#the only issues i have with my eyes all involve the vision going shitty

[mayhem-neverending]

The Big Bad Wolf

Part XXIII

Word Count: 3,251

Warnings: none

“I see self isolation in your eyes and I’m going to tell you right now that you better not even think about it,” your voice was laced with irritation, though it wasn’t at all directed at him.

“But it’s obvious I’m an issue and your mom is right about me,”

“My mom is probably worried about her reputation at work. She’s been there fifteen years and they only stopped looking at her immigration status when Pain came and destroyed the village,”

He opened his mouth, likely to remind you of his involvement with Pain, but you waved a hand and gave him a look to silence him. He reluctantly shut his mouth. 

“My mother’s anger has nothing to do with you or me, really,”

“How? It sounded an awful lot like it had everything to do with ‘us’,” He used air quotes with his fingers.

You gave him a deadpan expression. You could still feel your adrenaline pumping from the call and lacked your normal delicacy. “You can’t control a person’s actions or emotions unless they’re under a Genjutsu. Maybe what she thinks I’m doing influences her emotions, but that damn well didn’t make her essentially call me a whore,”

“I can’t believe she said that to you,” Obito blurted. 

You were grateful he decided to focus on you rather than turning inward. You thought for a moment before you waved a hand, although you had some level of disbelief, too. “She’ll apologize once she’s calmed down enough to realize what she said,”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“No, it doesn’t,” you agreed. You inhaled deeply, willing the frazzledness to dissipate. As soon as you felt everything calm inside of you, it struck you how very wrong your mother was to do that. She had never been good at handling her emotions, and you usually gave her some grace, but she had really crossed a line this time.

“I don’t… I don’t know that I want to associate myself with her after that,” You looked anywhere but at Obito, who was agreeing with you wholeheartedly in your peripheral vision. 

“Okay, well. I guess that’s decided then,” you looked over at him and shrugged.

“Wait, it’s just done, just like that? You’re not going to rant or… get angry or something?”

“No,” you said slowly, raising a brow.

“You’re just.. Making a decision and letting it go,” he stated unconvinced.

“Yes,”

“How?”

“Uh, with practice. A lot of practice. Works better in some situations than others,”

 “With practice,” he imitated you poorly, rolling his eyes.

You looked at him where he was seated with his back against the wall, a small twinkle in your eye. “You sounded mean just then, what a big bad wolf you are,”

He shot you a dirty look. He reiterated, “She was right about that,”

You got up, stretching so that the shirt you wore rose and just barely covered your behind. You weren’t going to let him start into a spiral, not after the shitty night you had last night. The two of you were going to at least have a nice breakfast beforehand. Damn Toma and his big mouth for making what you were hoping would be an idyllic morning into a whole show.

“Obito, ‘The Big Bad Wolf’. Y'know, if you're a wolf I’d be happy to be Little Red Riding Hood,” you winked. 

He spluttered. You started towards the door, a little extra sway in your step. The door swung open and you left it ajar as you walked out. 

“Hey,” he called after you. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean,”

He came after you, catching up just before you reached the kitchen. “What’re you trying to say?”

“Nothing, Obi, I was just being silly,” you said as you dumped the old grounds out from the coffee maker. 

You rinsed it out and replaced the piece and turned towards him. He was thinking awfully hard, scrutinizing you and then looking out the window when you went to catch his eye. You almost hoped he saw right through you and knew that you had just outwardly flirted with him. 

“Now, what do you want to eat?”

“You don’t have to make me anything, it’s your day off,” he stepped close and reached over your head to grab the coffee grounds, pressing lightly against you.

“I want to,” you replied, looking up into his dark eyes.

He didn’t move away from you or break eye contact when he set the coffee grounds beside you on the counter. 

“Really,” he said. “You don’t need to. I’ve caused you enough trouble, I can at least make something for you on your day off,”

“I’ve caused you way more trouble than you’ve caused me, I’ve got it,” you said testily.

“You haven’t. Let me,” he leaned down a little more into your space to argue. 

You got on your toes and pressed a finger to his firm chest. “I have. I’ve got it,”

“Y/n,” he warned, coming closer still.

“Obito,” You moved closer until you realized how close you really were. Your eyes flicked down to his lips that were now mere inches away. He did the same, and like magnets the distance began slowly closing without either of you aware of who leaned in first. Your chakra started to intermingle, excited and unbidden. You were a hair’s breadth away, eyes half lidded and a fire already blooming against your lips from where his uneven breath brushed against them. Your phone started ringing loudly from the bedroom and the two of you jumped apart like you were struck by lightning and you excused yourself to scurry to the bedroom.

Obito waited for you in the kitchen while you answered, catching his breath. His heart pumped loudly in his chest, the sound of it thumping in his ears making it impossible to hear anything else. He thought he must still be dreaming because there was no way you were about to kiss him. Absolutely not, you were one hundred percent not interested in him like that, he thought to himself in full denial. That’s why you trusted him to be around you in just his long sleeve shirt and nothing else, right? Because you trusted him not to do anything like that. Oh Kami, had he just breached a boundary?

He pinched the skin of his left forearm, and the pain indicated that he was indeed awake. His heart beat harder at the realization. Were you really going to kiss him? Was he really going to kiss you? He recalled in vivid detail your soft lips inching closer, your lashes fluttering closed as he pressed in. It was like an invisible force had taken over for him, he knew if whatever it was hadn’t he would have never been brave enough to do that. 

He looked down the hallway, only to see you coming out with your outfit from the previous night back in place, acting like nothing had just happened. He was immediately confused, and hurt flashed in his chest. He was right. He breached a boundary and you were so uncomfortable you had to leave. He deflated, shoulders slouching. 

“Hey, Kakashi called and said I needed to go down to his office NOW. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” 

“You mean Monday,” he said dispiritedly. 

You paused, one arm halfway through your coat sleeve. “Uh, no. I meant today. So we can have breakfast?”

“Oh, uh,” Obito looked confused, brows pulled together, heart rate starting to pick up again.

“Do you.. want me to wait until Monday?”

“No,”

“Okay, good. I’ll see you after this, then. Have breakfast ready for me, okay?”

“Sure, yeah. Will do,” 

You zipped your boots and straightened out. You waved to him and he waved back a little awkwardly, relieved he was wrong. And wondering what the hell he was going to make for you. 

…

Kakashi was about to jump up and start pacing when your knock finally sounded at the door. He called you in and you made your way to his desk. He gestured for you to have a seat, so you took one. He reluctantly sat down across from you, his hand landing atop an open scroll. 

“I’ve received a letter from Akujia’s military committee,”

His features that had struggled to stay neutral in his worry smoothed into that of marble, cold and expressionless. “You and Hina were not only spotted, but recognized by a man who could name you. It’s lucky he couldn’t identify Obito, too,”

Your whole body tensed and you sat stock still, eyes wide as you processed the information. Who? Who recognized you?

“The head of the committee, a General Casus, is demanding Hina’s return. He explains in length that they have a right to finish what they have started, by law, because she is an enemy of the state by association of the Zen’in and avoidance of ‘fair charges’ brought against her. You and Obito have also been charged in aiding her escape. Their terms are that charges will be dropped against the two of you if she is returned,”

Your jaw dropped. “No!”

Kakashi held out his hand. “It’s okay, I’m not turning her over to be executed for false crimes. No one here is facing charges from the Akujian government. I brought you here to explain the situation and to let you pick where you’ll be staying,”

“Where I’ll be staying?”

He nodded. “I can’t let you stay unguarded in your current apartment. I also can’t afford to put you in another safe house and thin out my Anbu ranks. You and Hikaru can either stay with Hina or Obito for the time being. They both already have a barrier and I’ve just assigned an Anbu guard to Obito’s location,”

Hina’s place was cramped from visitors and she didn’t have an extra room. Plus… you wouldn’t say it out loud, but you could only take the newborn stage in doses when it came to other people. Your eyes roved the room as you tried to make a decision. Would it sound weird if you asked to stay with Obito? A part of you was almost anxious that he knew about what had just transpired between the two of you.

He did have the extra room across from his, and it was your job to care for him so it made sense to pick his home. Would you tip Kakashi off about your crush by asking to stay with him?

Very slowly you replied, “Obito. I’ll stay with Obito,”

He nodded, satisfied with your decision. His face didn’t betray any emotions as he called out for an Anbu. A behemoth of a man entered the room and stood in the center. You couldn’t help but think he was definitely someone you wouldn’t want to mess with. 

“Ox, please escort her to her apartment for her things and help her move them to Obito Uchiha’s home,”

He held out two extra large scrolls to the man. “These are sealing scrolls. I don’t know how much time she will have to stay there, so get as much as you can in these,”

That statement surprised you. If he didn’t know how long, you were concerned about what was in the Akujian scroll that he had chosen not to mention to you. What he said was pretty cut and dry, something that shouldn’t take too long to figure out, especially between Kakashi and Shikamaru who was a master strategist. 

Kakashi turned to you and picked up a smaller scroll from his desk. “This is a message to Obito, detailing some of the information I have shared with you,”

You nodded and took it from him, standing from your chair and actively keeping your suspicion from your expression. “And Hikaru? Will I be able to pick him up?”

Kakashi shook his head. “I’m going to personally go get him. A rumor his father has started is spreading like wildfire,” His penetrating gaze made you wish the floor would crumble beneath your feet. “I know that it’s not true, but I can’t have him starting fights with you out in the open after receiving this… request. I need you secure as soon as possible,”

“Of course,” you said quietly, completely mortified. 

“Who will take Hikaru to and from school?” 

“We can discuss the details later,” he dismissed you with a wave of his hand.

You nodded and you left with Ox trailing closely behind you. The walk was silent and rushed. You knew better than to try to start conversations with Anbu while masked, not that you particularly wanted to at that very moment. The first thing you did was change your outfit once inside. Then, you took your own sealing scroll and piled your clothes and shoes on top of it. You told Ox to use one of the scrolls to get Hikaru’s bedroom cleared out, and could hear him moving things around while you worked. 

You felt a little dazed as you went along, pulling blankets and some odds and ends into your pile. You sealed the scroll and pulled out another from your bedside table. You went into the kitchen to grab some things before you forgot. Who knew when you would be going to a store again. Ox followed you in, tucking the used scroll in his uniform. 

“What else, ma’am?” he asked in a deep voice befitting his stature.

“The rest of what’s in my bedroom, if you could, please. I think I have anything else covered,”

He nodded and walked back to where you had been while you emptied the fruits and vegetables you recently bought from the refrigerator. Whatever you thought would fit ended up in the scroll, and you hoped it would be plenty. Obito’s fridge was pretty full as it was, but the man ate, well, like a man, and there would be three of you to feed. 

You also hoped he wouldn’t be upset or overwhelmed by this sudden change. Living with you would be one thing, you were obviously familiar enough with each other. Which might also be an issue, but you digress. Adding Hikaru to the mix was a whole different beast. You loved him very much, but that didn’t change the fact that he was still a two year old. 

You were a little nervous walking through the woods to his house. And by nervous, moreso excited. It had dawned on you that you would be staying with someone that you really liked, if almost kissing him this morning indicated anything. It was hard to accept before, but running to him for safety really opened your eyes to the idea that it might be okay to like him. And what your mom had said to you made you want to be with him more. It had only solidified to you your belief that he was a good person. Obito being a wolf in sheep’s clothing was a ridiculous notion. From what you had seen first hand, he was actually a scared sheep in wolf’s clothing. 

Ox didn’t have access to the barrier, so he handed off the scrolls at the clearing before joining his team in the trees. You walked through normally, feeling a little odd knowing that you now had an audience. You noticed that the snow had almost completely melted, a shame for Hikaru who would now have a yard to play with it in. Konoha was never cold enough to keep snow for very long, it was lucky you had had it the past few weeks. 

You opened the door and the smell of coffee and eggs wafted straight to your nose. Obito had already stood from the couch, his own mug set on the floor next to it. You couldn’t help but grin at him. 

“I have some news,” you related a little more excitedly than appropriate.

His brow raised. “I’m guessing good news by the way you’re smiling at me,”

“Both!” You pulled the scroll Kakashi gave you out of your coat pocket and handed it to Obito. 

While he read it, you went ahead to the spare bedroom down the hall. It had been awhile since you had opened the door, and it was probably in dire need of dusting. Your suspicion was confirmed by your sneezing the moment the door was yanked open. You left it ajar and went to the linen closet for a duster and some rags. 

You had just walked in when Obito appeared in the doorway. “How is any of this good news? And what are you doing in here?”

“Oh,” you said and put the duster down. Of course you had gotten ahead of yourself. “The good news is that I’m moving in with you for the time being. Kakashi wanted me safe inside a barrier. Lucky the place I work already has one, right?”

Obito blinked at you in surprise. “You’re moving… here? With me?”

“That is what I said, yes,”

“And you’re okay with that?” He shifted on his feet.

You had a very strong urge to roll your eyes. You placed a hand on his arm. “I’m okay with it if you are. I mean, who knows how long I’ll be in lockdown. It could be months before we see each other again otherwise,”

“You mean you could be stuck here for months?” Despite his wording, his features became more animated, almost like a child about to receive a birthday present.

“No need to get too upset about it,” you joked. 

He shook his head, but the light shone in his eyes despite his best efforts to look neutral. You imagined yourself kissing him to make him give you his goofy lopsided grin again. You cleared your throat as soon as it passed and tried to think of anything else. “Uh, you made breakfast, right?”

“Oh, yeah.” He remained in the doorway for a moment longer before willing his body to move away from you.

You followed him out. He poured you a cup of coffee and handed it over to you before stepping over to the oven where he had been keeping the food warm. He opened it and pulled out a plate with two egg sandwiches. 

“I don’t really know how to make anything else breakfast-wise, so, ta-da. I hope it tastes okay,”

You reached out and he placed the warm sandwich in your hands. He took his own and you could tell he was waiting for you to take the first bite before digging in to your own. You held yours out towards him. He looked between it and you, quite confused. 

“To our new living situation. I think it’ll be quite the adventure,”

“You want me to like, touch my sandwich to yours?”

“It’s a toast, Obito,”

He blinked slowly at you. You waved the sandwich at him. “A toast, get it?”

“Do I… have to live with you?” There was a slight curve to his lips.

“Hush up and toast with me,” 

He rolled his eyes while his smile grew. After an eternity, he touched the corner of his sandwich to yours. You grinned, satisfied, and he couldn’t help it that he broke out into a crooked grin to match yours. 

He took a slow bite of his dry sandwich. Internally, he repeatedly thanked whatever universal force it was that decided it was finally time to have his back. Maybe he could have a little something good, just this once.

Part XXIV

Taglist: @mostlyunsure, @humongousdreamlandbear, @ichaichahatake, @mandy-yeager, @detectivestucks, @faces-ofvenus

[woodstoneb-b]

Hello and welcome to Woodstone Manor - I have been here since the beginning, this house growing up in my shadow. A majestic mighty tree that has stood the test of

Nah this is weird...I'm Jay Arondekar and this is all just a simulation. Because video games are awesome and so is this ability my wife, Sam has. She can see ghosts!

She inherited this house from her Great Aunt and after falling down the stairs and kind of dying for a bit - she got better! - she can see actually see and hear ghosts.

There's 8 of them haunting here (well...not exactly, but more on that later)

This is them! Well, almost all of them... From left to right - Trevor aka "No Pants" (fortunately this game doesn't let Sims go pantsless, but he absolutely insisted on me putting him in tiny underpants after this...weirdo.) He's a finance bro from 2000 - he worked at Lehman Brothers (yeah those guys), despite this he's not as shitty as you'd think.

Then there's Sasappis, he goes by Sass (a well deserved nickname my wife tells me), he's a Lanape who's tribe used to live on the land here and he died back in the 1500s. Despite that he really loves TV.

Next to him is Flower - and you can totally guess where she's from right? The 1960s. She died on the property after trying to hug a bear, drugs were involved. She's cool though, if a bit spacey.

The guy next to her is an honest to God Viking from like the year 1000. Did you know there were Vikings in New York?! I did not so this was pretty epic to find out. According to my wife the good news about Thorfinn aka Thor - he's learnt to speak English, the bad news - he talks a lot about murdering and pillaging, also cod, salmon...any fish really.

And your eyes do not deceive you, next to Thor is a soldier from the Revolutionary War - Captain Isaac Higgintoot, who you can learn all about by reading my wife's recently released book on him The Forgotten Founding Father: The Isaac Higgintoot Story - available from all good bookstores! He died from dysentery, but we don't talk about that

The guy in front who looks like boy scout, is not a boy scout, he's Pete, Pine Cone Troop Leader and awesome travel agent (kids ask your parents about that), he's from the 80s, loves D&D, basketball.

And in the back wearing the eyecatching red, is Alberta who you may have heard about from the monthly Murder at the Manor?! podcast hosted by my wife and Todd Pearlman complete and a total loon who has one of Alberta's toenails and wants to clone her she was a raising star in the Jazz Age and her loss is utter tragedy for the music world.

And this is Henrietta "Hetty" Woodstone aka the owner of Woodstone Manor - well, that would actually be my wife, since Hetty is a ghost, but yeah. She wanted a screengrab of just her because as the owner of Woodstone she deserves it. She and her asshole (we're not striking that out? No? OK) husband/cousin, Elias - Mill Owners and Robber Barons built Woodstone in the 1850s. Apparently, there was a house on it when they started, but they made it the place it is today.

Here's the ground floor layout, there's a Ballroom, a Library, a Music Room and a Games Room. So yeah, the Woodstone's were rolling in it!

The first floor, where the bedrooms are, there's actually 9 of them - well 8 if you don't include the Owner's Suite, or 6 if you take out the ghosts' bedrooms (why do ghosts need their own bedrooms? Because getting walked through hurts. They bunk up, Thor and Trevor share the Private Living Room so that means only 3 bedrooms are out of commission. Although the one marked "Spruce" isn't actually available yet because of a terrible mould issue so there's actually 5 guest rooms at the B&B in real life. But for the purposes of the game here, each Ghost gets their own room, again! They're pretty jealous of their simselves to be honest.

We have a basement with an actual secret Vault in it! Sadly, the visions I had a piles of gold ala Scrooge McDuck did not come to be. But you can drink wine down there now, it's accessed by a secret room and passageway. Where exactly is the secret door? You'll have to visit us to find out!

There's also a whole group of ghosts in the hot water heater room that died of Cholera, my wife says be glad you can't see them.

And finally the attic, you don't wanna go up there, it's full of old stuff including metal things that are probably a tetanus hazard. Also there's a ghost of a teenage girl up there, she got murdered on her way to prom in the late 80s and she's pretty pissed about it. Which is totally understandable, although she's also a huge mean girl and that sucks.

So now you have a bit of background! Tune in next time to see how the Ghosts settle in and their excitement at actually being able to leave the Manor grounds! (Did you know Ghosts are bound to the places they haunt? Turns out they are...which is why my wife and I have to put up with them)

[scaredandbored]

the one with the sonic showers

for @julie-yard , (sorry it’s so ooc but it’s got DaForge in!)

word count (excluding the compulsory grouching i do in the brackets next because i ran out of space in the tags whoops) : 2233

(also this is my first ever piece of writing using solely other people’s characters so i apologise in advance lol)

(constructive criticism welcome just please be nice i cry really easily)

(hey so data is literally an android and geordie is CHEIF FRICKIN ENGINEER and i am Bad At Physics. so there are large gaps in dialogue which i would LOVE to do some more research on (not sarcasm i really would but i would get sucked into it and never actually write lol) but i’m more of a chemistry/biology Basic Bitch™️ so even though i’m supposed to know enough about sound waves to write that dialogue i don’t trust myself enough to do it)

(also, i’m a First Aid Responder, not a doctor, damnit! so all medical talk in this is me reading three (3) articles on chronic tension headaches and then seeming myself fit to write about it)

(sorry in advance, here you go!)

The alarm he had set for twenty minutes before the beginning of his shift made Geordie feel as though he was being hit repeatedly by a phaser. Wincing, he groped for his VISOR, slamming his other hand on the button that would stop the infernal shrieking. Logically, Geordie knew the noise was just barely above a soft trill, but as he rummaged around his drawer for his acetaminophen hypo, he was considering having a word with the senior medical staff about limiting the volume of the ships alarms in the interest of the crew’s wellbeing.

As usual, the hypo did very little for the inescapable pressure on his skull, and the activation of his visor did nothing but restore him to the state he was before the hypo. Grimacing, he dragged himself over to the replicator in the far corner of his room, toeing off the black regulation bottoms he’d slept in and tossing them into the laundry shoot as he walked by. “Coffee, black, sixty degrees Celsius.��. Hoping against hope the caffeine would keep the dull pain from spiking until he could administer her perscription later in the day. He rolled his head between sips of the slightly too bitter beverage, with the intention of loosening up in order to stave off neck and shoulder tension later in the day. “Computer, set a reminder to schedule a meeting with Dr.Crusher for me, will you?” The computer’s answering trill was, again, much too loud for his liking, so he gave a second order for all automated auditory responses to decrease intensity by 50%.

Sliding off his VISOR, Geordie decided to pick out his uniform and dress using muscle memory, the idea of putting his VISOR back on before absolutely necessary was enough to make his stomach turn, violently. “OK, so don’t put it back on, Geordie, it’s not rocket science.” he sighed to himself as he tugged the zip up, catching his thumb in his collar. Adequately annoyed at himself and already aching to take another shot of his hypo, Geordie lamented the fact he hadn’t decided to shower, the warm water would’ve done some good towards the inevitable spasms his upper back and neck would undoubtedly engage in later that evening. Sitting down, he pressed the heels of his almost-cool hands against his temples, rubbing around the terminals for his VISOR, where the ache was the worst. As he considered requesting sick leave and how to tell Riker he’d be missing poker tonight without raising suspicion, his communicator went off, the obnoxious trill sending a jolt of nausea through him as Barclay’s voice rang around his room.

“Barclay to Commander LaForge.”

Geordie winced and sighed before tapping his badge. “LaForge here.”

While Reg was relaying his message, Geordie reluctantly picked up his VISOR and clicked it into place. “There’s been several complaints shipwide about sonic shower malfunctions, the captain has asked us to assemble a team and look into it as soon as possible, sir.”

“Acknowledged. I’ll be in Engineering as soon as I can. Until then, Reg, you get a few ensigns and run a few tests on the basic functions in the malfunctioning units on the lower half of the affected decks. I want the results updated in real time so I can check them against the ones I’ll run. LaForge out.” Geordie considered popping into Sickbay on his way to see if he could get a muscle relaxer to avoid any serious cramping of his neck muscles, but the acetaminophen seemed to be kicking in, and he’d hoped this meant the worst was over.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

After numerous hours of running several different sonic showers at increasingly higher frequencies, Geordie felt as though his head was going to burst. He’d missed the hour he was supposed to re-administer his painkiller by a good thirty minutes, and the ensign he had taken with him to the upper decks had noticed his smile was less a smile and more a pained grimace. When she’d suggested he let her run a few tests while he updated the logs, Geordie had politely declined with a small laugh and an even smaller smile. When she repeated the question ten minutes later, he complied without a word.

Lunchtime arrived what felt like years later, when Geordie finally caved and turned himself into sickbay.

“Hey, Alyssa, can I talk to you for a second?” Geordie held out his hand in a sort of rushed, half-thought out greeting that immediately told Alyssa what it was Geordie wanted to talk to her about.

“Geordie, maybe you should sit the rest of your shift out.” Was all she said in the way of sympathy as she administered several of his usual hypos. This was why Geordie came to her before any other nurse on the Enterprise. Her sympathy was just enough to get her job done and she kept her pity to herself for the most part.

“Well, you know what they say!” Geordie jumped to his feet, rubbing his hands together briefly before giving one sharp clap to test the rapidly receding pressure in his head. “No peace for the wicked. I’ll see you around, Alyssa, thanks for the help.”

As Geordie moved out from behind the thin curtain Alyssa had pulled for privacy, he found himself looking straight up at his best friend, and his heart skipped a beat. “Data!” He grinned.

“Geordie.” Data’s head nodded in acknowledgement. Geordie admired the halo his VISOR caused around Data’s head. “I fail to see the relevance between your chosen turn of phrase and Nurse Ogawa’s reccomendation. I also object to the comparison you have drawn between yourself and the afformentioned ‘wicked’.”

“Data, it was a joke.” Geordie smiled again, the combination of the slightly stronger meds and his closest friend reducing the pain to a tolerable level. The fact his crush on Data was all-consuming only meant he had something to distract himself from what pain remained. “And Alyssa was just being nice, you know how I’d love to take an evening off to fool around on the holodeck.” Geordie immediately regretted his choice of words, but Data remained oblivious, his concerned head tilt still in place.

“Nurse Ogawa is not known for the benevolent prescription of unnecessary sick leave, Geordie.” He opened his mouth as if to suggest something, before closing it again and taking a step forward, placing his hand on Geordie’s shoulder. Now, it was Geordie’s chest that was under considerable pressure. “Do not hesitate to contact me if necessary. I must return to duty.”

Geordie chuckled in order to hide his disappointment at the loss of Data’s hand on his shoulder, shaking his head fondly. “No problem, Data. I’ll do that.”

Geordie was nearly out the door of Sickbay when Data called after him. “I shall see you at poker tonight, Geordie.”

It didn’t sound like a question, but Geordie knew Data well enough to know he was hoping to prompt a response. “I dunno, buddy. I’m kinda tired, if I’m being honest. I’ll let you know later, ok?”

Data blinked once, then twice, then nodded, his head adjusting itself into a neuteral position. “That is satisfactory.”

This time, Geordie laughed, the pain in his shoulders creeping up on him slowly once again, despite Data’s adorable half-attempt at a wave as the doors slid shut behind him. “Computer, what time is it?”

The shrill chime that preceded the response didn’t particularly hurt his head, but Geordie could feel his shoulders tensing even further, and he knew beyond doubt there was no way he would make it to cards that evening.

That evening found Geordie still in one of those awful, shrieking showers. He’d been technically off-duty for an hour now, and desperately needed to take off his VISOR for ten minutes, but Barclay had taken one look at Gerodie’s drawn face and refused to leave him alone in the bathroom they were checking out. “Hey Reg, do me a favour?” Geordie needed to get him out of the room so he could slip off his VISOR and massage his temples. That, or he needed to stop working with the shower on; the high frequencies were really not helping his situation.

“Sir?” Barclay’s hands had stuttered to a sudden stop the minute his commanding officer had spoken.

“Could you run and grab a coffee? The Gamma Shift doesn’t start for another five minutes, we can take a break from this instantaneous reporting.” Geordie didn’t take his head out from the panelling they had removed half an hour ago, afraid Reg would see the pained twist he could feel in his lips and call Dr.Crusher. He knew he could handle it, it wasn’t the worst pain he’d ever had from his VISOR, and he’d managed to subtly administer another hypo when he’d gone to grab them both a water around twenty minutes ago.

“Yessir.” Was Barclay’s anxious reply, and there was a prolonged silence between his response and the sound of the doors opening and shutting. They’d had to shut down all replicator and environmental control activity while they worked, which meant Geordie had five minutes to give his head a well-deserved break. Clicking the VISOR out of its terminals and heaving a sigh of relief, Geordie felt his head swim. Taking a few steadying breaths, he fumbled blindly at the sonic shower’s controls, silently cursing himself for not having shut it off before removing the VISOR. Only succeeding in shifting the tuning to an impossibly more painful frequency, Geordie sat down on the floor of the shower, back pressed against the back wall, head falling back against the cool slate. He rubbed at his eyes. “Goddamn.” His sigh made his head swim once more, and his subsequent calming breaths only served to worsen the sensation. The constant drone pressed down on his head so much the pain from that morning seemed as intimidating as... Geordie couldnt think properly; he could only conjure up an image of Data as he worked at his desk in his quarters, resolutely ignoring Spot on his stack of PADDs, aside from his gentle, regular strokes. The image made him smile, which caused his tensed muscles in his neck and shoulders to spasm, violently. Again, the deep breathing Deanna had helped him with when he’d first arrived on the ship did nothing but worsen the sensation.

Geordie dragged his shaking hand down his face, which came away damp with what Geordie briefly considered to be sweat, before everything went black.

There was a hand on either side of his face, a comforting pressure being applied by what felt like a pair of thumbs around the terminals on his temples. “Do not be alarmed, Geordie.”

Data was whispering, Geordie noted, and his tender head thanked the android for it. “Data? What happened?”

The thumbs stopped rubbing briefly, but resumed without hesitation when Geordie accidentally, slightly whimpered at the loss. “You passed out while completing your tests on the malfunctioning sonic showers. Dr.Crusher administered a variety of medications which she noted in your medical log, if you would like for me to read them to you?”

Despite his hushed tones, Geordie’s head really wasn’t going to put up with any noise for very much longer. “No, no talking, please, Data.” he managed to get out, curling up a little, before starting, which caused his shoulders to spasm lightly. “Wait, my VISOR-” Data’s hands shifted to the problematic muscles immediately, massaging firmly.

“I have your VISOR on the arm of your couch to my left. However, given the negative effect it has had on your condition throughout the day, Dr.Crusher has requested you refrain from replacing it this evening.” There was a pause as a mildly confused but very tired and complacent Geordie allowed himself to be gently manoeuvred into a reclined position, his head in Data’s lap while the second officer returned his hands to Geordie’s head. “I am here to assist you in every way possible, and I have downloaded various massage techniques frequently used on those who suffer from long-term, extreme tension headaches.”

“Why?” Geordie mumbled, slowly drifting off despite the pressure slowly returning with a vengeance behind his eyes.

Another pause, the hands stilled. Geordie frowned and they started to move again, but the silence continued. Just as Geordie was about to fall asleep, Data spoke. “You are my friend.”

“Huh?”

“I am helping you because you are my friend, Geordie.”

Geordie smiled softly, shaking his head. “I know that Data.”

Another pause, much more brief, and the hands did not stop their gentle rubbing on his delicate head. “What was the purpose of your inquiry, Geordie?”

And Geordie, as much as he wanted Data to know, he couldn’t tell him. Couldn’t say he wanted Data to be there because he liked the domesticity of this situation, to be there not only to massage his knotted muscles and play nurse, but to hold his hand, to kiss his forehead, to... “No purpose, Data.” He sighed softly, settling further into his best friend. “None at all.”

His breathing had lengthened, he was almost fully asleep but not quite there yet, when he felt cool lips press against one of the terminals, then the skin right beside it.

“Hmmm, Data?”

A pause. “Yes, Geordie?”

A mumble, the beginnings of a snore.

Slightly more urgently, “Geordie?”

“Said, I l’ve ya,,,”

Several minutes of soft snores and gentle massages later, an almost unintelligible: “I believe... I am in love with you also.”

fin

i was going to put in a bit about Data finding Geordie because he hadn’t gotten back to him about the poker but then i felt like it took from the kind of,,, geordie pov vibe i had going idk

hope you enjoyed!

sorry for all the inevitable typos i did this on my ipad and i didnt proof read because i’m kinda using this one shot prompt thing as a warm up to writing as opposed to actually writing fic? idk if that makes sense but i enjoyed writing it and i hope you enjoy reading it!

[tonesplash]

edward x reader

a/n: this is my first time writing anything ever i just wanted to write about edward joking around, long the way i learned unmoving isnt a word, apparently.

warnings: smoochin, reader character is vaguely brown and a gamer ig, uuuh gta mention?? thats it 

(p/n) = parents name

"I could almost hear your hair breaking off from the driveway." You barely flinch when he suddenly appears behind you in the mirror, evidently back from his hunt.

"Is this you saying me being bald is going to be a problem? Or are you gonna let me do what I need to do?" you snark, leaned over a bowl of ammonia with tired arms and a tingly scalp.

Edward raises his hands and brows in mock surrender, lovingly watching you ruin your hair from the bathroom door.

"I'm just asking you to be a little more careful, chemical burns do bleed after all." the mental image that flashes is enough to make the both of you grimace.

"Thank you, for that visual." he frowns.

"Oh but I love to think about you going buck wild on my bleeding skull." you bite your lip in a show of faux arousal.

"Not funny." Edward huffs but smiles anyways as he takes a step and in a flash lifts the sloppily folded instructions off the counter, no doubt reading it all in less than a second.

"What would we tell my parents when I'm pasty as hell all of a sudden?" you finish applying the bleach paste to the piece you were on and move to give him space.

"Venom doesn't burn off melanin (y/n)" he laughs as he grabs the application brush from your extended hand, parting your curls to get at the back of your head.

"How would you know? There any brown girls running at the speed of sound across the united states to beat my ass that I should know about?"

He drops his head to your shoulder to laugh and his shoulders shake with the effort to hold it in.

"Have you picked a color yet?" Edward lifts his head, still smiling as he ignores your foolishness.

"Perhaps I have, but no peeking! It's a surprise!" you sing as you shimmy your shoulders and vogue at yourself in the mirror. His free hand comes down on your shoulder to steady you.

"Stay still, I'm trying to concentrate." The little crease between his perfect brows is enough evidence to prove so.

"Oooooh" you draw out the sound. "so like when you were trying to put the bag on my head inside out and I was a walking dollar store advert for three weeks?" you purse your lips and meet his golden pout in the mirror.

"As I recall, I had profusely apologized" he continues to evenly part and coats your hair, "and I bought you that hat you wanted to help cover it." You close your eyes in exaggerated exasperation, crossing your arms, ready to admonish this immortal man like the boy he acts like.

"Edward, wearing that beret to school every day, for that long, made (P/N) think I was manic." he dips the brush into the bowl one final time and begins gathering your hair to wrap for processing.

      "I thought it was very sweet how nice they were to me until you took it off." you finish tying the bag off as he wraps his arms around your waist to hook his chin over your shoulder.

    You twist to lean against the counter and throw your arms over his shoulders. You really did miss him this past week. He watches your expression carefully.

"Can I kiss you?"

    "I don’t see any issue, seeing as I can hardly smell you over the ammonia." You both share a smile at his dumb little joke.

But they fade as you both lean in, and he's lucky you're a big fan of slow burns because when your lips meet and his hands slowly slide up your back as he gently presses you into the counter, you're in heaven.

***

After an already irresponsibly long processing time and the urging of your justifiably concerned boyfriend, you close him out of your cluttered bathroom for rinsing and subsequent coloring.

You can hear him puttering about upstairs in your bedroom as you give yourself a cramp in the neck rinsing your head in the tub.

Once the tub is thoroughly stained and the water runs clear, you towel dry your hair, ready to show off the final results.

You make your way upstairs to find your door cracked open and your tv playing some classical music? Alright. You open the door and find Edward giving his damndest to parallel park a car in (insert video game).

You lean against the doorframe, watching for a moment before you identify what his problem is.

"That's not gonna end well man, you got the MadCatz."

"The what?" He says, looking away from the screen to watch you in the doorway. Your eyes stay fixed on the screen.

"MadCatz is the shitty controller brand I give to my little cousins when they come over so they think that they are playing the game. It hardly worked straight out of the box--- you're about to hit that lady."

In the two seconds he spent admiring your new hair, the virtual car had idled far enough to be dangerously close to a pedestrian who was cursing and gesturing wildly at the now unmoving car.

"How do I get her to move?"

"Don't worry about it, just go." You shrug, trying not to laugh. His choice of radio station is really not helping.

"But then the mirror would hit her!"

"Hit her then! She should've moved already!"

"(Y/N) I'm the one on the sidewalk!" he counters, almost genuinely frustrated.

"Just hand it to me." He relents and places the cheap hunk of plastic in your hand as you lay next to him on the bed, facing the tv. He begins to play with your damp hair, admiring the new color in the light from your window.

     But Edwards hands freeze in place when he idly tunes into your thoughts and faster than you have done anything in your entire life, you yank the controller under your chest and awkwardly crush your arms as the player character exits the car and pulls out a baseball bat.

"(Y/n), give me the controller." he's awkwardly hovering his hands around your body, considering the best plan of attack that doesn't involve intimate contact.

The angry woman stumbles back when she meets the player character's crazed glare, but continues yelling obscenities. And with one mighty swing, she is forcibly moved away from the car and collapses onto the curb.

You begin to cackle as you get back into the car and speed off down the road. Over the soaring orchestra on the radio and your own evil laughter, you fail to notice Edward has gone quiet beside you.

You park the car under a bridge as the cops begin their search and turn to hand back the now sweaty controller.

Only to be immediately tackled to your sheets.

His hands pin your wrists to the mattress as he hovers over you and your laughter dies down.

"You are ridiculous," he pauses to kiss the tip of your nose "but this color suits you. "

"Did you manage to set this up with Alice? This song is  pretty romantic."

And then he's kissing you with an almost reckless abandon, taking your already limited breath away almost instantly as you both get caught up in the motions of close contact.

Until a sharp pang and a flash from the television breaks your concentration and your lips with a sharp as you strain your neck to see what the issue is.

When your vision adjusts, Edward is already pressing his face into the mattress beside you in muffled laughter, and you can't help but join in along with him, even as the now dead man onscreen falls to the ground in slow motion gray-scale.

[liddolwhynot2000]

For You

____________________________________

Summary: Humanity's Strongest Soldier had quit the military. For you.

Pairing: Levi/Reader

Genre: Levi in looooveee, liddol angsty, happy ending, drama, dad!Levi

Words: 3.3K

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[Note: This isn't a direct sequel to 'Falling'. But it falls in the same universe. If you want to read about how Levi met and fell for reader in this universe, check out my story Falling.]

____________________________________

'Levi what are you doing here-'

'I'm about to hold our daughter.'

'I can see that darling, but you're supposed to be at work. '

The short man didn't bother answering you, instead opting to pick up your two year old daughter. Little Kutchel squealed in delight, happily chanting 'papa'.

'Mamaaa.'

You felt a tug at your skirt, your one year old son was clinging to you. Farlan whimpered, his hands raised high, clearly wanting you to pick him up. With a sigh, you did so and realized he needed a diaper change.

'I'll be back in a few, and then we'll talk.'

Your only response was Levi complaining about how 'brat-the-first needed to stop drooling so much' as he raised a giggling Kutchel high in the air.

....................

Usually, once you managed to put your beloved children to sleep with a lullaby, you gazed at them in awe, affectionaly tucking them in. Both of them took after their father completely, his black hair and steel eyes. Farlan's hair was almost the same as Levi's, much to your amusement. Kutchel was a rather active and loud baby while Farlan was a little on the quiet side. You usually missed Levi on nights like these, wishing he could visit more. Tonight, however, you felt more uneasy rather then happy at his sudden presence.

'I quit.'

'You what?'

You couldn't believe your ears, surely you had heard him wrong.

'You heard me. I. Quit.'

'But why?'

No matter how hard you tried, he wouldn't give you a straight answer. No amount of questioning or pouting would work on him. In the end, he strolled up to you, rough hands gently holding your upper arms.

'Look, I had my reasons. Things got unbearable for me and-'

'But don't they need you-'

'They should have thought of that before. Now listen, I've already got another job lined up, so we don't need to worry about moneu-'

'But Levi, I still don't understand why you-'

'Just trust me. It's messed up shit.'

Looking into his eyes, the same eyes you had hopelessley fallen for all those years ago, you gave in. Of course you trusted him, how could you not? You wouldn't have married the man otherwise. ____________________________________

Things began to change as you got used to seeing Levi everyday. When the two of you had met, you had worked as a cook for the garrison engineers living near the Survey Corps Headquarters. Back then, seeing each other daily hadn't been an issue. But after getting married and having kids, you had moved into his house in the nearby village. It meant less time together as a family, but you had wanted your children to have stability.

You sat on the couch, well more or less laid on the couch, watching Levi entertain your children. All three of them of them sat on the floor, with toys scattered everywhere on the carpet.

Farlan played with some blocks, happily gurgling as he tried to figure them out. Kutchel, on the other hand, busied herself with Levi.

You could only laugh at the sight of Levi's deadpan expression as Kutchel climbed all over him. Neither of had seen it coming, but your babies had inherited the Ackerman strength ten fold. Holding up their necks extremely early, climbing out of their cribs, easily lifting things that were too heavy for normal babies.

When Kutchel had been seven months old, the two of you had woken up to find that not only had she escaped her crib, she had managed to climb into your bed and cuddle with Levi. Although befuddled, the sight of the two of them had been heartwarming beyond words, and you hadn't been overly cocnerned.

Her displays of unnatural strength had been, well, less then pleasant for the two of you. It had put you on guard. The near heart attack you had suffered through, when your one year old baby girl had hauled up one end of the sofa with her teeny tiny hand, while trying to get a toy that had gotten stuck there, had almost been too much. Levi had been torn between horror and amusement at the time, before intervening. And well, both of you preferred not remember how Farlan had smacked his tiny fist against the brand new wooden table during a tantrum and caused it to collapse.

'You brats will eat sitting on the goddamn floor for the rest of your lives now. I don't have the money to buy a table if your just going to-'

'Levi, they're just babies, let them be-'

'Oh I see, so we're selling your kidney to buy a new table-'

'Darling don't be so dramatic-'

Kutchel and Farlan merely ignored their irate father, babbling as they played with their toys.

The Ackerman strength was hereditary, the two of you had concluded. Hange had theorised that with every new generation, that unbelievable strength only grew, to the point that they could access it at an extremely young age. It was manageable for now, you mused to yourself, but it wouldn't be long till Levi would have to train them lest they hurt someone by accident. You got off the couch and slid to the floor, cooing to your son. Levi was scowling as he held Kutchel at arms length.

'Stop trying to rip my hair out, you brat.'

Kutchel leaned towards him while babbling. Levi allowed her little hands to rest on his cheeks, his expression softening at her grin.

'Wuv Papaa.'

You beamed at the sight, before turning your attention back to Farlan. He had been avidly bashing two blocks together and would burst out laughing at the sound. You gently caught him before he fell from the force of his laughter.

It had been a while since the two of you had been this peaceful.

...........

When the two of you had managed to put your babies down for a nap, you remembered some things that you needed to buy. Rushing out, you went to the market, hoping the shops you needed to go to weren't too packed today. Much to your suprise, during your excursion, you saw some of the Survey Corps members. You recognised them as the Special operations Squad. While you weren't necessarily friends with them, you did know their names.

As if reading your mind, one by one, they all caught sight of you. Another day, they would waved at you and maybe approached to help woth the bags. However, there were no signs of those friendly expressions today. In fact, you couldn't help but notice how they were looking at you. It made you feel as as if you had been the Colossal Titan that knocked down Wall Maria and ruined their lives. The ginger haired girl, Petra, was the one who really caught your attention. She had looked oddly guilty, and as though she was apologising with her eyes for a moment, before copying her comrades sullen expressions.

Startled and beyond confused, you opted to walk away from their line of vision. Your fears, that you had hoped were baseless, were slowly being confirmed. Levi quitting the military hadn't been well recieved. And if the way his former squad had looked at you had been any indication, they thought you had something to do with his decision.

____________________________________

Kutchel had been particularly fussy that night, unwilling to go sleep.

'Pway!' she had cried out, struggling in Levi's arms. It had taken a while but soon enough you were lying in bed, both your children deep asleep as you tucked them in blankets. The two of you had been exhausted, so when you heard the knock on the door, a very irritated Levi had quietly gone to check it out.

When he didn't return for a while and you heard muffled noises, you silently went to check on him, stopping short at the door at the sound of Petra's voice.

'-captain please reconsider-'

'Petra's right captain, we need you-'

'That's enough.'

They all straightened up.

'I'm no longer your captain-'

They all deflated, looking ready to argue. Levi held a hand up to silence them.

'I wish you all well in life. Don't involve yourself in this. This is between the higher ups and I.'

'Captain, we know this is because of your-'

'None of you know shit. Focus on going your damn jobs and minding your own business. Now leave.'

Olou, Petra, Gunther and Eld looked despondent as they made to leave.

'Petra-stay back for a minute'

All of them look surprised and curious, but didn't bother asking questions and left. They figured Petra would tell them what had happened later. The conversation took a weird turn you hadn't quite expected.

'You have some nerve coming all the way to my house after all the bullshit you pulled.'

'Captain- I didn't mean to, you know that. I was only following orders-'

'So your orders mentioned you bullshitting to everyone that I left the military because my wife asked me to?'

'...Captain I didn't say that. Everyone assumed-'

'And you allowed it. Don't fucking lie, you just didn't want any heat to fall on you. Stay away from her. Or else. I don't care what you're ordered to do. You've already made the situation worse then it should be.'

'Captain please-'

'Out. Now. Nothing you say can excuse the shit you pulled.'

As you heard Petra leave, you felt that sinking feeling in your stomach grow. So Levi had left the military for you. And the military hated you for it. The real questions was, why? ____________________________________

You watched your husband as he spoon fed mashed potatoes to Kutchel. His face was scrunched up in disgust, as Kutchel made sure that at least half the food ended up on her face and clothes. Farlan was taking a nap, happily tucked away in your arms.

'Kutchel--for the love of- eat your shitty food!'

'Darling, language-'

'I'm trying, just look at the shitty mess she's making, I might have a heart attack-'

'Shit!'

The two of you paused, staring in stunned silence as your two year old began chanting the one word you had hoped she wouldn't pick up from your husband. Levi avoided your gaze, no doubt knowing it was his fault, and instead started making feeble attempts at stopping Kutchel.

'Oi don't say that-'

'Shit papwaa!'

'What? No. Brat-the-first, you better forget you ever heard that-'

You chuckled a little, the sight of your usually calm and composed husband panicking was too funny. You struggled to maintain your smile, however, as last night flashed in your mind again.

Everything seemed fine. Levi was content. Your children were happy. His new job was paying well. He was home more then ever. Even if he had quit the military for you, the two of you were living your life even better then before. There hadn't been any changes in your loving relationship.

But, as you watched Levi scowl and carry a displeased Kutchel off for a bath she very much didn't want, you knew you wouldn't be able to continue on without any doubts. Not until you and Levi properly talked about this.

You didn't care if the military blamed you for Levi leaving and hated your guts. You only cared if the man himself was actually okay with his decision.

You don't want to be the reason for him to break his tradition of living no regrets.

____________________________________

You ended up putting off talking to him. At first by a few hours, then by a few days. Eventually days turned to weeks and somehow, it had been four months since he had quit the military.

While this could be largely attributed to you being a coward, it was also how busy the two of you had gotten. Farlan had a rough teething phase, Kutchel had decided to make a sport out of kicking the fridge and trying to climb out the window, and Levi's job had a new project he had gotten busy in.

On a sunny afternoon, you held your daughters hand, and kept your son hiked on your hip as you walked out of the market. What you didn't know was that, as you struggled to carry your shopping bags and manage your mischievous children, someone would help you. And, after walking you home, that someone would give you the answers to all the questions you had wanted to ask Levi.

Years later, you would silently wonder if Erwin Smith had come there that day on purpose. It was likely, after too many years of working with Levi, he had known Levi would rather die before telling you something like this.

____________________________________

In all the time you had known Levi Ackerman, which amounted to a good five years now, you had learned a great deal about him. His strength, strong will, desire to protect, his devotion to being a soldier, his dreams for the future. All his highs and lows, ones that no one else had ever been pivy to, you knew them by heart.

You knew the most regret he had ever felt in his life was when Isabel and Farlan died. You knew his heart ached when even one soldier lost their life in battle. You knew the most flustered he had ever been in his life was when he had wanted to confess to wanting to be in a relationship with you, only for Hange to scream declare his feelings to you instead.

Thankfully, no one else had been there, or else Hange wouldn't be alive right now. And he had made sure to ask you out in his own sweet and romantic way later.

You had seen him get emotional more times then anyone else. At the birth of your children. Their first words. Kutchel learning how to crawl and following him around everywhere, her first decleration of love for her 'pwapa'. Farlan crying everytime he left for work, clinging to his leg as he whined. The two of you had built a family together, leading a largely satisfying life together. However, the danger and importance of his job had never escaped you.

You had always known you were second to his duty as a soldier. He would have to go on long missions, ditch dates, miss birthdays and not be able to tell you anything about his work, but you accepted it.

You never expected more then he could offer, preferring to enjoy whatever time you could have with him. You were fully okay with being the second choice, and so, you certainly hadn't expected him to take such a big decision.

To pick you over duty.

'Zackley.....ordered you to take a second wife?'

Levi winced, his eyes determinedly staring at the floor. There was some shame in his eyes, as though he had committed some crime. With a deep sigh, he sat next to you on the couch and braced himself to give you answers. Your children were sound asleep in your bed, while the two of you sat in the living room.

'Word got around about Kutchel and Farlan having abnormal strength. Zackley initially wanted me to sign a shitty contract and agree to both of them joining the military. I told him to fuck off.'

'The military wanted to use our children as soldiers? Levi you should have told me-'

'I didn't want to worry you. Frankly, I was half scared Zackley would approach you and try to bullshit you into agreeing with him.'

'... What happened after you refused?'

'He started pushing for me to have more kids. One's I wouldn't be..attached to-'

'--with another woman.'

The severe expression on Levi's face gave away exactly how much he hadn't appreciated that particular line of thought.

'I turned him down. But Zackley started placing pressure. The shitty old man just got greedy because he wanted more super soldiers. Kept pushing random women on me, and then someone theorized that if my children with you, a civillian, were that strong, then with another soldier they would be even stronger....'

You frowned, you hadn't wanted to believe Erwin but..

'.. He picked Petra. That idiot didn't turn him down. Mostly because of orders and partially because of that stupid, childish crush she has on me.'

You were at loss of how to respond, feeling too much for you to even think about putting into words. So that's why why Petra had let everyone think it had been your fault Levi had quit the military.

If she had told the truth, she would have to admit that she had agreed to marry and bear the children of an already married man. And while it would have been under orders, it would have ruined her reputation.

Levi mistook your sudden silence as something else, genuine panic flashing in his eyes. He kneeled down in front of you, hands immediately grabbing yours. His voice was shook a little as he hurried to reassure you.

'I swear, nothing fucking happened. I ignored it all as long as I could. Then Zackley had the nerve to give an official written order and threatened to court martial me. I broke the goddamn table and walked away from the military that day and--hey, look at me'

His hand gently nudged your chin up, steel eyes looked sorrowful at the sight of your watery ones.

'.. W-what if you regret it?'

Levi shook his head a little, opening his mouth to argue. You didn't let him.

'The military has been with you for so long. How do I know you won't regret this five years from now? I know you loved that job Levi, I don't want you to give up-'

'I'm not giving up shit. I loved that job because I agreed with where they were heading. Their goals. The moment they started pulling dumb crap like this, I m wasn't going to stick around.'

He sat next to you again, right arm wrapping around your shoulders, his left hand hand tucked between your hands.

'Erwin said it would be better if I just left for a while. Zackley is senile and he's in a stubborn mood. Once the Queen gives birth to her child, which is any day now, she'll end this nonsense.'

'Are you sure?'

'Definitely. That brat hasn't been well, so Zackley has been in complete control this entire time. Its why he got so ballsy, the queen wouldn't approve of this shit. We wanted to avoid risking more friction in the military, and me quitting was the answer. Erwin figured it would be a lesson for them to see how much they needed me or some shit. '

You leaned into his chest, feeling much more calm now. So everything would end up okay, he wouldn't have to leave behind the job he had poured his blood, sweat and tears into.

'This is why I didn't tell you this shit. Fucking politics and crappy old men.'

'No, I needed to know....'

You pulled away from him, only to settle yourself in his lap. Your lips brushed against his gently.

'.. You really do love us, don't you?'

'Tch whatever.'

The slight redness visible on his cheeks gave away how he truly felt.

____________________________________

A/N: I know, I said I'd consider making a confession chapter. But I got this idea stuck my head and I figured, hey why not just set it in the same universe. Now that this idea is out of my system, I'll get started on it. I hope y'all enjoyed this! My asks are open, so you can make requests or ask whatever you want really. Till next time ⭐⭐

[jimlingss]

Sugar and Coffee [4]

Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 4.5 OR Chapter 5

➜ Words: 4k

➜ Genres: 99.5% Fluff, 0.5% Angst, Pâtisserie school!AU

➜ Summary: It isn't hard to be a pâtisserie chef, but it's not a piece of cake either. It seems like for you in particular, life keeps throwing in one wrench after another. It always finds ways to make your sweets bitter. The cherry on top is Jeon Jungkook — a rival with a sensitive sweet tooth who always finds ways to complain about you.

cr.

You miss Seokjin.   You know that you shouldn’t, but in the middle of the night while you’re unable to sleep, you pick up your phone again. And you send him a text.   2:03 am. Y/N: hey   The bright screen stares back at you, illuminating your face and blinding your vision in the darkness of your quiet dorm room. Your messages are lined up in a row, the same exact text left unanswered. Ones you sent from a week ago to two days ago.   The radio silence makes the realization sink in — he broke it off. Jin really has no plans of communicating with you again, of giving you an explanation other than telling you that it’s run its course and that you’re not the one at fault.   It doesn’t sit well with you, so your thumb moves, quicker than you can list the consequences for. You call his number. It dials. But instead of hearing the tone ring, you hear an automated message.   Seokjin changed his number.   //   It’s morning while on the way to class with you hiding beneath the hood of Jin’s sweater that you end up catching sight of someone familiar walking towards your direction. It’s your only strand of hope, but you step forward before the opportunity is lost. “Hani?”   “Y/N?” Hani stops and greets you with a smile. She’s a friend — well, Seokjin’s friend. But she still regards you with the same warmth as she gave to you for the past two years, albeit the atmosphere is awkward.    The both of you know what happened, know it’s looming over your heads. But no one speaks about it, no one dares to broach the subject. “Hey, how are you?” And her question is asked at a higher pitch, cautious as if you were a wounded animal that she was afraid of scaring.   “I’m...fine, how are you?”   “I’m okay.” Hani nods and gathers the courage to approach the issue that you’re skirting around. “I...heard about what happened. It’s a real shame. I hope you’re holding up well.”   “Trying.” You muster a smile, shrugging your shoulders.   Yet in spite of her friendliness, you can still feel it — the distance.    Like you thought, they sided with him. They’ve chosen him with no plans of getting between you two and involving themselves in the conflict. “Well, I should go. I might be late. I’ll see you around, Y/N.”   You nod and she brushes past you. But then you twist on your heel. “Hani?”   “Yeah?” She spins around.   “Did,” you hesitate, “Jin say anything about me?”   “No, he didn’t,” she says, quietly and sadly.   You bob your head again, meeting her eye. “How is he?”   “He’s okay.”   You wonder what that means — if he never really cared, if he’s already over this. But you’re also glad that he’s okay. You’ll never have any ill wishes against Jin. You still love him.

Jungkook and his friends have a system, if one could call it that — a shitty system of crashing each other’s dorms. Sometimes they’re crowding around Taehyung’s gaming consoles, other times it’s Jimin’s computer. Or Jungkook’s flat screen that he spent his entire summer job’s savings for. Or even going to Hoseok and Yoongi’s apartment to raid the fridge and be as loud as they want without getting noise complaints.   Hoseok and Yoongi didn’t like the dorm life, so they were willing to raise their living expenses and pool their money together for an apartment off campus. And that’s where Jungkook finds himself this evening.   They’re watching a soccer game, but the only person invested is Taehyung who actually knows the teams and who is who. Hoseok is preoccupied pigging out on the snacks, Yoongi sipping his drink, and Jimin is playing a game on his phone.   “Can I ask you something?” Jungkook asks out of the blue, smacking his lips after taking a swig of the beer. He can’t wait till Taehyung gets curious and drinks some — he’d probably gag from the taste.   Yoongi looks up. “What?”   “It’s not about me, but I have a friend of a friend and this friend of theirs was...dumped pretty badly and now they’re depressed and not talking...at all….and they don’t really have friends anymore because all their friends were my friend’s friends, so it really sucks for them.”   “Uh-huh.”   “So what would you hypothetically say to my friend’s friend to make them feel better or like what would you do?”   “Well, for one, I’d take Y/N out,” Hoseok pipes up while chuckling.   Jimin lifts his head and Taehyung looks over. The two of them exchange expressions and burst out laughing. Jungkook sighs in irritation. “Who said this was about Y/N?!”   “We’re not total idiots, dude.” Jimin grins. “Sometimes.”   In the meanwhile, Taehyung leans down to give a punch to Jungkook’s arm and winks. “Trying to slide into her DMs now that she’s single, huh? I see you, Kook. Still got game. Can’t say I’m not impressed. Go get that puss—”   “As if.” Jungkook scoffs. “I just feel bad, alright? Forget I asked. Whatever.”   But Yoongi isn’t ready to drop the subject quite yet. His cat-like eyes narrow in on him as he sips on his drink. He puts the bottle down on the coffee table with a clank. “Since when did you start caring about her?”   “I don’t—”   “You don’t have to get defensive,” Yoongi deadpans boredly. He isn’t that interested, merely stating a fact. “I’m just surprised.”   “She’s going to be my internship partner whether I like it or not in a few months.” The youngest sighs. “I don’t want to make it awkward. And I thought it would be better in the long run if we become friends now. It would be nice to have each other’s backs. Or at least be civil enough where she’s not trying to rip my head off every other second.”   Yoongi appears mildly understanding and nods. “So it’s a diplomatic thing.”   “Yeah.”   “Invite her to our game night,” Hoseok says from the kitchen.   “Don’t do that.” Yoongi scoffs, expression wrinkled like he bit into a lemon. “It’s our thing.”   “Are we ten? Boys only?” Hoseok argues, “We already have our thing every single night anyway. Plus, it might be a nice change since Jungkook always wins.”   “Fine.” He rolls his eyes. “Do whatever you want.”   “That actually sounds kind of fun!” Taehyung grins, tearing his eyes away from the soccer game. Jungkook’s amazed that he had half a mind to pay attention to the conversation. “But I wonder if Y/N is any good at board games or if she even plays.”   “Is everyone cool with me asking?” Jungkook looks around — Hoseok and Taehyung are enthusiastic about the prospect while Yoongi is passive aggressive at worst and apathetic at best.   It’s Jimin who looks uncertain.   “She’s….intimidating,” he mutters. “But….I think you’re right. Y/N looks like she’s having a tough time and if we can help, then we should. At least then we know we tried.”   He nods. There’s only one issue left. “I don’t even know if she’ll even accept…”   Knowing you, you might just laugh in his face and then spit at him for even making such a suggestion. Then again, with how you’ve been acting lately, you might just start crying from gratefulness and freak him out. Both scenarios are equally horrible.

The pair of you bake alongside each other as the teacher watches for technique and the order of the procedures done. Jungkook works on the dough while you focus on the custard filling. It’s surprisingly perfect teamwork — you’re in sync with one another and assemble the final cake together.   And when the teacher returns to eat it, he’s astounded that it’s been exactly replicated. From the taste to the presentation.   You leave the room with a ninety percent grade, having absolutely aced the midterm.   “That was pretty good, huh?!” Jungkook grins, putting his hand out. You muster a small smile, and high-five him back.   “Yeah.”   “Man, all our hard work paid off! Did you see the look on Mr. Chu’s face?”   He was over the moon, especially considering that napoleon cake isn’t all that easy to make under strict time constraints. But when Jungkook glances at you, you don’t seem very happy over it. Your eyes are on the floor with your downcast head.   “Hey.” The doe-eyed boy pokes your shoulder until you look up at him. “Do you wanna…”   “Pardon?” Your brows furrow. His voice became so quiet, you couldn’t hear him.   Jungkook clears his throat noisily. “I asked how you were holding up?”   You shrug. “Fine. I don’t know. Do you really want to hear about it?”    You doubt he would trouble himself with your problem, but what catches you off guard is that he stops in the middle of the hallway and nods. You stop with him too. “Sure. Shoot.”   “Really?”   “Yeah, I don’t see why not. It’s not like I have anything better to do.”   You inhale a deep breath. It catches in your throat. Your fist tightens, nails digging into your skin. You swear you wouldn’t cry again. “I texted Jin, even though I know it wasn’t a good idea and yeah, it wasn’t. He changed his number.”   “Oh….shit.”   “And I talked to one of his friends yesterday and she said he’s doing fine. He hasn’t really talked about me. And I don’t really know what any of that means. I haven’t seen him around either. I think he’s avoiding me and I can’t help thinking about what I did that was so wrong for me to be treated this way. I don’t….I don’t think I deserve this.” You exhale a shallow breath, eyes stinging painfully.   Jungkook suddenly plops his hand on the top of your head. You frown at him and he realizes what he’s doing and withdraws his hand awkwardly. “That really...sucks.”   “Yeah, thanks, I know.”   “Sorry, I don’t really know what to say.”   “You don’t have to say anything,” you tell. “Thanks for not laughing, I guess.”   “Why would I laugh?” Jungkook asks, genuinely confused. You shrug.    You always thought Jungkook would be the first to applaud your misery — he’d goad you and cheer you when you’d cry. You guess you severely misjudged him. “Are you free tonight?”   “Why?”   “My friends and I are doing this thing.” Jungkook scratches the back of his neck and diverts his vision elsewhere. “We meet up to play games sometimes. It’s really Taehyung’s thing cause he’s the one who likes games, but if you’re free, then you should come along. We’re in need of new players actually, cause it gets boring when it’s the same people over and over again….”   “Would they mind?”   He swallows hard, taking in the way your head is quirked to the side, your eyes big and glimmering with hope. It seems like you’re taking him up on the offer or at least considering it and he’s pleasantly surprised. “No, no, they wouldn’t.”   “I don’t want to make it weird or anything…”   “No, you wouldn’t. Trust me. They’re just a bunch of lame dorks, and you kind of already know Taehyung and Jimin. They’re nice guys. So if you wanna come, you should. No pressure whatsoever though.”   “Sure.” The corners of your mouth lifts.   “Really?”   “Yeah. That’s….okay, right?”   “Totally. Yep. I’ll text you where and what time.”   You never knew one day you’d be going off campus to some random apartment for a night of game boards, much less with Jeon Jungkook. Part of you is skeptical about his offer, envisioning that he’s catfishing you somehow, that there isn’t actually anything happening and he’ll text you ‘sike’ after making you wait hours.    But then you remind yourself that he hasn’t been exactly an asshole lately and that you’re not in the cruel world of High School anymore. Jungkook would have to be sick to prank you in this state.   You can already hear the boisterous noise on the other side of the door before you even knock. But after some hesitation, the sounds taper off when you do.    The door swings open and Jungkook greets you with his doe eyes and messy dark hair flopping in different directions. He’s in a black shirt and loose, gray sweatpants, casual unlike how he usually dresses for class and the kitchen.   “Hey!” He reaches in to give you a quick hug. You stiffen and he lets go. “Come in!”   “Finally, she’s here!” Hoseok stands from the couch with his beer and moves to the table Taehyung’s setting up.   “Sorry, am I late?”   “Right on time actually,” Jimin says with a gentle smile.   “Beer or cooler or wine?” Yoongi suddenly asks, twisting around from the fridge.   “A-Any.” It’s fast paced, but they’re welcoming. There’s not a moment for awkwardness to settle in. Yoongi comes over with a beer can, tosses it, and you catch it with both hands. “Thanks.”   “We usually start with a game of good ol’ Janga.” Taehyung grins from his spot at the table. “Usually the person who goes before the loser gets to pick the next game, but since you’re our guest of honour, you can pick. There’s a whole shelf of them over there.”   He gestures towards the living room and you head over to look at the boxes that are accumulating. There’s a ton of boxes stack on each other on the shelf — The Game of Life, Risk, Twister, Battleship, Monopoly, Connect Four, Snakes and Ladders, and even CandyLand.   “What’s this?” you ask, pointing at the bottom shelf with a huge bin. There seems to be small bags inside, place mats, and books too.   “It’s stuff for D&D,” Jungkook clarifies with a sigh, popping a can of beer open to drink. “Dungeons and Dragons.”   “Taehyung’s been wanting to get us to play,” Jimin tells with a smile.   “I’m a great DM,” Taehyung chirps, “It would be so much fun, but we don’t really have time for a whole campaign. Otherwise I’d pull together official content and stuff from Unearthed Arcana and run a module from Wizards of the Coast—”   “Alright, nerd.” Yoongi sighs after a swig. “I’m not trying to re-virgin myself and remain abstinent for the rest of my life, alright? You can do that by yourself.”   “Don’t hate on my game, bitch,” Taehyung spits as Jimin and Jungkook laugh. A smile comes to your face and it isn��t one you have to muster for once. “Wait till the day you come to me and ask me advice on what kind of spells a halfling bard should have at level six.”   “Over my dead body.”   “Okay, can we not argue for once? We have a guest.” Hoseok intercepts with his hands out, literally standing between them. “Let’s try to not scare her off?”   You go back to looking, but you can’t seem to decide what game to play. “There’s a lot.”   “It’s not ours,” Yoongi pipes up again, wearing a friendly smile that is more like a smirk. “This is Hoseok and I’s place. Taehyung just always finds a way to put his shit here too.”   “Hey! That’s cause no one else has a big table like this at their dorm, plus my place is too messy to store my precious games there. They’re expensive, you know.”   “All I know is that somehow I always come home to furniture and clothes on my bed that I swear I didn’t purchase….”   “Alright, alright.” Hoseok intervenes for the second time, having enough of this nonsense. “Is the game done being set up or what? Y/N come sit, you can choose the game later.”   You gather around the table with Jungkook beside you. He leans in while the others are figuring out who gets to start and what direction to go in. “Sorry about that.”   “No, it’s okay,” you say and mean it too. “Your friends are a lot of fun.”   Yet the moment the game begins, there’s a shift in the atmosphere. It goes quieter, less fooling around as it intensely dials down. There are half-lidded stares across the table, snarky remarks exchanged. They’re a competitive group and you feel a lot of pressure to perform well.   Jimin seems to go for the easy blocks. Hoseok tries to make it more difficult for the next person. Yoongi is the designated asshole, going for the second top layer while Taehyung argues that it isn’t even allowed. On the other hand, Jungkook somehow flicks the Jenga block with his middle finger and thumb. He’s cocky about his technique, leaning back as his arm drapes over the back of your chair. He runs his tongue on the inside of his cheek with his brow lifted.    You remember why you fucking hated him now. He’s so unbearable sometimes.   “What?” He looks at you when he finds you staring.   You frown at him. And for a second Jungkook gets a glimpse of the bitch he remembers — the one he misses. “Why do you have to be so extra about it? Who are you trying to impress?”   “Right?!” Taehyung stands up and the entire stack of blocks nearly topples over. “I keep trying to tell him that! It’s so goddamn annoying! You won’t even believe it!”   “Watch it,” Hoseok shouts, “You’re going to make it tip over.”   That’s when you become fired up. You’ve never felt this kind of motivation surging between your veins before. But it’s not a thirst to win — it’s a ravenous hunger to beat Jeon Jungkook.   And you do.   After playing to Hoseok’s tactic and being an asshole, you risk it all to remove an important block and it collapses on Jungkook right as he tries to remove another.   Then there are screams — hoots, hollers, like your country won the damn world cup. You stand up and everyone cheers. Hoseok chest bumps you. Taehyung lifts you up and spins you in a circle. Jimin starts to record the moment on his phone and even Yoongi pats you on the back.   “God, why are you guys making such a big deal,” Jungkook moans, still seated at the table, embarrassed from all the teasing.   “Maybe because you’ve never lost anything in your life!” Taehyung laughs in his face, rubbing his loss where it hurts.   “Say something for the camera.” Jimin sticks his phone right between Jungkook’s eyes, and dodges with giggles when Jungkook tries to slap it away.   “Hey, send me that.” Yoongi points. “I’m going to post it on facebook for my grandma to see.”   “Has Jungkook really not lost any game we’ve played before?” Hoseok questions, the realization finally hitting him and the gravity of the situation sinking down onto his shoulders.   “I don’t think so,” Jimin says after sincerely contemplating for a long moment.   “Oh shit. You’re our lucky charm!” Hoseok slings his arm over your shoulder, giving you finger guns and winking.   It’s ridiculous but you’re beginning to believe it too — especially when the game you pick is Uno and it ends up with a similar outcome.   Somehow, someway, Jimin, Taehyung, Hoseok and Yoongi finish their cards and the only people who are left are you and Jungkook. The tensions are high and you see the sweat accumulating at his hairline. It’s apparent that he’s never even been second last in a game before.   You’re so close to victory, you can taste it. You’re down to a single card while he has three more.   Jungkook slowly places down a wild card. “What colour do you want, Y/N?”   “Hmmmm.” You rest your chin in your palm, arm propped up on the table. You glance at your card before looking straight at him, locking your gaze together. “Would you even choose the colour I pick?”   “I just want to hear what you want.”   “Fine. I want yellow. Please?” You bat your lashes. “Pretty please, JK?”   The ass smirks. “Red.”   “I knew you’d say that,” you sigh. Your fingers reach down to the pile to grab another card, but then your other hand slaps down — slamming a red four onto the pile. Your arms shoot in the air. Again, it triggers cheers. “I win!”   Jungkook throws back his head and groans. He tosses his one red and one blue card left onto the table. What’s worse is the way you gather with all his friends — the five of you huddled together with arms around one another, like you’re preparing for a football game. But instead, you’re all hopping and cheering while belting out the national anthem.   You’ve stolen his own friends from right under his nose.   But despite how the loss is rubbed in his face, Jungkook’s happy that it seems like for a moment, you’ve returned to yourself again.   Eventually, the games go so much into the night that you have to bid your goodbyes. You didn’t know Jungkook’s group of friends were so easy to get along and get comfortable with. You weren’t sure what you were expecting, but the time passed so quickly and you’re sad to leave.   Hoseok and Taehyung hug you until Yoongi has to help you pry them off.   “I’ll miss you so much,” Taehyung fake cries. “You and the way you absolutely demolish Jungkook.”   “Oh please.” Jungkook rolls his eyes.   “I’ll come back...if you’ll have me again.”   “Are you kidding? Of course!”   “You have to come back,” Jimin insists with a sheepish smile like it should be obvious. “You’re good at Monopoly, right?”   You shrug. “I’ve been told I’m decent.”   “You better be.” Yoongi grins. “I’ll expect you to win against Kook.”   “I’ll try my best.”   “Let me walk you back,” Jungkook says as you grab your coat. You look at him and he elaborates, “It’s a long way back to the dorm and I’m tired too. Gonna call it an early night.”   “Oh, okay.”   The two of you get ready to leave, and at the doorway, you turn around one last time. “Thanks for having me.”   “No problem.” Hoseok smiles. “Come back soon.”   You think this is the longest time you’ve been without crying for the past month. It went by too quickly — you wish you could do it all over again. But you consider how lucky Jungkook is. He has great friends and surrounds himself with great people. You’re jealous.   The night is silent except for the sound of your shoes against the cement of the sidewalk. You’re illuminated by the lamp posts above you and you watch your shadows alongside Jungkook’s.   The air is cold enough that you can see your breath as you exhale. Jungkook’s own hands are dug into his pockets, but the chill makes you feel alive.   “Sorry about them. I know they can get a bit much.”   “It’s okay. They’re really nice actually.”   “Yeah, they are.”   “I had a lot of fun.” You steal a glance at him.   Jungkook’s doe eyes widen, the corners of his mouth quirking. “Really? I’m glad.”   “It was a lot of fun destroying you.”   “Wow.” He laughs. “Okay.”   It makes you giggle too.    You know what he’s been doing. From him listening to everything you have to say and doing more than necessary during the midterms. From that time he called you over in the dining hall to sit with him to tonight, bringing you over to play games with his friends….   “Thanks, Jungkook.”   “Hm?”   “Thanks,” you repeat, looking at him, and he meets your eye. “For helping me. I don’t think I’ve said it yet. But I really appreciate it.”   “Yeah, it’s not a big deal, really.”   “It’s a big deal to me.” Your gaze softens. At the moment you had no one, he was there. You didn’t know you would find such an unlikely friendship during such a hard time, but you don’t mind at all.   Jeon Jungkook is your friend.

[davidmann95]

RWBY V8E12?

* God that fight was so many different kinds of perfect. The satisfying THWACK on the first kick (after two seasons of bootlicking: the boot comes around on him), Ironwood’s first blow resulting in his unrelenting force being turned against himself, at least 3 or 4 times his tunnel vision brutally costs him, that someone finally did “passes through someone with a sword swipe but actually hit them fifty dozen times faster than the eye can perceive and it takes a few moments for them to react”, the cross-cuts, that it’s overlaid with the Nora song that’s I think at last the first JNPR solo(-ish, bits also apply to Emerald) track, that half of Ironwood’s downfall was that he traded his pistols representing justice for a big dumb Liefeld canon as the ultimate articulation of his mindset...beautiful. Only way it could have been better is if Harriet’s super-speed burst took her within an inch of Robyn and Qrow before she was stopped.

* (Ironwood still did better than I would’ve expected though; with how much trouble a single nerd gave him before I’d assumed he was a so-so combatant whose real value was his military mind, but I guess he’s simply a tank who does better in a brawl than a chase.)

* Last week’s movements for Jaune as he left the room, now Emerald’s afterimages/Winter’s finishing move/Marrow’s eyeline/the gleam in Penny’s eye; it’s really going all-out anime at the last minute in a way that’s usually reserved for the premieres.

* Speaking of Emerald, I’m really curious where things are going with her. She found a breaking point in not wanting the extinction of all life on the planet - including her - and her need for attachment seems to be breaking in a healthier direction now, but while she’s clearly made at least some moral realizations given her line here I don’t think given her priorities and how quickly everything went down she’d reasonably have made a total 180. She was onboard with the idea of a global revolution undoing kingdoms and huntsman academies even if she was mainly there for Cinder, and given “undo the monarchy/borders and stop training kids to be war machines” aren’t exactly unreasonable takes I really hope her arc at least somewhat involves reconciling all that with the rest of the team alongside the rest of her issues, especially since the founder of half those social systems is riding shotgun with the kid who vouched for her.

* I don’t think we’ll get Ironwood suddenly becoming sensible because of his aura being broken and his semblance being deactivated, but if this series felt like making a sudden pivot into pure comedy you could do worse than “I’m gonna be a good guy again, you just have to beat the absolute shit out of me every morning!”. The vibe I’m getting is he’ll die in the next two episodes after some kind of emotional wrap-up, while Jacques lives but is essentially off the table - Ironwood being convicted for war crimes while the kingdom drops on the shitty dad would be more satisfying for my money, but the former seems more narratively appropriate.

* In volume 7 I was adamantly “we’re not gonna see redemption for the Ace-Ops and specifically Marrow’s gonna stay on their side to illustrate the point”, but I think this did his shift really well by not making it a cutesy “well, he was the good one all along!” thing, but rather making clear all of them while complicit had self-doubts and regrets about the whole thing...but once the situation had no remaining arguable justifications, he was the only one who wouldn’t brush them aside anymore. It works for me because it’s done in a way that highlights their guilt as much as his turnaround.

* Ambrosius said himbo rights. God, him vs. Jinn is like a “well, male superheroes are oversexualized too!” meme come to life except he actually is - true equality folks, glad they made this course-correction. And after how happy I was when Nora pointed out a loophole with the vague wording Jinn had used in the past, my autistic ass was delighted that half this episode was about the team being so precise with making sure their genie wishes couldn’t go ironically awry they were using literal schematics.

* I’m seeing speculation that when RWBY and any others inevitably fall they’re going to find themselves in the afterlife, and not only will that be the focus of the briefer volume 9 but it’s how Pyrrha will temporarily come back into play. I can definitely see that broad setup happening, but I think the afterlife journey would mostly be confined to the finale, simply because I don’t see them doing another ‘split the party’ season right after this one. If I’m wrong though and it’s a long-term proposition, even if I’d be very happy if 90% of her role would have nothing to do with him there is the question of Pyrrha comes back for more than a brief vision in the series finale or something but doesn’t STAY back how Jaune would deal with that. He’s already found at least some degree of closure, having him be sad about losing her again would be redundant, and after a season of buildup with RWBY in the afterlife and JNR waiting you couldn’t really get away with “Hey, we ran into your lost Lenore, she says hi!” “Well that’s nice!” Very curious how they’ll thread that needle if this ends up what happens after all.

[kaimactrash]

The second pride image is my pan babies...and rilo...they are not a baby, they are a very bad person. XD

Also no, no I do not know how to even make my style cohesive for two images! I am a messy artist at heart.

Let's start with them, since they're in the top left, with the bright green skin and big black coat. Rilo is a gender fluid pansexual elder demon, theyre a primary antagonist in my story, but not due to either sexuality or gender. You may notice this mirrors my sexuality and gender, I kind of liked the idea of going out my way to have them be representative of a kind of intense feeling i get. So to explain, I hate hate hate when someone of any trans identity misbehaves, people tend to misgender them while angry at them, even though their misdeeds are nothing to do with their gender identity. I want rilo to be a character people have issues with not because of their identity, and that helps encourage people to not give shitty people the excuse to call your critisism about them invalid when you misidentify them intentionally and maliciously.Across the flag is another pan genderqueer character? YES, that cuz this is my neo sona, called Skeith Kai until I can make a better name, haha. they are joined by their pet meowclops, based on my pet cat toulouse...he has two eyes irl.   Bellow Skeith Kai, with the huge maw of a mouth splitting her torso is one of my FAVOURITE EVER OCS, I don't draw her enough but I am so enamored by her. She IDs primarily as Non-binary as her umberella term, but the base one would be gender apathetic, she doesnt care or really see anything as gendered, she is fine with all pronouns, but having been called she by her family her whole life she tends to use it as second nature. She's a pretty cool girl, having began the story as essentially a merc for the bad guys, she quickly quits them cuz they kept getting their asses kicked, plus she and beefy get on like a house on fire.Beside moira with also pink hair is dylan! ...okay so shes a littler more complex than Moira in terms of redmeption, BUT!!! There are reasons for that are important in her story arc, and I'm not ready to explain my plan for her multichapter involvement in the story, but...give her time, she plays off as the typical high school cool bully girl stereotype, but theres a lot of work for me to do before dylan even apears in my comic. TT_TT Someone please give me potion of improved production times!!Lil teal skinned demon to the left of dylan is Greip Tavros, another fave oc of mine! Shes my only cyclops oc so far and she has really challenged me in recreating her look, shes short but buff as fuck, also no not inspired by bea, who i also LOVE btw, but yeah just a coincidence of some very slight simialrities in colour pallets. Greip is very laid back and chilled out, she cares little for the demon realm or the elders who run it, she pretty much takes her leave to return to Frenrar, because before she died, she lived on frenrar, the demons take people from earth and frenrar. She joins in the rebelion and traveling party lith is part of. Shes aromatic and pansexual EMESH, hes the armless deer... is centaur the right word in this case?? but yeah them! So basically frenrar is the planet of failed gods, emesh is one of them and if youre curious about I reccomend you read this profile of him: www.deviantart.com/kaimactrash…Lastly we have Melisa, a extremely under utalised character of mine, but shes quite fun, I have her and her husband basically as like my comfort oc couple, theyre super in love, super suppportive, and they litterally just wanna settle down and have kids. Shes a fantastic potion brewer, due to her high sense of smell, this is heightened because she is both partially blind and partially deaf. She has Open-angle glaucoma, which has left her with only central vision with colour blindness there, the rest of her vision is essentially blacked out from her perspective. Heaing wise shes hard of hearing due to noise damage as a child, she may need people to speak up, and with her husband bruce, they have developed some signs akin to the real worlds deaf blind signing, but much more basic as they've just developed it together, Bruce has actually enjoyed finding non-verbal ways to communicate with his with and others in his life.and thats all folks! hope you enjoyed this art, and enjoy the second half of this pride! Happy pride my fellow pan fanatics, it's a tough year for every memeber of this community, and I will never pretend we suffer the majority of the strife this community recieves, but we have our issues, and recently theres a amplification of the same anti-m-spec retoric people like myself who have id'd as such for some years now have had to hear way too frequently. Tho, dont get too down, the growth in pride and understanding of the variety of M-spec identities has improved so much! Hell, I'm still learning much about the other identites and the indivuals that experience them, and i hope to include more of my characters in the less mentioned identities in this group! Okay I'm gonna get off my soap box before some one pushes me off it.

[nullset2]

Mother 3 - An In-depth Critique and Review

Ah, Mother 3, how I love you so!

The game which with which I forwent all possible aspirations to healthily integate into normal High School society: imagine walking into a party, people are drinking and being cool, and you ask them if they have ever played a very underground, very deep RPG only released in Japan called "Mother".

Yeah! I know! It's like you're asking to be bullied, and I realized it too late.

But anyway!

Mother 3 is one of the most important games you could ever play --alas, if only it wasn't near impossible to obtain it.

Yet, perhaps this adds to its allure and to the power of its narrative --a narrative which, by the way, I'm convinced is the very actual reason why it will never release formally in the United States.

As time has passed, I've actually become more and more impressed about how relevant the game is to the socioeconomic reality that we are in nowadays. I'm impressed that Shigesato Itoi had all of this in his mind's eye as early as 1996, and that the story was already written down in 1999!

Right now it's been 14 years since it's release on the GBA, but I think that the game is a timeless classic and warrants a playthrough now more than ever. Wanna know why?

Wanna find out?

Part 1. "A Japanese Copywriter's Americana"

The year is 1989 and a Japanese Copywriter --somebody who writes "Catch Copies", which are a sort of a long-form slogan that is very common in Japanese pop culture to advertise)-- by the name of Shigesato Itoi became a fan of the Dragon Quest series of RPGs, which are massively popular in Japan, even to this day. He also loved video games: he's asthmatic, so he recalls only being able to sleep sitting up as a child, and having to occupy his lonely time through asthma attacks playing video games, since he had to sit up and had nothing else to do at night.

His love of RPGs would linger in his mind until 1989 when he had an opportunity to meet with Hiroshi Yamauchi and Shigeru Miyamoto and was offered the opportunity to develop a video game with Nintendo. Harkening back to the endless hours he poured into Dragon Quest, his concept eventually took form by deriving from it. He called the story "MOTHER", as a reference to John Lennon's "Mother", since he is a very hardcore fan of The Beatles. The games have tons of obvious influence by old American films and comics, like ET and Peanuts, which he also loved very much.

For MOTHER, he wanted to explicitly go against the grain, by designing an RPG without "Swords and Magic", which stereotypically most RPGs follow, even from things as minor as to design a protagonist who was weak and vulnerable, asthmatic and without a Father Figure, yet, still heroic through much toil --which reflects Ninten from the original MOTHER for the famicom.

Miyamoto, in his usual taskmaster persona, arranged a team to work with Itoi for the creation of the RPG, by bringing in people from HAL laboratory and APE Inc, and thus MOTHER was born to great Japanese Acclaim. A game which took many risks in its genre, such as eschewing the idea of a separate overworld from navigation in the towns, the subject matter, the movement system and many other things which made it quite Unique. It was so popular that soon after the first project was released, MOTHER 2 started development, involving people from what's currently known as Game Freak and HAL Labs.

MOTHER 2 is a very unique game because it was the very first time that the series attempted to make an incursion in the Americas. Releasing in a big flamboyant flashy box, with a strategy guide and a bunch of goodies included, MOTHER 2 released as Earthbound in the states, a bigger and better version of the vision of the first game. Better graphics, Beatles references, sampled audio, pop culture cornucopia, it's all here and then some!

Famous for its role in technically driving the game, Satoru Iwata, ex-CEO and software developer for Nintendo,7 of Wii acclaim, helped the game meet its 1996 release date. It is known that the original version of the game ran into deep technical issues which the original dev team was not able to overcome. Once Satoru Iwata got involved, the game was reworked to a viable version and released to much critical acclaim. In his own words, he proposed to rewrite the tech that powered the main game. It was a matter of either continuing with the current code and be done in two years, or redoing everything and being done in six months under his vision, he said.

No matter its strong promotion from Nintendo, the marketing got botched, and the game paled compared to the flashy and bombastic magical RPGs of its era, like Final Fantasy VI, Super Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger of all things. So, Earthbound faced a very bad destiny in the states, by releasing to low acclaim, bad review scores and terrible sales numbers --even though it eventually reached Cult Classic status, due to its pure hearted nature, its hallucinogenic themes and characters, and its fantastic spirit over all.

And this game is worthy of discussion by itself a whole bunch because of the ripple effects it had in video game culture in the Western world. Enter starmen dot net. To this date, the epicenter of discussion for everything related to the MOTHER series. There you had me as early as 2002, browsing a half-rendered version of starmen dot net in a dingy computer in some dingy internet cafe in some shitty neighborhood in Mexico, trying to be a part of the discussion and the hype.

To this date, I consider starmen dot net as the non-plus-ultra case for how passionate Internet fan cultures can become.

Flat out, no other fandom has ever came close to the level of dedication, attention to detail and passion to tribute the original creation around which its fans congregate. A massive amount of fan paraphernalia has come out of starmen dot net --yes, even Undertale, 2015 indie darling RPG thing, originally got started on the Starmen dot net forums. People married and even started large, commercially viable enterprises, such as Fangamer.net, the firm which publishes Undertale, from starmen dot net.

...and then... silence...

After Earthbound's 1995 release, we enter a ten year hiatus for the series.

Even though both MOTHER games were incredibly popular in Japan, HAL Laboratory and APE Inc. weren't able to successfully make a jump onto the third dimension for the series come the Nintendo 64 era. They had a demo come the infamous Spaceworld 96, where a bunch of pre-release games for the then called "Ultra 64", which was the codename for the Nintendo 64, were showcased. And lo and behold, we have a sequel to Mother coming out, called Mother 3, the ROM for which has never been found by the way.

I'd love to get a look at the materials in that ROM.

The scarce footage we have available from it exhibits some of the elements we ended up seeing in the final released version of the game, like some of the original music like the Mozart ghost theme, and the DCMC section, albeit in a more primitive low poly way. It is known that both studios weren't very proficient at 3d Game development yet, which was still nascent. This together with other factors, such as the fact that at some point development was moved onto the unreleased-in-America, unpopular 64DD addon, undisclosed factors dropped the game into development hell, which ultimately led to its cancellation in the year 2000.

Plenty of mystery surrounded the now defunct project, to the dismay of a bunch of passionate fans in Starmen.net and elsewhere online. However, it turned out that the valiant effort of the fans, who made a huge amount of effort to campaign for the revival of the series, even mailing fanmail, fanart and other materials to the Itoi Shinbun offices in Japan (a titanical task in the world of the early 2000s).

Fast forward to 2003, and the Game Boy Advance, the little portable console that could, was in its Apex. Due to Satoru Iwata's campaining, it was announced that development on MOTHER 3 would be restarted, this time in 2D, for the gameboy advance. Much anticipation in Starmen.net followed this announcement, since it finally validated its efforts...

Come 2006, once the console was well into its end-of-life, with small nudges to play the game on a Gameboy player if possible, perhaps to try to follow suit with its predecessors, the sequel finally released to much acclaim. But what did Shigesato Itoi have in store for everyone all along? What kind of beast had just been unleashed onto the World?

Part 2. "Of Monkeys and Men"

Mother 3 follows the story of a young boy, Lucas, in a multi-chapter structure, which is novel for the series but not unheard of in the RPG genre. Besides this, the RPG plays very similar to your usual JRPG fare, and basically uses the Ultimately polished version of the MOTHER series' mechanics, groovy backgrounds and all.

The first three chapters of the game follow the perspective of different characters residing in Tazmilly Village as the plot of the game unfolds. The plot is centered around the residents of a peaceful town in an Island in an unspecified location, Nowhere Islands, which in my opinion is an allegory both of Japan and America, moreover with the fact that the game of the logo very clearly has a rising sun covered in metal, in a logo that's an amalgam of two different things which don't match, a subtle reference to the game's undertones to come.

From these residents we come to know the daily lives of a particular family: Flint, a farmer; Hinawa, his wife (a name in reference to Sunflowers, Himawari, her favorite flower), and their twin children, Lucas and Claus.

The game begins in the midst of their idyllic life in the mountains visiting Lucas' grandfather Alec, and playing around with meek dinosaurs which inhabit Nowhere Islands. See, in the world of Mother 3, no violence truly exists, and people have come to live peacefully with each other and nature. There's no such thing as the concept of money, Instead relying on an economy that's mostly based around bartering and hospitality.

However, everyone's lives veer into turmoil once strange alien beings invade, the Pigmask army, an army of big, fat and slovenly creatures dressed in pig-like attire, who seem to have a vast amount of technology and resources at their disposal yet aim for Nowhere Islands for colonization.

The Pigmasks have an as-of-yet unnamed leader, who is demanding them to make everything in the World "bigger, cooler, stronger and faster", and thus they seize Nowhere Islands by force of bombings and a forest fire to use its flora and fauna. And thus, while escaping from the forest fires returning from Alec's home, Hinawa tragically gets killed by a Drago which has been modified to be aggressive against its nature through robotics implanted in it by the Pigmask army.

There's an unused cutscene in the game's ROM data where Hinawa, instead, dies by bomb explosion...

...yeah, I'm just... gonna let you process that one by yourself ;)

The Drago left a fang in the middle of her heart, which is recovered by one of the Tazmillians and provided back to Flint along with a fragment of her crimson dress. Besmirched and angry, Claus, the festier one of the twin children, sets out to try to hunt the drago and achieve revenge, but he goes missing... Flint embarks in search of Claus and to kill the drago, and thus the first chapter of the game concludes, with the implication that Claus has gone missing...

With Lucas' family torn to shreds and The Pigmasks invading Tazmilly, it seems that we're in a situation ripe for disaster.

Chapter 2 follows Duster's adventure, which runs in parallel (as every other chapter will) to other chapters' stories. Duster is the last heir in a bloodline of Cat Burglars whose abilities are not in use anymore given that Tazmilly has no more commerce or crime. However it turns out that the Pigmask invasion puts his skills back in demand to infiltrate Oshoe Castle and retrieve an artifact which the Pigmasks are after and which Duster's family is the guardian of. The nature of the artifact in Oshoe Castle is as of yet unknown, however it is implied that it is important to the fabric of Tazmilly village.

At Castle Oshoe, Duster meets a mysterious princess, Kuma-tora (which translates literally to "beartiger", in allusion to the dichotomy of her existence, since she is very... masculine in attitude and refers to herself with, yes, male pronouns, perhaps anticipating identity politics by 14 years at least), who is also after the artifact in the Castle, the Hummingbird egg. The chapter ends with the Hummingbird Egg going missing, and a mysterious peddler of goods arriving into town, while Kumatora and Duster's father realize he has gone missing...

Chapter 3 follows the adventure of a little Monkey, Salsa, which gets flown into Nowhere Islands to perform a job. This is a novelty in a town where the concept of a job doesn't exist as of yet, however, the peddler of goods is going to need a lot of hands if he wants to fullfill his vision. The peddler, Fassad (which is a tongue in cheek way to say "facade", right?) promises to all residents in Nowhere Island eternal happiness if they buy his newest product, the "Happy Box", a television-like contraption which glows with a warm light and which people are attracted to and engrossed by. For this, he introduces the concept of money and swindles people his way, convincing them that this is the way to go and promising them excitement and benefit if they listen to him.

Salsa delivers Happy boxes throughout the whole chapter, and gets shocked, even in the middle of the night, if something goes wrong with his job or tries to escape due to a shock collar implanted by Fassad. However, he runs into Kumatora and Wess, Duster's father, and they ploy together to free up Salsa and mess up Fassad's forceful takeover of Oshoe Castle, when Lucas shows up with several dragos in tow and fights against the Tank invasion of Oshoe Castle.

(A foreign animal being introduced into a new society with the express intent of exploiting it to propel forward a commercial enterprise by toil... geez, I dunno, where have I heard that one?)

From Chapter 4 Onwards the game adopts a more conventional JRPG scheme, through a timeskip which happens literally two years in the future. In this future version of Tazmilly, money (Dragon Points) and ATMs are now existent, similar to other Mother games. The game follows Lucas' adventure through a now-modernized and industrialized technologically advanced Tazmilly, trying to retrieve the "seven needles" from the island, which are soon enough shown to be a source of great power that the pigmask army is also after and to which Lucas must try to get to first due to a calling by mysterious beings which inhabit Nowhere Islands, the Magypsies. With a lot of emotional moments, such as Lucas having visions of his Mother in the middle of a field of Sunflowers, we follow the adventures of the party as they infiltrate the pigmask ranks and gather information about its nature and intentions.

It is then discovered that the pigmasks are commanded by a Masked leader, who dominates the power of thunder through a tower which was built in the middle of the town and which strikes anybody down with thunder if they overstep the Law and Order that the pigmasks have implemented. The party fights this masked leader in bouts while exploring the world and reuniting with a now missing Kumatora and Duster, who are found to have settled as employees in a Nightclub called "Club Titiboo".

Eventually, through his travels, Lucas gains an artifact from Mr. Saturn, the inhabitants of a special region in Nowhere called Saturn Valley and which has been passed down through all three Mother games, called the "Franklin Badge". When equipped, this item allows the bearer to become immune to lighting attacks and reflecting them back.

The party soon discovers that the world is inhabited by an special elder race, existant from before the creation of Tazmilly village and who know more about everything going on with the invasion, called the "Magypsies", a race of transexual, magical creatures who help Lucas discover the fact that he has Psychic abilities, also known as "PSI" within the MOTHER canon. He uses these to proceed further in his adventure to pull the seven Golden Needles, the first of which Fassad was attempting to get to, in the Courtyard of Oshoe Castle.

Lucas moves into a city called "New Pork City" in the conclusion of the game, which is a town built by the pigmasks completely in the honor of Porky, full of all sorts of Pigmask paraphernalia and amusement. It is found that the seventh and final needle is inside humongous tower in the middle of the city, the Porky tower.

Moreover, it is also revealed that the Pigmask army is led by Porky, known as "Pokey" in the American localization of Mother 2, Earthbound. Pokey is shown to have developed into a tyrant as an adult, with unlimited lust for blood and power, who used Doctor Andonuts' Phase Distorter after the events of Earthbound to mess around with the unlimited realities and dimensions it gave him access too, as a petulant child does with a video game. Once he got kicked out of every other possible reality due to the chaos he created, he found the Nowhere islands and decided to mess with it.

The climax of the game comes around Chapter 7, when the now fully-developed party runs into Leder, one of the original Tazmillian villagers, a lanky and really tall person who never spoke, not a single word, in the game until now. Leder is revealed to be the only person who knows what is the true nature of it all: tazmilly village is the remanider of civilization once the world of Mother 2 collapsed by cataclysm. A flood wiped away everything and the very last remainder of people who survived fled to nowhere islands in a big white ship and settled there, willingly forfeiting all technological advances and knowledge of the world into the Hummingbird egg, the artifact that Duster's family protected in Oshoe, a device which wiped everyone's memories, with the intent of undoing civilization and living back in a peaceful village-like state again.

It is revealed that when all seven needles are pulled, a supernatural power on which the island is built will be awakened. This supernatural power is revealed to be a Dragon by Leder, who had to be subdued by the ancestors of the Magypsies so people could live in Nowhere islands as their last resort. Whoever pulls out the needles which keep it in slumber will pass the intentions and nature of their heart onto the dragon. Thus, Lucas must be the one who pulls out the last needle instead of Porky or the masked man, in hopes that a second cataclysm like the first doesn't happen again.

After making their way through all the pigmask defenses, Lucas and Co. face off with Porky, who is now a bedridden, pathetic man. Doctor Andonuts from Mother 2, appears here, and is revealed to have developed a solution to contain Porky, the Absolutely Safe Capsule, which is a capsule which once it's sealed, it can never be opened again, trapping whoever is inside forever in a parallel universe where only them exist. The party is successful in locking Porky in the absolutely safe capsule, so, porky is not hurt by the end of mother 3, instead, he just has been locked away forever in a place far away from everyone else --perhaps, providing the ultimate form of comfort that a personality like his would seek after.

At the end of the game, Lucas and Co. face against the masked man, who is revealed to have been Claus all along, who, brainwashed with Pigmask ideologies, is hellbent on drawing out the final needle to awaken the dragon. Lucas and Claus face off in an emotive fight, where they suddenly remember each other and how friendly they used to be with each other... and moreover, their Mother. Claus strikes Lucas with thunder in a final murderous attempt before snapping out of the Pigmask brainwashing. But since he had the Franklin badge on, the attack is reflected and mortally strikes Claus, who, in his final moments, finally remembers Lucas...

The ending of the game is open ended, without showing much of what happened once the seventh dragon needle was released, so the ending of the game is subject to interpretation. However, it is heavily implied that, since Lucas was the one who released the needle, the dragon, once awakened, did not destroy Nowhere islands and instead led to a regeneration of existence.

Part 3. "A Musical-Adventure"

One of the pre-release materials for the game called it a "Musical" adventure, and I think this is completely warranted: the musical beautifulness of Hip Tanaka, famed Nintendo composer and long-time MOTHER music autheur, is joined by the expertise of Shogo Sakai, who gave the soundtrack a more mature, sample-based vibe, compared to the early two more "chiptuney" soundtracks in the series. The songs are all-time favorites of mine, and I still the soundtrack every so often given all of its mystique, its eclectiness and curiosness.

But the musical aspect to the game doesn't stop here: as an addition to the mother series, the battle system has now been changed to become rhythm-game based instead of simply turn based. If the player attacks an enemy during a battle, it is possible to strike additional damage as long as the player continues to press the attack button in rhythm to the background music in upwards of 16 hits. A full combo is incredibly effective and plays a nice fanfare if executed correctly.

As an enthusiast of rhythm games, this premise captivated me from the get-go and it works wonders, functioning as a breath of fresh air to the way overplayed mechanic of turn-based combat, which has existed since the 80s. It also provides a certain nice feeling to combat, given how every character has their personal musical instrument, with lucas being a guitar, Kumatora being an electric guitar, Duster being a bass, and Boney, Lucas' pet, being... barks.

Besides this the mechanics from Mother 2 are translated almost completely: every character has a rolling HP and PP counter, which rolls down over time as an airport display instead of immediately as in other RPGs. This may seem minor, but it adds an amazing element of strategy to the game, since it is possible to recover an ally from mortal damage if a healing PSI is executed against the clock before the counter hits 0.

Besides this you got almost completely conventional standard JRPG fare, with the character being able to move in eight directions in the overworld, with the addition of a run button, preemptive attacks and overpowered kills. Once you start facing enemies in the overworld, the first one to attack can be decided depending on the angle that the enemy was approached with: sneak up on an enemy from behind and a green swirl will display, which means that you get to attack first; if an enemy sneaks behind you, you'll see a red swirl and they will attack first instead. Otherwise, a gray swirl will display, which follows conventional order according to your stats.

Part 4. "WE WANT MOTHER 3, REGGIE!"

...Mother 3 will never be released in America.

This may be too dramatic of an opinion to have but I see no other alternative. For the most of fourteen years, Nintendo of America's head honcho Reggie Fils-Aime was requested to release and distribute the game in the americas, and for twenty years the request fell on deaf ears, citing commercial inviability, potential copyright infringment and many other reasons.

But I think the main reason that the game will never be localized is because Mother 3 was a passion project, pushed for by people with personal involvement in the series and very special sensitivities about it. Shigesato Itoi and Iwata were personal friends. The game appeals to japanese tastes and touches on issues and subjects that the American population is very politically sensitive to.

For example, in chapter 6 Lucas and the party experience a bad trip because they eat hallucinogenic mushrooms in a swamp. This leads to Lucas having visions of his family in a very bad light, with implications of violence and abuse, to try to get at the players' deepest sensitivities. Even the name of the real player is used here.

I think that it's impossible that nintendo will release a game which openly involves Hallucinogenics no matter its innocent exterior. This is the kind of subject in media that Japanese audiences usually handle better than American audiences.

Besides this, the game has very clear allusions to accelerated capitalism, anti-capitalism, colonization, slavery, transexuality and the changes and chaos they have brought onto the world, which is a tough subject to tackle in the Americas, which is still part of an ongoing, vicious culture war.

Particularly, I adore how the game even tries to convey its points through the Sound Test, of all places. Mother 3 has a collection of music pieces, which are available on demand within the game itself. Of those, there's a music piece which is a remix of Pollyanna, the Mother 1 theme, which is present throughout the series, in an nod to the previous games in the series. The hallway where this plays is full with mother references and it expects the player to sit down and watch passively all the references in order.

But this is meta, amazingly enough. The hallway is located in the final section of the game, before facing Porky, who is presented as the effigy of vicious capitalism in the game. As if he left them in his palace just as collectibles, things to be purchased or acquired.

The name of the song which plays during this sequence? "His Majesty's Memories". Subtle.

Nintendo is a company which tries to keep its image clean and sterile, so it can be used broadly for a variety of projects, usually with family friendly intent behind --and even more so in the US.

However, Nintendo has a history of risky bets with Mature content, which has become even more glaring lately: you got Eternal Darkness, Astral Chain, Bayonetta, No More Heroes, the disappointing Metroid Other M... this together with the fact that most of their target audience is of age now, could, at least remotely, mean that, perhaps, Mother 3 releasing in some manner in the future, localized in English, could happen: however, this is not happening at least the way I see it.

Once the game was released, there were several different campaigns online to try to gather Nintendo's attention: a 10k signature strong petition was completed among several other things, and if this hasn't lead to results... I don't know what will.

Part 5. "No Crying Until the End"

Mother 3 is a beautiful, engrossing and captivating game which is hidden away under a cutesy exterior. Its complex themes and characters are evoking of deep human truths which call out to us and ask us to reflect on things and the way we're living. Of strong pedigree in its series and with a superb musical production behind it and a mastermind of writing, MOTHER 3 excels at what it sets out to do.

When the game released, the game had a "Catch Copy" written for it by itoi himself, which called the game "Strange, Funny and Heartrending", and I think this is a beautiful way to bring everything full circle. Itoi wrote on the Advertisement that if you wanted to cry because of Mother 3, you should save it until the end. And those three words are a fantastic way to close off this review: if you want a game that will provide you with bizarre and laugh out loud moments one second and tear-jerkers the next, Mother 3 is the game for you.

And the game is just so poignant... to this date not only do I think it's one of the most expressive and well done pixel-art based game, I still find myself impresse at how much I can connect with the characters through small, cutesy sprites and pastel color pallettes, lack of Unreal engine and RTX graphics card be damned. Themes of grief, missing a loved one who's gone, the feeling of loss of identity due to accelerating social and economical change, how tyrannical political figures establish themselves and change communities, sexual and identity politics and how the modern world was to have shaky and voraginous sexual identities become commonplace... it's all there, and masterfully, tastefully expressed, without that icky feeling of "agenda"ism that you can get sometimes from Hollywood productions when they try to hamfist tropes and "messages" down people's throats. You know that feeling? I hate it when it happens in movies or shows I'm watching just to have a good time, and then I get some succint propaganda.

But MOTHER 3 is a kind beast, trying to reach to your heart and directly speak to the mind of the player. It tries to show us what it thinks of modernity and to make us seriously ponder what the frick is up with all of this shit, and thinking it has kept me for the last 14 years, and I anticipate another 20 ahead of me. And you can join me in reflecting about this...

Or maybe you can just go back to your happy box. Whichever way you choose.

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #8- I’m Sorry, the Domain Name thebomb.com is Already in Use

It’s been a hot minute since we last got to focus on the Scavengers- ah, the chaotic nature of comic print schedules! Luckily, we’ve got a Story So Far to remind us where we left off.

Our issue starts 10,000 years in the past, where Fulcrum is riding in a plane and preparing to drop with his fellow K-Cons. It’s crowded, there’s a guy crying in the corner, everyone’s wearing the same outfit, and no one’s got time to go home and change. How embarrassing!

Torque’s never heard of personal space, as is made apparent by his power-stance pelvic thrusting here. Fulcrum is less than impressed by this show of bravado, but there’s no time to dwell on it because it’s time to jump the glory of Megatron.

At least one of them is having a good time.

In the present day, the Scavengers are freaking the hell out, because as it turns out, it’s THEM who’re afraid of the DJD.

Krok keeps trying to reach his old squad, as if anything short of Megatron himself would be able to save them from the horrible death coming their way, while Flywheels grapples with his faith and inferiority complex at the same time.

Spinister brings up a decent point, despite Misfire’s earlier claim that he’s the stupidest creature in the universe- Misfire is kind of an asshole, so anything he says involving just about anything should be taken with a grain of salt- but the problem is, nobody in their right mind would incriminate themselves to the DJD if they could help it. Also, everyone knows that Tarn’s got his head way too far up his own ass to have any sort of rhyme or reason for anything he does beyond the 𝕒𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕔.

Krok leans on his career as a military strategist to come up with a few ideas, and the boys decide to fight the DJD, after so much bitching and moaning.

But the DJD… the Decepticon Justice Division… are also Decepticons. Crankcase, are you gatekeeping here, my dude? Because I don’t think this is an internet debate you’re going to win.

The fellas decide that they’ll do what they do best, and use what’s been laying around in the dust and blood for thousands of years to fight off some of the scariest folks in the galaxy. What could possibly go wrong?

Over on the Lost Light, Chromedome and Skids are having a secret rendezvous at the oil reservoir, in secret and behind Rewind’s back, as Chromedome proceeds to call Skids handsome. No, they aren’t having a secret love affair, but are instead going to mnemosurgery the shit out of Skids. Rewind doesn’t like that Chromedome is still doing this, but what Rewind doesn’t know won’t hurt him, surely. We’ll find out just why exactly Rewind isn’t a fan of Chromedome’s line of work later on, but for now it’s time to dig around in a hot guy’s brain.

Just kidding, it’s Scavenger time.

The Scavengers have set up a trap for the DJD, and that trap is Grimlock; still locked in his stasis pod, they’re pulling a “rigged box and stick with a piece of cheese inside” maneuver. Let’s see how this plays out.

Hmm. That’s not a great start.

The Peaceful Tyranny lands, Tarn transforms, comes down the gangplank, transforms, waxes poetic about the brilliance of the Decepticon copy writers, transforms, drives 15 feet, transforms, then, after clearly stating that the big stasis pod in the middle of nowhere is a trap, opens it anyway.

Never has a nut-punch been more deserved than in this exact moment.

Grimlock has a strong start, but almost immediately begins to flag, as he’s put down by Tesaurus. This is why we do warmups prior to rigorous exercise, people!

Misfire tries to sneak off while Tarn’s distracted whispering into Grimlock’s ear like one would a lover, but that doesn’t really work out.

Back over on the Lost Light, Chromedome’s having a time and a half trying to parse just what the hell’s going on with Skid’s head. All his memories from the last year aren’t lost, but rather destroyed, which is concerning to say the least, only leaving a need to escape. There’s also some nasty beast in Skid’s more distant past that Chromedome can see. However, it would seem that Skid’s brain took the out when it saw one and buried that nightmare so deep it’ll take multiple sticks of dynamite to wiggle it loose, so Chromedome’s leaving it where it is.

What this tells me is that Rung has no business referring patients to Chromedome for treatment, if this is how we’re meant to handle repressed memories. Remember back in issue #6, when Fort Max claimed he didn’t remember what happened in Garrus 9, and Rung was all “oh let me just call my guy Chromedome and have him stir your brain around like a martini”? Turns out, either that’s a terrible idea and Rung hasn’t paid attention to the work that half his coworkers on Kimia were involved with, or he was making an empty threat, which doesn’t seem like great practice for a therapist.

Pretty fucked up of you, Rung.

Anyways, Skids is less than thrilled by this, and demands Chromedome do it anyway, which Chromedome promptly refuses. He’ll play around with his own life, but not his friends’. Skids walks off in a huff, because I guess no one’s ever refused his pretty ass anything before, but asks a question before he leaves.

Well, I’m sure that won’t be a major plot point later on.

Let’s check back in with the Scavengers.

Between Tesaurus’ line here, Tarn harassing Grimlock, and Skids’ asking Chromedome why he pulled out during their secret meeting, this is probably the most sexually-charged issue of MTMTE so far.

Flywheels’ only purpose as a character was so that Roberts had a stand-in for the word “fuck” last issue. Sorry, dude, you’ve done your job. Off to the shredder with you!

No time to worry about him, Krok, because it’s time for your face mask treatment at the universe’s shittiest spa.

The worst part about this is the fact that he’s being held a full nelson by the DJD’s record-keeper, who turns into a fucking chair and doesn’t even have eyes. Oh, the indignity of it all.

Misfire tries to save Krok, but all he manages to do is prove that his nickname isn’t ironic in the slightest. Then he’s attacked by a dog.

That shadow being tossed towards the horizon in the background is Crankcase, who lands right about where Fulcrum’s been hiding this entire time, like the giant coward he is, as he watches these guys who tried to steal his organs get murdered to death. He runs off, and Crankcase plays to stereotype and gripes about the whole situation, until he notices something above him.

Then he immediately drops dead, because as it turns out Misfire wasn’t exaggerating when he said Crankcase would die if he ever even thought about smiling.

Over in Tarn’s soliloquy corner, he’s managed to stab his thumb so hard into Grimlock’s throat it’s literally bleeding, as he trash talks the Scavengers, calling them the “six biggest failures of all”. Harsh. Grimlock’s not contributing to the diatribe, probably because there’s a hole in his throat that’s about where a trach would go.

Then Tarn has a bit of a problem, as he’s stepped on by a robot that’s roughly twenty times bigger than him.

I guess Crankcase must be the sixth worst Decepticon, because he’s gotten himself hooked up with this massive Jaeger Cybernought, one of the many that are strapped to the back of the Worldsweeper they found last issue. It’s a big friggin’ ship, we can forgive the oversight.

The DJD aren’t impressed by this new toy, and almost immediately take it down. Tarn, really starting to get peeved off about not getting to what they actually came here to do, yells for Fulcrum to show himself. Fulcrum, as it turns out, has managed to climb on top of the Worldsweeper, and is at least a few hundred feet above them. Because none of the DJD can fly, they have no choice but to listen to Fulcrum’s little speech.

Fulcrum was forged at the height of the Decepticon Empire, when the rhetoric was more “space eugenics sucks” and less “murder everything while Megatron has weird sexual tension with Optimus in the background”. Of course, they were still hunting organic species to flex, so maybe things weren’t perfect… though it isn’t like Fulcrum minded that aspect. Dude’s a little space racist.

Spacist.

The way Fulcrum sees it, folks like Tarn went and fucked up a good thing by being all murderous and violent just because they could, unlike his good pals the Scavengers, who are only murderous and violent when it’s necessary. “Necessary” is a word that’s played with kind of fast and loose with them, mind you, but they seem like pretty swell guys to Fulcrum. They’re definitely better than the DJD.

With one last “fuck you” to Tarn, Fulcrum takes a running leap off the top of this astonishingly huge ship and finally reveals just why exactly K-Cons aren’t known for doing fear.

Because who the fuck has ever asked a bomb how it’s feeling?

Everyone clears the area, as he hits the ground… and nothing happens. Fulcrum is marked off the List, the Scavengers are added, and the DJD fuck off without checking that their target is actually dead so they can go find Overlord and kick his ass.

Fulcrum’s fine, by the way.

This is why we check our work, Tarn.

Fulcrum, who is, again, a bomb, is a bit curious as to what’s happened here. Turns out, prior to the boys riffling through his torso for spare parts, Spinister- master surgeon Spinister- removed the explosive charge tucked up against his robot liver. Fulcrum is amazed by this news, because it’s apparently a super hard thing to do.

Are we sure that Spinister isn’t just super nearsighted? The world’s been described as a series of vaguely hostile shapes, is he playing it safe and attacking the things he can’t figure out within a few seconds? Maybe all that hand-staring he does is to gauge how shitty his vision is on a day to day basis, and everyone just assigned him Stupid At Birth because trying to understand our friends is for losers.

Then again, we should also remember that everyone in the Scavengers is so incredibly stupid, they couldn’t figure out between the five of them that Fulcrum had been alive while it was happening. Spinister probably wasn’t gentle with that procedure since he thought he was working with a corpse; for all we know, Fulcrum’s got his sparkcase inside-out now.

Crankcase carries poor, faceless Krok over, and Fulcrum laments on the fact that Krok’s squad never turned up. Crankcase implies something ominous about Krok’s method of communication with his old squadron, then we get the skinny on Fulcrum’s whole deal.

Yes, yes, I know B’lahr 39 is a reference to Wizard of Oz actor Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion. I caught that one before I’d even checked TFWiki for interesting notes on this issue. I was a film major in college, I’m legally required to know every single bit of trivia about the Wizard of Oz. It’s the second thing they beat into you, right after watching Citizen Kane for the 87th time.

Also, how many nerds are going to be in this series? Fulcrum’s a technician, Krok’s a strategist, Spinister and 3/4 of the Lost Light are doctors in some form or fashion, Tarn’s a friggin drama kid, the list goes on.

When Fulcrum was caught, the original plan was to have him tortured and killed at Styx, a  Decepticon penal colony, when plans changed and he got reformatted along with everyone else in the joint to be a suicide bomber.

If Fulcrum seems like a bit of a generic name for a giant space robot, it’s probably because it is. Fulcrum’s original alt-mode wasn’t a bomb- in fact, I have no idea what it’s meant to be. Word of God makes the claim that he turned into a leg prior to getting K-classed, but since Combiner teams have to be made in this continuity, that’s not what he came into being as. He’s got a tiddy window like Rung- something that will be more apparent when Josh Burcham is replaced by Joana Lafluente as the primary colorist for the comic run- but that seems more indicative of having minimal armor than any sort of alt.

Anyway, there’s something in the reformat to K-Con that compels one to switch to bomb mode when you jump ship- but it didn’t happen for Fulcrum, because he was so unbelievably terrified that he might have actually defied biology.

The others have stopped listening by this point, and have joined Spinister in poking the still-prone Grimlock with a stick. Misfire, in the first show of something like empathy we’ve really gotten from him, asks the fellas to help the poor guy up.

Sure, make the guy who’s a stiff breeze away from cracking in half lift the biggest motherfucker on this planet. Sounds like a plan.

Misfire does his damnedest to communicate to Grimlock that they come in peace.

Behold, the price of nostalgia!

This isn’t exactly where we left Grimlock last time he was in an IDW publishing. The last guy to have his hands on everyone’s favorite dinobot was Simon Furman, and he was a lot more well-spoken there. It would seem that no one got out of Garrus 9 unscathed.

This development is a bit of a problem for the Scavengers, who now aren’t quite sure what to do with a infamous warrior-bastard who’s mentally regressed to the point that he’s got to think about what his own name is. To be fair, most people wouldn’t know what to do in that sort of situation. Doesn’t help that the guy who usually has the braincell is currently passed out from face-based puncture trauma.

Misfire decides that they’ll take Grimlock along with them for collateral, and everyone is so impressed by him actually planning something out, they forget to think about the logistics of housing a whole entire T-Rex.

The guys, I guess just leaving Grimlock and the unconscious Krok in the dirt, go to find what’s left of Flywheels- basically the hips down is still intact. After a few kind words, the final rites are performed.

You will be missed, Flywheels, clearly.

You never see the Autobots resorting to cannibalism like this. Maybe they’re just better at making it not look like a vulture swarm.

Many, many months later, long after the Scavengers have left the planet of Clemency, a lone figure visits what’s left of dear Flywheels- it’s the Necrobot. That’s right, the Robo-Reaper is real, and it looks like he’s been busy.

…Spoilers, Necrobot! Come on!

After the story proper, we get a Meet the ‘Cons page. Let’s take a gander, shall we?

No.

NO.

NO!

I draw the line at this motherfucking sniper rifle having a college degree. What possible scientific field of study could he possibly-

It’s ballistics. He studied ballistics, didn’t he?

You know what? Fuck this, actually. See y’all later.

…Fuck you, Vos.

[ghostphoenix-kry]

k so ur always tagging goofy shit w lilith or amelia, so like i wanna know their deal, like give me a whole info dump

My friend, I will gladly dump some of my shit on them out for you,,, these two are particular favorites along with Sol. Also I am so sorry this turned out so long and so incoherent. I couldnt figure out what all to say about them and I forgot some of the things I could say about them.

Its really long.

I'll start off with the standard Lilith for now.

Lilith is a French musician and criminal in the Cowboy Times that are Red Dead Redemption. A woman with a lot of pride and an inability to take anyone's shit.

She grew up a single child with parents that firmly believed she needed to form herself to their ideas of life. She needed to be as perfect as possible to them and to her future husband. She needed to learn to be the ideal wife or she would fail in life. For years she tried to live up to their expectations but it was never enough and it wasnt healthy at all, so she got fed up with it and left home.

Out there in the 'real world' she developed a talent for musical performance and found out the hard way that relationships are painful and sketchy at best. After falling for the charms and promises of countless pretty faces and kind smiles, the lies coated in sweet words claiming love and devotion, she realized that people lie a lot. And that there were too many pompous men that seemed to think themselves entitled to nightly affection and heart, only to take it and fuck off with it.

Granted, she understood that it was naivety on her end and a want to feel some sense of being wanted that got her there. After a while of hoping the next time would be different and having it end up just the same, she decided she was done. A coldness had begun to sink in then, a hatred and bitterness towards the idea of folks flirting with her or attempting to pull the wool over her eyes with falsified affection.

So, Lilith said fuck this noise, and decided that if those rich and disloyal men were so sure of themselves and their worth to her, that she would use it. She would lean into it while remaining distant.

She would learn to lie incredibly well.

So she did just that. She performed as always, but it wasnt about the pocket change people would give her. Now she would seek out those pompous rich bastards herself, using tactics to suggest interest and letting them decide it was an invitation. Only to leave with them at night and leave them ass up in a ditch, their wallets now marginally lighter, and their faces a bit less perfect.

She became a temptress and a thief. And she became powerful and proud. Travelling from town to town in order to escape the law, she continued her performances and acts, targeting more unfortunate men with a momentous burden being in their wallet.

This said, she isn't inherently bitter towards everyone. But she definitely composes herself with an air of undeniable authority around other people. Essentially a vibe that for the most part tells people not to try anything or they will find her hands in their face before they can catch them.

Within a few small groups, her guard is lowered and she allows herself to be more relaxed though. Letting her usage of French slip out along with her humor and need to be earning her keep and helping out. She is used to being alone, so she wants to contribute somehow to anyone she might be staying with in order to convince herself and others that she is indeed helping. Look! I am doing work! Please let me stay! Usually these are the people she grows fond of and will protect with terrifying ferocity.

She is also at times though, a little bit dumb of ass. Lilith is fluent in French and in English, but there are words still in English that she thinks she knows but does not. For instance she gets confused by the names for baby animals and is quite convinced that quite a few baby animals are just -insert animal name- + "ling" (Piglings, chickenlings, gooselings, etc) In the times her inner idiot shows, she will get very flustered and embarrassed. She feels she is supposed to be smooth and intimidating afterall. Not to mention formal.

Also while she has very much given up on recieving love from another, and is quite against the prospect of a relationship, she does still catch feelings for people on occasion. And it always kind of scares her. But an affectionate or fond Lilith is an incredibly soft one that has a lot of love to give but is a bit hesitant to give it.

Lass is also very maternal in nature, even despite being a bit pissy. She wants to protect.

TLDR; Lilith Streith is bitter French musician and thief who does not trust getting close to men, but does find that the nice ones who are respectful are really super cool and she likes them a lot.

Amelia Alexi on the other hand, is quite the opposite.

Miss Alexi is a Grade-A gunslinger and mercenary in the Cowboy Times, a very annoyed and fed up deputy in FarCry, a S.T.A.R.S. agent that's too willing to fight literally anything in Resident Evil, and overall, a professional pun-slinging dumbass with sleep and trust issues.

I'm going to go with Cowboy Times storyline and traits because it's a bit better thought out at this time.

Amelia grew up with a brother and her parents, all of which she was very close with. She was brought up in a musical family, and a family that was very keen on the idea of being kind and doing what is right. They hunted and grew a good majority of their food, but were well enough liked by the nearby town too. They were good folks that helped a lot of people.

In a series of quite unfortunate events, some of which inadvertantly brought on by herself, Amelia found herself alone, wanted by the law for murder, and riddled with guilt and wrath. Her parents having disappeared on her and her brother, only for her brother to be executed for a crime she committed.

The law failed her brother big time, the judge having said guilty with little to no evidence of her brother's involvement. And seeming how it was her crime, she is so hurt and angered by his death. Wrath builds in her rather quickly, and she takes it out on those who caused it, killing off those crooked men of the law in a fury before stealing a horse and bolting, killing off any pursuers who come too close.

Those mental wounds continue to fester and her rage ends up directed towards the law as an entirety. They are liars and snakes. And if they want to come after her now, she won't hesitate to send them back to their maker.

Despite her resolve, she finds herself faced with nightmares and visions a plenty. Nightmares that startle her awake and leave her in tears. Nightmares about her brother's death, and the death's of so many others she has and hasn't met. They are painful and terrifying to her, so she soon decides the only way to avoid them would be to avoid the medium they come across, sleep.

Thus the first of her horrible care habits begins as Amelia cuts out sleep. Avoiding it at any cost, which soon enough weighs on her and causes a bit of paranoia. Constantly fatigued and constantly on high-alert, she somehow manages to retain her gun-slinging abilities and sharp senses for the most part, but unfortunately finds that her body will forcibly shut down on her and make her black out when it decides its had enough. Usually in rather unfortunate times and places.

The back of her horse

In the middle of a field

In a chair

In a tree

In the middle of cleaning her weapons

All over the place. Not ideal, but she is a surprisingly lucky lass, and nobody goes looking for a killer and expecting her to be passed out in the middle of the road.

Anyway, back to important stuff.

Due to the reputation she gains amongst the law, she finds herself being lassoed into a rather sketchy group of people. A den of vipers, men and women with guns and knives to lend. She finds herself in a guild of mercenaries, run by one Mama Morgen. The Queen of the den.

Amelia is soon enough stuck with the den, being called out to snuff out lives in return for money as well as assurance that Mama Morgen wouldnt turn those hired weapons on her for knowing too much.

While Amelia is usually apathetic anymore, too tired and done with life to care about others and too sure to keep her distance to get close enough to care, she is still a sweet hearted little woman. A lonely one, a tired and jaded one, but a sweet one.

She has odd habits and a sense of humor, finding some amusement in shitty jokes and some peace in playing a nice music piece on her violin. Her fury is strong, but it remains directed at those who wronged her so badly in the past. People aren't inherently bad, she can get along well enough with people, as she has retained her old kindness.

When she is comfortable with someone, she too tends to grow fond and protective of them. While she is far less maternal in nature, she doesnt want her friends to feel any kind of pain or anguish. To her they are deserving of the best and only the best, so she works hard to keep them free of danger or stress. To cheer them up and make them laugh when they do find themselves stressed or hurt. Within the short leddy, there is a lot of care to provide for those that she thinks have earned it.

Amelia can also be a bit sassy and dumb of ass as well. And proves it frequently. Any possible feelings she may catch are not registered as feelings until it hits her like a brick when she realizes that cuddling and snoozing with a person on a nightly basis is not a thing most people do when they're just friends. And trying to do horse tricks and cool stunts in front of a person to impress them is not entirely normal either.

Also, she does a lot of stunts. Miss Alexi is fond of two things: The warmth of a thousand suns, and The Thrill. Has on multiple occasions jumped off of cliffs in order to land in the water below, especially when being pursued. Though she does enjoy being pursued as well, especially in a rather cruel way when it's the law pursuing her.

She is intelligent as a person, but her common sense isn't always present and she is likely to crack a joke or impulsively steal things at inopportune times. There is little impulse control.

She is alive because of luck, spite, and an uncanny ability to shoot really quickly. Nothing more.

[movienotesbyzawmer]

October 21: Friday the 13th Part 3

(previous notes: Friday the 13th Part 2)

We're on a journey, you and I; a journey through the first eight Friday the 13th movies. And now we're at the only one that I actually saw in the theater! I was 11 when this came out, and I asked my dad to take me and a friend to see it in 3D. I remember mostly being excited about all the cool older kids that were in the crowd, plus also not being at all disappointed in the overall experience of cinematic violence.

And now I'm going to see it for the first time since then… and sure enough, I have it in 3D! I wonder if on my deathbed when I'm doing a mental inventory of my lifetime of experiences, if I will realize that I saw Friday the 13th Part 3 twice, both times in 3D. Will I wish I had the 2D experience at least once? Will I wonder if my life might have been different it… okay I'll shut up and watch it now, here goes…

Oh yeah, it does kind of suck to try taking notes while wearing the 3D glasses. Good thing this is just a Friday the 13th movie.

There is a card at the very start saying that the ladies and gentlemen of the audience must wear the glasses even though it won't be 3D right away!

Same director as the second one. He went on to do pretty successful non-horror movies, as I recall. The writer and director of the first movie weren't involved in any of the sequels at all, right?

Oh, the reason the beginning isn't in 3D is because it's a rehash of the end of the last movie. I wonder if they'll make it so that that ending sucks less. That's what I would do.

It's not even edited down, it's just the whole entire end of the last movie…

…oh, except, no, there is a new shot of Jason skulking away! And now the credits have started and there is a rockin' new theme, and I actually remember kind of thinking the rockin' theme was cool.

OMG the 3D here is going to be a huge problem. It is 3D, but it's broken. You know how when you look at a 3D thing without the glasses and there's the double vision thing? It's like I'm seeing the 3D effect AND the double vision. Am I supposed to have 50s-style red/blue glasses? I don’t have those. This is terrible to look at and despite everything I've noted above I am not going to watch it in 3D after all. (I tested another 3D Blu-ray and it looked fine so this is clearly just a shitty Blu-ray product. Oh well.)

The first scene after the credits is playfully doing 3D effects at us which I now cannot experience. Woe. Woe is me.

Woman in curlers is watching the story of the last movie as a news story on TV while worrying about a lurker outside. She's a little worried but she also realizes it's time to take the laundry in from the clotheslines.

Not even sure what the setting is here. The news reporter called the murders from the last one "the worst crime in local history".

The exposition has taught us about this couple who lives on this property that is a rabbit farm and a grocery store where the husband just grazes on the food. We know there's also a lurker! But there's also a snake in a rabbit cage that has mutilated a rabbit, and that snake jumps at the camera in some sort of Three Dimensional Effect! Plus also, lurker. Ch ch ch ch ch ha ha ha ha.

Husband checks a room and is butcher-knifed shockingly! These are not camp counselors. What did they do wrong. The wife gets killed quickly afterward, but with a different weapon, an arrow or something! Variety!

Now we're on some new characters. Fun lovin' young adults! One of them is a silly prankster who is insecure about his appearance. Will that play into the story later? Oh I hope so.

They all just arrived at a friend's house to pick them up for something. But uh oh… the van is on fire, look at the smoke! They are alarmed! But ha ha ha, no, it turns out there are hippies in the back of the van smoking grass ha ha! It’s their friends that had been deliberately a secret from us until this moment.

A merry Cheech/Chong scene ensues where they think the police are on their tail so they all have to swallow the drugs! But the police just pass them and it was all for nothing ha ha.

Unlike the first two movies, this Blu-ray transfer is riddled with marks and flaws.

The next tale in this saga, this veritable Odyssey, involves an old man lying on the road, obstructing their van trip. What is wrong with him! It turns out he's crazy; he is the sequel to the crazy old man from the first two movies. He is holding an eyeball maybe, and he tells them that his handheld eyeball means he has to warn them about doom or whatever. It doesn’t look like an eyeball. I am watching this movie.

The place they are at is some kind of ranch, not even a summer camp I don't think, but Chris, who it seems like might be the main girl, is reacquainting herself with a house on the premises that is adorned with many paintings. Maybe I missed where they explained who they are and what this place is, but it seems like they're just a bunch of young people who are spending a weekend at this ranch place where Chris used to hang out or live.

Insecure Guy played a trick which resulted in the 48th fakeout of the movie so far, he makes it look like he's been hatcheted, but it was just some clownin' with gore makeup. The dialogue is very, very unnatural.

Um, an incident just occurred at the grocery store! A different grocery store from where the opening murders happened. Insecure Guy was there with a friend, and some TUFFS show up to make trouble! They bully our protagonists and make them feel bad! That ends with Insecure Guy running over their motorcycles in a heroic moment for him. His character has a complex arc!

The TUFFS broke the windshield of the car, and all the characters are oddly tolerant of that.

The TUFFS apparently tracked our heroes to the ranch and are there to get some revenge. They gotta even the score! They're going to do that by siphoning gas from that stoner van apparently. But the TUFF that is a girl decides to go exploring. And someone we can't see is watching her! Hey, what kind of movie is this anyway? She is unnaturally amused by the various props on display in the barn she's exploring. She is so pleased with her decision to go exploring.

But she hears a noise! In the barn she has trespassed into! She decides to vigilantly investigate! But a moment later we see that she noticed the rope that hangs from the side of the barn and she swings on it. She is delighted! "This feels good", she actually exclaims while just swinging a little bit on a rope. I'm not sure the writers of this movie have ever met a person.

One of the TUFFS goes after her and finds her pitchforked! Then he gets pitchforked! Then the last remaining TUFF goes in there to investigate, having executed the masterful chess move of stealing gas out of the van, and gets in a fight with an assailant whose face we can't see, but who appears to have clean, pressed slacks. The last TUFF gets clubbed real good.

Insecure Guy tries to tell a pretty girl that he likes her. She responds by saying "no. I’m going to go outside for a little while, and when I come back inside, we'll talk." That's really how that exchange went. Have you ever been in an exchange like that.

We're on Chris now, and she's finally spilling the tea about her past. It turns out she was attacked by a grotesque man with a knife in the woods near her house. Just some mysterious man with a bad face. It ended with her losing consciousness and waking up with just that story which was apparently unbelievable to her parents. Glad we got to the bottom of that. Do you think this is a true story.

The way they're showing the killer makes him less scary than in the other movies. You see it's a male adult that has clean clothes and a casual, confident gait. We can't see his head at all but what we can see is well lit. Sometimes it's a fakeout because it isn't really the killer. But sometimes it is. Like just now the stoners went to investigate a mysterious noise in the barn. They don't find anything, but we see the killer, from the chest down, seeing them. Ch ch ch ch! Ha ha ha ha!

I think we just saw the first appearance of the hockey mask! Insecure Guy played another devious jape upon the pretty girl he was hoping to woo - she's sitting on a dock and he grabs at her ankle from underwater! Wearing a hockey mask. For some reason. He had a mask earlier, but it was a different one. Maybe his identity is "mask guy". Because in a way are not we all Mask Guy.

Jason, I guess, just killed that girl with a spear gun while wearing the hockey mask! It was a 3D gimmick death. Shot her right in the eye. I think when they had their first meeting about making this movie they just said "okay, let's just make a list of some different murder weapons and send it over to Fred, he'll write it up as a screenplay."

One of the guys just got macheted! I think I do remember that from before because he was a handstand walker-arounder and he was walking on his hands when Jason came upon him and swung the machete down between his legs! It didn't actually show it, but you know how he got sliced and ow.

That guy's girlfriend was in the shower when that happened, and when she comes out, she is distracted when she comes upon a very enticing issue of Fangoria magazine. They're in a bubble, the makers of this movie.

But that scene ends with her seeing her dead boyfriend in pieces above her in the rafters, and they are very gory pieces, and then she gets bowie-knifed from under the hammock as she's laying in it! Many deaths. Oh, the many deaths.

We didn't see Insecure Guy get killed; we only assume he's dead because Jason has the hockey mask now.

Oh, I had just typed that when Insecure Guy arrives at the stoner girl's door with a slashed throat. She doesn't believe it's real because he is such a fooler. Plus also maybe because it's not a very good gore effect by any standards. Suddenly her boyfriend is getting killed somewhere else in a manner that has to do with an electrical box, it all happened so fast! Then she herself gets run through with a hot poker! Jason is being very diligent about killing each victim in a different way.

Pretty sure all that's left now is Chris and her boyfriend, who were off somewhere talking about her terrible experience with a grotesque man. They are returning now, and we will soon see them realize that they are in a world of murder! murder! murder!

The boyfriend has a very square jaw. One of the squarest, really.

The most Hitchcock-y shot so far - Chris is looking out the front door and calling out for Square Jaw… she can't see him but we can, around the corner, being muzzled by Jason just out of her view! Then she goes back inside and Jason just squishes his head with his hands! Eyeball pops out and it is 3D. Unless it isn't, which in this case is what it is(n't).

Chris is exploring the campus trying to get some answers, and the body of one of the TUFFS is suddenly dangled in front of her from like a tree branch or something. Then she goes inside and wonders what oh what will become of her, and Square Jaw's body is hurled through the window. Each movie has multiple instances of bodies getting inexplicably thrown through windows and suddenly dangling out of the sky at just the right time for it to be scary.

She comes upon Jason in the house and they tussle! She stabs him in the leg with a knife that she extracted from a body that was conveniently nearby! He pulls it out and throws it at her with Olympic-caliber precision, but she still gets away.

She runs to the van and has the keys and starts it up even! Drives away and everything! But it runs out of gas so she literally just runs back to the ranch. Like, "back to the drawing board" I guess.

I can't stress enough how odd and disappointing it is that Jason just walks and dresses like a normal man, other than the fact that above the neck he is disguised by the mask. He doesn't limp or lurch or hunch, and again, he has clothes that, while plain, are oddly presentable for someone who is some kind of supernatural homicidal forest hermit.

Here now is another thing I remember from seeing this in Actual Nineteen Eighty Two; Jason's hanging from this pulley thing where she thinks she has him killed or immobilized or something, and he be-s alive at her, and even lifts up the mask to show his grotesque face! It's so that she can realize that he's the same guy that attacked her in the woods in the story she told from several years earlier.

He's about to get her… but one of the TUFFS is not dead, and emerges to fight Jason. That ends badly for the TUFF, he gets de-handed and just beaten down badly, but meanwhile Chris axes Jason in the head.

And here is what happens the next morning to blow our minds at the end of this movie. She has gotten in a canoe to get a good night's sleep. All tuckered out, time to hit the canoe, right? Then in the morning she wakes up in the canoe and spots Jason with a big head wound from her axe, he's just looking at her through a window of the house. He's totally going to come get her. But instead of him getting her, a lady emerges from the lake and pulls her in! It's maybe Jason's mother? But she's all ghoulish so we don't really know. Seems like that's the same sweater though. But also, her head is attached to her body, whereas the movie began by very clearly reminding us that Mom's severed head is a cabin somewhere else. But anyway, just like in the first movie, the consequence of that surprise waterborne attack is that she is being cared for by paramedics a little later, all confused.

This is a bad movie! So bad! From this team I expected so much this exact thing.

(next: Friday the 13th - The Final Chapter)

[adonis-koo]

Three’s a crowd

| 12 |

Plot: (CEO AU) When your mom’s fairytale life begins to bleed over into your world you’re suddenly caught between two men and one big secret, what was suppose to be a relaxing trip soon begins to spiral out of control. All you wanted was a free vacation…

Pairing: Jungkook/Reader/Jimin, Hoseok/Reader, Taehyung/Reader, Seokjin/Reader

Genre: Smut, angst, drama, angst with a happy ending

Word count: 8.1K

Previous | Next

Warning ⚠️ This fic touches on drug use, alcoholism and abuse. Please read with caution if any of these things are triggers for you 🖤

Gnawing against your lower lip you sighed, running a hand through your hair. You got it, Hoseok didn’t want you anywhere near him, and for good reason. But if this was all really connected, you might not have a choice but to confront Jungkook.

You put up a good front but deep down you still weren’t sure if you were ready to face him after that, but what choice did you have? So much was happening, so much you didn’t understand. You didn’t want to assume the worst but, what if it was? Someone else could be killed, you could be killed. 

Closing your eyes you gave another sigh before ultimately putting your phone away, while you wished all the answers would fall at your feet you knew that wasn’t going to happen. And until then, you were just going to have to continue your life. Standing at the foot of the shotty steps to the front porch brought you back to reality.

You hadn’t seen your father all week, would he have noticed? He never did send you a text, or had he destroyed his recent phone and wasn’t able too? Dread bubbled in your stomach as you forced your feet forward, he hadn’t overdosed had he? They would’ve called you, right? Right!?

Your footsteps fluttered quickly before fumbling with your key to open the door. You weren’t sure why you were so paranoid. Most people would’ve been happy to know such a deadbeat was gone from the world, but he was your dad! Sure he wasn’t the greatest but...God now wasn’t the time for a pity party.

Swinging the door open you instantly reeled from the foul stench inside, groaning you covered your nose as you glanced around. The place was totally trashed, except the difference between your apartment and this, was it always looked like this. Just a little worse since you missed going last week. 

That and the large pile of vomit your dad laid collapse in. Setting your bag down you tried to keep down a gag as you shut the door, this place clearly needed some sort of ventilation. You had instantly made way for the windows, opening them up for some much needed cool evening air. 

After that you had begun your evening of cleaning house. Starting with the living room and the mess your father had made. You weren’t about touch him but the least you could do was get rid of the smell around him. Then there was all the trash and empty beer cans you had picked up before dusting and vacuuming. You had expected your dad to wake up through all the noise but he was out cold. He must’ve drank a lot. 

Sighing you glanced down at his figure, feeling an overwhelming amount of sadness overtake you for a moment, all you wanted was a loving family growing up. How did you end up here?

Pressing your lips together before ultimately sighing once more, making your way to the kitchen to begin your work there. Why were you even doing this? You had so much on your plate that was worth a lot more to focus on at the moment then...this.

Why were you even here? Maybe Taehyung was right, maybe he was a lost cause. All you ever tried to do was help him back on his feet, and all he did was go running back towards his life. Maybe you should just go…? You were tired from such a draining day and honestly could use what few hours you could get rather than being a personal maid.

You paused from your position with the broom as you genuinely debating on going. That’s when you heard a rustle in the living. Confused you set the broom down as you peered out to see your dad, confused as you with squinted eyes waking up. Welp there went your chance to leave. Shaking your head while crossing your arms as you finally murmured, “I leave for a week and come back to a shit show. What happened this time?”

“Fuck you, disappear for a week and now you’re coming to see me out of what? Pity?” Your dad snarled back while rubbing his head his hangover clear as day making his voice groggy and the movement of his body slow. 

Your lips curled in disgust as you crossed your arms, “I’m not a fucking kid I don’t have to let you know when I’m not coming. All you do is take my money then kick me out anyways.” You turned on your heels as you resumed sweeping up the kitchen again. Anger simmering in your veins at his words, how dare he act like he actually cared that you were gone. Maybe Taehyung was right, maybe it was time to just call it quits.

You didn’t want to be the girl with a fucked up childhood and daddy issues attached but if that’s the image you had to live in, survive with. Then that’s just what you’d have to do. You practically lived on your own your whole life anyways, you didn’t need him. You didn’t need anyone.

You had paused again, knuckles tightly holding onto the wooden handle of the broom and your jaw was clenched more than you had even realized. Maybe it was the stress from the engagement, or maybe it was the words Jimin had used against you, the ones that cut deeper than you wanted to admit. Or maybe it was because whatever Jungkook was involved in was beginning to affect you, whatever it was. You were ready to fucking snap.

“I am your father,” You took a deep sigh as you heard his voice boom from the other room, forcing your tense shoulders to relax as you rubbed your eyes, “And I like to think I have a damn good reason to ask where you disappeared to for a fucking week. No goodbye, no note, not even a simple fucking text?” 

You turned around to watch your father’s heavy steps stomp into the kitchen glowering at you, and for a moment, you realized what your mom had always meant when she said you took after your dad, that same clenched jaw and icy glare staring back at you.

Except your gaze was much more brittle than his, more dead as you decided to reply, “She’s engaged.” You watched his expression morphed into confusion slightly as you huffed, a small bitter smile tugging on your lips as you clarified, “Mom, she’s engaged. Her boyfriend took us on a trip for the week, that’s where I was.”

You watched his expression sullen just as you figured it would as he ran a hand through his hair before looking back at you with glaring daggers, “Oh so that’s the only reason you came?” He sneered out, voice firing back up in anger as he snapped, “To gloat that whore finally has a new idiot to suck dry of money?”

Setting the broom down you swallowed thickly, knuckles curling as you tried to keep yourself calm, he was purposely doing this to get a rise out of you. To give him a reason to throw you around, “Don’t come fucking crawling to me when she leaves you just like she did me.”

“Crawling to you for what?” You snarled out snapping your gaze to his, your face darkened and temper flaring, “You make it fucking sound like you actually took care of me when we both know that wasn’t the case. You were the one who wanted to know where I was, I just answered your question, I know it fucking kills you to leave me out of your problems, but can you not for once?”

“You ungrateful little bitch,” Your dad snapped out as you began to walk towards the backdoor, the air was too stiff and your blood was boiling with a thirst for blood that you knew would lead to no where but pain for yourself, he only followed you though as he continued to antagonize you, “You know if it fucking wasn’t for you I’d still have a wife, and now even she doesn’t want you. You’re so fucking worthless even-” Your father hadn’t been able to finish his sentence as you swung around, your curled fist connecting to his jaw in unbrittled anger.

The pain came swelling into your knuckles instantly and the force of the punch ripping your skin open as he was knocked back but not as nearly much as you had hoped, “What gives you the fucking right to say that to me? Huh!?” You snarled out, “I didn’t ask to be put on this goddamn planet just to drop out of school at fifteen, I didn’t fucking ask to be so desperate for goddamn money to get away from you that I work two jobs and only get three hours of sleep a day, I didn’t ask you to become some deadbeat, drug addict, shitty father okay!? I owe you jack shit. You wanna know why you lost your wife?”

You could hardly finish you sentence when your dad had stumbled over, grabbing you by the throat before slamming you against the wall, “Because you fucking drank all of our money away, you beat the shit out of her and then expected her to not do anything-”

“You shut the fuck up right now!”

“-You made my life fucking miserable,” Your voice was horse and strangled and your feet were brushing off the ground as your hands had wrapped around his wrist, “The only worthless person here is you, fuck you.” 

You were thrown to the ground making a violent throb in your ribs thrum and the blood dripping from your knuckles splattered against the ground beneath you but all you could focus on was the pair of shoes trudging towards you before lifting you up by the collar of your hoodie, “You’re right I should’ve just beat the shit out of you instead you ungrateful bitch. Get the fuck out of my house and don’t come back.” 

You could barely register the unbridling pain you felt against your face at the punch he threw your way causing you to fall back against the floor, your breaths shaky and your vision dotting as he walked out of the kitchen. You stayed on the floor with your arms supporting yourself halfway for another minute still registering the blow and the blood that dripped down your chin, the bust in your lip that had been healing reopened and you wouldn’t doubt you’d be sporting a nasty welt on your face after that.

But just as he said, you weren’t coming back. Not now, not ever. You weren’t sure what your breaking point was, or maybe it was the stress of everything, but at the moment. You were done with his shit. You forced yourself off the ground in determination despite your lightheadedness as you made your way out of the kitchen. 

Grabbing your bag by the door before walking outside, The sun was just beginning to set and the air had cooled. You could hear the almost feral dog of the neighbor snarling at you from the other side of the fenced front yard and distinctly you could hear shouting in the distant along with a car screech.

You were all too familiar with the uneasy ambiance of the rough neighborhood of your childhood. Wiping the blood from your chin as you stepped down the stairs you pulled the hoodie over your head, it usually did the trick from keeping people from bothering you.

Especially when you were dripping in blood. 

In fact, you looked like you fit in here perfectly here. Plentiful of sketchy people passed by you without so much of a bat of the eye as you shoved your hands into your pockets. Where would you go? You weren’t about to volunteer yourself to go back to Seung’s estate and your apartment was in shambles.

You supposed you could crash at Hoseok’s again, but you doubt you’d get any sleep with him ranting on how you shouldn’t be considering talking to Jungkook…Jungkook...you swallowed as you fidgeted with your phone in the pocket...You could always call him. He’d let you stay the night, right? No he wouldn’t, you told him to stay away and did you really want to spend the night at someone who murdered ruthlessly?

Your hand gripped your phone tighter before sighing, you were low on money but you could squeeze in a motel as long as you could bum lunch off of Taehyung, or was he still pissed at you for going with Jimin to dinner? You groaned as you sighed, running a hand through your hair, it was beginning to get dark out and you knew better than to stay out later than necessary if you didn’t want to find trouble.

“You’ve seen better days.”

And when one door closed, you supposed, another opened. You stopped dead in your tracks at the sight in front of you, Yoongi only leaned against the light post, cigarette in mouth as he inhaled the fumes before letting the smoke roll off his lips. 

But all you could think of was him passing the gun to Jungkook, the one he used to kill someone with. You swallowed thickly but kept your blank, if not intimidating expression, “I’ve never had a better day. What are you doing here?”

“Keeping an eye on you,” He replied casually making your expression hardened in an unasked explanation, this guy had been following you? For how long? “The kids orders, he’s been worried sick about you y’know. Looked like kicked puppy after you left the party.”

“Kicked puppy my ass! He fucking killed someone!” You shouted indignantly as you waved your arms about not giving two shits who could hear you, what was anyone gonna do in this beat up shitty neighborhood? “In fact, you helped him!’

Yoongi’s nose scrunched slightly as he flicked the butt of his cigarette, making the ash flutter to the ground as he replied, looking fairly nonpulsed by your outburst, “I didn’t do anything besides hand him the gun, he was the one who chose to shoot. It’s not the first time he’s done it and it won’t be the last, rule number one: don’t pissed Jeon off when he’s in a bad mood.”

He was acting like this wasn’t about life or death! Your lips parted in revolt as you curled away from him, “That doesn’t change the fact that he still killed someone. What the fuck are you guys involved in!? And why am I being dragged into it?”

That seemed to make Yoongi stir as he rose his brows, curious now as to how you knew that information before sighing, slumping against the pole again, “Can’t say, I just do Jungkook’s dirty work when he’s too busy, if you want answers you’re gonna have to face him...maybe not looking like that though,” He waved too your face while cringing, “You’d send him into cardiac arrest, he’s already paranoid about your safety.”

“Well this isn’t from whatever he’s paranoid about,” You huffed as you crossed your arms. Why was Yoongi talking like Jungkook actually cared about you? You knew each other for a week, you got each other off and that was that. He wasn’t actually serious about the romantic thing, was he? He was publicly engaged now, there was no way that could be the case.

And furthermore, you didn’t need his protection nor want it. In fact, you just about fucking had it with guys all around. They all sucked, no exception. 

“Yeah but that isn’t gonna make it any better,” Yoongi shrugged, finally flicking the finished cigarette to the ground before smudging it out with his shoe, leaning off the pole as he stepped closer to you, “He still won’t be happy. Come on, let’s go.”

He turned around walking towards the narrow alleyway as if you’d actually follow behind him on your own account. After a moment, he seemed to realize the problem of you not actually trusting him before turning around as he curved a brow, “What? You don’t want to be out after dark, I’m sure you’ve learned that by now. I’m not gonna strangle you in an alley or some shit, you need a place to stay, come on.”

“How the fuck do you even-” You cut yourself off, frustratedly huffing before following behind him into the sketchy, dark alleyway where few questionable people had leaned off against the walls on his phone while another was blowing smoke off his cigarette. They both gave a nod to Yoongi as if they knew him. You genuinely wouldn’t have been surprised if that was the case.

It was a quiet walk and the alley way only darkened further making it more eerie but eventually Yoongi stopped at a dead end, or what looked to be had it not had a door against the decrepit brick wall. In all honest, it looked like a crack house.

“Well don’t just stand there,” Yoongi called over his shoulder as he opened the door making you wearily follow behind.

“You don’t actually live here, right?” You murmured as you stepped into the ratty, dirty living room, or what was supposed to be one, by the looks of it.

Yoongi finally paused, turning around to face you as he hummed, “And what if I do? It’s not like I ever have time to sleep anyways, come on Minho was hoping you’d stay for at least dinner.”

You felt odd more than anything as your face contorted into a cringe but allowed him to lead you into the dining area, everything was so dirty and the old circle table couldn’t have been sanitary. 

Minho was dancing around the stove while humming to the buzz of the radio setup on a stool as he began to drain out the noodles he had been cooking, whirling around in delight to see you, “Oh good, I thought for sure you were gonna tell the cops about the whole…” He gave his hand a wave, aiming a finger gun up to his head while pulling its imaginary trigger.

You only facepalmed, your heart rate still spiked despite his playfulness as you sighed, sure the thought had crossed your mind. But who would believe you when you were literally accusing a billionaire of murder, “My word against his? I may be a street rat but I’m not a dumb one.”

Minho had plucked his beer up from the counter as he cheered it towards you before taking a long gulp, “We’re all street rats in this house don’t worry, we’re the ones who actually make it somewhere in this life- not necessarily a good somewhere but...hey it gets dinner on the table.”

He had already fixed up a bowl of what looked to be gas station ramen in bowls for you all before setting them out on the table, gesturing you to sit down.

You frowned as you watched them both relax out, you supposed they didn’t have a reason to poison you…”You know,” Minho hummed, slurping on his noodles as he gave you a cheeky smile, “That’s what I like about you Y/n, even though Yoongs already told you we won't- that we can’t hurt you, you’re still on your toes. Never trust anyone.” 

Finally you took a seat as you glanced between them, a million thoughts racing in your mind, but the smell of ramen was invading your senses and you hadn’t even ate dinner yet, finally you plucked up the chopsticks before digging in with them, “What do you mean you can’t hurt me?”

You glanced up while slurping on your noodles, Yoongi only hummed as he leaned back in his seat, obviously not as talkative as his...partner? Room mate? Coworker? You weren’t sure what they were, Minho seemed to be more of the conversationalist out of the two and honestly? You could see why, Minho had a good nature and cheekiness about him that you’d never peg as an aid in murder, but you supposed that was the idea.

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Minho answered before snorting out a laugh, “Jeon’s orders. I honestly can’t tell if he’s using you as a rebound or he just really is that whipped for you. Anyways he says jump we say how high, no questions asked.” 

You picked at your noodles as your expression hardened slightly, just what was Jungkook associated with if both Yoongi and Minho worked under him? You tried to recall your drunk conversation with him when you first met Yoongi, but his words were hazy in your head. Something about Yoongi doing dirty work? You were too drunk and too horny to bother questioning his words at the time, but having long since sobered up, it made you wonder just what did the word, dirty work mean? 

Was it really a murder you had witnessed? Had that man did something to deserve a punishment so extreme? Or was Jungkook really so temperamental to go as far as killing someone out of moodiness? You just couldn’t see someone with such a soft expression when addressing his mother, someone with a pretty bunny smile and dimple adorning his left cheek, honestly, just the idea was too difficult for you to believe. Even days after it happened, you were still reeling in denial. 

You wanted to believe there was a good reason Jungkook did it, but in the end, good reason or not, it didn’t change the fact that he still did it in the end. There was no coming back from murder, there was no washing off the blood that would forever stain his hands, was that his first kill? You doubted as much, given the cold look in his eyes when he pulled the trigger, the way his body didn’t even flinch at the sound of the gun going off, even the recoil or the body hitting the floor didn’t disturb the anger in his eyes. No, that was far from Jungkook’s first kill.

You swallowed thickly, your starved appetite sudden churned more into sickness with each passing thought of the event that had undoubtedly change your life from here on out. You didn’t want to accept it, but things weren’t going back to normal any time soon, and while you could still hope, you had little faith in reality you’d ever return back to regular life.

“Little late for him to be on a rebound,” Yoongi snorted, pushing up from his chair as he walked over to the fridge, pulling out a beer both for himself, and you assumed one for you as well, “It happened well over a year ago when they were both actually dating.”

Minho puckered his lips as he leaned back in his chair, looking as if this was something they discussed on a regular basis about their boss, his dark eyes following his friend as Yoongi sat back down, sliding the spare beer your way as Minho finally asked, “Then what do you think it is?”

“Fuck if I know,” Yoongi shrugged making Minho groan, “Probably freaking out he has to tie the knot to some prissy bitch who can’t keep her legs shut and now he’s trying to get his dick wet with every girl he can.”

Minho didn’t look sold on his words though as he glanced back over at you, taking in a big chunk of his noodles while slurping with a full mouth, “If that was the case he wouldn’t have given us the orders he did about Y/n,” he washed down his food with his beer before turning to you fully, “What do you think?”

As if you actually knew what the fuck was going on more then them, in fact, they probably had a lot more insight then you. Throwing up your hands you scoffed, “Like i’d know? Guy blew my back out for a week and now I’m suddenly an witness to murder, I almost got killed in a shoot out, Seokjin pulls out a fucking USB from my couch and tells me I need to go talk to him? You think I fucking know what’s going on?” You sputtered out animatedly as you waved your hands about, “Because I honest to god don’t.”

“Oh shit, that’s where he found that?” Minho raised his brows in surprise as he opened his mouth again, Yoongi suddenly punched his arm making him yelp as he rubbed the sore spot, shooting him a look.

“Remember orders dipshit,” Yoongi rolled his eyes before sighing, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his jean pocket before looking towards you, “If you want to know anything going on, then you bet your ass you’re gonna have to talk to Jungkook, he doesn’t want you hearing from anyone that isn’t him. I can gossip with you all night long about his love life but his work ethic? Off limits.”

You sighed again, finally cracking open the beer as you swallowed down a large gulp, the warm buzz in your throat pleasant enough to make you relax as well as you could, “I figured as much, but I guess while we’re on the topic of his love life, what the fuck is up? What’s his deal with Jae?”

Minho looked like an ecstatic child at your words as he gave you a boyish smile, his fluffy chestnut brown hair falling below his brows as he leaned forward in his seat, “Jae royally fucked up with him, that’s what’s up. They used to be really together back last year, and Jungkook was whipped for her, he would have never cheated on her, just to disclaim but things change. He ended up finding her in her penthouse with Park Jimin between her legs so…”

“What!?” You shouted out your eyebrows shot up to your forehead at Minho’s almost crazed smile, as if he had been looking forward to telling you this juicy bit as he laughed. It even elicited a small smile from Yoongi as if it really was amusing.

“Jungkook had been suspecting her cheating for a month or so when he found them together,” Yoongi clarified, “But that was just a one time fling, or at least that’s Jimin said. Anyways Jae can’t keep her legs closed for long, which I don’t care about, it’s more about the fact that she can’t keep her legs closed when she’s in a relationship-  it’s just in bad taste to bait a guy into loving you when you don’t reciprocate and add insult to injury bang every guy in a five mile radius. Anyways Jimin and Jungkook have been pretty tense ever since. I’m sure you’re involvement probably hasn’t helped it.”

You sunk into your seat while playing with your chopsticks, you hadn’t realized just what you were getting yourself into when you allowed Jungkook to stay in your dressing room that morning, nor did you realize what their story was when you voluntarily let Jimin put you over his lap in the sauna. You just wanted a good fuck, but apparently, even that was too much to ask for anymore.

“Guess I should’ve kept my legs closed too huh.” You sighed before you resumed eating, slurping up the rest of your noodles. Had you realized where this trip was going to lead you, had you know the consequences of your actions, just what it really meant getting involved with either of them, you would’ve never said yes to that trip.

Not in a million years. But maybe this all happened for a reason? You weren’t much of a believer in a great plan for life, you weren’t much of a believer in anything at this point in your life. But at this point? You weren’t opposed to going on a little bit of faith. Anything, to help you endure this situation and try to understand why and how you had become involved.

“Not your fault,” Yoongi shrugged blowing smoke from his lips as he continued, “You just wanted a good fuck, but maybe chose your one night stand a little better next time…” 

You couldn’t fault him for that, you shrugged while taking another drink from the bottle, “I just have one question, is Jimin involved too?” 

“Nope.” Yoongi hummed taking the cigarette from his lips before stubbing it out in the ashtray, “His old man has too much of a kind heart for this line of work, and while I’m sure Jimin knows something is up, and it’s probably killing him to not be in on it, they’re just one cut too low for this shit.” 

It made you feel a little better, for as much of an asshole as Jimin was, at least he hadn’t lost a part of his humanity like Jungkook had, he didn’t have that blood staining his hands. And sure he wasn’t a good person, but he wasn’t a terrible person either. For as detached as he was, he still had a sliver of innocence left that Jungkook was void of.

You sighed once more, letting the conversation between Minho and Yoongi continue as you finished your noodles, occasionally glancing at both of them before back down at your empty bowl as you fiddled with the neck of the bottle you held.

It wasn’t until a med kit was slapped on the table in front of you that you jumped, glancing up at Yoongi you had pulled his chair closer to you, making you edge away from his figure that sat down, “You’re dads a piece of shit,” He hummed out, gesturing you closer, “Now let me see, you have blood all over your face.”

You glowered at him, even flinching slightly as he pushed the hoodie down before grabbing your face for closer inspection, he wasn’t wrong. You could smell the metallic scent of blood that had been dried up on your chin from the bust in your lip resplitting open, the bruise welting on your cheek was probably swollen and given how much you had been touching your face, the blood all over your hand from your knuckle wasn’t looking too much better.

Yoongi only pulled out an alcohol wipe before brushing over the blood on your chin, his eyes were expressionless as always but focused at the same time, “How do you know this is from my dad?”

It was easy to forget your odd relation to Yoongi and how he seemed to unnervingly know so much about you. You would have pegged it as his stalking on Jungkook’s orders, but this had started up before you were witness to their murder. Yoongi had to know you from outside of Jungkook. Yoongi only hummed again, “Why don’t you use that damn brain of yours for once?”

You parted your lips in offense but he only continued cleaning up the blood from your chin before pressing the pad against the bust making you whimper in pain.

The sting burned into your lip harsh enough to force your eyes into watering as Yoongi finally lifted the wipe away, only to reach out for your hand to examine your knuckle, the skin had definitely been ripped and most of your hand by now had been covered in dried blood while your knuckle still oozed the dark red substance.

“I do use my brain thank you very much! Maybe a little too often.”

“Obviously not enough,” Yoongi replied, “Think smartass, who use to give you lollipops every time you cried when the stray cat would hiss at you.”

“Twix is not a stray cat you fiend!” You gaped in even bigger offense before it hit you like a train, your lips sudden parted and your pupils blew out as Yoongi groaned, leaning back in his seat, “Suga!? What the fuck?” Your mind could hardly reel at just who was standing in front of you, “I thought I fucking had a fever dream and just made you up out of my head! Where the fuck did you go!?”

Yoongi only straightened before sighing, grabbing a new alcohol wipe before wiping down  the dried blood from your knuckle, “Shit happens Y/n, you know that just as well as me.” 

Yoongi...or Suga, had been a childhood friend of yours. 

But you were so young at the time you had nearly forgotten of his existence, in fact, you at one point had assumed maybe you just made him up in your head in an attempt to cope with the trauma.

He lived down the street and had found you crying on the sidewalk after one particularly bad fight between your parents that had you running from the house until you ended up tripping on the sidewalk, skinning your knee in the process. Yoongi at the time, was shorter than you by a few inches and all skin and bone, his now bleached hair had been a shiny midnight black that dusted over his eyes- that at one time weren’t so dead. 

With a lollipop in mouth he had handed you a spare in his pocket, you had looked at him undoubtedly like a lost puppy while sniffling but took it with no questions asked, ‘You look like you could use it more then me’ that was all he said before continuing on his way.

You had after that become unofficial friends with him, the next time you had saw him after that was when you were sitting on the sidewalk with chalk in hand, the lollipop you had been saving plopped in your mouth when his shoes came into view.

‘Are you here to give me sugar again?’ Your words had been muffled though, the lollipop causing a huge dent in your mouth making the word sugar come out sounding like ‘Suga’, much like your short lived friendship with him, that had become his nickname which he never bothered correcting. He didn’t tell you his real name, simply going by the one you provided. 

Your friendship with Yoongi couldn’t have lasted more than a month, but those days seemed better than most, the last time you saw him was when he had been struggling to climb the stairs of your front porch covered in blood. 

You were too young at the time to ever ask why, simply crying out for your mom to come and help you get your friend into the house. He could barely walk and had large lashes going down his back, sweat made his hair cling to his forehead and his face covered in bruises and welts. 

It was quiet in the room and Minho had long since left to rest in his room, leaving the table vacant outside of your harsh stares towards one another. You swallowed thickly, unable to truly wrap your head around this new information.

You couldn’t have been older than eight when you last saw him in such a torn, beaten up state, he had stayed the night at your house until your father had come home drunk and angry, your mother, panicked had ushered you both out the backdoor and told you to not go too far and wait awhile to come back.

Things were hazy after that memory, it had been well over ten years, surely this wasn’t a coincidence. You weren’t sure what to do until you finally swallowed one last time, “Show me.” 

His pupils widening was enough of an answer, but you refused to believe it was genuinely Suga, the scrawny street kid that had helped you hunt down your once feral cat Twix, the kid who had traded lollipops for cigarettes, the kid who had brightened your dull, dark days even if it was just by making you smile from a candy bar.

You felt a whirlwind of emotions inside you, half you didn’t even understand yourself while the other part of you was null and void, while Suga was a short but sweet memory, it had also been years, years of cold reality that turned you from an innocent child to a cold adult, and clearly he had been through the same. 

“You already know it’s me.” Yoongi’s glare cut out as he finally pressed down, maybe a little harsher than necessary on the open wounds of your knuckle making you choke out a whine in pain which caused him to ease is initial force.

You ripped your hand away from him though, your face as easily harsh as his as you snapped out, “I don’t fucking care show me! You can’t fucking tell me this is a coincidence that my lost childhood friend suddenly pops back into my life when all of this shit is going down- where did you go? Why didn’t you tell me when you saw me? Why did you ignore my question when I asked at the bar if we knew each other!? So yes! Sue me for wanting real fucking proof. Show. Me.” 

Yoongi glowered as he snapped back, “You’re such a fucking impatient brat you know that Y/n?” But he didn’t argue further like you anticipated he only turned away with his back facing you as he let the jacket drop from his shoulders before pulling the white shirt from over his head. 

He had hunched down dark and brooding, his athletic build was lean but muscle was still taunt beneath it’s skin. 

It wasn’t his lilith muscles that had been undoubtedly used over the years that your eyes had focused on though. Your lips had quivered before parting at the lash marks scarring his back. When you were a kid, you assumed he must’ve thrown a cat over his shoulders. But your innocence had yet to been plucked from you back then unlike now.

Those weren’t cat scratches, they were whip marks. 

Plenty of emotions had bubbled in your chest, fewer making their way inaudibly up to your throat leaving your parted lips soundless as you lifted a shaky hand. You could both feel and see him flinch under your gentle feathery brush over the lashes, some had faded, the more bloody ones you remembered had stayed seared into his skin, a permanent reminder of whatever he endured.

“Are you…?” Yoongi suddenly turned, surprise in his voice at the shaky sniffle that had erupted from your voice. Your face was an even sadder sight at the tremble of your lips and tears leaking from your watery eyes. You eyes held remorse but anger, long rooted bitterness ran through your veins.

“I fucking hate this world.” It was all you could manage out, your face twisting into righteous anger but the tears didn’t stop flowing down your face. You hated that people cruel enough existed to do this to him, you hated that people like your father existed, wallowing in nothing but their own misery, too blinded to see the damage they caused everyone else, the same people they birthed and swore to protect.

Maybe you were at a turning point in your life, you weren’t sure. But all you felt was anger and yet still, your vision was blurred. You were so angry you were crying, who in their right mind would whip a child? Beat an already broken woman? You had so many emotions running through your entire body, there was an immense pressure in your chest and your head was beginning to hurt at so many taxing emotions coursing through you.

You wholehearted hated this world.

Yoongi sighed, pulling his shirt back over his head to cover the taint of this world covering his skin, the turning point that undoubtedly changed his life. You never saw him again after that day, not until you were drunk with a billionaire while he stalked the alleyways with dead eyes.

Turning to face you his lips twitched, the expressionless face had for a second, almost cracked at the sight of the anger radiating from you, and yet all you could do was cry.

And out of everything Yoongi could’ve done, he did the least expected thing and wrapped an arm around you pulling you close, “I know.” 

Groaning you emitted a sigh, well aware of the store clerk giving you the side eye at your run down drained appearance, both of the cashiers had made small talk which only fizzled into background noise as you scanned over the well stocked energy drink section. You felt like garbage, your body felt like garbage and you were near brain dead emotionally speaking.

Times like these called for appropriate measures, your mind needed the buzz of caffeine and the rush of the overly sweetened drink. If you could have it your way you’d easily eat another pack of ramen to go with it.

But right now you had a little over fifteen minutes before your shift at the psych ward would start, this drink- a Fruit Punch Rockstar, would hopefully pull you through the next grueling six hours of your shift. 

Yawning you paid for your drink before walking down to the hospital’s mental institute wing before finally clocking in, the sweet punch flavor of your drink already putting some life back into your body as you stretched out grabbing your jumpsuit from the closet of the breakroom. 

You certainly had a lot on your mind too say the least but what else could you do except just go with it? It seemed like that was all you could do anymore.

Hoseok had clocked in not too long after you and thus your night of work began with your regular routine of clearing out the rooms, luckily bathroom rotation wasn’t on you and Hoseok this week, granted getting stuck with the third floor, wasn’t that much better, but...okay you were wrong it was worse when the patients had an...accident, and then proceeded to smear it all over the walls.

You were practically gagging with a cough as you snapped on the sanitary gloves and medical mask to help with the stench, this was such a thankless job. Meanwhile you had confided in Hoseok about your revelation with Yoongi as he continued scrubbing down the wall, “So you actually know this guy?”

“Briefly…” You sighed, dipping the mop back in the bucket- Hoseok told you it was overkill and unnecessary for the wall but you downright refused to get as close as him, your stomach may not have been weak but you still wanted to keep the ramen you had ate hours before down, “Feels like a lifetime ago, I mean we were kids back then...I don’t really know how to feel anymore, my life’s become such a shit show I guess I should’ve anticipated something like this happening…”

Hoseok only shook his head, the dark brown hair brushing just at his eyebrows shaking as he hummed in thought, “Well it’s unexpected i’ll say that much. But maybe he can shed light on what’s going on.”

“Already tried, him and the other guy are working under Jungkook- who...I guess gave them orders to protect me…? Or something like that, I don’t know. Anyways Yoongi told me Jungkook wants me to hear everything from him so….” You shrugged before going back to wiping up the wall, most of the feces had been cleaned and you and Hoseok had opened up the windows in the room to get some ventilation going, even the smell wasn’t as strong anymore.

“I still don’t like it,” Hoseok frowned, typical of him to keep his standing view but you knew it only came from rationality, he just didn’t want you to get hurt, both by the unknown which you were faced with or by the men you had become invested in without realizing it, “But you’re gonna ignore me anyways, aren’t you?”

You finally set down the mop back down in the cart as Hoseok finished up tidying the room, plucking your drink from the cart as you gave it a long chug, “While I wish I could just ignore this and let it disappear off the face of the planet, you and I both know I can’t. This seems serious, and you are right, this is beyond us but that’s the point. If I really am somehow tangled up in this, I have to do something.”

Hoseok finally sighed in defeat, both know you wouldn't listen, and that ultimately you were right, you had to at least know what was going on at this point. And all of your questions pointed to Jungkook, “Just be careful,” you both exited the room while pushing the cart, you had just finished your last stretch of the third floor and only had to clean the first before you’d call it a day. Heading towards the elevator Hoseok continued, “So when do you plan on talking to him?”

You shrugged as you gave it some thought, the idea had been plaguing the back of your mind, that was the real question, you had already told yourself this was what you were doing. But actually doing it, actually facing Jungkook after what had taken place, it wouldn’t be easy. 

“I don’t know, I still feel like I need time to process everything, but I don’t really know if I can afford to do that. Seokjin made it feel imperative that I talk to him as soon as possible...I just don’t know if I can face him yet…”

You sighed while pinching the bridge of your nose. You could just imagine those large doe eyes pleading at you, acting as if he hadn’t killed someone, as if he hadn’t killed many. You weren’t sure you could face that yet, you genuinely weren’t sure if you could face that moral dilemma of whether to forgive him or not. 

Hoseok sent a look of sympathy your way as he gave your shoulder a squeeze, “I’m sure you’ll know when the time is right.” The doors slid open to the first floor as you both walked out. Sighing you nodded silently as you plucked your can up, drinking the last of its contents as Hoseok knocked on the first door only to find it was still in use. The first floor was the most active and was going to be the hardest to clean with everyone constantly using the rooms, it was a pain in the ass but it was at the very least, doable.

You both continued your journey for a vacant room until you paused at the sound of a voice, that voice, “I don’t care what it takes, keep his room on high profile until we get him to speak, nobody goes in, nobody goes out, clear?” 

The half empty Rockstar in your hand was almost crushed by your grip as your eyes met with Jungkook, who for whatever god forsaken reason he was here, just ended his short, snippy phone call. Whatever irritation he held on his face had melted away though, at the sight of you. 

You both stood there for a little over five seconds, as if just as shocked to see the other before he quickly reacted as his eyes honed in on your rough appearance, “Y/n.”

“Oh my god.” You sighed, turning to face away from him as you ran a hand through your hair, what had you done in this life to deserve this treatment? All you wanted was just a few more days to come to terms with what had happened? Why couldn’t you be granted, at least that?

“Y/n please, I know you don’t want to see me but can we just talk for a moment?” Jungkook’s voice called out quickly coming closer and just as you anticipated his tone was near pleading.

Why did you have to run into him here? Of all places? What was he even doing here? He had no business in a psych ward. 

“She doesn’t wanna see you, buddy.” Hoseok had practically jumped to your defense making you turn back around to see him standing in front of Jungkook, close to the same height but that didn’t make Jungkook’s cold icy glare any less daunting.

“Stay out of this,” Jungkook’s voice came out commanding sending a chill down your spine, his tone was so foreign and demanding as he continued with a bite, “And let me see her.”

Hoseok’s glare, wasn’t all too pleasant either as he almost growled at such a pompous kid really getting you involved in his messy shit. Before your friend could retort anything he’d later regret you sighed grabbing his arm.

“Hoseok, it’s fine.” You frowned, as he sent a glare also your way, one more in warning for you to not push yourself into doing this. But what choice did you have? He was here right now, he wanted to talk, and who knew? Maybe this would be your only chance at getting him to just tell you the truth.

He huffed but stepped aside, “Don’t be too long.” 

And with one last withering glare towards Jungkook, who gladly returned it he went back to the cart. And there alone you stood in front of the tall figure of one of the world’s youngest billionaires and murderer, Jeon Jungkook.

Note: Hey loves! It’s so good to be back and thank you guys for being so patient with me! I just wanted to let you guys know that I will be posting again I just won’t be sticking to a rigid schedule so expect an update once every other week ish? Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed! Lots revealed this chapter....

Taglist: @sapphireprinces5 @jazzytfw @theslumberingcat @mrsfandomz @cainami @nininek12 @loveherpersona @expensive-bangtan-girl @yoongnysus @sugajinny @peachy-bhun @brokencrownqueen

(Let me know if you’d like to be added!)

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy chapter 210: holy shit, this is a chapter that we’ve all been dying for.

Ah yes, chapter 210, you are already a chapter that I’m completely in love with and it shows many of Noda’s strengths as an artist and a storyteller.

The chapter is called “sweet lies” and this is clearly a reference to what Tsurumi has told many people but the focus is on Koito and Tsukishima in particular.  The title page makes it very clear that Koito will be a major focus of this chapter.  I have been waiting for these events ever since Ogata called Koito a bon-bon in Russian and kicked him in the face before escaping.

Koito’s right hand holds his photo of Tsurumi and Tsukishima that he had acquired from Tsukishima back in chapter 101. 

Recall that he was upset that Shiraishi had escaped and he had also encountered Ogata on the airship who helped in the escape.  Tsukishima is in part trying to get Koito to calm down by giving him this very photo.

Looking back at this panel for the first time in awhile, it shows that Koito has a little light in his eyes and he wishes he were born earlier to serve at Tsurumi’s side in the war.  Koito immediately has a pre-cut photo of his own head that he wants to glue on over Tsukishima’s and he tells him to make him some rice glue.

Tsukishima says, no, but based on the title page for 210 he definitely found some glue somehow.

When they were heading to Abashiri, recall that Koito had more doctored photos including this one here:

At some point, he got another photo with Tsurumi in it as well as other commanding officers and he added his own head to all of the men in the photo, longing to have had a chance to serve with Tsurumi.  Koito pre-photoshop - he was pretty dedicated to making his photo collages! 

Now, also recall that this photo has been used for the cover of chapter 147 - Igogusa, where Tsukishima’s backstory and loyalty to Tsurumi was solidified.

Really, all of this is indicating that Tsukishima and Koito are tied to Tsurumi and this photo shows how closely they are tied.  I’ll come back to this in a bit.  Like some of the other dense and intense chapters, I’m going to jump to the part between Asirpa and Sugimoto, that creates a pause and adds to the tension between Koito and Tsukishima.

The quick and dirty about Sugimoto and Asirpa’s separate paths:

The chapter continues to keep us in the dark about the end of Sugimoto and Asirpa’s conversation after the movies.  It is now the night before Tsurumi will arrive in Odomari.  Asirpa reminds us that she’s never actually met Tsurumi, she only knows about him through her interactions with everyone else.  This really does two things for me as a reader - it seems to speak to unresolved issues between the two and she’s musing what type of man Tsurumi is.  Hasn’t she gotten enough information to in part figure this out from what others have said and done?  I’m a little surprised by this statement, she saw what Tsurumi did to Sugimoto’s face with those dango skewers.

Either way, just like before her encounter with Wilk at Abashiri she’s expressing her concerns about what will happen.  She wants to know what Sugimoto will do in the gold hunt?  What will Tsurumi do with the gold?  Most importantly, what will happen to the Ainu, her community in all of this.  Sadly, Sugimoto can’t see the forest through the trees.  His current vision on all of this is “Asirpa vision”.  As long as Asirpa is removed from the hunt for the gold, it will be alright - she’ll be clean and she can go back home to Huci.  As the lovely Merdopseudo has written, Sugimoto is back to his usual habit of “Sugisplaining”, that Asirpa doesn’t need to think about things.  Just be good, give up the code and walk away from the gold, the Ainu and just go back home, safe, clean and pure.  Kiro told Ogata that Asirpa’s time on Karafuto was to mature her - and it has.  I still miss Kiro’s character greatly but he really helped Asirpa see the bigger picture than just her kotan in Hokkaido.

These entire two pages almost fade to the background compared to the rest of the chapter.  Their relationship dynamic has changed.  Both are holding back now thinking about their own concerns and their goals which have shifted or the fact that Asirpa is gaining a new and different goal.  Her new focus is scary for Sugimoto.  I don’t think they are being as honest to each other as they should be.  They aren’t good at conflict - both are dancing around the major issues involved in this entire gold hunt. 

In a way, I like how fucking awkward these two pages are - it really highlights that their reunion wasn’t what either of them expected it to be and that they are currently on different paths.  I love this tension - I’m waiting for it to explode.

Now onto the meat of the chapter.

Koito has put the pieces together and his world view is shattering:

The chapter has a lovely two page spread of the harbor at Odomari as Koito asks Tsukishima a question before Tsurumi’s arrival.  We first see Koito looking at his photo of Tsurumi and Tsukishima that his face has slid off of.  Koito’s brow is very furrowed and he’s really intense looking.  I love how the picture of a steamship is followed by his face shaded and more focus in his eyes.  Tsukishima makes a comment that Koito isn’t at excited and cheerful as he would normally be about Tsurumi’s arrival.  Remember that Koito was in tears as they left for Karafuto as he longingly looked at his Tsurumi bromide!

As Koito speaks to Tsukishima not looking at him, he tells him that Ogata told him something at the hospital in Akou before he escaped.  He first mentions the Russian term for bon-bon.  Tsukishima’s eyes narrow a bit before he continues on.  He goes on to tell him that Ogata (with his face completely shaded in black) tells him that “the next time he meets Lt. Tsurumi . . .”  and then he turns to him and looks at him directly (please get some chapstick Ogata!) to “ask him about the Manchurian railway.”

Tsukshima’s reaction is both one of surprise (as indicated by the light burst) and also one of annoyance and stress.  Tsukishima has stress lines under his eyes, his cap covers part of his eyes and his face is shaded as he’s only able to reply with “. . . .”

Koito then begins to describe the Manchuria Railway as a concession from the Treaty of Portsmouth, meaning it went from Russian control to Japanese control.  This then solidified the Japanese presence in Manchuria under the guise of the expansion of the influence of Imperial Japan and its increasingly aggressive colonial role in the region.

If you have any knowledge of the history of this in the region leading up to the second world war than this doesn’t come as a surprise to you as a reader per se.  The important part is what Koito then adds in.

Koito has additional information due to his background; he knows that one member of the army was quite vocal about the whole Manchuria Railway, Hanazawa.  He is still a shitty father in my mind, but hey, it looks like as a member of the military and Satsuma elite he did think about things from a strategic perspective.  Therefore, Hanazawa was the lone critic about the whole railway situation.

Koito then goes on further to explain that b/c his father was friends with Hanazawa, he also knew about the controversy surrounding the railway and that Koito heard about it in his household.  Koito also knows that Tsurumi connects the bodies of their comrades from the Russo-Japanese war will be at rest on Japanese soil and that it should include Manchuria.  This was mentioned in the flashback that Tsurumi and Tsukishima had in chapter 150 when both were wounded at Mukden.

Tsukishima still doesn’t have a response to Koito’s inquiries as he continues to connect Tsurumi’s goals with what happened with Hanazawa’s death.  Tsukishima’s eyes are barely visible, his eyes are almost completely obscured by his cap and its shadow.  This does NOT LOOK GOOD AT ALL. This looks very concerning and that Tsukishima is thinking about likely bad things.  Koito continues forward and very emotionally asks Tsukishima is there is a direct connection between Hanazawa’s death and Tsurumi.

By the time he’s blurted it out, Koito is nervously sweating, his hair is a bit loose and his stress lines under his eyes are intense.  He’s almost pleading with Tsukishima for him to not confirm what he’s thinking.  Tsukishima looks anything but pleased, his face is deadpan and his eyes are pretty much obscured completely and his face is half shaded.

Koito still doesn’t get an answer from Tsukishima,  so he becomes even more emotional, still sweating and gesturing with his left hand for emphasis.  He throws out the theory that Ogata wasn’t happy with the fact that central put the blame on the 7th and Hanazawa which resulted in his suicide, so he joined with Tsurumi’s plan for the coup.  But since Hanazawa was in the way of the Manchurian Railway, Tsurumi had him eliminated and Ogata found out and defected against him.  The then asks why Ogata would tell him that and we still can’t see Tsukishima’s facial expression well!

When Tsukishima finally looks up and replies to Koito his looks are so robotic.  His eyes seem cold and even though he’s got stress lines his face is deadpan.  He replies that Ogata will say anything to foil their plans and then he turns the conversation around to ask him why he trusts Ogata’s words now.  Koito was ready to shoot the wildcat to kill previously - this is a 180 for Koito’s opinion on Ogata for sure.

With great emotion and intensity Koito then says “Barchonok” the Russian term for bon-bon.  He flat out states that Ogata was one of the kidnappers at Hakodate.  He knows it.  Koito is correct and on the money - he’s not backing down and he needs answers now.

The chapter then transitions to the two pages with Sugimoto and Asirpa to build the tension between them.  Technically they don’t even get a full 2 pages as Koito and Tsukishima are on the bottom here:

Koito looks shocked when Tsukishima deadpan asks what is clearly a rhetorical question. That the bodies were Russian.  Koito was there - he’d know what he saw right?  Eh? Eeeeehhhh? Koito looks so shocked at his reply - this can’t be Tsukishima’s answer to him?  He knows Tsukishima!

He then asks Tsukishima to confirm that he was one of the masked kidnappers too!  Koito is at his limit of patience.  He’s so many emotions at once; upset, hurt, confused, sad, angry . . . a man whom he has trusted hurt him in the past all for Tsurumi’s own personal gain.

Tsukishima’s reply is still dead pan though now he’s lifted his hands in defense of Koito’s aggressive questioning.  He falls back on the idea that Koito, is falling prey to Ogata’s manipulations, while Koito recognizes that Tsurumi made sure he and his father are in debt to Tsurumi.  I love the fact that Koito sees that he and father were set up to be used by Tsurumi and so were Hanazawa and Ogata.

With Tsukishima’s reply that it is delusional, Koito forges ahead in his accusations of Tsurumi’s manipulations. Koito then realizes, he’s getting no where with Tsukishima and he’ll just make sure he and his father ask Tsurumi directly.  I love this facial expression from Koito!  He looks so determined as he’s physically turned away from Tsukishima in a sense giving up on him and moving forward on his own.

Finally, Tsukishima strikes back stopping Koito dead in his tracks. With an absolutely creepy facial expression, not even looking at Koito directly he asks about the fact that the two of them were saved during the kidnapping.  This is such a loaded statement, since it implies that there was a possibility where they weren’t saved!

Yes, if Koito and his father didn’t play along to Tsurumi’s tune during the kidnapping, well it implies that the 27th didn’t need to spare them.  They could have killed Koito and his father during the process!

This stops Koito.  He turns back to Tsukishima with a very uncomfortable “what?” . . . that his brain is trying to process exactly what Tsukishima just said.

Tsukishima then goes on to state that he didn’t realize that Ogata knew of the connection between Hanazawa and the railway.  He thought Ogata’s goal has always been to expose Tsurumi and turn him over to Central Command.  This is a reference all the way back to his shoot out with Ogata in Yubari here.

This confirms that what Tsukishima told Ogata was his own personal theory behind Ogata’s motivations.  I was always curious about it, since I had always though this was something that Tsukishima thought, but I was never sure if this was something Tsurumi told Tsukishima or something that Tsukishima came up with.  With the way that Tsukishima describes it to Koito, I will read that this is a Tsukishima theory - not one from Tsurumi.  I think this makes sense, Tsukishima worked with Ogata long enough that he thought he had a decent read on him - but as we’ve come to expect - most characters never have a good read on him - they still place their own ideas on him to explain his actions.

This continues with his statement that he can’t figure out what Ogata was unhappy with - that Tsurumi gave him the opportunity to kill his father wasn’t enough to please him?

Koito looks like he’s in a state of shock as he asks for confirmation that Ogata killed Hanazawa as a part of Tsurumi’s plans.  His face is covered in sweat drops, his face is shaded he doesn’t really know what to say or do. . . . When Koito was first introduced, he wanted to know why Ogata would betray Tsurumi with his father’s death under the pressure of central command.

Tsukishima doesn’t even stop to confirm or deny this, he just keeps talking deadpan in expression.  He simply states that he was tricked as well and by a very elaborate ruse.  Tsukishima is just short of saying that Tsurumi must have manipulated Ogata into killing Hanazawa or making him believe that this is something that he would want to do . . . .  He can’t outright say that Tsurumi manipulated Ogata to do the actions he’s done - instead, he goes on to state that he was deceived as well.

This seems to indicate that there must have been something between Ogata and Tsukishima - he’s done many terrible things for Tsurumi, but he’s still almost judging Ogata actions as different than his. 

Anyways, back to Tsukishima’s poor explanation for Koito - he leaves out a lot of information that we will remember from chapter 149-150 and instead jumps into state that he met another man from Niigata, Sado in particular in the field hospital during the battle of Mukden, when he angrily then approached Tsurumi but still protected him when they both were injured.  Only much later did Tsukishima realize that there was no way for him to bump into a member of the 2nd, the division that he and Tsurumi were in during the Sino-Japanese war.

Therefore, that man was a plant by Tsurumi to test his loyalty to Tsurumi and his future plans to go after the Ainu gold.  Tsukishima freely expresses to Koito that Tsurumi molded him into the perfect right hand man for him.  He went to a great length to shape Tsukishima and that Tsukishima would do whatever he asked.

The scariest part is how Tsukishima has accepted this.  And it all makes sense how despite working hard and being a dependable individual, that he never seemed to break away from Tsurumi’s influence on Karafuto.

This entire panel haunts me. Tsukishima is stating that he sees no value in his own life.  He’s accepted the fact that he is totally fine with what Tsurumi has done to him.  He won’t even bother getting upset in the first place b/c his life has had little value to begin with.  Therefore, he will follow Tsurumi’s plans to help the 7th.

Most importantly, when a completely wrecked Koito is finally able to ask him if that is all of Tsurumi’s goals - Tsukishima can’t look him in the eyes to reply.  Just that Tsurumi’s specialty is “saving people with “sweet lies”.” and that he has no idea with his final goal is. 

This implies that Tsukishima sees himself as “saved” by Tsurumi and therefore he owes him for his life.  If the reader still takes Tsukishima’s Igogusa flashback at face value and he killed his father and it was of Tsukishima’s own free will that it happened - it returns to the idea that Tsukishima sees himself as a dead man walking and that he’s using his borrowed time to serve Tsurumi. 

I can’t help (along with many other readers) wonder if Tsurumi manipulated Tsukishima into attacking his father so that he could “rescue” him from prison and created loyalty by killing his father.  I mean it is clear that is the method he used with Ogata in 103.

Koito tries to get an answer from Tsukishima on why he’d continue along with this, but Tsukishima simply states it is better to align oneself with an individual with grandiose plans.  In the most detached way possible with a blank face, he states his true desire is to watch Tsurumi’s manipulations all the way to the end.  He seals his fate of going down with Tsurumi like the loyal right hand man that he was molded to become.  Free will isn’t a Tsukishima thing.

He then finally states that Koito must keep all of this information to himself as Koito is sweating, breathing heavily and literally on the verge of a panic attack as he warns him that Tsurumi will kill him and that Tsukishima will be the one to do it.

And keep in mind.  Despite how respectable Tsukishima may look, he’s the man who shot Captain Wada in the head at point blank range!  Wada commands Tsukishima to fire at will, to which he replies yes and shoots Wada instead of Tsurumi.

Tsurumi then mentions Manchuria to the rest of the men of the 27th present when this happens.

Okay, back to the current chapter.

It zooms out to Koito leaning forward, panting as his knees are beginning to give out.  To me it looks like he’s about to have a full blown panic attack.  Readers are used to Koito as being overly dramatic, and he drops to his knees declaring that Tsurumi is amazing.  His fingers are contorted and he looks stiff when he’s on his knees as his eyes almost roll up into his head.

He’s sweating and blushing all over his nose and face, something that we haven’t seen on him before.  He can’t help but scream out that he’s pleased that Tsurumi wanted him to join him so badly.

He does his usual overly dramatic prostration but then spins on the dirt as he declares how impressed he is as being a part of Tsurumi’s plans.

Tsukishima just watches him from afar as this happens. 

Thankfully, Sei Kobiyama on twitter was able to point out a key point during this scene.  Usually, when Koito had a meltdown, he would end up expressing himself in his local Satsuma accent - thus making his screams unclear to the reader and those around him. 

This time, when Koito becomes distraught, his understandable accent is maintained, as mentioned here:

This is a linguistic change that Koito no longer sees Tsurumi as his saviour and someone to look up to - instead, he’s a man who will go to great lengths to get men to serve him loyally. 

The chapter then ends with Tsurumi and the 27th arriving in Karafuto.  Both Usami and Warrant Officer Kikuta are with him.  Usami’s face is obscured so we can’t see his eyes and he’s likely pleased while Kikuta looks a bit sad. He’s likely torn between the recent events in Noboribetsu with Ariko and serving Tsurumi.

This was one hell of a chapter!

What are the major take home points from this:

Koito’s innocence is lost.

With Ogata’s hints, Koito has realized how much of his life has been influenced and manipulated by Tsurumi.  Encountering Tsurumi in Kagoshima when he ws visiting his brother’s grave.  Spllling out his feelings to Tsurumi a nice and pleasant man in 1900.  How the entire kidnapping was to make sure Koito and his father would fall into line with Tsurumi.  He gained access to the navy (necessary for defending Hokkaido from the main island in the event of a coup) and also gained a talented but unwavering subordinate in Koito. 

Koito was raised to be an ideal 2nd lt. for Tsurumi - much better than the very annoying and rule following Yuusaku.  With how elaborate Tsurumi’s scheme was to get Koito to worship him, it makes it even more clear that Yuusaku would have be the largest impediment to Tsurumi’s goals with the 27th.  In this chapter, Koito tells Tsukishima that he’ll call Tsurumi out in front of his father - I am not 100% certain that Yuusaku would have done the same thing - we know he was a rule follower to the end and I wonder if Yuusaku may have said something to a similar effect.  Or the idea that Yuusaku if left alive would also run to his father to expose Tsurumi’s plans.  Whatever the background with Yuusaku - it was clear that he was a non-manipulable individual.

Some people may have thought he faked things or was spazzing out at the end of the chapter - I read it that he’s in part now aware of what he should say but at the same time his own viewpoint is so shattered that it comes out as a bizarre mix of drama, comedy and horror.  The best way I can approach it is from personal experience.  Where something happens and you just don’t know how to react so in part you are almost laughing but crying at the same time but you are a total mess of emotions and it becomes overwhelming.

If we stop and think about it - Koito was manipulated since he was 14!  14!  This is horrible and he’s digesting this in his early 20s now.  Not like this woudln’t upset him at all?  Furthermore, this is all from Tsukishima, a man who he looked up to and felt like he knew and trusted.  Sure, Koito could be rude with him, but this is the man who carried him to a dog sled, who placed him on the sled gently and protected him from Kiro’s explosives.  All of Tsukishima’s actions benefited and protected Koito.  To have that same person threaten to kill you.  Well, that would be a total emotional mindfuck.

This is setting up an interesting dyanmic between Ogata and Koito.  With the flaskback to the kidnapping, it was Ogata who patted Koito on the back while Tsukishima held back.  Ogata didn’t need to be nice to him but he was.  Both men were ignored by their fathers for a “favored” brother.  Once was legitimate despite being younger while the other was older and was supposed to carry on the family honor.  At one point in time, Koito and Ogata were not seen as useful by their fathers.  Tsurumi’s actions got Koito’s father to notice him, while nothing Tsurumi did, could get Ogata’s father to notice him.

I am comfortable enough to throw out the idea that Ogata is acting like an older brother to Koito.  Not an amazingly great older brother, but at least as one who is giving him enough information to see what is happening and maybe change things. Koito’s older brother was kind and had very pale skin tone as shown here from young Koito vision.

We see a sparkle of light in his older brother and the old idea is that he was a very good older brother to Koito.

Ogata is canonically referred to as being usually pale - most obviously here by Shiraishi.

Ogata does not like involving innocent individuals in schemes - when Koito was younger he was still innocent - enough that kidnapper Ogata would be kind to him.

You could try to write this off as Ogata being an agent of chaos - but agents of chaos don’t have a soft spot for innocents.  We know that Ogata has a whole hang up on innocence and purity in the context of those who commit atrocities and who can wipe their hands clean of them.  But, since Koito is a military man who has dirtied his hands, he’s already someone that Ogata can relate to much better than Yuusaku. 

The bonus of this, is that Ogata can deal a blow to Tsurumi’s plans by releasing Koito from his control.  Ogata in addition to his obsession with finding a blessed path, is one of exercising free will.  This may explain why he was upset at Wilk’s role to set Asirpa up as an idol for the Ainu - she does not have her own free will to decide and she was too similar to Yuusaku. 

Thankfully, their showdown in the ice floe really helped to shift some of her thinking in addition to Kiro’s death.

Can the tiger’s curse be Koito having to face his own actions and choose a free will in the 27th?  Realizing that he is tied to the lynx, Ogata and that the two men have much more in common than Koito already knows in regards to their fathers’ friendship?  I think Ogata even respects the fact that Koito is an intelligent man, just that he didn’t apply himself.  He was able to easily catch up to his peers to pass the military exams so Ogata was likely banking on his intelligence to connect the few bits of information that he left Koito with before escaping.  I personally really want Koito to break away from Tsurumi and team up with Ogata.  I think Ogata is working with the partisans and if Ogata re-appears, Sofia will be with him and Koito can talk to Sofia (still banking on both of them bonding by talking in French).

Is there any “hope” for Tsukishima?

Oh man.  This is a hard summary for me here - I love Tsukishima.  When the action moved to Karafuto, I really fell in love with his character more.  I have a meta about how upstanding and respectful he is as a character to others.  He did what was expected of him, made sure Svetlana told her parents what happened, helped up a Russian guy he knocked down in the stenka and kept having all of these “soft” nice guy moments. 

But what began to worry me was his lack of doubt at things.  Koito seemed to be more open to questioning what was happening.  He told himself to shoot a thieving cat on sight - that he had to tell himself facts about Ogata to make sure he’d capture and kill him.  Meanwhile, Tsukishima remained silent. He relayed facts to Sugimoto about the wildcat nickname but he never said anything to get Sugimoto more riled up or less upset by Ogata.  He just did what was required of him. 

He only became pushy once they reached Toyohara where they were to wait until meeting up with Tsurumi in Odomari (next chapter?).  It is almost as though Tsukishima is a example of the trope that one should be worried about the “normal” ones.   He has done his job always with benefiting Tsurumi in the end.  He’ll now follow him to the end even if it means he dies alongside with him.

Noda called him the conscience of the 7th back when he made the character guides at the beginning of the tankobans.  I am beginning to wonder if his conscience is more of the fact that Tsukishima will express a moral doubt or concern only to still follow orders?

I can’t help but look at these eyes here, here he blankly tells Koito he’s fine with his situation in 210.

Are similar to Ogata’s in chapter 103 to Hanazawa.

Both express the emotions - or lack thereof of men who are doing horrible things that are clearly harming them but following through on those actions b/c Tsurumi is leading them to that.

For volume 15 Noda expanded chapter 150 to include how Tsukishima let go of the lie that kept him tied to Tsurumi from the end of the Sino-Japanese war until the Battle of Mukden.

Special thanks to @goldenkamuyhunting for these edited images of the volume version.

While in Otaru, Tsukishima goes out alone in the evening.  He reveals that he’s held onto Igogusa’s hair all these years.  He is a dark figure against the lighter buildings in the harbor.

He pulls the hair the Tsurumi had given him that was folded between some well worn paper, that may even have some of his blood stains on it, indicating he kept it close to his chest when he was in battle.

He stands on the edge of the harbor and holds the open paper in his left hand, the hair in his right as his eyes are completely covered with his hat.  There is a slow motion opening of the right hand as it releases the hair so that it almost slides out.  Not throwing or anything active.  A passive release of the hair back into the ocean, depicted as a black abyss.

We get his own view as the hair falls out of his hand and into the water to dark to see any details of.

As the hair falls into darkness on the next page we see Tsukishima walk back to the 27th barracks and he enters the back of a room full of men.  The two page spread shows Tsurumi removing his bandages in front of his men and the introduction of his face shield.

Tsukishima watches all of this from the back of the room deadpan.  He has let go of his ties to his past and his love of Igogusa.  All that remains is his loyalty and devotion to Tsurumi. 

This is it.  This is the point when Tsukishima dedicated himself full to serving Tsurumi.  He’ll follow him straight to hell if that is how things go down.

In some ways, I’m having a hindsight is 20/20 moment in regards to Tsukishima.  The entire time on Karafuto, Tsukishima has been relatively quiet.  He’s done what he was supposed to do and other than his emotional outburst with Svetlana, he’s been very tight lipped and silent.  This is a parallel with Ogata who was keeping quiet to not reveal his skills in Russian.  Tsukishima hides his devotion to Tsurumi through his banal and normal actions.  He doesn’t give us much to go on, it is easier for him to show nothing - by showing nothing or slight annoyance, others can’t get a read on him.

I would argue that Ogata is much more emotional and it shows on Ogata’s face much more than Tsukishima’s.  His default is to have a blank face when wants to cover, Ogata’s eyes frequently betray his emotions.  They are subtle but his are more obvious that Tsukishima’s.

What all does this mean for the future?

I am still under the indication that Koito will break away from the rest of the group.

I’m still hung up on this image from the end of 180.  We now know that Tsukishima will follow Tsurumi to the end.  Tanigaki has no problem following him as long as he doesn’t have to return home.  Sugimoto sold out Asirpa for 200 yen to Tsurumi.

Cikapasi and Ryu stayed behind with Enonoka and her grandfather.  Koito stands separately.  I thought maybe he’d end up with Enonoka and her grandfather after he found out about Tsurumi.  That could still happen but what if Enonoka and her grandfather are a stand in for Asirpa and Huci and maybe Retar?

He would still be aligning himself with the Ainu, just Hokkaido Ainu versus the Karafuto Ainu.

I want to know what makes Tsukishima different from Ogata?  Both men were involved in the kidnapping of Koito.  Tsukishima continues to come back to Tsurumi despite that he’s in an abusive relationship.  Ogata snapped at something and couldn’t do it anymore?

We know he doubted Tsurumi when he had him kill Hanazawa.  What was it that pushed him over the edge?  Why has Ogata escaped while the rest remain loyal to him.  Granted some of the men are less intelligent than Tsukishima, Koito and Ogata, but the smart ones see what his happening.  Is Kikuta also in this group of the more intelligent Tsurumi inner circle.  So far he’s proven himself to ge a quick witted and smart guy.

What happens if things begin to unravel?  How does Sugimoto think he can get out of this one?  The only reason he was able to escape Tsurumi the first time was with Asirpa and Shiraishi’s help and Tsurumi letting him go.  Now, he’s handing both Asirpa and Shiraishi into Tsurumi’s control - he won’t be able to rely on them being on the “outside” to help him.

Furthermore, Ogata demonstrated that if one escapes (as with Tanigaki in Kushiro) you escape before your watchers get close to the deadline.  The earlier you escape the better since they will become more attentive.  I’m sure Ogata learned this from Tsurumi and Tsukishima will know this.

Sorry I don’t have much more for you guys.  I’m still mulling things over and I’m re-adjusting to my work schedule so that will throw me off for a bit more.

[queenxxxsupreme]

I wanna hear more abt ur inspiration for darceria

Omg I love love love this question so much!! Also I apologize for how long this is. I just really loved this💕

So with Darceria I had been messing around with characters in my head the second I decided I wanted to write a fic about my baby Geralt (which happened to be when I was watching Betrayer Moon). At first, she wasn't an oracle because I hadn't even thought of that, of making that group of essentially magical beings. I'll explain that a little later. She was originally really insignificant. She wasn't a princess of a fallen kingdom, she wasn't blind, she could see the future. She was bland and I didn't like that. I wanted more. I wanted to make her more interesting and give her shape and definition.

So from there, I made her blind. I have shitty eye sight myself and it's progressively getting worse so I was sort of playing off of that. I've messed with blind characters before and when I say that I mean that I have written out different characters with different personalities, different traits, and different love interests that all were blind. None of those characters were lucky enough to make it further than rough drafts and charts and essentially they've been left in two binders that I keep with all my ideas for characters and plots and fics because seriously I think of new ideas every day and if I acted on impulse more than I already did, I'd have an insanely high amount of fan fics going at once.

(Fun fact, Wattpad is where I started and at one point on that platform I had close to fifteen stories going at once. That number has since been cut to ten after I finished a few stories. Yes I have an issue and yes I acknowledge it 😂🙈🤦‍♀️)

So back to Darceria. I decided to make her blind because I knew it would be difficult to write for her and I love the challenge. I also knew her being in the time period and the society she is in would introduce quite a few conflicts just because of her being blind and conflicts/problems are what drive stories in my opinion.

The oracle half of her character came from a relatively new idea I had in the last year for a Sam Winchester x OC fic. The character was blind and could see the future but how she saw the future was more prophetic and more physical. She'd have nose bleeds and she'd cough up blood and wake up covered in blood in her sleep. That physical part ended up turning into a character for a Pietro Maximoff x OC fic I have going on Wattpad right now. That character just isn't blind.

But when I thought of giving Darceria some sort of supernatural-y power, seeing the future came to mind. I thought it would really really awesome to take her sight but give her the ability to see the future. Sort of poetic/sort of psychotic on my half 😂

Oracle means a few different things but the meaning I took it as was a priest or priestess acting as a medium through whom advise or advise was sought from the gods. I really liked this so I started messing around with what an oracle would look like in the world of the Witcher. I thought about how an oracle would be useful and the first thing that came to my mind was a mage. Mages are advisors to kings and queens. They are heavily knowledged in science/magic and politics. Rulers depend on them for a lot and seek their advise. We saw in season 1 how important mages were to rulers. I highly doubt that without Fringilla's help Nilfgaard wouldn't have gotten as far as they did or it would have taken them much much longer to do so.

I sort of created oracles as the sister to the witch. They naturally have visions, naturally see things that have yet to happen. They have instincual feelings that they can trust. Like when it comes to chosing maybe going down this road or that road, they can sense which would be the wiser choice. It's a part of who they are genetically. But they also have strong magic genes too. They can cast spells to help see the future and that sort of thing. The oracles are just focused more on seeing the future and preserving the kingdom for the long run. (I have so much I want to say about this last sentence because of Darceria and her role in the fall of Romavek but EEK I CAN'T SPOIL)

I wanted to make oracles rare, to make them less known than witches and mages because having just anyone be an oracle would suck the fun out of it in my opinion. So I made it so that oracles are born every half century. They are also extremely rare in the story just for the simple fact that Romavek is the only known place to ever inhabit oracles. Romavek was very secretive and very solitary, even more so than Cintra. Romaveks (as we will see in future updates) very rarely left their country, their kingdom. They had no reason to. They didn't participate in wars unless absolutely necessary. I won't go much further into detail about that because I don't want to accidentally spoil anything.

I also wanted Darceria to be important, to have a destiny of her own that didn't involve Geralt entirely. So that's how I decided she'd be an oracle, a super important piece to Romavek culture and hierarchy.

When I was messing with her characterization, I played around before she was an oracle about the possibility of her being royalty. We know Geralt has sort of a bad habit of finding princesses and rescuing them/killing them (RIP Renfri my baby). So I thought hey what if she's a princess. Well then I saw quite a few different little stories where the OC or reader was a princess to a currently ruling country like Cintra or Kovir or some made up country. Whatever. So I was like well damn I don't want my story to be just another Geralt x princess!OC stories.

So she became a blind princess born with the gifts of an oracle.

As for her personality, I really like writing soft characters who know when to be tough. I am also a sucker for just writing asshole characters. Luckily, Darceria was not an asshole character of mine. She's soft and and she's quiet. She's observant and careful and nurturing. She doesn't like being babied or treated like she's nothing more than her disability. She's very independent but at the same time, she relies heavily on Zephyrina at times. Darceria is also cunning. She uses her disability to her advantage when needed. Like in the proglue, we see her faking being completely blind when she runs into Thominson and spills his drink on him. She fakes being more blind than she actually is to anger him, to get him out of the room. Also she has a very upsetting childhood. Though she was a princess in a thriving kingdom, her childhood is sad and depressing and tragic in a sense. Again we will see more in the future 🙈 I don't want to spoil anything!!

She's observant even though she is blind and she is observant through her other senses. Her "sight" as she explained to Ciri in chapter 1(I think) is very similar to how the creators and writers of Daredevil wrote how he sees in season 1 of Daredevil on Netflix. He sees fire. Darceria sees shapes of objects through sound and she feels them when she touches. Her senses are highly advanced, very much like Matt Murdock/Daredevil.

And as for her physical appearance, the white eyes was something that I thought was really cool. I was watching Supernatural when I saw Abbadon's eyes flicker to white. I thought it would be super cool for Geralt to come across a being with eyes that are different than everyone else's. He could sympathize with her, with how everyone stares at her when they see that her eyes are empty and white.

I absolutely love dark red curly hair (@ Natasha Romanoff) I hadn't seen very many redheads in the first season with the exception of Visenna (Geralt's mom) and Coral, the ginger mage who clenched her fist and kills an entire squadron of Nilfgaardian soldiers at the Battle of Sodden. So when I think of Darceria, I usually picture Scarlett Johannson as Natasha Romanoff in Iron Man 3. (fun Fact: Zephyrina's face in my head looks like Adelaide Kane)

Dareceria's name came to me in a really funny way. I was researching different midieval names and when I didn't like any of those names. Then I came across Daria. It's Polish and means kingly. I didn't like how close it was to Dara so I started adding different things to the end of the name. There was Darialene but that was what too much of a tongue twister and didn't flow off the tongue as nicely as I wanted it to. Dariara came across and in my head I pronounced it Dar-ee-air-ee-uh. So it's not that hard to pronounce but again when you say it out loud it doesn't flow nicely. Then I changed the name completely to something else entirely. Then I went back to Daria and started messing with it more. I messed with it for probably three days before finding Darceria. I personally think it fits in well with the names in the show.

I'm so glad you asked this @wayward-dream !!! I really really loved answering this💕💕sorry it ended up being so long though! I hope I answered you properly and I hope this makes sense!! Ask more questions if you need to please!!! I love answering this

[harley-quinnn]

Long Day

Jared Leto x Reader

{A/N} Hey puddin’s! Here’s another fanfic no one asked for, but I felt like delivering. I was having a rough day and of course, decided to see how Jared might comfort someone. So if you’re feeling sweet and fluffy, this one’s for you!

If you’ve requested something, have no fear, it’s on the way! <3

xo Harley

Warnings: Sweet fluff, a little bit of sadness. Also, this is totally friendly, no sexual/relationship aspects involved.

The lights dimmed and went out for the final time, leaving you feeling exhausted as you headed back down a long hallway and to a dressing room in the back of the venue you were playing. It was no easy feat, opening for Thirty Seconds to Mars, you had one hell of an act to keep up with. Though you were sure almost no one cared about you and your performance just before theirs, you put your all in every night- especially when he invited you back out on stage for the impromptu duets.

Your eyelids were heavier than normal, and your body felt weak as you mulled over just what life was dealing you at the moment. It wasn’t often that you had these “reality check” moments, but as it sunk in harder, you began to grow a bit emotional, despite the gratefulness that swelled within your chest. It felt like it had been years since you’d had a home cooked meal, and an even longer time since you’d seen your family. You missed the comforts of home, especially when it came time to go to sleep. A sudden twinge of sadness made itself known in your throat, and you noticed you’d been holding back tears for the duration of your trek.

When you arrived at your empty dressing room, you quickly closed the door behind you, kicking off your heels and tying your hair up into a messy bun atop your head. A tear rolled down your cheek without your permission, and you silently damned yourself for letting it slip as you flicked it away.

The feeling in your chest was growing heavier, burdening you with its presence. You absolutely loved what you did, but it was your first rodeo, and you absolutely were tired. You bit into your lower lip, pressing your palms into the edge of the vanity and staring into your own eyes through the light bulb lined mirror. You had maintained a perfect image for yourself, always carefree and happy. Always ready to entertain and relate to the masses. The girl who stared back, however, was weary- and honestly? Extremely homesick.

You hadn’t made many friends on tour. Between traveling, trying to find time to sleep and trying to find decent food to sustain your energy, there was no room to chit chat. You sighed, pulling away from the vanity and heading for the door. You just needed a friend, and though you had none at the moment, you hoped the one person who always seemed to brighten anyone’s day might have a little time for you off stage, too.

Before leaving, you slid into your fuzzy slippers and shrugged into your favorite hoodie. It was chilly once you began to come down from the adrenaline you felt on stage, and you were only wearing a crop top and shorts short enough to make anyone else blush.

A little nervous, but also a little desperate, you shuffled back out of your dressing room and headed for the room just a couple doors down. Once you stood before it, you contemplated knocking at all. Everyone else flooding the hallway to break down after the show was too busy to notice your odd appearance in front of another door. Wringing your hands together for a moment, a few strands of hair fell around your face as you turned to leave, and then stopped yourself again.

“Just knock,” you heard a voice say.

Caught off guard and cheeks burning red, you turned to catch a glance at who it was. Of course, it was Shannon Leto, hanging off of the door frame to his dressing room to study you as he spoke.

“He doesn’t bite. Usually,” and with that, he disappeared into the room and closed the door behind him.

You shrugged a bit to yourself and a minute of courage was all it took as you watched your hand rap on the door a few times. You immediately regretted it, drawing a breath between your teeth and scrunching your nose. A beat passed, and you decided to give it up. What was I thinking, anyway? You turned to leave before hearing the click of the door opening beside you, causing you to stop and turn back around to face the man you’d so confidently faced before every night on stage, Jared Leto.

“Hi,” was all you said, impishly lifting a hand to wave at him.

He eyed you curiously before a sleepy grin crossed his lips.

“Can I help you?” He asked lightly, clearly unsure of why you were there.

“Well.. I hope so,” you responded, your tone growing slightly rushed as you continued. “I kind of just need to talk to someone, and I don’t really know where else to turn, because my moms probably asleep in her time zone, and I don’t really have any-“

“Hey,” he interrupted quietly, placing a hand on your shoulder gently. “Come in.”

He opened the door wider and waved you in behind him as he stepped back into the privacy of his dressing room.

You noticed a rumpled blanket and his phone on the couch that sat in the corner, feeling bad that maybe you’d interrupted his own time to himself.

“Is this a bad time? I don’t want to bother you..” you said, closing the door behind you.

“No, no. I’m fine. But the look on your face tells me otherwise about you. What’s on your mind, darlin’?” He asked playfully then, a hint of a southern accent on the pet name. “I’ve never seen you so meek before.”

He lounged back on the couch, patting the seat beside himself and leaning his head back into the plush cushion with a deep breath. You moved to the couch then, sitting beside him. It was almost a bit humorous to you, that he noticed your larger than life personality on stage. You cracked a faint grin, cozying up into a small ball and wrapping your arms around your legs, resting your chin on your knees.

“Jared.. I’m tired. I miss home. And real food. And my cat,” you sighed, not wanting to bombard him with your thoughts and feelings despite that being your reason for sitting on his couch.

He chuckled a bit, his eyes closed. You didn’t want to admit it, but he sure looked gorgeous in such a relaxed state. He lifted his head and looked at you.

“That’s normal, trust me. I know it feels like you’re on a never ending rollercoaster.. This is definitely far from our first time out, and sometimes we still have to remind ourselves how lucky we are.”

“Really? You guys make it look so effortless, like there’s no place you’d rather be.”

He grinned again, eyes closing and head returning to its tilted back position against the couch as he waved a hand lightly.

“There isn’t. But sometimes you do miss your own bed.”

Breathing a laugh, you nodded.

“Oh yeah, I miss that too,” you said, pausing for a few moments as you got lost in thought. When you felt your eyes growing wetter, you realized it was too late to hold anything back now.

“But sometimes it’s so hard to keep smiling,” you whispered, not looking up anymore.

From your peripheral vision, you noticed his head perk up again. He shifted in place, arching a brow.

“You don’t have to be happy all the time, you know. Sometimes you can just.. feel.”

“All I do is feel, lately. It’s like I can’t turn it off. And every day is a new place and new faces… I know what I signed up for, I really do. I just didn’t realize the actual toll these things would take,” you sniffed, not daring to look up at him; not daring show the weakness you refused to let anyone see prior.

Jared sat up straight, leaning forward on his knees as he looked over at your guarded position beside him. Sure, you were there because you needed a venting session, but you didn’t want to cry. You didn’t want to look like the big baby you felt like. With a straight face, you tried to keep your line of sight on the carpet, though you could feel your cheeks growing hotter and your eyes welling up.

“Don’t go hard on me now, babe,” he chuckled lightly and nudged your leg. “If you need to let go of everything, here’s the place and nows the time. No one else is going to be knocking at my door until it’s time to head out.”

He might as well have opened floodgates. Teardrops streaked down your still perfectly contoured cheeks as you buried your face in your curled up position. You sniffed, shaking your head.

“I just feel like such an ass for feeling this way,” you mewled. “I always said I never would, and now here I am, desperate for any sort of person to vent to… No offense- I just didn’t want to burden you with my minuscule issues.”

A soft chuckle escaped him as you felt a hand slide around your shoulders and pull you in close. He had moved closer, leaning his head against yours and rubbing your arm. There was nothing more than the innocence of comforting a friend between you, and it was a welcomed sensation as you leaned back against him and did what you always told yourself you should never do in front of anyone.

Cry.

“It’s not a minuscule issue. You went from nothing to everything overnight. This is to be expected, honestly… You know, when lobsters grow out of their shells, they’re very uncomfortable. But that’s just part of growth. You don’t look like a lobster, by the way. But you get me.”

He laughed again, and this time, a small giggle fell past your lips, too.

“I’ve heard that before. I just wish it could be easier. Being overwhelmed by the one thing I wanted the most feels shitty. I try not to complain.. There are a million other people who wish they could be in my shoes. But sometimes it’s just, hard.”

“You walk this path because you can handle it. We’ve all seen you in action. You’re a beast! You got this, {Y/N}. And when you get home you’ll appreciate your bed more. You won’t take a home cooked meal for granted,” he quipped.

“That’s true,” you sniffed again, taking his words to heart.

You’d always admired him, and hearing such kind statements from his mouth cheered you up more than you expected.

“Next time we’re in a city where I can actually cook on a real stove, I’m making you something. Anything. It might be a little burnt, but it’s better than cramming fries before passing out every night,” he nodded at you as your eyes met his.

“I didn’t know you knew that,” you said, slightly embarrassed.

“Oh yeah, I’ve seen your assistant running wild trying to get any kind of food in you before you’re out cold for the night.”

You laughed. It was true. You kept a hectic schedule on tour, like most everyone else, but slightly more irresponsible, and if you didn’t eat something during the day, you were irritable, or lightheaded and nauseated the next day.

“That salad you had last night was supposed to be mine. But I’m such a great guy, I let your assistant have it to give to you. Same with that vegan slice of pie last week.. and the açaí bowl before that…”

“What?! I’m sorry! I feel like I should be cooking you something instead now.”

You suddenly felt like a bit of a jerk. You had no idea he was sacrificing meals and snacks just to keep you in good health.

“We’ll make something together, how about that?” He said instead, rubbing your arm gently.

You cracked a genuine smile, already feeling a bit more comfortable and relaxed from your slight breakdown. You knew he was a nice person, but you truly didn’t realize that he had been taking care of you in little ways since you’d embarked on the tour.

“I’d really like that.”

He stretched his arms out wide with a big yawn then, indicating that it was time to get a move on and head back to gather your things and hit the road again. You stood up quickly, shuffling back into your fuzzy slippers and heading for the door.

“Thanks, Jared. For everything. I really mean it. You’re a great guy.”

Another sleepy grin crossed his lips, and he breathed a soft laugh that might not have been audible if you were breathing at the same time.

“I just take care of those whom I care for.”

Your hand reached for the doorknob as you turned to conceal your warm and fuzzy grin and make your exit; but something in you, maybe something crazy, made you stop when you opened the door.

“I.. don’t really want to sleep alone tonight,” you heard yourself say.

Unsure of just where that blunt honesty came from, you could already feel your cheeks burning hot.

“I- I didn’t mean that as in, ‘hey let’s bang,’ I just..” You trailed off, already embarrassed at your own slip up. I always ruin a perfectly fine moment.

He chuckled again, this time louder.

“I know what you’re saying. There’s definitely room in my bed on the bus- I got the room and they all got the bunks this time,” he mused, a cheeky grin placing itself on his features, as though he were proud of himself for taking the most comfortable sleeping quarters on the bus from the rest of them.

They were men, but they sure acted like boys sometimes. You giggled, shaking your head and playfully rolling your eyes.

“Mister nice guy, huh?” You joked, turning around to face him again.

“Oh yeah. Go get your stuff loaded in and I’ll just let them know to wait for you. I’m heading back out there now anyway, I’m exhausted, tonight was.. tres fou,” he said, the French making you giggle again.

But your face lit up like fireworks on the 4th at his acceptance, and you nodded quickly, turning back around and hurrying out of the door. After a beat, you popped back into his doorway, poking your head in with a small, warm grin.

“Thanks.”

-x-x-x-

“Welcome to Chateau Leto while we’re on the road,” he announced in a French accent as you stepped into his ‘room’ behind him.

It was small, just a bed and a window with some storage space around it, but it seemed like heaven on a night when all you wanted was to feel safe. You plopped onto the bed, kicking off your slippers and setting down a stuffed animal you unabashedly slept with despite not being a kid anymore. When Jared noticed, a confused grin washed over his countenance. He picked it up by the scruff and looked at it.

“I didn’t take you for a stuffed animal kind of girl.”

You pouted, crossing your arms in a mock huff as a few more strands of hair fell from your messy bun.

“He’s not a stuffed animal, he’s my best friend. Very well traveled, too, I’ll have you know,” you defended, your nose in the air before you fell into a small giggle fit.

He pretended to talk through it for a moment, sending you both into laughter. Once you smacked him with a nearby pillow playfully, he set it back down beside you.

“Okay, okay!” He surrendered.

Once you began to settle back down, you buried your face in the pillow, inhaling the scent. It must’ve been his; it smelled of cologne and yet his natural scent still remained. A small smile crossed your lips as you set it back down in its place, too.

He laid down on it then, crunching it up behind his head and staring at the ceiling. Your eyes raked over his frame, looking angelic as ever as he remained still; his tattooed chest rising and falling with each serene breath, his arm still behind his head with the pillow. He wore a pair of Gucci sweats and a t-shirt, you assumed only because you were there. Getting lost in thought, and still trying to come down from the last spikes of adrenaline, you continued to stare.

When the bus revved to a start, you quickly snapped out of it, coming back down to earth and grabbing your stuffed animal. You laid down then, the bus beginning to pull out from the venue to begin the journey to the next city. You didn’t want to think about what the next day would hold. You simply wanted to be, and feel, just like he’d mentioned. He made it look so easy. When you peeked back over at him, his eyes were already closed and you could tell he was already fast asleep.

Another grin danced on your lips as you carefully got a bit more comfortable, pulling a blanket over him gently and another over yourself.

“Good night, J,” you whispered, closing your eyes and drifting off into the deepest sleep you’d had since tour began.