#that was foreshadowing to the fact that i am too tired to put in proper tags rn!! so. you see. if i don't wake up before 2:30 something

[onmyyan]

Straight Venomous Ch.5

A/N: Short lil sum to keep y’all fed feedback is always welcome hope ya enjoy

A/N: Edited 1/11/2023 I gots to stop posting shit at 3 AM bec my eyes don’t be working anyway I made a small change at the end to make it flow better and corrected some spelling errors if I missed any no I didn’t 🔪🖤

Bruce Wayne knew people, he understood them in a way most others couldn’t. At least not without serious work, if he put his mind to something it was only a matter of time before it played out exactly as he wanted, he could count on hand the times he’d failed and it wasn’t a brag, but rather a simple fact. Predicting behavioral patterns came with the job, and he was very good at the job.

If you could recognize the pattern it wasn’t hard to predict the next move, and Damian was no exception to this rule. 

He was hungry for validation, recognition, and glory, but also knowledge. It unnerved the younger man to be in the unknown. Getting deep beneath his skin, Bruce understood if he waited long enough his prideful heir wouldn’t be able to help himself and investigate you on his own. It was both a test for you and his son, a test of patience. 

How would you conduct yourself when facing a brute like Robin? What would Damian do when faced with a stronger opponent? These pressing queries held his mind in a vice-like grip, the hunger pain that sat heavy in his stomach wouldn’t be quelled until he got those answers. 

And he found those answers faster than he thought.

You were street-smart, calculating, and careful, so he knew the only way he’d get you to reveal yourself was through provocation. This is where Damian came in. Bruce stood within the shadows of a nearby building, watching the interaction with hawk-like attention,  ready to pounce the moment either of you got out of hand.

When the time came thankfully neither of you questioned his sudden appearance, seemingly grateful for the interruption, at least you were, Damian looked like he was about to lose it. Bruce took a silent joy in the way you subtly shifted behind him. Damian clearly made you uncomfortable despite the power difference, while he had you in experience and strategy you outclassed him physically, in ways even Bruce didn’t fully comprehend.

Yet.

So you could change form, a stronger faster, truth be told frightening form, but nothing he hadn’t seen before. 

You were burdened with this incredible responsibility at such a young age, clearly, you had no idea of your full capabilities and he was itching to be the mentor you so obviously needed, the hesitation and anxiety you displayed made it all the more clear to him, you needed help, someone with the proper experience and strength to guide you along the right path. 

It's been hours since the interaction but you still held firmly in his thoughts. A huff of air escaped the quiet man, the bright screens before him bathed his skin in an eerie glow, the atmosphere was usually dark as ya know, he works in a cave, but there was a particular heaviness hanging over him like a water balloon resting on a tack, all it takes is the slightest nudge, and he’d be drenched in it, soaked in the dangerous feeling, like a storm foreshadowing its destruction, his blue eyes were tired, the job added 50 years to his expressions alone, and after a nearly 12-hour patrol, he’d earned at least a wink of rest. Everything in his body urged him to take a break, but he couldn’t. Not when you were dangling in the jaws of a wolf, it took him maybe five minutes to find out where you worked, more specifically who you worked under, Oswald had been a thorn in his side since he’d first dawned the cowl, it been a long while since he’d tried anything but silence from that man was never a reason to relax. He was as grimy as they came, and would double-cross anyone who stood in his way if it meant getting what he wanted. The balloon burst the moment the information entered his brain. You were so misguided, too trusting of such a vile human, and without considering your wants and needs he quickly decided you’d be his latest project protégé.

 After all, he’s trained his fair share of heroes, and you’d be the newest success. He could see it now, he’d study your condition whilst instilling his sense of justice along the way, and you’d appreciate his tutelage and thrive under his care and guidance. You were already so incredible despite the circumstances surrounding you, but if you continued on your path alone he was sure you’d cross the point of no return, he needed to get to you before Gotham did and you killed someone. (OhBrucieYouHaveNoIdea)

Meanwhile, some floors above him the youngest Wayne paced tracks into the floor of his gym. Yeah his, because the brat refused to use the one in the cave at the moment.

Damian spent the rest of the evening following the altercation silently, and violently, fuming to himself. Usually, whenever something managed to wriggle its way under his skin, he’d take it out on one of the poor training dummies stationed below his home in the Cave but that’s where his father was and right now he’d only make the bitter heat in his belly burn hotter. That same heat remained in the shape of your hands, how easily you subdued him had a permanent scowl on his flushed skin. He subconsciously traced the places you’d touched him hours ago.

The very fact that he was irritated enough to still be thinking about you disturbed him to his very core. It wasn’t fair you walked away without a scratch (he seemed to have forgotten nailing you with a Batarang) while he was left feeling... whatever this was.

There was anger for sure, anger at you for existing and daring to involve him in it, and anger with himself for letting you get the drop on him like that. It soothed his rage to think about your rematch, sure you didn’t know about it yet, but come on like he’d let things stay where they were. He was definitely taking you down. 

The simple fact that you’d burrowed into his brain like the roach you were had him putting his all behind the punches he threw, each hit shaking the bag enough to jolt. if the training equipment in this gym could talk- it wouldn’t because he’d have already broken its jaw

The rage he felt towards the beast made sense, he couldn’t quite place where the rage at his father came from, perhaps because he’d sat on information? That must be it. Surely it has nothing to do with him interrupting the two of you, surely.

One would think after 200 hundred crunches and an accompanying set of push-ups he’d have cooled off enough to stop shaking but that wasn’t the case, it felt, almost like a wasps nest had formed deep within his gut, a painful headache begging to thrum against his skull, unnerved with the idea of not knowing where and what such a dangerous being was up to. You could be doing anything to anyone, with anyone, if one of the more screwed up freaks in town caught the slightest whiff of what you could do- a sigh deep from his chest came out, you still wouldn’t leave his mind, his pulse began to climb, that burning intensity in your eye was locked in his memory like a screenshot. 

He was certain if his father hadn’t appeared you would have battled it out until one or both of you collapsed, The thought of ending you left a bitter taste in his mouth, it be an insult to his honor as a warrior to do so when you weren’t giving your all. He wasn’t a man to back down from a challenge and this was the biggest one yet. With a grunt he returned to dog-walking the punching bag, the strikes never losing momentum.

Somewhere across the water sat an equally dangerous man with equally dangerous ideas beginning to sprout

Dick sat at his desk, unable to tear his gaze from your blurry picture. Something about those eyes held him in place, he was afraid to think about how long he’d been sitting there, staring, and it was not like he had the time to waste. People always needed saving and he couldn’t afford to investigate your not-so-cold case any more than he already had. 

It wasn’t his business anymore, sure it started on his turf but once he realized you were a local from his hometown he had no choice but to share it- share you- with The Bat. 

It wasn’t like he hadn’t solved harder cases on his own, and he wasn’t too proud to ask a more seasoned professional his opinion when stumped, yet here he was, eyes still tearing into every grainy frame the surveillance video had to offer despite having handed the case over a few weeks ago. Something had settled in his gut. A feeling he was all too familiar with at this point, and if he was a better man he’d feel at least a little bad for his actions, but he wasn’t, and he didn’t.

See what he was, was an honest man, and honestly? You were captivating. Absolutely, wholeheartedly captivating. Dick was no stranger to attraction, he’d mastered the art of seduction and romance wasn’t a strange concept. He’d had little fixations before, and it never take him long to get the girl or guy whichever he was in the mood for, and his brain would quickly move on to the next thing. That was the usual routine. 

But you were anything but usual.

And this time it wasn’t doing that last critically important part. Like he forgot how to move on. He didn’t know what he wanted from you, only that you plagued his consciousness since he’d intercepted that robbery. He didn’t tell Bruce about the dead man left at the scene, a petty part of him was all too eager to leave him in the dark, after all what kind of ‘world's greatest detective’ would he be if he couldn’t solve this one? And a small dark voice in his mind was sure the bastard had it coming for trying to harm you, those guns they had certainly wouldn’t have just tickled.  

As he let himself relax in the worn chair he rested on, his thoughts also relaxed, and the wave of contradicting emotion washed over him. There was the curiosity, of course, all the burning questions he had for you, the genuine desire to head to your place and apologize- for what he had yet to figure out. Then there was the churn of guilt.

He felt at fault for whatever happened that night, the weight of not getting there fast enough was heavy on his scared shoulders. Of course, he felt bad, and that was obviously the reason he couldn’t seem to shake you. Had he moved a little quicker you’d never have gotten mixed in with his little community of local vigilantes.

Oh? Maybe not?

The ding that had interrupted his troubling inner monologue was a simple picture from Tim.  He scrunched his face at the bright screenshot he’d had been so kind to shoot over, You lived with Jason? Of all the people, he scoffed at the image sending a quick thank you to Tim, the younger male had a soft spot for the first Robin so he’d agreed to his request on you easily, maybe a little too easily. Had his mind been any clearer he might have been concerned with the amount of information Tim had on you. Instead, he wondered if you knew about Jason’s job. Of course, you did, you were a smart girl, after all, his smart girl.

He cracked his neck, fingers twitching at the thought because even if you did know, clearly you didn’t understand the danger you were in, he was almost certain you were a meta but the how's and why’s of it all weren’t all too concerning. No, what worried him was your obliviousness. 

You lived with him. And yeah it had been a few years since he’s seen his successor, but time couldn’t change the kind of broken Jason was. He had a temper and a tendency to act without thought, why else would he move in with a civilian? You had no idea just how much danger you were in simply by sharing a roof with the man. It was idiotic to think he could protect you-if the thought even crossed his mind that is. He scoffed bringing his now cold coffee to his mouth before setting it back down. His dark brows furrowed at the thought.

He could do that, protect you properly. The way you deserved. He owed you that much. He resigned himself to his poison and snatched up his phone, the person on the end answered almost immediately.

“Hey Timmy, you still staying in Gotham right? S’Cool if I come crash a few days?”

While those three dangerously deluded fucks individually plotted to ruin your life, the fourth was currently trying to squeeze information out of you, as he’d come home with lunch for the two of you only to find you halfway out the door, a sloppily put up bag of clothes strapped across your back.

”Jay I have like 2 seconds what do you need?” You all but whined out, half your shit was in bags the other was in the dumpster outside your apartment. Oswald was very specific on how and when you’re to arrive at your temporary home, you had a very small window to time to get to the meeting spot and were allowed one bag of personal items, all of which would have to be thoroughly searched. 

Oswald genuinely scared the fuck out of you, sure you could probably kick the shit out of the guy in a fist fight but the sheer joy on his face when he spoke of revenge and how much pleasure he got from the suffering of those who annoyed him and his overall vibe was one not to be fucked with. Throughout your frantic packing, the Symbiote was kind enough to narrate just how long you had left, taking a sick sense of joy at your irritation. ‘With three minutes on the clock and a Man-Thing in the way? Will the human make it?’ 

You were one minor inconvenience away from losing it but no one needed to know that, and as pretty as Jason is he was very much being that inconvenience right now.

”What’s going on you’re packing your shit? You also look like you’re about to shit so take a breather- maybe I can help.”

He spoke gently like he was talking to a scared animal, honestly not that far off from your current state.  “I’m moving out for- fuck if I know, but look I promise I’m gonna be okay so don’t worry.” You gave him a tight smile and went to move around him, black tendrils began subtly gathering around any and all items of yours it could find, a brush here, towel there the batteries to the remote, Jason quickly put his hands on your shoulders forcing you to pause.

”Someone after you? You’re running from somethin’ sweetheart, that much I can tell.” One corner of his mouth lifted into a worried smile, the seriousness in his eyes unsettled you, but this was Jason, so you buried the unease as soon as it appeared.

”Jay-“ you paused wracking your brain for the right words to get you out the door. Your hands found their place on top of his, gently running your thumb against his battered knuckles. “Thank you for worrying about me but you don’t need to! I ain’t running nothing but my mouth you know me,” you felt the weight of the items in your bag reach a point where no more would fit, Venom seemed satisfied with his scavenger hunt, all too eager to remind you of your ever-diminishing time limit. ‘The bird man will yell at us if we’re late (Y/n).’

’and if he hurts my feelings I’m eating his insides.’

your eye twitched at the threat while you wracked your brain for the magic words to move the wall of muscle blocking your swift getaway.

”I just need to get away for a while- just clear my head.” 

His face was the kind of scary still you’d only seen a few times. The stone-cold look didn’t match the heat in his hands, which are now gently covering your own, he gave a soft squeeze as he spoke. “Slow down for me.” His tongue flicked out over his bottom lip nervously, “Is it- you leaving cuz that shit with me and Roy? Listen I get why you’d be scared but I’ll never let anything happen to you- I’d rip the world apart before I let that happen.” His grip tightened slightly as his words continued. The conviction in his words made your hair stand on end.

”I’m sorry if I scared you but I’d never bring that shit home- just talk to me don’t run away- please.” 

You could hear the hand of the clock in the kitchen ticking away, the sweat had begun to build on your brow, and trying your hardest to stay focused, because the second You loosened your grip Venom will take the wheel, he didn’t do it often but whenever your stress levels would rise to a certain point, You’d take a backseat and let him drive the boat. And he drove that boat right into the wall.

You had Jason’s collar in a vice, yanking the larger male down to eye level in an unforgiving grip, “I’m only gonna say this once pretty boy- Stay away from us- last thing we want is to mess up that mug eh?” Venom spoke, white clouded over your eyes, Jason seemed to be taking in your splitting smile when you pushed away from him.

”See ya when I see ya Red.”

Your body threw itself out the open window, only after tossing your bag unceremoniously first of course and before he could try to chase you, you were gone. 

You sighed deeply once you were in the car, finally relaxing your shoulders at the thought of your troubles being behind you. 

Only they weren’t behind you, oh no love they’re all around, the first domino had fallen, the wolves were closing in, five different individuals have already started down this blood-soaked path, and Gotham had suddenly become five times more dangerous.

#yandere #yandere dc #straight venomous #yandere x y/n #yandere x reader #yandere reader insert #yandere batfam #yandere batboys #yandere batfamily #yandere batman #yandere bruce wayne #bruce wayne x reader #yandere jason todd #jason todd x reader #yandere damian wayne #damian wayne x reader #yandere dick grayson #dick Grayson x reader #yandere tim drake #tim drake x reader

[narrators-journal]

Welcome home

I hope this sequelette was enjoyable! It was a lot of fun to write, even if it was kinda difficult.

Previous part: here

first part: here

The rest of the night was a blur. In the chaos of Illumi confronting you, you had been too scatter-brained from fear to inform him that you were having 'practice contractions', and you definitely weren't in any sort of mindset to tell him you might be near labor, however, the stoic assassin always had a plan for things, and had accounted for you potentially going into early labor at any point. So, after your declaration, he picked you up and rushed you over to the van he had waiting. In your distressed state, everything whizzed by after that. You were vaguely aware of what the Zoldyck family doctor told you to do, but aside from when you were moved from the van to a secondary location, you couldn't seem to focus at all under the maelstrom of panic and pain. Time, your situation, all forms of possible consequence, none of it mattered anymore as you clung to your fiance-to-be's hand and followed every order the doctor gave. At some point though, you must've passed out from the pain, because in what felt like the blink of an eye, you were waking up.

Slowly, you blinked the world back into focus, your head slowly beginning to stop swimming from pain and hysteria, allowing you to gradually realize that you were laying in a hospital bed in some random, dark room that you didn't recognize. Was I out so long that I'm already back at the estate? You asked yourself, lifting your head a bit to try and discern exactly where you were through the hazy, groggy feeling clouding your mind. Upon closer inspection of your surroundings, you weren't in Illumi's family home. From what you could see by the dim light of the lamp in the corner,  the room was too small and the furniture was too cheap, so you must be in some random, hopefully, abandoned home.          "Where...am I." you croaked, though you weren't realy expecting an answer, so it startled you to hear Illumi respond.          "You were nearly eight months pregnant, so I made sure there was a safe, private place for you to possibly give birth before I went to collect you. Good thing I did, I'd have hated for you to be forced to have our son in that van." he mused from his seat in the arm chair next to the corner lamp, and when you looked over at him, your brain zeroed in on the little bundle he held instead of focusing on the danger or the dread you could feel creeping across your skin, both of which were dampened by the powerful, and sudden, urge to hold your baby. It was a shockingly powerful burst of feeling, but some part of you desperately wanted to hold your infant child. It was only when you moved your arms to reach out for your child that you registered the soft clatter of the cuff on your wrist, securing you to the metal sides of the bed, and for a moment, that somewhat reminded you that something wasn't quite right here. However, that thought was near-instantly swept away by your spacey, baby-focused thoughts.             "Wha...why am I handcuffed??" Both the thought and your words came out as more disappointed than startled, like they probably should've sounded, since you were still rather out of it, but then the memories of your entire predicament set in at long last. It finally began to set in that you'd been caught by the assassin who'd snatched you up, the one who'd been the center of your paranoia for the past few months. Just as you were about to panic though, Illumi grabbed your chin and made you look into his hypnotic eyes,            "Can you please just calm down?" he asked, slightly annoyed, but he still had an authoritative edge that washed away the majority of your anxieties for the time being before he released your face and gave over your baby to let you hold the little bundle of blue while he slept with barely a whine at being jostled. You stared at him for a moment as your partner's powers ebbed, just letting it soak in that this was your baby. "You were out for at least a full day, so I had the doctor look him over and fed him from a bottle, but it would be best if you breastfed. He'll be healthier that way." Illumi hummed, the annoyance from before gone from his words, though his voice still snapped you out of your motherly trance as he brought the armchair over to your bed and sat beside you. When he did, you looked over at him to try and glean any possible foreshadowing of your expected punishment, but, instead, for this small moment, with that soft, happy expression on his face and the way he just laid his head on his arm against the metal sides of your bed to watch your son sleep in your arms, you found that you could almost believe that he hadn't likely broken into your home, stalked you, and kidnapped you. Then the moment was broken and things got a bit awkward when you realized he was looking back into your (e/c) eyes with his own dark ones, though this time his gaze lacked that trance-enducing power he'd put behind it before, and you'd been staring at him.            "Is something wrong?" He asked quietly, blinking slowly as if you were a cat he was trying to win the trust of.  You just shook your head in response,           "I just...I don't know how to feel right now," you confessed, looking back at the infant in your arms and tightening your hold on him a bit while his father sighed,            "I'd expect you to be happy," he hummed, "and I want to let you be happy and bask in the joy of our child being born and healthy, but..." he pushed himself into a proper sitting position and his voice returned to it's usual cold temperature as he continued, "You very much need to be talked to about your behavior before that." And with that, your stomach dropped. You could almost feel that other shoe finally drop with his words as the anchor, pushing the excitement to the backburner. Instead of remaining in that slightly dopey, tired moment of joy, you switched to a far more protective, guarded mode and gave him a cautious, dirty look as a result while holding your child closer to yourself.             "You shouldn't have run away like that. If you had stayed at home, like I'd wanted you to, you wouldn't have had to put our child at risk by working as a maid like you did." he scolded, and your blood ran cold at the mention of your job,             "W-wait, how long have you known where I was?? Did...did you hurt anyone I've worked for?" you asked, and amidst your fearful worries over your helpful boss you found a sense of hostility you'd never used against him,            "I knew where you were after about a week, and not to worry, I didn't hurt the woman who helped you. You can thank mother for the fact you weren't brought back while I was in such a foul mood." he replied curtly, and while you could tell he was curbing his own hostility, you somehow felt more anger than fear at it, "She talked me out of bringing you back, and father advised against bringing you back until you were almost through with your pregnancy as to lower the distress you'd go through. If it were up to me alone, I wouldn't have needed to plan for any premature labors, you'd be pissed and upset, but safe and healthy at home." he continued,             "As if staying somewhere I felt like a fucking prisoner would've made my pregnancy last longer?! Are you forgetting how scary and deranged you became when I told you I was pregnant?? How about when you kidnapped me?"             "I didn't kidnap you, I moved you home so you would be in less danger, unless you would've preferred Hisoka return?" he snapped, but you didn't back down just yet,             "You're just glazing over the fact that I didn't want any of this! I didn't want to be scooped up and taken to some fancy ass prison, or rushed into marriage just because I was having a baby!" You snapped back, feeling a mix of angry, scared, and generally just upset tears fill your eyes as you glared at Illumi. The only thing that forced you to stop was when the child nestled against you squirmed and began to fuss. For a long moment, you didn't look at the assassin beside your hospital bed, and neither of you spoke while the infant fell back asleep. When Illumi did finally speak, he wasn't cold, or angry, he just sounded upset.             "I'm...so confused." he sighed, running a pale hand through his dark hair, "I don't know what else I was supposed to do, leave you there? In a plain house with no guards and not be there for my kid?" he asked, looking to you to explain things. So, with a sniffle and a sigh, you tried your best to help the emotionally stunted man.             "Look. I'm not going to hold it against you that you insisted on getting married, but you scared me really badly when you reacted the way you did when I suggested other things. Do you realize how terrifying you are? Because you don't seem to." you pointed out, and he just listened, "That's my biggest issue. You saved me from likely running into that other man again, but you also became a threat of your own. How can I just accept the fact that you moved me to a place that i can't escape from?  That, plus how aggressive you became, I fear you're going to hurt me, so I don't want to go back." You explained, returning to not looking at him as you spoke. After a long period of silence, he sighed, finally speaking again,          "Well...I can't go back and fix the way I reacted and scared you." he said, and it was likely the best you'd get apology-wise, "and I can't let you off for running away and scaring me like you did. Don't give me that look, I'm an assassin, not a monster." He gave you a dirty look when you gave a tiny laugh at that last part, but you did stop eyeing him in disbelief, so he went on, "What I can do, is adjust the punishment to not be as scary. However, that comes with a condition." when he finished, you once again briefly tightened your grip on your son.           "I'm not giving up my baby." you said firmly, and Illumi only snorted,           "No, but you will be going through each birth without pain medication." He said darkly, and your eyes widened before you grimaced a bit, knowing exactly who to thank for that 'compromise'. "It was either that, or my punishment, which was to break your legs." he offered, laughing a bit when you swiftly accepted the first option. After that, Illumi seemed to relax again, laying his head back on his arm against your bed's railing and just watching your son sleep. You however, had to wait for your heart to slow down and your panic to subside before you could ask another question,            "so...if painful births are my punishment for this...what's the condition?" Illumi's eyes moved to look at you, but he didn't lift his head as he coolly told you,            "On the condition that you treat me like you did before the pregnancy," You thought a bit at that proposition, than nodded,            "Alright. A-as long as you don't become abusive or scare me like you did, I can do that." at that he hummed again, finally moving to give your cheek a kiss, than he spoke again.            "Also, if you ever run away, or do anything to put our children or yourself at risk," his voice suddenly became dark, "I get to break. Every. unnecessary. bone. in. your. body." It was a cruel hiss of a threat that sent a tsunami of dread down your spine, but after a moment of weighing your options, really debating whether you could survive in a world with him hunting you down, you nodded. As long as you didn't do anything to warrant that, you'd be okay. However, you did have one final question eating at you.        "Um...what'll-what'll happen to our son?" your voice was quiet, and you quietly plead for Illumi not to confirm your worst fear, but he only gave you a knowing look,        "You know what will happen, not even I can stop my family from training him to follow my footsteps, but, I can make you a similar promise to the one father made to mother." he offered, resting his cheek on top of your head affectionately while laying his hand over yours on your son. "If you let the first one become an assassin, the others won't have to be." With that, you swallowed back your regret, and agreed.

#illumi x reader #sequel #x reader #hxh #hunter x hunter #sequelette #outrunning karma #fanfiction #quotev

[twentiethcenturymoviesandtv]

Frankenstein: The Story

Before Frankenstein even starts, the movie wants you to know that it isn’t messing around.  This isn’t a horror-comedy, or a mildly spooky drama.  This is a horror story, make no mistake.

The film opens up in a rather unconventional way.  Edward Van Sloan, who plays Dr. Waldman in the film, appears from behind a curtain in order to directly address the audience:

“How do you do? Mr. Carl Laemmle feels it would be a little unkind to present this picture without just a word of friendly warning. We’re about to unfold the story of Frankenstein, a man of science who sought to create a man after his own image without reckoning upon God. It is one of the strangest tales ever told. It deals with the two great mysteries of creation: life and death. I think it will thrill you. It may shock you. It might even horrify you. So if any of you feel that you do not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now is your chance to, uh… Well, we’ve warned you.”

After this genial warning, Mr. Van Sloan steps back behind the curtain, and the music starts over the credits.  (This is the only time music will play during the film.)

The film opens proper this time, appropriately enough, in a graveyard.

The scene is a funeral, a sad occasion over which church bells are heard ringing.  Fittingly enough, the story of Frankenstein already is focused on death, and so is our possible main character.

Enter Dr. Henry Frankenstein. (Colin Clive) (Spoilers below)

Frankenstein waits outside the graveyard, alongside his hunchback assistant, Fritz (Dwight Frye), for the mourners to leave, and for the gravedigger to finish up.  As soon as the cemetery is deserted, the gruesome twosome move in, using their own tools to dig up the grave again, removing the coffin.  As they do, Frankenstein manically murmurs this:

“He’s just resting. Waiting for a new life to come.”

With that, the pair put the coffin on a wheelbarrow, and head off.  They stop at a gallows, where Frankenstein tells Fritz to clamber up and cut the body down.  Reluctantly, Fritz obeys.  The doctor examines the body, before proclaiming it useless.

“The neck’s broken. The brain is useless. We must find another brain.”

He’s 2 for 2 on the ominous foreshadowing, despite the fact that that’s not how neuroscience works.

Fritz, in a quest to find another brain, hides outside a medical college, where he listens to Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan) teaching a seminar about brains.  He has two specimens: one, a perfect example of a model brain, and the other, the brain of a criminal.

After class is dismissed, Fritz sneaks into the classroom, intending to steal the well-adjusted brain.  At first, it looks like success, but a loud noise startles him, and he drops it.  Panicked, Fritz grabs the brain labeled: ‘Abnormal Brain’ and takes off.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to a few new characters: Elizabeth (Mae Clark), Henry’s fiancee, and Victor (John Boles), friend of Henry and Elizabeth.  Elizabeth has just received word from Henry for the first time in four months.  She reads the letter out loud to Victor, who explains that he is in the middle of an amazing discovery, and is working on his experiments in hiding in an abandoned watchtower, where they can remain secret.  

Elizabeth explains that she sent for Victor because she is worried about Henry, saying that he’s talking as though he’s crazy.  She also says that she’s heard him talk about these experiments before, and that when they were first engaged, Henry was happy to tell her about them, but now acts as though everything is a great mystery.  

Victor agrees that Henry’s acting strangely.  He tells Elizabeth that the last time he ran into Henry and asked to see the lab, Henry got very defensive.

So far, the movie really isn’t selling the audience on Henry.  Not many good traits for this guy if we’re being honest.

At this moment, Victor tells Elizabeth that he is in love with her, which doesn’t help the situation at all.  This is not the first time he has done this, but Elizabeth is already engaged to aforementioned mad-scientist.  

Victor also says that he will go track down Dr. Waldman (remember him?) who was Henry’s mentor, to see if he knows anything about Henry’s behavior.  Elizabeth runs after him, determined to go along, and the two set off.

The two arrive at Waldman’s office and begin discussing Henry and his odd behavior.  Waldman admits that Henry is brilliant, but he’s also erratic, possessing an “insane ambition to create life”.  Waldman also explains that Henry had wanted actual human corpses for his experiments

“You do not quite get what I mean. Herr Frankenstein was interested only in human life. First, to destroy it; then, recreate it. There you have his - mad dream.”

The university obviously wouldn’t allow the use of human corpses, and so Henry left, in order to pursue graverobbing for his experiments.  More worried than ever, Elizabeth convinces Waldman to accompany them to find Henry and bring him to his senses.

Henry, as it turns out, is inside his watchtower where a mighty storm is brewing.  It’s dark, there’s a thunder and lightning storm growing, and inside, Henry is busy about his laboratory, full of crackling electric gadgets and a table, on which lies a figure, with a cloth lying over it and bandages wrapped around its head, inside which is the brain that Fritz had stolen.

“The brain you stole, Fritz. Think of it. The brain of a dead man waiting to live again in a body I made with my own hands! With my own hands.”

As Henry prepares his experiment (powered by electricity, hence the storm), there is a knock at the door, interrupting him at his work.  Irritated, he sends Fritz down to send whoever is there away.  Upon realizing that Elizabeth is at the door, Henry changes his mind, and lets her, Victor, and Waldman in, albeit reluctantly.  He tries to persuade them to leave, but is stopped short when Victor accuses him of being crazy.

“Crazy, am I? We’ll see whether I’m crazy or not.”

Taking the accusation as a challenge, Henry brings his unexpected guests upstairs to the lab to witness his experiment.  He forces Victor and Elizabeth to sit, chases Waldman away from the hidden body, and describes his experiment.

In short, Henry has discovered a ray that is the foundation of life, and that he has created a body, stitched together from other corpses, super large, super strong.

Without further ado, Henry launches into the most famous scene of cinema history.  He starts up the equipment as the storm begins to rage, and the table holding Henry’s creation rises up the tower towards a skylight, where the thunder and lightning crash and flash.  Slowly, Henry brings the body back down, and the hand of his creation begins to move.

Say it with me:

“Look! It’s moving. It’s alive. It’s alive… It’s alive, it’s moving, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, IT’S ALIVE!”

In his euphoria, Henry compares himself to God, and in shock and horror, the others restrain him.

Weirdly enough, at this point, the movie decides to put itself on hold.

After an emotional, tension filled high point, one of the most famous scenes in movie history, the film decides that, rather than show you Frankenstein’s creation, to take you instead to the home of Baron Frankenstein, Henry’s father, and a conversation with Elizabeth and Victor.

The movie has been moving at a pretty good clip up to this point, albeit with rather sparse ‘monster’ action.  We don’t see Frankenstein putting his creature together, we only see the before and after, and now we don’t even get to see the after.  The sequence interrupting the ‘good stuff’ seems to come in, interrupting a continuous flow.

Henry’s father is also worried about him (it seems to be a pattern), but refuses to believe Elizabeth’s claims that he’s just tired.  The Baron believes there’s something legitimately wrong with him, and that he’s involved with another woman.  At this point, the Baron isn’t sure if there’s even going to be a wedding between his son and Elizabeth, which is unfortunate, since the whole town is preparing for it.

The Baron makes a decision: he’s going to go visit Henry now, too.

See, as it turns out, Henry hasn’t left the watchtower.  He’s still with his experiment, and so is Waldman.

Waldman, for his part, isn’t in the slightest happy about Henry’s experiment.  He explains that the ‘monster’ is dangerous, but Henry isn’t buying it.

“Dangerous? Poor old Waldman. Have you never wanted to do anything that was dangerous? Where should we be if no one tried to find out what lies beyond? Have you never wanted to look beyond the clouds and the stars, or to know what causes the trees to bud? And what changes the darkness into light? But if you talk like that, people call you crazy. Well, if I could discover just one of these things, what eternity is, for example, I wouldn’t care if they did think I was crazy.”

Waldman explains that the brain that Henry used was a criminal brain.  Henry looks disconcerted for a moment, but brushes it off, ignoring Waldman’s pleas to stop experimenting.

“I’ve got to experiment further. He’s only a few days old, remember. So far he’s been kept in complete darkness. Wait till I bring him into the light.”

As he finishes speaking, heavy footsteps are heard in the hallway.  Henry shuts off the light, casting the dark room into further shadow, as a towering figure steps, backwards, through the doorway.  It turns, slowly, facing the camera, with a dead, blank expression.

You already know what he looks like.

Henry tells the creature (Boris Karloff) to come in and sit down.  The creature, although mute, seems to understand him, obeying as Henry rolls back the skylight.

The monster stands, looking up, and raises his hands to the sky, trying to touch the light.  The expression comes to life, full of curiosity-

And Henry closes the light again.

The monster halts, looking dejected, as Henry gleefully brags about his creation.

Right here, we as an audience have been told a lot of information about a lot of people.

There’s Elizabeth, the loving fiancee, Victor, the concerned friend, Waldman, the dismayed mentor, and Baron Frankenstein, blustering father, but when you boil it right down, the audience’s concern lies with two characters: Henry and the monster.

We know that Henry is a raging egomaniac, who is determined to make his mark on scientific discovery.  He is proud of what he has done, to the point of hysteria, and has become so absorbed with his work that he has neglected family, friends, and his fiancee, to the point where he has driven them all to worry about him.  He’s obsessed with his creation, with his apparent success.

And the creature?

As famous and magnificent as the laboratory scene is, the scene where the monster first sees the light is almost as well-known, and with good reason.  Arguably just as important, this sequence gives the audience some very important information about the creature: he is not inherently a ‘monster’.  His expression is not that of a vicious beast, but a curious child.  His backwards lumber into the room and straining to touch the light stirs an emotion out of the audience: not fear, but pity.

Hold onto that, we’ll be coming back to that shortly.

After the monster sits back down, Fritz comes tearing into the room with a lighted torch, brandishing it at the creature.  The creature, naturally frightened, goes into a bit of a frenzy, barely restrained by Henry and Waldman.  The two scientists tie him up, and Waldman, more resolute than ever in his stance that the creature is dangerous, tells Frankenstein that he must destroy the monster.

The two scientists move the creature to the cellar, where Fritz continues to torment him, beating him with a whip and antagonizing him with the torch.

Upstairs, Henry and Waldman hear a bloodcurdling shriek, and rush downstairs, where they discover the monster, free, and Fritz, strangled.

The pair manage to get out of the cellar and close the door behind them, but it won’t hold for long.  The monster’s superior strength comes to bear as he struggles to smash down the door.

Henry, horrified at his own creation, reluctantly agrees with Waldman’s assertion that the monster must be destroyed, and allows Waldman to go up for a needle for a hypodermic injection.  After Waldman returns, the pair open the door, and as the creature attacks Henry, Waldman injects the monster in the back with the needle.  After a tense moment, the drug takes effect, and the monster slumps to the ground, unconscious.

Waldman and Frankenstein hide the body of the creature as they hear a banging on the door: Victor, warning Henry that Elizabeth and Henry’s father are on the way, right behind him.  Henry goes upstairs to clean the blood off of him.

When Elizabeth and Baron Frankenstein do arrive, they find Henry, collapsed from exhaustion in his lab, muttering mournfully about Fritz.  They decide to take him home, and Waldman promises Henry that he will preserve Henry’s research, and destroy the monster.

While Henry is taken home and helped to recover, Waldman sets about dissecting the creature.  Before he can get started, the sedative wears off, and the creature wakes up.  Seeing the doctor bending over him with sharp tools, the creature strangles Waldman, gets up, and wanders out of the watchtower, now loose across the countryside.

The story takes a little bit of a skip now.  Henry is recovered, and it is the day of his wedding to Elizabeth.  His father, the Baron, hands Henry and Victor orange blossoms, family tradition for weddings, and toasts the wedding, remarking about his hope for a future son of Frankenstein.

An interesting comment.  More on that later.

Meanwhile, the creature’s wanderings have taken him to a forest, relatively close to civilization.  There, he stumbles upon a girl named Maria, who is playing by the side of a lake.

Instead of being frightened at his appearance, the girl approaches the creature and invites him to play with her, bringing him down by the water as well.  She gives him a flower, which he reacts to with a look of genuine happiness.

Maria offers up an interesting look at how people approach the creature.  Up until this moment, he has been contained, tortured, and treated as an experiment at best, and a monster at worst.  This is the first time that anyone has treated him as anything close to ‘human’, and it’s a touching moment.

Unfortunately, this is a horror film, and we have to take a sharp left turn into disaster.  Or at least, tragedy.

See, Maria teaches the creature a game where they toss flowers into the water, demonstrating how they float.  Once the creature runs out of flowers, he tosses Maria in, not really understanding why that’s not acceptable.  As it turns out, Maria can’t swim.

Her floundering in the water frightens the creature, and, clearly upset, he runs away.

The scene switches once more to wedding preparations.  Elizabeth, already in her wedding gown, asks to speak to Henry privately, as she’s feeling rather uneasy.  As a matter of fact, she’s downright afraid.  She explains to Henry that she’s not sure why she’s afraid, but she is concerned for Waldman, and asks why he’s late.  She adds that she’s very afraid of losing Henry, but he reassures her that he’s not going anywhere.

The touching moment is interrupted by Victor, banging on the door, shouting about Waldman.  He’s been found, dead, in the watchtower where Henry had been working.  Henry locks Elizabeth in a room and rushes out, knowing that the monster must be loose.  He and Victor begin searching the house for the creature, all the while thinking that at least Elizabeth is somewhat safe.

Elizabeth is pacing the room, very nervous.  I can’t blame her.

As she paces, the monster comes through the window of the house, stalking her down.  Elizabeth screams, and tries to escape, but of course, Henry locked the door in his most brilliant move since reanimating the dead.  The monster gets out the way he came in, and Henry bursts in to find Elizabeth unhurt, but hysterical.

Henry proclaims that he cannot get married until his creation is destroyed, and leaves Elizabeth in Victor’s care while he leaves to track down the monster.

“I made him with these hands, and with these hands I will destroy him. I must find him.”

Meanwhile, interrupting the wedding festivities outside, a grief-stricken father carries the body of his little girl, Maria, into the town.  The townspeople, now subdued, follow him as the father approaches the Burgomaster, proclaiming that his daughter has been murdered.  (This is perhaps the one plot hole that I have the hardest time getting around, as if she’d been drowned, there’s no way the father could have figured she’d have been murdered.)

Still, it’s enough to get the townspeople in a riot.

The Burgomaster organizes the mob, splitting it into three groups and putting Henry in charge of one.  The mob storms off, armed with torches and pitchforks (what else?).

Henry’s group spots the monster, and stumbles upon an injured man who points them in the direction of the creature.  

Naturally, Henry gets separated from the rest of the group while up on a mountain, and, of course, runs into his creation.

Frankenstein tries to scare the creature with his torch, but the monster is well past the fear of fire by now.  He lunges at Henry, they struggle, and the monster knocks him unconscious, dragging him away.  

The creature takes Henry into a windmill, pursued by the mob of angry villagers.  As the monster lugs Henry up to the second story, the search party tries to break the door down.

Henry wakes up, and narrowly escapes another attack by the creature, hiding behind mill machinery before entering another losing grappling match with the creature.  After a brief struggle, Henry falls from the mill, unconscious.

Some of the search party stop to take Henry home, as the rest light the mill on fire.

The monster remains trapped in the flaming building, under a fallen beam, terrified and alone.

With the monster presumed dead, Henry begins recovering again, under the care of Elizabeth at his home.  His father, the Baron Frankenstein, breaks out the old wine for the wedding and makes another toast: a toast to the son of Frankenstein.

Cue closing credits.

The story of Frankenstein is not a long one, clocking in at just over an hour and ten minutes.  On a rewatch, it can seem like there isn’t even that much of the monster.  Instead, we spend a lot of time with the creator of the creature, watching him prepare for his wedding.  We even get a few scenes with Elizabeth and other supporting characters.  

At first, these scenes really seem to slow the story down.  The odd placement of a few scenes with Henry’s friends and family worrying about his sanity sprinkled in-between the monster’s creation sequences can seem to abruptly grind the movie to a halt as the audience is forced to sit back from the edge of their seats.  I mean, what is this story about, anyway?  Reanimating the dead or Henry’s wedding?

More specifically, who is this story supposed to be about?

That’s kind of the problem, isn’t it?  

The easy answer is to say that Frankenstein as a film is focused on Frankenstein as a man.  The scientist, bent on playing God, creating a monster and forced to destroy it.  Frankenstein, the son, the fiance, the student, the friend.

By the same token, it’s equally as simple to claim that the focus of the story is on the monster.

The mute creation of a madman, the childish brute who never asked to be made, who was never shown any kindness.  The lonely monster, tortured and brutalized for being ugly, condemned for the sins of his creator.  The monster, the son of Frankenstein.

Typically, finding the protagonist of a film isn’t that hard.  Luke Skywalker, Rocky Balboa, Dorothy Gale, are all easily presented as who the story is about, the person who pushes the action forward.  But unfortunately, protagonists aren’t as easy to spot in every case.

Protagonists, as it turns out, aren’t always at the center of the story.  In our study of Ladyhawke (nearly a year ago!), we discovered that sometimes, the protagonist and the character that the audience spends the most time with aren’t necessarily the same person.  In Running Scared, there are two protagonists, but only one major one.  In our analysis of Psycho, we discussed the fact that the protagonist doesn’t even have to be a hero.  

That’s certainly the case with Frankenstein.

Whichever way you slice it, there is no ‘hero’ in Frankenstein.  Neither monster nor man saves the day.  The climax, presented as a victory to the townspeople, is a tragedy: the creature, beaten and hated for his entire short life, is seemingly burnt alive, trapped, rejected by his creator.

This is not a happy ending.  But then again, it’s not a happy story.  It started with digging up corpses in a graveyard, remember?

It turns out, when you think back over the events of the film, it’s actually pretty easy to spot the protagonist.

When it comes to ‘spotting’ the protagonist in Frankenstein, it’s less an analysis of the actions taken by specific characters, and more the ‘blame game’.  Who’s fault is most of the story?  Is it the monster, for killing?  Is it Fritz, for antagonizing him unprovoked?  Waldman’s, for mentoring Henry in the first place?

Rather grimly, looking back over the course of events in the story and determining who is to blame gives us our protagonist.  It is, of course, Henry Frankenstein.

Henry Frankenstein is far from heroic, but he is responsible for nearly every action taken by every character in the story, from his friends checking up on him to his creation wreaking havoc.  It is his blind arrogance and refusal to take into account the consequences of his actions that lead to so much suffering, and, ironically, death.  Henry is bent on achieving the impossible, and in doing so, nearly dooms much of the main cast.  He digs up the graves.  He creates the monster.

Worst of all, he’s the one who won’t give the creature what he needs most: love.

For all intents and purposes, the creature is the son of Frankenstein, his creation.  Henry has been nothing but an active character up until the point where he creates the monster, and after that, he suddenly becomes passive.  His goal accomplished, he doesn’t treat the monster like a person, but a successful experiment.  He halfheartedly scolds Fritz for tormenting him, but doesn’t actively try to stop him.  Through his carelessness, he gives the monster none of the attention he needs, and as a result, the monster is treated terribly at worst, and with indifference or scientific curiosity at best.

Once people start dying, Henry wakes up a little bit.  His growth, his character arc, comes in the form of self-realization, of owning up and accepting blame for what he’s done.  After he realizes his guilt, he does something about it, going after the monster and trying to ‘right’ his wrong by destroying it.  

While still not exactly a heroic figure, at the very least, Henry does change by the end of the story.  And isn’t that what protagonists are supposed to do?

Yes, it is.

But there’s another character we’re leaving out of this equation.

The idea of the monster being a reflection, or another side, of Frankenstein is not a new one.  It’s an idea that’s frequently discussed and analyzed by plenty of experts.  Right now, though, we’re not looking at the monster as a reflection of Frankenstein.  We’re looking at him as a creation, as a son.

See, Henry isn’t the only person that changes throughout the story.  While Henry goes from mad monster to man, the creature has a reverse progression.

Throughout the first part of his existence, the creature is a passive character.  He is acted upon, created through no will of his own, and then tormented for no good reason.  He is a curious creature, a being that demonstrates a childlike joy at the world around him.

The creature doesn’t truly become a ‘monster’ until more than halfway through the film.  He kills Fritz, only because he tormented him.  He kills Waldman while the doctor is trying to dissect him.  In his early moments, the monster reacts to people trying to harm him, rather than lashing out, unprovoked.  His interaction with light, and people who aren’t cruel to him, demonstrate the monster’s potential true nature: a gentle giant.

When the monster breaks out of the tower and meets Maria, there is no hostility.  He is genuinely happy, enjoying interaction with the first person to show him genuine kindness.  Her death is an accident, the result of his misunderstanding, causing him great distress.

After that, a switch is flipped.  It is here that he goes after Elizabeth, (though not harming her) and attacks Henry after Henry pursues him.  At this point, it can be argued that the creature truly becomes the monster…but it’s hard to say that it’s his fault.

We as an audience don’t know what’s going on in the monster’s head at this point.  He can’t speak to tell us.  But it’s not a large leap of logic to wonder if the monster might be blaming his misery on Henry and the others in his life as well.  And in the end, he is seemingly killed, abandoned by his uncaring creator and shunned by a world who mistreated him without cause.

No matter who Frankenstein is about, it’s a sad story.  It’s also a good story.

Frankenstein learns his lesson, repents from playing God, and fixes his mistake.  The monster dies.  All of the human, ‘non monster’ characters live happily ever after.  (Until Bride of Frankenstein.)  Good…wins?

There’s no line drawn, no sides of ‘good or evil’ in Frankenstein.  The story is not good guy vs. bad guy, no good vs. evil, just a creator and his creation, the tragedy of a man too arrogant to realize the blasphemy of his actions, and the creature he made, turned into a monster due to mistreatment and misunderstanding.  

It’s sad, yes.  It’s also a satisfying ending.

It ties up loose ends.  It answers the questions.  It gives everyone an ending, happy or not.

While Frankenstein does have some plot holes, overall, it’s a tight story.  More importantly, it’s an emotional story, and a smart story.  It brings up questions of morality, of nature vs. nurture, and of what we perceive as monstrous.  It’s a gripping story with a great atmosphere, an iconic look, and immortal characters, setpieces, scenes and dialogue that have been remembered for almost ninety years for a reason.  It’s an iconic film, a memorable masterpiece of simple, but smart, storytelling, constantly driving at an emotional core that still holds up to this day.

A toast to the son of Frankenstein.

In the articles ahead, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the other important elements to the story of Frankenstein, so if you enjoyed this one, stick around and join us!  Don’t forget that my ask box is always open for questions, requests, comments, or just a conversation.  Thanks so much for reading, and I hope to see you in the next article.

#Movies #Film #Frankenstein #Frankenstein 1931 #1931 #30s #Horror #Sci-Fi #Science Fiction #Drama #PG #Boris Karloff #Colin Clive #Mae Clarke #Dwight Frye #Edward Van Sloan #James Whale

[themanicgalaxy]

SPN 1X12 Faith

Did I get home at 2:30 after driving on severely icy roads, take my shower and start watching this? yes

But listen. It’s New Year’s after 2020, Spn and mishapocalypse 2.0 were trending today and I went sledding down a severely icy slope in jeans and heeled boots. Today doesn’t make sense anyway, let’s just put in all the nonsense

-damn, not opening with a monster this time? they’re opening with a rescue?

-ight so Dean gets left behind...and gets zapped??? noooo??

-ESPECIALLY AFTER LAST EPISODE DEAN’S REACTION HURTS

-...DEAN’S GONNA DIE?? WH AT

Look i know it’s not gonna actually happen but still no o o

Dean’s already talking as if he’s dead this sdfaiuh;a HURTS

SAM CALLS JOHN AFDIOAH

AW SAM JUST DID STRAIGHT RESEARCH FOR LIKE...DAYS FOR HIS BROTHER

haha moral debate time I like this a lot

Second time dean’s more obnoxious/misplaced, and it’s cuz he’s dying, I COULD read into that but I SHOULDN’T N O P E

that was a really wonky camera zoom it was quite funny in a very serious Moral Debate Sequence

he just...passed out?? THAT”S THE HEALING PROCESS??

the...disease transfers???

this feels like foreshadowing, is it foreshadowing?

o k that was a scene, the mom, girl and Dean and their varying perspectives of their death

O h look this is gonna rly fuck with Dean’s guilt complex

REAPER! OOOO L O R E L O R E L O R E

Please tell me they play don’t fear the reaper this episode p l e a s e 

The fucking “he’s a fraud” “amen” “you keep up the good work” IS SO FUNNY TO ME THEY FLIP FLOPPED SO HARD

the way he used the dust to find the most used book is a bit obvious but still cool, solid detective work

IT’S TARGETED!  IT’S TARGETED O FUCK

OH NO NOT LAYLA NO O O  O

DID HE PICK LAYLA SO IT’D BE HARDER FOR DEAN TO STOP IT?? IS IT ON PURPOSE??

REAPER SMILED, is he also being controlled? Is he happy he survived?

Dammit Layla really deserves the world AND SHE’S GONNA FUCKING DIE I HATE THIS

Dean there had to have been a better way to do this

Look the idea of letting one person die that u like vs a stranger feels like a very brutal trolley problem that I kinda wanna analyze if I wasn’t so tired

HOW THE F U C K DID DEAN CLIMB UP SO FAST

Yeah, I knew it’d be Dean, but that begs the question: If it’s immoral that he figured out that she’s doing shady shit, her definition if immorality is....literally so flexible what the fuck

wIcKeD god again, this is why christianity scares me

DEAN RUN WHY AREN’T YOU RUNNING

He’s so fucking excited to kill Sue Ann

it’s so funny with the heavy makeup and the giddy evil smile

believe + disappoint feels...like it’s targeted too?

I’m so angry that Sue Ann’s death didn’t transfer to Layla that made perfect sense to me

I..don’t know how to feel about this? cuz it does make the finale of the episode all about Dean, like Layla doesn’t matter, but it has a good message about moving on in the face of adversity, but again it’s the being completely at peace and ok with a higher power even if you’re gonna die and...idk

wrap up:

1. Moral complexity introduced! I am genuinely too tired to parse if they did it well or not, but I do appreciate the fact that it was put in, explained, given its proper time, etc. that was nice to see

2. Dean and Sam, solid relationship, solid partner work, I very much stanned

3. introspective-y episode, I think that was pretty cool

4. idk guys it’s 3:30 I’m so tired im gonna go to sleep. This was interesting episode, glad I watched, but brain.exe has stopped working

good night

#pawswatchesspn #1x12 Faith #A Wild Moral Complexity has appeared

[ecmlol]

“ I don’t know. I’ll have to ask my mom. Why?”jude asked

“ well there is a guy name bigbro925 that catch my attention. He thinking the picture is tacky and youit would look better in black and white.”

“ well his birthday would be 9/25 if he’s old because I was a early morning baby I think my mom said something like 12:10 so if he was born 11 minutes before me that would be the day before.”

Noah clicks on bigbro925 page.There are a lot of pictures of dogs, food and landscapes.

“ gotcha you. I found selfies kinda”noah shows jude

“ wow that’s just amazing. “Jude says as he sees the first picture of his brother.

Brandon is sitting on a couch with a goatee and a clean cut hair style that looks very much like Jude’s .

“ I don’t know how it’s even possible that you could be even hotter. You’d look great with a goate.” Noah say

“You think?”

“ definitely “noah say.

“ next year for your birthday I’ll grow one for you for a couple of weeks.”jude says

“ only if you want to”noah say

“ sure why not I like the extra sleeping in time in the summer.”jude says

“ me too.I miss your longer hair too.”Noah says running his hand over Jude’s newly cut hair. Noah give Jude’s hair a little tug at the nape.

Noah smiles and kisses Jude’s cheeks. Jude gets goosebumps

“ so do you think I should respond to your brother? “

“ I don’t know but I think you want to.”Jude say

“You know me so well” noah smiles

Noah goes back to his picture and goes to the comments.

“ I will let my husband know. Send” noah say.

Noah looks at Jude and shrugs.

“ I’m trying to be nice to him. You don’t want to antagonize someone like him. I maybe nuts but I’m not stupid.”

“ you said it not me “ jude says with a small smile.

“ haha let’s get going you don’t want to be late to meet officer Murray.”

Jude and Noah headed to the bathroom to get really for the day.

Noah is driving because he wasn’t staying at work he was heading to his old apartment to check on Jamie after dropping off jude with his personal body guard.

Jamie is sitting on the couch doing homework when there a knock on the door.

At first Jamie didn’t know if she should get it or just sit there.

“ Noah should have his key” jamie says to herself. Jamie gets up and takes the headphones off her belly.

Earlier in the week pax sent flowers to the apartment. Normally Jamie would have gotten rid of them but she felt like the apartment need some color.

The door opens and Noah pokes his head in.

“ you dress?”

“ yeah of course”

“ ok just checking” noah walks in carrying a body pillow.

“ is that for me ?”jamie say as she gets up.

“ of course “

“ I’m really happy you came over. I felt her move this morning!This time I know for sure it was her and not gas!”jamie says will a smile.

“ that so awesome. I can wait to feel her kick. If that’s ok”

“ of course “

“ thank you”

“ oh I started to put the headphones on my belly so she can hear yours and Jude voices. I don’t know if she can head it but that’s when I felt her move the first time for sure.”

“ thanks I want her to be comfortable with our voices if that’s even possible.”noah says

“ I’m sure she will. I think you have a nice voice I’m sure she will think so too.

The pop of colors from the flowers on the counter catches Noah’s eye.

“ owww flowers.”

“ yeah about those pax sent them to say sorry”

“He hasn’t been back has he?”

“ no not yet but I’m sorta thinking he will come by at some points.”

“ you don’t think you might need a restraining order do you?”

“I hope not that seems a little extreme don’t you thing. I can handle myself.”jamie say

“ ok.”noah says

At the arena Jude and Murray are doing Jude’s daily walk around. This is the time of the day that jude sees the progress on any repairs that are being done on the arena.

Jude and Murray make small talk as they walk the arena.

“Have you seen the new lays potato chips?”Murray asked

“No I haven’t my husband loves chips though what flavor s are they” jude asks

As Murray tells jude about the pizza flavored chips she gets hit with the feeling that they are being watched.

“ oh those sound good”

“ they taste just like pizza.”

Murray steps a little closer to jude.

“ do you feel like we’re being watched?”

Jude look over his shoulder he sees something move in his peripheral vision.jude quickly turns. Off in the distance jude and Murray hear someone knocking things over like someone is running into thing as they try and get away.

“ Sooo I know it’s none of my business but why am I here.”Murray ask.

Jude has a quick flash back of the first time jude was at Noah’s apartment.

“ Well my husband thinks I’m in danger ...”

“Of....”

“ my ...brother”

“ oh..”

“Identical twin brother “

“ well fuck us.a evil twin. No wonder why my boss told me to pay close attention to your cloth and hands”

“ my hands?”

“ your rings. You wear a lot of rings for a man.”

“ ah ok.”jude wears his engagements and his wedding band and the devil chapionship ring.

“In the back of my head I sorta thought about a double or something. I looked you up and you have one sister but nothing about a twin.”

“ well I just found out and I haven’t even spoken to him yet. Your very good at your research my sister has been mentioned once In social media.”

“Your husband mentioned her once”

Jude nod.

“ ok we need a plan.

Jude sighs

Jude is tired of all the passwords and plans. It seems like Noah is coming up with something new everyday. Even Their back up plans have back up plans. Why should she be any different.

“ ok what’s the plan?” Jude say with fake interest not wanting to make her feel like he is undermining her trying to do her job.

Around the corner Brandon is fumbling to get away when he runs into Snow the security guard.

“ ah huh” snow say.

“ sorry .”

“ your fine what’s the rush and where’s Murray at?”

“ bathroom. I have to go”

“ well have a good one. Mr. kinkade.” Snows says and heads in the same direction as Brandon.

A few minutes later jude and Murray come across Snow.

“ Mr kinkade it a pleasure to see you as always”

“ hi have you seen anything unusual today?”Jude say

“ matter of fact I have your brother just left.” Snow says.

“ you know? How”?”

“ I use to work closely with your father. Let’s say we keep I touch.”jude has never noticed how well groomed the older man is or how expensive his taste in watches are.yes he’s head of security at the arena but what’s his story? Jude thought.

Wow married to a reporter for a couples of weeks has already starting to rub off on him Jude thought to himself.

“Your father and me go all the back to before you two were even born. I was a police officer that came to a call at a accident your father had. Our long time arrangement didn’t happen until a few weeks later when we met again when I was working a side gig at a underground club he use to visit. And the rest is history as they say”

“ wow I had no idea my father has friends.”

“ your father has acquaintance.”

“ ah.”jude says

“ I must go check on something. Always a pleasure. My lady“He tips his hat to Murray and nods to jude before walking away.

“ oh he’s interesting.” Murray say

“That he is “jude says

A few hours later noah picks up Jude in the back of the arena. The proper passwords and are exchanged.

Noah smile and leans in to give Jude a quick kiss. They both wave to Murray and drive off.

“ how is everything at the apartment?”jude ask

“She felt her kick this time it was for real .”Noah say

“Let me guess it was gas last time.”

“ yes I love that your doing so much baby research “ noah say

“ well I’m all in . I want this too. I never thought I would have almost everything I have ever dreamed of before I’m 30. I’m willing to go the distance to get it to.”

“ ok this isn’t some kind or foreshadowing to darth Judius is it?”noah says

“Haha noah Don’t Jedi sometime walk a fine line between the light and dark side.”

“ as much as the geek talk is turning me on there is a down side of Luke crossing the line.BAM hello Kylo Ren”

“ I have full faith that you will rein me in if you think I might cross that line.”

“ let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

The week went by quickly. Jude and Noah started to get in to a nightly ritual that they both enjoy. The trips home are a ping pong of their daily going ons and trying to figure out what’s for dinner. Once home Noah tends to start stripping out of his cloths at the door. Jude finds is funny and endearing that Noah is down to his underwear by the time he makes it to the bedroom.At first Jude thought Noah was trying to Initiate sex every night until noah stopped him and informed him he just wanted out of his clothes.That was after the fifth blow job in a row. How was jude to know.Jude on the other hand opts for a slower strip down in his home office. Noah heads to the living room to play video games while jude works in his office most of the time. Tonight Noah has something else in mind.

Noah puts down the game control and pads to Jude’s office.

“ hey I’m going to call my dads want to say hey.” Noah asked .

“ we do need to put that in the schedule don’t we . Family phone calls.” Jude looks up at Noah like he wasn’t that happy about it.

“ three minutes ago you seem like you were in a better mood what’s wrong?”

“ zero”

“ oh?”

“ yeah he’s coming to town and wants to see me”

“ I thought you blocked him”

“ I did but not from email.”

“ oh.”noah crosses his arms over his bare chest.

“ it’s just league business noah”

“ he’s in the European league so what business does he have with you?”

All of a sudden jude looks guilty.

“ ah ...I’m not really ready to answer that”jude say in a uneasy tone.

“ come again jude you can’t just tell me your ex is sniffing around and not tell me why. Don’t start shutting down again. You have been so open with me.There is no reason for you to clam up now”noah says as he crosses his arms over his chest.

“ Nono”Jude gets up and walks over.noah sides steps Jude.

“ Nono? Really?Wow you really have to tell me what’s going on now”

Jude walks pass noah and have a seat back at his desk.

“ your not going to let this go are you?”

“ no I’m not”noah says as he sits on the couch across from Jude’s desk.

Jude sighs

“I’m not ready to talk about this noah. I promise something that I can’t deliver now “

“ so you promised something to zero?”noah ask

“ yes.”

“ what did you promise jude?”Noah asked

“ I don’t want to talk about it noah can’t we enjoy our evening? We can call our families and dance to a few songs. We can have fun tonight your way.”

“ This ride is closed until further notice. “noah says

“ Noah come on I’m too embarrassed to tell you that I wasn’t joking about the 6 sexual favors comment when I got the devils.”

“ wait one of your backers is zero?”

“ you can say that.”

“ Jude...”

“ Fine all of my backers are zero. Of course I have the small investors but zero is the main backer. I never even told Lionel. I told him he owed me for humiliating me by walking out after proposing to him.he is the technical half owner of the devils.It was his idea to tack on the delayed break up sex sessions.”

“Wow Jude. So when were you going to tell me about this little arrangement? Our daughter high school graduation maybe? Or when I walked in on you two having sex?”

“ Noah I had to. I couldn’t think of anyone I could strong arm that kind of money out and don’t say my dad.”

“ well atleast with your dad you wouldn’t have to break a vow”

“ we were not married at the time ! You can’t blame me for not seeing the future.

“ so you didn’t see a future with me then even if it was short term?”

“ Noah I had feeling for you then that I was scared of. I figured I’d screw it up and you would leave just like he did. I never thought I’d be married noah. Please don’t be mad I never thought he would ever want to “collect” on it and if he did I didn’t think I’d ever have anyone that would care if he did “collect”jude say

Noah looks closely at Jude . All the emotions that are clearly on his face are hard to look at.Noah knows that he’s telling the truth. Noah’s frustration starts to melt away.this is part of the messiness her loves about him and a side effect of that love.

Noah gets up and hugs Jude.

“We will figure this out.”noah says

“We ?this is my fault my mess to clean up”

“ do you you want to sleep with him ?” Noah ask . Jude shakes his head no .”it’s not like he has it in a contract.”noah say

“He said if I don’t show up he will come out as co owner of the devils “

“Oh” noah says

“ I’m screwed”Jude say

“ not yet. We can figure something out.”

Jude breaks the hug first.

“ let’s not let my problem ruin our Friday night.”jude says

“ your problems are mine now jude. I just said that. We are in this together “

Jude sighs and walks over to the couch to have a seat.

“ this is two weeks away let’s talk about your game day tomorrow. Hell let talk about anything but this.I think we have all the snack you need.”

“ yeah we should be good “noah sighs

“ what time is everyone coming over tomorrow “

“ around 11“

“ oh ok that’s not bad”jude says

Jude walks out of the office and Noah follows him out.

Jude turns to Noah and smiles.

“ so what do you have in mind for tonight?”

“ how about you come over here a and I’ll turn on the stereo and sees where our feet take us.”

Jude walks over and Noah turns on the stereo . Lately noah has been working on Jude’s slow dancing.

Wicked games by theory of a deadman comes on.

“I like this song” jude says

“ me too and You are getting better.”

“ I have a very patience teacher”jude says

Jude and Noah slowly swirl around the livingroom in almost a sexy way. They are only talking to each in a whisper that sends chills down Jude’s back.

“ I love the feel of you in my arm.” Noah says in Jude’s ear.jude sighs and leans in closer.

“ this is nice . It’s like we have our bubble back.”

Jude and Noah dance for one more song and then head to bed to Jude’s disappointment.

Jude wakes up to noah getting dressed in a tank top and a pair of basketball shorts.

“ what time is it?”jude asked

“1030 I wanted to make breakfast for us before they got here how does smoothies sound?”

“ ok I guess I need to get up”

“ no you don’t have to get up yet .Relax Jude.

Jude lays back down and curls up. It’s amazing how well you sleep when you know you have someone fully in your corner. There is something about falling asleep with someone’s arm flung over you or your head on on someone chest just before falling asleep. Jude smile to himself. Is he worried about zero ? Yes is he worried about the baby situation ?yes but knowing noah has his back makes a big differences to Jude.

The blender goes off in the kitchen and a few minutes later Noah comes in with two tall cups.

“ Dane ? Love you asleep?”

Jude rolls over and smiles at noah.

“ here”

Jude looks in the cup and smell it.

“ chocolate and strawberries?”

“ and half the refrigerators “ noah say as he sips from his metal straw.

Jude takes a sip. As Jude sips he stares at Noah.

“ ah is something on my face?”

“ thank you for being you.”

“ ah your welcome?”Noah looks confused

Jude chuckles to himself. Jude thinks to himself it’s too early for a heart to heart.

“ what’s on your mind my Dane?”

“ just thinking about how grateful I am to have you”jude said screw it because he wants to keep his word to be more open.Jude is shocked that Noah is still here after the talk last night about zero. He didn’t yell or walk out .If zero was his husband last night and not Noah jude would be wondering where he spent the night at.

“ oh..well I’m lucky to have you too Dane “ Noah kisses Jude’s cheek.

The intercom goes ok.

“ hey dude rise and shine.”

“ that Mike”

Noah hops up to let mike in.

Jude gets up and gets dressed in a pair of jeans and one of Noah’s Zelda T-shirt .Jude didn’t want to stand out .he wants to look like one of the boys.

Jude walks out to see 3 men he has never seen before besides in pictures.They don’t seem very happy to be here.

“ ah this must be the new Mr. nice to finally meet the guy that stole my teammate .” The 30 something Chris Pratt look alike says with a edge of hatered that made jude want to turn around and go back to bed.

“Mike don’t be a dick. You can walk right back out that door guys.” Noah says crossing his arms

“Ah hey” jude says from across the room

“ hey nice digs. Yeah still live in the hood though” mark says.

Mark is shorter than everyone else in the room. He looks like he’s might be part Asian to Jude.

“ longtime no see pussy whipped ”

Jake says as his looking around the living room and drops his bag on the floor.

“ hey I get it I have been busy if you guy want to be a asshole to my husband you can all leave.”noah say

Jude doesn’t feel very welcomed at all. After a few seconds of awkward silences. Everyone starts to laugh and properly greets jude with a hand shakes and a hug which catch jude off guard. After the last congratulatory hug , hand shake and apologies jude feels like he can be the hostess with the mostest as Noah would put it

“ did you plan this” noah say.

“ you could have told us asshole.”Mike says with a smiles

“ yeah your getting cursed out the next time you see my lady “jake say

“ what are we chopped liver” mark says

“ I’m so sorry It was a last minute thing. “ Noah says

“This is my fault. I rushed him into it” jude says

“ how about we do this can we have a dinner here to make up for it.” noah say looking to jude to see if he’s cool with the idea.

“ I don’t see why not. Not sure when we can do it with the up and coming season.”

All the gamers seem willing to come for dinner and didn’t mind waiting.

“Good now that that’s settled so who’s ready to get there ass whooped?”Noah says with a smile.

“ man get out of here with that shit” Mike says

“Not a chance dude”mark say

Jude notices Mark keeps looking at him.

As the guys set up the living room how they like it, Jude notices that everyone has there own gamer chair and yeti cup with there perfered drink in it. Jude steps out the way and just watches as they move furniture .when did noah put things on the legs of the couch to make it glide across the floor with out scratch the floor.

Jude smirks and nods his head at noah ingenuity.

“ don’t worry we will put it all back”mark says with a smile and a wink.

“ watch it” noah says from across the room.

Noah makes a gesture that means I’m watching you to mark. Jude has no idea why .

Jude ‘s face must have showed it.

“ really man you didn’t tell him” Mike say

“What that in a nother life mark and I where more than just friends for like 5 seconds”

“ what?”jude say

“ dude what were you thinking?”Jake says

Jude gives Noah a look that he knew he need to talk to him in private.

Jude heads to his office.

“ don’t start with out me”

“Someone in trouble”Mike says

“ man I hate to see what the punishment for this is going to be” Jake say

“I’m sure it will be epic “ Mark say with a smirk.

Noah follows Jude to the home office.

Noah closes the door behind him.

Jude takes a seat at his desk.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Woooo…

… And other aimless noises!

Time for Ryusoulger episode 5! Subbed! Bc I didn’t have time to watch a raw. ^^;

In no order:

Life is hard when you have to pause every few moments to think about how beautiful Banba is. DX

Aw, Ui’s so anxious. I’d give you a hug if I could, honey!

I am never gonna get used to this goo in the mouth thing. They literally couldn’t have done that any other way?

How long has Touwa known this girl? Like… How did they meet? Banba seemed at least passingly acquainted w/ her, so… Hm.

I know it’s not important that they the specify that the animals being abandoned are black ones, but I’m gonna pretend it’s more foreshadowing bc I’m unstoppable.

Actually, that’s only true in certain capacities.

But seriously, the camera cuts to Banba when she says that. I have these straws and I’m clinging to them. XD

Like, I do understand ‘needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one’ thing, I do. I do also think we’re jumping to it a little quick, which makes me suspect we had a bad experience where a lot of people died bc of something, or something along those lines, and now we’re a little traumatised. And I think we blame ourselves for whatever it was that happened.

Still don’t think they’ve killed anyone. At least, not directly. I’m thinking there might be deaths Banba blames himself for, but that’s a whole other thing.

Crayon just running around downtown is just so hilarious. XD I don’t know why this scene is so funny to me, but it is. ^^

Banba is like ‘no friends! We have dark and troubled pasts!’ Or something or other. That joke kinda fell through.

God, he’s pretty, though. DX

Touwa, using his bratty little sibling powers for good. XD

Oh, yeah. This direct, ‘deal w/ what creates the monsters’ thing hasn’t happened in Sentai in a while, I think?

Touwa joins in the posing, but Banba just stands there like ‘oh, great, dork patrol is here’ for a moment. ^^

Banba wins for least effected by the earthquake, Melto is a close second, w/ Asuna an even closer third.

I really do like how Crayon acts like a bloody cheerleader there. XD

They all get sent flying, and Banba rolls an extra time, just bc he’s so beautiful he can do that.

Oh, Kou. Honey. Honey.

I do note, Banba didn’t argue w/ Touwa phrasing it as ‘help him.’ Though… He may have been thinking of other things at the time.

Well, it cuts away from Banba too quick to see his reaction, but I’m willing to bet he was reaching for Touwa.

Also, Touwa! No, my baby gremlin boy! DX

Banba doesn’t even take the time to finish his transformation, just goes right into ‘get the fuck away from my brother’ mode.

Crayon does the one thing he can do. Gets scolded. Such is life. ^^;

I’m never gonna get over this moment, though. Banba is clearly absolutely frantic, to the degree that we can actually see it on his face, even a bit. For him, that’s gotta be practically a full-fledged panic attack. He puts a lot into hiding his emotions. The fact that this fear is showing means he’s thoroughly terrified.

Also, Touwa giving him an awkward, reassuring little smile there. There might be slight dissension between them in this ep, but he definitely knows Banba cares for and is worried about him, and he’s actively trying to reassure him.

Does kind of make me wonder if there was a moment where Touwa was hurt and Banba freaked out or something…

Okay. Banba’s reaction to Kou saying Tankjoh killed his Master––esp the way it focuses on him off of Kou’s clenched fist… I wanna know my boys’ lore so badly. Touwa seems to be rather regularly shocked (like, the way most people might react to that sort of revelation). But Banba… I dunno, it feels like there’s something more to Banba’s reaction. Like… He looks sad. And even… Sympathetic? Like he’s… Remembering something and/or identifying? Bc Kou goes on a little on how Master Red died protecting him bc he was ‘too weak.’ And his whole break down seemed to be resonating w/ Banba. I’m really curious about the brothers and specifically Banba’s backstory. Bc it’s seeming more and more like something happened that Touwa may not know about that explicitly made Banba see things the way he does. But I’ll ramble more about that later. XD

And when Kou specifically says Red died protecting him, he looks away like that meant something… AUGH. I WANNA KNOW SO BAD! DX

I should also note that he looks absolutely beautiful the whole time, too. <3

How did you see, Tankjoh, he just giggled? I mean, I know what he’s saying, but that’s just bc I have the power of SPOILERS. And also other people doing translations. But mainly, SPOILERS. XD

I appreciate seeing some of what the villains are doing when not fighting the team, and I find it utterly hilarious that they are just chilling in this one random clearing. Is this a special forest/clearing? Are we even gonna have a base? Or is everyone gonna just chill in the clearing?

Maybe they’ll move into a cave at some point.

Yes, I’m very concerned about the nice animal lady being a Minusaur host, but can someone please take that puppy before she drops it?

Banba’s extra intense bc the Minusaur bit Touwa and they don’t know if the bite is gonna do something (it will). Touwa’s safety is one thing he’s not even willing to slightly risk.

So of course Touwa is the only one who can stop him. Definitely at least shades of living emotional crutch, here.

Soon it will start expanding to the rest of the team to and I will LOVE IT.

THE PUPPY!

No, seriously. What did they do w/ the puppy?

I was under the impression that there were multiple animals? Definitely seems like Banba has at least a passing knowledge of her, so they’ve known her for a bit, at least.

Everyone looks very pretty here. ^^

Speaking of pretty… There are still some shots of the brothers from the trailer that are missing… Were they cut? No! Show me smiley Banba in the Tatsui house! DX And also that one where he was sexily leaning on a wall! :(

If you watch Banba, you can totally see the panic steadily rising over the course of the ep. Like he’s managed to get a lid back on it, but he looks concerned when the bite starts glowing, and when Melto remarks about poison, his head snaps around sharply.

I really like the way Touwa sort of… For lack of a better word ‘argues’ w/ Banba here? Bc he notably leads w/ repeated reassurances that he’s fine, so there’s no need to rush things. Like he clearly knows that’s the driving motivation behind his brother’s behaviour right now. He knows his brother cares about him, and that his safety is important to him, so it’s more likely he’ll have better luck dissuading him if he can convince him he’ll be okay. Also, he plays the family angle, bc he presumably knows how much that means to Banba, too. It’s a little low, maybe, but it gets the point across, I think. For whatever reason, Banba’s put on blinders and tunnel visioned himself to the mission. Touwa adores him and follows him, but he doesn’t have the same level of… Well, what I assume is trauma, to have that level of obsessive focus. The best way to pull him out of that is using someone/something else he can focus on––in this case, Touwa, who uses things he knows are important to Banba (himself, aka, family) to try and, basically, again for lack of a better word, empathise again.

I’m very tired, I’m not sure that made sense.

I know I keep saying it, but it definitely seems to be that Banba just had the opposite reaction to trauma than the trio did. They stayed optimistic and sought happiness and new friendships to help deal w/ the pain. He just closed himself off from the world to avoid getting hurt again, and lost faith in others. Touwa was the only person he couldn’t let go off. Literally, living emotional crutch. Touwa is probably the reason Banba never went completely stone cold as a result of whatever happened––he was trying to emulate Banba’s more serious nature, but he’s more social and cheerful.

Might be cool/sweet if there’s an arc/ep where they meet someone (whether related to someone’s past or not) that is a completely stone cold, ruthless monster, and Banba has a ‘I could have turned into that if it hadn’t been for Touwa and you guys’ sort of thing.

In other news, Banba is still so beautiful I still have to pause every few moments just to stare at him. <3

Literally, if I were in this world, and something happened, and Banba––or even just Kishida Tatsuya himself were standing near me? I’d just be throwing myself into his arms. No questions.

Banba is allergic to emotions and proper communication, so he just runs out of the room to obsessively hunt the Minusaur.

But… Even though he’s not very communicative, he takes the time to akd Kou about Master Red. What is the lore here, Toei? GIVE ME THE LORE.

I don’t think he’s really trying to be mean to Kou? Actually, in a weird way, I think this is kind of a sign he respects him a little? I wouldn’t go as far to say ‘fond of’ and maybe ‘respect’ isn’t the right word, either? But it kinda seemed like he was trying to… I dunno, share what he perceives as a hard truth he learned the hard way? And being like, ‘this sucks, but you need to understand it?’ Only he’s Banba and emotions and gentleness are a little hard for him so it comes out really blunt and cruel? But he seems like he’s speaking from some sort of experience?

Also, this is the scene that makes me think that he blames himself for something that happened. Most likely, in the past, he perceives his own (maybe someone else’s, but most likely his) kindness to have caused some sort of traumatising event, which may have involved the deaths of people he cared about (possibly for similar reasons to why the others’ Master’s died––protecting something, be it him and his brother, or something else). Additionally, maybe someone somehow reenforced to him it was his fault, and specifically put it in his head that kindness had caused it?

On another hand, Kou doesn’t seem to be particularly hurt by the words, exactly? Or insulted? Like I feel like in some situations, a character in his place would be loudly arguing that it’s not weakness––something that wouldn’t have been out of place for Kou’s characterisation. Like, he’s upset a bit, you can see that, but… But if anything, to me, at least, he looks actually kind of… Concerned about Banba instead? Maybe he’s squinting in the light/the wind, but… I dunno, I somehow ended up w/ the interpretation that he was worried about why Banba thought that way or something.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled rambling to inform you that Banba is still gorgeous. Please carry on.

Tankjoh be firing his lasers!

Aw, the RyuSouls just want hugs!

I doubt there’s only one of those in the whole city…

I love how Banba just freaking trips the thing. Like, it’s so simple. XD

Melto the mom friend clinches it w/ the important flashback line!

Also, hi AU Hongo! Figured we’d see you again in some way!

PROTECTING IS MY JAM. Please tell me this is gonna be a theme. Bc I need Banba being protective of all his younger sibs in my life. I NEED IT.

I think Banba is the second one to use a personal finishing move? I seem to recall Kou doing it first ep, but none of the others have do it since––yet, at least.

‘You can’t beat me! I can juggle!’

No, wait, that’s not how you juggle.

I LOVE MIRNEEDLE AND HIS HONK.

Also, I see you, cgi car! And tree. And building. And… Oh, forget it. XD

Congrats Kou! You’ve promoted to actually being directly addressed! I’m so proud. ^^

Seriously, though, Banba hasn’t used nary a name nor a colour, nor any label for any of them. Wonder if he’ll give them grumpy nicknames like ‘fool’ or something after this, or if he’ll stick w/ names?

Was… Not expecting sumo.

Does one ever expect sumo, though? … I guess when you go to see sumo.

Banba just one hundred percent takes over the whole fight. XD Boy still needs to figure out how to be a team player.

I find it hilarious how none of the others even tried to join in on announcing the final attack…

Were Tankjoh’s eyes furrowed like that before, or did they make the suit character look angry?

The poison in presumably in his bloodstream why do you need… Never mind. I guess that answers whether we’re taking people to the hospital. Well, taking Rangers.

Naohisa’s doctor friend is now suspicious to me simply by being a mysterious, anonymous ‘doctor friend.’

Apparently, Naohisa has connections, too, which––I don’t know why––is somehow funny to me.

I’m gonna finish this post and realise I’m spelling his name wrong, aren’t I?

Have nay of you ever considered standing in a different spot in the room?

So it sure looked like the Minusaur exploded? Either is just plain jumped into the water, or the poison itself is the Minusaur? *insert shrug emoji*

 Banba is just so worried about Touwa here… Like I feel normally he might be a little annoyed at someone apparently questioning his ability (that’s not at all what she was doing, of course, and he did know that, but I feel like he might, under normal circumstances, have been a little ruffled and maybe glared), but here he’s staring down at his brother w/ a little worried frown. Merely affirms that he did destroy it w/out even looking away.

And the fact that a) Touwa’s now showing visible signs of pain and distress, and b) this shouldn’t be happening bc he should have beaten the Minusaur already is what really starts cracking Banba. Right now, Touwa is the most important person to him in the entire world. The possibility of being unable to save him is probably the single most terrifying concept in the whole universe to Banba.

Well, Touwa’s dead. But let’s dance!

Okay, so we know he’s fine.

THERE WILL BE TEARS NEXT WEEKEND. THEY’RE GONNA DO IT.

So, looks like Tankjoh will be exiting, possibly temporarily? And we have the debut of 5 Knights! But before that, everyone gets poisoned and Banba has to learn to play w/ others. Seems Banba and Asuna get effected by the contagious poison first, as they’re listed first in the summary, and a lot of the preview images show Melto and Kou running around together. Looks like Touwa and Banba are having a heart to heart, while dying of poison, probably during the scene the ‘I won’t let you die’ line is from. Bc Banba would possibly be willing to sacrifice himself, but he’d have to die, be incinerated, and then exorcised multiple times before he stopped trying to save Touwa by any means possible. There’s also a preview image that’s either Banba being dumb and trying to fight despite dying of poison, or have been fighting and then just starting to die of poison. I kinda prefer the first, but both are good. And Kou seems to be filling in as concerned little brother. Very excited, and I have a countdown timer on my phone again. XD

That’s all folks! Virtual mango sorbet for anyone who read all that! Or, just, any kind of flavour you want. I might have some digital gelato around here somewhere…

I’m enjoying this series very much. I love the brothers and I really want more lore on them, but I think everyone already knew that. I still hope that it turns out the person who betrayed Banba is now Gaisorg’s user. That would be great drama. ^^ It’s not completely out the window that it was his Master or one of their parents (or maybe those were one and the same), either.

Now I just have to get through the week…

#Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger #Ryusoulger Spoilers #my precious Dino Children #I liked this ep #I want more lore on the brothers though #just some clearer hints #I think we've been getting foreshadowing #but I'd love something more concrete #I'm still gonna pretend that the abandoned animals being specified as black animals was important #even though I am ninety five percent sure it was not #but come on the camera cut to Banba! #come through for me five percent! XD #surprisingly enjoying Crayon's antics #^^ #looking forward to next weekend #… #…… #……… #which also means Easter #aw shit gotta clean the hell out of my room #DX #Birthday Sentai #Dino Dragon Knights And Their Cat

[80s-jester]

[Image ID: A cassette tape labeled “Intro - 80′s Jester [Take 3]”.]

Hi! Er, again! I’d like to first preface this with the fact that yes, I was previously @roses-and-comedy; I completely changed my layout to fit present me more. So if you’re already following me--hello again! I have seen various notifications for you guys, despite falling off the face of the earth, so thank you! Now, for a proper introduction...take 3! 

[Some of it will be under the cut because it ended up being longer than I expected]

--About

You can call me Rome, Roman, Emcee, or simply Jester. I used to use “Roman Lee as a pseudonym on this site [which is a completely fake name, despite how much it sounds like a real full name], but I am no longer going by that. I may still use it for professional stuff, though, who knows? 

My preferred pronouns will be in my bio/status/thing [?? I never know what to call it djslkjds], but you can use any pronouns for me! Yes, yes, “preferred” pronouns are mandatory for anyone, trans or cis, but I am transmasculine genderfluid--most of the time, my preferred pronouns are just the ones I want to hear and be referred to. Also side note: any neopronouns count in the ‘any pronouns’ label--I’d love to hear random neos! You can find my pronoun/label page here ! [Yes, I have a lot of labels aha]

I am a minor [16 years old], and will not interact with NSFW content. I am fine with being followed by adults and will interact with SFW content produced by y’all, but please do not privately message me if you are above the age of 18! However, if you are younger than 18, I am calling you mentally to interact >:] 

I am also gay orientated acearo, if you wanted to know that. I can explain that later if anyone asks! 

--Blog Things [the short version]

I don’t really have any specific genres other than comedy [and sometimes horror/tragedy; I don’t have many plans yet], so take these other things/tropes I like!

--found family over anything else, always --queer cast!! --aromantic experiences, both in QPRs and being single --Unreliable narrators, 4th wall breaking characters, and omniscient narrators for solely comedic reasons have my entire heart --Screwing with POV; I love finding new ways to tell stories!! --I want to find every single story trope I find cool and use them all <3 --I sometimes write really poetic prose, I sometimes write really stupid things; duality of man

--About, Pt. II

I have always been drawn to the creative nature of things, but writing is my first and strongest passion. Novels, poetry, short stories, podcasts, fanfiction, tv shows, movies--I have tackled them all! I have been writing for as long as I can remember, but only taught myself screenwriting about half a year ago. I still have much to learn about, well, everything to do with writing, but lurking around the writeblr community has taught me enough to jump back in. 

I also have been interested in the cinema world for as long as I can remember, but only started to research it about six months ago. I want to study to become a foley artist, film director, or a cameraperson--anything film-related, actually. I’m also very interested in photography, so I’ll share some photos here as well! 

I also do have a lot of fandom interests, too! A lot of it has to do with the MCU since I’ve begun to hyperfixate on it, but there may be others I’ll write for/talk about! 

This is also sort of my personal blog, despite being a side one--my main is @romeshifting, but it’s pretty much dead at this point and I’m not using it anytime soon. However, I will be following from there because I can’t switch this one to a main and don’t want to make a new account. 

But if you want to get to know me more, my inbox is always open! My messages are open too [for those 18 or younger] >:]

--Blog Things

So, you may be wondering what happened, considering this is my third writeblr intro. You also may be wondering especially what has changed, considering how I’m now themed very differently. 

I had a particular WIP [the WIP that must not be named] that I was very interested in. However, it brought constant stress and guilt over it being what I actually wanted to write. While I still love the idea, it wasn’t something I actually wanted to put out there, so it dragged me down and made me unmotivated. So I deleted any posts regarding it [as well as any posts that I just didn’t like], as you do. 

I don’t currently have any WIPs I’m working on. However, I bring you a character living in my head that needs to pay rent--Pastel McCallian! [She/Her + Ey/Em pronouns]

What I am going to do with her remains a mystery, but look at her!! I will sum her up by saying she is the purest person ever. You could spill soup in eir lap and ey would apologize! /ref

--Blog Things, Pt. II

Writer habits [among other things]! --I write using Fade In or Google Docs [sometimes even in Discord if I’m feeling tired/unproductive] --I adore putting in details and foreshadowing; I just want to know that I put thought into things I write --I am a pantser, but will plan characters and the world first --I firmly believe in Comic Sans supremacy [look I can’t write in anything else anymore] --I also use this piece of writing advice--it has seriously improved my writing! I also use the egg theory [can’t find the exact post, but it has to do with writing around details instead of just outright stating them] and the advice that none of my characters can state the whole truth.  --I also write fanfiction sometimes, but I doubt that’ll make its way to this blog--my A03 is pretty empty rn fdsjlkjds

--Final Things and Random Thoughts

I will be redoing my navigation/pinned post, as well as my ‘about the author’ page and wip page [once I get some WIPs kjfdslkjds], so watch out for that! I’ll also send out a few posts for tag game interactions and other things >:] 

I use tone tags, as well! If you need to know what those are, here is a carrd about them ! I also don’t use parenthesis outside of writing--favoring to use brackets instead--so there’s that. I have a lot of energy and adore talking to people as well! 

And I think that’s about it--I can’t wait to [re]-meet the writeblr community! I do hope this time it sticks because I really want to get myself out there again fdsjklkjfds

Anyways, writeblrs please interact so I can catch up on all of your amazing WIPs!!

[I’ll tag some of the amazing writeblrs who inspired me to restart this account: you all are so cool, please continue doing what you do!]

@writeblrfantasy @stardustspiral @writingamongther0ses @ashen-crest @chayscribbles @screnwriter [and so much more!!]

And a special thank you to @hannahs-kudos​, for all their encouragement! Your taglists were one of the main reasons I jumped back into writing again--I never really interacted with your posts, but I read through each one. Thank you so much.

<3, Rome

#the jester speaks #<--- speaking tag #writeblr #writeblr intro #writing #writing community #writeblr community #teen writers #long post #sorry it's a bit incoherent #I promise I'll explain it better in seperate intro posts! #I also need to figure out my wips but #this is just an excuse for me to get back into this kjfdslkjfds #third times the charm right <3

[cinderscoria]

Look. It's not that I don't want to get better. Or that I'm--what did that post even call it, like, anti-improvement or ?? That I reject advice given to me and don't even wanna try and just stew in my own juices and yell at people who try to cheer me up? Use my illness as an excuse to just lie around forever until I decay into my bed?? It's that I literally. don't think I can. There are no real thoughts backing hopelessness unless I'm actively thinking on it, just a feeling of great despair that sweeps over you whenever you realize you made yet another mistake at work today. People say don't cry over spilled milk, but the thing is, when you're borderline, you don't just cry over spilled milk. You want to collapse to your knees and grasp at your chest like a goddamn vacuum opened up right between your lungs, and your brain kicks into overdrive, yelling, "See?? If you can't even do this ONE LITTLE THING, why the fuck should you expect to succeed in life? Even stay AFLOAT in life?? You're a failure and a waste of space and a liability and logic deems that everyone would be better off without you." You get to thinking holy shit you're right, because if you can't contribute to society what use are you, and you're being selfish by staying, and if you don't want to stay in the first place then it's a win win, right? Logically you should just stop. Just stop. There's a stigma that revolves around the idea that if you can put a name to it, if you know what's wrong, you no longer have a claim to it. I can tell my boss that I have depression, borderline, anxiety, insomnia, whatever. That doesn't translate to "I cannot do this" in her head. And the fucked up part? Last week I told her the reason I'm so reluctant to mop the lobby every day is because I have back problems. Her immediate response was, "Why didn't you just tell me that?" And I just stared at her, because my back is something I can handle, my back is something tangible I know exists. My mental illness? Is not. I don't have to mop the lobby anymore. She didn't even ask me why I have back problems, or to what extent. I'm really tired. And really frustrated. And so very hopeless. Here's the thing about hopelessness. The question that pops up most is "why?" Get up and go to work. Why? I'm just going to fuck up, just gonna bring everyone down again. Clean your room. Why? It's just gonna get dirty again, maybe worse than before, and you'll still tell me to clean it, and it'll still take me three months to actually do it. Save money. Why? There's a very good chance I'll be dead by the end of the year. There's a good chance I won't make it to August. Wait, wait, wait, wait on meds, wait on hospitalization, wait to save up for a car, to move out, to go back to school. Why? I'm gonna be dead soon. I don't even know why I'm still here. I tried to explain the feeling to Kristin, who doesn't understand. She told me "well obviously you must have some hope, you're still here." And I. kind of laughed that mania-tinged laugh, that thing you do when it's so not funny, because the reason I'm here is because I'm scared death is not the end and it's irreversible, y'know, and if there's something after this I don't think I can handle that, and I'm too tired to actively do anything anyway so I'm just stuck on autopilot. And I didn't end up telling her--because who wants to hear their employee is suicidal, nobody wants to hear that, it's much better to stay ignorant--but I think laughing like that probably didn't go over well with her either, so that's where I'm at. Today. sucked. Yesterday sucked and that probably set the tone for today, and the fact that I had to work with Kristin, who told me that sometimes the other shifts would try to cheer me up and it bothered them that it didn't work, and what am I supposed to say to that? I used to be able to hide it so well, but why should I do it now? I'm gonna be dead soon. I know it like I know a favorite character in a story is gonna die soon. All the foreshadowing's there. It's that sickening split second when you trip where you realize you're gonna fall and there's nothing to grab onto. Meg's friend came over yesterday, and she was so sweet, but she said everything I've heard for the past twelve, thirteen years, and I'm so tired of doing the proper response when I don't believe it. I'm so tired of nodding, of "I'll try" or "I'm working on it." I'm so tired of the same advice, the same bashful smile like wow, I'm so touched you care so much about me. I'm not. I'm tired. I'm ready. I'm done. I'm tired. I'm sorry.

#suicide ideation tw #'I don't care' is harsh and empty but also where I'm at rn and I wish I was sorry about it but #I don't care lmao #I'm safe #ah but what does that mean? safe but unhappy. hopeless and desperate. pretending and failing at pretending nowadays. #Kristin told me it's not about me hiding it better but that means she wants me to actually BE better and #yeah that's... not... how it works #I'm not rejecting that bc I WANT to be here I'm telling you that nothing you say is news to me #nothing you say I haven't tried #I'm done trying #I'm just going through the motions at this point lmao #sorry #I know I am horribly disappointing