#People as high up as this character were executed because they had power in this position YOU FOOLS | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ilguna · 5 months

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im sorry, i know you are looking for some request from other fandoms, but this one just seemed so perfect :(

from piano sessions, my tears ricochet by taylor swift with finnick?

i promise i will send another request with a different fandom, and it's totally ok if you don't want to write this ❤️ and of course, CONGRATULATIONS!

☼ my tears ricochet (Finnick Odair) ☼

warnings; swearing, death mention.

wc; 2.5k

prompt; Piano Sessions: songfic, my tears ricochet by taylor swift.

—

When you briefly met Commander Paylor in District Two before the Capitol invasion, she struck you as more of a leader than President Coin. Which was odd, considering that Paylor was a textile worker, burdened with the responsibility of organizing rebel attacks.

She’s a polite person to be around, confident in the way she holds herself, speaking with unwavering authority. You didn’t feel the need to lower your voice in her presence, because she wanted to know what you had to say. It was a nice change from where you’d been under Coin in District Thirteen.

There, you felt like if you breathed too loudly, it would get back to her. The amount of times she called you into Command simply because you were badmouthing her to the former residents of District Twelve was a little ridiculous. You aren’t entirely sure who heard you and reported it, or why Coin cared so damn much.

She must’ve assumed that you had an influence on the people, which she was wrong about. The only times you brought up her flaws was when someone else asked you what you thought of her. Oftentimes, it was because they were too afraid to be the one to say it first.

You could see right through her, like a sheet of tracing paper. The steps she’d taken in order to preserve her own self-image were done out of insecurity. She was afraid that if someone rose too high, they’d sweep the power right from underneath her. That’s why she was so willing to let Katniss go into danger.

All she had to do was win the rebellion, and she’d get control over Panem. And once she did, she showed her true colors. You knew the moment she suggested a symbolic Hunger Games that she wasn’t the right person to be in that chair. Even if a few of the others agreed to letting her do that, you knew they were resentful that she wanted to punish the Capitol in the same way they’d punished the districts for seventy-five years.

She missed one important factor, though. There was a reason why you were following behind Katniss Everdeen and not her. You trusted Katniss to make the right choices, and she never failed you. That’s why you knew that she wouldn’t let Coin announce the proposition.

That same evening, Snow’s execution was to take place. Instead, she found herself humiliated, with an arrow through her cold heart. Katniss took out the only evil left in a position of power, knowing full well that she could’ve gotten killed by the rebels for it.

Chaos followed this, an emergency election took place, where Paylor was given the position of President. In the weeks that followed, there was a televised trial, where everyone that was close to Katniss, was called to the stand to give statements on her character.

During this time, you weren’t allowed to go home to visit. You were forced to stay in the Capitol, because they could call for you to speak at any moment. And even worse, they’d placed you in a room with Finnick, because they were still under the assumption that you were together.

You weren’t. You and Finnick had been broken up for at least two and a half weeks, since the day that Boggs had died in the apartment complex courtyard.

The argument wouldn’t come until hours later, when you’d made it several blocks down the street, holed up inside of a different apartment to catch your breath and sort out a plan. After you watched the Peacekeepers destroy the building on live television, announcing you all dead, Finnick said that he wanted to take a walk to get some fresh air.

You went with him, mostly for safety in numbers, but also because you knew he secretly wanted the company. You went halfway around the block without an issue, but when you were about to turn the corner, the armed vehicle pulled up beside you, and the Peacekeepers started flooding out.

As you’d begun to curse the idea, Finnick started talking to the Peacekeepers, calmly, hands raised in the air. He told them that it would be a bad idea to kill you two on the street, because it would alert the others, and they’d run. However, he told them that if they tried to take you two by force, they’d find themselves in the same position.

You were morbidly curious on how Finnick would charm his way out of this one, when you realized that he wasn’t going to. He was giving them the information on how to catch you. He told them that the squad had off-handedly mentioned going into the sewers to evade the Pods. The best way to catch you guys would be, then.

And as long as the Peacekeepers let you two go, and didn’t interfere between the time you got to the apartment and into the sewers, he wouldn’t tell the squad about this encounter. To your surprise, the Peacekeepers agreed, letting you go.

The way back to the apartment was quiet. You were too stunned to say anything, wondering how Finnick had gone from the person to sacrifice himself, to doing the opposite. He knew your silence wasn’t anything good, which is why he told you that he wouldn’t let anything happen to you.

You weren’t upset by that. You weren’t scared that the Capitol was going to throw everything at you to either kill or capture you. You knew that when it came down to it, you’d keep yourself alive. It was the part after, when he told you not to say anything to the squad, did you finally crack.

You broke up with Finnick on the street.

To his credit, he upheld his promise of keeping you safe. The issue is that courtesy wasn’t given to any of the other squad members. Half of them died. Messalla, Jackson, Leeg, Castor and Homes were lost in the sewers. Something that didn’t need to happen, if he’d let you two get taken.

Whether or not he wanted to admit it out loud, Finnick was terrified that the topic would somehow get brought up in court. It was all he ever talked about when he got the chance. That there was a chance that the people you’d trusted for the past year could find out he betrayed them.

And against your better judgement, you told Finnick that what happened with the Peacekeepers would stay between the two of you. If it meant that he would stop worrying about it, you’d never breathe a word. Besides, if it did get out, it would destroy the both of you, not just him.

He’d get it because he’s the one that told the Peacekeepers, and ensured that you all went into the sewers. You would go down because you didn’t say anything about it, despite having a whole hour to do so.

You should never have told him this, because it’s what sparked the idea for his stupid decision in the first place.

Finnick got questioned before you did. It was simple, straight-forward. They wanted to know Katniss’s mindset during your journey through the Capitol, if there was anything out of the ordinary. When he got to the part of the story after Boggs had died and you holed up in the apartment, he tried to completely skip over your walk outside.

The man that was asking the questions, didn’t let this slide. He knew the two of you had taken a walk. You think he was trying to make smalltalk, now that you’re looking back at it. But Finnick must’ve panicked, because he let everything spill, the same way he had when he exposed Snow for the victor prostitution.

The issue is that he spun the story.

Finnick turned the blame around entirely, and he did so effortlessly, as if he’d been rehearsing it for days in a row. He told the court that yes, you had gone on a walk together so he could clear his head. However, a Peacekeeper truck pulled up, and that’s when you talked your way out of getting captured, by offering Katniss up as a sacrifice.

The entire courtroom filled with silence when that word left his mouth. Dozens of pairs of eyes landed on you, but you were looking at Finnick. There was only one word that chanted through your mind, getting louder as the seconds ticked on.

Wrong.

Even the man that was questioning him was confused, asking him to elaborate. That’s when Finnick repeated the events, twisting the truth to put you in the hot seat. You were the one that calmly spoke to them with your hands raised. You were the one that told the Peacekeepers about the sewers. You were the one that threatened Finnick if he spoke about it.

He was the one that broke up with you out of fear.

“Wrong.” You breathed, getting to your feet. “You’re the one that did all of that, Finnick!”

The judge had you removed from the courtroom, while they wrapped up the trial without your statement. You were supposed to go on stand that same day, but they ruled you out, because you were too emotionally unstable to be seen.

Reasonably so, because it was only thirty minutes later, did you realize that the entirety of Panem had just watched Finnick lie straight through his perfectly white teeth. And you’d never get the chance to explain yourself to anybody, because they wouldn’t see you.

Finnick was removed from your mansion bedroom, leaving you here alone. No one saw you for several days on end, except to leave food at your door. You were stuck watching the trial from the television, and it ended yesterday, with the conclusion that Katniss was under so much pressure the day that she killed Coin, that she was deemed not mentally sound.

And of course, you’ve received blame for that, too. If she hadn’t witnessed so many people get murdered in the sewers because of your actions to sell the squad out, she would’ve been able to think straight during the execution. In this situation, you’re the monster, and Finnick has been deemed the hero for coming forward with the truth.

You think that you can come back from this, though. The people around you just need time away, to cool down from the trial. Once it’s been a few months, you’ll come back with a proper explanation, appeal to Paylor, because she’s the level-headed one, after all.

Right now, you want to get home.

There’s a hovercraft waiting in the City Circle for the victors. It’ll be a long trip as you drop off the others on the way to District Four, but you don’t mind. You’ve been craving your bed ever since you got to District Thirteen. It’s been months since you’ve had proper time to relax.

Paylor is waiting in front of the front door with a couple of rebel guards. Once you get close enough, they move to block the way. Your eyes switch between them and her, confused.

“What’s happening?” You ask.

“I regret to inform you that you will not be able to go back to District Four.” Paylor tells you in a measured voice. “There were quite a few complaints regarding your actions, and the general consensus is that they wouldn’t feel safe if you were to arrive in District Four and choose to stay there.”

“They wouldn’t feel safe?” You ask, face contorting. “How many times do I have to tell you that Finnick is the one that told the Peacekeepers about the sewers?”

She closes her eyes. “We have no proof that you weren’t the one that told them. They want to be safe, rather than sorry.”

You side step, trying to see over the guard’s shoulders. You find that Finnick has stepped foot off the hovercraft, standing at the bottom of the ramp, hands in his pockets. You begin to shake your head at him.

“I want to speak to him.” You tell her, ignoring what she’s said. “I want to speak to Finnick before he gets to go home and I don’t.”

“Step back.” She orders you.

You listen to her, watching as she slips through the gap between the guard and the door. She walks down the runway, with Finnick meeting her in the middle. The two of them talk for a brief moment, where it ends with him nodding. Paylor motions to tell the guards to let you through.

They move aside, you go down the steps, heading straight for Finnick. He doesn’t move, allowing you to go to him. Paylor leaves to go back to the mansion, allowing you to speak privately.

“Finnick.” You snap, slamming your hands against his chest, hands gripping on the front of his shirt. You pull him forward. “You set me up. You son of a bitch. They’re not letting me get on!”

Finnick presses his hands to your shoulders, pushing you away. “I know.”

“Tell them you lied.” You shake him. “You don’t have to tell them it was you, just tell them you fucking lied.”

“I’m not.” He tells you. “This is your own fault, (Y/n).”

“How is this my fault?” You demand. “I promised you!”

“You broke up with me.” He’s calm, which is making you agitated. “After I made sure you got out of the sewers safely, you didn’t think to apologize. It was the right move to make.”

“Why would I?” You hiss. “Your actions murdered people.”

He makes a face. “Let go of me.”

“Everything I have is in District Four. My home, my pictures, my belongings. My entire life is there, and you’re the only thing standing in the way of me going. Just tell them you lied, and I’ll leave you alone.”

Finnick pulls your hands off of his shirt. “You have District Two, didn’t Paylor tell you? They said that they’d take you and Gale in.”

Gale, a bitter name in your mouth.

“I don’t belong there, and you know it.” You say.

“It doesn’t have to be there. You can go anywhere you want, (Y/n).”

“Anywhere I want.” You echo, as if it’s a cruel joke, blood boiling. “Just not home.”

“Maybe they’ll let you back sometime in the future.” Finnick begins to back up toward the hovercraft. “I can’t promise you that your house will be there. I heard from Annie that they set it on fire the same night I told them the truth. You’ll be lucky if there’s still ashes.”

“You’re going to regret this, Finnick.” You don’t move from where you stand. “This is going to haunt you for the rest of your life. Each time you look at the other side of the street, it’ll kill you knowing that you did this to me.”

“We’ll see about that.”

this was part of my 3k celebration! thank you anon!!

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centaurianthropology · 1 year

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Why C3E51 worked so well (a DM’s perspective)

I have seen a lot of absolutely bananas critiques of C3E51 (thankfully not nearly as many around here, far more on Reddit, which I should not have visited). And the ongoing theme of those critiques is that Matt should not have imperiled former PCs, and if he brought them in should have either done lengthy side-bars with those characters or let them win the fight against Ludinis and have a chance to take him out themselves, since they’re ‘god tier’ or ‘high level’ and that makes ‘logical sense’. What these critiques really boil down to, IMO, are people who were really invested in the former campaigns upset that their faves didn’t get to do cool things, treating it more like a TV show than a game. But even as a TV show, that would have been disappointing from a narrative perspective. Because even in a TV show, this is a sequel spin-off show, starring new characters. The story is about THEM. And more importantly, the game is about the players and about telling their story.

So let’s break this down from a DM perspective. How do you build a Kobiashi Maru situation for your characters? For those of you who aren’t familiar, the Kobiashi Maru is a Star Trek term for a scenario designed from the jump to be unwinnable (Kirk beat it by creativity, but later admitted that he missed the point of it). In Star Trek this was done to test what a future officer would do if faced with certain failure. In a D&D game it’s a little more complicated. Part of it is to set up the BBEG, put their plan in motion, and set the stage for the next leg of the game. But it’s also to give your players, who are clearly into it, a darkest-hour scenario. Not every player group is going to be into facing down the Kobiashi Maru, and it’s clear from the aforementioned critiques that a lot of them are on Reddit. Power-gamers who always want to win are not going to enjoy this sort of storytelling, but players who are really into RP and working through difficult times and failures will eat this stuff up. And this is absolutely the sort of table playing on Critical Role. There is a level of trust there that can only be built after years of working together, and this was finally the moment when Matt could pay off years of planning and campaign-spanning set-up.

Matt carefully plotted the structure of this episode out to give maximum agency and impact to a party of dramatically under-leveled characters. And they knew going in they were under-leveled. This wasn’t a surprise, but a potential suicide run by people who knew they weren’t the heroes they needed to be, but were the only heroes in the right place at the right time to try anything. So they came up with as good a plan as they could, and executed it fairly well, all things considered.

They knew they couldn’t take on Ludinus directly (and this was a great way to demonstrate exactly how much he had planned and how long, to bring in elements from C2, hints we’ve had for years about Ludinis, only to reveal it went deeper than any of the characters could have imagined), so Matt gave them some winnable objectives. This is a great way to keep the characters invested in an unwinnable scenario: the ultimate outcome may be beyond the characters, barring some insane genius or incredible rolls, but they can still help. They can do something that will have a tangible impact on events and hinder the baddies enough to give them another chance at a rematch and a way to stop the apocalypse when they’re higher level. So Matt gave them the batteries: take out as many as you can. While this would not stop the ritual, I suspect that the more they took out the more Ludinis would have to drain his own power to make the key work, and the longer the process would take. Knocking out the feywild key, as well as multiple power sources turned what would have been an instantaneous event if they had done nothing into a more drawn-out affair which, I suspect, could be stopped or even reversed. It gave them a window to come back and demand a rematch.

Then we have the high-level PC allies, and how to play with those sorts of characters without pulling focus from the PCs. Matt handled this very well, by having the players roll for their former PCs, taking the specifics of their actions out of his hands and letting the dice of the former players decide. He also revealed that Keyleth’s involvement, and baiting Vax with Otohan’s permadeath poison, was key to Ludinis’ ritual, which was why she couldn’t just dive in and clean everything up. But again, because of this story, it ties less back to Keyleth and more back to Orym. That was the point of the attack on Zephrah, to get her attention by getting her to look into who did it and then coming to get some payback, but the little guy on the ground has always been caught in the middle. Orym has been Ludinis’ unwitting pawn from the off, his family’s deaths merely a means to an end, and that is vicious and amazing set-up for character growth for him.

Beau and Caleb had to be there by the logic of the story. It didn’t make sense that Caleb would sit out a world-ending event orchestrated by a Cerberus Assembly member after spending years trying to take them down. Beau would obviously go with him. It also made sense that they would be the only two there, because they were scouting when Ryn got taken down, and after that were trying to keep a low profile. Shit accelerated too fast for them to call in reinforcements.

Which is the in-story reason for them to be there, but isolated and vulnerable, making them useful allies and wildcards (who likely could have been more useful if ultimately failing as well, but failed early thanks to Liam and Marisha’s rolls). But they were still outmatched. I have no idea what the challenge rating of Otohan, Leliana, and Ludinis are, but we know Otohan was considered ‘beatable’ back in Bassuras. That indicates she’s the lowest CR, particularly with the glowing weak-spot on her back. But she can still wreck a level-20 PC if she gets the jump on her, which she did. And that meant that she remained a massive threat. Caleb and Beau were playing it smart, keeping to the shadows, but still got caught by Leliana. Between dice rolls, careful planning, and some great enemy design, Matt really set up a team that could take on high-level players and win. And he made it clear that Ludinis did not leave this to chance. He has the best people he could muster after 1000 years of planning. Nothing short of a miracle could have truly stopped them.

Which is why we cut back to Bells Hells. Because ultimately this particular story isn’t about Keyleth or Vax or Caleb or Beau or any other former PCs. This is about the current party being caught up in events much larger than them and having to rise to the occasion. This is the story of the schmucks sent in to take out the batteries, but who have personal beef with the big bads. Ludinis orchestrated the plan to attack Zephrah to bait Keyleth and draw out Vax, and Otohan carried it out. And he used Orym as a pawn throughout all of it. This makes taking them down, but especially taking Otohan down, the cornerstone of Orym’s personal quest. Letting an NPC take her down would be taking away a critical part of his motivation and goals, which is an absolute no-no for a DM. NEVER bring in a god-tier NPC and take away player agency or story beats. Especially never have them resolve important player goals and backstory events! Every NPC, even the powerful ones, are there to support the story the players are telling. So of course Keyleth wasn’t going to take out Otohan. Of course she wasn’t going to stop the ritual. Beau and Caleb might have been able to do something more if Liam and Marisha hadn’t rolled so badly for them, but ultimately, they had to get caught or fail in another way.

For the sake of gameplay, Bell’s Hells had to be the only functional team. They had to be the ants that were beneath Ludinis’ notice long enough to really accomplish something. And as much as it feels like they failed, they had minor victories: Laudna and Ashton took out more batteries, making Ludinis drain his own power to kick off the apocalypse. They only failed to take out Otohan’s backpack by 2 HP, which showed them that she was an achievable goal in the future. If they had rolled a little better, they probably could have taken her out entirely, which would have felt like a big accomplishment for them. Imogen made her mother pause in her assault before doubling down. This leaves open very interesting future beats for their interactions. Can she ultimately redeem her mother or would she have to take her out? Every step that Matt set up in this episode, from the reveals about Ludinis’ plans and Orym’s past, to Imogen’s interactions with her mother, to Chetney and likely Ashton finding themselves staring down their own backstories after the party split, was focused on this party, on getting them ready to step out of low-level play and advance.

And that’s the point of E51. It’s not a climax of the story, but the ultimate set-up. It’s putting all the pieces onto the board in a way that all the characters can now recognize. Yes, unless the players came up with something genius, the apocalypse was going to kick off, but their actions slowed everything down to a place where it could be combatted. Yes, the god-tier former PCs were always going to get neutered, because this is Bells Hells’ story, and you cannot have NPCs fix PC problems. They might have been able to do a little more before this happened, but the dice rolled.

And it’s honestly good for the PCs how things turned out. They have a clear objective, but are split up. This gives them great incentive to level up, explore character backstory, deal with their personal shit, get stronger, and then come back to kick the asses of all three of these villains (or possibly redeem one, we’ll see). Their powerful allies are now temporarily side-lined. Keyleth is badly hurt and will need time to recover. Caleb is collared and will need time to get that removed. Beau is likely up and moving now, but will need to safeguard Caleb for a while.

The Bells Hells are on their own. The Darkest Hour has come, and it’s time for them to rise up and go from nobodies to heroes. This is their true call to adventure. And as a DM, it was so cool seeing how Matt set up all the pieces over the campaign, only to pay them out in such a satisfying and motivating way in this episode.

#Critical Role #Critical Role spoilers #I really liked this episode #both as storytelling #and in terms of structure #this is how you do long-term setup #and payoff for a villain #he had planned for everything #but this annoying party of gnats muching up his works #and the gnats are going to be what takes him down #that is such a good way to let a low-level party get set up to take on a high-level villain!!#anyway #this is to combat some of the negativity I've seen toward this episode

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mysteria157 · 3 months

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Chapter 8

Pairing: Nanami Kento x Black Fem Reader

Word Count: ~6.8k

CW: Profanity, mentions of mental health (anxiety), pregnancy complications

Summary: You deal with the fallout. An unexpected visitor puts your life in jeopardy. Nanami tries to pick up the pieces.

Notes: Hi! I have a habit of writing long chapters. That’s just what works for me and helps my pacing for this story. Reblogs, likes, or comments are always appreciated but not necessary <3 I hope you enjoy reading!

Divider: @cafekitsune

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It Had To Be You Masterlist

He was livid, body seething with rage as he paced back and forth in his office.

It made sense to reduce workforce and implement layoffs, that much he had known. He also knew you were someone who would take that in stride. It was just business, this happened to corporations all the time.

He never thought you of all people would be part of those layoffs. For what reason? You were marvelous at your job.

Something had happened. The hurt in your eyes was more than enough to show that.

He had an inkling of who it could have been.

Jin Itadori would never. He was truly his son’s father, capable of running a cut-throat business but never harboring a malicious bone in his body. So it had to have been someone else on the board of higherups.

Maybe it was Gakuganji. An old man that always hung in the background during board meetings, face leathery and eyes low and set in stone as he barely communicated but executed the harshest decisions through others. Gojo despised him. Nanami always held a high regard for rules and authority but the board were filled with people that made his skin crawl.

Especially Gakuganji. It could have been him.

Or Mahito. He was new and far too young for the amount of power he had but capable of devious things that would upset you.

The thought of what could have happened, if Mahito was in the room, made his stomach churn.

You weren’t answering his calls or texts as the first hour of you walking out of his office had neared his mark.

He was familiar with your anger, knew the way your eyebrows pinched together in frustration like the back of his hand. It had only taken him that first week when he met you, but he could detect the slight agitation in your voice when it clipped the edges of your sentences. From every glare you had sent his way, every snide remark, every smirk of dominance when you had caught him on his toes, he knew you.

But the look on your face as you tried to yank his door open, eyes filled with tears, voice tight and heavy with disappointment, he felt something he was still trying to put together.

A strange sense of protection, to find whoever was responsible for making you less jovial, less determined, less willing to laugh into the air like he was used to.

Gojo had waltzed into his office only minutes after you stormed out, determined to spend the rest of his day teasing Nanami before he saw the look on his friend’s face. Nanami, while normally not a very outspoken man, had told Gojo the entire conversation, barely containing the rage in his voice.

Gojo had placated him briefly, before disappearing to find Omelia because he knew the minute she got wind of what happened, she would burn the place to the ground with everyone inside.

Still no response from you, his latest message simply left on read. It made him growl softly under his breath as he shoved his phone back into his pocket.

He was trying.

Nanami was rarely wrong, especially when it came to his work and the character of others. But he was wrong about you to a degree that made him nervous to be around you. And a little ashamed. He had belittled you to the point of despair, highlighting your weakness of wanting to prove yourself to others. If it were anyone else, they would have regarded Nanami as a stiff rod that was unwilling to bend and would simply keep their distance, never thinking more about his disagreeing nature and simply moving on to something else that didn’t involve him.

To others, his behavior may have even been a small lesson to not pry where things were doing just fine. To not rock the boat if the waters were already steady.

But not you.

He could tell there was something deeper when it came to you.

You worked hard to make yourself be seen and despite what he may have told you, your work was exemplary. And yet the very company you gave your all for had walked over you and kept you stagnant.

It was your courage, your intelligence, your ability to never stop until others saw reason, always pushing, always challenging. It was maddening to him, but he couldn’t imagine anyone else pushing back against the system and showing people like Yuji to never fall into step with others if there was no need to.

His reasoning for keeping you away had begun to crumble the minute he met you, slipping through the cracks of the wall he had pushed out to others who walked into his office with the same mentality time and time again and always having an ulterior motive.

The moment you snapped at him in his office during the summit, asserting your dominance and sneering at him, he knew that you would be in his mind forever. Pestering, pushing, worming your way into every decision he usually made in the office even when you were 4 hours away in Sendai.

But he caused you all of this pain and for what? Because he was embarrassed, and he had let his kindness with others get the better of him? Allowed just one person to take advantage and steal the hard work of the pink-haired boy that looked up to him? He couldn’t bear to see Yuji so upset again, couldn’t bear to acknowledge the guilt of letting his guard down.

He knew you were different.

Nanami rarely entertained the thoughts of others but you oozed intelligence and beauty in a way that made the entire office incline their heads towards you, always wanting to listen. Back then, he had hated so much of the situation the universe had put him in. He hated how much you challenged him, hated the way the sound of your laugh made his skin prickle when Gojo told you a harmless joke, hated the way your unusual curls escaped the frame of your professional bun when you were walking down a hall. He hated how attracted he was to you. If it were anyone else, he could have thrown an offhand comment about staying in their place and be none the wiser.

But it had to be you. It had to be someone that pulled him in and reciprocated the intense lust he had failed to keep under control with his snide remarks. It had to be you that he fell into bed with. Of all the people he had slept with, double layered with birth control and a condom, youwere the one who got the rotten luck.

It had to be you.

And he had gone too far, said something to you that he didn’t mean and felt the sting of your hand on his face before letting him know sadly that he would be a father.

Haibara had talked some sense in him, made him feel small and pathetic, and he deserved every bit of it. If his mother knew any other details, she would pull him by his ear, drag him to your doorstep and then tear through him with words that would probably make him afraid to leave his own house.

So when he finally swallowed his pride and guilt, when he finally admitted to himself that he had overstepped, he vowed to make it right with you. Especially with a baby on the way.

You were worth it. In every way, were you worth it.

He just needed you to pick up the phone.

The commotion from outside his door made him pause, one voice hushed and the other seething.

“Ome, he’s in a meeting. Come on!” Gojo sounded desperate, his voice serious for once.

“Lie to me again Gojo and I’ll really choke you out. Get out of my way you blue eyed albino fucker, I swear to god I’ll beat the shit out of you.”

She was livid. He should have known it was coming. And the minute his office door opened, and she twisted at Gojo’s hand to make him move, Nanami immediately prayed that someone above was listening.

Gojo whimpered, pulling away from her to grip his hand, his eyes pained even if they held a tinge of lust to them.

Why did he have to be such a freak?

Nanami opened his mouth to speak.

“Omelia, you don’t need to hurt him—”

She whipped her face from Gojo to glare at the source of words. Her silver eyes were shining, an odd contrast against her chocolate skin that made her seem almost alien.

“I’m sorry? I don’t recall saying you could speak.” Nanami tried to protest and her eyes flared again. “Shut. Up.” Her shoulders were moving deeply with her heavy breaths, her body radiating a protective anger that a mother would have for her child.

“I’m not going go into detail and try to placate you and ask ‘oh my what happened?’ or ‘I wonder who could have done this?’ Because none of that matters. Whether you were indirectly responsible or not, you still hold some fault. You disregarded her ideas at every opportunity and in every meeting. Did you honestly not think the higherups wouldn’t be paying attention??”

“I didn’t—”

“I said shut up!”

Her raspy voice cracked on the edges, the timbre making even Gojo widen his eyes slightly in shock.

“Y/n has worked so fucking hard. She’s spent years at this company doing what she could to make things better and she’s fucking good at it. She’s spent her entire life being told that she holds no value unless she’s the best at what she does. But she adored you, thought that if anyone could see just how hard she was working…if anyone could give her the experience she needed to make something of herself, it would be you. To her, you were the best at what you did. Asked the best questions, fostered the most intense conversations, compiled the most detailed reports. She always had a little crush on you. Clearly, I don’t see it, but go off I guess.”

She pulled in a large breath, her anger slowly receding, giving way to exhaustion.

“Gojo told me why you act the way you do. He told me about what happened to Yuji and I understand your response, truly I do. But y/n was different, and even you can’t deny that.”

Nanami swallowed, a large bulge of bile sliding back down his throat and sitting uncomfortably in his belly.

“She may not directly blame you, but she might realize that even your actions put her on the radar of the higherups. And they used her skills one last time, took what they needed, and then tossed her away. That’s going to hurt her, and she’s going to blame you and everyone for a very long time. That last time you hurt her; I gave you a chance because I knew it was the right thing to do. But not this time.”

She pointed a finger in his direction, her relaxed gaze beginning to boil over with rage again, silver eyes gleaming.

“Do you want to be in her life?”

“I do.” He answered it before she could even finish, his tone resolute and without question. She studied him sternly, picking at his skin with her gaze, tearing through the cracks and staring right into the guts. “Please understand that I do.”

“I don’t need to understand shit. She does. She has one parent in her life and that person could hardly be called a mother. I don’t want her child to only have one parent as well. That’s the only reason I’m talking to you. I’m not interfering anymore. You’re going to work for it Nanami. In every sense of the word. I don’t care how long it takes. I don’t care who you need to call, what you have to do or say. Grovel if you have to. Get down on your hands and knees and show her that you’re worth it. Fix. This. Now.”

Even Gojo swallowed loudly, his tall body glued in the crevices of his chair. Nanami hadn’t given away any other expression, but internally his blood was ice cold. Omelia was a force to be reckoned with.

“I will. I promise, I will.”

Omelia lowered her finger, her face still angry but her eyes seeming to accept his response.

“And if you ever. Ever. Hurt her again, there won’t be a place you’ll be able to hide. It wont take me long to find you. I’ll do whatever I can to protect her and I’ll make sure that you will have wished you never spoken to her in the first place.”

Nanami didn’t respond, his shoulders stiff, stomach coiling in unease and a slight twinge of fear through the overwhelming mass of respect that he held for the woman in front of him. You seemed to only attract people around you who radiated confidence, intelligence, and protection without even knowing it. A kind and hard working person surrounded by equally hard working people who saw your worth and personality and would do anything to keep it from being damaged.

His actions only made him feel more and more like a fool.

Omelia didn’t offer anything else, choosing instead to smooth down her grey dress before turning around and walking briskly from the room, the office door shutting closed behind her.

Everything was quiet for a few moments, Nanami still rooted to the floor, head throbbing in guilt and despair.

Gojo was still in his chair, hands on the armrests and clutching the wood before he sighed (forlornly?) and sagged into the seat.

“God she’s fucking amazing isn’t she Nanamin?”

“Get out.”

It took two weeks and hitting your 14th week to finally grow tired of Ome’s hovering. She was the best of course, in every sense of the word. But she was constantly doting; making sure you were eating, going on walks to get you out of the house, staying late with you so you wouldn’t feel so alone.

But after a while, you needed some peace and going to Yoyogi to be with Rory who was quiet and unimposing was the best choice.

It wasn’t as if you were unhappy with the attention. If anything, it made you feel warm to see messages from everyone.

Satoru Gojo: Is Ome there? Show her this meme and describe her face in detail as she reads it. Oh and yes, hello. I miss you, how is my godchild?

1 New Voicemail: Yuji Itadori

Yuji Itadori: Y/n! I left you a voicemail to tell you all about my day so you can rest! I miss you! Nanamin is more quiet than usual but he swears I don’t notice.

Geto Suguru: Hope you’re doing well. I mailed you some goodies that I hope you’ll like :)

Ieiri Shoko: Hi sweetie! I miss you! Nanami wont stop moping, would you like me to key his car? I need something to do.

Kento Nanami: My messages are going through so I know you have yet to block me. Please call me.

Kento Nanami: At least make sure you’re eating enough protein. And monitor your calcium, its low in the second trimester.

“It may be best if you just answer him, honey.”

It was the second time Rory had muttered the sentence in your ear that afternoon as he hovered over you in the studio.

“My hands are a little busy actually.”

And they were, helping a child smooth the edges of clay on her small pottery wheel. It wasn’t as fast as a more ideal piece of equipment. But it was still a wheel built for children and beginners. The girl held her wet hands beneath yours, using them as a guide to fashion what should have been a cup but may just be a bowl at this point. She had to have been no older than three, maybe even four, but her personality made her years older. Dark brown hair pulled up in a high ponytail, hazel eyes filled with wonder and curiosity, and never ending with questions.

Being in Rory’s studio took your mind off things, made you feel just a little more important to someone. You had offered to help him with a few classes just to keep your mind busy.

And if that was in the eyes of children in their beginners throwing class then you would take it. Being able to watch them use their imagination gave you a pry into their minds just a little, made you feel like you could see your own child doing the same.

“You never let me do it on my own!” She protested softly even though her eyes were focused on the clay in front of her, eyebrows pinched.

“You smushed the last one when I left you alone, Aiko. If you want this to be a cup then you should let me help you.”

She grumbled beneath her breath, a small but serious noise that made you chuckle against her back.

“At least let me control one side.”

You conceded quietly, removing one of your hands from hers and watching with a small amount of joy as she smiled.

Your phone buzzed again, pushing a grimace on your face.

“You should answer that.” Her voice was matter of fact, face still focused on your work. “Is it your boyfriend?”

“Absolutely not.”

“You guys fighting? When Mommy is mad at Daddy, he gets really sad. Uncle Ken always teases him about it.” You hummed against her, content to let her ramble as you brought a wooden rib to the side of her cup (bowl?). “Daddy always teases Uncle Ken though, he’s got a crush on someone. Wont tell me who it is but I guess she’s pretty. Uncle Ken is always talking about her, its pretty funny—”

“Aiko, please let Miss l/n rest.” The familiar voice of Yu Haibara echoed over your shoulder before he walked to sit in an empty chair across from you both. He was a familiar face the past week of bringing his daughter to lessons. He smiled up at you softly, bright eyes slightly weary from a long day of work. “I apologize. She loves her Uncle Ken far more than me. Though I cant blame her.”

“That’s not true, Daddy. I love you both. But Uncle Ken tells the best jokes.”

She pulled her hands away, letting you run a wet sponge along the sides to remoisten before moving her hands back. Your phone buzzed again and Aiko chuckled.

“Nanami usually isn’t persistent in anyone unless they are important to him.”

Your gaze darted up to his, eyes wide and surprised. He only reflected a small sense of mirth, eyes happy if a little concerned. Even though he was playing along, his gaze held a firm sense of seriousness that even his daughter couldn’t detect. You offered him a small smile to placate him before looking back down at your current task.

“You know him?”

“I do. Little over 15 years. He tells me everything, if you can believe that.”

You couldn’t.

“And I suppose you’re here to defend his honor?” You guided Aiko’s hand along the curve of the clay, smiling at her amazement as it gave under the pressure.

“Not really. He knows what he needs to do. He deserves your wrath more than anything.”

You took a slow breath, the anxiety spiking in your body, smoothing along your veins and once again wreaking havoc on your life. You were mad at everyone. Nanami, Jin, the entire company you poured your life to, your fucking self. And it was doing nothing but making you worry more, sweat randomly with the thought of ‘what do I do now?’ You felt worthless, so absolutely worthless and you knew deep down it was your upbringing.

But it didn’t make the thoughts and emotions go away.

It only made everything too intense, too stressful, too fucking loud.

You own mother had yet to know about your recent change in employment and once she found out it would probably be the only conversation you both had with each other in a while.

“Miss l/n, your hands are shaking!”

Her voice pulled you out of your thoughts and back down to your hands that were trembling minutely and cradling Aiko’s. You steadied them, offering a small smile behind her that she couldn’t see.

“He won’t tell me what’s going on, but Gojo has been heavily involved and I barely see him willingly help anyone. Nanami hardly respects him so this speaks volumes. Whatever happened…I hope you forgive him. He asked me to join him for a run this morning and I almost smacked him. He knows that I hate running so I imagine the delirium has set in.”

That pulled a chuckle from you, earning an equally charming smile from Yu as well. He was a kind man, truly incapable of any evil. And to have a child like Aiko, definitely spoke to his character.

“How have you two been friends for this long?” You came to a stop with Aiko’s creation, using a wire to cut along the bottom and slide the cup onto a slab for drying. Aiko hopped up to wash her hands, disappearing from you both.

Yu smiled, watching you idly clean.

“It’s always been hard to explain. But I think we just pushed each other growing up and once his little wall of seriousness fell around me, I saw him for who he really was. And he’s a really good man that not a lot of people deserve. A man that took his own personal ideals too far and hurt you in the process. I’m no person who will rush anyone. But…I think he’d like to talk to you if you let him. Plus I want to see him grovel, it will make great memories.”

Aiko rushed back just in time, prompting her father to pull her into his lap before he kissed her cheek.

In the back of your mind you knew Yu was right and you were talking with Rory about it on the drive home until you fell silent completely, a familiar and unwelcome car parked in your uncle’s driveway.

She never came to visit. Not even for holidays or even her brother’s birthday.

But your mother’s silver Sedan was unmistakable through the car window, her own stiff form leaning against it.

“Do you want to stay in the car?” Rory’s voice was calm even though your heart was soaring in your chest, reawakening anxiety you had been battling since you’d been laid off. You shook your head, choosing to step out with him, the cold air hitting your cheeks as your mother’s icy stare hit you both.

“What are you doing here, Naveah?”

You mother scoffed, short dark curls bouncing in the air as she glared at her brother.

“I’ve come to take my daughter home. Clearly I care more about her wellbeing than you.”

You felt you heart roll in your chest, a sense of unease brushing under your skin, an odd tightening in your lower abdomen.

“Mom, I’m fine here—”

“I heard you were fired. And I won’t let my only child be unemployed and endanger her future and embarrass herself any longer.”

The pain from her words were sharp, biting and cutting at your stomach and pulling an odd lurch of pain that made you startle slightly. Her gaze was cold, distant as always, her words only thinking of herself and coated in a thin layer of false care.

“Mom. That’s enough. I’m a grown woman, I have a baby on the way and I can make my own decisions.”

“Clearly not since you’ve managed to waste years of hard work with nothing more than a lousy severance pay and a baby from a coworker you hardly know.”

The sharp pain returned again, harder and forcing you to cradle your stomach, right beneath the small bump of what was 14 weeks of growing life. You shook out a shaky breath, Rory and your mother’s arguing falling into the background. The anxiety was incessant now, squeezing at your throat. You swallowed harshly and glared at her.

“Mom that’s enough. You need to leave. I’ll make my own decisions. Live the life I want. Do what I want to do.” You shook out another uneasy breath, Rory’s eyes filling with alarm as he studied you. “Please go.”

“And do what? Sit back and watch as the only one in this family who has shown promise will resign herself to playing with mud and paint?!” Another stab, sharp again coupled with an odd pulling sensation along what felt like your uterus making itself known even more. Your heart was racing in your chest, pumping stress and anxiety throughout your body, your neck breaking into a sweat. “Years of disappointment! For once, do something you’re good at and make it worth—”

“Stop it!” The yell was harsh and cruel as it shouted from your throat. Both of your hands cradling the small bump of your baby. Barely enough to raise skin, but enough for you to notice. “You need to—” You doubled over, wincing harshly and pulling into yourself as another sharp stab hit your stomach. Rory was by you in an instant, holding you close and asking questions you couldn’t hear through the pounding in your ears. You opened your mouth to speak again before shaking out a cry instead, the pavement touching your knees as you slouched to the ground.

“I’m right here with her Ome. Yes, she’s awake, breathing, everything I promise. By the time you get here by train she will be discharged so please stay in Sendai. I’ll keep you updated.”

The stale lights of your hospital room only made you feel like a fish out of water.

As soon as Rory cussed out his sister and threatened to call the cops so she could leave, you both made it to the hospital and he guided you inside where you were whisked away to be poked and prodded. People staring too hard at your skin, pulling at your hair as if it were an accident, disregarding your pain level because you looked different and therefore felt pain differently.

You were barely holding on, wanting so bad to go home and cry into your pillows. Rory was doing his best, practically tearing down the door from the waiting room to get back to you and not leaving your side ever since.

But there was something missing that you couldn’t quite place, and not knowing what that was only made you more uneasy.

You had denied painkillers, their treatment of you had completely evaporated your trust and made you overprotective of the baby. But the more the stress rose in you, the more you doubled over in pain, scared and edgy and desperately seeking for someone to just hold you. Rory had done it all night but it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t what you wanted.

“Let me through or I’ll tear this waiting room apart.”

Just the sound of his voice had your heart fluttering to a degree you hadn’t felt in a while. All sense of commotion seemed to stop as you watched him rush into the room. His hair was down again, ungelled and loose around his eyes that were slightly heavy and dark from lack of sleep. The grey hoodie and sweatpants were hastily thrown on, just like the last time he had rushed to you.

“Hi.”

The moment the word left your lips, heavy and cracking, he was by your side immediately, sinking into a chair and pulling it close to you.

“What’s happened?” His hands were hovering, desperately wanting to touch you but afraid of crossing another line. “Tell me. Please.”

You bit your lip, trying so hard to stop the tears from building in your eyes. You wanted so bad to be in control of things. But the constant pain, the fear of not knowing what was happening to your baby, the words from your mother, it was all getting too much and too fast.

“I’m cramping really bad. My mother—well I don’t know but it won’t stop.”

Nanami eyes filled with something you couldn’t place, flickering up to your uncle.

“Have they not given her something for the pain?”

You shook out a sigh, shaking your head and pulling his attention back to you. The stinging in your eyes boiled beneath your skin, your vision blurring against your will.

“I don’t want them to touch me.” He looked confused but didn’t respond. “They keep poking and prodding, telling me that my pain shouldn’t be this high. Pulling at my hair, staring. I cant—I don’t trust them. I’m not a fucking experiment.” You couldn’t stop the tears that spilled over, your last ounce of control slowly beginning to slip from your fingers.

“My baby isn’t an—”

“Hey.” His voice was soft but firm and unrelenting as he took one of your hands in his. They were so much larger than yours but so warm, so very warm and unyielding and grounding you in a moment where you felt like you were drowning. You could feel the slight tremor in his hands from the rage, his eyes filled with a malice that scared even you. He wanted to wreak havoc, find the people responsible and strangle them with his bare hands.

“I won’t let them touch you. I’ll go call Dr. Reynolds and we will go from there okay?” You nodded frantically, uncaring of the tears now as you tried to navigate through your emotions.

Rory interjected, smoothing your curls back before smiling down at you.

“I’ll call her. Stay here with her, Nanami.”

When your uncle was out of the room and the door was closed, the only other sounds were the clock on the wall and the occasional car passing outside the window. Nanami’s hands hadn’t left yours, both clasped around your one, a thumb stroking the outside of your palm. Nanami opened his mouth to speak, full lips hesitating.

“What triggered this?”

You shrugged, taking a small sniff as the tears continued to fall. “I don’t know. My mom just…showed up at my uncle’s house and she—she said from really hurtful things and I think it was the stress. Between her…and being fired…the disappointment in myself…I don’t know. I’m not surprised this is happening to me.”

He squeezed your hand, his eyes flashing with frustration.

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop saying things that do not make sense? I don’t know who your mother is as a person, but she’s made you feel like someone that is not worth anything when that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s going to take a long time for you to want to let me in. I also have no right to ask this of you but I’m begging, please let me be involved more. I can’t bear to have something like this happen again and I’m not there to help you.”

You sniffed pitifully, wiping away your messy face with your free hand before resting your cheek against your pillow, all anxiety leaving as he looked at you with a leveled gaze.

“You’re more levelheaded than Ome in this situation. The smallest hint of discrimination makes her foam at the mouth. I’m sure they would shoot her with a horse tranquillizer.”

He shook out a small puff of air, a small smile curling his lips fractionally at the joke. He hated being so helpless in this situation, hated seeing the tears on your face from fear and pain. He hated the fact that he wasn’t here to snap the necks of whoever stared too hard at you, pulled at your hair in disbelief of the natural curls, intentionally misread your pain scale from some asinine and prehistoric belief that what you felt was vastly different from others. It made him sick to his stomach. But he was here now, content to keep your hand in his and soothe you in whatever way he could. For as long as you would let him.

When Rory returned, it was with a doctor you didn’t recognize, but she held an air to her that made you feel a little better. She had worked extensively with Dr. Reynolds who had forwarded her your chart and was prepared to do whatever she could to make you at ease. You relaxed instantly, sagging into Nanami’s embrace as she administered medicine fit for your pregnancy and doing basic vitals.

“The pain is your body growing to get accustomed to the baby. You uterus is moving and the ligaments surrounding are stretching to accommodate the new addition. It’s uncomfortable, but the cramps are also exacerbated by stress. Too much of it can lead to your placenta detaching and that’s something we have to avoid.”

Nanami was silent at your side, but his presence was rock solid against you, tethering you to him to remain calm.

“I honestly recommend you rest for the next few weeks. No working, no traveling, maybe small walks here and there but I think until the slight discomfort subsides, we want to make sure you are relaxed as much as possible. However, I think tonight you need someone really watching you. I feel like you won’t listen.”

“She won’t,” Rory interjected in agreement, prompting you to glare at him. He rolled his eyes before smiling. “I need to deal with your mother tonight so—”

“I can watch her.”

The shock in your face was hard to ignore but Nanami simply looked down at you with his indifferent stare, eyes firm and leaving no room for argument.

You knew a man like Nanami had taste, but you never expected his apartment to be so nice. A penthouse suite in Nakameguro, enough bedrooms to never have to worry about space, open floor plans with stainless steel appliances, dark wood floors, and walls decorated with art and photography. Every corner held something that made it all feel cozier. His living room had the longest sofa you had ever seen decorated with neutral floor pillows and a rather large throw blanket that was calling your name. His television was large, the center glass table sleek and sharp and perched atop some faux rug that you would tease him about another time. But the most distinct characteristic of his house were the books. Along the wall of his living room was a large bookshelf that was spilling with them.

Another corner held a small bar, a decanter filled with whiskey, crystal glasses clean and upside down to avoid dust, a few shelves of expensive liquor underneath. A small table next to the bar held a well used record player, a small bookshelf next to it housing different vinyl that you would tell yourself to look at later.

You wandered to his bookshelf, running your fingers through different works that even you were shocked to see. Every genre from crime to romance to science fiction. The pages were well worn, bent at the corners and slightly used.

Your gaze slid over to his television, long and polished, a flash of DVDs peeking from underneath it in the entertainment center. They all were basic movies, something most people watch all the time, but you never would have expected Nanami of all people to have a physical copy.

Your eyes widened as they fell on a few collections.

“Jersey Shore?” You didn’t bother to hold back the incredulous tone, turning to look at him as he poured you a glass of water from his large kitchen. The room was dark but the light from his open fridge cast an odd shadow that highlighted his sharp cheekbones.

“You watched Jersey Shore??”

“I watch Jersey Shore.”

The forwardness to acknowledge such a trivial piece of information had your mouth open and gaping. He lifted an amused eyebrow at you as he walked across the room, set the glass of water on the center table and then placed his warm hands on your upper shoulders before guiding you slowly down to the couch, handling you with care as if you were glass. You rolled your eyes but didn’t tell him to stop.

“You like reality tv?”

He slid off your shoes, silently pulling your legs onto the couch and then reaching over to hand you the glass of water.

“I do. Why do you look shocked?”

“You know why I look shocked.”

You chuckled around the rim of the clear glass cup, sipping silently and letting the cold water sliding down your throat soothe your nerves. The nerves of being in such an odd situation with him; high up in Nakameguro with the father of your child in his very expensive and large apartment.

“I’m sure Jersey Shore was too much for you. There’s much better reality tv.” He lifted an eyebrow in challenge, blonde locks falling in front of his eyes and shooting you a gaze that made your skin tingle. “The Real Housewives?”

“Seen them.”

“Even Salt Lake City?”

“Definitely Salt Lake City.”

You couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled from your throat, watching him with a small smile as he brought the throw blanket to you, smoothing it over your legs and casting them in soft warmth.

“What about the Kardashians?”

He hummed, narrowing his eyes to himself as he thought it over.

“Seen that as well. Even the two seasons from their new show.”

“There’s three seasons.” That seemed to catch him off guard, his brown eyes filling with curiosity as he turned his gaze to you. “You wanna watch?”

He reclined against the sofa, letting his head fall back before it lulled over to look at you. His gaze was sharp, intense eyes prying deep inside and seeing something that seemed to make him smile just a little. Such a small action, but enough to make you boil over in emotion.

“Would you like popcorn?”

You watched him silently as he worked in the kitchen, pulling out a box of already opened butter popcorn and then popping it in his microwave. He moved around with an elegance that you saw all the time at the office, eyes sharp and unrelenting and free of his glasses, hands large and fluid as he set the timer and fished for a large bowl. It felt odd, feeling the sense of normalcy wash over you as you observed across the room, suddenly imagining a little girl perched on his marble countertop, dark curls frizzy as he made her a late night snack.

It made your heart pound suddenly, lurching you out of your thoughts and choosing instead to smile at him as he sat back down next to you. He seemed to catch something in your gaze as he placed a warm hand on your blanket covered leg, rubbing softly.

“Are you okay? Comfortable?”

You could only nod in reply, blinking away the wetness in your eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, pausing only for a second.

“I know that you’re upset with what happened. You have every reason to be. But I want you to know that I’m going to fix this. I’ve done enough for the sake of my own pride and I don’t want to hurt you again. I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t show you and our child that you can trust me. I don’t like that you hate me.”

You pursed your lips, running your fingers along the edge of the metal bowl filled with popcorn as you fought back yet another bought of tears. Everything felt too real all of a sudden and even though you wanted to be vulnerable, to maybe let him into your life to show him how things affected you, you were just too tired tonight.

But you could give him a small concession.

“I was mad at you. At everyone really. I don’t feel like talking about it tonight. But I…I don’t hate you Nanami.” That seemed to hold something for him as he relaxed into the sofa, resting his cheek against the cushions as he gazed at you. He would make it up to you. He would do whatever he could to prove you that he was someone worth keeping.

“Besides, I’m so curious to see who your favorite Kardashian is.”

The distraction pulled a small chuckle from him, rare and deep that made his chest shake beneath his hoodie.

“Kourtney.”

“Somehow, that makes sense.”

He shook out another laugh, the sound rumbling through the late night air.

94 notes · View notes

opbackgrounds · 8 months

Text

So I finished the live action and have taken a little time to get my thoughts together, and I'm very much of two minds about this show. I don't seem to be quite as high on it as some other people and the parts I didn't like I *really* didn't like, but I think the bones of the show are good and that the problems I had could be improved upon in future seasons.

More detailed thoughts under the cut

I've said all along that the live action will need to carve out its own identity if it wants to survive, that it needed not to copy the source material, but rhyme with it.

I feel like the first four episodes do that best. There was a lot to cover in the East Blue, and the more disconnected, episodic nature of the manga wasn't going to work. The solution was to combine and condense the manga content, and then add a significant B plot with the marines to help tie everything together.

The problem I have is that the addition of the marines takes away too much time from the Straw Hats without adding enough to make it worth it in the end. While backstories and story arcs were rushed to hell for our main crew, everything with Garp slogged, with the final payoff being nonsensical and poorly executed. I get what they were trying to do with Garp, shifting from childish temper tantrums to laughing maniacally, but it just doesn't work. Garp just doesn't work. Which is a shame, because I think that the growth for Koby and Helmeppo had a lot of potential and the actors exceeded my expectations. The material they had to work with just wasn't good enough.

Syrup Villiage worked best for me, because of all the arcs in the manga it was the most dragged out and poorly executed. It benefits from being condensed and leaning into the horror vibe over the generic shonen battle of the original was inspired. Plus, it validated my head canon of Kuro poisoning Kaya, which is always a nice feeling.

But even here, there's a knock-on effect of what came before it. Because Shells Town and Orange Town were cut down so drastically, Zoro's backstory and some of Nami's development were kicked on down the line, making Usopp more of a bystander in the arc where he should have shined the brightest. Later on the Baratie, Sanji's inner turmoil and struggle to follow his dream is reduced down to a "hey, the chore boy offered me a job, I'm gonna bounce".

And for what? So we can spend a painfully long scene of Garp eating a fucking steak?

The show needed its original ten episodes of runtime to let the characters just breathe. The chemistry amongst the crew is great, there are cinematic moments that took my breath away, the soundtrack is fire, the fights were enjoyable, and the set design is fantastic, but the depth of the manga is flattened. In the East Blue, every villain--even the shitty ones--acted as double foils. For example, Captain Morgan's narcissism contrasted with Zoro's willingness to throw away his good name in order to follow his dream, where his more villainous nature foiled Koby's heroism. In the show, Morgan barely counts as a villain, with his more disturbing and evocative acts such as telling his subordinates to shoot themselves (and more chillingly, them willing to do it) are cut out entirely, and it makes Garp's decision to later tie him up to the same post as Zoro seem almost insane.

Of all the arcs, Arlong Park left the worst taste in my mouth, which is so frustrating when it's supposed to be the crown jewel of the season. The changes they made to Nojiko are baffling and the one time I honestly don't understand why a change was made. Nami's backstory, the most powerful in the East Blue, was chopped into pieces and condensed so much that I felt nothing when Bellemere died. Luffy's decision to actually listen to Nami's backstory, while it made sense for this version of the character, went so against the spirit of the original that it took me out of the moment, as well as removing one of the aspects that makes Luffy such a unique character in the first place.

And for what, so the season had time to end with Luffy fighting Garp in a hopeless fight, only for Garp to let him go because "it was all a test"? Bullshit. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. The whole point of the East Blue is to establish the Straw Hat Pirates. They shouldn't be playing second fiddle to anyone, let alone this deranged, poorly written version of Garp.

I said that the bones of the show are good, and I stand by that. The Straw Hats are the Straw Hats. The One Piece world is the One Piece world. I do remain hopeful for improvements should there be a season two, because the marine B plot with Smoker is already in the manga, and the overarching story of Alabasta gives the writers the ability to be more flexible with the limited time that they have. I have to believe that it's easier doing one big story over the course of a season than it is trying to shove 5 origin stories into 8 episodes, but I'm not a TV person so I might be wrong.

However, my concern is that in some ways season one benefited from the pandemic. The series was in pre-production for like 7 years, and all the interviews I've read have credited the extra time the series had in the developmental oven for my favorite aspects of the show--particularly the sets. That's not going to necessarily the case going forward, and my worry is if future seasons aren't given the time to get it right that it's all going to fall apart. At the same time they can't wait too long, because that's not how live action works.

The live action isn't a bad show, but it isn't a good show, either. I'm glad that it exists, even if it's only to point back to the original. I wouldn't be devistated if it were cancelled, but would certainly check out season two should it get renewed.

Just, please. No more Garp. I'm begging Matt Owens and Oda himself, please. Just let the man do cool stuff off screen for a couple seasons, and when he's reintroduced pretend all this never happened. Your show will be better for it, I promise.

#opbackgrounds #opla #live action one piece #sarc talks

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chillwildwave · 10 days

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The Wishing Kingdom Song Rewrite: This Wish

So you guys are pretty curious as to why I’m rewriting some of the songs for my rewrite of Disney’s Wish, well, to put it simple, I personally didn’t mind some of the songs, I liked At All Costs and Knowing What I Know Now, but I eventually wanted to rewrite This Wish, simply because I noticed some problems with it in the first place.

I know the lyrics were a massive letdown due to awkward structures and the way they flowed, this is because it sounds more like a pop song rather than an “I Want” song, we’ve had many songs like these in the past that were able to establish characters but why couldn’t they just do something with Asha? I mean the concept was there but it was the execution that had the final nail in the coffin.

The way I visualise my rewrite of “This Wish” is that it has more of a “God Help The Outcasts” vibe with a some hints of “How Far I’ll Go” and “Reflection” except in this situation as it plays out in the rewrite, Asha is begging to call the power on the stars just because she wants to please everyone and her people just because she gives up easily at magic, so to put it simply, she wants to do better so she can feel like she’s loved by many, including her adapted parents, King Magnifico and Queen Amaya so that she can become the next wish granter before she turns 18, you would see this throughout the rewrite though, I mean, this is where her wish changes as the rewrite progresses cuz character development!

Anyways, let’s get into the song!

Should’ve known that I was capable,

Should’ve known that I was held on to it,

Couldn’t figure out if my hands fumbled,

Or was it all just a mistake,

Can I try again, just one take?

When I try, I think I’m not enough,

If that’s the case then why does it look complicated,

All I did was play my part,

They don’t see it in my heart,

But I don’t know where my story will start…

So I look up at the stars to guide me,

And leave all the dangers in the dust,

Even if they can’t hear me or they find me,

They are the only beings I can trust,

Now I make this wish,

I want something magical than this,

Now I make this wish,

I want something magical than this!

Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah,

Hey yeah, yeah, yeah, ah-ah,

Magical, ooh-ah-ah-ah.

For years, I knew how to work things out,

All the time, I was a thinker without any doubt,

Now I feel like I am trapped inside a cage,

What is wrong with myself?

Is there a way I can escape?

With all these reservations and hesitations on where to go and where to begin,

I’m past dipping my toes in, but Im not, no I’m not past diving in,

If only that my daddy would be right here beside me, he always knew what I should do,

Keep your head high and just believe, the way he always taught me to!

So I look up at the stars to guide me,

And leave all the threats and dangers behind,

I know there will be challenges that find me,

But I can take them on one at a time!

Now I make this wish,

I want something magical than this,

Now I make this wish,

I want something magical than this!

Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah,

Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah-ah,

Magical, ooh, ah-ah-ah.

Now I make this wish,

I want something magical…

Than this!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!

@annymation @uva124 @kstarsarts @oh-shtars @tumblingdownthefoxden @thisnameisnotspokenfor @frogcoven88 @signed-sapphire @wings-of-sapphire @rylxdreams @hopeyarts @dangerousflowerpanda @your-ne1ghbor @rascalentertainments @spectator-zee @mythartist21 @gracebethartacc @gracebeth3604 @lunellasflo @mafik-sun @emillyverse @synergysilhouette

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six-paths-of-jeanmarco · 21 days

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You wanna talk about Reiner, Jean and Marco?

Okay, let's talk about Reiner, Jean and Marco. Buckle up, there's a lot to talk about.

Disclaimer: this is not an anti post to any character or ship, quite the opposite. Read the whole thing before you jump to conclusions, thanks :)

Well, yes and no. First and foremost, the background. Jean and the rest of the cadets, while each had a goal, were training to defend what they thought to be all that was left of the human species. For 100 years, the walls protected them, but they were no longer secure. The military was humanity's last hope of survival. With these unimaginably high stakes always looming over them, the cadets ought to have developed a complex bond that would be very hard to put into words. Let's just say they were something more than just siblings in arms, and you could tell that. Throughout the series, you never get the impression that Jean and the others truly wanted to kill RBA. It also explains why Marco questioned Reiner and Bert about their conversation before he even realized he's made a mistake.

However, we also have to remember this scene. This happened not long after Marco's death. Realistically speaking, I don't see how Jean wouldn't have harboured a healthy amount of hatred in his heart. But it never overcame him because his grief over losing Marco was much stronger than his hatred for those who caused it.

He won't get his answers from Annie, but he could get them from Reiner after they captured him in Shiganshina. He convinced Hange to not execute him due to a mix of the aforementioned bond and his need to understand what truly happened to Marco and what were the shifters' true goals. And of course, because preserving one's life, even an enemy's, is in Jean's nature.

There's so much to unpack here, but first, let's focus on the idea that "the people who killed Marco were the same as Jean himself", which is a false equivalence supported by other false equivalences.

There's RBA's mission to commit straight up genocide against Paradis, and the raid of Liberio or Eren's plan to steal the War Hammer, ensure that the world hates Paradis, and use his friends as his escape route. Sure, the Scouts could have chosen not to aid Eren, let him be captured, lose the Founding Titan, and allow Marley to destroy them once and for all. Not a hard choice at all, right? The only thing that those two events have in common is the fact that the shifters were responsible for almost all of the casualties. In fact, as a commanding officer, Jean did everything in his power to avoid civilian casualties in Liberio. He even failed to kill Falco and Pieck.

Then there's Marco's murder and the clash with the Yeagerists. All I'm going to say about the former at this point is that Reiner had other options to keep Marco from endangering their mission other than killing him. But fundamentally speaking, the two situations share nothing in common. The circumstances that led to them happening, the power dynamics between the parties involved, the stakes, and the context itself makes them practically unrelated. The alliance had to leave the island or the Rumbling would have ended the world. The Yeagerists gave them no choice other than to fight them. Saying that Reiner and Jean are "the same" it's like saying a killer who murdered their victim is just as bad as a survivor who killed their aggressor in self defense. The killer could've chosen not to commit murder, whereas the survivor didn't have a choice. In this case, the world is the victim while the Yeagerists are complicit for interfering with the only people that could stop the Rumbling. Of course, that doesn't mean Jean shouldn't have felt anything after he killed his former comrades, he'd be ooc.

In fact, these aren't just my thoughts. Some of these points are made by Isayama himself:

Notice how Yelena frames the raid as a nation wide attack? Except, that's not what it was at all. The Scouts only attacked the internment zone while Eren and Armin ravaged it and the port of Liberio respectively, two locations in one of the thousands of cities an empire as large as Marley must've had. And they did so to prevent Marley from gaining the means that would've allowed them to destroy Paradis. As for what Reiner and Annie did to the walls and their people, Yelena's accusations are hitting the nail.

These issues are never properly addressed in the following chapters. Instead, they were used to lay the foundations for the "we're the same" fallacious dialogue. Isayama didn't have to throw every single Scout in the same gray soup as the Warriors since they've already proven to be complex characters in the previous arcs. His own writing didn't support it. Imo, that's why he failed in this regard.

The campfire scene is a highlight, that one thing is true. It's extremely important for Jean and Marco's relationship. Marco wasn't just Jean's most significant person throughout the series (aside from his mom), he was also his most significant loss. A wound in his very being.

Not knowing what truly happened to Marco, what were his last moments, was an open wound on its own. When Reiner finally confessed, Jean had the closure he'd thought he'd never get. Now he could start the long process of healing - partially, because such pain never truly goes away. You just learn how to live with it, and Jean already has plenty of experience in that field. I think this is a very powerful message, important too. Grief is not something inherently bad. It's up to you what you do with. You either allow it to consume you, or you hold it tight, you cherish it as a sign that what you had was real, still is real, you let it shape you into a better person, one that understands pain and wishes for no one to have to go through something similar. Jean is the latter, ever the kind-hearted man.

This should have been Jean and Marco's intimate moment, but Reiner intruded on it with his self-pitying babbling. There are lines that mustn't be crossed. That's when Jean snapped and attacked him. He didn't do anything after he learned the truth, just told Reiner to shut up, which he didn't do.

There's a glaring difference between Jean's reaction and what Reiner did after Marco overheard his discussion with Bert, what he did after Marco begged him to talk it over, to talk with him. He executed him like an animal; worse than that, he betrayed him, crushed his soul, denied him any chance of survival, left him behind for the titan to finish the job.

Marco was kind, understanding, supportive, good-natured, bright, forgiving, a true leader worth following. He wanted to serve the king because that's how he thought he could serve his people best (this is clearly inspired by the relationship the people of Japan had with their emperor before he renounced his divine status). Yes, he was also wrong about some things he didn't have the chance to understand as one of the early deaths. But Marco represented something we should all strive to be: a good human being.

On the other hand, Reiner strived to be a hero. Someone who'd wipe out all the devils. Someone driven by selfish ideals that have been shaped by prejudice and hatred. Only a monster would kill someone like Marco. As I said earlier, he had other choices to deal with him. He already broke his legs, so Marco would've been entirely dependent on his help to survive. Reiner could've coerced him to keep quiet or else Bert would kill everyone with his shifter ability, or even force him to aid Annie with gathering intel in the inner walls. Reiner knew Marco wasn't stupid, he would've complied with his demands, if not to save himself, at least to prevent a disaster. And yet, Reiner still chose to murder him, a choice that only a monster could make, a choice that would ruin his mental health, a choice that would turn him into a shell of a man.

If there's one character that is bound to Marco by trauma and guilt, it's Reiner. He was no hero as his story was written with the blood of his many victims. Killing Marco forced Reiner realize he was the monster all along, not the people he was sent to exterminate. Not the people he didn't see as people. His trauma was so egregious because he couldn't face this monster that would murder someone like Marco, - and once he did - because he couldn't stand this monster that was he. Quite ironic to say that Marco symbolizes naivety while the hero that never was was falling apart as the realization of what he did started to kick in. Hard.

Combined with this realization, that choice would make him do the right thing in the end. To me, this was the whole point of Reiner's character arc. To stress the idea that a single choice fueled by hatred has an unmeasurable weight and only leads to unthinkable consequences. It's about doing the right thing after constantly doing the wrong thing. It's about showing that there is no us vs them and that the dehumanization of the Other only leads to mass destruction and self destruction. Change is not impossible as long as you keep moving forward and you give meaning to pain and guilt. Unless you stand for nothing, kill for nothing, and then die for nothing, like Bert did. A literal representation of the quote "Apathy is death". Or end up as self-centered as Annie, to the point where you'll unapologetically say you'd do it all again. Instead of saying you'd try to change your actions. But Reiner did change. He joined forces with Jean and the rest because he was finally able to see them as what they always were: human beings whose lives are just as precious as all the lives in the world. And that his own life might still be worth something. Reiner hurt Jean far too deep to fully reconciliate, but they were no longer divided by hatred.

Take away the impact Marco had on him and you'd do Reiner a great disservice.

Jean could've also chosen to do some things different. He could've returned to the camp and kill Reiner and Annie in their sleep. Cut off their heads and return back to Paradis as a hero, and finally have the quiet life that he wanted, but he didn't. Or he could've stayed in that forest for the rest of his life, to hell with everyone else, but he didn't. It wasn't because Marco's expectations had him on a leash.

Learning the truth about what happened to Marco, learning his final words made him realize that he became a man worth Marco's timely praise. And that man would never let resent, revenge, or retribution turn him into a monster. He is a man that always chooses to do the right thing because he strives against his own demons, and Marco is the person who helps him choose this life.

It's not trauma nor guilt that keeps Jean and Marco connected, it's love, be it platonic or romantic. How can it be anything else? Marco gave him this moment:

And before this, Marco told him he's cut out to be a leader. Marco told him "I'm alive because of you". Marco made him smile for real. Do you know how much of an impact just a few words of encouragement can have on a 15 years old boy with low self esteem and no real purpose in life? He'll never forget them for as long as he lives, especially if they're coming from someone who means a lot to him. How can you take something as meaningful as that and turn it into something ugly? Marco gave him clarity.

Marco's neither a blessing nor a curse. Especially not the latter. This is how Jean remembers him four years after he had found his lifeless corpse:

Of all his fallen comrades, Jean only sees him. This is the face that Jean turns to in his darkest hours. The eyes that look back at Jean are soulful, kind, sincere, comforting. Marco's facial expression is warm and tender. You wouldn't tell this was a 16 years old boy who had died a most gruesome death.

It matters too little they don't have cameras in Paradis, no picture could reproduce Marco's image with as much love as Jean's mind does. And it matters that much when you think about how much symbolism there is in aot. None of this is coincidental at all.

Jean always turns to Marco for hope, for strength, for solace, and to remind himself of his own kindness, that in a world as cruel as that of aot, there's still love and there's still light, if not outside, then within.

Marco's no curse, no blessing, no symbol, he is just a boy whose words and actions had a great impact on those around him, especially on his best friend (and dare I say, soulmate) who misses him dearly. He left his mark on the plot and themes of aot, whether you want to acknowledge that or not.

Edit: Forgot to add this (my drafts are a mess):

I do agree that Jean saving Reiner's life is important. No, they could never go back to being friends. Who'd be friends with their best friend's murderer? I'll say it again, Reiner hurt Jean far too deep for them to ever fully reconciliate. Besides, Jean himself stated that he could never forgive him for what he did. The logic is sadly not logic-ing with this one. But that doesn't mean he cannot see Reiner as a human being. The difference between Reiner and Jean is that Jean always saw everyone as people.

It's important because it shows how far Jean has come. It's important because it shows how much truth was in Marco's words right from the beginning. Jean is humanity's best - not because he is flawless, far from it, but because this flawed man will always find the strenght to do what's right. Because when good men go to war, they don't see sides, not really, they see the horrors of their actions.

In a way, aot is Jean's story. And Reiner's. And Marco's. I still have plenty of criticism for this series, but the web of complex relationships between these three characters is one of the things that Isayama did right.

#jean kirstein #marco bott #reiner braun #jeanmarco #jean kirschtien #jean kirschstein #jean kirschtein #marco bodt #aot #snk #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin

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robinofinashiro · 21 days

Text

"here you, let us through it's a brand-new star! oh, come be the first on your block to meet her eye!"

♡ character: mikey x reader

♡ pronouns used: she / her

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes / if this seems shitty it's because i had some spare time and i wanted to write for my tokrev bois

you looked down to your painted white nails, wondering why you were even being called forward to a dumb gang meeting in the most random hours of the night.

a lot of your gang knew that unless the meeting was urgent and couldn't wait, it wasn't news that they shouldn't go to wake you up.

you lifted your glasses up tiredly, shrugged on your gang jacket, and walked out with your brother.

"if this isn't a life or death situation i'm going to grab the nearest sharp object and start the line of stabbing with you."

your brother laughed as he stood behind you, knowing very well that it was mandatory for him to stand behind you as his father taught him that from at a very young age. being the oldest and as much as your brother hated to admit it, the smartest, he knew it was his job to stand behind you so everyone knew that you were the leader of this very well respected gang.

this was one of your first appearances as your gang's leader, now that your parents had stepped out of place in order to usher in the new generation of members.

not many knew that this gang that had been around for what felt like centuries was now going to be ran by a woman and a part of you loved the idea of shaking these boys to their core when you finally showed your face to them.

all of you were meeting at an abandoned warehouse, one that your people were known to frequent. you let your brother step ahead of you, right alongside with the rest of your members, as you knew that your brother would call you up if any executive decisions needed to be made.

your brother slammed the door opened, making it known to bonten that all of you had arrived. their leader, mikey, smiled as they welcomed all of you in.

"so, it seems as though the gangs from the west side of tokyo have decided to form an alliance in order to take over all of the east and the west. that is not only treading on your territory, but ours as well," mikey stated. your brother nodded, "and your information came from?"

"we had one of our lower ranked members infiltrate their meetings as a new recruit, their motives are to permanently injure you and to make sure i'm away from the city at the time so they can allow themselves to kill or injure both of our members to overtake our ends of the city. they know there's too much risk in killing you and me here in order to achieve what they really want so they're doing it at a slower process than usual in order to gain success without gaining much notice from other allies we have."

your brother clicked his tongue as he processed what ran haitani was saying.

"now if we form an alliance under both of our combined gangs, we will not only remain in power of our territories of tokyo but also gain the small cities they already have control of."

you were tapping your foot on the ground in anticipation as you remained sat on the chair one of your executives had found for you. you were slowly putting together a plan in order to permanently end some of these gangs that were adamant on trying to end your gang's recent success.

"as the leader, we've agreed to the terms of the alliance now it is completely up to you and your members to agree," your brother chuckled, "it is not my final decision to make," he replied as he noticed you finally getting up from your chair.

"are you not the leader of your gang or is this some kind of democracy where everyone gets to vote on it?" mikey asked.

as your brother started to speak, you stood right in front of him, a tired smile on your face as you looked up to bonten's leader mikey and his righthand man, sanzu.

"and this girl is?" sanzu asked, now on high alert. the lights in the warehouse finally turned on as they saw the color of your jacket. it was a bright orange jacket with black lettering as your brother and the rest of your members were wearing black jackets with orange lettering instead, "is she?"

before sanzu could continue, you looked over to mikey, "as their leader and the only one allowed to make final decisions around here, we need to speak individually about the logistics of this deal without the ears of everyone else eavesdropping," mikey's eyes widened in shock.

"i had no clue that the leader of one of the oldest gangs in tokyo was now being led by a woman," your tongue poked the side of your mouth in annoyance, "is there an issue? because the only difference between you and i is that you have dick and i don't but if this is an issue for you and the rest of your team than this 'alliance' is not needed. we can very much handle this situation without outside help."

mikey shook his head in disagreement.

"no issue at all. we can speak individually tomorrow?" you nodded, "we'll meet here at eight tomorrow night. bring your right hand man and my brother and i will meet you here."

you ushered your members to disperse the scene before anyone on the outside got any indication of anything going inside of the warehouse. your brother stood behind you as you gave mikey one final look and left through the metal double doors behind them.

"interesting," rin stated in slight amusement. ran agreed as mikey shook his head, "very interesting indeed."

the night came in quicker than you anticipated. being that you were awake until what felt like sunrise, you were in a bit of a weird mood for not catching your full nine hours of sleep.

your brother knocked on your office door, catching you off guard as you once again put your jacket on and got into the car. you knew that your brtoher and mikey's partner sanzu would be waiting outside of the warehouse building in order to protect the two of you from any potential threats.

the warehouse was very scary looking to any regular civilian who passed it but you grew to like this raggedy building for what it was. the building itself was one of the tallest buildings on the block and you knew it'd be hard for anyone on the outside to eavesdrop onto the conversation due to the thick cement walls.

you commanded your brother to stand in front of the doors, right alongside sanzu, as you walked inside of the building by yourself. you saw mikey's blond hair sitting down on one of the chairs.

"hey!" you said excitedly. mikey did a double take as he did not expect this change in personality, "so, if we go through with this alliance with you and your gang, my remaining question is, how long will it remain for?"

mikey pondered, "it seems as though we're asking the same question," he replied. you laughed as mikey looked at you with a small smile, "it seems as though this alliance can benefit both of our gangs in the long run."

mikey agreed before looking at you, now with a more stern stare, "is there an issue?" you asked, now skeptical of his look, "how about we continue this conversation in a less rundown building?" he asked suddenly

you gave him a slightly bewildered look, "what are you inching towards?" you asked. mikey chuckled as he moved closer to you, "i know this restaurant a few blocks down from here that i'd be happy to take you too in order to continue this conversation."

you let out a laugh as you knew what mikey was hinting at. your father warned you about the possibility of other gang leaders gaining an interest in you in order to gain some kind of power over you but a part of you felt that this wasn't mikey's intention. you felt as though this was coming from a romance standpoint and who were you to fight it?

#tokyo revengers imagine #tokrev imagine #tokrev x reader #tokrev #tokrev x you #mikey sano #mikey sano x reader #mikey sano imagine #manjiro sano imagine #manjiro sano x reader #manjiro sano x you

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itonashi · 1 year

Note

YOURE REO FICS ARE CHEFKISS let me request a fic wehere Reo and reader are in a secret relationship (reader wants to)

SHHH...

[ part 2 ]

pairing: reo mikage x fem!reader

warning: rumors(ig), fluff. idk. not proofread (i hate reading things that i wrote.). how the both of you met and date.

note: thxxx, hehe. i love seeing ppl said that. but like does anyone want to send an ask about other characters :p. this reo fic one probably around 1k ish wordcount idk. i will always mentioned nagi on my reo fics bro.

you didn't want the relationship of the two of you to be revealed publicly because you feared that something might happened. reo was born as the heir of mikage corporation with total assets valued at 705.8 billion yen. you was born onto a middle class family (if you could say that.), your father was a worker at mikage corporation with a high position. while you maybe have met reo's parent through your father when you were a child. being in a public relationship with reo is a risky move, as someone out there would spread rumors about you. i mean dating your father's boss son? some mean people out there would call you things.

you have experienced it yourself after all, it was nasty. unlike reo, you didn't have any talent. your little brother received many things at an early age but you received only some rewards in your life — but you know which path you're gonna go. you're not going onto the business path. you liked art.

reo supported your decision on going the artist path. you took a liking to painting and sculpture. reo was so kind, he gave you anything that you want that's related to art. you tried to reason with him that he shouldn't always do that to you. buying everything you wanted and his response is always the same.

"my love language is buying you gifts anyways."

"but!"

"you shouldn't worried about my money. I love you the most."

he met you multiple times when you guys were in middle school. you guys simply went to the same school because of your parents. that time, he didn't took any interest of you, you didn't care about it since getting noticed by him is probably a death execution. your middle school had an imbalance of power, where the rich is on top and the poor is the low one. it wasn't equality.

on your third year of middle school, you finally interacted with reo mikage on the rooftop. it was because he personally called you there, alone. he wanted to talked about something to you related to the unfairness that the 'elite school' was giving to the poor. you don't know what you did to attract his attention to you and you definitely didn't expected for him to talked to you about this.

that's where your relationship started...

he started going to your class, he started to eat lunch with you, he started to go out with you to the library, he started to defend you. he started everything with you — since he wanted to close your relationship with him before he executed his plan for the school.

"are you sure about this, reo?"

"yeah. if we start with getting closer with the other class that is deemed the unlucky one maybe we can make them climb up the rank. starting with their academics."

"do you have the patience for it?"

"of course. im not one to suddenly call someone and start mocking them."

"true, you're not like them. are you really confident that you will change the school for the new generations that's to come."

"shhh... don't doubt my skills."

after you had planned about it, reo suggested that you two go to an arcade to go take your mind off of something before things happened. he really treats people well as he also pay for the arcade. the first game as usual was a claw machine, you saw a cute eevee plushie and you wanted it. you tug reo's sleeve towards it to watch you get the plushie but you failed miserably, reo laughed at you and gently pushed you aside to get you the plushie you wanted.

as the talented prodigy he is, he got it in one try. "this is what you want, right." he hold out the eevee plushie to you and you nodded, uttering a thank you to him as you took it from his hand. the tips of your ear was red, you could contain the blush coming to your face but not your ears. reo probably noticed your ears, he have keen eyes that you cannot avoid.

hours were you guys playing in the arcade and let's just say he really got you many plushie (but not that much as you would feel overwhelmed with it). you absolutely loved the cinnamoroll plushie he got you. it was cute, it got a bear costume on it, you adored it.

"between the eevee and the cinnamoroll one, which one do you like more?"

"i like anything you got me."

you were straightforward for your answer and reo was taken back by it since he was surprised by your bluntness. you would always sugarcoat some of your words to not seem mean as you were quite sarcastic. it was probably his turn now to blushed but it goes unnoticed by you as you were focused on your plushies.

you like animal plushies, maybe between him and your animal plushies — you would trade him to get a plushie.

all the plan worked, but you were hurt in the process. for you, it wasn't anything serious. but for reo, it was very serious. he felt guilty for it — but you reassured him that it wasn't his fault and you were just unlucky to be cornered up by some girls. he paid for your treatment. you guys were basically partner in crime. what's important to you, that is — the school didn't have an imbalance of power anymore, everyone was treated equally and it was all because of you and reo.

but you would give all the credit to reo as he was the brain.

graduation of middle school came fast enough, so you enjoyed the graduation with reo. even though you went up stage for some rewards — reo was basically the honor student.

"congratulations on your graduation, [name]."

"you too, reo."

you took some pictures with him, you kept it. 'maybe i should make an album...' you thought while looking at the pictures you took with reo, sliding through some of it... you saw how close you have been getting too reo that you were having mixed feelings. you weren't sure that you actually liked him in the romantic way or platonic way... you hoped that it was platonic.

oh, you were so wrong.

since you two were just 'partner in crime' it basically means that you guys didn't hung out that much outside of school. it was always in the library, in a corner where people don't see you guys that much. it was reserved everytime you guys want to use it so that people doesn't used it (mean).

over the weekends, you basically stay at your house. you missed him, you wanted to see him physically not just chatting with him on the phone on some apps. bored out of your mind, even though you were chatting with him right now.

reo: why are you not going out.

you: you can't say that to me when you were basically a sheltered child.

reo: you showing your mean side to me 😞

you: k, reo.

reo: what the hell.. "k,reo."?????? bffr.

you snickered at yourself. laying in bed all alone, nothing to do. just dangling your feet at home while your prodigy little brother is probably making achievement. hearing a ding again at your phone, you checked it and reo recommend you try art to spend your time with. you had some art supplies — you thought maybe you could try it and you replied with thank you to reo.

clay in hand, paint on the table. you start making your favorite animal, which is a koala. you knead the clay and start shaping it. you did it step by step and start painting the parts. the final results was quite funky but you didn't cared. your hand was a little messy but you took a picture of the koala and sent it to reo.

he 'AHAHAHA' the koala and you were offended. seeing at how he reacted, you were determined to make an improved koala of it. you replied with 'can we facetime?'. reo almost drop his phone when he saw the message, face timing with you... he should agreed to it since he would probably saw you wearing a casual clothes for once and not a school uniform. you probably suggest it because you wanted him to see the progress of you making a new and improved koala shaped clay.

minutes in of the face timing — and reo couldn't take his eyes of your pulled on sleeves, you were wearing a baggy sweater so reo couldn't see your body curves (and you would like it to stay that way). you kept a ponytail on to keep your hair out of your face while you were working on your clay. from time to time reo would comment on your clay when you showed it to him.

taking his advices seriously, you managed to make a perfect koala shaped clay and you were proud of it. reo could see the improvement between your first try and your latest one. he didn't saw a flaw on your latest on. you two didn't noticed it but the call went for hours. you guys relationship went to a new level and you were certain that the feelings you were having is romantic.

you two started dating on the middle of the year on your first year of highschool. reo was the first one to confessed when you got an expensive chocolate under your desk. you basically knew it was him when you noticed the expensive brand chocolate. it was your first time seeing him nervous to confessed to you, regardless you accepted him as he was the man you liked too.

you were very secretive of your life so reo agreed to you that he and you would be in a secret relationship without anyone knowing. you two were in a different class on first year, so it was easy to not meet each other that much but you two would always make time to pass eachother on the hallways or cafeteria.

reo would secretly gave you food to add on your bento when you weren't in the classroom. you would gave him drinks whenever you guys pass eachother. you guys didn't argue much, infact it was mostly playful banter. reo was easily jealous since he would always see you talking to nagi seishiro (aka his future best friend), you reassured him it was only because nagi played a game you liked and they coincidentally clicked. reo when he was jealous... he was cute, you can never denied that.

boys and girls would always come up to reo so being jealous was of course always there but you managed to contained it since it was a daily thing to you.

second year came and reo said to you that he and nagi (the person he was jealous off because you and him kept talking) is now friends because nagi is someone that he need for his winning worldcup desire. you didn't mind it since nagi is also a friend to you and you three became a trio. it was good that no one suspected you and reo were a couple but some people start a rumors that you and nagi were the one dating.

as they claimed that they always saw you and nagi playing games together while reo just sat around (that claimed was not true because most of the time reo played it for you since you were basically just mid at it). they honestly only just caught you in a wrong time that's all. but it soon enough dies down after they saw how nagi was very uninterested towards you.

even nagi doesn't know you and reo are lover.

#blue lock x reader #blue lock #nagi seishiro #nagi seishiro x reader #you #bllk #reo mikage x reader #reo mikage #itomlist!!✧#itoanonss?!✧#itoreqs!!✧#itoworks!!✧

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misrepresentedmorallygrey · 1 month

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PROPAGANDA

Yukio Okumura (LONG PROPAGANDA)

(Does contain spoilers and suicide mentions) Ok so the main issue I see people having with him is because he has threatened his brother and has shot him before. (His brother, Rin, is also the fan favorite so you can probably imagine people's feelings towards those scenes.) A lot of times Yukio also comes off as mean because he's a pretty closed off person and people don't like that either.

Although what people love to ignore is the reasons as to *why* he acts this way. (Granted, harming your brother is not an ok thing to do and it doesn't excuse that but it explains why he did what he did.) For starters, Rin was the one who inherited Satan's demonic power, not Yukio, meaning that Rin could potentially become dangerous even though his powers were locked away until he was about 15. Because of this, the boys' adoptive father, Shiro, put the responsibility of protecting Rin onto Yukio from the age of 7. So while Yukio was training to become an exorcist at a very young age, Rin got to live without knowing anything about demons or exorcists. This did cause some envy from Yukio, who felt the crushing pressure of having to do everything for his brother while Rin had no idea. Later on, Rin's power awakens at 15 (the present time in the story) and after a series of events, Shiro ends up dying due to becoming possessed by Satan. With their legal guardian dead, Yukio is now the one who has to take care of Rin because if his demonic power gets discovered, Rin will be executed by the Vatican. So yeah. In the span of ONE DAY Yukio now has even more pressure put on him and he didn't even get to say goodbye to Shiro, let alone grieve for him because he had to be the calm and collected one in the situation. (Yukio is also 15 btw!!) Now, both boys are going to enroll in True Cross Academy, a school that also has a secret exorcist program. At this time, Rin has no knowledge that Yukio knows what's going on. It's only until he's at the exorcist cram school that Rin finds out that his teacher is Yukio. This leads to a confrontation between the brothers as Rin feels rightfully betrayed that everyone knew except him. This is also where Yukio reveals some of his concerns, leading to people not liking him. Essentially, Yukio says that Rin could be a danger to others because he can't control his powers yet and that Yukio will kill him if it's necessary (this is also where he threatens his brother with a gun). Eventually the conflict does get resolved and they go back to normal for the most part. So not only does Yukio have to keep his brother from getting into trouble (which he does. several times. Rin does eventually get discovered.) but he also has to be an exorcist AND a teacher. Yukio constantly has to act like an adult throughout the series, and HE'S ONLY 15!! He has so much pressure put on him by everyone and if he makes a mistake, either him or Rin could die. As the series continues, you can see Yukio's mental health rapidly worsening due to his self-hatred leading him to several suicide attempts (which he doesn't die because Satan is now residing in his body). Yukio also feels that Shiro never really cared about him and only kept him to be raised as a weapon. All this and the fact that he's being manipulated by another antagonist character leads him to join sides with the Illuminati (the evil organization). By doing this, he will be able to take down the Illuminati from the inside and hopes that he and Satan will die along with it. The entire time up to this point Rin does not realize just how bad Yukio's mental health has been (which to be fair, Yukio is pretty closed off and has lied to his brother several times). Yukio then tries to force Rin to kill him, and ultimately fails because Rin cares too much. Overall, Yukio had so many responsibilities and felt as though he had to take everything on alone. It's honestly very tiring seeing people villainize everything bad he's ever done while completely ignoring how much he actually cares for his brother + all his mental health issues. This is only a summary of the things he's gone through so there's definitely some other details that show the escalation of his depression that weren't included here. But yeah. Justice for Yukio. He does not deserved to be treated like Satan (pun intended).

Apple White

everyone shut up about her being evil and selfish she is a teenage girl who has been raised HER WHOLE LIFE with this ideology, she can’t unlearn her entire belief system overnight especially when it’s so deeply tied to her identity as a person. also she literally does let go of it eventually, because she’s not a static character, she has an arc. apple is my favorite because she’s complex, not in spite of it. on the flipside there’s the people who act like she didn’t do anything wrong. i’ve seen people call raven the selfish one? this show was made for 5 years olds. how do you have less media comprehension that a 5 year old. and also, you’re loving apple the wrong ways!! she makes mistakes. she fucks up so much, and it’s awesome. i get overcompensating because the haters are so loud or whatever, but saying she’s perfect is erasing what makes her interesting. this propaganda is not very good because I’m guessing a lot of propaganda looks identical (edelgard and vriska have similar issues in fandom spaces) so here is my final pitch. vote for apple because she’s a lesbian (her canon soulmate was a girl). vote for apple because she’s a protagonist in a kids cartoon who was a lesbian way back in jan 2016. vote for apple because mattel let the face of their new franchise be a girl who likes girls (still feels surreal) #gayrights #applesweep

#misrepresented morally grey #round 2 #bracket d #mixed bracket #blue exorcist #yukio okumura #okumura yukio #ever after high #apple white #cw suicide #tagging this made me realize how many character's family names are Okumura #Okumura family reunion when?

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isagrimorie · 3 months

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As much as I’ve made peace on Year of Hell just being a two-parter (and I don’t think the characterizations are all lost because the characters still pick up relationships and the characterizations from Year of Hell) but stumbling on what could’ve been for season 4, for a Year of Hell season sounds so intriguing. It really would have moved Voyager from good to greatness of what DS9 was. As we all know, Rick Berman really is the villain of the Trek stories.

The writers of Voyager wanted to go bigger, they wanted to swing for the fences, from TrekMovie.com:

The podcasters and Fuller acknowledged that eventually Voyager found its voice and delved into some high-concept science fiction ideas. Fuller gave a lot of credit to showrunner Brannon Braga and Braga’s writing partner Joe Menosky, while pointing out their struggles with Voyager co-creator and executive producer Rick Berman:

Brannon Braga should be given a lot of credit – Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky – and it really was their two voices more commonly than anybody else’s. I think what was interesting in the evolution of the show was you could sense the creative struggle. I witnessed the creative struggle when I was working there. There was an appetite for these bigger, bolder science fiction stories. And there was a lot of resistance from Rick Berman in embracing them because he was chasing The Next Generation and was not allowing Voyager to be the show that it could be.

But the one I am really interested in, what

Year of Hell could have been

Bryan Fuller: The “Year of Hell” and the behind-the-scenes drama not only to craft episode, but that season, was fascinating because we wanted “Year of Hell” to last the entire season. We wanted to see Voyager get its ass kicked every episode and through that season was going to be marbled the story of Annorax and the time ship that was changing things. So, we would go back to it every once in a while to remind the audience that is the larger story. But [it was rejected] because Deep Space Nine made Rick Berman allergic to serialized storytelling, violently so.

We are really going to be on the outskirts of the galaxy and we are going to be fighting enemies that are kicking us when we are down. The crew is going to have to separate and we are going to be following episodes that are going to deal with people on shuttlecrafts with escape pods that are electrically buoyed together. There would be an episode where you never saw Janeway and never saw Voyager because you are with the people who are on the escape pods trying to find a new source of power or safety. It was like creative crack for the writers’ room, because all of a sudden there were so many opportunities.

I remember Brannon going over to Rick’s office with all of this enthusiasm and coming back broken and his head hanging low and having to break it to the writing staff. We all felt like we were doing it, we are making great Star Trek. For him to come back and say we can’t and we can only do two episodes as opposed to twenty-two, it was heartbreaking. There was an interesting division between what Rick Berman wanted the show to be, which was episodic and for the syndicated audience, and how we wanted to be creative storytellers playing with the Star Trek toy box. “Year of Hell” is such a fascinating point in Voyager history.

This was the part where I had goosebumps:

The crew is going to have to separate and we are going to be following episodes that are going to deal with people on shuttlecrafts with escape pods that are electrically buoyed together. There would be an episode where you never saw Janeway and never saw Voyager because you are with the people who are on the escape pods trying to find a new source of power or safety.

Because one of the more affecting parts of Year of Hell, part 1 was when Janeway was saying goodbye and then telling them that they will see each other again, and the escape pods started jettisoning. My imagination ran wild, I wanted to follow the rest of the crew as they struggled through the year of hell, in Krenim space, that’s constantly shifting in time, trying to survive. And Janeway and the rest of the senior staff finding the rest of her crew. Finding most and failing, maybe, on finding the others in time. It really was fertile ground.

It’s almost comical how much of a Disney villain Berman was just crushing the spirit out of the Voyager’s writer’s room. IMO, this room was the most disheartened group of writers in the whole of 90s Trek. Because they were ready and willing to go the extra mile but Berman was there to swat them down because they could.

And because, it seems, after Piller and Jeri Taylor left, Brennan Braga was too green to butt heads with Berman.

DS9 had Ira Stephen Behr, who wasn’t afraid to go against Berman, as the article goes, the podcast hosts asked Fuller why and how DS9 got away with serialized storytelling:

Bryan Fuller: Ira was like, “I don’t care, this is what we are doing and if you don’t like what we are doing, fire me… If you are not behind it, then I suggest you find someone else to do my job.” He was kind of fearless about it. He was righteous creatively and knew that this was the right direction for Deep Space Nine.

Anyway, this is why I love learning about the Behind the Scenes of shows because it gives context of why and how stories were released the way it did. And it gave Voyager more texture of what it could have been, hampered creatively both by Network and by an Executive Producer who had no imagination.

#star trek #bts #star trek voyager #year of hell

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naksushadows · 4 months

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My favorite dramas of 2023

Honorable mention: Death Games which is still in release, so I won't include it here yet.

Alchemy of Souls Light and Shadow: As it ended this year I will include one of the biggest obsessions for me in recent years, it was a sublime experience following this drama and despite some unnecessary complaints regarding Go Younjung (who was not to blame for anything and that the hate and misogyny towards a new actress was very unfair) part 2 was a good conclusion to the story, perhaps if there had been more episodes and less insistence on the memory loss plot, and more screen time for the main couple who were the more charismatic characters that supported the plot alone, could have been even better.

Moving: The best drama released this year.

Moving is a story that is not just about the power of a superhero saving the homeland, but about family ties, friendship and companionship.

The story manages to make you relate to the characters with all their anguish, joys and despite them having unusual powers, they are believable and identifiable characters.

Everything in this drama was perfect, from the script, cast, photography, CGI, soundtrack, etc.

Twinkling Watermelon: I love watching stories that focus on family relationships, and one where we have a son going back to the past and meeting his own parents in his youth would definitely be a hit.

I liked how they approached music, art and sign language in this story and how relationships built from these shared experiences between people can change someone's destiny to live life better and enjoy it even with difficulties along the way.

Some things bothered me but nothing that took away the shine of the story for me. It was exciting to follow the journey of such charismatic characters.

Daily Dose of Sunshine: This drama deserved more recognition. The way he portrayed mental health was very sensitive and human. The actors were incredible, especially Park Bo Young who delivered a believable and emotional character.

My Journey to You: The most anticipated drama for me this year did not disappoint despite the open ending.

I believe that the entire story was so incredible and well executed that the ending didn't interfere with the watching experience.

The highlight of this cdrama was the female characters, I thought that even though most of them were spies/assassins they were very diverse, each one with a motivation and past that made them neither good or bad but rather human and complex.

Till The End Of The Moon: I confess that I expected to love this one more. I don't know if I created many expectations that were broken by the dream part, which I found exhausting and broke the rhythm of the drama for me. But it was still very striking, an iconic and well-executed enemies to lovers. The main couple had a lot of chemistry and both as solo characters supported the story itself. Tantai Jin was incredible and complex👉🏻 simply the most suffering demon I've ever seen

The Glory: I had high expectations regarding this drama, which were met and I believe that waiting to watch it after releasing all the episodes was the best option, because this way it didn't end up breaking the rhythm of the story and I could appreciate the way it was conducted revenge unlike some.

It's the first time I've watched something by Song Hye Kyo and I was positively surprised, she's a great actress.

The Good Bad Mother: I love stories focused on the relationship between mother and child, because even though it is different from my reality because I live on another continent, I can still relate to some issues that are universal.

The highlight of this drama was the performances and the cast's great rapport. If the ending hadn't been so rushed and there had been about 2 more episodes, it would have closed the story perfectly.

King the Land: This was the best romcom of the year for me. I looked forward to the weekends so I could be graced by the smiling couple. It was the cliché and comfort I needed after a stressful week of work.

I loved the vibe and lightness of old dramas that King the Land brought back.

And thankfully they avoided the murder plot in the middle of the story haha

I loved seeing Yoona doing an unpretentious romcom after a heavier drama like her previous one.

Doona: I confess that I was very involved in this drama, I don't think it was perfect but there was a lot of dedication and envolviment from the main couple, they had a lot of chemistry and the melancholy and uncertainty that the story brought really impacted me.

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bigfloomfa · 10 months

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an overwhelmingly extensive write-up of my incarnation of mighty the armadillo

Never once have I been asked "hey nikki!!!! whats your mighty like!!" but also I don't care!!! I like to write and roleplay him!!! So here's a short rundown of my version of the best Sonic character in the franchise, because I should post something with proper substance on here for once.

General Info

Mighty the Armadillo is a protector at heart. He's the first one to offer help, defending those who can't protect themselves or tanking hits for his teammates. While he carries intense remorse over his inability to save his parents or his sister, he uses it as fuel to overcome doubt or help drive his protective nature. Mighty deeply cares for everybody who joins his team, and takes it upon himself to make sure they can handle themselves prior to any adventure.

Having all of his immense strength, Mighty has become somewhat of a pacifist. While he enjoys a good fight, he worries that were he to unleash all of his power and actually try, he would seriously injure or incapacitate whoever was on the receiving end, leaving him to often try words first. He's taken to training his sidekick, Ray, in hopes that one day he could get as strong as himself. The desire for a good fight with no bruisers tough enough to give him one has lead him to develop a small Saitama Complex.

As an amalgamation of Fleetway, IDW's Annual, Pre- and Post-SGW Archie, he takes the best of all worlds and folds things together neatly. With an extended family and a few alternate zones below the fold, there's quite a lot for this silly shell boy.

A (relatively) Brief History

Born to a family of thieves, Mighty's upbringing was destined for some form of tragedy. While he would be soon accompanied by a younger sister, his family would be arrested and were set to be executed by the King of Mercia. He would strike a deal with the mysterious Mammoth Mogul, giving the armadillo unfathomable power in exchange for a nebulous 'favor' that would be forgotten due to the wizard's hypnosis.

Despite the newfound power, a lack of training and control would lead Mighty unable to save his parents from what looked to be their doom, leaving him to place his sister in foster care, exile himself, and wander the lands. Eventually captured by Robotnik, Mighty would be imprisoned alongside Ray the Flying Squirrel and Fiona Fox, and placed in special shackles to override his strength.

Once the blue blur had made his debut, him and Mighty would cause a riot that allowed themselves and Ray to escape via a power gem, though Fiona was captured and Ray was lost during zone-travel. Mighty and Sonic would part ways, but Mighty wasn't alone for long as he would soon come across Newtrogic High Zone. After realizing the island was in the process of being terraformed by Robotnik, he would steel himself and decide to take the mad doctor down!

Thankfully for him, there were another batch of people there ready to do the same! Knuckles, Espio, Charmy, Vector, Heavy & Bomb, all on the island for their own reasons, would join forces and use the Chaos Rings to free the island! Also, busting up Metal Sonic as a nice bonus. While the group would part ways after, they would all remain in contact. After a few more adventures involving the Dark Legion, Enerjak, and other fun activities, Mighty would come across Nic the Weasel.

Mighty and his new companion would meet Fiona once more, who was not pleased with not being saved back then, but would find and rescue Ray nonetheless. The squirrel had hardly aged since the initial zone-travel, leaving him much younger than Mighty and Fiona. After the reunion, he would adopt Ray as his younger brother and the two would begin to wander, just as Mighty had done before.

After a crisis against the Xorda, and then an attack on Angel Island to free Locke, then a massive battle against Mogul, Ixis Naugus, the Destructix and Arachne Clan, the whole Great Harmony thing, a mission with Charmy's old home, a brief scare with Snively's mech, Enerjak returning, launching a massive attack on Eggman's Empire, and then fighting the Iron Dominion and Dr. Finitevus... a lot happened, okay? I'm trying to be brief here and get to the fun part.

Mighty and Ray would return to wandering, as Espio had revealed the armadillo's sister was alive and working for Eggman! During their travels, the two would wind up coming across a calm sage named Moss the Sloth, where the three of them would get along swimmingly, and would begin to stay with the sloth while Mighty searched for traces of his sister.

His history ends with Moss, as everything afterwards is usually where the roleplaying or fanfiction comes in.

What makes him "Mighty"

With unrivaled strength and speed that used to keep up with Sonic himself, capped off by a shell that can take any punishment you could imagine, Mighty is a formidable lightning bruiser that can tear through tanks like a hot knife through butter. Heck, even without his shell he can take some heavier hits, it takes quite a lot to put him down. Thanks to training with Espio and generally sparring with the Chaotix, he is also a very skilled martial artist. Should he be enraged, his strength can soar even further off the charts.

In terms of proper techniques, he is capable of his trademarked Hammer Drop, the Homing Attack, the Spin Dash, and the Boost. Other moves include typical anime air-pressure punches and launching himself while curled in his shell like a railgun. While he may not have much in the way of range, he knows his way around a battle and can close a gap when he has to.

The Family

"Blockhead" Bill - Mighty's grandfather and a now-senile crime fighter of old, Bill is a stupid yet skilled fighter. With an ornate yellow shell on his back, he's pretty durable, but not as much as the rest of his family. While he used to have the super strength associated with Mighty's family, he's since lost it with age. He spends most of his day at home with his partner, Max.

"Society" Max - Mighty's basically-second grandfather, and a more refined crime fighter of old. Max is Bill's partner, in more ways than one, and is a red dinosaur of average heights. When consuming a strange vegetable known as a Mandrake Root, he can grow to a proper dinosaur that is very capable in combat and can carry Bill. He spends most of his day at home with Bill.

Hunter the Armadillo - Mighty's father, a former thief who's thought to be dead. Unbeknownst to Mighty and the rest of his family, he and his wife had escaped the clutches of the Mercian prison system, thanks to chaos caused by a Robotnik attack. With an orange shell and his family's typical super strength, he's a force to be reckoned with, and currently seems to be living in a town stationed in the Great Desert.

Hunter mostly takes bounties, and handily at that. He often wears a brown cloak and obscures his face, creating a persona known as 'The Hunter', hiding his true identity in plain sight. He's generally well-respected and a little feared by the rest of the residents of his town, but he's a well-meaning and caring guy who morally struggles with some bounties he has to take. Once he manages to save enough money, he's planning on moving his wife to a safer, nicer town and dealing with Robotnik himself.

Rose the Armadillo - Mighty's mother and Hunter's wife, Rose was able to escape the grasp of the Mercian prison system with her husband. She has a pink shell, but isn't nearly as strong as the rest of her family. She cares deeply for her children, and is deeply affected by their absence, believing she's failed as a mother and that the two of them have passed.

Overall a loving and peaceful woman, Rose is an excellent cook and spends her days tending to her house. A small part of her heart still holds out hope that her children managed to survive on their own, and that one day she'll be able to meet them again. She's loved by her town and often treats the nicer folk to food and hanging out, though her husband makes himself scarce when she does, in order to preserve his persona. The two of the make an okay living together, but fate may have other plans for the family...

Moss the Sloth - Moss is Mighty and Ray's current mentor, and has become somewhat of a father figure to the armadillo. Despite being a sloth, he's fairly fast, able to outpace Mighty when swinging through his jungle. He is extremely empathetic and capable of seeing what drives someone, or dark forces within someone. After his initial meeting with Mighty and Ray, he would offer the two housing within his humble abode, where the pair continues to live into current day.

Ray the Flying Squirrel - His best friend and now-brother, Ray is the most important person in Mighty's life at the moment. A blonde flying squirrel, he's the Tails to Mighty's Sonic, with a bond just as strong. The two of them go just about anywhere together, traveling through Mobius when they can, and searching for information on Mighty's sister. Him and Mighty continue to train with each other and take lessons from Moss.

Matilda the Armadillo - Mighty's younger sister (affectionately nicknamed 'Tilly'), who was long thought to be dead, is a green-shelled armadillo who is currently working under the Egg Boss; Beauregard Rabbot. Originally placed into an orphanage, then roboticized and de-roboticized, before finally being legionized, Matilda's stressful life has left her vacant emotionally and cold. While her natural strength isn't anywhere near Mighty's, her cybernetic arms allow her to get very close. Now that Mighty is aware of her, he spends a large majority of his time searching for information on her.

Stout the Armadillo - Only existing in X Years Later timelines or the occasional Silver's Future timeline, Stout is Mighty's son. His mother is unknown at this time. He is a brown-shelled armadillo who wanders Mobius, acting as a traveling hero. He has taken inspiration from his father's friends, specifically Bark and Amy, wearing a scarf and knowing how to grapple, and using a Mighty-colored hammer called the Shell Smasher. He's not as powerful as his father, but with the Shell Smasher, he can come pretty close.

Counterparts & Alternate Zones

Much like the main cast of the games, there exists several alternate universes which house their own variations of Mighty, each of them different than the last in a way. There are even some counterparts that come from Mobius... Some of them include...

Mobius

Metal Mighty - A robotic doppelganger created by Eggman after realizing how much trouble the solitary armadillo could prove, Metal Mighty is an equal to Mighty in every way, with only one flaw. The lack of emotions makes it so it cannot gain the same strength increase as Mighty when enraged. The two haven't met yet, as Metal Mighty has yet to be deployed.

The Boom Universe

Mighty - Within the confines of the lighthearted Boom continuity, Mighty is a treasure hunting powerhouse. He's very physically strong, much like Knuckles, though keeps his standard size and shape, leaving a comedic height difference despite the strength gap. Thanks to a custom-made set of Communicators, he can stay in contact with his Ray and Matilda at all times. They all contain their own Enerbeam functions, allowing the trio for easier exploration across ancient ruins.

Boom Mighty's life is marginally better than his prime counterpart's, as his Matilda is already with him and Ray as part of Team Traffic Light, and the lighthearted universe allows them to escape the tragic origins of the prime zone. His anime-esque rage boosts are more exaggerated, leaving most of the comic-relief villains in the zone afraid of him.

Camelot

Sir Galehaut - An extremely powerful and skilled knight, who conquered many lands. Called the 'Uncrowned King', he could best even King Arthur. The skirmishes between his knights and the Knights of the Roundtable would last for months. While he could've potentially usurped King Arthur, the events of Black Knight happened before he had the chance, leaving him to long for the chance to duel Sonic one day. Unlike Arthur, Galehaut is actually quite beloved by his people, and considered a benevolent knight. He refuses the throne until he can defeat Arthur in direct combat.

Classic

Classic Mighty - In the parallel dimension of the Classic timeline, where the Time Eater had never appeared and the timeline never split, Mighty is a young armadillo boy who doesn't quite have a grasp on his strength. He often accidentally sends his friends flying through walls, but he's also able to take out some weaker boss mechs in single blows, which is nice. Able to scare Metal Sonic himself into using a hostage, Mighty's still a force to be reckoned with, and he's a bit less pacifistic than most of his other counterparts, coming with a shorter fuse to boot.

Moebius

Malice, the Anti-Mighty - Within Moebius there lives a terrible, horrible scrapper who's taken to calling himself Malice. Whereas Mighty gives people affectionate nicknames, such as 'big guy', or 'lil dude', or what have you, Malice is often degrading and insulting, calling women 'sweetheart' and the like. He carries a fistful of powder to use as pocket sand in the rare case he's losing, and goes around Moebius picking as many fights as possible.

Malice, the menace he is, is an underhanded fighter. While the general 'power level' of Moebius' cast is higher than Mobius', Malice is still usually bored and able to beat down anybody he feels like. His unparalleled strength is still boosted by anger, and his temper is incredibly short. The Anti-Bark and him have a brutal rivalry, culminating in Malice's left arm being torn off during one of Malice's bounty hunting jobs, leaving him to force Miles to make him a cybernetic replacement.

No-Zone

Zighty the Zone Cop - Zighty is the top enforcer of the Zone Cops, able to quell entire riots with just a single blow. While he would be a valuable asset in taking on the terrible Dr. Nega, Zighty actively prefers keeping an eye on the prison, especially after Scourge's jailbreak. Overall, he's Mighty with a laser blaster, he's very deadly but has the discipline to restrain.

The Shatterverse

Molten Mighty - A one man army kept under heavy guard by the Chaos Council, who's usually powered down deep underground in a special facility. A cyborg Mighty who runs without a flicky, Molten Mighty is the most physically powerful thing in New Yoke City, acting as essentially their nuke. With all of Mighty's strength and cybernetic enhancements, he is a truly deadly foe. His Hammer Drop is capable of causing magma to erupt from the ground. Each member of the council has their own key, and he may only be unleashed with at least three of them.

Muscle - Mighty's counterpart for the Boscage Maze, Muscle is a powerful brawler who lives in the jungle. Muscle holds a deep respect for nature, and is allowed to stay in his own cave by Thorn Rose. He mostly goes about his day picking fruits for his family and Thorn.

Captain Might - Captain of the Royal's Bane, Might is a benevolent captain who shares all of his loot with his crew, consisting of a Ray and Matilda counterpart. While small, they are tightly-knit, and more than effective enough to make up for the number disadvantage. They pillage pirates they consider to be dangerous or evil, but leave others like the Angel's Voyage alone.

"Where was Mighty during ㅤㅤㅤㅤ-------?"

Sonic 1, CD, 2, 3 & Knuckles, Chaos, Triple Trouble, Spinball, etc.? - Wandering in his self-exile. While he had met Sonic, they were not a team yet. He would go on to meet the Chaotix after the events of Sonic 3 and Knuckles. After the events of Chaotix, he returns to wandering until otherwise stated.

Sonic the Fighters? - Between Chaotix and Fighters, Ray's rescue should take place. Mighty and Ray were actually invited to the Chaos Emerald tournament, but their invitations were stolen by Fang and Bean, starting a long-lasting grudge between Mighty & Ray and the Hooligans. Except Bark. Bark was already invited, we love Bark.

Sonic R? - He considered showing up to the Grand Prix, however him and Ray were busy trailing the Hooligans in order to teach them a lesson. After hearing about it later, he wishes he made it so he could've fought that Metal Knuckles guy. Perhaps the looming idea of Mighty showing up was what made Robotnik build Metal Mighty, though he was replaced by the Eggrobo in order to keep it secret after realizing Mighty wouldn't be making it?

Sonic Adventure? - Old habits die hard! During the start of the story, the two would be busy with the Hooligans. When Perfect Chaos' attack had happened, Mighty would hear about it from the news, and about how Super Sonic had saved the world. Mighty would consider meeting back up with his old friends, but decided against it for now.

Sonic Adventure 2: Battle? - Mighty and Ray were entirely unaware of the early plot, though would see the moon being blown up. They'd be unable to make a difference as by the time they could get anywhere close to Team Sonic, the story would've entirely gone to space. They'd intently listen to Sonic talk about it after the plot had finished and they met up again.

Sonic Battle, Advance 1, 2, 3? - Smaller scale plots, Mighty wouldn't be aware of them and would continue his wanderings with Ray.

Sonic Heroes? - While UNFORTUNATELY we didn't get the planned team of METAL SONIC and MIGHTY & RAY for Heroes' original release, perhaps the duo had stumbled across a certain scrapnik during the game's story, and merely never crossed paths with the main plot?

Shadow the Hedgehog? - Mighty spent most of the game's time trying not to get directly involved. Aside from a few scattered encounters with Black Arms, who were promptly blown away, and saving some villages or small cities, by the time Mighty decided to properly do something about it, Super Shadow and the Eclipse Cannon would destroy the Black Comet and kill Black Doom.

Sonic Rush, Rush Adventure? - Mighty would manage to hear about Blaze from Knuckles some time after the echidna was knocked out cold by the Sol Guardian. While this left Mighty with a vague distaste for the cat, and a vague urge to meet her at some point, he wouldn't be able to find her as the plot had long since wrapped up. Some time after Rush Adventure, he would be informed of Matilda's situation, and would be even less active than he already was.

Sonic Rivals, 2? - During these games, he should have found Moss and would thus be busy getting accustomed to his new home.

Sonic Riders, Zero Gravity, Free Riders? - While the idea of Extreme Gear really caught his eye, he would have found Moss by now and would be focused on his search for Matilda. For obvious reasons, he wouldn't want to distract himself from that. He has definitely marked Extreme Gear racing on his bucket list for once he does find Matilda, however.

Secret Rings, Black Knight? - he didnt read the books

Sonic '06? - The plot of 06 is quick, quiet, and involves a lot of time travel. Even if Mighty were to hear about it he wouldn't be able to even begin to find the main crew. Sonic's death would definitely be enough to fire him up, but that event caused the Last Episode and the subsequent retcon, leading Mighty no chance to intervene in the plot. He had minor deja vu that day though, he could've sworn he'd already read that archive...

Sonic Unleashed? - While this should fall under the Shattered World arc in the comics where Mighty scraps with the Werehog, if that's out of the question then he would be relaxing at Moss' place in the background, choosing to research Matilda rather than involve himself with the plot.

Sonic Colors? - Mighty and Ray... would actually take a trip to the theme park! They didn't believe Eggman's reasoning for a minute, obviously, but they still thought it could be fun. They got in early and had fun on a few attractions. Unfortunately the duo missed the plot, and had left by the time it was destroyed, though Mighty would be very annoyed at himself in the future due to not knowing about the wisps or trying to help them.

Sonic Generations? - As Eggman was using the Time Eater to erase his losses to Sonic, the encounter at Newtrogic High Zone with the Chaotix was untouched, leaving Mighty uninvolved in the main plot of the game. As for the birthday, he just showed up late, they celebrated with everyone after the credits. It's canon. Promise.

Sonic Lost World? - Home with Moss, this game's basically a filler arc anyway, who cares.

Sonic Forces? - The events of Forces are what finally get Mighty to take proper action. The Eggman Empire would waste a lot of fodder and even a few mass produced Death Egg Robots trying to squash out that small hut in the jungle, and briefly considered sending out Metal Mighty, but would decide to just leave it alone since Mighty wasn't directly attacking him and everything that was sent ended up as scrap. The trio of Mighty, Ray, and Moss would turtle down in their abode.

Once the Eggman Empire was defeated, Mighty and Ray would have managed to finally find Matilda's location, and they finally departed to find her in person. Now that all of Eggman's forces were unanimously weakened by the Resistance, he was more hopeful than ever.

Other Misc. Headcanons

Mighty and Ray carry two Chaos Rings. Mighty the blue one, and Ray the yellow one. Knuckles, Espio, Charmy, and Vector hold on to the other four. The Chaos Rings can also turn someone Super, because they're literally Chaos Emeralds formed around Power Rings.

Knuckles used Master Emerald Shenanigans to knock Sonic out of Super. Mighty can just do that with a full power attack.

Mighty is the strongest mobian! Big is not a mobian, he is Big.

Mighty would beat the hell out of Sonic. He's closer to Blaze, Shadow, Scourge or Silver in terms of power, rather than Sonic, Knuckles or Espio.

Mighty would enjoy TTRPGs, and any form of action video games. All the fun of a fight, with none of the maiming!

An angry Mighty is worth the same as a Chaos Boost Shadow or an ESP Silver. A Super Mighty is a force of nature.

Mighty could crush the Hooligans if he wanted to. His bitterness towards them is surface-level, and he genuinely enjoys sparring with Bark, he just wishes they would knock it off sometimes. If he was mad, he could just ping-pong off Fang and Bean, and rapid-fire homing attack Bark into next week.

Knuckles is as strong as Sonic is fast, but Mina is nowhere near as fast as Sonic, so why is Mighty so strong? Because his family was already really physically strong. He was already set to contend with Knuckles, and then he got the Mogul boost on top of that!

Voice claim is Joe Zieja, specifically as Claude from Three Houses.

Closing Thoughts

All art provided is credit to Fleetway Comics, Archie Comics, and SEGA.

Unfortunately there's no Secret Rings counterpart as I'm not familiar with arabic folklore, I didn't just forget about it or anything. If there are any questions or suggestions, my ask box is open and I am more than glad to respond and engage in Mighty discussion!

#mighty the armadillo #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #mighty #super mighty #matilda the armadillo #ray the flying squirrel #archie sonic #idw sonic #fleetway comics #archie comics #mighty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#i love mighty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#this took so many hours #longest thing i've ever written

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ghosttrolls · 3 months

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HI I Love your Posts about trollhunters and Danny Phantom.

they are things i gad trollhunters is different form Danny Phantom

Jim only date one girl and everyone agrees that she is the best Choice for him.

and the main creator isn't a Dick.

but my Question for is if Dash were to become Like Steve was Expose the Ghost world Just Like him how do you think would've involved and this Time his memory stays Like Jez did.

Hi, thank you! Before I say anything else I would like to clarify that while I spend a lot of time comparing themes between the two shows, I don't really feel like one could replace the other - they're both so unique in their execution! Honestly, all the characters in both shows have personalities that couldn't be copied over between the two without the status quo of each show drastically changing. I don't really think of Danny Phantom and Trollhunters in terms of "Danny and Jim are the same person," but more like "Danny and Jim experience things that are interesting parallels of each other and I like to explore those narrative parallels," which I can understand being a kind of complicated distinction.

There definitely is a thing with both of these shows where they pick sort of Traditional Character Roles to some extent, like The Bully, The Hero, The Best Friend, The Romantic Interest, etc. So thinking in terms like that, Dash and Steve do fill kind of similar roles in their shows. I am pretty sure that Dash knows ghosts exist by the end of the show, even if you're writing off Phantom Planet (the final episode that people like to ignore happened). There's an episode where all the adults in Amity Park are brainwashed to go on a "cruise" which ends up just being a way for some ghosts to use them as a power source - but because the adults are brainwashed, the kids are the ones that have to save them, and Danny uses his parents' ghost tech to work together with all the other kids to fight the ghosts. This includes Dash. They all fight ghosts on the deck of a pirate ship, and Dash and Danny stand back to back as Dash says, "When I wail on you tomorrow, I'll be wailing on a hero. But I will be wailing on you." At this point in the show, Dash and other people know about and are fans of Danny Phantom... I don't think his memory gets wiped of the incident, but Danny does get in trouble for using the tech without asking and that makes him "lame" again in the eyes of the other high schoolers. I think that's meant to be the show's explanation for why it doesn't get brought up again later.

I'd love to consider what would happen if Dash had actually been more active within the ghost fighting community - I'm pretty sure he's one of those people who thinks it's "weird," so he'd probably need some convincing. But it would be super interesting if he learned that Danny was Phantom and joined the team! I'm not the first person to say this, but still. It would be cool. I did really enjoy in Trollhunters when Steve and Eli had just formed Creepslayerz but they were trying to keep it on the down low, and acted comically to cover their tracks. I imagine Dash would have to do something similar to keep his jock friends in the dark about Danny's secret... In general, DP never really gave us that big of a look into what Dash's life is like outside of school, other than throwing a party when his parents aren't around. If he joined the team in some way we'd be able to see more of his backstory and he'd become a much more fleshed out character!

And I know you didn't ask for my opinion on this, but I do wish that Steve had more development after the end of Trollhunters and 3Below. Like, he stopped bullying Jim and Eli, he got a girlfriend - and now we learn he's really scared all the time! And they make him kind of like a knight in Wizards but he's still like, terrified of everything, and bad at very simple tasks to an almost annoying extent. It makes me wonder if the trio really explained very much to him, because we didn't see any explaining happen on screen... and then it felt like they were hinting that Steve would learn some cool stuff from Lancelot, but that never happened. And WHY didn't Aja WARN HIM that he could become pregnant like that! That was so out of the blue too. I really liked how they had Steve develop as a character over the course of Trollhunters, so when he kind of stopped changing for most of the other TOA content, I was a little sad.

I guess this is just an appreciation post for bully characters that decide to become nicer. They deserve more love, for sure.

#ghostly posts #danny phantom #trollhunters #ask #theslayerbrother #theres definitely pros and cons between the two shows #generally trollhunters comes with better writing and pacing #most listings for dp have episodes out of order which doesnt help #with dp youve got a lot of lore dumps with hardly any explanation or elaboration #which i do feel leaves more room for fanworks to explore #trollhunters does come across to me as a better story with a stronger ending #and there's objectively less cringeworthy moments in TH #but also like. one of them is about ghosts and one of them is about trolls #they have different subject matter so ultimately the comparison cant go the full extent of saying theyre the same thing #cause they arent #they just coincidentally because of the 'teenage superhero' genre use similar tropes #and i like lookin at how those tropes apply to a world of ghosts #and a world of trolls.... two different things #i just also really love the strickler/vlad situations where theyre fighting the protag while the mom they wanna date is in the other room #very fun and silly even if the fight is serious sajgdhgsjh

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coquelicoq · 9 months

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it's interesting, a few people on my post yesterday about the dandelion dynasty told me they were taking it as a rec for the series, but i didn't actually recommend the series in that post. it's making me think about whether i would rec it to people, a question i hadn't fully considered yet (as it is a very different question from "do i like this book?"). so this is me figuring out the answer to that question. i'll keep it spoiler-free (though i make no promises on brevity).

i just finished book 3 (of 4) and each installment has left me more invested than i was before, but the series started out very slow, and i didn't really get into it until halfway through book 2. i wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people bounce off the first book; i didn't, but only because 1) i almost never give up on a book that i've started (it's a character flaw of mine 😕) and 2) my trust in ken liu is ridiculously high because the other stuff i've read by him is so beloved to me. so my reaction to feeling kind of meh about book 1 was "okay, let's see where he's going with this" rather than "i guess this just isn't my cup of tea."

i should say that the problem might just be my own ignorance/lack of familiarity with the form. i don't read a lot of epic fantasy - in fact, lord of the rings is the one series that i have given up on reading a couple of times because it just left me totally indifferent. so if you like epics, you are starting out way ahead of me and can maybe just ignore the rest of this post lol, but i think i had to adjust to what the form is asking of me and what it's best suited to accomplish before i could get fully on board.

the main thing i struggled with is the writing, like the actual sentence-level mechanics of voice and style. this surprised me, because i usually find his writing very beautiful, or, when not beautiful, i can get a sense of the effect he means to achieve by employing a certain style. but in this series, the writing came across as kind of awkward and one-note to me at first, and i couldn't see a reason for it to be that way.* the dialogue especially - different characters don't really have different ways of speaking, they all feel pretty much the same. this was one of the main things i had to adjust to, but i do get it now. i don't just mean that i got used to the style and it doesn't bother me anymore, though that is true; i mean that i now understand the effect he means to achieve by employing this style, which gives it purpose and inextricably ties it to the story he's telling (this becomes especially clear in book 3, as it's directly related to a major theme of that book). if the style were different, he would be telling a different story; that's the sign of a successful execution, i think.

i said in the tags on yesterday's post that one reason the series doesn't have much of a fandom on here might be that the characters aren't natural blorbos. of course every character is probably the blorbo of somebody somewhere, but i don't know that these characters were designed to be blorbos, if that makes sense. not that they're plot devices either! every single one of them is conflicted and complicated and compelling, and most of them are followed over a period of many years, so we see them develop as people over time. but there is no protagonist, for example. you could also say that every character is a protagonist. the "list of major characters" at the beginning of book 3 is six pages long, and there are stories to be told about each of these characters, and none of them are told in isolation. but in a way, the characters themselves are not the point, or if they are, it's in aggregate - it's in the ways they're all complex, the ways they all have motivations that make sense to them (and that make sense to us, once we get to know them). and it's about power and the roles that the characters play in their society, rather than the roles the characters play in the story. or maybe those are the same thing! because ultimately, the main character of this story is the society. and the plot is the history of this society, rather than the journey or life of a single person or handful of people.**

(sidenote, there will be a period during book 1 when you will think to yourself, "wow, all the women characters are super one-dimensional and the narrative doesn't seem to respect them." this is on purpose. just keep going.)

the plotting is intricate while also feeling very organic. he's got dozens of plates in the air at once, he's maintaining them over a long period (these books are MASSIVE), and he's somehow making it seem like a real history, not like an author pulling strings. i haven't finished it yet, but my guess is that he's going to pull off a very satisfying conclusion that's at the same time very open-ended. definitely looking forward to it.

and the worldbuilding. oh, the worldbuilding. this is some of the most detailed, complex, realistic*** worldbuilding i've ever encountered, and he covers SO much ground. you want linguistic worldbuilding? you got it. philosophy? it's here. psychology of empire? coming right up. the nitty-gritty of everyday governance? buddy, pull up a chair. mechanical engineering? how much time you got?? (it better be enough time to read 3504 physical pages, because that's how long this series is.) and he's drawing on chinese history and cultural narratives rather than slapping lipstick on a tolkien clone (see his comments here, but stop reading at "In this continuation of the series" if you want to avoid spoilers). he WILL go on for a hundred pages about a single invention, but it's SO interesting that he is allowed. this is a story about how technology (including language, and schools of thought, and agriculture, and...) shapes, and is a product of, its time and place and people, so again, this is all to purpose. but it's also just. really cool.

the last thing i'll say, and this is mainly for other ken liu fans, is that one of the things i most love about his short stories is how they tap into emotions i didn't even know i had, as though they're reaching inside of me and drawing to the surface ways of experiencing consciousness and love and mortal life that i had no idea were in there. this series is not causing emotional revelation for me in the way his other stories do, which isn't a bad thing - i don't mean to say the series is not engaging or that it inspires no emotions! i just mean, iykyk. if you've read the paper menagerie and are expecting that experience, you will have a better time here if you leave those expectations at the door. i am invested in this book because it's engaging my intellect, curiosity, sense of wanting to find out what else the characters will learn and what's going to happen next...less because it's turning my heart inside out inside my chest. and like thank goodness, because i don't think i could survive four entire 900-page books' worth of that! but anyway. word to the wise.

tl;dr: yes, i recommend it, especially if you like epic fantasy. if you're a fan of ken liu's other work, this is quite different, so just know that going in!

*this opinion is of course subjective and not universally shared. for instance, see this review of book 3 (full of spoilers, so don't actually read it lol) which says "There's Liu's voice to hold onto, though — beautifully deployed here and fully in command of the language of his imaginary universe." so ymmv. maybe it's an epic fantasy thing.

**this is making me realize that the story is commenting on this very thing through a tension between bureaucracy (founded on interchangeability) and monarchy (informed by a specific personality). dude. that's so meta!

***though sometimes i'm like, "really? you scaled up that invention to use untested on the battlefield in the span of like two weeks? sure, jan." so sometimes he falls down a little on translation of ideas into logistics, but it makes for such a great story that i'll allow it.

#i kind of want to call it epic science fiction rather than epic fantasy #i know the categories are very porous. but if you think of fantasy as having 'magic' and scifi as having 'technology'#this is scifi #there's no magic. unless you count the gods creating weather patterns etc. to help or hinder their favorite mortals #but i don't count that as magic #okay i guess maybe Gitré Üthu is magic...but again that's a god thing. so there's a gray area #the aesthetics are more fantasy than scifi. these terms are meaningless though so just ignore me lol #another thought. it occurs to me that some of the style choices he's making might be related to comments of his that i've read #on translation...and how when he translates a story he tries to retain a sense of it having been written in a different idiom #he likes people reading a chinese story in english to be able to tell that it was not originally written in english #this story was originally written in english irl. but in the world of the story itself they are speaking other languages #like for instance page 1 of book 1 features the lyrics of a song. they read kinda awkwardly. but don't translated lyrics almost always #look like that? because the rhymes and cadence and number of syllables etc. are so dependent on the language of origin?#the dandelion dynasty #ken liu #the grace of kings #the wall of storms #the veiled throne #my posts #links #wow this is NOT how i planned to spend my evening. and yet here we are. time to shower and then start thinking about bedtime #why does everything take me so long???? how are people so fast. ugh. it takes me hours just to have thoughts #and then writing them down? fuhgeddaboutit.

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