#as in it's entirely ambiguous

[keekeenuggets]

RadioStatic Week, Day 2: Vintage / Modern

We were writing this for other reasons, but then realized it happens to fit the prompt for today, so... figured we'd post it. We probably don't have the energy to participate in a lot of the days for this week, but we're excited to see more of what other people create, regardless!

Summary: A year into Alastor's disappearance, Vox makes one last attempt to reach out to the demon -- he hosts a radio broadcast.

Title: Old-Timey

Day three hundred and sixty-five since the last time Vox had heard from Alastor. Not that he'd been keeping track. He only had the date memorized, of course, and he just happened to look at the calendar and notice how many days had passed. Just like he did every day. It was part of his daily routine, not that he would ever admit it. It just so happened that he had a calendar posted on his door, which he looked at every day before exiting his room. Of course he'd look, because how would he not look at before leaving his room? It only made sense.

But as much as he didn't want to admit it, he'd started actually growing concerned for the old prick. An extermination had passed, not too long ago, and Vox wanted some kind of confirmation that Alastor was still alive. Even more, he wanted to know that his old friend cared, but he knew that was asking too much.

Still, he had an idea. He had the right equipment for it. Though radio broadcasts weren't his thing, what if...? It was a long shot, but if anything would catch the Radio Demon's attention enough to get a response, it would be Vox, the modern television overlord, going live on the air an old-timey piece of junk.

He wouldn't abandon his TV equipment, of course. He'd simply both avenues at once. Talk about the Radio Demon's mysterious disappearance, perhaps. It was as interesting as any news segment that bitch Katie Killjoy could come up with. Most of her shit consisted of boring, desperate grabs for views. At least Voxtek could come up with things that garnered actual interest. The hypnotism didn't hurt, either.

"... And three. Two. One. Going live!"

Travis, the studio director who bounced back and forth between shooting for Vox's segments and Val's pornography happened to be in charge of cameras, that day. He was mediocre at the radio tech, but they managed. And with the push of a few buttons, he saw the green light that let him know he was live not only on the television, but also on the more traditional radio waves. The perfect venue for grabbing the attention of all citizens of hell. Not only the most up-to-date ones.

"Annnnd good day, fine sinners!" Vox grinned into the camera, his hands folded in front of him. "Today's broadcast is brought to you by Voxtek. Trust *us* with your news." His eye sent out waves of persuasion, for only a moment. Today, he was all about the audio. And no one, not even -- or especially not -- Alastor, would be able to hear the hypnotic frequencies. He had to rely on his charm and showmanship, today. But that was not a problem.

He cleared his throat. "I come live to you in a rather unique format. Yes, this time, I'm broadcasting over the radio, too. A little bit of traditional medium for old time's sake, right? It doesn't hurt, every once in a while." He laughed, to himself. Then he continued. "Now, we've got a special topic this morning, and it's the reason I've decided on this dual transmission. As some of you may be aware, the Radio Demon hasn't been around in quite some time." Speaking the words gave them a truth he didn't want to think about, but Vox kept the grin plastered on his face like his life depended on it. He refused to slip up. "In fact, it's been an entire year since his last reported sighting!" Not that he had checked every social media platform in case of any mention of the Radio Demon.

Except that was exactly what he'd done. And as the overlord of technology, he'd been able to keep an eye on cameras and through screens all throughout the Pentagram. Sure enough, Alastor was nowhere to be seen. That is, nowhere that modern technology had any reach, at the very least. He still didn't want to believe him to be dead, but the fact Alastor would work so hard to avoid any detection or communication with Vox was also infuriating. As if had never meant anything to the other overlord. Maybe he hadn't. But he didn't need to think about that.

"Now, there has been some speculation on where he's been. Having a nice vacay off-the-grid, entrapped by another, more powerful, overlord..." The last one didn't seem likely -- or at least had been a possibility Vox feared the thought of. The Radio Demon was already quite powerful to begin with. "Some even speculate that the demon might not be among us any longer at all!" That would be much worse, of course.

"But hey, maybe there are some upsides to this change of pace, am I right?" He said this only because he knew that if anything would get a response from Alastor, it would be demeaning his choice form of expression. "I mean, radio is so outdated. It's about time we give Hell a more modern entertainment makeover. And sure, as I said, radio can be fun every once in a while, but who wants to rely on only barely audible sources of pleasure? With no visuals?" He laughed. "Please. That's so old school. And we've got much better means of enjoyment, nowadays."

He paused. Half-expecting the Radio Demon to interrupt his broadcast. Such a thing certainly wasn't unheard of before. Alastor enjoyed displacing mediocre radio hosts. And though Vox was confident in his ability to entertain, he knew that his old thought of himself as superior. Maybe he was right; maybe he was wrong. Regardless, it was his opinion that made the difference, and yet, Vox's program remained uninterrupted. It was almost disappointing.

So Vox continued, sharing some of the theories and speculation he'd found online about Alastor's disappearance. All found while searching for any signs of him being spotted anywhere. Stories were all kept anonymous, and there were a few ideas he made up himself. But no one needed to know that. The viewers, the listeners, they were just there for the entertainment and fun. Most of them didn't care about what was genuine or not, so long as it was enthralling, and technically, Vox wasn't lying about anything -- only pretending that the speculator of some of the rumors wasn't himself.

The segment Vox had planned out was only about an hour long, and as the top of the hour began rapidly approaching, he started to feel more restless and agitated. It became clear that Alastor really wasn't listening. Or at least, wasn't planning on showing it. Responding at all. What an ass. A year of absolutely no contact after an argument-induced battle, no way of even knowing how he could possibly contact his old friend, and all after Vox had dared ask Alastor to join him in expanding the medium he worked with? As if it was such a major offense. At least Valentino and Velvette supported him, even though they didn't seem to understand, either. They didn't understand the joy of broadcasting, not in the same way Alastor had. They'd had that in common, and he still had been too stubborn to stray from radio, even a little bit.

"Well, that about wraps it up for this broadcast," Vox chimed as happily as he could muster. The viewers, he knew, didn't care whether the grin was genuine or forced, and most didn't know it was the latter anyway. "We'll be back later for some more daily news. In the meantime, I leave you with this ad from our sponsor. And don't forget: You can always trust us, Voxtek, with your entertainment."

As soon as the cameras shut off, Vox's smile faltered, but he plastered it right back on when Travis came up to him.

"We're done here, right?" He asked. "'Cause Val's expecting me down at his studio for a shoot. The rest of the camera crew can handle the afternoon broadcast for you."

"Yeah, yeah," Vox waved him off. "Go help Val. He won't let me hear the end of it, if I keep you." It was good news, though, if Valentino was going to be busy with a shoot. He knew Velvette had her work, too. And he just wanted to be alone.

He retreated to his room and sat surrounded by his screens, all connected to cameras and tech across town. City-wide surveillance. Vox flipped through different feeds absent-mindedly. As always, in the back of his mind, he was searching for one specific person. But he should have known, by now, it was pointless.

What if something really had happened to him? Vox shook his head, sighing at the thought. No. Alastor was too tough for that. He was the Radio Demon. No, it seemed more plausible that he was simply avoiding Vox. Avoiding all detection. How, Vox wasn't sure. Strange that he could disappear so effectively. But, of course, if anyone could do such a thing, it would be Alastor. For whatever his reasons, Alastor knew how to remove himself from the public view if he needed to. That was their thing, of course, media and coverage of different sorts. Vox figured he, too, could avoid being detected, if he'd wished.

Vox sighed. It was time to just admit what he didn't want to before. Whatever he had with Alastor before, if he ever had anything at all -- it was over. Truly. By this point? Any hope of having it back was futile.

The aching became rage, like a protective shield. Rage, bitterness, was easier to handle. It meant he wasn't being hurt, but that he was the one in control. He was the one that would do the hurting, if it ever came down to it. If he ever saw Alastor again. That had been one thing he'd learned from the Radio Demon. Always find a way to keep the upper hand.

With his control over technology, now, he would. And someday, Alastor would see what he left behind.

#hazbin hotel #radiostatic #staticradio #staticlovetune #vox #alastor #radiostatic week 2024 #this will be edited and posted on AO3 eventually but have it here for now #canon is a little confusing about how much of Vox's broadcast was camera crew and how much was his editing(???) but eh #hopefully this works well enough #poor pathetic TV pining #posts by 📲 #kinda #sysmate wrote this but I'm representing him #since he doesn't use this blog #fanfiction #it just so happens that this kinda fits both prompts I think #this is one-sided-ish #as in it's entirely ambiguous #except that Vox has feelings

[redfirerai]

“13th birthday with Grayson” vs “18th birthday with my brother who insists on being embarrassing”

I feel like Damian would secretly keep a photo album of things happening in his life. It first started with Alfred or Dick taking photos whenever Damian would meet a normal human-child-milestone. Despite not really understanding why the others cared so much, he’d have these photos printed and kept neatly in a little album with short descriptions and I feel like those descriptions would slowly become more open and emotional as he would age.

#batfam #batman #dick grayson #damian wayne #nightwing #Robin #dc #my art #Damian is cosplaying as his father in the first image #they’re so #the cutest siblings #fanart #lovely blorbos #dc comics #idc dick will look ambiguously 28 for his entire life #jason todd #tim drake #red robin #red hood

[prideprejudce]

the more i think about Oppenheimer the more disappointed i get because at its core it’s such an interesting story to tell. like the whole manhattan project catapulted the entire world into a new atomic era that we could never go back from whether we were ready for it or not. and the fallout from the project not only changed and devastated the lives of hundreds of thousands of people (including of course the victims in hiroshima and nagasaki + the people living in new mexico where they tested the bomb) and the continued generational trauma of the bombs. also just the general mass panic and fear that the Cold War instilled into every citizen in the states who were literally waiting to one day be just annihilated by a nuclear attack. the whole creation of the atomic bomb had so much impact on the world. so doing a deep character study of both oppenheimer and his colleagues on the moral ambiguity of their work in the project and the outcome of it is such a great movie concept. but the film didn’t feel like that at all. instead Nolan gave us the watered down story that he’s best at and spent almost three hours forcing us to watch whether oppenheimer had to lose his disneyland government fast-pass due to his communist ties or not (spoiler: he does) and how strauss doesn’t like him because he got his feewlings hurt once. all the other scientists and physicists were given one or two minutes of screen time and were really just names to a face. the actual bombs creation was given a sidelong glance and trivial explanation at best. and of course to tie it all off the main female side characters were either naked/having sex for 80% of their screen time or was given the character depth of a piece of tissue paper

#oppenheimer #oppenheimer spoilers #oppenheimer negativity #I’ve had all day to think on this and the more i do the sadder i get #i wanted to like this film so much #i thought we were gonna be given a deep dive into this character and the bomb #but the result felt shallow and contrived #the movie focuses so much on fitting as much info as possible in three hours that the story just couldn’t breathe #scenes between characters lasted all of two minutes before we were launched into another scene to two new characters #and oppenheimers personal motivation/desires just felt ambiguous the entire time #like he busts his ass to build this bomb but then all the sudden develops a moral compass when it’s done? #where’s the character depth?? what makes him so passive about some things then suddenly driven for others? #and Florence and Emily Blunt were ripped off and characters were reduced to common tropes #it’s just so disappointing….i waited all year for this movie too

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

Gotham Academy was no stranger to odd teachers, mostly due to the turnover rate in Gotham not sparing them in the least.

Still, this new out-of-towner school nurse from Absolutely Nowhere Amity Park was by far the weirdest.

#dpxdc #danny phantom #batman #Gotham #listen it’s ambiguous on purpose #is it a grown up Danny? one of his friends? #a listers? Valerie? w e s? #one of the Fenton parents? lance thunder or VLAD somehow? #the possibilities are endless and all entertaining #cue usual ‘amity Parker says concerning shit without any preamble’ #Gotham academy students ‘haha #…what’ #school lockdown due to killer croc? #the nurse is just entirely unimpressed #ohhhh nooooo a slightly buff and scary dude is somewhere nearby??!? #Casper High didn’t even cancel school the FIRST time we had a sentient meat monster try to destroy the school and kill someone

[hiveswap]

Such a deeply analytical website that you can trust with serious themes

#for the uninitiated. the story treats him entirely as an adult with 0 ambiguity #and he wouldnt even be 12 because years have passed since he was artifically aged #we dont even know if he *was* 12 #....fellas is raising a gun to your so's head and almost shooting out of fear because theyre a horrific angel creature morally correct #trigun #discourse

[merilles]

May Le Fay

(For @queer-ragnelle's May Day Parade!)

The Queen of Avalon in all her sorceress glory with a raven companion, illuminated by the light of the stars and a crescent moon. Woe to any knight-errant who happens to come across her in the darkness of the forest!

#she is so interesting and honestly one of the most iconic arthurian characters #there have been many different interpretations of her ranging from benevolent to outright malevolent #but i do not believe she is a villain - simply misunderstood in her moral ambiguity #she was there for arthur at the end so she cannot be entirely evil #despite the shenanigans of course. perhaps she's just a bit of a prankster #arthuriana #arthurian legend #arthurian mythology #morgan #morgan le fay #may day parade #art #my art #merilles

[yukipri]

Ngl this is sorta making me queasy with excitement/nervousness...

Especially coming right on the tail of:

So even though I will likely be a clown (again) this time tomorrow, here's what I wrote out in the twitter thread above:

Please @/starwars Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2, this time with Ewan McGregor and Temuera Morrison as co-stars. There's closure now with Obi-Wan & Vader. Next, closure between the Jedi & the clones on Order 66, represented by the 2 we saw experience it first: Obi-Wan and Commander Cody

I know in the latest Obi-Wan comic, Obi-Wan basically goes "I miss Cody to this day, even though he tried to kill me. Ah well." And it just K*LLS me that that's it. Obi-Wan (and most the Jedi) have no clue that the clones were victims too.

Y'all are inserting Order 66 scenes in almost every show, so you can do it one more time, this time in an attempt to understand and gain closure. And this is a story that is genuinely best told through Obi-Wan and Cody. Palpatine sent the Order to Cody, first and most directly.

This is a story that doesn't need to mess with characters like Luke or Leia, who we know we'll see again. Cody is MIA as of TBB S2. Obi-Wan now also has some time after season 1, where we know he can't really be messing with Vader. This story can fit in well.

(heck, you can even insert more Clone Wars flashbacks, including young Ahsoka, you saw how much we all loved that in the Ahsoka show!) This show would let you share more about other clones and Jedi as well. Depending on how TBB S3 ends, we can have some connections there too.

PLUS! Temuera Morrison seems eager for a role. I'd love to see him again as Boba in TBOBF S2 (and have a whole 'nother pitch there), but Cody is a character that Tem personally originated in ROTS. He also had fantastic chemistry with Ewan as Jango!

So I'd love to see them share a screen again. (plus, age-wise, he's kinda closer to double-speed aged Cody than Boba?)

I could go on forever but…yes, please this.

(also can I help write it?😂😭🙏)

~~End Thread

But yeah, I know better than to get my hopes up, and I have been a clown about this many times before (including but not limited for the actual Obi-Wan S1 lmao).

So here I am with my clown mask ready: 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

(Edit: added this in the tags but:

It does occur to me that another very possible route they could take an Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2 is doing something with Quinlan, since they left that very obvious thread open in S1.

BUT I would still prefer Cody & clones centric😭🙏)

#YukiPri rambles #Obi-Wan Kenobi #Commander Cody #tbh i do not actually want canon romantic codywan #i would much rather prefer ambiguous extreme platonic closeness #but plot focussing entirely on reaching mutual understanding and closure over Order 66 #as well as how the clones as a whole were treated by the Republic #Tbh other than Cody-centric tho what are they gonna do? #another option is following the Quinlan trail they left in S1 but #tbh I'd kinda prefer a Quinlan-centric show not him as guest #Obi-Wan can guest #we will see tomorrow...

[inkperch]

....was desperately looking to see if anyone else had picked up on the vibes between two female characters in something I just watched, and the only post that had was one of those wankers using everything and everyone they could find to shit on Chaggie for 'Having no tension', fuck the internet I hate it here-

#fandom vent #chaggie #hazbin hotel #AND I WAS REACHING FOR THE VIBES LMAO. #They really said the sweetest softest CANON saphics I've ever seen had less chemistry #than two characters of which one had zero dialogue 100% of my basis for shipping them is entirely valid to read as platonic #...honestly probably MORE valid to read as platonic than romantic #it's from one of those mascot horror games where it's unintentionally ambiguous how old the charas are bc ghost logic- #aka #poppy playtime #poppy poppy playtime #kissy missy poppy playtime #which yeah if anyone else low key ships them after chapter 3--

[04tenno]

So, uh...

Mine lived(?)

How Are We Doing.

#yakuza #like a dragon #yakuza 3 #yoshitaka mine #mine yoshitaka #masayoshi yokoyama #kson #I THINK THE STAFF MEMBER IS SANTO. LIKE 90% SURE IT'S SANTO but i don't have the video clip and cannot identify him im so sorry #i included the “preamble” to make it clear he was talking about mine and why but i'm just obsessed with the whole conversation honestly #kson having the opportunity to go up to yokoyama and say “do you think mine is out there somewhere.” living the dream #yokoyama's character arc not particularly liking mine back in the day and falling for him later on like me too bro #also he literally does just straight up say mine is alive. with zero ambiguity and even with an explanatory tone. #i ADDED what ambiguity there is because i don't want anyone to--as the tweet says--expect too much #anyway that's the end of the normal tags the rest of this is just going to be overwrought melodramatics #i hate the entire ending portion the transition and effects are godawful #not what my vision was at all #this is my first time actually editing and it shows. but it'll have to do. #i'm also nothing short of embarrassed of the timing and the missing words #but i really did do my best. i really did pay to have it professionally transcribed. #and part of me certainly wonders if this is all a mistake and irresponsible to put out there. if i'm giving people false hope. #if the extent of my understanding just isn't good enough to know better #yet if there IS something there... then what good will it have done to keep it to myself #original #my clips #my translations

[corroded-coffin]

every time some beloved musician opens their mouth to say something shitty and homophobic and/or transphobic i just gotta remember one thing and one thing only

#judas priest #rob halford #also hot take if you built your entire fucking career off of being subversive #and having an ambiguous gender presentation etc #and then go turn around to be like HMMM TRANS GENDERS BAD #eat the width and breadth of my fucking asshole BYE

[hesgomorrah]

something so special about watching old tv shows do shit that would be called queerbait if they came out today but they predate queerbaiting as a phenomenon so you know it's genuine home-grown all-natural free-range homoeroticism

#this is also true about All Of Mash and many other shows but it was a tjmd episode that made me think of this. sorry #i just watched their answer to george and. lowkey as a Let's Talk About Gay People episode it does a better job #(though tbf it was written 7 years later and contemporary rather than set in a pre-stonewall world) #but there's also an entire b plot about the show's frank clone thinking gonzo and trapper were gay while also acting deeply closeted himsel #and it. never gets resolved. like there's not a big moment where they realize the misunderstanding and go OH NO NO IT'S NOT LIKE THAT #it feels almost deliberately ambiguous #mash #sigh. yeah it's getting its own tag there's something wrong with me #tjmd #my posts

[project-sekai-facts]

Nagi is the only minor character who does not have her age listed in her profile from the second fanbook. All other characters, alive or dead, have their age listed. This is because of Nagi's current ambiguous situation.

#is nagi dead or alive? find out tomorrow or saturday depends on the event description #nagi kotaki #project sekai #PLEASE DON'T POST LEAKS UNDER THIS I KNOW THE ENTIRE EVENT STORY LEAKED A COUPLE HOURS AGO BUT PLEASE DON'T RUIN IT FOR PEOPLE #Keep the ambiguity going for two days before the reveal is made #should clarify this has been scheduled for weeks i am adding these tags minutes before it is set to post

[venusdebotticelli]

Okay so, I think it's very likely that after Stede and Ed have had their first reunion they're gonna be separated again soon after. Probably because Ed's gonna be like "I'm totally over you actually and don't wanna see your stupid face ever again" and run away from Stede just because of how absolutely tooooootally over him he is, right? So Stede will probably be aboard the Revenge while Ed is elsewhere having his Live Laugh Love spiritual journey of Finding Himself and all that.

Now imagine Stede all bummed out because he's just having the full realisation of exactly how much he hurt Ed, and there's no hope, he absolutely blew it, Ed obviously wants nothing to do with him ever again! Despair! So he goes to mope to the Captain's quarters, wallows in the tragic state of them a bit while missing Ed terribly, and his eyes catch on a funky little skeleton dressed up all in black on a familiar spot on a particular shelf...

And he finds not only all of his auxiliary clothes intact, but also a nest in the middle of the room with two little figurines in it that have a very particular look to them!

Cue "Hello, Edward!" and "shipmates" and chasing Ed all over the place while Ed is like "who are you again?" and "I don't need you at all, look how I'm thriving all by myself and I definitely don't miss you, not even a little bit!", y'know, like a liar. And maybe they're having messy sex throughout all of this or maybe they're not, but either way, Stede knows! He knows! He saw the proof of Ed's heart carefully hidden away where only Stede could find it! He can fix this! He's gonna put his all into earning that trust back! Because he knows there's hope! ;U;

And yeah, this is more of a headcanon than actual speculation, but it's eating me alive, so I had to inflict it on you all as wel! 🔥🙌🔥

#ofmd s2 #Gentlebeard #blackbonnet #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd s2 speculation #Our Flag Means Death #Krakhouse #Born On A Beach #Thrilled To Be Granted Entry #fanfiction #kind of #Coolification writes #I'd write a ficlet of this if I had the spoons for it but sadly I currently do not 🥲 #so if someone wants to take the idea for your own ficlet and tag me on it so I can read it I would love you forever!!! ;U; #i made a couple of edits to the post just to emphasise even further that I'm being entirely facetious about Ed actually meaning it :p #This is entirely in the spirit of they're both fully downbad for each other and not fooling anyone #my autism just kicked in while I was looking at it again and I realised I may have made the tone a bit too ambiguous 😅 #it's the comedy of it-- not an angst-fest #Bridebeard

[lecliss]

Alright I'm on team Sunday now. Like whatever he's about to do I'm sure is gonna be taking it into antagonistic and villainous territory so like, don't do that. Don't turn this into an Artorius situation cuz then I'm just gonna be mad about always painting us as horrible uncaring people but Sunday's core philosophy so far is like, yeah I 100% agree.

#game: heres a complex character teetering on the egde of antagonist due to how he hes grown jaded from his life experiences #isnt he complex and ambiguous and nuanced? #me: hes right #game: what? no youre supposed to be conflicted and agree with who he used to be but not who hes become #me: no hes just completely right. he sucked before but now hes right #game: ...... #like HEY VIDEO GAMES STOP TAKING CHARACTERS LIKE THIS AND MAKING THEM ANTAGONISTS AND MAKING THEM TAKE THINGS SO FAR THEY START DOING EVIL #okay sundays not 100% in the right but he has a point. i was on robin's side when they were talking to random people #but im entirely on team sunday at the end of the competition #like clearly theyre gonna make him take it too far a la classic berseria artorius which is just like :/ #but before we reach that point i agree with him and im tired of it being painted as like. youve become a bad person for that #just because people only see the surface of that kind of person and mindset without understanding what it means #and just creating a character that doesnt embody the truth of this kind of mindset so they just look like a bad person for it #cool thanks once again for the villainization #hsr spoilers #hsr 2.2 spoilers

[atreefullofstars]

Boy I sure do love unfollowing people for ice-cold takes about transandrophobia. Anyway here’s your periodic reminder that the oppression olympics is a shitty game that benefits only the oppressors, and it takes nothing away from trans women if trans men are allowed to acknowledge the unique form of transphobia they face and create a word for it, but it sure takes something away from trans men if they AREN’T allowed the language to describe their experiences.

#not a man trans or otherwise #but that's the point: we need to FUCKING STAND TOGETHER you absolute garbanzo #'it implies misandry exists!!!' piss entirely off #bi implies two but we've been over the meaning of bisexual a zillion times #humans are capable of clarifying etymological ambiguity #except you apparently #the insistence that trans men can't POSSIBLY be uniquely oppressed because they're men #is PART of the oppression of trans men #just like bi erasure and saying bi folks have straight privilege is part of biphobia #and ace exclusionism and denial of aphobia is part of aphobia #none of these groups are straight enough for the Straights and they therefore don't benefit from being #supposedly in your estimation closer to straight

[raifuujin]

It's been more than 20 years and for some reason I feel that Gosho hasn't given Kaiao any development, how can more than 20 years pass and Aoko dynamics, relationship and feelings remain the same? At this point I feel like Gosho is just going to make them date because "they already liked each other" they remain in the same status quo

Hey, if we go by DC romance progress, they've been going too fast. We've already had suspicion of identity chapters, and that didn't happen until more than 400 chapters in DC. /j

Since heists have taken over any character development recently, I don't even know if Kaito and Aoko will even get any romantic progress. Maybe the actual identity confrontation will happen down the line, since that's thief drama, but atm, it really wouldn't surprise me if they only ask each other on a real date at the very end of the manga.

Like. I'm sure Gosho would love to make MK a love drama as well, but he writes MK so rarely, and usually as hype for something Kid related in other media. So the MK stories tend to be heavy on drama that can only take place at Kid heists. (To the point that the new chapters just. Use Kid as the plot device to show off a new character. Even Hakuba's never gotten so much 'look at this character being a detective' treatment in MK.)

-sighs- I just feel bad for MK as a series at this point. I like the characters, I like the general story idea, but. It's been going down a very steep hill with Gosho wanting things exciting, but not wanting any real progress in. Anything. But unlike old MK, the new stories aren't even nice standalone setpieces of story, they're... mundane. They could be high stakes, if you purely look at the scenarios on paper, but. We all know nothing's gonna happen to Kid. Nothing even happens to him when the actual bad guys show up, much less one-time antagonists.

We need actual character focus and development, not heist drama. Badly. Not even romance, though that'd be a nice change. Just any character expansion of our limited cast of characters. Gosho wants big, all the time, meaningless big stuff, when small would be so nice.

#And also he probably won't care to expand on KaiAo when he knows it's already canon #Like; not in the same way that ShinRan is canon endgame and he just needed to write it out #But in a 'I said these two were dating in another manga; they will exist even if I haven't written it' #And his story atm does feel like it could be left off with an ambiguous note on if they're together or not #And then just leave them dating in Yaiba for people who care about confirmation #MK is not in a stable enough state; I really don't know what he's planning with anything #And it's been so. -gestures to all the 'meaningless big stuff'- lately #I don't know if it'll ever get any shift in focus in the future #We barely get anything; all we have now is a new character people are divided about #And the tiniest continuity of Aoko thinking to herself that Kid is teasing her by reminding her of Kaito #Like; part of the problem is continuity as well; at least if Gosho wants to stick with DC-ish MK #MK has all the potential for callbacks or returning characters that could be interesting #But none of the potential that fans enjoy is ever /used/ #We got all our KaiAo up front. We have suspicion arcs where it's barely mentioned that Kaito's proven his innocence in the past #They could go back to the amusement park and Aoko could mention the movie and Kaito can be sweating #Because he never saw the movie; that's then he peaced out to go heisting #There's so much. Gosho's good at adding potential to his story #But everything he comes up with to make canon ends up disappointing because he never fully uses any of it #He just adds more and more elements that go nowhere #MK is a mess that gets more and more fun to play around in; but the actual chapters are. Bad #Which might be for a reason similar to DC of we wait so long and get something extremely meh #Except instead of the months between DC cases; it's years for MK; and DC fans complain the entire time #So when MK fans are fed crumbs of... anything. It's just not as enjoyable as new content should be #(I got rambly in tags; sorry ;._. )