bit much…? I personally like a mix of eye colours for characters, especially those eyes which seem to have flecks of different colours in them. Not that I’ve ever had an excuse to give any character I’ve created eyes like that (since it’s easier to describe single-coloured eyes), but it would be nice to have an opportunity to. Update: Apparently it’s a homage to something. A Transformers thing, actually.

This ED…hmm, it kinda looks like the Sarazanmai ads I’ve seen around lately. Just without the stylised background people and with Akane and Rikka.

Double Decker 5

“The Derick Special!” – Welp, aside from forgetting the E in “potatoes”, they got the spelling right, LOL.

I wonder if Kirill’s sister looks anything like him?

…Hmm. I noticed the license plate on that blue car has BNY. Maybe it stands for “bunny” or “Barnaby”?

*Kirill headbutts Doug* - Well…uh, that’s one way to use your head…

“My first partner died.” – Wait, but if that’s (Doug’s first partner) not Derick…then who is it??? The one before Derick? Update: Yep, I was right.

I just realised the motorbike (? car?) Max rides has her name on the license plate. At least in the ED it does.

It seems like the next episode is a breather ep…hmm.

Golden Kamuy 15

Kibushi is number 8 on this page.

“Bat man”…? Like the superhero?

I can’t believe I actually don’t mind the Blingee fire at this moment in the season…urgh. Why did I just say that? I might regret it later…

Oh my gosh…woodcock birds are adorable!

Inkarmat likes Cikapasi’s cover story? Even the bit about…boob-grabbing…?

I like the technique where it appears Nagakura and Toshizou have deaged. It really gives the scene emotional impact and emphasises the fact this episode is called “Let’s Talk About the Past”.

Zombieland Saga 4

I always imagine Lily’s voice to be extremely high pitched. So high pitched, it’s almost silly…but maybe that’s just what happens when I turn off the volume and try to imagine their voices that way.

Chatsumi means “tea picking”. As in picking tea leaves.

Bikubiku just means Junko is trembling from fear. She probably has a fear of heights…

Hey wait, I thought slapping Saganship Z on people who aren’t zombies is called “administering medicine”…

The CGI…I don’t think it’s entirely hideous, but it’s still vaguely obvious.

Marutchi/Tamatchi -> Yes, it’s another Tamagotchi joke from Saki.

Merc Storia 3

Oh my goodness…this (the queen) is the fairy I got hyped for way back when this show first had its ED showcased! She’s basically the anime version of a Shirley Barber fairy! She’s gorgeous!

Princess, didn’t the tale of Excalibur teach you not to pull swords from stones?

There are a lot of princesses in this, to the point where it makes me feel like a kid again. Then again, all good anime makes me giggly like a kid. Not to mention this actually is aimed at kids…

Who’s a healer, Merc? Jamo? (Yeah, yeah, I’m kidding, but seriously, get Merc to do a better indication of who she’s talking about.)

Oh, how did I not think of this? Yuu’s name is Yuu because he’s you, geddit? The player character?...Okay, stop booing…

Seriously, all the fairies, regardless of their gender, are gorgeous…! Except the bartender and the butler. The bartender looks like Tank from Brave Beats and the butler’s just an old guy. The background characters are only decent looking, too, but I’m talking about (most of) the main characters here. The princess is kinda cute, but not enough to awaken a moe instinct in me, y’know?

I didn’t notice this until now, but Paristos has pointy ears…hmm.

Wait, that was a dude fairy??? The black one, i.e. “one that knows the land”??? Update: Sorry. I listened to his voice and then realised…that is a dude. Sorry. He even kind of sounds like Ume…Update 2: A-hah! That’s why The One That Knows the Land (that is literally what he’s credited as) sounded familiar. It was Junichi Suwabe! Update 3: His name is in the next ep, it’s Zephrodai.

SSSS.Gridman 4

I noticed Akane has a Surume card. It’s probably a pun on Suika (Watermelon) cards. Apparently the pun is that tapping the card on and off is like water swishing (sui sui), hence the name. Update: It would be also nice to say they were a pun on Hong Kong’s Octopus cards, but the visuals on the cards are all wrong…

See? They’re (Namiko and Hass) using their phones like normal kids. So why didn’t Rikka remember to use her phone last ep?

Rumour has it Borr is a dude, which makes the fact he’s questioning why girls like older guys make a lot more sense. Then again, you could just headcanon him as a lesbian instead. I’m not going to stop you from thinking that way if you do.

Honest to stars above, this feels like Kiznaiver Round 2. I didn’t mind Kiznaiver but though it could be better. The drama felt a little too…melodramatic, y’know?

See? This episode just proves Calibur is best boi…until further notice, when they introduce that other Neon Genesis bishonen for real.

So if Borr -> Buster Borr, Max -> Tracto Max and Samurai Calibur -> Calibur, then Sky Vitter…either Sky or Vit. I already know the answer is “Vit” because I saw it on the wiki, but it makes a bit more sense now. Anyways, I was wondering…what happened to the 3 dudes from Arcadia? Max is the strongest, eh? So many questions, not enough time, y’know???

Double Decker! 6

“Good Noodles”, LOL.

The line that appears when the subs say “Let’s take this to our car” actually says something along the lines of, “For the moment, let’s take this to our car, shall we?”

Interestingly, the word “guinea pig” (as in, the “we’re being tested on” sort) translates directly – you can read the word morumotto (guinea pig) in the text.

Maybe I’m not familiar with terms aside from keiji/keibu etc. for policemen, but I’ve never seen a policeman being referred to as “omeguri-san”…

If we’re talking about noticing things…a post for this episode already spoilt for me that “Kirill now has a brother”, although I don’t know whether that comment was made in jest/deception or not. Also, that “sister” sure didn’t have any…er, secondary reproductive characteristics on the torso, to put it lightly.

Reminder, dear cowatchers: Doug is…kind of…an asshole.

*Milla’s disappearance involves getting on one of those double decker buses you see around Lisvaletta* - Welp, that puts another meaning to the name “Double Decker”, eh?

Apple Bieber (LOL) is so tsundere when people actually call him “Doctor”, haha.

Holy sisters, Batman! Milla even sounds like a man. I may be terrible at identifying voice actors from their voices alone, but heck if I can’t tell this “Milla” is a man! (The voice of “Milla” sounds familiar…who is it, though? I’ll skip forward and check. Update: Okay, it’s a name I don’t recognise, but it is a dude! The VA’s name is Yuki Fujiwara. But now that that’s established…I like Valery (sic…?) already. He’s definitely my type~.)

Soooooooooo…yeah. Kirill really does have a brother. Sorry for the spoilers.

Golden Kamuy 16

…Wait, so he’s (Shiraishi) actually getting captured this time?

I find it interesting there is a Japanese equivalent to “Kamuy” which means “residence of the gods”, to translate it somewhat loosely.

Shiraishi had such stupid faces in everyone’s heads…LOL.

I find Tsurumi wearing a proper outfit coloured like the 7th division (albeit more Chinese-looking) kinda strange. Tsurumi suits red more, methinks.

Opium, eh? I assume this talk about poppies and England has something to do with the Opium Wars.

Arisaka’s probably as bad as Brook from One Piece…at least, when it comes to skull jokes in the OP manga. Or like a group of dads having a meeting.

Nikaidou’s so petty…LOL. But it is a good idea to weaponise a fake leg – I mean, Toshizou could have the same advantage if he put a sword in his cane…but I think Toshizou thinks too highly of his Izuminokami Kanesada to do such a thing.

I laughed pretty hard when I learnt Ogata is meant to be part of the 27th. Probably because it wasn’t much of a coincidence in the first place.

Zombieland Saga 5

Wowee, what just happened to Tatsumi’s leg??? “The second you let your guard down, it can all fall apart!” – I think he was talking more about his leg rather than competitive baseball…Update: I swore the ball went through his leg. If you didn’t interpret it the same way, then…sorry.

So I heard you like KFC. Well, we’ll just grab Saga’s equivalent to KFC so you can have chicken in your anime while you eat chicken…or something like that…?

Shouldn’t that be “principles of Drive-In Tori”?

The fish eyecatch seems to involve a Karatsu-kun-chi…according to the banner in the back.

Google Translate tells me “Bonjour, Saga jeune” means something to the effect of “Hello, Saga youngster.”

They really like their live-action segments on this show, huh?

Seriously, which of these girls does Ookoba-san remember??? Is he the driver from episode 1’s Truck-kun? Update: It’s Junko, so that makes sense. If it were Policeman A recognising Junko, Ai or Sakura…we’d be in trouble.

I forgot why they were panicking, but then I remembered…they didn’t have their makeup on. Ah.

Eh? You’re kidding…the Gatalympics is legit!

Yugiri literally poledanced on that rope! Yipe, that’s stiff competition…

What is Tae eating in these in-between scenes, anyway…?

I believe I cannnnnn…*music cuts immediately* Fall…So much for the “I Believe I Can Fly” parody…

Merc Storia 4

Gah, that necklace looks like a Sims gem…

Okay, if I figured out what the next country is it won’t be so interesting. It’s the “country of the clan of few people”.

You can see Salodeah in the ED…and Fruedling (sp???)…but there are some other characters you don’t see in these fairy episodes. Now I’d like to meet the lady riding the spider and the blonde guy (you see them in the same screenshot). You can also see the dog girl from the animal in the ED (I forgot her name though, LOL). I’d also like to see the angel country…

I just realised the next ep previews are called Merc Yokoku (Next Ep Preview) Storia…hmm.