#the first volume seemed fine wtf happened with the second

[lildoodlecat]

where do i go to complain to an english manga publisher that just does an absolute dogshit job and totally ruins the integrity of one of my favorite mangaka's work bc seriously I was willing to overlook the kinda poor page cutting bc whatever ig but wtf is this inconsistent and bad sfx tl that half the time redraws it and the other half either slaps it on top or just. Doesn't translate it at all. And the CLEARLY shitty translation of the actual dialogue?? I can literally tell EXACTLY what the original text must be in places bc of how direct or ignorant of context the tl is. Not to mention directly translating a character name and then LATER switching back to romanized jp,, and don't even get me started on the general spelling and grammar errors. Did you even proofread this????

I was already gonna get the original jp but I think I might have to finish reading this series entirely in jp bc this is such a slapdash attempt at localizing. If I have to be able to understand Japanese to read half the sfx and parse the dialogue of an English localization then like why did you even try . eugh

[wind-up-thancred]

Hey I saw ur Thancred face mod and wanted to say…thank you so much!!!! And I miss his old face 🥺 do you think it’s possible to ever get it back? I’m tempted to learn modding just to fix up my boy bc they really massacred him 💀

hi anon! im glad you like the mod. yeah i dont blame you for missing the old face lol, i took one look at it in textools when the patch dropped and went "wtf did they do to my boy... 😢" i think it depends on what you mean by "getting his old face back":

-if you want to start with the 7.0 base face, you could probably open it up in blender next to his old face and use the sculpt tool to physically sculpt his mesh to be closer to what it used to be, but i think past the lips there isn't too much else on the actual geometry to change— maybe his nose and jawline? but to me it feels like a lot of the change also happened to his normal maps, which are the textures that add extra shading detail and volume to the face. the old textures cant be ported over because the new mesh isn't laid out for them, buuuut im aware of a tool being developed currently in the ffxiv loose texture compiler for automatically transforming the old textures to match the new mesh layout. will that work for thancred's unique face? i'm not sure, but it could be worth a try— im fairly certain his unique sculpt is an edited version of one of the male midlander faces, so once that specific face is supported in the tool, it might work. if not, you can always manually adjust the new normal map while referencing the other one. -if you want to start with the OLD 6.58 base face, i believe there is a blender script going around (i saw it in the textools discord last iirc?) for converting old face sculpts to new ones. this is necessary because the new faces have QUITE a few new bones in them that need to be rigged, or else the face will not animate. from there, you MIGHT have to convert some of the old textures as well, but i'm not 100% sure, i think it depends on how well they work at baseline for 7.0. i know there's still a legacy skin shader in the game for older faces since not all of them have been updated yet, so you might be able to switch it to that so that the old textures still work. if that sounds like A Lot, uh... i dont blame you 😅ive been learning xiv modding for about two years ish now so ive got a lil bit of know-how under my belt, but if you want somewhere good to start, i would recommend joining the textools discord, there are multiple channels there for people to ask questions about how modding works, how to mod specific things, lots of tutorials, etc, and im sure therell be something in there to help you along. buuuuut in the meantime, i HAVE seen two other existing mods so far on XMA that do both of the things i mentioned before: https://www.xivmodarchive.com/modid/109670 this one seems to be a very good version of the first fix, where they went in and sculpted his new 7.0 face to be closer to the old one to a higher extent than i did, with his lips, jaw, and nose tweaked. it doesnt have heterochromia or scruff like mine does but i think you should theoretically be able to do that easily— feel free to send another ask if you want me to explain how i did it on my mod. https://www.xivmodarchive.com/modid/109665 this one, meanwhile, is the second fix— they ported the old face model over the new one. it has stubble and no heterochromia but again, if you want to change either of those, id be happy to explain how i did it. i have not tested either of these myself so i have no clue how well these work in-game but im sure they work fine!! i hope either of those help you out and if not i wish you good luck on your modding journey.... esp learning blender ^^" its a pain in the ass at first but trust me it feels really really good once youve figured stuff out!

[threecrowsinatrenchcoat]

Paint My Spirit Gold

Dukeceit Week Day 2: Green/Yellow

Fans of the YouTubers "Deceit" and Remus "The Duke" Sanders start to suspect that maybe, just maybe, the two of them are more than simple internet pals.

AO3 Link: [here]

Word Count: 2187

Warnings: n/a

@dukeceitweek <3

-

[ID: A screenshot of a Twitter post by user @CallMeDukie. It features a watercolor-style painting of a snake. The snake appears to be made of melting chocolate, and there is a large bite taken out of its tail. Cherries and jam are leaking out of the snake at the bite wound. The snake's expression of horror is overly-exaggerated to the point of comedy. The caption reads: "liked your snake boi, @SerpenThyme. thanks for the inspo." /end ID]

- 

A notification ding cut Janus off mid-sentence. 

“Wow, someone left their cell phone on, so professional,” he said, giving the camera a dramatic eye roll. That someone was him, of course, because he was the only one in the apartment- just him and the running livestream- but that was no excuse not to be a drama queen about it. He finished wiping flour off his hands and grabbed his phone to silence it; but the notification made him pause. He flicked his eyes up toward the camera and gave a slight smirk.

“My goodness, I’m famous,” he drawled. “The Duke himself has graced little old me with some fan art.”

Most of the comments in the chat wanted him to show it, so Janus opened up Twitter to see the full post he’d been tagged in. It was a watercolor painting of the coiled-snake chocolate sculpture- lovingly named Jake by his viewers- he’d made for his YouTube video last week; it was wearing an expression of such comedic horror that Janus had to stifle a laugh. He flicked his phone screen toward the close-up camera on his counter so his viewers could see.

“How kind of you, Remus,” he said. “All of you should go scold him for what he’s done to poor Jake here.”

Most of his viewers would know he was joking- after all, they were the ones to nickname him Deceit when he provided neither a real or fake name for his online persona. They knew full well what he was like by now.

The oven timer dinged. Janus silenced his phone and set it aside.

“And our first batch of cookies is done. You know, why don’t we show the Duke some appreciation?”

-

[ID: An Instagram post by user @SerpenThyme. The photo is an artistically-framed shot of a stack of sugar cookies with green, yellow, and pink icing. Propped up against the stack is another cookie, with an intricate icing-drawing of an octopus. The photo appears to have been color corrected to have high contrast, low saturation, and a dark vignette at the edges. The Instagram user @OctoDukie is tagged. No caption. /end ID]

- 

“You know, I have often been accused of actually being a little old lady, what with my fondness for knitted jumpers, rocking chairs, and incredibly fucked up murder mystery books. Today I am doing nothing to dispel this accusation, by making soup.”

The studio was dark and empty aside from Remus' workspace. Everyone else had left long ago, even his own brother, which meant that it was officially ass-o'clock in the morning (or, as most people called it, somewhere between 1 and 2 a.m.) But Remus was stuck in hyperfocus, honed in on putting the last touches on a commission that he'd been putting off for weeks. It's not that it was a tough painting- once he'd gotten started, it was actually a very creatively satisfying piece- but man, executive dysfunction could go suck a dick

“French onion soup, specifically. Because while I do like to pretend I am a classy bitch, I am also, regrettably, a lazy bitch with a distaste for anything that takes longer than one bottle of wine to make.”

Remus hated working in silence. It was stifling, almost suffocating. His brain needed noise like his lungs needed air. So when the studio had grown still and silent, Remus had flipped open his laptop and queued up some YouTube videos. 

“So we have here three pounds of onions that we need to slice up, pole to pole. You’re going to cry no matter what, so if you have any memories you’ve been repressing since middle school, now is an excellent time to dredge those up.” 

And if it happened to be 90% SerpenThyme videos, well. Sue him. 

“Now the first rule of caramelizing onions: fast and sloppy is always better than slow and thorough… at least, that’s what every man I’ve ever slept with tells me.”

Remus choked and glanced over to his laptop screen just in time to catch Deceit's trademark smirk directed at the audience just for a moment. It was the deadpan delivery that always got him. Remus could barely hold onto a joke long enough to get through it without cackling mid-punchline, but this fucker could say the funniest shit like an off-hand comment. 

He wiped his hands off on his jeans (what use were clothes if you couldn't use them as paint rags?) and pulled his laptop across the table.  He typed out a quick comment, citing the timestamp of the joke, and after it was posted, he shut his laptop. 

'Cause ass-o'clock was short for "get-your-ass-home-or-I’ll-kick-it" o'clock. 

-

[ID: A screenshot of a YouTube comments section. The first comment is by user TheDuke, and reads: "10:42 wow, rude." The second comment is a reply by user SerpenThyme, and simply reads ";)" /end ID]

-

Janus plopped down on the couch with a slight groan. He didn’t need to stream today, but he really hated missing days. Besides… he was fine. Really. 

He adjusted the camera until he was happy with the framing, and then checked the settings on his streaming software. Satisfied, he started the stream, and watched as his usual viewers rolled in. 

“What do you mean I’m not in my kitchen?” Janus drawled, addressing the chat. He glanced around with an expression of faux-shock on his face. “My goodness, when did that happen?”

He chuckled, and then gestured to his surroundings. “Yes, we are in my living room today. If you must know, my closest and most trusted friend tried to murder me today- yes, Virgil, it was attempted murder and nothing less- and I survived with nary a scratch… and a broken foot, but that is beside the point. Anyway, I’m not allowed to stand for long periods of time, and I may or may not be somewhat inebriated by pain pills and couldn’t stand even if I wanted to. So we are cooking from my couch today.”

Janus paused for a few moments to read the chat messages as they popped up. A few get well soon’s, a few theories about the “attempted murder,” Virgil- who moderated his chat for him- vehemently denying the “attempted murder” but otherwise refusing to clarify the event, and a large volume of wtf why are you streaming today, take care of yourself comments, which made him smile. But one particular comment caught his eye, almost lost amid the torrent of an active chat: wait this kinda looks like the Duke’s living room?

“Oh, VampSuga,” he said, addressing that commenter in particular with a slight smirk. “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about. Anyway, since I can’t reach my oven from here, I thought some no-bake cookies were in order. For these you will need-”

-

[ID: A screenshot of a Discord conversation. The text reads:

“VampSuga: Ok ok hear me out. Dukeceit. 

Starstruck96: who?

IneffableSnek: lmao

FeralBeauYasha: lol

VampSuga: Deceit and Remus Sanders! They’re totally dating. I will die on this hill. 

FeralBeauYasha: Isn’t the duke w/ PatPat?

IneffableSnek: no thats his brothers bf

FeralBeauYasha: ohh

VampSuga: Did anyone see Deceit’s stream today? I swear that’s the Duke’s livingroom. 

StarStruck96: idk that seems like a stretch

IneffableSnek: no wait i kno what u mean

IneffableSnek: im watching the duke’s old videos and that one where he shows off all his old weapons he’s in a living room kinda like deceit’s 

FeralBeauYasha: They were acting all cute on twitter too

VampSuga: DUKECEIT”  /end ID]

-

"Hey guys, been a while since you've seen my face and not just whatever my hands are busy with, when it's within YouTube's terms and conditions I mean. They used to be way more lenient…" Remus trailed off for a moment, then shook his head sharply and plastered on a grin. 

"Anyway! In June me and a few other creators did a fundraiser for the Trevor Project, and y'all smashed the goal, so I let you decide what video I'd make this month." He paused, and gestured to the mountain of clothes piled behind him on the bed. "And you had so many juicy ideas to choose from, but you decided to dress me up like a Barbie instead."

Remus paused to scroll through his phone for a few moments. "Ah, ok, here we go. Twitter user YoonIsMyCat- oh, BTS, nice- sent in this first outfit. Uh… future Remus, put up the post here somewhere." He gestured vaguely to his right. "Y'all went with either a fuckton more clothes or a fuckton less clothes, which I respect. Apparently this outfit is called…” He squinted at his phone. “Amish chic? I take it back, no respect at all.”

Remus cycled through the outfits his viewers sent in, which ranged from the aforementioned “Amish chic” to “2008 rave attire” to “ok now you guys are just fucking with me” (which consisted of one of those big puffy snow coats, lime green in color; booty shorts with the shrug text emoji across the ass; fuzzy pink boots; and a yellow cowboy hat to top off the whole thing. It was awful. Remus loved it.) The mountain of clothes on the bed gradually became a mess of clothes spread across the floor instead, until there was just one outfit left. 

“Ok so Twitter user VampSuga sent me this outfit that I’m gonna call ‘sexy librarian.’ I couldn’t find this exact sweater online, but-” he paused for dramatic effect, before brandishing a sweater toward the camera like a bullfighter. “My boyfriend had something that was close enough.”

Remus hopped up from the bed and switched off the camera so he could change.

“They’re going to lose their minds,” a voice drawled from the doorway. Remus threw his shirt at him.

“Shoo, I’m getting naked.”

-

[ID: A Twitter post by user @CallMeDukie. It features a selfie of YouTuber Remus “The Duke” Sanders, a Hispanic man with his hair dyed green and styled into a spiked mohawk. He is wearing a yellow knitted cardigan over a black button-up shirt. He is grinning widely at the camera. The caption reads: “my viewers pick my outfits! now live on youtube. go see what i look like as a sexy librarian!” /end ID]

-

DukeceitStan

first and only dukeceit shipper ig

DukeceitStan

wow there’s so many of you now! Hi!!

DukeceitStan

i want this to be canon so bad omg

DukeceitStan

i mean just look

[image]

how 

[image]

cute

[image]

[ID: A series of three gifs featuring Youtubers SerpenThyme, aka Deceit, and TheDuke, aka Remus Sanders. Deceit is a black man with long, dreadlocked hair, and vitiligo patches along the left side of his face. Remus is a Hispanic man with green-dyed hair styled into a mohawk, many ear and facial piercings, and tattoos covering both arms. Each gif is edited so that the highlights are tinged yellow when Deceit is seen, and tinged green when Remus is seen.

The first gif depicts a close-up shot of Deceit’s hands as he carefully decorates a cookie with green and yellow icing. The cookie art he is working on appears to be a half-finished octopus. The gif then fades into a mid-shot of Remus, with his back to the camera, facing a canvas. The canvas is blank, and Remus appears to be laying out paints on a table to his left. 

The second gif depicts Deceit seated at his couch, facing the camera. He has many ingredients spread across his coffee table (including oats, cocoa powder, and butter) and appears to be in the process of laying out several more. The gif fades to show Remus seated at a similar couch with a similar coffee table in front of him. The camera is angled slightly downward to better show the myriad of knives spread out across the table. Remus is gesturing wildly with a morning star held in his hand. 

The third gif depicts Deceit in his kitchen. He is pulling on a bright, yellow knitted cardigan, and smirking toward the camera. The gif fades to show Remus in his bedroom, seated on his bed. He is holding up a similar-looking cardigan toward the camera and grinning. /end ID]

- 

“Remus, it’s almost two in the morning. Come to bed.”

“I’m coming, sorry. Twitter distracted me.”

“Mm. I can’t believe the bird app is more distracting than I am.”

“You should try harder.”

“Come to bed and maybe I will.”

“Ok, ok, I’m coming. Hang on though, is it cool if I post this?”

“Sure. They figured it out anyway.”

“Sweet. Ok, Jannie, I’m coming.”

-

[ID: A screenshot of a Twitter post by user @CallMeDukie. It reads: “Dukeceit is canon.” /end ID] 

[swatato]

fat. FAT. P H A T RANT INCOMING FOR ANYONE WHO CARES TO READ THIS NONSENSE CUZ @haldidoodh ASKED

That episode literally blasted the last of my serotonin into smithereens but TBH??? WHO AM I MAD AT I should have seen this coming this whole volume has been such a headache. I cant be bothered to type up a coherent rwde essay on everything that bothered me this episode so im just gonna copy and paste my earlier yelling here instead ;A;

Team Rwby was god awful in episodes 11-12. They’re so self-righteous, entitled, hypocritical and cocky as a team and it doesnt help that they all suck as individual characters nowadays (except for weiss but even she lost best-girl points this episode also lmao blake and yang aren’t even INDIVIDUALS anymore they’re just bumbleby). It was annoying at first but now its just infuriating how rwby thinks theyre always right with their uwu energy and think they can do whatever tf they want with ZERO CONSEQUENCES.

Basically any time there is a problem in this show they have Ruby uwu at it and its solved lol.

They kept giving ironwood shit for taking on this incredible burden SO THAT NOBODY ELSE WOULD HAVE TO and rather than offer any real solution they just kept going “but mantle” like okay?? But remnant??? Like obvi letting mantle rot is bad but HE WAS OPEN TO ANY HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS CUZ HES OBVI AT HIS WITTS END AND DOESNT LIKE THE IDEA EITHER but yeah they just proceed to be the fattest hypocrites by hiding secrets of their own after being all “no more secrets uwu” and WHEN THEY GOT EXPOSED THEY JUST WENT “>:[“ (yangs self-righteous little glare here pissed me off so much oof) especially when ironwood was laying everything out in the open to them from the start. AND ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SECRET WAS FKIN “OH YEAH SALEM CANT DIE LOL” They watched ironwood make every decision he did in hopes of beating Salem while KNOWING she couldnt die??? So literallY WHERE do they get off on screeching at him with their yOu doNt hAvE to Suffer In ManTle YOu doNt kNow whAt iTs liKe bs. Wtf made ruby distrust iw at the start anyway? Because he had a bunch of ships out? They kept this CRUCIAL piece of information from him because he seemed stressed out?? Like what made ruby keep the secret from him. Someone tell me.

And the fact that rwby beat the ace-ops makes no goddamned sense. The power-scaling in this show is non-existant. We finally got to meet some pro huntsmen in this universe who aren’t teachers but are actually on the job, but because we gotta move out of the way for that 👌🏽✨ Power Of Friendship✨ and ✨rwby is always right✨ they somehow managed to beat experienced huntsmen with YEARS in the field who’ve actually graduated school??? FARM BOI OSCAR WHOS *JUST* LEARNING HOW TO FIGHT MANAGED TO LAND A PUNCH ON NEO FKIN POLITAN??? Didnt neo dance circles around yang??? Yang, who punches for a living and also beat mercury and adam??? I cant yall (and the fact that he didnt even bother to sneak up on her this boi literally screamed “no!!” as he ran down a hallway and neo didnt even have time to blink??? Pls)

Ruby’s “you were the best, until you trained us :3” -for maybe 2 days before my team went dancing ruby sis shut right tf up pls my god is this line just so. UNEARNED. Training in a room for a short while does not simply grant you the years of field experience the ace ops have and whAT IS UP WITH HER TRYING TO REASON WITH HARIETT AFTER SAYING THAT COCKY LINE AND FIGHTING HER??? WHAT and also like. The entire idea of “the ops lost cuz they weren’t good friends and were bad at teamwork uwu” is just so dumb. Ur telling me this group of high ranking hunstmen who’ve most likely been working together for at least a few years didnt have teamwork down??? Learning to work together is the most BASIC concept for a team to learn!! Its like the first thing a team has to perfect!! If the ace ops are supposed to be the best of atlas you dont think the ops would have gotten something as fundemental as teamwork down?? I dont buy it. And who gives a shit if they dont hang out after work or take selfies with eachother. Being friends doesnt necessarily mean theyre great at working together. If they succeed at relying on eachother to watch their backs, to keep each other alive (in the words of hariett herself) then Id think theyd know how to protect eachother i.e WORK TOGETHER.

And for all the ✨friendship✨ and ✨going through so much with someone✨ talk rwby like to do, the show barely displays these people acting like friends. We’re constantly TOLD how great of friends this group is, but the actual CONTENT we are shown leaves a lot to be desired. Tell me the last time ruby and blake teamed up in a fight. Or weiss and blake. Or yang and weiss. What teamwork?? Yang only interacts with blake now and weiss is only ever allowed to interact with ruby. Has blake ever said nora or ren’s name out loud? Have jaune and yang ever held a conversation between just them? Team rwby just spent a GOOD DEAL of time seperated from eachother, but when they reunite their teamwork is still somehow better than the ace ops?? Honestly its easier to believe that ruby is closer with team jnpr than she is her own team. If they showed the ops messing up during rwby vs ace ops fight due to lack of communication, then it still doesnt matter. My point is that they shouldnt have lacked teamwork in the first place.

Robyn was m e h this episode “JaMes ConTinUes to UnDeresTimAte Me” *proceeds to get knocked over in .3 seconds and is then KO for the rest of the episode* also great job for starting a fight and aiming to take clovers life in a moving airship with a terrorist on board when clover was acting PEACEFULLY and qrow was WILLING TO TALK IT OUT WITH IW and potentially work on a solution, but naw robyn is big mad and shall shoot.

Qrow made zero sense this episode too. I was with him right up until he chose TYRIAN OVER CLOVER??? THE PSYCOPATH WHO CANNOT BE REASONED WITH OVER THE RATIONAL DUDE YOU KNOW IS GOOD except clover wasnt acting rational in this fight at all and ill get to that AND IS THE ONLY FRIEND YOU HAVE WHOS NOT 19????? Qrow rly looked at tyrian- a man who is literally an enemy to all of remnant and went after ur neice- and said lets get rid of this punk together u and me bro. Like screw teaming with clover to bring down the dude you ACTUALLY have a grudge with whos also a serial killer and then trying to talk it out with clover whod be willing to do things peacefully why is this show like this

and AS FOR CLOVER. where were the braincells this episode. Qrow was trying to fight tyrian-the WAY bigger threat here, but clover??? kept knocking him away from tyrian and restraining him with his hook like??? YEAH LETS HELP OUT THE DEMON SCORPION CRACKHEAD HES CLEARLY NOT THE PRIORITY ATM nvm clover deserved to die there m8

His death scene was emotional and I feel bad for Qrow but u literally sealed his death when u ganged on him with tyrian so why are you even surprised. And on the subject of fairgame, im glad it didnt happen. Qrow was in no state for romance and I was glad he finally had a friend. He just spent the last volume thinking he wasted his life away helping oz, drowning in misery, drinking til he passed out on the street and so drunk he couldnt even be of any help during the apathy situation, when up til now hes been shown to fight just fine while drunk. I don’t see this as a “bury your gays trope” because clover was never confirmed to be gay and all their scenes added up to 40 seconds of platonic friendship. These two are grown ass men, if they had the hots for eachother then im pretty sure they could openly show it and not dance around it like theyre kids. I do feel bad for mlm viewers who were hoping for some rep with fairgame/lucky charms (cuz rt only cares if ur a cute marketable lesbian) but idc for the overly entitled fans who try to force their own headcanons on the writers and go feral when they dont get what they want. You dont just get to prance around claiming whats canon and what isnt. If rep is there then great, but if it isnt, then why not look somehwere else and let the author tell the story theyre trying to tell? Shipping fairgame cuz you think its cute is absolutely fine but not when u start getting ready to casterate crwby for not catering to you. Also, rwby sucks with lgbt+ rep anyway so what were yall expecting.

The only thing that was great this episode was the chorerography. It just sucks that the animation/choreo continues to improve while the writing doesnt. Another thing that really fell off this episode was the whole “we’re friends but we have to fight” drama. It doesnt work when its only ONE SIDE SHOWING ANY DISTRESS OVER IT. Only the ace ops (marrow, clover, the vine dude) seemed to show distress over having to fight rwby (it sucks that the only 1v1 weiss has won was because marrow was going EASY on her cuz he didnt wanna fight her fr) but rwby???? They didnt give any shits. They were so quick to turn against them and aim for their heads. They were SMILING as they ran at the ace ops, while they looked conflicted. If you oppose their UwU philosophy, you’re dead to them.

I really wanna enjoy RWBY but sometimes this show (and the fndm) really tests me. Its ironic how this episode came right after last episode, which I thought was the best chapter this volume. Anyway I rate this 10/10 cuz it gave me best character ironwood and best boi marrow and I would like to give them hugs for carrying this volume on their backs. (Also tyrian and penny and winter have been great too)

[blackcatanna]

Hakuoki part 2

I love that their hair AND ONLY THEIR HAIR moves in the intro so you know that these aren't still images, they're just staring REALLY INTENSELY at you.

Okay, so I learned that the ending is super depressing if you blunder through the game like an idiot as I did on my first try...

"I'm going to go and watch the physical exams ^_^ " WTF?!!?? CHILD, NO!?! STAY BACK, YOU PERV! I DIDN'T THINK THAT THIS WAS THAT KIND OF GAME?!!? Also, for once, I'm kind of on Itou's side here. I don't have that much of a problem showing my friends my body but the moment any one tries to force it, I am GONE.

I am eternally grateful to this game for introducing me to the concept of a SNOW BUNNEH!!! 8D

Kazama is suck an absolute prick. And a creep. Please stop making rapey comments and being smug. When Harada tells him that too much of a bitch to ask you out, I was VERY happy. He is a COWARD.

Even before you meet your dad, I had already written him off as an unpleasant individual for working with Kazama: a man who is trying to kidnap and impregnate you?! Aren't fathers supposed to protect their daughters from demonic rapists?

I'm not that mad at the pc for being more useless than the skilled swordsmen and demons around her but the fact that she doesn't even TRY to learn about her demonic powers irks me. If you're going to spend so much time angsting about being a waste of space, at least ask someone like Sen for help?

On that note, Sen is bae. When she comes to get you from the Shinsengumi, I was like, "Please, take me away with you and your beautiful bodyguard! The two characters I'm closest to have abandoned me so running off with some sexy demon girls seems JUST FINE BY ME." but that was not an option and so I was sad.

This main character is so emotionally dense and inconsiderate. She says so many times things like, "It never occurred to me that he had feelings inside of him because he didn't say so." You idiot. The number of times you ask stupid questions like, "Don't you care about ****?!" YES. OBVIOUSLY HE CARES. JUST BECAUSE YOU EXPRESS YOUR EMOTIONS BY CRYING AND YELLING AT EVERYONE DOESN'T MEAN THAT THAT'S NORMAL. Anyway, that got more intense than I'd intended. I actually liked the pc in this game more than I thought I would but this game doesn't give you a lot of choices. Which is fine and I still love it but it has lead me to vent my frustrations on Tumblr.

Also, why do you ask so many questions about the future when it's all up in the air? They're probably wondering the same things that you are and are feeling anxious too and you're just reminding them of how uncertain the future is for them.

The guy with the beauty mark on his face who's name I can't remember? He creeps me out. I don't know why because I've only encountered him that one time at the teashop with Saito but he's seriously giving me bad vibes. So much so that his is the only dlc I haven't played (clicked) through. I guess I will play it and reconsider, perhaps.

I was so mad when you say that Iba is "almost as good looking" as Hijikata. Hijikata is not that good looking, in my probably controversial opinion (safe in the knowledge that no one will probably ever read this. If you have stumbled across this nonsense and you are a Hijikata fan, I am sorry for being a bitch 3:) but he's just not my type and I wouldn't need to be saying this if the game wasn't trying so hard to brainwash me into fancying Hijikata). Anyway, Iba is so beautiful, it almost makes up for his personality. JK, Iba is lovely but they had to come up with such a convoluted way of making him horny?! Anyway, that's the next game.

This game is pretty brutal! I've only played through two routes so far (Saito and Iba) because I'm immediately playing Edo blossoms afterwards but even the good endings seem to have your bae getting tortured by dickheads while you watch helplessly. And then Yamazaki and Inoue die!?! Tempted to play Yamazaki's route next just to stop him from dying! I wonder what the terrible price he'll have to pay while you stand by helplessly will be. Yamazaki and Inoue were just so nice a the time :'(

I'm super reluctant to give my blood to Sanan to study it but only because he's being super creepy and aggressive about it! If he asked nicely instead of barging in with a sword, I would be totally down to help my friends in that way. As seen throughout Edo Blossoms.

This game is giving me so many 19th century goth vibes, what with the beautiful men, dark secrets, mad science, vampires, horny demons, Stockholm syndrome and people dying of TB...

Much like Samurai Warriors, this game knows how to wring my heartstrings by placing a bunch of adorable characters in a historical setting and then torturing the shit out of them. I guess I'm pretty sadistic but then I'm sure that freaks like me aren't the only people who enjoy this game...

Apparently, there are all kinds of shenanigans only released in Japanese like Okita adopting a cat and naming it Toshizo and the many adventures of Hijikata's book of terrible poems (more goth points there). Speaking of, Hijikata also gets bonus goth points for looking like Sebastian from Black Butler. Maybe that's another reason why I don't like him. I never got into Black Butler. I bought the first two volumes but the pedo vibes made me super uncomfortable.

Speaking of pedo vibes, why does Chizuro look so young? I personally dislike her design because she's so nauseatingly cute and round but maybe that's just me. I don't mind her face so much in the event art but in the main character art of her, her face is just so dumb and blank. Guess that's the point of a self-insert character, though.

I wish there was more of you dressing up as a girl for both recreational and disguise purposes.

Sen: They say that bad things will happen if anyone, especially a human, uses this demon arm! ..... *five seconds later* You should use this demon arm! :D I get that these are desperate times but she suddenly seems not at all bothered about risking unspecified badness raining down on her people. I guess that that's because letting Takeda run around unchecked is potentially more dangerous... Maybe because the two arms are linked, unleashing the other one doesn't activate a second curse of ominous bad things? Idk, this whole plotline is weird and O BOY does it only get weirder from here!

Anyway, I'm done ranting about this game for now. I am in the bath and I need to wash my hair before I go out and VOTE. Normally I read in the bath but I've spent hours staring at text on my computer so it's time to inflict my own nonsense on the world.

[completeoveranalysis]

TRC Translation Notes Volume 14 (Chapters 100 - 108)

The continuation of @giniroangou making all of our lives better and saving us from mistranslations, now for Volume 14.

Highlights include: distant crying in New Zealand over Kurogane, Mokona being a better liar than me, Fai being Fai the best he can, and what about the books??

Chapter 100

p.1 - “That one” referred to in the line here is definitively Fei Wang - the kanji for his name are written below the reading of “that person.” This connects directly to his dialogue on the next page.

p.9 - The line that’s been translated as, “There will be no second time!” is a bit literal IMO. It’s more like, “Never again…”/“You can never again…” There’s no ellipsis in the original text (no exclamation point either though) and it’s written in such a way that it looks final, but Yuuko doesn’t really complete her sentence here. It’s also intended as a direct mirror to Fei Wang’s “Once more” at the end of his monologue, which also wasn’t a complete thought. (In Japanese, Fei Wang ends with “Mou ichido,” and Yuuko ends with “Mou nido to.”)

p.10 - Kurogane’s question about Clow Kingdom here is less of a question and more of a confirmation - in the Japanese version I wouldn’t say it gives the impression that he needs to ask, just that he’s reaffirming information he already knows.

p.12 - There are some subtle differences in nuance during this conversation. In the Japanese version, Kurogane tells Syaoran that now there’s even less reason to feel bad about seeing his memories (making it clear he had no reason to feel bad in the first place.) Then he says it’s precisely because Syaoran saw his past that he was able to notice the markings on the sword. Not that this isn’t obvious, but it has a slightly different tone than the translated version.

The word Syaoran uses when he calls Kurogane a nice guy is the same one Kurogane’s mother used in the flashback - “yasashii.”

Syaoran’s final line on this page is actually in direct response to Kurogane’s WTF reaction to being called nice - “My father said that truly nice people will try to dodge the subject if you say that to them.” So basically he’s saying Kurogane just proved how nice he is by reacting that way, lol.

Chapter 101

Cover page - The fan translated title is more accurate than the official title. “The Book in Which Magic Dwells” is the gist of it. Also, re: the splash text - keep in mind that Japanese doesn’t have a capital/lowercase distinction and often doesn’t distinguish between singular and plural, so if you see “God” or something similar that’s purely the translator’s choice. Sadly I can’t see the original text for these pages, but generally in cases like this I prefer more general translations like “divine light” rather than “God’s light.”

p.26 - Fai’s comment on the flying train is less wondering than it appears in the translation - he’s just like, “So these are flying by magic too, huh.”

p.28 - I suppose the wording is ambiguous, but I’m pretty sure the actual meaning of Mokona’s line here is that Kurogane did something unspeakable to her, lol.

p.32 - I’m assuming this city’s name should be rendered as “Biblio” rather than “Viburio,” for obvious reasons.

p.38 - Because Mokona is THE WORST LIAR IN THE WORLD (or just a gigantic troll) the thing she’s singing as they walk in is, “We’re just borrowing, we’re just borrowing~” Subtle.

p.42 - While “funt” is a possible transliteration for the name for the guard creatures (exact katakana being “funto”), the Japanese “f” is very close to an “h,” and “hund”/“hunde” (ie “dog”/“dogs” in German) makes much more sense. In the original explanation, these are included among the “soldarts” protecting the library, hence why they’re referred to that way later.

Chapter 102

p.46 - Fai’s totally fake line about the books is more along the lines of, “I wonder if we can find any interesting-looking books here?” as if they’re just regular folks casually browsing the library who don’t already know exactly what book they’ve come there for. Sakura’s agreement is a weak attempt to keep up the pretense.

p.47 - Fai’s “That looks fake” uses the exact same wording as Kurogane’s on the previous page. THIS IS REVENGE.

p.54 - Fai’s original line about his magical experience is, “Anyone who’s studied even a little bit of magic would know that.” Of course, this is untrue and it does make implications about his knowledge being less than it really is, but it feels a lot smoother than the English version, like a natural answer to brush off Sakura’s compliment. (All of which just makes me love Kurogane’s suspicion even more.)

Chapter 103

Cover page - The “ruins” referred to in the chapter title are physical ruins based on the kanji (referring to the Clow ruins that show up a little later), and I don’t think this word would have other meanings unless you got very poetic about it, but I love all the layers in the English translation.

p.65 - After Fai says that running will be faster than fighting, he adds that there seems to be no end to the things coming after them (implying there’s no point in fighting anyway.)

p.71 - Fai’s deflection about studying a little magic is in the same vein as the one from the previous chapter.

p.72 - Kurogane isn’t talking about Fai protecting himself here - he’s reasoning that it wouldn’t make sense for the library to use basic magic for its protective spells.

p.76-77 - The time-measuring gadget on these pages might not actually be a sundial. In the Japanese version they just call it a “tokei” (時計) meaning “clock” or more generally “timepiece.” It’s still keeping time when Sakura turns it away, the kids just literally can’t see it anymore so they don’t know what time it is.

Chapter 104

p.89 - Syaoran’s “Princess, please…” in the translation was much less infuriating than his original line, which was, “Please take care of the Princess” (presumably spoken to Fai.)

Chapter 106

Cover page - The official translation for this chapter title of “The Escape with no Tomorrow” is correct. I feel like “Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire” could be an alternative, tbh. It’s certainly not a literal translation, but it feels like that’s the idea.

p.123 - In the Japanese version, after Syaoran says he’s fine his line is, “More importantly, the books…!” Bless this child and his priorities.

p.132 - Kurogane is not suggesting jumping over the water here, but jumping into it.

Chapter 107

p.145 - It seems like the meaning got across just fine, but when I first saw the English translation Kurogane’s, “Isn’t all magic the same?” felt a bit obtuse, as if he’s just questioning that different types of magic exist. His original line is, “Magic is magic, right?” which I think makes it clearer that he’s seeing through Fai’s nonchalant facade - whatever Fai might say, he still used magic when he swore he wouldn’t, and that’s a big deal.

p.154 - Fai is actually saying that if Kurogane carries Sakura over his shoulder all the time the blood will rush to her head. Cute aside: in Japan they refer to carrying a person in your arms as a “princess carry” so that would be the literal translation of Mokona’s line.

p.155 - In the translation it seems like Fai has already given up on finding anything else in this world, but in his original line he’s just hoping they can find a place where they can treat Syaoran’s wounds.

Chapter 108

p.168 - Syaoran’s last line on this page is, “But I wonder what could have happened to destroy them like this.” I think the translator was trying to show the connection between that and his previous thought about the age of the buildings by adding in “What other than time” but it comes off sounding a little too naive.

p.169 - Syaoran notes that there was a little bit of the hard road left, not the entire thing.

[lodgerthings]

Kifeda’s Breakthrough

Social interactions were far from Kifeda’s forte. It was the attention that made it difficult for him. Talking to people would not be so daunting if he was not constantly analyzing every little change in their expressions. Fear of judgment in their faces is what led to the development of his skill with computers. Making friends over the internet was leagues ahead of face-to-face contact, in his opinion. One could say it started him on the path to eventually joining this task force for his new pride. Soon after, it actually proved to be of even more value than anyone anticipated.

During one sleepless night, Kifeda sat at his desk at home, reflecting on how things were going for him in his new home. Strangely, at the same time, things were both better and worse than he expected. On one hand, he really only went three places: home, next door, and work. Despite his time here, he still hardly knew his own neighborhood. On the other hand, he had a job, a friend (his supervisor and neighbor, but it counted, right?), and...and… Well, he had a job.

Did it really count as progress? Would his sisters be disappointed? At least there was that, in terms of progress. Lately, he proved how much more skillful he was in dodging their persistent calls. Texts and emails, he answered promptly and with well-crafted replies, but he was conveniently busy every time he was asked to FaceTime or even just voice call. On one occasion, he even enlisted Khalfani’s help, asking him to call out from a separate room to make it seem like some important breakthrough was about to happen. After every dodge, though, he felt the threat of one of them showing up unannounced looming over him and getting that much closer to realization. Lying awake and imagining the worst did no good, so Kifeda soon found himself in front of his personal computer again.

Visiting the same sites every time would result in burn out, meaning that tonight he needed to try and discover some new places to occupy his time. There were probably chat rooms or forums for people adapting to life in a new pride, right? One of them could give him some ideas for how to naturally find the courage to branch out. Now that Kifeda had an objective, he got to work searching.

Site to site, he moved. Some had out-dated posts that were not helpful, some had advice for people who were already naturally outgoing, and then he found one that sounded a little...troubling. Curiosity beat out the thought that this would only waste his time and soon he was scrolling through the latest posts. One from a couple days earlier caught his eye.

[[Yeah. Been arrested here too much, so I think moving’s a good idea. I never should have dated a cop’s kid. Now the guy finds any reason to accuse me of a crime. Shitbag. At least I don’t live outside the Pridelands. My cousin sent me this video the other day and I was like wtf?? DM if you wanna see. I’d probably be hunted down if I posted it in the open here.]]

Thought after thought fired through Kifeda’s mind as he folded a fist into his other hand and brought them to his lips. It did not sound like a trap. Sometimes bots used similar tactics to get nosy people to click links by making it seem like they are actually talking to a person, but this did not carry the usual signs of such a scam. Unfolding his hands, he rhythmically tapped the keyboard, still debating his next move. If this was real, and this person really was afraid of the wrong people seeing this video, Kifeda would have to prove he did not pose any threat. That was a nonissue. Over text, he was well-versed in conforming his personality to fit his environment.

No second-guessing. Diving straight in, Kifeda made an account and filled it with every necessary piece of information to make him appear as innocuous as possible. Then he started randomly replying and posting in various parts of the sight to build the character he needed. Contacting the poster only moments after joining the site would be suspicious, so there would need to be a window of time before that happened. After the number of weeks with no results in their investigation, what were a few more days?

***

Khalfani leaned over Kifeda’s station, one hand on the back of Kifeda’s chair to steady himself. The first few times Khalfani did this, it tensed Kifeda’s entire body, leaving him feeling like prey that narrowly escaped with its life. Now, however, he was used to the gesture. Khalfani was no threat. He provided more of a sense of protection.

“How’s it going?” Khalfani asked, his eyes scanning the screen.

Kifeda sighed, nervous energy coursing through his veins.

“I sent the first message a couple hours ago and we’ve been chatting since. I don’t get the sense he’s distrustful of me, though. I think he’s just taking long to cover his bases. I should have the link soon.” Anxious, Kifeda looked up to meet Khalfani’s eyes. “You haven’t said anything to the Princess, yet, right?”

“I’m not any less keen than you are to avoid getting her hopes up. Not that I don’t have faith in you. But if the video doesn’t tell us anything, I’d hate to see the disappointment in her eyes. She’s got enough going on as it is.”

Kifeda’s eyes turned downcast in sympathy. “First her dad. Now her adviser.”

“Rafiki and the King will be fine. Look. You have a message.”

Both men’s eyes glued to the screen while Kifeda typed. As minutes passed, they each drew closer until their faces were side by side and mere inches from the computer. And then it finally happened. Kifeda had a download link for a video taken by a member of the Outlands.

As soon as the video began playing, the rest of the team left their stations and crowded around the two. How could they not after hearing Zira’s voice booming from the speakers despite how low Kifeda’s volume was set?

On a platform in the middle of a dimly lit room, Zira stood above the crowd and orated. The video began mid-sentence.

“...weak they are now? Have you seen the effect our operation has had on them? Their king is locked away in a hospital! Their queen is too distraught to rule! Their failure of a princess is /scraping the barrel/ for ideas to keep the masses distracted from the truth! But we are not so easily swayed. We know what’s really happening. They’re crumbling. Breaking. /Weakening/. Soon enough, it will be time for us to attack again! Don’t miss out on your chance to be apart of their downfall! Join me! Paint yourselves in their blood!”

An excited voice in the crowd shouted, “How did you do it, Zira? How did you get him?”

“Easy,” she answered, her sudden calm weighing on the room, bringing a hush over the crowd. “They are not as clever as they like to think. There are holes in their security. Flaws everywhere. All we had to do was find the right one and just like that we had our hands on their schedule. Then it was just a matter of finding the right people for the job. Our numbers weren’t what they needed to be for our own to pull it off.” Her energy amped up again quickly. “Which is why we need you now! Let it be our own hands that take back the Pridelands!”

The video ended as soon as the crowd roared with cheers.

Everyone stood in stunned silence. Khalfani’s rumbling voice broke it.

“I want every one of you to analyze the faces we can make out in the crowd. Try to find if any of them might have more information out there on the internet. Go!”

Though Khalfani gave the order to move, he was the only one who stayed in place there by Kifeda.

“At least we know for sure now,” Kifeda offered innocently.

“It wasn’t her.”

The words were not what shocked Kifeda, but Khalfani’s certainty. He pointed to a specific time in the video.

“Bring it back there. And lower the volume. Watch.” Kifeda followed through and Khalfani explained while the clip played. “Her face when the question is asked. You’d expect pride, wouldn’t you? Arrogance? She looks angry. If the ambush was her plan, she would want to brag. That’s how Zira is. But she’s not bragging. She’s guessing. This is what she /thinks/ led to the attack. They’re taking credit for someone else’s move.”

Heaving a heavy sigh, Khalfani stepped back and stood tall.

“This is still valuable to us regardless. Zira isn’t confident in her people.” Clapping his hand down on Kifeda’s shoulder, Khalfani shed the tension in him and smiled warmly as he said, “You’ve done a great job. We’re lucky to have you. Let’s get a concise report together and make an appointment with the Princess.”

An appointment with the Princess sounded immensely intimidating, but Kifeda could reflect on that later. Right now, he was swept up in the euphoria of being so genuinely appreciated and having made Khalfani proud. Next time one of his sisters called, he would tell them all about that moment. And the next time he was surfing forums he would seek help for what to do when you realize you have developed a crush on your superior.

[calliecat93]

RWBY V6 CH3 Review: The Lost Fable

Sorry that this took so long guys. Staying up for Extra Life and a bad case of indigestion REALLY messed me up. I’m still not at 100%, but I didn’t want to fall behind like last year so I finally got this done before Saturday’s episode! Yay!

Ever since around Volume 3, there have been many questions raised about the mysterious Headmaster of Beacon, Professor of Ozpin. Who is he? What is he? Is he truly a hero? Or a villain right under our heroes noses? Why does he reincarnate? And probably most of all,w hat is connection to our villainess, Salem? Add these questions to the headmaster's frequent lies and half-truths and naturally, it makes everyone curious about the true intent of this character. Some think that his reasons are justified. Others think that he is no better than the evil that he is against. But regardless of what side you are, we can all agree on one thing: we want answers.

Well, at long last, those answers have arrived. We last left off with Ruby using the Relic of Knowledge to discover what Ozpin has been hiding. Jinn began to tell the tale of a lonely young girl locked away in a tower. A young girl, named Salem. And now she continues this fairy tale, one that will take many leaps and turns, but will sadly go with no happily ever after. So let us discuss The Lost Fable.

Overview

Jinn narrates to us the tale of Salem, a young maiden locked away by her cruel father because... because? Yeah, Jinn doesn't say. We learn that back in this time, all humans could wield magical forces, but despite this Salem could only sit in her tower and wait for someone to come to her rescue. Many had dared, but all failed. That is until the arrival of a legendary warrior. One who fought for righteousness. One with a heart as pure as gold who had come to free Salem from her imprisonment not for her hand, but because it was right. And this warrior was named Ozma, a reference to The Wizard of Oz books. Which, if that isn't an indicator, this is Ozpin's original identity.

Ozma successfully reached Salem and together, the two fought their way out of the tower and escaped. The two soon fell deeply in love with Salem finding freedom through Ozma and Ozma finding something worth fighting for form Salem. The two planned adventures together and it seemed like a fairy tale ending... but alas, not all stories have a happy ending. Ozma became gravely hill and sadly, he lost the battle. Salem was left devastated, asking why the Gods would allow such a tragedy to befall her. Yes, at this time, the two brothers that Qrow mentioned in Volume 4 were still around, living alongside humanity. Hoping to bring back her lover, Salem decided to approach the God of Light. Which his domain look absolutely gorgeous BTW. And the God of Light's design, a featureless figure composed entirely of light... I truly believe that this figure is a God. And his voice is 100% PERFECT.

Despite Salem's plea, the Light God refuses in order to maintain balance between life and death. Salem is furious, calling it unfair, but the Light God simply tells her to let Ozpin rest. But Salem is unwilling to move on, so she resorts to approaching the God of Darkness. His domain looks a LOT like Salem's present domain to the point that I assume that they are one and the same, especially with the Grimm pools around. The God of Darkness himself is composed of darkness and his arrival is... very creepy. His body contorts uncontrollably and it really, really makes you understand why many don't do to him. But alas, Salem tells him of her loss, but doesn't mention approaching his brother first. Jinn's narration says that she was careful not to, so it seems deliberate on Salem's part, unintentional or not. The Dark God, pleased to have someone actually come to him for once, rewards Salem by resurrecting Ozma.

Unfortunately for Salem, her prayers don't stay answered for long as the Light God arrives in order to fix the balance. The Dark God accuses him of being jealous that someone came to him for once and not him. The two go into Dragon forms, at which point the Light God tells his brother of Salem's deception. Realizing his mistake, the Dark God one more kills Ozma, angering Salem as she tries to attack with her magic. But all that it result sin is her being sent back to the Light God's domain and dropped into his pool, making her immortal. The Gods tell her that she will never be allowed to die and be with Ozma again until she learns the importance of life and death. That is... pretty damn harsh. But I can kind of see what they are trying to do. They want Salem to understand that death is a part of life and that remaining alive forever can be just as bad. She refused to accept death and to move on, so now she has to learn the hard way. Again, it's harsh, but I can see the logic.

Salem, unable to kill herself, creates a new plan. Realizing that pitting the Gods against one another means that they are as fallible as she is, she begins to travel form kingdom to kingdom. She claims to have stolen immortality from the Gods and that if they all banded together, they could kill the Gods and have the power to keep their loved ones form dying. She forms an army and attacks the Gods... but unfortunately for her, it is futile. The Dark God wipes out not just the army... but all of humanity for their betrayal. Okay yeah, that has NO justification at all. WTF dude?! All that remains is Salem as the Gods declare the world a failed experiment. It is simply a remnant of what it once was. They leave to learn from the mistake, telling Salem to learn form hers. As he leaves, the Dark God crashes through the moon cracking it apart. So ti was God who broke the moon! Red vs Blue called it! Salem, now alone and defeated, can only scream in despair as the remains of the moon crash all around Remnant. Hoping to die, Salem returned to the Dark God's domain and jumped into one of the Grimm pools thinking that if the Light God's gave her immortality, then this will remove it. Sadly, it can't and it instead turns her into a Creature of Grimm. And thus, the Salem that we now know of was born.

Meanwhile, Ozma is awakened in between life and death by the God of Light, who informs him of the tragedy. Why is he here? TO grant humanity another chance? He creates the four relics which along with the lamp, includes a spear (Creation), a sword (Destruction), and a crown (Choice). Which they look... a LOT like the four kingdoms symbols... HMM... well anyways! Th Light God wishes to task Ozma to guide humanity as it rises once again, telling him that if the Relics are brought together, then the God will return and pass judgment. If humanity passes, the Gods will remain and they will be whole once more. But if they fail, then they and Remnant itself will be wiped out. Ozma will reincarnate until he has completed his task, but in a way that ensures that he isn't alone by bonding with a like-minded soul. At first Ozma refuses, wanting to be in death with Salem, but the Light God informs him that she is alive. But she is not the same. Sheesh, now who's fault is that, huh?! This is all the motivation that Ozma needs as, like a certain redhead in Volume 3 did, he readily agrees to the deal.

Thus, Ozma is reincarnated as the second incarnation that we saw in the opening. Th good news is that humanity has indeed risen once again, but not like it had before. Towns were different, Faunus had come into existence and locked up like animals, and no one could perform magic without Dust. We sadly don't get an explanation for how Dust and Faunus came to be, though according to Eddy Rivas (an RT Animation, writer and RWBYs official lore keeper) on RWBY Rewind there were a LOT of dialogue cuts that would have explained more of this. Bummer but I can understand timing being an issue, especially since this one alone is 26 minutes, haha... Ozma soon heard of a watch who could perform magic, who eh concluded must be Salem. He approached her house and as he thought, Salem is indeed the witch. When the two see each other they immediately recognize each other, and are once more together. They recount what happened, but not fully. Salem omits her involvement in humanities downfall, blaming it solely on the Gods. Ozpin doesn't tell Salem of the task that the Light God bestowed on him and soon, he is convinced by Salem to become Remnant's new Gods. His heart easily swayed, Ozpin agrees.

It isn't long before the two lovers gain a following and indeed are viewed as Gods. They gain a castle and soon form a family, having four young daughters. And they have a... very similar color scheme that matches the scheme of four certain maidens form a fairy tale. Now I don't think that Ozpin's daughters are the original Maidens for... reasons I'll discuss soon, but I DO believe that the original Maidens reminded him of them and is part of what restored his broken spirits when he was the hermit. All looks well, right? Well... it should have been. But Ozma is becoming doubtful, the Light God's words still lingering in his mind. It doesn't help that Salem is beginning to increase their reach and destroy anyone who opposes them, causing Ozpin to realize that what he is ding is wrong. It doesn't help when one of their daughters displays being able to perform magic, which makes Salem happy but only makes Ozpin more fearful. He finally admits the truth to Salem, and... she takes it rather well. Why? Because in her mind, it doesn't matter. She has developed a God Complex of her own, planning to replace humanity all together. She has become the very thing that she despised, and Ozma knows it.

That night, Ozma rounds up the daughters and tries to escape, but Salem catches him. The two proceed to fight. We don't see it, but we see silhouettes of it and the horrified reactions of Ruby and Weiss... oh yeah the RWBY girls, Qrow, and Oscar have been watching throughout the tale. With all the other animation effect sin this episode alone, I was fine with it plus tbh I think it works better without us seeing the fight. The castle crumbles to the ground and it appears that the daughters have been killed in the crossfire. Ozma is bleeding out and Salem is a dust pile, but her immortality quickly causes her to regenerate. Angered and betrayed, Salem casts the killing blow, burning Ozma to death and truly becoming the wicked witch that she is in present day.

Ozma again reincarnates. He is reincarnated again and again and again. Some lives he was in mourning, others had him simply try to live his life. Eventually he began to learn to live alongside the souls that he bonded with, which may confirm that no, he doesn't assimilate the host body after awhile. Maybe. But no matter who he was, no matter where he went, the constant presence of the Grimm meant that Salem's presence was always near. In one life, the dad-looking guy form the opening, Ozma created his trademark cane and came to realize that Salem couldn't be defeated by any mortal means. In his next life, he seeked out the power of the Relics and came across the Relic of Knowledge. He proceeded to ask Jinn his questions. The first was where the Relics were. The second was what powers did they posses. And the last was how he could destroy Salem. We only hear the answer to the final one, in which Jinn simply answers “You can't”. Which... recognize that I italicized 'he' and keep that in mind for the review portion.

This answer seems to make it clear that Ozpin's quest is truly hopeless as he sinks to the ground. The four RWBY girls also react. Yang looks furious, possibly realizing that her mother may have very well been right about how Salem can't be defeated. Blake and Weiss look like they are in utter shock. Ruby looks no better, but it should be noted that she actually watches Ozpin as he falls to his knees, looking concerned for him. The chapter ends, showing us Oscar, who we can assume is in Ozpin mode in the same knelt position. His secrets are now out in the open, and with it all the pain and guilt that he has carried for all of these years. Team RWBY got their answer, but was this knowledge worth it?

Review

I haven been watching RWBY since the end of Volume One. I have been watching it for five years now.  Many episodes had an impact on me. Hell, Volume 3's finale left me an emotional wreck. But no episode has ever left me utterly speechless, at least not until now. This was the episode that we all had been waiting for for quite some time, but none of us were prepared for what it had in store for us.

First, the animation. This may very well be the best animated episode in the entire series. The blue mist effects as the story changes scenes, the camera work, the gorgeous looking domain of the Light God and the eerie domain of the Dark God, even just the expressions for this episode. It was all absolute perfect. It truly felt like a fairy tale come to life... a dark fairy tale, but still. Actually, it felt more like a Greek myth, what with powerful Gods who make terrible mistakes and causes harsh punishments for the mortals who approach them. I looked at several Greek myths when RvB16 was airing, and... yeah they are fucked up. Many are tragic, and this is no exception. The pacing never felt too fast or slow. It never felt like it was giving us too little or slamming exposition into our faces. It was just the right balance of having Jinn tell us things and allowing the scenes to show us what was happening. Clearly they learned from Volume 5.

So lets talk about the Gods... they're assholes. Not a surprise as, like I said, this is a Greek myth and the Gods in Greek myth are NOT nice. Now IDT they're evil and as I said as harsh as it was, I do see their logic in trying to make Salem learn the importance of life and death by making her immortal. Plus they at least do admit that they have to learn form the mistake and the Light God at least is willing to give Remnant a second chance. But it does NOT excuse wiping out humanity. They call humanity an 'experiment' and act like they own them. They don't. Salem has very good justification in hating the Gods, especially in how they treat Ozma's death and brief resurrections like it means nothing. Their punishments are harsh and only drove Salem into taking her more drastic actions. While Salem's actions provoked humanity's downfall, the Gods are just as to blame for it as she is, maybe even moreso since if they treated the situation more carefully, they could have avoided the betrayal all together. But nope, they leave Remnant and threaten to destroy it if humanity doesn't learn. Assholes.

Then Salem...  Dear God Salem. We've been wanting to know more about our main villain for awhile, and BOY did we get to know her alright. Her story is just... heartbreaking. She was just an isolated girl who finally got her freedom and found love, only to lose it in one fatal swoop. She's so devastated and heartbroken that she tries anything to bring her love back, and the Gods just deny and screw her over She refused to accept that death was a part of life and move on, instead choosing revenge and it caused all of humanity to be wiped out. She blamed everyone except for herself and never learned form her missteps. Her descent into the Grimmified Goddess that we now know her as was just sad. She finally gained back her love, found happiness once again, and had a family. But you could see the Salem that we now know setting in. She was willing to destroy those who refused to follow her. She decided to replace humanity instead of try and redeem it. The Grimm effects on her mind may be part of why, but it doesn't change the fact that she had formed a God complex and was becoming the very thing that caused her so much misery before.

It also shines so much more depth on her and Oz's relationship. I know that a lot had been hoping that they weren't jilted lovers, which we kinda sorta got, but I think that it worked. It felt like a classic fairy tale gone wrong, with the handsome night and fair maiden not getting to live happily ever after and grief destroying them. Plus the way that it all fell apart was a LOT darker and tragic than I think that many of us were expecting it to be. To Ozpin, Salem was becoming  dangerous fore and he had to turn against her in order to save humanity from destruction, whether it be from the Gods or her. TO Salem, ti felt like the love of her life, the one that she suffered for, betrayed her for humanity, and perhaps to a degree the Gods who caused her suffering, over allowing them to start the world over and truly have their freedom. It makes the reason why she hates Ozpin so much so much clearer and makes Salem herself all that more dimensional as a character. A tragic figure who has truly fallen, and now everyone is in danger unless she is put to a stop.

And of course, there is Ozpin. I think that we all expected him to be responsible for Salem becoming Grimmified. I know that I did. But... no. He didn't do ANYTHING wrong up to the point where he was reincarnated. He died, and then got dragged back into something that he wasn't at all at fault for. Sure he  agreed to do it, but... damn man. This episode clearly paints Ozpin as a very tragic figure and makes his secret keeping VERY understandable. Because he initially agreed to be a God alongside Salem, he allowed her to veer into her current mindset and ultimately increased the divide between humanity. Because of how late he came to his senses, Salem fell even more into hate and his own children were killed. It explains why he was so downcast and hid himself away in the Maidens fairy tale, he was ready to just give up on everything until the Maidens restored his hope. Hell, remember the World of Remnant about the Great War? Many have speculated that the King of Vale was Ozpin, and if so it explains why he refused to be the ruler of all the kingdoms. He was once, and it ended in tragedy. He didn't want to cause that again.

This episode, to me, spells out very clearly that no, Ozpin is NOT a villain. He is a broken, good intentioned man who was given what seems to be an impossible task. With each new life, he only suffered more and more. He became more jaded and weary. The kind-hearted, righteous Ozma was tainted and soon became the shady, secretive Ozpin. Haunted by his mistake and losses, forced to live life after life with no end in sight, dealing with betrayal and defeat at every turn in a battle that seems hopeless. It is no wonder that he became the man that we know him as now, as he himself said, his experiences shaped him. Now doe sit justify everything? Mmm... not quite. By keeping his secrets, he paints himself as untrustworthy and now with the reveal of his war appearing to be winless, it means that he's lead people to their deaths for seemingly nothing. Pyrrha's sacrifice? It was for nothing. Which I don't think that Jaune is going to take well, considering the opening. All of Ozpin's actions have been for nothing...

Or is it?

Remember what Ozpin asked? It was how could he defeat Salem. I think that the phrasing here is the key. Jinn is a genie, and genie's are often very literal with their wish granting. It' why they are known as tricksters. Sure Jinn answers questions, not grant wishes, but it could be why she answered the question the way that she did. It could mean that either Salem can be defeated, just not killed or it means that Ozpin cannot destroy her. And I feel that the key may very well be in the hands of a smaller, more honest soul...

But with the info that he has, it explains some of Ozpin's other choices as well. It's why he sealed away the Relics, to both keep them out of other's hands AND to keep them as far away from each other as possible. After all if the Relics aren't brought together, then the Gods won't return to pass judgment. Which buys Ozpin time to find a solution and try to bridge the divide between humanity. It's why he established the Huntsman Academies, after all he can't just leave humanity defenseless, especially if Salem can't be killed. The best solution is to train those whoa re able to use what power that they still posses and teach them to fight so that they have a chance against the Grimm. It can even explain some of his behavior when asking Pyrrha to become the Fall Maiden. He could have easily accepted her ready response to become the Fall Maiden, but because of his own experience when he did that, he tried to make sure that she knew exactly what she was getting into. I think that had the invasion not happened and Pyrrha potentially refused, he'd have reluctantly accepted it and seeked out another. Hell remember, he only began the aura transfer AFTER asking Pyrrha to SAY that she was ready. He didn't want to do it without her conformation because of what he himself went through.

So many revelations came out of this episode. It made me go back through so many moments and so many things just started to sink in. Hell, even just listening ti Divide again caused me to realize SO MUCH. Oh and speaking of Jeff Williams, his and Alex's score this episode was FANTASTIC. From the Latin chanting to the instrumental of Divide, it was epic as much as it was emotional from beginning to end. And of course the voice acting was stellar across the board. The God's VA's convey much conviction while being overall very calm and composed much of the time. They very much made them feel like Gods. Both Aaron and Shannon voiced different incarnations, and they both did an absolute stellar job. But the best by far was Jen Taylor as Salem. Up to this point, Salem was overall always very calm, but here? We saw her go from happy to being in despair to becoming a vengeful demon. Jen portrayed all of Salem's despair, hurt, and hatred flawlessly and truly got to show off her talent now that she got to do more than just sitting calmly. And of course there's Colleen's narration throughout, always remaining calm as a storyteller should be, but still having plenty of energy and charm that her talking never got boring. I loved it!

Final Thoughts

Everyone gave a solid performance int his episode. Hell, everyone who does anything on this show did a solid job. The writing was well paced and emotional, the animation was gorgeous, the music was as amazing as ever, and of course the lore dump was everything that I was hoping for and more. It made me sympathize with both Ozpin and Salem so much as well as understand why they both do what they do. It's hard to say what the fallout is going to be, but... I don't think that it's going to go well. And we're going to see the villains in the next chapter and from what I remember of the season trailer, it's... not going to be pretty. But that is of course for another day. IDK if I'd call this the best episode of the series, but it is definitely up there and so far the best episode of this volume. And it's only the third episode. Holy crap, we still have eleven more to go... how are we going to survive this?! Well regardless, this was an absolutely amazing chapter and one that's impact isn't going to fade from the fandom anytime soon.

[arkhamknxghts]

Oop I got carried away anyways jaykyle headcanons

•Kyle does his best to be the Santa that Jason never had don’t @ me

•Jason: I want to cut my hair I want a change

Kyle: I support you I’m going to dye my hair

•Kyle: “which safe house are you at im omw”

Jason: #4

Kyle: where’s that one

Kyle: nvm just meet me at the bank

•late night movie theaters Jason falls asleep against his shoulder and is laying down in his lap if the seats are connected

•Kyle: wtf I only have $3.77 in my bank account

Bruce or Jason overhearing and so Kyle wakes up with $3,003.77 in his account

•Jason: Bruce did an okay job at being my father figure we can share I guess

Kyle: sure I’ll put your achievements on my mom’s fridge im sure she won’t mind

*puts jason’s drawing of a flower on it*

•Kyle picks up photography and filmmaking so he tried to film everything him and Jason do together.

*first kiss, first sober kiss, first night he spent over, first roadtrip, first date*

•Jason drives during the road trips because he’s calm and collected while driving and he reactions to bad drivers near him quickly

•Kyle to Jason at 1am at a gas station: I love your bags

Jason: I appreciate it

*kyle kissss him under each eye and Jason flinches*

•Kyle snorts and Jason cries when they find something hilarious

•Jason: so Alfred taught me how to make bacon and eggs without setting something on fire in kitchen here’s some breakfast in bed

•Bruce always reminding Kyle that a part of him is still going to be protective over Jason despite Jason’s history “so don’t think that just because he… doesn’t mean I will…”

•Hal was trying to find a reason to dislike Jason but he sees that Jason and Kyle get along so oddly that there’s nothing plus him and Jason bond over their love to annoy Bruce

•he still annoys them both about protection tho

•Hal: is Jason that good of a fuck that I have to deal with bats even more now

Kyle not understanding what “of a fuck” means: yes

•Kyle coming home to a load of take out food that Jason ordered

•Forehead kisses for you

•Kyle’s phone storage running out because most videos on his phone are of Jason doing some silly thing like dancing towards the camera at a party or other video shots he wasn’t done editing (his favorite is that one time Jason was getting frustrated at putting up furniture but Jason looked so good in Kyle’s shirt and messy hair it makes Kyle homesick when he watches it), up close to Jason covering his eyes, (this one was early in their relationship) Jason smoking and looking sideways at him with glassy eyes, Jason looking at Kyle with these sleepy googly eyes and Kyle will look at the photo with so much pride and another is Jason with a butterfly on his face which took 5 years off of Kyle’s lifespan

•Jason: can I

Kyle: YOU MADE IT FLY AWAY AGAIN DAMNIT

•Jason is comfortable crying in front of Kyle, Kyle reminds him that he loves him with snot and big tears and all

•Jason brings Kyle back a picture and a souviner from every country’s iconic structure

Kyle starts to tear up

•Kyle “I brought you a rock” Rayner

Jason “this is the best thing anyone has ever gotten me I’m going to sleep with it for the next month” Todd

•Kyle brings back books and other materials that aren’t on Earth back to Jason because he know Jason loves learning more about anything there is to learn everyday

•Kyle knows that Jason has the curiosity of a child, that’s what makes Jason so fun to be around with

•Kyle doing the upside down Spider-Man kiss with Jason when he comes back if he’s still wearing his green lantern unfirom

•on Jason’s bad days, Kyle will cook or turn the radio on at a soothing volume for Jason to feel a little better

• when Jason still doesn’t get out of bed Kyle will just spend the day with Jason’s silent form by watching tv and covering them both up with a blanket

•Kyle: do you want to get up? We can try to look up ways to make your explosions even bigger

“No thanks” in a soft voice

“Okay just get your rest tomorrow can be a brand new day”

“Thanks”

•he reminds Jason that he doesn’t need to go anywhere when it’s his death anniversary and of course its understandable to still be upset about

•Jason will force Kyle to take a break at times or just to let himself go

•convo on the couch with the rain pattering outside the window ”I miss Alex, her birthday is coming up” “I’m sorry” *7 seconds of silence* “do you want to talk about it?”

•Kyle: this piece is trash

Jason: our definitions of trash are very different

•Jason: so I found this frame for you

Kyle: you mean stole it?

Jason: no one else grabbed it

•Kyle: wtf he teaches me something new everyday

•Kyle wanted to do a cheesy ice skating date and it was fun and games until he found out that Jason is practically an ice skater mid way, leaving Kyle to throw snowballs at Jason from the sidelines because he sprained his ankle when he fell

•Jason carrying him to the apartment because “it’s only 6 blocks away I’ll be fine”

•Kyle: can you teach me how to shoot a gun

Jason: cAn yOu TEacH mE hOw tO sHoOt a gUN? What the fuck no

•Jason: can you take me to Oa? Dick wants to visit

•Kyle: cAn YoU tAkE mE tO oA? Hell no

•early in their relationship they exchanged nothing but drunk kisses at all the celebrations or parties like they were that annoying couple that took almost every fucking place to sit because they were just making out so no one really knew if they were together because they seemed like they already were ???

•Kyle makes fun of Jason when he’s driving because he’s overly cautious unlike Kyle who drives with one hand on the wheel at all times

•their first date or kiss or the fuck they refer it to was the first time they got together was some kind of mess. It wasn’t planned at all. It started from going to the cave for a meeting, Kyle asking Jason what’s to eat around Gotham, Jason taking Kyle to his favorite place and next thing you know they’re having a deep meaningful conversation in the back of one of the cars they borrowed from Bruce’s and they started to make out, Jason and Kyle had an argument of whose place is closer and they ended up going to Kyle’s hotel. Jason told himself he was going to leave early in the morning but that bitch was so tired from last night he stayed in until 12 and then they were like oh btw I always had a crush on you

(Thus is where Kyle’s first photo of Jason happened, when he was laying in bed still asleep, messy hair and all)

•weird conversations with no context like:

•”I’ll bet you that I can play the violin for $15”

“It wouldn’t even surprise me that this point”

•Jason while giving a foot massage to Kyle: your feet are the only feet I’m willing to touch

Kyle: good don’t foot massage cheat on me

•kyle: yeah he almost looked like he was never mind I’ll just sketch it out hold on

•Jason: does your facial hair grow out faster in space?

Kyle: I don’t know like *deep sigh* like it can

•*off key singing when making dinner “will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful I know you will I know you will I know that you wil-“ “you don’t know me” from across the room

•Kyle has an hour long video of Jason lip syncing Moana word to word

•everytime bruce and Jason have a small argument Hal would act like he’s Jason’s dad. “Hey lad do you want to bat with me?” “Do you want to catch a burger with me?”

Kyle: that was supposed to be me what the hell

Kyle: I JUST THINK ITS FUNNY THAT

•Bruce: this is what we’re not going to do

•Kyle: Jason get your father figure or whatever you try refer to him as he keeps talking to my mom about a Wayne industries job

•Kyle out of no where: we should go skinny dipping

Jason: WE SHOULD

Kyle: babe stop yelling I’m right here

•Kyle washing the blood out of Jason’s hair when patrol or a mission goes wrong while Jason tries not to fall asleep

•Kyle hyping up Jason whenever Jason changes anything ranges to “why are your fingers fat they look like hotdogs sometimes” “you don’t see me asking why are you the way you are though”

•”add that to our sex playlist” “ok”

“please drop me off here I’ll just call Bruce or Alfred to pick me up”

•Jason sleeps better with Kyle, like Kyle is willing to wake him up at a reasonable time depending when he comes back and will try his best to stay up until he comes back from patrol

•All I’m saying is that Kyle helps Jason and Jason helps Kyle

•Bruce once walked in on Kyle decorating Jason’s hair with shampoo, he just silently closed the door

•Jason is very proud of Kyle like he tries to find time to talk someone’s ear off about his boyfriend. He treats the stories of Kyle without the ring with just as much pride as the stories of Kyle with the ring

•every birthday they try to make their gift/surprise bigger than the last one for an example Jason thought that putting fireworks outside the window and he somehow manipulated it to catch on fire when the window is open so he thought this was a good idea

•Kyle somehow managed to get his hands on C4, gunpowder, and tickets to the aquarium

•I’m not saying Jason appreciates s the color green because of Kyle after hating it since his robin days but that’s exactly what I’m saying

•told Kyle that he green reminds him of Kyle not just being of the lantern gig but because it reminds him of how warm and hopeful it is like him

•their dynamic and timing of the relationship is perfect with each other because they’re not around each other so much where they get annoyed of each other quickly

[wanna-one-imagine]

Wanna One Kang Daniel Prince! AU (Part 3)

Sorry for the delay, y’all! You can find the first part here, the second part here and the fourth part here. Enjoy! (You + Kang Daniel)

After that day, you had been even more shy than usual around Daniel, now aware of your deeper feelings

You were falling harder and harder for Daniel, but it seemed completely one sided to you; to him it was probably mainly a business deal

But regardless, it was still easy to hang out as friends

Anyway the two of you didn’t exactly know how to try “dating” other than hanging out as usual with Ong and Jaehwan

The four of you frequented a cafe after school, only ordering pastries instead of actual drinks, and played board games or cards together for a couple hours

Afterwards, all of you would head back to your homes, Ong always walking you to your bus stop because Daniel had his drivers and Jaehwan lived in an opposite direction

You and Ong weren’t friends at first, but he was really funny with an open personality, and got closer to you

He’d always joke around about how Daniel hadn’t been friends with a girl since forever, and it was incredible how you randomly popped up

Openly told you that he wanted the two of you to get together because it’d be “satisfying”, which was weird he already thought this considering the situation you and Daniel were in lol

You and Daniel decided not to tell Ong and Jaehwan for the time being about the “arrangement” because you knew they would immediately start teasing the both of you about it (even more than they already did)

Anyway your day was pretty much like this for a couple weeks: going to school, hanging out with friends after school, and then heading back home

You didn’t think it’d be this simple, but when you asked Daniel about it, he just flashed that smile and replied that he’d been telling his parents that “you two were going on dates every day after school”

This is pretty easy if it counts as dating.

But no, of course it couldn’t be that easy: the Queen had asked her servants to check up on how you and Daniel were doing on the dates, and when she found out you two were just hanging out with friends, she was unhappy, to say the least

It all went down one day after school... you, Daniel, Ong and Jaehwan were all getting ready to walk to the cafe, but as soon as you exited the school front doors, there they were: the Queen’s loyal servants YAY

“Miss (Y/L/N), Prince, please come with us, the Queen requests your presence at the palace,” one of the men said, leading you to the car, leaving Ong and Jaehwan protesting “what about me, oppaaa” to the servants, earning some sour looks (wtf)

You and Daniel sat down in the car, and immediately you theorized what the problem was

“Oh my god Daniel they know, they know that we haven’t been actually dating this entire time, they’re going to be so pissed at us, what are we gonna do oh my god omghfj sod-”

Daniel just laughed because that’s what he does and squeezed your cheeks with one hand

“(Y/N), they’re just my parents, what are they gonna do, it’s probably just so we can eat dinner with them today, chill”

You glared at Daniel, and silently freaked out for the rest of the car ride; you just had this feeling that something was up

The both of you arrived at the palace and were immediately sat down at another large dinner table; different from the previous times

You kicked Daniel under the table; something was definitely up, you just knew it

A couple minutes later, the King and Queen showed up, and quietly sat across from you, softly smiling

“What’s up guys,” Daniel casually asked, you side-eyeing him

“Oh, we just wanted to have dinner together!” the Queen chirped, the King nodding along

“I told you, (Y/N),” Daniel said, nudging you, “dumbass”

You let your guard down, but kept getting the vibe that something was wrong

You decided to go ahead and enjoy the food, Daniel also did so, stuffing his face like he hadn’t eaten in... ever

After you all finished dessert, you and Daniel collapsed back in your chairs, groaning at how full you two were

And finally, the Queen let you know why you two were actually here, the both of you completely dead from all the food

“So we’ve heard that you two have been going on some fun dates together, looks like you two are really getting a great taste of what a relationship is like, that’s great for you!”

The two of you just stared at her: where was this going...

“We don’t think this is enough though, we’d like you two to get even closer. Part of this deal is that (Y/N) learns how to get used to life in the palace, and how to act as the Princess!” the Queen exclaimed, pausing for a second before nudging the King

“Oh, yes, so (Y/N), from now on you should eat dinner here, and feel free to sleep here during the night time,”

“Oh, that’s completely fine, I’ll be going now, thank you for the meal,” you said, standing up from your chair, before the Queen interrupted

“Ah, no, (Y/N), what we mean is that you must eat and sleep here, in order for you to more properly adjust and expose yourself to what life as the Princess will be like,”

“But what about my pare-”

“We have already notified your parents of this arrangement, and they have more than accommodating of the plans, please be comfortable,”

You shot a look at Daniel: I told you so...

He shrugged in response: Oh welp lol

When suddenly, the Queen made things even mORE weird

“(Y/N), it would be ideal if you stayed in Daniel’s room, but for now you can sleep in one of the guest spaces near his room.”

Were you freaking out? uHHH yes you were, now you were living at Daniel’s house, at the palace... at the home of the guY YOU LIKED... could this get any more weird for you??

And finally, Daniel started showing reactions to this whole scenario, as he started blushing and scratching his face in embarrassment, making you feel even moRe awkward 

The King cut into your running thoughts, as he happily proposed that you “could tutor Daniel” in the classes you share, earning a “HEY i’M SMART” protest from Daniel

The Queen and King promptly ended the dinner, leaving you and Daniel to trudge up to his room in awkward silence

The both of you tiredly looked at one another, silently agreeing to just head to your own rooms for the night

“Night, (Y/N)”

“Good night”

And that was that.

You lived at the palace now.

You could barely get to sleep that night, wondering if now the relationship between you two would get awkward; how much this would change things because obviously Daniel had gotten somewhat shy that night

The next day, you were woken up by a maid, as you forgot to set your alarm the previous night

“Miss (Y/L/N), please follow us to the washing room, we have prepared your bath,” one of the servants said, guiding you to a washroom

You walked over to the washroom, the maid stopping by the door and telling you to enter, slightly smiling

Was that a giggle in her voice? What the hell...

You walked into the humongous room, with a sitting area and multiple closets before getting to the actual shower area

WeLP the reason for the giggling maid became clear, when you entered the washroom to see shirtless Daniel splashing water over his face, a towel covering his neck and some of his wet hair

(NO MORE BIH WE KEEPIN THIS PG)

"Oh... oh my god... Daniel COVER YOURSELF” you mustered out, before dropping to squat on the floor, covering your eyes (oh you)

“OH MY GOD (Y/N) WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO ME... HOW COULD YOU LET YOUR LUSTFUL EYES TAINT MY BODY...” Daniel screamed at you, covering himself up with his hands

“Daniel, that’s not how this works. My innocent eyes are the ones that are tainted, turd”, you breathed, still covering your face, turning around

“nO YOU SICK PERVERT WOMAN! CAN’T A MAN CLEANSE IN PEACE??!?”

“what the hell man I’m not even going to shower today fuck this”

“GO!! YOU CAN’T WASH AWAY YOUR SOILED INTENTIONS AND DIRTY MIND ANYWAY!!”

You couldn’t help but giggle as you ran out of the bathroom, collapsing onto one of the couches in the washroom’s sitting areas

He manages to be this charming and strange even when he’s half naked... someone give this man an award, you thought as you closed your eyes, relaxing on the seat

You had been prepared for your relationship to be awkward, just like how it kind of was last night, but everything was... completely back to “normal”, even if that was completely abnormal for most people

The craziness... it was comfortable, for the both of you.

A couple minutes later, a dressed Daniel walked out of the bathroom into the sitting area, smiling as he saw you curled up on the couch, your phone right next to your face

He was about to tap you awake like a noRMAL person would, but then couldn’t let this opportunity to go to waste

Daniel barely held in his laughter while taking your phone from right in front of your sleeping face, making sure the phone was not on mute and on the highest ring volume

He let a giggle escape him as he hid in the corner of you, calling your number

Your phone rang right in your face, extremely loud, causing you to spaz awake, jumping like a monkey to attack Daniel who was literally on the floor laughing, clutching his stomach

“ASSHOLE YOU ARE GOING TO REGRET THIS SO BADLY,” you screamed, kicking him before running into the shower room and slamming the door shut

I won’t be having a single normal morning from now on, will I...

YEP (Y/N) that’s exactly what’s going to happen from now on

If your alarm didn’t wake you up, every morning either you pranking Daniel or him pranking you would be sure to do the job

From him pouring his cologne-y smelling shampoo into your bottle to you stealing the toilet paper, your mornings were sure to be hectic (if not violent)

But you found yourself incredibly enjoying it

(and Daniel was too)

Both of you loved how the other didn’t take themselves so seriously, despite acting completely normal when it was necessary for public affairs

The both of you got closer than even before, if that was possible

You, Daniel, Ong and Jaehwan continued hanging out, but there was no way to continue hiding the fact that you and Daniel had this weird arrangement going on, since you went home with him every day

On the first day after that dinner, on the walk to the cafe after school, you and Daniel walked in front of Ong and Jaehwan, bickering about who would be the one to break the news to the guys

“YoU TELL THEM”

“NO YOU DO IT, THIS IS ALL THANKS TO YOUR PARENTS...”

“yeAh but I’m NOT MY PARENTS (Y/N)...”

“Tell us what, that you guys are having an arranged marriage?” Jaehwan asked, behind the both of you

“WHAT?? HOW DID YOU KNOW WHAT THE F-”

“HOLY SHIT I WAS RIGHT??? I WAS JOKING WHY DIDN’T YOU GUYS TELL US WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO”

“heYyyy I thought we were getting married Daniel, you unloyal hoe” Ong joking pouted, cutely punching Daniel

The teasing has already started. Great.

From then on, you two couldn’t catch a break with them, Onghwan always “ooooh”ing and snickering whenever you even taLKEd to each other

“Daniel watch out, (Y/N) is a total gold digger, watch out for yourself bro”

“I will hurt you, Ong Seongwoo”

But the time you three spent together was just as fun as before, except now you went home with Daniel instead of walking to your bus stop with Ong (which he alSO teased you about)

Anyway you and Daniel would do homework together every night, Daniel putting in effort to actually learn from you when you tutored him in math

His grades actually increased, to the delight of his parents

They were also very happy that even that you two basically ruined the washroom every day, you two were getting closer (which was their goal)

Anyway one night while tutoring Daniel, he fell asleep while you were explaining a concept, his head lolling around in the high chair he was sitting in next to his desk

You couldn’t bring yourself to wake him up, bringing a light blanket to cover him up, and began to stare at his adorable yet attractive face

“I didn’t know what I was getting into for the past few months... but it’s really been a lot of fun,” you whispered, softly poking Daniel’s cheek

“I don’t think I would mind marrying you at all, Daniel,” you breathed out, your fingers dropping to his lips as you blushed at the touch

But you didn’t have much time to appreciate the quiet stillness when Daniel’s mouth opened, biting the tips of your fingers

WhAT THE FUCK IS HE AWAKE OH MY GOD HOW LONG HAS HE BEEN LISTENING OSH FMDKLMY GOD

You yanked your fingers out of his mouth, standing up in shock, knocking over the stool you were sitting on

You stared in horror as one side of Daniel’s mouth curled upwards, eyes still closed

Your own mouth dropped open when he asked the dreaded question with the completely obvious answer, his eyes mischievously opening, giving you a look that made your heart beat even faster than it had been already

"(Y/N), do you like me?”

Part 1, Part 2, Part 4

A/N: Wow look at me being all evil with the cliffhanger LOL

Anyway thank you all so much for all the kind words you’ve sent me during this time, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the support and patience 💞

I can see this AU wrapping up in the next part, and I’m so glad you all have been liking it so far!

And thanks for 900 followers!

[dwtsfun]

Dancing with the Stars Season 29 Week 2: Y’all Already Starting to Piss Me Off

So listen. Tyra is not perfect. Tyra is not making this show bad. Tyra did NOT yell at Derek. Like anyone else, Tyra is finding her footing. Tom, Lisa, Samantha, Brooke and Erin all had to do that. And they were all granted the ability to learn and get used to it (not really Lisa since they dropped her after season 1). And damnit, y’all will give Tyra that same opportunity. Also, let’s talk about this “yelling” situation. I have seen enough comments and I just know people are going to write articles about that bullshit. Stop. What is different between when Tyra told Derek to hurry up and when Tom was telling all them judges to hurry up every week? They used the same exact tone of voice and same volume. So again, what’s the difference. Anyone saying that she yelled, why? Why do you say that? Be honest. What is the difference? I just told you all that it was delivered similarly. So what is it? Is it the recipient? Instead of it being an elderly man, it was a young and attractive white man? Or is it the fact that Tyra is a Black woman and Tom is a white man? Ask yourselves that. I don’t wanna have to get on here every week, mad, and have to address things like this because people are being stupid racist. But I will if I have to. Trust that I will. You don’t have to like her, but be fair. Some of these critiques are not fair at all.

Anyway, I thought the intro was cute. It was a nice way to remind everyone that there was an elimination tonight while being fun and allowing Tyra bring a little more of herself to the table. As for the show, it was very meh. A lot of wtf scores were given out. The elimination was bs in my opinion. And most of the dances were mid. So with that said, let’s just get this ranking started.

1. Kaitlyn and Artem- They got the highest score of the night (a 22) and I think it was well deserved. Last week I talked about how soft and pretty she moves and how it’s something that I don’t like in Latin? Yeah, well this week, it worked perfectly for this foxtrot. It always does. Kaitlyn’s lines were gorgeous and she was incredibly graceful and elegant. There were a couple of iffy moments in there though I wasn’t able to quite catch what happened. The camerawork was kinda sloppy tonight. I think she may have slipped which makes me think that the floor was pretty slick tonight as many people slipped. But yeah, she had a great showing.

2. Nev and Jenna- This dance was the most shocking of the night to me. I’m a Nev believer now. He’s got what it takes to go far. Now his dance was slightly awkward in my opinion. He danced really high tonight. Some of that may come from his shoulders, but some of it felt like he was just lifting his entire body up unnaturally. It was strange. But other than that, he’s actually a lot better than I expected he would be in Latin. As far as the whole Jenna situation goes that was revealed recently, I don’t know y’all. I just can’t get behind them. But they’re good.

3. AJ and Cheryl- Right now, AJ is the best mover of the men. I say that cautiously because there are two more who might be better once they really get settled into the competition (more on them later). I thought this foxtrot was really good. AJ was elegant. And he actually leads Cheryl pretty well. My big issue with this dance is actually kind of petty But it was that I wanted him to close his mouth. It was wide open for most of the dance and it really bothered me lol. I know I know. I thought they did a great job though. I wish they would have been scored properly. He should’ve gotten a 21.

4. Jeannie and Brandon- I waffled back and forth between Justina and Jeannie for this spot. I ended up going with Jeannie though because I though Brandon’s choreography was better than Sasha’s. Jeannie was much improved from last week. She had a lot more hip action and she was more controlled. As Bruno said, she needs some more polish and she still needs to reign in her energy a bit more. But she is definitely one to watch. As far as the score goes, bogus. She should’ve gotten at least two 7s. She didn’t trip and the judges said she improved. So that should’ve translated into scores.

5. Justina and Sasha- I just realized that I don’t really care for Sasha’s foxtrots. This dance was nice and pretty. Justina performed it well. But I was left feeling kinda whatever about it. I’m sure the singers had something to do with that. Sorry to Whitney and Mariah. That vocal was atrocious and I honestly couldn’t even focus on the dance the first time around because they were so bad. Anyway, Justina has issues with her turns, but otherwise, she’s still a contender.

6. Skai and Alan- From the score that these two got, you would have thought that this dance was a complete disaster. But it was far from that. A samba in week 2 rarely goes over well. The rhythm, technique, bounce and hip action needed are all very complicated to put together this early in the competition. It should be done no earlier than week 3. With that said, I think Skai did a pretty okay job. She did slip but it was one moment that she recovered from. I think the floors were very slick last night because quite a few celebs stumbled. Straight 5s were just really low considering the fact that the rest of the dance went fine and many other celebs that had worse dances than her scored similarly or higher.

7. Johnny and Britt- The choreography was very interesting and I have to really commend Britt for what she came up with. It was really dynamic and just very intriguing. Unfortunately, Johnny struggled a bit. He seemed to have issues keeping up and I’m not quite sure what made that happen. He also just seemed a little clumsy throughout the dance. I do think it’s a confidence thing and once he really starts to believe that he is capable of doing this, that he will truly blossom. He is one of the two male celebs that I think has the potential to be a better mover than AJ. 

8. Anne and Keo- I can’t remember if I said this last week, but I think Anne is the actual dark horse. She’s doing alright. She’s going to get better. She has a very endearing personality. And her partnership with Keo is one of the best this season. The judges were right in their assessment of all that energy in Anne’s upper body (specifically her shoulders) and that it needs to be calmed down. Other than that, I’m enjoying these two together and I can’t wait to see what they bring next week.

9. Nelly and Daniella- Nelly is the other male celeb that I think can be a better mover than AJ. The reason that he’s not right now is that he’s just not fully letting go. That’s not saying that he’s not committed to doing the show. He clearly is. I mean his technique and his attention to the smaller details should make that crystal clear. But I just think he doesn’t want to look goofy. Him getting custom made dance shoes that look like Jordans (genius by the way) revealed that. But to be honest, he will never look goofy. Once he loosens up some more and lets go of the image he wants to uphold, I think he will shock a lot of people. Also let me give kudos to Daniella for meeting him where he’s at and working with him so well. She is doing a great job so far.

10. Jesse and Sharna- I did not understand the score this dance got or the praise that was heaped on it at all. I don’t think it was worthy of 7s. I think he should’ve gotten the same score as Monica. He wasn’t smooth and his posture was bad. His technique also wasn’t great. I do see he’s good at leading, but that’s really it. I didn’t see what the judges saw. It was forgettable and not great. It wasn’t bad, it was just very meh.

11.Vernon and Peta- Something about Vernon’s costume felt very off. I don’t want to call it amateurish because the costume department is usually very very good at their jobs (the best along with makeup). But that costume? Yeah well, it happened. As for the dance, I didn’t start out liking it, but as it went on, I enjoyed it more. Vernon settled into it and gave a very respectable performance. Now the issue was that his shaping was off. His butt kept going further and further out. He also dances kind of small and for such a large man, he can’t do that. They’ll be fine for now. I just can’t wait for Vernon to have his breakthrough. He is definitely a diamond in the rough.

12. Chrishell and Gleb- I did not like this dance at all and I have to blame that all on Gleb. What Chrishell did was fine for the most part. But Gleb gave her very little content and the choreo was just strange. It honestly just didn’t make sense. Idk. I feel bad because Chrishell had some goregeous lines and some nice movement in that dance (even if she lacked hip action). I can see how much potential she has. But I just don’t think Gleb is going to be able to pull it out of her.

13. Monica and Val- These two are a non-event for me. Monica isn’t doing anything wrong. I like her fine. I actually think she’s a cool person and would be willing to sit down and hang out with her. But this dance was strange. The set was odd. I don’t understand what that was about. Their costumes made no sense either. The choreo felt aimless. And then Val added in that unnecessary lift. Listen, I get taking risks to try and a big splash. Sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice the scores in order to separate yourself from the rest of the pack. But that risk has to actually mean something. What was the purpose of that lift that he added? It did nothing for the dance. It was just there. And Monica is not someone who can sacrifice points at this time. I do think that she’s in the danger zone and if they don’t really make a splash, they could be eliminated soon.

14. Charles and Emma- I liked Charles’s dance this week. He improved a lot and I don’t think he should’ve been eliminated. Based on what we saw, I felt as though he had more in him than Carole has in her. It just is what it is. It frustrated me that for the second season in a row the first person eliminated was actually better and showed more promise than the person that was saved.

15. Carole and Pasha- Was this an improvement? Yes. Did Carole do all the steps mostly right? Yes. Did I still hate this dance? Also, yes. This was strange. I hated it. The cat theme went way over the top and it went from cute to just flat out creepy. I hated it. Now I’m not sure what voting is like this season, but I feel that Carole may see a slight vote increase since she ended up in the bottom 2 last night and also was emotional in her package and during her interview with Tyra and all that. This wouldn’t be an issue normally because I would still fully expect for her to be in the bottom again next week. But I am not sure how Chrishell, Monica, Jesse and a couple others are doing with fans. So she could be spared next week and not even end up in the bottom 2.

So that’s that. Hope you all liked last night’s show. Again, it was just alright for me. Let me know your thoughts and I will talk to you all soon.

[extremelyslappy]

Thousand Years

Pairing: Ritsu/Shou

Word Count: 7655 words

Summary: It's been five months since Shou left to go somewhere. He didn't say where, but it's been so long. Ritsu's slowly losing control of his life. Mob, Teruki, and Reigen are concerned and attempt to save him from drowning in his emotions. But it seems that the only lifeline that can save him is Shou himself.

Read on AO3!

"Ritsu, come on and stay with us. It'll be fun!" Shigeo pleaded as he gripped his brother's hands. Ritsu sat on the edge of his bed with the curtains drawn shut and the lights completely off. The uncharacteristically messy room unnoticeable in the dark.

The teen looked up and glared into his brother's eyes as they gleamed with innocent hope. He looked away and squinted at the open door that's letting in light. A figure rested against the doorway.

Ritsu quickly knew who it was at the sight of the awful, neon Ty-dye crop top and leggings with ripped short-shorts over them.

"Yea brother-kun, a night at Reigen-san's place will help you get away!" Teruki chirped with a plastic, cheeky grin he always carried when Shigeo was around. The second his brother was gone that facade quickly fades. It was amusing to Ritsu.

He eyed his messy desk with papers and pencils scattered.

"I... Uhm... I'm busy. I have to study and do homework..." Ritsu mumbled before pulling his hands away from his brother's.

"Oh... I guess you're right..." Shigeo mumbled. Shigeo turned away and was close to walking away.

"Hey! It's an extended weekend this week! An extra 2 days! You don't have to worry 'bout anything!" Teru quickly interrupted. Ritsu and Shigeo flinched at the sudden change in tone. Ritsu looked at Teru and saw the piercing glare. He knew Teru wouldn't let him say another word.

"I... Well... Fine, I'll come with you." Ritsu reluctantly agreed. Shigeo flashed a quick smile before helping Ritsu pack any necessities for the stay.

Five months ago, finding Ritsu's clothes and other necessities would've been a breeze. But somehow it seems like Ritsu's self-control slipped away.

Old clothes laid under the bed and wrappers and empty soda cans littered his desk. Dusty old books lined the shelves. Had they described Ritsu's room to anyone at school, they wouldn't believe them.

Shigeo and Teruki shared a glance as they saw Ritsu lazily throw a shirt into his backpack. His usual foreboding silence now heavier than before. They both knew why.

-----

"What do you mean you're leaving again?!" Ritsu screamed at the young esper. Shou simply rubbed his neck and gave his trademark smile.

"I'm not leaving! That implies I'm gonna be gone for a long time!" Shou responded. Ritsu, Teruki, and Shigeo faced Shou. Scratch that, surrounded him.

"You have a bad habit of 'leaving' with your definition of that word." Teru retorted with a slight cock to his hips as emphasis.

"Suzuki-Kun, we miss you when you're gone, that's all..." Shigeo said.

"Tch, as if." Ritsu scoffed.

"I know you love me. You can just tell me, Rit-chan." Shou said as he stuck out his tongue.

"God, no and don't call me that!"

"Besides, the longest I've been gone is like what... three weeks? That was only because of extensive travel delays." Shou explained.

"Travel delays? You probably have inherited billions of yen to waste. Can't you just call a private jet to take you back here like a taxi?" Ritsu sarcastically asked.

"I have to save my money. Pops gives me a bit for my allowance during the years. I knew that if I wanted to take down pops I'd have no source of income. So I've been saving up for several years." Shou casually elaborated. "Can't spend all of it on elaborate wants. I wanna go to college!" Shou shrugged.

The rest of the group was taken back by Shou's sound logic. It's often hard to forget that he knows how to manage his rough lifestyle.

"I'll only be gone for a while. I have to take care of some unfinished business..." Shou began to trail off. He quickly noticed his own changing mood and perked back up. "I'll call y'all when I'll be back, I promise!"

-----

It's been five months since then. Neither one got a single call or text from him. Hell, even a letter sent from a fucking carrier pigeon would be reassuring.

Shigeo and Ritsu both waved goodbye to their mother as they stepped outside. The sun burned Ritsu's eyes as he adjusted to the sudden brightness. He could've sworn it was late at night. But by the looks of it, it only seemed barely passed 12 PM!

Ritsu turned to face the other two. They seemed unfazed by the sunlight.

It pissed him off for some reason.

The trio silently stood at the front gate of the Kageyama household as they waited for Reigen.

They saw a sweaty man in a suit and tie walk calmly towards them. It was Reigen. He was right on time. 12:45.Though they wondered why he was so sweaty when it wasn't even that hot. (Truth be told, Reigen woke up late and sprinted here. Being on time is a life lesson that's important to teach! He must be a shining example to the kids! Or at least as much as he can be...)

"Master Reigen, I'm amazed at how you're always on time."

"Punctuality is key to success, Mob! Haha... Anyway, I'm gonna bring you guys to the apartment so you can drop your stuff. Then we can explore the bigger part of the city. How does that sound?" Reigen asked.

He scanned the kids' faces. Shigeo and Teruki seemed on board. While his younger brother paid no attention to anything; he seemed rather interested in the loose string of his shirt.

"Yea, that sounds good!" Teru responded.

"It sounds like fun." Shigeo agreed.

"Yea... Probably..." Ritsu also agreed (in response to Teru's sharp elbow jab to his side.)

----

The walk to Reigen's apartment was a drag. The heavy silence was overbearing on the group's backs. The small attempts from Reigen to make small talk failed to even lift the weight that was Ritsu. He tried to ask him how school was or how he was doing in his extracurricular activities, but the most he could stifle from him was a simple grunt or a one word response.

The rest of the walk there was silent soon after. They all lamented on what caused this mess.

Shigeo hoped that maybe getting Ritsu out would cheer him up a bit. Teru thought a little shopping spree/exploration in the city would "engage his senses". (Well, kinda...) Reigen was heavily against forcing Ritsu to do anything he was against, knowing it would provoke him. But Reigen decided to take a shot.

Nothing.

----

Shigeo started to pray for his brother to simply smile. His brotherly instincts couldn't handle seeing how Ritsu was. His mind began to wander as he imagined the worst that could've happened to Shou.

He knew Shou was strong and determined person. He would do anything and everything to get what he wanted. He noticed it when he found out who had staged his parent's murder and why. While the first few weeks he was... hesitant... to interact with Suzuki, once he saw how Ritsu took to him, Shigeo decided to let his grudge go for Ritsu's sake. Suzuki was loud and jumpy and full of energy which threw him off. He would also invite himself into their home randomly. Of course, he got used to it, but it is common courtesy to say you're coming over.

One day Shigeo came home early from his workout. He went to see his if his brother was home and found Suzuki on Ritsu's bed, knees up, with a drawing pad resting against them and with headphones in his ears. He tried to call out to him but Shou had his music up at a loud volume. Shou bobbed his head up and down as he sang along to a song Shigeo recognized.

He decided to just walk up to him and sit beside him. Once he did that, Shou quickly flinched and nearly fell off the bed before he ripped off his headphones.

"You should warn people when you're coming!" Shigeo remembered he shouted. He giggled at the irony.

"Nice drawing." He commented. He pointed at an elegant sketch of two figures dancing. Shou smiled.

"Thanks." Shou moved a bit to allow Shigeo to sit better. He then took one earbud and listened to the song Shou was playing.

"Oh, if you want I can change the song!" Shou offered. Shigeo shook his head.

"I like this song." They soon quickly sparked a conversation. They went on for what seemed like hours talking about whatever topic would come up from drawing, to music, to other interests while they each had an earbud and listened to the same song on loop. It was One Step at a Time by Jordin Sparks. An odd song to bond over as Shou said, obviously embarrassed by his love for the song. But he quickly chastised him by saying that if he liked the song, then he shouldn't be embarrassed by what he loved.

He responded by poorly and loudly singing the song.

Shigeo joined in too with his broken English. It was the loudest he had ever sung in front of a person. It was exhilarating. He didn't even notice his brother standing at the door.

He began to wonder what could've happened to Shou that he wouldn't respond or communicate at all with them.

His internal percentage increased at the thought of the worst happening and at the sight of his brother hunched over and staring at the road.

----

By any outsider, Teru would look like any stereotypical teen distracted while texting and walking on their phone. However, well, that's kinda what he was doing.

To Shou: hey suzuki-kun

To Shou: yo suzuki

To Shou: shou wtf

To Shou: hey jackass

To Shou: fuck face

To Shou: away old

To Shou: *asshole i fucking hate autocorrect

To Shou: boi

To Shou: hey

To Shou: why

To Shou: wont

To Shou: u

To Shou: fucking

To Shou: answer

To Shou: god i hate u

To Shou: jk ily

To Shou: ....

To Shou: nvm

Teru grunted before shoving the phone back into the pocket of his shorts. Shou wasn't going to respond, right? What Teruki would give for even a single random message from Shou… He'd take one of those random memes he would send at like 1 in the morning where he would compare it to something that they actually did. (Teru's favorite message was when he sent a gif of a man wearing shades and sprinkling salt and said "lmao i found reigen") Teru would often find himself staying up late and staring at his phone. He waited for his phone to vibrate only to be dragged back to sleep.

-----

Reigen even started to miss the boy. He would often barge into the office when Mob wasn't around or when he was at school. He would lie on the couch and help around the office by filing paperwork and even helping him exorcize some spirits from time to time. Though the amount of time he spent at Reigen’s office concerned him.

“Are you even enrolled in a school?” Reigen had one day asked.

“A what?” He remembered he responded with. Reigen rolled his eyes.

It’s the little things he learned about Shou that made the man connect with the kid. Reigen knows that he liked to drink hot chocolate out of a cup that had little bunnies on them. Shou liked to mess with Serizawa when he was in the office. Often playing lighthearted jokes or pranks at the poor man. But Shou knew where Serizawa’s limits were and the older man admired that.

Shou liked to watch dumb videos of people getting hurt on his computer or some wrestling recaps. Shou would often play cheesy pop songs on blast when no other client was around. They would often end in dance competitions between all three of them. He remembered a specific moment that ended up with a broken wooden chair and a hamster scrambling around in its ball on the floor when a client walked in.

He also liked to draw on Reigen’s laptop. He remembered fondly at how he drew different illustrations. Shou was very passionate about his hobby. Reigen even mentioned at how he should study and find work in that field.

What he found odd was that Shou flushed at the comment. What sounded like a typical offhand comment to most, flustered Shou.

He must have not heard any compliment like that. Reigen thought. Reigen was typing on his laptop when he remarked that. Once he looked back at the kid, Shou was scribbling even faster in his sketch book.

Even when times were slow, he was able to connect with the kid and even help him during his more troubled times. The kid's life was more broken than a shattered mirror, which surprised Reigen at how well he handled everything. During the past few months, he patiently waited for the loud knocking on his window. The potted daffodils Shou gave him still sat by the windowsill.

----

They had soon arrived at Reigen's apartment. The trio placed their bags down on his couch. Reigen offered them water and a small snack before heading into the larger part of the city. Shigeo and Teru had accepted while Ritsu opted to lie on the couch and curl up.

"Are you sure you don't want even a glass of water?" Reigen asked with concern. Ritsu simply curled up even more.

"I'm sorry... I'm not hungry. My stomach hurts a bit." Ritsu responded. Reigen grabbed his small backpack and packed a couple of granola bars and several bottles of water.

--

After a couple of minutes, they had begun to take off and take a bus there. Once they had arrived, Ritsu decided to shut everything around him out.

All the bright colors from the neon bright lights and signs just muddied up into some odd and dark color. The sounds of multiple cars passing became mute in his head. Even when they walked into a store that had clothing he wanted, he couldn't seem to find any way to feel anything.

It bothered him so much. All Ritsu wanted to do was just to laugh with Reigen at Teruki's horrible fashion tastes. He wanted to laugh until he started to cramp in his abdomen when Teru put on a large fluffy coat that was a bright pink with lightning bolt shades. When his brother turned to him with a smile, he forced a laugh to ease his brother's concern.

But he couldn't really find anything energy to be honest with his emotions. He still had no energy even when he asked Reigen for the granola bar. Everything seemed to drag on and it pissed him off so much.

Something was missing.

He knew what it was.

But he was powerless to do anything about it.

He missed Shou.

He actually missed that ball of red hair and he couldn't believe it.

Was he going to come back?

He promised he would.

Was he even alive? Ritsu didn't even want to think about that.

Maybe he left on purpose because he hated them? Somehow that thought hurt more.

But, how long was he going to wait and hold out for Shou to come back? It's been five months. The school year is almost over.

How long will he wait and blissfully hope for Shou's return?

"Ritsu? Ritsu? You there?" A soft voice asked. He looked up and didn't even realize they were walking. His brother had a small hand on his shoulder as Teru and Reigen both held concerned expressions. He wiped his wet eyes and smiled.

"Yea, I'm fine. I didn't mean to space out. What were we talking about?" Ritsu asked with a smile creeping a bit.

He finally decided on what he was going to do.

---

Their trip soon came to a close as the sun threatened to set. All of their hands were filled with bags of several knickknacks and clothes. He walked beside Reigen as Shigeo and Teru walked ahead of them to the bus station.

"Hanazawa-Kun?" Shigeo asked with bags covering his entire face.

"Yes, Shige?" Teru sweetly said. Ritsu and Reigen rolled their eyes at Teru's obvious flirting.

"Uhm... Oh! Are you doing anything next week?" He asked, blushing a bit.

"I don't think so. Why?"

"Uh.... My art class... We're doing an exhibition as a final project. I wanted to see if you wanted to come and see what I made. I based one part of my project on you!" Shigeo stated. Teruki was taken back by the offer and blushed a bit.

"Hanazawa-Kun? Are you getting a fever?" Shigeo asked as he placed the back of his hand against his forehead. Teru simply stuttered out an affirmation in response which seemed to please Shigeo. Teru quickly looked away and stared at the ground in embarrassment.

Reigen sucked his teeth and turned to Ritsu.

"Can you believe this? They're so obvious!" Reigen cried out. Ritsu gave the man a confused look.

"I mean, look at how they flirt. It's painful." Reigen groaned. Ritsu now understood.

"Yea, my brother isn't the most... Observant of all people... Don't even get me started about all the times he's asked me about if Hanazawa-Kun talks about him when we hang out." Ritsu commented.

"Ha ha ha! There have been so many times I've had to play therapist for Teruki because he asked me how to deal with his emotions for Mob!" Reigen chuckled. He raised an eyebrow and motioned his thumb towards them. Ritsu knew what he meant and shook his head.

They'll find out how to resolve their feelings in this messy world. So, why meddle with it? Ritsu smiled as he watched them stumble and blush their way in love.

----

By the time they had returned back to Reigen's apartment the sun was a dark, rich red and orange in the horizon. Tired and hungry, Reigen offered to go to a fast food joint nearby and pick up something for all of them.

The three were silent for a while as they all sat on the couch with some random show playing in the background.

"Hey... Let's have a pillow fight..." Teru said and looked at the two siblings.

"We shouldn't mess with..." Shigeo said.

"I'm in!" Ritsu shouted. Shigeo closed his mouth, shocked at the sudden change in mood. Teru quickly grabbed a couch cushion and threw it at Ritsu's face. As it comically slid off, a devilish smile began to form.

"It's on!"

---------

"Hey guys, I brough- Agh!" Reigen screamed as he was hit in the face with a pillow. He looked up from the bags of fast food he carried and saw the entire apartment in disarray. All the kids stood frozen in their tracks. Teruki and Ritsu both had a pillow raised and aimed at each other while Shigeo stood nearby holding one and shaking in his boots.

Reigen laughed and picked up the pillow on the floor.

"You guys could've waited for me!" Reigen laughed. "Hey, Mob!" He shouted.

"Yes, master?" He said.

"Think fast!" Reigen yelled before quickly throwing the pillow in Shigeo's direction. The other two quickly caught on Reigen's scheme.

Ritsu quickly dove and tackled his brother to the ground and landed hard on the ground. While Teru dramatically ran in front of the pillow as it hit him in the chest with a loud thud. Teru fell backward hard on the floor. He placed the back of his hand against his forehead and reached for the ceiling light with his other hand.

"No! I've been hit! I can see the light!" Teru melodramatically shouted.

"Hanazawa-Kun! No!" Ritsu fake cried as he crawled to Teru and placed his forehead against his chest. Teru pulled Ritsu's head up.

"Brother-Kun...."

"Yes?"

"Tell Kageyama-Kun... That I..." Teru dramatically wheezed as he gripped Ritsu's hand.

"You what?"

"I.... I... Ugh..." Teru stuck his tongue out as he rolled to his side with a snicker.

"No! Hanazawa-Kun is dead! Rest well soldier!" Ritsu screamed. He motioned Shigeo to come closer. Shigeo kneeled on the floor, confused as to what was going on.

"Oh, Shigeo! What are we gonna do now?!" Ritsu continued to fake cry as he tightly hugged his brother. He was still confused, lightly patted his back.

"Bury him?" Shigeo answered. Ritsu immediately stood up and pulled him up.

"You're right!" Ritsu cried as he went to pick up all the pillows he could find. He looked at Reigen and Shigeo to do the same. They all began to pick up and find all the pillows they could carry.

With their arms full of pillows, the three surrounded the boy on the floor.

"Does anyone have anything to say about Teruki Hanazawa?" Reigen asked in the same dramatic tone.

"Hanazawa-Kun was a good person. He will be missed?" Shigeo tried to act along, but he didn't know what to do. He could hear a small sniffle from the floor.

"Yea, Hanazawa-Kun was kinda cool. Eh, he's also an asshole." Ritsu flatly stated.

("Hey!"

"Shut up, you're supposed to be dead."

"None of you are invited to my funeral... Except Kageyama-Kun.")

"If that's all, then we shall begin the ceremony!" Reigen said. By ceremony, they meant to drop all the pillows on top of Teruki, covering him in head to toe with pillows till you couldn't see any speck of him.

Ritsu quickly nudged his brother and snapped his fingers and looked at Reigen. He opened his mouth in an O-shape in response. This wasn't their pillow fight. When Ritsu and Shigeo did the same with their parents, they came up with secret signals. "Ambush." That's what that one meant.

"Hanazawa-Kun will be avenged!" Ritsu shouted before he grabbed a pillow in both hands as Shigeo followed also. They charged for Reigen and tackled him to the ground. They both started to smack the man around with the pillows. It seemed like they had the upper-hand until Reigen grabbed them both.

"I can't move!" Shigeo shouted.

"I call this move 'The Bear Hug'!" Reigen proclaimed as he tightly squeezed the two kids. The man began to cackle maniacally. This was it... It's over...

Until Reigen was met with a mouth full of feathers!

"Agh! What!?" Reigen cried as he released the kids out of shock. The brothers looked up at who their savior was.

"Hanazawa-Kun!" They shouted as Teru continuously hit the man with a pillow. The brothers quickly grabbed more pillows and joined in also.

"I thought you were dead?" Shigeo asked.

"Spiritual intervention calls!" Teru shouted as he continued to hit the poor man.

"Ah! Please! No more! I surrender!" Reigen cried as he gripped a stray napkin and waved it like a flag. The kids stopped and were breathing heavily. Man... What a workout...

Reigen sat up and looked at the time on the TV.

"We should eat! We don't want the burgers getting cold." Reigen pointed at bags of food on the table. The three immediately got up and dashed for the food, suddenly remembering how hungry they were.

----

After eating and cleaning up, Reigen pulled out the couch to the bed it can be. The four laid on it and put on some animated movie that Shigeo really wanted to see. They huddled with a large blanket and a large bowl of popcorn in middle.

The movie he wanted to see was surprisingly poignant seeing as it was a movie about sentient emotions in a teen's brain. They continued with a movie Teruki wanted to see, which was a b-rated horror movie. He didn't really consider Teruki to be a horror movie person. The movie was so cheaply made and the special effects were so poor it was hard not to laugh.

By the time it was his turn to choose a movie, everyone else has fallen asleep. Reigen had his head back against the couch, snoring loudly. Shigeo had laid his head on his lap, back on the couch. Teruki snuggled his brother as he had his head snuggled into Shigeo's chest and an arm lazily wrapped around his waist.

Ritsu sighed as he stared at the time. 1:23. Heh. It went in numerical order. He grabbed the remote and lowered the volume and selected some show and a random episode. He didn't get it. It was a show about an office and the people who worked there.

God, he was so tired. Trying to keep a happy face was tiring him out. He didn't understand how waiters or cashiers did it. He found a new gratitude towards them. But he wanted to sleep for the next few days, yet he wasn't tired.

The end of the couch where Ritsu sat at was the closest to the window. He looked up and out the window as he ran his fingers through his brother's hair. He was pretty sure Shigeo was drooling.

The mindlessly gazed out at the stars with the TV being white noise to cover the silence. His eyelids started to become heavy. He'll just... Slowly... Sleep...

Zap!

Ritsu quickly bolted wide awake as he felt a surge of energy invade the air. It felt like another person was near.

His head shot up and he looked at the sky.

A familiar streak of orange ripped the night sky as if the morning sun had shot it with a bullet.

Could it be? It had to be!

He got up and carefully settled Shigeo down and pried open the window. He crawled out and onto the emergency exit. His socks were the only source of warmth against the cold metal. His eyes lit up in wonder as he gazed at the orange streak in the sky.

He had to follow it.

He quickly climbed down the emergency exit's stairs. Once at the end, he quickly jumped onto the pavement. He looked up again. The streak was fading.

Ritsu got up and kept his gaze on the streak in the sky as he sprinted through the streets. His socks were going to be so dirty after this. His attention was so focused on the sky that he narrowly missed a car about to hit him.

He must look crazy. It's the middle of the night and he was running through the streets in an area he didn't even know. He was wearing an old, green, long-sleeved shirt with some gray sweatpants and he was just in his socks! He wouldn't be surprised if someone had called the cops on him and said he was a runaway.

None of it mattered. He was going to follow the fucking streak until it killed him. He continued to run for what seemed like hours.

Hell, he now ended up on a god damn bridge! He hoped to God no one was going to mug him. Wait. He was an esper. He can just fight back.

Ritsu continued to sprint through the city as he followed the orange streak in the sky. He tracked its every move and every turn it did.

His legs were starting to give out as they shook under his weight. His chest was tight and his lungs and throat pierced through his body. His head was pounding and he could hear his ears ringing.

But nothing was going to stop him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if it was nothing. If he had been running for hours for what was nothing.

No! Ritsu pushed those thoughts out of the way.

"It's him! It's gotta be!" Ritsu cried out to the night.

-----

Soon, he started to recognize where he was. He was... In his neighborhood? Yeah, it had to be! He was near by the road that led to the bus stop they took to get to Reigen's apartment. And he recognized that tree that Shigeo once puked on when they were little! And he recognized the house of a sweet, old woman who would invite them over for tea!

The streak in the sky soon descended somewhere near where his house should be. It had to be! He's not dreaming! With the last of his strength, he sprinted to his home. Ritsu never ran as fast as he had now. Not even when he was competing in the school's triathlon. His chest felt tighter than when Claw had first kidnapped him and when the dreaded fear of never escaping clawed his mind. The wind pierced his face like it was throwing an endless supply of needles. Ritsu would brave it all again and again if it meant he could see him again.

He was running so fast, he barely registered that he almost passed his own house. He skidded to a stop and slammed the gate open so hard, it slammed into the brick pillar with a loud crash. It would've definitely woken up his parents had they been home. The lights being off told him so.

Ritsu looked up and saw a shadowy figure standing on his balcony trying to pry open the window to his room.

Ritsu stood at the entrance, right in front of the gate. He hunched over, breathing in and out harshly as he gripped his knees to maintain balance. His chest heaved as he realized just how tired he was. The security light on top of the brick pillar being the only source of light in the street. His hair was messier than usual as weird strands stuck out in odd places. He could feel drops of sweat running down his face. Ritsu was definitely sure that his feet were bleeding and calloused now.

He didn't care.

The shadowy figure seemed to move its head towards Ritsu. Ritsu's glare pierced the figure's soul. The only thing filling in the silence between the two was Ritsu's heavy breathing. The figure stepped away from the windowsill and move closer to the edge of the balcony. Pale fingers gripped the railing as they looked below. When the security light shined brightly enough, Ritsu could make out a familiar strand of red hair.

A familiar aura invaded his senses. He felt warm. Safe. He couldn't take it.

"Hey, Ritsu! You forget your sh-"

"Fuck you!" Ritsu screamed, interrupting Shou.

"Huh?!" The boy flinched at his response. This was not what he imagined.

"You heard me, you fucking asshole!" Shou was taken back by his harsh tone. This was definitely not what he planned.

"Five months. That's how long you've been gone!" Ritsu cried. His entire body was shaking with adrenaline.

"Do you know... How worried we were?! How long we were waiting?!" Ritsu asked. Shou knew he didn't want an answer.

"You didn't call or text us. Even a fucking letter would've been nice! We asked ourselves so many questions. We started to wonder... “were you ever going to come back?” We even doubted if you were still alive. They clawed at us like a bear." He breathed in harshly.

"We tried to tell ourselves that you were okay and you would be back soon. But more often than not..." Ritsu sucked in another breath. "I thought that you hated us so fucking much that you decided to run away."

"I tried so hard to convince myself you would come home. I wasted these past five months locked up in my room, hoping you would barge in and everything would go away." Fat tears started to stream down his face, mixing in with his sweat.

"I wasted all this time thinking about you while everyone else had seemed to move on. Nothing else mattered. I stopped paying attention in class and doing homework cause I didn't want to miss you if you came back!" He could feel his tears pool at the corner of his mouth as he continued to blubber.

"Earlier today, when we were in the city, I asked myself... "How long am I going to wait?" And so..." The tears began to drip from his mouth like drool. He tried to wipe his mouth but his arm kept shaking.

"Shigeo and the rest of us just looked at me as I spaced out. And then I decided..." Now he could feel fucking mucus dribble down too.

He sniffled and wiped his nose. "I would move on with them. I decided that I would stop thinking about you. I was going to wait for you. Even if I graduated middle school, high school, college, I would wait for you. Even if I was old and gray and filled with wrinkles... I was going to wait for you here." All Ritsu could taste was salt in his mouth.

"And now that I promised myself that you and your fucking face now decide to show up!" Ritsu dropped to the floor onto his knees. He huddled himself as he wrapped his arms around himself. His nails dug into his shoulders. He lowered his head and hunched over as if he was gonna roll into a ball.

"I was so happy that my brother didn't have to worry about me anymore! I was so proud that I decided that on my own! Agh!" Ritsu was full-on bawling now and he couldn't stop crying.

"And now you decide to fucking come home and make me break my promise!" He screamed and cried like a pained animal.

"Just do one good thing in your entire goddamned life and answer me!" Ritsu screeched as his tears started to choke him.

"Tell me you still care! Tell me you still care about all of us!" He heaved one last final breath.

"I'm fucking begging you, tell me you love me..." He was barely able to muster the plea. Ritsu caved in and fell forward. He felt his forehead touch the cold pavement. His head was pounding and his lungs were scrambling for air as he continued to cry. Ritsu screwed his eyes shut as he repeatedly shook his head.

Warmth starts to surround him. He no longer felt any weight in his legs. Everything felt light. He opened his eyes as saw the ground no longer below him. An orange hue embraced him in its stead. There was a small tug at his sleeves before he felt warm hands held his own. He felt a thumb run across his knuckle. He looked up and was met with pale blue eyes that welcomed him and a smile that killed him.

Shou cocked his head and closed his eyes and chuckled. He opened them once more and gave his signature wide smile.

"Of course! I could never forget you! I've always loved you! I have since... like what? Forever!?" Shou cried out.

Ritsu was taken back. A sudden surge of energy courses through his veins. He looked at the aura and saw a mess of orange, blues, and purples clashing. Ritsu smiled and tackled the red head. His arms wrapped around Shou's neck tightly as he still cried. Ritsu's hand gripped his hair as the other grasped his jacket tightly he could rip it.

Shou returned the sentiment and wrapped an arm around him and ran his fingers through Ritsu's tangled hair and pressing light kisses where ever he could reach.

Shou softly moved his hands as he pulled Ritsu back. He placed a hand on each side of his face. His eyes were red and puffy and still crying. Tear stains covered his face. Some hair stuck to his forehead from the sweat. Shou shook his head.

What a mess. He thought. Shou leaned in and closed his eyes. Ritsu did the same until their lips locked.

Their first kiss was messy as they both cried and tasted salt. Their noses bumped into each other and their teeth knocking. It wasn't the most cinematic thing Shou imagined it would be. But after everything, it was perfect to him. It tugged his heart in all the right places. Neither of them wanted to let go. But they still had to breathe. They leaned away as their aura mashed into one solid color.

Ritsu chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Shou asked as he held Ritsu's hand. Ritsu squeezed back affectionately.

"God, I was such a drama queen."

"Really?" Shou said sardonically.

"Shut up. You're not worth it." Ritsu looked away, blushing and with a smirk.

"Well, at least I know you love me now." Shou teased with his tongue sticking out.

"Heh, dork... I love you." Ritsu hushed. His legs tangled with Shou's as he laid his head against Shou's chest.

"So do you wanna meet the rest yet?" Shou asked.

"Gimme a sec, my head hurts and I didn't sleep..." Ritsu mumbled into his shirt. Shou hummed a response as he looked off into the distance. "Hey. Hey. Ritsu."

"I didn't mean that literally!" Ritsu said.

"No. Look at the distance." Ritsu looked up and turned to where he was staring. The sun was slowly rising up as it painted the city with hues of orange, and yellow, and red. He snuggled a bit closer to Shou. They both watched the city slowly come alive as people walked out of their houses and light started to turn on. It was a lovely view. Ritsu's eyes slowly became heavier and heavier. Shou looked down and saw Ritsu fast asleep. He embraced the esper once more, still staying levitated in the air.

-----

Once Ritsu and Shou arrived at Reigen's apartment, (they returned via bus. They got a lot of strange looks.) They were met with an onslaught of questions and hugs and tears.

"Where were you?! Where did you go?!" Shigeo asked Ritsu as he roughly gripped his shoulders. He had panicked the most as he began to wonder if he had done something crazy and impulsive. He was so close to barging out the open window and attempt to track him down.

"Also you look horrible!" Teruki commented.

"God and were you outside without shoes?!" Reigen cried in concern. "And don't think we forgot about you too, Suzuki!" He added with the tone of a scolding parent.

Teru tackled the redhead and pinned him to the ground. He started flailing and throwing random punches at him. Once he stopped, he lifted Shou and did those types of hugs where they would lock hands and pull each other into a hug with a lot of patting. Teru sneakily wiped his eyes to avoid his mascara running down his face.

Shigeo pulled Shou into a smothering embrace and he dug his face into Shou's hair. He sighed and ruffled whatever part of the elder brother he could reach. Once he pulled away, Shigeo was silent as shameless tears streamed down his face. It must have been the most emotion he's seen him show. Just as Shou was about to talk, he felt large arms wrap around his waist and lift him up.

"Hey! Put me down! What do I look like an animal?!" Shou cried.

"I mean..."

"Shut up, Teruki."

"Sorry, kid! Been saving my strength for this moment." Reigen shouted as he waved Shou around like a new pet. He pressed a soft kiss into the tangled hair. "Miss ya’ kid." Shou smiled at the most parental love he's received so far. Reigen placed the kid down and wiped a stray tear from his face.

"Guess we have a lot of explaining to do!" Shou said and placed his hands on his hips as he looked at Ritsu.

----

After they had all washed up and changed and treated Ritsu's wounds, they all huddled in the thick blanket on the couch as they held a bowl of cereal in their laps.

Ritsu explained how he saw Shou and impulsively followed his aura. He described how he found him and their reunion while leaving out some... details. But they got the picture as Teru nudged Ritsu and Shigeo glared at Shou in that protective manner. He looked away and started to sweat at the pressure. Reigen rolled his eyes.

----

Once Shou began talking, they all leaned in.

He was sent on a mission to take down the last remaining Claw branches and other related institutes such as labs or gathering areas. He went with other espers and even some former Claw members who had changed. They had to travel the world to do so. While whoever sent them on the mission funded the travel and any stays in a hotel, everything else was on them. He wasn't sure who had commissioned them to do so. They assumed it was a government branch wanting to clean up the Claw divisions quickly to avoid any public scrutiny.

Teru called Shou out at how come he didn't invite the rest of them to help.

He sighed and explained at how he was legally obligated to not tell people about the mission. Though, Shigeo easily rebutted that by listing all the laws he had previously broken. Shou had confessed that he didn't want his friends to get hurt even more by what his father had caused. He gripped the sheet before breathing in and out.

Shou retold that it was during his first battle that he had broken his cell phone and thus was unable to call them. Once he had gotten a new phone, he was told face to face by an official that he wasn't allowed to communicate with other people outside of the team he was assigned to. Then his phone was confiscated and he never got it back. Actually, all forms of communication with people outside the group was prohibited.

He was first sent to France with a few other people since he was one of the few fluent French speakers. It was actually because of his fluency in multiple languages that caused him to stay in the program longer. It was helpful for communication and translation. But once the program found no more use in a person, they were essentially shipped out and never heard of again.

"How did you get back here?" Reigen questioned.

"I have no idea. After I completed my final mission, which was to just destroy a lab and collect some stuff there, I was sent to an empty room and I had a bag placed over my head and I felt something poke my neck and I was knocked out. I woke up in a hotel bed with a complimentary gift basket and my stuff on the table which was weird. I checked outside and I was only a couple blocks away from the edge of Seasoning City. And so... Ta-da!" Shou gave them jazz hands. "Here we are!"

"Were you okay though? Like did they hurt you?" Shigeo questioned. Shou took another bite of his cereal.

"I was fine. They only poked me with a needle in the end, see?” Shou turned his head and moved his hair away to show a bandage with stars on it. Once he peeled it away, there was a small scar of a needle poke. He placed the bandage back on.

“There was little interaction between us and the people who were in charge. The most interaction we had was when we first assembled and they placed a tracker on us and when they said I couldn't talk to people outside. Even when we traveled, we were in a black plane that had no windows and we couldn’t even use our powers on it." Shou nonchalantly explained.

"I did make some friends there! The more connections, the better!" Shou exclaimed.

"So... Is Claw completely gone now?" Reigen asked. Shou took another bite.

"Like I said, once they found no more use for you, they kicked you out. I was there the longest out of my group. But only because of the languages I can speak and my connections to Claw. There could still be some remnants of it." Shou said through his cereal.

"Did they know about how you’re... y'know... his son?" Ritsu cautiously asked. Shou took another bite.

"I don't know. I don't know what they know. They could have some of the biggest dirt on me and I'm unaware. That's why I didn't want to get you guys involved. I don't know what they can or will do." Shou slurped the remaining milk and wiped his mouth.

"They seemed pretty sketchy, that's why." Shou finished as he stared at his empty bowl.

"Hey, Reigen. Can I get some more?" He asked and lifted his bowl. Reigen smiled and got up. He grabbed the bowl with shaky hands. Man, Shou has gone through too much.

"Instead... let's get something to eat. Y'know, to celebrate this little rascal returning home!" Reigen happily offered. "In fact, I'll call Serizawa to close up shop instead and to join us!" Reigen pulled his flip phone out of his pocket and called Serizawa.

"Hey, Katsu. Today's gonna be a day off... Yea... Meet us up at the restaurant I took you last time... Oh! 'Cause Suzuki's back!" Reigen immediately flinched and pulled his phone as far away from his ear as loud screaming and talking could be heard from the speaker. The rest of the kids laughed at Serizawa's reaction.

They all began to pack up and walk out the apartment door. The mess that was the apartment can be cleaned later. As they began to file out one by one, Ritsu and Shou stayed behind them. Their fingers brushing a bit before they held each other's hand. Ritsu turned to Shou and smiled. He could feel his face becoming warm.

"I'm glad you're back." Ritsu sweetly whispered. Shou gripped his hand tighter. He leaned in a pressed a light kiss on his cheek. Yep, now his cheeks were burning up. Ritsu hid his face into the hem of his sweater. Shou giggled and blushed a bit.

"I'm glad you have your shoes on." Shou joked. Ritsu gave the redhead a light shove in retaliation. They continued to walk behind the rest of them down the sidewalk, hand in hand, chatting about time they had lost.

----

[bruhnushka]

the bus (Lin Manuel Miranda x reader)

Lim-Manuel Miranda

summary : ur on a bus & Lin happens to be on the same one too & u expose ur fangirlness

warnings : maybe cussing¿? embarrassment ,, awkwardness stupid friends

pronouns : they/them

a/n : the wifi on this bus only apparently works where there’s cell reception idfk wtf and this is that cute idea I thought of… maybe it’s not so cute??? PLSE tell me what u guys think I need to improve my writing !!!

a/n : the previous a/n was the original one, but I’m adding this in here. this may be an ongoing series!!! sorry for the shitty writing in advance GIMME FEEDBACK,,

1 ,, 2 ,, 3 _______________________________________________

your eyes were dropping. it was about four in the morning, and the tour bus was picking people up. you pressed play on some music and put to full volume. your friend next to you, tanushka, drifted off a few minutes before you. you felt yourself fade into sleep, letting your mind rest.

~~~

lin couldn’t believe it. he’d been in queens town for about six days and not a single person recognized him. no matter how peaceful it was, it was also disheartening. he didn’t let it get him down, he signed himself up for an 8 hour bus ride to Millford Sound. he walked onto the bus using the incredibly steep stairs, then heard a familiar beat. he couldn’t place it, but he saw the source of the noise- you. he walked towards your seat and that’s when tanushka noticed him.

she let out a loud gasp, grabbing your phone and opening it to the home screen, a picture of Lin on it. “you’re the guy! with the music play thing! LIT manny or something!” She exclaims in a shout-whisper. he laughs at lit-manny.

“I’m Lin-Manuel Miranda, if that’s what you mean.”

“yeah! That guy! Holy shit y/n FUCKING loves you!” she points at you.

“so you don’t mind if i… sit here?” he asks, wanting to surprise you.

“oh! oh! oh sure!” she gets up, letting him slide in. for the first he examines you. your hands were inside your star labs hoodie, and half of your face as well. he got to notice your hair and your eyes. from the corner of his eyes, in the seat pocket, he spotted glasses. you were cute enough in your own way. now that he was closer to you, he could hear all the music. it seemed your music range varied greatly. one second it was Hamilton, then it was Metallica, then it was twenty one pilots. it was quite amusing. then the bus driver spoke into the speakers, his voice startling you.

“o- what the SHIT? ugh tanushka you never wake me u-” you turned and Lin was smirking. you rubbed your eyes and blinked, fumbling for your glasses.

“what the heckle?” you muttered, letting your eyes clear to reveal Lin, laughing.

“well hello there I’m Lin-”

“Manuel Miranda” you finished, in awe, “no freaking way.”

“well yes freaking way. I kinda just, heard your music, and asked your friend, tanushka I believe?, if I could sit here.” at her cue, she popped up from behind you. “that’s me!”

“anyways, so hey! I guess you have some great music taste!” Lin chuckles. “so what’s you’re name?”

“uh- y/n” you stutter out. then with more confidence, “y/n l/n”.

“well, y/n, what a lovely name might I mention, may I ask you what you’re favorite Hamilton song?” he says, making you laugh.

“I have so many really- uh I guess I really like Washington on your side- ooh! or maybe the Reynolds Pamphlet! Definitely guns and ships! oh! also! RIGHT hand man? and the Schuyler sisters? they’re all so good and so brilliantly put together and the music and t-” his laugh interrupted you.

“I think I’d know how good it is, I spent way too much of my life writing them”

“modest MUCH?” you laugh, then realize how rude you came off. “I’m so sorry I didn’t meant to-”

“it’s fine! don’t be sorry!” he noticed your fidgeting. “nervous?”

“this is… a lot to take in” you breathed out.

“well take your time then.” he jokes, “the dad bod is my best attribute, I believe.” you laugh, and grab your phone.

“is it ok if I take a picture with you?” you ask awkwardly. he nods, and you open up camera. he spots your homescreen and points at it.

“that’s me!”

“well duh” you grin, holding up the camera so you could take a photo. you guys ended up taking maybe fifty because you both couldn’t keep a straight face.

“you don’t mind if I… sit here for the rest of the ride?” he asked, quite nervously. Lin has a crush. yes, it was a school girlish crush, but you had such a bright attractive personality… he couldn’t help it. was that even legal? liking a fan? it seemed like a distant thought, a foreign idea only sought after in fanfiction.

“oh my god of course!” you were practically screaming, a grin so wide that Lin couldn’t help but smile.

“so… let’s get to know each other I guess?” Lin said, then tried to think of a question. “oh! what’s your twitter handle?” he asks and you tell him. a pan formularles in his head on how to get your number.

“can you send me the photos?” Lin asks, reaching for your phone “here I’ll-”

“I’ll just dm it on Twitter!” you smile and type in his handle, sending him the photos. there goes that.

“you don’t mind sending me all the pictures? Maybe it would be faster over text?” he tried again.

“oh it’s fine, you don’t want a fan like me with your number.” you say, not getting the hint.

“I mean-”

“don’t worry about it! there, it should have delivere-”

“goddamit can I please have your number?” he finally blurts. your eyes widen as you look up at him.

“what?”

“I-uhm” Lin didn’t know how to fix this. he scratches the back of his head, looking towards his feet

“I’d love to give you my number.” You grin, and send it to him over Twitter.

“uh thanks” he grins sheepishly, then posted a photo. your phone rang with the notification for both Lins post & that he tagged you.

“you have me on post notifs?” he laughs, running a hand through his hair. god, he was cute.

“maybe…”

“that’s cute.” he says laughing at your blush.

met the most amazing dum dum ever… (your handle)

you blushed again and covered your laugh as you looked at him. “this is so sweet!” you exclaim, and it was his turn to blush as he nervously looked towards the floor.

“and you followed me? what? that’s so cool! oh my gosh!” you gush, smile plastered across your cheeks.

“it’s no problem, really.” he says.

“thank you! well god, I’m tired so you don’t mind if I take a quick nap?” you ask, and he laughs. in the back of his head, he prayed the cliche gods were at work and you would fall asleep onto his shoulders.

to be continued¿

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

just got back from opening night...oh boy

- Okay so first you guys need to know that I somehow managed to break my damn foot

- Don’t know wtf I did but it’s not in a cast or a boot or even wrapped right now and I was running all over the place for mics and shit and even when I was sitting down it was throbbing so I’m limping like HELL right now and let me tell you having a broken foot just prevents this from being a Fun and Radical Time(tm)

- Did I waste at least five minutes replacing all the batteries with used and dead batteries? Unfortunate yes

- Not only was the show sold out, they added extra seats and some people were standing in the back of the theater...yike

- I was so nervous about having to work the lights when I've been doing soundboard all week but praise lord above Tom decided to just let me stay on the soundboard

- Gaston came up to get his mic on and it just didn’t have the clip???? And he was like “oh yeah I was wearing these pants at my chorus concert yesterday and found it there. So it’s in my mom’s car.” “Is your mom here?” “...no.”

- I’m laughing so hard there are at least five young girls in this cast who blatantly have a crush on Tom and he doesn’t seem to realize it lmao they keep coming up to ask tech questions or specifically request he help him with their mics but you can just tell by the way they’re acting and he’s just like “I’m busy???” I was yelling like Tom this was me @ you from 8th to 11th grade how are you missing the signs AGAIN

- How many times did I have to tell actors they weren’t allowed to leave the theater??? Far too many

- Also listen kids are fucking TERRIFYING

- So like ten minutes before we start letting the audience in the kid playing Beast very calmly asks me to go get his mom. I’m thinking he’s nervous or wants water or something so I go out like “The Beast needs his mom” and people were laughing at that

- But then his parents get in the theater and ask him what’s up and he’s like “so I’m not sure what happened but I need a bandaid-” and lifts up his shirt to reveal a GIANT, GAPPING, BLEEDING GASH MARK ARCROSS HIS SIDE

- NOT SHOWING ANY EMOTION OR SIGN OF PAIN

- SO IM LIKE W H A T T H E F U C K AND HIS MOM IS JSUT LIKE “I don’t know if a bandaid will help sweetie but let me see” and starts rummaging thru her bag and I had to walk away bc I'm far from squeamish but I didn’t need that omfg. He did the whole show and I don’t think he bled thru his shirt so I guess he’s fine???? But seriously what the FUCK

- Tom, after saving no less than six near-catastrophes in half an hour: “She only bills me as technical advisor.”

- Most of the mics were working perfectly thank God!!!! But Cogsworth’s was still fucking possessed like this poor little girl she’s so adorable too what did she do to deserve this

- “Drew, do you even know how to work the spotlight?”

- Drew, full volume, a voice that would give Jean-Ralphio Saperstein chills, “~I HAVE NOOOOOO IDEEEAAAAAAA!~~~~”

- “Then why did you volunteer to do it?”

- “She’s paying me in starbursts!”

- Many props were forgotten and Belle missed like 3 cues rip in peace

- LUMIERE AND COGSWORTH DID SO GOOD ON SONGS AND THEN FORGOT SO MANY SPOKEN LINES AND  MISSED MULTIPLE CUES I WAS CRINGING

- Luckily Gaston and Lefou ended up carrying the show as I predicted. They got plenty of laughs

- And everyone managed the beats for Gaston!!!! Does it matter that Tom was showing them the exact movements from the back of the theater??? Irrelevant

- A mom, running out of the dressing room in fear, “Thank GOD I have all boys I can’t fucking do makeup I CANT”

- Before the show started and people were just chilling on stage we all heard an angry screech from the dressing room of “I’M A GREAT FRIEND” and honestly like...same sis same I relate

- I passed on getting something at intermission because I felt fine but literally the second the lights went up my stomach just emptied and I was filled only with regret

- Oh my God....fuck you know how when you see a live Peter Pan there’s the part where it’s like “Do you believe in fairies??? Maybe if the whole audience claps their hands Tinkerbell will be okay!!!”

- So the fucking director....got these fucking light up roses...and basically told people in her opening speech to buy them so they could wave them around and help the Beast magically transform

- And you know of course the kids were basically turning them on and off the entire show lmao

- And also like...’light up’ isn’t a strong enough description. They were basically strobe lights??? My light sensitive mind was gonna explode I still have a headache help I was fathered by an epileptic I have explicit orders from doctors to stay away from lighting like that o m fg

- When Belle yelled “you need to learn to control your temper!” a little kid in the audience yelled “ I R O N Y” really loud it was hilarious

- In the mob scene when they went “Raise the flag/Sing a song/We’re fifty Frenchmen strong/And fifty Frenchmen can’t be wrong/” like...now that we realized it’s a Les Mis joke there was no way to not fckig crack up at it omfg

- Tom high fived me when it ended and said “You’re officially a sound technician!” and I groaned

- There’s def more but I’m EXHAUSTED right now I’m gonna elevate my foot and sleep for the rest of my life let’s hope show two goes well omfg

[skittymon]

Okay I made this post before but I’m doing it again.

Why do people keep saying that the Arc-V manga is better than the anime?

Rant below the undercut

First off how can the manga be better when it’s on chapter 20 and being compared to a 148 episode series. And for the love of god even when I wasn’t in the fandom I saw people saying this a year ago. Like how???? 

Maybe the ending will be better than the anime’s but it seems like the end goal is going to be Yuya working at Yu-Show or whatever its fucking called in the manga, and as of right now it seems like the other Yuu boys are going to disappear too so its on the same boat as the anime (but with longer farewells from the Yuu boys probably).

And it might be me but like how is the manga even better???

I do like the manga, it’s fine (about 6/10 for me but this last chapter makes me want to say 4/10) and I LOVE its art style, but like…..its so generic, if it wasn’t Yugioh (or even Arc-V because I stopped reading 5ds’ manga after the first volume and skipped over Zexals) I wouldn’t have read it.

I mean I can see why people like it, you got dimensionshipping up the ass, and ‘badass’ Yuya. But like everything else pisses me off.

First the plot. I can’t say much because obviously it’s still on going and there’s some stuff needed to be discovered like how the Yuu boys became one, what G.O.D is, how Yugo and Yuto recognize Yuzu, and chapter 20 did seem like we’ll be getting more info next chapter. But like Yuya comes back from the future with amnesia to save the world because everything is destroyed because of card games. WOW YOSHIDA WHERE HAVE I HEARD THAT BEFORE???? AND IT DOESN’T HELP THAT FRICKIN REN, EVE, AND OTHER GUY LOOK A LOT LIKE  THE YLIASTER GUYS. 

The characters, OH GOD EVERYONE BUT THE YUU BOYS (and kinda Sawatari and Sora) GOT FUCKED OVER. 

First Reiji. Reiji is okay, and I adored his flashbacks with Leo but like wow way to staple him as the bad guy. In the anime Reiji subverted tropes because while he was Yuya’s rival he never antagonized him, and in fact Yuya was often in the wrong and Reiji would have to set him straight. Here nope. Instead it’s Reiji who’s the idiot/in the wrong despite doing what he think’s is right and Yuya is almighty and right and fucking pities Reiji for not coming around. Like….ugh wtf.

Shun is a weird case. His masochists personality turned me the fuck off and is creepy as hell. I mean I guess Yoshida had to give him a new personality since he doesn’t have his best friend or younger sister or tragic backstory anymore (which sucks for me because seeing Shun overcome his losses was one of my favorite things about his character), but why the fuck did you pick that. Shun is so far is literally the only character, in my opinion, so in the manga to get decent character development so that saves him a bit and he seems to have lost his creepiness a bit (which is still weird for me because you can’t fundamentally change your personality after one fucking duel).

Sora….I’m confused on. It maybe because some of the recent chapter I skimmed but he’s working for Ren and people right??? Why?? Is he from the future too??? His character confuses me because apparently he forgot that he was working with Ren and Eve?? And p sure Sora admitted to using the sister thing as a trick to Yuya but its not?? Like you’re not even same side as Yuya or have any nice feelings about him and are suppose to be chasing after him why are you being nice to him??? I mean I guess he’s acting as a double agent/undercover like in the anime but idk I feel like its sloppy and confusing.

Sawatari is fine, he hasn’t done much and is kinda the butt of stuff like in the anime sorry man you can’t escape that fate lol

I know I said the Yuu boys are fine (Yuto and Yuri I feel like they kinda improved on so good on ya manga) but Yuya and Yugo man. I thought Yugo was fine until this recent chapter where he just shitted on Yuzu like wow I know for a fact the anime Yugo might have done that but it would have went over his head and no way in hell would he be allowed to get away with that. I guess Rin really is a fundamental part of his character….

Then Yuya, who literally might be fucking god because Yoshida was a savior boner / Jesus complex. First off, 20 chapters in and no character development (he might get some in the next chapter finally). I mean he has character but he’s still the same as he was in chapter one: being cocky, 100% with his convictions that he dad is right, doesn’t question why the Yuu boys shaft him sometimes or has regain a single memory. Then I feel like he’s too high on a pedestal. He’s apparently a genius hacker who can get into Leo Corporation without being traced and his narrative portrays him as almighty in duels and in life general. Fine, people like badass superior cocky characters but like they eventually need to be taken off their high horses and knowing Yoshida’s writing….that’s probably not going to happen (see Yusei in 5ds part 2 or Yuma with his convictions that always get stomped on but come back two minutes later no questioned and changes the bad guys heart).

Finally Yuzu…..my daughter I’m so sorry what Yoshida did to you. You’re basically Kotori now but worse because we know you have potential. First, her dad owns a duel school why can’t she duel??? Like fine maybe Konami doesn’t have any Medious cards to see but you can still show she can duel but have Yuya duel instead because ‘its his fight’ or whatever. Second, why is she the butt of all the jokes even more than Sawatari? Again chapter 20 just made her a joke (Yugo: We’ll start when the girl crouches down in fear) and she’s always in the wrong as has to corrected by any other guy in the series. Then her character traits are the she’s smart (but not as smart as the guys of course shown with Shun beating her in a math tournament and yet he never uses those skills and seem like something he wouldn’t even compete in) and she likes money….that’s it. I almost hate manga!Yuzu and I feel like Yoshida was forced to write Yuzu because she’s suppose be a huge force to Yuya but is like….’but is she really compared to the guys tho.’ At this point the only thing I’m hoping for with her is that Yugo and Yuto recognize her because she’s some important figure in the future (probably a scientist and most like Leo or Yusho’s assistant because she can’t be as smart as them) and I get to see older Yuzu who hopefully looks a lot like Ray. ALSO WHY ISN’T SHE THE EVE FACTOR SHE AND YUYA ARE SUPPOSE TO BE SOULMATES KINDA.

And why did you only include the ‘pretty’ characters Yoshida? Reira I understand because Reiji is from the future. But like where are my quirky characters of Gonzengaka, Tsukikage, and Dennis? Why don’t I get Yoko is Yuya’s memories? Where are the three kiddies attending Shunzo’s school? I know that Arc-V has a big cast but so does GX and its manga included nearly fucking everyone at least once.

So basically I have all these problems with the manga, so no to me it’s not better than the anime. But it’s only 20 chapters in, that could change probably not because Yoshida’s writing is meh to me lol but I think the argument of ‘the manga is better than the anime’ is flawed and pointless at this point because the manga has a lot of problems and unanswered questions that needs to be resolved and then once its over we can use the aftermath to compare with the finished anime. 

Basically: can people stop saying that, it pisses me off.

[katieskarlette]

Warcraft Chronicle Vol. II - An Illustrated Reaction Post

 I had the day off from work yesterday, so I binge-read the second volume of the World of Warcraft Chronicle.  Another very enjoyable read, and a must for any self-respecting lore geek. 

 [General comments follow.  Spoilers will be below the Read More.]

I reallllllllly wish this had come out prior to, or concurrent with, Warlords of Draenor.  Almost all my issues with “This is only happening in an AU so why do we care?” and “Did any of this happen in our universe?” would have been taken care of.

There’s a wealth of lore on the breakers vs. primals, the gronn, ogron, ogres, orcs, botani, and arrakoa.  Everything makes so much more sense now!   WoD would still have been plagued by the same gameplay issues (*coughcoughgarrisonscoughcough*) but the story would have grabbed me more.  I mean, yes, a good deal of the Draenor lore in Chronicle II (maybe even the majority of it) was in-game, but to have it all in one place, to see how the parts all relate to each other, to have it told as a cohesive story, and to know that it occurred in our universe and not just an AU, made all the difference in the world.

My only complaint about the book was the lack of references to any of Deathwing’s children.  We did find out some more about what he was up to between the War of the Ancients and Day of the Dragon, but there was no mention at all of Sabellian, Nefarian, Onyxia, or any others.

[I’m going to make a separate post about the Deathwing parts of Chronicle II, since this one got really long.]

The primordial lore of Draenor, with creatures of stone or plant life that towered higher than mountains and caused the world to shake with every step, was awe-inspiring, terrifying, and epic.

Er...take my word for it.  It was awesome.  *ahem*

Grond, the rock giant created by the Titan Aggramar to fight the Evergrowth, broke down into a series of lesser beings as time went by, each kind smaller but smarter than the last.  Thus were created most of Draenor’s sentient creatures (minus arrakoa, saberon, botani, and sporeggar).

I know Blizzard is trying to sand off the rough edges of the lore and make things fit more seamlessly, and in the vast majority of cases I think the Chronicles book do that well.  At first I thought orcs being descended from ogres was an exception, but then I really looked at the pictures and realized...yeah, it works.  Orcs and ogres share the same jaw structure, at least.  (I’m still not sure how one eye turned into two, though, and the number of toes increased a lot in the last two iterations.  Also, it appears bad posture skipped ogres and popped up again in orcs...)  ;)

(All images in the above graphic are from Wowpedia.  And of course I used Varok Saurfang as the quintessential orc because he’s freaking Saurfang.  ‘Nuff said.)

I wonder if dwarves know that orcs are technically descended from rocks, too...  It also means that ogres and orcs have Titan origins, albeit not as directly as vrykul, mogu, gnomes, dwarves, etc.

Goria, the capital of the ancient ogre empire, was destroyed by orc shaman, working with the elements of Draenor to avenge the desecration of the Throne of Elements.  (The ogres had barged in and tried to take the power of the elements with brute force, which...didn’t go well.)  The city was buried by the forces of earth, and none of the races of Draenor wanted anything to do with the site afterward...until the draenei crashed and were like, “Hey!  This looks like a great place for a city!”  Thus Shattrath was founded.

Meanwhile, I imagine the orcs, ogres, arrakoa, etc. were peeking over a hill nearby going, “WTF are those new guys doing? Everybody knows better than to build there!”  It’s like building a subdivision on top of a cursed native burial ground.

As it turns out, none of Shattrath’s problems had anything to do with unhappy ogre spirits, but the bad karma didn’t do the city any favors, either.

In WoD, Alliance players drink an elixir to witness a vision of the Iron Horde using the Dark Star to conquer Karabor despite Velen’s best efforts to defend the holy site.  

In our universe, the non-iron Horde did basically the same thing, but Velen was able to escape.  The void energies corrupted the site into the Black Temple.  Fel seeped in later when the demons took over, but initially it was the void that wrecked it.  Interesting.

When Grom Hellscream learned of Draenor blowing up, he assumed Garrosh was killed, and “the news was devastating.”  He forced himself to “put aside his grief” for the greater good of orckind and led the remnants of the Horde into the Swamp of Sorrows.  

If only Garrosh knew that his father cared that much about him, even with the red pox, maybe he wouldn’t have been such a mess.  :p

Long before anyone on Azeroth had heard of an orc, the Gurubashi trolls attacked Stormwind (as seen in the Bonds of Brotherhood graphic novel that was a movie tie-in.)  All seemed lost until Medivh stood on the ramparts and unleashed a firestorm of magic down on the invading trolls.  

My question is, did it take as long to clean up the charred mess from that incident as it did to repair the city after Deathwing damaged it at the beginning of Cataclysm?  ;)  

(At least there were no huge statues near the gates to tip over in those days.  I still remember the first time I saw the cinematic of Deathwing casually knocking over Danath’s statue on his way by, and how freaking awesome that was.  Oops, this was supposed to be the non-dragon section.  Ahem.  Moving on...)

Taria Wrynn was killed while she and Varian were trying to escape the city during the fall of Stormwind.  Lothar saved the prince but could not save the queen.  :( 

No mention of Varian’s sister from the movie-verse.

Miscellaneous tidbits:

Before the Scourge, the Eastern Plaguelands were known as the Eastweald.

Maraad had a sister named Leran.  She was captured and killed by orcs in one of the first clashes in what would end up being the draenei genocide.  No mention of our universe’s Yrel, though.

The Scepter of Sargeras that my warlock has as her Legion artifact shows up in one of the art pieces in Chronicle II, in Ner’zhul’s hand as he splits Draenor asunder.  Pretty damn cool.  I mean, I knew the history behind the weapon from playing my lock, but to actually see it being used at that historic moment gave me a thrill.  (Although the thought of such a powerful weapon bumping around on some chucklehead player’s back is kind of scary...  Stand in the fire, accidentally shatter the planet...LOL!)

The cutscene in original Karazhan showing Nightbane’s origins was revisited and expanded upon significantly.  It seems that Arcanagos (Nightbane, pre-crispification) was one of Aegwynn’s few true friends (along with Moroes!), and they came to Karazhan together to confront Medivh about the Dark Portal after they sensed his magic behind it.

Sargeras took over Medivh and was like, “Hey, Aegwynn, long time no see!  Remember me?  You thought you killed my avatar, but I actually hitchhiked in your body for awhile and then possessed your son.  How do you like them apples?”  

And Aegwynn was like, “WTF?  YOU ASSHOLE!”

They fought, and although Sargeras was, y’know, a freaking Titan, he was working with a sliver of his real power in a body he had only been inhabiting for a relatively short time, and Aegwynn was not only more experienced fighting as a human, but she was extremely pissed off.  Arcanagos got fried when he tried to help her.

Sargeras was like, “Shit, I’m actually losing,” and sucked the life energy out of everyone (except Aegwynn and Moroes) in the tower.  Thus all the ghosts you see there today.  With that power, he could have obliterated Aegwynn, but deep in his brain Medivh was like, “Not my mother, you bastard!” and exerted his will so that Aegwynn was banished to some far-flung, unknown corner of the world instead of being killed. 

When he came to his senses again he was like, “WTF just happened?  Did I black out and kill everyone again?  Ugh, I hate when that happens.”  And he felt very bad.  As one does.

[#tw:  mention of rape and vague allusion to incest in the following section]

Garona’s plot definitely draws from the comics, but there is zero mention of her having a romantic and/or sexual relationship with Medivh, which I assume is Blizzard’s way of saying, “Med’an?  Who’s that?  Never heard of him!  Ooh, look, a squirrel!”  Which is honestly fine by me.  Briefly canon or not, Medivh/Garona is kind of a NOTP as far as I’m concerned (one amusing screenshot not withstanding.)

I actually rather liked the movie-verse idea that Medivh was her father, partly because it made for an interesting, poignant story (and got rid of the rape element), and partly because it made the original Warcraft I story of her being half human, half orc canon again. Retcons are a necessary evil, but clever ways to get around them are fun, too.

However, Chronicles II makes it clear that Garona’s father was an orc warrior and her mother was a draenei prisoner.  Which, okay, fine, it would be pretty jarring to go from “babydaddy” to “actual father” in main canon, so as long as they got rid of Med’an, I’ll take it.  They were still friends, and bonded over their shared feeling of being an outcast.

I’m sure I’ll think of a million things I’ve forgotten to mention as soon as I post this, but I’ve rambled long enough and I haven’t even touched the black dragonflight stuff.  Suffice it to say that Chronicle II is amazing, and while the dragon lore may not be as detailed as I’d like, we did get some juicy new tidbits to chew on.