#when will my timeskip return from war

[raayllum]

cause they couldn't have Rayla sing an actual lullaby this season and not expect this

Callum smiles before he even reaches the doorway, the soft lilt literal music to his ears as he climbs the stairs, and Rayla's voice grows clearer as he approaches.

"—I am near, my love is here—"

The nursery door is ajar, the real proof of how safe and secure they are here in their little cottage, and Callum nudges it open just a bit further. Their little Rae can be fussy sometimes, but he watches his son sleepily yawn and nestle against Rayla's breast, her nightgown pulled back up as she rocks him.

"Went down easy tonight?" Callum murmurs, slipping in.

Rayla doesn't jump, never one to be snuck up on. She settles into his arms instead looped around her filled out waist, easing up his hold a little so she can lower their just-about-a-toddler into his crib. Rae stirs, tiny horns poking out of white hair, but his bright green eyes don't crack open, so it seems he'll stay asleep for the meantime.

"You know he gets his lungs from you," Rayla says, eyes narrowed as she turns to face her husband instead, but she's smiling too much.

Callum knits his fingers together at the small of her back. "You love me. Us," he retorts confidently.

Her hand cups his jaw, eyes softening. Her other hand drifts to his heart, where it beats for her—for their family. "I do," she hums.

Her kisses feel like music too.

[bakugoushotwife]

𝖘𝖔𝖚𝖑 𝖇𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉 // 𝖘𝖚𝖐𝖚𝖓𝖆 𝖝 𝖋𝖊𝖒!𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗 𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙

↪↪↪ cw: minors dni, dark content ahead. each chapter will come with its own set of specific warnings. true form sukuna, yuujikuna, timeskip/reincarnation themed. heian era into the modern storyline. gore, murder, cannibalism, weapons, blood, slight blood/knife play, reader is lowkey crazy, made up technique for you, very selfship coded at that, pregnancy, death of characters including reader but we come back, miscarriage/infant loss, i'm just making up sukuna lore, smut, uh he's sukuna please be serious, proceed with caution!

↪↪↪ summary: you welcome the feared sorcerer ryomen sukuna into your settlement, hoping he'll spare your village from his conquering streak. what you—and he—did not expect was a wedding two weeks later. sukuna never does anything halfway, and marrying you is no exception. he is a doting husband and then expecting father, until you unexpectedly pass away...the grief turns him from a raging sorcerer into a scheming and scorned widower. he can't stand the idea of anyone living if he doesn't have you. he comes up with the idea of turning himself into a curse on his war for revenge, and patiently waits for his time to return—to burn the world down forever. one thousand years later, his energy sings to life again, in a miserable excuse of a sorcerer—a boy named yuuji itadori. sukuna is ready to enact his plan, to exterminate everyone and hopefully find you somewhere on the other side of things when it's all over. what he didn't account for was you; again. he doesn't believe it at first—but yuuji's best friend was...you?

↪↪↪ notes from the author: hi hi!! i have been dreaming this dream for a while now, and i get to live it every day thanks to my beautiful and amazing roleplay partner and overall wifey extraordinaire, @suguru-getos . we've played with this idea when we wanted to figure out a way to give sukuna and myself something to stand on because in all reality he'd likely squash me like a gnat if he met me so this was something fun we came up with. i love the idea of sukuna the human having some redeeming moments and knowing love and pure happiness and for that to be a driving force for him to become a curse! once again this will have dark content so proceed at your own risks and read the individualized content warnings for each chapter!!

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖆𝖓 𝖊𝖗𝖆

⇝ 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖔𝖓𝖊: 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖊𝖓

⇝ 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖜𝖔: 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗

⇝ 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖊𝖊: 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖐𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖔𝖋 𝖈𝖚𝖗𝖘𝖊𝖘

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖉𝖊𝖗𝖓 𝖊𝖗𝖆

⇝ 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖗: 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖘𝖔𝖔𝖓...

⇝ 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖋𝖎𝖛𝖊: 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖘𝖔𝖔𝖓...

⇝ 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖘𝖎𝖝: 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖘𝖔𝖔𝖓...

↯↯↯ comment to be tagged!! banners are by @/cafekitsune

[manachiichan]

Sailing against Fate

(Alabasta Saga)

Synopsis: If you want to survive on this world, you have to lean on to the strongest, to your luck, you somehow ended up with the Strawhats.

Pairing: Strawhat Pirates X Isekaid!Fem!Reader

Pre-Timeskip! This takes place during the Alabasta Arc. I planned on making this into a mini series with other scenarios.

|| One Piece Masterlist ||

|| Alabasta Saga Masterlist ||

|| Next Chapter||

It has to be a dream...

One moment ago, you were just studying for your college midterms and the next thing you knew, black spots covered your vision causing you to pass out on your desk. Well maybe passing out was your fault since you stayed up for a whole two days straight with nothing but caffeine to keep you energized.

But how did it comes to this?

"Oi...Are you dead?"

A pair of curious eyes poked your form the moment you started to wake up. A somehow familiar face greets you. Tan skin with a noticable scar on the lower left side of his eye and a straw hat. Unlike him, His crew had a look of suspicion as they surround the two of you.

'No way....'

How come you found yourself staring face to face with the Strawhat pirates?!

"What...?"

You can only gawked in shock. There in flesh were Luffy, Sanji, Nami, Zoro, Usopp, Vivi and Chopper. All staring back at you with a mixed of bewilderment and cautiousness.

"Where....Am I...?"

"Hey....Are you okay?! Stop that! Your hurting yourself!"

You questioned yourself, slightly distraughted.

Sweet Chopper got worried seeing how tightly you started gripping your hair with both of your hands. Because of his natural caring nature as a doctor, he immediately approached and grab your hands to stop you from hurting yourself further.

"Nooo! I can't take my exams now!"

Seeing that Vivi and Karoo are with the crew, you concluded that you were transported during the Alabasta arc. With Chopper already being there, that means that they had already been to Drum Island and are now on their way to stop the war brewing in the sand nation.

The Strawhats were somehow nice enough to let you stay with them for a while, although deep down, you knew it was because of seeing you in your most pathetic state.

Well most likely since you're a woman and Sanji is the type of man that will never deny a damsel in distress.

But ofcourse, you didn't want to end up on any of their bad side, and since they allowed you to stay with them, you decided to atleast try to be useful to help around the ship.

Only to find out that you have zero experience in managing a ship. You can't tie knots nor lift heavy equipments, Chopper had to help you out when the Going Merry's cannon accidentally fell on you.

All you could do was learn by observing others do their tasks, respectively.

Zoro was far more suspicious along with Usopp who was wary of you, so you couldn't ask any of them for any pointers. Nami, tried to teach you how to stir the ship but you somehow managed to get off course, so she had to step in, not after yelling at you ofcourse.

As much as Chopper helped you out whenever you were struggling, he was a bit too afraid to actually talk to you. And you like Sanji, but you hate how he treats you like a delicate and fragile glass to the point that he never let you help out whenever he's nearby.

Luffy and Vivi were the only ones who are normal around you. Luffy being somehow curious with your mannerism and weird habits. You were slightly glad that he was still the Luffy you knew in the show.

"Where did you came from, (Name)?"

He would often ask the most random questions about you. And whenever you answer, you could feel the eyes of the crew lingers your form.

"Some where really far away..."

"But I doubt that I can return back..."

You answered honestly. It had been a few days since you got sent into this world and you still don't understand how you managed to get here. You knew that you don't belong here, and without the Strawhats, you would probably be dead by now.

The Grandline is indeed a terrifying place, so you have to do what you must if you want to survive in this world.

Luckily for you, you read a few isekai mangas along with those popular korean manhwas back in your world. So with your One Piece knowledge, you have a slightly advantage of knowing what will happen next. However, you kept silent of that, as you were still trying to figure out what you were suppose to do.

In the world of pirates, a sane person would ask the crew to drop them off to a nearby island, however you were far from sane.

You are in the One Piece universe, how can you miss all those major event, nor miss the opportunity to meet some of your favorite characters.

There were two options for you, To become a pirate or marine. You did considered trying to join the revolutionary army, but you didn't like people bossing you around as you go on missions.

As much as you want to see the adorable Captain Koby as a marine, you weren't that keen to get beatened up by pirates. What if you meet those famous characters of the series, you'll definitely die.

So your only option is to become a pirate, being already on board the Going Merry. Besides, you doubt Luffy will let you go now that he has taken an interest on you, not that you know what he saw on you anyways.

You stayed up a few nights, trying to recall the future events that might happen soon. You wrote them down on a notebook that Nami gave you, not before giving you an interest of paying her back. She was slightly suprised on how you just smiled and told her that you'll somehow find the berries for it.

And now, your habit of not sleeping came back. It's like your studying your notes for an upcoming quiz again. You wrote down everything you remembered regarding the current arc you were in right now.

But first, you have to earn the crew's trusts. So you made a lot of effort to get to know them.

Their personalities were still the same like how it is on the series. There was also somethings that weren't mentioned yet you were able to notice small details while being around them.

Whenever Luffy goes feral at the sight of meat, he would let out small growls when someone approached him. It became noticeable whenever he's really hungry.

You were never a threat, Zoro saw that. You were just a weird helpless woman who somehow just ended up in their ship. Surely he was cautious around you, but seeing how you trip on your own two feet made him rethink of his assumptions that you were a spy sent by baroque works.

"Please...! Teach me how to fight...!"

At your most desperate tone, you plead Zoro to train you. If you have to survive, then you need to learn how to fight.

"Worry not, Mademoiselle! For I shall be there to protect you from those filthy trolls that dares to lay a even a finger on your delicated skin...!"

Sanji straight up told you with hearts on his eyes as he fawn over you having him as your Prince charming on a white horse. You won't learn anything from him.

"Sorry, (Name). I'm not exactly an adept brawler like Sanji, Luffy or Zoro."

"Fighting is not really my expertise. Just ask the guys about it."

Nami and Usopp aren't really much of a fighter, so they wouldn't be able to help that much. And Luffy is out of the question.

"Fighting? Just throw hard punches like this! Oh wait, you can't stretch..."

As much as you like Luffy, his fighting style is a bit too reckless for your liking and you doubt that he can teach you without getting side tracked.

And you can't just ask Vivi, like Nami, she's more of a dictator rather than a fighter. Surely she can fight, but you doubt using whip like weapons is fit for you.

So Zoro was your last hope. Watching anime for as long as you can remember, swords is something you were familiar of and You always wanted to learn how to use a sword, and Zoro being a skilled swordsman could maybe teach you a thing or two to atleast defend yourself.

"If you're asking for my help, you must have a good reason. But why should I help you..?"

Zoro was still wary of you, yet you can see that he was less hostile than he was when you first ended up at Going Merry's deck.

"Unlike any of you guys here, I'm the most vulnerable...! I'll die the moment the Navy or another pirate ship appears!"

Okay, you could have sworn that you sounded and look like another Usopp in his eyes.

"If you're serious about learning to fight, you'll have to prove your dedication. Show me you're worth the effort, and maybe, just maybe, I'll consider teaching you a thing or two."

Zoro was dead serious. But it also look like he's willing to teach you how to weild a sword if your resolve was strong enough.

"I'll do it! I want to learn how to defend myself. I can't rely on you guys all the time."

Seeing him suddenly grin, you knew you were about to experience hell.

[turbofanatic]

His smile and optimism: Gone

Pre-Ocarina-of-Time timeskip and End-Majora's-Mask Link.

Thoughts on the differences below the cut.

In OoT his child outfit is traditional Kokiri bark cloth and leather. The Kokiri bark cloth is rather distinctive for its green color, bleached and dyed in some places for the Kokiri spiral patterns.

After he returns from the future, he beats up his clothes pretty badly in the process of saving Princess Ruto and killing King Dodongo again, and drifts away from the Kokiri. So he ends up in the castle's version of the outfit. Really the only thing he keeps by the end of MM is the Kokiri scabbard (slightly extended to hold the longer Gilded Sword).

He's grown a little bit (let's say the child part of OoT was three months, and he leaves for MM six months later). He doesn't age at all in MM due to the time fuckery, but he's definitely more worn out.

Also he's scraped his other knee. I spent most my childhood scraping my knees so this feels right.

Would be interesting to do a Hyrule Warriors version, he spends about three years in the war and is hitting his growth spurt pretty hard, so at the age of twelve he's on the tall side for a Hylian. The combination of looking older than he is and being emotionally stunted from his trauma is... well it's not good. The three time traveling heroes (OoT/MM Link, WW/PH Link, and ST Link) are pigeon-holed into the religious roles of Din's, Farore's, and Nayru's Blessed, because Hylians sure love groups of three. Once again, not really healthy for any of them!

And the less said about that awful burgeoning Hylia cult the better. You cannot convince me that something bad didn't go down when everyone in BotW/TotK is worshipping the same god, including the Gerudo and Zora who had different religions in the past. What the fuck. Also where did Z1/Z2's pseudo-Christianity go?

[in1-nutshell]

Hi! I wanted to ask if you could write the TFA autobots and elite guard reacting to finding a batmobile Bubby on earth?

Bubby was lose during the war and is the around the same age as Ratchet and Ultra magnus. And maybe have a little romance with Ratchet.

Thanks! :)

This is something new! Batmobile Buddy it is! One of the best detectives on Cybertron! If this isn't what you want, please let me know.

Hope you enjoy!

Bot Buddy who's alt mode is a Batmobile with Ratchet, Ultra Magnus, Optimus Prime, and the Jettwins

SFW, Platonic, slight romantic, Cybertronain reader

TFA

Buddy was one of Cybertrons best detectives during the war.

She was hailed with finding many lost Autobots and catching Decepticons off guard with her swiftness and skilled martial artistry.

She had some teaching from Master Yoketron but decided to leave the dojo to help High Command in the war.

Buddy met Ultra Magnus as his personal bodyguard.

The old one had taken leave to get repairs and some of the back up guards had been called into the draft.

Buddy was personally called after Magnus had heard of her reputation.

Even though the job was temporary Buddy took her job seriously in guarding Ultra Magnus.

They bonded during that time from the near-death situations to potential strategy plans suggested.

“Ultra Magnus.”--Buddy

“Buddy? What seems to be the trouble?”--Magnus

“If I may be so bold…”--Buddy

“You may.”--Magnus

“Is it wise to move the troops in this sector? We would be leaving this flank completely unguarded.”--Buddy

“We would need to take that risk.”--Magnus

“But there is also a chance that the assault team could come in. We have a refugee camp in that area, it will be vulnerable.”--Buddy

“Hmm… you are right. We will need to alert the troops at once.”--Magnus

“Absolutely, sir.”--Buddy

Magnus had offered Buddy a spot in the Elite Guard once the knew guard had arrived, but she politely declined in return for wanting to go back and do her detective work.

The two did stay in contact, especially once the number of hostages they were finding grew in numbers.

It was during one of these cases that Buddy met Ratchet.

Buddy had returned another group of Autobots to a nearby relief camp.

Buddy wanted to know the status of each patient admitted.

“How are they?”--Buddy

“Sweet Alpha Trion! Don’t you know better to scare a field tech?!”--Ratchet

“Sorry, I just wanted to know if the Autobots are okay.”--Buddy

“If you don’t mind waiting a couple of hours, then of course.”--Ratchet

A couple hours later, Ratchet is wrapping up everything up when he sees Buddy taking a nap on a chair nearby.

“You really waited here for all this time?”--Ratchet

Of course, so… do I have to wait more?”--Buddy

“Lucky you, I have all the reports. They are all going to be fine. Some better than others, but they’ll live.”--Ratchet

“That’s good. That’s good.”--Buddy

“Why did you wait?”--Ratchet

“I like to know whether my work was good or not.”--Buddy

“Really. Is that all?”--Ratchet

“…Maybe…”--Buddy

“You kids and you’re words.”--Ratchet

“Hey, I’m your age!”--Buddy

“You don’t act like it!”--Ratchet

“…”--Buddy

“…”--Ratchet

“Hahahahahah!”—Buddy and Ratchet

That was where their friendship began.

The two kept in communication after Buddy left the camp.

They talked about their daily lives every now and then. There would be rare times when the two would be able to meet up in person.

Everything was fine.

Until Buddy went radio silent.

Ratchet had tried to reach Buddy multiple times, even going as far as picking up some favor from the higher ups.

No one had any notation on Buddy.

Timeskip to Earth

Optimus was tired.

He had been dealing with Sentinel’s attitude all day and now he had to babysit the Jettwins.

Why?

Sentinel had promised them to visit the Plant, but he had bailed out at the last minute… and Optimus was at the mercy of the twins ‘puppy dog’ optics.

When the three of them came into the dark Plant. A single light was turned on in the middle of the common room.

“Where are the others?”--Jetstorm

“Yes! Where? Bumblebee told us about this video game—”--Jetfire

“Wait!”--Optimus

“What?”—Jetfire and Jetstorm

“I just remember something… the Team is out on patrol.”--optimus

“Then why is there a light on.”--Jetfire

“That’s because… we aren’t alone.”—Optimus

Optimus grabs his axe while the twins power up.

The light flickered until it finally turned off.

None of them are ready for the sudden ambush. They thrashed around feeling kicks and chops to their armor before they felt stasis cuffs on their servos and pedes.

The lights turned on.

There was a stranger who looked like a Decepticon with their dark colored paint job, but the red Autobot badge begged to differ.

The bot came over to the Prime and looked at his Autobot badge then turned and saw the twins’ badges.

Silently the bot clicked a button.

The cuffs came loose.

“Sorry about that. You can’t be too careful now a days.”--Buddy

“Who are you?”--Optimus

“And how did you do that!”--Jetfire

“That was so cool!”--Jetstorm

“Do you have powers too?! What powers do you have?!”--Jettwins

“Woah, woah, woah calm, down kiddos. I’m a detective from the Autobot High Command. The names Buddy.”--Buddy

“Detective? How come I’ve never heard of you?”--OPtimus

“Special ops. I look out for the bots who suddenly go missing and no one wants to look for them. I’m the one they call to look for them or I find out and go looking for them.”--Buddy

“Oooohhhh!”--Jettwins

“Who did you come looking for?”--Optimus

“I take it you’re Optimus Prime.”--Buddy

“Yes?”--Optimus

“I came to look for you and your team.”--Buddy

“Oh! Who called?”--Optimus

“… A dear friend of mine was on your team. I didn’t get a chance to tell him what happen on my pass assignment… I found out after some digging. Its hard to figure out space bridge engineering when you don’t know a lick about it.”--Buddy

“Who was your friend?”--Optimus

“A brilliant field tech named Ratchet.”--Buddy

“The Doc-Bot!?”--Jettwins

“You know him?”--Buddy

“He is our field tech along with our friend Sari.”--Optimus

“What’s a Sari?”—Buddy

That was when the rest of Team Prime had decided to show up.

Now it was understandable that the Team was on edge seeing a dark armored bot looming over the three Autobots on the ground.

But one of them quickly gets everyone to lower their weapons.

“Put those weapons down, that’s an Autobot!”--Ratchet

“An Autobot? They look like a Decepticon to me!”--Bumblebee

“Put it down!”--Ratchet

“You know them?”--Prowl

“Yes!”--Ratchet

“Ratchet!?”--Buddy

“Buddy!”--Ratchet

Buddy ran to Ratchet hugging new dents into him.

“Oh my—”--Prowl

“That bot did the impossible!”--Bulkhead

“She’s hugging Ratchet! And he’s hugging back!”--Bumblebee

“Shut it!”—Buddy and Ratchet

The two Autobot looking at each other before laughing.

“…Prime I’m scared.”--Bumblebee

“Me too—I mean don’t be rude.”--Optimus

[onlyymirknows]

What are your headcanons for Reiner coping with Bertholdt’s death? Do you think he actually has the time to grieve during the timeskip or is it only post-Rumbling that he allows himself to fully embrace what happened?

Hello! Thanks for the ask, this is my first on this blog 💖

I think he theoretically has the time to grieve Bertholdt during the time skip but I don’t think he actually does. Reiner’s main methods of dealing with emotional stress are repression and distraction. He basically ignores his problems by occupying his mind with something else.

And Reiner is presented with a really compelling distraction when he returns to Marley:

Fighting for his life and reputation in a brand new war is the perfect distraction from what happened on Paradis. Not just the presumed deaths of Bertholdt and Annie but also his immense guilt over the things he did.

I think the fact that he resorts to suicide the moment he’s confronted with the idea of going back to Paradis is a good indication of how little he’s processed his emotions.

That said, he doesn’t react strongly when people mention Bertholdt which tells me that he’s accepted it factually. But in my head, Reiner hasn’t bothered to confront the emotional reality of the loss (among a ton of other things) because he’s got his finish line.

In addition to that, there’s nobody for him to talk to about Bertholdt in Marley. Everyone back home only knew 11 y/o Bert, not the 16 y/o he developed into. Reiner also can’t admit to the fact that the two experienced a big shift in their worldview together (eg- island devils don’t exist.)

So it wouldn’t be until after the Rumbling that he has to contend with a lot of his unresolved trauma, including the grief of losing his best friend. (And potentially his love interest/boyfriend depending on who you ask.)

Best case scenario is his friends/family proactively encourage his healing and don’t let him run away. Worst case scenario, he goes full distraction mode (my HC is workaholism) and won’t admit there’s a problem until he falls apart.

Some talk about my relevant long fic below the cut

My fic is gonna be about the worst case scenario because I want to dig into the emotional aspects of his character. Namely his unresolved grief, childhood emotional trauma, and queerness.

Plus I want to write about how trauma feels, having been on my own healing journey. It’s kind of a vent fic that spun out into a full narrative that I really need to write an outline for lol.

It’s gotten a bit complicated with multiple POV’s/plot threads so I’m taking my time. I watched a video recently talking about the pitfalls of serialized fiction. I’d like to avoid some of the bigger ones, namely putting in scenes/details with no narrative purpose.

Not everything needs to be Chekov’s gun but I’m sure you know how it is 🤭 so an outline is gonna help a lot. But I feel pretty good about the main story beats! I could talk about my fic a lot more but I’ll leave it here.

[cross-my-heartt]

okay so I slept on it... and as much as I hate to say it I think I'm disappointed with episode five

really disappointed

putting my thoughts under a cut, they're mostly critical but there's some praise in there too

I'm not gonna lie some parts of this episode were fantastic. I legitimately started crying when Crosshair picked up Mayday's helmet and started lining them all up. but as much as I wanted to feel the same way about the other emotional moments in this episode (and they were a lot) I just didn't and it's weird because they feel right from a storytelling perspective but execution wise?... yeah, I have some thoughts

for starters I'm getting really frustrated with Corbett and co's aversion to showing us characters reacting to major events. I fully expected this episode to pick up where we left off but instead we went straight to the timeskip, foregoing all the initial stages of Crosshair's reintegration into the team (similarly people have pointed out how disappointing it is that we didn't see Crosshair react to the news of Tech's death. or Echo reacting to the news of Fives’ death. can we see the pattern here?)

we're supposed to feel like this tension in the team has been going on for a while but instead we're just told that it has. yes, it makes sense for this to be the case but when you think that the whole thing is resolved in one single episode, you start to realize just how damn rushed it is

so much of this episode relied on clunky exposition to fill us in on what's happening instead of just taking the time to show us. imagine if instead of one episode we had three episodes to develop this story line. one on Pabu, one on Barton and one final one for the mission where Crosshiar and Hunter's tension comes to a head. just imagine.

we have so much room for side quests where these characters' conflicts can broil and stew and develop in the background and we can get a real sense of time passing and a sense of how this affects them. we got a whole episode dedicated to showing us what Omega's imprisonment was like on Tantiss, imagine if they'd put the same effort into setting up Crosshair's return the same way

instead this is really starting to feel like we're trying to get Crosshair's arc out of the way so we can move on to the next one (which I presume will be about Tech) and if we do get episodes where this could have been developed as a background subplot I will chew my socks off

also if I see another giant worm creature living underground in a star wars media, I will throw myself off a cliff

NO MORE FREAKING CREATURES. we're sick and tired of them. why, why do we have to waste precious screen time on a redundant action scene? it feels so old at this point. not to mention how obviously shoehorned it is because a) it messes with Outpost's plot and b) Outpost never mentioned this being the purpose of the sensors meaning this is obviously something the writers retconned into existence to hastily cobble the plot together

a very predictable one too, I swear to god I expected it to be a worm the moment they showed the ground shake, I swear

yes, it was supposed to show us the batch working together as a yay team moment but I personally feel it was pretty lackluster (none of them actually put their special skills to good use, I'm baffled by how useless Hunter's sense were here). imagine if instead of this we got an episode that was actually interested in exploring the conflict between these two

have them walk off to quarrel after Hunter sees Crosshair acting strange with the helmets (the one piece of setup I would praise) then accidentally fall through a weak point in the ice, plunging them underground. and instead of an action scene we get a long episode of them trying to get out of the maze, walking through the tunnels and struggling to cooperate in between bouts of bickering. have Crosshair internally freaking out because this is all so similar to him and Mayday crawling through the tunnels. maybe have one of them step on an old mine, echoing that same moment in Outpost

have Hunter ask Crosshair why he knows about these mines and who taught him to disarm them. have Crosshair completely reluctant to tell him

seriously there is SO much wasted potential here...

which leads me to the next point which is dialogue. the worst side effect of rushing plot is that most of your dialogue ends up being expository and it really showed. characters saying exactly how they feel, over explaining and pointing out things that could have been shown. it all feels even more egregious when you realize that Crosshair is the one saddled with most of the exposition making him not only weirdly talkative this episode but also nudging him into the out of character territory

because Crosshair has always been taciturn and roundabout in the way he expresses himself and I feel like this was sorely lacking this time. it's a shame because that's one of the main things that made him so complex and interesting to watch

call me crazy but we didn't need Crosshair and Hunter acknowledging their mistakes. a meaningful look or a silent moment shared between them would have sufficed. we didn't need Crossahir saying what he's done, we know what he's done, and knowing Crosshair that shouldn't have come out so earnestly either

I feel like the show has proved that it's really good at conveying these nuances in a subtle way but somehow it forgot all about it in its urge to hurry the plot along

I don't know if I'm wrong or right about this but I really hope I'm not. I'm not saying the writers are neglecting Crosshair as a character, there were moments where I could really feel how much love they have for him. but the telling of that story really fell flat

all in all this episode felt like 'finish crosshair's story arc: speedrun edition'. the right story beats are there - the hug, the confrontation, honoring Mayday, focusing on the tremor - but they're so rushed and the dialogue is so expository and clunky that they left me feeling hollow

(also are we really going to pretend it's okay for AZ to be there?? your sole chip removing droid and it's used as target practice by the man with a hand tremor and a 50% accuracy rate?? hello??? anyway, just a nitpick lol)

all in all there is a lot to love and in a sense we got everything we wanted but I do wish it had been done differently

[poorlittleyaoyao]

Okay, I have officially gotten to the post-timeskip era of the show in my rewatch, so time for some overarching thoughts!

Basically, I owe my past self an apology, because a lot of things I'd assumed I missed the first time around due to being overwhelmed with information/ relying on Netflix's iffy subs/ not paying close attention... are simply not present in CQL canon and/or aren't explained.

Sunshot, for example. I came away from the show thinking Sunshot had only lasted for a few months, and up till now had felt very silly because it's a massive multi-year war, right? NOT IN THE SHOW IT ISN'T. Sunshot begins in earnest in response to Lotus Pier's destruction; it is introduced alongside the core transfer, which occurs 1-2 weeks after Lotus Pier's destruction. When WWX returns from the Burial Mounts three months + 1 week later, he hangs out with everyone in the Unclean Realm for around a month before they make a final push against Nightless City. No other military action is shown during this time. Based on all the timestamps given, the active combat portion of this war took place over a period of less than 6 months.

(the following is said with the full understanding that I might sound like an insufferable CinemaSins video)

The consolidation of the Massacre at Nightless City and the First Siege of the Burial Mounds to one terrible, horrible, no-good very bad couple of days also diminishes it. All the Wen remnants--every single one of them!! nobody is left there when WWX wakes up!--just decide to let themselves be executed on the off-chance that WWX will be left alone with his sought-after cursed object and get to happily rejoin society after accidentally killing his brother-in-law. Why on earth would they all agree to that, especially without consulting WWX first? WQ and WN alone, sure, but ALL of them? Even A-Yuan's caregivers? WQ herself says that the jianghu gentry already decided WWX is guilty no matter what proof WWX offers! How will this solve anything!

(On the topic of the Burial Mounds: I assume that the reason the Burial Mounds are inhabitable and people are freely able to come and go without getting obliterated by ghosts is that WWX tamed the place during his time there earlier. Otherwise, it isn't "WWX spent 3 months cultivating resentment to survive until he was powerful enough to escape thanks to his hard-fought refinement of the Yin Tiger Tally" and more "WWX spent 3 months doing evil ghost science in a desolate yet fully habitable haunted forest just because.")

I also didn't get what the big deal was about WWX, because he... didn't really do anything? And again, I figured I must've just missed something, but no! He does atrocities at Yiling as he pursues Wen Chao and then he just sits there dodging concerned questions from loved ones and punching JZX over soup until the last minutes of the final battle, during which he summons some evil clouds that make people fall down. That's it. And then everyone, himself included, acts like he's the strongest and scariest dude ever. Part of the problem is that they only have like 50 extras in any of the battle scenes so there's no sense of scale, but even if there WERE hordes of CGI dudes... that is one battle, one time. Declaring himself an instrumental part of Sunshot is an overstatement, and it also raises the question of why he didn't use Chenqing or the Yin Tiger Tally sooner. He does nothing but use Chenqing as a baton until things get truly dire. I'd be suspicious of him too, if I'm honest!

And Wen Ning! Wen Ning, the oh-so-scary Ghost General, kills like a dozen guys one time and people think he's a terrifying death machine. This could have been chalked up to overblown rumors--oh, WN is just a little guy! he is just sitting there with his turnips! it's so messed up that people think WWX's trusty soft-spoken friend is a mindless tool for violence! UNTIL QIONGQI PASS 2.0, where WWX uses him as PRECISELY THAT. Why is WN coming with him to Jinlintai anyway, if not as a weapon? He certainly wasn't invited as a guest! Does he really think JGS is going to let the not-zombie who killed his employees come to his grandson's party when JC isn't even willing to let WN attend the surprise soup picnic?

Speaking of Qiongqi Pass 2.0, I do not understand why, if the whole thing was a nefarious scheme orchestrated by JGY to kill his brother and cause turmoil, WWX and WN were allowed to return to the Burial Mounds. SMS has the ability to control WN, and WWX can't fly on a sword. Just use WN to subdue WWX, capture them both, take the Yin Tiger Tally from WWX, and gain your father's esteem for obtaining the cursed object he wants and bringing his favorite son's murderers to justice! Come ON, JGY! If you're going to be extra evil, at least be clever about it! You aren't even at your breaking point yet!

I think the adaptation changes--the Yin Iron stuff, the not-zombies, XY working with WRH, the fairy statue backstory with WN's soul being easily detachable--actually do work in the front half of the show, where it's not following the text as closely. These things go together decently on their own! But from Sunshot onward, the new lore and changed characterizations that can't be fully discarded clashes with novel canon plot points that are too major to skip. It's a weird reversal of what happened with the first FMA anime, where the first half more or less follows the manga with some core changes baked in, and the second half deviates based off those changes since it outpaced the manga and didn't want to spoil it, resulting in two high-quality but fully distinct canons. Here, with the story unfolding chronologically, we have a first half that deviates with a lot of new content, and a second half that has a text to follow, resulting in ????

I'm still having fun, but I knowwww thinking about literally anything is gonna be such a mess from here on out. It's a testament to how much I like the actors' work and the expanded time with the supporting characters (and how much I do NOT vibe with Book Wangxian lol) that this is still my preferred canon.

[stars-n-spice]

TBB S3 TRAILER

Holy FUCK I was not prepared for this.

As soon as I saw the trailer posted on Instagram, I grabbed my laptop and casted the trailer on the TV and stood in front of the TV like an old asian man; hands behind the back, spine bent, feet planted shoulder width apart.

Cannot believe it's finally here and I've got a lot of thoughts that I'm going to put under the cut because holy shit, this trailer hit me like a brick.

Idk if they will be comprehensive honestly but I'm writing them down as I rewatch the trailer.

In summary though? This season is going to absolutely wreck me and I will never recover from it emotionally and probably financially too if we get a new wave of merch and shit with it too.

Anyways, thoughts and reactions under the cut-

What the fuck are they doing with that transport? They stealing something? Retrieving something? Is it a tank? Hello, where is Echo??? IS THAT FUCKING CROSSHAIR?! IN S1 ARMOR???

PHEE GENOA!! so fucking great to see her again, I'm going to be absolutely devastated if they show us her reaction to Tech's supposed death.

CAPTAIN REX MY LOVE YOU'VE COME HOME!! "I thought the end of the war would mean the end to losing more of our brothers" <- that better be about Tech and not about Cody, so help me god-

OMEGA'S NEW HAIRCUT :( she looks so much older now :((

STOP CROSSHAIR LOOKS SO FUCKING SAD. I feel terrible actually... this is like,, this is a shell of a man,, like,, this is a man who's got like,, nothing. He looks awful and I swear if he doesn't get some peace of mind I'm going to lose my mind.

"Omega's been waiting for us a long time." NO NO NO DON'T FUCKING DO THIS TO ME. I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD IF YOU DO A TIMESKIP, ANY MEASURE OF TIME THAT OMEGA HAD TO BE WITHOUT HER BROTHERS AND WONDERING WHEN THEY WERE GOING TO COME AND GET HER IT'S GOING TO BREAK ME. I fucking hate timeskips so much, I swear if she's been by herself for more than a year, or even just a year, I'm going to be PISSED. If she doesn't get the chance to be a kid like she deserves I'm going to fucking lose it.

PALPATINE?! "There is nothing of greater importance to secure the purpose of this Empire" <- y'all talking about cloning? About cloning Palpatine because you have to explain why "somehow Palpatine returned"???

HEY WHO THE FUCK IS THIS?!

Holy shit the animation is really good. Like that whole fighting montage?? The fucking scene on the bridge looks like,, fucking live action to me. Idk how to describe it but the animation is fuckng beautiful and I wish Star Wars did more animation because this is gorgeous.

FENNEC SHAND MY LOVE!! MY WIFE RETURNS!!! PLEASE BE IN MORE THAN ONE EPISODE MY QUEEN I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! and Cad Bane is there too ig-

"They are coming, for all of you." <- who is this. do not come for me but I cannot for the life of me figure out who this is. It's not Cody, I don't see the scar. Someone help me out here-

WOLFFE IS BACK BABY!!! FUCK I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE HIM IN TBB ART STYLE

HUNTER ON PABU! Thinking they probably went back after everything and I want to see how they've adjusted and settled in, please, I am begging.

My baby, my angel, myivida, the light of my life. Fuck it's so good to see and hear you again. If anything happens to you I swear to god-

LMAOO DID HUNTER JUST GET YOINKED BY A SPACE CROC?!?! WAIT THEY'RE ON THE BOAT WITH FENNEC!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAA

There are two clips that allude to the fact that they get Crosshair out of there before they get Omega and I'm going feral over it. If this means we get them reuniting with Crosshair sooner than later I'm fucking ecstatic. Like because,, that's Crosshair's rifle and they clearly cropped the screen for the sake of the trailer, right? Right??

Hey where is the zillo beast?

ASAJJ VENTRESS??!?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! You're telling me,, I get a season,, with Wrecker, Wolffe, Fennec, AND Asajj? Oh be still my beating heart. Anyone hear something meowing?

Also I know in the trailer it seems like she's facing off with TBB but the backgrounds don't really seem to line up so I'm hoping they don't actually face off with each other.

Tech literally only being indirectly mentioned and showing his death scene again but recolored and shit makes me feel all kinds of things.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

3 EPISODE PREMIERE?!?!?!?!?!?! fuck me.

Echo wasn't in this trailer enough and where the FUCK was Cody?!?!?!?!

Fuck.

[esylveon]

Hi. I'm here to show everyone my baby for FE OC Week.

Her name is Vivian Timurovna. She's an apprentice to Hanneman in Crest research, looking to find answers to something that haunts her past. She half Fodlani and half Albinean. Technically, she's second in line to the Albinean throne, just behind her older brother.

Fun game stuff under the cut!

Template by @peachiehambo

She's technically an au oc. Essentially, au where everything stays the same except what if the Brigid-Dagda wars happened earlier? and what if Albinea got involved lol?

Also, she does have a war phase design. but i cant find that image for the life of me. so just trust it exists!

Her alignment pre-timeskip is to the church by technicallity, but once war starts she hits da bricks to Leicester. She stays there for a year and a half before leaving for albinea to look for her brother who she parted from when the monastery fell. She doesnt find him there but she takes the crown in his place. She returns to fodlan in 1185 to help continue the fight

Fun fact: if she were an actual character, she would not be recruitable in crimson flower in the same way as hilda. She would be recruitable in silver snow, but only optionally in a paralogue.

Her personal skill would be something called Stay With Me. I imagine it working like "At the start of Player Phase, any ally within 3 spaces of Vivian recovers health equal to 25% of damage she sustained in enemy phase."

She would have a personal class! it's working name is Kulikovo. It would work similar to the Malig Knight class in Fates. except she would wield dual swords instead of an axe.

I don't know what all else to add here. so I will just thank you for taking the time to meet my baby bibi <3

[raayllum]

Just to clarify: this is for how many years we think the story will jump ahead, not how long we'll have to wait for arc 3!

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LOST EDEN ー Carla [VAMPIRE ENDING]

ー The scene starts with Yui entering Carla’s room

Yui: ( Carla-san...Is he asleep? Or perhaps he has already lost consciousness...? )

Carla-san, can you hear me? It’s me, Carla-san...!

Carla: ...That voiceーー Yui, is that you...?

Yui: Yes...!

Carla: ...Why did you come here...?

Yui: Once I heard that this Castle had been taken over by Kino-kun and the Ghouls, I simply could not sit still...

I am so relieved...that you are safe and sound.

Carla: Safe and sound, huh...? I have to disagree with that, considering my current health situation...

Yui: But you are still alive. And once you get cured from your illness, you’ll get to live so much longer!

Let’s go to Rotigenberg together, Carla-san...!

Carla: ...

Yui: I want us to live life together. I want to spend my life with you.

You had plenty of dreams and ambitions, didn’t you?

I am sure you can grant those once you recover!

Carla: Ambitions...Dreams...

However, those...can no longer be fulfilled. 

Yui: Eh...?

Carla: Howeverーー A new ambition just sparked...inside of me.

For that sake, I shall survive one more time...

...Yui. Let us go to Rotigenberg. 

I realized that there is something I must achieve...no matter what...

Yui: Carla-san...!!

( He found his will to life again...! )

Yes, right away. Let’s go together. 

...I shall be with you forever. Please don’t forget that.

Carla: ...Yes. Exactly. Let us go together...Yui...

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the Ghouls’ manor

Yui: Welcome back, Carla-san.

Carla: Yes. 

Yui: I’ll get you a cup of tea right away.

( It has been a while since we came here to Rotigenberg and Carla-san actually got better. )

( He still goes on daily walks to expose himself to the gasses emitting from the ground, but it’s honestly barely necessary at this point... )

*Flap flap flap*

Yui: Huh...?

Carla: ...? This is one of the Vampire’s Familiars. 

A letter ーー For me?

*Flip* 

Carla: ...!

Yui: Carla-san? What’s wrong?

Carla: ...Kino and the Ghouls were attacked by the Vampire Clan.

And...They were wiped clean.

Yui: ...

Carla: ...Haah.

I suppose my ambition was once again cut short before it could come to fruition. 

Yui: Carla-san...

( I was incredibly shocked as well when I heard that Shin-kun had been murdered by Kino-kun. )

( Carla-san wanted to come cure his disease here at Rotigenberg, so he could avenge Shin-kunーー ) 

( Even if that meant he would have to become a Ghoul in return. )

( He decided to go to Rotigenberg and continue to live, for that sole reason. )

( But now that Kino-kun is dead, he can no longer... )

Carla: Yui. Let us return to Banmaden. 

Yui: Eh? 

Carla: Since they went out of their way to inform me of these happenings, I believe the Vampire Clan does not intend to take over Banmaden. 

I have been cured from Endzeit. It is time for me to return. 

Yui: ...Yes!

( Even if he can no longer avenge Shin-kun. )

( Carla-san has completely regained the power to continue living. )

( He’s back to being the old Carla-san...! )

 ー The scene shifts to the outside of Banmaden

Yui: ( It feels like forever since I last saw Banmaden... )

( Huh? Somebody’s coming our way from up ahead? )

???: Oi−! Nii-san! Yui!

Yui: ...! This voiceーー

Carla: Shin! You were alive...?

Shin: Oh geez, Nii-san! Don’t kill me off that easily!

Carla: However...

Shin: Well, yeah. I guess I can’t blame you for thinking I had kicked the bucket. I got stabbed through the heart multiple times after all.

Carla: ...What on earth happened afterwards? 

Shin: A lot, really. I’ll go in chronological order. 

First, I was thrown into the dungeon. Then after some time had passed, I came back to life.

Carla: ...I find that somewhat hard to believe. 

Shin: Hehe. I get that. I still don’t believe it myself at times. Props to me for recovering from that!

So, everyone was in the middle of the war at that point. So nobody bothered to check up on the guy who had been thrown into the dungeon.

That’s why I waited by myself, recovering my strength and waiting for a chance to strike. 

Carla: However, it would be difficult for you to overthrow a whole army by yourself...

Shin: Yeah. That’s why I contacted the Vampire Clan first. 

Yui: Shuu-san and the others? 

Shin: Yeah.

( Even though he used to despise Vampires so much. )

Carla: So you saying that the Vampire Clan took out Kinoーー?

Shin: Yeah. I guess you could say it was a shared effort between Shuu and I.

I had no other choice but join hands with them to get myself out of that situation. 

I mean, it wasn’t my personal choice to have to work together with those Vampires, but there was no other way. 

Carla: ...And that is why they sent a Familiar to me? 

Shin: There you have it. I could have done it myself as well. But I figured it was a good opportunity to surprise you two.

Yui: Surprise us? Shin-kun...

Shin: Well, I was pretty shocked myself as well. ーー Because you’ve fully recovered from your illness. 

Anyway, I’m super happy about that.

Carla: ...

Shin: We’ve formed an alliance with the Vampire Clan. That’s how we got the Vibora to step back. 

I believe that the power levels in the Demon World are currently stablized. The situation is pretty peaceful. 

Carla: I see...

Shin. You did a truly outstanding job. 

Shin: E-Eeh? Where is this coming from all of a sudden?

Carla: You did a fine job accomplishing something which is usually the task of a King.

Younger brother of mine. I am proud of you.

Shin: Oh come on, lay it off. It’s embarrassing. 

Carla: It is nothing to be embarrassed about, is it? You are more than deserving of the praise. 

Shin: No, it’s just...Kino put the two of you through hell and back as well, didn’t he?

So I just wanted to get back at him for that.

Carla: ...

... Shin. There is something I would like to ask you.

Shin: Hm? Yes?

Carla: Will you inherit the throne in my place?

Yui: ( Eh? ...Carla-san!? )

Shin: ...!? Hold up, Nii-san, what are you saying out of nowhere!?

Carla: It is not sudden at all. This has been on my mind the whole time.

ーー I am no longer qualified to call myself a King.

...I am sure you can tell, but I am no longer a Founder.

Shin: Ugh...

Carla: A Ghoul without powers should not be allowed to be King. Therefore, Shin ーー I am counting on you.

Shin: ...

...I’m afraid I can’t say yes to that, even if you’re the one asking.

Carla: Excuse me...!? 

Shin: I’m not right guy for the job. I mean, I haven’t been taught how to be a fine King at all.

...Kino and his minions told me when they attacked me. 

That I brought the situation upon myself because I was far too strict with them. 

That pissed me off back then...But when I looked back at it, I could sort of understand where they were coming from.

Even if you ask me to behave like a proper King just like you did, I just can’t.

Carla: ...You won’t consider?

Shin: ...Nope. This is the one thing I can’t do, no matter how many times you ask me. 

Carla: ...I see. 

...However, the two of us were the only two living Founders left.

And I am no longer a Founder, so there is no other option but for you to become the new King. Am I wrong? 

Yui: ( ... )

Um...Excuse me. May I?

Carla: Hm?

Yui: ...It might not just be the two of you.

Shin: ...? What do you mean?

Yui: Well...I believe a new Founder might be born into this World very soon...

Shin: Eh!? A new Founder, do you meanーー!?

Yui: ( ...Shin-kun is staring right at my belly. )

E-Exactly. There’s one...inside of here, you know?

Shin: Wow, amazing! For real...!?

Carla: ...! Yui, is that true!?

Yui: ...Yes.

Carla: Why have you stayed quiet about something so important up till now!?

Yui: No, I found out very recently...But we ended up returning to Banmaden before I had a chance to tell you. 

So I figured right now was as good as a time as ever to announce it...

Carla: I see...So that’s how it went.

Shin: Eh? If this is Nii-san’s kid ーー I’m gonna be an uncle!? Right!?

Geezー That’s kinda embarrassing...But not bad, I guess! Haha!

Yui: ( Seems like both of them are overjoyed. I’m glad... )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to Carla’s room

Yui: Carla-san. It’s already late. You should probably get some rest soon...

Carla: Do not worry about me. I am no longer ill after all. 

Yui: Ah...My bad.

Carla: No, I cannot blame you. I looked death straight into the eyes not too long ago after all. 

I feel relieved to be back here at Banmaden now.

...It is rather odd how it makes me feel that way, considering I was locked up in this Castle for the longest time. 

Yui: ...

Carla: ...Yui. Come closer.

Yui: Sure...

ー She steps closer

Carla: Stand in front of me.

Yui: ...?

*Rustle*

On certain CGs, little black roses will appear on the screen. If you click on them, you get an extra line of dialogue.

“I promise that I shall forever protect you...as well as our child inside your belly, to show my thanks for granting me with such warm feelings.”

“I did not think...I would one day be able to talk about the future like this. It’s all thanks to you.”

Yui: Ah...

Carla: I must convey my gratitude to you. You ensured our bloodline. 

While I may have become a Ghoul, I can now entrust my dreams, ambitions and our future to someone. 

It’s all thanks to you...Yui. 

Yui: Carla-san...

( His touch and voice are so gentle... )

( As if he’s gently embracing meーー and this new life. )

Carla: I thought happiness was something I would never get to experience. 

But I believe that I have finally come to somewhat understand what it means.

Yui: Carla-san...

Ever since...I decided that I would stay with you, I’ve felt this way. That your happiness, also makes me happy.

And it really does...

( Carla-san, I and this little one. )

( At this moment, we have found a new form of happiness right hereーー )

ーー THE END ーー

[anchanted-one]

Eternal War Rewrite

So I'm here at long last.

My first attempt at a fanfic was Eternal War. I had to leave it halfway through because of horrible mental health and burnout, and when I returned, I figured I might as well rewrite everything.

I started from the beginning, creating new characters with better lore and journeys. I wrote the whole Knight's story, a few snippets of the others, and an in-depth Shadow of Revan. I wrote Ziost, and the five year timeskip from KOTFE Chapter 1 to 3.

But I'm here again, and it's at Eternal War book 1.

So I have a dilemma. Do I leave EW as it is, as a separate, abandoned fic, or do I rewrite all its chapters with Vajra instead of Arro? There are some changes I've made in the story, including making Vajra a lot more indignant about the war Arcann waged. Not fallen Jed levels of fury, but definitely different.

Change the original, or post a new fic?

Some opinions would be nice.

[soul-dwelling]

I dont know much about Bungo Stay dogs - but it seems you mentioned it went downhill too - could you explain in broad strokes what happened, I even dont care for spoilers

Excellent concept, excellent fanworks, I've enjoyed getting to read and participate in fanworks in the story--but the main manga itself stuck is not able to move its characters forward and keeps trying to turn every arc into, "I knew you would do that," "Ah ha, but I knew you would do that, so I knew to do this," "I anticipate you knew that I knew that you knew what I knew," like we're in an unfunny version of The Princess Bride.

Compelling protagonist who demonstrates the problems of back-pedaling while trying to get through trauma--who has his previously established agency and intelligence disappear not for any story-based reason but because the plot says so, hence forgetting he can use his superpowers to get out of certain messes, who is forgotten by the story...

...and upon his return he takes the path of least resistance ("I have no idea what to do, maybe the villain is right based on what I learned is his motivation, so in the middle of this war, I'll run to my boss and ask him what to do") only to get there too late, his boss is already cradling the corpse of the dead villain, and, oh yeah, the villain's grand scheme was based on a lie anyway, so what should be a tragedy is instead a farce. And speaking of...

The anime overtook the manga, despite the anime taking a hiatus so they could do the next major arc with two back-to-back seasons, thus spoiling details from the manga and rushing to finish the story...only to put up a SpongeBob "two hours later" sign as a post-credit sequence, showing that the arc isn't over, things got worse as soon as the heroes stopped the bad guy, and this arc still won't end.

And I wouldn't be so upset with this arc not ending if the manga was not on its seventh year of this arc, with one chapter per month, only for the anime to spoil what happens next in the manga and to make things worse has a post-credit sequence that spoils stuff that the manga hasn't even gotten to months after the anime ended.

Deaths only stick now and then, although some of this is a problem with details introduced far earlier in the story, such as a magic page from a book that can make anything written into it happen, so long as it adheres to the logic of a story (get it, it's clever because this is a story where every character is named after a famous fiction author so of course the magic book has to have logic like a story, when this manga already has any logic to its story thrown out the window). Speaking of deaths...

Two villains are killed off almost at the same moment...and in-story are brought back within minutes. The heroes kill the villains, wait 30 minutes, and then the villains are alive again, the heroes are caught off-guard, and now things have gotten worse. The arc just refuses to end, or let a timeskip happen so we can see how the characters have processed what has happened. And speaking of which...

The anime rushes to fit almost seven years of manga chapters into less than 25 episodes, so plot points are rushed, moments of characters' introspection are limited or rushed, and there is tonal whiplash that refuses to let the audience progress a moment ("Oh no, they're dead! Oh, they're alive again--I had zero time to process this death, so the animation, music, and acting all have zero impact because this is not like looking at a comic book page where I can look at it over and over again, the moment has passed, it was pointless, we're moving on").

Previously arcs were largely self-contained and comprised of fewer chapters or episodes, while still allowing the overall manga to progress story beats and develop characters, whereas this current ongoing and not yet done seven-year story arc feels like it alternates between spinning its wheels when we need to get a character progressing or rushing plot beats and moments of intense emotion for the characters.

The story forgets about other characters, especially military veterans in a story arc that is all about military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress, such that their stories have had no closure over seven years of publishing even at logical moments that could be a defining moment to include that character but they are conspicuously absent even when they are supposed to be physically at this spot in the story, or turning military veterans with PTSD into villains, not as any stinging indictment against global powers perpetuating war and hence PTSD but because "my trauma made me into a villain," suggesting the trauma is the problem, not the state power that caused the trauma.

To go back to my first point, to wrap up this list: this is such an engaging concept, JoJo but their superpowers come from works of literature, and it keeps throwing great idea after great idea at you--the mafia, The Great Gatsby, Edgar Allan Poe, manhunt, vampires, time travel, light novels about detective battles and more time travel and HG Wells and Jules Verne, a spinoff manga with still-living authors like Ayatsuji, Tsujimura, and Kyogoku--and then the later manga chapters mishandle these ideas, they should have been kept to self-contained light novel stories instead of seven-year-long manga arcs, and there are too many powers going on to make it ever seem like the heroes can win. It's like a bad routine of Batman and Superman one-upping each other where neither one is going to win: a seven-year standoff--no, a seven-year standstill.

To clarify: I thoroughly enjoy just about everything up to when Gogol is introduced at the beginning of Season 4. After the Sky Casino story ends at the end of Season 4, things go downhill because time travel sword, "Oh, the villain's motivation was a lie," not ending the arc when it was the obvious stopping point, and that freaking "Two Hours Later" post-credits tease that means the damn arc is not over yet.

[avrtttt]

Writing Prompt

So this is just me throwing things out there, but imagine a two kingdoms, one light one dark, or just opposite things ya know (fire, ice) (historic and fairytale idk) and in between these two kingdoms is a sort of veil or clear wall so to say. The two kingdoms were always at war so the ancestors maybe witches put the wall up. A boy and a girl, (or bxb or whatever floats ur boat) each from diff kingdoms keep in mind, meet each other. They are like maybe 7? 10? They become best friends and eventually fall in love, but one day when they both turn thirteen, the boy comes back the wall but the girl never returns. The boy goes home and never comes back.

until

timeskip when they r like 20 now the ruler of the light kingdom (or whatever kingdom u decide) is standing on the hill with her army. And on the other side is the dark king (or whatever kingdom) with his army the two rulers ride their horses to meet in the middle just them. But when they see each other they realize it’s the little girl/little boy they met a long time ago. They end up talking, and when they kiss, the barrier breaks, and then idk what but yeah hope u like my idea

[reunionatdawn]

My Analysis of the Best Paired Endings in 3H (Part 14: Marianne/Lorenz)

Marianne: Back then, I felt that my life served no purpose and that I was nothing more than a burden. In truth, I was begging the goddess to take me to her. That was my daily prayer.

The Crest of the Beast is associated with The Devil arcana. It can signify depression and also be a sign of feeling trapped or restricted, as though outside forces beyond your control are restricting you, leaving you feeling powerless and victimized.

Unless recruited, Marianne was the only student to not appear outside of her home route post-timeskip. Some have speculated that she took her own life, which I suspect is true. It was likely the promise of a class reunion that kept her going those five years. And if Byleth is not part of the class, the house leader will not make the promise. There were only a few people during the academy phase that Marianne connected with strongly enough that they would motivate her to live long enough to see them again at the Millennium Festival.

Marianne: What do you believe determines a person's value? Sylvain: I like to think it's a person's smile. Marianne: Huh? Their smile? Sylvain: A smile, it tells you who someone is. Are they fake or sincere? It also makes you feel stronger when you smile.

While Hilda and Marianne became close friends, that didn't happen until the war arc. During the academy arc, there were only three characters who made a strong connection to Marianne, enough to make her sincerely smile. The first was Byleth. At the Goddess Tower, we can assume she was making a wish to die. But you gain Support points with her if you tell her that your wish is only to see her smile.

Dimitri: Ah, a smile and a laugh. Coming from you, that's a rarity. This must be my lucky day. Marianne: I just find the idea amusing. It's strange to think that someone like you could have anything in common with me. Dimitri: Is it so terrible a thought? Marianne: No, no. It's not that. It actually makes me happy. As though there's finally someone who understands how I truly feel…

Second was Dimitri. Byleth's arc was about awakening her humanity after living as the Ashen Demon, and helping Dimitri become human again, too. While Byleth could understand his capacity for depravity more than anyone, I think Marianne was probably able to understand his survivor's guilt best. If you're playing as Male Byleth, then I think Marianne is by far the best wife for him. Other than Female Byleth, he seemed to have the strongest connection with her because they both felt like cursed beasts.

Marianne: Please, Dimitri. Promise you'll live through this war and long after. I don't know what I'd do with myself if we lost you… Dimitri: As long as you are carrying on, I have yet another reason to carry on myself. I promise to the goddess of Fódlan that I will never give you cause to despair.

Dimitri longed for female companionship. He can marry his childhood friend Ingrid, his BL classmates, and even his old mentor Catherine. But Marianne was the only other non-Byleth wife to give him a reason to live and vice versa.

Lorenz: But perhaps it is for the best that your beauty not be revealed to all the world. Yes, it is certainly better that only I, Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, can appreciate your true magnificence! And on that note, I bid you farewell! Marianne: What a strange person… But being called beautiful just the way I am? That was nice to hear.

The final one was Lorenz. I believe the writers probably based this ship on Beauty and the Beast directly. Marianne could even talk to animals like a Disney princess.

If he could learn to love another, and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed, he fell into despair, and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?

The "Survivor of the Curse" felt totally worthless because of her bloodline. She spent her whole life avoiding other others due to her shame of her Crest. She needed hope that she could love and be loved in return in order to survive.

Catherine: That's not to say lineage counts for nothing. It just doesn't count as much as how you live your life, and what you live for. Or, let's say I was descended from some noble house. Would that change how you treat me? Lorenz: Yes, it would. To treat you differently from the commonfolk would only be appropriate.

The "Noble of the Red Rose" was pretty much like the Disney prince. Arrogant and judging people on their status and outer appearance. He would invite girls to dinner just to evaluate them. His character arc was about learning that lineage is not the defining factor in someone's worth and that true beauty is found within.

Lorenz: I have always sought to embody the ideal of nobility. That, at least, is a goal I continue to stand by. But now I know that bloodline alone is not sufficient to gauge a person's worth.

The Crest of Gloucester is associated with The Hermit arcana. The Hermit card in Tarot is a card of introspection, soul searching, analysis, and self-reflection. It denotes that this is not a time of socializing or action but of peace and solitude. And a hermit like Marianne was his preferred dining companion.

Marianne: I've been keeping this from you for a while. It's… It's about my Crest. It's just terrible. I— Lorenz: Please, that's quite enough! You're trembling. If uttering this secret hurts you, then I have no desire to hear it. Your smile is a greater gift to me than any truth. Whatever you have hitherto concealed, I am certain it is essential to you. And I do wish to know it. But not until the day arrives when you can tell me with a smile on your face. I am not the sort of man to prize my own knowledge over others' happiness, you know. Besides. The mystery is part of your charm. Marianne: Hehehe! You're funny, Lorenz… Lorenz: There! That's what I mean! Your beauty has always captivated, but that smile truly warms my heart!

It was cute how Lorenz grew to value Marianne's inner beauty the most and accepted her the way she was. He didn't even want to know about her Crest until she could tell him with a smile. It showed how much he'd grown as a person.

Marianne: But now I fear the idea of dying and being left alone. I have friends who accept me for who I am now, in spite of my Crest. And I have you watching over me. I've finally learned to accept the kindness and warmth of others. It's because of you, Professor. Because of you, I've decided to live.

In Houses, Marianne tells Byleth that they are the reason she decided to live because they taught her how to accept the kindness of others.

Marianne: For so much of my life, I didn't care if I lived or died, and yet… And yet when I saw you there beside me, I realized I did care. I wanted to live. Lorenz: And that is good enough. Such instincts are only natural. You needn't try to justify it to yourself, or anyone else.

In Hopes, Lorenz actually fulfills Byleth's role of being the one who helps Marianne feel like she wants to live. So, this ship definitely felt tailor-made for both of their character arcs and the writers liked it.

Marianne: This is the first time I've smiled in so long…and I have your kindness to thank for that. Lorenz: As I've said, you are perfect just as you are. But I suppose I can take a little credit! Yes, your radiant smile shall illuminate all the world! With me by your side, you will not be able to help it! Marianne: Hehehe! I'm looking forward to that.

Marianne was sent to the academy to marry a powerful nobleman, but unlike many of the other girls, that is something that can bring her happiness. She didn't have any big dreams that she'd have to sacrifice to marry a noble and she genuinely liked Lorenz.

Lorenz & Marianne After becoming the new head of House Gloucester, Lorenz initially focused on the recovery of his own territory before energetically engaging in the governance of all of Fódlan. Having earned recognition as a skilled politician, he suddenly announced his own marriage. His partner was Marianne, the adopted daughter of Count Edmund. Having learned about estate management from her shrewd foster father, she also became involved in the domestic affairs of Fódlan with Lorenz after their marriage. Particularly, she achieved significant success in promoting dairy farming, leading them to be praised as the "parents of cattle and horses." It is said that Lorenz was not pleased with being referred to by that nickname.

Lorenz's dream was for his name to go down in history, and he does achieve a great deal acting in the governance of all Fódlan. In this ending, he has a much different nickname than he probably imagined for himself, but I'm sure it made Marianne smile because her life work benefited the animals that she loved so much.