#the way kallen thought that she killed the love of her life

[isekai-crow]

Cherry Magic Ep 3

I thought we were gonna get the partner for Masato in episode 3, but we got him in episode 4. INSTEAD HOWEVER, in episode 3 we got some other fun characters!!

ONE OF THEM BEING VOICED BY FUCKING YUUSUKE SHIRAI!!!!

Was not expecting his high pitched whiney voice to appear OUT OF A CHARACTER LIKE THIS but also I really SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED. HE'S A STAPLE IN BL ANIME AND AUDIO DRAMAS. High pitched whiney is a compliment by the way because its CUTE and made Capybara have conniptions while listening cause this is his favorite VA, and also DAMN THIS DUDE HAS RANGE.

GO listen to the character Ramuda's voice from HypMic and you'll see what I'm talking about. His other characters are friggen Sasaki from Sasaki and Miyano, Nikaido from Idolish7, Usui Masumi from A3!, and basically this man can SING and has RANGE and is bread and butter in the anime idol boy world.

So yea, Shirai, Yuusuke plays the annoying kouhai Yuuta Rokkaku, whose only purpose is to make Kurosawa jealous of Adachi spending time with someone and make Adachi jealous of Kurosawa's 'perfection' when Kurosawa starts showing off trying to get his attention away from Rokkaku. I also hope he becomes a Shipper On Deck with the other new character, Nozomi Fujisaki!

Koshimizu, Ami is the voice of Fujisaki sempai, who is so far just a stereotypical Japanese office lady, but having seen her in the opening we know that she is the CAPTAIN of this Ship, All Hands On Deck, and has fucking Acrylic Stands of these two that she's absolutely gonna make kiss like barbie dolls.

She also voices fricken Ryuuko fro Kill La Kill, Kallen Stadtfield from Code Geass, Sailor Jupiter from Sailer Moon Crystal, and a TON of other big name female characters!! Delightful.

LMAO if this isn't the first thing that pops up in episode 3!! I'VE TAKEN THIS MEDICINE BEFORE. It's OTC anti-hangover meds THAT FUCKING WORK. They're also really good for dealing with certain IBS symptoms. OTC Meds in Japan are Great. (*w*)b

Episode 3 is the Karaoke Episode, standard Japanese business life going drinking with your superiors to "improve moral" (This shit sucks, and I only had to deal with it the first 3 years I lived here. Bosses don't know what boundaries are, don't even know the word).

There's tons of funny faces. This episode was having so much fun.

Poor Kurosawa fails at impressing his love interest with Karaoke cause the man is too upset by how perfect he is. WHY DOES HE HAVE TO BE GOOD AT EVERYTHING. I'm waiting for the moment when that perfection is peeled back to show the person underneath.

Adachi tries to rescue his female co-worker whose being catcalled / harrased by drunk dudes not even from their company, only to get rescued himself.

Fujisaki is all of us. She knows EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON. Even if Adachi doesn't lmao. She doesn't need to read minds. She's got Fujoshi-Senses.

Adachi is also not subtle at ALL ABOUT TOUCHING?????? But he's also NEVER successful???????? MY BOY. THINK. USE THAT SINGULAR BRAIN CELL TO FIND A BETTER WAY.

I guess Adachi like Rokkoku enough to go to a Sauna with him? And Kurosawa is of course tags along because he gets to see Adachi naked.

This is also SUCH a Japanese thing. Someone's hobby is always something boring like "listening to music" or "watching movies" or "drinking socially" which aren't REAL hobbies, OR IT'S WEIRD RANDOM STUFF LIKE GOING TO A SAUNA.

OH LOOK HIS NIPPLES ARE GROWN IN. (This is a running joke between me and Capybara about whether a character is an adult or not)

Bless this poor simping man. Some day. Just you wait.

STEAM CONDUCTS THOUGHTS!!!!! Poor Adachi clutching his towel and running like the fair maiden heart he is after seeing all of Kuroswa's fantasies.

So capybara and my theory is that it's BODY heat that transfers the thoughts, otherwise it wouldn't work through clothing. (What happens if we get an Adachi or Kurosawa with hypothermia? Sick Fic anyone?)

But also this is the kind of stuff I feel bad for Kurosawa about. He's allowed to have fantasies damnit! They shouldn't be held against him! Unless he does something to Adachi that he doesn't want or consent to LET THE MAN LIVE DAMNIT.

But also poor Adachi for having to experience that anyways haha.

We get a rare moment here of hearing Kurosawa's inner thoughts (mostly self pity about the situation his heart has gotten him into), and it's NOT filtered through Adachi for once! So it humanizes him a bit more (not that he wasn't human before? But like people idolize him rather than villanize him... I don't know the word I'm looking for... endears us to him?) and we get to see his thoughts on the situation, the damage that's been done from being basically a "Gifted Kid" in more ways than one, fucking SA'd by a CEO Lady and also WHY he likes Adachi and damn, it took someone seeing him as something less then Ken Doll Perfect for once in his life to fall for someone of the same sex. It's definitely more than that, but like. That's so story book sweet and a little sad type romantic. I love it.

It took one man giving him a Dom Face to awaken the Inner Sub in him, and his heart was stolen, lmao. (I think this might be Capybara projecting and wanting someone to look at HIM like that tho >w>) (im gonna get murdered for that)

I hope they continue to play with tropes and don't follow the standard "One of these MALE characters is just a stand in for a FEMALE, so one is the seme/top and one is the uke/bottom and they NEVER switch."

God I hope they switch. And/Or Adachi makes the first real move. Or like, Pins / Kabe-Don's Kurosawa to the wall. That would make me so happy.

CAREFUL ADACHI. HE'S ON TO YOU. HE'S STARTING TO SUSPECT YOU'RE USING WITCH CRAFT ON HIM.

also AHHHH THIS IS SO CUTE. Kurosawa is adorable and so in love and so worried, and it's fairly realistic! I can't wait for more.

[sanscouer]

:/

[selsprompts]

Was it worth it, Steve?

Insight; This is just a Drabble to be honest. I saw an edit of this scene and it gave me an idea, a very sad idea.

Warnings?: angst, (possible) cursing, mentions of infertility & death. (Also me using google translate because I don’t know German #pain)

Characters: Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson.

This is about Steve going back in time for Peggy, I do not agree with his decision. Does this mean that Steve doesn’t deserve happiness? No, of course he does. But, his ending was just so bad IMO.

It’s my opinion so don’t tear me down, Steve went back in time and he shouldn’t have. Sorry not sorry.

+ because of a recent reply I have to say that I will also be blocking people who send harmful messages/replies. It’s okay to say you disagree with me, I respect that, but please don’t tell me to “die” or insult me, it reflects on your character. Have a good day.

-

He danced.

He danced with the woman he loved.

That was good, right? Having happiness and being in a good place, that was good, right?

-

“Natalia Alianovna Romanova”

I stepped out of the line of girls and I knew what was happening, what was going to happen.

“Yes, madam” I held my head high trying to ignore the thoughts of how my future would never be fully happy.

“It’s time, let’s go” she grabbed my arm and led me out of the room, to the lab of course.

The graduation ceremony.

I was terrified. I could never have a family now, who would want me? Who wants a woman that can’t conceive?

We walked through the doors and madam left me alone while she spoke to the doctor.

I tried to fail my training, I didn’t want this, but I don’t have a choice anymore.

I remember shooting that man with a bag over his head, I hesitated but did it anyways. I have so much blood on my hands already and I'm so young.

I’ve been forced to spar with people I claimed as family to death in order to please my masters. The ones I claimed as sisters, their blood is on my hands.

“Come now, change and lay on the table” she handed me something to change into and I went behind the curtain.

I changed painfully slowly to try and drag the process, I was scared.

After this was over I’d have to go to ballet practice and act like nothing happened, like my life didn’t change for the rest of my life

“Natalia!” Madam called my name and I hurried quickly fearing the consequences.

I walked out and laid on the table, it was cold and hard, I wasn’t ready for this, who could be?

“What if I fail?” I said adjusting my position looking around the room.

“You never fail, you will earn your place in this world” Madam said before walking off.

I saw the doctor grabbing supplies and syringes. I muttered something under my breathe before it began.

“I have no place in the world” I tear slipped down my cheek as I shut my eyes.

-

He bought a house, he married her, they have kids.

The perfect white picket fence like Tony told him about.

This is what he wanted after all that war and those battles, he finally got what he wanted, right?

-

I don’t remember anything anymore. Every time I feel like I’ve figured out what’s happened to me it comes back to a blur.

“Wintersoldat” I turned my body looking at my master, I nodded.

“Töte ihn” he said throwing the man on the floor at my feet.

Kill him he said, this is what I do, this is my mission.

I did it. Shot him 3 times. I felt no remorse, it was strange.

I often contemplate my own thoughts, only when they don’t take me to the lab. After a period of time my mind wonders, faint memories come in.

I’ve become better at hiding it, but not perfect.

They know, they know everything .

We walked out of the room and left the countless bodies I murdered on the floor, like it wasn’t a crime.

He grabbed my arm stopping me in my tracks.

“Zurück zum Basis-Wintersoldaten”

We have to go back to the base. He knows.

He knows my memories are coming back, it’s going to happen again. My mind will be gone again.

“Ja, mein Herr” I complied and followed him.

I felt hopeless, I was so close to finding out what my purpose was. Not anymore.

I sat in the chair knowing what was going to happen, my chest heaving.

They put my mouth guard in. I thought about what I was before this. If I had any family, friends.

Friend. That sounded familiar. Steve.

My friend Steve, I remember Steve.

They pushed me back into the chair strapping my arms in.

“Steve used to put news papers in his shoes”

I mumbled out loud, they watched me confused.

“Los, wische sein Gedächtnis ab, worauf wartest du?”

The doctor was demanded to wipe my memory at once, again.

I heard the machine come down.

This is my life now, I hope one day to change.

I hope to find peace and happiness. I hope I’m excused for doing wrong I don’t have control over.

I hope I’m loved and alive. I hope I’m okay.

I thought one last thing before I felt my brain ache like before.

Will I ever truly be okay?

-

He replayed the record, he always does.

He walked back over to his wife, Peggy.

He ignores his thoughts about what he’s letting happen, what’s going to happen.

I deserve this he thought. Peggy, my kids, my life. This is what I deserve, right?

-

I watched him die. In front of my eyes.

“RILEY” I screamed through my comms.

I’m so stupid, how could I let this happen? Why wasn’t it me, it should’ve been me.

Testing out the Falcon for the first time shouldn’t have gone this way, never.

“EXO-7 Falcon. Beautiful ain’t she?”

I traced my fingers along the wings.

“Absolutely”

“You and Riley will be testing it out for the first time during the mission”

I was excited, who wouldn’t be? It’s crazy.

Our para-rescue unit was given the job of apprehending Khalid Khandil.

I felt like time froze

“no- Riley, no, no, no”

My wing-man. Gone.

This was a standard PJ rescue op. Nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before.

Until an RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch.

I remember that day, everyday. It never leaves my mind. I let him down.

I watched them lower the casket into the ground feeling my body tense up.

“It’s not your fault, Wilson” another person on our team put their hand on my shoulder before patting my back and leaving.

But it was. Maybe if I said don’t go there, follow me, my lead, it would’ve been okay.

I don’t trust myself much anymore, I’m scared.

But I have to move on and do better, be a better man than before.

I’ll do it for Riley, for him.

I was the last person left at the cemetery. I could hear his family crying while walking away. I couldn’t face them, not a chance.

“I’ll see you around buddy” I said walking off with my hands in my pockets.

I’ll save as many people as I can, it’s my duty.

-

They danced until she mentioned dinner. He let her go but still the record played.

It’s Been A Long Long Time by Kitty Kallen, his favourite song.

He walked outside to his porch looking at the sky, it was nice. Enjoying the peace and quiet while his best friends were doing the complete opposite.

While the world turned upside down he turned his back for a woman he left and said goodbye to a long time ago, even carried her casket.

He realized she was married to another man, had kids. She had a different life.

But what does that matter, right?

They both moved on but that wasn’t enough.

This begs the question, was it worth it, Steve?

Welp. Here it is.

This was hard to right if I’m being honest.

I love Steve a lot, he’s one of if not my favourite character(s). But this is my honest take on the ending, needed to be said!

I hope no one else has done this idea. Let me know what you think! xx - Selena

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 7. Random thoughts.

Through some kind of mistake, Rem had completely accepted Subaru, but he knew all too well that the Subaru Natsuki she saw was an ideal far removed from the real thing. Compared with the man she envisioned in her mind, the cards that the real Subaru held were few in number, and poor in quality—

But he learned, now that he stood at the playing table, no one cared about his personal problems.

All anyone in his position could do was try to win with the cards he was dealt.

This is sign I think Subaru has grown a little bit, though he is still growing. It's not about him, and Ferris later seems like he's trying to drill that into him a bit more later when Subaru wants to help with the battle preparations. It's good that he wants to help but sometimes he's unintentionally making things too much about himself, just to ease his own feelings. There are places where he would be getting in the way if he tried to help and Subaru's learning to accept that; to be patient and give his services where he can actually be of use, not just to help himself feel better. And damn, does he put that new maturity to good use in the big battle.

Originally, these negotiations had been Rem’s appointed duty. He could easily imagine how being unable to divulge her task to Subaru and having to speak with Crusch day after day had whittled away at her spirit.

Subaru had continually rotted by himself while the future of the Emilia camp had been entrusted to her—she must have suffered under that burden.

He hoped that in some small way, this victory repaid the girl whose feelings had supported him for so long; if so, then for the moment, that was enough for Subaru to be happy.

I really like this part. Again, it's not all about Subaru. He's acknowledging how much Rem's had to deal with while he was having his breakdowns and indulgences during his prior loops, and how much she still did what she could to support him in spite of it all. We're getting a little more that she does have a life outside of just Subaru and a little more added on to why he feels he's been so selfish. It really feels like he is now doing this for her. It's not like Subaru was completely self-centered before but I imagine there were times, especially with Emilia, where he wanted to help, but he wanted to be the one to help. He wanted good things for her but part of him cared more that he was the one giving them to her, verses her just getting what she needs in general. It's like how he couldn't feel happy that Otto was in support of Emilia first time he met him, though of course that was when he was at one of his lowest points.

And, of course, I'm absolutely reveling in all the sweetness of Rem supporting Subaru through his negotiations. Even if it's just holding his hand and reminding him she's there, he clearly appreciates the strength and courage it's giving him. Obviously they're not a romantic couple but this is the kind of stuff I love to see in romantic relationships. Just the basic comfort and support they find in each other's presence.

“...If I am gone, will you remember me just as long?”

“...I don’t wanna answer that. It’s bad luck.”

Speaking with a voice of dismay, Subaru gave Rem’s forehead a little poke.

When he touched Rem’s forehead, she smiled with a happy expression, almost as if she’d received the reply she had been hoping for.

Given something I believe I've been spoiled on for what happens later in the story (after where the anime leaves off), this feels like a very cruel monkey's paw bit of foreshadowing.

“Subaru.”

“...What?”

“I am fine with being your second wife.”

They were words to make a man unwittingly halt in his tracks.

When Subaru, unable to resist, looked toward her, Rem made a face like that of an adorable puppy, seemingly wagging her tail as she awaited Subaru’s reply.

Oh, good grief, just how far is this girl gonna—?

“If Emilia-tan’s a very generous first wife...”

“Well then, when we get back you must convince Lady Emilia. I shall try hard as well.”

Rem clenched the hand not grasped into a fist, very animated as she spoke with a smile.

Speaking jokingly like that broke all the tension, driving home to Subaru how weak he was. He truly couldn’t hold a candle to the girl.

I'm...going to have to see where the story goes from here, and how truly joking/serious Rem was with that second wife line. Just to put it out there, I don't really have a good view of polygamy. I'm always going to think that, 1st wife or 2nd or 3rd or wherever, someone is always going to be treated like second best and second priority. What they're receiving doesn't feel like real love and that's not fair to them. The only way I can see myself supporting a polygamous marriage in this series is if it's made clear Emilia and Rem are attracted to each other as well as Subaru and want to bang. Then it at least becomes three people who love each other as opposed to just "the guy and his two prizes".

So, first time you read this part in the novels or watched it in the anime, was anyone else afraid of the White Whale not showing up where and when Subaru told everyone it would? Like the world would just want to gut punch him one more time and have everyone think he's a fraud? I remember I was.

One theory I have for why the witch's scent grows stronger, not just when Subaru RBD, but also when he tries to talk about RBD is that maybe the witch likes when he acknowledges her "gift" to him. But she's also quite screwed up and doesn't like it when he tries to "share" what's between them, thus why she punishes him or those around him for doing so.

In front, behind and up above, he saw yet another whale-shaped figure high in the sky, scattering mist all around.

—The infinite mouths of the three White Whales laughed together, drawing out the despair of men.

Subaru, Crusch, the soldiers, everyone, etc.

Though pests had interrupted it, the White Whale’s mission was to cover the world in mist. This, too, was the command of its instinct, and doing so was the purpose of the White Whale’s existence.

One thing I've enjoyed about the various light novel series I've been reading is that, compared to their anime, I get a better idea of various characters' and monsters' mentalities. The best example I could give would be the goblins in Goblin Slayer (that they are not mindless creatures; that they know EXACTLY what they're doing to people and they enjoy it) and this bit with the White Whale is another good one. It seeks to cover the world in its mist and thus destroy/consume/erase everything (maybe?) And it doesn't know why it seeks to do this. It just does, suggesting there is something else, possibly the one behind its creation, driving it.

It's also interesting that, to the White Whale, the witch's scent is described as foul, despite the stories that she's the one who created it. This brings to mind a couple different theories.

Satella didn't actually create the whale. Someone else, perhaps one of the other six witches did or one of the archbishops.

Satella did create the whale but maybe used one of the other witches to do it. Puck did mention something about Gluttony when he sensed the whale approaching in the last loop.

Satella REALLY cannot tell the difference between positive and negative emotions, even more so than we were already led to believe.

Kind of cruel of Rem to trick Subaru into thinking she was dying, but at least we do get Subaru's completely true feelings out in the open. Back to the polygamy matter, I don't have a problem with Subaru being indecisive between Emilia and Rem or being in love with them both. It's not just that they've done so much for him, in which case the relationship would feel just like how Emilia described, just the two of them repaying debts to each other. Both women have been a hugely positive influence on Subaru's life. They've impacted it for the better and helped push him into being more of a man he can live with being, and it works the other way around too. It would be hard to imagine his story without either of them in it. I feel the same way with Code Geass in regards to CC, Shirley, and Kallen in Lelouch's story. It was the only "harem" series I've ever watched where I had trouble saying who the MC should end up with, because all three were irreplaceable in his life and story. Take any of them out and it loses a lot. Emilia and Rem are a similar case.

As Rem looked back at Subaru, now beside her, large tears filled her blue eyes. It was not being left behind that she feared. No, what she feared more than anything was—

“When you are in distress, Subaru, I want to be the one offering my hand faster than anyone. When you hesitate along your path, I want to be the one pushing on your back. When you challenge something, I want to be at your side, stopping you from shaking. That is—that is all I wish for. So please...”

Again, more great parallels between Subaru and Rem, as this isn't dissimilar to what he wanted to do for Emilia.

Wilhelm might just be the biggest example of a tsundere I've ever seen. Married a woman he loved from the bottom of heart for what was assumedly a decent amount of time...never freaking told her "I love you" until he finally killed the beast that killed her.

As for Theresia, it's definitely a case of why context is so important. She never wanted to be the Sword Saint. She only did so because she found purpose in saving as many lives as she could with the insane power she had (the whole "great power, great responsibility" chestnut). If Wilhelm is strong enough to protect and save people, to where her absence would make no difference, then she doesn't have to be the Sword Saint anymore and can live the life she wants. It's what makes it an actual kindness vs. some chauvinistic BS. Probably helps too that she'd already helped put an end to a long war, so she wouldn't have been needed as much anyway.

“So it is said. The existence and origins of demon beasts are mysteries to us. Some propagate in the same manner as ordinary living creatures, but some suddenly appear out of nowhere like the White Whale. Though, properly speaking, the only exceptions on par with the White Whale are the Black Serpent and the Great Hare.”

Oh...I'm so not looking forward to meeting those two. After how much tragedy just the White Whale caused, what the f**k are those things going to do? My money would be that whatever it is, it will hurt Subaru quite horribly.

This book potentially answered a question I had in my last post. The Witch Cult is after Emilia because they see her as an impostor of the Witch of Envy, or at least so the characters in-story are speculating.

Not sure how many people here are fans of Rising of the Shield Hero but after this I kind of want to see the White Whale and the Spirit Tortoise duke it out. That sounds awesome. Mountain Turtle vs. Witch Fish.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/gub735/novels_first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_7/

[cynthiaandsamus]

Custom Toonami Block Week 69 (Nice) Rundown

Code Geass: So this episode is kind of a ride, like fuck. We kinda yadda yadda how Lelouch fucking escaped from Nunally’s sinking airship and just have Rolo sitting over him in bed kind of conflicted that he’s still stuck on his old little sister, so therefore he programs the tvs in Lelouch’s train to blast Nunally’s appointment but it’s funny because he probably didn’t even have to do that because directly after that Lelouch runs into the station and Nunally shit is just everywhere, like I get it’s a metaphor but it’s just funny that Rolo had to plan for him to run into something Nunally-related only for him to run out of the plan and run into ten times more Nunally shit. Then we get Kaguya claiming herself, Kallen and CC as Zero’s harem directly followed by a depressed Lelouch hypnotizing a bunch of street punks to exercise, about to do drugs and asking to fuck Kallen, like this episode is fucking ridiculous and parts are hilariously contrived, thankfully Kallen slaps the shit out of him and Rolo’s like “yo bro we don’t need that bitch, come on and live it up in this ridiculously racist system and the one place where it’s slightly less racist with me” and then they go back to school and have the “Happiness is Like Glass” scene which is genuinely amazing and moving, like for all the weird zany stuff that happens in the first part of this episode, this is a little oasis of pure sincerity and quality where Lelouch makes a promise he knows he won’t be able to keep. Inspired by this amazing moment, Lelouch returns to the Black Knights with the thought of “Maybe there are other reasons to destroy an oppressive dictatorship aside from my one ridiculously crippled sister” which he probably should’ve thought of before. And then he defeats Suzaku’s navy with the power of FUCKING BUBBLES, like yeah, this episode is right back to being crazy ridiculous but Lelouch is back and wants in on Nunally’s special zones… okay, phrasing.

Inuyasha: So we open with a scene of Kagome playing cards with Miroku which is genuinely adorable if pointless, but it just makes me laugh that Miroku and Sango seem to know all the rules of the game but are still stumped when Kagome tells them they’re Playing Cards, probably a culture thing. Anyway, Inuyasha has to kill a Barrier Demon to get the power to break barriers, which is a bit of a conundrum because Barrier Demons have, you know, barriers, which Inuyasha currently cannot break. Worse still said demon is a little girl and a half-demon like Inuyasha which understandably puts him in quite a quandary. Inuyasha does his usual thing of “Let’s just go in swinging and figure out the rest later but Shiori’s grandfather deflects the admittedly cool-looking Water Wind Scar Inuyasha throws at them with Shiori’s barrier. Shiori’s mom is all “Gimme back my daughter you said you’d stop attacking us if I let you have her” and he’s all like “Well make me, I have a fucking barrier and can hold you hostage” so everyone’s generally pissed off about the situation and Shiori’s granddad with the long name sends all the bat demons to go destroy the village which makes no fucking sense because the only reason she’s still cooperating is so they won’t hurt her mom, without her she has no reason to keep doing it but I guess he’s hoping having nothing to live for will make her do what he says out of nihilism or some shit.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Yusuke gets to face off against Suzaku, the final boss of the Saint Beasts and the gang get to demonstrate the teamwork lessons from this arc by doing a reenactment of the jumping Bahamut scene from Advent Children so Yusuke can get up the tower to fight him. It’s really pretty cool how they splice in Keiko’s Day of the Dead montage with Yusuke fighting Suzaku, tying things together thematically and culiminating in Yusuke and Keiko both fucking decking their opponents. I also really like how Yusuke’s so confident Keiko won’t go down to a zombie hoard so easily, like she’s not a fighter but she’s smart and has got guts so he’s pretty sure she can last a while while he pretends to punch Suzaku with his shoes. Overall a really good start to the fight that means Yusuke still has to wiggle his way out after using his Spirit Gun already and Suzaku still has a lot of shit to pull.

Fate Zero: So Saber and Lancer do their fight and there’s a bunch of fightnobabble talk that someone who’s actually held a weapon in their life would probably enjoy but to me is just “Oooh cool jabbies, flashing lights” which is still fun. Basically everyone’s watching though, Kirei has his ninja squad on the job, Kiritsugu’s Black Ops is monitoring things and Iskander is watching from the Radical Highway Bridge from Sonic Adventure 2. Eventually Iskander is like “Well damn they might kill each other if this keeps up” and Waver’s like “yeah duh.” And Iskander shows who wears the booty shorts in this relationship by storming into the fight against Waver’s wishes cause he wants to fight everyone anyway. So yeah, giant lightning chariot in the middle of this First Boss battle.

Konosuba: Now that the party’s all formed the group settle into a daily routine of Kazuma being Megumin’s wheels for her Explosion training, Aqua being a waitress and Darkness doing… probably better not to think about what Darkness is doing. Anyway, Megumin bombs the shit out of a Dullahan’s castle and before the Dullahan can call his friend Celty to come kick her ass, Darkness gets hit with a death spell and he issues a challenge to Megumin to come to the tower of the Four Saint Beasts and (wait wrong anime again) but Aqua just breaks the curse on her own and they just don’t bother showing up. In the manga this is really funny because Aqua’s in a maid outfit from her waitress job and just does it like it’s nothing and then they show a panel later of the Dullahan waiting for them like “The fuck when are they getting here…”.

Sailor Moon Crystal: So for some reason even though we only have three of the five Sailor Guardians, Luna decides this is the time to give a recap and reintroduce our protagonists for the first part of this episode. Anyway there’s a big party to celebrate a dated princess Di reference that’s kind of in poor taste at this point and Usagi and friends get in based solely on having fancy dresses and being hot, man I had no idea getting in with rich people was that easy. Anyway, Usagi gets a new tiara because of love and shit and gets an upgraded Ancient Egyptian Laser Beam from the moon. The Four Kings show up to be all “Ha-ha! You defeated my demon but now there’s all four of us and even though we still think you have the crystal and outnumber you and there will never be a moment when you’re weaker than this we will now… LEAVE FOR NO REASON!” like the logic of people in this show oh my fucking god. But of course the dated princess reference’s treasure isn’t the crystal they’re looking for and Tuxedo Mask kisses Sailor Moon while she’s asleep which is definitely sexual assault there was no fucking consent there, I don’t care if they’re moon soul mates or whatever she barely knows who he is and wasn’t conscious. But yeah Luna calls him out on his shit and despite clearly being an ally he has to be all edgy and be like “Well maybe I’m a friend, maybe I’ an enemy, who knows~” because I think he gets his power from how mysterious he is, like he’s going to be utterly useless if anyone figures out who he is, not to mention Luna already knows his identity but for some reason doesn’t tell Usagi. Idk man I just have a hard time following the logic of this fucking show…

Durarara!!: So yeah, this is the “The Yagiri Family is fucked” episode Namie has a weird fucked up brocon yandere thing going on, Seiji’s an asshole that because of having two stalker yanderes going after him has become a fractured manchild that thinks love is everything and pretends he knows shit but knows less shit than pretty much everyone around him and has his sister do all the shit for him. But yeah, Celty sees Seiji with the girl with her head and freaks out, and Shinra A DOCTOR if you remember says “Hey maybe your head just attached itself to a corpse Parasyte style” like either he’s a terrible doctor and really thinks that or this is a smokescreen to make Celty think her head has moved on and she should too which is a fucked up level of gaslighting. But yeah, Mikado takes Head Girl, Seiji keeps stabbing people with pens for some reason, luckily it’s mostly Shizuo so it doesn’t do anything, and Izaya’s just like “oh shit, chaos, I’m down”. Basically everyone is awful in this episode except for Mikado who just wants to help and doesn’t know shit, Celty who’s doing her best, and Shizuo who’s just awesome as usual.

[lightcreators]

a slightly altered timeline    2) the timeline in which they never met who would become the most influential or important person in their life, or that person was taken from them before they were capable of forming memories.  @witchingrey​

Okay. First of all, I have no idea how to start that answer unless you are going to have a heavily meta about the 'what if Lelouch had never met C.C how canon would have going?'. As a Code Geass veteran for be here since the first time it aired, and since how much I am emotionally conflicted with canon (hi Euphemia's death, hi R2, hi Zero Requiem), I have lot of thoughts, so many to say about the absence of Lelouch/C.C bond would impact canon. 

Take a seat, prepare a number of handkerchiefs, we are going into a trip. 

* Main divergence: Lelouch never received the Geass. From this information, the canon has a possibility of being transformed into two routes which I will call route a) Lelouch doesn't become by definition Zero since no possibility allows him to become it and to realize his greatest dream, which completely depend on his relationship with the future Black Knights following episode 1 of R1; route b) Lelouch nevertheless becomes Zero, conscious of his humanity, that he has no backup solution, that each movement on his part can no longer be recovered and that each error will be fatal. Besides how Lelouch can switch to route a) or b) and having a chance on itself depending if he survive the end of ep 1 of R1. You know, do you remember that soldiers were on the way to kill him? I prefer put that detail without a specific reason since it's cement the canon. Meaning that Lelouch would face three choices: 1) to be killed, 2) to escape but be wounded, 3) escape unwounded. I find myself offering open the three possibilities and depending of Lelouch's state, he will get either a) or b). 

* Lelouch would devote himself completely to Nunnally until she is his only anchor. Into that timeline, if his sister disappear of his care or if his sister ended up died or without his saving hands --- Lelouch would never recover of it and it would be an complete emotional death. Nunnally would be the only person in the world to have a glimpse of his true nature, of the gentleness and the softness that man possess, inclined to do anything for protect her --- however regardless of a) or b) the heavier traumas weighing his shoulders, the exposition of his pain and doubts towards circumstances, the duty he feel and the unfair sentiment that following him, the hatred he have towards his world...wouldn't be known. Into route b) Nunally wouldn't still supposed to know that Lelouch is Zero --- and losing her over that fact would be insupportable *waves at the end of R1/some parts of R2* Meaning that Lelouch is condemned to losing his will of life into this timeline, to be removed of the reason of his actions/desire without any way to take it back, to live an emotional death that will lead him to sacrifice everything about his mental health/his sanity/his dreams/his future for her sake. Because, compared to canon, there would be no emotional support that would be able to understood how much Nunnally is his entire life and be able to put sense on him. Into this timeline, maybe Suzaku would handle that duty instead however it won't be enough. 

* Remember into canon that Lelouch is the expert of mask himself under various personality traits, lie as he breathes, and tend to say the exact opposite of what he really thinks just to continue a general 'perception' that he wants under control? Canon can hold it beer. Into route a) it will change to an coping mechanism virally that his existence will deteriorate in this feeling of observing without being able to do anything, of having no possibility of reacting and finding himself in a feeling of being a 'bird in a cage until he runs out of oxygen'. He is doomed to lose interest in the world around him which he wants to destroy, which he refuses, but since he is nobody, remained nobody, will have to undergo the cruelty of his father's actions, will have to manage complicated situations with his family ... that his perspective will be similar to that of the canon but in a very bad way: he will detach himself so much from reality that he will no longer have any interest for it. Meaning, he will treat people like pieces of chessboard and shut himself up without letting anyone close. Into route b) Lelouch will cling to his role of Zero as second nature that he not allowed himself unless expected by some people into some instances (Nunnally, Suzaku, Kallen at some point, Euphemia when his identity is discovered) to reveal pieces of his true personality. Knowing that he is stuck without the potential to have a backup power, he will want to use his intelligence in every corner of opportunity that he has, to influence the people around him to play in his favor, will want to control the world around him insidiously and gaining power that way --- by hanging on to it even more and wanting to increase it even more. Allowed to be seen as a horrible person, to be seen as a heartless murderer, to have no consideration for the feelings of the people around him, he will play on each of these layers by pretending indifference of all the pain he feels proportionally to what he does. In this route, his true nature and his true ambitions will remain well locked inside him and alone he will face the mixture of guilt / regret / doubt / distress towards these actions...and since he is fated to an emotional death with the events of the canon, nothing can stop him. 

* It's a point which I have the feeling of necessary to note: Lelouch will never know the feeling of love or in his case an inexplicable bond with another person whom he wishes to protect and feels free into the already presented love interests canon (Shirley into an complexed one-sided from her part and a deep affection of Lelouch that already not asking himself how he feel really towards her, one-sided love from Kallen) or those who can be perceived as such (* waves at Suzaku *). I want to say that canon-wise, it's already complicated for Lelouch to show more than platonic interest in someone and he certainly has his own way of showing more which comes in several interpretations (I could almost write his relation with C.C is a mixture of platonic, denied romantic , something much more mystical that I can made a novel on their relation and their dynamic depending of the eyes of the observer about the way to take it... but that's not the subject). Meaning? Meaning that regardless of a) or b) Shirley/Lelouch would end up with barriers on their ways from my others points exposed earlier. Kallen/Lelouch is a little doomed since the beginning but depending how far their relationship develop coming from Lelouch statut with the Black Knights, they come to have more development that the presented show. Suzaku is the special case of 'I love you but I want to kill you' from the wonderful inversed dynamic of Kamui/Fûma from X or the major theme about complicated love by CLAMP --- it's neither the point of this post but the dynamic of Lelouch/Suzaku though their mutual friendship/hatred is wonderful and would be deeper into that timeline that canon would expose. 

* The traumas triggering by Charles vi Britannia would have been higher that canon, to the horrible point that even sending Lelouch into some therapy wouldn't help him. In canon, Lelouch was able to facing the immortality of his father because he have the Geass and a way to fighting back, to didn't turn out his pawn without be powerless --- here, whatever it's a) or b) Lelouch would have been fated to dealing with the fact without way to removing him of the picture and be fully 'used' by his father as a pawn. Since Lelouch wouldn't be able to becoming Emperor, that removing the entire Zero Requiem stuff...and since he hadn't the Geass and would have conscious of it otherwise into the OG timeline with Mao as first perspective of it...the show would have ended either into a) or b) into Lelouch having his dad as enemy...with high probability he get doomed by the same man into higher traumas. It would be the most ironic thing in existence since his name is a catchphrase, but Lelouch would hate to be a 'vi Britannia', to be one of these guys who destroyed the world...and will not having an occasion to coming in terms with his identity. He would fall into the holding 'Lamperouge' as much he can, feeling safety into 'Zero'...but in the end, would be entirely broken down by the actions of his father. Since...Charles would manage to bring up the Ragnarok to the world...and V.V wouldn't be stopped. Though it's a timeline in which Euphemia death doesn't happen and route b) showing hope about that peace be able to be created ---- route b) would exposing harder the emotional conflict Lelouch have with his siblings. Also, Lelouch is fated of not knowing the truth about his mother. 

* miscellaneous on R1 if route b) : Clovis's arc taking longer to be finalised, Lelouch/Ohgi relationship taking more time so settle down since Lelouch can't afford to doing a mistake into his manipulation, showing arguments he is an leader and can be trusted without his Britannia origin showing up, major emotional conflict about Suzaku be the Lancelot all along, Lelouch risking to die in Narita, Lelouch constant fear to losing Suzaku and that One Scene when he have to find another way to making him live and he won't end up killed with him, Jeremiah's arc turn out even more complicated to win, Lelouch/Euphemia managed to doing that peace and saving a part of the Japanese with the immediate consequences on it, some breakdown of Lelouch when his sister is gone, Lelouch reveal be even more heartbreaking that the canon, Mao be the real exposure of the power of the Geass for Lelouch, Shirley remembering that Lelouch is Zero and be emotionally conflicted...

* miscellaneous on R2 if route b) : Lelouch not having his memories back until a long while or something triggering it, his inability to coping with the lose of Nunnally following it, an further complexed relationship with Rolo, an complexed relationship with Suzaku if as canon he became one of the Emperor's Knight, Diethard becoming an horrible problem for Lelouch, Black Knights betrayal destroying emotionally him for once and all, Schneizel turning into a long-term enemy for Zero, Charles vi Britannia be the last problem to stop...

Such a nice timeline...

[mononoke-no-ko]

[Trans] Writer Okouchi interview from Resurrection pamphlet

Taniguchi’s interview: https://mononoke-no-ko.tumblr.com/post/182977225429/trans-director-taniguchi-interview-from-movie

--How did you work over the plan for "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Resurrection"?

Okouchi: At first the idea was to make a movie with "Geass". The so-called reboot technique which starts over the story from the beginning so that even those who haven't seen "Geass" can understand it, another route that was supposed to pick up from "Stage 26*" onward, that was written when it was broadcasted at late night slot... etc. I tried to write a few things but in the end I thought of it in a simple way; "What people want to see, isn’t it the characters' life afterwards?", and so it became a sequel.  

* it’s this https://rainfall.dreamwidth.org/107694.html

--Then next, you thought about what kind of continuation you're going to write?

Okouchi: First of all, I didn't want to write about some war that is set in like, 100 years in the future, that has nothing to do with Lelouch and the others at all. To begin with, there was "Want to see the characters' life afterwards" at the root after all.

--The old characters unite and head towards the new enemy, a country named Zilkhstan. Regarding this country, how did you conceive it?

Okouchi: Because Britannia and Chinese Federations are nations that have lost once, they aren't intimidating anymore. Considering the length of one single movie, we can't afford to globe trotting. From there it's then decided to make a setting that there's this very strong country. But what is a "very strong country"? It's strange for a country to possess tremendous military power. A country that was ignored during the previous war, even. Moving from there, I came up with the idea to have Geass users as the country's head. There are two battle stages in the world of "Code Geass"; physical battle and geass battle. With this, then both characters from physical side like Suzaku and characters from geass side like C.C. can play active roles.

--Chamna and Chalio from Zilkhstan are siblings like Lelouch and Nunnally but the reverse.

Okouchi: At the time I wrote the last episode of TV series, Lelouch didn't manage to say his farewell properly to Nunnally. Nunnally also didn't manage tell Lelouch the things she wanted to tell him. They understood each other in the end, but by that time it was already too late. I thought if I got the chance to make a continuation, I wanted to settle those unsettled parts. Moving from there, to draw afresh Lelouch and Nunnally's relationship, I deliberately made the enemy the reminiscent of their past selves. Chamna loves her younger brother, but it's a wrong, one-way kind of love similar to Lelouch in the TV series. Disregarding Chalio, Chamna decides on her own what it is that he wishes. Chalio also being Chalio, "This must be what Nee-san thinks/wants. That's why I'll do my best" and strive for it on his own. Lelouch in the TV series was also like that. He says "for Nunnally", but Nunnally herself doesn't wish for it. I wanted to draw Lelouch and Nunnally using those two relationship as a mirror.

--Lelouch's driving force is always Nunnally.

Okouchi: After Lelouch was revived, where would his motivation lie? Should he fight for justice? I don’t think Lelouch is that kind of person. But, if it's for anyone who's important to him, he would go to save them right? Then, who would that be? The options that came to my mind were C.C., Nunnally, and Suzaku. Among those three, I thought it should be "go to save Nunnally" after all.

--Not the one who's made captive, Suzaku?

Okouchi: I didn't want Suzaku to become a heroine. I wanted the two to be equals, and when he learns that Lelouch is alive, I think, won't Suzaku be angry? To be Zero is, maybe, something that's supposed to be crazy hard once you try to do it. He has to wear mask all the time, and not just fighting, he would also get asked to do things he isn't good at. But, because he's Zero, he can't say he can't. Because it's a promise he made to the late Lelouch, he wouldn't throw that away, and continued to work hard at it, but if that Lelouch turned out to be alive, I think he would go "Did you trick me again?!". Even though he understands the situation, he would want to say "Then, you become Zero." These two won't be able to join forces unless this gets settled. I thought with a drama that resolves this matter, I could draw something that's just like these two, and it could also be the point of the movie.

--This work is an all-star movie through and through, but what did you pay attention to while moving the old characters?

Okouchi: I wanted to make an alliance among characters I couldn't form alliance with at the time of TV series. Like Kallen and Lloyd for example, they actually didn't have much scenes together in TV series. Others such as combination of Ougi and Cornelia, it's not anything strange for them to meet yet I never wrote a scene where they conversed with each other. "If these two people converse with each other, it's like this" "Aah, this person speaks with formal speech towards that person", I think it’s fresh and interesting. It's a part I had fun while writing and put a lot of thoughts into. "Back then they were friends/enemies, but now the position is also different huh" "they couldn't say it but they've always regretted it" "well both have been betrayed by Zero the same after all" and so on, I thought I could draw the various feelings and their one year that has passed.

--This also has been mentioned earlier, what was in your mind as you think about the way to portray Lelouch?

Okouchi: I wanted Lelouch to look undignified up until he gets resurrected. At first I wrote him to be more like a baby. With things like his meals and excrement scattered all over the place. But everyone ended up telling me "That's too much, he's supposed to be the protagonist", so I fixed it (laugh). As to why I wanted to do it, I didn't want to make him out to be someone who's living comfortably after all he's done. I wanted him to live miserable life, I wanted him to receive his punishment accordingly. Above all, I wanted Lelouch to be someone who was prepared to die at that time. If his resurrection is a scheme he included in his plan, then that resolve and smile, all will become a lie. I think that would be an act of betrayal not just towards Suzaku and the others who believed and cooperated with Lelouch, but also towards the fans, and I absolutely didn't want that.

--Such Lelouch, from Okouchi-san's perspective, what kind of person do you see him as?

Okouchi: As a friend he's annoying, but as someone you make anime with, Lelouch is wonderful.

­­--The standard is "someone to make anime with", I see (laugh).

Okouchi: I think it's good for anime directors to be annoying (wry smile). Taniguchi-san is exactly like that. Even if I tell him "Taniguchi-san, the flow will be good if you do it this way", he just replies "I don't like it" or "No, it goes against my aesthetics". Life can't be breathed into the work unless you reinforce your will even if you're disliked by your surrounding, a stubbornness that you yourself absolutely won't yield. For example if you make anime together with Schneizel, it may achieve commercial success, but as a work it will be buried with time.

--What if you apply that theory on "Code Geass" world?

Okouchi: Sounds like people who work with Schneizel will be happy. It seems you'll be able to get paid properly, and the workplace also looks "white". In comparison, working with Lelouch sounds tough. He says big things, but it's unclear whether it'll make money or not, and it looks "black" too... I think as a profession, it's not really something you can recommend. But the experience of having worked with him, regardless of whether it resulted in failure or success, will be the one page in your life you won't ask for exchange. What Lelouch tries to do in this movie too, the thing about thoughtlessly going to Zilkhstan with only 17 people, I think if it's Schneizel, he will probably prepare more people, or he will tell these 17 people "I've prepared this much money and military power. I’ll also prepare the after care. That's why, please do it." But Lelouch doesn't do any of that. He just goes "Sorry, just do it". Normally, you wouldn't do what he said, right. After all, you may get killed and there's no compensation either. Even so, 17 people will follow him, probably because Lelouch is charming, a moment of the life that he lived was something that is hard to get anywhere else.

--There's a considerable number of people who will follow him knowing they'll probably never come back, and they are Kallen, Suzaku and the others.

Okouchi: Up until now, Lelouch has killed people, he also lies to his allies. Honestly, he's not someone you can call a good person at all. He has no sincerity either. However, he's faithful to his own pride, and he has softer sides more than what he shows through his actions. I think because they see charm in such Lelouch, even though there are a lot of annoying sides to it, 17 people will still follow him.

--Do you think Lelouch is annoying too, Okouchi-san? (laugh)

Okouchi: Yes, very (laugh). I was always having thoughts like "Lelouch, if only you do this, you can go to the next scene without having to make preparations. Do you really hate lying to Nunnally that much?". Even if I asked Taniguchi-san, he would say of course Lelouch can't do this or that. With Lelouch and Taniguchi-san, it felt like there are two pundits. But it wasn't just limited to Lelouch. As we’ve made 50 episodes TV series, "how the characters should be" has been completed. They're supposed to be the characters that we made, but they're not just ours. They're the characters that are completed by the staff and the actors who breathe life into them, also the fans who have supported us. They already let go of our hands, and take a life of their own.

--Please tell us what you made as the point in this "Lelouch of the Resurrection" movie.

Okouchi: In addition to what I've mentioned earlier, I guess I wanted to make C.C. happy. For Lelouch's resurrection, the one who made the greatest effort, the one who was drenched in the mud the most, is C.C. after all. I didn't write every details on the script, but it's pretty tough to travel with baby-like Lelouch all the time. Of course the are things to be settled with Suzaku and Nunnally too, but I think the relationship that Lelouch left unresolved the most is his relationship with C.C. I'm not thinking to make everyone in the show happy. Some people aren't supposed to be happy, I also think there should be some unreasonableness in the world. It's just, "I want to make C.C. happy". I thought "Isn't it fine for her to get rewarded any time now" as I wrote that into the script.

--You have written "Lelouch of the Rebellion" for 10 years now. What are your thoughts at the beginning?

Okouchi: When I wrote "Lelouch of the Rebellion" for the first time, I was still young. The me from that time, standing next to Lelouch, getting angry together with the Elevens who're being stomped. I guess the me from that time had a strong inkling that I have to fight against "the upper folks" or "the powerful people". "If I don't make something that exceed my seniors' works, I won't be able to survive. I'll disappear". But 10 years have passed since then, now I can afford some allowances. If that time I was on high-school student level, now I guess it feels like I'm on 2nd or 3rd year in member-of-society level. I got to stand on my own feet economically and mentally, I learned to do my job well too. This movie is like an invitation to an alumni reunion which arrives at such time. This time, I met with Lelouch and the others on a script for the first time in awhile, and thought "So that's what you're doing now?" "You haven't changed at all, that's relieving". Then some of them take out photos from high school days, and everyone gets excited.

--It seems you want to look back on the TV series from the beginning again.

Okouchi: Now when I look back on the first episode of TV series, I think "Lelouch and the others are so young", the me who wrote it and Taniguchi­-san who wrote it together with me also feel young. Staff who spent our days together in the studio, including the voice actors, it was such a young job. Fortunately for "Code Geass", many of the voice actors and animators are still active in the industry. Hence we were able to make this movie with almost the same staff lineup. It's great. At that time, I strongly felt that it was a good thing to be able to work together with this group. When I go to the preview screening and meet with everyone, it really feels like an alumni reunion. It's fun to be able to get everyone together, it really makes me happy.  

[solaetis-moved-blog]

just some overall feelings about code geass season 1

anyone with a good set of morals should have a hard time rooting for lelouch by now. the extreme methods he executed at this point are no longer justifiable or something that can be excused regardless of his intentions. the end justifies the means attitude here is already off the grid and one good proof of that is the death of euphemia.

euphie deserved better honestly even if it wasn’t intentional on lelouch’s part, how he reacted after that says well of what he’s been intending to do this entire time and he himself reflects on this well when he looks at the destruction he had caused. he looks back on the time he obtained the geass, he thought, perhaps it was what he was aiming for all along.

this is where characters like suzaku are needed, but he himself had displayed inexcusable actions out of anger. one that’s justifiable, but in his rage he had killed people as well, no longer caring about anything but just blinded in madness because he believes in euphie even after the ‘massacre’ it’s really just something euphemia is not capable of doing of her own volition. this is clear when lelouch said to cc that she was trying so hard to not follow the effect of the geass and furthermore made clear with how she did not kill suzaku, who is a japanese

why did i say suzaku is important?

suzaku is a good example of a character who has done something awful and has been trying to atone for it his entire life. i have a soft spot for characters like him because it’s easy to sympathize with his struggles. i’m not saying his murder of his father is something that needs to be glorified, but the way he responded to this says a lot about him as a person. i’ve always noticed how there was a certain abnormality to him that was too familiar (shirou emiya). the type of person who tries to repay for his actions by carelessly putting others above himself, always shoving himself in situations wherein he could die. it’s almost an obsession on his part. he’s trying to give back to the world in the only way he knows he can.

this is also why we should never take away from people their right to atone. there’s a lot of fictional characters who’ve reached a state of insanity just because they were not punished for the things they believed are their crimes. a good example of this trope would be lancelot du lac. so how is that relevant to suzaku and why did i make that kind of statement?

lancelot was someone who protected the wife of his king. him as a trusted knight and guinevere as the queen merely bonded for their shared love and admiration for king arthur who always placed the kingdom above himself. king arthur offered his life to britain and all that britain is. lancelot also fell in love with guinevere and committed treason. arthur’s response to this is pretending not to know or simply accepting things as they are (depending on which legend you’re reading but the common theme is that, arthur dislikes confrontation and would rather let someone else do something about it)

adding to that, lancelot was also someone who betrayed guinevere, though unknowingly because he was manipulated and raped by elaine. guinevere viewed him as a traitor. imagine betraying both your queen and king, whom you loved and served with all of your heart. what made this worse is the fact that lancelot was never reprimanded or punished for the things he did, so ridden by guilt he either entered a monastery and died of old age and grief or reached a level of insanity that was impossible to recover from.

i think it was beautiful that suzaku piloted the knightmare frame lancelot because of what he is and what’s his role in this show. he’s that very talented pilot to the point of being a frustrating enemy to zero (remember lancelot was the strongest knight of the round table) whoso happens to be suicidal and trying his utmost to give back to everyone because of a past he could not run away from. he thinks himself better than zero in spite of him murdering his father for the greater good because he knows what it’s like to go down that path and he doesn’t want anyone else to become like him or endure that kind of burden. euphie was exactly the motivation he needed in order to continue being a pillar of greatness and believe in himself that he’s doing something good and valuable and inspiring people of japan, but then euphie is gone

i have so many other things i wanted to discuss but they’re not coming to me right now anyway it was weird as fuck when nunnally and euphie were talking about being lelouch’s bride as kids and zero shooting euphie and then declaring her to be his first love? gross

cc is still good and important

kallen? wife. strong. beautiful. will protect.

[q--uee--n]

Presenting Part 2 of my Post-Zero Requiem headcanons/notes! I’m so happy the others were well-received, and I hope these will be, too. Enjoy:) 

Nunnally 

• never for a second contemplates hating Suzaku for his role in her brother’s death. Though she was admittedly bitter, those feelings are later targeted toward Lelouch for leaving her behind in a “perfect world”. So long as he isn’t around, the world will never be perfect in her eyes. 

 • is one of the youngest ever rulers of Britannia. This, coinciding with the fact that she actively used  F.L.E.I.J.A. in the past, leads to questions about her competence and fidelity. However, she proves herself an effervescent, warm-hearted empress who is determined to make up for the many, many faults of her predecessors. She starts by improving Britannia’s egregious foreign policy and establishing a stable Parliament. It’s hard work, but that’s how she prefers it since it’s also her own way of repenting for her past sins.  

• never regains her ability to use her legs, and she hates being patronized due to her crippled state. War and politics have hardened her some, so she rarely hides her feelings to make people comfortable when she isn’t and doesn’t hesitate to tell others when they’re acting condescending. In the earlier stages of her reign, she frequently has to remind Suzaku that she isn’t a glass doll or a helpless little girl.   

• her official residence is in Japan. She remained there during Pendragon’s reconstruction, and though she knows she’ll more than likely have to move back to Britannia someday, she can’t help but consider Japan her true home. It was where she and her brother lived and made their first friends, and despite the circumstances, some of her happiest childhood memories are there. 

 • becomes close friends with Kaguya due to their being so young and so involved in the affairs of the world. They meet for lunch whenever they can find the time and host pajama parties where they gossip about their older contemporaries and how nonsensical they behave. The Tianzi joins them once she gets a little older, and she has dirt on everyone. Seriously, the girl has ears everywhere. Do. Not. Mess. With. Her. She will destroy you with what she knows alone.  

• bequeaths hefty amounts of money to humanitarian organizations each month, despite being advised to donate less, and was key in helping Kallen and her mother's charity get off the ground. 

 • develops a guilt complex. It's why she overcompensates to the point that she does, even though she's accepted that no matter how hard she works, nothing she'll do will make up for the lives she's ruined. 

 • goes to therapy sooner or later to sort out her issues, but it's at Kaguya's behest because "my cousin doesn't even vilify himself the way you vilify yourself—and pardon me because he absolutely does. But my point still stands." She's reluctant to share her feelings at first, but once she does, she doesn't stop. She reaches a point where she stops blaming everything wrong with the world on herself, which is a huge step-up from where she started. 

 • takes an interest in fashion. It starts off as a means of distraction from her less pleasant thoughts, but she quickly embraces it. She vigorously designs and sews in her free time, and it isn't unusual for servants to find sketches of gorgeous ensembles in the most random places in the palace. She's also quite efficient at styling, Suzaku being her favorite model due to her finding his fit physique the most fun to work with. 

 • visits her brother's grave once a year, on his birthday. Suzaku and Arthur are her lone companions. It starts off as a morbid affair, but as Zero Requiem grows into the distance, it gets significantly more lighthearted as she allows herself to let go. Her favorite thing to do is "show" Lelouch her designs, as well as update him on the progress the world has made in wake of his sacrifice. 

• never quite accepts Lelouch's death as much as she just moves on because she knows he wouldn't want her to spend the rest of her life mourning him. Still, anniversaries of his death are hard for her to get through since she has to pretend she hates him as much as the rest of the world does. Kaguya's kind enough to let her cry into her lap when it all gets to be too overwhelming. 

 • the first person she falls in love with is a commoner and is unattainable for multifarious reasons. The second person she falls for is more accessible but oh-so oblivious.  

 • her moniker is the "Champion of Peace". 

Kaguya 

• mellows out considerably and loses a lot of her fangirl tendencies. Her straightforward attitude, though, is still intact, and you either like her or you don't—at least that's the case for her fellow politicians. Her charisma and natural appeal guarantee that's she's well-received by the public. 

• figured out Lelouch's motives the second he was killed and is irritated that the world hasn't and likely never will. As a result, she holds the few memories she has of him as a child close to her heart. 

• difficult to work with, but that's only because her adult peers should know better than to underestimate a teenager who runs three-fifths of the planet, and Kaguya never backs down when challenged. The most irking thing is said to be that she does it all with a smile.

• though she's grateful she and Suzaku are on speaking terms again, she is every so often overwhelmed by his affection and attention. She wonders if that was how Zero felt in regards to her. 

• finds every opportunity she can to make Nunnally smile. She can sense the sadness permeating her being and thus makes it her life's goal (one of them, anyway. Never let it be said that the girl isn't ambitious) to maintain her friend's happiness. 

• is a contributing (anonymous) writer for Zero Weekly, because duh. Her articles are popular due to their being quality garbage, and she once wrote a think piece alleging that Zero was the second coming of Christ that generated so much controversy, it was denounced by multiple religious sects. The situation got so out of hand, Nunnally herself had to come out and declare that there were more important matters to discuss than whether or not Zero should be worshipped as a deity. Kaguya regrets nothing. 

• is eventually introduced to Milly, and they hit it off immediately, something made possible due to their peculiar senses of humor and mutual love of gossip investigative journalism. Kallen tries in vain to keep them apart, but they prove too incorrigible to manage. 

• forms an unexpectedly close bond with C.C. Often times she doesn't even understand it, but there's plenty of wisdom to go around, which is why they work so well. She discovers C.C.'s name by accident but doesn't disclose it out of respect, no matter what Kallen does to try to get her talk. 

• remains petite even into her adulthood. Unlike Nunnally, who doesn't grow much in terms of height but does fill out some, she is forever tiny and diminutive. She isn't overly happy about it. 

• fully anticipates Suzaku's reaction the first time she tells him, " I love you". Hence why she ensures they're in private when she says it. 

Milly 

• quits anchoring and becomes a full-fledged journalist. She loves the thrill of research and investigation, especially when it comes to digging up information that shouldn't be accessible under any circumstance. 

• discovers Zero's identity after launching a months-long investigation into Zero in general and the events leading up to Zero Requiem. She's not surprised so much as she is relieved, because she could never quite bring herself to hate Suzaku or Lelouch as she should have, and once she learns the full truth, most of it, that is, she's ecstatic. Confused ("I get making up for his sins and all, but couldn't he have become the Emperor of Justice or something elegant like that instead of, say, using a contrived dictatorship as a means to force the world to unite? I mean, there were other ways to accomplish that") but ecstatic nonetheless. 

• chooses to make Japan her permanent home, defying the wishes of her parents, who wanted her to move back to the homeland with them. She learns fluent Japanese and extensively covers the decolonization of Japan and other states formerly under Britannian occupation. 

• is the proud(ly anonymous) founder of the infamously hedonistic Zero Weekly. It starts as a jocular thing she uses to entertain herself, but when the subscribers come pouring in...Well, she still uses it to entertain herself, but it's a very beneficial source of entertainment. 

• one of, if not the most controversial name in journalism. Her work has sparked outrage from just about everyone, and her most debated project was one that revealed a good chunk of the stories circulated to emphasize Lelouch's wickedness to be false. However, the one thing that people can agree on is that she never excuses his wrongs so much as she puts them into perspective.  

• after revitalizing their friendship, if you can call it that, her favorite pastime is teasing Suzaku. It astonishes her that despite everything that's happened, he can still be so easily flustered if she pushes the right buttons (such as when she brings up Kallen being his supposed "paramour"). Seeing glimpses of the Suzaku she knew reminds her of the short but pleasant time they spent together at Ashford Academy. 

• met C.C., once upon a time. They sat beside each other on a crowded bus, and Milly couldn't shake the familiarity radiating off of the other woman in waves. The incident bothers, even after she's officially introduced to C.C. through Suzaku, because she knows this girl. She just doesn't know how or where from. 

• begins a matchmaking business as a side job—aka what she does whenever she's suspended from the real thing, which is often (some people have no sense of humor). She initially does it because she's bored and nosy and needs an outlet, but she quickly discovers she likes meddling in others' love lives. Unfortunately, no one else seems to be as appreciative of her newfound hobby, but hey, at least Rakshata and Cecile seem happy. 

[zephyrthejester]

Code Geass Deadblog: Episodes 42-44

So what happened in episodes 42-44?

Episodes 42-44 of Code Geass were the very definition of "shit hitting the fan." Everything escalated to unheard of levels, then promptly went *as badly as possible for everyone.* Dear lord, I was on the edge of my seat for all of it! From my outsider's perspective, I wouldn't be surprised if this group of episodes are the most infamous in the fandom.

To start, Lelouch and Suzaku met at the old Kururugi shrine, and after much anger and rage thrown at the former, Suzaku eventually agreed to protect Nunnaly... But only if Lelouch made his lies into a reality and become an actual knight of justice that would do the right thing. How he found it in himself to tolerate Lelouch in any capacity, I'll never know. Unfortunately, Kannon and an elite squad swooped in and captured Lelouch! Schneizel had been keeping tabs on Suzaku and figured that due to his odd relationship with Zero, following him when he went off alone might lead him to the terrorist.

Lelouch managed to escape due to a clever, previous planting of Geass on Guilford, but the damage was done. Schneizel learned Zero's identity, AND secured undeniable recordings of Zero's own voice admitting that he was the mastermind behind Euphemia's genocide and the possessor of a power called Geass. To make matters worse, Lelouch mistakenly thought the trap was Suzaku's doing, and thus closed his heart and turned his back upon him.

Immediately afterward, the second battle for Tokyo began. The surprise train EMPs shut down all technology and all KnightMares of gen 5 and older, which gave the Black Knights an incredible advantage, but even still the presence of Suzaku, Bismarck, Gino, and Luciano meant it was an uphill battle. And might I add, I found Luciano's KnightMare to be super cool. Its trademark weapon was a set of wrist-mounted claws that could extend out and rotate rapidly around the arm to form a lance! Shame the pilot was such a butt.

The power swiftly returned to the city and the tables turned against the Black Knights, who found themselves fighting an uphill battle. The cherry on top was the incoming news that the Emperor's flagship was en route to Japan... Though Lelouch and Schneizel both cooly rationalized that the Emperor had no business with such boring nothingness as this battle.

Then, briefly, everything was pretty great. Sayoko busted Kallen out of her prison and brought her to the Guren, now upgraded into the Guren SEITAN. It immediately displayed absurd speed and power, killing Luciano, the Knight of Ten, with ease. Then it turned upon the Lancelot... Suzaku. And that's where everything fell apart.

The Lancelot was equipped with Nina's deadly FLEIJA weapon, which held untold potential for destruction. Suzaku soon realized that the Guren was a foe he could not defeat, and the only way to survive was to use the FLEIJA. However, he didn't want to sacrifice the entire city, and resigned to his fate... Oh, yeah, whoops, turns out Lelouch told him to live a while ago. Against his will, Suzaku fired the FLEIJA.

Over 25 million people died. Among them... Guilford (aww maaaan), Lohmeyer (yesss), Asahina (meh), and... Nunnaly.

Oh, shit.

Lelouch broke, and the world fell apart around him. He screamed manic orders to drop everything and search for Nunnaly until Rolo and Orange escorted him back to his quarters, where it wasn't long before he lost it at Rolo and told him exactly what he thought of him and how he was planning to kill him. Rolo, understandably, was hurt. And might I just add, that infernal locket fell to the floor during this and was opened! Face down, dammit.

Meanwhile, a temporary truce was called between Britannia and the Black Knights. Schneizel landed upon the BK's airship and asked for a big council talk. And so it was that Schneizel, Cornelia, Kannon, Tamaki, Tohdoh, Chiba, Diethard, Ohgi, and Villetta all came together... And then Schneizel laid bare the irrefutable truth. Zero was a Britannian Prince, wielder of a Geass power, and had used it on nearly everyone in the room with the sole purpose of obtaining his own goals. Understandably, the Black Knights lost their shit. Because that's what every character did in this series of episodes.

Ohgi proposed a deal, to which Schneizel agreed: Hand over Zero, and Japan will return to its people. Kallen, kept in the dark, was sent to collect Lelouch from his room. She lead him, unwittingly, right into a firing squad, composed of all the big name Black Knights. Kallen moved herself in front of Zero, but Lelouch realized that his time was up. In order to save Kallen, he threw himself under the bus and loudly declared that the worst interpretation of his actions were true, causing Kallen to walk away from him and leave him to be shot. Though, Lelouch did whisper to her that she needed to live, giving her a brief glimpse at his true intentions in those final moments.

Just at the right time, Rolo leapt down in the Shinkiro to block Lelouch from the gunfire. Quite against Lulu’s will, Rolo saved Lelouch's life and flew off and away with him. Rolo... didn't believe what Lelouch said, about hating him, and wanting him to die. After all, Lelouch is a liar, right? He lies to everyone. So clearly he was lying just then, too. Despite Lelouch's screaming protests, Rolo killed himself to see his dear big bro to safety; using his Geass well over a dozen times to secret Lelouch away, far from anyone that could see where he landed.

And that's where I am now: Lelouch with no allies at all, no reasons to live, and only one goal: To go to hell, and drag the Emperor down with him. Hot damn, dude. The Emperor, by the way, is keen on activation a Ragnarok whatchamacall it, which will create a new world. Something tells me he's being literal. Oh yeah, and Suzaku's been standing in the Tokyo crater for a full day and suddenly started cackling madly at the sky, so I'm sure he'll turn out fine! Haha! Ha!

Seriously. Dude. These episodes were ridiculous. So many people dead. Nunnaly, dead. Every single bridge Lelouch has ever had just burnt to ashes. And I know I've said this before, but... I'm really starting to see why people were surprised at the existence of Season 3... 'Cause holy shit, dude. There's no coming back from any of this.

By the way, Lelouch put that heart locket on a small gravesite he left for Rolo, and I'm pretty fucking sure we'll never see what's inside it. GAH. WHY. HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO ME. THAT'S THE WORST PART OF ALL OF THIS.

Other notes:

Tamaki was MVP. His boisterous love for Zero was hilarious... Until the proof of treason was thrown in his face. Poor guy.

I'm pretty damned sure this show swept the Ohgi/Villetta/Sayoko situation under the rug. Seriously, what the fuck happened after Ohgi and Villetta fell off that cliff? SUDDENLY THEY'RE JUST FINE, APPARENTLY. Also there was a bit where Diethard was blackmailing Ohgi by keeping Villetta prisoner, but that went absolutely nowhere and she escaped on her own and Diethard didn’t even say anything when Ohgi and Villetta showed up for that council. This plotline sucks, big time.

Nina got real emotional when she witnessed the sheer death and destruction caused by her weapon. Good. There are human lives in those projected statistics you worked out, lady!

Xing-ke and Kaguya’s reaction to Zero’s identity is unknown for the moment. Really curious to see how they’ll take it.

I think that’s it. Now to go watch episodes 45-49... Expect another post like this later today!

[eachainn]

Opportunities

The headquarters was in a rush, the noise constant. It came with the preparations to save Suzaku, but C.C. found it annoying. She couldn’t remember a day that she didn’t have a headache because of the constant noise. She’d had to search all day to find a quiet place. Even then, it was with the sound muffled in the distance. She hadn’t even gotten to see Lelouch for days, although that was probably just as much his doing as the flurry of preparations. The last time she had talked to him had been in the aftermath. And then, he had been always in motion.

It reminded her of herself in the days that had followed the assassination attempt. If she was busy, she wouldn’t be able to think about what she had almost lost. That was certainly better than just doing nothing like Charles did. Watching the emperor, anyone could believe that he didn’t care, which was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place.

C.C. shook her head, glancing at the door between her and the Black Knights that were running around.

The irony couldn’t be greater. The emperor himself had a twin brother, one who had died horribly in the fight for the throne. C.C. had been there when Charles was still young and open to talking. She had heard everything about Charles’ brother, all the wishes that Charles had had for him, all gone because a carriage had been tampered with. After all of that, C.C. was sure that Charles would try to prevent that from happening again. But he was old and stupid now, too caught up in the past to see the future.

She slumped back against the wall with a sigh. There was another burst of noise, this one louder. It made C.C. want to laugh. For all of the success and order on the battlefield it was chaos in the headquarters.

She stretched her arms above her head, pausing as the noise grew to the dull background roar she was getting used to. She frowned and dropped her arms to her sides.

There was a reason that she had retreated to the furthest point she could find. If anyone found her, they would think that she was betraying them.

C.C. reached into her pocket, running her fingers along the phone there. Lelouch had allowed her to keep it as a show of trust, or because he didn’t know. She bit her lip, glancing at the door. It was a show of too much trust if she was honest with herself. After everything Lelouch needed a little more skepticism.

She pulled the phone out, running her fingers over the screen before shaking her head. She scrolled through her contacts list, staring at the name there before calling. C.C. took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she tucked the phone against her ear.

A mother couldn’t play favorites, but she had never claimed to be anything like a mother to the children. C.C. actually wasn’t sure how the children saw her. But she knew which side she was on, she knew the line she had drawn the day things had fallen into place. The problem was, she didn’t know which side Marianne fell on and she knew how this would end. Lelouch and Julius were both her children, and something like this might be enough to finally break her.

C.C. closed her fingers tightly around the phone, taking deep breaths. The dial tone continued, almost lost in the scurry of the Black Knights. It was almost enough to make her miss the soft sound of Marianne picking up the phone.

She tipped her head to the side, frowning at the soft hello. “Marianne?”

“C.C.” Her name was said like a prayer, C.C. tensing. She shot a glance at the door before focusing her attention on the call.

“I’m here.”

“I’m glad.” There was a groan, C.C. assuming that Marianne had sat down. “I hadn’t heard from you since before Clovis. I thought you had gotten caught up in that.”

“I’m well away from that.”

“Good. Good.” Marianne sounded distracted, C.C. waiting a while for Marianne to respond again. “We just send off his escort. It was a big show. They should be getting there soon.”

“I’m sure they will.”

“They’ll run into trouble with the Black Knights, I’m sure of it.”

C.C. hummed. She doubted that the Black Knights would mess with any funeral proceedings. Their hatred and general dislike of Clovis aside, it was a funeral. They wouldn’t interrupt that. It was a matter beyond Japan and their fight for it.

Marianne was silent for a time before she sighed again, long and hard. At the end of it C.C. was sure that she heard Marianne’s breath hitch, but she was quick to cover it. “How is Julius? I’m told they made him viceroy.”

“They did.”

“Then Charles will confirm it and he will be in danger.”

“Yes. But not from what you are thinking about.”

That got something that might have been a laugh. “A typical answer from you.”

“What else did you expect?”

“More protests, to be honest. Out of everyone, I didn’t expect you to change from all of this. And I’m glad.” There was a grunt from the other end of the line. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Just fine.”

“Maybe at one point but now…”

C.C. closed her eyes at the defeat in Marianne’s voice. That was nothing like her friend. This was the Marianne that had come out of being made a consort over being the knight that she enjoyed. This was the Marianne who had lived for years abandoned by the man that she had loved and uprooted her life for. This was a Marianne who had lived through the worst and was still trudging on.

C.C. frowned, staring at the door before shaking her head. She couldn’t do much about the past, she didn’t have that power, but she did know the one thing that might help.

“I found Lelouch.”

Marianne gasped. “Y-you did? Last time you said you were close.”

C.C. nodded, carefully planning what she was going to say. “I found him before all of this started. I’ll bring him back, when it’s safe.”

“And when do you think that would be?”

There was longing in Marianne’s voice, a sure sign that she had been gone too long. The two of them had figured out what worked the best between the two of them and it was strange to be without that. It made her miss it badly. But, at the same time, she was happy with Lelouch. It reminded her of how it had been with Marianne at the start, when Marianne had felt more…alive.

C.C. sighed and tucked the phone against her shoulder. “I can’t tell. It depends on how long this rebellion lasts.”

“A rebellion?!”

C.C. cursed under her breath. The word had slipped out. Then again, it would be easy enough to cover it up. She was in the center of things, so it would be easy to wave it away.

She drummed her fingers against her arm before shaking her head. “That’s the rumor that’s been going around. The people here don’t like Julius’ plans.”

“They shouldn’t have killed Clovis then.”

C.C. frowned. “Marianne…”

“I won’t apologize for it. They killed my son.”

C.C. closed her eyes. It was tempting to tell her the truth, but Marianne wouldn’t believe her. That made her curl her fingers into the side of the phone. Even after everything they had been through, Marianne wouldn’t believe her about this one thing. There was a part of her that wanted to blame Charles, but there was too much that she had attributed to that man. It was better to lay some of the blame on Julius for doing all of this because of a game.

She tipped her head back against the wall, listening to the bustle of the Black Knights. Before she wanted to get away, but now she wanted to get back to it. It reminded her of old times, time before everything had changed. Only a fool would try to go back like that, but C.C. had never been accused of being smart.

“Marianne, I have to go now.”

“Yes, of course. Make the arrangements and call me before coming back.”

C.C. nodded, not caring that Marianne couldn’t see her. She hung up the phone, tucking it away again. C.C. sighed, staring at the ceiling for a moment before shaking her head. The ruckus outside hadn’t calmed down and she couldn’t ignore it any longer.

It would hurt Marianne to do this, but she couldn’t see any other way of coming out of this. C.C. rolled her shoulders as she stood up. She gave herself a few moments before walking to the door and back to the frantic preparations.

---

Kallen straightened up and stretched, not taking her eyes from the screens in front of her. They were all on standby, waiting for the moment when the procession started.

The corner of her mouth twitched up in a smile, Kallen looking at the dots arrayed on the map. It was just like the Britannians to make a big show of hauling Clovis’ killer to his place of execution. It had been easy to pick the route out from all the documents that Lelouch had access to. It was a long and winding one, their new viceroy wanting to show off what he had done. The Britannians would eat it up, and it would be their undoing.

The guards were only on the route itself, which stuck to the Britannian settlement. It was a show of Britannian power and nothing more. And Lelouch was ready for all of it.

Kallen flicked her gaze to the side at a blinking light. It lasted only a moment before the radio clicked on, Kallen glancing at the new dots that appeared on the map.

“T Group in position.”

There wasn’t a response, not that they needed any. That was the last group in position, the last one to move in before the procession started in a few minutes. It would take ten more minutes for the procession to get to where they were, but Kallen was more than ready. It was about time they showed the new viceroy who was really in charge here.

She groaned as her back popped, Kallen reaching back and rubbing it. She twisted around to look at the rest of her group, mentally counting them out. It shouldn’t have mattered, they were just waiting in position. Still, she wanted to reassure herself that they were there. Most of all, she wanted to reassure herself that they hadn’t lost Lelouch.

She turned the other way to look at his battered Knightmare. Kallen gave it a quick once over. It didn’t need one, Kallen was sure that every one of their engineers had looked the Knightmare over in the past few days. It had to be working properly, because they were entrusting their leader to it.

In all technicality, the Black Knights were led by council, the leaders of the resistance groups that had been folded into it making the decisions. Kallen had seen how much that annoyed Lelouch, but he couldn’t complain, not when things had worked out in his favor anyway. As chief strategist Lelouch led them all, simply because no one could keep up with him. Besides, he had been with the Black Knights far longer. Following his lead was habit by now for them, just like checking Lelouch’s Knightmare was habit for her.

He was utterly useless in a Knightmare. As a means of transport he was alright, but Lelouch had no head for combat, at least individually. Kallen would have been alright with that as long as he didn’t insist that he came along to watch the battlefield.

It was enough to make her want to break his leg all over again.

She huffed and sat back down, leaning down to find her pillow. She had stored it in the Guren after one too many operations spent trying to get comfortable while sitting in a seat that actually wasn’t made for sitting. The pillow helped, if only a little bit.

Kallen grumbled to herself as she shoved the pillow into place. It wasn’t perfect, but it would keep her back from seizing up as she waited for the right moment. If Rakshata wasn’t so attached to the way the Knightmare was now, Kallen would have talked her down into a normal seat ages ago. Still, there might not be any point to it now. She had gotten used to the way that she had to pilot the Guren and now was not the time to be adapting.

She rolled her shoulders and slumped further back into her pillow. The pillow would have to do for now. Kallen punched it into a better place before settling back. Her gaze moved to the screen, Kallen watching the dots in their steady position. She couldn’t see the Britannian markers, but they could a while yet, which left far too much time to think.

The corner of her mouth twitched up, Kallen considering the suggestion before pushing it away. This wasn’t about her feelings about Kururugi Suzaku. She hadn’t liked him, because he had given up his country for a chance to rise through the Britannian ranks. Even then, the Britannians hadn’t let him forget that he was just a Number, so the sacrifice was meaningless. On the other hand, Kallen had seen how some of the Japanese had reacted to him. To them, he was a promise of everything beyond the casual cruelty of the Britannians. She didn’t believe that they would be able to work through the system like Kururugi Suzaku did, but she was not about to strip away any of the hope that they clung to.

Besides, she didn’t believe that Kururugi Suzaku had pulled the trigger. It was all too neat, too clean.

A Number who hated a Britannian prince, one who was smart enough to work his way into the system. If not that, then it was all the neat connections to the Black Knights.

They had laughed about that before, going through all of their records to find out if Kururugi Suzaku had been working for them all this time. Kallen could only imagine all the information he could have given them. Then again, he wouldn’t have been able to top everything that they had gotten through Lelouch.

She drummed her fingers against her leg, her gaze drifting back to Lelouch’s Knightmare. Usually he would be checking in more, asking for more information to adjust his plans. But he was silent.

Kallen glanced over at the radio, tempted to press the button and speak with him, but she didn’t think Lelouch would appreciate. Something about this had him wound up. It was either the death of his half-brother or something about Kururugi Suzaku, she didn’t know which. She was almost afraid to ask. There were too many of Lelouch’s silences, the ones that filled her with dread. It was easier not to know, because then he could just be the Lelouch that she imagined. It was easier that way.

She rested her hands back in her lap, dragging her attention back to the mission. It was better than worrying over something that she couldn’t change. Besides, any worry could be channeled as soon as the Britannian procession came by.

Kallen smiled and settled back against her pillow, waiting for Lelouch’s signal.

[madara-fate]

What is your favorite moments in Code Geass and Code Geass R2?

Oh geez, it’s gonna be really hard to keep this to just a few moments because there are so many that were really memorable and powerful, but I’ll try my hardest to keep this as short as possible, lol…

(After having written it, I realise that this wasn’t short in any way, shape or form, but I tried Anon, I really did! ^_^)

Episode 19

Lelouch reveals himself to Euphemia:

It came as such a surprise. Euphemia could just tell that it was Lelouch under the mask, and asked if she could at least see his face. And after a small moment of contemplation, Lelouch obliged, and they were subsequently able to share some precious time together as half siblings, just as they used to, despite the fact that they were on opposing sides of a large scale conflict.

Episode 20

Euphemia and Suzaku let it all out:

Just when it seemed as though all hope was lost for Suzaku, Euphemia contacts him, encourages him not to give up, confesses her feelings to him, and would subsequently serve as a prime motivation for him to stay alive.

Episode 23

Lelouch shoots Euphemia:

After Lelouch had unwittingly lost control of his Geass and accidentally ordered Euphemia to murder every Japanese person in sight, he had no choice but to stop her slaughter by killing her himself. And Euphemia was no doubt deeply confused and hurt by his actions, because as far as she knew in her Geass influenced state, she was only following what he had told her to do. It was a difficult scene to witness.

And in the aftermath, Lelouch would have no choice but to use Euphemia’s situation to his advantage by advertising her as a cold blooded killer to the Japanese people, and tainting her reputation while she was laying on her deathbed beside Suzaku, completely ignorant to what she had just done:

And Suzaku, being unable to tell her the truth, lied to her and told her that she had done brilliantly, just so that she’d be able to die peacefully in the belief that she had succeeded in making Japan a better place.

Lelouch demonstrating once again that he’d be fully willing to become the devil himself if it meant achieving his goals:

This was one of the underlying themes throughout the series - this idea that Lelouch would stop at nothing in order to succeed, and eventually, not even Nunnally would be excluded from this. His mental fortitude and how unafraid he was to stain his hands with blood was highly commendable:

Episode 25

The truth is revealed to Suzaki and Kallen:

Ever since Lelouch first donned the mask of Zero, this moment had been foreshadowed, and to see it finally happen was very tense.

It would lead to a very heavy argument between the two of them - about the hypocrisy that they were both guilty of, the lies and deception of Lelouch, how Suzaku still feels guilt regarding the ghosts of his past, and their conflicting ideals about what was best for Nunnally, all while Kallen was observing in stunned silence. And after their emotions had reached boiling point, they each drew their gun at each other simultaneously:

A gunshot was heard, the screen faded to black, and the last thing we saw was Nunnally’s distressed face:

And so ended the first season on one bitch of a cliffhanger.Seriously, and people thought that Attack on Titan’s cliffhangers were bad…

R2 Episode 13

Shirley’s confession and death:

After Euphemia, this was the 2nd major death, and it felt like such a shame and was so unfortunate because just like with the former’s death, this one was absolutely needless, and could have very easily been avoided. It wasn’t needless in a storytelling sense, but it’s just that the circumstances surrounding both Euphemia’s and Shirley’s death were both severely unfortunate.

Seeing Shirley laying in a pool of her own blood telling Lelouch how despite everything that had happened between them thus far, she’d always love him, while the latter was desperately trying to keep her alive through Geass commands, was a very powerful scene:

But unfortunately, Lelouch’s efforts were to no avail.

R2 Episode 19

A pivotal moment for Kallen and Lelouch’s relationship:

After Zero’s misdeeds were discovered by The Black Knights, his own army, they rebelled against him. Only Kallen was left by his side, once again demonstrating her characteristic unwavering loyalty towards Lelouch that she had displayed many times prior. But Lelouch, thinking that it’d be better for Kallen in the long run to disassociate herself from him, went with the accusations and made it seem as though he had used them all, much to Kallen’s heartbreak.

However, as she was walking away, Lelouch said to himself that she had to live on, while unaware that Kallen was still very much within earshot:

This would come into play later on.

Rolo’s death:

I really need to give this scene plaudits, because it was able to evoke feelings of sympathy for Rolo, even after he had very needlessly killed Shirley. Rolo was sacrificing his life for Lelouch, pushing his body to its limits by using his Geass over and over again in quick succession so that he could get Lelouch away from the Black Knights, and he did so even while privy to the fact that Lelouch was using him, and felt as though he couldn’t hold a candle to Nunnally - he was sacrificing his life for Lelouch regardless. Because despite Lelouch’s earlier harsh words, the memories they shared together were still very precious to him.

It was nice to see Rolo, who had essentially been the government’s dog for his entire life, choose his own fate and do something so meaningful of his own will.

R2 Episode 21

Lelouch usurps the throne and uses Geass to forcefully announce himself as Emperor:

This moment has to be included, solely for the shock value. It was just one of those scenes where you think to yourself “wow, he’s actually doing this…”

And with Suzaku of all people as his knight. They had essentially been at each other’s throats for the majority of the series, and now they were working seamlessly as one. At this point, you just knew that something had gone on off screen between those two, and indeed, words were said. 

R2 Episode 22

Kallen asks for some answers:

After Kallen was assigned to be Lelouch’s escort when he is scheduled to tour the area as the new Emperor, Kallen leads him the long way around in order to try and get some answers to a few questions that had been deeply bothering her, such as why Lelouch said that she had to live during R2 episode 19, despite the fact that he had seemingly admitted to using them all as pawns.

However, when she gets nothing but silence, Kallen acts on her feelings instead:

She had hoped that if her words wouldn’t trigger a response from him, maybe her actions would. But Lelouch maintained his silence, which prompted a disappointed Kallen to end their tour and return to business.

R2 Episode 24

Nunnally breaks through their father’s Geass, and opens her eyes for the first time in years, much to Lelouch’s shock:

For someone to show even the slightest bit of resistance to the power of Geass is an amazing feat, which was why the internal conflict seen within Euphemia after Lelouch accidentally ordered her to kill all of the Japanese people was such a huge occurrence. But if that was huge, then this was absolutely colossal.

Nunnally didn’t simply resist the Geass - by opening her eyes, she actually broke the Geass placed on her by Charles, all through the sheer power of her will alone. She then proceeded to ask Lelouch whether or not he’d opt to use his Geass on her as well, now that her eyes were open. Her armour piercing question truly put Lelouch between a rock and a hard place.

R2 Episode 25

The conclusion of Kallen and Suzaku’s final showdown:

These two were having an ongoing battle for the majority of the series as they both had the two most advanced mechs in the series - The Lancelot for Suzaku, and The Guren for Kallen, and this was their final confrontation. During the bout, they would let all of their built up frustrations just flow out in a flurry of emotions - the hypocritical nature of the conflicting ideals which they both upheld, the corrupt system of government which they lived in, the pros and cons of the revolution etc. It was fascinating to see them wage a war of words that went perfectly alongside their war of mechs.

At it’s conclusion, the only thing that separated the two of them were the Guren’s higher specs, and while Suzaku did manage to permanently disable the Guren, Kallen succeeded in destroying the Lancelot; finally bringing their ongoing battle to an end, and seemingly killing Suzaku in the process.

Lelouch becomes the devil himself, and uses Geass on even his beloved sister:

There were many who didn’t believe that Lelouch would do it, many who didn’t believe he had it in him to do such a thing, many who refused to believe that he would stoop to such depths in order to achieve his goal… And yet, he actually did it.

After finding out from Nunnally that the two of them actually had an identical goal, and it was just the means which greatly differed, Lelouch cast aside what was left of his conscience, and used his Geass on Nunnally in order to force her to give him the Key of Damocles.

Nunnally again demonstrated the highest willpower in the series and almost resisted the Geass’ influence:

However, it eventually proved futile.

While she was in her Geass influenced state, Lelouch had a few private and very heartfelt words with her, which culminated in him telling her that he loved her just before she snapped out of the trance:

Following this, Lelouch quickly obtained the Key of Damocles from her, and Nunnally, after having snapped out of her Geass induced trance, was outraged that Lelouch actually did use Geass on her, and she began chasing him as he was walking away:

But she’d soon succumb to her physical disabilities, and would trip down the stairs. Thus, she could only watch as Lelouch walks away, whilst he would have to listen to the scathing words of the one he held most dear:

You could tell how hard it was for him to listen to Nunnally’s words; they undoubtedly cut him deep, and keeping up this act, even to these demonic extremes, must have been near impossible. However, Lelouch steeled himself and stuck to his convictions, even if it meant the hatred of his sister:

But at this point, the only path left for him was straight ahead, it was far too late for Lelouch to turn back now.

Lelouch and Suzaku’s true intentions revealed:

It had long been obvious that Lelocuh and Suzaku had a plan, but it wasn’t until this point that it was actually revealed. The “Zero Requiem” as they called it, was their plan to turn Lelouch into the most detestable figure in existence, thereby not only completely erasing people’s memories of Euphemia’s bloody massacre of the Japanese (which Lelouch caused and then used to further his own agenda), but it would place the whole world’s hatred fully upon Lelouch’s shoulders, so that they’d be able to unite under the notion of a common enemy.

That way, when he’d be killed by Suzaku, they’d be able to move forward as one, having escaped the tyranny of “Lelouch the Demon”. As they said, it was all for the sake of the world’s future, and Lelouch had long since prepared himself for his moment of reckoning:

He knew there’d be a steep price to pay for all of the horrible deeds he had committed en route to this point, and he accepted his grim fate with a smile on his face, because he knew that with his death, the world, and most importantly his sister, would be able to live in a new, better world. He atoned for his part in causing Euphemia’s death, he erased her slaughter of innocents from the minds of the public by his own misdeeds which were on a far greater scale, and he created a new hero:

One which would lead the world into a brighter future after having saved it from it’s greatest enemy, and subsequently forever living under the mask of Zero:

Lelouch’s new world:

With tears in his eyes, Suzaku drove his sword through Lelouch’s chest, and after the two of them bidded farewell to each other, Lelouch slid down the platform, leaving a trail of his own blood, and the imagery was fantastic here:

With Nunnally’s perceptive ability of being able to see inside people’s hearts through her touch, she discovered Lelouch’s plan all along. How he most definitely wasn’t the cruel villain she had described him as earlier. He was simply someone who was willing to bear the world’s hatred on his shoulders and sacrifice his life, if it meant that his sister and everyone else in the nation would be able to experience a better tomorrow.

Following this revelation, Nunnally was quickly brought to tears:

She quickly reassured Lelouch that she sincerely loved him, before he told her his parting words - how he destroyed the world, and created it anew:

And while the crowds present were chanting Zero’s name for having saved them from Lelouch’s tyranny, Nunnally could only sit there, distraught after having lost her beloved older brother, and grieving over the fact that she would have to move forward into the future without him there by her side:

Kallen’s knowing smile:

Following the events of the Zero Requiem, Kallen narrates how the world was moving forward due to Lelouch’s sacrifice, revealing how things like the energy that used to go towards fuelling wars was now being focused on eradicating poverty and hunger.

But she’d begin the narration by looking at a photo of Lelouch and smiling to herself before heading out, because she knew that the future they were heading towards was all Lelouch’s doing. She along with Nunnally, C.C and Suzaku were the only ones who were aware of Lelouch’s sacrifice:

And she was grateful to him; that the man she loved was a true hero.

Man, going through all of those moments again really made me miss this show, and I cannot wait to see What Lelouch of the Resurrection has in store ^_^

[blackirisposts]

But I Thought Steve Had It

Summary:  The one where Darcy lent her beloved iPod to Steve with some pre-made play lists for him to work his way through.. and someone else ends up with her “Sweet Baby Jute” and finds more than just her music taste buried in her play lists. Pairings: Darcy x Bucky Word Count: 1454 Notes: fluff, music, mystery? flustered Bucky is adorbs, 

“Huh. Never thought I’d see you with one of those things.” Bucky said, riffling through the fridge for something to devour.

“Hmm?” Steve said, pulling the head phones off his head. “It’s not mine if that makes it any easier for you.”

“Really. Who would trust you with their own electronics?” Bucky’s curiosity rose. “Please tell me it was Stark. If so, I’m deleting everything on it before you give it back.” He chuckled lowly as he put a casserole dish in the oven.

“You know I wouldn't let you do that. And no. Stark and I are better now, but I don’t think he’ll ever trust me with his ‘toys’. It’s Darcy’s. She put a few play lists on here for me to catch up on the music I've missed over the years and to find some new favorites.” He said, holding up the sleek simple black iPod as evidence. If it was Tony’s it would have been much more stylish and showy.

“So what does the buxom brunette have on there then?”

“She has them by decade and she told me to listen to them in order, so that it will ‘make the most sense’ to me. I think she means well. She’s nicer about it than any of the others. Makes it seem like I just hated music for a while instead of being frozen.”

“Hmm. You sweet on her or something, punk?” Bucky questioned, raising an eyebrow at Steve’s fiddling with the cords of the head phones.

“No. I’m not..I ..No.” A shadow fell over Steve’s face, telling Bucky exactly what he couldn't say; that part of him was still hung up on Peggy.

“Steve, relax. It’s just music.”

“You want to look it over? I think I’m done for the day.” He left the iPod on the kitchen table and walked to his room.

“You don’t think she’d mind?” Bucky called after him.

“No. I don’t.” Steve yelled back. “Besides. It’s just music.”

Bucky stared down the iPod for a moment or so. Or at least longer than he cared to admit. Steve had been gone and wouldn't be home for another three days on account of a mission; which is why he left the iPod in its current location on the coffee table. Slowly, he picked it up and started flicking through the play lists specifically set up for Steve and his music ‘needs.’ They were titled in an obvious way that even Steve would know they were meant for him:

“Steeeeve! 50’s Jazz” “Steeeeve! 60’s Pop” “Steeeeve! 70’s Rock” “Steeeeve! 80’s Glam” “Steeeeve! 90’s Grunge and Pop” “Steeeeve! Most Modern Hits and Misses; You’re almost there”

He started listening to the 50’s Jazz that day and immediately fell in love with the sound. It was an easy transition from what he remembered listening to back in the 40’s, before the war, before his fall. The rest of the evening was spent with that play list on repeat.

Throughout Steve’s absence, Bucky burned through the remaining play lists. The more he heard, the more he craved to explore. She had managed to select the most enticing music in each decade; the good, the bad, the iconic, and the lesser known novelties. He was infatuated with what he heard, so naturally, he deviated from the specifically Steve made play lists to all play lists; anything was now game in his hunger. He found the play list for when she was sad, when she needed motivation, when she was tired, when she was stressed, when she was working out, and one that downright confused him at first. It had older songs from Jo Stafford and Ella Fitzgerald to more modern hits like Guns N Roses, Goo Goo Dolls, and Kito Reija Lee. The play list title: “Y.L.S.” He found that he loved almost every song in its inventory. Each one stirring an emotion he long thought dead. Emotions of love, love loss, hope, and even.. glee? How had this selection of music moved him in such a ground shaking, mind blowing way? It was just music. Mood altering, emotion, and thought provoking music, thrown together by a friend that he always wished to be closer to.

Although he adored this play list above the others, Darcy’s use of abbreviations drove him mad. It was the only play list to feature abbreviations. He took it as his mission to figure it out.

“Y. L. S… Y. L. S…” He muttered the title to himself trying to discern its meaning without asking Darcy flat out what it meant. After all, she had leant it to Steve for "educational purposes"; there was no reason for him to know about the play list or its cryptic title.

“Yale Law School? No, that doesn't make any sense. Youth Leadership S… No. Your Loud.. Your Little Sister? What? She doesn't have a sister. Yankee Likes.. No. Your Life Study? Hmm.. Your Level of Service? Ugg.”

His guesses weren't making any sense. Bucky had seen a lot, so random words bunched together usually meant something specific. That he knew. Just what the meaning of it all was alluded him. He would have to ask Steve, tactically, tomorrow, when he got back.

Half way through a quiet lunch with Steve, Bucky’s curiosity got the better of him.

“Now that your back, has Darcy been bugging you about getting her Ipod back? It’s been a few weeks.”

“Surprisingly, no.” Steve said around a mouth full of sandwich. “Did it help you at all? In catching up on music?”

“It did, I was pleasantly surprised. She’s got good taste in music. Did you look at any of her other play lists?” Bucky asked, trying to be subtle.

“Not really, didn’t have time.”

Bucky mumbled a response before continuing to focus on his food while his mind raced.

Steve didn’t know. Great. But how could he? He’s too polite to rummage through anyone’s things unless he feels something is wrong. And there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with Darcy or her mysteriously named play list, that one would only find by snooping in the first place. The only thing that was of concern was the worry of curiosity that bit away at Bucky’s mind whenever he had a quiet moment.

A week later and still no word from Darcy other than to know if Steve was enjoying his musical revival. Bucky had taken, more often than not, to conveniently and casually being in the same room as Darcy whenever possible. His goal, observation and possible discernment of the now internally infamous “Y.L.S.”

Today, Darcy’s sitting and eating with Jane. Coffee, pop tarts, the usual. However, this time they aren’t talking. The two usually chatter away driving others to laughter with their quips and opinions. Today, it’s silent.

Wondering to himself if he’ll ever over hear anything that might give any insight to his latest obsession, Bucky gets up from the kitchen table to leave. As he does, Darcy’s Ipod falls from his jean’s pocket with a clatter. Jane lightly jumps but keeps her focus on her work in front of her. Darcy and Bucky’s eyes fall to the now exposed Ipod.

Bucky reaches for Darcy’s Ipod and hands it to her lamely, keeping his eyes cast down.

“Thanks, doll.”

“But I thought Steve had it.” Darcy’s confusion finding home in the wrinkle between her eye brows.

“Yeah. He lent it to me, too. Thought you wouldn’t mind.”

Ask her! Ask her! Ask herrr!! Screamed a voice in the back of Bucky’s mind, only quieting when Darcy looked up again, her face cracking into a smile.

“You Little Shit. You think you’re so sneaky. I would have found out that you had it eventually.”

“Y.L.S. You? Little? Shit?”

“How-“

Bucky starts to chuckle as the other instances Darcy has called him a little shit come flooding to the front of his mind. It was for him. And, oh how he was grateful for this reveal. The emotions the various songs brought forth from him while he listened to them should have told him all along. His amusement forms into a wicked smirk shot directly at Darcy, making her turn a few shades of pink, blinking hard.

“Would you like to go to dinner with me, tonight?”

“Um, yeah,” Darcy squeaked quietly, nodding her head with a huge smile on her now red face.

“Good, I’ll pick you up at 7,” he said as he started walking toward the door. “And maybe after you can show me some more of your favorite music.” He added with a turn of his head and a wink as he left, leaving Darcy standing in shock in the kitchen.

Y(ou) L(ittle) S(hit) Play List:

Heart break warfare – John Meyers Killing Me Softly with His Song – Fugees Crave You – Flight Facilities Sweet Talk – Kito Reija Lee Hey Na Na – Katie Herzig Talk Like Lovers Do - The Eurythmics Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel Its Been A Long, Long Time – Harry James & His Orchestra, Vocals by Kitty Kallen. Big Jet Plane – Angus and Julia Stone Pompeii – Bastille, Acousitc Live in Paris Ribs – Lorde R U Mine – Arctic Monkeys You belong to me – Jo Stafford Sweater Weather – The Neighborhood Toxic – Cover by Melanie Martinez Crazy – Cover by Melanie Martinez Bulletproof – Cover by Melanie Martinez Too Close – Cover by Melanie Martinez There’ll Be Bluebirds over The White Cliffs of Dover – Vera Lynn You go to my head – Keely Smith Manhattan Serenade – Jo Stafford A String of Pearls – BBC Big Band Orchestra Crying Mood - Ella Fitzgerald Cheek to Cheek - Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald Heat Wave - Ella Fitzgerald Georgia on my Mind – Jo Stafford Trouble in Mine – Jo Stafford Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N Roses Come to Me – Goo Goo Dolls Witchcraft – Frank Sinatra Slide – Goo Goo Dolls

[messianfell]

If lelouch had to choose between the life of Nunally or the lives of CC and the lives of the black knights who would they choose

The answer for this definitely changes dependent on the timeline we’re talking about it in context of.

Lelouch puts all his planning in motion due to the promise he makes with Nunnally initially, seeking to bring about a peaceful world she can live in. He puts her above everyone else as his top priority – which comes to a head in the last episode of the season when he abandons the Black Knights in the middle of their decisive battle upon hearing that Nunnally has been kidnapped. At that point in time, he would’ve (and did) drop absolutely everything to ensure her safety.

This is true even for some time during the second season, after he’s regained his memories of her and his identity as Zero. He goes out of his way to ensure her safety, going so far as to seek out S.uzaku despite the two of them being enemies and lay down his pride to ask for his help in protecting her.

So at that point, Nunnally comes before anyone.

Despite him still clinging to her during the majority of the second season, however, the seeds were planted for him to begin letting her go when she was first revealed as the new viceroy. Speaking to Kallen then made him start to realize that he’s not carrying only Nunnally’s dream on his shoulders now – he has the promise of everyone who’s ever relied on Zero hanging over him.

That’s why he doesn’t slip up when Nunnally reappears after he thought she was dead and declares him his enemy – by that time, he’d already accepted the fact that he couldn’t put her (or any of his friends, for that matter -- be it the Black Knights or even Rivalz) above humanity as a whole, no matter how much he loved her or where the origin of his goals began. When Lelouch takes over as Emperor, he’s no longer operating for Nunnally’s happiness, but for the sake of everyone’s so that nothing he’s done or anyone has sacrificed has been in vain. Suzaku cements his willingness to sacrifice anyone, even his sister, in order to achieve their endgame -- despite that meaning he might have to be the one to kill them.

So at that point: he would sacrifice all of them. He would choose his and Suzaku’s goal over Nunnally, the Black Knights, and C.C. -- though, with C.C. at least, she’s aware of why.

[cynthiaandsamus]

Custom Toonami Block Week 68 Rundown

Code Geass: Lelouch gets Rolo to Za Warudo Suzaku so he can talk to Nunally for a bit before pretending he doesn’t know her. Then they decide to go hijack Nunally’s airship and “rescue” her before she can become the new viceroy. Kallen gets a flying upgrade to the Guren that matches Suzaku’s “Lancelot but with bigger gun” model and now she can fly too which is enough to take out all of Britannia’s airforce apparently. Still Nunally sees Zero!Lelouch and is like “you’re running around murdering people, that’s not cool” and Lelouch is like “I’m murdering people for you damnit” and turns out Nunally asked to go become viceroy so she can continue Euphy’s “Let’s just all get along” plan which was basically pacification by the higher ups anyway so it’s not like she’s NOT being used but she at least has the illusion of agency and Nunally rejecting Zero kind of breaks Lelouch. Also Suzaku flies in and adbucts Nunally and instead of moving the Lancelot’s arm like one foot and fucking punting Zero into a wall to end this whole thing once and for all, he uses the safety triangle go save Nunally.

Inuyasha: It’s filler time again! This time we do have an admittedly adorable version of Inuyasha being duped into household chores for Totosai while taking care of a young lynx demon that reminds him of Shippo, being nicer to Bunza than he ever was to Shippo for some reason. Still Inuyasha breaks the Mantis Demon (it’s always Mantis Demons wtf) barrier and saves the day before Totosai has to come clean and we get way to much information about his hygiene habits but Inuyasha finally gets the real lead on how to break barriers because the Tessaiga is a swiss army knife of stolen techniques.

Yu Yu Hakusho: We’re up to the third Saint Beast and Hiei is not about to stand for some Ice asshole killing someone for being weak which taps into his tragic backstory gland and leaves everyone else puzzled as to why the most stoic person of their group is so triggered by betrayal he definitely would have done himself. Seiryu and Hiei do the ice tango for a bit before Hiei does ninja shit and no-sells the ice to slash him up like it’s nothing. Meanwhile Suzaku gets his info and is like “Oh boy, Yusuke has a childhood friend to exploit” like all the other villains find out sooner or later. Despite the stupid name he gives the song and the corny one-liners from the zombie teachers chasing Keiko, hearing the haunting melody of the Makai Whistle/Flute (seriously that’s not a whistle it’s a fucking flute) while seeing Keiko go about her day before being hunted down by zombies is pretty striking.

Fate Zero: So Kirei’s like “Oh no, Gilgamesh killed my only servant, better hide out in the church till this is all over” only to have like 39 other servants to fuck around with that are gonna try and get some stealth kills based on the fact no one knows they exist. Also Iskander is walking around Waver’s place in booty shorts trying to reenact Citizen Kang on President Clin-ton and fetishizing bombers and jets. Kiritsugu’s got his guns and shit, ready to do his Homura thing but is worried about having feels now and being a dad may make him only able to kill 999 people without breaking a sweat instead of the full 1000. And lastly we catch up with Saber and Iris who definitely knows she’s being thrown into this to die as Saber’s fake master so Saber takes her out for a night on the town to enjoy herself and possibly question her sexuality. Doesn’t last too long though as their lesbian outing is interrupted by Lancer, seems like the Lancers are just the starter bosses in Fate for some reason since UBW started with a Lancer fight too.

Konosuba: So the last member of Kazuma’s party is revealed, Darkness the Masochist Saber has arrived. I mean I really don’t know what to say about these bits because everyone already knows the premise of Konosuba and going too much into it is probably just explaining the joke. Kazuma gets his steal ability and can only steal panties because his luck is so good and haha irony. Cabbage hunting also happens and Darkness has the Dead or Alive 2 jiggle physics on her tits turned up to Age 102 (god I’m dating myself with that reference). But it’s funny, Kazuma doesn’t seem happy about it but everyone’s just kinda having a good time fucking around and being insane. Like I get the joke is none of this is practically useful but I kinda wish Kazuma would stop being such a wet blanket and just enjoy being friends with everybody while he can, the girls seem to get along well enough together and they even give him praise when he does cool stuff, like really this just seems like a pretty positive (if insane) friend group and I wish he was more down for it.

Sailor Moon Crystal: So our third Sailor Guardian is a priestess fresh off of preparing for the Cotton Drifting festival (wait, wrong anime, thank goodness, Usagi just plain would not survive Higurashi). But I love how Ami convinces Usagi to go with her just by saying there’s a pretty girl there, like it’s so ridiculously gay and Usagi’s just all for it. Rei’s probably the most complicated character so far and gives the most thought to why she’s doing this out of the first three, like Rei literally asks Usagi what she’s fighting for and she badly mangles a Spider-man quote. That being said we’re starting to see that group dynamic come together which is fun and other than weird teleportation shenanigans and teleporting right into the boss’s lair and then just leaving making me scratch my head, this was a fun episode.

Durarara!!: This episode kind of reminds me of a pre-school cartoon show, but in a good way. Like they just pick a theme, in this case “lost things” and have all the characters have a small plot around that and kinda navelgaze on it for a while. Obviously the main plot is Celty’s continuing existential crisis over losing her head and Shinra’s insistence that she doesn’t need it despite him being tied to the pharmaceuticals company that almost certainly has it and he probably knows where it is at this point. It’s an interesting philosophical point that the show keeps bringing up, that Celty has made a life in Ikebukuro and the real disembodied head was the friends she made along the way. In other anime that would probably be the answer but it’s more complicated than that because Celty does feel incomplete without it, hundreds of years of her life and something deeply personal to her is just missing. Shinra’s terrified that the person she’ll become once she’s “complete” won’t be the same woman he loves and will leave him behind and Celty wants to balance enjoying the time she has spent in this town with being complete in a metaphysical sense. She should be able to take solace in the life she’s made but you also understand her yearning and that makes some really good moral quandaries right there.

[justyouraverageomniversedreamer]

so i just watched episode 25 of code geass r2

i could not watch every episode consecutively like i did with r1 because i literally did not have the strength because i already knew how it would end (not on purpose i swear) and i sincerely was still not prepared for the ending or the amount of crying i would do after watching it and actually im still in tears typing this

lelouch is one of my all time favorite characters and i don’t care what anyone says i firmly believe that he cared about people no matter how much people said otherwise and no matter how much he convinced himself that he didn’t care about anyone except his friends and sister. he cared too much and though his motives got mixed up with the anger of his revenge and the absolute power of the geass may have twisted his thoughts into being slightly obsessive about his plans he really did care alot about everything and the entire series proves my point. he did’t love everything but he did care about everything.

my thoughts don’t make any sense (i understand the feeling even if i can’t put them into words)

...do you remember back at the beginning of the series in r1 where kallens truck crashes and lelouch sees this after leaving his chess match and what he does immediately is run over there to see if the drivers are still alive and to help if they are

and how he geassed shirley so that she would forget about him, not because she knew he was zero but because she would be happier that way withought him in her life

or how even though suzaku and cornelia kept trying to kill him and he could have killed them through many opportunities he did’t and he even geassed one to make sure that he stayed alive

and how even though he did kill euphemia he never once explained to anyone how his geass went out of control and the entire incident was an accident, he truly believed that however accidental it was the power was still his so he never once tried to seek forgivness

or how angry he was that rolo killed shirley and how he swore to make sure that rolo died as revenge for that but when rolo was actually dying because he saved lelouch, lelouch did something nice for rolo so that he could rest in peace

his entire life was a tragedy story and though nunnally and suzaku know about the zero requiem plan now they will never know the entire story and sadly enough i feel as though neither cc (no matter that she was the one to give him his geass and was there since then) nor lelouch himself either really understood lelouch... he lied to everyone and himself now no one knows the whole story except us and everyone draws their own conclusions about what they think the truth is.

i would say rest in peace lelouch but r3 has been announced and im even less prepared that i was for this season (rather than lelouch i would say rip me even though he’s the one that actually died...)

i need a break- goodnight