#woulda made this even more tragic

[ctrl58]

SPOILERS!!!

just got to this part of the manga and-

waaahh this is so sad whyyy😭

[murfpersonalblog]

I don’t really interact with the fandom very often due to the racism that’s portrayed, but thank you for posting this because you just put into words something that I’ve been struggling to articulate regarding how Louis is perceived and treated by the fandom. Recently, some white woman on TikTok posted some “analysis” of sorts about Louis and Claudia and basically she came to the conclusion that if Claudia was not turned by Lestat, that if she survived as a human and grew older, eventually she would’ve turned out to become one of Louis’ girls/prostitutes because according to this creator, Louis has no regard for women and girls and only sees them as commodities. I wish I could find that TikTok for you, but I pressed “Not Interested” so quickly after I heard that. She phrased it like “if Claudia survived as a human, how long would it be until she would become one of Louis’ girls?”

Something about that just made me so deeply uncomfortable. It really opened my eyes up to how both Louis and Claudia as the leading black characters are perceived by the white fandom. It sort of is a reflection of how they see us as black people in real life too, but we won’t get into that lol.

Because why is THAT the first thing that comes to mind when wondering about what Claudia hypothetically could’ve been if she had the chance to grow up? She could be a wife, a mother, anything else and THAT is where their minds go? And why is Louis the only character that has his past held against him by the fandom? There is so much grace given to Lestat and Armand, but none to Louis.

I’m not saying that Louis is perfect and that he has no faults, but yeah. Thank you for making that post because it really articulated what I’ve been feeling and trying to say.

@autumn-slaves Thank you so much for sending me this! ❤️ I'm so glad that you like my metas, and that my long-winded tirades are actually articulating people's thoughts about IWTV, AMC!Louis, and receptions by this wild AF fandom.

Recently, some white woman on TikTok posted some “analysis” of sorts about Louis and Claudia and basically she came to the conclusion that if Claudia was not turned by Lestat, that if she survived as a human and grew older, eventually she would’ve turned out to become one of Louis’ girls/prostitutes because according to this creator, Louis has no regard for women and girls and only sees them as commodities.... why is THAT the first thing that comes to mind when wondering about what Claudia hypothetically could’ve been if she had the chance to grow up? She could be a wife, a mother, anything else and THAT is where their minds go?

Yeah, there's something crucial that people don't seem to realize:

Claudia is arguably the best & most tragic character AR ever created, cuz she was always DOOMED by the narrative.

Woulda coulda shouldas are absolutely pointless. Claudia was NEVER meant to grow up, cuz Anne Rice's daughter Michelle never got to grow up, either.

Book!Claudia was abandoned by her biological father, who ditched her & her sickly mom when they contracted the plague. Her mom died & she was left in the house all alone, and would've soon died of plague, even if book!Louis hadn't found her & drained her nearly dry; and Lestat Turned her to babytrap Louis.

Likewise, AMC! Claudia was abandoned by her biological father “whose daddy gave her away to a mean old auntie” after her mom died in childbirth. She was trapped in the house all alone when it caught fire, and would've soon died in the fire, even if AMC!Louis hadn't found her & caused the riots and Lestat Turned her to babytrap Louis.

Either way, Claudia was destined to die.

AMC even takes it a step further, to have Claudia be a twisted & more tragic version of book!Loustat's 2nd daughter, Rose.

AMC!Claudia was NEVER gonna get to grow old enough to be a prostitute, cuz the race riots & fires that burned down her home were gonna happen in 1917 (when she was 14) anyway.

AMC based the race riots on IRL events that happened when the racist Ordinances segregated NOLA & shut down Storyville in 1917 (the year Claudia died/Turned); kicking all the black people out of their homes & businesses to gentrify it for rich white people. AMC changes things so it looks like Louis' solely to blame for the riots burning down Storyville cuz HE blames himself (for everything). But even if Lou was never a vampire & never killed the Alderman, he'd've never been able to keep the Azalea; and Claudia wouldn't survived the fires that broke out as white people burned down Storyville to force ALL the Black people who refused to leave out of the area. Where would Claudia have gone?

"And why is Louis the only character that has his past held against him by the fandom? There is so much grace given to Lestat and Armand, but none to Louis."

Exactly. People act like Louis was the ONLY man in NOLA running a whorehouse; it's ridiculous how bad people don't pay attention.

Finn O'Shea was the one who helped burn the Azalea down, and it's HIGHLY likely that his "supper club" (ie: underground whorehouse) across the street was JUST FINE once all the Darkies were gone.

Another thing about the fire is Claudia's own dreams/what-if scenario about what could've happened if she'd never been Turned.

The whole hospital argument is moot, cuz we see half her face covered in burns in 1x4/2x7, and Lou said "she's going cold." Burns even in 2024 are dangerous, let alone 1917. She ranted about having a husband & raising babies, but IF she survived & not been Turned, she'd've been a half burned/scarred; and her throat/lungs would probably be effed up from all that smoke inhalation. Marriage & children seems highly unlikely for someone who'd've been a (possibly comatose/bedridden) hospital inmate for YEARS, slowly recovering from SEVERE burns "her body's all charred" with 1917 treatments.

Not to mention, which hospital?? 🤨 In the middle of a race riot/racial PURGE; when the whole effing district was under siege, hundreds if not thousands of people would've been all kinds of injured & dying, or just in need of shelter.

Like, I know nothing about NOLA hospitals, but Google told me:

The Flint Goodridge Hospital was for Black people (cuz segregation, and most private hospitals refused to serve Black patients), but in 1916 only had 50-60 beds. They charged "1 Penny A Day" for hospitalization, which was crazy cheap even for that time, so that poor Black folk could afford to be seen.

Maybe Charity Hospital? They had a "colored ward," but by the 1930s was notoriously racist & kept the ward in terrible conditions, with Black patients as their lowest priority & left to wait HOURS just to be seen.

"Private hospitals such as Ochsner, Mercy, Touro, and Southern Baptist" refused to integrate before the gov't forced them in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement (x x). Same with Tulane (Medical Center/School/whatever), which didn't even accept Black students till the 1960s, so I doubt they'd've taken her either.

Maybe Hotel Dieu? I don't think it was private, so maybe they would've taken in Black folk?

The French Hospital only had 60ish beds even by the 1940s (when it got shut down). IDK if they were anything like NOLA's French Opera House, which was hella segregated.

The Marine Hospital was for sailors/etc; but had a ward for kids, but only took in the mentally ill. They charged $1 per day for hospitalization.

So yeah, the odds of Claudia being seen, let alone successfully treated long-term, are rather low, esp. when so many other people would've needed care, too, and there were VERY few beds in NOLA hospitals at the time.

But even if Claudia hadn't died that night, the dream she wanted would've died, too. Granted, I'm not saying we should THANK Louis for "saving"/damning her (just like we shouldn't THANK him for taking in girls as prostitutes). Vampirism IS inherently evil. But she definitely needed a bit of reality check, too. Louis wasn't gonna risk wasting time finding a hospital that could/wouls take her, when she was "barely breathing," cuz he knew Turning her was a quicker & surer way of having someone heal her ASAP--Lestat.

Like, YES, Louis saved her for selfish reasons--his ego was SHOT, and he just needed to help save SOMEONE, to feel like he wasn't a FAILURE anymore (he'd JUST lost the Azalea & been kicked out of his home by Grace/Florence & was ready to divorce his husband Lestat who was busy cheating on him with a white woman).

It didn't matter to Louis if she was a girl or a dude ("a family of my own...no sons, no daughters"), so long as he had someone he could FINALLY feel like he "did right by."

"according to this [Tik Tok] creator, Louis has no regard for women and girls and only sees them as commodities.... "

Jfc. Oh, I'm sure Louis only ever saw his mother & Grace as commodities, yup! XD ZERO regard for women, yeees, which is why he stood up for Bricktop when she nearly killed the Alderman for raping her, when plenty of other guys would've fired her for jeopardizing his business~! And why Louis DIDN'T allow Tom Anderson to sleep with his girls for FREE so they couldn't earn any money whatsoever, the way Tom did at the Fairplay, where he treated prostitutes like fleshlights; cuz Louis disregards women SO MANY TIMES~! 🙄 Nevermind that Louis let Bricktop be in charge of the books, cuz he trusted her with his money & the legalese of running his businesses in a sexist world that thought women were only ever useful on their backs!

Nevermind that Louis was openly sobbing about how much he HATED being a pimp, cuz all he wanted was to be RESPECTED as a respectable man with a respectable business; and that he DIDN'T want to exploit women, and he KNEW it was wrong to exploit women--the show NEVER glamorized prostitution as if human exploitation of any kind is a GOOD thing. Lou turns a blind eye in the hopes of pleasing his rotten MOTHER & taking care of his spoiled SISTER; who still HATED him even as they took his dirty money. What was it all for, if not even his own family respected him?! But Lou doesn't have regard or respect or care for women at allll~!

We can acknowledge what a deeply flawed & selfish & naive idiot Louis can be; while still acknowledging that he HATES hurting people. He's NOT a sadist, and has never been comfortable or OK with being put in a position where he has to hurt people for his own benefit--hence his whole issue with vampirism & his confession booth scene. His whole thing is STRUGGLE; fighting to do the right thing in bad circumstances, when it's already too late--they're all already DAMNED. Keep up, y'all. XD

"It really opened my eyes up to how both Louis and Claudia as the leading black characters are perceived by the white fandom. It sort of is a reflection of how they see us as black people in real life too...."

FACTS. That's really all it is--antiblack racism plain & simple. You can tell every time they get PISSED whenever Black people get on their case for being insensitive, demeaning, microaggressive, hypocritical, etc. Cuz art imitates life, so if you're THAT quick to demonize the characters that the show's deliberately going to great lengths to show as sympathetic & genuine--ESPECIALLY Louis' love for Claudia--and you're saying Louis DGAF about women & only ever commodifies them, you're deliberately being obtuse & refusing to see the MULTIFACTED aspects of his character.

[starheirxero]

WE WERE RIGHT- WE WERE FUCKING RIGHT- THEY HEARED OUR PLEADS-

SOLAR WOULD'VE COME BACK WRONG- HE WOULD'VE COME BACK NOTHING MORE THAN A SHELL OF HIMSELF-

EVEN THOUGH HE LOOKS LIKE SOLAR, HE STILL WOULD'VE BEEN BLOODMOON UNDERNEATH IT ALL!!

EVEN MORE SO, HE WOULD'VE BEEN MORE LIKE THE ORIGINAL, WHO DEPENDED ON BLOOD TO LIVE- WHO NEEDED THIS-

HE WOULD'VE BEEN MORE BLOODMOON THAN V2 BLOODMOON THEMSELVES!!!

I AM GOING INSANE/POS-

This entire situation is so raw!!!

He would've been nothing more than a ghost. A ghost of someone long past, longer than himself-

And he would've been hungry. So unbearably hungry. It would've eaten him up inside, until eventually, he would've snapped. Until he would realize, he isn't Solar anymore, not really. Maybe he never was to begin with.

The way he screams at Nexus, demanding to know, why he brought him back, as his voice twists into that of the bloodied demon-

G O D THIS IS EVERYTHING!!!

And his words!

Nexus was so focused on bringing one brother back to life, on saving who he couldn't save, that he pushed his family away.

Too focused on his mistakes, too focused on fixing them, that he didn't know what he lost, until it slipped right through his fingers.

It didn't just cost him one, but two brothers!

And he didn't even cry. He didn't scream for Sun the same way he screamed for Solar. He didn't fall to his knees, begging him to wake up, grief in his voice.

Instead, he was just angry. Furious, even. Yet, not in the same way.

His anger towards Solar wasn't this raw thing, that threatened to burst. Not like it was with Ruin.

It felt more like anger at his failure, more than anything else. Instead of crying for his brother, of checking if maybe, just maybe, he's alive, he used that time to justify himself to the monster in his lost one's skin.

And he simply kills him, less anger felt and more frustrated than anything else.

He has already lost his grip, his care. Whatever has turned him into who he is now, is already there, just not as prominent, not as bloodthirsty.

OH GOD, I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS- I AM ABOUT TO BURST!!!

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH, ACTUALLY!!!

-Stardust

I'M SO LATE 2 THIS BUT YESYEHSYEHAYAHSHAHHA!!!!!!!!

THIS IS THEE MOST STRIKING "CAME BACK WRONG" SCENARIO ON TSAMS YET AND YEUAYAYAGS HE WOULDA BEEN MORE BLOODMOON THAN V2 BLOODMOON LITERALLY!!!!!!

Yesyesyes I am nodding SO FURIOUSLY AND EVERYTHING YOU'VE SAID!!! Everything Solar said made my heart squeeze because of just how we never heard those sorts of tones from ever before and Nexus being honestly more ashamed or embarrassed that it all went wrong instead of grieving the loss of his two brothers..... it's just SO. ITS SO AUAGAJAGAJSHSHD

IT'S SO INHERENTLY TRAGIC ALL AROUND. THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY FOR IT TO END THE MOMENT NEXUS'S PLAN SUCCEEDED. THEY WERE FUCKINF DOOMED AAUAUAAGGGGHHHHHHH

[fritextramole]

in my dreams, i have a plan

part 1 of a Jenny Humphrey playlist - best heard in order

tracklist and quotes under the cut

Money, Money, Money ~ ABBA

Money, money, money Must be funny In the rich man's world Money, money, money Always sunny In the rich man's world

Ordinary Superstar ~ Rina Sawayama

Girl on the screen lookin' mean I never woulda guessed that we'd be friends Oh, but you don't want to be seen With me

Adult Diversion ~ Alvvays

One more cocktail Is it a good time? Or is it highly inappropriate?

jealousy, jealousy ~ Olivia Rodrigo

All I see is what I should be Happier, prettier, jealousy, jealousy All I see is what I should be I'm losing it, all I get's, jealousy, jealousy

Cool ~ Soccer Mommy

She’ll treat you like a fucking toy She’ll break your heart and steal your joy, like a criminal

Dreaming of You ~ The Coral

When I’m down and my hands are tied I cannot reach a pen for me to draw the line From this pain I just can’t disguise It’s gonna hurt but I’ll have to say goodbye

Self Esteem ~ The Offspring

Well, I guess I should stick up for myself But I really think it's better this way The more you suffer The more it shows you really care Right? Yeah

Brick by Boring Brick ~ Paramore

Well, you built up a world of magic Because your real life is tragic

Seashore ~ The Regrettes

You're talkin' to me like a child But my words are growin' stronger And my legs keep gettin' longer I'm like nobody else, so you can just go fuck yourself

I'm Free ~ King Tuff

Late at night, the light turns to blue I wonder if you're out there thinking of me too Have you ever thought you might not be what you believe? You might be something different, you might be free

Jigsaw

Killin' parts of myself to fit you Clear as shit I was not the issue If I made you like me, would I even like myself? Pointin' out all my flaws doesn't help Why don't you love me? Don't you love me?

Oh No! ~ MARINA

I know exactly what I want and who I want to be I know exactly why I walk and talk like a machine I'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy Oh! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no, oh!

You're Gonna Go Far, Kid ~ The Offspring

There's something in your way and now someone is gonna pay And if you can't get what you want, well, it's all because of me

Soap ~ Melanie Martinez

Darling, you're just soaking in it But I know you'll get out the minute You notice all your fingers pruning up

Arms Tonite ~ Mother Mother

I try to escape afterlife I try hard to get back inside your arms alive

Miss Nothing ~ The Pretty Reckless

And as I watch you disappear into the ground My one mistake was that I couldn't let you down So I'll waste my time and I'll burn my mind On miss nothing, miss everything

Supermassive Black Hole ~ Muse

I thought I was a fool for no one Oh baby, I'm a fool for you You're the queen of the superficial And how long before you tell the truth?

Power & Control ~ MARINA

A human vulnerability Doesn't mean that I am weak That I am weak, I am weak I am weak, I am weak, weak Weak, weak, weak, weak

Hotel California ~ Eagles

Mirrors on the ceiling The pink champagne on ice And she said, 'We are all just prisoners here Of our own device"

South Elroy ~ Maya Hawke

Focused on the trouble each nightfall You swallowed bubbles, made me beg for a biteful Give me your hand and moved it inside me Smirk, what a jerk, good and plenty

Make Me Wanna Die ~ The Pretty Reckless

Take me, I'm alive Never was a girl with a wicked mind But everything looks better when the sun goes down

Playing God ~ Paramore

If God's the game that you're playing Well, we must get more acquainted Because it has to be so lonely To be the only one who's holy

Full Control ~ Snail Mail

And in full control I'm not lost Even when it's love Even when it's not Even when it's love Even when it's love Even when it's love Even though it's not

David ~ Noah Gundersen

I try to wash my hands for you every night Lest you find my strangling fingers wrapped around tight

Pity Party ~ Melanie Martinez

Tell me why the hell no one is here Tell me what to do to make it all feel better

Sober II (Melodrama) ~ Lorde

All the glamour and the trauma And the fuckin' melodrama, whoa, whoa

Troublemaker Doppelgänger ~ Lucy Dacus

Was it that girl, that beautiful girl Thirsty for love and eager for attention Was it that girl who taught me about destruction?

[greenvertumna]

Look you can say I’m a Vace fan just bc I think he’s hot and I won’t even straight up deny it bc he kinda looks like a space jason todd (tho…my feelings towards jason todd aren’t really straightforward attraction either they’re like…self-insert/i relate with this guy even though my life is very different from his so…idk) but frankly I just have a very protective feeling over him. Like I’m not old enough to be a mentor but like…an older sibling figure?

Like…if I did a self-insert character in the verse I’d choose to be to Vace what Kom was to Nem. Like I woulda been his friend but older and wiser and I would’ve CALLED fucking…helio CPS on his parents and maybe he wouldn’t have had such a lonely miserable time growing up. And then I would have tragically died when the helio crashed.

…No fuck that, I would be unconscious for about a year and then Sol would get to meet me when I healed up. And I would be in a wheelchair for the rest of the game bc this game needs more disability representation but I’d be super interested in Vertumna and ask for stories from all the expeditions peeps. And idk maybe fall in love with Utopia but I’d be ace kinda like nomi. Maybe I’d be friends with her too though a little more aligned with the garrison and…oops i made an oc post over

[summerlycoris]

Annon-Guy: As fellow Dawn of the New World fan, what do you think of the main characters introduced in that game?

Specifically Emil, Ratatosk, Marta, Tenebrae, Richter, Aqua, Alice and Decus.

Its been forever since ive played dotnw, so i might mess up small details. (I want to play it again- but am procrastinating playing symphonia orz)

Emil- the twist with him was so good. Kinda similar to Lukes twist in tota, except a bit more tragic because. The real Emil Castnagier is dead from the palmacosta fire. And Aster is dead because of Ratatosk.

But... he's still the real Emil. Even if his life was a lie. Even if his memories of his past were fake. The memories he made with Marta, Tenebrae, and everyone were real.

Ratatosk- I cant really remember a tonne about him individually tbh. Only that he improves over the course of the story, and becomes a much better teammate to Marta and Tenebrae.

Speaking of- Marta- shes a lot of fun honestly. The quips between her and tenebrae were perfect. And her character was also really cool- going up against her dad and the vanguard, all to try and save ratatosk. Shes cool.

Also, shes got tokunaga on her backpack. Any fan of Best Abyss Character, Anise Tatlin, is a friend of mine! (joke)(kinda)(i probably would like any Anise fan unless they were murderers or something like that.)

Tenebrae- brillient honestly. After playing tota, i can see the Jade influence loud and clear. And then you get to the twist and realise- he was in on it! He knew what was going on... owwie my heart. I see his reasoning for staying silent though. Just. Ow.

Richter- gay gay homosexual gay- sorry Richter, but its true!

On a serious note. God his situation is tragic. Seeing his dead best friend in Emil- and still seeing fit to be nice to Emil, and help him out? Despite knowing that this is really ratatosk? Amnesiatically piloting a copy of his best friends body? Ow owow ow ow. That got to me when i was sixteen (still kinda gets to me tbh) why? Because he believed in Emil being Emil.

Im sorry, I just need a minute.

Aqua- another one I dont remember a tonne about. She was really loyal to Richter- even above his own desires at times iirc.

And now, for my absolute blorbo from this game...

Alice- my silliest little meow meow who has done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG EVER FIGHT ME ABOUT IT!

(She has done everything wrong and i love her for it.)

I went fucking loopy for this girl when i was sixteen. Like, if she told me to jump off a cliff i woulda done it. I wouldve fought Decus for her heart in a heartbeat if. Yknow. I couldve ever stood a chance at winning lmao.

I did all her sidequests in a second playthrough. (Missed some time sensative ones in my first playthrough nooooo) and felt so bad for her when her backstory was revealed. I loved that sidequest where she gives an old lady from tetha hella medicine (iirc) because. It showed me just what she couldve been if only the world had been better towards her.

Shit, i even tried brainstorming some timetravel au fanfic with her when i was a teen. Glad that never got out of my head- i wouldve written it SO badly. (My writing when i was sixteen was SO SHIT OMG-)

I felt so bad for that final battle with them, where we had to kill her and Decus. And she realises she really did love him... tear my heart out too why dont you?!

I really need to replay this game honestly.

Decus- hes pretty cool honestly. I cant remember the most about him. I liked hearing his backstory. And he had a interesting character- prioritising Alice above any allegence he had to the vanguard. And yet- he played the punch clock villian. It was never personal if he had to attack Emil or Marta- just his job.

This is all ive got for now. One day i will replay it again. One day. I hope that answers your question!

[lesser-mook]

Kamen Rider Amazons (Brutal, good content) *light spoilers (mainly cause of the gifs)

I AM NOT a fan of live action tv shows, I prefer animation, easy choice.

But when it's good, it's good. Second time binging this this year, it's a solid full circle.

This is the show that put me on Kamen Rider. (Earlier this year *2023)

Season 1 is best. Good writing, good pacing, only 13 episodes.

Haruka is a good mc. He's basically Kira Yamato, except his arc is better handled.

Why? Because he gets called out, he has people teaching him, criticizing him, challenging him. And in a sense, he grows the fuck up.

My favorite development of his is combat prowess evolution.

His lore, his background, what he is. Amazons really is his story, while it does balance other plot threads and characters. Haruka was a consistent focus.

How multi-faceted he is, he's a good kid, yet he's a primal beast.

The Amazon Riders as fighters are some of the most animalistic Tokusatsu out there, and they're not the first KR Series to go dark (not even close) but they did make the brutal/bloody aesthetic more trendy in recent memory.

Good writing, decent characters, the music is pretty good.

My main gripe would be the recycled use of some songs & sfx, but on my second watch, it wasn't that bad.

And the empty streets sometimes actually was an artistic choice to emphasize the haunted nature of the world, but there were civilians here and there throughout.

But the ghost town vibe, i found was actually (the point).

Chihiro is the weakest part of the entire series for me. His obsession with Iyu (while explained) still made ZERO sense.

It's the Ochaga situation all over again, that level of investment when your exposure to this person was nothing but negative or in this case- minimum. You have zero impression to go off that warrants that level of dedication so what in the actual fuck is going on?

It woulda been better if he knew her from school, or he they dated before, or they met somewhere or something.

Set up is how you avoid contrived bullshit

Overall, it's a good series. Season 2 wasn't as strong, the movie too but they're still solid. They both add some good lore. And while Chihiro was annoying sometimes, he was a tragic character that had his cool moments.

Jin Takayama became my favorite this time around, he has this very anime energy where he smiles & talks cheery, until he doesn't and then shit gets tense.

He's the older model, the seasoned Rider. Father of the Amazons in a sense, you'll see why when you watch.

The man is the T-800 of Kamen Rider, he'll hunt ya down, not bullshit. No compromises. You caught lacking, he's right there.

Watched twice, had a good time. Violent, dark, doesn't drag (each episode is good in isolation even if you don't binge), decently written, the costumes look cool, the lore is interesting. Movie wraps up everything appropriately, wasn't ideal but it fit.

Amazons is solid.

[internetgiraffekid1673]

Screw it I had more thoughts about these losers. Spoilers ahead I guess? I have so many opinions, so this is going under a readmore.

Okay so. The thing is. I feel like they are already almost poly. Eugene and Rapunzel basically treat each other as "best friends. The bestest of friends. Who also kiss." And Cassandra and Rapunzel are very much "best friends. The bestest of friends. Who would be kissing if this was not made by Disney and poly relationships actually showed up in media."

And neither Cass nor Eugene is particularly possesive of Rapunzel. They just really like her. Any relationship problems Rapsl has with either of them is not based around "being jealous of other people she spends time with." I think, outside the context of this relationship, these guys would be perfectly happy being poly.

So. In the context of them being poly during the run of the show? Yeah it would have been better. Woulda probably made everyone a lot happier if Raps and Cass got to kiss. Like, literally the whole cast has to witness their tragic homoerotic situationship, and would probably have been happier if they just kissed.

BUT! My point from the tags still stands. Eugene and Cassandra HATE each other. Like. They DESPISE each other. The ONLY reason they tolerate the other person's presence in the same room is because Rapunzel likes both of them. They try do that thing that a lot of kids shows with love triangles will do where the two bickering characters will promise to make nice in front of the character they both like to assure their mutual love interest's happiness. And Eugene and Cass MISERABLY FAIL. They have multiple episodes where either the main conflict or the entire B plot is the direct cause of them fighting.

And both of these characters are very bold and confrontational. They would absolutely fistfight each other on sight if they didn't know it would make Rapunzel sad.

If Cass had not left to be an angsty solo lesbian by the time the show ended, SOMETHING would have imploded. I get the feeling that those two were down to casually snipe at and insult each other and barely restrain themselves from fistfighting, but Rapunzel wouldn't be down with it and probably would have tried to put them through some friendship bonding exercise to get them to see each other how she sees them. And then they woulda murdered each other or unleashed an evil god. Not sure which.

Like. Eugene and Cass hate each other, but it's a healthy, mutual hatred that they are perfectly fine keeping at the level it is without escalating it. And Raps loves both of them. But she would not be able to tolerate the two people she loves not loving each other.

(Not to say that Cass and Eugene don't love each other. They just also have a fun dynamic going on where they would save the other's life from any dangerous situation without question, but only after they let the other person get knocked around a bit. And they'd complain the whole time, make fun of the other forever, and say they were owed about a million favors. It's like. . .quasi-sibling coded? Like. They don't feel like siblings to me. They feel like love rivals. But that specific part of their dynamic is very sibling-esque. But of course Rapunzel doesn't really understand that loving someone does not equate to liking them or being nice to them, so she would try to upset the delicate balance).

Anyway. My other point from the tags is that even if they were poly, it would not have changed the events of the series. Cassandra and Rapunzel are already basically girlfriends. You could change like 10 lines of dialogue and add some kissing scenes, and they'd be there. Them being in a canonical relationship would change SO LITTLE about how they behave and feel that I think the finale would have gone exactly the same.

Cass would have still run off on her angsty lesbian solo redemption quest or whatever, but instead of being:

"It's not you it's me. I will carry happy memories of our friendship, but I currently carry too much trauma to make this work. I need to go off on my own to heal and get in a healthier headspace before we can repair what I broke."

It would have been:

"It's not you it's me. I will carry happy memories of being your girlfriend, but I currently carry too much trauma to make this work. I need to go off on my own to heal and get in a healthier headspace before we can repair what I broke."

That's it! That's all that would have changed!

So. Would polyamory have saved them? No. The plot Does Not Change. Would it have made them happier? Yes. Now Cass and Raps get to kiss. Hooray! Would it have made a helluva lot more sense than whatever is happening in canon and overall made the story better? Hands down! Get on that Disney.

I also maintain that a good poly relationship for these three shakes out to be Eugene x Rapunzel coexisting with Cassandra x Rapunzel with absolutely no Cassandra x Eugene to be found, even as a platonic pals situation. But I'm not here to police your headcanons, just scream my own. Do what you want, it's fiction, have fun, maybe polyamory would have saved the versions of these characters that live in your heads, etc., etc.

RAPUNZEL, EUGENE FITZHERBERT, and CASSANDRA from TANGLED

No Justification Submitted - Anonymous

[softguarnere]

A World Without Color Is A World Without You

Eugene Roe x reader

A/N: What's up y'all?! @brassknucklespeirs and I have been talking about soulmate aus, and now they're living rent free in my brain. I had a wild day at school, and using those feeling to create angst was strangely therapeutic, I won't lie. I hope you enjoy this, and my requests are always open if you have something specific you would like to see! (As always, this is written for the fictional depictions from the show -- absolutely no disrespect to the real-life veterans!) 💕🕊️

Warnings: ANGST ANGST ANGST! The usual HBOwar stuff: war, guns, injury, blood, language. I also didn't really proof read this, so take that for what it's worth.

"So is it like, a cultural thing?" George asks. In between his shivering, he gives you a sideways glance, watching you tense up as you continue staring straight ahead through the darkness, watching the line. He shrugs. "I've just always wondered."

"About what?"

He shrugs again. "Well, back in Toccoa, I kinda thought maybe you were just shy. But I know that's not true; you're pretty chatty after a few drinks. I remember reading somewhere once, before the war, maybe back in school, that in some cultures it's rude, or even taboo."

On your other side, Joe huffs. The cool air in front of him clouds up with what little warmth he can muster. "George, I'm sure if she wanted to talk about it, she woulda told ya by now."

"Yeah, Luz," you agree. "If I knew what the hell you were talking about, I probably could have answered you twelve different times."

The radioman knocks his shoulder against your own. "Awe, come on (Y/N). My brain is frozen -- gimme a break."

"Okay. I'll answer if you actually ask the question."

"Okay." Luz nods. For someone who was so eager to find answers a moment before, he seems unsure of himself when you give him permission to ask. He stops looking at you and trains his own eyes on the line, voice softening when he asks, "Why do you never look anyone in the eye?"

There it is.

Toye reaches behind you to smack Luz on the back of his helmet.

"Ow!"

"You can't just ask that!" Joe reprimands. "Besides, you could probably just figure it out from context."

Joe is right. It seems like most people should have figured it out by now. Maybe then you wouldn't have so many sweet-talking replacements sauntering up to you with calls of, "Hey, Shy Girl, you found your man yet, or are you playin' hard to get?" or "Baby, I bet I could be the one to make you see color."

Because that's the thing: your world has always been shades of black and white, and it will remain that way until you look into the eyes of your soulmate. The first color you ever see will be the color of their eyes, and then -- according to everything you've heard your friends and family describe -- the rest of the world will follow as a whole universe of color is revealed to you. But therein lies several problems for you.

Problem one: you didn't find your soulmate back at home before the war. Which, you initially thought, might be okay. Maybe you would meet them after. Or during, some of your more romantic-minded friends told you dreamily before you shipped out.

Which made problem two all too real to you: if you meet your soulmate and then they die, the world will go back to being black and white.

The realization had hit you like a punch in the gut. Everyone else seemed to think it was tragically romantic, but not you. You had always known the world as shades of plainness and shadow. How could you stand it, if you discovered the beauty of the world, only to then have it stripped away from you? And worse, how could you stand to lose the person that you loved -- that you were destined to be with? Something that was all too possible in the middle of a war.

So you made a decision. A hard one, but one that seemed necessary -- you wouldn't look a stranger in the eye again until after the war.

Under the blanket of night, huddled together with your friends for warmth, you tell them exactly that. No one can tell if the slight shake in your voice is from emotion or from the cold, and no one calls it into question. You've never told anyone before. You're not sure how they might react.

Joe pats your knee. He's not a man of words, but his action says it all.

"I'm sorry," Luz whispers. "I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's okay," you reassure him, trying to smile, more for yourself than for him. To lighten the mood, you decide to do what he would do if he weren't in an awkward position -- you crack a joke. "Why does it matter, Luz? You worried we might be soulmates?"

Taken off guard, he laughs. "I won't lie, (Y/N), the thought has occurred to me."

It had taken a lot of strength to tell them your secret. Now though, they know -- secrets rarely feel so heavy when there's someone who can help you carry them. Your burden reduced, you turn towards him in the darkness. "Well, let's find out."

"What?" Out of reflex, he turns to you.

Your eyes meet and . . .

Nothing. The world is still black and white.

"That answers that question," Luz says.

"Toye, you wanna find out if we're destined to be together?" You tease.

"Eh, why not." You blink owlishly at each other in the darkness, searching each others eyes for something that might not have been there before. Nothing happens, but neither of you breaks eye contact.

A smile pulls at the corner of Joe's mouth, and before you know it, the two of you are giggling at the idea of finding out that one of your oldest war-buddies might have been your soulmate all along without you realizing it. Who knows if it would have been funny anywhere but Bastogne -- the environmental pressures are starting to get to everyone -- but in that moment, it's the most hilarious thing in the world. Even George is shaking with laughter.

"Shhhh!" Only the sound of crunching snow rushing towards your fox hole can stop the joke. Compton leans down, his eyes never leaving the line in front of him as he hisses, "Keep it down! You wanna give away our position?"

"Sorry, Lieutenant," you giggle.

For all your trying, it's not until he's long gone that the three of you manage to catch your breath. Somehow, it feels like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders, however slightly. You can look your best friends in the eye. That's something.

You fall asleep between them, the world still black and white, but not quite so dismal as you once imagined your dull color scheme to be.

--

"I've been workin' on the railroad, all the livelong day," you sing along with the other men, your grin the widest it's been in a while. Finally out of the fox holes, finally haven taken Foy, finally moving on.

"I've been working on the railroad, just to pass the time away --"

You're just beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, things will start to look up for Easy Company when something zings by your ear. One of the men beside you falls to the ground, and suddenly, the world around you descends into chaos.

A few more men drop like flies. Others tumblr over each other like dominos, some of them trying to flatten themselves to the ground for cover while others trip over each other to duck behind one of the nearby buildings.

"Sniper!" someone calls out. A body slams into yours as you try to scramble away from the tank you had been sitting on. The force of their body against yours sends you stumbling. It's just enough to hold you back from safety, and you feel the hot metal rip through your thigh.

You cry out as you hit the ground. Around you, bullets still race to find new marks as the sniper's rifle peppers the air with the sound of rounds being fired. You're face down on the dirty snow. It's harder than it should be not to roll over and call out for help, but the image of Julian back in Bastogne enters your mind and you settle for clenching your right hand into a fist and shoving it over your mouth to muffle your cries as you wait for it to be over.

More gunshots. Some cheers. How long have you been on the ground? A few minutes? Hours?

Someone grabs you by the shoulder and flips you over. Only then do you gasp out in pain.

"(Y/L/N)! Where are you hit?" Sergeant Lipton demands.

"Thigh." You try to sit up, but the Sergeant holds you down as he calls out for a medic. "Are the others okay?"

"Shifty got the sniper," Lipton assures you with a weak smile.

"But what about the others who got hit?"

"Alright, where'd they get her?" Spina asks as he appears beside you. From your awkward angle on your back, you can see him grimace as he looks at your thigh, which is pulsing with white hot pain.

"Is it bad? Is it --" you have to stop and swallow before you can continue. "Did they get an artery?"

"Roe's got the morphine," Spina says, looking over his shoulder and calling for the Louisiana boy before glancing back down at you. "Just take it easy, (Y/N)."

You grit your teeth through a spark of pain. It's hot and bright -- probably what stars feel like as they burn out.

"Hey --" Lipton pats your cheek with his hand, trying to keep you grounded. "Stay with me, (Y/N). Roe's comin', okay? Hey, at least you didn't get shot in the ass like Perco, huh?"

"Mighta hurt less," you hiss.

"She got morphine?" A thick accent asks as Doc Roe appears above you. He glances down at your thigh and then at you. And then --

Something happens.

Roe must sense it too, because just as his eyes start to move back to your injury, he stops short. Something about his eyes . . . it's hard to describe. It's unlike anything you've ever seen before.

They're not black and white, you realize with a start. You gasp sharply, not sure if it's from pain or from the shock. Then, slowly, the world around you draws into focus in a way it never has before. The blacks and whites you've become so accustomed to fade away as color seeps in, like water paints bleeding onto a fresh sheet of paper, filling in the world in ways that you didn't even know was possible.

"Doc, are you gonna help her?!" Lipton asks as Roe falls to his knees beside you, still staring straight into your eyes. Neither of you take note of Spina cursing in confusion, grabbing Doc's bag and tearing through it for morphine and bandages.

"It's you," you gasp at the same time that Roe whispers, "I found you."

Lipton looks between the two of you in confusion. The minute it clicks, his jaw drops into a capital O. "Oh shit."

"Right --" Spina pats your leg and stands up as more people approach. " -- Didn't hit an artery, but she'll need to visit an aide station to get this cleaned up. I've done what I can."

Aide station?

"Wait, no!" You try to push yourself up, try to prove that you're fine. If you get taken to a hospital, it might take forever for them to let you out. And then how will you get back to Easy? Something could happen to Roe before you return.

You grasp the Cajun boy's hand as you're lifted onto the piece of wood that's serving as a crude stretcher. Over the rumbling of the approaching Jeep engine, you plead with him. "Don't let them take me, Doc. I'll be fine. I'm fine! I don't wanna go."

"You gotta," he says sadly. "Your leg . . ."

"I want to stay here," you insist. "Please. Please, Gene."

"I'll find you." He presses a kiss to the back of your hand as they load you into the Jeep. "I promise, we'll find each other again, okay? But you gotta go now, (Y/N)."

Your tightly knitted fingers unravel as the vehicle starts to move, unnoticing and uncaring of your feelings on the matter. For the first time since you got hit, you feel your eyes grow hot and watery. There's no use trying to hold back the tears that slip out as you're driven away from the boy who colored in your world.

From the boy who's your soulmate.

[egregiousmelange]

Honestly surprised the queer community hasn't brought up more about Anne and Diana:

"Diana and I are thinking seriously of promising each other that we will never marry but be nice old maids and live together for ever."

(Pg. 239; The Queen's Class is Organized; Anne of Green Gables)

For a book written in 1908, two "Bosom Friends" (refer to each other as this in the book multiple times) who promise to never marry and live together for the rest of their lives is like as gay as gay could be, and this was said right after Anne was saying how much she hates how Ruby is constantly talking about boys all the time and then this was followed by saying that Diana is having second thoughts because she believes it would be "nobler" to "reform" a wild man for a husband, a.k.a. the only reason she isn't doing it is because society finds it better she marry a man to fix him than marry her best friend because at the time it was a woman's job to fix a man.

Time for AWaE comparison and rant (lots of salt) so if you don't wanna read this long rant, now's the time to move on to a new post

Anne with An E wanted to touch on a lot of modern day issues but they had a queer relationship right there and instead they decided stubborn Anne won't spend a long time hating Gilbert and Diana is gonna get in some weird relationship with Jerry the hated help that doesn't even play a role in the book, like as much as I enjoyed the TV show as a stand alone, when tied with the books, I was kinda expecting... More. Or at least different things when they said queer relationships and feminism. I thought they would mean more important characters rather than Aunt Josephine who they saw once or twice (and who I'm still angry about because I headcannoned as Aroace and now if I try to do that, people say I'm homophobic because the TV show made her a lesbian when in the book she was so clearly aroace) and Cole the made-up character they abandon at Aunt Josephine's place so they didn't have to deal with continuing his gay arc they formed. Like I get why they wanted to make Gilbert and Anne endgame, as many people grew to love that ship over the books, but I definitely woulda enjoyed to see a poly Anne Diana and Gilbert, with Diana and Gilbert talking about how much they both love their neurodivergent girlfriend Anne (she clearly has ADHD and we love her for it) and they all live happily ever after in a poly relationship envied by all, and definitely not turning into a Cordelia Geraldine and Bertram situation (Although that woulda been a tragical romance if Anne turned out like Bertram, Diana turning into Geraldine and Gilbert turning into the jealous Cordelia [if confused, see chapter 26: The Story Club is Formed). Poly Anne Diana Gilbert woulda been a much more interesting dynamic than the Shirbert and Derry relationships we saw in AWaE (I mean enemies to lovers AND friends to lovers, like how could you not want both in the same relationship). Like AWaE prided (no pun intended) itself on having queer relationships. I get why Montgomery, a woman living in the 1900s before women even had the right to vote and people would kill homosexuals purely for their sexuality, would abandon the concept of a main gay couple, but the TV show very well could have done something more with this and it just makes me upset that with all of this right here, they are still getting brownie points for queer rep when they literally made up a side character they said moved in with Aunt Josephine so they never had to deal with his gayness again (ALSO REALLY SALTY THEY TOOK MY AROACE REP CAUSE AUNT JOESPHINE WAS SO AROACE AND TO TAKE THAT AWAY SO YOU DONT HAVE TO MAKE MAIN CHARACTERS GAY WAS REALLY MEAN) and idk disagree with me if you want, but I was just kinda hoping for more from them than what we got, the TV show just felt very heteronormative, monogamous, and amatonormative (not just Josephine, they shoved Mariella and Matthew into romances as well) for a show that was getting so much praise for queer relationships and rep, even the book written in 1908 showed less of these things than the show (except the book was still pretty monogamous). Well anyways, I've rambled enough, so I guess that's it for my controversial queer take for the end of June, LGBT+ month is almost over and I'm sad to see it go.

[yukipri]

Bad Batch end of season thoughts/ramble, bc it's been a week and I just wanna get it all off my chest...

(end of season spoilers and very disorganized rambling)

First off, I do want to say that I enjoyed watching the show. It fulfilled its primary purpose: entertainment. It was nice having something to look forward to every week, and even though it wasn't quite what I was expecting, it was fun. The animation was gorgeous, I liked all the references and tie ins. I will likely watch it again, and will watch season 2. This is by no means meant to be a hate post.

That being said, it is critical so please just skip if you're not into that!

The thing is...it takes very, Very little for me to love a clone. He doesn't need lines, or a face, or even a name, and the default is that I will love him. He can even be a little bastard, like Slick, and it's fine. I always want to know more about them, and wish they had more screen time and time in general to develop their characters. So given that we were getting 16 (20 eps total if we count TCW S7 pilot arc) centered around these guys, I was expecting to absolutely adore them by the end.

And I wanted to love the Bad Batch, I wanted to love them so damn much, and I tried. But I think one of the reasons why they never fully clicked for me was that their thing seems to be "we're unique, we never fit in, we're outsiders in our own home, among the people who are supposed to be our own family, and so we've found our home with each other."

Which! That's usually a wonderful message, and not a particularly rare or unique one either for stories! I usually dig these kinds of stories!

The problem here is the extremely unique situation of the clones. They are literally created to be identical, brain washed to be uniform. They must conform, or are killed off by their creators, and their conformity isn't a choice in the slightest, but one of fear and necessity.

Their uniformity is something that they are also entirely aware of--it's unavoidable, they're clones. Once out in the real galaxy, they all strive to find and establish unique identities for themselves, struggling against a galaxy that just wants them to be faceless products. It's a shared struggle, and all they have are each other, and their brotherhood is sacred as a result. Shunning unique identity is the opposite of who a clone is--it's what they all want.

So on one hand, it's understandable that the Batch stuck out (when all others who would have also stuck out were culled, when individuality isn't allowed). It's understandable that they would have yearned for the brotherhood shared by the other clones, and when they couldn't have it, they stuck closer to each other. It's even understandable that they would feel bitter, having experienced bullying at the hands of the other clones (but isn't it also understandable that the other clones would feel bitter that the Batch gets special treatment, when their own brothers with less-than-beneficial mutations were taken by the Kaminoans to never return?).

And so we have this batch of clones, who the Kaminoans call "mutated," but also specify that their mutations are "desirable" (implying what happens to mutations that are undesirable...). They have their own unique unit, in which they're able to improvise and act freely with seemingly little to no oversight, so long as they complete their mission. No Jedi to obey, no nat-born officers who look down on them. In fact, they look so different from standard clone troopers that most of the galaxy probably don't even know they are clones. They have their own ship (personalized), they have their own possessions (which we don't really see any other clones have), they have their own barracks (probably also very unique), and they even have access to superior weapons and armor (most of the Batch, minus Echo, seem to be wearing modified Katarn-class armor which is supposed to be for Commandos. we KNOW it holds up better than standard trooper armor).

So I'm sure they had some unpleasant experiences growing up, and I do get it. But at least at "present" end of clone wars, they honestly seem to be living infinitely better than all other clones? They still need to follow orders but they have more freedom, and perhaps most importantly, they have clear uniqueness that is denied almost all other clones. And yes, some of the clones on Kamino bully them, but we've seen NONE of the "regular" clones that we know to be particularly nasty to them, and in fact it's Crosshair who starts it by calling them "Regs."

And how does the Batch respond to this situation? By acting superior. It's Crosshair who says and it believes this firmly, and I do feel that the others are likely mostly influenced by this, but it's also true that Hunter, Wrecker, and Tech don't really deny this either. They don't like the "regs," they do act like they're "better." Poor Echo, who they repeatedly seem to forget is in the room, and who they call "machine" and such...yikes yo

So I guess the point is, I just really struggled to feel sympathetic towards them, and was already on a kinda eh about their premise. They're marketed as "the special clone squad"--and yet they're not nice to the clones I love. I thought that wasn't great, but also hoped that the series would work towards them understanding the other clones better, and I love character development so that woulda been fine--but, nothing. A glance from Hunter at Howzer. Extended camaraderie from Gregor, who I feel they mostly just tolerate for the mission, other than Echo who genuinely cares.

And on top of feeling not feeling particularly sympathetic towards what I saw as a pretty privileged group of clones, the Batch seems to place primary blame of their woes on the "regs" themselves, who again, honestly seem far worse off! There isn't blame directed at the people who demanded the conformity from the other clones in the first place, that made it so the Batch couldn't fit in. The Batch was modified due to the Kaminoans (and implied specifically Nala Se). She's the reason why they don't fit in. And the Kaminoans are also why the other clones have to be so uniform, why they must fight to be people and not products.

Bitterness and pettiness can be fine in characters. But it's frustrating to see in a group supposed to be competent and elite, especially when those feelings have consequences. Sure, it sucks when someone throws a food tray at you. You can throw food back. It's not an equal reaction to feel no remorse when you shoot that guy dead in a blaster fight, when for all other clones, having to kill another clone is one of the most horrible, tragic things that one can do (thanks, Umbara).

Fives was the only clone to actually point a blaster at Nala Se.

We know Omega has deeply personal history with Nala Se. She was Nala Se's personal medical assistant. We see her cry when she takes off her head ornament that matches Nala Se. We know that being back in the lab gives Omega complicated, and probably not entirely positive feelings. But we barely learn more about this relationship, other than these glimpses.

And I get the feeling that to Omega at least, Nala Se wasn't all terrible. If Omega grew up with mostly only Nala Se for company, she had to have gotten her sheltered outlook on life, and her willingness to help others from somewhere. Nala Se intentionally let Omega go, to be "safe."

I think Omega's adorable, and I do like her. But I wasn't able to fully love her to the extent I wanted to, because there was always the fear that she was involved in the creation and implantation of the chips. She knows about them, she would have been positioned to do so. I want to think she would never, and I was hoping the show would reassure us of that, but it never did. We don't actually know how Omega feels about Nala Se, or even the chips and their presence in other clones. Instead, all we know is that Omega doesn't like "regs."

And again, "they call me lab scrubber," and "I helped put (or am complicit in putting) mind control devices in their heads," are kinda, unequal. Again I hope it's not the case. But it definitely kept me feeling uneasy throughout the show.

It really boils down to I don't trust or forgive Nala Se, and the Batch's lack of stance against her and the other Kaminoans, and clear distaste for their other clone brothers, really puts them in a situation that makes it difficult for me to take their side entirely.

And then gosh, Hunter. During Crosshair's whole "you never came back for me," spiel, I couldn't help but think he's kinda right. He had 15 episodes. Sure, it's difficult to get Crosshair back. But they could have done something. They could have done research. We could have had scenes of them wondering where Crosshair is, discussions on how best to find him, even if that discussion ended in, "but we can't risk it right now." They could have grilled Omega for information on the chips, which they really shoulda done either way, but especially since that knowledge is important to understanding what (they thought had) happened to Crosshair. Instead, they just ran every time Crosshair showed up. The show could have done better to show that they cared, and were trying, instead of just, y'know, doing chores for Cid. One, "I kinda miss him," doesn't really count as working on getting him back, at least in my books.

The sole exception to all of this, of course, is Echo. Who really, he works with the Batch fine, he's a former ARC and can more than keep up. Skillset-wise, he fits in well enough. But this season really made me wonder why he's with them at all. Crosshair's revelation and true feelings at the end of the season were no surprise to me, as they're consistent with what we've seen of him from TCW S7. But for Echo, a former "reg" to have to work with someone like Crosshair...even if Crosshair thought Echo was "different" enough to accept him, those are his brothers that Crosshair thinks he's so superior to, and has no issue speaking disdainfully about.

The increasing tension between Echo and Hunter, Echo's interest in helping Rex, in helping other clones, in doing something...I do hope they reach a point where Echo demands they go help, or he's leaving.

They gave Crosshair a chance, despite the fact that his choices were willing. I really hope Echo can convince the Batch to help save the other clones who don't have a choice. Because even if the Batch doesn't consider them their brothers, they're certainly Echo's. They matter just as much as Crosshair, and I really hope season 2 shows it narratively.

To conclude, again I'm interested in seeing what happens next, and I want answers about Omega and Nala Se. I find it interesting that they tied the facility where they took Nala Se in with the scientist dude collecting data on Grogu in the Mandalorian and those cloning labs. All of this is interesting, but at the same time I feel like it's trying to build up to Snoke/Palpatine stuff in the sequels which...I don't care nearly as much about, but who knows, could be neat ^ ^;

I'm okay with, and have made peace with the fact that the Bad Batch probably isn't the "clones-centric" show I wanted, and that they'll continue their own story, and probably continue to not care much about other clones in upcoming seasons. That's unfortunate, but alright. I'm interested enough in their story too.

But at the same time...I can't help but think man, if they have the time and budget to do a season 2, after seeing what was (or wasn't) accomplished in season 1...I wish they'd also make a Rex/Cody/Wolffe/"regular clones" show, because in the end, if you're going to do a "clones show"....that's who I want to see most.

If you got to the end, thank you for reading, and being an ear to my ranting ^ ^; Again this is literally just getting this off my chest. If this take isn't one you agree with, please just ignore. For people who did fall in love with the Batch, I'm happy for you, and regret that it just couldn't happen for me. But, I'm hoping that S2 will change my mind, but we'll just have to see! ^ ^;

[cjsmalley]

Higurashi Shippo:

The boy was choking but they were prepared; even before they left the Well, let alone the little Wellhouse, InuYasha was digging around in his pocket while Kagome held Shippo’s face to her chest.

“Found ‘em,” he brought the box of modified nasal strips out and carefully placed one on Shippo’s face.

Shippo slowly stopped coughing, taking shallow breaths that slowly deepened.

InuYasha nodded in satisfaction and scooped up Kagome and the kit, leaping from the Well and racing for the house.

Missus Higurashi was ready for them, holding open the door and not even grumbling at the bare feet in her house. InuYasha promptly dashed up to Kagome’s room, after setting her and Shippo down in the living room, and changed into more modern clothes before heading back downstairs at a jog.

“Mama,” Kagome was saying, “Grandpa, Souta,” the humans had gathered around her as she held a suddenly shy Shippo, “this’s Shippo, he’s the kitsune boy InuYasha and me adopted.”

“Oh my goodness,” Missus Higurashi breathed while Kagome’s grandfather readied his sutras surreptitiously.

InuYasha just as sneakily ripped the papers from the old man, ignoring the sting with practiced ease as he disposed of them.

Missus Higurashi was smiling at Shippo, saying, “Welcome to the shrine, Shippo. You can call me Grandma.”

“Like Grandma Sam?”

“InuYasha’s mom,” Kagome clarified.

“Oh, yes. Yes, exactly. I’m Kagome’s mother. That makes you my first grandchild, isn’t that exciting?”

Kagome set Shippo onto his feet and Missus Higurashi crouched, “Welcome to Higurashi Shrine, Higurashi Shippo.”

Kagome crouched too, kneeling and explaining, “We’re in Tokyo, Edo but bigger, busier.”

“Is that why it stinks?” Shippo asked innocently.

“We’ll take you out so you can see for yourself,” InuYasha said, “but humans have progressed since your time. They use noisy, smelly machines every day and night.”

“You can’t take him outside the shrine,” Missus Higurashi exclaimed.

“We have amulets,” InuYasha explained, pulling the amulets from his pocket, “they make us look human. My sister-in-law did the basic enchantments when I was a pup, so I could go around Paris with her and my brother, her husband. A different brother’s updated the charms and placed them on Shinto amulets so we can blend in.”

He put the larger necklace around his neck and Missus Higurashi gasped; InuYasha looked like an ordinary Japanese man around Kagome’s age. There was no hint of any inhuman attributes.

He placed the second one on Shippo; Shippo suddenly appeared completely human, a little younger than Souta but of school age. And in modern clothes.

“Oh. Alright. Well,” Missus Higurashi stood up, grabbing her shoes and purse, “come along, Kagome, Shippo…you too, InuYasha. We’re going shopping.”

Kagome blinked, “Shopping.”

“Why, yes. Shippo needs real modern clothes and such,” Missus Higurashi nodded firmly.

“Mama—what would we tell everyone?” Kagome pointed out reasonably.

“That he’s InuYasha’s cousin, now in his care, lost everything in a housefire, including his parents, isn’t that tragic?”

“I dunno, Mama…” Kagome looked at the two disguised males, before sighing, “alright, but if he gets overwhelmed we’re coming right back!”

“Of course, dear. Now, come along.”

Missus Higurashi headed off to grab her purse.

“So, Shippo, we’re going shopping; I want you to stick with InuYasha or me or my mom, okay?” Kagome instructed.

The kit nodded.

“And no riding my shoulder,” InuYasha interjected, “or Kagome’s back. You’re too big, for a human, to do that. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“And if you get scared or sick or something,” Kagome added earnestly, as Souta came racing down the stairs, “tell us. We won’t think any less of you.”

“Tokyo woulda made me sick when I was a pup,” InuYasha assured, “probably even with the nasal strip. So speak up, pup.”

“I will.”

They went to put on shoes when Kagome realized the first problem, “Oh, Shippo doesn’t wear shoes.”

“We’ll say they were lost in the fire,” InuYasha said, “I’ll just carry him. He looks young enough to still be carry-able for a human. We’ll get him some for appearances.”

With that sorted, off they went.

Shippo’s reaction to the world outside the shrine made them add that he was from a very rural prefecture to the story; but he didn’t stare at everything, content to know that Kagome or InuYasha would answer any questions when they returned home.

Shopping was mercifully easy, Souta having tagged along to help Shippo understand modern Japanese popular culture and make sure he didn’t dress ‘uncool’; none of Kagome’s friends made an appearance, much to her relief.

She had no way of explaining the close bond she had with a child she had just met, after all.

While the humans handled the clothing and human shoes, InuYasha ducked into a pet supply shop to get some shoes Shippo could actually wear. He bought dog booties in a couple different sizes and wondered why they hadn’t thought of it before. Shippo’s feet were very foxlike, almost being fox’s feet and paws, but could still get injured.

It took a few hours but eventually they returned to the shrine; having their things delivered later.

Then the barrage of questions began.

Wished Away 8:

“Mom, Dad, help,” Dean said, holding a baby out.

A whirlwind of activity followed.

“He is Nephilim,” Castiel declared, having inspected the boy, “though I cannot tell his true parentage. It is being…hidden from me.”

The pediatricians took over as soon as the angel stepped back.

“Nephilim,” Danny said slowly, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “isn’t that half-angel or something?”

“Precisely,” Castiel said just as slowly, measuring his words like they were his last rations, “They are…it is Forbidden for angels to lay with mortals. The creation of Nephilim is even more taboo as the first, the original, were monsters more often than not. It is an intentional act, to create Nephilim; the angelic parent must give a portion of their own Grace to the child during conception.”

“So they purposely knocked someone up then ding-dong ditched the kid,” Dean growled.

“Perhaps they heard that we are romantically involved, Dean,” Castiel offered, “and hoped we would take in the child as our own.”

“Well, of course we are,” Dean huffed, rolling his eyes at his angel who shook his head fondly, “I’ve already picked out a name too. A good human name.”

“Oh?”

“Jack, after Grandpa Jack. Unless, you have a name?”

“Perhaps…James, after James Novak?”

“Hmm…Jack James…James Jack…JJ…no, definitely Jack James. I like it, Cas.”

“Well, little Jack is healthy as far as we can tell,” Doctor Peterson joined the little huddle, “every scan we can perform came up normal, perfectly within range for his age group.”

Both Dean and Castiel visibly relaxed.

“We’ll get you set up,” Sam promised her son and might-as-well-be son-in-law.

A servant brought David’s old wrap and Sam showed Dean and Castiel how to wind it around their bodies to carry little Jack close to their hearts.

“Does the heart even beat?” Danny asked Castiel with interest, referring to his Vessel.

“Yes, I have kept all systems functioning as intended,” Castiel confirmed.

“Good. Because babies this young are used to heartbeats,” Danny explained as Sam worked with Dean, “they just spent nine months with their mom’s in their ears.”

“I see,” Castiel nodded, “well, Dean has assured me that I have a perfectly human sounding heartbeat.”

“What’s the likelihood that his mom was the human?” Danny asked next.

“Oh, quite likely…angels with female vessels most often shutdown the reproductive system. It would also be quite hard to hide the evidence of the gestating Nephilim. His mother likely died in childbirth; her body finally unable to handle his Angelic self.”

Danny winced; that would be a horrid way to die and he fried like a French fry.

Within hours, little Jack was all ready to go home.

Over the next few days, a room in the Bunker became a nursery and supplies loaded in.

[that-wizard-oki]

SO hear me out on a theory. Say the Wizard made realized they are very similar to Morganthe. We know they probably weren’t in the greatest mental place after Azteca. Due to this guilt, the Wizard becomes irrationally terrified that they will end up just like Morganthe. They are willing to do anything to prove they are not the same, and so they become reckless and cruel, eventually killing her. I think this would explain why the Wizard easily releases Spider and allows Morganthe to die. Thoughts?

Yeeeeep. That's spot on to what I've been saying- I think the wizard, especially after Azteca's events, are projecting their own insecurity about being a failure on Morganthe because she, in the wizard's eyes, represents failure to a t. To become anything akin to Morganthe is their worst fear.

Not only that, but Morganthe has proved to be someone who can and HAS rivaled the Wizard in terms of power and skill. That's why Azteca was so pivotal for the Wizard- before then, while they may have resented Morganthe for what she was doing, there wasn't necessarily anything super personal between the two, outside of Morganthe's banter about Merle and similar. But when Morganthe destroyed Azteca- that was the first time our Wizard truly faced failure. Morganthe challenged our title as savior, which in turn would also make the Wizard likely question whether they SHOULD be savior- but they have to be. All their relationships with everyone they've ever met rely on the fact that they are Savior. We aren't anything if not the Savior.

And like you've said anon, that would make the Wizards pursuit of Morganthe in Khrysalis more ruthlessly motivated. Unfortunately, (but also, this is such good character shit) that ruthlessness might have caused the Wizard more turmoil than intended. Mainly being, we do get to see first hand Morganthe's memories, and specifically how she ended up with the Magi. before these dreams, Morganthe herself seemed unreasonably ruthless. However, not only do we learn that the people wo were supposed to care for her ended up hurting and pushing her away, but we also learn that she wasn't super willing to be with the Arachna Magi as well.

But, we persists. We free Old Cob, and he himself actually tests to see how far we are willing to go to rid of Morganthe by showing us two different ways to separate shadow from a physical form, and ALSO cleverly reveals that he knows how Morganthe became she shadow queen- that she was, in fact, unwilling to share anything the Arachna had her learn about the Shadow Web and it's nature, and when she refused to help them, they infused her in the same way we know the Bumblers and Mantises are infused with the conversion tables.

Point blank, Morganthe is being used. She's as much as a victim as the Wizard is- but the thing is, Old Cob's strategy in actually revealing this to us in a sly manner is his way of trying to figure out how blinded we are- he wants to know, "even if you know the truth about Morganthe, will you still continue with your rage?"

And when he says that, and we don't say one way or the other... he knows. He knows he has us in the palm of his spindled hand.

What's really a kicker is that, right before we even fight her, he says, "So it shall be. The Children of Light and Shadow, The Children of Prophecy, shall duel and decide the fate of the Spiral."

Like, there it is. The entire reason that Morganthe was utilized as Shadow Queen was to lure our wizard into a situation where they were so desperate to make sure they win, that they release old cob from prison with the promise that he also wants her out of the picture.

Not only does this, imo, make Morganthe one of the most tragic characters in the game (with this in mine, but also because she didn't even SEEK OUT shadow magic, alllll she wanted was to learn how to control astral magic and go back home, and like the wizard, in her state of vulnerability, was coerced into doing something that she didn't really want), but it also is one of the most profoundly darkest moment for the Wizard as a character- while they achieved their goal in defeating Morganthe... they have ultimately become just like her. The wizard was so blinded by their own ego that they let their guard down and allowed the god of chaos to utilized their own power against Morganthe, juuuuuusttt like he had done with Morganthe in Azteca. It's just a roundtable domino effect, and it's so sad, but gooodddd is it so so interesting and i will die mad that we have thus far gotten no closure between Morganthe/The Wizard in this respect. Imo, Woulda been great to see Morganthe's return in Arc 3 (though i still feel like they can do this in arc 4 tbh) to adress their shared trauma between old cob along side Bat and Mellori's own journey with their family/father.

Anywho. Yea, big agreed with that there anon :'D

[fuckblizzardbearlover]

Got to disagree with the " it being even remotely the druids fault. U saw how capitalistic, classist and evil the wizard class was, they knew them

"But larynn would have most appreciated the tree" indeed and that IS what makes it tragic. But she is middle management. If the ring of gold and silver new of it it would be a few decades at most before they started to try stuff with the tree AND the betrayers minions would have more easily discovered it was the key to releasing them.

But larrynn thought she knew better than anyone. Didnt trust her friends. The only reason to tey this NOW is cus shed have to wait another 7 years. So she put not trying to aave a friend (cus she thought he was dead) but just...finishing her project....for no good reason, over her friends, over the citizens, over the city. If shed have gone through proper channels and made a plea . Even threatened the druids thry mighr have been forced to tell her. Heck they could have even done so woth the stipulation the memory be removed woth her only knowing there was a good reason.

The fact is she was selfish and put her EGO before everyone else including her friends and when her OWN SELFISHNESS put her frienda at risk she damaged the city and killed half thr planet because she was so full of herself she couldnt fathom anyone being smarter , wiser or a better protector than her.

And hell maybe it wasnt her maybe it woulda happened regardless.but just like she didnt know she might release the betrayers she didnt KNOW something bad WOULDNT happen. She just assumed other peoples things were worthless. Even if it didnt destroy thr world as far as we knew the tree was a person and she was willing to murder just to keep from waiting another 7 years

A fascinating and fun character. But dont blame the ashari for knowing that wizards are shit

[giffingthingsss]

J/C, C/7, and Me

Disclaimer: I am not necessarily a J/C shipper. I just have eyeballs and enjoy the show. Long ass post. 

In the Beginning

Was a Janeway/Chakotay romantic plot baked in? I tend to think not. At least not at the very start. But this is pure speculation on my part.

If romance is your goal, then it’s much more interesting to have Chakotay not immediately being 100% supportive. (An AU where they never get lost and it’s just Janeway pursuing this Maquis leader and maybe eventually being persuaded and helping him, please.) 

I think initially they were flirting with the idea of Janeway/Paris. The character of Tom was described as being a potential love interest for Janeway. That idea doesn’t seem to have made it past the character sketches, but you can see a trace element of it in the very beginning. 

The writers played with a number of character combinations. A pretty natural chemistry was cropping up between Captain and First Officer. Little things were dropped into scripts. Performances certainly came across as interested, whether intended or not, who knows. 

Ramping Up

Where before there were hints and moments, Resolutions kicks off a series of flashing red sirens.

From this episode on there would be declarations of... ‘you bring me true peace’, and ‘I’m frickin jealous, okay?’ and bawling declarations of ‘you can’t die!’ These developments are not in the shipper’s imagination. They’re building toward something. Clearly. Obviously. Said all the people with eyes. 

For the first couple seasons, Janeway being engaged kind of kept this at bay. But now they’re fully playing with it. 

Road Block

However, Kate Mulgrew (and maybe others, I dunno) was like, ‘sure. develop the relationship. but no sex. the first female captain isn’t going to be having booty calls in the ready room. not gonna happen. people are going to take this captain seriously.’

So they played with it here and there, but it could only go so far. Kate seemed to want the best of both worlds. A deep, complicated, growing relationship, that never tipped over into the sexual. Her focus was on getting the crew home. 

Beltran flat out says (in one of the books I own that I don’t feel like digging out) that Chakotay was in love with her. But Beltran was getting frustrated. When Year of Hell came around, he apparently called up the writers and said, ‘how long is this guy gonna keep throwing himself at a woman who never reciprocates? it’s getting pathetic. either do something with these two or don’t.’ 

Loner Janeway

Along the way, I think Kate became enamored with the idea of the loneliness of command, the sacrifices it entails. Fell in love with the poignancy of it all.

This is not something that’s out of character for Janeway. Beyond the fact that in the beginning she was engaged, pairing off was a luxury she didn’t think the captain had. So any kind of romantic relationship she might pursue would have to start with her being broken out of that mindset. 

That’s basically what Resolutions did. Once they finally pried Voyager out of her fingers, you could see a burgeoning love very clearly. But then Voyager came back. And with it her... resolutions. 

Coulda Woulda Shoulda

If they had wanted to snip it and move on, they should have had that conflict between Janeway and Chakotay at some point. Perhaps after Beltran called them up and said, ‘hey. Make up your minds.’ 

Have the characters actually talk about it and reach a conclusion and there ya go. But maybe the writers just didn’t know wtf they wanted to do with it and wanted to leave their options open. And then did nothing at all. 

Me, a Non-Shipper

Personally, I tend to agree with the Mulgrew side of things (and can also see why Beltran would be bored with the eternal holding pattern and not mind when they said ‘hey, you can kiss Jeri Ryan.’)

They developed the Tom/B’Elanna romance, which was great. We didn’t need non-stop romantic plots. I think the shippers could understand Kate’s reasoning and were willing to go with the slow burn...if the writers had actually sat down and decided that’s what they were doing. If only they hadn’t dropped the ball at the very end.

Here’s the thing: if you build up a relationship like that, you can’t be upset when people notice. And you can’t give up on it behind the scenes without telling the audience on screen. ‘There are some lines we never cross’ might have been an attempt, but was too late. And was certainly not closure. The audience deserved better. 

C/7? WTF!?

Well, if you thought there was no build up for it, it’s because there wasn’t. If you felt like it was whirlwind and came out of nowhere, it’s because it was, and it did. Apparently even in the writer’s room. 

Brannon Braga wanted Seven to die in the finale. He was writing her episodes to gear up for that. Human Error, the episode where Seven experiments with romantic ideas with a holographic Chakotay (with a kiss that was apparently the result of a dare Beltran made to Jeri), was written with Seven’s death in mind. It wasn’t supposed to be the opening salvo of an actual relationship. 

I think Seven of Nine should have bit the dust. I think there had to be a real sacrifice for this crew getting home, a real blood sacrifice. Seven of Nine was, for me, designed to be a character that was gonna die tragically. I planned that.... There’s an episode called Human Error that I wrote...she's trying to feel emotions. She actually succeeds and then almost dies. She learns there’s a Borg implant, that if she becomes too human, it will kill her. And it was that moment in my mind that would set up the finale, where she realized she can’t live here, she can’t live there. And she dies getting her family home. - Brannon Braga

I’m glad they didn’t go that way for various reasons. I love Endgame as it is. But it’s interesting to know the thought process. They weren’t gearing up for romance, they were aiming for tragedy. At least Braga was. 

Human Error was only about six episodes from the end. At the time of that writing, that's what was in at least his head. 

Human Error was not written with an eye toward a C/7 future. Without that episode I doubt highly C/7 would have been a thing. And it wasn’t even written to make it a thing.

Endgame obviously didn't go that way. Janeway-palooza instead. So. What do we do now? What to do with Seven? And from here on, all I have is speculation.

Retooling

'Well, we've got this holodeck scenario from the episode we wrote when we were planning to kill her off that hints that she might like Chakotay. So. I guess we'll go with that.' 

It appears to me that they retooled recently written story elements to fit their ending, to provide more motivation for that ending.

They picked the three people it would kill Janeway most to lose. Tuvok, obviously. An ongoing torment, visiting him every week. Seven dies (a remnant of plan A) and in a sense takes Chakotay with her. 

This is all fuel for Admiral Janeway without making it about saving her lover (unless you’re a J/7 shipper, in which case, hog heaven).

When you think of it only in terms of ‘what can we do to make the finale work’, it’s not terrible. When you think of it in terms of seven preceding years, it doesn’t work at all. They got myopic. 

In hindsight I think the writers could probably admit it was a mistake in terms of the show, and they should have resisted the urge to do something that was thrown together and jarring rather than nothing at all with Seven.

Gossip

Apparently neither Mulgrew or Beltran were opposed to C7 in the end. Maybe because they had at points been a bit frustrated with each other behind the scenes. Whether those frustrations were forefront in anyone’s mind at the time, idk. 

I tend to think Kate really was over the idea of Janeway’s destiny having much to do with romance at all.

It is interesting that when Seven first arrived on the show, Kate specifically mentioned not wanting the writers to throw her with Chakotay. At that point perhaps feeling a tad possessive. Perhaps didn’t want him ‘sullied’ by the busty blonde.

But this was seasons in the past by the time the finale rolled around, and I doubt highly it had anything to do with anything. Who knows. 

Me on Endgame

Personally, I'm glad Endgame was a Janeway palooza. I love 99% of Endgame. I’m glad it was about Janeway vs.Janeway vs. Borg Queen. I wouldn’t have wanted it to be about J/C either.

But if you’re not willing to go there, leave it then to the imagination. It's cruel to basically tell your audience that these two would be together if not for their delta quadrant circumstances, and then rip the rug from under them the second they get to the quadrant where this romance is supposed to be possible. Not cool, man. Not cool. 

When I first saw Endgame (as a non-shipper with eyes) C/7 was jarring and weird. But I thought the scene where Seven was distancing herself was well acted and stirred up an emotion or two (even if it was a little histrionic, considering they'd just started dating). So I wasn’t throwing things at my television. Just confused.

I also basically dismissed their future relationship. They got home after like one date, not ten years of marriage. And now their lives will completely change. So I just kind of hand-waved it away. "It did its job for the episode, but the future's changed and they won't last. So whatever."

Headanons on Janeway’s romantic reasoning and original timeline reaction to C/7

Captain Janeway had no idea how long it would take to get back home. Obviously you hope for tomorrow, but it could be twenty years from now. She resigned herself to not pursue romance. Her sole purpose in life was to get the crew safely home.

So I speculate her reaction to C/7 would be quite stoic. She would recognize it’s not fair for him to just pine away, possibly forever. That she has made this choice and he shouldn't have to be alone because of it. Her being alone is just part of the price she must pay, the burden she must bear. Her own wants and needs must take a backseat. She has greater responsibilities.

In fact, I can see her encouraging C/7. She would see it as a form of selfless love. ‘It doesn’t matter that he’s with me; it matters that he’s happy.’ Of course feelings would rear their heads from time to time, but she would quickly corral them into that channel.

Lots of lovely internal martyrdom. She would make it her mission to make sure they were both okay and happy. A bit of a masochistic streak that she buries under a sense of nobility and sacrifice.

This is the kind of angle I think Mulgrew came to prefer. That lovely little tragic pang. She loves drama, if nothing else.

“It’s a lonely thing, but I’m gonna get this crew home.” - Kate Mulgrew

“You always made it hard for yourself. If there was a rocky path and a smooth one, you chose the rocky one every time.” - Coda

This is a woman with a lot of love to give. But finds herself, or perhaps unnecessarily forces herself, depending on your view, in a place where that’s not a possible life choice. So those instincts expand outward, enveloping them all. She finds fulfillment in the well-being of the crew and the ship as a whole. 

Post Endgame

Their trip was shortened by a lot because of Endgame. The future is no longer written in stone. So the possibilities are endless, the sky’s the limit. And apparently Seven’s a lesbian (I haven’t seen it, but I hear tell). So. There ya go. 

(She is crying here, btw. I never noticed before I did that episode and feel the need to point it out once again. Lest anyone else still not have noticed.) 

If you actually read this whole thing, congratulations. Hopefully it made sense. I now continue with my rewatch and probably won’t talk much about this in the future. Unless something new comes up, I’ll just continue to be a non-shipper with eyeballs, enjoying whatever’s around. 

[queen-ofsunflowers]

Make Every Moment Last - Chapter 7 Preview

Friends and Minato

Junpei had caught up with Kotone before she had left the campus. Apparently, there was a movie that he really wanted to see (he was literally bouncing on his heels as he told her about it) and had invited her to go. Not one to turn down offers anymore, Kotone accepted.

In hindsight, seeing all those action scenes on the big screen was a bit overwhelming, and the story was more complex than she thought. But in the end, Kotone had to admit, it was pretty good.

Junpei’s brow was furrowed, and he seemed pretty lost in thought as he and Kotone left the theater. He looked kind of… disappointed?

“What?” Kotone asked when she noticed this. “Didn’t like it?”

“No, it was just… kinda not what I was expecting?” said Junpei, cocking his head to one side. “The villain wasn’t even evil. It kinda killed it for me when he started talking about his tragic past…”

Kotone hummed. “I dunno. He kinda reminded me of Minato when he started talking like that.”

“...Arisato does look like a villain, doesn’t he? With that eyepatch and everything…” Kotone gave him a look. “Not that he is a villain, he’s just kind of a pain.”

There was a beat before Kotone sighed. “You’re not wrong. Mina has a lot of issues. Unlike the villain, though, he had me and my parents to help him. Still, he’s mostly close off ‘cause of some… stuff. Minato has trust issues.”

“But we’re fighting together! I don’t see why he can’t trust us.” Well… yeah, trust was an important factor in the whole grand scheme, but...

“It’s… complicated.” Really complicated... “Minato really should be telling you this.” Junpei raised a brow, and Kotone shook her head. “Nevermind.”

Junpei just shrugged. On their way back to the dorm (and at Junpei’s suggestion), he and Kotone made the choice to stop by the Wild Duck Burger at Iwatodai Station to get something to eat.

“Oh, crap…” Kotone heard Junpei mutter as they entered the restaurant.

“What?” she asked, a brow raised.

“The guys at school might say some stuff if they see us together.”

“Is that really so bad?” They were friends, right? So what if they were seen together?

“No, but I mean… a lot of guys are interested in you already. I don’t blame them, you’re kinda cute. Plus, Yuka-tan and Mitsuru-senpai live in the same dorm as us, too. There are a lot of dudes that are jealous of me because of that.”

Kotone blinked. “I’m… sorry?”

“Hey, it’s not your fault!” said Junpei reassuringly with a short laugh. “Besides, now that I think about it… you don’t seem to be all that interested in guys. Uh, you’re not…”

She chuckled. “I swing both ways, Junpei.”

“Okay.”

“Besides, I have my hands kind of full right now.” Kotone began to count them all off on her fingers. “School, S.E.E.S., volleyball… I'm still trying to settle in…” She hadn’t expected to be busy so soon, but hey. What were you going to do?

“Yeah, I get that. Me, too.” Junpei leaned forward, his expression turning a bit serious. “If you told me that any of this would be happening at the beginning of the year, I don’t think I woulda believed you.”

Kotone hummed. She couldn’t say that she was excited to have a bunch of random guys talking about her behind her back, but there was nothing she really could do about it. At least Junpei showed some sympathy towards her current plight. That was enough.

“Well, why don’t we forget about all that stuff right now?” Junpei suggested. “Want more fries? You don’t mind sharing with me, right?”

Kotone shook her head. “Not at all. Free food is the best kind of food.”

Both he and she laughed.

The full chapter will be up on Ao3 on November 20!