#this bridge makes me think of rody a lot

[i-write-shakespeare-not-disney]

To make them love me and make it seem effortless....

Please also look at these two versions bc I love them:

#rodydeku #rody x deku #rody soul #midoriya izuku #deku #izuku mydoria #rody #bnha #mha #whm #world heroes mission #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #art #mastermind #this bridge makes me think of rody a lot

[miniimight]

Hellooo! Could you please write for the boys where the reader is sick but doesn't tell them bcs she doesn't wanna bother them?? I love your your blog sm 💙💙

HIDING YOUR SICKNESS ! reader doesn't wanna bother her boyfriend

with izuku, bakugo, rody + fem!reader (pro hero era)

notes thanks for the request anon !!

you: hey i don't think i can make our date tonight... i'm sorry, something came up

he frowned when he got the text. he pinched the bridge of his nose and his overthinking kicked in. you'd been distancing yourself a lot recently... between you spending all your time at someone else's place, having to postpone dates, and his hero work, you barely got to see each other.

he was worried. he pressed the call button and waited for you to pick up.

IZUKU

"hello? y/n?"

you folded from the concern in his voice. he was always going to be worried about you, no matter what you tried to do.

"izuku..." you rasped and you could tell he was taken aback.

"what's wrong, honey?" he said softly. "you don't sound too good..."

you bit your lip. oh, what the hell. he was going to find out anyway. "i'm just a little sick, that's all. i can handle—"

"sick?!" izuku exclaimed and you shied away from his volume. "my love, you should have told me."

"no, it's really okay—"

"how long have you felt this way? is this why you've been postponing our dates? where are you right now?" he ignored your protests and rambled on with more questions for a bit. you weakly answered them all.

"okay, sweetheart, i'm on my way." you could hear him huffing as you assumed he leapt across rooftops. "stay on call..."

a burden was lifted off your shoulders, and the relief made you fall asleep right then and there.

later—though how much later, you didn't know—you blinked the sleep out of your eyes. groaning, you stretched your arms and propped your body up with your elbows.

"oh, you're awake. lay down, love."

you tuned into izuku's voice, squinting through your daze. he was sitting at your bedside, a wet rag in his hand. he shushed you when you tried to ask him all your questions, gently laying the rag across your forehead and kissing your heated cheek.

"you had a fever, honey." izuku hummed, pulling the chair closer to the bed and leaning over the side. "you shouldn't have been under all those stuffy blankets."

you frowned and looked around. the windows were open, the curtains flowing as fresh air filtered in. it was true, you did feel a little less suffocated.

you pursed your lips, feeling guilty. "i'm sorry."

he was absolutely bewildered. "what could you possibly be sorry for?"

you sniffed, rubbing your eyes. "you were at work, right? and..."

izuku softened, stroking your temples with understanding. "it's never an issue for me to take care of you, love. don't be sad. just relax and let me handle everything, okay? i'm here now, to take care of you."

BAKUGO

"where are you and why have you been avoiding my calls?"

you pressed your lips into a thin line. straight to the point, as usual. "i'm... i'm staying at a friend's for the time being." you tried to speak evenly, without any tiredness.

you heard bakugo sigh deeply. "what's the matter, baby? and don't think about hidin' anything from me."

you groaned internally, letting your head drop against the mattress. you mumbled.

"what was that?"

you flared up, heat overwhelming your body. "i'm sick! okay?! i'm so sick right now."

he didn't respond.

you sighed. "i didn't want you to catch anything or worry about it. i can handle it and i'll be back in no time."

he scoffed. "fuck that. i'm coming to get you."

"kat, really—?!"

"yes, really!" you heard faint explosions in the background. "seriously, thinking you can recover on your own when you can't even speak properly." he chuckled.

you wanted to retort, but your throat burned. hmph, you thought. you let yourself drift asleep, feeling comforted.

later, you woke up in his bed to the sound of clanking pots in the kitchen. brows furrowed, you groaned as you stretched, your body buzzing after you let yourself drop into the plush mattress once more.

bakugo peeked into the room. "you're up. good. you need to eat." with an apron on, he placed an assortment of dishes in front of you; soup, fruits, and some cough drops for later.

you sat up a little, startled when his hand pressed against your forehead.

"you have a fever." he shook his head, disappointed. "you probably made it a little worse, isolating yourself under all those sheets. you were overheated when i got you."

you pouted, taking a sip of water.

he craned his neck to meet your eyes, thinking you'd be relieved being home and in his care. you clearly had something on your mind. "baby..." he held your hand. "jus' tell me what's on your mind."

you met his eyes briefly before looking away. "i... didn't want you to miss work for this."

"this matters more than paperwork." he rolled his eyes, a soft smile on his face. he squeezed your hands. "just eat up and rest up. i'll handle everything else."

RODY

"y/n?"

"nope!" his little sister, lala, chirped. "it's me!"

during his last layover, he hadn't been getting much of a response from you. he trusted you with everything, but he was worried. now that he was back in otheon, he was ready to figure out what the hell was going on.

he chuckled at his sister. you must've given her your phone to play her favorite game. "hey, lala. where's y/n, do you know?"

"she's sleeping now." rody could hear her breathing as she pattered over to where he assumed you were laying down. "sleeping like a log."

"yeah?" rody responded, deep in thought. it wasn't like you to sleep while looking after his siblings, so he knew something was wrong. "what was she doing before she fell asleep?"

"uhhh... she made lunch for us?" lala sniffed. "i feel bad, though."

rody's eyebrows creased, tugging a suitcase behind him as he unconsciously walked faster. "why's that?"

"she's got a mask on, and she doesn't want us too close to her..." lala sighed. "and she's burning up."

rody put the pieces together. he raced to the carpark and zoomed on home, bursting through the door.

the loud noise startled you out of your slumber, sitting upright. the abrupt motion made you dizzy and you groaned. lala pat your shoulder, concerned.

rody dropped his suitcase to the ground, kneeling at your side. slipping off his gloves, he pressed his hand to the side of your neck.

"seriously, babe, you should've told me when you started feeling off." he frowned, bustling about to grab you the things you needed. "i could've left any time."

your eyes were glassy when you looked at him, and he felt his heart twisting. "m'sorry," you mumbled from behind the mask. "i didn't want to bother you..."

he scoffed and pulled the mask off your face, squishing your cheeks. he looked you square in the eye. though he was scolding you, he was so soft and gently. "you never bother me. all i think about is you, lala, and roro. i want to know everything you're feeling, no matter what."

you smiled, looking lopsided as your face was still in his hands. "okay."

he grinned and kissed you.

"ugh!" you recoiled, scooching away from him. "rody! you'll get sick!"

he crossed his arms, smiling. "and? we can be in that boat together."

you rolled your eyes. "oh my god."

"aw, don't be like that, baby." rody cuddled up next to you, peppering you with affection. "come on, let me take care of you."

© miniimight ! thanks for reading <3

#deku x reader #izuku x reader #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #bakugou x reader #bakugou fluff #rody soul #rody soul x reader #rody x reader #bnha #mha #bnha x reader #mha x reader #mha fluff #katsuki bakugo x reader #izuku midoriya x reader #deku fluff #katsuki bakugou #izuku imagines #rody imagines #bakugo x reader #bakugo imagines

[bkdk-art]

Too far away

Summary: Katsuki isn’t happy about how things went down in Otheon, feeling left out by Izuku. But he has a hard time admitting it and especially confronting the nerd with it to sort things out.

Fandom: My Hero Academia / Boku no hero academia

Characters: Bakugou Katsuki, Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Inko, Bakugou Masaru, Bakugou Mitsuki, mention of Rody Soul

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku

Word Count: 4,000

Rating: General / Teen

AO3-Link

Notes: Takes place right after the World Heroes mission movie / Mild spoilers for the third bnha movie / I absolutely adore Rody as a character! My bkdk-shipper-heart was just really sad about how little screen time Izuku and Katsuki got together and I figured Katsuki would be too :P

_______________________________

Katsuki entered his parents’ house and slipped out of his shoes when he heard a soft voice saying: “No need to thank me, Mitsuki-san, I didn’t even miss it!”

Katsuki walked into the living room that was connected to the kitchen, saying: “I’m home”, and then directed at the small, green haired person next to his mother, “Hi, Auntie.”

He ignored his mother scolding him for not coming sooner and not texting them once while they were abroad.

Instead, he took in Inko’s smile and nodded when she said: “Congratulations on your successful mission, we are so proud of you! It’s nice to have you back home though.”

Too nice, he thought, Always way too nice.

They were so much alike, the nerd and his mother.

“Thanks”, he mumbled, nodding towards the rice cooker underneath her arm, “Did the old hag borrow that one from you again?”

“Who are you calling an old hag?!”, his mother started to ramble, while Inko chuckled into her hand.

His mother had the talent of leaving the rice cooker on, causing a blackout in almost the whole neighborhood, frying the device in the process every time.

“Come, come”, his father appeared from upstairs, raising his hands in a calming manner. He then looked at Katsuki, welcoming him with his eyes and Katsuki mustered a small smile in response.

“Well, I better get going”, Inko said, turning to leave, “Izuku should be home soon too”.

“I think he already is, actually”, Katsuki said, “We took the same train here.”

“Oh!”, she hustled towards the door, “Then I’ll better hurry. Thanks for having me, Mitsuki-san, Masaru-san”, she smiled at them, getting into her shoes, “Good to see you, Katsuki-kun. Have a nice evening!”

The three of them said their goodbyes and as soon as the door was closed his mother had him underneath her armpit, rubbing her fist over his skull, yelling at him for worrying her while his father tried to calm them both down.

Well. The usual shitshow.

~~~

Something was different, though. He was different.

Since defeating that mass murderer, who was trying to rid the planet off quirk owners, Katsuki had been zoning out a lot.

And his parents noticed too.

“Something is bothering you, isn’t it?”

Katsuki looked at his father, who was smiling at him. Patience on his face like always.

Where does he take that from anyway? Or the nerd? Or Inko? Was there some kind of secret fountain Katsuki hadn’t been told about?

Katsuki shook the thought off, pinching the bridge of his nose.

He didn’t want to tell them. He didn’t want to acknowledge it as a problem but it bothered the hell out of him!

“Katsuki?”, his mother asked when he didn’t respond for a while.

Katsuki sighed. “I’m mad at the nerd”, he admitted.

A moment of silence went by.

“So?”, his mother asked, frowing, “You and Izuku-chan are bickering all the time.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Not like that. Like… mad.”

He couldn’t put the feeling into words and he couldn’t believe he was having this conversation with his parents. But his bothersome friends wouldn’t let him see the end of it if he would tell them. They were already making fun of him, saying he was focusing on Izuku way too much. Which he wasn’t!

“Well”, his father cleared his throat, “What did he do?”

Katsuki started to play with his fork.

That was even harder to spell out. Because it made him feel like a sulking brat.

“He just”, he shrugged, “He kind of ignored me, alright? When he was on the run with that bird dude, he reached out to Half’n’Half every time – calling him after being chased, even sending him some kind of riddle I would have solved in a split-second! He was also super invested in that bird guy who got him into that mess in the first place. Pisses me off.”

Silence. Again.

As if he was missing something.

“What?!”, he barked at his parents.

His father was still smiling at him but now he could register a different shade of fondness in his features.“Sounds like you’re hurt, not just mad.”

Katsuki’s face twisted as a response to that. “As if”, he scoffed.

He heard his mother sigh under her breath. “What’s wrong with that?”, she shrugged, starting to clean the table, “You want him to reach out to you, not just his other friends.”

Katsuki pressed his lips together.

The nerd hugging that bird brain came to his mind. A long, heartfelt embrace. The sight had made Katsuki’s blood boil. Izuku staying behind to say a cheesy goodbye, making them late for the flight had been bad enough but then hugging the damn trouble maker?!

Hurt.

Just to think the word made him feel uneasy.

Before he could think about it too hard, his mother shoved a few plates into his arms, telling him to help her.

He growled at her, but deep down he was glad for the distraction.

~~~

Later Katsuki was sitting on his old bed at his parents’ house, looking at his phone.

Izuku had sent him a message, telling him that he would like to stay the night at his mother’s, wondering what Katsuki was up to.

Katsuki sighed, rubbing his eyes. He had promised Kaminari to help him study tomorrow morning before he would meet up with his parents.

Gotta get back to UA, he wrote back, Dunce face needs some extra lessons.

After a few seconds Izuku answered: I see! Nice of you to help him out.

Katsuki’s grip around his phone tightened.

He didn’t need the nerd to tell him that. He already knew he was doing the Pikachu wannabe a favor. Him pointing it out and even praising him for it was so… so… belittling.

Breathe, he told himself, Breathe.

Izuku had sworn on all of his All Might-Merch that he had never looked down on Katsuki and Katsuki constantly reminded himself of that. It just needed a little more practice.

Them misunderstanding each other was nothing new. But they were working on it. Well, kind of. Maybe not really. Sometimes they started a conversation about it but it never got them anywhere. Mostly because one of them was too flustered or too stiff or too whatever and they would end up changing the topic or starting a training fight.

Katsuki stood up, pushing his thoughts aside. He needed to catch the last train.

As soon as he went downstairs, he saw that his parents were both sitting on the couch, chuckling about something.

“What’re you doing?”

“Oh look”, his mother said, smiling brightly, “Because we talked about Izuku-chan earlier we decided to look at your childhood pictures and they’re too adorable.”

“Tch”, Katsuki frowned but looked at the album nonetheless.

When he saw the way he had slung his arms around Izuku’s neck back then, both of them grinning into the camera, he felt his face drop.

“Gotta go”, Katsuki instantly turned around, heading for the door, “Thanks for the meal. See ya.”

He heard his parents follow him to the entrance area. They stood by the door as he left – something he hated because they made an unnecessary fuss about him leaving when he wasn’t that far away anyway.

Katsuki gave them a half-assed wave as a goodbye and walked out of the door. While walking down the front yard his father shouted: “Talk to him!”

Katsuki swirled around, sending him a death glare. His mother burst out laughing at that and Katsuki just clicked his tongue, making his way to the train station, ignoring the blush on his face.

~~~

Katsuki stepped into the train and sat down, looking out of the window and waiting for the train to take off.

He was thinking about the pictures his parents were looking at. And thinking of them he remembered something else that pissed him off about that mission in Otheon: The four of them – Izuku, Todoroki, Rody and Katsuki – had taken a picture together or better said, Katsuki had been forced to. And as if that hadn’t been annoying enough, the bird dude had pressed himself against Izuku with Half’n’Half leaning onto the nerd, leaving Katsuki looking like the third wheel.

Just as the sound of the doors closing appeared, Katsuki registered green lightnings in the corner of his eyes and before he knew it Izuku was standing next to him, panting.

“Did you just”, Katsuki said, leaning his chin onto his fist, feeling himself smirk “use OFA to catch a damn train?”

Izuku slummed down next to him. “Don’t judge me”, he said, “It’s the last one until 4 am.”

Katsuki scoffed at that.

After a few moments of silence, he added: “Thought you would stay the night.”

“Well”, Izuku breathed out, “My mom has to get up really early for work tomorrow so we wouldn’t have quality time anyway. And”, he grinned at Katsuki, “I like spending the ride home with you.”

Katsuki blinked at the nerd, kind of stunned. Eventually he just nodded, looking out of the window again.

How some people could just easily blurt out how they felt would never cease to amaze and frustrate him at the same time. Again, something he lacked even if he hated to admit it.

His parents were the same, especially his father, with that soft tone and reassuring words.

Katsuki thought about what he had said earlier.

Hurt.

Was that really the feeling that was making Katsuki’s stomach heavy right now? All he knew was that he didn’t like it, whether he was mad or hurt or whatever else.

~~~

They stayed silent for most of the ride. Izuku made a comment now and then and Katsuki responded mostly with agreeing or disagreeing sounds.

Eventually they got off the train and started walking towards UA. While they were walking through the forest, Katsuki’s mind wandered to their fight at Ground Beta a few months ago and how their walk now resembled the one back then, just that instead of walking behind him, Izuku was right next to him.

Katsuki thought about how he had challenged Izuku back then, how All Might and Izuku had told him the whole truth about OFA. How Izuku had told him that he admired him.

A lot had changed since then. Not enough, Katsuki was aware of that. But he was doing his best. He really was.

“Are you”, Izuku suddenly spoke up, “mad?”

Mad.

Katsuki let out an annoyed sigh. He’d like to know the answer to that question too.

He stopped in his way and Izuku did the same.

When Katsuki looked at him, those ridiculous green eyes were filled with worry and the nerd was even fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

Talk to him, he heard his father calling out to him.

Breathe, he repeating in his head, Breathe. Breathe, just breathe.

“I”, he started to say, “I didn’t like how you acted in Otheon.”

Izuku gasped. “Because I got into trouble?”, he rushed to ask.

“No”, Katsuki shook his head, twisting his mouth, “Well, yes, that too. But what got on my nerves was the fact that…”, he shrugged. This was hard. He felt his stomach tremble. “It was because”, he said again, narrowing his eyes, “you only reached out to Half’n’Half. Calling him, sending him texts!”

Katsuki felt his voice growing louder and louder without being able to stop it.

“Leaving it to him to inform me like I’m just some fucking extra!”

“No, Kacchan, I-“

“I mean, what if we would have been separated too?“, Katsuki clenched his fists in frustration.

“But-“

“I wouldn’t have known anything about your shitty adventure! And also-“

“Stop!”, Izuku’s voice echoed through the trees.

Katsuki clicked his tongue, crossing his arms and looking away from the nerd.

They were standing underneath a street light and for a few moments its humming was the only sound around them.

“Can I say something?”, Izuku asked eventually.

Katsuki growled and signed him to go on.

“I’m sorry”, he said, sounding way too sincere, “I didn’t mean to… leave you out. I just didn’t think you would like me to contact you.”

Katsuki cropped up his lips.

“I will text and call you in the future. I promise.”

Katsuki felt himself tense. He realized that he wasn’t satisfied.

He wanted the nerd to only text him. But he knew that would be a bold demand, revealing a selfish and weirdly possessive side of him. A side that surprised even Katsuki.

“You better”, he finally said, looking at Izuku, “What made you think I wouldn’t want you to contact me in that kind of situation?”

Katsuki knew he probably wouldn’t like the answer. But he needed to hear it anyway, otherwise they would never make any progress.

Izuku started to shift uncomfortable, avoiding his gaze.

Katsuki sighed. “Spit it out”, he told him, “I can take it.”

Emerald eyes were shifting towards him, studying his face.

“I”, Izuku started to say, “I was worried you might not care. And that I was making it bigger than it was.”

Katsuki couldn’t hold in a snort. “Bigger than it was?”, he rolled his eyes, “You were accused of mass murder, Deku! Like what the actual fuck, I obviously cared.”

I always do, he thought but was too much of a coward to say it out loud.

Katsuki cleared his throat, once again looking away from a stunned Izuku.

“I was worried, for fuck’s sake”, he added, just in case, the nerd couldn’t read between the lines.

He heard Izuku exhaling a shaky breath. Katsuki still avoided looking at him.

“And”, he went on, just to get it over with, “The next time you want to take a picture either include me properly or leave me the fuck out of it!”

“Oh... I didn’t realize”, Izuku said in a low voice, more to himself and then louder: “Sure, Kacchan! I’ll take that as a promise we’ll be taking more pictures in the future!”

Katsuki huffed at that.

And because Katsuki didn’t want to get too emotional, he abruptly turned around, starting to run.

“First one at the dorm gets to decide our next training routine”, he called over his shoulder, challenging Izuku.

“Not fair!”, Izuku called out, starting to race Katsuki, “False start!”

Katsuki just barked out a laugh in response.

If he was being honest, he still felt the need to get off some steam. About Izuku cuddling that bird brain, still texting him every other day. About him being better at words and all that.

But that had been enough opening up for one day. Or week.

~~~

The days went by and instead of completely focusing on class and on the training that damn hug was constantly coming up in Katsuki’s mind.

Hugging was suddenly something he registered.

The girls were clinging onto each other every other minute. That girl with the horn was hugging Izuku and that Permeation-senpai every time they saw each other and even his friends did sometimes wrap their arms around each other.

But not around Katsuki and he didn’t even want them to, but that made him realize something else: He hadn’t allowed hugs for a while now.

He had shrugged his parents off for years already, every time as soon as they reached out to him. Even after being kidnapped, when they had approached him, tears in their eyes, he had shaken them off, not letting himself be pulled into their arms.

It wasn’t like he missed being held or anything – or was he? He wasn’t even sure.

Although starting to self-reflect and looking back at his former behaviors he sometimes struggled to distinguish between his real preferences and those walls he had just build up as a defense-mechanism.

So he didn’t know whether or not he liked being hugged – probably not? – but what he definitely knew was that Izuku hugging that bird guy was living rent free in his head and it nearly made him go crazy!

~~~

It was Saturday, two weeks had passed since their visit to their parents, and almost everyone had gone out.

Katsuki was leaning against the oven, waiting for his meal to get ready.

He was glad his friends weren’t around. They had been all over him for the last couple of days because some tests were coming up and now, he finally needed some damn space!

No one else was in the common room and although that place being quiet felt strange, he welcomed the silence.

Katsuki closed his eyes, counting the seconds until his timer would start ringing, when he heard steps coming down the stairs.

He took in a deep breath.

He would recognize those steps anywhere.

“You here too?”, he asked, without opening his eyes.

“Yeah”, Izuku answered, “All Might ordered me some rest and gave me some new notes on the former holders of OFA.”

Katsuki opened his eyes.

Izuku was standing a few steps away, his eyes shining with excitement.

Nerd, Katsuki thought, Through and through.

“Something interesting?”

Izuku pulled his shoulders all the way up to his ears, looking like a kid. “Haven’t started reading it yet.”

Katsuki pressed his lips together. He wanted to read those notes too. He wanted to discuss them with Izuku. He wanted to compare his own quirks with them, telling the nerd how he could easily outdo him anyway.

He wanted to but he couldn’t bring himself to admit it. Why was this so damn hard?!

“Maybe I’ll join”, he said after all, making it sound more like a statement than a question. It made him feel more in control.

“Sure!”, Izuku beamed at him and it made Katsuki’s eye wander to the floor.

Even if Katsuki would have asked, the nerd would have never denied him. So why was Katsuki not able to take that risk for once?!

While frowning at the ground and being angry at himself, Izuku stepped closer. When Katsuki lifted his head, he saw that Izuku was right in front of him and had opened up his arms and without thinking, without even hesitating he wrapped his arms around the nerd.

Katsuki was somehow overcome with a weird mixture of nostalgia and embarrassment and relief.

But then…

Izuku let out a surprised sound and when Katsuki leaned away from him, looking at him, he realized it: Izuku had been reaching behind Katsuki to grab a glass from the shelve.

Embarrassment – that was the only feeling left.

That’s why Katsuki yanked Izuku to the side, ignoring his blabbering and stomped away as fast as he could.

Shit, shit, shit, he thought while walking away, feeling his face head up, Shit, shit, shit.

He felt like dying right then and there.

What a cringe ass move, he couldn’t believe it.

“Kacchan!”

“Tch”, Katsuki clicked his tongue.

Of course the nerd wouldn’t let it go.

“Fuck off”, Katsuki said over his shoulder, knowing that he was being an asshole. But he couldn’t help himself, hearing his heart beating loudly in his chest.

“No, wait, Kacchan, please”, Izuku grabbed his arms, making him stop, “Sorry if I-“

“Don’t apologize!”, Katsuki swirled around, almost spitting the words out, “You didn’t do anything! Stop with the hollow apologies!”

Oh no. Katsuki was making this about something else, he realized it himself. But he couldn’t be talking about what happened a minute ago. He would pass out from it.

“They’re not hollow!”, Izuku defended himself.

Well, never mind. He could always count on Izuku to get caught up in whatever Katsuki was throwing at him and he knew he was a prick for using this but he just really could not talk about the… hug-fail.

Gosh, he thought, Someone shoot me.

He seriously considered knocking Izuku out, hoping that would make him forget the last few minutes.

“I always mean my apologies!”, Izuku started to ramble, still hung up on what Katsuki had said, “I really am sorry that I made you uncomfortable just now!”

No, no, no, don’t go there, Katsuki thought.

“I invaded your space. And I am sorry.”

Katsuki felt himself frown.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”, he snapped at the nerd, “I got closer to you!”

“And then you clearly didn’t like it!”, Izuku barked back, starting to get irritated too.

Katsuki shook his head briefly.

What was happening? Their conversation wasn’t making any sense!

A few moments went by and none of them said a word.

Katsuki wanted to tell him.

He wanted to tell Izuku that he didn’t want him to hug that bird dude ever again, especially when they had stopped hugging each other. He wanted to tell him that he was yet to figure out if he liked hugs, but that he wanted to hug Izuku. He wanted to tell him that he might be jealous of that Rody.

Well, that wasn’t exactly right.

He did not want to spell all of that out. He wanted Izuku to just get it.

But he wouldn’t because how could he? OFA didn’t contain a fucking mind reading quirk after all and thank God for that but right now – it would be fucking helpful and all these useless thoughts pushed Katsuki an inch closer to bursting out.

It was Izuku who snapped Katsuki out of his rampaging thoughts, eventually filling the silence with his words.

“Sometimes”, Izuku said, his voice unsarcastically husky, “you randomly make physical contact, like leaning your arm on my shoulder or ruffling through my hair or things like that. And… I enjoy it. Because it feels like we’re slowing getting back to how we were, you know?”

Izuku looked at him, tears welling up in his eyes and Katsuki felt like he had been slapped.

The nerd was right.

Katsuki had already started doing stuff like that. Stuff he did with no one else. At least not on his behalf.

The truth was that Katsuki was obviously seeking Izuku out for comfort gestures like that.

But then, seeing Izuku fully embracing that shithead… it had made Katsuki feel a thousand miles behind. Even after pushing himself to get closer to Izuku again, he was way behind some dude the nerd had just met a couple of days ago.

It had made him feel like they hadn’t made any progress after all. It had made him realize once again what he had wrecked in the past.

Katsuki pressed his lips together, feeling completely defeated.

“So I thought, maybe”, Izuku went on, “I could also step closer but I guess I don’t. I’m sorry, Kacchan, sometimes it’s just hard for me to follow the… the rules? I don’t know”, Izuku shrugged, brushing the tears away and Katsuki closed his eyes.

Katsuki couldn’t follow those fucked up rules either. He realized he made Izuku being on the tip of his toes around him.

He exhaled a long deep breath.

“Listen”, Katsuki finally said, rubbing his eyes, “The thing just now… I thought you wanted to hug me. I wanted to hug you back. Realizing you didn’t even mean it as a hug, I snapped. Okay?”

Listing the course of events was okay. Talking about feelings like jealousy or embarrassment wasn’t in the cards. Katsuki wasn’t ready for that.

Izuku stepped closer. “I didn’t realize I was allowed to hug you.”

The way Izuku talked made Katsuki feel like a shitty tyrant. Making up some unpredictable rules, touching Izuku but not allowing it the other way around. Like a tyrant or… or just a shitty bully.

Although his guts were churning from the fear of getting rejected Katsuki closed the gap between them, pulling the confused looking nerd into his arms.

“Course you are.”

That statement surprised himself. What was even more surprising was that he discovered that he actually meant it.

The seconds went by and Katsuki had intended this to be short hug, like some of their classmates did for a greeting. But it somehow ended up to be a long, tight embrace and although he knew he was being childish Katsuki thought: Suck it, bird brain!

“I’m bad with words”, he mumbled after a while, “Sorry.”

Izuku shook his head lightly, his locks brushing against Katsuki’s cheek.

“I disagree”, Izuku said, “But even more important – does everybody need to be good with words?”

Katsuki made a surprised sound at that thought.

“Well, it sure makes shit easier”, he said.

Izuku thought about it for a while and finally said: “I think clarifying one’s needs and desires do. Make shit easier, that is.”

Katsuki chuckled at that.

“But being good with words, wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeve – it’s like being good at sports rather than drawing or having a nice voice instead of being a passionate dancer. People just differ in that kind of things”, Katsuki could hear the smile in Izuku’s voice, “At least that’s what I think.”

Katsuki couldn’t respond to that.

He didn’t trust his voice.

He had never seen it that way. He had always feared he was missing something, lacking a fundamental skill. But Izuku didn’t. He thought of it as simply one of many characteristics.

And even if Katsuki knew that he needed to work on his communication nonetheless, he was kind of moved. Maybe – with that point of view – he wasn’t that far behind after all.

For the first time since their mission in Otheon Katsuki could feel himself fully relax.

He wasn’t sure how long they would have stayed like that, leaning against each other. But they jumped away from each other when a howling sound filled the dorm.

“The fire alarms!”, Izuku screamed over the siren, blocking his ears.

Katsuki starting cursing when he realized he had forgotten his food in the oven. It must have turned into ashes by now.

He just hoped his mother would never find out about it or she would never let go of the fact that he was taking after her.

#bkdk #bkdk fanfic #bkdk fluff #bakudeku #bakugou x deku #katsuki x izuku #katsuizu #katsudeku #decchan #bakusquad #bnha #bnha fanfiction #fluff and angst #world heroes mission

[libermachinae]

Fault Lines Under the Living Room

Part II: Breathe - Chapter 5:  Thoughts Expand in Blooms

Also available on AO3! Summary: The consequences of Ratchet and Rodimus' chase become known. Chapter Word Count: 2644

---

“Try again.”

“Yes, sir. Rodimus, come in Rodimus. This is Blaster, coming to you live from the Lost Light command deck. Do you read me? Status and further instruction requested. Over.”

Years of handling the Wreckers’ fluctuating schedules meant it was no effort for Ultra Magnus to resist rubbing his optics as he watched the progress of their three recovery speeders. Siren, Crossblades, and Waverider had launched with minimal deviations from standard procedure (Crossblades would receive a write-up for nonessential helical rotation) and tracked Arcee’s shuttle up to acceptable pursuit range. That was where the chase had stalled, as Rodimus had provided no further instructions and protocol required command from a captain before they could proceed. Either captain.

Protocol fell apart when one refused to leave his hab and the other had stopped answering his comms. Magnus started mentally writing up a proposal for temporary transfer of pursuit command responsibilities while they waited.

The control panel refreshed as the latest information poured in. The speeders were entering upper atmosphere, rotating in pyramid formation in the shuttle’s trail. Acceleration had decreased to the minimum required to maintain orbit and altitude held steady as they sailed through Scarvix’s exosphere.

“Ultra Magnus, I have a visual on Rodimus’ ship,” Bluestreak reported.

“Pull it up.”

The datafeeds compressed to the right of the screen, replaced with the compound live feed from the speeders, displaying the shuttle’s stern, the glow of its thrusters closer to a lightbulb than anything spaceworthy. The engines were keeping it aloft, but there was an unnatural stillness about it, like debris floating through space.

“Again.”

Blaster adjusted settings on the ship’s communications hub and leaned into the mic.

“Rodimus, come in Rodimus. This—”

There was a crackle and buzz as the ship’s receiver finally picked up a signal.

“This is Rodi—ack, Ratchet, this is Ratchet. We read you.”

Blaster’s shoulders relaxed as he transferred primary input to the third in command’s station, but Magnus did not match his relief. Underneath the fritz of the shuttle’s poorly maintained equipment, Ratchet’s voice was shaking.

“Ratchet, this is Ultra Magnus. Report.”

“Report. Report… um, Arcee’s gone. We lost her. Satellite. Crash. Is Cyclonus there?”

“No. What is your—”

“Get him,” Ratchet interrupted.

“Where is Rodimus?” Magnus asked. Ratchet was supposed to be one of the good ones, recognizing his place within the chain of commands. Making demands was out of character for him.

“Here! I’m here,” Rodimus’ voice crackled down the line. “Present. Available. Get Cyclonus.”

Magnus sent the ping and tagged it urgent. Cyclonus had never been known for tardiness, but that put it on the record.

“What is your status?” he asked as he acknowledged Cyclonus’ response.

“Good! Weird? Ratchet is banged up, which is bad. He suffered impact shock in his lower spinal strut, chance there’s a disk… how do I…”

Magnus’ orbital ridge twitched, a coding bug when expression protocols tried to assign a profile to stress of unknown origin. He wiped the cache, regaining his neutral set, and sent a command to have the speeders approach the shuttle. Visual on the command deck would be helpful, but flight integrity was his main concern. If neither Rodimus nor Ratchet was in the right mind to pilot, they would need to engage in emergency grounding maneuvers.

“Ratchet, are you still there? Rodimus sounds incoherent; what is his status?”

“He’s fine.” His voice was briefly drowned out by shuffling and crashing on the other end. “—cessor’s functioning normally. It’s loud, but it’s working.”

“He’s overheating?” Magnus asked.

“Not his fans, his thoughts.”

“Is his comm link malfunctioning?”

“He’s bright like the goddamn sun. I can barely get two words in. Will you shut that off? ”

“Ratchet?” Speeders were closing in.

“Not you.”

“Stop yelling at me!” Rodimus snapped, volume raising and lowering like he was pacing around the microphone. “I heard you the first time.”

“I don’t see how. I can barely hear myself.”

“Aw, poor Rodimus, doesn’t get to hear his own voice.”

“ You’re Rodimus, that’s my line.”

“Rodimus, Ratchet, Waverider is en route to board,” Ultra Magnus interjected. “If you are able, please lower the hatch for arrival, otherwise he will engage emergency stove—”

“No, don’t!”

It wasn’t just that they shouted at the same time, but that Rodimus and Ratchet’s voices matched in pitch, tone, and cadence which caused Magnus, for the third time in his life, to forget what he had been saying.

“Is Cyclonus there?” Rodimus asked.

“There’s something on board,” Ratchet said. “Don’t know what it is, but you can’t let anyone else get near it.”

“It did a weird thing. I’m Rodimus, but also I’m Ratchet? And both?”

“Those sound like the same things, Rodimus,” Magnus said, half distracted as he instructed Waverider to return to position.

“They’re not,” Ratchet said.

“Sir?” Cyclonus’ voice came as a blessing. Magnus gestured him forward.

“Cyclonus just arrived,” he announced. “Cyclonus, Rodimus and Ratchet uncovered something on Arcee’s shuttle. It’s…” He blanked.

“I can feel Ratchet’s processor,” Rodimus said, rushing like it would make any of this comprehensible. “He’s thinking and it’s all really fast and hard, but it’s not rough like you would expect? Like, the feeling of grit in your gears, I thought it would be like that, but it’s more like there’s just a lot of gears and it takes a lot of power to turn them all, and it’s too hard to decide whether to focus on just one or the entire thing. And he keeps thinking about me and my thoughts and how they’re not like that, and I’m thinking about him, and then I get stuck because all the thoughts start to sound the same and I don’t know which ones came from me or which are Ratchet or even which me is me. It’s all a big thought reservoir, a—a thought battle, an entire brain war and I don’t know which side I’m on!”

Cyclonus’ gaze was steady at the screen. Once it was clear that Rodimus was done, he leaned over the microphone.

“Can you send an image of the object?” he asked.

“Sure,” Ratchet said.

Blaster raised his hand.

“Image received.”

Ultra Magnus nodded and the feed of the shuttle was replaced with a still capture, a calamity of wires and light that took his visual center a full millisecond to parse.

“It’s the Enigma of Combination,” Cyclonus said.

“What’s that?” He could differentiate the orbital plating of the object itself and the red dwarf dew drop at its center, but the light it cast on its surroundings made his spark flicker with a disturbing fuzz.

“A plague,” Cyclonus said. “Considered a long-lost relic even in my own time. I would doubt this was the legitimate article, if Rodimus hadn’t so perfectly summarized its less infamous effects.”

“It can do more?” Magnus asked. What it had already done— whatever it had done, he still was not clear on the details—seemed itself too much for a bot to handle. Or two.

Cyclonus hesitated.

“Well, you see…”

“No. No, no, so much no, you’re kidding. Ratchet, tell me they’re kidding!”

“I don’t bloody well know!” he snapped back. He had sunk back into the pilot’s chair while Rodimus paced the bridge. His spark was spinning like a centrifuge, its engine overfed by the deluge of panicked thoughts tumbling through his mind. It was all Cyclonus and shuttle and Arcee and combination and Drift, new threads knocking each other out of the way so nothing could reach a conclusion, just endless half-thoughts pinged repeatedly. Worst was when Rodimus tripped over the junk now scattered across the bridge as it brought everything to a shuddering halt, like a whole expressway’s worth of engines seized up simultaneously.

He pressed his hands to his face and tried to focus on keeping his vents open, ignoring the storm of queries of Is Ratchet overheating? and Drift is going to kill me.

“I can’t be in a combiner with Ratchet!”

He hates me he hates me he hates me rattled around their processors like screws in a box.

“The Enigma has determined otherwise,” Cyclonus said.

So now the damn thing was having its own thoughts?

“It’s thinking ?” Rodimus asked, earning an additional glare from Ratchet.

“No one knows,” Cyclonus said. “It’s ancient technology, built on the same principles that govern sparks.” Principles that even modern science knew so little about. Ratchet was going to say it but froze when he felt Rodimus grab for it, tossing at it a hundred questions he had no answers to: Is that thing a person and Where do sparks come from and Would this stop if we broke it followed by another run of apologies.

“The Enigma has you in a holding pattern,” Cyclonus went on. “There aren’t enough of you to form the combiner, so it’s keeping your sparks connected until it can interface with at least one more Cybertronian.”

Ratchet saw the image that formed in Rodimus’ mind and his glower deepened.

“I don’t have the knowledge or the skills to disconnect something like that,” he said. “Sparks are complicated, Rodimus, and there’s still so much we don’t know about them. I didn’t even think it was possible to maintain a connection of this magnitude without direct contact.” Rodimus’ next idea was even worse. “Have you met your crew? The moment you put it in a box and tell no one to look, Brainstorm, Skids, and Whirl are all going to make breaking into it their personal quest.”

“Isolating the Enigma will not contain its effects,” Cyclonus added. “Because the holding pattern is an open channel, you have become conduits for the Enigma’s energies. If even one of you encounters another compatible component, it will complete the process, regardless of its distance from you.”

Rodimus stilled, then sunk to the floor, his thoughts miserably coalescing into a single thread.

“So, either we drag someone else into this mess, or we’re stuck in this shuttle, trying to think over each other forever?” Forever was steeped in darker emotions that caught Ratchet off-guard, which Rodimus immediately covered up with nonsense branches of observations about the junk on the floor. A negativity storm, Drift would have called it.

From behind, he heard Rodimus chuckle, though his thoughts betrayed little amusement.

“If I may,” Cyclonus said, interrupting no one. “Ratchet, I do respect you as a physician, but modern medicine is not the only source of knowledge concerning the Cybertronian body. Even modern theology, shallow thought it may be, offers insights to the nature of sparks that your specialty lacks.”

“No.” Ratchet scowled and shook his head, though more so at the way he felt Rodimus stirring that observation than the idea itself. “None of the woo-woo nonsense. Drift’s mindfulness agility course was bad enough.”

Unfortunately, his words made Rodimus’s thoughts expand in blooms, accompanied by shuffling as he stood to lean over the pilot’s chair.

“Drift was always trying to get me into his meditation thing,” he said. “He—he talked about the Rossum connection, how the mind impacts the spark and vice-versa. It was mostly, you know, power poses and cool sword moves, but there was more advanced stuff we didn’t get around to.”

“It could be a lead,” Cyclonus said, his grave voice somehow failing to make a dent in Rodimus’ growing enthusiasm. “I know very little about Spectralism, but if it involves manipulation of spark energies, there is a chance it could be used to counteract the effects of the Enigma.”

“Yeah, remember how Drift can see auras?” Rodimus said. “Maybe he can see where we’re tangled and just undo the knot.”

“There is no scientific backing to that kind of pandering—”

But we don’t have any other ideas.

Rodimus drew him up short, his own dearth of creativity reflected back to him as though in a mirror. Loathe though he was to admit it, Rodimus was right: they had nothing else. No leads, no one to fall back on. Cybertron’s history, the ancient mythologies that might have shed light on this technology, was lost to war and time, and all that was left was the third, fourth-hand accounts of people who claimed to know what was lost.

There was a chance Drift would have nothing to offer them, but even the possibility of guidance was an improvement over the helplessness Ratchet felt when he tried to imagine them fixing this on their own.

He received an image burst: Drift, wild and beautifully unhinged, leaping for the chance to care for Ratchet with literally open arms. Rodimus shut it down, distracting himself by counting rivets in the bridge ceiling, but vibrating embarrassment persisted between them.

“Would it be appropriate to call Drift for this?” Ultra Magnus asked, pulling the further from their internal squirming. “The truth about his role in the Overlord plan came out months ago, and since we’ve made no effort to contact him. To approach him now so he can solve this seems exploitative.”

Ratchet caught only the yellow of Rodimus’ hand before the captain vaulted over the back of the pilots’ chair, landing with a solid bang.

“I’ll take the blame,” he said.

“For what?” Ratchet asked, though he could already see it.

“For not fixing this sooner,” Rodimus said. He shrugged, a movement so automatic Ratchet did not pick up who it had been directed to. “I’m the captain. It was my responsibility and I failed. That shouldn’t doom Ratchet to having to live with my mistakes.”

He avoided Ratchet’s optics as he spoke, but Ratchet still caught his expression, the shiver of his spoiler as he spoke. It struck him that the reason Rodimus was so hard to read from an external perspective was because a single look meant so many things: frustration, guilt, grief, and hope piling on top of each other too quickly to discern where any one emotion rooted. His thoughts were going in so many directions all the time, of course it would be a challenge for everyone else to keep up.

“How do you intend to locate Drift?” Ultra Magnus asked, ever pragmatic.

“I have a tracker,” Ratchet said.

“I memorized the specifications for his shuttle,” Rodimus added, his processor spitting out the codes in full.

“And will that ship be adequate? Do you need additional supplies?”

Ratchet turned in the seat, looking around the scattered contents of the bridge, to say nothing of what their collision might have done to the storage down below. Despite the mess, he saw what looked like intact crates of potable energon, and the shuttle’s own systems were not in imminent danger of running dry.

“We’re stocked,” he said, and catching Rodimus’ primary concern, went on, “Unless Cyclonus know how far the Enigma’s effect extends, it’s going to be too risky to dock back in the Lost Light. We’ll make due with what’s here.”

“I’ll have Rewind compile you a list of known energon distributors with minority Cybertronian populations. That will be your best opportunity to refuel without risking exposure, should the need arise.”

Could the Enigma grab non-Cybertronian mechanicals? Rodimus wondered, a query Ratchet did not have the energy to entertain.

“Thanks, Mags,” Rodimus said out loud. “Take care of the place while we’re gone; you know the drill.”

“Of course, Rodimus. Uh, stay safe?”

Rodimus laughed, a sound that Ratchet felt as a golden thread, spun in a ripple through space before vanishing to nothing. He squinted, trying to make sense of what the hell that had been, but Rodimus’ burst of enthusiasm and plans for the coming journey overwhelmed him.

“Don’t worry, Ratchet’s pride will make sure I get back in one piece.”

You—!

It was going to be a long journey to the outer rim. Though Rodimus was grinning cheekily, the tense coil at the center of his thoughts agreed.

#maccadam #transformers #rodimus #ratchet #my writing #longfic #fault lines

[saltforthesea]

prompt: Elu reunion on Friday!!

I don’t wanna write a full fic on that because I am already waaaay to nervous about whats going to happen! Sorry. But Imma pull out some of my wishes/fears/headcanons for you :)

sooo it’s gonna be heartbreaking????

but that's not new to us but I am pretty sure it will make me cry and so far only the original o helga natt scene managed to do that. Marti and Nico just had me smiling a lot and cheering for chicco rodi lmao

anyway where was I (why does Italia always sneaks its way into my mind)

I really really really really hope they don’t make Eliott try to take his own life, I read some posts [x and also x] about that matter and 3 no my heart couldn’t take it but also all of the weird Instagram updates and Virginia Woolf quotes make me really anxious

so let us stay away from that for a sec

I just hope Eliott replies to Lucas’ text soon, maybe in a drawing, maybe a scene of polaris I just want them to use polaris again

and I really really want them to meet under that bridge thing where they had their first kiss but this time it’s Lucas with the light and Eliott is the one in the dark POLARIS @ david 

and their o helga natt moment could be recreating the polaris scene POLARIS

but this time it’s Lucas that shows Eliott that it’s okay to be himself and that they belong together and that none of them has to be afraid

i want Lucas to bring Eliott back into the light, the happy, their safety and I really hope that instead of “you are not alone”

Lulu will say “pas peur” again 

to make sure that Eliott knows Lucas isn’t afraid of him being bipolar, or afraid of being together with him. I just think it would have a deeper meaning to both of them

But at the end of the day, I want my little raccoon and my little baby hedgehog to be happy. And if they give me that I’ll accept everything. But please somehow incorporate polaris???

#idk what happened here #elu #eliott demaury #skam france #lucas lallemant #answered #anon #fenja talks #tw: sucide mention

[betweenthetimeandsound]

Three Minutes to Eternity: My ESC 250 (#200-191)

#200: Alice Babs -- Lilla stjärna (Sweden 1958)

“Lilla stjärna i det höga, svara mig, svara mig, Kommer han som jag ska få så kär?”

“Little star up above, answer me, answer me, Is he coming, the man that I will love?”

And so we begin the top 200 with an innocent and sweet number, and which resembles the best of 1950s Eurovision. I'm not a fan of the decade, because most of the songs are a bit too old-fashioned for my taste (especially since we have the beginnings of rock-n-roll outside the contest), but Lilla stjarna is one of the better soundtrack-like songs.

Before Sweden became the superpower in Eurovision we all know and love (or love to hate), they debuted with this dainty, beautiful song that was selected internally. There's a sense of longing in the lyrics, with the narrator hoping that their loved one would return. It’s definitely a fairytale, with that classical instrumentation and Alice’s innocent voice.

Personal ranking: 2nd/10 Actual ranking: 4th/10 in Hilversum

#199: Domenico Modugno -- Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Italy 1958)

“Penso che un sogno così non ritorni mai più Mi dipingevo le mani e la faccia di blu Poi d’improvviso venivo dal vento rapito E incominciavo a volare nel cielo infinito”

“I think such a dream will never come back I painted my hands and my face blue Then suddenly I was ravished by the wind And I started flying in the infinite sky”

The original classic from Eurovision, and the biggest hit of them all. It topped the Billboard charts in 1959, won two Grammys in the first-ever ceremony in 1959 (and still the only Italian-language song to do so), and is covered and over again to this day.

Considering the lack of attention most of the songs got in the first two contests, it's possible without Nel blu dipinto di blu's commercial success, we wouldn't have a Eurovision Song Contest to speak of. Or it would've been done for by 1960, haha.

Sometimes, I forget about this song when thinking about favorites, but when I listen to the intro, it starts bringing you into its little world, where I’m actually flying! The lyrics are quite cool and imaginative, adding to that feeling.

And of course, that "Volare..." is enough to keep people singing along!

Personal ranking: 1st/10 Actual ranking: 3rd/10 in Hilversum #Italywasrobbed

#198: Korni -- Moja Generacjia (Yugoslavia 1974)

“Mene majka moja rodi da sanjam o slobodi, U prvoj noći da čujem zveket, Da plačem sa rukom na usnama,”

“My mother gave me life to dream of freedom, The first night to hear gun sounds To cry with my hand on my lips”

World War II in Yugoslavia is not something I've learned about in depth. What I do know is that the Axis powers were able to take the whole country, and two major groups arose to collaborate with them. The Ustashas (Croatian nationalists) and Chetniks (Serbian nationalists) also both sought to destroy the other ethnic group and there was a bit of a mess all around.

(If you have any more information on this topic, let me know as I do want to learn)

Moja Generacija is a harrowing but powerful progressive rock song about those born during the Second World War, and their lives as a whole. I like the dark soundscape along with the instruments that accompanied it too. The orchestration at the chorus is especially noteworthy, because of the sweeping strings and the brass which highlight the times as a whole.

(And apparently, there's a seven-minute English-language cut, which makes it even more of a progressive rock song.)

Personal ranking: 3rd/17 Actual ranking: 12th/17 in Brighton

#197: Shiri Maimon -- HaSheket Shenishar (Israel 2005)

המבט אחר והקור חודר אתה מסתתר, את גופי שובר

“The glance is different and the cold is piercing You’re hiding, breaking my body”

Israel in the 2000s wasn't the best song-wise. I can only think of two songs that were really good in that period--of which this was one of them, which held Israel's best placing this century until Toy won three years ago. And it couldn't be anymore different from the song Israel would eventually win with.

Initially, I didn't get it, as it felt a bit derivative. Even now, it has offgrown me a bit because of pop ballad structure. But what I really liked was the smooth transition between Hebrew and English, along with how well Shiri sings it. She has a really sweet tone to her voice, which really helps in conveying the sorrow of being in love with a cheating partner and having to let go of it for her own happiness.

And that dress--it has to be one of my favorite performance outfits of all time!

Personal ranking: 4th/39 Actual ranking: 4th/24 GF in Kyiv

#196: Inga and Anush -- Jan Jan (Armenia 2009)

“Can't ya see, we aren't free?, Fixed like a tree to the holy ground, With my sound, gotta be always around, I wanna dance, don't ya stand, sister give your hand,”

"Sister, here we go!"

For a dance song, it's actually quite sedate--there isn't many moments of true boppiness, but there was something more "psychadelic" about the production and how it was put together. Either way, it works well all the same.

The sisters do a good job singing together, and I like the mix of ethno and dance music. Plus, their costumes are absolutely expensive and glamourous--I would like to wear them if I ever got the chance.

Also, for some reason, Azeris like to spam the comments on this song and claim that the Armenians "stole" their traditional clothing and music. Considering the two countries' proximity, I'm not so shocked about their similarities, but if Azeris would like to share a bit more of their ethnic music, it's always welcome!

Personal ranking: 8th/42 Actual ranking: 10th/25 GF in Moscow

#195: Sabina Babayeva -- When the Music Dies (Azerbaijan 2012)

“You, you are the best of me The reason that I believe, so don't leave me now...”

(Yes, Azerbaijan can send ethnic-influenced music. Hehe.)

Azerbaijan’s host entry when they brought the contest to Baku is a bit of a standard ballad, but with an ethnic twist. The use of balaban really highlights the melancholy of the song, and the mughum vocals pierces one's soul when performed.

I could feel how Sabina sings every word, pleading with her lover to stay with her despite it all. And that doesn’t begin to add with the beautiful LED dress, adding to the drama of the song as we see it in white, but it gets overlaid with sparks, shades of turquoise, and its final form with reds and oranges. That was a particularly beautiful moment.

A lot of fans believe this was the song that should've won it for Azerbaijan, and I can't disagree! This is a gem indeed.

Personal ranking: 6th/42 (a bit awkward here because I left out my runner-up of 2012 in this ranking, so amongst the songs here it's 5th/42) Actual ranking: 4th/26 GF in Baku

#194: Milestones -- Falter im Wind (Austria 1972)

“Tanz um die Lichter, Schmetterling, Deine Farben flammen auf, Tot ist die Nacht, in deinem Tanz, Ist das Leben hell wie Tag”,

“Dance around the lights, butterfly Your colours flame up The night is dead, in your dance Life is bright like the day”

My first forays on pre-1990s Eurovision was with the British blog, Lovelovepeacepeace. She would recap every year between 1968 and 2000, and 1972 was one of the years I went through the songs because of her. Coincidentally, I got to like Falter im Wind as much as she does.

It definitely fits with the hippy era, in terms of folk music and the general aesthetic. There's even a prominent (weird little) flute motif throughout. The lyrics talk about the life or a butterfly and how it shouldn't go to far into the sun. A bit strange, considering what most other songs are about, but it's a nice and gentle sentiment (with a message not unlike that of "Waterfalls", how strange).

Austria is not usually known for their highlights, but this is definitely one of their best (and a personal favorite of mine). Feel free to go an a road-trip playing this (though not with the studio cut--that's a bit slower)!

Personal ranking: 1st/18 Actual ranking: 5th/18 in Edinburgh

#193: Roger Bens -- Femme dans ses rêves aussi (France 1985)

“Mélodie, mélodrame, sourire et puis larmes Amoureuse ou sans âme, elle est d’abord femme...”

“Melody, melodrama, smile and then tears In love or without soul, first of all she’s woman”

ESC 1985 is notable not only because of a certain ripped-skirt incident, but also because they have a live album with the first eleven songs of the contest. Among these is the French entry, which has one of the best orchestrations of all-time, thanks to Michel Bernholc's arrangemnt.

(And because of that, it is my most-listened to song on Spotify)

The violins primarily make this song what it is—there are synths in the studio track, but don’t pack the same punch. The bass really provides some depth, and the brass at the bridge really sells the whole thing home.

The sense of drama in the song also includes the lyrics about being a woman and embracing her in all the ways. Despite the occasional eyebrow-raising and lip licking, Roger sings this with gusto.

To add to this, where is Roger Bens? This was the last known sighting of him and he is presumed to be dead.

Personal ranking: 3rd/19 Actual ranking: 10th/19 in Gothenburg

#192: Nina Zilli -- L'Amore È Femmina (Out Of Love) (Italy 2012)

“If you were my king, would I be your queen?, Stop breaking up my heart, you kill me – boom boom boom”

No, she's not Amy Winehouse resurrected for one night, but Nina Zilli! She also competed in Sanremo that year, and Emma (see #223) won it with the harsh but determined "Non è l'inferno".

Beyond the retro music and Nina's bouffant on the night, I didn't notice any similarities to Amy Winehouse. This doesn't mean "L'amore e femmina" have its own charms--it falls into the jazz theme that "Madness of Love" (#232) continues, but is the opposite in more than one way.

The English-Italian mix is a but clunky at times, especially in the choruses but it doesn’t take away from the attitude this song brings. I love the jazzy vibes and how Nina sings it with a sense of sassiness and charm. Her backing vocalists really help with conveying the mood, and don't do a bad job when the song goes back to Italian!

(As for the two Sanremo songs in question, I prefer Non è l'inferno to Per Sempre--the former is quite determined, and I really like the lyrics. Though I think the latter would have more appeal in terms of themes, even it's a bit more derivative musically)

Personal ranking: 5th/42 Actual ranking: 9th/26 GF in Baku

#191: Hovi Star -- Made of Stars (Israel 2016)

“Dance with me like we are made of stars...”

This is one of the first songs which got me into Eurovision. I would put this on repeat over and over again, because it's just so beautiful. (Or it was because it's Israeli, haha. Another country bias of mine will appear later.)

The first version of Made of Stars was a trashy and dull dance song, but the rework into a ballad makes it more magical. It’s serene yet touching, with a calming piano motif and a dramatic crescendo at the end.

The staging of Made of Stars also helps; while I'm still put off by the LED face when the backing vocalists sing "you hypontize me", everything else just works. The otherwise starry LEDs, the hoop dancers, and Hovi's glowing presence make this into a sweet, albeit overlooked package.

Personal ranking: 6th/42 Actual ranking: 14th/26 GF in Stockholm

#esc 250 #esc top 250 #esc sweden #esc italy #esc yugoslavia #esc israel #esc armenia #esc azerbaijan #esc austria #esc france #vintage eurovision #three minutes to eternity

[stillness-in-green]

Human Debris Masterpost (14/15)

Okay, gang, I am officially finished with the re-watch, and all that’s left is formatting and posting.  I’ll be doing that in two posts--one now, one later in the week.  in the meantime, lets get into the last big space battle, with...

EPISODE FORTY-FIVE — If This Is the End

We open right up with Chad and Dante this episode, engaged in combat with a some stripe of Graze unit or another.  These guys are taking more work to put down than the usual goobs, we see as it takes a lot of shooting, a grenade, and one of those Rodi machetes to get the job done.

Chad says that they’ve strayed from the battlefield and need to get back to the Isaribi.  Dante wonders aloud how the battle is going, and Chad, in a surpassingly rare moment of raising his voice, flares back that there’s no way it’s going well.  

Back on the main front, Orga is promising his teenaged followers girls and money (neither of which they have a damn clue what to do with, a disparity a number of reviewers observed back when this episode first aired).  Akihiro, ever the ascetic, fires back that he doesn’t have or need ‘em.

The fighting continues after the credits, with another brief shot of Akihiro, and, cursing at Arianrhod and still hurling machetes like a champ, Derma.  He’s down a Rodi-arm, too, which is a nasty bit of foreshadowing, I must say.  

Some Graze units close in on the Isaribi, but Chad and Dante return in time to drive them off before anything too serious can happen.  

Dante is the first one to react to—something, an alert beep starting up in his cockpit.  It could be the arrival of Isurugi and company, but, more likely, it’s a heads-up that Arianrhod’s forces are falling back, as another of Rustal’s signature false flag plays goes live.  

Dainsleif shots pepper the field, swiping the Hotarubi and Shino’s Flauros Ryusei-Go. Our Debris boys seem to have been enough on the outskirts that they don’t have to evade much; we get a shot of Akihiro, and can hear Chad and Dante reacting as well from their Rodis.

After two volleys, Arianrhod goes to standby, to see if any signals of surrender go up.  This gives Tekkadan some time to regroup, pulling people off the Hotarubi, and collecting some bodies, which we find Eugene, Chad and Dante paying some quick respects to, possibly having just finished moving the bodies in themselves.  Eugene uses harsh words—idiots cashing in before they got to the finish—while Chad apologizes that bodybags in a storage room is the best they can do for the dead at the moment, and Dante promises revenge for them.

Afterward, they report to Orga on the bridge, Eugene that they’ve finished moving things over, Dante with the more technical report about fried weapons control and reduced propulsion, and Chad with the bleak summary that the Hotarubi could be remote-piloted and used as a shield for the Isaribi.

Eugene asks what their next play is and, when Orga starts talking about McGillis and retreat, interrupts to ask where they’re going to retreat to. When Orga turns his gaze on this blatant display of lip, he finds the three staring at him very seriously indeed. Eugene looks actively angry; I think Chad and Dante are mostly just wondering if Orga’s really thought about what he’s saying.

Dante echoes Eugene, observing that they don’t have anywhere to go back to unless they win. Chad says that if it is the last battle (as Org has been repeatedly claiming), then they need to see it through. As I commented in the last post, neither Dante nor Chad show the slightest fear at the prospect of dying out here; they’re 100% willing to give everything they’ve got for the chance of victory.  (Orga’s used those tactics all along, of course, and here is where the fruits of those tactics finally begin to wither—but Orga’s tactical insight and how his deep-rooted insecurity feeds into his strategies are an entirely different essay topic.)

Shino interrupts to announce his own idea, and his audience goes from this:

to this (note the sudden profligation of sweatdrops):

Once the terminology is out of the way, however, the boys find that Shino’s plan is indeed to their tastes.  

‘Nice and simple,’ Dante says.  ‘Like us, right?’ Chad jibes.  

(Help, I love them.)

And we get one last lovely shot of this group-togetherness, as Orga allows himself to be pushed by his followers’ confidence into a plan you can see his gut instinct rejecting as too brash. Enjoy those smiles while you can, boys.

The whole gang guards the ships as the Hotarubi pulls the Isaribi on towards this last fateful shot; you can see Gusion and the Rodis swooping and circling around the ships along with all the other unique suits Tekkadan has.  

Akihiro and Ride, and probably a great many others, yell at Shino to shoot.

And—well, we all know how that went.  

One last thing to bring this episode to a close: it’s easy to miss in all the gut-curdling screaming Shino is doing as the credits kick in, but someone in a Rodi is bringing Hush back into the mobile suit bay.  No definite way to say who—maybe Derma, who’s backed-up Hush in the past?—but here’s the shot of it, in any case.

EPISODE FORTY-SIX—For Whom?

The bulk of the first half is taken up with the retreat from the combat, and the sacrifices made to ensure said retreat is successfully.  We can spot the Rodis here and there, but the first time one jumps out as significant is when Derma gets pegged by Arianrhod’s parting shots and an explosion goes off in his cockpit.  

A Rodi perched on top of the ship flies up and retrieves him, returning fire.  No one calls out on the commlines, so there’s no telling who it was.  Dante is the more dramatically appropriate choice, as he’s much more closely tied to Derma, but Chad does do an awful lot of rescuing people through the second season, and it might make sense for Dante and Derma to have been mirroring each other’s positions on the Isaribi’s sides while Chad held down the center.  

Thank god for whichever one of them it was, though, because as I believe I noted in posts made back when the show was still airing, Derma was the number one character I wanted to make it out of the series alive, and it’s thanks to the other Rodi’s quick response that he did.  

Later, we find Derma outside the medical area, now down one arm.  Atra apologizes that all the beds are full, to which Derma says it’s fine, that everyone else is worse off than him.  And I feel the need to point out here that, while several of the guys we see in the quick shot of the med-bay are indeed wearing more bandages than Derma, there are an awful lot of them who still have all four limbs attached, so I am—to say the least—skeptical that they are all in worse shape than Derma.  

Color me totally unsurprised that he would say so, though.

He slides down the wall, certainly already thinking about how useless he’s going to be even if he recovers, when our other three ex-red stripes show up en masse—a strikingly uncommon sight, outside of the opening credit sequences—to check on him.  

Akihiro goes down to one knee, saying his name, but there’s no response, and Akihiro himself is still clearly figuring out how to approach the issue.  

Dante jumps in to say that Derma’s lucky, that it was just his arm.  I’m sure he means well.  

Derma says, harshly, that he wishes he’d died out there, because—as he now says out loud—he’s no use to anyone as “an incomplete body.”  The camera cuts to an extremely tight shot of Akihiro, close enough to hear the low, ragged inhalation he takes.  

He then thanks Derma, which startles the boy’s eyes opened again.  

And it’s not, as one might expect who didn’t know exactly how many people Akihiro’s lost in his life at this point, a thanks for his service, or his sacrifice.  In a direct callback to the aftermath of the Silent War Arc (over ten episodes ago), when Akihiro told Lafter that he wishes he’d talked to Aston more when he was alive, Akihiro tells Derma that he’s glad he’s still able to talk to him.  

And then he thanks Derma again, for surviving, using the boy’s full name this time—Derma Altland.

Much like me by this point, Derma begins crying.  

God only knows how much of what Akihiro’s communicating he’s really receiving, but I think he must get the gist of it.  He knows Akihiro was Masahiro’s brother; he knows Akihiro had taken a personal interest in both Derma and Aston after Tekkadan took them in.  He knows, certainly, that Akihiro lost those Masahiro and Aston as surely as Derma himself did.  I’m sure Derma’s tears in this scene are, in part, shed for what he’s just lost, and for the uncertainty of the future, but my hope is that some of his tears are also for the gift that Akihiro’s just given him—the reminder that Derma matters, that there is at least one person in the whole wide, cold world that is glad of his existence.  

Shakily, he accepts the thanks.

And, barring a few shots taken from the closing moments of the first season, that is the last of the Human Debris for this episode.  Which is just as well, because much more would probably have destroyed me completely.  Lets move on along.

 EPISODE FORTY-SEVEN—Scapegoat

We rejoin our boys in Orga’s office in Tekkadan’s HQ, back home on Mars after quite a lot of time away.  They’re discussing McGillis when we first find them, with Dante putting in that he thinks the man is both dangerous and crazy, for still thinking about fighting Arianrhod.  

When Eugene floats the idea of turning McGillis and Bael over to Gjallarhorn, Chad and Dante get the first reaction, exchanging solemn looks, with Dante agreeing that it could be a chance for Tekkadan to just start over.  

It’s a nice thought, but one that ignores how much of a name Tekkadan has made for itself, as we will find.  Akihiro objects on different grounds, though, saying that the boss he knows would never betray an ally like that.  Recall that he praised Lafter for ‘seeing through her obligations’; even though he doesn’t really know and, given the man’s involvement in Aston’s death, probably doesn’t really like McGillis, Akihiro is against betraying him.  And of course, as far as his regard for Orga goes, Akihiro was handed his freedom by Orga, for nothing more than being an old ally and staying out of the way of the Third Division’s coup, back at the beginning of everything.

Orga agrees that it wouldn’t be the right thing to do, but hedges that ‘the right thing’ doesn’t matter to McGillis anymore.  We don’t get to see anyone’s reaction to this, as that’s when a news program starts talking about their ties to McGillis, and they have more pressing things to react to.  

Dante is impressed that Tekkadan made the news—as people thought of as revolutionary heroes, no less! I think this is probably a flash of Dante’s thing about recognition, rather than the first time he’s ever seen his group mentioned on the news—I mean, they have to have been on the news before, given all that stuff with Hashmal, right?  And protecting Kudelia?  And so on? But Dante’s always valued being known, and I’m pretty sure he’d take notoriety over being unknown any day, so even in a situation like their current one, he’s still a little pleased to see Tekkadan in the news.  

The others are decidedly less thrilled.

We find them again later, when Orga gathers everyone up to talk about how to proceed—namely, that anyone who wants to get out should do so immediately.

Dante protests, along with Eugene, while Akihiro watches with serious eyes, just saying Orga’s name under his breath.As protests grow louder, Zack cuts in to be the doom-saying Cassandra no one wants to listen to.  Derma is on-scene, we find in a series of crowd-pans, having drawn in close behind Chad and Dante.

Afterwards, as everyone is making their final preparations, Orga makes a last-ditch effort to give up first McGillis, and then himself, to Rustal Elion.  Rustal refuses—as to why Orga’s life alone isn’t enough, he gives Orga some schpiel about organizations being groups of members, and one person’s death not erasing another person’s crime.  Personally, I suspect it’s more that Rustal is canny enough to know it wouldn’t make Gjallarhorn look good, noble, or powerful to publicly execute a lanky Martian teenager for getting caught up in adult affairs—thus are tyrants exposed, and martyrs made.  The average citizen of the system probably only knows Tekkadan as an organization name, and better by far for them to stay that way—just a name, with no faces associated with it that might touch peoples’ hearts.

In any case, Eugene and Akihiro catch at least the tail end of this conversation, and while Eugene has Orga by the lapels, Akihiro is clutching at where his red stripe used to be once more, looking actually hurt that Orga would try to pull a stunt like this, that Orga could be so oblivious to how much he means to everyone.  (He’s a little off from where the red stripe would have been; I am willing to concede that he might also just be clutching at his jacket to keep from laying Orga out with a right hook.)

“You gave us life when we were nothing but walking corpses,” he says, and “You made a family for us.”  And more than a lot of the members of Tekkadan, Akihiro values family, as Orga well knows.  

Orga implicitly agrees to talk things over, which presumably is what leads him and Eugene down to the cafeteria, where we find Dante and Chad again.  Chad is summing things up, that they’re now on wanted lists and have nowhere to run, so long as they are who they are.  

This tips Kudelia off to the plan that will end up saving what few survivors that make it out of this series (good teamwork, guys!), and she asks why they don’t become someone else?  It’s impossible to change their personal data on Mars, but on Earth…

47.10

Chad namedrops Makanai as he figures out what she’s getting at, which I have to say I’m a bit impressed by, but then I suppose he had lots of time to figure out the exact nature of Arbrau and Chryse’s relationship when he was on Earth.  The gist of it is that, since Chryse is still technically Arbrau’s colony, all Chryse ID records are handled back in Arbrau, so if those records can be adjusted, Tekkadan can, in fact, disappear. And, as Chad has recalled, Tekkadan is on good terms with the best possible person in Arbrau to help them with that, its honest-to-god Prime Minister.  

The next bit of good news comes from Merribit and Dexter, here to announce that Tekkadan has scraped up some funds after all, and Dante turns a look on Chad like, “Holy shit, are we about to get away with this?” that I deeply enjoy.

Dante’s also the first to ask what’s going to happen to Tekkadan as the credits begin to roll, though. He’s not the only one the name means a great deal to, of course, but as I mentioned above, I’d imagine a significant amount of his current self-esteem is tied to Tekkadan’s fame, so it’s no surprise he’s the first one to voice hesitation about, essentially, betraying and abandoning the lily emblem they’ve been bearing all this time.  

Mika responds with a content smile that where Orga is, is where everyone belongs, which Dante accepts with a rueful kind of cheer.  Chad seconds that, even with a different name, they’ll still be themselves.  

Kudelia gets up to contact Makanai, and that’s when everyone realizes the outside lines have been cut.  Also we find out where Akihiro’s been, as he shows up with his lieutenant to announce that Tekkadan’s been surrounded by Gjallarhorn forces.  

EPISODE FORTY-EIGHT—Promise

After some intro material, Chad is the first person we hear talking after the credits, relating the state of Tekkadan’s communication—the cables have been cut, and all their LCS drones get shot down as soon as they send them up.  Dante summarizes as we cut into the group meeting, that without methods of communication, they can’t get any outside information, let alone contact Makanai like they’d planned. 

Eugene observes that, while Gjallarhorn hasn’t done anything yet, they could attack at any time, leading Dante to ask if they should attack first, then?  

Eugene shoots the prospect down due to the disparity in the size of their forces, and Akihiro asks Orga what they should do.  

Orga, for his part, reiterates that if they can make an escape, the victory is theirs—they demolish the building, make it look like they’ve been wiped out, then go ahead with the plan to contact Makanai.  This plan impresses Dante, who smiles about it only briefly before returning to a frown when Eugene stands up to remind everyone that they still don’t have a way to escape.  In lieu of two screenshots, I offer this in-between one.

(Do your best, Dante.)

Yukinojo gives the team a method, though—old maintenance tunnels—and Orga reiterates to everyone, over a batch of serious-face pan-overs, that the upcoming battle is not about killing anyone to end the battle, but rather about every single member of Tekkadan making it out alive.  

Dante makes a curious face here, as Orga tells them to never back down on living—he’s the only one to make a verbal response, rather than just nodding resolutely like we see Eugene and Chad do.  The obvious difference is that Eugene and Chad have both led before—even aside from his position as Orga’s second, Eugene was always in the captain’s seat of the Hotarubi, and Chad of course had his position as leader of Tekkadan’s Earth Branch. One can assume they’re both familiar with the concept of victory being how many heads you can count at the end of the day.

Dante, on the other hand, has always been out on the front-lines, in a mobile worker, a mobile suit, or even just a team of dudes with guns and armor.  I’m sure he’s very used to the idea that Tekkadan’s victory will be bought with Tekkadan deaths, one of which might be his own; historically, that’s what most of Orga’s battle strategies boiled down to.  Hearing that victory means him—means everyone—living is basically unprecedented for him.

As Orga walks away, Eugene complains a little about him, just like the old days, to which Dante responds in kind—that Orga seemed more like his old self just there.  Chad concurs, noting Orga’s confidence.  And they’re right; it’s been a long time since Orga’s had that fire and self-certainty.  Being free of all other chains and requirements, and no longer obligated to listen to McGillis, Orga is more like himself than he’s been in a long time—Dawn Horizon or earlier, I’d say.  (Orga and McGillis parallel each other in an interesting way in that regard, I think.  Neither of them is very good at adjusting the way they operate for scenarios outside what they know, though McGillis hides it better.  More on that another time.)

Feeling the group’s confidence, we get one of Akihiro’s rare smiles, and the four go off to get back to work.

At the tail end of the next scene, when McGillis finally realizes that he’s on his own for this one, he gives Orga a way to get a small group out, by taking a car while all of Gjallarhorn is focused on Bael breaking through the lines.  Orga contacts Chad to get the car prepared, and get Atra and Kudelia as well, as they’re heading for Kudelia’s Admoss Company.  This, I think, solidifies Chad as next in command after Eugene (who was off investigating the tunnels at the time), which is certainly gratifying to me.

We find Chad doing his best to carry out those orders in the next scene, where he, Kudelia and Merribit are having to convince a reluctant Atra to leave.  He doesn’t use an honorific with her name, I notice, which is a bit nice—it speaks to him seeing her as a peer, rather than someone removed from him by rank or social distance.  

This scene also puts him in the room for Kudelia saying right there out in the open that Atra is carrying Mikazuki’s child.  It’s easy to read it as a running gag in combination with his not knowing about Merribit and Yukinojo’s relationship, but it’s not played anything like as comedic, and Merribit’s reaction indicates that it’s the first she’s hearing of it, too. I’m pretty certain this is the first anyone outside the Bracelet Trio has found out.

For her part, Merribit is staying behind.  I’m certain she, too, is reluctant to leave behind the man she loves, but aloud, she claims that she still has work to be done.  She tells the other girls not to worry, that they’ll meet again—the iron flower won’t wilt so easily, which brings a smile to Chad’s face likewise.  

The next time we spot him, he’s finishing up getting the car ready.  

Two cars head out when Bael does; given later dialogue and setting shots, I’m assuming the second car is headed for Yukinojo’s best guess as to where the old CGS maintenance tunnels are going to surface?  Chad’s driving one car, we can assume since we don’t see him in the shots showing Ride and Orga or Kudelia and Atra seated, but someone else must be driving the other, and we never see the driver of that second vehicle.  

Anyway, they make it to Admoss in one piece, at which point Ride and Chad take up watch out the windows while Kudelia reunites with Cucubita, who’s been very worried.  When Cucubita drops the bomb that the news is saying Tekkadan is refusing calls to surrender, though, they close the curtains.

Chad’s the first one to articulate the understanding of why Gjallarhorn was so intent on blocking their communication—because Gjallarhorn is manipulating the media narrative, exactly like we saw them do back on Dort.  Orga knew already, of course, that Rustal had no intention of accepting a surrender from Tekkadan; now he knows that Rustal won’t even let the world see that Tekkadan tried to.  A scapegoat.

They put the talk aside, though, to get on with matters at hand—contacting Makanai.  Kudelia and Orga are the ones to make the call, though Chad and Ride are right on hand.

Makanai plays reluctant for a bit, presumably because he is so old and has been in politics for so many years that it is actually, physiologically impossible for him to just agree to something without being kind of an ass about it first.  (I love him.) As Orga goes to beg, though, Makanai interrupts with a cheery comment about how hard it is to refuse the one(/s) who saved his life.  He’s directing this at Orga, but it’s likely he’s referring to Tekkadan in general. Tekkadan, of course, is the organization that delivered him from exile and returned him to power.  One other alternative is also possible, of course.

Chad is the one who actually and directly saved Makanai’s life.  While we don’t know that Chad greeted Makanai at the beginning of this phone call, we do see Chad straighten up in response to Makanai’s aforementioned dialogue, and say the man’s name aloud in the way of one who knows when he’s being talked about and is responding accordingly.  Certainly I prefer the reading that Makanai’s line there is obliquely aimed at Chad, or at least Tekkadan-as-represented-by-Chad, because it means the Silent War arc was good for more than just stripping Tekkadan of assets and members, beginning the season-long process of knocking them all the way back down to where they started.  It means that Chad’s prior courage and devotion to duty are now the vehicles by which Tekkadan will be delivered.  Not bad for a third-stringer!

Makanai says, in any case, that they should hurry to Earth, as there’s someone there so worried about them that it’s hampering his (and therefore also Makanai’s) work, leading to a nice little exchange between the group and Takaki.  The prodigal returns!  Chad doesn’t lean over the video screen, but does contribute to the conversation, wide-eyed at the news that Takaki’s working at Makanai’s office now.

Takaki credits Orga for his current circumstances, though vaguely enough that we still don’t know exactly who landed Takaki this job, or if Makanai just reached out himself—a plausible enough idea, I think, given how much attention Makanai had clearly been paying to the young men of Tekkadan’s Earth Branch, both before and after the bomb.

In any case, after the call ends, Cucubita and Atra bring in some drinks for everyone (coffee?), which I imagine go almost completely untouched.  Chad points out that they still don’t have a way to get to Earth—Gjallarhorn will be watching the Isaribi. Seeing as Chad was piloting the Isaribi back in season one, and thus presumably the one dealing with port authority on both Dort and Earth, and Mars when they went back home, he probably has a good idea of what he’s talking about here.

As it has been since the first season, though, the girls from the Turbines are there to pick up the slack.  Orga is jubilant in his rebellion against certain death, and his mood is catching.

Chad and Ride bring the car around while Orga has a last conversation with Atra and Kudelia. Then, as Orga heads to the door with Ride, Ride says the cursed words: “It’s quiet.”  The soundtrack pretends not to notice what’s just happened, and we get a look around outside.  Chad is standing outside the car, and looks around at something.  

For the third time this season, I knew my favorite was dead, so dead, but nope, his luck continued to hold out!  Turns out he was just looking at Orga and Ride coming down the hall!  No problems at all!  

Ha ha…

I provide the rest of these screenshots with no further commentary, save to note that Chad’s reflexes are as sharp as ever, and wonder if this will be the scar that sticks with him where the healing tank washed all signs of the office bomb away.  I suppose it must be so.

Check back later this week for the last two episodes, and wrap-up, and thanks to everyone who’s read along this far.

#mobile suit gundam: iron-blooded orphans #gundam ibo #akihiro altland #chad chadan #dante mogro #derma altland #g tekketsu #human debris #human debris project #my writing #ibo meta