#whelp i guess this is really becoming a series now ^^;;;

[worldofomniaa]

Another portrait/colour study! Here’s Fenorea, goddess of Flora and Fauna, as she appears to the Sun-Beings (one of my non-human peoples)! As you can probably guess, the sun plays a big part in Sun-Being culture, so they’d imagine Fenorea with such elements -- in this case, sunlight shines through her hair like dappled light through a forest canopy or vines.

Reference photo (I couldn’t find the original creator; if you know who it is, please let me know!)

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

Chapter three! I already skimmed through it and just. Holy fuck I’m falling in love with this series all over again, and this is just the opening arc, how the hell is this so good??? I’m genuinely just in awe and fuck is it making it hard to decide where to have a cut-off point for this chapter. I suppose we’ll just have to see what fate decides.

(Also, the temptation to just paste in all of the last three pages of the chapter is so incredibly strong, you don’t understand.)

[No. 3 - Entrance Exam]

We start off with some exposition: UA’s hero course is designed to give students all they need to go pro, and is the toughest and most popular hero course in the country, with only a 1 in 300 acceptance rate. Discounting the four slots that are recommendation students, that’s 36 slots a year, which is about…

Yeah. That’s a lotta applications, and that’s just for the hero course! 

Several alumni are mentioned: All Might, who declined the people’s choice award; Endeavor, who’s stopped more crimes than anyone else in recorded history; and Best Jeanist, who’s won the Best Jeanist award eight years running. (One of these things is not like the other~ One of these things just doesn’t belong~) The exposition suggests that graduating from UA is basically a requirement for becoming a great hero - something which we’ll learn soon enough isn’t quite true.

But yeah, Endeavor with the record for crime handling, even above All Might. Quite the impressive hero, though that face…

Not precisely reassuring.

So yeah, Izuku here mentions the date of the exam - February 26th. I figure that this has to be a Sunday, for the simple fact that Japan has a slightly different school schedule than us. Most notably: Japanese schools (some of them, anyways) have 5.5 day school weeks. Yes, that means the first half of Saturday can still be a school day. 

While I couldn’t confirm for sure whether this is more common among the higher end schools, I feel like a school like UA, with its ‘Plus Ultra’ motto, would definitely be a school to have a half-day (or even a full day) on Saturdays, and since they also have to accomodate for middle schools that have Saturday morning classes, I figure that it would make the most sense for UA to schedule this exam on a Sunday. 

The benefits of this, as we’ve already seen, is that we can then narrow down the timeline for the rest of the series, just based on that single, confirmed date. We know from the last chapter that the Sludge Villain had to happen on a Thursday or Friday of the first week of school (April 14th/15th), with the first training session two days later (the 16th/17th). But what this also gives us is when Izuku’s first year of UA starts, AND the possible years it could start on. 

Since we see the glowing baby is in a modern hospital, we can assume that’s correlated to about our times. Give it a few generations, and we can guess that we’re in the 2200s or 2300s for the current era. Based on that assumption, we get the following years that have February 26th on a Sunday:

23rd century potential years: 2204, 2209, 2215, 2226, 2232, 2237, 2243, 2254, 2260, 2265, 2271, 2282, 2288, 2293, 2299

24th century potential years: 2310, 2316, 2321, 2327, 2338, 2344, 2349, 2355, 2366, 2372, 2377, 2383, 2394, 2400

As a side note, when I got into the series, my brain weirdly latched onto the idea that this had to all be happening in the year 2317. I don’t know why I decided on that number, but that’s what I rolled with, and hilariously I could be RIGHT about the year the current manga arc is happening in, provided Izuku’s first year is in 2316. Sometimes you just know, ya know? I know at least one other friend made these calcs independently of me and chose to run with 2237, which is totally valid! Probably makes more sense to be in the 2200s, but there’s room depending on how much time one thinks has passed.

As for when Izuku’s high school school year starts, we know that Japanese schools start on the second Monday of April. Since we don’t know if this is a leap year or not, we’ll end up with two dates, but that’s fine!

Feb 26 (Sun) -> Feb 27 (Mon) -> March (6/5, 13/12, 20/19, 27/26) -> April (3/2, 10/9)

Therefore, Izuku’s first day of classes (not counting the orientation, which I’ve seen a few other timelines assume is on the Sunday before classes start) is April 10th (or the 9th if a leap year)! I know this is all in the future from this chapter, but still, I wanted to share this at some point and figured now was as good a time as always.

Math!

Sorry, I’ve just wanted to share this math I did for a while now, I put a lot of work into it and I am very proud of it. Let’s get back to the chapter.

So Izuku lives a 40 minute train ride away from UA, and has made it just in time for the exam. Apparently, this is only the practical portion? Or well, that’s the part that gets focused on in this chapter, with no mention of the paper exam. I would imagine they’d be the same day, though? But I suppose one can do whatever they like with it.

He’s standing there looking at the school, thinking about how he didn’t have a chance to test the power, while the other students head in-

Excuse me, Toga?? I know that hairstyle is just a bit off, but… ???

...right, anyways. Izuku is wondering whether the hair really did anything (also, it was apparently sour, which, ew.) Katsuki comes up behind him and tells him to move aside.

Truly a flattering image. Izuku panics a bit and greets him, but Katsuki just walks by without another word or gesture, leaving Izuku confused as he watches him head on into the building. The narrative notes that since the villain incident, Katsuki hadn’t bothered Izuku, while the unnamed characters in the background apparently recognize Katsuki from the ‘sludge’ incident (well, not shocked how the fandom held onto that name). 

Izuku notes that he’s gotta stop flinching instinctively, and then tries to hype himself up, noting that it’s not like before, and think about the past ten months while taking a wobbly step forward- and then tripping over himself.

I’m sorry Izuku just has so many fantastic faces in this chapter I am crying trying to limit myself to just a few. But yeah, that little derp as he realizes what’s happening is adorable, especially while Ochako gently sets him back on his feet. She mentions that it’s her quirk, and apologizes for using it, but that it’s a bad omen to trip and fall. (I wonder if that gets played with again during later parts of the series… will have to check to see.)

While Izuku freaks out over talking to a girl, Ochako notes that the exam is nerve-wracking, and then heads off while wishing both of them luck as Izuku stares after. 

This fucking kid. I love him so much. His flustered excitement gets him some weird looks from the others still outside.

We transition to a new character (Present Mic) who immediately shows off his performative side by calling for a ‘hey!’ which… is met with silence from the crowd. He doesn’t let this throw him off, instead letting them know that he’ll present the guidelines for the practical, followed with a ‘YEAH!’ that gets met with an even heavier silence.

Izuku and Katsuki are seated next to each other, with Izuku descending right into excited muttering over Present Mic and how he listens to his radio show every week. Also with the assumption that all the UA teachers are pro heroes, which I mean, true, but still. Katsuki tells Izuku to shut up.

Present Mic explains the test: ten minute long ‘mock cityscape maneuvers’, with the applicants split among seven arenas, labelled ‘A’ through ‘G’. With more than 10k applicants total, that’s about…

Yeah, more than 1500 per arena. Fucking hell, no wonder the robots deplete so quickly in only a few minutes. Also of interest:

“Bring along whatever you want.” So technically, if Izuku were able to procure the tech and training to handle the robots, there would be nothing keeping him from getting into UA quirkless… though I imagine any kid who gets in mostly on tech probably gets side-eyed… though if said kid made their OWN tech, they might also get an offer from the Support department.

(AU where Mei accidentally took the heroics exam and got a shitload of points, but she ended up taking the offer for Support instead despite setting the record for most points in said exam. Katsuki forever wants to fight her. Izuku and her are good friends.)

Also, another thing I love is how Katsuki just told Izuku to shut up a moment ago, and then:

He’s the one to initiate conversation on the details of the test, basically agreeing on the reasoning behind dividing up the students between arenas. Katsuki is annoyed at not being able to crush Izuku, which has Izuku awkwardly silent. 

Also mini-Mic.

Poor, poor Mic. He just wants audience participation. Anyways, he continues on to explain the points system, with the help of cute little Mario-themed silhouettes. There are three kinds of faux villains, with different points awarded for defeating each based on their difficulty levels. Also, attacking other examinees is prohibited!

A student (cough Tenya) raises their hand to ask a question, going on to note that the handout sheet appears to have four varieties of villain, and that such a blatant error (if it is one) reflects poorly on Japan’s top academy. He then spins around and points at Izuku, calling him out for his muttering and how distracting he’s been, and that ‘if this is some sort of game to you, then please leave immediately!’ 

Is that… Mineta seated behind Izuku? I can’t find another panel that disproves that theory, so. Whelp. If you ever for some reason want to have Izuku accidentally deal with the grape early, he’s right there. 

Anyways, Present Mic brings the convo back to the initial question/comment, noting that the fourth villain is worth zero points, and is more of an obstacle. He then brings up Super Mario Brothers, the old retro game, and compares the Zero Pointer to a thwomp. There’s one per site, serving as a gimmick that’ll rampage in close quarters. Tenya thanks Mic and apologizes for the interruption. 

And so we get our final words from Present Mic:

??? either he's referencing the original guy (which I think would be a misquote because I doubt OG Nap ever noted anything like that) or some French hero or the like who took on the name.

Discord offered this to me while putting together the post:

So there you have it. Tentatively confirmed.

Those EYES man, dude’s got the Rinnegan going on.

Honestly, I have to end on this panel just because of that last line from Present Mic. Like, look me in the eyes and tell me this isn’t the exact point to end on. 

The discord’s takeaway from this:

[pyroweasel]

Taddison with Fames cause I wanna see what you do with that :)

👉👉

CW for...hunting, I guess? Lots of prey/blood/biting/etc sort of talk.

Takes place in the Trep and Trepper universe - I'll probably throw it on as a new chapter to the Pup series here in a bit.

Trep lets Addison live longer than is likely proper. The excuses are easy to come by - he's still healing, he's not at his prime, Trepper is clearly attached to the human - but eventually the excuses fall away, and Trep turns instead to not thinking about it. There is time yet, plenty of it in fact, before they get to Earth. There's no harm in letting the human live a little longer - especially as he's so willing to babysit in the meanwhile. 

Trep thinks he may even let Addison live until they very nearly land - at least, he considers it, right up until he realizes the bodies they feed on have turned. It's Trepper who clues him in - the whelp seems to pick up the subtle scent of rot first, and even he refuses to eat spoiled flesh. 

There are ways around it, of course. They can both live just fine off of the humans' meals - and now with so few mouths to feed, there are plenty of extra rations. MREs are not nearly so satisfying, though, and it's difficult to imagine living off of them when there remains fresh meat. 

Days tick by where they try it, anyway - but Trepper is unhappy and if Trep is honest he's not much better off himself. He grows hungry, and then ravenous, and it's not so much about the sustenance as it is about the sensations. There is nothing satisfying about badly packed, disgusting 'meat' that might make you sick if you're unlucky - it is nothing like hunting. Sinking teeth into fresh, still moving flesh. Ripping, tearing - it torments Trep. 

When it becomes too much, he decides he's had enough. There comes a night where Trep settles Trepper down as usual and then, once the child is deeply asleep, Trep slips away. 

He finds Addison quickly enough, of course, but he's not willing to give the game up so quickly. So, Trep hunts - he follows the human about as Addison finishes up a few wayward tasks. Trep slips through the vents, along the hallways, watches from corners. 

He can tell when Addison realizes something's wrong - whether it's because of Trep's absence or some human prey instinct. The man's pulse spikes, anxiety thickens the air - it makes Trep's blood pound in turn, his hearts speed in anticipation of the kill.

Trep makes his move as Addison strides in a quickened pace down the hallway to his quarters. The Impostor leaps from a nearby vent and lunges - he pins Addison to the wall, the human's front pressed to the metal, and keeps him trapped there with claws and tentacles and sheer strength. 

Wordlessly, Addison fights - and Trep is taken off guard by the human"s ferocity. It's not enough to move Trep, of course - he has already had his fun and now that his prey is caught, he isn't interested in playing around. He is stronger, by far, than Addison - and it is easy to keep the man pinned. Still, it's impressive just how much strength Addison brings to bear. 

Trep can't stop a slight curve in his lips as the human thrashes beneath him. 

"Get the fuck off of me," Addison finally finds his voice, and in response Trep hums. 

"Sorry Captain, no can do," he answers, even as he shifts a little closer, eyes finding the back of Addison's neck. "For what it's worth, you might be the only human I've ever really found pleasant to be around. Still, I'm starving - and unfortunately for you, you're the only meal left around."

"We had a deal," Addison spits. He kicks back with a leg, and Trep growls softly as it connects rather solidly with a knee. As if in retort, Trep's abdominal maw parts, drool gathers in anticipation - but even as he lowers the mouth in his face towards Addison's neck, he can't help but banter in return. 

"More fool you for trusting an Impostor," Trep murmurs. He parts his jaws, turns his head, and latches them around the back of Addison's neck. He presses, slightly, and as he does he feels Addison go all at once still as stone - except for his pulse, which is racing so quickly it's hard to separate the beats from each other. Trep feels a thrill at the way it races beneath his teeth. 

All it would take is one clean bite. Simple. Efficient. A quick death, even, for a human Trep reluctantly admired. And yet. 

Yet. 

Trep finds himself struck nearly as still as Addison. Flesh is almost broken beneath his teeth but - not quite. Blood rushes at the surface of Addison's skin, but does not yet flood Trep's mouth. Flesh, prey, a real meal - it is at his mercy but still Trep can't move. 

Beneath the bitter, salty scent of fear there is something else. Something familiar, although Trep hasn't ever put a name to it before. It is Addison - a scent unique to the human, a scent that has invaded more of Trep's surroundings than he has realized. A scent that, through the bloodlust and the hunger, registers as familiar. Important. 

Safe. 

Trep growls, but despite his urging his teeth do not clamp any further. Addison trembles - it and his stillness the only outward signs of fear the human has shown. Because Addison is strong. Addison, who looked an injured and violent Impostor in the eye and still helped him. Addison, who only held on and did his best to calm the small Impostor desperate to hurt him. 

Addison, who sings to Trepper when he thinks they're alone. Who treats the boy like his own. Who speaks to Trep like an equal - banters with him in a way he has never experienced before. 

Trep is ravenous, wants nothing more than something fresh and alive to fill his stomach. To feed his child. 

But this is Addison. 

And Trep can't do it. 

His teeth loosen, he relinquishes his many grips. He steps away, suddenly more unsure than he has ever been in his life. His hearts still pound, but their beat feels different now. His blood still runs hot, but he thinks it must be for another reason. 

Then Addison looks over his shoulder - dark eyes full of confusion meet Trep's. 

And the Impostor turns and flees back the way he came, all at once panicked by a new and strange sort of hunger that he just doesn't understand. 

[popculturebuffet]

The Legend of the Three Caballeros: World Tree Caballeros and No Man is an Easter Island  aka Whelp, Xandra Sucks Now.

Salduos Amigos! We’re back.. and today we have two Cabs episodes.. because the top 20 of 2020 list last week took a day longer than expected, so that meant I had a day of my schedule go thbbt and thus had to compress a bit, like the darkwing reviews i’ve done but not NEARLY as much. And if this works out I intend to do more cabs 2 or evne 3 in ones in the future to help speed along the finale. Still giving Kev his 55 bucks worth mind you, just speeding it up a bit in case anything comes back, and because I have a lot of double and triple reviews coming in Feburary due to a very tight schedule, so might as well train for it now.So with that in mind, WELCOME BACK TO THE RIDE OF THE THREE CABLLEROS, and the legend of the three cablleros. I can fit in what little exposition there is on the way, so on with the show after the cut!

World-Tree Caballeros:  We pick up where we left off last time: Sheldgoose and co are returning to earth, and it’s been a few weeks, in story time, with Sheldgoose exausted and hungry and Feldrake.. not exactly getting that minons need food to live and wanting to jump right into destroying the Caballeros since their right next door.  And while ignoring his minon’s basic needs is just.. dumb, I do appricate that Felldrake is the kind of villian who dosen’t stupidly not attack the heroes if he knows where they are and does try blasting them, with Sheldgoose in his cloak of course to avoid any deniablility. I mean Sheldgoose is impossibly wealthy and in disguise here. No court is going to convict him. But there is a reasonable explination why they can’t do that: since Clinton wasn’t stupid he put up magical protections over the Cabana and while Feldrake COULD break them.. he can’t do it with as little power as he currently has in the staff and has an idea where to get it. But Leopold’s bushed from taking them all the way back from space, to Feldrake’s disapointment so Sheldgoose.. simply offers up his private plane, then uses his mass wealth to get them all the way to their destination the World Tree... yes the NORSE World Tree... in italy. 

Yeah you can probably tell there were some rewrites here. This ep, given it features Yddrasil, was SUPPOSED to be about the Norse gods.. but Marvel didn’t want “brand confusion” with  THE MIGHTY THOR!

Which originally I scoffed at a bit. Mostly because why would you, Disney, one of the biggest brands in the world NOT want a potetinal crossover with your other properties? I mean .. is this why we haven’t had mickey and friends in avengers costumes yet? If so... BOOOO. Why would you buy Marvel without this ever happening? You put fucking light sabers in kickin it, one of your lesser live action shows though olivia holt is neat and Rudy was alright, but... you won’t put MIGHTY THOR, in a donald duck series? Especially since you already used marvel in one of your shows?

The cat is out of the bag.. just let crossovers happen dude. Your not giving us any decent marvel animated series, and only What If is on the docket for now the future. WHy not? I wasn’t the fondest of the idea at first but then I realized “Wait this could be awesome and rediculous”. And again you’ve already hit a low bar for using this stuff.. just use it.  That being said, while we’ll get to it in a moment.. I do get WHY they didn’t let them use the norse gods... possibly.. but it does seem like they really dot’ like crossing the streams character wise and that bothers me it bothers me a lot. 

So yeah the world tree is in the snow capped mountains of italy.. which they might have so touche, and the montage of Sheldgoose getting there is great as is Feldrake’s reaction of “Eh i’ts no leopold”. Aw he loves his monkeybatdonkeyrat. So they open the entrance and prepare to go up the massive flight of stairs... only for Sheldgoose to point out the elevator. Which they take instead. I will say Feldrake’s characteriztation.. slipped a bit in these two. It’ snot bad, he’s by now supposed to be someone who WAS so powerful, they don’t get the concept of finesse and it works better next episode.. but hear a good chunk of the episode is just Feldrake shoutng at Sheldgoose and complaning a lot and even at one point tripping over himself with his own stupidity. We’ll get to that. Point is it’s a bit of a step down from last episode but as a result Sheldgoose gets to shine a bit more with Wayne Knight getting more lines to really go full newman and become a smug yet clever jackass. SO it’s a trade off I guess and it does ballance out next time. 

So back at the Cabs Cabana, our heroes are having pop corn fights, which Xandra joins in on... this was the intro but I put it here...

Point is next time we see them our heroes are all cataloging everything with the girls help, including a positivity totem, this generation’s talky toster. Xandra gets enraptured with a phone but gets defensive when being called out of date and mocked by the girls. This is SUPPPOSED to set up a character arc for her and I was excited for Xandra to get an episode but we’ll get to that disappointment soon enough. The point is our team gets the call to adventure. And Xandra’s excited because the roman gods, old friends of hers are at the world tree. The Roman Gods are what the planets are named after and are mushed together with the greek gods for reasons I didn’t have time to look into. This review is late as is. Point is they don’t get used as much likely because of the planet thing and the greek gods having a wider range of gods at that with better names. I mean Hades just.. sounds more godly than Pluto. Posiden sounds just as badass as Neptune if not more and Jupiter just dosen’t have hte same wring Zeus was.  But for today the only Roman Gods present are Jupiter, Venus and Mars, stand ins for Odin, Frigg and THE MIGHTY THOR respectively in this case but still drawn uniquely. She’s excited to show the boys them and ports them. THIS TIME, the port isn’t you know, stupidly placed and the desert thing seems to have been a one off fluke, and easily could’ve been where a city WAS, but again that could’ve been mentioned. Here it’s just at the foot of the stairs which while inconvient, as Xandra didn’t know about the elvator and Panchito gets on it without thinking to tell the other two who are forced to climb, makes sense: it’s risky to have a direct port to a giant tree that grows planets. Which is also awesome. In the wrong hands the raw power of a tiny planet could be devistating, or someone could make their own galaxy with them as god emeprror if given enough time. Which if you know about the world tree and somehow manage to steal enough planets to make a galaxy of your own without getting caught, you clearly will surivive the eons needed for it.. or could just time speed it up. Point is this place is out of the way for a reason this time, elevator or no.  So then we meet the ROMAN GODS... and they’ve not only clearly aged, but have given up fighting for gardening, with Mars being a decript old man who can’t remember xandra’s name, which given she heavily implies they were a thing is not great, and goes on and on about Tubers. Yeahhhh... I can’t exactly blame marvel for NOT wanting one of their biggest characters depiected as a doddering old man obssed with potatoes. LIke the brand confusion thing is still stupid, I want MIckey, Donald and Goofy as Cap, Iron Man and Hulk yesterday you cowards..., but thinking this would be confusing for kids or would hurt the character a bit? yeah fair enough, a bit paranoid but understandable given Marvel is the backbone of the company these days and at this point, had been massively sucessful with avengers and everything. So I do get it even if I don’t get shifting the setting from the world tree, and suspect there they had to rework the episode during production. 

So we not only meet our gods.. and the reason this isn’t the best episode. It’s not the worst, we’ll get there in a moment, but it’s not very good. And the reason... is Xandra. Her reaction to the gods being out of shape and old and retired, tending to the tree and not really fighting or doing hero stuff anymore is to get upset and wonder how her friends and as we learn later inspiration fell this low. That’d be fine and somewhat intresting. Problem is.. the Gods explain they quit after the titan wars which gave Mars some VERY obvious PTSD tha’ts VERY uncomfortably played for laughs. Look in comedy you can joke about just about anything, that’s the nature of it. But there are some things you REALLY need to tread carefully with. Now Family Guy, and this is late seasons “race jokes and shock humor” family guy mind you, somehow got this with Quagmire having ptsd in one episode where the show was set in diffrent time periods... due to hearing fortunate son over and over in vietnam.

This is actually funny, parodies something else, paticually overblown namsplotation in media and overuse of a great song that really dosen’t need to be used ALL the time in everything. This.. is just “HA he’s rattled because he was in a presumibly bloody war wand given ther’es only four gods left, we see one next episode, they probably all died.. and if they are still alive reincarnated.”. It’s just.. uncomfortable and if this bit was taken out, the episode wouldn’t be great, but it wouldn’t be as odious and Xandra HORRIBLY unsympathetic. It’s not helped by the fact that even without the ptsd.. the gods just watn’t to semi retire. They haven’t given up their duty, their still tending to the world tree.. they just dont’ want to fight or quest anymore because they were in a possibly centuries long bloody war that dwinlded their numbers and clearly left mental scars. Xandra comes off like an insenstive ass for putting her old version of them over the new and while the moral’s SUPPOSED TO BE that she shouldn’t cling to the past and had it simply beeen about her realizing she has to let them be who they are now, it would’ve worked.. instead it’s just “You guys suck because you won’t traumatize yourself more. “. The worst they do is hide under a table instead of fight and again, it’s very clear at least one of them if not all have PTSD. The only thing that keeps this from being truly awful is I genuinely don’t think the writers thought out the implicatoins of Mars line, which while still not a great train of thought to have modern writers not get that, it’s better than nothing. It just sinks the entire episode as i’ts emotional core.. comes off as a snotty teenager forcing some old people into combat and getting rewarded for it.  The other side of the plot is not half bad though. The boys catch Feldrake and Sheldgoose trying to steal the planet, with Feldrake enlarging a bunch of termites we’ve been seeing so far in the episode to attack the cabs. But what really shines is the Cabs. They work well as a team, have camradere, face Sheldgoose with no fear and while they do run from the termites, which look HORRIFYING by the way, and then come up with the hairbrained but still not half bad scheme of covering donald and wood and using him as bait. This ends up working since Xandra rallies/guilttrips the gods into ignoring their ptsd and fighting anyway. I mean “Heroically helping them realize they stil have fight and fighting like the heroes she looked up to”... and then we get the climax which is just awesome.  Sheldgoose and Feldrake get the planet afterall raining metors down so while the Roman gods take those out, Xandra calls on the guys to distfract Sheldgoose and Feldrake so she can snipe the planet out of his hands. How do they do this? Juipiter fast ball specials them up to the asteroid he’s on! If your wondering what a Fast Ball special is.. you’ve certianly seen it but here’s a practical demonstration. 

So yeah that. OUr heroes take it in stride though and awesomely use how much Sheldgoose is irritate dby them to distract him by basically playing whack a mole, so he slowly destroys the ground bellow him, and Xandra snipes him, sapping him of his new god-tier power up and causing his platform to crumble, with the boys escaping falling to earth like the two of them thanks to jose hooking the tree with his cain. As I said this episode shows how far the boys have come: from greedy idiots who were scared.. to true heroes ready to step up, running away when tactically advantageous and easily taking on the main villians and coming up with a plan to beat them on the fly. That.. is what I wanted going into the show and if nothing else this episode gives me that. Also the girls talked to xandra earlier and I missed it. Eh. We do get a nice moment though of the boys telling Xandra she does fit in.. with them. And really as far as i’m concerned she’s one of the cabs, so I like this moment a lot.. I just wish it didn’t ring so hollow with everything else going on.  Overall this ep is okay.. it has it’s moments but the Xandra side of thing just.. drains a lot of the life out of it. What COULD’VE been a solid character building episode makes her come off as a selfish, impatient insenstive asshole who’s trying to crowbar the past in instead of accepting her friends as who they’ve become in the centuries she’s been gone, though Sheldgoose and the boys do keep this from being awful. SPEAKING OF AWFUL. 

No Man is an Easter Island: 

This.. was a rough one. Not going to sugarcoat it. This episode was not very good despite some good segments and despite not mocking a serious mental issue, it’s somehow more obnoxious. The PTSD thing was clearly a mistake.. this.. this was intentional. Let’s tear this one apart shall we? So we open with Sheldgoose and Feldrake where they were last time, Easter Island. It turns out in this unvierse hte moai are actually giant stone men and their heads are the only things visable because the rest of hteir body is undreground, stomping out surfer dude lava lizards who want to come to the surface and burn it. Feldrake.. decides this is a great idea and agrees to help, as does sheldgoose. 

Seriously Feldrake wants to CONQUER the world. In fact he did it once already. We’re not talking about someone like say Negaduck, who I talked about earlier this week: while he MIGHT conquer, he gets just as much joy out of mindless violence and would gladly blow up the world him and all just for the hell of it. Feldrake is your classic evil overloard and wants to RULE the world not destroy it and wouldn’t be happy without something to lord over and terrorize. And Sheldgoose wants the same and is presumibly sticking around to backstab his ancestor at the first opportunity to steal his power for his own. How does setting the world on fire, literally, benefit either of them? Sure they COULD take over int he aftermath, but that’s after the lizards have likely destroyed most of the world, not even taking into account the vast amount of water and infastructure and the size of their home means they’ll run out of troops to use as a living bridge, cool as that is, eventually. Humans would have to invent ways to transport them and given as far as I know we have a through understnading of lava and magma, we’d instead be working on weapons. The lizards woul dmake a good army under the right leadership to sidestep this.. but as a world ending threat while they’d still cause untold damage in lives and suffering, I just don’t see them being enough to conquer the world. It just makes no sense.  The one thing that salvages it and this episode is what happens next, which i’m skipping ahead to because it’s my blog and I do this how I want: Feldrake TRIES just shooting the moai with his magic.. but the one he tries it on just has it harmlessly bounce off.. which given their dealing with magical fire creatures makes sense. So Sheldgoose instead steps in to Feldrake’s reluctance.. and shows his own talents. As a university head and professional asshole, he can manipulate with the best and talks the moai’s into taking a vacatoin, using the staff to hyponotize them so they don’t think about the downsides. It’s.. really fucking awesome honestly, and shows off that Sheldgoose is like the boys: a comical moron yes.. but VERY dangerous in the right cirucmastances. While he did use his great great great grampa’s magic for this a bit with the hypnosis, it’s his manpulations that MAADE the hypnosis work: by giving the moai something they WANT, a vacatoin and a break from a thankfless job, it means they aren’t acitvely trying to break his control no matter what happens and he and Feldrake can focus on freeing the lizards. And on top of that.. Wayne Knight gets one HELL of a musical number, sing talking to the beat as he manipulates and hypnotizes the moai and encourages their partying. While the main plan is dumb the plan to get there is just glorious to watch and Sheldgoose’s finest hour thus far and again we get to hear wayne knight SING. Kinda. And I will not trade that for anything. 

So what are the Cabs up during this? hanging out, playing cards and doing friend stuff like Panchito doing a dive and them catching him. Jose claims nothing could split us up.. and cue Daisy. 

It.. it’d been so nice without her. And you may recall last time she showed up while I didn’t like her or her actions or how it was written.. she was at least KINDA tolerable. Still a total bitch but you know she MIGHT have had a point and we might learn more about her history with donald. 

Yeah this episode cements that this Daisy is awful and Donald is better off without her. She shows up because the girls talked Donald up, beause their angels.. and also because they apparently live with him now? Like.. don’t Daisy, who dosen’t think Donald’s responsible or their parents, whoever the hell they are, have.. issues with them suddenly living with three 30 something men and an xty hear old Goddess. I mean.. that sould raise a few thousand flags, but frankly at this point if your wondering why a child is living iwth a disney character instead of your parents their probably dead or on the moon. That’s not the problem here.  No the problem her is again, somehow twice in a row, Xandra. After great introductions to both the boys to daisy, Jose flirts and Panchito shakes her hand a bit too hard, same as it ever was, Donald TRIES to bring up being a cabllero.. and Xandra prevents him then explains outside after the girls smooth things over why: telling daisy would bring her into his world and all the dangers with it.....

I HATE this trope. I hate it so fucking much. See i’m a superhero guy. I’ve made no attempt to hide this. So you can imagine the number of times i’ve seen a hero hide their ID and use this fucking excuse “They’ll get hurt if they know” or “it’s too much of a risk” or “blah blah blah bullshit reason for not telling my partner the truth”.  Now i’m not saying the secret idtentity or having some sort of secret world saving thing are bad tropes. They are valid stories for a reason. Sometimes you CAN’T: Peter Parker didn’t tell Aunt May because she had a weak heart, Thor dind’t tell jane foster because his dad was a dick who’d go after her any time he tried and when he finally did.. still did shit to break them up. Because Odin is an asshole. Ms. Marvel didn’t tell her parents because she thought they’d stop her and when her dad found out, if sadly breifly, you can guess what happen. Miles Morales didn’t because he was terrified he’d be homeless as his dad HATED mutants, which he thought he was and wasn’t fond of viglantes, and to make matters worse his mother later DIED, she got better as of secret wars, in a spider-man fight, if not thanks to him obviously, so when Miles DID tell him Jefferson abandoned him for months. He’s gotten FAR better since then and really grown as a person, but my point stands: I’ts okay to hide your id at first to protect yourself as a hero: it’s okay to want to make sure a partner dosen’t out you to the press or something and is stable and loving enough before you tell htem. And it’s okay to not tell them something if htey probably wont’ belivie it or might not be prepared just yet. Now if they have some reason to hate the other you you should probably either tell them and see what happens or explain things, like Peter should’ve tried explaning what happened with Gwen’s dad to her, or break it off for their own good, which will devistate them, but is better than lying to them.  And that’s the problem: As Wonder WOman said in a shockingly obnoxious movie, “Nothing good comes from lies”.. and while groosly oversimplified.. is not wrong here. Nothing good comes from lying to your partner day in and day out. I’ts why more modern works have deconscruted it: Miles, again, had a girlfriend named Barbra, but the recent run broke them up.. however they did so cleverly by having Miles refuse to tell her his id despite her having figured it out and her leaving him for hiding stuff from her. That’s what would REALLY happen. A long term partner isn’t going to tolerate you LYING to them and ducking out constnatly to save the world. Eventually you either have to let them go or try and tell them. I’ve been in barely any relationships but I was ALWAYS honest because again, nothing good comes from lying to your partner. Nothing good comes from deciving them and basically gaslighting them for “their own good”. If their with you and your an adventuer, super hero or what have you.. their in danger. So either don’t date them and find someone your speed like another hero or some mythical being, or TELL THEM and let THEM decide if it’s too much. This kind of bullshit is manipulative, cruel and selfish and I thought we’d settled it. 

And while Donald was intending to tell Daisy to impress her, a bad reason i’ll admit... he was trying to be honest. But the EPISODE tries to portray it as a good thing and as him being noble. It isn’t. He’s listneing to a bad person, who has to EARN my good will back after this, whose only in it for herself. No really she only has the two go out because she’s tired of donald pining for daisy. 

I mean i’ts been a month, and the girls are around but she hasn’t come up once during the last few episodes. So this comes out of nowhere and makes Xandra into a selfish jackass who is willing to send her friend off to lie to his partner with NO cover story for his actions to make him look good just to shut him up. This is someone who need I remind you can travel the world in an instant and knows a lot of magical beings who’d understand donald’s line of work. Instead of setting him up with one of them and abandoning daisy she sets up a doomed relationship. Oh and she and the boys whine about being bored without donald. Fuck off.. not you josea nd panchito, while extra dumb this episode the boys just genuinely miss their best friend and it’s endearing. Xandra though.. she can fuck off. As mentioned Daisy is not much better, and spends the date grilling donald about what he does , as AGAIN, XANDRA GAVE HIM NO COVER STORY OR JOB OR ANYTHING. Now granted she’s hundreds of years old, so she probably wouldn’t have a good one anyway... but she’s the one who INSISTs ON IT BEING A SECRET. And as the girls have shown, again knowing that secret does not hurt. Their mission control, Daisy could be too. Worst she could want is to JOIN them and given the boys started with no experince and are now certified ass kickers... why can’t she be one too? It feels less like Xandra looking out for Daisy and more that Xandra just dosen’t wnat her in her club.. which fair but still.  The point is Daisy still treats donald as shifty and worthless, despite no evidence to this as whiel he has his faults doing nothing is not worth them and even says when he tries to spin it as “helping those in need”  “How can you help other people if you can’t help yourself?”

I mean it’d be something to ponder and a great thesis statment.. in another story. Or even in this one.. if it’d been set up that Donald had been irresponsible. Someone willing to abandon others, prone to anger and a bit of a goofus, all true. But it really says how little you think of him Daisy that you can’t even picture him helping people and assume it’s some excuse. That you clearly hate your ex so much, clearly think of him as so much less than you that youc an’t FATHOM he’s doing good stuff and only think he’s gottne better when he pampers you with fizzy water, though it nicely has scrogoe on the bottle so good little nod there, and lobster. Seriously she dosen’t turn around till the girls, dressing up as a waiter , offer that. I..can’t fathom why we’re supposed to root for this relationship between a flawed but hardworking person.. and his ex partner who STILL never apologized for the brithday thing despite his FUCKING HOUSE BURNING DOWN, i.e. e the THING HE WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN, and then spends dinner doubting he’s doing anything with his life, distruting both him and his nieces. 

And.. it gets worse. Yes.. yes it somehow gets worse. No foolin. So the bell is sound and Xandra FORCIBLY ABDUCTS DONALD FROM THE DATE SHE TOLD HIM TO GO ON. And both come out really bad, if worse on Xandra’s end by a mile. Donald is refusing to go help save the world or whatever for a date with someone that DOES NOT appricate him and only accepts bribes. Tha’ts a dick move even if he dosen’t realize he’s in an abusive relationship to put getting laid over the world’s saftey.  That being said.. Xandra STILL comes off worse. Despite having the moral high ground.. Xandra dosen’t KNOW what the threat is, or if they really need him, drags him out, dosne’t let him explain to daisy, and then barely lets him go back when it seems it’s just a party. Then drags him back AGAIN when their backs are against the wall without feeding daisy an explination or really caring she broke things up just halfheartdly saying she’ll forgive him and Donald saying “You don’t know daisy”. None of them come off well. Again the boys only aren’t loathsomebecause their oblivoius and just want their best friend back. If the other episode hadn’t already damaged Xandra enough i’m DEEPLY worried she won’t be able to walk this one back. Daisy certainly fucking won’t. 

So yeah our heros deal with the moai and the lava lizards, as the boys fail to get the moai to go back to their job and the lizards unleash their wonderfuly weird queen who rides a bridge of them to the mainland.. fucking love that. When things get dire Xandra does aformentioned forcing donald to come back without actually helping him with daisy or just TELLING HER AND OH MY GOD LET’S JUST MOVE ON. Fuck this episode is aggravating me. 

We do get a nice bit where donald’s angry dance inspires the moai to imitate it.. and thus stomps out the laval lizards and gives our heroes an opening, and Donald DOES prove his worth by having the moai do the belly flop from earlier to stop the queen, causing the rest of the lizards to flee and our heroes to win. Yay.. I guess. Donald goes back to find Daisy gone. 

He dosen’t see it that way and the girls say while he’s still a mess, what he did was noble. that sucks, and they leave him a massive bill instead of paying for it with their tips because their the ones who brought in the fancy food to ply their aunt. Fuck. this. episode.  Final Thoughts for This one: I belivie I said FUCK THIS EPISODE. It had it’s moments, the musical number, the moai beach party, my boys.. but the sheer obnoxiousness, cliche plot that has been throughly shredded for good reason and isn’t in use anymore about secret lives, and Daisy, Xandra and to a very lesser Extent Donald all being deeply unlikable. This episode is just REALLY fucking bad. HOpefully the series gets back on it’s feet next time. Until the next rainbow.. I really need a frigging gatorade. I.. I don’t drink booze. This is one of those times I wish I did. Goodnight everybody. 

[shiny-procrastinates]

(re)Watching Magia Record S1 - part 7

part 6 here

Hello everyone and welcome back to this quasi-watchalong of Magia Record season 1! Last time, Iroha met a magical girl mercenary called Felicia, and the two ended up caught in the Rumor of the Lucky Owl Water. When our girls went to erase it, a cult group of weirdos called The Wings of the Magius stood in their way and got Felicia to join them promising the extinction of all witches.

Who are these weirdos? What are they up to protecting the Rumors? Is what they promised Felicia true? Et cetera, et cetera. Let's just go to the episode to find out already.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record S1 episode 7

O-oh... what a way to start an episode, huh.

We get a look into what led to Felicia becoming a magical girl and, like most magical girl backstories, it's tragic. This is the reason why Felicia's obsessed with destroying all witches.

Continuing from the previous episode, Felicia was taken to a subterranean waterway, that might be their hideout. Wait, didn't Kaede say something about a rumor of a giant underground empire some time back? She might've been right after all hahaha

After walking a while, Felicia is met by Tsukasa and Tsukuyo Amane, two of the, uh, generals I guess I could say, of The Wings of the Magius.

The weirdo twins explain that their organization's objective is fulfilling the wishes of the Magius, whose objective is the salvation of all magical girls. See, so they are the ones behind the salvation propaganda.

The twins say their objective cannot be completed without the eradication of witches, which... well, is not a lie. Without the witchfication, there would be no witches. It's all fine until there, but then they're also protecting Rumors, who kidnap people, so... yeah.

...uh, hey, Kyoko? What are you doing here?

Back to Iroha's group, Iroha is worried about just letting Felicia go like that, to which Yachiyo answers it's fine because she planted a GPS on her... sasuga, Yachiyo. Why in the heck did you have that?

"Am I being tracked too...?”

Yachiyo says this much is normal (no it's not), since she didn't trust Felicia to begin with, but Iroha just feels bad knowing Felicia's circumstances.

The trio heads towards Felicia's position and find the entrance to the waterway. Waiting for them there was...

Chibi Kyuubei. For as adorable as he is, he manages to look even more suspicious than the original. And he only shows up when there's a rumor around, too! I don't trust him.

Back at the underground waterway, Kyoko and Felicia are having a little chat. According to her, Kyoko only just ran into them too. She says that as long as she has Grief Seeds, food and a place to sleep, the rest doesn't matter, but she also seems to be aware that the WoM are fishy. Felicia agrees uneasily, but hearing that they might be behind the witches gathering in Kamihama seems to already have put doubts in her mind.

The two have a meeting with the Amane twins inside the Rumor's barrier.

The twins explain the logic behind the Lucky Owl Water once again, and Kyoko says this

There it is! This series' core. Funny hearing that from Kyoko, since I think she doesn't even know how right she is yet.

Kyoko rejects the Water and lays out her terms: as long as she can keep gathering Grief Seeds, she's fine with anything. However, the twins affirm that those are not necessary in Kamihama. Normally, I'd say these two are bonkers, but... well, we saw what happened to Iroha and Kaede. These two must know about that too. At this moment, a black feather comes in and interrupts their little show.

Iroha's group was making their way through the waterway when the Amane twins block their way and, together with them, Kyoko and Felicia.

The Amane twins tell Iroha to do what they say if she doesn't want to be swallowed by bad luck and Iroha asks them why would they create that Rumor, to which the twins once more say it's for the sake of the Magius and their salvation. See, cult.

Yachiyo cuts to the chase and confirms they're here to battle, and the twins pull out something strange on them.

So, yeah. There's pocket monsters, and now we have pocket witches too, apparently.

The twins called a witch upon our girls, which, according to them, they are controlling with magic. As the girls begin fighting against their familiars, Yachiyo asks the twins if they have any idea of what exactly they're doing. Tsukasa apologizes, but affirms that witches will be gone if they can realize their plans. The twins (literally) pull the rug on Yachiyo and Tsuruno and chase after them, leaving the (weak) Iroha to Kyoko and Felicia.

Iroha gets whacked by the familiars and Felicia comes in to help. Iroha then once again dashes in her direction and they do a connect. Upon further thought, I think Iroha's assist is a booster in a more literal sense, since it turned Felicia's hammer into a rocket-hammer. My theory is that it's the same propulsion magic that makes her crossbow work.

Felicia's hammer causes a quake and one of the twins asks what's going on. Well, what did you think would happen if you released a witch in front of someone who notoriously goes berserk when they see witches? The twins might not be very smart.

Damn, I missed a number.

Kyoko bounces too. She wasn't very convinced with the twins' vague talk of "salvation".

After transforming, Kyoko does her good act of the day, busting a hole in the barrier and telling Iroha to go on ahead. Iroha hesitates to leave her friends behind but obeys when Yachiyo tells her to go.

With Kyoko guarding her back Iroha manages to make it out of the witch's p*kéball and into the Rumor's barrier. Like it's said, out of the frying pan into the fire. Oh and there's 7-6. I'm really missing numbers left and right today.

No Iroha, don't go chase the Kyuubei towards the light...! Just kidding. Iroha gets out of the tunnel and finds the Rumor's main body. She confirms with her tutorial mascot if she only has to break that, readies her crossbow and... gets swarmed by owls. C'mon Iroha, did you really think it'd be that easy?

While Iroha's busy sucking at battles, Felicia's not having a better time with her reckless style either. Kyoko saves her ass and tells her she's not winning like that.

This whole sequence is just great in terms of animation, shame I can't really screenshot that T-T

As someone on a similar spot, Kyoko gives Felicia some advice, telling her she's a magical girl for her own sake; that's how it should be when she's betting her own life.

The two cooperate on destroying the witches, with Felicia bonking the whole barrier to smithereens. Nice job, rocket-hammer!

The girls go back to the waterway and the twins' Soul Gem is quite drained. Tsuruno tells them to stop already, but these two weirdos say that's just what they wanted.

Saying that they'll be able to show that Kamihama is a place of salvation, the two do the same thing Iroha and Kaede had done.

Uhhh... if the salvation that the Magius is preaching is spewing out a witch from your body, that's already super fishy. There's no way there's no downside to this. This is Madoka we are talking about... right...?

While Yachiyo's group learns a shocking and disturbing truth, Iroha's busy getting her ass kicked. Poor Iroha

and oh god, I don't think anyone would ever catch this number if they weren't pausing as much as I am to write this.

Iroha keeps getting wrecked by the owls, miraculously escaping unscathed thanks to the Lucky Owl Water. As the numbers keep counting down, Iroha starts questioning what happened to her back in the Seance Shrine. Uh, Iroha, is this really the best time to be introspecting?

No matter how many times I see it, this scene still creeps me out.

While Iroha gets another round of spawning a witch, Yachiyo's group fight the twins', to no avail. Back to Iroha...

Oh no the witch talks now? Eek... oh, wait wait is this still Iroha's voice?

Not that the first thing it said is wrong, but Yachiyo's words really remained in a negative manner, huh? First in the Seance Shrine and now this. Iroha, don't go getting yourself killed trying to become stronger, ok?

A-at least it's a bit cuter now... if you can call a witch that... rather, why did it change?

Iroha's thing makes short work of the Rumor and the Chibi Kyuubei peaces out. As if it wasn't suspicous enough, it turns into freaking water. Goddammit Chibi Kyuubei.

Iroha just lies there tired.

Uhh... yeah, sure, if you count an eldritch abomination coming out of you as part of yourself, then yeah you did.

Like last time, Iroha's Soul Gem is pristine clean now.

Back to the twins, thanks to the floating water falling they realize that the Rumor's been defeated , then start panicking.

"Someone", whose voice we're already familiar with, comes in to check on the situation and the twins apologize for their failure.

Whelp, this is awkward. Hello there, Mifuyu. So you joined a cult.

Tsuruno gets really emotional. She runs up and hugs Mifuyu. who stops the Black Feathers from attacking her. Tsuruno's really glad that she's back and says they'll have to make a "Welcome Back Party" at her family's restaurant, but Mifuyu says she's not going back, because she's part of the cult The Wings of the Magius now. (couldn't they choose a shorter name for their group? Geez)

Mifuyu shifts her attention to Yachiyo and says she's happy that they went even to Seance Shrine to search for her; Yachiyo says it's thanks to the Kamihama Rumor Files (the notebook Yachiyo carries around) that she left behind.

Yachiyo asks but Mifuyu implies she's the one that was left behind.

Mifuyu invites Yachiyo to join the cult but Yachiyo, obviously, can't agree with their methods. She questions if Mifuyu hadn't resolved herself as a magical girl but Mifuyu, like we saw in the flashback, really wants to be saved. Yachiyo's the only one who's strong like that.

Yachiyo says she'll stop her by force if she has to and they prepare to battle again, but Mifuyu uses her magic and has her group leave.

Iroha's group leave the underground waterway (seems Kyoko has gone her way already too). Felicia tries to leave too and says she has nowhere to go back to when Iroha stops her and asks, so Iroha tells her to come over to her place.

Felicia says she doesn't have to do that for her, but Iroha says she's doing this for herself, that she needs Felicia's strenght. Felicia argues that Iroha will get in trouble again if she's around and all the girls chip in saying they'll help her learn to hold herself back. (I'm not sure what this far framing is doing but I do like how it lets us see the body expression of all the girls at once.)

Huh, weird, why is the screen so blurry? I can't type like this...

Iroha apologizes for what they said and insists on having Felicia over, even if just for the day. Yachiyo comes in and tells them to stay over at her place instead.

*sobs* so beautiful ;-; I wish I knew the name of the ost track here it's really pretty too.

It really is Kyoko, it really is.

At Yachiyo's place, Iroha's on the phone with her parents while the others wait for her to eat. It seems like her parents finally decided on where she's going to be moving to, and whatever they said was a surprise.

There goes the last number! The Rumor's gone so this has to be purely for the sake of finishing the countdown, but I have long given up on trying to find the ones I'm missing in this episode.

And there's the title card. Don't leave the episode yet, though, as there's still an after credits scene.

To absolutely no one's surprise besides Iroha's, the place her parents decided on is Mikadzuki Villa, Yachiyo's place. Now, I did say that last number must be purely illustrative, but I'm inclined to agree with Iroha here on it being thanks to the Lucky Owl Water since there is no other way I can rationalize Iroha's parents, from overseas, managing to find the phone number of Mikadzuki Villa, that's not even doing boarding anymore, calling while Yachiyo's around to respond, making an agreement to let Iroha live there, and Yachiyo not even telling Iroha her parents called. So yeah, I say it was the Lucky Owl Water.

Felicia comes with Tsuruno and reveals she's also been living in Yachiyo's place. She's happy she'll be freed from living alone with Yachiyo and her "nagging" and Yachiyo tells her to clean up; Iroha says she's glad to see them getting along.

“When did I turn into a mom?“

That's a new type of bishie sparkles alright. Can all models do this? Is it like some special ability like Gabs' censor light rays? We'll never know.

After the various types of ad, now we have spam too. Magia Record is actually warning us about the dangers of the internet.

...In all seriousness though, that's some mysterious text. How do they, whoever "they" are, know that Iroha's a magical girl? And most of all, how do they have her number? Guess this is going to be the mystery for the next episode. (Also, I never noticed this before but you can hear a veeeery quiet chime when the messages come in. Nice detail!).

- x -

Aaaand with that, we have concluded episode 7! This one also ran on longer than I expected and, surprisingly, managed to surpass the number of screenshots of all others at about 43 images. sugoi

I couldn't catch all the numbers this time, but the ones I did were: 13-12 with Iroha on the bridge; 10-9 when Kyoko "betrays" the WoM; 7-6 when Iroha finds the Rumor; 6 through 1 happen while Iroha's fighting the Rumor and the last 1-0 was in Yachiyo's magazine. With that, I'm missing 12-11; 11-10; 9-8 and 8-7, which I have no idea where they are. Oh well.

I realized partway through that it kinda seems like I'm dissing Iroha every chance I get, but I assure you I don't hate her. In fact, she's my favorite character! This is coming purely from a place of affection, and a bit of frustration at what the anime did to her character, so don't mind me, it's aaall good.

With that out of the way, this was episode 7! We are now over halfway through, with a buckload of mysteries and barely any progress being made towards finding Iroha's younger sister. Poor Ui, if you even existed. Tomorrow, we'll be watching episode 8, so I hope you'll read me again then. Have a great morning/afternoon/evening and see you later!

[okageshadowkingfannovel]

Book 2: Chapter 3

“Finally! I feel as if we’ve been putting this off for weeks!”

This is the farthest Ari’s ever been on the path leading out of Tenel village. The villager that’s usually on guard duty is suspiciously absent. Ari stands on that spot, staring at the path that snakes its way through the forest, meets the bridge crossing the river, and then dissolves into the open fields. He swallows hard, trying to steel himself.

“Wouldn’t you agree, slave?” King Stan prattles on, “I mean, it really feels like we’ve had two or three weeks of solid stalling. So. Much. Wasted. Time.”

Ari rolls his eyes, distracted just for a moment from the yawning unknown laid out before him in the daylight. Placing a hand on the sharpened fruit knife on his belt, he takes a deep breath and begins to walk.

It’s going to be ok, he tells himself, it’s going to be ok. It’s going to be ok. I just have to walk really, really fast. Is that a ticking sound?

Ari pauses and looks around along the ground.

“Just one second, Stan,” says Ari before the evil king can roar at him with impatient rage, “found it!”

The ticking leads him to a small patch of grass where a tiny gear waits. It looks just like the one found behind the Nameless Dwelling and just like that one, it stops ticking the moment Ari touches it.

He hears Stan growling.

“Burning …”

“Alright! Alright! I’m going!” Ari protests as he slips the gear into a pocket where it can join its brother.

The boy can’t help but notice that he’s developing a strange new hobby - gear collecting.

I guess it suits an uncool weirdo like me …

Eventually, Ari finds himself at the bridge. It crosses a small ravine that cuts the border of the field. The river tracing down the middle of it flows with a peaceful ease, not at all reflecting the dangers that lay beyond. The bridge itself seems sturdy and safe. It’s made of thick slabs of pale wood. Nothing about the bridge or the ravine or the river gives Ari the slightest hint of worry.

It’s the grassy expanse on the other side, dotted with trees and bushes and bunches of wild grass and suspicious looking patches of bluish fog, that make his heart race and his skin go grossly clammy.

It’s going to be ok. It’s going to be ok. You have Sta- … you have a fruit knife. That’s something.

In preparation, Ari pulls free the fruit knife and holds it ready. He begins to carefully cross the bridge. The farther he goes and the more things don’t happen, the better he begins to feel. The calming sounds of the water below and birds singing from far off in their trees start to soothe the pounding of his heart. Once he gets to the bridge’s midpoint, he might even dare to call himself relaxed.

See? It’s fine. So far, so good …

As soon as the thought passes through his head, a little white cloud fades into view at the far end of the bridge. It possesses wide, yellow eyes and bobs up and down in that all too familiar, ghostly way.

Of course.

Ari stops and Stanley pops up behind him.

“Oh, here is some low class evil being like the one in the church that I smashed for you.”

“It seems so, Evil King Stan.”

“But slave, you should improve your skills.”

“Improve my … what now?”

“Now, slave, destroy the one there. A true servant of mine should be able to do this easily. Now, go!”

Stan suddenly sinks back down, leaving Ari awkwardly and pathetically alone with nothing but a fruit knife.

Ok … ok … ok ok ok. It’s just one ghost, right? I have the fruit knife and … and maybe I can figure out the whole overdrive thing.

“O-o-verdri-”

Before Ari can say the word, a bone-chilling ‘boo’ pipes up from behind him. He turns to see a red ghost coming up from behind, growling and eying him up like a particularly easy and delicious snack.

Stupidly, Ari brandishes the fruit knife, whipping back and forth between the two ghosts. Even he thinks he looks pathetic as the knife shakes violently in his fear plagued fingers.

“St-Stanley? K-k-k-k-king Stanley … uh …”

Nothing happens. The ghosts continue to approach, forcing Ari into the middle of the most unfortunate sandwich of his life.

“Uh … ok … um, h-hello, guys … girls … um, whatever you are.”

The ghosts say nothing - not even a ‘boo.’

“I’m really sorry. I-I just got a little lost. This is your bridge, isn’t it? It’s a nice bridge. Very sturdy. I’ll just … leave your nice bridge alone so I don’t … um, sully it.”

Unfortunately, neither ghost seems inclined to move aside to let him pass.

Whelp, I guess this is it … not even 5 seconds into the wild and I’m about to be eaten.

He feels the stinky, icy breath of peckish ghost death bearing down upon him, caressing his face and slipping down the back of his neck.

“Wait a minute!”

An angel?

The thought is cliché, but being seconds away from being ghost-food, Ari isn’t expecting to hear female voices from anything on the earthly plane. Quickly following it, there come the heavy sounds of running boots hitting wooden planks. The whole event passes in a blur. A series of swish-swish sounds whirlwind around him and a fast passing body knocks him to the ground.

Dizzily, Ari looks up to find the first ghost fading away into nothing. Looking over his shoulder, he finds a similar fate befalling the second.

“Phew! Recently, there have been so many cruddy ghosts floating around. Are you ok?”

Ari gets up slowly, shaking his head to clear the dizziness. He turns and where there was once a ghost, there now stands a beautiful woman.

He shakes his head a bit more and rubs at his eyes for good measure.

She’s still standing there in a very un-hallucination-like manner, staring at him with increasing concern.

The mysterious woman seems to be in her early twenties. She has a slender, but subtly muscular build. It reminds Ari of a dancer, but cooler. She wears a long military style coat with blue trim, shiny gold fasteners, and epaulets. Heavy, calf high boots explain the footsteps Ari heard earlier. And the thin, wickedly sharp sword in her right hand explains the fate of the ghosts.

“Um … are you ok?”

Her face is gorgeous. She has large yellow brown eyes and a firmly set, heroic countenance. A headband that looks suspiciously like a buckled belt keeps back shoulder length locks of golden honey colored hair. In her non-sword holding hand, she carries a delicate pink parasol, keeping her in a patch of cool looking shade.

“Hello?” she says as she smoothly sheaths her sword.

“Oh! Um … y-yeah. I-I’m ok … thanks to you. That was so coo-”

“Don’t walk around so vulnerable like that! You don’t even have a weapon!”

As if in his own defense, Ari holds up the fruit knife. It takes him just a fraction of a millisecond to realize how stupid the defense is.

“What an optimistic attitude! I can’t believe it! Hold on a sec.”

Before Ari can recover his first impression, she passes by him and crosses the bridge to recover a ridiculously large bag that had been thrown to the grass in her haste. Without dropping the parasol or losing a hint of coolness, she rummages around among the bag’s contents.

“Here we are,” she says, slipping out a sheathed sword.

The mysterious woman runs back up to Ari on the bridge.

“Here, take this!” shes says, shoving the sword into Ari’s hand. “You’ll have much better luck fighting ghosts with this.”

“Um, th-thank you. Are you su-”

“It’s a cheapie, but it’s better than that,” she says, nodding towards the fruit knife. “You know how to use a sword, right?”

“Uh, stab it until it dies?”

Her face looks grim, but still cool. “Good enough, I guess. Just … you know, don’t be a sissy. Got it? Ghosts can smell an easy, fearful meal from a mile away. They’ll be all over you if you don’t toughen up a bit.”

“Right! Thank you! … um, can I have your na-”

“Oh no! It’s already that late! I have to go or he’ll … I gotta go!”

The mysterious woman suddenly takes off running, back from whence she came.

“Good luck, kid!” she calls over her shoulder.

Ari watches until she disappears into the fog and wild grass and trees.

“Damn!”

Ari jumps.

“I didn’t have time to appear! Who was that anyway?!”

“Probably the coolest person I’ve ever met …” he replies wistfully as he looks down at the leftover sword.

Ari returns the fruit knife to its clip and sets to work strapping the sword sheath to his belt.

“You are a pathetic thing, slave. Two lowly beings show up and you cower like a troll!”

“Well, it’s not like I have any powers that will cause things to be consumed by black flames of infinite evil … like somebody I know.”

“On top of that, you were saved by some passing hag!”

“Hag? Are you nuts? She was so cool! Plus, she gave me this!”

With a clumsy flourish, Ari whips out the sword. It’s light enough to be shakily lifted by one arm. The edges seem comfortingly sharp, glinting in the sunlight.

King Stan sighs angrily. “Oh well. Be grateful that my evil hand is merciful to my servants. Seeing how pathetic you are in battle, maybe I’ll render you aid from time to time.”

“Well, that’s good of you … nice knowing my life means so much to you that you may help out.”

“But you must still become stronger! Discipline yourself by making your way to Madril and giving any lower being that crosses your path a good thrashing! We’re going to have issues if you can’t protect yourself. Don’t forget that your shadow houses the great Evil King Stan!”

With that, the great Evil King Stan disappears and Ari’s left alone with nothing but a sword and a ghost infested open field.

Somehow, despite such a disastrous start, Ari doesn’t feel as doomed as he did before. He’s pretty sure it has something to do with the sword clutched in his right hand. Thinking of how cool the mysterious woman was, he slashes the air, enjoying the wind cutting swish noise it makes.

Ok … let’s try this setting out thing one more time.

NOTE: Okage Shadow King is owned by Sony Computer Entertainment and Zener Works. This novelization is purely a fan-work and the writer claims no ownership over the characters, general plot line(s), etc.

[indipindy16]

Heyyyyy, so about that doc with the AU ideas.... (Please feed me I yearn for content)

im obsessed with the idea of monoma and aizawa being related to afo lol. you only see like 3 quirks in the whole series that are based on other quirks - what i would call ‘meta quirks,’ that would only have any function in a world of quirked people. so ofc these 3 quirks have to be related:

afo decided to have a bunch of kids, to see if he could make noumus out of them which retained their brains after being given a bunch of quirks. he impregnated a bunch of women lol, but he kept tabs on them. as soon as the kids turned 4 and presented their quirk, they would be kidnapped by the doctor and brought into the lab. most of the kids had quirks based on quirks (seeing quirks, stealing quirks, copying quirks, erasing quirks…) and are various ages. aizawa, monoma and midoriya were some of them, but aizawa got saved by his badass mother when he was still a kid, so he was already gone by the time midoriya and monoma came around. the two of them manage to escape while afo is still recovering from his fight with all might, and since monoma’s mother was killed by afo, he goes to live with midoriya and his mother. they go off the grid and run away from afo. in this au midoriya is quirkless, up until he meets all might and it goes as usual. umm could be from monoma’s pov, and include monoshin because that’s cute. basically after the sports festival, afo finds monoma again and in the summer camp they kidnap him instead of bakugou. (the reason why aizawa was never caught or taken back by afo is because he won the whole sports fest and became too famous/well protected to be easily stolen back - since monoma didn’t make the fight rounds, he’s a perfect target. afo only knew the kids by their quirks, he never actually met them, so he doesn’t realise that midoriya is one of his kids as well because mido has a quirk now.) anyway so after they kidnap monoma back, he and midoriya spill the beans to the ua faculty, aizawa has a midlife crisis over the fact that he now has younger siblings, and afo continues to be a dick who doesn’t pay child support.

just some sweets stuff as well:

Christmas cake: Japanese slang for an unmarried woman over 25 who is considered undesirable as a wife, in the same way that Christmas cakes are considered useless after Christmas Day.

Good thing for Jirou, she never cared much about being ‘desirable’ to the opposite sex anyway.

-> a momojirou story about jirou’s 26th birthday and momo reassuring her that she is the best gf ever, and that she loves her very much. pro hero gfs <3

*

like. the trope of aizawa adopting shinsou? well what about instead… hawks adopting tokoyami?? maybe he comes from a super religious family and they tried to exorcise the ‘demon’ from him, protective services put him in the foster system, and he ends up with really shitty foster families, and his quirk is considered ‘dangerous.’ but then our boy hawks swoops in and goes ‘u know what? i’m not letting my intern get disrespected like this’ and adopts him. obviously hawks is still young himself (22 i think), so he’s not very good at the whole parenting thing, but miruko helps him out. he becomes an older brother figure for tokoyami. gen found family fluff ensues

*

bEST JEANIST AS A TEENAGE FASHION ICON

thats it, thats the idea

*

HAIKYUU AU - no quirks. just volleyball

so the ua boys volleyball team is on the rocks. its been pretty much non-existent and turned to dust at this point. but, it once own the nationals.

izuku’s mum runs this second hand / antique / trinket store, and izuku helps out sometimes. one day, he finds some old sports tapes in the back and watches them - they’re of the year when ua was at nationals, and their striker, yagi toshinori, inspires izuku to play volleyball.

bakugo is on the school team and he threatens / bullies izuku not to join, so izuku has to train on his own. he learns shitty technique, but he ends up building some muscle by clearing out the beach.

izuku gets into ua, and when he goes to apply for the volleyball team, ofc bakugo picks a fight. the other first-years who join the team are todoroki, kaminari, shinsou, kirishima, and iida. there aren’t any second years - they all got expelled - but mirio and tamaki are on the team as third years, and nejirou is the team manager. their teacher sponsor is a new teacher this year, and it’s left ambiguous. there’s the whole ‘get over ur differences if u want to join’ thing, and then woohoo! team!

turns out their teacher sponsor is aizawa. he drags in the now-retired-due-to-injury yagi toshinori to be the coach. when aizawa went to ua, the volleyball team was too small to go to any tournaments - he’s determined to turn it around and let these kids live their dreams.

some ‘canon? what’s that?’ ideas:

just a really wholesome story about inko and mitsuki being besties. met in middle school or something, supported each other through everything… just gals being the best of pals...

or i mean u could make it gay, that’s always an option (and have izuku and katsuki grow up as actual bros, and actually be friendly to one another? what a shocker) - like, the two of them get sperm donors and are pregnant at the same time so the kids can be twins or something. and ofc you’d expect katsuki to be closest to mitsuki and for inko to be closest to izuku, but then to make it a TWIST add some great bonding between inko + katsuki and mitsuki + izuku!! i’ve never really seen any mitsuki + izuku bonding in stories before, so that’d be pretty cool

*

izuku gets hit by a villain’s quirk during a big villain attack when he’s 7, turning him part-cat. the villain dies during the attack, so they can’t erase his quirk’s effects - they’d have to surgically remove the ears and tail, or get an expensive quirk specialist in. izuku decides he likes being a nekomimi, so he keeps them and gets being part-cat officially registered as his quirk. he has better senses and agility, and he can talk to cats now i guess. also his eyes are cat eyes. he doesn’t pass the ua exam, so he goes into the general department instead, but he does really well in the sports festival and gets transferred into the hero course with shinsou. (this is all just because i need a valid excuse to make izuku have cat ears.)

some ‘future au’ ideas:

all of the pro heroes merch lines - deku’s ’t-shirt’ shirts, tokoyami’s edgy emo/goth hoodies, iida’s ingenium trainers, bakugou’s popping candy chocolate, todoroki’s own brand of scar cream, HAGAKURE’S CAMO COLLECTION OMG the possibilities are endless  

---i made hagakure’s camo for her bday drawing

(i use a strikethrough so i know which ideas i’ve used or posted anywhere. i think that once i put an idea on the internet, it’s probably free reign, so if you want to use any of these for fics or art go ahead. i’d just appreciate it is you could link back to me haha)

5 years after graduating from the General Studies department of UA, Hitoshi opened his own agency. As a private detective.

By the time he’s 25, he’s settled in and relatively comfortable with his career choice. So when his work phone rings one day and he’s still half-asleep he easily opens with, “Shinsou Detective Agency. Before you ask, I do not investigate cheating spouses or missing dogs and I do not screen potential employees for companies.” He paused. “I’ll investigate missing cats, though.”

The person on the other end took a harsh breath, like an almost-laugh, and responded gruffly, “Hm. Good to know if Jelly ever gets lost.”

-> aka shinsou is a PI and aizawa contacts him for help on a case. aizawa never sought out shinsou after the sports festival, being too busy with 1-a’s insane antics, and so shinsou went on to never become a hero. maybe he’s also a vigilante on the side? idk. anyway so yeah aizawa gives him temporary permission to use his quirk during the case. they investigate, blah blah, the point is that afterwards aizawa gets shinsou a licence and takes him on as a sidekick (the same way ingenium offered to koichi in vigilantes)

i have new ideas on the daily. this doc is just growing

keep in mind, i have given to you here only a few of the shortest ones. there are several huge paragraphs of full-au ideas (like where izuku has a quirk, and the entire story follows canon)

these are, ostensibly, ideas for fics that i never write because i’m lazy. but some of them i do end up using for art or comics, so... yeah. most of the comics i’ve posted were originally just little scripts in this doc. an example:

yamada and reformed!shirakumo are walking together, with coffees

shirakumo: so then i - oh, your phone’s wringing

(yamada’s ringtone is the nyancat song, and the contact name is ‘daddy’)

shirakumo: haha, you still call ur dad ‘daddy’? i thought you got over that in high school (taking a sip on the coffee)

yamada: (answering the phone, keeping eye contact with shirakumo) hey, shouta, what’s up?

shirakumo: (spits out coffee)

—- made this a comic on tumblr

damn this post is longer than i expected

whelp, i hope you liked it

[shesawriter39049]

|THE PLUG|M|JIMIN|21QS|

SUMMARY: Jimin's your "Plug" whose low key kinda becoming your man... so the two of you decide to play a deep yet equally cheeky game of 21 questions in an attempt to get to  know each other deeper than JUST sex!

SMUT/ANGST/ FLUFF

PART 1 OF 3

They’ve both been through some shit, and I think secretly they could always sense that, which is part of why they're drawn to each other.

They're also still coming down from there “Post sex euphoria” so everything's a little hazy

Jimin’s just fuckin perfect….and he can’t keep his hands off the OC to save his life, so there is a lot of kissing and touching mixed in!

Jimin does not have the typical gang-related backstory..so your in for a treat

5K- ISH

You CAN read this as a stand-alone but “The Plug” is a series

NON-SEXUAL WARNINGS: Language, Mentions of abuse, drugs, mental illness, death, violence, coming from a broken home....

SEXUAL WARNINGS: Just a lot of touching, kissing, teasing, light dirty talk,mentions of kinks ...implied smut...it’s gonna end with some actual smut though lol

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

“ I cannot believe you really won't share your Slurpee with me, after I stood there, mixed your 29 thousand flavors. Strategically layered in your random ass gummy candies in the processes..mixed it so damn well you would've thought I was a certified mixologist! Yet you won't share?!”  Both brows completely furrowed in the middle of his face...

I don’t know what’s funnier, the fact that he was genuinely offended or the level of unbothered that danced along your face as you laced your lips around your straw! Accompanied by an almost possessive hold on your cup, from under the over-sized fabric of your hoodie, well Jimin's hoodie actually! You were gripping that cup for dear life, the more he talked!

"Ugh exactly, you had the opportunity to make your own..you didn't…” Shrugging nonchalantly unbothered actually wasn’t even a strong enough word to describe you right now! “I'mma teach you something real quick Y/N is an only child...I don't share.."  

A snort leaving his lips at that "Fuckin brat.." This man sounds far too fond for you to even be offended.

 The minute the two of you approached the light he gripped you by the front of your hoodie. Effortlessly licking his way through your mouth with a low groan that almost sounds impatient. I guess he decided if you wouldn’t actually share..he'd taste it one way or another. A slight moan leaving your lips as you recline your jaw giving him more room to explore your mouth.  I think Jimin's new goal when kissing you was to leave you completely and utterly breathless. The slow, yet skilled languid roll of his tongue against your own, it’s crazy how well he knows your body already! Then, like clockwork, once he has you damn near clawing at his shirt to pull him closer…..

 "Traffic lights are around 120 seconds by the way..." Pulling back with an amused smirk just as the light turned green...you actually wanna choke him out at this point!  

FIRST OFF, I don't think you've ever seen someone look so effortlessly sexy as they drove, posture laxed, seat reclined. One hand on the wheel the other gently stroking your bare thigh, hair slightly wavy, messily tousled out of his face. The angle also reminded you how disrespectfully sharp this man’s jawline is...then your eyes traveled down to his sinfully thick neck, and that's when your first question popped into mind.

(1)“Why do you like to be marked?” The words zipped through the air, thankful that your first question seemed to pop into your head naturally! You didn't want this to feel forced...you just wanted the two of you to almost flow off of each other...

A slow exhale left his chest, reaching over to turn down the radio, licking his lips “I thought we were saving all sexual questions for last? " Brow quirked in your direction as he glanced over briefly, just enough for you to be reminded that Jimin was fine as fuck.

"We are...but I don't think your reasons purely sexual..." Adjusting your posture so you were almost laying on your side. Gazing over at him a little too fondly for your liking ...but you couldn't help it...

You could already see the smirk playing on his face even though he wasn't looking at you "It's not that I like to be marked...I just like to be marked by you…” Turning his head just enough to catch your expression as he said what you kind of already knew. Still, you can’t help but find yourself repeatedly baffled by how straightforward this man was. Throat feeling dry as all hell, regardless of the fact that you’re currently inhaling your Slurpee as we speak! “And your right… I've grown to realize ..the reason stems deeper than just my dick getting hard every time you do it …though...that’s diffidently a plus”

Humming low around the straw, you’re all ears…and if you didn't know any better the man next to you may have been blushing!

”Do you remember what color lipstick you had on the first time we met?” Eyes going completely wide at the question, mind drawing straight blanks because what!? The lack of response triggered a low chuckle to rumbled in his chest. “I do,it was a deep red..almost burgundy actually...”

The fact that he even remembered that, you’d be lucky if an ex remembered your damn birthday nevertheless a lipstick hue....

”We were both drunk as hell, but I’ll fast forward because I have another question for you separately in regards to that night in general…”

Already well aware of what he was getting at, whelp, the chances of you getting through this without crying are completely out the window now!

“When we were making out, and dancing all over each other in the club, you ended up kissing me every damn where..one place, in particular, was my neck. Which is common” Shrugging slightly, pausing to temporally focus on the road as thee was someone in front of you going negative two!, So Jimin opted to swerve lanes. 

“I didn't even notice until the morning but when I woke up it was like...I still had little memories of you crawling all over my skin. I couldn’t get you outta my head even if I wanted too....” Now theirs no hiding it, he, is blushing and it has your toe curling. 

“ Then...months later when I came over for the delivery, and we ended up actually having sex, the first thing you did when I slid you onto my lap was latch onto my neck like it was yours! As if to mark your territory.” Turning his head to yours lightly a slight smirk before bringing his attention back to the road. “Of course sexually it felt amazing because I like pain, and you went, in..fuck” A slight moan fell off his lips as he released the moment, and suddenly you really wanted to straddle his lap again. 

“...Then the next morning even though you were gone..you really weren’t, every time I looked at my shoulder, or my neck...it was like I could  feel every second of that night, over and over again....” Suddenly Jimin went from just rubbing your thigh to kneading them between those skilled fingers of his....edging higher and higher. 

Fuck.

“ I was never one for hickeys or bite marks, not because I think it’s trashy or anything clearly I'm not one to judge. But because I never liked someone leaving their mark on me. I didn't like the idea of someone looking at me and knowing someone’s had me..that someone left a piece of themselves on my skin...until you…”

There was a slight pause that felt like it lasted for HOURS, why did you wanna do this again!?  This was only the first question and you felt light headed!

“For some reason I just really liked the idea of having you on my skin, of knowing you were there and that spot it just as much yours as it is mine…” Sinking his teeth into his bottom lip trying to hide the very timid almost bashful smile that moved up his face “I don't know...even from jump there was just always something very intimate about that..with you… Something that’s stemmed a little deeper than just a pain kink..”

Fuckkkk, your face was hot, your entire body was hot, and not even in a sexual way...just ...damn, Jimin just flat out admitted he likes the idea of almost “belonging to you” in the most primal sense of the word! You know he’s very open, not one for games which is refreshing to a the least but that doesn't make his bluntness any less dizzying!

Your eyes screamed how flustered you were, as you gazed up at him, not even sure how to respond to that, but before you even had a chance too…..

(2)“Why do you sub for me...effortlessly....beautifully actually...when your clearly not a sub by nature?” His pause was intentional...trying to read your body language a little. 

“ And yes, in the same notion...I’m pretty sure your reasons not purely sexual either baby…” Continuously rubbing soothing circles in your thigh as you slouched down in your seat even more….it was like he knew he was probing at a sensitive topic even before he gauged your reaction. 

“Well, ugh..fuck” A shaky breath fluttered through your chest and you can’t help but chuckle at how awkward you currently feel...Believe it or not, you actually didn't see this one coming/ However this was your idea, he didn't hold back so neither were you!

“I’ve always felt the need to have control in my life which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but sometimes it’s exhausting to be real. Honestly, it’s because I’ve been let down a lot, so I find it hard to just...let go...” It’s actually a little sad how nonchalant those words left your lips, as if you aren’t even phased by disappointment anymore!

The slow nod he gave as you spoke was comforting, almost as if to say he kinda already figured that played a major part in your sexual preferences.  Your issues with being in “control” trusting people…his coloration also shows that both of you were actually very much in tune with one another ..more than just sexually! Even if you’d never realized it until now.

“So ya know the saying…”if you want something done right, ya gotta do it yourself…” I guess I applied that to my sex life as well!  I’ve always wanted to be able to just lay there, and let my partner have free reign and control over my body ...” 

A pregnant pause fluttered through the air and it wasn’t at all intentional ..for some reason you felt felt..nervous...being this open and honest and he could tell right away…

“Take your time, it’s just you, me and the highway for another 30 miles baby...I got nothin but time…”

Clearing your throat before continuing, voice a little shakier this time around, “I’ve always wanted to be able to give someone full control and still be comfortable and confident enough, that I didn’t have to be in control to get what I need. Of course, shit like that doesn’t flow well in one night stands, because you don’t have time to get to know one another. So I am speaking in the instances of a reoccurring partner, somebody that could take over and I  could still be purely satisfied because in case you can’t tell I’m not one to fake a damn thing…” An airy chuckle fluttered into the air breaking up the tension a little.

“Up until I met you I never felt like I could just kind of “be”...in the moment ya know? Not think about a damn thing...or HAVE to give instruction to feel like my needs would be fulfilled.”

The cool breeze wisping through the car was a good filler..as you stumbled through your thoughts.. The slight hum from the wind silenced any awkwardness that tried to linger in the air.

“I don’t know how to explain it..my mind and body was just naturally at ease with you...I just felt safe....which is odd because I didn't really know you. Yet for some reason I could just tell..that in “that” moment..when we were tangled up doing whatever..I didn't have to worry or think..I could just close my eyes and feel. Have a little escape from reality..live in a world where someone else was in control and it wouldn’t all go to shit! I don’t know...It probably sounds supid but-” Flagging your hand in the air almost as if to disregard your entire statement.

“What??!” Turning his head so his eyes could meet your briefly, he actually looked offended, to be honest, “Nothing about that was stupid, Y/N thats what sex is...it’s pleasure but it’s also an escape...it’s meant to make you feel good..to relive your body of all it’s stress and bullshit! There’s nothing wrong with you just wanting to...be in the moment, and just let yourself be used in any way you want…anyway you need” His entire delivery changed within seconds your thighs were instantly humming, as Jimin’s bedroom voice slid through the air.

The circles he was tracing up your thigh with his fingers..started edging higher and higher up your leg “Aye..” Pausing until you made eye contact with him, “Do you know how sexy that is!? How damn good that makes me feel?” I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again...this man’s voice...just the right about of need laced through his tone. Just enough to make you wanna give him whatever the hell he wanted! 

“To know that I can be that for you..that you trust me enough when I’m wrapped around you to just do whatever the fuck I want? Be the one to give you everything you need.... and then some….”  There was just the perfect blend of genuine care, appreciation, and of course pure, PURE smugness that moved between his tone and his face. Ya know what!? You couldn't even be mad because dammit he deserved it!

“I mean...there’s a reason I keep comin right??” Brow quirked at the blatant innuendo laced within that…. Biting down on your bottom lip tentatively as you pondered how to transition to this next question. Placing your hand over his..intertwining his fingers with yours instantly….

A humm leaving his lips at that, kissing the back of your hand...

(3) “Ummm...hopefully this isn’t too personal but you were the one that brought it up earlier so of course I’m curious. What’s the deal with your family, you don’t have to share more than you’re ready to but I am just- “

“My dad’s a total piece of shit” Was the first thing that slipped past his lips more casual than expected….. Your lips forming the “O” shape...as you stared back at him...not sure how to process that actually…

“He was barely around, and very, very abusive... “ The emphasis on that had your stomach doing 386373 knots “I’m first-generation Korean -American...so both of my parents are Korean born with very thick accents, they struggled with jobs. My sperm donor did manual labor and my mother often cleaned houses ..and or waitressed.” The grip on he held on your hand only got tighter the more he spoke.

“When I was 15, my father left for 5 months, so my older brother and I both got jobs to help support my mom. Luckily the house was paid off so we didn't have many bills..but my mom fell into a very..very deep stage of depression ...” Bringing his hand up to your mouth..kissing it gently which made him smile a little. Even though it was clear he was letting himself fall back into that headspace..almost as if he were reliving it all over again...

“ She was one of those women that I think... felt like she needed validation from my father and felt as though there was something wrong with her because HE couldn't pull his shit together.  One night I got a call at work, my “dad” had beat my mom to the point of her almost going unconscious…” You could literally hear the lump in his throat at that..slowly running your thumb over his palm….repeatedly. Dusting your lips over the back of his hand...as you watched his jaw, and grip on the steering wheel tighten.

“She cried to me and my brother, that she couldn't afford to leave him...I had saved up some money...from working at a bowling alley...and at multiple little mom and pop restaurants. We moved her into a trailer...so she could have freedom! It was low income the rent wasn't shit! She went back to waitressing...shit was cool for hell I don't know maybe 2 months! Then I come home one night after working a double at fucking 16 years old..and all his shit is moved back in...”

You had a gut feeling this was going one of two ways...neither were the most warming

“We got into it..bad… real bad…” Eyes cutting over to yours briefly and they were almost pitch black “I beat the fuck outta  him, and I still don’t regret it, he’s lucky I didint kill his ass. He’s probably the only person I could kill with my bare hands and have no regrets…” It was utterly terrifying how calm he got when he said that, no emotion left to be read on his skin..yet you got it...you really really did. Not even able to fathom how he must’ve felt seeing his mother like that!

“I told her I was done! I can’t and I won’t fuckin do this...so it’s him...orrr me…” Eyes glancing over to meet yours again, a dry scoff leaving his chest…

Not even trying to hide the hurt laced within your eyes, as you gazed back at him like a sad puppy, you weren’t trying to pitty him but fuck!  How can you not after hearing that!? 

“Yuppp, cops were called so I dipped...at 16...I went back days later to get my shit..and when I realized nothing changed..my mind was made up! I’ve tried over the years to smooth it out but...nah….Nah…” Shaking his head in disgust at just the thought of it..there was so much more..you wanted to unwarp from that. But you didn't wanna  pry...this was about the two of you sharing what you felt comfortable sharing...nothing more nothing less

A deep slow exhale left his body as he slipped his hand away from yours..the pout more than evident as you lost his warmth. Reaching over to grab a joint, placing it between those dangerously plump lips of his. Lighting the tip with him even asking you to ...taking a long drag inhaling the smoke through his lips, blowing it all out of his nostrils…

“I’m sorry..” slipped past your lips before you even had a chance to think about it...a faint smile tugging on his lips, shaking his head disapprovingly at your choice of words

“No need to be sorry, I wouldn’t be me if that shit wouldn't have happened ...I've learned not to question my battles..”  Placing the joint back between his lips, you could see it in his eyes he was thinking of his neck question.

‘Well since you got me all in my feels, before we get a little light-hearted...I mideswell ask the question I implied about earlier…” Cocking his head to the side, blowing a cloud of smoke in your direction as you waited anxiously for the words to spill off his lips.

(4) “Why were you falling apart outside of Johnnys the night I first met you??? What had you so broken that you were crying alone behind your car?” His tone and his eyes got extremely soft as the question rolled off his tongue..leaning over slightly welcoming the joint between your lips before responding because fuck if you didn’t need it right about now…

Letting the smoke just fill your lungs before you reclined your neck...puffing out a cloud...eyes fluttering shut in the process “It was my dad's birthday...and he died when I was 20...during my junior year of college.”

You watched Jimin's eyes flutter close briefly, dropping his head a little as you two approached the traffic light. I  think he was hoping for something more along the lines of “My ex dumped or cheated on me” Not something this heavy…

“Y/N...baby I’m sorry I didn't think it was anything like that, if you don’t wanna-”

“Hey…” Gripping his chin slightly ‘I told you I wanted us to get to know each other...If I can let you come in me I can open up a little….” A nervous chuckle fell from your lips before pulling him in for a quick kiss..which wasn't so quick. “Come’re”  Pressing down hard on the breaks, using his opposite hand that was on the wheel to grab you by the back of your neck. Tongue toying around with yours almost teasingly because he didn't have time for much else. Luckily for the two of you no cars were on the road this time of night, moaning against his tongue at just the taste of him. His palms warm against your skin..already had your body at ease, little did he know how fucked this entire scenario really was. But at this moment, you were calm...heart rate slowing down with every languid roll off his tongue.

Stroking your cheek with his thumb as he pulled back tentatively it was written all over his face he didn’t wanna let you go…”You are.so.damn.beautiful...fuckk…” He almost sounded breathless as he gazed back at you, not even trying to hide the smile that stretched from ear to ear.

“ I’m really happy you choose to be my rider tonightt...that were getting to do...”this”..that I’m getting to explore your mind in the same way I do your body....”” Was it nessicary for him to be this smooth??! Just curious...Biting down on that plush bottom lip of his before leaning over to place one more kiss along your lips. Forcing himself to bring his focus back to the road.

“Me too” fell from yours in nothing more than a whisper as you got readjusted in your seat, you weren't sure if  the two of you were still in post-coital bliss or what! But this vibe was such a mood and you never wanted it to end! Placing the joint in the hand that was gripping the wheel so he could reconnect his fingers with yours.

“I grew up a daddy’s girl my mother actually had some mental issues that only got worse with age! She refused to get help so for my safety, my dad got soul custody. It was bad...like sneak in my room and try and kidnap me bad …”  You couldn't help but laugh at Jimin’s expression as his eyes damn near bugged out of their sockets...that's typically the way most people react...and or ask you when your ��LifeTime” special was coming out!

“My father had a heart condition, it’s not genetic..it was a defect because his mom was a drug addict ...so with him playing super dad on top of being a firefighter! He never put himself first and I think he didn’t want to worry me while I was away at college. So shit got a lot worse than he lead me to believe..like I thought it all crashed and burned at once ya know? But as the years go on, and I really step back and think about the way things were..I don’t think that was the case…”

Jimin could feel the tension in your body as you squeezed down on his hand, thighs pattering against the floor anxiously “Sometimes I just feel...guilty... “ there was nothing subtle about the way your voice started to waiver in your chest...suddenly feeling almost light headed…

”- Because we were so close and I guess I feel like I should’ve been able to tell something was wrong...and to be honest deep down I think I did I just-Fuck-” Breaking your hand away from his, placing both of your hands over your face as you felt your chest swell, you really hated crying in front of people. Though you were completely silent your muscles were tensing painfully hard, almost as if your body was caving in on itself.  It’s been a minute since you’ve talked about this...

“Hey, heyyyy” Voice sitting barely above a whisper as he spoke, you didn't even realize it because you were too busy trying to stop yourself from falling apart!  But Jimin pulled over ...Putting the car in park, and throwing the joint in the ashtray  “Shhh, it’s okay, it’s okay...I got you…”  All you could hear was static zipping through your head as he unbuckled your seatbelt.

Effortlessly lifting you over the center council in one motion placing you on his lap, body naturally melting into his. Which only made you cry even harder once you felt his chest flesh against your cheek, legs dangling across the car in the process. Chest rising and falling painfully hard as your breath hiccuped in your chest. Jimin’s hand soothing up your back..lips pressed firm into your hair as he tried to keep you calm. Feeling like complete trash for even bringing that night up...not that he could’ve even fathomed  it would turn into this!

“I’m soo sorry, really I wouldn't have mentioned-” Shaking your head furiously cutting him off, finally pulling your face from his chest wiping it hastily with the sleeve of your hoodie. Nose and eyes bright ass red...cheeks already puffy…

“Fuck- no, no, it’s not your fault, I don’t know where this came from  I jus-Shit…” Your temples were pounding, your chest was tight you felt like you were damn near suffocating, every breath managed to knock the wind out of you repedetaly! 

“Just breathe..breathe for me baby, like I said..I got all the time in world I told Brandi and Tim I’d be to them before 7AM...they work midnights. I’m not rushing you, your my only concern right now!” You'd never met someone with such patience, he sat there silently… as you tried to pull your shit together! Stroking his hands up your back, giving you your space to do, and feel whatever you needed too.

“In reality, there's no way I couldve known...nobody’s a mind reader, and it’s clear he didn't want me to know, in retrospect I know that. It’s just really hard to make myself believe it sometimes…”  Stroking his jaw, forcing a timid smile to move up your face as you felt him lean over and kiss your fingers.

“ The day we met, I had just gotten a promotion..finally doing what my degree was for and not just someones damn assistant. I just really wanted to call my dad..and hear him tell me how proud he was of me-” Everything died off your tongue at that point..voice shattering .....you were done..next question PLEASE!

You kinda just gave up at this point...there's no way in hell you’d be able to get this story out..not right now at least...reclining back a little so your back was resting against the steering wheel. Trying to stop your breath from hiccuping in your chest! Letting your eyes flutter shut in an attempt to do as he said… breath… you felt Jimin’s hands soothe up your thighs before his lips connected to the bulging vein on your neck. Painting kisses on every inch of skin he could reach, his motives weren’t sexual...he was just trying to relax you, and he knows his touch does that..effortlessly…

Slipping one hand up under your hood, soothing his palm between your chest and your shoulder before settling on the curve of your breast, resting casually over your heart. Taking mental note as it slowly started to even out the more he kissed you. So he didn't stop...thumb gently stroking your skin...he’d do it for hours if need be.

(5) “ How did you go, from working at a bowling alley..to this??” The question broke through the silence, voice slightly husky from crying..finally letting your eyes flutter open, only to be met by the beauty man in front of you. Who was smiling fondly back in your direction

“Because of a man..named Tim, who's the only person in my life...that has ever gotten me to the point that you were just at...when talking about your dad.”

The reference alone made you smile, just thankful to know it seems Jimin DID have someone in his life that gave a fuck about him!

“He would frequent the alley at night, typically play a couple of rounds with two kids that were a couple years older than me named Yoongi and Namjoon. They actually worked for him, Tim ran his own construction company… he also grew his own bud.”

A smile spreading across his face as he noticed you already starting to connect the dots as he spoke. “They’d drink beers and just dick around a little, I met him two years prior to me moving out of my mom’s, my original plan was to just sleep in my car until I figured it out. That lasted about a week...then one night I was off, and drunk..and playing pool with Tim and Yoongi and it spilled out..Tim asked..well, told me to come move in with him!”

“Oh thank fuck!!” Fluttered from your chest with the biggest smile imaginable because the idea of 16-year-old Jimin roughing it in his car damn near broke your heart.

He graced you with that smile again, the one where his eyes disappeared into his face...the cutest shit you’d ever seen in your damn life!

“ Mmmhmm...graduated early at 16 actually, then I started working for Tim, because it was cash he’d let me work as many hours as there was work..and Tim always had work!  While living with him we’d smoke..but he also taught me how to properly trim plants! He tried to teach Yoongi and Joon but neither of them had the patience for it! I’m a night owl by nature..I guess because I got used to hearing my damn parents argue all fuckin night….”

There was a blatant shift within him at just the mention of his parents, the sudden fondness he had while speaking of Tim ...was long gone.Stroking his chin with your thumb, almost as if you were trying to pull him out of his thoughts!

“He’d take me along on his more..civil drops I guess you’d say….”

“Ahh so he’d take you with him to see his “Brandi or Tim” You chimed in playfully reaching for your Slurpee which was all syrup at this point.

“Exactly…:” Eyeing the gummy shark you had wedged between your teeth...leaning in slightly allowing him to bite half, but in true Jimin fashion there was no way in hell he’d let you get that close without stealing a kiss. Oh how easily this man got distracted when you were around! Catching the tail of the candy with his teeth before briefly slipping his tongue past the seam of your lips with a slight moan, as the two of you volleyed the piece of candy between your tongues. Laughing into the kiss which ultimately ended up pulling the two of you apart, because he reallyyyy wasn’t trying to let go anytime soon…

“Finish your story sir! No cliffhangers allowed! !”

Eyes rolling to the back of his head with an exaggerated sigh before complying “ Fineee, Long story short….because I can go on for years about that man! I don’t know what I would’ve done or where I’d be without him, honestly I’d probably be in jail right now..” Chest getting painfully tight at his blunt honesty, slightly because you could somewhat relate to it! Especially once your dad died, and you suddenly didn't have a house to come home too...you had to figure shit out reallllllll quick!

“ He had lung cancer, and of course his line of work is really hard on the body regardless, he found out he had it when I was 19. That same year he looked at me and said “If a day comes and I’m not here… I need to know your sleeping under a roof every night!”

His eyes left yours briefly gazing out the window as he nervously grazed his bottom lip with his teeth...placing your drink down so you could let your fingers get lost in his hair. Just gently massaging his scalp as he talked...hoping it would put him at ease.

“So, I had saved up a couple of thousand dollars, between working on houses...and ... other things that you may not wanna know. I used the cash and bought a really shitty, 2 bedroom house off the auction list . Obviously it needed a ton of work, but Tim , Yoongi, Joon, and some of his other guys would come over and help me fix it up for damn near 6 months straight. Even after we just worked a 10 hour day..and the only payment they’d accept was bud, beer..and pizza!” You could see him smiling through the glass, though he still wouldn't look at you,  you weren’t gonna force him...when he was ready he’s make eye contact again. You were just happy he was smiling and not crying…

“Honestly those were some of the happiest years of my life...I never thought I could be happy until I met them.” Unfortunately the smile started to fade, and again..your gut already told you why!

“As I got older and Tim got a little weaker, I got more involved with “that” side of the business. I started doing 90% of his drops,both in and out of state. He taught me how to plant them, clean them, feed them...make sure they cured properly...how to make the perfect hybrid..how to turn it into wax..butter..oils..you name it!”

Ahh so Tim was not only a father figure...but a mentor as well….

“Early 2016, his cancer got really really bad and he was in hospice and we all knew he wasn’t going to make it ! He didn’t have any kids and he hated his kinda sorta ex-wife…”

That’s when Jimin eyes finally met yours and you wished they didn’t those big brown puppy dog eyes of his were completely glazed over. “I was at the hospital with him, and he told me he wanted to stop all medications and treatments and just let whatever was going to happen, happen…:”

You watched his head recline against the glass, eyes swelling...he didn't even try and stop the single tear that fell from his face. Jaw twitching in the process…”That was the hardest shit I ever had to go through...I didn't even cry that hard when I walked away from my parents. He just- I wake up and think about him every.damn.day...shit fuckin sucks man...” You could tell he was holding onto those tears for dear life, trying his damndest not to let them leave his eyes....

Men were tricky when they were vulnerable...you weren’t sure how to read him, until he grabbed you, positioning your head in the crook of his neck. Not sure if he just wanted you there for comfort or if he just didn't want to make eye contact while he cried..either way you compiled ... Especially once you felt how hard he exhaled once your body made contact with his, almost as if he was holding his breath prior. Kissing “your spot” repeatedly as he talked, the feeling of a couple stay tears landing in your hair had your chest swelling in the meantime!

“He told me to take his spare key and take whatever I wanted.. And more importantly, make sure his plants make it to harvest and make sure I make some damn good money off of them.” You couldn't help but laugh at that..your breath tickling the side of Jimin's neck which pulled a tentative chuckle from his throat that was much needed. You heard him sniffle a couple of times, the slight shift let you know he was wiping his face on his sleeve, but you didn't look. Respecting his space..just soothing his chest, and kissing every inch of skin you could reach…

Again you wanted this to flow..not feel forced..if Jimin’s not ready to cry in front of you then he’s not ready..hopefully, someday he’s comfortable enough to do so! 

“ So that’s what I did I took pretty much all of his crop..and some other substances that he often played with...” Eyes suddenly going wide as if he just had a very vivid flashback..hoping he’d share with the class...

“Now I’m not gonna lie...shit almost got reallll ugly when I went to sell his other….” products” but that’s a long story that will save that for a different day…”

Nooo fuck no...why would he do that!? Now he knows it’s gonna flood your mind until he actually explains what the hell happened! And more importantly what was it? Coke? Heroin? Ecstasy?!  

“Real shit, I didn't take anything materialistic, except a couple of shirts, hats, and hoodies that he wore a lot. Items that just reminded me of him like I didn’t care for his TV or anything. But now, fast forward... it’s been 3 years since he’s been gone and it’s just become my thing. Tim didn’t commercially but he always wanted to, he said that would be his retirement plan, he’d stop working on houses, buy a farm and get licensed. So that’s a big reason why I eventually did it, once I had enough saved for a license and everything.... I’m just naturally good at it, I enjoy it and more importantly, I don’t look like the type to have an eighter in his trunk, soooo that helps!!”

Hell yeah I’m sure it does, when you first found out he was a dealer even years ago you legit thought your friend was joking..like is this the porn hub version orrrrr!?

“Thankfully, a lot of Tim’s clients knew me because I've been doing drops for him since I was like 17...once they realized my crop was up the par..they stuck with me. Then of course over the years, I’ve made some of my own clients too, clearly the dispensaries and stuff I got on my own. I’ve rendered a lot of really dope customers though, including this really sexy little thing I met out at Johnny's damn near 8 months ago now...! She just can’t get enough...”

The sudden change in pace had your lips heading on a different mission, not sure if Jimin just worked like that...where his moods could shift quickly or if he just needed a distraction from how deep shit was getting...either way...you decided to give him what he needed. 

“Mmm..oh yeah???” Finally doing what he’s been mentally begging for as you licked a stop up the side of his neck, before sinking your teeth right into the patch of skin right beneath his jaw. Grinding your hips down into his hard..until you pulled a restrained moan from his throat. Hand slipping up under hoodie so smack your ass, only to find.. you’re not wearing panties because of course, you aren't. A low growl slips past his lips as you bounce on his lap slightly, blunt nails digging into your bare ass. “Behaveeee..daddy..we still got like 13 questions left…” Wrapping your lips around his skin until it was your desired shade of purple, pulling back with a satisfied moan.

“Then you need to get the fuck off my lap before I just say fuck this game and make you come all over again…...it’s only been a couple of hours..I know you are still nice and wet for me” Yanking your hair until the sting traveled from your scalp to your core...nipping on the hinge of your jaw. Instantly regretting starting this little game with him..because now you wanted him...really fuckin bad!

“Now back to your game…” bringing his lips over to the side of your neck..tugging the tiny hoop that danced in your ear between his teeth. Letting the metal bar from his piercing dance between your skin and the piercing.

(6) Why do you keep coming back to me?” Pulling back letting his forehead rest against yours “ What do you want from me?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THAT’S ALL SHE WROTE FOR NOW...LOL if you guys want more and you want me to do the other questions spread out over 2 more parts..show this some love and lemme know!

”FINAL NOTE- Hopefully you guys enjoyed my twist on Jimin’s drug dealer backstory! Probably not what you expected, but what would explain his more chill, open personality. As opposed to that stereotypical, angry, passive-aggressive, closed off , gang member facde your use to when dealing with a drug dealer.  His journey to where he is now is a little different than most in his position! For him he wasn’t forced into this...it almost saved him in a way....gave him a sense of purpose...if you will! 

Also, take note that he’s not stupid, he may not be afraid of his emotions but he hasn’t shared anything that could be “Used against him” if you will. Everything that was discussed has been past tense….

SOME upcoming questions

FOR JIMIN

"Have you ever gotten caught/ almost caught/any transactions gone sideways?"

" Is there anything you'd like to do in the future..outside of ”This”? "

"What changed that night that made you finally ask me out?"

"Why do you like to be called "daddy""?

FOR THE OC

"What do you want from me?"

"Do you think you can actually handle all of this? Me going MIA at night..or even out of the state for a couple days.!? Or just knowing I'm not some corporate guy in a suite?"

"What do you actually do for a living"

"Do you feel safe with me? If you get in this deep are you worried about your safety in anyway?"

“When you called me at midnight for that delivery...was it your intention to fuckk me?”

[otakween]

07 Ghost (Drama CD) - Hausen Family 

So now that I’ve finished the anime, manga, and doujinshi, all I have left are some drama CDs and the radio series. I’m not going to listen to all of them because some of them were only released as DVD extras. No way am I gonna buy 10+ chunky DVD box sets just to listen to some bonus CDs.

Anyway, this one is apparently based on chapters 27-33 pf the manga. That’s so long ago for me so it might be nice to have a refresher. It’s kind of weird that they keep repackaging the same story over and over, but I guess we do that too with film novelizations and such.

I found a partial translation here. 

Track 1 

-I really wish Razette played a bigger role in the story. She’s just kinda there to round out Castor’s character and doesn’t have an arc of her own :/

-lol @ the dog voice actor. The barking was about as convincing as me pretending to be a dog when I was in 1st grade

-This was a nice, short little prelude to the story + a recap of 07 Ghost’s general premise. I really can’t imagine anyone would buy this CD without any prior 07 Ghost knowledge, but I guess you never know

Track 2

-Ah, now I see the appeal of this CD, you get to hear voices we never got a chance to hear in the anime. The highlight for me is getting to hear Capella’s voice. He sounds VERY girly. I kinda hate it when they give kid characters these overly cutesy moe moe voices, it makes me feel manipulated.

-I know that “Goshujin-sama” just means “Master,” but it’s become so sexualized in otaku culture that it just feels kinda creepy coming from Capella

-Burupya’s snoring was very cute

-This track’s purpose was to establish Capella as part of the squad and setup Teito’s main goal. I really like the “beginnings of a long journey” vibes in these early chapters. 

Track 3

-I feel like gags like Frau’s adult books would only be funny to like...a middle schooler. Like they just use the same gag over and over. (Kinda like in Fullmetal Alchemist when they’re like “hurr hurr Edward is short!”) 

-Castor saying “I’ve misjudged you...” about Frau having a “son” lol 

-They never really explain why Teito has to do this part (entering the God house) alone? Like maybe it’s part of the pilgrimage legend or something, but they never bother to say that. 

-After a lot of screaming, Teito gets welcomed into the Hausen house for the night. Capella and Frau...go somewhere else?? I think they go to a sketchy inn or something. 

Track 4 

-Teito introducing Burupya as his “best friend” to complete strangers is v wholesome.

-This track was basically just “blah blah blah, exposition” plus a cute bath scene where Teito calls Burupya fat lol 

Track 5

-From here on out, there’s no translation. It’s still pretty easy to follow though. This track is basically the meat of the story where Hyuga meets Razette and sacrifices himself to save her

-Castor really went from being creepily obsessed with his Mom to being creepily obsessed with Razette. I guess that’s...an improvement?

Track 6

-Kind of an “action” track with more XingLu backstory and Teito battling his Kor mother. The mom driven mad thing reminds me of Todoroki’s mom (anime moms have it rough, huh?) 

Track 7

-And...that’s a wrap. Not much to say cuz it’s identical to the manga. Teito gets his cursed ticket thingy and Castor’s Mom passes on into the afterlife. I guess I can see why they would want to make this specific story into a drama CD. It’s definitely the most memorable God house. I barely even remember the other ones and I just read the manga! Would I spend money on this? Probably not. Shout out to all those people who share this stuff for free. You guys are the real MVPs!

Cast track

-The cast talk bonus track is always the best part of these things. Not only do you get fun, behind-the-scenes insights but you get to hear the VAs natural speaking voices.

-All the cast talk about how nostalgic it is to reprise these characters cuz the anime ended in 2009 and the drama CD came out in 2012. I wonder what the longest time a seiyuu has played a specific role? Probably Pokemon or Doraemon or something...

-Lol everyone is just joking around and trolling and then Capella’s VA comes on basically in character and it suddenly gets awkward and quiet. I guess she was new and there wasn’t that sense of camaraderie? 

-Castor’s VA accidentally calls Razette “Rozette” and everyone clowns on him haha. Kinda meta cuz I never know whether to call her “Razette” or “Lazette.” 

-Razette’s VA comes on and just goes “Whelp. I had NO lines” hahaha. She compares it to playing a baby or a dog and yeah...that must feel weird.

-Burupya’s VA mentions that previously her script said “Burupya” but this time it said “Mikage.” That’s an interesting tidbit. I guess at different parts of the story they want to emphasize that Burupya = Mikage and other times he can just kinda be a cute background mascot character 

[jewish-gay-elves]

an explosive way to kick off your new career

“tristan was the original potential recruit since he had just been made an enchanter, levins been an enchanter for a bit longer but his plan with jowen still went south fast) drabble starting like in the middle of jowan doing blood magic to escape n shit and like tristan has already agreed to go with the wardens but THEN BIG EXPLOSION” - my notes on this au

Words: 1232, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 3 of the a tale of too many wardens because i want everyone to be happy and heres how

Fandoms: Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age (Video Games) Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: None Characters: Tristan Amell, Male Amell, Duncan (Dragon Age), Irving (Dragon Age), Greagoir (Dragon Age), Jowan, Levin Surana, Male Surana, Lily (Dragon Age) Relationships: None Additional Tags: just how tristan and levin get conscripted, tristan is a good kid, levin wants to raise some hell

 “Alright, if that’s settled and you’re going to take one of our most talented young enchanters then I guess-”     BOOM!

    “What in the world was that?” said Knight Commander Greagoir, his hand reaching for the sword at his side.

    “It sounded like it came from the basement below, Greagoir, we must hurry, there’s only one exit they could use,” First Enchanter Irving said, turning to his counterpart. Tristan glanced at the Warden whom he had just been given to practically, and before his new custodian could say anything, Tristan rushed after the First Enchanter and Knight Commander. Without looking behind him, he could hear the Warden rushing to follow.

    As they reached the entrance to the basement, Tristan could see three figures crouched by the door. Knight Commander Greagoir drew his sword and began to bellow at them.

    “Alright now, get out here before I have to put a Silence on the whole area. You should know that it doesn’t feel pleasant, even if it’s what you deserve for breaking the rules like this,” he shouted to them.

    “Please Greagoir, I’m sure that there is an explanation for this grievous breach of trust,” Irving said, trying to reconcile with him. One of the three figures, clearly the shortest one, stood up finally and Tristan recognized him as Levin, one of the other Junior Enchanters, but one who was probably going to be lifted to Senior Enchanter soon. One of the figures behind him tried to grab his arm to pull him back into the shadows but Levin shook him off and stood tall.

    “Levin, what are you doing down there, son?” Irving asked, his face contorting into something much sadder.

    “Don’t call me son, First Enchanter. We’re leaving, and there’s nothing you can do to stop us,” Levin called out. Beside him, the other two figures finally stood up to show their faces as well. Tristan recognized them both as Jowan, one of the apprentices, and Lily, one of the Chantry sisters who worked in the chapel.

    “Lily and I love each other, and we deserve a life together!” Jowan called out defiantly, even though his voice cracked part-way through. Tristan frowned, he had never thought that Lily would go against her vows like that.

    “Not gonna happen whelp,” Knight Commander Greagoir growled, before he motioned to the other templars to begin moving closer.

    “St-Stay back!” Jowan yelped, trying to keep Lily behind him. Levin reached for Jowan to pull him closer, so that Levin could fight the templars, seeing has he had infinitely more skill than the apprentice. Jowan startled at his touch, and screamed out of fright, drawing a knife out from who knows where.

    Tristan could see the Grey Warden next to him begin to move closer, but before anyone could blink, Jowan slashed at his own palm and cast a spell, using the blood spilling from himself. Tristan had never thought that the cowardly apprentice could ever think to resort to blood magic, but Jowan was able to knock out all of the templars that had been inching closer, including Knight Commander Greagoir and First Enchanter Irving. All Tristan could think to do was run to the side of his old mentor who had collapsed on the ground.

    “Blood magic?! Jowan! You swore that you would never!” Lily exclaimed, looking sick to her stomach. Jowan tried to reach for her, simpering apologies about how he had to, but Lily just put her hands out to push him away.

    “Get out of my sight! The Maker would not forgive such a sin!” she said trying to push him away, Jowan looked like he still wanted to convince her, but Levin grabbed his arm before he could.

    “Jowan, this is your chance to get out of here, I suggest you take it before they all wake up. I’ll keep them from following. Now go!” He said, looking Jowan in the eyes, then shoving him away, towards the doors. Jowan just sobbed and turned tail to run. Levin still stood tall, while behind him, Lily finally fell to the floor sobbing at the consequences of her actions. Behind Tristan, the Grey Warden still stood, not moving to go after Jowan, but instead staring at Levin.

    “So you’ll let him go?” Levin asked, staring the older man down.

    “I am no templar, errant mages are not of any concern. Only the Blight,” Duncan said.

    “You already have Amell, why are you still here then?” Levin asked defensively, starting to become visibly uncomfortable under the Warden’s stare.

    “Because you want to live, don’t you?” Duncan asked, confusing everyone. Before Levin could ask more, the templars and First Enchanter Irving began to awaken from their stunned state.

    “Where’d he go?! Where’d he go?!!” Knight Commander Greagoir began barking as he struggled to stand up in his bulky templar’s armor.

    “Clearly he has escaped, Greagoir, we can only send out templars to search for him now. I doubt he could have gotten far, as we all know, Jowan was not really the brains behind this operation.” At Irving’s words, Levin stood taller.

    “These two didn’t do any blood magic though!” Greagoir grumbled. “She however, is going straight to Aeonar. And she isn’t in your jurisdiction Irving so there’s nothing you can do about that decision. You two, take her away,” Greagoir commanded to two of his men. Lily’s sobs only grew louder, but she was compliant to go with them. The rest of the templars were still in a tentative circle around Levin, who looked completely lost in thought.

    “Levin, I must tell you that I am very disappointed in you,” First Enchanter Irving said, looking to Greagoir, a bit at a loss for a solution.

    “This is practically treason! Mutiny! We are well within our rights to make him Tranquil for this, Senior Enchanter candidacy be damned!” Greagoir shouted at Irving. Levin’s gaze then snapped to Duncan’s face, as though he suddenly understood everything.

    “I want to live,” he said, seemingly pleading with them.

    “You’ll still be alive, idiot, being Tranquil doesn’t-” Greagoir started, only to get cut off by Duncan.

    “Actually gentlemen, I am afraid I am going to conscript another of your mages today,” he said, calmly, almost without a care. Tristan was startled by this, looking to Irving who was standing beside him to see that the old man’s eyes were twinkling like they did when someone solved one of their equations correctly.

    “What?!” Greagoir shouted, clearly not okay with the idea.

    “Well, I guess that takes him out of our hands then, Knight Commander,” Irving said, hiding his grin.

    “Wha-?” Greagoir could barely get the word out of his mouth before Duncan began speaking again.

    “Now, if there are no further interruptions, I would like to take these two to Ostagar, to fight off the Darkspawn, as you two know well enough,” Duncan said, turning to leave, expecting Tristan and Levin to follow. Knight Commander Greagoir was still sputtering as Tristan shook Irving’s hand and turned to jog and catch up with Levin and Duncan, who had already started to leave.

    “Why do I feel like I’ve just jumped from the pot into the fire,” Levin grumbled as they made their way downstairs. Tristan could only shrug his shoulders, still mystified by Duncan’s actions.

    “At least the fire doesn’t have Knight Commander Greagoir,” Tristan said following Duncan down the stairs.

[littlemisssquiggles]

YOU KNOW MY LAST POST ABOUT OSCAR'S SEMBLANCE? My mind blanked on my idea and I ended up writing about two other semblances related to his allusion to Tip/Ozma. My original idea was for him to have something akin to drawing something to life, based on how the Little Prince drew his sheep with a muzzle+ a box with holes so it could breath. Which was prompted by the Pilot who used to draw but gave it up... before being encouraged to draw once more by the Little Prince. (Pilot being Oz here.)

Hi Miki-chan. Whelp, I didn’t know whether or not you still wanted me toanswer your last question still so I’m going to include a little response to ithere too, if you don’t mind.

 “...You mentioned the idea of Oscar having a semblance like the Golden Cap and it gave me a few ideas for Oscar's semblance, but based on the Powder of Life and the Magic Belt. Like, bringing inanimate things to life or transforming of different things? I just got finished reading Marvelous Wizard of Oz and Ozma of Oz and wanted to throw my two cents in...”

To be honest, when I originally sharedmy ‘Oscar the Golden Cap’ RWBY Musing back in…what during, Pre-V6, I believe, my intention wasn’t forthat to be Oscar’s semblance per say but more anability he gains after unlocking his magical powers.

Let’s not forgot that Oscar is supposed to also have access to themagic that Ozma passed down to all of his descendants.

While I understand that Ozpin once commentedthat his power was dwindling back in V5, that still didn’t stop him from being strong enough togo toe to toe against Cinder Fall inV3.

As I once worked out, during his lifeas Isaac the Hermit, Ozma possibly sacrificed 90% of his initial magical strength duringthe creation of the first Four Maidens. That 90% magical strength was thendivided evenly between the four maidens with each girl gaining at least 22.5% inmagical powers. This is because my theory is that eachMaiden are around the same level in terms of magical prowess but what makes the difference is their experience and mastery ofsaid power.

It is for this reason why this squiggle meister still believes that Oz only lost to Cinder Fall because he wasn’tstrong enough magically to withstand her. I’d like to think that that battlewould’ve had a much different outcome if Oz was around the same level magicallyas Cinder was. Cinder may have power but what she greatly lacks, by myobservation, is the tact to properly utilize such a great power wisely; especially in combat.

Hence how she was able to be defeatedby Raven in the end. Raven beat Cinder not just in a battle of strength butalso wits since the Branwen woman was able to outsmart her with Vernal’s help.As a matter of fact, Raven’s final statement to Cinder before she finally tookher down helps validate my point.

“…Had enough yet?”

“Shut up!”“If you were stronger or more clever,then maybe you’d remember to watch your back!”

If there was a rematch between Cinderand Oscar (which I’m seriously banking on as part of the V7 finale) then one ofthe ways I’m expecting for Oscar to defeat her this time (and avenge Oz) is by outsmarting her. Not to mention that I’d also expect this to be one of theperfect times for the show to sort of have Oz return. Not to fight for Oscarbut to fight with Oscar---with the two souls agreeing for the first time ever to work asone through lending each other their strength as opposed to fighting among oneanother for control. I would really love to see this done for the V7 finalebut, who knows?

Going back to the Cap idea, like Isaid, I saw it as an idea to be an extension of Oscar’s magic. Not hissemblance.

For this squigglemeister, I’m still banking on my headcanon for Oscar’s semblance to be Nullification. Ruby did allude to the notion of Oscar possessing a semblancethat would be the envy of his peers. What’s more powerful than possessing a semblancethat literally cancels out the use or effects of another’s semblances;rendering that person completely useless against you? I still prefer this conceptas my number one pick to be Oscar’s semblance especially since it gives a littlenod back to Princess Ozma.

If I had to pick a second choice forOscar’s true power, I figured it would have something to do with an abilitythat I noticed has been shared by two former Wizards of Light. For the sake ofthis headcanon, I’m going to dub this new semblance concept as Bestow---theability for Oscar to channel his magic in other elements ranging from but notlimited to living beings to non-living things to accomplish amazing feats ofwonder beyond one’s wildest imagination. I know this sounds like a lame powerfor him to have but hear me out on this one. I think this idea works since itfits with everything we’ve learned thus far about the Wizards in general.

I always liked the idea of the Wizards beinglike the Schnees--- with all of them sharing an ability that’s been passed downto them through the cycle. Apart from magic, I also noticed a second skill that’sbeen passed down to the Wizards. Gifting magic to other beings.

We saw this done twice already before. Isaac the Hermit was able to bestow magic on the four sisters who became the FirstMaidens. Just as how Oz was able to bestow the Branwen Twins withshape-shifting abilities. So with this mind, perhaps this could work as asemblance for Oscar since it ties in with his magic. Oscar is inspired by two greatand powerful magicians---the Wizard of Oz and Princess Ozma. It is for thisreason why I started to lean more towards the idea of Oscar not having asemblance at all and just let magic behis unique power. Not only is it tied to his lineage asthe Tenth Wizard of Light in Ozma’s cycle but it also pays homage to Oscar’s fairy-taleinfluences. Not to mention that magic still works as a “unique power” for Oscarto have since he’ll be the only person among the hero team who can actually usemagic. And similar to a semblance which has the likelihood of other huntsmen sharinga similar type; Oscar is the one person who can actually go toe to toe againstany Maiden and Salem.

So this could work. The only downsideto this headcanon is that I can also see picture it being another extension ofOscar’s magical powers. After all, a question I must raise now is whether ornot bestowing magic onto another person is something that all magical beingscould do or was it just a power only Oz possessed?

I doubt it since I remember Salemcrafting a Grimm that was able to drain magic from a Maiden into someone elseback in V3. So I’m going to assume that the skill to bestow and relinquishmagic from others is an extension of magic itself. Thus Oscar doesn’t need asemblance to bless others with magic or even take magic back, it can do it voluntarilyof his own free will since he’s literally got magic inside of him. So in theevent of a scenario in which Cinder tries to kill him or pilfer the rest of hismagic, I can easily see Oscar giving the proverbial middle finger to Cinder bytaking the Fall Maiden’s power---here go Ozma’s magic---back from her.

And since Maidens can have a semblanceand use magic (like Cinder Fall), I guess Oscar can too. So I guess I’m back toNullification being my idea for the little barn prince’s semblance. Every otheridea, including your ideas inspired by the Powder of Life and the Magic Belt,can be rolled into feats Oscar canperform with magic.

Now that I think about it, what’s eventhe point with the series even granting Oscar his own semblance anyways? Noneof the other Wizards seemed to have one, by my knowledge.  Not to mention that Oscar would probablyachieve a lot more with magic in his hands?

As alluded by the show, the skill touse magic was a gift bestowed to the First Man by the Brother Gods during earlyRemnant. In my opinion, magic isthe closest thing to the power of a God in the RWBY-verse hence how Ozma and Salem were able to use theirs to rule over thePeople of New Remnant as demigods for a while. It was the God of Darkness’ power that created theGrimm and it is that same power that Salem uses in correlation with the leftover Grimm Pools of Darkness to forge her own monstrous Grimm creatures. Likethe Winged Beringels, for example. All of that was done with magic.

This was why I pegged Oscar becoming RWBY’s equivalent of the GoldenCap to be another extension of his magic. As I said, if Salem could use her magic to create her own Grimmthen what’s stopping Oscar from relinquishing control of those very same Grimmfrom Salem using his own magic?

Or better yet, what’s stopping Oscarfrom using his magic to forge his own creations? Y’know transform the Grimminto his own creatures---reprogramming their original nature thus changing these former creatures ofdarkness and destruction into creatures of light and preservation. Here go, my Oscar’s Creatures of Luxx Pinehead Headcanon.  

I love the idea of Oscar being able tocreate his own magical creations. I like it because I figured it’d be prettycool if Oscar were to turn Salem’s whole army of Winged Beringel against her;paying homage to the Golden Cap from the Wizard of Oz. As you probably alreadyknow since you read the books, the Golden Cap was what the Wicked Witch of theWest used to control the flying monkeys who were cursed to obey anyone who usedthe Cap. But in RWBY, since Salem used her magic to construct the WingedBeringels, I am allfor Oscar growing strong enough as a wizard to use his own magic to takecontrol of Salem’s army or transform Salem’s former army into his own creations.

If I recalled correctly, in the Wizardof Oz story, the flying monkeys were ultimately set free by the end of storythanks to Dorothy Gale giving the Cap to Glynda the Good Witch who then gavethe Cap to the Leader of the Flying Monkeys, thus setting them all free.

I really dig the idea of Oscar ultimately freeing the Winged Beringels from Salem’s control. But rather than having the Beringels be his pawns, I liked thethought of Oscar earning the Beringels’ “trust”; as odd as that may sound, through his compassionate andunderstanding nature. The idea I had was that while trapped in the Dark Domainwith Ruby, Oscar makes an unlikely ally out of an estranged Winged Beringel---theformer Alpha of the pack who Salem made an exemplar for punishment out of andpractically left for dead when it failed to capture Ruby and Oscar who hadescaped Salem’s Tower and were attempting to find their way out of the DarkDomain.

Up until this point in the series, theGrimm have been treated as nothing but fodder for our heroes to slay over andover again each season. Before Salem was revealed as the Grimm’s leader, therewas bit more nuance to these creatures. I still recall the World of Remnant episodeon the Grimm that eluded them to be more thanjust monsters.

I even remember the moment during V2between Ruby and Dr. Oobleck that showed a different perspective on the Grimm inthe sense that some of them---the more ancient ones---are able to adapt and survive longer than their youngerones. The fact that Grimm are able to acclimatise themselves to theirsurroundings and thus evolve provides them with a characteristic that makesthem fascinatingly closer to humans despite them allegedly being soullesscreatures of destruction.

I really liked the idea of Oscar befriending a Grimm because I saw it as an intriguing way for the audience, and thusour heroes, to learn more about the Grimm; perhaps even changing our earlyimpressions of these beasts. For a creature that lacks no soul, what drives aGrimm beyond a hunger for destruction and negative emotions? If it lacks a soulthen how does it adapt? How does it learn? How is it that these monsters of darkness are able to tell thedifference between prey and a sovereign since Salem is a human that the Grimm now serve as their leader?

Why do the Grimm serve Salem? Is itbecause they see her as their own kin because she baptised herself in the samedark essence that they birth from? Or is it because the Grimm see her in thesame light as the very God that created them? Do the Grimm serve Salem because herpower resembles that of their creator? Do the Grimm fear her power? Do theGrimm feel fear? Can the Grimm feel?

I know these might all seem like sillyrhetorical questions that don’t really need answering by the series. However Ijust think it would’ve been interesting to learn more to the Grimm than what we’vealready gathered about them within the past few seasons.

I guess, bottom-line, the point I’mtrying to make here is that everything seems to be pointing back to Magic being Oscar’s true power. I can honestly fit nearly every concept I’ve heard for Oscar’ssemblance under an extensionof his supposed magical powers.

-         Bestowing magic to non-magical folk.

-         Reliniquish magic from other magicalfolk.

-         Bringing inanimate objects to life withmagic.

-         Using earth as his element of choicewith magic.

-         Relinquish control of the Grimm fromSalem and/or turning them into Creatures of Luxx with magic.

I wouldn’t blame the CRWBY Writers ifmagic ended up being Oscar’s power. Not only does it fit with his character butit still ties back into Ruby’s comment about Oscareventually possessing a power worth envying.

Magic still falls into that caterogy.Just look at Cinder Fall. According to Raven in V5, she literally turnedherself into a monster in pursuit of such a power---hence why I think she’ll bethe Mombi to Oscar’s Tippetarius/Princess Ozma.

Magic is the equivalent of unlimited power of a God in RWBY and it’s a power for Oscar to potentially command at hisvery finger tips as Ozma’s current successor. I’m not saying this as my biased Pineheaded way of implying that the show should make Oscar over- powered, I’mjust saying that magic is a power that suits Oscar given his fairy tale counterparts.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say itagain, it’s Oscar’s destiny to be a Great andPowerful Wizard or Magi. So I’m waiting for the show to let him be that at some point. Atthe end of the day, I think it’s safe to say that I don’t really care whatOscar’s semblance is so long as it’s connected to the magic he’s supposed toinherit.

I’ll even take him awakening hismagical powers when he relinquishes Cinder of her Fall Maiden powers. Justimagine Cinder having Oscar pinned, threatening to have Neo kill Ruby beforehis very eyes only for Oscar to suddenly grab Cinder’s human hand and his eyesglow gold as thorns snake their way up Cinder’s arm. In a similar manner to howCinder once drained poor Amber of her power, I’m imagining karma coming rightback to bite her in the ass with Oscar taking some of the Fall Maiden magicfrom Cinder (and then using it masterfully to defeat her through Ozpin’s cooperation).

And as Cinder recoils screeching infury, she looks up in time to see Oscar glare back at her with one hazel eye, burninggold. 

What do you think of that? 

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

[shadows-twilight]

RWBY Volume 7 Finale

Man, it feels like only a few weeks ago we were celebrating RWBY's return, yet here we are again, saying goodbye. Without further ado, here are my various thoughts and opinions on the finale of RWBY Volume 7, "The Enemy of Trust"

SPOILERS BELOW:

This opening fight is nothing but classic Neo and I can't help but love it for that.

Oh, right. Ironwood included JNR and Oscar on that Wanted Poster, and so the military is looking for them. Kinda forgot about that.

Damn, I think Cinder's "I refuse to starve" monologue just did more for her character building than the entire Mistral Arc combined. Jessica Nigiri's delivery was pretty damn impressive, too.

Moving the fight outside did some amazing things for what was already a breathtaking battle. Whoot, Winter also has a Manticore summon? I love how they gave Winter and Weiss the same Semblance, and yet managed to personalize them to such an extent.

I don't know if watching JNR run in circles while Oscar trails breathless behind them was supposed to be humorous, but it certainly was regardless

Not gonna lie, they got me with that Nora fakeout. Totally thought she was real until I saw the spiky umbrella. Oof, Neo got Ren with that Maes Hughes maneuver. It's not quite the Pyrrha illusion we were all hoping for, but it came pretty close.

Crying Ren is not a fun Ren. It makes me feel things I'd rather not ;~;

I was hoping that Fria would wake up and contribute to the fight, and BY GOD SHE DID NOT DISAPPOINT!!! THIS IS AMAZING!!!

I love how concerned Winter sounded for Penny when she jumped into the cold storm. Them having this relationship is one of the highlights of Penny's return for me.

Angry Ren makes me both sad and scared. Ren is really putting me through the ringer today, isn't he.

Pietro and Maria are probably one of my new favorite duos. They have yet to have a bad scene, either separately or together.

There's always something really tragic about seeing elderly people who's minds are going. I mean, I can only imagine what kind of powerhouse Fria must have been in her heyday.

I admit, I was with Ironwood on this one. When I first saw Oscar descending that elevator, I fully expected to find out he was actually Ozpin. Oscar really managed to pull off that presence.

CRWBY really did right by Oscar this volume. With Ozpin gone, it gave our favorite farmboy a chance to really grow into his own, and dear lord did he take that chance and run with it.

Damn. Ironwood really just completed his decent into proper, full blown villainy, didn't he? I can't say I didn't see this coming, I feel like the groundwork for this was laid out as far back as Volume 3, but even so, what a sight to behold.

For a show that likes to include a gun into almost every single weapon imaginable, never has a gunshot felt like such a proper gunshot as it did when Ironwood shot Oscar.

I've always wondered what would happen if someone just cut off Cinder's Grimm arm. I mean, it's certainly an easy enough target, what with the lack of aura protection and all.

How long of a drop is this tunnel? Is this how Palpatine felt at the end of Return of the Jedi?

PENNY IS THE NEWEST WINTER MAIDEN AND...ok, are the Maiden Eye Flames connected to Aura color? Because there is no other justification I can think of for the Winter Maiden's eye flames to be green.

Ozpin's monologue is for some reason giving me some serious Red vs Blue feelings. Specifically Epsilon's final speech. This is in no way a complaint.

Winter seems to be battling between accepting that Penny is the Winter Maiden and being bitter at the fact that the thing her entire military career had been grooming for is now gone. I find this interesting.

Apparently this song was written by Casey herself? I must say, this is one hell of a debut. I am getting ALL OF THE FEELS FROM IT!!!

OF COURSE QROW'S STILL CARRYING CLOVER'S PENDANT! BECAUSE THIS EPISODE STILL HASN'T STABBED US IN THE HEART ENOUGH YET!!!

I really feel for Winter's struggle between choosing Weiss or Ironwood. I mean, sure, WE know that Ironwood has lost it and become a straight up villain now, but she hasn't seen any of that and has been loyal to him for what I imagine to be all of her adult life. That isn't something that's easy to just throw away, especially when she hasn't seen the full extent of it yet.

Wow, Cinder, are you really planning to just present the lamp to Salem as if it was entirely your accomplishment and just leave Neo as an afterthought? It's going to be so satisfying when she stabs you in the back.

Oh, so Watts is still alive. Good to know.

Oh cool, Oscar learned to use Ozpin's shield ball from Volume 3! It's so nice seeing the classics return.

God those storm clouds are foreboding. I mean, probably because we know what's coming, but still.

Ah yes, the old "Hide the Eldritch abomination behind storm clouds only to illuminate it's silhouette with lightning" effect. There's a reason the classics never go out of style.

HOLY SHIT!!! SALEM HAS A MONSTRO WHALE GRIMM!!! SALEM HAS SIN HIMSELF ON HER SIDE!!! Whelp, it was a good run, RWBY, but I guess this is where it ends. This is where we all die.

Ooh, Salem has a new look. I must say, I love it. Nothing says "Queen of Darkness" like spinal armbands.

Wow. Forget ending Chapters on cliffhangers, now we've graduated to full Volumes. Gutsy. This end credits song is amazing. I mean, it's sad, yet incredibly energetic. I really can't wait for the soundtrack to drop, I have a feeling it's going to be a really good one.

As someone who follows Miles on Twitter, it really hurt my heart to see Meatball in the "Additional Security" section. Rest in peace, bestest boy. Pretty jarring having a Volume Finale without an end-credits scene. I mean, that's a series first, right? Still, according to Kerry it was because they wanted to just focus on the show and avoid any crunch time, so I can't really to be upset about it. Can't really imagine what would've fit anyway, that final shot of Salem was a perfect way to close off the Volume. So that was Volume 7, and I must say, HOLE. LEE. SHIT!!! Despite the odd bump here and there, this volume still turned out to be AMAZING!! The improved fights, the wonderful new characters, the different twists and turns to the story, there is just so. much. to. praise. CRWBY has really outdone themselves with this volume, and while certain plot elements weren't handled the best, and certain decisions were made that I'm not entirely happy about *cough*Clover*cough* I still can't help but feel that they managed to bring us one of the most well put together volumes we've has in a long time. Everyone in the CRWBY deserves to really pat themselves on the back for this volume, and I certainly can not wait until Volume 8. Until next time, fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Keep Moving Forward.

[cooltrainererika]

Alt-talia: Superbia

[Summary: The Kingdom of Poland, the Rzeczpospolita Polska, Bulwark of the Catholic faith, a grand empire whose power knew no parallel. The kingdom had accepted David into his arms, as he would many others, and he watched him grow, his strong will and generosity shining despite the odds against him. However, this man had a fatal flaw... His pride and hubris.]

Sigh… Whelp, it’s the deadline, and It’s late. Also it’s apparently the day the Berlin Wall fell. Maybe I should have released one of my three Germany fics today lol.

Okay, so I came up with this idea and wanted to submit one last story for hetaween; this is 10/29: Tragic. I’m ashamed that I didn’t write it earlier, since this prompt was also absolutely ripe for Alt-talia material, though that’s also what made it hard at first. Because… Really, “tragedy” as a prompt for historical Hetalia is basically an endless fountain of content. I can come up with like 5 different ideas not including this one, all starring different characters, off the top of my head. But I decided to narrow it down to two, one based on Poland, one on China (especially since Alt-China’s only appearances so far have solely been of him being a shouting, ranting jerk), kind of fitting since both of them have made cameos in previous entries. I tend to really like writing those two so it’s actually kind of unusual they’ve only made cameos so far lol. I also wanted to write up multiple versions of Poland’s fic from many perspectives and upload the version I like most, as I wasn’t quite sure who the POV character should be… I was thinking Lithuania as another POV, or Poland himself maybe. The beginnings of those are still in my Docs files.

But then it turned into this MONSTER of a fic.

I swear, you guys, it wasn’t meant to be this long. Because boy this thing is enormous. I’m talking NINE FREAKIN’ PAGES in Google Docs. I guess I like writing about Commonwealth Poland way too much. And I got way too caught up in research. Especially since I almost have two midterms and an overdue project and it’s 10:30 PM on a Saturday and FFFFFFFF-. This is why I occasionally still wonder if I should have put an application for a history major at a higher priority than Social Work… 

I wonder if I should be giving out this much detail before I’ve even officially started the series lol… I might have to take these down if I ever formally start it. I hope I’ll be able to write the one about China sometime, but now that seems unrealistic. …And yaaay, a Hetalia Emblem idea is already brewing in my mind as I’m writing this. Shut up, imagination, let me study goddamit!

Once again, I must reiterate, Alt-talia is very, very different from canon. It’s much darker and morally gray for one, but the characters can also be really different. This will ESPECIALLY be seen here; seriously, take your preconceived notions of Feliks as a character and throw it into the fire. We won’t need them where we’re going. Also do it for most of the characters who appear here even more so. Poland at least may slightly resemble himself from canon in some aspects, but others are barely recognizable.

Also there’s going to be a character I need to explain; “David”, the POV character, will become obvious, but “Lipka” is a personification of Lipka Tatars (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipka_Tatars). She’s female for now, though she fights as a man. Whether I should personify her is… questionable, since if she’s personified I might possibly have to personify every minority group ever, but I’ve come to really enjoy her as a Commonwealth member. Also I want to see the reactions of those bigots who use Poland to justify Islamophobia. Also her human name is Zahira 

For more exposition, which I’m going dump here: 

I’m still not quite sure how marriage will work, especially ones like the two seen here. And I don’t know if this is how David would view things, or if David is written correctly, and there’s going to be spots in research since I’m on a time limit. Still, I hope this is right. Though I tried to elaborate less on Poland and David’s relationship since it’s not the topic of focus here, I’m definitely going to depict the same events in Alt-talia sometime with emphasis on it (in the meantime the story “God Lives Here” in the Hetalia Kink Meme is kind of close and excellently-written, albeit it’s slash which I tend to dislike, though it wasn’t too in my face, and it glosses over the majority of the events here). 

And there’s inconsistent use of names, especially concerning Belarus; I thought she wouldn’t really have a country name, but it seems that the name “Byelorussia” was in use from pretty early on. Also she and Lithuania collectively refer to themselves as Lithuania often, as to why Lithuania is sometimes specifically clarified to be Tolys or called “Tolys”. And The Church is written like that because that’s also a character; i.e. the current Vatican City. 

“Union-Brotherhood” is a Real Union (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_union), and possibly dynastic union, between two male Realms. Because… come on, an officially sanctioned same-sex marriage? In the middle freakin’ ages/early modern age? And they’re called “Realms”, not “Nations”, because the idea of a “nation-state” as we know it wasn’t really a thing until the Treaty of Westphalia. Countries were basically amorphous blobs at the time. At best. A “common palace” is where everyone in a big multi-ethnic country resides for varying amounts of time; they have their own separate regional residences. How long they spend there is dependent on how much integration there is and how cosmopolitan the country is. Maybe. 

Also I change around some of the eye colors, Ukraine has smaller breasts, and other appearance changes may happen. And I use words that may not have been used often in these time periods, but it’s hard to research stuff like that especially for countries that aren’t England. 

“National Resolve” (or “National Adrenaline” in more modern stories) is the plot device that enables nations to keep on fighting wars despite being beat up to the point that any human would be immobilized by pain. That should be it for exposition I hope.

And I found the title is probably a bit inaccurate… but oh well. It does kind of fit part of it anyway. I debated between it and “Broken Wings” or something like that though. 

Sorry for the long author’s note, let’s finally send off hetaween! And I’m sorry it has to be so depressing! Thanks for everything, @/hetaween!

Let’s go!

Superbia

When David truly came to know him more than as a stop in his trade route, it was as if God had sent him.

It was when he was deep in a forest he thought had heard the wind whisper in his ear, "rest here". Upon following the voice was when he bumped into him.

And he had told him, as he was about to leave, “Hey, you can stay!”, the young boy’s snow-white eagle, Biały, perched on his shoulder. 

"Polska" was what he called himself; it indeed almost sounded like “Polyn”, “rest here”. So rest there was what he did, and that was what he called him.

The boy welcomed him with open arms, and there, David found a new real home. Despite not having much to spare himself, he provided him with books, a space to live, a place to study, even a small shed for Achi, his goat; even with all the persecution in other kingdoms, he had at least some confidence that Poland would give him a place to rest, a place to go back to.

Sure, he had many other places he considered home, where there were often at least a few kindhearted human Christians he could trust, but it was a truly miraculous feeling to be welcomed by the kingdom himself. He didn’t make it too apparent for singling himself and his good fortune out for attention would attract the Evil Eye, but he made his gratitude clear. 

He was put to work in the mint as an engraver and technical supervisor, even giving the coins his own touch in the form of Hebrew markings.  

He watched the boy grow, as he grew as well. Initially, the kingdom was still fragmented, young, and not much to write home about; easy prey for Mongol Empire and her dear old son. 

The mother and later her son caused him much grief, looting his villages and stealing his grain. But one day, David came back to a beaten-looking, yet joyful-looking Poland, who, with a grin wide enough to show off his missing teeth, proudly informed him that he had finally beaten the Khanate back.

“He caught us by surprise, but I kicked ‘em in the behind and the skurwiel ran with his tail between his legs! You should’ve seen it!”

Poland even defied The Church in his efforts to convince him that David and his people were somehow evil, that he drank the blood of Christian children and other outrageous rumors. 

“Pssh, 'childish rebellion’, really? As if Christ himself wasn’t a Jew!”

Of course, it couldn’t always be sunshine; after all, the plague could twist any Realm’s soul in the worst of ways, and even if it affected Poland less than everyone else - possibly thanks to him copying some of his customs even - it still nonetheless wasn’t kind on him. He suffered the usual accusations of poisoning wells, of black magic, of conspiracy, shrieked at him in a voice cracking with desperation, confusion, and immaturity.

Their relationship was rocky after, until David started spending longer months in Iberia. After all, he was invited there, they wanted him there, and Muslims were generally safer to be around than Christians in his experience. 

But when Spain expelled him, as did Portugal, albeit somewhat reluctantly, his old friend was waiting for him.

His true home in Europe, as welcoming as the Italian states could be, was, and remained, Poland.

At this time, he opened an inn in the then almost two century old Warsaw to earn some extra money. Because of course, no one could have too much money, and he still had to pay taxes. He shared his studies in Andalusia with his favorite host country; the man was smarter than he seemed, and they could argue over things ranging from the nature of God to how far an unladen swallow could carry an apple for what were apparently hours. 

About half a century later, after fighting alongside each other to defeat their common enemy the Teutonic Order, a long-standing dynastic union with neighboring Lithuania became a real Union-Brotherhood. While the other half was reluctant and defiant at first, they soon became inseparable. 

Every time David returned to the land he saw his friend had grown and matured, and after joining with his newfound family he truly blossomed, shedding off the last downy vestiges of adolescence to become a become a real man. The white eagle spread its wings across the heart of Europe, prospering and proud.

In his borders, he welcomed all; Lithuania bought with him, in addition to his Orthodox wife Byelorussia, the former knightly order Livonia, and the small duchy Courland and Semigallia, the loyal, warrior-minded tatar Lipka, and despite her Muslim faith, he accepted her as he did him. The Lutheran Prussia didn’t speak much to them, but not for Poland’s lack of trying; perhaps he was still sour over Grunwald or his pious nature made him see them as overly lavish, but even so at times he did not seem to mind them as much. 

He and Lithuania, but Poland especially, were a bit of an anomaly in the continent and quite possibly the wider world; they saw themselves as more than simply the land their king claimed to own, something that, aside from them, only certain city-states in Italy and Poland’s close friend Hungary - whom he was brought closer together with precisely because of this - could also claim. They belonged to their nobility, the szlachta, and unlike other feudal Realms they never claimed otherwise, wearing it as a badge of honor.

David remembered warm, joyful memories of hearty, lavish banquets. After all, as Poland liked to say, “A guest at home is God at home”; it was only fair they pulled out the best for their guests. He remembered how Poland and Lithuania - Tolys specifically - would try to outdrink each other, or how Poland would always inevitably get into loud, drunken brawls at the end of them, and how he or Zahira would drag them both to their beds after they tired themselves. Boorish perhaps, but even David could not help but smile at their jolly festivities.

Their normal meals were quite a treat as well; the aromas of bread, pierogi, roast potatoes, spices, onions, meats, berries, chees, wine, beer, and so many other delectable scents filling the air of the kitchen, one he had spent some time in as well, where he had taught the man how to make gefilte fish, stews and bagels, and shared latke - or draniki as she called them - recipes with Byelorussia. Their penchant for pork and the awful practice of eating meat and dairy together did make him wish to avert his eyes at times, albeit, but at least he had someone to relate with in Lipka regarding their mutual disgust of the dreaded hog as their lords devoured its flesh. They even made the effort to take his needs into account, thinking of ways to make kosher pierogi so he wouldn’t be left out during Pierogi Night. 

Their palace was one of wonders, full of priceless art, some commissioned from Florence and Venice, who were all too happy to accept his offers, and their various artists; and especially tapestries, rugs, and silk embroidery imported from Turkey’s Empire and Persia. He found Turkey’s looks of amazement whenever he placed orders to him to be amusing, though he didn’t blame him. They often met directly; in fact, despite their common clashes, Poland was probably one of the few who viewed the Muslim empire with respect instead of as a faceless barbarian. 

And in the walls of this palace, apparently his and his host’s arguing and debates could be heard echoing even from many distances away. 

David kept Poland’s books, wrote his letters, and managed his economic affairs; between this, studying, and managing his inn, he was busy whenever he stayed in the Commonwealth, but he didn’t care, for it was proof that he was wanted here. This was home. 

Over the years, he became more bombastic, his voice more bold, his laughs bigger and louder. Every time he visited the Realms to the west, he would enter the capital city with a flair; letting his crimson delia swoosh behind him or throwing the sleeves of his fur-trimmed kontusz back, with his knee-high boots, loose pants, and the heron plumage in his fur cap, the golden horseshoes he fastened loosely onto the hooves of his prized white Arabian Fortis swinging conspicuously with every step, he turned heads anywhere outside of his borders he went, standing out like a bright red poppy amidst a sea of weeds among the other Realms.

It was all very unusual for a European Papist, especially with how almost Turkish he looked. He was convinced that he was the descendant of Sarmatia after all, even if he didn’t have any memories of them; he had to look the part. At least, what the ancient Sarmatia perhaps looked like. 

As did others for that matter. David remembered very well how he had prodded him into dressing as a Janissary and singing for him on multiple occasions. He wished he didn't do that, but argue as he might, Poland got what Poland wanted.

When here, he always wore his black żupan; he almost cried despite himself when Poland gifted it to him one day, a big, proud grin on his face. The message was clear; he was as part of the family as any of the others.

Yet despite his attitude, one which made him fear for him at times, but yet even he could not help but be swept up in, he was also pious; he followed Lent strictly, thanked the Lord everyday for his fortune, and was unwavering in his duty to and servitude to Him. Even if David did not agree with how he chose to show his devotion to the Heavenly Father, it evoked much respect from him.

As he entered battle or trained, imagining his enemies before him, the man would always announce his presence: “Stop right there, intruder! I am the Servant of Heaven! The Defender of Christ! The Bulwark of Catholicism! The White Eagle of the Lord himself! It is I, Rzeczpospolita Polska!”, or variations thereof, in Latin, dramatically posing as he did. Often, he would make Lithuania join him, and once they rehearsed for hours to get a line right. After a military reform, he started putting giant artificial wings on his back. It was very much like him. 

Meanwhile, David stayed back, putting his knowledge to work to help heal the soldiers. 

As he looked at the proud, valorous man from behind the lines, he seemed so larger than life, so fearless, so powerful, the sun reflecting off of his flaxen blond hair and his lance held high; and while his eyes weren’t the most vibrant of greens, the fire that burned in them made it so they may as well have been the brightest of emerald. In front of his friends, it burned with a bright passion for life, in front of his enemies, with a terrifying, deadly blaze. Despite his lean appearance, he carried himself in a way befitting of a man of much greater girth, his confidence unwavering.

Of course, he had the power to back up his boasts, for his hussars were among the best soldiers in the lands. After all, such geography that left one wide open to invasion was no place for the weak. Unlike those such as France or Austria or the Realms of the British Isles, Poland couldn’t rely on geography to protect him, no mountains nor rivers nor ice nor ocean, only his own strength. And to show for it he could defeat a great many of his peers personally in shows of raw strength, whether it be arm-wrestling or brawls or duels; he would have quite possibly broken poor England’s arm if he were human when the island kingdom had foolishly challenged him, and he even managed to narrowly win against Spain. He even bragged that he could defeat France, though that match-up never materialized. 

During the Thirty Years War, while he officially backed Austria and fought on his side for the most part, he had also at at least one point fought for virtually all except for Turkey on both sides, becoming the trump card of the highest bidder; and there were many bidders. The only reason Sweden was knocked out of that war before he could even get involved was that Poland was there to block him and kick him back to his peninsula, and Poland made sure everyone knew it. Lithuania didn’t even need to lift a finger. 

They even invaded Russia and captured Moscow, and the boy would have accepted if King Sigismund wasn’t an idiot so fixated on converting him to Catholicism. As while there was something foreboding about the boy, and he had been going through rapid, noticeable growth spurts lately, he was still poor, dirty, and lonely, much unlike the healthy, sturdy Poland. 

He seemed so invincible. He could do no wrong.

However, he was prideful. 

Extremely prideful, and full of hubris. 

A sin, David knew, and one which attracted the Evil Eye; a danger he had warned him of many times over, but one Poland dismissed.

And there was one member of his family he had left in the dust; his very own wife. 

They knew her as simply Polish Ruthenia, or Iryna, Natallia’s older sister, an admittedly attractive woman with hair as golden as her endless fields of grain. 

They had gotten married immediately after he and Lithuania had become Union-Brothers. At first, they were a happy couple; not clearly in love like Tolys and Natallia, but amicable at least, and with a woman of her looks and resources, he was a happy man.

Indeed, Poland put her land to good use; he told David and his people to open mills and breweries all over the land, and so they did. His people created entire towns from scratch. He was Poland’s magnate, middleman and intermediary with the peasants, carrying the grain to the Baltic Sea ports where they would be shipped out to the rest of Europe. Profits grew exponentially, and their grain found their way to tables across Europe; Iryna was quite impressed with the efficiency of their combined efforts.

However, that soon changed. She grew anxious over her nobles imitating him, especially as they started converting to Catholicism and speaking his language, forgetting hers. She began to feel increasingly used.  

Once, David heard the sisters arguing outside Natallia’s room. He could hear her exasperation from outside the heavy wooden door.

“Come on Irunya, it will be fine…”

“Fine?! Why are you so naïve, Natasha?! Can’t you see?! This is why we can’t trust heathens…”

In hindsight, even if he wouldn’t find himself forgiving her anytime soon because if it, she had tried so hard to get her husband’s respect back to the equal status it had been; she tried so hard to convince him of her Sarmatism - even if that did mean that they would become technically related - she tried to tell him about how her peasants were starting to become tired, but he never listened. He merely laughed, telling her “Good one, Irunya.”, dismissing her concerns. And Poland had admittedly been dismissive of some of his reports regarding the peasants as well.

After all, was he ever wrong? 

Eventually, she snapped. 

Cossacks and peasants rampaged across the land, rioting, looting, pillaging, their long-suppressed rage erupting in a furious frenzy. 

Their target; szlachta… and Jews.

For he, to her, was Poland’s pet, his lapdog. 

Even with all of Poland’s power, he had underestimated her in his arrogance; they attacked relentlessly, tearing a trail of blood and carnage in their path. Among their victims many of Poland’s best men, and then, their king himself. 

He tried to protect David from her wrath. He tried to save as many of his people as he could. He remembered how he had shielded a young girl from the mob with his own body as they slashed at his back. 

David could not help but be apologetic, as perhaps this was his fault after all, but brave Poland never relented in his friendship even then.

Yet it was then, when it seemed things could not possibly worsen, three years after the rebellion began, Sweden decided to invade; a war for the throne was in order, and he smelled blood.

They went straight for his heartland, and it also just so happened that Sweden had been unable to pay his mercenaries lately, and they were hungry for anything of any worth.

And all around them, the underpaid, overworked mercenaries saw rich cities, filled with treasures and the fruits of civilization. 

The Swedish forces ransacked the cities the Cossacks had not, and they could barely put up a fight, losing ground rapidly by the day. They struck Poznań, Lublin, Kraców, even Warsaw, killing men, women, children, and animal alike, taking everything that they could lay their hands on. 

Sweden himself likely did not engage in such barbaric behavior - perhaps his young retainer boy would have - though he surely wasn’t unhappy about all the new loot he could bring home. 

Not even a year later, Russia struck from the east on Iryna’s - no, the Hetmanates’ - behalf “as is the duty of a brother and fellow Orthodox”. 

As always, their blessed and accursed geography did not help them, funneling the enemy directly to their heartlands as the armies and horses marched across flat lands and fields.

Despite putting up a fight, Lithuania - both of them - was soon captured, leaving Poland screaming after them as soldiers held him down and they were dragged away, leaving only him and Lipka, alone, to fight; now for his very Union-Brotherhood as well, for a certain pair of powerful Hetmen had signed the Lithuanias away to Sweden with Tolys’ alleged consent, scheming to sever their Union for good. 

“It’s the only way to be safe from Russia. It’s the only way...” Tolys had repeated in mantra, his teeth clenched, before he and Byelorussia were dragged away. But it was clear that he was trying to convince himself as much as he was Poland or Byelorussia, if not more so. 

From the north, south, and east, enemies tore at him, looting, burning, and pillaging wherever they went. 

But all was not lost; in order to preserve the balance of power, Russia eventually relented. 

It was not much later Sweden started besieging Jasna Góra; it was the greatest mistake he could ever make. 

David didn’t think he had ever seen such vengeance, such utter rage in Poland’s eyes after the fact that Sweden had attacked the sacred monastery was able to sink into his mind and he readied Fortis, the reins clenched in his hands. 

And across his lands, the people shared his rage. 

They reclaimed town by town, city by city.

Finally, by allying with their old enemies the Crimean Khanate, popular uprising, clever strategy, dumb luck, sheer force of will, or perhaps all of those combined, and fueled by pure rage and vengeance, they finally managed to drive the invaders off.

After all, the great Sarmatia was never one to give up. 

However, the utter heartbreak David saw on Poland’s face as he stared at what remained of his cities, his fields, and his now barren, ransacked palace was unbearable. That may have been the first time since the plague he saw him cry not out of passion, but out of despair. 

“Hey… what can we do, right? Come on, my companions, what is it with the long faces?! Come on, we won! We won… Kurwa, we won...”

It was from then on Poland started walking with a limp.

And from that day on, their palaces seemed to have become much colder, less welcoming. The common palace was much lonelier too; not only was Iryna gone, but Prussia had completely left, though it wasn’t as if he hadn't preferred his larger personal union with Brandenburg over being their vassal duchy for years by now anyway. 

He started lashing out at Lutherans and other Protestants, seeing in them possible traitors, as indeed many had collaborated with Sweden, they were too much like Sweden, but yet some of whom were innocent; eventually, he demanded they be removed entirely, many of them scholars and valuable assets to their economy. 

The Lutherans cried and grieved as they bade farewell to their lands, forced off their homes of generations by the spears of their country's soldiers, only carrying what they could carry on their backs and load into carriages, leaving for realms who would perhaps welcome them.

It was eerily familiar to David; at least he wasn’t an active collaborator or traitor to anyone, even against the most vile of kingdoms, despite him being accused of it constantly, but the Jew still feared for the fate of his people.

He once stumbled across Byelorussia crying into Tolys’ arms over similar concerns, for despite agreeing to follow Papal authority, she still followed the rites of her siblings. Lipka was much more trusting of him; however, even she showed some anxiety with her standing. They used to be able to rely on him for religious tolerance. Now, that trust had been shattered. 

That man they once knew wasn’t completely dead however; his bombastic demeanor never ceased, even as he limped and at times clutched his chest in pain. 

Just before the Deluge, he had introduced Liberum Veto; the ability of one noble to call off a decision in the Sejm if he were to deem it unfit, for all nobles were equal. A very Poland idea indeed. 

A very Poland idea both in its idealism and its arrogance. 

It didn’t take long for his neighbors to smell even more blood in the water. 

Sabotage via corruption became frustratingly ubiquitous. Oh, of course no one admitted to it, but why else would it be that as soon as anyone was close to making any decision, some cur had to raise their hand and shout “Sisto activitatem!”? Seemingly every time, without fail?

Or perhaps, they were complacent?

“This is all fine... We are the greatest realm in Europe after all! Change is not needed now! Yes, this is all fine..."

Poland muttered to himself, as another "Sisto activitatem!" rung through the air.

Once, when they were at war against Turkey, they had started recruiting tatars as mercenaries. 

However, many of these tatars were brutes, burning and pillaging villages that were not their targets.

Poland of course fired them, and started to distrust tatars…

Including Lipka.

It had started with unusual suspicion and apprehension. However, he was soon throwing abuse at her, accusing her and her men of horrible crimes, questioning her loyalty, and it all escalated until he, using that as reasoning, against the Lithuanias’ begging, slashed her rights and salary.

Lipka could only stand in shock as her employer she had served loyally for centuries lashed out at and tore into her. She had chosen him and Lithuania when the Muslim tatar Crimean Khanate had tried to tempt her into joining with them to fight against her employers, for they were more family to her than the Khanate would ever be, shared blood or no, she had stuck with them through all his wars, highs, and lows, and yet now Poland was treating her as a criminal in her own home. 

He gave her a halfhearted apology a year later to quiet her complaints, but when her overdue salary never saw the light of day, she decided she had had enough.

One by one, Lipka Tatar garrisons in the Polish Crown Lands mutinied.

Much like with Iryna, Lithuania was spared; however, unlike with Iryna, David was as well. Their point was clear; the problem was Poland and Poland alone.

Then, they left for Turkey, leaving an apology letter addressed to only Lithuania and Byelorussia. Once again, another face disappeared from the common palace. 

However, it was then a respected Hetman by the name of Jan Sobieski, who had worked with Lipka during The Deluge, made Poland reflect on what he had done, and soon, he was filled with embarrassment and shame for failing his friend. So when they had come across the land Turkey had assigned Lipka to, the good Hetman went to convince her to come back in Poland’s place. 

It appeared that Lipka had found working for Turkey to be unfavorable; she had been spoiled by Poland and Lithuania’s kindness, and was relieved that she could return home. They embraced, their bond stronger than before. 

A few years later, Sobieski was elected as their king, and they all celebrated, in their typical style of lavish banquets and dance. And for the first time in what felt like forever, they were happy. Oh, so happy. 

It was not long after they received a cry for help from Holy Rome and Austria; Turkey was attacking Vienna.

Poland and his forces rushed to the rescue, his wings rattling behind him, shouting “I am the Servant of Heaven! The Defender of Christ! The Bulwark of Catholicism! The White Eagle of the Lord himself!”, his lance and banner held high. Beside him, Lipka and her men, a sprig of straw in their hats; no longer would they be mistaken for other tatars.

And with a force a fraction of their size and Lipka’s units’ arrows, they absolutely annihilated the Turkish forces. 

David could have only imagined how much of a sight it was to behold when the winged hussars had arrived, coming down the mountainside in an epic stampede. 

That day, David once again saw that Poland he had admired all those years; the valorous man who shined brightly in the heart of the continent. Quick, brutal, even rather terrifying it was as well, but it was a testament to the awesome power of the Polish realm.

Once the Lithuanias had arrived, the battle was already finished, and they were greeted by a crushing hug from Poland.

“We won! I’ve still got it! I still got it!”

Not that he wasn’t sympathetic towards Turkey; after all, he was one of the few other than Poland who weren’t absolutely horrid to him on a somewhat consistent basis. But he could confirm upon speaking to him after the fact that he could only respect the winged, horseback warriors who dared to charge straight into a formation of Janissaries and make him feel genuine fear for the first time in centuries, even if he lamented the massive losses and that he could not advance further as he wished.

Poland was praised, he was honored, his name was celebrated; he had saved Christiandom, he had saved Europe, the White Eagle’s wings weren’t clipped just yet. He was still great. 

“I am not dead yet! For this is just the beginning!”

After the fact, they even managed to take back much of Iryna’s land, though Iryna herself remained on the other side of the Dneiper, watching them resentfully.

However, it was only a spot of hope that proved to be ultimately meaningless. 

Civil wars, petty squabbles between szlachta, efforts to reform his medieval, outdated economy that continued to fail. 

For he had never thought to change; and now, it was too little, too late. And even those efforts were lost in the petty bickering of the szlachta; arguments he still engaged in as he usually did, as if ignoring the wider issues and getting lost in the petty bickering like always would make them go away. Or perhaps, the victory was a curse disguised as a blessing; he had an example to point to when he bragged about being the bulwark of Christiandom.

Yet his scars never healed. His limp worsened. And the bribes turned for the worse. The most major “sponsor” being Russia’s court; ironic, considering how they meddled in Russia’s court not even a century ago. The only time they got anything done was because Russia was holding him at swordpoint. 

He once again grew afraid of outside forces. Only the Commonwealth mattered any more. Even if a possible “traitor” was one of their own. 

Once, on a visit, David heard Poland and the Lithuania couple in the middle of an angry, terrifying argument that sent a shiver up his spine, Zahira and Livonia trying to calm them down with no success. 

“You’re Papist! PAPIST! We are God’s gift to this continent, we CANNOT have one of the defenders of God and the Pope being a heretic! We only have each other, Białoruska! Why must you have the same faith as your savage brother?! I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT!”

“I still do! I haven’t done anything! I accepted the Pope’s authority long ago, I have not done anything to betray you!”

For the first time, he bypassed Poland and went straight to Turkey.

“That poor bastard. This is why we have one emperor, imprison all his brothers, and don’t use feudalism. It might seem cruel, but it works. Or that bizarre neo-Roman Senate… whatever thing he’s doing. It can only lead to trouble.”

He had told him, laughing cynically. 

Among the many that fled were the educated; as a result, his intellect also started to decline. He could no longer understand concepts he used to be able to recite by memory to impress guests with, nor engage in half of the intellectual discussions David tried to strike.

They had elected a king in 1697; the Elector of Saxony. Much like the Hohenzollerns with Prussia and Brandenburg, he desperately wished to force them to become more like real Union-Brothers. 

They resented it; the king’s tyrannical tendencies made all of them miserable. Saxony could never quite fit in, remaining Lutheran despite the king converting to gain Poland’s favor. Being one of Martin Luther’s first supporters, his principles wouldn’t allow it. Which Poland especially, of course, could not stand. Their shouting matches could be heard all over their castles.

In another dynastic conflict, Sweden once again blitzed through him, and to make it worse, he was torn apart by conflicts over his own king; he had little to do with the ultimate destruction of his formal rival’s empire. That was Russia, the growing titan at their doorstep.

But even with his fall, Sweden, as much as he lamented the loss of Estonia and his other Baltic lands and would continue to pathetically and desperately attempt to take them back for years, still managed to land somewhat gracefully. For Sweden was an introspective man; at least he had some reforms come of it.

Yet, Poland still had some generousness to spare; when Hungarian leaders seeking to free their nation from Austria had come to him for help in 1701, during the war, he, despite his condition, despite the war, was willing to pay heed to their pleas and shelter them for his dear friend, for even when others had turned against her for, in her desperation, choosing Turkey's side during the Siege of Vienna, he did not. When uprising broke out, he again answered to her need, secretly giving weapons he needed himself to her cause and letting his soldiers leave the war and fight alongside Hungary if they so wished, Lipka offering her services as well.

They continued to meet over wine, her discussing the progress of the rebellion, and him the Civil and Swedish War. He poured his heart out to her, and she in turn promised to aid him when she finally became independent.

However, one day the Hungarians alongside Lipka returned, defeated, to his lands. While Hungary had managed to secure some rights for herself, Poland was left devastated. He was lucky enough to be somehow spared Austria's ire.

By the time the Swedish war was over, his army had shrank. His influence shrank. His economic relevance was laughable at best. He became nothing more than a joke. 

“Hmmm… speaking of, I have not seen Polanie or Lituanie much lately. Though when we do they seem to be in such bad health…”

He heard France muse, speaking to Russia as David studied in his designated quarters, nestled above the roof. 

Indeed, the diplomatic staff had been cut into a shadow of what it once had been. 

“Never mind that. …It’s your turn, Monsieur le Professeur.”

“Ah… Sacré bleu, how did you capture that rook?!”

David returned to studying, keeping his head down.

“The Lord would never do this to his most loyal servant! But those barbarians laugh at us, Tolys! David, you’re the closest to the Lord, right?! You should know! I am the grandson of Sarmatia! I AM THE GRANDSON OF SARMATIA! The Lord is in my favor!"

Succession conflicts, more civil war. 

Old scars re-opened, new scars formed, his health deteriorated rapidly. His appetite decreased, yet his love of alcohol turned from one of leisure to a disease. David searched far and wide for ways to alleviate the symptoms at least, but without addressing the reasons they weren’t going to heal. 

Order broke down. That witch of a queen… or Tsar, whatever, used him like a puppet on a string.

David once let him stay in his inn, as he had quite a storage of herbs and medicines - free of charge, to everyone’s shock. However, the planned hunting trip later in the week was canceled as he became further ill and bedridden for the span of it. 

One day, as David attended to him, pouring his fourth shot of vodka, the man started laughing, much to his shock. It was a drunken, yet bitter, oh so bitter laugh.

“Behold, the fate of the ‘Bulwark of Catholicism!’. Kurwa, what a joke! Isn’t that a joke?!”

“...”

“I’m not Sarmatia’s grandson! I’m just a Slav! A miserable Slav who can’t do damn anything!”

It was then David realized how thin Poland truly was.

Everyone outside moved forward, while he remained the same. England would easily be able to throw him around like a rag doll with a hand tied behind his back by now; that rascal had entered a Union-Brotherhood with Scotland and had started several overseas colonies by now after all, had several children of his own, and was now fighting over control of India. India.

Even some 2nd-rate German duchy like Bavaria could quite possibly easily defeat him in a fistfight or duel by now.

The Enlightenment, however, did come, if decades late; and to David’s relief, he still displayed quite a bit of intellect despite his decline. But there was much to catch up with; and unlike other nations, his search was not only of curiosity for a better life or how one should live, but one his very existence hinged on. While other nations had been questioning if it was in a king’s right to rule absolutely, his problem was one of balance, as there were too many who ruled. He, often joined by Lithuania, spent late nights, sometimes early into the morning, against the worries of other Commonwealth members, flipping through the pages of works by the era’s best philosophers and writers, searching for some answer, some solution to their situation. To somehow make up for lost time, for his arrogance, his stubbornness.

Once, David had walked into Poland’s study, returning from Prussia’s place, to papers, books, and broken quill pens scattered all over as Biały tried to fetch more for his owner, the man hunched over his desk with a blanket over his shoulders, scribbling furiously, muttering to and hitting himself. 

“Think of something, Polska, damn it... You can think of something... Kurwa, focus, focus!”

He discussed with and preached to other szlachta of these new ideas, especially about the state of his peasants he was increasingly aware of. It appeared Iryna had been right in that regard, all those years ago. His ideas were shared by many, but many refused to budge as well.

Prussia and Brandenburg only grew in power, having formed a single kingdom; Holy Rome didn’t even bother to object, as even if he did his impotence by then was enough to make even Poland pity him. And while David had found that Prussia also did not mind his presence lately, he feared for his friend, as the way the German kingdom spoke of Poland sent fear through his nerves.

All the while, Russia only became bigger and more powerful, growing into an absolute monster, towering over them all.

And there Poland and Lithuania were, stuck between two growing titans, hungry for more territory as their instincts as Realms - now Nations - dictated. His time was running out.

David felt himself cringe as Poland was forced to beg at Prussia’s feet for his assistance to maybe, just maybe, keep Russia at bay. At the feet of his former little fief, who Poland had thought to be harmless after Grunwald.

But it was no use.

Over a century earlier, Poland had been warned by his king that Russia, Austria, and Brandenburg would be his demise.

It took over a century, but by the Lord, was that true.

In order to settle disputes among themselves, they looked to the impotent blob of land that separated them. 

Today, as the first birds of spring sang cheerfully, David once again found himself at the front of Poland’s palace. 

His inn had been barely profitable lately; and it was even looted while he was gone. Thank goodness he always kept his money in safer places than his own body. He should probably close it and sell the land if he could.

A tired-looking Zahira greeted him, waiting with Fortis, letting him in. 

As he entered, he thought he felt a chill. The fact he was indoors wasn’t enough to explain it; it was hollow, dark, barren, cold, quiet. 

He, Achi, and Zahira made his way through the once welcoming halls, their footsteps echoing in the dead environment where the aroma of delicious meals and wines used to linger in the air. Achi bleated nervously, her hooves clicking against the floor. Natallia didn’t run to greet David, asking him about events in the rest of Europe and the Near East and offering him snacks; unlike with the Deluge, they were unable to save her. Or anyone.

Livonia, Courland and Semigallia... Everyone was gone. 

Shattered glass laid scattered under windows, walls bare where priceless art once hung. 

Finally, they reached the main quarters. Zahira knocked.

“David is here again.”

“...Come on in.”

Tolys' voice. 

The now sole representative of Lithuania met them at the door, gaunt, dark circles under his greyish-blue eyes. Of course, his wife was nowhere to be seen. He was never a possessive husband, but yet he looked so incomplete without her, as if there was an intangible open void next to him. For the first time in centuries, they were separated. 

And behind him, staring at the fire and partially crumpled on the ground, was Feliks, the personification of the once proud Kingdom of Poland, heart of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the undefeatable Rzeczpospolita that stretched from Crimea to the Baltic Sea, the one who once impressed Western Europe with invincible winged cavalry and horseshoes of gold that clattered on cobblestone… his eyes sunken, his skin pale, his hair dull, once rich, beautiful clothing frayed, faded, and in places torn, all but one bent, broken feather missing from his hat. 

Biały noticed them, eagerly squawking at them, welcoming David and Achi home.

Lithuania moved to make room, and David rushed to the kingdom’s side.

“Polyn?”

Silence.

“Polyn? Talk to me, you-“

He spoke. 

“...The constitution fell through. It fell through two years ago. We worked so hard on it. It wasn’t even effective for 19 months. ...Those traitors. They invited Rosja in."

He had heard Poland speak about it; how he had finally done it, how he had finally found the solution to correct all his mistakes of the past. Equality between the townspeople and nobility, the revoking of liberum veto, a proper balance of power, rights and protections to his overworked and abused peasants; so all would have the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", as apparently a certain boy across the seas had said. He would become a constitutional monarchy, just like England and Scotland.

It sounded too good to be true then, when Poland had proudly informed him about this all with a smile wide enough to show off his missing teeth, as all was falling apart around them.

A break from tradition, but a still very Poland idea indeed in its idealism.

“I wasn’t hoping in the first place.”

“Ha. I’m not even dead yet. And you lie, don't you?"

He sighed.

"...I’ve failed Białoruska too. And Iruyna. All of them.”

“They’re gone, Polyn.”

“...I know."

He said it, defeated. But it was soon that his tone changed.

"...You know, it’s a shame you had to join us now.”

“...Why?”

"You have much to catch up with, my friend..."

"What do you-"

The kingdom grasped his rusted saber by his side, with less of a flair than he would have a century before from a rebellion against Sarmatism and simple fatigue, but looked at him after doing so with his signature determined look in his eye; a look now tainted with desperation. 

And using his sword, and the spear that stood propped up against the wall, he attempted to stand.

“Polyn! Please!”

 “Kościuszko said we were discussing final plans today.”

“What are you-“

“We’re having a rebellion.”

Lithuania cut in.

“We’re going to fight, David.”

David was aghast. 

“Oy vey! Why?! You’ve fought every partition until now too! It’s pointless!”

“You’re still alive, right?”

Silence.

David opened his mouth, his mind scrambling for a response.

“Well… Well, you and I are different! Besides, I know to keep my head down! I’d be gone from this continent centuries ago if I was as idiotically stubborn as you!”

“...”

“...I learned my lesson long, long ago, long before you were even a concept, when Rome finally beat it into me. Three times, I thought I somehow had a chance. Three times, I thought He was on my side, that this time it would be different. And look at what I have to show for it; still alive only by technicality and who knows why, doomed to wander the land, my people scattered, no single home, not even having a real name. ...The Lord punished me for my arrogance and pride. I learned my lesson. Maybe you should learn it too, before your third attempt leads you down a path like mine or worse.”  

Poland stumbled, but finally stood. 

“The Lord works in mysterious ways, David.” 

“Polyn!”

“I’m not going down without a fight! You know me. I’ll make Litwa bludgeon them with my corpse before I kowtow to the likes of them! I’ll show them to never mess with a Hussaria!” Poland roared; it was so pained, almost growling, but David knew that tone of voice buried within. 

“Damn it… I’ll drag them down to Hell with me! They’ll regret doing this to us… I’ll make them regret it!”

David’s heart clenched. He didn’t remember the last time he had wept for another Realm, or even himself or his own people for that matter, as he thought his tears had dried out long ago; but he felt the closest he had in centuries to doing so now. 

Poland slumped again, his saber clattering on the now bare floor, but one again he took it and regained his posture.

“Polyn!”

“Nothing else to say, huh... So that makes us even.” 

“...”

“As the good man Rousseau once told me... even if I’m swallowed up by those skurwiele in the end, I'll sure as hell make sure they won’t be able to digest me.” 

Poland walked past David, dragging his bad foot behind him, his posture improving ever so gradually as his National Resolve finally started taking effect.

“Lipka. Biały, you too.”

Lipka looked to David as she walked to her masters’ sides. 

As Poland, along with the remnants of the Commonwealth, made his way to the door, their eyes met.

“...David, are you coming?”

“...?!”

“Kościuszko... he has something special in mind for you.”

For a final time, silence.

“...Yes.”

David stepped forward, letting Poland support himself with his shoulder. Poland was light; but very much still there.  

And thus, the remaining four made their way to the door.

“After we win… I hope you’ll make us stew to celebrate.”

“...”

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So there you go, my first magnum opus. Man I crammed literally like 700 years of history in here. Though it mostly covers the 16th to 18th centuries.

I'm writing this long after the fact, after performing some edits. David, in case you can't tell, represents the Jewish diaspora. He will later become Israel (well geez David, you sure learned your lesson on Pride, huh?/s) and retire his status as representing the diaspora then. While personifying the diaspora is a questionable idea, like with Zahira I liked their potential dynamic with the Polish Commonwealth crew too much, as it's something that I feel many don't know about. Now reconciling this Diaspora!David with Israel!David will be... Difficult, to say the least, but whatever.

Alt-Belarus is not a yandere whatsoever. In fact, from researching Belarusian history and culture, it seemed more accurate for her to be this relatively normal woman for a nation who just wants to live a peaceful life. She's in fact one of the more tame Alt-talia characters.

Who is the combative sister, however, is Ukraine. She's passionate, she doesn't take sh!t, but because she's a nation that means she's capable of doing terrible things. I heard Ukrainians described as like Italians (in the sense they are passionate and more emotional) while Belarusians are like Germans (as in they're hard-working and organized).

Lithuania isn't characterized much here admittedly, but wimp he isn't. At this point he basically acts like a less brash Poland, and does the manly stuff like drinking and partying as much as him.

And Poland... Hoo boy Poland. This fic shows why I love writing you. He's got the "it's always Poland rules!" thing in common, if that isn't basically the central thing of this story, at least in this era, but he is very different from canon. He is not a crossdresser (not that that’s wrong). He is not feminine in the slightest. In fact he's the type of guy who is all "A real MAN does X!" in the modern day. The type of guy who wears non-fashionable clothes and socks with sandals because looking after your looks is "gay". But in the Early Modern age he was indeed this partying Giga Chad. According to TV Tropes (albeit no citations) the culture was big and dramatic and I love it. Yes, the golden horseshoes were a thing. Yes it's super extra. Yes I love it. Combine it with the religious tolerance and you've got my favorite character of this era. He's like the anime archetype of the big cool generous manly guy with a huge plate, to use a Japanese expression. But like with any nation or realm he had deep flaws even at this time. Hence this fic. I actually genuinely feel sorry for him though, more so than other realms who can be a bit unsympathetic because everyone in this version of Hetalia is awful lol.

I only mention Livonia and Courland and Semigallia, because quite honestly I have absolutely no idea how to write them. Or West Prussia for that matter, because it just sort of fades out of existence eventually. I also have literally no idea how to write him. Latvia may materialize as some weirdly immortal peasant kid around this time if not earlier, randomly bouncing between Livonia and Courland (who are German) to work their fields or whatever. Oh Latvia, your existence is so confusing. How you got a unified identity I have no idea.

Also yes I quoted that one Sabaton song. I love that Sabaton highlights Poland so often, its history is genuinely fascinating. I also referenced Monty Python, yes your eyes were not deceived.

Yes, the Yiddish word for Poland sounds like "rest here". The opening is based on a legend; the story goes that Jews were going through a forest, and heard "polyn", "rest here". The place they came to was Poland. Dawwwww.

The Evil Eye is a belief superstitious Jews have about envy from others bringing bad stuff. And this is confirmed for him several times over his history with others coming after him, so I'd think he would believe strongly in this, until he becomes Israel and he maybe just stops caring. I'd imagine David looks upon Poland with a bit of fear because Poland is so extra with the cool stuff he has, if I didn't convey that well enough.

(cont)

[graydama]

And guess who’s back! ^ 0 ^

Hello everyone! Hope everyone has been doing well! It looks like I’ve been gone approximately a year based from my last post. :’D I’ve really missed everyone and the GW community! 

After graduating and starting at another job it really took up all of my time and I didn’t get a chance to do what I really enjoy. By the time I got things settled I had also decided to enjoy other mediums and stories aside from GW. Don’t get me wrong I always think of GW and my AUs from the series that I have written everyday. However I always believe it’s healthy to become motivated and inspired from more than one story and that’s why you’re seeing the characters displayed above! 

Castlevania really started me off and I slowly jumped through other awesome works! I still need to start Demon Slayer and can’t wait! I’ve also been reading Webtoons since 2015 and have found some incredible stories there as well and definitely recommend it for anyone that wants a quick read. ^ _ ^

I should also add that I’ve been working on personal projects that take up a lot of brainstorming when I’m not doing something GW related. Some of the characters in this story are added in the second image above! 

Some good news is that I’m on track for posting a new fanfic up for this month and hopefully I will be able to add a second one that I’ve been working on for months. I can’t wait to catch up on @gwoc-october posts as well! And congrats to those that started the GW’s 25th Anniversary! I couldn’t sign up for it on time but I hope everyone has fun! ^ w ^

Whelp that’s all for now I’m going to catch up on some posts! >w< 

[raftels]

As requested, here’s a masterlist fic rec for the following categories 1) ASL brothers; 2) mugiwara nakama feels; 3) some shippy fics; and for those not really falling into any of the requested categories, I put in “others”. I took some liberty in the categorization whelp but hopefully this will do. And you didn’t ask for it but I put tiny notes on each rec’d fic bc I felt like it haha

If you wanna rec some fics that aren’t here, please, by all means, send them to me. If any of the link is wrong/broken, do tell me as well. If you want to rant/talk/squeal/cry/etc over any of the fics, I’m forever open to messages and let’s cry together.

aaand, if you haven’t been following fyeahonepiece, please do so  (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

anything about the ASL BROTHERS some might be toeing the line of shipping but i’ll put a warning for those

The Best Responsibility by echaryn Summary:  Watching Luffy and Sabo bond makes him...envious. Their obvious love and affection, the way they are always together, the trust between them... it makes Law anxious, and jealous at the same time. He lost his sister before...before he could even start to understand what being an older brother means. He's nobody's older sibling anymore, but it's still inside him, isn't it? Notes: clicked on this not really expecting much but jfc oda please let this be canon i beg you like i didn’t know i needed bigbro!law until this

Brother Complex and How It Traumatizes Others by Alsheon Summary:  In which, Ace let nothing be in his way to boast about his dear baby brother. Not even in the middle of War. And not agreeing means death. A painful death. Or in another sense, Ace stopped running but for an entirely different reason. Notes: WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS ISN’T CANON LMAO this is legit my all-time favorite

What Happens When You Assume by revolutionarykoala Summary:  The Straw Hats are overjoyed to finally meet Luffy’s elusive brother Sabo. When they finally lay eyes on him however, they realise that assumptions are best to be avoided when it comes to the D. Family. Notes: in which asl confuses the shit out of everyone and yes it’s forever a mood and my aesthetic

Little Spitfire by VictoriaJL Summary:  My take on Ace raising Luffy with his caring and loving tendencies. Garp is an old geezer. Dadan throws tantrums. And the bandits are helpless, Oh, did I mention that the whitebeard pirates are completely and utterly in love with adorable little Luffy? Notes: i live for ace and sabo’s adventures in raising baby luffy lmao  

The Three Admirals by Miqila Summary:  What if Sabo, Ace and Luffy were the three admirals? Notes: i need more marine!asl fics

Triple Switch by Pachimew Summary:  In which Luffy can't find his hat, Ace is on his brother's ship, and Sabo is very confused. -Kinda self-indulgent. No ships. Pre-Saobody. Notes: swapped!asl loool another all-time favorite of mine

Through Time by xXDia-RoseXx Summary:  Ace and Sabo looking for Luffy wander into a cave and end up 12 years into the future. Through the craziness they meet their Little brother now 12 years older than them. What are two kids suppose to do when their Older-Little Brother looks at them sadly but smiles at them with glee? They try and make him happy again that's what! Notes: *screams into the sun* ASL!!!!!!!!!!!

To be made into Adults by The Eternal Empress Summary:  "When will you let me to adult things, Ace?" you ask, eyes shining bright and ears still wet behind. I pat your head as I smile. "When you're old enough." But, I know that isn't going to happen because I'll never let you become an adult (In which Ace and Sabo's brotherly love is contorted to a degree of no return) BrotherlyASL. AU. Notes:  me, at the ending: oh shiiiiit i didn’t expect that???

Same Difference by Beyond Kailani Summary:  AU. One small change can make all the difference...Someone thought lost returns Notes: the canon my asl babies deserved

The Legends of Kintaro (and Gintaro and Dotaro) by jamie15 Summary: It's Children's Day in the Kindgom of Goa, and neither Ace nor Sabo could care less. That is, until they find out what other day it is ... Notes: *slams fist on the table* this was so damn cute!

Moby Dick’s Tales by FreeFan1412 Summary: an AU where ASL ends up in the moby dick Notes: this one’s a series so just click on the author’s page and asl + whitebeard pirates is always a good laugh

(Wh)y is equal to 45 by The Eternal Empress Summary:  Ace is drunk, Sabo crashes into his room, their cat, Sunny, has been sitting by the doorway for days, and Luffy forgets the answer to (wh)y. (In which Luffy tries to find the value of y as well as the reason behind his brothers' and Sunny's mundane behavior, and the TV makes him remember the answer). Modern AU. Brotherly!ASL. Notes: i don’t wanna spoil anything but  i was shookt asdfghjkl this was so beautiful

Magical Messes and Panicking Professors: Welcome to Hogwarts by ScarletteSorceress Summary:  What do you do when you have three mischievous brothers sorted into three different houses? Well according to Headmaster Whitebeard and Professor Shanks you drink as much rum as you can before Marco can get to you. Magic spells, overturned cauldrons, and inter-house prank wars fueled by sibling rivalry; look out Hogwarts, life's about to get interesting. Hogwarts!AU Notes: asl + harry potter yes two of my favorite things

Bonds of Sea and Fire by Mithril Lace Summary:  After the fire in Gray Terminal, a worried Luffy sneaks out to go looking for Ace, only to wind up captured by Bluejam and taken from the island. When Ace finds out Luffy's been kidnapped, he sets out to retrieve Sabo so they can go after him, and a chance encounter at sea drastically alters their plans. Notes: my asl feels + them ending up with the whitebeard pirates

Not everyday is a good day, live anyway by cand13 Summary:  Not everyone tells the truth, trust anyway. Not everyone will love you back, love anyway. Not every game will be fair, play anyway. How else could anyone survive what they have and still be that lively? Notes:  ASL growing up with Whitebeard story

Somewhere to Belong by Pizza yum Summary:  Garp and Whitebeard strike a deal and Luffy, Ace, and Sabo are sent to live with the Whitebeard Pirates for six months. The trio and crew alike do not know how to handle the situation but eventually they figure each other out and the brothers find somewhere they feel like they belong. Notes: young!asl alive together is what i breathe for

Twist of Fate by Takuku Summary:  A One Piece AU where Luffy and his brothers set out after the fire in the Gray Terminal, and they come across Marco and Thatch of Whitebeard's crew. Things go differently from the original. Notes: it’s not as if im saying im weak for young!asl with the whitebeard pirates..........but i am

Ten Years Make No Difference by YohoAruto Summary:  What if Luffy was instead ten years younger than Ace himself? But as anyone would know,a life with Luffy is much more crazier and troublesome than it should be. It's just that the 'soon to be pirate king' is much more cuter. Notes: baby!luffy raised by ace and sabo YES also lmao at luffy’s first word

Come Morning, Together Again by mapplepie Summary:  One day, Ace woke up and decided shirts were overrated. Apparently it was contagious, because Luffy soon thought the same. Sabo just hoped he didn't catch whatever it was that was going around (but he does in the end, and he couldn't be happier). Time-travel. Notes: sabo is fucking done and this is the fix-it we all need

Surprisingly Addictive by ReluctantlyBratty45 Summary:  Just a story of Luffy being Luffy, but as a girl. Wacky adventures and awkward situations abound. fem!Luffy. Alive!Sabo. Notes: all i can say is that luffy’s lucky to be a boy in canon bc imagine how more protective his brothers could have been

Start of a Joke by loosingletters Summary:  A pirate goes to Impel Down and shares his cell with a political bargain chip and a wannabe noble. What sounds like the start of a really bad joke has just become reality for Ace. Notes: if asl never grew up together well there’s always impel down as a good meet-up point, i guess

Fix it, Sabo! by InsanelyWriteful Summary:  Sabo comes home to find that he really can't leave Ace and Luffy alone without some catastrophic event taking place in his absence. Now it is up to him to deal with the ultimate horror: A crying Luffy. Notes: ace trying to act cool despite panicking over making luffy cry lol

Sharp Knife of a Short Life by saraku Summary:  The Blood of the Covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. Notes: asl short series in which i live for my boys being alive

Meet the Family by siqwithaQ Summary:  Luffy's was probably the most interesting proposition Zoro had ever heard, so naturally, he just had to go along with it. Notes: PITBULL - that’s it, that’s the fic.

Family Reunion by Eiliem Summary:  After Ace's rescue from Marinford, the Straw Hats hitch a ride on the Moby Dick so Luffy can check up on his brother... and because they forgot to secure transportation of their own. Notes: what should have been canon before/during/after marineford arc tbh

Saving Ace Together by firefistphoenix Summary:  What if all the straw hats come together to save Ace? set after impel down and immediately towards Marine-ford. Also Thatch is alive and I intend to keep Ace and Whitebeard alive too. Notes: everyone alive is my kink

wish by spirit if by yes by midnightluck Summary:  Mostly, Sabo likes his job, even when it means trying to chase down pirates like Whitebeard in the New World to discuss important Army affairs. Okay, maybe especially then. Notes:  Reunion AU where Sabo's a lucky little brat, everyone's happy, and nothing hurts. Well, okay, some stuff still hurts. BUT THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN HOW CANON HAD GONE ;___________;

Immortality is What We Leave Behind by BedlamAnjelle Summary:  The lines between mythos and humans were very clear cut, and Marco liked it that way. Everyone knew that the great Suzaku had deemed humans savage and was content to have nothing to do with them ever again. Which is why the phoenix lord buying two humans- young boys, no less- at the auction came as a shock. Especially to Marco. Just what was he thinking, yoi? Notes: all the kid!acelu feels and reluctant papa!marco ++ izou & thatch

Wild Blood by siqwithaQ Summary:  In a world where the King never died, Roger and Dragon try to raise their sons away from the government's eye. Secrecy turns out to be more of a challenge than they bargained for. Notes: im sad this hasn’t been updated bc we were getting to the really good part of toddler!ace and baby!luffy finally meeting

Young and Built to Fall by fingers-falling-upwards Summary:  Ace will save his nakama. He will save his father. And he will save his little brother and ensure Luffy's happiness even if it kills him. Again. Thankfully, he won't be doing it alone. Together, he and Luffy will change the world. Notes: a timetravel fix-it fic

Learning Freedom by elri(angelrider13) Summary:  They were slaves. One who had known freedom and lost it; one who had been born without it. Will a chance meeting give them something to live for? 15yo!ace and 3yo!luffy Notes: ughhh this remains as one of my all time favs jfc it’s so beautifully written and my heart aches on how young and innocent luffy is and how ace raised him up; warning for heavy themes; it’s been discontinued though bc people kept plagiarizing it asdfghjkl

Ten Years Difference by Stormy1x2 Summary:  It's amazing what differences there would be if there were a ten-year age difference between Ace and Luffy. For one thing, how on earth could Ace possibly feel good about himself leaving Foosha Village if his brother had been six-and-a-half instead of the canon fourteen? Notes: older!ace and younger!luffy + one piece canon sign me up

Ace in the Hole by Reign of Rayne Summary:  Raised as an assassin with no knowledge of his father and holding no drive beyond the orders he's given, Ace finds his whole world flipped by one small boy and a promise. Notes: older!ace and younger!luffy fics is my kryptonite

Gang Wars by samettikettu Summary:  In order to protect his most treasured possession, Ace joins the Whitebeard gang but soon finds out that protecting his brother is much harder than he had thought. When gang wars rampage and child welfare officers knock the door, Ace is lucky to have friends around him who are willing to help him and his four-year-old little brother, Luffy. Notes: ace raising luffy hell to the yes

A Pirate’s Resolve by Anjelle Summary: Luffy has finally reached his dream of becoming the Pirate King. He goes to visit Ace's grave to finally finish his journey. But really, there's more adventure awaiting him. When he arrives on an uninhabited island with his crew, he's attacked by a stranger. However, perhaps this boy isn't a stranger after all. [AceLu brotherly. No pairings] Notes: did someone ask for acelu feels??? here you go

Adopted by Default by Kitsune Foxfire Summary:  Moby Dick is anything but peaceful on a regular day. The crew is just well used to their special brand of crazy, however. So when an unexpected guest arrives, it throws everyone into disorder. Really, where the hell is this cheeky brat's crew? Someone needs to tell Ace that his ship-brothers are NOT babysitters! Notes: another all-time fav bc i live for luffy breaking the whitebeard pirates

Drunken Brocon by DemonKittyAngel Summary:  It isn't until the first time Ace gets drunk that they learn he has a brother. Doting on him has become a favorite pass time and they can see him thriving under the attention. Such a cute little brother. Which is why it comes as such a shock that he's a big brother. "Did I tell you about the time he got swallowed by the alligator, again?"   Notes: Drunk!Ace Brocon!Ace Family!Whitebeards

Breakout by Karukyuu Summary:  After being momentarily stopped during his invasion of Impel Down, Luffy wakes up one hour earlier. Not only does this spell the worst trouble Impel Down has ever seen, but also bestows the Marines with a most unwanted surprise. Notes: what do you mean this isn’t what happened

Never Save by siqwithaQ Summary: Ace's guardian angel might be something other than an angel. Notes: alternatively titled as “hurt me more dot jpg”

Soulmates!verse by Elri (angelrider13) Summary:  There was always one Angel and one Demon. No more, no less. One was pure, the other tainted. They were never meant to co-exist, and yet, they find themselves inevitably drawn together. Notes: there are 3 stories in this universe with basically the same theme of angel!luffy and demon!ace; warning (?): this also toes the line of being shippy between ace and luffy but well it depends on the reader i guess

Forgot to Hide the Bodies by siqwithaQ Summary:  Despite being lovers and sharing an apartment, neither Ace nor Luffy ever found out what the other does for a living — not to say that there haven't been close calls. Because, really, some skeletons in the closet are more literal than others. Ace/Luffy Notes: warning (?) acelu is shippy; but ok goodness this one made me laugh

Brave and Strong by samettikettu Summary:  Everything made sense now, why Sabo hadn't hugged him back and why he didn't say much to him during their brief meetings. Or why he hadn't waited till he woke up. Sabo blamed him for Ace's death. Notes: i didn’t know i needed yandere!sabo until this

Borrowing Days by Strange-Charms Summary:  Sabo was determined, he'd do this right. To make up for all those he'd missed. Notes: ahhh such a “quiet” and nice sabo and luffy brotherly bonding

Detective Loomes and the Phantom Thief by samettikettu Summary:  Detective Sherlock Loomes is the greatest detective in all England and he's tracking down the murderer who took his friend's life, a man called Moriarty. During his investigations, another criminal catches his eyes and messes up his head with his charming smile. It's the Phantom Thief Lupin! Sabo/Luffy Notes: everyone’s roles are great; warning (?): shippy sabolu

The Monkey Clan by loofahlover Summary:  Zoro had never thought that going out with Luffy would be easy. But that knowledge had not prepared him to meet with a senile old marine, an ex-mercenary, a half-drunk traveling salesman, a fireman with a questionable skillset, a shady government agent, and an even shadier sociopath. Notes: this was tagged as zoro/luffy but the focus was on the “monkey clan” and this was fcking hilarious and literally has been a rollercoaster from start until the end lmao I LOVE THIS

The Hat by Taisi Summary:  About a year before the Corrida Colosseum in Dressrosa, Sabo met one of Luffy's nakama. Well, they didn't actually meet. They spoke, but names weren't exchanged; other things were. Notes: so simple but sooooo good; AU drabble

NAKAMA FICS ALL of akurosa’s fics are a must-read!!! but let me list down my top ones from this author this is the price that has been paid in full (Some days, it's the ridiculously small things that break them and make them start over again.)   moments like this (simple and sweet Zoro&Luffy nakamaship moments)   Next Time Won’t You Sing With Me (The Straw Hats' ABCs. Short stories, all Luffy-centric with crew member interactions and sometimes, with Ace. notes: the last chapter (letter z) killed me hence, this) Like When a Fox Falls (Last time, he saved them. This time, they'll find him. A modern-reincarnation fic)  

2 Things by The StoryBooker Summary:  Zoro contemplates the things he does for his captain. Then he has a conversation with Rayleigh about what it means to be a first mate. Notes: im weak for first mates complaining about their captains

A Light Against The Dark Sky by zealousfreak27 Summary:  In which Robin Nico adopts six squirming children, becomes an object of interest for a famous elderly violinist, makes the acquaintance of a very interesting demolitionist, and learns to live again. Notes: pretty sure im gonna rec all kid!luffy fics tbh

Already Forever by Taisi Summary:  Hundreds of years from now, historians will never know what her captain was thinking, when he brought Enies Lobby to its knees with a declaration of war, when he attacked a Celestial Dragon on an island in an archipelago, and she won't be there to explain, "it was for a friend, you see?" (In which Nami comes to understand that the world will never understand Luffy.) Notes: nami’s thoughts are pretty much the fans’ thoughts

Always Gold by kokune Summary:  He's tied to a tree, his swords and crew are missing, and now some ten-year-old brat calling himself Sabo is waving around a lead pipe, demanding to know what happened to his little brother. Zoro closes his eyes and wonders if a bottle of booze will appear out of nowhere if he wishes hard enough. It's not like the day can get any weirder, anyway. Notes: post timeskip!SHs encounter young!ASL on Dawn Island

Copycat by Taisi Summary: And then, so quickly no one saw it happen, the man is reeling back with a broken nose, the creature is swept up and away, and Luffy- cradling it safely against his chest- looks as surprised as the rest of them. (In which there are absolutely no miraculous returns, and old wounds ache before a rain.) Notes: *wraps luffy in a burrito blanket*

Calendars and Kings by Taisi Summary:  "When I was little, all the other kids got treats and candies on my birthday too, so I didn't know it was special for me. Ace always said it was, but I thought that was just 'cause he was my big brother. I thought that since it was already a holiday, it didn't count!" Notes: just some nakama feels for all of us

Inversion by siqwithaQ Summary: "He wished things were different. He wished things would change." Notes: did someone ask for an ocean of angst in 1 chapter??? here you go

Inanition by Taisi Summary:  in·a·ni·tion, noun; lack of mental or spiritual vigor and enthusiasm; exhaustion caused by lack of nourishment. Notes: [In which Luffy's metabolism is faster than his doctor understands.]

Linger by Duzzie Summary:  AU. They're just a bunch of lonely kids in a hospital ward before he comes along: the boy with a smile like sunshine. Notes: what was that you wanted more angsty fics??? here you go

Smile Again by Taisi Summary:  His eyes are bright, and his mouth is stretched into a grin as wide as the world, and looking at him Usopp could cry. Notes: Modern AU, Nakamaship; there’s a lingering ache bc of the loss but the support of the mugiwara family is there

The Straw Hat by EmberEvolution Summary: The straw hat Shanks had given Luffy all those years ago finally fits on the boy's head. For anyone else, it would be an exciting event as it proves that they've grown from before. For Luffy, it's an event that triggered a panic fit and the reason behind it is simple: What if he outgrows his treasured straw hat? Notes: luffy has legitimate concerns ok

S We Walk the Beaten Path by soomin Summary: They were so close to the end that a few of them have actually begun to think about the ever after. However, Sabo warns the Strawhat crew that one of them will not make it to the afterwards if they go to Raftel, the crew thinks. It has always been pirate king or death. Not a single one thought that the “or” could one day be “and”. Notes: The highlight would have to be how each of the crew member reacted and tried finding a “solution”.

In The Bag by Kamu Summary: All pirates have hordes of treasure.It just so happens in this life, cats are the treasure in Luffy's. Notes: luffy as the owner of mugiwara!cats but this def needs the next part to update

Kizuna by YokoHogawa Summary:  Usopp carefully watches Luffy over the sandwich he is biting into, and he can’t help but worry. Sanji has an anxiety problem. Something wakes Zoro at the crack of dawn. Notes: nice approach immediately after the crew’s 3d2y reunion

Exclusivity by Taizi Summary:  A stranger flirts with the oblivious Luffy, and the Straw Hat Pirates reveal a possessive streak. Notes: ngl i’m weak for people being protective over luffy

Breadwinner by siqwithaQ Summary:  Because when the trouble doesn't find the Straw Hats by itself, the Straw Hats have to go looking for trouble. Notes: im still choking with laughter especially with the law-luffy-nami scenes lmao

Nothing but Trouble by Kitsune Foxfire Summary:  Marco and Thatch have had just about enough of the Moby Dick's newest passenger. Whenever Ace isn't trying to kill Oyaji, he's driving the rest of the crew insane with his bizarre habits. They're not even sure if they've picked up a feral dog or a person anymore. Who the heck raised this kid, anyway? Wolves? Notes: oh, ace, i love you

Unexpected Emergencies by blueh Summary:  Luffy had been alone most of his short life, with no one to love and no one to rely on. This all changed, however, when the Whitebeard Pirates stumble upon his lonely little island and take the four-year-old boy under their wing. Who knew that the little rubber brat would become one of Oyaji's strongest commanders when he grew up? Ha. The Whitebeard Pirates sure didn't. Notes: ahhh the bonding of luffy and the whitebeard pirates as he grew up was so nice

SHIPPY FICS aka i didn’t know i shipped anyone in one piece but damn these fics are good

An Interesting Proposal by petiteneko Summary:  If anybody told Smoker that he would have a casual conversation with his boss at a pirate's wedding, he would have thought them beyond insane. Law/Luffy Notes: wherein smoker’s sure he didn’t sign up for this bullshit and the wedding hall has got to be the “most wanted area in history”

Her Pace by Arithra Summary:  When Trafalgar Law first met Strawhat Luffy in the auction house on Sabaody, he like everyone else, assumed her to be male. It was a simple fact. A fact that would not survive their second meeting. Law/Luffy Notes: genderbent!luffy and as usual he/she is still so damn cute

Stow Away Captains by xairylle Summary:  Law sneaks into the men's quarters of the Thousand Sunny. Zoro contemplates on how to deal with it. And Luffy, well, Luffy is just Luffy. Notes: screaming over the predicament of zoro, sanji, usopp, and brook lmao

Youthful Years by grayclouds Summary:  Snippets and bits of seven years in Hogwarts during which Law hopelessly pines for Luffy. Law/Luffy Notes: the hp au every fandom needs

We’re Not Nuns by deadhemoglobin Summary:  Luffy went to prison. [[ZoLu, LawLu, Prison AU, warnings inside]] Notes: explicit Zoro/Luffy y’all and the premise was interesting

A Clash of Blades by Arithra Summary:  Mihawk had lived by the blade, had lived for the blade and the moment she lost her title she would die by the blade as well. Only Shanks ever dared to disagree. (fem!mihawk; Shanks/Mihawk) Notes: i thought mihawk looked pretty in oda’s genderbent drawing so i casually looked for a fic then this happened and jfc ngl this works sooo well and the fact that the author managed to keep them in character was super nice

ASL in Love by Kereea Summary: Three things would be true about the ASL Brothers’ relationships: they would be spectacular, they would be weird, and Shanks would not approve of his kids’ love lives. Marco/Ace Sabo/Koala Law/Luffy Notes: papa!shanks is the best and him raging over his kids’ “special others” is the best Hey, Mr. Star, I Think I love You (Please Love Me Too) by JuHuaTai Summary: Rising star actor, Marco Newgate, and the darling of the music industry, Spade, are just friends. Good friends who met in the most awkward of circumstances, and hold great respect for each other’s craft. Okay, a whole lot deal of great respect, and there might be a shade of crush here and there, but it’s a celebrity crush and that’s all there is to it.At least, that's what they kept saying. The whole world sure doesn't buy it one bit. Marco/Ace Notes: fluff goodness literally this is what you’d need if you wanna have toothache from all the sweetness also i cry over luffy being a youtuber

We’ll Look Back and Laugh at Ourselves by JuHuaTai Summary: Between his new boyfriend and his workaholic boss, Marco felt like he was surrounded by family issues of the father and son dispute variety. Maybe it was just a coincidence.Or maybe he should've listened to the office gossip more. Maybe then he'd figure it out sooner. Marco/Ace Notes: i relate with whitebeard and (later on) rayleigh

Thwarted by a Malign Star by DeadSkullB Summary:  “Fuck pirates, they're scum - except for Luffy, Luffy's fine… But he's not a pirate yet… that means it's fine, yeah, pirates suck,” Ace said matter-of-factly. Then his brain slowly caught up and he looked at the man - his face, not his very, very nice chest - with narrowed eyes. “Are you a pirate?” Marco smirked and pointed down at his chest. “You’re Marco the pine- Phoenix,” Ace stumbled over the word, heart having leapt to his throat and filled his ear with constant drumming. He didn't realize he spilled his drink - when had he gotten a refill? Marco/Ace Notes: came for the summary bc ace doting on luffy even as a marine is gold and stayed bc damn that was hot; nsfw & explicit obv

One Piece Soulmates AU by Charlie_Mou Summary: You have the name of your soulmate tattooed on your body but it's the name that will have the biggest impact on the world. Marco/Ace Law/Luffy Notes: The variety of One Piece Soulmate AU, mostly MarcoAce, LawLu, and others which isn’t written yet.

OTHERS of doughnuts and meat by dami_an Summary: "Where's my MEAT?!!" Behind the counter, Katakuri looks up from the sales ledger. He sighs, "Told you; this is a bakery. We don't sell meat here." "But you have meat buns!!!" Luffy whines. Notes: “in which katakuri's a baker and ends up befriending a seven-year-old luffy”; the exasperation of katakuri ftw and kid!luffy is the cutest basically a very wholesome shit i live for

The World Goes Around by WinglessCrows Summary: "How come you're called the pirate hunter, when you're a pirate yourself?"- How Zoro got his nickname and how his stupid captain was somehow involved. Notes: a headcanon i accept

Grandfatherhood by Keereea Summary:  Sengoku and Garp chat about Sengoku's discovery about Law. Notes: “Like Sengoku wouldn't tell Garp "crap I've join the 'my grandson's a pirate' club." warning (?): there’s a tiny bit of lawlu at the end

An Old-Hat Rivalry by lunarshores(damichan) Summary:  Three times Marco met a different man wearing the straw hat, and one time he decided to follow it. Notes: i just love the takes of authors on how marco and luffy’s dynamic is going to be and ugh the ending was so cute

A Song for the Heartsore and War-Weary by Summary: "Sorry, Ace," Marco murmured to himself as he riffled through the stack of old newspapers. "I don't know how it happened, but... I think I'm stalking your little brother." Notes: another take on marco and luffy’s dynamic asdfghjkl

Unsinkable by RikoJasmine Summary: The Straw Hats find out that their captain has one hell of a family. When asked about his mother’s whereabouts, Luffy simply grins and throws his arms out, gesturing to the endless expanse of sea around them. With complete sincerity, he replies, “The ocean is my mother!”An AU where Luffy isn’t entirely human, and water affects him differently than other Devil Fruit users. Notes: an interesting take on who luffy’s mother might be

Take It From Another Savior by JadeFlicker Summary: "You realize, by saving Straw Hat-ya, you may very well have indirectly changed or saved a lot of lives.” “You think?” “I know.” On their way to Wano, Law and his group just happen to meet the Red Hair Pirates. Notes: ahhh, i loved the “quietness” of this fic and some interactions between characters i didn’t think i’d be interested in seeing (hence this)

Like Cats and Dogs by PitViperOfDoom Summary:  It should be easy to judge a man by the shape of his soul, but Strawhat Luffy spits in the face of logic and predictability. Notes: i finally found a daemon fic yes

Law’s Adventure in the Thousand Sunny by LuffyForKing Summary: Law's thoughts on the crew's antics. Rated T for some swearing. Notes: basically, the strawhats broke law lmao

About You by pitchblackfingernails Summary:  “Is he serious?!” He heard faintly from Eustass-ya’s direction. And it seemed that he was. Because “Straw Hat” Monkey D. Luffy, dodged one, two bullets that flew in his direction, formed a fist, pulled his arm back, and then, with a shout, hit the face of one of the World Nobles with a force that sent the sucker flying halfway across the room, completely shattering the benches that were in the way in the process. And grunted in satisfaction, a fierce and proud look on his face. Law would be lying if he claimed that the sight didn’t make his heart skip a beat. Fucking hell. So that was Monkey D. Luffy. Notes: warning (?): it’s tagged as law/luffy but so far, it’s more on showing law’s pov on luffy pre timeskip

Every You, Every Me by tokyonightskies Summary: “Did you know, Roci…” Doffy begins in a voice that only spells out trouble. As if he knows something Rocinante doesn’t, has never thought about until it’s said and done. “That Sengoku keeps your marine file in his desk?” There’s something comforting about how unpredictable his brother is, something he can count on at least when there’s nothing else to rely on. He grabs a commentary on their great-great grandmother and puts it on top of the others, on the pile of papers he doesn’t really suspect his brother to read thoroughly. “I didn’t.” He responds tiredly as he shuts the drawer and leans against the wall, “Do I want to know how you know?” Doffy comes to stand next to him, tilts his head back until Roci can glimpse at his eyes from the side, and teases, “I looked, of course.” Notes: interesting take on what if roci wasn’t allowed to infiltrate the donquixote family and continued being a marine but it has only 1 chapter whelp; there are pairings tagged but then again no shippy thing at all since it’s not updated

Black Scab by tofu-melon Summary:  Having been raised by his grandfather since a young age, Luffy grows up powerful and intelligent enough to become part of the CP9... more precisely, he becomes their Chief Director. Notes: warning (?) it was tagged as Lucci/Luffy but so far it doesn’t have any yet

Drop-In Voyage by Lily Noire Summary:  So how does one go about visiting family on the other side of the globe? Easy: just board a ship. There's a pit stop on the way, you say? Dangerous, is it? No biggie, simply wreak havoc. And watch out for that fist! Strongest man in the world? Really? Then, surpass him it is! - Luffy did always have his priorities straight... somewhat. Notes: ahhh i wish the author would continue this bc i wanna see everyone’s reaction to their visit lol

My Family Can Beat Up Your Family by rose7anne101 Summary:  Big Mom decided she needed to make an unforgettable example of one of the Worst Generation, her chosen target: Straw Hat Luffy. Alive!Ace Notes: this is the canon we deserve wherein nobody died and luffy’s still wrecking havoc

Oh God, My Eyes! by Kitsune Foxfire Summary:  No one could ever really be sure what went on in Garp's head. So they weren't sure if his new cloths were some kind of strange D-related tactic, or if the man had actually lost his mind. If they'd just look at the date, they'd know. His cute grandsons always sent the most thoughtful gifts for his birthday. Notes: garp the grandpa ftw

Pets by clarobel Summary:  AU. Zoro was a stray until Shanks picked him up and adopted him. Now in a house with reindeer, kittens, fish and dogs, the green cat doesn't know who to trust. Luffy's delighted to have a new friend to play with, though! Notes: mugiwara as pets hell yes

The Justice of Freedom by Stelra Etnae Summary:  Garp is a pirate, Roger is a Marine? The Marine top-tiers are full of slacking drunkards and the Yonko are obsessed with rice crackers? Just what kind of chaos will unfold in a world such as this? A role-reversal AU where everything is upside down and no one is quite sane. Drabble series. Notes: im sCREAMING loool

Storm by  Kuroshi44 Summary:  Because even across the seas he would find a way to let his child know he cared. Notes: i can’t wait for a legit dragon and luffy reunion

Supernova Family by YohoAruto Summary:  There are laughter, shouting, fight, all the halabaloo. It's what families do! But we all have to wonder if this family can survive with eachothers? Just a regular Supernova Family. Notes: ok but i really love the supernovas and this modern au fic is gold

The adventures of the Supernova pirates by WhimsicalAnimeFan Summary:  This is the story of the Supernova crew, under their captain, Strawhat Luffy! Join Luffy as he travels the east blue and through the Grand Line to collect pirates for his crew! Notes: thank the heavens they’re not under one crew

Throne Without Direction by Som3on3 Summary:  "You have an old soul," Benn said and Luffy wanted to laugh, that's one way to put it, falling from the heavens and chained upon the earth. Instead he only gazed at the unchanging sky before smiling, "I'm just a free spirit." Notes: this had so much potential especially after the reveal in the latest chapter but it hasn’t been updated ;________;

**will add more from time to time

[ace-reviews]

Spring 2017 Watchlist

It’s a month into the season, and while I do occasionally drop anime near the end (by which I mean I’ve done it all of twice, and one of those was because they kept molesting a child for laughs. And no I am never ever ever gonna stop bringing that up), by this point the sunk cost fallacy has kicked in, and anything that’s gonna get dropped, likely has been dropped. So, here’s what I’m watching this season.

100% Teacher Pascal

summary: a weird yellow thing becomes an elementary school teacher. the children, oddly enough, aren’t thrilled with this. hilarity ensues

Why are there no gifs of this series yet? C’mon, people, this shit is hilarious. Don’t make me have to put this on my underrated anime spotlight at the end of the season.

Alice & Zoroku

summary: magic little girl adopts a grumpy old man

This is one of those precious few anime that has managed to completely live up to my expectations. It’ll almost certainly end up in my top 5 of the season, and if it continues to satisfy it might just make it to the top 10 for the year.

Case Closed

summary: does anyone actually not know what this anime is about? it’s been running for 20 years. 

ugh, fine. it’s about a teenage detective who gets stuck as a 6-year-old

This is on my watchlist pretty much every season, though I will occasionally skip a few episodes if I get busy. It’s not like plot stuff happens often enough that I’m likely to miss anything important.

Dragon Ball Super

summary: okay, now i know for a goddamn fact y’all know what dragon ball is about. i’m not about to waste my time or insult y’all’s intelligence by telling you. if you need to know, just grab some random person on the street and ask them for a summary

Hey, ya see, Toei actually can care when they have a mind to. I’m not sure if they’re putting a lot of effort into this arc because there’s been some lukewarm responses to Super and they’re trying to keep the long-time fans interested, or if they accidentally appointed a director who gives a shit, but this arc has been looking pretty damn good. I hope they’ll keep it up, even though I know they won’t.

KADO: The Right Answer

summary: an alien offers humanity unlimited free energy because

This is a series that has actually managed to surpass my expectations, and not only because I’m now absolutely certain Shindo and Hanamori are fucking. I haven’t bothered to check, but I really hope this is only a one cour anime, because that’s only as long as Toei is ever willing to put effort into one of their series.

Kenka Bancho Otome -Girl Beats Boys-

summary: a girl switches places with a dude who looks just like her so she can beat up all the boys at her new school

This one seems to have already found a fanbase, which is great because it’s good stuff. I mean, look at that summary. That summary alone is good shit. I’m a little disgruntled that there were only 4 gifs in the search thing and none of them featured the main character, but what’m I gonna do? Start making my own gifs? Like I got time for that shit.

Makeruna!! Aku no Gundan!

summary: an inept invader tries to conquer earth, and no i didn’t just get that summary mixed up with invader zim’s

This is another one I couldn’t find a gif for. Why do y’all hate fun so much?

My Hero Academia

summary: a boy with no superpowers gets a superpower and goes to school to become a superhero

It’s one of my favorite shonen series so naturally it’s gonna be on my watchlist. Why wouldn’t it be? It’s the goodest of shit.

Ninja Girl & Samurai Master

summary: my daughter helps oda nobunaga do his thang

I’ve been digging this series since it first started last Fall. I hope it continues forever, even though it won’t because it has a plot and follows historical events.

Sakura Quest

summary: a group of young women work to revive tourism to a country town

Eyyyy, I haven’t dropped this one yet! Not that I’m planning on dropping it, but I wasn’t planning on dropping Hanasaku Iroha or Shirobako, either, so I’m still certain that something is going to occur any day now that will prevent me from continuing it.

Shonen Ashibe Go! Go! Goma-chan

summary: a little boy gets a pet seal after it falls off the back of a truck. hilarity ensues

Anyone else notice how the new ED makes Ashibe and Sugao look like separated lovers? That’s a bit weird, isn’t it? Yeah, toy ships are cute I guess, but you know what’s also cute? Acknowledging that 7-year-olds don’t give a shit about that crap.

The Royal Tutor

summary: a diminutive professor tries to teach 4 princes how not to be douchebags

Hello, yes, I would like to request more Kai, thank you kindly. I know he’s the quiet one and much like an actual classroom the loud ones will hog the attention, but Kai is a Very Good Boy and I like him the most.

Tiger Mask W

summary: a young man becomes a pro wrestler to get revenge on the guy who ended his mentor’s career

Boy howdy, the animation in this series has undergone a serious drop in quality since the first cour. See what I mean about Toei only caring long enough to build a fanbase? It still doesn’t look nearly as bad as One Piece did when I finally got annoyed enough with Toei’s shit to drop it (fun fact: there’s an alternate universe where the One Piece anime is handled by Production IG, and may I say? Fuck those guys in that universe), but I’d still prefer to see the wrestling moves instead of having to take the announcer’s word for it.

Eh, whatever. I still like this series, and it’s gotten me interested in watching actual pro wrestling, which is way more than can be said for pretty much any other sports anime ever.

World Fool News Part II

summary: a normal guy becomes a news anchor at a station full of weird people who cover weird stories

I watched the first season of this back when it first aired back in 2014, and now just as then it’s one of those series I enjoy while I’m watching and never think about when I’m not.

Although, one of the more recent episodes did provide the perfect reaction image to use next time you’ve got an dumbass trying to offer their unwanted two cents on an issue that isn’t about them:

in case you’d like the context, the woman telling him to shut up was trying to have a conversation with the lady anchor and that dude kept butting in

So you can go ahead to feel free to take that screencap and use it whenever you find it necessary.

WorldEnd: What Will You Do At the End of the World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us?

summary: a human becomes the military protector for a bunch of magical girls

Hey, Crunchyroll, thanks for making me look like an asshole by including a shorter version of the title after I’d already complained that there was no shorter version of the title. And after I was kind enough to offer to write your summaries for you. See if I ever offer to help you out again.

ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: The World Yamizukan

summary: an anthology horror series about aliens ‘n robots ‘n shit

I really want to like this one because anthology horror is my favorite genre of anything, but so far none of the stories have been particularly scary or interesting. It’s not officially dropped yet, but it’s teetering on the edge. We’ll see if I feel like continuing it or not on Sunday.

So there ya go. That’s my watchlist for the season. I did mention in the first impressions that I’d be sticking with The Laughing Salesman and Hinako Note, but I dropped the former because it’s a bit too formulaic (it’s not bad; I just get the point already), and the latter because it introduced a 9-year-old with tig ol’ biddies, which in and of itself isn’t too much of a problem since they do exist (though having breasts that large at that age is a pretty serious medical issue), but then they did the thing that’s way too common in anime where she fell down and the camera took the opportunity to leer at her, so I dropped it immediately. Which really sucks, cause I liked Hinako Note, but what’re ya gonna do. I’m not going through a repeat of the child molestation gag from last season.

Whelp, I’m not sure how to end this, so here’s a gif of The Rock since apparently today’s his birthday.

happy birthday, the rock