#somebody tell me this comparison makes sense

[beanghostprincess]

kid asl + kid sanji + sabosan

ace and sabo being sweet to luffy in their own kid way and sanji seeing it and being like "oh :] ( :[ )"

but very quickly having that kindness extended to him (especially by sabo)

the brothers hunt the food and sanji cooks it

sabosan bonding over horrible noble families

This is so sweet,, My sweet boys :( I don't care if it doesn't make sense with the timeline or whatever, but Sanji ends up meeting them when they're kids. I always use this plot, but-- The Orbit gets stranded in Goa and of course, the kids find out because they're always waiting for pirates. So ASL finds Sanji and they won't stop asking questions about piracy and his life and telling him how excited they are to become pirates. Sanji is- Saying overwhelmed would be an understatement because imagine a kid like him hanging out with THEM. But he has so much fun, too, because it's been so long ever since he saw somebody his age and he's not used to hanging out with them but they welcome him with open arms. They tell him that they're brothers (Ace and Sabo fighting over who's the oldest, as usual) and explain to him the basics: Where they live, how they hunt for food, their training... And Sanji is just there, staring at them with eyes wide open, and asking how the hell they manage to live like this. Sanji has a bit of an attitude now in comparison to when he was with his family, but he's still a bit of a sweet crybaby who isn't used to the outside world and has the biggest heart in the world. The brothers find him so sweet,,, It makes Luffy kind of angry because "Why's he allowed to cry but when I do you call me a crybaby???" and Ace and Sabo always go "Because if you wanna be a pirate you gotta be strong! He's a cook. It's not the same" (cool way of saying 'we don't laugh at the pretty boy because we want to kiss the pretty boy, Luffy') and Sanji wants to prove them wrong and show that he's brave like them but doing what they do is just a big no-no. They always end by saying "Everybody has their strengths!!! We don't even know how to boil water" and Sanji feels all proud of himself whenever they compliment him like that.

Basically, they tell him to stay with them for as long as his ship is stranded there, and he accepts right away because they look fun and sweet and like friends, finally. And maybe they're the people Reiju was talking about when she said he'd find better people someday. So ASL hunts and Sanji cooks with the abilities he used to have when he was a kid, which are better now that he has a bit of experience, and the kids fall for him so quick. So damn quick. They taste Sanji's food and now you have Ace and Sabo experiencing their first ever crush ("first" for Sabo, because Ace's first crush was Makino and I will always find that so cute). Luffy is more focused on the food, though, but the three of them still fight over Sanji's attention. So-- I think this would be really funny. Sanji stays with them and is completely oblivious to Ace and Sabo falling for him, even if they're constantly trying to show off their abilities to get his attention. Sanji is a bit busy trying to get used to all of these emotions. Every day is fun and a bit dangerous and he does cry a lot, and the only one who can calm him down is Luffy because he knows how it feels to be scared. They play together and show him around. They introduce him to Dadan (who's about to have a heart attack because she can't deal with more kids) and she actually ends up loving him because!! The kid knows how to cook!! That is a win for them.

It's a bit weird for Sanji, to see them like that. Because he has never had any interaction with other siblings and they act so... Differently from his. Okay, yes, they fight a lot, but it's never serious. They always end up laughing. They're rough with each other but when it matters they're always using tender touches and language with each other. They calm Luffy down when he gets angry, know how to react if Ace is feeling stressed, and constantly say they miss Sabo when he isn't with them. Sanji doubts his brothers would've ever acted like that with him, so it hurts. He doesn't quite know if it's jealousy? Envy? Frustration? But Sanji knows it breaks his heart a little knowing he wasn't worthy of being loved like this. But they show him that he is worthy and he was never the problem to begin with. Because they start showering him with love too! Sanji doesn't want to be a bother, so he never asks for things and instead always tries to be useful. To sort of thank them for letting him have a place to stay. ASL just wants him to be a kid like them. They compliment his food, respect his personal space, let him participate in everything he wants, and they're so, so protective of him. Sanji might not train with them, but he's always there when they do, and if there are dangers near he knows they'll look after him without even having to ask. He wonders why they do that most of the time, and they always end up telling him "Because we don't want you to get hurt, dummy. We thought that was obvious?" and it breaks his heart a little.

They bond over so many different things. Luffy loves Sanji's cooking and won't stop asking him every day if he'll be his cook once he becomes a pirate (Sanji is always telling the three of them he has yet to decide), and he's always the one calming Sanji down whenever something's wrong. Luffy tells him in private that he knows feeling weak and scared sucks, but it isn't that bad when they're together, right? "Alone we aren't really strong, but together we are unstoppable! So stay with us, okay? That way you'll never have to cry again. I don't cry anymore because I'm all brave and a pirate, so it's my job to make sure you're always smiling!" and that melts his heart completely (and adds a new, painful meaning to Whole Cake Island. I wanna d word a little).

On the other hand, there's Ace... Ace is a complicated kid, obviously. He tries so hard to be cool and seem strong. At first, it makes Sanji admire him a lot, but then he finds out the kid is actually stupid and reckless and has to be looked after a lot too. Sanji loves being with him because he feels protected, but he's always worried Ace might get hurt. To be fair, it happens with Luffy too. However, there's just something about him... Like he's more mature than them. Like he has grown up too fast. And he hasn't talked about his past, so Sanji isn't sure why he's this way. Ace doesn't like Sanji seeing him this way, he figures, because he always pretends to be okay when Sanji knows he isn't. Until one day they have the "Should I have been born?" talk, and it's the first time somebody tells Ace "I think about that a lot too" instead of the usual "I don't know" or just a plain "Yes". They get each other so well. Ace wants to make a name for himself because his father has determined his whole future, and Sanji doesn't want to have anything to do with his father and just wants to be a normal person, but they both feel like they are a mistake, while the other keeps saying he's happy the other is alive.

And then there's Sabo. Now, Sabosan is the endgame ship here because I say so. I was just using Acesan as plot device because it's sweet and funny. Sabo, the one who always tries to be more mature and calm and cold-headed because the other two are even more chaotic than him (imagine how chaotic they are because Sabo is already... Something else), loses it the moment he meets Sanji. He's,,, He's so pretty. He's cute and knows how to cook and he's so so sweet and nice and has the biggest heart in the world. And Sabo has only seen pain and torture in the world. Living isn't just living, it's survival and escaping the pain he has to deal with his family every day. Sanji feels like living. Like, actually enjoying life when they're together. Sabo might be chaotic and he might fight a lot with Ace and Luffy for Sanji's attention, but at the end of the day, he is the gentle brother who takes more care of Sanji and is always looking after him. He brings him books from his house because he knows Sanji likes reading. He often even writes stuff for him because Sabo is a writer, and feels the need to show his art to Sanji. He lends him clothes and he's always the first one to offer to cook with him, even if he's awful at it. They're still kids so Sabo isn't quite sure what love feels like, but this is close enough, he thinks. Every time Sanji laughs? Smiles? When he speaks about the All Blue? It makes Sabo's heart do backflips. It makes him want to keep fighting and training. And Sanji sees the pain and responsibility Sabo feels in his eyes. He feels protected when he's around and it's always so much fun to be together. He likes how passionate Sabo is about writing and becoming a pirate, and he loves the way he takes care of Luffy too. Sanji ends up realizing he always puts a little bit more effort into Sabo's food... And he doesn't know what love is, but he's a bit shy around Sabo now that he knows he feels different about him.

Just imagine Makino coming to see them and meeting Sanji! She'd love him! The kid is so polite and smart and she just wants to kiss his cutie face and hug him tight. Her personality is kind of like his mom's, so it hurts a little to meet her, but she's just so sweet that Sanji can't help but grow attached to her. And God, just imagine Sabo and Sanji interacting in front of her. Sanji blushing and Sabo eating his food happily and always being so, so close to him. That woman knows what's going on, but if she asks Sabo she knows he's gonna go "What?! Sanji?! No! I don't like him! I mean- I do like him. But... But it's not that way..." / "Are you sure about that, darling? You know you can like, like him, right? It's okay. You can tell me" / ".... Do you think he likes me back? What do I do for him to like me back? What if he goes away and never finds out?!" / "I don't think you have to worry about that now, sweetie". But Makino is also a bit of a tease, so she goes to Sanji one day and says "Hey, Sanji? What do you think of Sabo?" / "..... He's really nice to me" / "He is, isn't he? He isn't that nice to everybody. Maybe you're special for him?" / "What?! I am not, how- How could I be? He's just... He just looks after me because I can't do it. I'm a burden" / "Don't say that, honey. He looks after you because he cares for you" / "He looks after Luffy too" / "It's different with you, I think. But well, he also looks after Luffy because that's what brothers do" / "Do they?" / "What, sweetie?" / "Nothing. Sorry. Sabo always asks to cook with me" / "Mmm. I wonder why".

Sanji doesn't make any promises because he has three different boys asking him if he wants to be their cook once they're captains, so he just says he wants to find the All Blue. That's enough for him. So now he has Ace, Sabo, and Luffy fighting over who will be the one taking Sanji to the All Blue. For now, Sanji just says he's everybody's cook. That's cool with them.

I think all of this could go hand in hand with the AU of Sanji and Sabo seeing each other first in a meeting between their families. So when Sanji ends up in the Goa Kingdom, Sabo already knows him and that's why they accept him into their little family so quickly. He thought Sanji was dead, so when they see each other again, Sanji is the happiest boy in the whole world. He's so protective of him. He won't stop saying how much he hates his family and Sanji. But they're alright now. They're okay.

But they're not. Because then, Sabo "dies". And the day after, Sanji has to leave with his crew. And then you have Ace and Luffy on their own, with a dead brother and Sanji promising they'll see each other again. But he's so heartbroken he doesn't know how he'll be able to keep going. He wants to find the All Blue for Sabo. He knows Sabo would've hated it if he had given up. Then the whole story goes on, yadda yadda Zeff yadda yadda Baratie yadda yadda Luffy and Sanji meet again yadda yadda Sanji joins the Strawhats yadda yadda they find Ace in Alabasta (and he's actually a bit jealous Luffy was the one who ended up with Sanji as his cook, but he's obviously happy for them). And maybe. Maybe something happens between Ace and Sanji. Maybe they kiss or something but I don't think they do anything else? Ace feels it is disrespectful to Sabo. He confesses he had a crush on Sanji when they were kids, and he's gorgeous now and he would love to be with him in some way, but it just feels wrong. Ace always knew Sabo and Sanji were meant to be, anyway, and Sanjii doesn't even want anything to happen, either. Yadda yadda yadda, Dressrosa. Oh, and isn't it hilarious how Sanji isn't even there. when it happens? Luffy meets Sabo. Everything follows canon. Except that Luffy has time to talk to him instead of Sabo running away quickly. And somebody mentions Sanji. Robin, maybe, and Sabo instantly goes "You did not take him with you!" but he's smiling when he says it. He wants to see him so bad. So, so bad. So he promises to visit the crew when he can. He promises he will see Sanji.

And then the end kind of follows the post I tagged about the other AU? Except that Luffy doesn't tell Sanji that Sabo is alive because he thinks he'll be happier if Sabo tells him himself when he pays a visit to them!!!

I just love childhood friends AUs,,, This is incredible. Awesome idea. I love Sabosan so much I might cry.

#they're all so silly and cute #they're adorable #sabosan living in my mind rent free #also the angst of ace pining is killing me a little i am sorry #unrequited acesan ouch #luffy your brothers are flirting with your cook again #one piece #black leg sanji #monkey d. luffy #portgas d. ace #revolutionary sabo #asl brothers #sabosan #acesan #<- unrequited but it's there

[max1461]

A feature I don't like that is present to varying degrees in textbooks in basically every field besides pure math is that they don't feel very "skeptical". A math book doesn't just claim things, it also includes proofs, i.e. it tells you how we know that those things are true. My experience with textbooks in e.g. biology is that they don't even attempt this; they just assert shit about how the cell works or whatever. I really don't like this. Obviously it would be impossible to convince the reader of your claims in a biology text the same way a math text can, but I'd appreciate if these books at least gave me some direction in looking into the evidence for the claim.

Actually, linguistics books are pretty good about this too. I'll give credit to the Chomskyans and add that generative syntax books tend to do this especially well. I think this is because the basic methodological tool of generative syntax is the native speaker grammaticality judgement, and (unfortunate as it may be) a large proportion of generativist work has been on English. The upshot is that if you're a native speaker of English and you read a syntax claim, you can just test out a couple example sentences yourself to see if it holds up. Even when the language under discussion isn't English, it's convention to include example sentences from the object language which illustrate the analysis. The result is that you get to see the exact data, or at least illustrative examples of the data, that the given syntactic hypothesis is trying to model. So you know roughly how that hypothesis was arrived at, you know why somebody would think that.

My problem reading econ texts and even physics text in the past has been that they posit all these abstractions, they posit things like "real GDP" or "force" or whatever, and they don't do a good job of grounding these things concretely—that is to say, framing them in terms of things I have immediate access to, like my reasoning faculties or my powers of observation. I just have to take their word that there's a thing called "force" and it obeys this law, and what is it exactly? Don't worry about that.

Note that I don't have this problem with "mass" because the concept of a scale (like an old school scale, with the lever and the two plates) is familiar to me; I can conceptualize what mass is in terms of a straightforward empirical comparison between objects that I could do, even if I have to take the book's word for e.g. the mass of a baseball or whatever. Same with size, because I know about rulers.

I think physics books could do this better, they could be more skeptical, concrete, and grounded, but they mostly aren't. I've talked before about how most people consider math very abstract, but it feels concrete to me in this sense. A mathematician can tell me exactly what an abelian group is in a way that I can write down and work with, but it's harder for a physicist to tell me exactly what a field is (even in terms of a purely empirical operational definition).

I've made this whole post before, and better. But I'm making it again.

#navel gazing

[vrisrezis]

Hii! I loove your Rocket fics if you have time I have a request:

I would love to see a very nervous crushing Rocket that just refuses to accept his feelings for y/n (female) and does anything he can to avoid showing too much interest (with the result that for all the guardians its kinda obvious that he likes her even tho shes the only one that don’t actually get it, cliché)

Rocket has done everything he possibly could. Any lie he could come up with, any excuse, any reason not to see you. He had kept up with this for so long today. Now, the issue was that he did this… all the time. The two of you were friends at one point in time, and while that still proved to be the case, he was noticeably more distant. You had assumed maybe you had done something to upset him, but you weren’t exactly sure how to go about dealing with the issue at hand, you couldn’t possibly think of anything you could’ve done to him. You were always a kind individual, especially to rocket, knowing his temper and how easy it was to get on his bad side. Plus, it certainly helped that you liked him in the romantic sense. You had never told anybody about these feelings, apparently. As your conversation with gamora today proved that.

Gamora was somebody you knew you could ask for advice, as she was the only true sensible one here. And when it came to you, she never judged you. Maybe it was because you weren’t as weird as you thought yourself to be, especially in comparison to the shit quill and drax ask her for, but still.

“Wait… so you mean to tell me you’ve had feelings for rocket this whole time?” she said in surprise, and you let out a sigh of relief. “Yes! Thank god you haven’t noticed… good…” “what do you mean, good?!” she asked, absolutely flabbergasted. “What!?” you said, unsure yourself. “I-it’s just! I don’t want him to know that I like him!!”

She lets out a groan. One of those groans she lets out when she’s done with the guardians shit, namely rocket, quill and drax.

“Why wouldn’t you want him to know that? Don’t you want something out of your relationship? Something more?” and to that you shrug, “I mean sure! But what if he doesn’t like me back? I’m pretty sure he’s mad at me! That’s what I wanted to talk to you about!” you explain, and to that gamora looks even more confused. “What do you mean? Rocket doesn’t hate you?”

“But he keeps avoiding me!”

And to that, gamora takes a minute to answer back before saying upon her own realization, “oh.”

“Oh? What oh?! What are you oh’ing at?!”

“I’m just oh’ing at the fact that I just realized you’re just as much of a moron as the other guardians.”

Meanwhile, rocket had figured he’d done a good job at keeping his feelings towards you a secret. However, quill proved to him on this very night, he was very wrong.

“So… y/n, huh?” quill says with a big old grin on his face, which only gets wider as rocket yells in surprise, dropping his wrench and quickly turning around. “What?!” rocket asks, clearly surprised.

“You heard me. So, when you gonna tell them?” he asks, getting straight to the point. At this, rocket groans. “How did you know?” he asks, not even bothering to hide it. This shocks the Terran for a moment, but what shocks him even more was his question. “What do you mean? Anyone with a pair of eyes can tell you like them. Way to make it so obvious even mantis can tell without needing to touch you.” he says with a laugh, and rocket suddenly feels extremely embarrassed.

“Listen, if it makes you feel any better they haven’t caught on, like at all.”

And upon those words, his ears perk up a little.

“However,” Peter lifts a finger, “because they don’t know, I’m pretty sure they think you hate them.” he shrugs before whispering, “might wanna fox that”

Rocket groans, putting his face in his hands. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” “Not kidding you dude, I have nothing to gain from lying, honestly your blatant pining is painful for all of us to watch. Just tell them already so I no longer have to suffer.”

“How the hell am I even supposed to-” rocket cuts himself off, groaning once again. “This suuuccks!!” “Tell me about it man, how do you think I felt when I realized I fell in love with a hot girl like gamora.” “Oh shut up quill.”

#rocket the raccoon x reader #rocket x reader #mcu x y/n #mcu x you #mcu x reader #marvel x you #marvel x y/n #marvel x reader #rocket racoon x reader #rocket raccoon x reader

[coraniaid]

I'm not suggesting that Buffy and Faith were secretly dating (or at least making out between patrols) before the events of Revelations.  Even if Buffy joked about “seeing someone tonight” when her friends asked her if she was dating somebody, before putting her arms around Faith and insisting that they were really “just good friends”.  Even if Faith’s reaction to finding out about Angel – “Buffy knew … I can’t believe her” – is very easy to read as romantic or sexual jealousy.  Even if Gwendolyn Post’s last attempt to manipulate Faith (the accusation that Buffy was “blinded by love” for Angel) seems specifically designed to play on this jealousy.  Even if Faith’s decision at the end of the episode that “you can’t trust people” implies she’s been betrayed by more than one person; even if Buffy’s “you can trust me” is met with a disbelieving smirk.

I don’t really think that’s how the writers intended the show to be viewed.  More importantly, I don’t think that Buffy – even if she was emotionally self-aware enough to acknowledge her own feelings – would be ready to have that sort of relationship so soon after Scott Hope, let alone be able to keep it a secret.  

But what I am saying is that, in a world where that actually was the explicit plot of Revelations, you really wouldn't have to change any of the dialogue in the opening scene of The Wish at all. 

This is a scene in which Buffy’s lament that she  “couldn’t reach [Faith] … again” segues straight into her commiserating with Xander over the fact he’s had “no luck reaching Cordelia”.  Cordelia of course, is Xander’s ex-girlfriend who refused to speak to him the last time he went to see her, after Xander was seen secretly kissing Willow, and hasn’t been seen with him since. Cordelia's furious because she was just starting to tell herself that she was in love with Xander and he betrayed her.  Faith, on the other hand, is Buffy’s [redacted] who refused to speak to her the last time she went to see her, after Buffy was seen secretly kissing Angel, and hasn’t been seen with her since.  Faith's furious because she was just [redacted].

Meanwhile Willow tells Buffy she’s looking forward to seeing Oz again so she can “beg for forgiveness”, and Buffy – fresh from visiting Faith’s motel to do “damage control”, to apologize for keeping secrets and to promise her that she’s on her side, and who just finished telling her friends that she’s sad Faith hasn’t been hanging out with her lately  – tells her that that works too, and she “knows the feeling” Willow is going through.

The one line I might cut is the one that doesn’t make much sense even in isolation.  Xander decides that Buffy can relate to what he and Willow are going through because she “went through it with Angel”.  Only … well, yes, it’s true in a very broad  sense that Buffy has already experienced some sort of heartbreak with Angel, but the comparison doesn’t really work beyond that, does it?  Angel didn’t break up with Buffy because she was unfaithful. (Sort of the opposite, really.)  Buffy never had to apologize to Angel for kissing somebody else. She's carrying a lot of Angel-related guilt, but it's not particularly similar to the guilt that Willow or Xander should be feeling (Buffy blamed herself for Angel losing his soul in Innocence and for sending him to hell in Becoming, but she had no way to know the first would happen and was forced to do the latter to save the world). As of the last episode, if anything it’s Buffy who broke things off with Angel.  As parallels go it just feels a little forced.

Again, this is the first time Angel’s been brought up in the conversation.   And yet, Buffy has been talking about somebody she hurt and deliberately lied to and wishes she could make things right with, hasn’t she?

But, like I said, I’m not suggesting that  Buffy and Faith were secretly dating before Revelations.  I’m not.

Obviously that didn’t happen until Bad Girls.

#btvs #buffy rewatch 2023

[artsy-waffle19]

after several hours of processing, a rewatch and some other peoples tumblr posts analyzing the whole situation I actually don't think that izzys death was in it's concept entirely bad (the execution was terrible but I can see where they were coming from) so first of all: the entire ending was rushed, the wedding, stede randomly giving up piracy to open an inn even though they didn't have a conversation about this at all? and yes, izzys death but honestly I blame that on hbo not david jenkins (plus I also refuse to believe that he just didn't care about the character and didn't think about what effect it would have, so far he's done nothing but care about his characters, the fans and izzy in particular he said this season he was super important and he really liked the character)

The thing is that he explained his decision making as "the mentor dying while the student lives on and has to deal with the death of a father figure" now the thing is that I feel like between the 5th and the 6th episode and between izzys death and the ending there's just a huge chunk of plot missing that probably got cut and I personally believe that that part between 5 and 6 was supposed to show ed and izzys relationship more. David said Ed viewed him as a father figure yet we've never seen that before. Every interaction between them has framed them as an abusive (on both sides) romantic relationship (somebody said that their relationship showed the whole daddy issues thing pretty well because it shows ed viewing izzy as literally every kind of relationship a friend, a father, a partner just everything) now that does make sense but we only know that now after david said it not because the show made it visible (which is probably because they didn't have the time (i mean they cut an entire hour of runtime which is like a fifth))

And generally I think if we had seen that father figure-dynamic a little more they actually could've pulled that ending off because then it would've been more apparent what the show was trying to show.

My interpretation of the whole thing is that izzys death symbolises the end of piracy, rather than the death of a character that didn't "deserve living anymore" hear me out:

1) he was the most competent pirate in the entire show, always used as comparison and on several occasions it is showed that he doesn't only teach everyone how to be a pirate but is also the most respected pirate in the republic of pirates. Even when ed isn't recognised anymore, everybody knows who izzy hands is. He is basically THE pirate, the unicorn of piracy.

2) the unicorn plot: when they called him a unicorn for the first time I thought it was just the crew accepting him on the ship and in their family but the term of "the last unicorn" makes much more sense in this context. He's the concept of piracy, the mythical creature and the view everyone has of piracy, yet if he dies, piracy is over the last unicorn is gone and that's pretty much what's happening and what's fully gonna happen next season. him dying is the beginning of the end.

3) ed and stede quitting piracy and staying where izzy is burried, they basically burried piracy to then move on to the land. Also because izzy was a teacher for both of them and was therefore what tied them to real piracy. Especially for ed he symbolised piracy and his past life.

Also izzys thoughts about piracy and ed changed. In the first season he says stede is not a real pirate and neither is ed when he's not blackbeard, in season 2 he says piracy is about belonging somewhere and finding a family he also accepts ed for being ed and tells him to just be himself. with him the concept of piracy changes in itself.

The entire thing also could've been a great deal better if they had actually had the time to show everyone mourning him because they immediately after had a wedding and just moved on but once again that was probably just cut screen time.

I also don't think that they exactly dean winchestered him (i mean yea but also no) he died for the crew, his newfound family ("it's about finding a new family you'd die for when your actual one is already gone") And yea he was already getting his will to live back and taking that from him was awful but he was also fully ready to die for the cause, one he believed in. Because he believed in his family and that piracy and his spirit would live on even if they were all dead because "we are good". So his death wasn't entirely pointless.

messy and long text but over all I think that, even though it is sad and could've been handled better, it isn't a bad ending in it's concept and, even though I wish he would've survived i don't think that the death of this character ruins the entire show or is in any way offensive to queer and disabled people....It's just very poorly executed, which is on hbo for cutting the season short by a fith

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd 2 #ofmd season 2 #izzy hands #ofmd analysis #izzy ofmd #long post

[not-your-fucking-kacchan]

Masterlist <3

Sanemi x Shy!GN!Reader

@just-an-average-simp this was your request! hope you like it :)

No pronouns used, so can be an x male or x female reader :)

You sit, alone, hidden in the shade of a line of trees that covers the roof that you sit on. You're high enough that you can reach out and touch the leaves on the treetop, and the breeze ruffles your hair gently. It's very hot out today, and the intensity of the sun has you missing the winter instantly. You miss the early blanket of darkness and the snow that crumples beneath your footsteps. Summer is overrated.

You're only sitting outside because it's a nice day out and you don't want to waste away hibernating in your bedroom like you always do, only coming out when you're summpned for a mission. You want to get out of that mindset, but it's incredibly difficult to just change your whole lifestyle in only one day.

Everyone that sees you, if they even notice you, is visibly shocked that you've finally come out of your little cave and started seeing the light of day again. It's not your fault that you don't particularly value interaction with others. It just never really turned out all that well for you in the past. Friends are overrated.

With this in mind, it makes sense that not many people recognise you, and mistake you for a less experienced, new recruit. One of the only people that actually knows your name is the Wind Pillar, Sanemi. He is the one who'd scouted you, having seen your will to shed blood and protect a group of children that you were travelling with.

You had all been driven from your village by crooks, and while you could have overpowered them, it wasn't worth risking the children just to become a criminal, and run the risk of being hunted down by allies they might have. It had taken you a long time to gather the reason and courage to migrate, and so you did, carrying two children on your back and holding the hands of two others. Another three who were a few years older were following on behind you, and together, you migrated through a thick blanket of snow in the dead of night to get away, managing to fend off demons for a good few days until you had gotten desperate.

Sanemi had seen you struggle against a group of demons in a forest nearby to the town he was guarding just as you had started to get weaker, bleeding and bruised as you brutally kill the last low-level demon, telling the children that they can open their eyes now.

You had met him when one of the creatures had gotten up from where you thought you'd killed it, and the Wind Pillar had instantly terminated it, begrudgingly guiding you to the town. For some reason, he'd decided he wanted to take you with him, "because you don't talk so you're not so annoying."

The rest is history.

The Pillar is sitting beside you in the blink of an eye, watching you and huffing as you only offer him a shy smile, giving you a cross look.

"Why are you sitting here? You should sit with me more often! You're my disciple!"

"Ah... my apologies... i'll sit with you more from now."

He huffs jaggedly, his voice raspy and low in a way that has your stomach doing twists. He's always been quite possessive of you. It makes you feel happy, too, like you're worth something to somebody. It's an addictive feeling. One you can't get enough of. He'd started growing a soft spot for you when he started teaching you how to fight.

You were good in comparison to normal humans, but to a Hashira, you were nothing but an annoying little fruit fly that could easily be swatted away. So he trained you because he had a soft spot for people who were good with kids and those who were good against demons. What he wasn't too big a fan of was how quiet and antisocial you could be.

You're just a naturally very quiet, genuine person, so he talks to you in ways noone else can understand or bear witness to, and it makes you feel especially lucky. Especially when you lean against his side, resting on him and letting your head fall to his shoulder.

Somewhere along the lines, he grew soft for you, and fell in love with you. It was a difficult process but it was worth it, even if you don't say it much, and it took you a good few years to work up the courage to even invite him into your home just for lunch, to which he gruffly accepted and continued to eat you out of house and home.

You smile at the memory, happy that you gained the courage to confess to your saviour, and knowing now that he was equally as infatuated and interested, like he was some wild animal, studying you and stalking you in the hopes to learn more.

#sanemi headcanons #sanemi x reader #sanemi x male reader #sanemi shinazugawa #sanemi x you #sanemi x y/n #demon slayer headcanons #demon slayer imagines #demon slayer #demon slayer x reader #kimetsu no yaiba x reader #kny #kny headcanons #kny fanfic #kny imagines #kny hashira #kny x reader #kny x male reader #demon slayer x gender neutral reader #demon slayer x male reader #kny x gn!reader #kimetsu no yaiba x male reader #x gender neutral reader #kny x y/n #demon slayer fanfic #kimetsu sanemi #demon slayer sanemi #sanemi imagines

[parttimesiffrinfulltimeproblem]

song analysis of michael caine by madness in relation to siffrin!!

[plain text of title: song analysis of michael caine by madness in relation to siffrin!!]

having recently gotten into ISAT and spent considerable time with my qpp discussing songs that fit siffrin, I've come to the conclusion that it is SUCH a sif song. PLEASE hear me out on this (ive no idea if theres an overlap between isat fans and random british ska band fans but if there is then hi!)

putting this under a read more both because its gonna be long and contain spoilers for pretty much the whole deal with ISAT. also apologies if I fail to pick up my autocorrect making me type 'saffron'

okay so. chronologically through the song theres just a Lot that makes me think of him. this may entirely be a reach but im too big a fan of this song to mind :]

'he's walking where I'm afraid I don't know/I see the firemen jumping from the windows/there's panic and I hear somebody scream'-- immediately the sense of disorientation and confusion that goes throughout both the song and siffrin. also the lack of subjects in the last line (who's panicking/screaming?) further gives this sort of like. unanswered questions that I think really fits sif and their whole. deal

'he picks up useless paper and puts it in my pocket'-- this is sif in the sense of how throughout the loops they become far more disillusioned with how much anything really matters. it all starts to pale in comparison to escaping the loop, and this especially resonates with the complete tunnel vision in the final loop. ALSO the inconsistencies in the entire song between first and third person remind me of the recurring ideas of like. identity and losing touch with yourself throughout the game. idk. im not sure if that's the case with the actual meaning of the song but yknow

'he can't remember tell me what's his name'-- themes of identity and memory and losing yourself. yeah.

AND THE CHORUS ITSELF IDK. 'and all I wanted was a word or photograph to keep at home'-- obviously the photograph thing but that's very literal, plus the idea of 'home' both in the song and in ISAT. also the 'all I wanted' alluding to regretting whatever caused the loop? which obviously creates the sense of his wish only being to have some stability and not. Yknow. a massive time loop. but hey ho

'the sun is laughing, it's another broken morning'-- loop. sun/star comparisons to be drawn, and the connotations of 'broken morning' in the context of being forced back to the same morning (or should I say, afternoon? [: ) repeatedly. also the connotations of 'another' as something trapping you/repeating ad infinitum AGH its so siffrin

'I see a shadow and call out to try and warn him, he didn't seem to hear just turned away'-- this reminds me of the whole like. futility of sif not being able to meaningfully help the others and just,,,,, agh,,,

'he had to sacrifice his pride, yes, throw it all away'-- further themes of a loss of an integral part of identity. I see this through the lens of siffrin's attempts to leave the loop becoming more and more desperate to the point of willing to compromise anything (of himself) for escape. fun!!

'his days are numbered, he walks round and round in circles'-- Oh You Know. repetition and never finding escape. siffrin..... aside from the whole time loop deal this line is fun to me in this interpretation of 'his days are numbered' but as the different iterations of the loop growing in frequency as opposed to the traditional use of 'days being numbered'. idk I just love flipping idioms

'there is no place he can ever call his own'-- again the themes of identity and home (or lack thereof). sif having nowhere to return to is suchhh an inciting theme of the whole game and this just completely summarises that. I also especially note the 'very' and how it finalises the whole thing; his country is gone, his memories are gone, and unless Something stops it, his family will be gone as well. I need to lie down.

'staring out the window there's nothing he can do now/all he wanted was to remain sane/he can't remember his own name'-- final verse before the last choruses and dear lord. siffrin. again with just the whole,,, memory and desperation and resignation. one very very reaching bit of analysis here is the shift in pronouns/person between the 'I can't remember tell me what's his name' and 'he can't remember his own name'; the forgetting of the name switches from an external thing that almost doesn't hold much weight to something symbolising a complete loss in self. if I'm then applying this to sif's character arc, I think this really just shows how their relationship with memory becomes more fraught and more of a source of stress throughout the game.

SO!!! I absolutely adore both in stars and time and this song, and just think it fits him so well. do you see my vision

#isat #in stars and time #isat siffrin #madness #this was so rambling but I dont even mind I love overanalysing music so much #I heart siffrin <333 #music #hehehe if anyone sees what im seeing here PLEASE talk to me about it

[the-rockit]

More thoughts skim read the Mr. Antolini chapter gonna talk about things I noted.

1: I don't remember him being so young? He's only a bit older than D.B(so maybe like late 20s/early 30s?)

2: obviously most likely exaggerated but Holden says his wife is 60 years older than him. Even if in reality it's a third of that, that's still quite a large age gap. They don't show their affection publicly of course but given what happens later, maybe he is with her *because* she's getting up there and age and *because* she's more vulnerable

3: A few times Holden notes how similar Mr. Antolini and D.B are throughout the chapter:

"He always said things that way. Sometimes it amused mr a lot and sometimes it didn't l. He sort of did it a little bit *too* much I don't mean he wasn't witty or anything--he was--but sometim3s it gets on your nerves when somebody's *always* saying things like 'SO you and Pencey are no longer one.' D.B does it too much sometimes, too."

And, I don't think it's true like at all, but it got me wondering if D.B did similar things to Holden since he makes comparisons between the two. Again I don't think it happened and I'm looking too deep into things, but just something of note.

4: dawggggg why tfffff would Mr. Antolini *keep* drinking when he literally *knew* Holden was coming over?? Like bro called him n everything and my man is still getting drunk and shit man

5: "'Thanks a lot, sir. You and Mrs. Antolini really saved my life tonight'" not only does this quote destroy me because of what happens with Mr. Antolini "admiring" him, but also for Mr. Antolini to hear that and probably realize the impact of it since at this point, he's the closest friend and probably longest lasting friend Holden has, and *still* chooses to pull that shit? Disgusting. Disgusting already obviously, but to know somebody like Holden is so vulnerable and still do that shit? Just urghhh

6: Final thoughts: yea Mr. Antolini still a creep. He did give some solid advice and it's clear he *does* care about Holden but just the word, 'admiring' is just ughhh like if he wasn't being a degenerate there's other words to use because I can understand if he saw him as a son or some shit and was just rubbing his head and looking down at him with a familial love or some shit but just the fact he *said* admiring 1: the word admiring, to me, has a specific romantic connation and 2: just the fact he said it out loud and sees nothing wrong with his actions is...interesting. Plus, if it was familial, why does he want him to stay so badly? Like..I kind of get it in the sense that he's yk 16 doesn't really have much of a place *to* go but..idk just the fact he tells him to get back to bed, presumably so he can keep "admiring" him is just...disgusting and gut wrenching. Plus this added with the fact he conveniently "forgot" to give pajamas and the fact Holden gets unreasonably and unexplainably tired after drinking coffee is just...disgusting. That's the only word for it, really.

#mr. antolini #holden caulfield #the catcher in the rye #the catcher in the rye fandom in 2024 whre u at?? #thoughts

[anthrofreshtodeath]

fake dating au? 👀

Let's do it! Fake dating is one of my favorites.

“Hey,” Jane Rizzoli runs into Maura’s office, huffing and puffing between clops of her boots on the linoleum. “Maura.”

Maura removes her blue light glasses and looks up from her report to take Jane in. “Hi,” she begins, “why are you sweaty?”

“I just ran into Frankie in the parking garage,” Jane explains. Her armpits have dark circles under them on her baby blue v-neck. Her chest shines. 

“So you had to sprint in the opposite direction?” Maura asks, smiling despite her confusion. She glances up at the clock above her coffee station - 3 PM. What exactly could Frankie have caused two hours before the end of the work day?

“Yeah,” says Jane, and Maura didn’t expect a confirmation of what she means to be humor. Jane takes a big breath in and then plops herself onto Maura’s couch. “Exactly.”

“I’m sorry; I think I’m missing something,” Maura saves her work even though her word processor has an autosave feature and makes her way to Jane. “You love your brother.”

“I tolerate my brother. Most of the time,” Jane grumbles.

Maura chuckles, and shakes her head. “You love him. You do everything together.”

“Exactly. And he’s got four tickets for tonight’s game,” Jane replies, making even less sense than before.

Tonight’s game. Out of a countless number of games that could be scheduled this evening in the city, pickup basketball games, baseball games, board games, flag football games… She knows now that Jane means the Boston Red Sox game happening at 7:05 at Fenway Park. This is the first year that Maura has paid attention to baseball, from spring training on, but this is the game Jane always means. When they go to the Garden it’s the Celtics game, on Sundays at one o’clock from September to January it’s The Pats game. When it’s just the game? Jane means the Red Sox. “Tickets for the game,” Maura tries it out on her own tongue, and she likes how the intimacy with her best friend tastes. She likes even better how said best friend relaxes her body when Maura says it, Jane’s back sinking into the cushions of Maura’s sofa, inching closer regardless of her mysterious predicament. “Tickets that he isn’t sharing with you?”

“Oh no, he is, and that’s the problem,” Jane groans.

“So, you don’t want the tickets,” extrapolates Maura, and that statement tastes wrong in comparison. Her understanding of the situation continues to deteriorate. 

Jane glares and the downturn of her eyebrows says are you crazy? “Of course I want the tickets. But the condition is that I go with him and his dumbass friend Kurt Rossi.”

“The solution to this seems simple,” says Maura. She folds one leg over the other, draping her skirt just above her knee. “Take the ticket and ignore both Frankie and Kurt. You can even put a seat between you and them.”

“Not that simple. He wants it to be a date.”

“For him and Kurt?” Maura asks.

“For me and Kurt!” Jane laments, and Maura chides herself - of course that’s what Frankie meant. “Wait. Your brother is setting you up? Why?”

“Because he’s the most like my mother,” Jane rolls her eyes when she answers. “But I really, really want to go.”

“So you said yes,” Maura posits.

Jane grimaces with one eye open, and gives Maura a guilty smile. “Sorta?”

“Sort of.”

“Yeah.”

“Well what did he say?”

“At first I told him hell no. Kurt’s boring,” Jane explains. “And so then he goes, ‘well it doesn’t have to be Kurt, but I’m not givin’ you this ticket unless you bring a date.’ Apparently Ma’s also holding his lunch at the cafe hostage until he gets me to go out with somebody. But I think he secretly likes it.”

“Your mother is… truly dedicated,” Maura covers her mouth so as not to laugh at Jane’s misfortune. “But Frankie is smart. You can’t pass up Fenway.”

“I can’t. So… I came up with a plan. And I need you to back me up,” Jane tells her. “I’m telling Frankie that you’re gonna be my date. Come with me?”

Maura turns rigid next to Jane, when they had all but knocked their bodies together before. Jane doesn’t know. Jane can’t know, right? Maura has dived head first into baseball, incorporated fried foods into her diet, and made a cop bar her Friday night routine, all for Jane, and to Maura, those are neon signs over her attraction. But to Jane? Well, Jane is a detective. A rather decorated one. Oh shit, maybe Jane does know…

“Hey, Maura? You hear me?” Jane asks, and Maura must have wandered off.

“I can’t,” she blurts in reply. When Jane stops talking and glares, she revises. “I… I can’t lie. You know this.”

“I know. That’s why you’re just tellin’ him you’re my date for the evening. And then, he can be fat and happy, Ma can think I went with Kurt and voila. Everyone wins,” Jane thinks she’s solved it all, clearly.

Maura can’t think of a reason to deny her, especially since being Jane’s date for the evening 1) would not technically be a lie nor necessarily have lasting romantic connotations, and 2) she would get to go on a date with Jane. Something she’s fantasized about since Jane recovered from sending a bullet into her own gut nine months ago. “O-ok,” she says.

“Wait, yeah?” Jane’s face cracks open, each muscle tightening to a symphony of happiness, and Maura wonders how she ever would have stayed steadfast in her refusal. 

“Yeah,” Maura assures her. She checks the clock again. 3:05. “I would love to go. It would only be my third game.”

“Thank you!” Jane, with genuine, child-like excitement, gathers Maura up in her arms. “We’re playin’ the Jays and I do not wanna miss it.”

“You’re welcome. Should we meet there?” Maura asks, remembering the last time they went to the park, Jane rushing to their seats just before the first pitch because she had to arrest a suspect and it had turned into a chase. One man a couple rows back yelled at her to sit her ass down and she’d spent another three minutes cursing at him until he left his own seat.

In other words, Jane is a true member of the Fenway Faithful, even if she is also faithful to her job. With such a last minute engagement, Jane may need all the minutes between now and then she can get so that she can dedicate her entire attention to the game. But, she surprises Maura yet again with her answer. “Nah. What kind of date would I be if I did that? I’ll pick you up at six.” She rises, bends down and kisses Maura’s warm cheek, and then sticks her thumb in the front of her belt. 

“See you then,” croaks Maura, face-to-buckle with said belt when Jane stands up straight. She licks her lips just before she glances up to Jane’s eyes, warm brown when they stare back down at her. 

“See ya,” Jane leaves with less speed than she entered, but with no less purpose. 

Maura must wait for two hours and fifty-three minutes to see Jane again.

___

Kurt Rossi is actually a handsome young man. Maura has learned on the way to the park that he is between Frankie and Jane, so two years removed from both of them. His laugh is pretty for a man’s, but it barely registers because Jane is here. 

Jane is here, Jane is relaxed because Jane had a couple of beers when they stopped at The Bullpen, and Jane walks next to Maura with their index fingers entwined. Maura keeps her new beer up to her face as they circle the concourse just so no one notices her blush. 

This might be her favorite Jane.

“What’s the over under on Beckett strikin’ out ten tonight?” Frankie tosses his head toward his shoulder so he can call out to his sister behind him. A rush of jealousy tickles Maura, because why does he need to monopolize Jane’s attention if his friend his here? Kurt supposedly knows all there is to know about Boston baseball. Maybe jealousy isn’t the right word. A rush of possession? Ugh. It’s all irrational. 

Jane shrugs and it reverberates all the way down into Maura’s palm. “‘02 was a long time ago,” her voice booms right outside the Budweiser Deck where the Rizzolis plan to spend the first few innings of the game. “I’m takin’ the under.”

“What’s ‘the under’?” Maura whispers into Jane’s ear when they take a high table close to the railing over right field and set all their drinks down.

“It’s a betting thing,” Jane explains. “You have a figure and if you don’t think the athlete is gonna make the figure, you take the under. If you think they’re gonna surpass it, you take the over.”

“Do you bet on these games?” Maura gasps.

Kurt laughs from his place across from her. Maura tries not to snap that he’s blocking her view of the field. “You kiddin’ me? These goody two shoes would never,” he says. When both Jane and Maura glare at him for his audacity, still connected at the fingers, he coughs. Frankie widens his eyes and finds the Bud logo on the tabletop fascinating. “It’s just… just the way we talk,” Kurt adds, almost to himself. 

“Hey, tell you what. You two meet us at our seats,” Jane says after a few extra tense minutes of staring. “But don’t rush.”

Maura slides her entire hand into Jane’s simply for saving her from Kurt. When their skin touches, she realizes it calls for more than holding hands. She blames the beer just before she tugs Jane’s jersey close, fingers closing around the D in the RED SOX print, and kisses her.

Jane’s lips are soft. Jane’s mouth tastes like hops and cinnamon gum. Jane’s tongue sure does slip in quite quickly after Maura initiates and… maybe Jane blames the beer, too.

But good god does it curl Maura’s toes inside her Gucci sneakers.

“You know what? I’ll pay you double what the tickets cost if you don’t meet us at our seats,” Maura, finding her own voice, says. She looks only at Jane, smiling at Jane’s half-open mouth, but the proposition is definitely for Frankie.

Frankie’s mouth looks exactly like his sister’s. Maura tugs Jane toward the concourse, unwilling to wait around and watch him fix it when Kurt says to him, “I see what you mean when you said I didn’t have a chance in hell.”

#lauren writes rizzoli and isles fanfiction #otp prompts march 2023 #I'm sorry these are taking me so long to get out 💀 #after this we have three left #take me back to Fenway

[biaswreckingfics]

The Campfire Scene - A Blurred Lines Short Story

*The campfire scene from Part 11 told from Sunwoo's perspective*

Pairing: Kim Sunwoo x Female reader

Word Count: 2.7k

Check out the completed series here!

Sunwoo quietly approaches the picnic table, eyes roving over the absurd amount of liquor bottles covering the top of it. Honestly, it looks like you're a bunch of alcoholics, and with the amount of liquid Eric is dumping in everyone's cups, Sunwoo is sure you're all well on your way there. Before Sunwoo can even reach for a cup, Eric is thrusting one of his concoctions into his hand.

"Just trust me, dude," Eric tells him the second Sunwoo opens his mouth to refuse it, "and here's one for your girl."

Sunwoo barely notices Eric shove the second cup in his hand because he's too pleased with the way Eric just described you. His girl? He loves the sound of that. He's nearly obsessed with the sound of that, actually. Sunwoo glances over to where you're sitting, and his heart does a flip. The stunning view behind you pales in comparison. 

He notices the empty chair next to you and immediately moves for it. He wouldn't put it past one of the guys to sit next to you before he can just to mess with him. Plus, he missed hanging out with you, so he's excited to get over there.

He drops down into the chair, catching your attention, and hands the drink to you with a warning. "I have no idea how this tastes, but Eric made them, so assume there's a shit ton of alcohol in it."

You laugh and take the drink from him, but he notices your hesitancy. Sunwoo brings his cup to his lips and takes a sip. He's more than willing to be the tester for you, but the second the taste reaches his tongue, it's like he has stepped on a live wire. He has to stop his entire body from convulsing at the offensive taste.

Jesus christ," he blinks in shock before looking at you. "If you want a different drink, just say the word. I will not be offended."

You bravely take a sip - brave because he doubts he'd take a drink after seeing somebody react the way he had - and grimace. "Oh my god, it tastes like straight rubbing alcohol."

Sunwoo immediately takes your cup and dumps both of them out in the sand behind you. He swears you to secrecy before getting up and heading back to the drink table. He already has a drink in mind that he knows you'll like, so he quickly starts making it.

"They're delicious, right?" Eric cheerfully asks as he approaches the table. "Here, let me make you some more!"

"God, no," Sunwoo lightly shoves Eric away from his cups. "Also, have you ever heard of a mixer?"

Eric laughs, calling him a baby and grabbing a bottle of vodka before walking away. Sunwoo finishes making the drinks and heads back over to you. "Okay. Let's try this again. Now, I will be offended if you don't like this because this is my special blend."

"What's so special about it?" You cautiously bring the cup up to your nose and smell it. Sunwoo sees the relief on your face and smiles.

"It's made by me."

You laugh and take a drink. Sunwoo tries not to let his eagerness show, but he's dying to know if you like it. When you nod and give him a thumbs up, pride floods his senses. "This is really good. Thank you."

"Once again, your taste is impeccable."

You furrow your brows in a really cute way, and Sunwoo scolds himself to pay attention to your words and not the cute things your face does. "When was the first time it was impeccable?"

"When you said you liked me," he teases.

When you nearly down the entire contents of your cup in one gulp, he starts to second guess himself. A part of him wonders if it's because he just reminded you of Minjee outing you or if it’s because you're embarrassed that he knows about your crush. He severely hopes it's the latter because he doesn't want to mess up the good mood you have going on… Sunwoo still replays the moment he found out about your feelings for him. Minjee might've been a bitch for what she did, but she helped him realize he has a chance with you.

"So, how's having your own place?" You ask, pulling him from his thoughts. 

A frown takes over his face. While he does like having his own space, he almost prefers the bedroom he borrowed at your apartment more. "It's not bad. I have room for all of my stuff, but it's quiet…"

When you agree, Sunwoo finds the confidence to say more. "I miss living with you. I had a lot of fun at your place. It was nice to hang out every day."

The stunned look on your face leaves him pleasantly surprised, and happiness fills his chest when you agree with him again. "It's certainly not the same without you there. I don't know what to do with myself half the time."

"I'm free this summer," he offers. "We can go back to our old ways of hanging out on your couch."

"Does that sound appealing?" You laugh, doubt clear on your features.

Yes. A thousand times yes. "Of course it does."

"Sunwoo!" Eric yells his name. 

Sunwoo glances over at him to see what he wants. When he starts gesturing between his cup and the picnic table, Sunwoo fights the urge to roll his eyes. Whatever he's attempting to say or do, Sunwoo wants no part of it, and he feels relief when Sophia comes up and drags Eric away from the table. While Sunwoo's eyes follow them, they pass Younghoon and his girlfriend blowing on marshmallows beside the fire. 

An idea sparks in his mind, and soon he's coming back with the ingredients for s'mores and two metal poles. What Sunwoo doesn't expect is for you to be so bad at roasting marshmallows. Who the heck burns three in a row? How did you even manage that?

Sunwoo reaches for your pole as you whack the burned goo into the fire pit. You laugh as Sunwoo insists on making your s’more for you, and Sunwoo fights a smile. He loves your laugh. Especially when he’s the cause.

"How do you like it?" He absentmindedly asks.

"How do I like what?" You reply in a mischievous tone. 

Sunwoo's pretty sure his neck cracks with how fast he turns to face you. That tone and those words paired together? Not to mention the amused look on your face? "You're s’mores, you little shit."

You laugh, but keep up the flirty tone. "However you give it to me, Sunwoo."

Sunwoo's stomach clenches so hard it's almost painful. He works to get breath back into his lungs, but his heart is too ready to go into overdrive. You're a freaking vixen… How the hell is he going to make it through this trip without pouncing on you? Short answer: he won't.

Somebody yells his name again, but he doesn't even bother looking up this time. He just yells back an "I'm busy" and assembles your s’more. When he's done, he turns to face you and says, "Come here."

You attempt to reach for the s’more, but Sunwoo pulls it away from you. Oh, no. You want to mess with him? He's going to mess with you too. "Uh uh. You can't be trusted to not somehow mess it up."

The moment you try to protest, he lightly pushes the s’more against your lips. You immediately cave to the sweet treat, holding his stare and taking a bite. However, when your eyes fall closed, and you nearly moan at the taste, Sunwoo realizes his plan has severely backfired on him. 

"Wow, that's good."

"Yeah, it is."

Sunwoo hears the raspiness of his voice before you even open your eyes, and he clears his throat. He focuses on making his own s’more so he can get himself back in control, but he knows this moment is going to be on repeat in his mind for a while.

Changmin stumbles up to Sunwoo once you’re finished with your dessert and begins pulling on his arm. "Come here. I want to show you something."

Sunwoo, not bothering to look up from the fire, pulls his arm away. "Later."

Changmin pauses a moment before leaning toward Sunwoo's ear and nearly shouting, "Are you having a date with your girlfriend?"

Panic jumps to life in Sunwoo's chest, and his eyes flash up to Changmin in disbelief. All of the guys have teased him relentlessly about you, but at least they’ve had the decency to not do it in front of you! Apparently, unless they're drunk.

"You're right. She's very pretty," Changmin continues after studying you.

"Okay!" Sunwoo tries to keep the fact that he's freaking out to a minimum and focuses on coming up with a plan to get out of this situation. He needs to get Changmin out of here before he says something really embarrassing. "Why don't you show Chanhee whatever it is?"

"I already did," Changmin pouts.

Sunwoo notices Juyeon walk by and immediately pawns Changmin off on the older guy. Much to his relief, Changmin doesn't put up a fight, and he doesn’t spill anything else before he walks away.

Sunwoo tries to nonchalantly look at you, but you're so very obviously watching in amusement that Sunwoo knows there's no hope of letting this moment pass like it didn't happen.

 "So, you think I'm pretty?" You break the silence.

He meets your stare. "I think you're beautiful."

You clear your throat in surprise. Thankfully, it's your turn to be thrown off guard. Sunwoo needs a break.

"And was that before or after I became your girlfriend?"

A smile fights its way onto his face as you play along. "Oh, definitely before. I've been bragging about you since day one."

After that, the two of you fall silent for a little bit. Sunwoo is pleased to find that it's a content silence. There's zero awkwardness or expectations, and he can probably only list a total of two other people he feels that with.

"What are you looking for in your next relationship?" You surprise him.

He knows replying with "you" isn't the type of answer you're looking for, so he sits back and gives it some thought. 

"I want to be able to have that trust with someone again. That feeling of knowing your person will always have your back and your best interests at heart," he starts off while searching for the words he wants to say. "A sense of security, I guess… I want to feel so loved… like I'm someone's everything, but I don't want to be their entire world. I want them to be their own person. I want to root for them as much as they root for me… Does that sound stupid?"

When you tell him it doesn’t, he finds that he still has more to say, and he looks down at his cup. The words coming out of his mouth are surprising. He doesn't remember the last time he was this vulnerable with someone. "I don't know. A part of me is afraid. The one relationship I really gave my all to slapped me in the face. I'd like to have a relationship like that again, but with a better outcome. I don't want to feel worthless again."

"Sunwoo, you're so far from worthless. It's not even funny." Your words are so sharp, and your tone is so serious that it surprises him into looking back up at you. "You're brave and kind. You push people to try things because you know they can handle it. You pay attention to the things most people think don't even matter, and you stick up for the people you care about without a second thought. You're an amazing friend, and I know you'll be an amazing partner to anyone worthy enough to be with you."

Your words leave him stunned, and he takes a moment to collect himself. When was the last time someone thought this way about him? The last time somebody was so sure of how good he could be? He certainly doesn’t recall hearing these words spoken about him before. 

"Thank you," he forces out, hoping his voice doesn't crack or anything. 

"I'm only telling you the truth," you shrug, confident in your opinions.

He hums. "What about you? What are you looking for?"

You turn and silently face the fire for long enough that Sunwoo actually begins to wonder if you're going to answer his question.

"I want someone who makes me feel valid and important. Someone who will let me explore a new hobby every single day even if they think it's stupid. Someone who will cheer me on instead of bringing me down and make me prove my worth all of the time," you admit, nibbling on your lip for a moment as you consider your thoughts. "I don't want to feel small and insignificant. I want to feel loved and cherished, and safe. To be fair, I think that's all anyone wants."

"I'll cheers to that," he says, but his mind is busy repeating everything you said like a mantra. He doesn't want to forget any of your words because that's the exact type of person he wants to be for you. He wants to give you everything that you desire. 

You both end up lost in your own worlds until you break the silence. "You're really easy to talk to. I don't feel like you judge me at all."

Sunwoo leans his head back against the chair, already knowing that he would never judge you. "I don't. People have done nothing but judge me for years. They think I'm a dick or a whore, an asshole, and I don't want to make people feel that way."

He can feel you peeking over at him, and he wonders why until he hears you say, "I don't think you're a dick or an asshole. There was a time I thought you were a whore, though."

He looks over at you in amusement, and you bring your hand up to defend yourself. "Just like a tiny bit of a whore."

A laugh rips out of him, causing you to smile. Sunwoo knows exactly what you used to think of him. Hell, half of the people he knows still think that way about him, but he doesn't care. As long as you know who he is deep down, that's enough for him. The rest of them can go screw themselves. 

"I've been wanting to thank you for quite some time," he admits, startling you.

"For what?"

"For taking the time to get to know me. The real me," he sighs. "You didn't care about my reputation, and you didn't try to get in my pants like every other girl that spends time with me. You just looked at me like I was another guy and learned who I am as a person. That meant a lot to me."

He peeks over at you. The two of you may be sharing some pretty heavy and personal stuff, but that doesn't mean Sunwoo doesn't feel at least a little weird for being so open and honest. The smile on your face, however, relaxes him immensely.

"You know, I really didn't want you to move in with me at the beginning, but now, I wouldn't have had it any other way," you admit with a smile. "I'm so happy I had the chance to get to know you and that you're in my life now."

Sunwoo feels his heart quicken in his chest. How are you just the most amazing person he's ever come across? Could you be any more perfect? 

He searches your face, wondering if now would be a good time to confess his feelings to you. Though he doesn't want to do it in front of everyone else or while the two of you have had some alcohol, the moment seems too perfect to let it pass… 

Movement behind you catches his attention, and he looks past you to see Jacob approaching. The tired look in the older man’s eyes tells Sunwoo that it's late, and he regretfully realizes that the moment has indeed passed.

#blurred lines #sunwoo x you #sunwoo x reader #sunwoo x y/n #kim sunwoo x reader #sunwoo fluff #sunwoo fic #sunwoo scenarios #sunwoo series #sunwoo au #sunwoo fanfic #kim sunwoo fluff #kim sunwoo fic #kim sunwoo fanfic #kim sunwoo au #kim sunwoo series #kim sunwoo scenarios #sunwoo imagines #sunwoo drabbles #the boyz series #the boyz scenarios #the boyz fic #the boyz ff #the boyz fanfic #the boyz fluff #the boyz au #the boyz drabbles

[bcacstuff]

It's a 50/50 he'll be at Landcon. He isn't always there and thst is awfully close to another commitment he has. Also, yes confirmed SS at Reverve Bar Top Shelf event, even though SS has not been heavily featured in the promo, and is a new addition, it's nit not confirm Sam himself will be there. Maybe his fans will buy tickets and maybe he will show. It's an okay marketing move but not a big event n the spirits world, although SS is trying to make it look great. Premiere of Love Again in Vegas??? That is questionable. Yes, think that you belief that because of Celine, and to promote her, a good idea, however, Strouse likes NY premieres, and the story set in NY, and comparisons to NY comedies, Sam's recent NY photo shoots, a NY premiere makes more sense. SDCC is a go from the inside track, and Gin is going to launch in US, Miami,so yes Sam will be US anchored for Beg May through July. His number one California peaker stalker is on alert.

Yes, well at this point it's all still speculation, based on assumptions and maybe some expectations based on what we know. But I think we do agree that May - July (perhaps even August or part August) will be mostly US.

Regarding LA premiere, it could be NYC too or perhaps both NYC and LV. It makes sense if they want CD to be part of it, but I figure she wont be traveling all over the US for it because of her health.

What I did find out though, is that they also shot scenes in LV. On the IMDb page you can find that there was a LV Unit. As well as a stand in for SH. That, and the information Priyanka gave in an interview in February 2021, when she was asked if she did scenes with CD, and she answered no, because of Covid but maybe later this year... Gives me reason to doubt they (PC as well SH) never filmed directly with CD in one room.

The only time possible, that S could have filmed some scenes in LV, would be August 2021, after he left Mexico. He was MIA for a bit, showed up in LA though. But I vaguely remember I had an Anon telling me he was spotted in a lobby of a hotel in LV waiting for somebody. It was never confirmed though. But if it was true, he could have filmed some additional scenes. That said, I'm still not convinced he filmed in one room with CD. No pics of them together, the footage in the trailer looks like one of them was in front of a green screen and it was put together in the edit room.

Anyway, sorry, got a little distracted lol. Recent photoshoot you say? You think he had a photoshoot in NYC when he was there in January? It's possible of course, it's just we never found out so far what he was doing in NYC at that time.

[beanghostprincess]

AU in which Usopp is a storyteller who keeps telling fairytales to kids in the village, and one of his most famous stories is about a lost prince who escaped from home because of how badly his family was treating him. It has drama and death and love and everything. The prince just wanted to be a simple cook, but his past still haunted him even after escaping his fate. And so Usopp keeps drawing him over and over again, both in his sketchbook and also making sculptures of him. It's not that he's, like, obsessed. But it is his favorite fairytale.

And then he meets Sanji.

It's weird, yes. He looks oddly similar to his Sanji (the one of the fairytale) but it doesn't have to do anything with it. It- It doesn't have to be the same guy. Maybe it's just a coincidence and his drawings weren't as original as he thought they were. Besides, Sanji isn't a lost prince.

But he is exactly how Usopp had imagined him. A sweet, caring cook with a strong personality who fights only using his legs to avoid hurting his hands. A cook who feeds whoever's hungry and is fond of rats and small, wild animals without anything to eat. Blond, blue eyes and so, so many scars that he refuses to talk about. A soft spot for women, because of course there has to be romance. A gentleman. Somebody who could save Usopp if needed but would trust him with anything too. He isn't- Usopp is not in love with his Sanji. But maybe this one- Maybe this one is someone he can fall in love with because it's not his creation, right?

And then WCI happens. It would technically make everything make sense, but it doesn't. It just makes Usopp even more confused. Because he's sure it sounds exactly the same as his story. So he keeps wondering if Sanji is real or if he truly was a product of his imagination. Or maybe- Maybe he can see the future. Usopp isn't sure about it and doesn't even have time to think because he's more worried about Sanji's well-being after WCI and Wano than how Sanji was made.

Sanji says it's a destiny thing, maybe, when he sees Usopp's sketchbook for the first time. It's scary too, he also mentions when seeing the little annotations about Sanji's backstory (the one of Usopp's story) being exactly like his past. Usopp is kind of panicking, but for some reason, Sanji isn't.

"Maybe you can see the future, ever thought about that?" Sanji laughs while running his hands through a very accurate portrait of him, that's quite obviously years older than their friendship.

Usopp pouts. "Don't laugh at me! It's scary!"

But Sanji just shrugs and takes a drag of his cigarette, so calmly in comparison it makes Usopp feel like he's taking this too well. "Is it, though?" The sniper hadn't seen Sanji smile so peacefully. Not ever since they got separated. It makes him feel all warm, and he has the need to draw him. "Wouldn't it be nice?"

Usopp tilts his head to the side, frowning and fighting the urge to take the sketchbook off Sanji's hands. "What do you mean?"

"Have you ever..." Sanji stares down at the ashes falling on the deck, brushing his thumb over the corner of one of the pages. His words are carefully chosen, but he doesn't hesitate when pronouncing them. "Have you ever thought about fate?"

The sniper can just chuckle and roll his eyes at that. "You're just trying to make it romantic."

"Maybe I am." And Usopp's heart stops at the sound of Sanji's dreamy voice as if he is asking for Usopp to grant him a wish. "Maybe you made me." He moves his free hand to link his fingers between Usopp's, right on top of the grass tickling their skin. Usopp lets him, even if he feels his heart is right in his throat. "Maybe you saw me before even knowing me." Sanji speaks softer now. Quieter. Even if there's nobody around to see them right now. As if it was just their secret. Usopp closes his hand around Sanji's and lets their shoulders bump against each other, taking in a painful breath. Sanji is too close. "Or maybe it was all by chance. Coincidences happen." Sanji shrugs and goes back to staring at the sketchbook one more time. He rests the cigarette between his lips so he can turn to another page, one where a little boy who looks too much like him dreams of sea creatures, oceans, and freedom. Sanji smiles in a nostalgic, achingly way that can only be described as appreciation. "But I like to think you saved me, somehow. You gave me- Him. Freedom. A family."

Usopp feels a pang in his chest at his words. "That wasn't me, though."

The cook rests his back on the wall behind them, turning his head around to look at Usopp with the brightest, softest of grins. "But wouldn't it be nice to think your heart knew me before meeting me? I think it's..." He sighs, resting his head on Usopp's shoulder. The sniper can only squeeze his hand back and lean his head on top of his. "Maybe my heart knew you too, back then. Somehow. I've always liked shitty, cliché fairytales like this, you know?"

"But-"

"Let me have this." A please goes unsaid. "Even if you didn't save me back then, you did now. So who cares if I want to say you've always been with me?"

Usopp grits his teeth and holds back a frustrated noise. He's aware his hands are shaking, remembering everything he has drawn and everything Sanji has gone through. "I wish I met you sooner. Maybe that way you wouldn't have-"

"You can't change what's already happened, love." Sanji presses a small kiss on his shoulder, which somehow melts every bone in Usopp's body. "But you can keep drawing our future, right?"

The sniper thinks of bright blues and soft yellows and a lot- No. A ton of drawings of Sanji's grins, because he refuses to portray his sadness in one of his drawings ever again. He dreams of a blank canvas filled with Sanji's eyes, hopes, and dreams.

"Right." He kisses his head back. "I can do that."

Usopp knows his hearts are linked together. Whether it's fate. Coincidence. His drawings. Because if thinking so saves Sanji once again, he won't hesitate to capture his happiness in different shades of blue for as long as it takes.

#i got poetic #my last sanuso post made me emotional okay #i should be writing my fic instead of this i'm a disgrace #sorry people i got too intense there but i like this #i mean you could just make it magic and say usopp did create sanji and it's really beautiful and stuff like- artist falling in love with ar #but have you considered the romance of not knowing if they're destined or not and choosing to believe they are #one piece #black leg sanji #usopp #sanuso

[demadogs]

What's your least favorite byler "proof"? Like when someone shows somebody it in an argument/interaction/whatever and it makes you go "noo wtf not that please" 😭 I think for me it's that one part in the infamous byler slides where there's a koala/bear in between mike and El and that represents will.

oh my god youre gonna get me canceled theres so so many i think are insane and dont believe in at all lmao. the masterdoc is fun but theres so much i think wasnt intentional. and so much of what i see here i think is a stretch.

bouta break my silence and come out as an anti believer in so many popular theories on here… no one be mad at me

dont think mike had a letter for will in his pocket in s4 (im SORRY but that wouldve been addressed)

dont think the tracks being different and youre the heart are connected in any way or supposed to be played together they dont sound good or seamless together at all

dont think mike walking into the school newspaper room for nancy and looking around was him looking at guys and gay panicking at all

hate the sauna test theory. they walked in on a bunch of gross naked wrinkly old men theyre not gay panicking?? maybe if they were conventionally attractive young guys but no. i think the masterdoc argues that mike looks down in shame bc hes thinking about his future self as a gay man but i dont believe in that at all tbh. i also dont think that zoom in on the men sign had anything to do with byler it was just an establishing shot of where they were.

not sold on lucas’ new coke speech being related to byler (the seating arrangement in that scene tho was definitely intentional)

i dont think at alll that mikes break down on hopper in s2 yelling “liar liar liar” had anything to do with internalized homophobia. i dont think he ever thought about his sexuality before s3

i think a lot of the times we’ve seen the colors of a certain sexualitys flag has been unintentional. something specifically pointed out like the rainbow ship for will probably was but a background character somewhat close to mike wearing colors that vaguely resemble the bi flag? or the lighting on his shirt kinda looking like the mlm flag? i dont think thats intentional at all. when they do symbolism shit like that its much more obvious (framing mike in the closet)

this one im actually on the fence about because it would be really cool, theres just one word that makes me second guess it. the idea that the girl fake choking at suzie’s house and the dad freaking out was foreshadowing of mikes monologue. on some levels it makes sense but the way the kid said “your terror it looked genuine” kinda makes it seem like it would be implying that mike wasnt actually scared for els life in that moment which i dont like at all. if he had said “your performance” instead i would be 100% sold

i dont believe in most the s1 byler theories. i do think they had the idea of byler in mind from the beginning but at that point they didnt even know if theyd be renewed so i dont think they prioritized anything that could foreshadow byler. i think the lack of romantic tension with mike and el in comparison to jonathan and nancy is telling, but i dont think there was anything in that season relating to mikes sexuality or feelings for will, both because of logistics and prioritizing mlvn for the first season, and because they had TWO SCENES TOGETHER

also dont believe in flickergate as much as i love the idea of it it would break the rules of the universe that theyve already established. the upside down isnt actually in the past its a place frozen in time. things happening there dont affect the past.

theres definitely more but those are the ones i can think of rn.

#also not byler but THE DUFFERS JUST FORGOT WILLS BIRTHDAY OK IT WAS AN ACCIDENT #byler #eden answers

[foundationsofdecay]

Alright, so. Waves, by The Dear Hunter, is one of my favorite songs of all time, which obviously means I'm obligated to talk about it as often as possible, so here's another song crossover post for Sleep Token. I really did try to keep it brief, but brief is very relative when it comes to these posts apparently, especially since it's still about ST at the end of the day. I'm not going to get into the lore behind this song too much, as it's part of the 4th album in a series of concept albums with a very clear-cut story progression.

This post will make significantly more sense if you've heard the song, as I'm only pulling out chunks of it here, so it isn't required but I highly recommend giving it a listen first!

To preface, there's been three Sleep Token lyrics that have been stuck in my head lately: "you don't really love, you just hate to be alone", "we'd rather be six feet under than be lonely", and "I might break and bend to my basic need to be loved and close to somebody". Those form the basis of a candidate for a thesis statement of the story of ST's discography and especially this trilogy overall, and I'll touch on that very briefly here, in tandem with this first portion of lyrics.

You knew the way things were You knew the way they would be We knew exactly how it'd end

It's that idea of the doomed lovers going all in, despite the knowledge that the end can never be in their favor, because neither wants to be alone, would do anything to avoid it, even if that love is false, tainted, toxic, inconsistent, obsessive, or destructive.

Then, the chorus:

Now I'm preparing for a burial at sea But I can see the lighthouse Yeah I'm praying that these waters don't take me 'Cause I can see the lighthouse

Okay, I lied earlier, a bit of context is needed here about this song to make my point... by the time Waves appears in this story, our protagonist has realized that the aforementioned philosophy is reaching its logical conclusion and no longer wants to be trapped on this metaphorical sinking ship, can see the promise of possible safety but he doesn't know how he could possibly get there, so he's resigned himself to a "burial at sea". Despite the inner turmoil, he's still tying himself to this fate that he sees as inevitable. Later, we even have a flipped version of the first quoted lines, where he blames solely himself for what's happened, particular for the harm he's caused.

Vessel oscillates much more drastically between this and other ideologies than the protagonist of the Acts does, and with the imagery of TPWBYT there is a great deal more sinking going on, but as you'll see in a moment, this is still seen in Waves to a degree. Furthermore, the philosophy of "This Place Will Become Your Tomb" as a statement, assurance, and threat is the same here as it is there. (If you're familiar with the Acts, it fits well with the Oracle's speech at the beginning of Act 5, does it not?)

And, spoiler alert for Acts 4 and 5: he does, in fact, end up coming back to the person he's singing about here.

I'll start wrapping up this already overly-long post with these four lines, which are probably my favorite of the entire song.

I was screaming that the ship was sinking But you were telling me to just keep drinking Quartered into parts again Arms and legs at the bottom of the ocean

The imagery of everything falling apart around you (a relationship or your general life) and the other party not engaging seriously, enabling and encouraging self-destructive behavior instead, is potent. Typically when I see discussion of addiction or alcohol abuse specifically in ST's discography, it's in the context of Vessel's partner, but any kind of distraction or self-destructive alternative being pushed towards him would be in line with readings I've seen, if we were to look broadly and not literally. Though, with the way I do personally read into some songs, I'd argue that a literal comparison of that wouldn't be out of the question.

Then you have the final two lines there, which prompt obvious visual comparisons to Missing Limbs, but honestly I'm just including them because I adore them. There's certainly lines from Missing Limbs that would fit with the Acts, though, particularly in tandem with Where the Road Parts in Act 2, and the combination of helplessness and anguish in those two lyrics can match pretty cleanly with the overall emotional tone of Missing Limbs, depending on your reading of it.

Either way, whether it's for the protagonist of the Acts or for Vessel, there is a very common idea that gets brought up time and time again, summarized very cleanly with the opening and ending lines of the song.

I thought that I knew love but it was just a wave crashing over us

This, however, challenges and is challenged by what love even means to them, at any given moment in time. Was the protagonist of the Acts in love, or loved in return? Did Sleep/Vessel's partner ever truly love him either? How does the definition of love change over time, at which parts of ST's trilogy would one consider either of them to be in love with the other? What does it look like? Is it just that crashing wave, the passionate violent laceration, an entanglement of the impulse to love and the instinct to kill so you can finally express it? Is any of it love? I thought I knew your love, but I'm not so sure anymore. Can you show me? Do you wish that you could?

#lmfao @ me thinking this could ever be short. #also the point of this post ran away from me entirely sorry. hands took over and started typing on their own #sleep token #to be clear: any song crossover posts i make aren't arguing intentionality. it's a springboard to talk more about the lore/ideas/etc

[night-heron-writes]

Buddy Daddies Episode 10

~*~WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BUDDY DADDIES EPISODE 10~*~

Okay so first things first. Ouch. Damn was Episode 10 angsty. Also Misaki looks unsettlingly like me? I don’t quite know how to feel about that 😂

Poor Miss Anna is not musically talented in the slightest, and all the kids are roasting her for it. Miri’s singing voice is really nice for a toddler, which makes sense since Misaki apparently taught her to sing, and Misaki is a really good singer.

So, Misaki’s back. We all knew that from the PV. She’s got a new haircut, new clothes, and seems to have gone sober. Good for her. However, the daycare is an interesting spot for her to show up at. How would she know where Miri goes to daycare?

The timing of her return is also suspicious to me. Just in the last couple episodes we learned that the organization is after Miri and Kazuki. I suspect Kyutaro is behind her reappearance, since this is the least violent way to resolve things. Not much of a resolution, but hey, we still have three episodes left.

Rei being the one to pull Kazuki back from a fight is interesting. He usually doesn’t get involved in whatever Kazuki decides to do, and he used to not care about making a scene in front of the daycare moms. Character growth!

Somebody else here on tumblr identified a piece of music as “Kazuki’s Theme” (I can’t remember your name, sorry! If you’re the person/know the person who did, please tell me in the tags so I can credit properly!). “Kazuki’s Theme” starts playing once they’re back in Rei’s apartment and Miri is playing with Misaki. It’s a very melancholy theme, the same one that played during Kazuki’s conversation in episode 7 with Karin. It often pops up when he believes he doesn’t deserve happiness.

Misaki dodging singing for Miri is interesting, especially given that we know she used to sing for/around Miri all the time. Rei also seems somewhat suspicious.

Oh so Misaki has cancer? Not what I expected. But if she has throat cancer, why is she still smoking cigarettes? Old habits and addictions are hard to break, but this is almost downright self-destructive. I’m also noticing the connection between Rei quitting smoking for Miri’s health, and Misaki being unable to do so even though continuing to smoke puts her life at risk.

Misaki having cancer also adds an interesting, rather macabre dimension to her theme being an instrumental version of “Don’t Say Goodbye”. She’s dying, at least potentially, and is trying desperately to cling to life, to not have to say goodbye. If you listen closely to her dialogue, you’ll also notice that her voice sounds strained, which adds an excellent dimension of realism.

How does she know that Rei and Kazuki are involved in “dangerous business”? I’m suspecting Kyutaro even more now, since Kazuki gave nothing away about his profession in Episode 3.

So it was Kyutaro who called in Misaki! I knew it! It’s also really the only choice he could make where nobody dies. His language in this episode is really harsh compared to previous episodes, and I’m willing to bet it’s because he’s feeling more than a little guilty.

Their final family outing is so sweet and so painful at the same time. Rei and Kazuki are trying to give Miri one last good experience with them before they have to say goodbye. The most painful part, at least to me, was that right when Miri says she wishes Misaki could’ve eaten with them, the theme I’ve nicknamed “Miri’s Family” starts playing—but it’s the piano rendition used when things are serious or sad. The music this episode straight up broke my heart worse than the episode itself.

The Ferris Wheel ride is eerily silent for a while. There’s not any background music, which is often more telling than whatever music might play. Other fans have compared the Ferris Wheel ride to the family’s journey together, and it’s certainly a good comparison to make.

Interestingly enough, Kazuki brings up the cat from Episode 1. Not a single mention of that cat has been made up until now.

The ride is silent until Kazuki says “Sometimes it’s kinder not to get involved”, when “Kazuki’s Theme” starts playing. He’s basically given up on ever having a permanent family, or ever being happy.

Rei talks a lot in this episode, especially in this conversation. He’s more open and emotional than we’ve seen him before, and he reacts a lot to Kazuki just giving up. His line about Miri having shown him things he never would have seen otherwise hurts so bad 😭.

Kazuki tells Miri she’s having a sleepover with Misaki. I can’t help but wonder how Misaki is going to explain that Miri will be living with her now, that she won’t be seeing her Papas again. I can’t imagine that being a fun conversation.

Kazuki wrapping his scarf around Miri paralleling the cat in Episode 1 made me bawl my eyes out. And so did Kazuki’s line “Guess we weren’t able to change.” But he has changed, they both have, and we still have three (?) episodes left. It’s not over yet and this series had better have a happy ending. If it doesn’t I will learn to draw and animate a second season myself.

#buddy daddies #buddy daddies spoilers #episode 10 #the angst was *strong* this episode #lea over analyzes fictional stuff again #long post

[waters-and-the-wilde]

HEY @kyliebyelie I had a weird couplea weeks but I did say I would yell about Nureyev and Vespa some more so *launches enrichment pumpkins*

also OG post thread for anyone who wants context it was just getting a little unwieldy

First off! re: Nureyev still being willing to bet on the hope that Juno would still vouch for him – I’ve also been thinking about how he had to be willing to bet that it wouldn’t backfire on Juno. Like, ‘you have no idea how much I did to keep the Kanagawas off you’. The fact that tying Juno’s name to his own work could have very easily painted a target on him. Even if he couldn’t have known that Buddy and Jet were going to pull a ‘come with me if you want to live’, the fact that he put Juno on their radar suggests that he trusted Buddy to begin with. To not threaten Juno, or to use Juno to threaten Nureyev. Jet talks about how the criminal reputation informs a potential employer that their prospective is reliable, but it also must work in reverse – that a potential boss won’t screw you over.

re: Nureyev being a fan is something I think about A Normal Amount

You’ve absolutely nailed the whole vibe of their communication styles, the chain reaction of politeness/rudeness → perception of emotions and control → measurement of honesty → how that exacerbates the friction, like that is such a good breakdown goddamn.

to add to that since I am constantly frothing like the cappuccino about the concept of 'solid coping mechanisms that backfire in the wrong situations' so for your consideration: one of those pesky little first rules of thieving being 'don’t rise to the bait’. Oh it was intended for Being In Situations with weird rich people or standoffs with other criminals, but when it's his default setting for responding to things, it's just gonna just drive the wedge that much further every time Vespa questions his integrity and he doesn't show where he keeps his Give A Damn. (And it's probably even harder to untangle as a 'no that's for jobs not your personal life' thing when it still has its legitimate applications in his personal life, bc Juno’s own survival reflex MO is ‘how fast can I piss somebody off to find out what I need to know’ and that ability to stay focused and letting him know when that's uncalled for is probably extremely necessary for the both of them)

‘Vespa is terrifying’ – okay so funnily enough! i'd been telling @one-joe-spoopy (pssst hey come look I've got enrichment pumpkins!) about my headcanon of 'ranked order of members of the Carte Blanche crew by how much they scare him and why number one hands down goes to Rita,' which is a whole post in itself but long story short, I think out of everybody he gets the most sense of security around Vespa (though she probably still does terrify him, like, a normal amount and for the exact reasons you described, especially pre/during Man In Glass.)

Basically the concept I’ve been toying with (and I think moreso in a later, probably post-Cyberbots context given some time to settle in) is that her opinion of him is decided and earning her approval under the circumstances is What We Call A Non-Starter. When he's reflexively trying to manage everyone's expectations and invested in their approval, and realizes in no uncertain terms that he can't win Vespa over as long as the name thing is a going concern, the pressure’s off a bit there. Though not in the healthiest of ways, necessarily, if he’s just more comfortable with letting her believe what she wants about him because that’s how he usually deals with people.

And another aspect of this sense of security dovetails with your previous points about how Vespa and Juno are more reactive than performative, how they wear their principles on their sleeves and others recognize them as genuine. I bet Nureyev absolutely knows better than to make the comparison in her earshot, but I can see him just sorta unable to help liking her for the same reasons he’s drawn to Juno – he can brush off a little belligerence from someone whose integrity speaks for itself. Vespa abides by her own codes as well as visibly aligning herself with Buddy’s – she’s pissed about not knowing his name but won’t coerce it out of him even when the requisite leverage is right there – and like you said, she would be insulted by the idea of using underhanded means to get him fired. He knows where he stands and possibly figures that trying too hard to fix it is just going to piss her off further. And it's not like he's gonna stop being dramatic and making his gay little jokes and smooching Juno in the mess hall, he just needs to focus on comporting himself as a reliable crewmember and establishing himself the hard way with time and Buddy's family bonding activities (and yeag he wants to Get A Good Grade In Crewmate which is Normal To Want and Possible To Achieve).

oooh also I’m a little fucked up on the idea of him on bedrest with his broken leg and getting filled in on what he missed during Shadows, realizing that Vespa thinks he’s got it in for her right around the same time he’s having an epiphany that he trusts her to keep him alive and patched up even if she never likes him as a person and that the shapeshifting robot impostors don't stand a chance with her around. like not only is she not the thief she was twenty years ago, she's even tougher and smarter and cooler and doing it all with the brain horrors on top.

ALSO in light of Next Page I now think about ‘hey what if he’s Inherently Suspicious of Medical Personnel due to The Trauma and did he spend a bunch of his broken leg recovery time fretting that she was going to try to wring his name out of him while he was on painkillers only she never does??’ (god there’s this one fic where he and Juno get MacGuffined into kids and she’s like. ‘well shit. yeah I could find it out but goddamn. that’s a line I just can’t cross. Not Looking At It I Do Not See It’)

gah it's just. Nureyev's trust issues are so goddamn multifaceted, like. local baby boy too trusting, gets his only security ripped out from under him, tanks his shot at happiness bc the trauma gave him suspicion, becomes the suavest charlatan in the galaxy so he doesn't get taken advantage of again, craves genuine connection but hasn't actually had a chance in the last two decades to figure out what he's like around other people for any stretch of time, also still literally paying the price for the last time and can hardly bear the thought of confiding in his new connections because there's nowhere truly safe in the galaxy he's terrified of putting a target on them.

But I think about his little 'much more so than usual these days' to Juno's sarcastic 'happy now??' and that maybe he was a lot closer to an honest version of himself on the Carte Blanche. That he was getting places, that he was trusting them with as much as he could. something something 'Peter Ransom' wasn't intended for putting at least half the truth under their noses the whole time but he kinda let it turn into that the moment he let Buddy start calling him Pete.

Handful of miscellaneous thoughts on things they have in common:

- the debts thing. Vespa of all people is the most painfully, intimately aware of what it feels like to have a life that isn't one's own, so the way she approaches Nureyev being in massive scary debt with suspicion made me go huh. so I've been thinking about that one and tbh given how she internalizes shit and doesn't entirely trust herself (and god I have to imagine that she's really messed up about how close she came to killing Buddy in Time Gone By), I think seeing her situation in Nureyev's wouldn't engender sympathy because is that because she also knows exactly what she was prepared to do to get out from under it. and is just expected to tolerate the fact that they're taking their goddamn chances on him. there's this sense of 'even if he cares. even if he thinks this is real. even if he tells himself he wants to be a part of this. who's he gonna be when push comes to shove. probably not even Steel is safe.'

- They are both extremely functional under pressure and in more in their element in full on crisis mode, and are probably spending S3 figuring out what the hell to do now that they have access to things like reliable meals. privacy. affection. (pretty sure Juno is also experiencing a similar kind of 'things... getting better? after being. really bad all the time???' and having a lot of midmorning scuffles about it)

- Also they both have their shitty dads living in their brains rent-free!! and they are never ever going to talk about it but one (1) time Nureyev hears Vespa yell 'shut the hell up old man!' from another room and. sometimes thinks that very hard in her voice when Mag's advice is being unhelpful

re: feral kittens in towels - I want them to get into it that day after Heart of It All where Juno isn't getting out of bed and isn't there to get all protective, and for once she's in a half-decent place brainwise and he's riddled with eight kinds of guilt and half on the edge of a nervous breakdown and having all of his defenses shot is actually a good thing for him because she's not actually going to do anything with the upper hand except cuss him out a little bit. Like 'I was gonna cut your throat without hesitation yesterday and you're all fine and dandy about being in the wedding party? no shut up I'm not saying you can't. it's whatever. Bud thought it would be nice and I'm not against it. I am saying. the fuck is wrong with you.' hurt can sniff out hurt in-fucking-deed. I am dying inside like the fact that Nureyev himself would prevent any closure we might have gotten between him and the Lighthouse Crew after S4 is very him and also it hurts me and I need to pick it all apart with a seam ripper and see what spills out

likewise it’s hard to picture them ever reaching an actual rapport but I can’t even tell you how many times I pictured the prison break with all of them converging before Clean Break aired, where it’s like finally sunk in that he’s on their side and she goes ‘Ransom watch my goddamn back I need to kiss my wife’

also. does anybody want. some fic? I have some job interview/Man In Glass missing scenes where i am gnawing on this at all times

#vespa ilkay #peter nureyev #i need to give them a tag name now #i have team janus beast for nureyev and rita and team buddy system for juno and rita #OOH #team feral meow meows #thank you for that one they're so pointy and hissy and i wanna smooch their little heads #the penumbra podcast #i love my gay space crimes family #this is so much #thank you for coming to my ted talk