#you absolutely don't have to match the length if you don't want to either just so you know <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[utilitycaster]

Whenever people are like "well LIAM'S characters never faced any backlash when HE played characters in the spotlight" and "no one will let WOMEN have negative qualities" when Caleb and Vax and Orym have received pretty constant hate for main character/sadboy/scene stealing and when meta writers outright stopped talking about Imogen because a particularly mindless set of hit dogs are still hollering about how she is so good and kind and how dare you call her selfish, it's really like...in the service of trying to make your failure of a point you've just said something that literally anyone with a memory lasting longer than the apocryphal goldfish length can immediately debunk, which in turn absolutely shreds your credibility going forward, if you had it.

More generally there's something very vile here, because on the surface this statement does look like an attempt, if one ignorant of pretty much any fandom conversation, to defend women. The thing is it's come from a place of defending Dorian and Ashton's plan - a man, and a nb person who would not identify as a woman - that requires a particularly great deal of sacrifice from the women of the party. So of course they just switch tactics. Instead of "how dare the fandom not think women are always best" it's "how dare the fandom disrespect a disabled nb person and a person played by an indigenous actor." And I'm sure they'll switch again. Because pretty much every character in this campaign is on some axis of oppression, and there's a few people in this fandom who, instead of considering these things as important details that inform these characters, seem to largely treat their minority statuses as ammunition. Feminism and antiracism and queer advocacy are all just part of a shell game to them - accuse everyone who disagrees with them of being a bigot, say that their opinions are inviolate because they match that of literally any character who isn't a cis het white man, of which Bells Hells has none. Unsurprisingly, it's that social media purity culture that's just the evangelical church with a gay hat: they are always the victim, and everyone who disagrees is the devil, and being a good person always happens to line up with what you already wanted.

There are several posts from the past day or so accusing people of liking Campaign 3 less than the two previous ones which refused to accept that this might be due to the hurry-up-and-receive-an-infodump pacing, the singular focus without much time spent on backstory, the gaps in party composition, and the fact that the plot manages to combine the weakest elements of each campaign - the fetch quest/NPC guidance heavy nature of C1, and the meandering/slow start of C2. No, it must be the awful, sinful fandom unable to handle the lack of a major M/M ship (false; Dorian and Orym aren't canon, but neither were Vax and Gilmore, and the latter was sunk far sooner) and the fact that a female character is at the center of the story (see above re: how hostile the same people making these accusations have been to anyone who actually wants to discuss Imogen in a way that doesn't fit their specifications). Just to repeat this: many fans have outlined a number of purely narrative and structural reasons why C3 isn't working for them. These people have assumed this is all a lie, because assuming otherwise that would require either addressing these critiques, which in turn would require admitting other people can have valid opinions that oppose their own without being horrible bigots - in favor of throwing out whatever random accusations they think might stick. It doesn't matter what's actually being said; they're not actually listening, and for all they might talk about fans of color they sure all seem to be white; for all they talk about misogyny and queerphobia they sure won't hesitate to immediately assume the worst of queer people and women who say things they don't like. And rarely do they address any of the actual ongoing bigotry that does exist in the fandom; it's all random accusations because you agreed with the white woman instead of the brown man or vice versa; or it's the constant dredging of years past discourse that, as the first paragraph indicates, they will then ignore whenever convenient.

These are all pretty transparent signs of a bad faith actor spreading misinformation. To be clear I don't think this is any kind of conspiracy or has any organization to it. I think it's a just handful of deeply self-absorbed people who either refuse or literally cannot comprehend that someone could disagree with them without being a bad person and who will gleefully cry wolf with these accusations of bigotry. But it's been going on for quite some time and it's been a problem this campaign in a way I at least do not recall it in past ones, and it's had an absolutely devastating effect on the fandom conversation. Ironically, by trying to boost Imogen and Campaign 3 by shutting down any criticism of them, they've shut down far more of the conversation, hopefully not irreversibly, and I think it's time to point that out.

[earthtooz]

what do you think of reo with the jealousy + kiss cam prompt except you’re not dating (yet) so everyone is either shocked or happy because god it took you some time to realize your feelings for each other.

not proofread, very quick drabble

okay but let me present to you... reo confessing to you WITH the kiss cam.

he's got the money, the influence, and the will to bend things his way with just a flick of his hand. so with almost no effort, he sets it up.

you're the physotherapist's assistant, having been fortunate enough to land the opportunity of shadowing the manager of one of the top soccer teams in all of japan. an opportunity that came with a lot of advantages; decent pay for someone of your age, a great learning experience, and frequent interactions with a lot of (hot) athletes.

just as any job, however, there are also downsides... such as... developing feelings for one of the said athletes. a certain purple-haired who was way out of your league.

for professional sake, you kept reo at arm's length. to your dismay, he kept trying to lure you in.

whether it be spending unnecessary amounts of time with you, staying back after practice to help you sort through some files, buying you coffee with the excuse that he was 'given another one', or carrying all the equipment- not that soccer even had much equipment, so that you didn't have to.

as sweet as reo is, and as much as you want to delude yourself into thinking that it was because he was interested in you too, there are a lot of issues that could arise when it comes to pursuing a relationship with mikage reo.

therefore, for professional sake, you will continue to keep reo at arm's length. to your dismay, your plan turns south one fateful night.

it's the night of the finals and the matches just finished with a victory to your team, 5-2. the stadium and the team are hyped beyond belief, absolutely buzzing with energy and adrenaline as everyone celebrates, pumping their fists excitedly or collapsing to the ground in total exhaustion.

after presenting the awards, thanking the opposing team, and clearing the stadium out, all excitement eventually dies down as the boys let the victory sink in.

handing out their water bottles one by one as they go, you leave them with a congratulatory pat on the back. bachira bear hugs you with unforgiving tightness, but other than that, all the players thank you with a small smile or fist bump before retreating to the change rooms.

then, it's reo's turn, who is last out of all the team.

your heart thumps in your chest, trying your best to remain cool and composed in front of him.

"congratulations," you grin, holding out his water bottle for him to take. he does, but lingers, finding no hurry in rushing back to the change rooms.

"thanks," he huffs. "couldn't have been possible without you."

you laugh at that. "don't give me credit for something i could never do. it was all you guys, impressive as always."

he beams even bigger at that. "are you joining the team celebration later tonight?"

"what? oh, no, i'm heading home."

"why, are you busy?"

"not particularly, but i didn't want to intrude."

"that's ridiculous. you could never intrude, you've helped all of us so much."

"i'm flattered you think so," you break eye contact, wandering over to where the duffel bags of first aid and other medicine is. reo follows, even though it's just a few steps away. "but i really don't want to overstep, it's the team's win."

he frowns. "then can i ask of you another favour?"

"sure. what is it?"

the purple-haired points up and you instinctively follow the line of direction.

the kisscam. it's centred on you and reo. you feel your heart skip a beat and your breath hitch, clogging up your lungs. you almost drop the first aid kit too.

no way...

looking back at the athlete, he's giving you that boyish smile of his, laced with hope and sudden shyness.

"hey," is all he says. you blink at him.

"wh-what?"

"aren't you supposed to kiss me now?"

"i'm so confused, why is this happening, the game's ended-"

"-can you kiss me or not?"

your heart is hammering, reverberating violently up your spine and into your ears.

"what?"

"can i kiss you?"

"w-wh- do you want to?" you splutter.

"yeah. i do. please?"

throwing all common sense and ethics out of the window, you give in to his pleas rather easily. "oh. okay."

everything that happens next happens in the blink of an eye. you feel his hand on your waist, then your chest pressing against his, and his warm breath fan across your lips before pulling you in for the most gentle, yet adoring, kiss you have ever received in your whole life. there's no bone in your body that tries to resist him, so, you allow yourself to sink right into him, letting go of your inhibitions (and the first aid kit).

reo doesn't let the noise distract him, instead, he throws away his bottle too and wraps both arms around your waist, deepening the kiss. his lips are slightly chapped from all that running around, but you could hardly care less.

after a few moments, you pull away, leaving the both of you with glistening lips and smiles wide enough to hurt your cheeks.

ridiculous. this all seems so ridiculous.

but it's real. you feel reo's breath fanning across your lips with every exhale, you see the strands of hair that stick to his forehead, and you hear the cheers and whoops of his teammates from the side. they look proud, some yelling 'finally!', causing reo to laugh triumphantly, throwing his head back whilst holding you tightly.

you hide your face in reo's neck, seeking protection from your embarrassment in his warmth. he holds you there.

"i've been waiting so long to do that," he says, rubbing circles on your back.

"yeah?"

"yeah."

"sorry to have kept you waiting, then."

"it's not a problem, i would gladly wait for you, but..." reo trails off, a mischievous smile appearing along his lips. "i'll accept your apology if you come to the party? with me."

"with you?"

"as my date."

[soobsim]

txt and sex positions

[DISCLAIMER: nsfw – minors dni, txt x afab!reader, use of petnames (praising and degrading both), description of sex positions]

yeonjun absolutely loves to fuck you from behind. he wants you bended over, stomach pressed down or supported on your hands when he rams into you. he makes sure to have your hair twisted around his fingers, tugging every now and then when he spews out words like "like it when i fuck you like this, hm? don't you, baby?". he also tilts your head to the side so you're watching him pound his member inside your pussy. his other hand tightly holds your hips. but sometimes, he gives you a few spanks, just to hear your pretty whimpers. he whines and groans everytime you clench around him and he also prefers cumming inside you.

we all know, soobin is the face-to-face kind of guy. he prefers to sit up straight, your legs on his thighs, sometimes shoulders. he likes to watch you from above, your head thrown back and jaw hanging when he rails you. his thrusts aren't necessarily fast, but hard. hard enough that your body jerks up against the mattress with every thrust. he either holds your thighs (no, he gropes them) or your waist when he burries his big dick inside your walls. he lets out several grunts, his lips parted and his hair sticking to his forehead. oh and ofcourse he calls you a "such a good girl" and "my love" when he spills his seed on your stomach.

beomgyu likes seeing you on top of him, bouncing and riding his cock. he rest his head against the headboard and watches how your tight hole swallows his dick. he lets you control the pace, but only until he decides to thrust up into your cunt and match your hip rolls. this man moans, alot. he calls you baby in every sentence that he moans out. very vocal. he also grabs you ass, squeezes it and helps you grind on his length. "fuck, just like that, baby. doing so well" he breathes out with sweat trailing down his forehead. he gets whiny when he's close to his high and gives you a hard thrust when he releases inside your folds.

'face down, ass up' is what taehyun prefers often when you guys make love. he loves to see your ass jiggle against his hips every time he slams his dick inside your cunt. he loves to degrade you in the sweetest way possible, "good little whore", "my pretty slut". he loves to talk down on you but he also showers you with a bunch of praises when he sees how his length disappears in your hole. his hold on your hips is..crazy, leaves marks every time y'all fuck. he also pushes your head down into the mattress when he feels his climax approach and his thrusts become too fast to keep up with. so you end up crying in pleasure by the time he finishes inside you.

huening kai needs to see your face when he's fucking you. usually opts for missionary, his head in the crook of your neck, pressing soft and wet kisses all along. he definitely praises you the whole time, "making me feel so good, sweetheart." while he fucks you slow. he asks you if you're liking it, if he should slow down or speed up. he raises his head only when you moan, so he can see the bliss on your face. he caresses your sides, sometimes gropping your tits and massaging them as his cock is all warmed up and thrusting inside your wet pussy. he also likes to intwine your fingers and groans when he releases, pulling out and staining the sheets white

[empressmcblondie]

As you know I'm already down this Shauna and Jackie rabbit hole (this pun is absolutely intended), and so, I wanted to touch upon something else I've noticed. During 1x01, we see Shauna's rabbit collection, and obviously, in 1x06 Shauna receives a little ceramic rabbit from Mrs. Taylor under the impression that "Jackie just adored rabbits." Now... Shauna's facial expression in reaction to this statement is very telling. She plays along with whatever this is. Yes, Jackie adored rabbits, sure thing... And because of that, I adore rabbits now because I've become a Jackie substitute in the eyes of her bereaved parents. Initially I scratched this off as a mother who didn't actually know her teenage daughter well enough, which is pretty on brand. The Taylors give me perfect-on-paper-but-dysfunctional-in-reality energy with a lot of the tension coming from Jackie's relationship with her mother. Jackie herself denounces this connection to rabbits quite explicitly in the immediate scene that follows when she and Shauna go checking the traps, referring to the animal as a "squirrel with floppy ears and a pompom on its ass." Clearly, Jackie did not care for rabbits whatsoever. But... Where did Mrs. Taylor even get the idea that Jackie likes rabbits in the first place? It has to have come from somewhere, no? It did.

It most likely came from Shauna.

Shauna's room in 1x01.

You can see the small ceramic rabbit, strategically placed beneath the light in Shauna's room, linking her to the animal explicitly. It's not that Shauna took it upon herself to love rabbits because of Jackie's parents. It's that Shauna projected her own love for rabbits (to whatever length that went) onto Jackie. Just like with the journal in my previous post... Shauna is rewriting Jackie not just by taking on Jackie characteristics as her own, but by inserting her own characteristics into Jackie posthumously.

Shauna's confession of "I don't even know where you end and I begin" (also a Radiohead song) takes on a whole new layer of meaning. It's not just that Shauna doesn't know anymore... But we, the audience, don't either. It's becoming increasingly difficult to understand who Jackie is. What elements of Jackie's life are actually Jackie's doing and what are props, planted by Shauna... Small edits she makes to match the story that she tells herself in her own head. Anyways, as always, this show is a gift that keeps on giving.

[luminouslywriting]

Bob characters with a slighly dominate partner (not everyone just the ones you think would)

Nonny….i have some thoughts haha 😂 so enjoy! Guys....I totally passed out this morning from anemia and feel so awful right now. That being said, I'll be resting and taking it easy today, so feel free to spam me with requests! And please note that I don't write actual smut, so don't ask for it! Spicy asks, on the other hand, or my thoughts on some things, is totally fine! Cut for length, more under the cut, some light spice sprinkled in:

Ron Speirs:

-Needs someone who can match him in energy and is equally dominant—not necessarily or primarily sexually either, but he requires someone who has an assertive personality and temperament to match his own.

-Back to the sex thing, if he has a dominate partner or someone who can take over in certain things, then I absolutely see him as a switch. He'd almost prefer to see you take over because it's just different and a welcome surprise.

-I think as a whole, two alpha type personalities is either a really great match-up or it's something that's going to crash and burn and that's entirely up to the two of you and what you're willing to work on together.

-He's someone who wants equal effort put into the relationship and so if you give him that, he'll be committed for the rest of his life.

Buck Compton:

-An academic dominating partner is something that would appeal to him. It's not necessarily something that translates sexually, but it definitely helps get the two of you together initially.

-He's attracted to someone who knows what they want and is willing to work for it—someone who is passionate about their life's desires and works. It's incredibly sexy and appealing.

-I think he's generally more into trying things out in the bedroom and is willing to let you take charge. Over time, it becomes something he enjoys more. Definitely some dirty talk would be involved in this and some banter back and forth.

-It's also really great for him because he'd much rather be told exactly what you want to do/what you want out of the relationship and your life together than try to guess what's on your mind or what will make you happy.

Joe Liebgott:

-Actively seeks out an S/O with the sort of dom! energy, both sexually and generally. I think that he enjoys being told what to do in a lot of different ways and is definitely a bottom lol.

-That being said, I think he just generally is a people pleaser and he's looking for the type of person who can express wants and desires clearly, quickly, and in a respectfully commanding way.

-He's such a brat, it's not even funny—but he's also down to be a switch in the bedroom whenever you need a break from giving the orders and such.

-There's just something that's really satisfying and relaxing to him about getting to sit back and not have to make all of the decisions (though he is certainly consulted on a lot of those decisions, if not all of them).

George Luz:

-Holy freak, he ends up with someone with such dominate energy and it's both domestically and sexually. It's not necessarily that they're the person in charge in the relationship, it's just that when it comes to certain things, they're absolutely the authority.

-It's a really great balance between him making a lot of decisions and wanting to take care of you but you also getting to be the deciding factor in said decisions.

-Also a switch—prefers to be the bottom half of the time so he can see you more fully haha

-But either way, he's very comfortable and happy in the relationship and the way you two partner together to create a life together.

[i3utterflyeffect]

(´▽`ʃƪ) c ould you please summarize the main plot points of some of your recent aus? (for example, im really digging selkie and loc, but i missed what exactly ended up happening with cho and dark in the former (both when they came to be and recently), & the entire inciting idea/event of the latter (and probably other deets i have no idea i missed))

how many are covered and at what length is up to u

i love perusing the asks but i get easily lost <3 tysm

augh alright!! okay so!

Loss of Control AU

Basically, this is post-showdown, but Dark did survive! It takes place right around the same time that the episode The Box does in canon!!!

Chosen and SC are captured, but so is Dark! Victim drains Dark's powers to take them for themself but it goes very very wrong and Victim loses all control, basically going into a feral state where they are constantly in fight/flight, which is very bad when you have brand new powers you can't control :(

Victim immediately is in a lot of pain, and basically wrecks a ton of Rocket Corp. The mercs are kind of at a loss as to what to do since Victim destroyed a lot of their weapons in the initial panic, and end up going to Chosen, because how the fuck else are you supposed to stop a superpowered stick on a rampage? c!alan didn't have any better ideas and without their tools the mercs aren't really in a much better situation

Chosen ends up getting released alongside SC, and finds out what happened to Dark, so they end up kind of freaking out. They can't exactly leave Dark here, because they ABSOLUTELY don't trust the Mercs to not just turn around and hold Dark hostage to get the upper hand again, and if Dark found out they would absolutely try to pursue Victim and Chosen. so they very reluctantly go with their best idea-- keep Dark safe by trapping them on the desktop!

admittedly i like to imagine either stick!alan or normal cursor alan depending on whatever's more fun for the situation, so that's not really set in stone at all lol

but that's basically the whole deal what's going on with dark and chosen!

Selkie Sticks AU

basically i have no idea how Alan becomes a selkie but the summary of the most important stuff is here!!!!

Dark does survive in this AU and gets redeemed as I've recently decided. :]

selkie!SC basically starts out as a toddler just because i think it's fun! Alan adopts the rest of the CG when they're around 4! (not as in how long they've existed but their age lol)

selkie!chosen is very much protective of their younger siblings, and kind of ends up bonding with alan a lot because they help take care of SC and the tiny CG a lot!

the CG have 'coats' as well, but they aren't selkies! alan actually made the little 'coats' for them as a gift. they're not real coats, but Alan figured that they'd want something to match! he was very much correct and the CG love their false coats a lot

also i sometimes talk about an AU where selkie!alan is still stuck as a cursor while taking care of SC! that's not a part of the main AU i just think it's so so funny to imagine

i think that's about all the tidbits i have that aren't covered tho!!

Stick!Noogai

i'm just including this one bc it's a favorite of mine hehe.

basically, during AVA 1, Alan somehow gets stuck in the computer! i'll be referring to him as Noogai from here on bc that's his name in the au :]

anyway, when he gets stuck, Victim terrorizes him for a while, before Noogai makes Chosen! in this AU Chosen is actually the one with mission code, but it just sums up to 'please protect me i am SO SCARED'! this goes very badly while it's still in strong effect but Chosen does their best to deal with it bc Noogai isn't sure how to change it without potentially hurting them :(

Victim kind of ends up not wanting to torment him in the end because he's kind of. too pathetic?? he's sick from the shift from human to stick, he's terrified, and he doesn't know how to protect himself at all, and it's really no fun at all to scare him because he just has a panic attack. honestly Vic is kind of worried about him after a certain point because he responds so poorly to becoming a stick, both physically and mentally.

eventually the two end up in a sort of begrudging understanding, and Vic ends up (reluctantly) helping Chosen take care of him.

I'm kind of not sure where Dark shows up, but let's just say they show up here for simplicity! Noogai draws them as a friend for both him and Chosen! unfortunately Chosen's first reaction to seeing an unfamiliar stick on the PC is to punch them. after that initial road-bump though things are pretty much fine!

they eventually find their way into the outernet and end up moving there, partially because Noogai is so sick of the PC and also because it's very hard to take care of someone who's used to being a human on a computer. Noogai ofc brings the pencil and pen.

he ends up kind of having a semblance of normality after moving to the outernet, and things are pretty much fine up until the fair where Gold dies in canon!

Noogai actually ends up going in before Gold and getting caught in the crash, but Chosen saves him, leaving him with scarring and a crippling fear of minecraft, but him and Gold do end up becoming friends! They're both not exactly the most social people among most sticks, and they're both kind of nerds, so they end up getting along really well and doing a lot of stupid kid stuff together!

SC ends up being created after Noogai tries to show the pencil to Gold, for no reason other than he was dumb and the first thing he drew was....... a stick. because of course it was.

Noogai is basically the little sibling of most of the hollowheads though, and it's mostly just a silly au!! Victim does end up having a soft spot for him deep down eventually, but they'd never tell him that because he'd absolutely exploit it. and also the mortifying ordeal of being perceived. mostly the second one. they view him as their little brother though, even if they sometimes think he's a little brat :]

also i draw the noogai!sticks with faces because noogai drew faces onto them!! he thought it'd make Vic a little less scary and they were nice enough to tolerate it

anyway!! hope that helps :]

[lvrsparadise]

'AFTER DARK' - M.S

Synopsis - “But… why do you hate that you like it?” "Because I'm supposed to hate you! And I can't do that when I'm in love with you!"

Warnings! - Profanity, kissing, arguing, Nick and Chris r kinda asses, use of Y/N, crying, name calling (not directly though), crying.

A/N - I was listening to 'After Dark' and I thought about something I had written down but lost but I still remember the plot. This is so long😭 Although, please enjoy ! ♡

You and Matt had been at each other's throats since you guys met.

He'd say one thing and it would lead to either a small banter or an actual yelling match. But with you two, it was unpredictable what was going to happen.

Lately you two have been a little more smiley with each other, still bantering a lot, but sometimes playfully.

----

Matt was in his room, and I'm sitting in the living room, watching the same show I had on when Nick and Chris went out to eat with Madi and Laura.

Soon enough, I got bored and paused the episode and walk to Matt's room.

He doesn't look up from his phone but sighs.

"Get out."

I just shake my head and plop down in his chair at his desk, drumming my fingers on the arms of it lightly.

"Nah. I'm bored."

He groans. “Why are you in my room?”

"Entertainment? I guess." I sigh and shrug.

"I got bored in the living room by myself. Nick and Chris went out to dinner with Madi and Laura and left me here."

“So, they just… left you here?” His eyes widen a little. He puts his phone down on his bed next to him.

I shrug and look down at his desk at the keyboard and little pieces of candy wrapper trash. 

"I guess. "

"Well, why didn't you with them?"

I shrug again and cross my arms on the desk, avoiding messing up his keyboard.

"Just, wasn't in the social mood."

I'm thankful he can't see me right now. Even when I walked in, he never looked at me. Thank God. I feel like I look absolutely terrible. I feel exhausted and drained. I have no real reason to feel this way, but I guess emotions are just difficult.

I hear him sigh and hear the small 'thunk' of his head pressing against the headboard.

"Whay are you still here? You need something?"

I just shrug again, knowing he can't see me.

"Not really. Just don't want to be alone I guess."

I lay my head on my arms, closing my eyes. Laying my head down like you would on a desk at school.

"Well, what do you want me to do? Entertain you?" Matt's voice rings from behind the chair.

"I'm not expecting anything. I just didn't want to be alone. Is that such a hard thing to understand?" My voice firm and muffled by the way my face is buried in my arms.

I know I can't see him, but I can hear the eye roll in his voice.

"Why can't you just get out? Find something else to do other than be a fucking bug." He grumbles the last part, but I can hear it clearly.

I sigh frustratedly and stand up from the chair walking to his door. 

"Fine. I'll just go fuck myself then." I grumble as I swing the door open and walk out of it, out of his room. Just like he wanted.

He puts up his hands in disbelief and just stares after you. Once you leave, he sits up, and buries his head back into his hands. He sighs a little louder, and his voice is more strained.

“Stupid…” he mutters.

-

I walk back into the living room, plopping down on the chase and curling up in one of the many blankets that are strewn across the length of the couch and grab my phone.

I open up Instagram and start to go through everyone's stories, just to get everything out of the way. I click onto Nick's story and see a picture of not just him, Chris, Madi and Laura. But of all of my friends. And that hits deep.

I scrub a hand over my face with a sigh before clicking off of the story and closing out Instagram entirely.

For some reason, I feel sad knowing that I'm not there.

I feel my breathing pick up slightly and tears well in my eyes. I tighten my grip on my phone, my knuckles white, and close my eyes for a second, making the tears fall down my face.

My mind drifts back to the only other person in the house. The same person I have a love/hate relationship with.

After a few minutes of playing some weird iOS game, I hear footsteps coming from Matt's room. Then I feel the couch behind me sink.

He doesn't say a word. Just sits there.

I immediately notice his presence but decide to ignore it until I can't. My back is turned to him.

"What do you want?" I grumble, not turning around or turning my head to look at him.

He puts his head on the back of the couch. His shoulders are slouched, and his expression is… blank.

“I don’t know, I felt bad.”

I snort softly at his words.

"Since when do you feel bad for me? Yeah right." I mumble the last part to myself.

His eyes narrow a little. I can tell he heard me, but it's all silent for a few moments.

"It was rude that they just left you here." He shrugs, and his tone is... a little less rude than his normal snarky and sharp one.

"Yeah, well it's fine. I don't mind." I mutter and sniffle to clear my stuffy nose from crying.

He tilts his head to the side, looking at the back of your head.

“Do you have a cold, or something?”

"Oh, yeah. No, I'm fine." I keep my back turned to him, but I drop my phone and use the sleeve of my zip-up to wipe my nose and cheeks.

“Are you sure? Cause it kinda looks like you’re crying.” His voice is a little gentler than I'm used to hearing.

"I'm fine, Matt." My voice firmer and a bit louder than I was speaking.

He notices the change in tone, and he sounds a little sterner.

“You know, this is exactly why we can't be friends. You won't tell me what's going on when I ask, and then you get all defensive and mean when I do notice that something's wrong.” He crosses his arms tight, and he looks forward again.

"Well, maybe I don't tell you because you're usually the reason why." I sniffle again and try to breathe through the upcoming wave of emotions. My voice cracking slightly.

His eyes widening a little and he looks at you, his expression soft with regret.

"Am I the one who made you cry?"

His eyes stay soft, and he looks really concerned.

I sigh and shake my head, picking up my phone and pulling up the photo of Nick and the others.

"Not this time." I exhale sharply. My voice quieter than my previous tone and strained from me trying not to cry again.

He looks at you for a few more moments, and his face softens even more.

“What happened..?” He speaks as gently as he can.

I reach my phone out with a photo from Nick's story of him, Chris, Madi, Laura, Sab, Ari, and Oliver sitting at a table with big smiles on their faces.

I feel him grab the phone from my hand and presumably try to look at it better.

He looks at the phone screen, then looks back at you.

“They didn’t invite you?..”

I sit up on the couch, moving to a sitting position instead of laying and kick the blanket off me.

I chuckle dryly.

"And what's worse... is that it's my birthday today. I mean, I don't usually celebrate it but, it's my birthday and all of my friends are out without me." I bring my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around my legs and rest my chin on my kneecaps.

His head snaps up to my face, his brows low.

"Wait, it's your birthday...? And you're alone?"

I sniffle and rub my eyes. 

"Like I said, I don't mind anymore. But I just go so overwhelmed earlier when you told me to leave your room, I just started crying and my mind drifted back to that whole fact and I just-" I just sigh and put my forehead on my knees while closing my eyes, shaking my head softly.

His eyebrows raise.

“You don’t… mind being alone on your birthday?” His expression softens a bit when he watches you put your head on your knees.

I just shrug again and breathe in through my nose sharply.

"Wouldn't be the first time." I mumble to myself but instantly realizing Matt heard it.

His voice is a little softer, and he sounds concerned?

“Why are you so okay with being alone? Is it a defense mechanism or…?” He just looks at me, waiting for an answer.

"I never really got much attention as a kid. I was basically forced into isolation most of my childhood."

I lift my head and rest my cheek on my knee, my head turned to Matt.

His expression softens and he looks at the ground, listening carefully.

“Was it… hard? Being alone like that?”

His eyes move up to meet mine. The eye contact being genuine and not as snarky as usual.

"Sometimes. My older sister, Izzy, was the only person who ever paid attention to me and made sure I had everything I needed for like school and stuff." I straighten my legs out and lean my head on his shoulder.

He looks at you for a moment, but when he sees where you put your head, his entire expression softens. His eyes glance at you before he looks down at his own lap.

“I don’t like you being alone on your birthday… you deserve to be celebrated.”

"Well, I'm not alone. I mean, you're here, aren't you?" My voice calm and filled with an emotion not even I can identify.

“I mean… yes. I am here. But I… I don’t feel like that’s enough.”

His voice is soft and gentle. Whatever emotion is filling the air right now, he must feel it too.

"To me, one person is better than nobody. So, to me, as a person who has spent quite a few birthdays alone, that is more than enough." I slightly nuzzle my head onto his shoulder more comfortably.

His eyes stay focused on your face. He hesitates for a moment, then shifts a little closer to you.

I feel his arm wrap around my shoulders, and smiles when I nuzzle into his shoulder.

After a few moments of silence, I speak up.

"This is comfortable." I mumble as I shift around to drape my legs over his and rest my head on his shoulder, closer to his chest.

"This is comfortable…." He mumbles.

He hums quietly, the action vibrating his chest and calming me down even more. I feel him rub his hand up and down my arm, and his other one draped across my waist, holding my body close to his.

I slowly let my eyes drift shut. I bring my hand to rest on his chest next to my head. I bend my knees a little and move closer to him, if possible. Suddenly feeling even more exhausted than before.

He smiles when he feels one of your hands on his chest, and he holds you even closer to him. He lets a few seconds pass, but his brain is moving a mile a minute.

"Can I… do something?" he whispers, his voice a little strained.

I nod once against his chest, the movement slowed from my fatigue.

A beat later I feel the hand that's wrapped around my shoulders lightly carding through my hair, gently massaging my scalp.

I hum in content and snuggle closer to his body, yearning for his warmth.

After a while of just lying there, I feel myself lulling into a very inviting rest. The motion of his hands in my hair, and his warmth and the way his arms are wrapped around me are enough to make me drift off into a restful sleep, my breathing evening out.

-Matt's POV-

I lay there holding her in my arms, listening to her breathing. Feeling her chest rise and fall.

"You fell asleep on me..." I mumble and run my fingers through her hair one last time before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

I keep glancing down to see if she's woken up yet, but she looks s peaceful... I hope she's comfortable.

I lay there for a few more minutes doing nothing in particular, just looking at her in this peaceful state. I can't believe I could hate her. I think I only didn't like her because I've never seen this side of her before.

After a few more minutes, I shift around so I'm holding her bridal style, her head not moving from where it's rested on my collarbone.

Slowly I make it to my room and set her down on my bed, putting the comforter over her body and then sliding in behind her, slinging my arm around her waist and holding her to me.

I breathe in her scent and feel myself lulling off.

--MORNING-- -Y/N's POV-

I wake up, instantly feeling arms around me, holding me tightly, and breathing on the back of my neck.

At first, I'm alarmed but then I open my eyes and see I'm in Matt's bed.

'How did I end up in his bed??'

"Mm..." I hear from behind me.

I look around the bed for one of our phones, but neither are in sight.

"What time is it...??" I mumble to myself before giving up my search, concluding I had left mine on the couch last night.

"Shh... It's still early.." Wow tired sounds good on him.

He doesn't sound that awake yet, his voice a bit strained. I feel him nuzzle farther into the back of my neck, gently pressing a small kiss to the base of it.

I feel my cheeks heat up from the feeling of his lips on the back of my neck. I shift around to where I'm facing him. I brush a few strands of his hair from his eyes. 

"Sleepy looks good on you..." I mumble to no one in particular. Just stating a fact.

He slowly begins to open his eyes, his expression still sleepy and calm. He looks into my eyes, the little bit of sun peeking from the cracks in his blinds shining on his eyes in just the right way. His eyebrows raise a little bit, and I can see a small blush make its way across his cheeks.

"Morning..." His voice sounding softer than I've ever heard from him. Is he... smiling? It's hard to tell.

I allow myself to gaze at his entire face, inspecting every little thing. My gaze lingers on his lips for a moment before I meet his eyes again. 

"Morning." I smile softly, not minding this kind of contact or interaction.

He just stares at me for a second, his eyes still looking tired and a smile finding its way to his face.

After a minute or two of us looking at each other, I feel the warmth of his hands leaving my sides, making me frown lightly. He sits up, leaning against the headboard, and rubs his eyes.

"D'You sleep well? You probably weren't comfortable using me as a pillow." He chuckles quietly. His voice still quiet and laced with sleepiness still, the blush not as visible, but still there.

"I was, very comfortable. But may I ask how I ended up in the bed? I fell asleep on the couch... I think." I roll onto my back and sit up a little bit, laying my upper back on the pillows, putting a bit of distance in between us.

"Yeah, I um... I carried you to my bed..." His smile disappears and his cheeks flush, changing color from the blush. He looks at his hands in his lap, seemingly avoiding my eyes.

"I thought you'd be more comfortable? I don't know..." His voice trailing off, shaking his head softly.

I clear my throat and move to a sitting position, like him, leaning against the headboard also.

"Well, uh... either way thanks for... y'know, being there last night. I kind of liked the side of Matt I saw last night." I send him a small grin, despite him not looking at me for a few more moments.

He seems to perk up at my words, once finally registering what I had said.

"You.... liked seeing me last night...?" His face flushes again and he turns his head to me, a smile on his face.

I don't think I've ever seen his smile directed towards me. Always to his brothers, family, and friends. But having him smile at me feels... special. Like it's all for me.

"Yeah." I smile softly, looking down at my lap where my hands are folded together.

"That was probably one of the only times you didn't call my annoying or a bitch." I look back at him.

"So, yeah. I liked seeing the nice Matt." My smile drops a little.

"And I am sorry for being such a pain in the ass. I guess I can be kind of... persistent at times. And nagging." I slightly shrug one shoulder and pick at some of the fuzzies on my sweatpants.

His eyebrows raise again, and he looks straight at me.

"You really are something else... I didn't think you knew how to apologize!" He smiles playfully at me, but his comment hurts.

I swear I feel my heart break a little. I feel the tips of my ears warm up, and my face gets warm from the overcoming feeling of wanting to cry.

I clench my jaw and ball my left fist up, my nails digging into my palms. I move to sit on the edge of his bed and stare down at the hardwood floor.

"I think I'm going to head back to my place."

I can feel the smile drop from his face when he speaks, sounding shocked.

"Wait, what? It's still kind of early, why would you want to go already?"

I clear my throat and stand up.

"I've been over here for a week already; I should go back so I could clean up anything my roommates might've messed up." I zip my hoodie up all the way and walk to his door, not sparing him a glance, his comment hurting more than it should. I open the door and step out into the kitchen.

I hear him slide off of his bed and follow me out to the kitchen.

"Wait, don't leave. We have to talk about...." He trails of lightly. I can feel his gaze on me as I shuffle around looking for my wallet, keys and shoes.

"You and I.... We have to talk. About us..."

That makes me stop in my tracks, in the middle of the living room. I turn around to ace him.

"What is there to talk about?!" My voice strained and high pitched. Almost whiny in a 'I'm about to cry' way.

"So what? I had a moment of weakness, and you were there! Why does that have to change anything?" I throw my arms up and feel my throat starting to tighten.

"And- And just because I 'know how to apologize', doesn't mean shit! So, please tell me. I'm all ears. What is there to talk about?" I put the words in air quotes, because the way he said it, hurt my feelings. And especially after I tried to be the better person and own up to what I do and apologize for it.

His eyes narrow a little, and his voice sounds annoyed.

"Just because you had a moment of weakness doesn't mean you can just suddenly leave! There is more for us to talk about! Especially after last night."

It's obvious he's trying to keep his cool. Like he doesn't want to snap. But honestly, if he did snap, I wouldn't care. His eyes are sharp and focused as usual, but a hint of that softness from when we woke up is still faintly there.

"Nothing happened Matt! I was alone, so I went to your room, then you kicked me out of your room, and I got sad and started crying and you were the only one around! Plus, if you really fucking wanted to, which I wouldn't put it past you, you could've left me to cry alone! Laughed in my face! Called me another insult! You could've done anything! But you didn't. You stayed. And you comforted me until I fell asleep! That's all the fucking happened!" I moved closer to him. Every word I speak is accentuated by a jab of my finger to his chest.

My voice has raised a little and I'm getting angry now. My breathing has started to get a little bit faster because of the immense amount of frustration and anger I feel.

He lets out small grunts at every jab of my finger.

"Stop it! Just... stop it. You are so impossible to work with." He takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm down, but it's clear I've plucked a nerve. And good, not what I was going for, but a win is a win.

"You don't want to talk about last night because deep down, you know that you liked what you saw, but you don't want to admit it." He goes quiet and steps back, putting distance between us.

"Maybe I do like it! Maybe that's why I'm choosing to ignore it! Because I liked it! And I hate that I liked it. I hate that I let it happen. I hate that I allowed myself to cry in front of you. I hate how perfect you look, even when you're yelling at me. I hate how blue your eyes are and how much they remind me of the ocean. I hate how you can do what you want in my life, and I allow it! Because I like it!" I can feel tears of frustration spilling down my face. My eyes are wide and firm with anger and frustration. My lips twisted in a flat line, nostrils flared, and face flushed from anger and crying.

He seems to be caught off guard. His mouth slightly agape, watching my emotions switch back and forth all at the same time, looking speechless.

"O-oh..." I faintly hear him mumble. He looks...confused?

He takes a few small steps towards me, his voice so inviting.

"But... why do you hate that you like it?" His words come out in a whisper, his tone gentle, his eyes soft and calm, his face kind and inviting. He looks slightly nervous.

"Because I'm supposed to hate you! And I can't do that when I'm in love with you!" I accidently shout the words, and then immediately regret that. My eyes get impossibly wider, and my hands fly over my mouth.

He takes another step back, his jaw dropping lower. He stares at me for a few seconds, not saying anything, which makes worry churn in my stomach.

He blinks a couple times before he clears his throat and closes his mouth.

"Did- Did I hear you correctly...?"

"Fuck!" I ball my hands into fists and press the heels of my hands against my forehead and push my back against the closest wall, sliding down it to where I'm sitting on the floor with my knees to my chest.

I let out a few choked sobs and mumbles of curses before nodding.

"Yeah." My voice quiet and hoarse. I sniffle and squeeze my eyes shut for a second and open them again, dropping my hands to my sides.

I watch as he walks over to me, dropping to his knees next to me and pushes my knees away from my chest. He pulls me into his chest, wrapping his arms around my shoulders gently.

"Hey, hey... shh. Slow down. I'm not... I'm not going to judge. Just slow down. I'm right here." I hear him whisper. And feel him press a kiss to the top of my head.

"Don't panic. Just take a deep breath, let it all out. I'm right here."

That's all it takes for me to completely break down. Sobbing, and mumbling in between with hiccupped breaths. All the while he's stroking my hair and occasionally running his fingers through it.

"I'm so sorry." I manage to choke out between short breaths and sobs.

He presses another kiss to the top of my head and grabs one of my hands, his other hand rubbing my back in comforting patterns.

"You have no reason to be sorry... You're allowed to... to feel this way, okay? I'm not mad at you, and you shouldn't be mad at yourself either. Just... breathe with me, okay?" I feel his hold tighten, reminding me he's there.

I attempt to match his deep, calm breaths, but I can't. No matter how hard I try, I always end up hyperventilating after I cry.

My breathing starts to come out uneven, raggedly, too fast and choppy, making me lightheaded.

"Hey. Hey, look at me." He puts two fingers under my chin turning my head to face his.

"Breathe. Just breathe. Slowly in through the nose." He inhales slowly through his nose.

"Then slowly out through your mouth." He exhales slowly through his mouth.

"Do it with me. In."

Inhale slowly.

"Out."

Exhale slowly.

It's too difficult to match. But after many attempts, my breathing has slowed down and my head is no longer dizzy.

He watches as I control my breathing and return it to normal. Once it has returned to a normal pace, he lets go of my chin, leaving the area cold from where his fingers were.

"Good.... Deep breaths, that's right."

He lets out a small sigh and presses a kiss to my forehead before wiping my cheeks free of tears and tear stains.

"Can you tell me why you feel so bad about this?" He asks quietly.

"I don't even know. It just feels wrong, feeling this way. It feels like I'm supposed to see you as an annoying older brother but instead I developed feelings for you."

He hums gently, seeming to wrap his head around my words. He closes his eyes for a moment, taking one deep breath then opening them and looking into my eyes.

"Look, just because you're supposed to see me as a brother doesn't mean you can't have feelings for me. It just changes the dynamic. And you can't blame yourself either." He shakes his head once.

"Because it's not your fault. Not one bit." He cups my cheek and wipes away a few stray tears with his thumb.

"How did you... How did you know you were in love with me...? I mean, how- what made you realize it?"

I sniffle and clear my throat, not wanting my voice to give out. I take another deep breath before speaking.

"Last night. When you stayed and comforted me in my so called 'moment of weakness'. When you didn't push my head of your shoulder. Or even just the fact that you listened to me last night. And the way you held me was..." I trail off, not knowing how to describe it. It was so comforting and calm the way he held me, it put me to sleep. Literally.

He beams that sweet smile out, lifting my spirits a little.

"Did- did you like being comforted last night?" His voice becoming soft, and delicate.

I nod and lick my suddenly dry lips.

"Yeah. Hearing you talk that softly was really nice. And I liked being in your arms." My voice a little nervous from having to admit this out loud.

He looks as though he's processing my words, like I can see the little loading circle above his head, and then when it clicks, his entire face lights up.

He stands up, holding his arms out.

"Come here." His voice a little firm and commanding, but still soft and sweet.

I slowly climb to my feet and just about throw myself into Matt's arms, wrapping my arms around his torso and his arms wrap around my neck and shoulders.

"About fucking time you two stopped denying shit."

We break away from the hug quickly and turn to the kitchen where Chris is standing rubbing his eyes.

"What?"

"God, are you two blind? You guys have been ogling each other when the other wasn't looking. It's been driving me insane. And now Nick owes me 400 bucks."

Matt groans and I roll my eyes and plop down on the couch with a small smile on my face as I feel the cushion next to me sink and then an arm is being draped across my shoulders and pulling close to him.

--

After a while, we make it back into his room.

We're laying on his bed, both of us on our phones, not really talking.

Out of nowhere, he drops his phone and turns to me.

"You want to go to dinner sometime?"

I lay my hands in my lap, turning my head to look at him.

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"Are you going to say no?"

"No."

"Then yeah, I'm asking you on a date."

I smile at the dorky tactics and roll my eyes playfully.

I grab the part where the strings of a hoodie are on his hoodie and pull him to me, our lips colliding in the middle.

"I'd love to go on a date with you."

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[soshadysoquiet]

The Subway book, The Hug, and what I thought would happen as I watched S4

I wanted to know the story of the subway cipher-book, one of the bits I'd have loved to see in S4 was them solving or working to solve the subway.

I thought when they found the cipher / Five brought it to Strawberry Land that it would play an even bigger part than just a deus ex machina

Here's a few different things I thought was going to happen once E5/E6 hit us:

*Going to insert my unpopular opinion here that I don't feel it was majorly off-brand for Five to have left when he did at Diego & Lila's house or all the other Five's to be in the diner:

He's resorted to escaping awkward and emotional situations in the past at the drop of a hat because he thinks he can solve the situation / just doesn't want to be there anymore. (he implies in S1 that he was going to use a briefcase to 'start over' ergo abandoning 'these' siblings potentially for a different set?)

He's always looking for ways to buy himself time, in the subway he theoretically has endless time to sort shit out. (He's typically made bad, seat-of-the-pants decisions about this too when backed into a corner - The Handler, typically)

*Granted, I only watched S4 the once and can't remember if there's more to it. Happy to be disagreed with if I've forgotten something!

*Second unpopular opinion is that I don't really care about the cheating after the length of time it had been as much as how it didn't feel like that length of time / build up of the relationship looked Very much like they were both into 'not-sane-consent' ish territory / the relationship being in-character itself wasn't conveyed well enough personally.

**Edit - as I'm having another resurgence of rage over S4 atm I was watching a review vid on it and had completely forgotten that Five blipped out on his whole fam in the middle of the life and death Ben Blob match. I rescind my above opinion on how this is in character.

So, without more rambling:

First Thought:

Five x Lila happens as it did but when they get back and Five sees Lila with Diego and her family he realises that what they had was a distraction / a crutch etc and he leaves. He goes to the subway (Lila has the cipher). He realises that in order for them to ever get back home, which he ultimately wants because he cares for his family and what he had with Lila, that someone needs to make the cipher. So he stays and makes it. He stays in Strawberry Land for the rest of his life and dies there alone, creating the way that his family can be safe.

Lila realises he's missing and before the whole thing comes out to Diego (or after, whichever you prefer) she goes to find him in the subway, she sees he's gone, looks in the cipher for an answer as to where he could be / to go find him (she might be choosing to stay with her family and Diego over him, but they shared precious trauma time in the trenches down there) In the back of the book there's a note, for her, that she would only understand now (something like 'family has always been our start and end point dear one, don't lose yours now that you've found what I once took away from you' - or something sappy / romantic and eloquent, let's not kid ourselves that Five would be an absolute sap about it)

Lila breaks down crying. At which point because the Timeline is so very fucked right now Five from a few days ago (for him) years ago (for her) appears on one of his first forays into the subway when his powers first start to fuck up. He sees her crying like the world is ending and comforts her (like we see him do with the hug).

Five, for his part, just accepts and believes her that she's been time travelling and has solved things because they have an intellectual respect for each other, and maybe she realises that she still has that?

Either way they go back and the ending could be whatever you prefer at that point, Diego and her making up, not, him finding out, not, them all dying together, not.

Now, the idea of this being how OG Five's life ended (alone, again, at the end of the world, but with having dedicated himself to his family, after losing everything) is completely tragic, it's an awful ending, I'd have been sick with grief. But I'd have felt a hell of a lot more about it than I did the ending, by which point I just wanted the show to end so I could stop watching it.

Second Thought:

The Diner Five's worked together to come up with the solution to save the world / that it can't be saved (enter preference of choice I'm ambivalent) but with more meaning than just 'you turned up and we told you'. I want Five to rail at the news, I want him to break down, I want there to be one last fight before the acceptance if the end is what is coming.

Third Thought:

Diner Fives direct Five to Off The Rails Oldest Man Five who wrote the cipher, and they have the same sort of thing as the above with the saving / not saving of the world.

Later Fourth Thought:

Very similar to 1, except that Lila on looking at the cipher realises it changes handwriting half way through to hers. The sappy message is from Old Five that he tried to finish it so that she could save their family, it was both of their goals after all, but he was so sorry that he couldn't, and has to put it on her. She breaks down, realises what she has to do, she stays in the subway and finishes the work, sacrificing herself to her family's survival as he did, but she leaves a big note in the front to the Five that's going to find this (some Lila-esque insult that the pair of them need to use this cipher to get home now don't stop don't pass go etc, and she leaves it where she knows they'll find it the first time when they go to the cottage, maybe leaves their younger selves some advice). Then it's a bit like 'The day that wasn't' in that we see younger Five and Lila retrieve This book, maybe wonder at the odd messages in it that are in turns insulting and heartfelt, and they make it home after long years but back to their family. They could either hug because of the relief that they have a way home, or because both Old Five and Old Lila realised and wrote that the world can't be saved, or because Lila sees that she left / cheated on her family and realises what she had to lose and Five realises what he nearly let himself lose too / how he's been pushing his family away and insulting them and that was never what he spent his life searching for.

Not saying any of these would have been better, but I kind of like them as options :)

[thedracomalfoy]

Meanwhile, Draco's pulse was still racing after the encounter, something unfamiliar gradually building up inside him as he made his way back toward the Slytherin common room. What was the matter with him? How would his friends react? Worse still, what would his father say?

He knew exactly what to expect from them, of course - sneers, chastising or degrading remarks, and disgust. Perhaps anger or disappointment, too. Still, the Mudblo - Muggle-born, he mentally corrected himself, might not be all that terrible... Monique had shown promise and picked up the spell quickly, despite her awful pronunciations. A faint smirk tugged at the corners of his lips, almost forgetting that she had done that.

There was no question about it: he couldn't ask any of his inner circle for advice, nor would his parents be able to guide him in this situation. Certainly, his pride wouldn't allow him to ask any of the Golden Trio, either. Draco was alone this time. And, then again, maybe he wasn't...

Changing his direction, he made sure that no one noticed him before he made his way out of the castle and toward Hagrid's hut. Malfoy had smoothed his expression into a stoic mask by the time he had reached the tattered hut, trying not to wrinkle his nose at the hovel in front of him. Lifting his hand, he hesitated just before his knuckles touched the wood, a flicker of uncertainty swelling in his chest. Then, with a steady breath, Malfoy rapped his knuckles against the door and took a step down the porch, waiting for the door to swing open.

Not long after, Hagrid's tall, burly frame emerged, his face mostly beard and gentle, coal eyes blinking at him in surprise. "If it isn' Malfoy," came his booming voice as he opened the door wider. Now, there was a hint of skepticism clouding what little of his features were visible. "What brings yeh here?"

"Keep it down, you big -" Draco stopped himself, glancing over his shoulder quickly before meeting Hagrid's gaze again, this time with a sliver of sheepishness. He could see the disapproval in Hagrid's eyes and he suppressed a scowl. "I need your help," he muttered, lip curling subconsciously, almost invisibly.

"Well, come in, then," he grunted, stepping aside and gesturing for the blond to head inside. Following him and closing the door behind them, Hagrid moved to the fireplace and carefully pulled a tea kettle off the metal grate. "Cup o' tea?" the half-giant offered. He poured some of the mahogany tea into one mug for himself, waiting for the blond's response.

Draco felt out of place in the dismal abode, though he did his best to keep his composure, taking a seat as he waited for Hagrid. "No, thanks," he stated with the shake of his head, stormy gaze watching him move about the area to his own seat. Taking a steady breath, he contemplated how he would start the conversation, his words carefully chosen. "There's someone I'm considering being friends with. Someone I... well, I wouldn't have considered them before, but... something's happened."

Hagrid blew lightly on his tea a few times, then took a couple of sips while the young boy spoke. "There ain't nothin' wrong with bein' friends, even if yeh didn' think yeh were interested at first," he reassured the blond, his mug clinking as he set it on a small table next to his armchair. More seriously, the half-giant mused, "My guess's that yeh found a Muggle-born that ain't so bad, right? So, what's yer problem? Scared yer father'll have somethin' to say 'bout it, then?"

His eyes snapped up at the suggestion, scanning Hagrid's expression warily. Draco wanted to tell him to mind his own business, to lash out and deflect from the probing questions. But there was another part of him that whispered somewhere in the back of his mind, something that told him that the gamekeeper was right. "My friends - and my father, yeah," he acknowledged, his timbre softer than usual. "Potter, Granger, the Weasleys... too many to list off."

Seemingly mulling over what Malfoy had told him, Hagrid gave a low, brief hum. After a short pause, he spoke up again, his tone carrying an underlying understanding and a hint of warmth. "It takes strength ter challenge somethin' yeh can't see comin'. It's not ter late ter change it, Malfoy," he reminded him. "It's yer choice an' no one, I mean no one, should take yeh off the path yeh think is right."

The boy could tell he had emphasized 'no one' to mean his father, specifically, a glint of knowing in his eyes as he held Hagrid's gaze. A silent understanding had passed between them in the moment. It was up to him whether he wanted to be friends with Monique, to prove he was strong enough to go against what he thought he knew or weak enough to fold in the face of something new. With a subtle nod, Draco stood up and stated steadily, "Thank you, Hagrid... I should get going before it gets too late."

Several days later, Malfoy was getting ready for the upcoming Quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor; he was in the middle of practice with several other members of his House, including Marcus Flint. When he caught sight of the Snitch, he leaned down and shot forward, his keen gaze tracking the little golden ball with ease. With an unwavering focus, Draco navigated around his team mates and under the stands before he emerged from the other side, closing the distance bit by bit until it was within reach. It brushed against his fingertips as he held his arm outstretched, and when he was close enough, he secured it in his palm and managed to pull up on the broom just before he collided with the side of the stands. Malfoy had a light sheen of sweat on him as he landed his broom on the Quidditch pitch, having been practicing for the past few hours and deciding to take a momentary break on the sidelines.

[inkblackorchid]

What the hell happened with Crow: an autopsy (Part 3)

Trying my absolute damnedest to finish this one and part four sooner now that I've finally covered the Pearson backstory. *Ehem* Hello again! I hope you're ready for more yelling about a certain spiky-haired Blackbird aficionado, because I sure am.

To get some things out of the way first, though, here come the usual disclaimers:

This is part three of a series of posts about hpw Crow's character was handled during 5Ds' whole run. You can find part one here and part two here. Reading them technically isn't required, but things sure will make a whole lot more sense if you do. (Bring snacks, they're long.)

This post isn't meant as a Crow hate post, nor is it meant to convince people who didn't vibe with his character to change their mind. This is my very long winded-attempt to analyse the writing decisions surrounding his character as best I can, without too much bias. That said, full disclosure, I do personally like Crow, so there's a good chance that will shine through whether I want it to or not. But also, I'm trying to have fun here, so please cut me some slack.

In case you haven't read my previous Crow posts (no shade there) and/or still believe the many, many production rumours that have been haunting the 5Ds fandom since the show's original run, please let me burst your bubble(s) with some insanely comprehensive research by someone over on Reddit (thanks again to @mbg159, who's also here on tumblr): No, Crow was not meant to be a dark signer, or the final boss of season 1, and his spike in screentime has nothing to do with his cards. And also, No, Aki didn't get less presence in the narrative because her VA got pregnant. What if you don't have the time to read either of those long posts? In that case, please take away this simple, very easy rebuttal of why the above theories are bullshit: Their would-be "key points" don't line up with the 5Ds production timeline. At all. Not even vaguely. So please, ditch them, let them die, seeing them still talked about makes me feel like I'm gonna break out in hives. And for the love of god, don't use this post or in fact anything else I post to pit Aki and Crow against each other. Both characters have their strengths and their reasons to love them. I am not the least bit interested in starting any character discourse. So please, spare my sanity. Ok? Thank you.

And now, we can get to the good part at last. In my previous post in this series, I stopped my analysis at episode 95, a.k.a. part two of the Pearson backstory. In this post, I will thus be picking up right after, at the very start of the WRGP—with the Team Unicorn match. The goal for this post is to analyse Crow's part in this particular arc, then provide some food for thought/ideas on how things that rubbed some people the wrong way could have been improved.

More below the readmore, and I give you not just my usual warning, but an extra warning, too: The universe will not let me write short things, so tread with caution, stay hydrated, and expect a veritable dissertation below, because this post feels long even to me, who has long since lost her sense of length when it comes to text. (But I'm well aware this is the result of me refusing to split the WRGP part into two separate posts, so I take full responsibility for that.)

Since we left off right after I chewed through all the issues with Crow's rather belated backstory and especially Black-Winged Dragon last time, we jump right into the thick of things now, with episodes 96 and 97, which serve as the preamble to Team 5Ds' first WRGP duel against Team Unicorn. Crow only gets two major things to do during this short stretch of episodes, the first being that he's Team Unicorn's gateway into roping Yusei into a duel during practice, which helps them set up a ruse that baits the 5Ds gang into sending Jack as their first wheeler because they think Jack's deck is best suited to countering Andre's—which, as it later turns out, it is not.

(Arguably the screenshot where Crow gives off the strongest Youngest Sibling Vibes during the entire show. Look at him, all chastised.)

Crow's second role is an odd one that I argue only he out of the main three guys could fulfill at this point: He's the one to get injured right before the Team Unicorn match, rendering him unable to compete, which leads to Aki offering to take his place for that particular match.

(Pictured: Bird Boy regretting all his life choices up until that point simultaneously.)

Here's the first moment I have to talk about in greater detail. See, the thing is, I don't know what the fandom consensus on Crow getting injured here is, but I argue that this moment was a (rare) strategic decision made by the writers at this point. Crow's injury accomplished several things: 1. It sets up the mystery of why his back wheel locked up out of nowhere, which is later paid off through Team Catastrophe's shenanigans. 2. It organically allows Aki to take his spot without introducing any argument about which of them is "worthier" of having that third spot. 3. Through this, it also allows him to actually bounce off Aki for once (a point I will come back to below, during the Team Catastrophe section). And 4. It allows the show to (TECHNICALLY) pay off the setup they did in letting Aki get her turbo duelling license and train with the boys. (Generally, Crow's and Aki's character writing intersects a bit during the pre-Diablo incident WRGP section, something I'll touch on below.)

Moreover, I think this is also the only match where they could have done something like this, and the reason for it is very simple: Team Unicorn are one-off opponents whose presence in the narrative is only relevant as far as it concerns the WRGP, and they are also one of the first teams the 5Ds gang faces. If we think about the opponents Team 5Ds has after this, it becomes very obvious why Crow could only be injured during this duel: If they had tried pulling this stunt later, it would have forced the writers to pull Aki centre stage during a much more plot-relevant duel than this one (which they were apparently allergic to, but let's not go there), not to speak of the fact that it would have forced them to sideline someone they were definitely trying to sell as the third portion of their protagonist trifecta, which would have probably been awkward. (If not for the fact that they literally did this to Crow later in the show, but I'll get there. Yes, I know there's a lot already that I'll still be "getting to".)

The thing is, whether or not it feels like an awkward writing choice to make so early in the big tournament of this arc (you be the judge of that), Crow's injury finally allows him to have a few interesting character moments for once. For one, there is his immediate disappointment about being forced to stay on the sidelines. Aside from the fact that this is a human and relatable reaction to his injury, it stings even more for the character than it does for us as the audience, because Crow got a moment where the Satellite orphans he previously took care of cheer him on for the tournament literally within the same two Team Unicorn preamble episodes.

(Say what you will, this is just stupid cute.)

So when Aki eventually offers to take his place during the match, he's understandably apprehensive—and again, this is human. It may seem mean in the moment, but from a character writing standpoint, it's a natural response. Plus, it's certainly more interesting to watch the group have a bit of conflict among themselves, rather than everyone immediately jumping straight to acceptance. It introduces tension, and, for however brief a moment, raises the question of whether Crow might refuse to let Aki take his spot. This is also the point where Aki and Crow's character writing officially intertwines, at least for the stretch of episodes between the Team Unicorn duel and the Team Catastrophe duel. And you know what? Say what you will, but I think it does a world of good for both of them. The 5Ds cast, as lovely as it is, doesn't get a lot of room to bounce off one another where it concerns personal matters anymore, once the WRGP starts. Arguably, they get little time to bounce off one another outside of plot-related discussions at all once this portion of the show comes around. The characters are treated as "fully developed", and thus, the writing largely doesn't take the time to show us how the group naturally interacts with one another anymore, especially not with how many side characters (chiefly Bruno and Sherry), antagonists, and duels the show now has to juggle. So Aki and Crow getting even a smidgen of personal conflict here is honestly a breath of fresh air. The interaction kicked off by Crow's injury isn't completely plot-irrelevant, like most character interactions during the pre-WRGP were, but it's not something that feels like it's only there to explain the machinations of the antagonists to the audience, either.

Let me go through this in a little more detail to illustrate my point.

So, episode 97. Crow storms off after Aki offers to take his spot, while Aki heads out to prepare her runner, intent on helping her team. The personal motivations here are already very nice and reflective of these characters as we've gotten to know them up until this point: Crow's angry and disappointed (mostly at himself, which is noteworthy!) because he can't compete. And specifically, he's angry because not being able to compete in the first match means he can't show the kids his duelling like he wanted to. Then there's Aki, whose offer to take Crow's place is every bit as much of a strategic suggestion as it is a bid for acceptance from her. Acceptance, which is the thing she's been all about ever since she was introduced, basically. So she pleads with her friends to accept her, see her as an equal, and allow her to duel for the team, which they do. And Crow initially throws a fit, but then...

(Listen. You have no idea how much Crow and Aki getting to actually be friends means to me.)

He comes around to the idea and not only gives Aki his express permission to take his spot, he even coaches her a bit right before the match. Moreover, as his text states above, he literally entrusts her with the kids' hopes, as well as his own. This quickly brings both of them full circle: Crow, who already has a theme of legacy attached to him, passes the torch to Aki for this match, and in so doing, offers her the acceptance she asked her teammates for. (Frankly, stuff like this makes me wonder why on earth people were so eager to pit these two against each other, when their shared moments are actually some of the best-written during the often rocky WRGP arc.) So, though this injury pulls Crow out of the duel, it, funnily enough, ties him better into the story and to the other characters.

From there, we then dive into the Team Unicorn match proper. And well, being injured as he is, Crow doesn't exactly get a whole lot to do there. However, since we're in the portion where his and Aki's writing overlaps a bit, I do need to go on a quick tangent about what Aki's portion of this duel means for Crow.

(Sigh. Okay, buckle up for a quick and rough detour.)

First, something I need to get out of the way and off my chest: I have made no secret out of the fact that I hate Aki's portion of this duel, save for the moment where she summons Stardust. Hell, this duel segment is pretty much universally hated by anone who has even a smidgen of sympathy for Aki. It's regarded by many as the very moment the writers axed Aki's character, and for good reason: After all the buildup surrounding her getting her turbo duelling license, the supposed "payoff" of it all is that she gets to duel against Andre for a depressing four turns before being defeated immediately, which leads into Yusei's frustrating portion of this duel, which, to my knowledge, isn't regarded any more kindly by fans than Aki's segment. It's a massive let-down, simply put. But the thing is, it's not just a let-down for Aki. After all, the brief character conflict she had with Crow about taking his spot here can and should be regarded as part of the setup for this moment, and as such, it can also be considered to be wasted the second Aki leaves the track after barely making an impact whatsoever.

However, I do need to mention that I have a theory on why this segment was handled the way it was, mostly because I feel like Crow's later interaction with Aki, shortly after she's out of the duel, underlines it (mind that this is just my personal theory, though, after having watched the show perhaps more times than can be considered sane): I think there is a cultural aspect to this duel. See, the word ganbaru, which anime subtitles often like to translate with "do your best" or something along the lines, has a greater significance than the translation implies. Though it's not inaccurate per se, there's more than just the idea of doing your best behind ganbaru, because it's something like an umbrella term not just for doing your best and succeeding, it's also the idea that you have to keep trying, even if you don't succeed. It's related to tenacity, to persistence, even in the face of terrible odds. And make no mistake, I don't mean the Japanese equivalent of "if at first you don't succeed, try again" here. I genuinely do mean "you have to keep trying, even if you fail". There is no guarantee of success here. And for that reason, the idea behind ganbaru is also that it's not simply the success that has value, but the effort made in the attempt to attain it, regardless of the result. (Side note: I tried to scrounge up a resource I could link to that nicely explains this concept, but unfortunately, all the promising articles were paywalled and the ones I learned it from require institutional access to lecture materials.) And this is where I will posit the tentative theory that this is exactly what the 5Ds writers were going for with Aki's segment of the duel—it was very much meant to be the payoff for her turbo duelling license setup and her plea to take Crow's place, but it wasn't so much her success that was meant to be valued, as the effort she (and by extension, Crow) made for and during this duel. And this is where Crow's little pep-talk with Aki after she's out of the duel comes in, because it feels like it supports exactly this interpretation:

(This is essentially the whole sequence. Note how Crow, despite so fervently entrusting Aki with his and his kids' hopes prior, doesn't admonish her for making a bad showing in the slightest.)

I don't think it gets any clearer than it is here. During this sequence, Aki is painfully aware of how poor her performance was against Andre, especially after she was so insistent on duelling at first, and despite having been entrusted with Stardust by Yusei, to boot. Yet, Crow doesn't have a single word of criticism to offer her. Instead, he even tells her she did well and that nobody's perfect. It very much reads as valuing Aki's effort over the result she achieved to me, and thus seems perfectly in line with the idea behind ganbaru.

However, if we assume I'm correct about the intentions behind this writing choice, we come back to why Aki's segment of the duel is so hotly debated and why it may have arguably been a disservice not just to her, but to Crow, too, character-wise. Because the majority of non-Japanese watchers of the show culturally don't have a 1:1 applicable concept like ganbaru, this writing choice was more likely to fall flat for them, because to someone who wasn't raised to understand the idea behind it, Aki's portion of the duel doesn't register as a payoff; it registers as a massive disappointment, because it feels like the writers, who had so much setup already done for her, let her fail on purpose, just to later let Yusei attain his arguably dumbest victory of the entire show. Thus, they also essentially waste the conflict she had with Crow about whether she would be allowed to take his spot in the first place, because with how little she achieved during the duel, she may as well not have gotten on the track. (Figuratively speaking. Please Do Not take this to mean I would prefer a version where Aki hadn't duelled at all. That would be worse. It would be infinitely worse.)

(Also, side note: If this post reaches anyone who's actually Japanese and still remembers this duel, I would genuinely love your input on whether my interpretation is feasible or just wishful thinking. Did you interpret Aki's part of the duel the way I did here? Or did it fall flat for you, too? If what I'm saying here feels like an absolute reach, please tell me. I'm honestly just trying my best to make things make sense here and remembered this concept from some classes I took in Japanese studies at uni.)

With all that in mind, it doesn't come as a surprise that some people were just as frustrated with the way Crow was barred from duelling here as they were with Aki's segment or Yusei's later victory. But it is what it is—the Unicorn duel concludes the way we all know it to, and with that, the show begins setting up the following duel with Team Catastrophe.

The only other, non duel-related, noteworthy thing that happens between the Unicorn and the Catastrophe match is a brief appearance at the Poppo Time by Sherry, who admonishes the signers for celebrating their victory early and warns them about Iliaster. Why do I bring this up? Because it's one of less than five times that Crow is in the same room with Sherry. Remember, Sherry. The girl he later, during the finale, talks out of working for the big bad evil guy because he suddenly seems to have such a deep understanding of her motivations and character that he can accurately deduce what argument will make her understand that working with Z-ONE won't give her what she's looking for. So, does Crow get a meaningful interaction with her during this scene, then? Nope. Not even in the slightest. Crow says exactly one sentence that is aimed at Sherry during her appearance, and that sentence is this:

(What a meaningful conversation!)

And yes, I will come back to Crow and Sherry's dynamic in particular. But we'll save that for the Ark Cradle arc post. For now, just keep it in mind as we move along to the other WRGP duels.

So. Team Catasrophe.

During the duel against this team, which was previously only hinted at ominously, the writing for Crow and Aki overlaps again, and this starts with the writers essentially doing a complete switcheroo of what came before: Instead of Crow getting injured and being unable to compete, it's Aki who crashes, ends up in the hospital, and is thus forced to give up her spot during the duel. (This also goes hand in hand with her suddenly losing her powers, which we are given absolutely zero explanation for, but let's not talk about that clusterfuck here. If you're interested in my opinions about that particular trainwreck, I have a rant for you.) Additionally, it's during this stretch of episodes (103-105, which is a whopping four episodes less than Team Unicorn got) that we find out that not only Aki's crash, but Crow's previous one, too, were both sabotage, caused by the rather unscrupulous Team Catastrophe by way of a special card that can cause real damage even when there is no psychic duellist present. (A card we also find out was given to them by Placido/Primo, but this is irrelevant for both Aki and Crow.) Crow's reaction to this piece of information, particularly once Aki gets injured due to the same thing, is where things get interesting for him again, because he gets pissed, to say the least.

(A moment I imagine firebirdshippers must have been positively delighted about.)

Here, I have to reiterate an earlier point: Think what you will of Team Catastrophe, of Aki's crash, and of the sequence where her powers suddenly don't work, but this moment here, where Crow gets angry on her behalf and swears to duel Team Catastrophe into submission—not because he wants his kids to cheer for him, or because he wants to prove himself, but as revenge for his friend—is one of sadly only a handful of moments the writers use to show the strengthened relationships between the individual members of Team 5Ds after the dark signers arc. It's one of the precious few scenes that actually shows, rather than tells us or lets us search for scraps in the subtext, that the signers, and the members of Team 5Ds as a whole, care for each other outside of revolving around Yusei like planets around the sun. Even if it's laughably small, it's at least a hint that there are individual friendships between the other signers, too, that they all stick around one another for reasons beyond gravitating towards Yusei for one reason or another. And for that alone, I'm grateful that they put this here, even if Team Catastrophe was otherwise so ridiculous and made such a bad showing at their actual match that they could barely be taken seriously as antagonists at all.

Speaking of which. The actual meat of the matter. The Team Catastrophe match. What does Crow do here? Well, he duels! Even though he wasn't supposed to, for injury-related reasons. What both his participation as well as the actual duel accomplish, though, are that they not only showcase previously established character traits of Crow's again, but they also make a (possibly unintended) callback to a previous, major duel Crow took part in: His dark signer duel against Bommer/Greiger. Where and how? Let's see.

Firstly, Crow's participation. The reactions of the other characters to this make it very evident that Team 5Ds did not plan for this, with Yusei and Jack even going as far as to say they "had no choice" but to let Crow duel, because he insisted. This is perfectly in line with the stubbornness we already know from him at this point—a stubbornness that was also a major reason for why he took Bommer on and later continued his duel with said man, despite Yusei showing up and telling him he shouldn't be duelling a dark signer.

Secondly, there's the manoeuvring thing, and here's where I can call attention to a fun tidbit: The WRGP isn't what introduces the concept of manual mode during turbo duels to the audience. It's Crow. During his duel with Bommer. Being crafty and a bit shrewd as he is, Crow, during said duel in the DS arc, purposefully switches to manual mode when he duels Bommer, because he figures that attacks that can deal real damage can probably be evaded if you actually have control over your runner and aren't stuck in autopilot.

(Don't believe me? Here it is. And frankly, it is somewhat hilarious, yet also very fitting that Crow is the only one who thinks to do this during a duel with a dark signer.)

The reason this particular bit is relevant during the Team Catastrophe duel is because Crow essentially repeats this trick here. Of course, it's a bit less impactful now, given that manual mode is standard for WRGP duels, but still: Due to Hook, the Hidden Knight, Crow is forced to pay attention to the track and manually evade the monster's attempts to make his back wheel lock up during the duel, mirroring how he thought to manually evade Bommer's attacks during the DS arc.

Thirdly, there's the revenge angle, and this one is a particularly juicy callback. Remember, Crow's major reason for taking on Team Catastrophe, despite being injured, is that he wants to get revenge for Aki. This directly parallels how his major reason for duelling Bommer during the DS arc was that he wanted revenge for his kids, whom he believed to be dead at that point in time. (It also, interestingly, establishes a bit of a connection to his deck, which boasts a fair amount of revenge effects, but I'll not get into that here, seeing as I've talked about Crow's cards a bit before.)

Keep in mind, despite all the things listed above that this duel accomplishes, it's also by far the shortest WRGP duel. It lasts a whole six turns, total, which is ludicrous compared to the likes of 27-turn Team Unicorn, 26-turn Team Taiyou, or 25-turn Team Ragnarok. And I don't think it's controversial to say that the Catastrophe guys are probably the most forgettable WRGP Team, too. Yet, somehow, despite all its shortcomings in terms of memorable antagonists and plot relevance, this is one of the best duels of the WRGP where Crow's character writing is concerned. Now, I'll be perfectly candid: Coming into this post, I did not expect the Team Catastrophe duel, of all things, to end up being as good at actually showcasing Crow's character and his ties to other characters (who aren't Yusei) as it was, but here we are. And we had better hold on to the good the Team Unicorn - Catastrophe segment did for Crow, because the next thing that's coming up is a harsh break from the WRGP, starting with the sudden appearance of Placido's home-engineered army of killer duel robots. And what does Crow get to do during this part?

Uh. Well.

(Pictured: Bird Boy being demoted to benchwarmer while the city's being ransacked by murder duel robots.)

Nothing. A whole lot of nothing, is what.

During the duel robot invasion, we only ever flash back to Crow to ascertain that he is, in fact, useless during this part of the show, something he shares in common with Ruka, Rua, and Aki here, because all of them get pretty much nothing to do while Yusei finally gets the hang of accel synchro. Granted, Aki gets to save a little girl at the hospital, but in comparison to Yusei's lengthy, plot-heavy duel with Placido, this feels like a consolation prize. And for once, Jack is only marginally better off, too, because sure, he gets to beat up a couple of robots, but that's it, really.

Where Crow is concerned, his plot relevance doesn't actually resume once the Placido duel finishes, though. (And neither does Rua's, Ruka's, or Aki's, while we're at it.) Because wouldn't you know it, the next big thing directly after the duel robot invasion are the Red Nova episodes, where three out of five signers (Crow, Aki, and Ruka, unsurprisingly) are removed from the screen almost in their entirety again while Jack gets his much-needed dragon upgrade so he can keep up with Yusei, in order to uphold his status as a classic, almost-evenly-matched yugioh rival.

Speaking of upgrades and dragons, let's make a quick detour while our protag and rival duo take their express vacation to the Nazca plains. It is, of course, no secret that no signer outside of Yusei and Jack ever got a dragon upgrade within the anime. (No, I'm not forgetting about Life Stream Dragon. But that one, unlike Shooting Star Dragon and Red Nova Dragon, was a.) teased all the way back in the DS arc and b.) didn't have a unique summoning method or some other gimmick that made it an "elevated" synchro. So I'm discounting Life Stream as a "proper" dragon upgrade on purpose.) Is this the point where I start arguing that Crow should have gotten one, then? Well, not quite. Not with the writing the show canonically gave us, at least—after all, with how late Black-Winged Dragon was introduced, it would have been bonkers to upgrade him here already, if even at all. However, I do argue that the way the show hands only Yusei and Jack upgrades seems a bit... off. Now, I know why only those two get upgrades, or at least I think I do. After all, they're the central protag/rival duo, and within the framework of the character archetypes the larger yugioh canon has created for itself, this would have always made them the first, if not the only candidates for dragon upgrades. What feels a bit off to me, though, is that specifically the 5Ds cast feels like it... chafes a bit against those character archetypes, for lack of a better word. The problem is this: The signers, as far as the first two arcs are concerned, are sold to us as equals who all have very powerful ace monsters. Yes, Jack and Yusei are still undoubtedly the best duellists among them, but not on account of having uber-powerful extra special monsters that were acquired through supernatural means that are categorically inaccessible to the other signers. However, with the appearance of Shooting Star and Red Nova, this changes. While Yusei and Jack were previously and would have always been the two guys who had a Special dynamic with a capital "S" on account of their character archetypes, their acquisition of the dragon upgrades—and even more so, the lack of upgrades their fellow signers receive—now decidedly puts them in a different power bracket and skews the balance between previous, supposedly "equal" characters. (Which, unfortunately, is yet another thing that makes everyone else easier to sideline.)

Why do I bring all this up in a post dedicated to Crow? Because this new power imbalance arguably impacts him more than the other signers—because he's Team 5Ds' second wheeler and doesn't miss another WRGP match from here on out. Thus, that power imbalance is felt in the upcoming duels, where Yusei and Jack bust out Shooting Star and Red Nova like it's nothing, while Crow is left manoeuvring with the somewhat underpowered Black-Winged Dragon and whatever else he can come up with. This is also why I claimed that the show did sideline Crow in some aspects further above. Because while some parts of his writing go to great pains to establish him as part of a protagonist trifecta that is now supposed to take centre stage before the other characters, he also permanently lives in Jack and Yusei's shadow, ultimately barred not just from reaching equal status as a signer (due to his late and rocky introduction and dragon acquisition), but also barred from becoming the equal of his foster brothers as a duellist. Frankly, I'm surprised the show didn't make this a plot point, because the first thing my mind jumps to when I think about this is whether Crow felt left behind after his brothers acquired such immensely powerful, special cards. But more on my personal writing ideas later. For now, let's just put a pin in the power-imbalance thing.

So, when is Crow back on screen in any meaningful role, then? (Note that I mean this as literally as possible. As per my discussion about "screentime" and my gripes about it in part two, I gloss over the parts where Crow is on screen, but could be traded for any other signer or even a lamppost without affecting the scene at all.)

Well, the next thing Crow gets to do isn't exactly glorious, but it sure is funny.

(I want you all to remember that he has to wear this costume and play this part in Team 5Ds' absurd plan to capture Yaeger/Lazar because he lost at rock-paper-scissors. This will never not be funny to me.)

Ignoring the hilarious outfit and Crow playing the bait at a fabricated cup ramen promo event meant to lure Yaeger in, bird boy does actually get something that's not just for funsies to do during the two episodes where Team 5Ds is trying to get more information about Iliaster: He gets to have a duel revanche against Yaeger, who, if we remember the DS arc, ditched him the last time they squared off. Much like the Team Catastrophe duel, this one, too, calls back to previous duels Crow has had: For one, it's the obvious conclusion to his unfinished, first duel with Yaeger. And for two, Crow repeats a "trick" (for lack of a better term) here that is also unique to him: losing on purpose, which we remember from his duel with Lyndon.

(Identical-looking clown family jumpscare be upon ye.)

And again, much like getting injured for the Team Unicorn duel, I argue that this story beat here is something that could also only have been accomplished with Crow. Because he's the only one who has previously duelled Yaeger, firstly, because not wanting to make a child cry by beating their dad in a duel makes sense for him as a character due to him being a family-oriented person who loves children, secondly, and because losing on purpose in this scenario is a tactic that would seem out of character from anyone else, thirdly. (We recall, the only times Jack and Yusei, respectively, ever consider/offer to lose on purpose is when the lives of people close to them are on the line, in the shape of Carly/Rally. As for the others, aside from not being present, Aki, Rua, and Ruka are so heavily sidelined at this point that they would have never been an option for this. And if his writing is anything to go by, Bruno is mostly purposefully forbidden from accomplishing Plot Things, especially through duels, while he's Bruno.) But hey, due to the way this episode is set up, losing on purpose works out for Crow, because it convinces Yaeger to stop hiding and actually share his knowledge about Iliaster. This, by the way, is the second scene where Crow gets to be in a room with Sherry for a longer stretch of time. And look, him joking that Sherry might kill Yaeger if he doesn't spill the beans about Iliaster soon is fun and all, but in light of the Ark Cradle duel later, I have to point out that he, again, doesn't get to have so much as a shred of a meaningful conversation with Sherry here. Again. But moving on. The scene with Yaeger at the Poppo Time then leads us first to the small sequence in the arcade where the gang has to win a simulated duel to get Yaeger's encoded intel, then to episode 116—the Moment Express episode, where, due to this being a Yusei, Sherry, and Bruno-focussed episode, Crow gets nothing to do again. (And also doesn't get to interact with Sherry again.)

Congrats! We've survived the WRGP break. This leaves us with three more WRGP duels before shit hits the fan and the Ark Cradle arc commences. And full disclosure, I'll be doing a bit of a quick-fire round of those three duels. Why? Because despite them all having their merits in their own rights (they're the better liked duels of the WRGP for a reason), there honestly isn't that much focus on Crow during them. He duels, yes, and I've seen people point this out over and over again as the supposed smoking gun that shows how Crow had so much more relevance and screentime than Aki and yadda, yadda. We've been there. And it's not that I can't see where this argument is coming from—I'll be the first to tell you that it's a travesty that Aki never got to duel in the WRGP again outside of the Unicorn match. But I want to use the final three matches to dig into how the way these matches—and especially the opponents to go with them—were set up made it nearly impossible for Aki to replace Crow again during any point of the WRGP finals.

First, episode 118. This is the only preamble episode we get for the first two WRGP finals teams, and here, our group is split in two: Yusei, Bruno, and Rua introduce us to Team Taiyou, while Jack, Aki, and Crow introduce us to Team Ragnarok. There isn't much to say here, because the only thing this episode does for Crow is a shallow repeat of what the Team Catastrophe duel did: By putting him in a group with Aki and Jack, and letting them decide among themselves, independently, to check out the exhibition match, it implies that he voluntarily spends time with signers who aren't Yusei. Thumbs up. Gold star. You made an effort (I guess). Then, the real fun starts.

Round one. Team Taiyou.

(Pictured: The sweetest country bumpkins to ever grace this earth. Yes, I'm biased.)

So here's the deal with Team Taiyou, from a narrative standpoint, as best as I can grasp it: They are a callback to Team 5Ds' roots. Specifically, to the boys' Satellite roots. The Taiyou boys come from humble origins, have only one, mostly home-engineered duel runner, and play using old cards that are widely considered shitty, as 5Ds canon tells us. They are essentially the non-signer, countryside version of what Jack, Crow, and Yusei once were, which is why this is the first duel where the duellist constellation on Team 5Ds' end couldn't possibly have been altered. Team Taiyou is there to remind us where our boys started, so it has to be our boys duelling them. This also goes for Crow, even though this duel otherwise doesn't accomplish much for him, character-wise. Instead, it's more of a narrative wink at the audience, as well as providing a breather between otherwise extremely tense, plot-focussed duels. But yeah, Crow's part in this match isn't much to write home about; he doesn't get any verbal interactions that are very meaningful to his character, can't get so much as a scratch in on Zushin, even with Black-Winged Dragon, and is defeated so Yusei can take out the legendary giant.

Round two. Team Ragnarok.

(Behold the pizzazz of at least two contenders for Haircuts With The Most Spikes in the show.)

Though this duel is framed as being even more so aimed towards bolstering Jack's character writing than Crow's, given the inclusion of Dragan's personal history with Jack, Team Ragnarok gets significantly more interesting for Crow again than Team Taiyou did. This is, of course, mainly because of Brave/Broder. Where Team Taiyou were a callback to the 5Ds boys' roots, Team Ragnarok are their narrative foils. Dragan is the duellist who lost his pride to contrast Jack, who's brimming with pride at all times, and Harald/Halldor is essentially the rich, "destiny isn't bullshit, actually" version of Yusei. Meanwhile, unlike the first two, who highlight our 5Ds boys' characteristics by contrasting them, Brave acts as Crow's mirror. Through Team Ragnarok's flashbacks, we see that he gets almost exactly the same, lovable-rogue-type backstory that Crow did during the DS arc, just in a different setting. The only, major difference between them is that while Crow is more down-to-earth, Brave likes to be pretty flashy.

(Keep in mind that he's doing this on a runner. Is there such a thing as courses on how to do acrobatics on your runner? Like there are courses for vaulting on horseback irl? I'm overthinking this again.)

Unsurprisingly, the duel thus ends up addressing the similarities between Crow and Brave, mostly through two things: One, the duel essentially becomes a contest of who can out-trickster who, culminating in the famous, ridiculous-in-the-good-way sequence where Crow activates a trap from his graveyard, to the shock of pretty much everyone present. And two, despite being on opposite sides, the two bond over their concern for the children they took care of and their concern for children in general, which is expressed most clearly in the scene where Crow's kids, in an attempt to hold the poster they made for him higher, very nearly fall over the barricade in the WRGP stands. Despite the hefty length of the full duel, these are pretty much the only things actually related to Crow's character that come up, though. They're good, don't get me wrong, but in a duel that is otherwise this dense with plot, Aesir shenanigans, and Iliaster foreshadowing, it's no surprise that the duel doesn't add that much to Crow's character, outside of giving him someone he can bounce off very well and relate to. Again, though, we are faced with the same situation as with Team Taiyou: Due to the way the members of Team Ragnarok are written, meant to contrast/parallel one male duellist each from Team 5Ds, nobody other than Crow could have taken the third spot here, either. It would have felt awkward from a narrative standpoint (as much as I would have loved to see Aki duel more).

Now, finally. Round three. Team New World.

(Welp. Here come the robots.)

I had to check to make sure I wasn't misremembering this, but due to the way this duel was set up so José/Jakob could bust out Meklord Emperor Granel with a ridiculous amount of attack points, Crow gets a resounding four turns total in this duel. (Gee, I wonder which other character got this treatment during a WRGP duel.) During those four turns, there are only two things he accomplishes: One, leaving behind two combo pieces Yusei later uses, and two, showcasing the shrewd tactics that earned him the label of "trickster" during the Ragnarok duel by bringing out a non-synchro monster that can take advantage of a synchro monster's attack points and effects—Aurora the Northern Lights. And arguably, this is a very smart play, moreover, it's the only time anyone in the show has the bright idea to not use synchro monsters against the known and feared synchro-killer Meklords. Unfortunately, as smart as it is, the narrative doesn't reward Crow for this play—José all but shrugs what could have been a turning point in the duel off, then proceeds to steamroll Crow the next turn, leaving Yusei to score the win, as usual. To get back to the "Crow got so much more screentime than Aki during the WRGP" thing for a second, of all the duels in the WRGP finals, this is arguably the one where Aki could still most easily have taken Crow's spot again, because here, it doesn't matter whether it's him or someone else, as this duel isn't tied to his character in any way. Unfortunately, due to the Granel-steamroller-strategy, this is also the duel where letting Aki take his spot again would have been the biggest shot in the foot, because unless they had changed Team New World's strategy, Aki would have gotten brutally guillotined here, same as Crow—something I can't imagine anyone, not even people who hate Crow, being happy about.

With that, though, we've finally made it through the WRGP. So, what's the bottom line here? Frankly, speaking from my own interpretation, Crow occupies an... odd spot during this tournament, to say the least. Though he does get to duel the majority of the time, few of the duels actually cater to his character in any way. Moreover, he only gets to be the star of the show in a WRGP duel once, during the by far most forgettable match against Team Catastrophe. And mind that I use the term "star of the show" very loosely here, because the problem the WRGP arc as a whole has, in my opinion, is that the rather lame Team Catastrophe duel is the only one in the whole tournament that isn't won by Yusei, which categorically means that any of the other character's big moments are usually undermined by the fact that they ultimately still need him to save the day. Thus, moments like Aki summoning Stardust Dragon and Crow using an anti-synchro-killer strategy that for once actually forgoes synchros are somewhat cheapened by the fact that they're not actually the turning-point moments they're initially painted as, because ultimately, Yusei always has to be the one to save the day. What's worse is that this almost feels like a bit of a non-issue that could have easily been fixed—given that the show tells us that teams can shuffle around their line-up for a match any time. But unfortunately, the writing never interacts with this as a possible strategic element, nor does it ever seem to consider letting Yusei lose, or forcing him to give up his spot for a match. I feel the need to say that I don't put the blame at Yusei's feet here, though: This strongly feels like an oversight by the writers, and perhaps a disproportionate need to have a nigh-infallible protagonist (on the duelling side of things) that their audience would never run the risk of calling "lame". For Crow, though, this chiefly means one thing: In any duel other than the Catastrophe one, it was always clear that even if he partook, he would never finish the match. And yes, this is technically an issue Jack has, too. But this is where the character writing outside of the duels comes into play, too.

Unlike Jack, who actually gets to do something during the Diablo invasion (albeit very little), who gets his very own dragon upgrade and who gets a very personal, pre-duel plot with Dragan, the show's writing doesn't bother giving Crow a lot of plot- or character-relevant things to do, once the WRGP starts. This is also why I was so surprised at how much the Unicorn and Catastrophe duels embrace his interactions with Aki—compared to the later duels in the finals, this portion still makes Crow feel genuinely relevant and interwoven with the other characters. Meanwhile, out of the three final duels, only the Ragnarok one actually tries to establish a connection to his characterisation, through Brave. The Taiyou duel only sets itself up in such a way that Aki partaking instead of him would have been awkward. Meanwhile, the New World duel just has him being treated like a floormat in a sad parallel to Aki during the Unicorn duel, seeing as they both get a nice moment where it looks like they might turn the duel around (Aki summoning Stardust Dragon and Black Rose Dragon onto the field at the same time; Crow summoning Aurora the Northern Lights, which couldn't be absorbed by the Meklords), only to have their hopes dashed as they're mercilessly cleared off the track. Outside of the duels, many scenes sadly give the impression that they may as well not have included Crow, though—he often gets so little to contribute to a moment or even to say at all that substituting him with a cardboard box seems like it would not have impacted the scene in any way. And that's without addressing his non-existent connection to Sherry, which feels extra glaring, given his later interactions with her on the Ark Cradle.

All in all, the WRGP feels like a very mixed bag, where Crow's character writing is concerned. His belated backstory, which I talked about in part two, is front-loaded and asks as many questions as it answers. Then the tournament commences, gives him some actually decent character interplay with Aki for once (at the cost of letting her succeed in the tournament, it seems), only for him to be basically irrelevant during the WRGP pause again. And once the whole thing resumes, it becomes this hot-and-cold thing where some duel aspects seem tailored to him, while others treat him as completely expendable. The end result is an arc where I'm left wondering why exactly the writers felt the need to make it seem like Crow made up one portion of a protagonist trifecta, if they never actually bothered treating him as equal to the other two. (The answer, I believe, lies somewhere between the fumbled setup they did for him during the Fortune Cup and DS arc, and the way yugioh in general treats its character archetypes. But that's just speculation on my part.) The one, saving grace the WRGP (outside of the Pearson backstory) has for Crow is that it at least doesn't introduce any new character- and/or timeline inconsistencies. In fact, his character stays remarkably true to form once the tournament begins.

Okay, onto the final bit, then. As I've done in both previous posts, let me delve into completely subjective territory and offer some ideas on how this arc could have been handled to make it seem a little less all over the place with Crow. And since his writing here canonically intersects with Aki's several times, let me try to do it while offering the best of both worlds to both characters, if I can.

As far as Crow's backstory is concerned, I've already offered my solutions to that in part two. Now, to stay consistent with my own suggestions, I'll try to branch off what I wrote in the last post. This means that, as per my previous two analyses, we're dealing with two scenarios again: One, Crow stays a signer and we try to touch canon as little as possible. Two, Crow isn't a signer and we adjust canon in whatever way we need to to make him feel interesting and necessary despite/because of that.

First, though, let's get two adjustments I personally would have made in both versions out of the way:

The way the WRGP is structured puts every character that isn't Yusei at a massive disadvantage, where character moments in duels are concerned. Thus, I propose an overhaul. Among the changes I think could have benefitted the characters (yes, all of them) are: One - Aki actually getting to accomplish something during the Unicorn duel (she can and should still have her moments with Crow, but maybe let her portion of the duel end in her thanking him for coaching her, creating a more upbeat scene that strengthens their friendship, which could double as good setup for their later double-duel against Sherry). Two - letting the Team Catastrophe duel actually play out properly (as in, they become more meaningful as opponents by having a better strategy, for example, and Crow could stick it out longer against them, in order to make this more so his win than Jack's. Also, why not let Aki actually see him get back at Team Catastrophe for her?). Three - giving Crow an actual character moment during the Taiyou duel (what if one of the country boys had played a card or two of the ones he learned to read from? It could have helped drive the parallel between the two teams home.) Four - letting Crow's anti-Meklord strategy get at least a little payoff, if only for two turns (show us at least proof of concept, damn it!). Yes, the Ragnarok duel is the only one I wouldn't rewrite (unless special circumstances are introduced, see below). Additionally, let Team 5Ds alter their line-up more than once, damn it. Let them actually strategise about the duels, let them take into consideration who should go first when and whose deck might be better suited to which scenario. Also, remove Yusei from at least one duel. Doesn't matter how, just let him not partake once. Perfect setup to let Aki duel again, and would also allow for spicy character interactions. (Arguably the best duels where this could have been done would have been any of the final duels, though it would have also required rewriting the antagonists somewhat in any case.)

For the love of god, give Sherry and Crow some setup. Let them actually interact, let them introduce their philosophies to one another, just do something, anything to make Crow understanding and talking sense into her during the finale seem earned. A few chance meetings, or maybe even a tiny side-plot could have done so much here. And if you can't let them interact outright, at least let Aki and Crow talk about Sherry! Double whammy! The two characters who end up duelling against her are made to seem even more like a team, and Crow actually gets to find out what Sherry's deal is on-screen. Just. Set. it. up. I beg you.

There we go. Now, onto the two branches.

Option A: Crow stays a signer and obtained Black-Winged Dragon.

Seeing as Crow's signer status, funnily enough, isn't all that relevant during the tournament itself (save for two notable exceptions), there aren't that many fixes to be made here. Crow can still get injured, miss out on the Unicorn duel and be the star of the Catastrophe duel. But giving him something to do during the duel robot invasion that isn't standing around and hoping Yusei will fix everything would also be nice. It's fine if he can't drive out there and duel, but why not let him do something else? He's a crafty guy, why not let him find, say, a way to fry the Diablos' runners, taking a few of them out even from a semi-stationary position without duelling them? He could at least get as much of a consolation prize scene as Aki got with her saving that child. Then there's Team Taiyou, which, save for what I proposed above, is a duel that doesn't feel like it needs changes. Crow does his thing here. That's it. The same goes for Team Ragnarok, especially given that they're specifically written to oppose an all-signers Team 5Ds. Finally, there's Team New World, which, if I'm being completely candid, I would personally overhaul to change the cyborgs' strategy entirely in order to actually let all three members of Team 5Ds shine. But this is the version where I touch canon as little as possible, so... Aside from what I wrote above, no changes needed. Just make Crow seem a little more relevant, make his strategy have at least a little payoff, even if Granel's back out and menacing literally two turns later.

Option B: Crow, as per my previous posts, isn't a signer and doesn't have Black-Winged Dragon.

This is the version that would categorically require heavier changes, though they honestly don't arrive until the break in the tournament. Unicorn and Catastrophe stay the same, I would still propose that Crow gets to be a little more useful during the Diablo invasion. But! In this version, seeing as he never acquired BWD, the break in the WRGP would be an excellent spot to let Crow acquire an upgrade for his beefy Blackwing ace monster of choice. Give him a little side-plot, too, something to do, something where he proves himself. Maybe let him run into Iliaster here, or maybe call back to Pearson again and introduce the new Blackwing upgrade as a treasure Pearson stashed away before he died (maybe this could have even been the card Bolger was actually after; the world is our oyster here). Then he's beefed up, too, and actually feels a little more on the same level as Jack and Yusei. The tournament recommences and again, the Taiyou duel could stay mostly the same, I think. Ragnarok and New World are where it gets really interesting, though. The way I see it, Ragnarok could go two ways with Crow not being a signer: Either he partakes as he did in canon and his non-signer status is called out as a peculiarity by our Swedish boys who happen to be obsessed with fate (which would make his performance against Brave seem all the more impressive), or, due to this being a duel all about destiny and celestial pissing contests, Crow's spot is given to Aki again for this duel due to her signer status (this would, obviously, require rewriting Brave, perhaps even switching him out for a Ragnarok lady instead). As for Team New World, this duel would honestly be a lot more juicy with a non-signer Crow, because much like he was for the dark signers, a non-signer Crow would essentially be an unknown in their plan for the cyborgs. He would be the guy who's Not Supposed To Be Here. Granted, he would still be beaten, but he could still get an excellent moment where his out-of-left-field anti-Meklord strategy genuinely seems to turn the tables for a bit, angering José and providing even stronger setup for Yusei to win later.

Aaaaand that's that. Somehow, I get the feeling the WRGP had the least things that needed fixing because it also had the least actual character writing. But that might just be me. It's late and I have been writing for A While. But hey, I got out part three faster than part two! I consider that an achievement.

Now, while I get my talking points in order for part four, I hope you'll have fun chewing on this one. See you in the grand finale to my Bird Boy dissertation.

[imtotallyokandnormal]

i saw your doe x metalhead reader and thought it was adorable!! I kinda want to request something of the same regards but instead of metalhead something like more of a soft dressed, sensitive person? 😵‍💫

Oh yes this one will be really cute i can ALREADY tell!! By the way I may make this reader more sensitive than you meant but hopefully I get the amount of sensitivity right!

Reader: gn reader

Warnings: none!

Image link: badabing!

》☆John Doe x Sensitive You!☆《

- When I say John would be head over heels in love with a sensitive person I mean that he will be watching your face constantly just to see every range of emotion you experience every day. Like I'm not joking seeing your expression shift even in the slightest way is so FASCINATING to them like the way your eyes light up in the slightest way makes them giddy.

- He loves the way you seem so emotionally in-tune with yourself, he loves being able to tell what you're feeling. They go out of their way to please you and make sure you're smiling as much as possible.

- Something make you upset? It's dealt with before you even get home (this is possible thanks to His Stalking Tendencies). Whether someone was rude to you or you have a lot of things to do, it will be dealt with by however he deems necessary (maybe involving a bit of messy killing in the process but shhhh don't worry about it).

- OK OK IF YOU CRY EASY- John doesn't find it to be a burden at all so do not worry, they only worry because they hate seeing you upset. The moment they notice you starting to get emotional, while watching a movie or in a social setting or whatever it is, they are immediately hugging you and taking you away from whatever is upsetting you.

- If you don't like physical touch for reassurance he'd be absolutely more than happy to replace it with gift giving (giving you a torn up stuffie he found in a random alleyway to hug) or just getting you away from the situation! He is willing to change his style of affection-giving to suit you (even if he WANTS to tackle you and smother you in love until you can't take it).

- Also not to mention they LOVE your clothing style, he would love you no matter what you wore but he appreciates a softer pallette on you because it matches your gentleness!

- They may or may not steal your clothes either to wear or to gather into a big clothing pile to snuggle in while you're gone. They just like your scent and anything that reminds them of you.

- Also this doesn't just apply if you wear soft feminine clothes, if you wear more masculine or androgynous clothes that could be considered soft he'd love them just as much! (Although I'm just saying, if you own a skirt John will absolutely wear it no question so if you enjoy that thought as much as I do there you go.)

- OH OH ANOTHER IMPORTANT THING! If you need regular reassurance that you are loved and needed? You could not have picked a better person for the job like John THRIVES on telling you how much you are loved and cherished. If for whatever reason you feel they aren't loving you in the way you need they have no problem adjusting (to extreme lengths if needed) to fit your needs.

- What extreme lengths you ask? I mean they have no qualms about changing into an entirely different person for you, appearance and personality-wise. To them, every part of their being is adjustable to serve you.

- Which makes him all the more happy if you tell him you like him just as he is, no change required! After than he's practically smothering you in hugs and kisses and every form of praise under the sun.

- Basically, John Doe is a sweetheart (in their own special weird way) and if you're a sweetheart he absolutely adores you!

[howtofightwrite]

Greek fire was an extraordinary specific weapon found in a particular time and region, naval combat was primarily an afar of rams (in the medaterriaan with its oar powered vessels) and armed roaring ie: getting as close as possible and just swarming onto your opponents boat to fight in melee, with some archery and whatnot. One of the sucesses of the eventual roman navy was perfecting a sort of boarding ramp to quickly put their troops on an enemy ship

Furthermore, in later periods, there are accounts of skirmishes in the atlantic between rival fleets. In which case the fore and aftcastles on the cogs are used as platforms to post archers and men throwing rocks and iron bars down on opponents ships while others boarded (hence why their called castles and elevated). Theres at least one account (I forgot of which battle) in which an English king boarded an enemy ship then abandoned his own as it sunk.

So, free advice, if you want to remain anonymous, you probably should make sure that both asks go through as anon. Though, I'm pretty sure Tumblr's extended ask length would have let you drop both paragraphs into it. Worst case (and I do realize I'm a poster child for looking like I ignore this advice), but when you run into a word (or character) limit, it's usually a good idea to start editing and trimming down the length until the system accepts it in a single pass. Splitting an ask into multiple parts is an excellent way to lose part of a question, or just make sure it never gets answered in the first place. Cut everything you don't absolutely need.

Either way, I'll err on the side of caution and answer the anon response to preserve your privacy.

I thought I made it clear that Greek fire was a much later invention. It's actually a little frustrating, because you'll see poorly researched history articles which will straight up make it sound like Greek fire was used during the Peloponnesian War. Which, yeah, no. A lot of the major Hellenic wars we think of today were around the 5th century BCE, while the invention of Greek Fire was over a thousand years later.

While you were talking about Greek fire in particular, what you said applies to a lotof weapons throughout history. When we're talking about something like the rapier or the claymore, those are weapons from very specific points in time. It's something to think about when you're mixing and matching technologies to create a fantasy world. No weapon exists in a vacuum, and they all develop as responses to the state of warfare around them. This doesn't mean you can't mix and match pieces you like, but it is something to be conscious of.

While it is outside the scope of the original question (because it's a firearm), one of the more amusing weapons from the age of sail were actual gun blades. These would be musket (usually a pistol), with a cutlass blade mounted under the barrel. (There were also examples that mounted an axe head under the barrel.) The intention was to be able to use the firearm during boarding actions and then switch over to using it as a melee weapon rather than reloading. The design was fundamentally flawed, the weight distribution was poor for a blade, and the (relative) mechanical complexity of the early firearms meant those components were too fragile for serious use. But for a couple decades in the 17th century these things saw limited use.

Now, I do need to give serious credit to A Number of Hobbies, who came back with a trio of fantastic reference articles. Naval Combat Strategies from Shadyislepirates.com, Choosing Naval Tactics for Your Pre-Gunpowder World from Mythcreants.com, and The First Punic War: Audacity and Hubris from the U.S. Naval Institute. So, if you're still wanting more information, those are all excellent resources to check.

-Starke

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[green-planets]

Sharing some of my thoughts on Cinderella's Castle because I have no one to talk with irl about it (I'm sure most of my points have already been brought up by other people but whatever!) Dark fantasy is my bread and butter so I'm a little disappointed that I had such mixed feelings after my first watch through.

BE WARNED THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT!!

First thing's first, the set, lighting, PUPPETS, and COSTUMES were gorgeous!! The team knocked it out of the park with the look of the show!

Also the twists on the classic Cinderella story were *chef's kiss* The explanations for why no one could remember Ella's face, how the glass slippers worked, and the Stepmother CHOPPING OFF ELLA'S FEET!?! AND SEWING THEM ONTO PUTRICE'S SKIN SUIT SO SHE COULD WEAR THE SLIPPERS!?!?! Strokes of genius. I applaud the Langs

I wanted to see way more of Sir Hop-A-Lot and Crumb! I think they definitely would have benefitted from having a song with Ella, it would have helped solidify their bond and helped flesh out their characters (tbh Ragweed felt like he had more character than either of them 😭)

The songs were VERY hit or miss for me and I felt like a few of them didn't really match the tone of the show. Ash to Ash was a standout number (Kim absolutely killed it!!)

Bryce was amazing as expected and I'm so so happy she was the lead! Her voice is to die for and she brought so much emotion to the role of Ella

I was surprised the Prince and Tadius didn't get a comedic song. It would have worked so well for the scene where Tadius was announcing the ball! He could have been describing ideal characteristics of a queen to the Prince while the Prince goes off on horny ramblings, Tadius gets more frustrated as the song goes on until he finally throws up his hands in defeat, etc.

That being said, I was not a fan of the majority of the raunchy humor. Almost every line that came from the Prince was so unnecessarily gross. I know that was the whole point and I love James as an actor but the character just was not for me. Maybe I'm getting too old for constant streams of dick and poop jokes. I kinda wished they had stuck with a more serious tone overall

This is definitely a nitpick: the fairy godmother scene was SO GOOD (probably my favorite tbh) but I was SO distracted by the pants (AND THE SHOES STICKING OUT!!!) The costume would have looked more ethereal with a floor length skirt imo (or at least cover up her feet!)

I loved Jeff as the narrator. His interactions with Ragweed were very fun!

I had some issues with the pacing and the ending felt very rushed. Ella's final confrontation with her Stepmother should have been an epic battle but instead we got an exposition dump, a flash of light, and it was over :/ Kind of disappointing for the big climax of the show tbh

This is a criticism I've had with several Starkid musicals (aka Hatchetfield trilogy) where we have a character's friend(s) die horrifically and get very little emotional reaction from said character. So THANK YOU Langs for letting Ella properly mourn Lucy and Justine at the end!!!

I do have a lot more thoughts but they feel like nitpicks and complaints about minor plot holes and such, so I don't know if they're really worth sharing at this time. Anyway, overall I thought Cinderella's Castle was okay. The good parts were REALLY REALLY GOOD but unfortunately there were a lot a bits I personally did not enjoy as much as I'd hoped. I'll try to give it at least a second watch before my digital ticket expires to see if any of my opinions change. If not, I'll wait until the pro-shot comes out next year.

[psychedelic-ink]

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Don't worry, I'm familiar with a range of fandoms. However, to make sure I'm aligned with your interests, please feel free to reach out with any fandom-related questions.

I had a commission post before but decided to make a new one since it's been a while since I ever mentioned I take commissions on this site. I'm going to be moving soon which is why I'm revising my commission post. Reblogs are appreciated and thank you so much in advance! 💜

**Details under the cut!

To request a commission, you can DM me from tumblr or if you have my discord, you can reach me from there as well. You can also commission from fiverr if you wish to do so! Please provide a brief overview of what you want, its requirements, and any specific details you'd like to include.

and if you wish to see examples of commissioned work here it is!

2k-3k words : 35 USD

4k-5k words : 45 USD

6k-7k words : 55 USD

with each 1000 words 5 USD will be added!

+ I’m accepting payment through paypal or you may order from my fiverr! 

I usually require a percentage of the total cost upfront before I start working on your commission. Once the project is complete and you're satisfied with the final result, the remaining payment can be made. Payment methods will be discussed upon commission confirmation.

Absolutely! In the end, this is your story, and the more details the better! Your input is valuable in creating a piece that matches your vision. Feel free to share any themes, ideas, or guidelines you have in mind, and I'll work with you to bring them to life.

Turnaround time depends on the complexity and length of the project. I aim to provide a realistic timeframe when discussing your commission. If you have a specific deadline, please let me know, and I'll do my best to accommodate it.

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Absolutely, you can choose to keep the commissioned work private if you prefer. Alternatively, if you grant permission, I can share the work without disclosing your name. In either case, rest assured that any shared content will be clearly identified as a commissioned piece, upholding transparency

Feel free to reach out through DMs. I'm here to answer any further questions you may have and guide you through the commission process.

[aihoshiino]

Since you haven't yet, could you please tell us your thoughts about the recent interview with Ai? After all, it seems to reveal a lot of interesting things about her.

For those who haven't read it yet, this is referring to the four-page in character interview with Ai that was published in the January 2024 issue of Da Vinci magazine!

Off the bat, it was really interesting to get such a direct and length look at Ai's public persona as it exists in OnK. Ironically enough, despite so much of the series being about people who are unable to get past her 'Ai of B-Komachi' mask, we actually don't get a ton of time spent with it as readers — we mostly see Ai in her private life, with Saitou, Miyako and the twins, where she is considerably more unfiltered and explicitly not on the job and we even get peeks directly into her POV from our perspective as out-of-universe observers. In fact, apart from the Da Vinci interview, the only other time we see Ai 'on the job' to this degree is a really quick exchange she has with a TV presenter just before her first post-hiatus performance. So it was really interesting to chew on!

The thing that stands out to me most from the interview is kind of a confirmation of something I've been saying for a long time — which is that Ai is a lot more honest than a lot of people (both in universe and in the fandom!) give her credit for. A lot of her answers are surprisingly frank and in line with what we know to be her true feelings and her more honest way of expressing herself elsewhere. Don't get me wrong, she's absolutely full of shit in plenty of spots here (EL OH EL ABOUT B-KOMACHI'S 'IRREPLACEABLE BOND') and her answers are still very polished and pretty, but there's a lot more of Ai herself here than I think even she herself would want to acknowledge.

This matches up with how Ai describes herself in 45510 — that, even though she's afraid of opening up, she does want people to know her as she really is and to accept her as such. It's interesting to see that expressed, even indirectly, through the interview like this.

It was also super cool to see a lot of my more incidental headcanons/personal interpretations confirmed! In particular, seeing Ai talk about Kana so warmly got me really excited. I'd always liked to imagine that she felt pretty fondly towards Kana and that she admired her hard work and dedication at such a young age so seeing Ai talking about her so effusively was really cute.

Less sweet was the confirmation that Ai's shitty home life in Ayumi's house stretched way back prior to Ayumi beginning to physically abuse her. Reading Ai calling herself a 'nasty brat' (almost definitely her mom's words) and then talking about her feeling so unwelcome at home that she'd sneak out of the house in the dead of night and wander around near the traintracks, daydreaming about being able to run away… it pains a really horrible image of what growing up in that house must have been like.

Speaking of parents, though… uh, wow, holy shit, Ai's dad! This is the only direct mention of him we've ever gotten and it definitely raises more questions than it answers. Prior to this, he'd been such a non-entity in Ai's life that I just kind of assumed he'd either passed away when she was very young or that he'd never been involved in her life — Ayumi is consistently referred to as her only parent to the point that, once she's out of the picture, Ai's only other option for stable family is, specifically, her mother's relatives. The idea of Ai being cared for by her dad or his side of the family is just never addressed as a possibility, so it's clear that past a certain point he was unable or unwilling to care for her.

The Da Vinci interview does imply she saw him occasionally — she describes their shopping trips as something that 'didn't happen often' — which supports the idea that he and Ayumi divorced or separated when Ai was quite young and he wasn't really involved in her life. It's honestly kind of depressing that he's the center of her happy childhood memory because like… man, it really says something about how abjectly unrelentingly dogshit her life was that "my dad sometimes took me to the grocery store" was happy enough in comparison to everything else in her life that she thought of it as a cherished memory.

Overall, the Da Vinci interview was a really nice surprise! We don't really get a lot of additional info about Ai from that time period specifically — a lot of the new reveals about her as a character tend to come from periods of her life prior to the timeline of the story, so getting a little extra peek into her final days really was a treat.

[misc-obeyme]

This was amusing to me so I feel like sharing it, CC lol I hope you don't mind the newspaper I'm about to print out here :P

So, I've recently read a couple of smut mangas and seen the titles of others while I was at it.

When I first began playing Obey Me in 2019, I thought that the titles of the mangas Levi talked about were crazy and MUST be exaggerated for comical purposes. Even during my #? replay last year I still thought, 'no way the silliness and these long-ass titles are legit in the real world.'

I wasn't curious to delve deeper or research to check whether or not the aspects I deemed to be attempts at comedy were like that in reality, so I ignored it in belief that it's a part of the humour.

Man was I wrong.

Because lo and behold, this many years later I suddenly get image recommendations from mostly smut manga on my dashboard even though I've never interacted with similar posts or accounts before maybe because I used to play 'What in "Hell" is Bad?' or perhaps I was probably just destined to find a silly answer I never looked for. Anyways, I end up liking a portion of what I see and reading the corresponding mangas as a result—only to then make the hilarious discovery that certain titles can indeed be insane in both content (many are as weird as hell) and length (how much longer can one title get?)

After that I wondered why such standards get applied to manga titles and did an immensely brief, fraction-of-a-minute skim on the information: the titles help make the mangas stand out in the saturated market, give readers a sort of 'summary' on what the manga is about, and higher the chances of anime adaptation. There was also something about how title choices will eventually run out since there are so many mangas out there, so longer titles take the cake.

Well...as a writer I thought, 'I could never.' I mean, though I know it's not the same thing at all and this a completely different scenario, I can't so much as imagine choosing for my fics such a lengthy and weird not-in-a-good-way (in my opinion) title.

No offense intended to anyone, of course, but here's the thing: the manga world is a world on its own, with its own themes and norms.

As such, while some titles may be entertaining to read, as writers there are certain things/words that don't tickle our fancy or match our linguistical preferences, so our 'writer side' doesn't deem them satisfying in general or fit for our work in specific, if that makes sense, and we hence can't bear to choose them for or include them in the fics we write. It's almost like I mentally shudder at the thought of titling my writings with a manga-style sentence or a near mini-paragraph lol

I tend to suck at expressing my thoughts, but since you're a writer yourself I suppose you get what I mean, CC?

Now I babbled a lot and announced my belated discovery, I'll see myself out :P

You know quite honestly my favorite thing about those titles is coming up with some whenever I write Levi in a fic. Like it's clearly just for humor and there is no story attached to it, but they can be fun to come up with.

HOWEVER, titles in general are the absolute worst. I find them very difficult because it's like you want something that embodies what the story is about, but you also don't want anything too cheesy? I don't know, I always struggle with the feeling that my titles are cheesy lol.

It's always I either don't come up with anything and post the fic sans title, something comes to me like a bolt of lightning out of the blue, OR I spend untold amounts of time agonizing over it before finally picking a single word.

But I have read about the trend of naming manga with basically an entire sentence. I think it's a little silly to suggest that all the titles will eventually be taken. There are so many words and word combinations in any given language that I think you could have them all be a two word titles and not end up with repeats.

Though this kind of thing tends to be dictated more by the market and how well things sell rather than how much sense they make. If manga publishing companies are seeing a spike in sales due to manga's with a sentence for a title, then they're going to keep on doing that.

Anyway, I think I do understand what you mean! Titles are tricky and if I can avoid coming up with one, I often will lol.