#guess who my second favorite character ever in the universe is

[ningadudexx]

Shes the best ever shes the best ever shes the best ever

#long xiaojiao #mei dragon #mei #mei monkie kid #monkie kid #lego #lmk #lego monkie kid #mk #minifigures #lmkTL3 #monkie kid mk #i made the staff a long while back #its made of bamboo as the base #guess who my second favorite character ever in the universe is

[just-jordie-things]

blue orchids and white lies - nanami kento

word count: 5.2k warnings: none ? summary: nanami's never cared much for flowers until he steps foot in her shop and suddenly he's an avid gift giver of luxurious bouquets. a/n: this is for the anon that sent me a brainrot so good i blacked out, wrote this, and will prolly receive hate in the future as it's the only nanami piece i will (probably) ever write </3 ___

The first time Nanami Kento steps foot into that tiny flower shop, he treats it more as an errand than anything else.

Shoko was throwing a little get-together later that evening- something about a creepy discovery she’d made during an autopsy that excited her, truthfully Nanami tried not to pay too much attention to the gruesome details she’d shared- and he didn’t want to show up empty handed.  Utahime had already declared she was bringing the champagne, Gojo covered the catering from some fine dining restaurant Nanami had never even heard of, and it seemed as though flowers were the best he could come up with.

Still, being the thoughtful gentleman he was, he figured he might as well splurge on a well crafted bouquet, rather than the cheap banded wilting things at the grocery store.

Despite being right next door to his favorite bakery in Tokyo, he’d never had an interest to poke around the little shop.  There had never really been an occasion for him to buy flowers, and he wasn’t exactly the kind of guy to pick some up just to freshen up his office or dining room table.  If anything, once the little bell above the door jingles to signal his entry, he feels incredibly out of place.  The shop is tiny, and covered nearly ceiling to floor in bright blooms of plants he’s never even seen before.

A soft but cheery “Welcome in!” comes from the wall where there are two clerks working away with nothing short of joy on their faces.  The first is cashing someone out at the register, handing over a plastic wrapped bundle of what he assumes are tulips but he’s not quite sure.  The other being the one who greeted him, and-

Nanami freezes, which is out of character enough to make his face feel warm and his heart stutter in his chest.  The other clerk, a woman who seemed to be playing rather than working on the bouquet before her.  As quick as she was to welcome the new customer, she was just as quick to return to rearranging the bundle of purple and white flowers before her.  She doesn’t even seem to notice the way Nanami stands in the doorway struck by awe as he watches her over-analyze the way each petal pushes against one another.

After a second too long of staring he realizes how creepy he’s being, and he makes a beeline for the opposite side of the shop, hoping no one around caught the way he’d shamelessly stared at a complete stranger, much less a woman simply trying to do her job.  She didn’t need some random customer ogling her- he wasn’t Gojo.

He pretends to glance over the array of pre-arranged bouquets on the far wall.  Pretend, as in technically he’s looking at them but he’s not really paying any attention.  His mind is still buzzing with that lingering haze of love at first sight wondrous surprise.  Eventually he settles for an arrangement of red roses.  Roses were always a safe bet to go with, right? It’s not like Shoko screamed ‘flower lover’ in her offputting demeanor.  As he’s carrying the bouquet to the front, he’s starting to second guess the whole thing.

Shoko would definitely smirk in his face for bringing such a silly gift to her party.  She’d probably start laughing if he told her that he was purposefully waiting for the pretty clerk who’d greeted him to cash him out- wait, what-?

“All set?” 

He tries to cover the way his eyes widen when she slides the project in her vase aside and beckons him to step up to his counter.  The other counter was completely open, and he could feel the way the second clerk stared at him in bewilderment as he’d ignored the universal sign for ‘my register is open’.  But Nanami is not as smooth as he’d like to be, and he can tell by the uptick in the corner of her mouth that she’s amused by his frozen stature.

“Yes- yeah, just this,” He feels like a teenager for stammering over his words, but she pays it no mind.  Her movements are overly gentle as she takes the bundle of roses from his hands, treating the bouquet with the utmost care, as though it were a newborn child.

His eyes glance down the nametag on her apron quickly, hoping she wouldn’t notice his sudden urge to put a name to the pretty face.  (y/n).  Certainly fitting.  Even her apron is embroidered with little colorful threads of cartoonish flowers.  Peeking at the apron of the other employee and finding nothing but a little bee pin secured next to their name tag, he wonders if she embroidered those flowers herself.

“These are beautiful, they’re going to love them,” She’s speaking again and Nanami finds himself standing up a little straighter.  “Would you like them wrapped up in a special way? I have tissue and ribbon” She offers with a smile that has all of the blood rushing towards his face.  He prays it’s not  noticeable.

“Uh- that’s probably not… no, I don’t think so” He replies awkwardly, and she can’t help but laugh a bit at his uncertainty.

“First time buying flowers for someone?” She asks, and he watches as she pulls open a drawer beside her and plucks out a sheet of white tissue paper with just the faintest bits of glitter sparkling on it.

“That obvious?” He mumbles, and he hopes it comes across more playful than embarrassed, but deep down, Nanami knows it’s the latter.

(y/n) chuckles again, expertly crafting the tissue to fit around the bouquet in a flattering way.  She makes it look easy, the way the paper folds to her will neatly.  It’s a simple task, but Nanami knows if he’d tried it himself, the tissue would wrinkle and it wouldn’t look nearly as flattering as she presents it.

“You’re not the first man to pick out the first bouquet of roses he sees,” SHe teases gently.  “No offense though, these are gorgeous.  I have to say I really outdid myself” 

“You grow them all yourself?” Nanami asks, and instantly regrets it.  Is that a stupid question? Do all florists grow their own supply? He hadn’t a clue on the inner workings of the flower market.

“I sure do!” Her reply is cheerful, and the question seems a little less stupid.  “There’s a greenhouse out back, but between you and me,” She lowers her voice like she’s about to tell him a grave secret.  Her eyes lock on his with an intensity Nanami thinks could rival Gojo’s.  “My best work comes from my own garden at home” She confesses.

Nanami can’t help the way it cracks a smile out of him, especially when she grins widely and finishes up his bouquet with a pretty string of red ribbon.  Even the way she curls it with the sharp edge of a pair of shears is done to perfection.  He really had to hand it to her for her craftsmanship.

He pays, making sure to tip a generous amount on the card reader, even if it is purely because she’d seemed to sweep him off his feet in less than two minutes of conversation.

“She’ll be very excited to receive these, they’re absolutely perfect” (y/n) says, handing the bouquet back to him with just as much grace as before.  Nanami finds himself moving slowly, careful not to crinkle a single edge of the tissue.

“I don’t know about that, I don’t think she even likes flowers,” Nanami says as he glances over the red petals smiling up at him.  The implication of the statement doesn’t hit him until a moment too late, and he looks back up at (y/n) almost too quickly, his eyes widened slightly as he tries to backtrack.  “She’s a friend- a, uh, colleague sort of friend.  She’s celebrating something and I… really didn’t know what to bring” It’s a lame explanation, and he finds himself fubbing the back of his neck and hoping he doesn’t come across like some slimy liar trying to cover his tracks.

“Oh! I see.  I just assumed, because, you know…” (y/n) laughs softly as she gestures to the roses.  Nanami follows the gesture before glancing back at her, his confusion evident.  “Cause roses are usually a symbol of romance.  Well, the symbol of romance, really” She explains.

His eyes widen further and she can’t help but laugh a little more.  Everything about her new customer amused her, and she didn’t usually spend so much time chatting with people that weren’t trying to chat with her, but she couldn’t help but want to drag the conversation on just a little bit longer.

“Oh god,” Nanami mutters, staring down at the roses with a newfound dislike for them.  “They’re going to laugh at me” 

“No, no, they won’t,” (y/n) quickly shakes her head.  “I’m sure your friend will think it’s sweet.  She’ll understand.  It’s a very kind gesture” 

He can tell just by looking at her that her words are genuine, she’s not just saying them to make him feel better.  Her eyes gleam as she nods at him encouragingly.

“Alright,” He sighs, giving the roses one last once over to make sure he’s not making a grave mistake.  “But if they laugh I’m not getting the fancy paper next time” 

Her cheeks bloom with color, next time, she repeats in her mind, and there’s an undeniable flutter in her chest at the sentiment.  She nods back at him with certainty.

“If they laugh, then I’ll help you pick out an appropriate bouquet, next time” She promises, and again he can’t explain it, but Nanami knows she absolutely means it.

His smile is soft, so unbelievably velvety soft as he nods and bids her a good day before making his way back out of the shop.

That night as expected, Shoko does make a weird face when he offers up the bouquet of flowers.  She gives him a tease he sees coming from a mile away- ‘Kento, flowers? I didn’t think you would know where to find these’- which makes the rest of the group laugh as well.  He decides he’ll gloss over that fact on his next visit to the flower shop. ___

His second visit to the flower shop, he realizes too late that he doesn’t have a decent reason for picking up a pricey bouquet of flowers.  As he wanders around aimlessly while (y/n’s) busy wrapping another pretty bundle for a customer, he thinks maybe she wouldn’t even ask what the occasion is.

“Hey,” 

And then she’s standing right next to him as he’s eyeing a clump of purple bundles that smells divine.  The smile on her face is one of clear recognition, and it makes his chest warm that she’d remember him, much less approach him first.

“So, what’s the special occasion this time?” 

And of course her first question is that one.  He would smack a hand to his face if it wasn’t so embarrassing.  She’s probably asking because he failed so miserably at picking out a proper bouquet last time, and he has to give her credit for offering him help, even though he’s struggling to come up with a half decent response.

But before he can stop himself, he’s saying,

“It’s my mom’s birthday” 

Which is an odd choice of lie.  He hadn’t seen his mother in years, and her birthday had passed months ago.  But that’s what he comes up with, and it’s not exactly the worst lie, but the cringe he makes as soon as it leaves his mouth isn’t all that hidden.

“That’s nice,” (y/n) beams at the thought.  “Do you know what she likes?” 

The way his face pales answers her question plenty, and she chuckles a bit as her eyes begin to wander the shop.  “No problem, I have just the thing,” She beckons him to follow her as she wanders off a bit.  “She’s an aquarius, so the safe bet is orchids,” 

He’s not even sure what she’s saying, but he nods along like he understands perfectly.

“I have these, if you like white,” She suggests, and he eyes the pretty thin stems with white flowers budding off of them.  Oh, so those were orchids.  Then her eyes light up, and without thinking, she reaches out and places a hand on his arm with her excitement.  “But I just brought in some blue ones from home, it was too cold to keep them there, would you like to see those?” 

He actually doesn’t need any flowers at all, so worrying about the color was far from his mind.

“Blue sounds lovely” He gives her a nod and as he thought she might, she grins before rushing off to the back of the shop.  He blames the way his skin tingles from where her tough had just left him even from under two layers of clothes.

As he slowly makes his way to the front to await her blue orchids, he glances around the shop a bit more.  Every single plant his eyes land on looks like they’ve been loved to the fullest extent.  Bright blooms of color cover every inch of space, every counter, shelf, and hook on the ceiling has a well loved clump of flowers occupying it.  Nanami can name roses and daisies, and he thinks the purple flowers he’d been eyeing earlier was lavender, but most of what fills this shop looks like a completely new plant he’d never discovered before. 

He wonders how much of her life (y/n’s) spent mastering her craft, because clearly, not a single sprout of life looks untouched or forgotten.

“Here you are,” She comes back out with a beam even wider than before as she holds up her precious blue orchids proudly.  “Beautiful, aren’t they?” 

He hums in agreement, his face warm as he barely even casts a glance at the bundle in her hands.  It might be obvious and cheesy, but he can’t exactly help it.

“Or were you looking at something else?” (y/n) asks, nodding to the hanging pot his eyes had been focused on before she’d come back out.  “The star jasmine is also lovely, but they can be tough to take care of at first” 

Again, he barely casts his gaze towards the pot before he’s turning back to her again, an amused little smile on his face.

“Could you really name every plant in here?” He asks, and he knows it’s a dumb question by the way she laughs, loudly, as if he’d made the funniest joke she’s heard in ages.

“Of course I could, it’s my job” She reminds him, and he nods, humming to himself thoughtfully as his gaze flickers across the shop.

“How about those then?” He points to a small pot of pinkish-purple flowers challengingly.  (y/n) glances at them before turning her attention back to him, raising a brow.

“Those would be cosmos” She says slowly, but matter of factly.  Nanami doesn’t necessarily have a way to fact check her, so he quickly points to another pot.

“And those?” 

“Gazanias” She barely had to look at them to give him her answer.

Nanami sighs as he turns back to her in defeat, and her smile crinkles the corners of her eyes.

“Not much fun of a game, is it?” She teases with a quiet laugh.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t have underestimated you” He replies, and she shrugs a shoulder at him, her eyes falling to her prized blue orchids in her hands.  Absent-mindedly, she pokes and prods at a few stems, ensuring they were healthy before she passed them off to the handsome customer.

“It’s been a slow afternoon, you could have underestimated me a little longer if you’d like,” She says, only half joking.  Nanami breathes out a laugh of amusement.  He’s not sure if she’s flirting with him or just being playful, but from the way his heart skips a beat he certainly hopes she is flirting.  “Anyways,” (y/n) clears her throat, reminding herself to go back to the task at hand.  “I think your mother would adore these.  I certainly do” 

“Those it is, then” He affirms, and she eagerly circles around the counter, already gathering a few pieces of tissue paper she deemed pretty enough to pair with the rich blues of the flower.

“So now you’re a flower-gifting kind of guy, hm?” She asks him as she carefully wraps the thin sheets around the stems of the orchids.  “The roses must’ve gone over well, then?” 

Nanami chuckles, tucking his hands into his pockets.  More or less, he thinks.

“It might be a bit of a copout, if I’m being honest,” He admits.  “I don’t really know what else to give her.  But I’m an only child, so, I kind of have the responsibility to step it up” 

“That’s alright,” (y/n) hums, her focus completely on making sure the flowers are as presentable as can be.  “Flowers are always a thoughtful gift.  Especially mine, got it?” It’s the only time she looks up at him while wrapping up the orchids, a threatening expression on her face.  “Don’t go to the other shops in town, they’re sellouts, got it?” 

He laughs at her seriousness, before crossing his hand over his chest in an x motion.

“I didn’t know there was a flower shop turf war here in the shopping district” He muses.  (y/n) huffs as she carefully moves about a few stems so each one would fall just so.

“Well, there is,” She mumbles like an afterthought.  

There’s the tiniest of creases between her brows, and Nanami wants to tell her not to worry so much over this bouquet, seeing as he doesn’t know what he’s going to do with it once he’s home, but he has a feeling the sentiment would fall on deaf ears.  She seems quite lost in her arranging.

“And besides, I gotta make sure I have loyal customers, don’t I?” She adds once she’s finished, and her serious expression crumbles into one of softness as she gazes up at him again.

“Whatever it takes” Nanami hums in agreement.  He bites the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling too foolishly, but he’s not sure it helps his case. 

“What’s your name, anyways?” 

He’s not sure why, but the simple question takes him aback, as though it were as forward as asking for his phone number.  He hesitates too long, he knows by the way she lightly raises a brow at the way he pauses before he answers.

“Nanami, Kento” Even his answer is slow, but she hums and nods at him nonetheless, as though engraving it to memory on the spot.

“Nanami Kento,” 

She extends her hand as she repeats the name, and it takes every ounce of will he has left to keep a shiver from crawling down his spine.  He didn’t think his name could sound so sweet on another person’s voice before.  He raises his hand to shake hers politely, trying not to focus too hard on how soft her small hand feels when fitted against his.  His noticeably larger hand encases hers almost completely.

“I’m (y/l/n) (y/n),” She introduces, as if her name hadn’t been circling around his mind in the couple of weeks since he’d last been here.  “But everyone just calls me (y/n)” 

“Alright, (y/n),” He muses, and he wonders if she’d felt just as warm repeating his name as he did finally saying hers aloud.  “You can just call me Kento, then” 

She smiles, and the color in her cheeks is undeniable.  He almost forgets to release her hand.

Once the orchids are perfectly bundled up, she passes them across the counter, the tips of her fingers just barely brushing over his knuckles as they both handle the bouquet with great care.

“How much do I owe you for these?” 

“Oh, they’re on the house,” She waves a dismissive hand, and she can tell by the way he frowns that he’s going to argue, so she’s quick to keep speaking.  “They’re not even in inventory, they won’t be missed.  They’ll be of much better use as a gift to your mother, anyways” 

“I don’t consider that fair-” 

“I won’t accept a single cent,” She tells him boldly, her hands on her hips, and he wonders if this is her idea of scolding.  That cute furrow in her brow and the slight pout on her lips as she glares at him.  It’s downright adorable and yet again, she’s seized his heart.  “Now go, you can’t arrive late on your own mother’s birthday” She waves her hand in a shooing motion towards the door.

God, he’s going to hell for this lie.

“Alright, alright,” He chuckles as he backs away, slowly heading for the door.  “I’ll let you know how much she loves them” 

(y/n) leans across the counter as she watches him go, her face burning with her lingering blush as she shamelessly admires him while he’s not looking.

“Come back soon, Kento!” She calls just as he’s stepped out.

He turns just as the door shuts behind him, catching her eye through the front window.  She’s smiling with utter glee as she waves at him, and this time he can’t hold back his smile as he waves back. ___

The third time he enters the flower shop, he has a better lie in mind.  The ruse of gift giving had worked perfectly so far, he might as well stick with it.

“Nanami Kento!” 

(y/n) welcomes him by name as soon as he walks in, and a rush of warmth spreads over him so quickly he thinks the other clerk working beside her is chuckling to themselves because of him.

(y/n) says something to her coworker before coming around the corner to approach him properly.  Her hair is tied in a messy bun on top of her head today, and it appeared she’d had some fun with a few little flowers sticking out of it.  He smiles as he admires the adorable look before he greets her.

“Afternoon, (y/n),” He replies warmly.  “Do you actually do any real work here?” He asks, nodding to the endearingly chaotic hairstyle.

“It pays to have a job you enjoy, right?” She asks.  “What do you do? Are you a time traveler?” She giggles through the question, the sound tinkly and so, so cute he thinks his knees could give out.

When she gestures back at him, it dawns on him that he’s left his sunglasses on his face.  He’s quick to pluck them off and tuck them into the pocket on the inside of his jacket.

“They’re odd, I know” He says, and hopes she won’t press further questions.  He’s had to lie about enough, what he does for work is an enigma even to him some days.

“I like em,” She shrugs.  “They make your whole business man thing look a bit more… steampunk” She waves her hands around the rest of his attire, and he can’t help but chuckle as he glances down at himself.

When he’d gone into the workforce he found he had preferred a business casual look more than the stuffy scratchy collars of the typical sorcerer’s uniform.  He’d matured a lot in that time, too, and after outgrowing his… emo… phase, found that a little pop of collar looked better on him than being swamped in black.

What’s funny was that what she called business man, Gojo liked to call flashy.

“Steampunk?” He repeats curiously.  “In a good way or a bad way?” 

“Depends,” She shrugs again, eyeing him skeptically.  “Are you planning on buying a bouquet today?” 

“I was, yes” He nods.

“Then in a good way,” She grins, and when he rolls his eyes at her in good nature, she only laughs more.  “Well tell me, who’s the lucky recipient this time?”

If he could get away with it, he’d happily stare at the way she smiles at him for hours.  Her hands clasped behind her back, the way her pretty eyes peer up at him from under her lashes, small splashes of color swirling within (y/e/c) irises.  Nanami can’t recall the last time he’d taken such a strong favor over another person, and in this moment if you’d asked, he’d tell you he’d never felt anything of the sort.  But her lips are plump and glossy today, and seeing them curled upwards so warmly, and for him, it has him in a chokehold.

He was growing so fond of her he almost couldn’t stand it anymore.  He could almost see that line he was trying not to trip across, because if he did step over it and into the unknown freefall that was complete and utter adoration… the thought terrifies him.

The invisible rose colored glasses that remained perched on his nose drove him to murmuring out today’s white lie before thinking about the credibility of it.

“My sister,” He finally answers.  “She’s got a promotion at work, and now I know the perfect secret in gift giving for women-” 

“I thought you were an only child?” 

Her brow furrows just slightly as she interrupts him with her question, a curiosity flickering over her features that has Nanami paling in an instant.  A part of him wants to be flattered that she’d remembered such a minor detail about his life that he’d given her a couple of weeks ago, but the anxiety that encompasses him as she’s caught him in his lie is a far more looming feeling.  He can feel sweat prick on the back of his neck right away.

The longer he hesitates to answer, the more expectant the look on her face is.  Slowly her eyebrows begin to raise, and her head tilts to the side ever so slightly.

“I… I am,” He starts slowly, hoping to stall until he finds the right explanation.  “I don’t know why I said that, um, what I… what I meant to say…” Unfortunately, he was as bad at stalling as he is at lying.

Through his terrible stammering, (y/n’s) perplexed expression starts to morph into something else.  The corner of her lips quirk up before she bites back her smile, pressing her lips together in a thin line.  She tries to hide it, but her smile is evident in the way her cheekbones raise, and the corners of her eyes crinkle ever so slightly.  She’s amused.  And Nanami’s not sure what startles him more, being caught in the lie, or the way she’s entertained by his scrambling.

“Nanami Kento, if you want to pop in just to see me, you can,” She tells him, and when she speaks there’s no chance of concealing the way her smile brightens her entire face.  “You don’t have to make up a sister just to come in” 

There’s some relief in knowing she isn’t upset, but it’s quickly eaten up by his nerves from her blatant tease.  His collar feels hot on his neck, and he’s certain that as soon as he leaves, he’ll have to loosen his tie.

It doesn’t help that the other clerk in the store had been obviously watching the entire interaction behind a large display vase of carnations.  Here and there they’d been snickering into their hand, surely also entertained by how terrible at this Nanami is.

“You’re right, I… I don’t know why I did that,” He chuckles bashfully.  (y/n) only glows brighter upon him fessing up to it.  “I did just… want to come and see you” 

She rocks on her feet a few times, her cheeks beginning to bloom with color.

“Well I’m glad you did,” She admits softly.  “You’re my favorite customer, you know” 

Nanami cracks a smile at that, some of the nerves starting to melt away the more he entertains the idea of crossing the blurring line between them.

“That simply can’t be true, I’ve only ever bought one bouquet” He reminds her, and she laughs a bit at the reminder.

“Alright, so you’re a flaky customer, but my favorite nonetheless,” She compromises.  “Besides, you said you were picking one up today, no takesies backsies” 

“Are you five?” He chuckles, but she waves her hand dismissively, ignoring the comment completely.

“What are you looking for today, Kento?” She changes the subject.

He thinks to himself for a moment, eyes flickering around the shop to see what stuck out to him.

Nanami Kento wasn’t necessarily a shy man, but he wasn’t the man that made the bold move.  That would be Gojo.  He also wasn’t the one to play coy until the other party eventually gave in either.  That was Shoko’s move.  Even after having a few short relationships or flings throughout the years, he never really made the first move.  Things sort of just… happened.

Now, he thinks it might be just the right time to make the bold move.

He still has to take a deep breath before he does, though.

“Depends,” He muses, glancing back at her.  “Which do you like best? I want to give you the right arrangement before dinner”  ___

bonus: 

They’re standing at the entrance to her building when she finally brings up the elephant in the room that had followed them for the entire evening.

“You know, it’s pretty corny to give me flowers that I grew from my store” 

“It was a good line, sweetheart, I’m going to stand by that,” He chuckles back at her.  “And you picked them” He adds, gesturing to the pretty bouquet of lilies of the valley tucked carefully in her arm.

“Forgive me for not being able to turn down pretty flowers from a handsome man” She replies playfully, and for once he manages to maintain control of himself as he gives her a gentle smile.

“Do you flirt with all of your customers to keep them coming back?” He replies coolly, and the giggle that escapes her is anything but coy.  Just pure, genuine joy.

She settles the bouquet safely in her arms before tilting forward on the tips of her toes.  It does little to nothing to shorten their height difference, but she’s close enough now that Nanami can practically taste the strawberry on her breath left from their dessert.  Common sense escapes him briefly as he follows suit, bending closer almost all the way.  The sudden movement startles her, her eyes widening and falling to watch his lips, curious if he’d actually kiss her so suddenly.  She smiles when he pauses just before his lips could touch hers, and her gaze flickers back up to his eyes.

“No,” She answers his question in a breath of a whisper.  “Just my favorite ones” 

He chuckles a bit at the cheeky answer, but he’s over the playful banter.  His hand, calloused, but warm and welcoming, reaches out to her chin, fingers gently tipping her head upwards just a little more, before he slides his palm across her cheek.

The question is on the tip of his tongue, but her eyes are already fluttering shut and she’s already closing the remaining space between them.  He supposes when her lips blindly land on his, he doesn’t need to ask for permission to kiss her goodnight. ___

xoxo ~ jordie

#nanami kento x reader #nanami x reader #nanami kento imagine #nanami kento x reader fluff #nanami kento fanfiction #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #nanami kento #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #nanami #kento

[oreo102]

Yaz is cool as fuck and people don’t appreciate her enough, a very long ramble

TLDR because this is so long: yaz is really cool and a compelling character and not enough people talk about how good of a character she is, both with and without the doctor, enough

In the first episode we learn as soon as we meet her that yaz wants to help people. She is tired of getting parking disputes and wants something more serious, and after meeting the doctor immediately starts helping her even if she isn’t supposed to be, and later it’s implied (I don’t think it was ever confirmed?) that she originally became a cop because one helped her when she had ran away/was suicidal, maybe?

Throughout season 11 we see her be the most empathetic/caring (episode 3 with the racism Ryan specially was facing, episode 6 with her grandma’s first husband, episode 7 with dan from kerblam, 8 with the kid who’s grandma was killed for “being a witch”, 9 with the blind kid), and is also very loyal almost immediately (“more of the universe.. more time with you!” “No. I’m with you, whatever happens” and more I’m forgetting)

She also has a very similar sense of justice to the doctor, practically immediately and comes to share her view on a lot of topics (she was hesitant to take the gun in TPOTD, she wrote wwtdd(which is adorable btw) on her palm, she defended Tesla, stands up to the master, once again more I’m forgetting probably)- hell, when seperated from the doctor without instructions/for a long time she takes 13s place as leader

Circling back to loyalty: she spent 10 months obsessively trying to find the doctor, she slept in the second tardis, she probably (I think it’s implied?) neglected her own health, social life, and job (if she still had one at this point) just to obsessively try and figure out how that tardis worked, to figure out how to get back to the doctor

And that was after she walked into a portal to an alien planet, not caring about danger because it’s what the doctor would do if it were one of them (she was already half way there by the time Graham finished asking who was going first, walking quickly and had a very determined look on her face. I really do believe if it had come down to facing the master or cybermen she would’ve to ensure 13s safety), which btw, is one of my favorite scenes in the show

And then s13. Gods I think I could talk about yaz in season 13 and those last 3 specials for days. A) Dan is more her companion than docs, let’s be very clear- they spent 3 years trapped in an unfamiliar time together with yaz acting as the leader (see above about her taking on the Doctor’s role when the doctor isn’t there to)

She handles 13’s outbursts and venom astonishingly well through the whole series but esp in s13, when she is double guessing her identity and even more unwilling to share than before, like it’s downright elegant that yaz is able to ignore 13s jabs sometimes, cuz personally I would’ve thrown hands. Although she doesn’t let the doctor walk over her, she doesn’t just accept the bullshit, she argues with the doctor quite a bit (telling her she is fully at fault for the situation at the beginning of s13 ep 1, telling her to stop leaving them all the time, shoving her when she shows back up after the 10 months)

As mentioned before the “what would the doctor do” being written on her hand is a really good touch and it does well to show just how much yaz looks up to 13 and how much she loves her (a very much amount, like infinitely)

This is getting very long so I’ll try to wrap it up somewhat quickly. Anyway, I really love yaz’s coming out scene (although I detest Dan outing her), it feels very natural and is filled with a lot of great emotions that we don’t see her have very much- like, she cries! Yaz, while shown having emotions, isn’t shown sad very often (which considering she was depressed as a younger teen and might still be, could just be her repressing those emotions) and is shown as scared much less, it’s nice to see those emotions on display

Speaking of emotions on display: “stop leaving us” is one of my favorite scenes/lines. Getting to see just how anxious yaz gets when the doc leaves, just how much she hates being separated from her, is a really nice insight to how she thinks- the doctor has already left her twice before (neither times were her fault, though) so who’s to say it won’t happen again? Easier to stay by 13 than to be crushed by her disappearing without warning

(Also side note but after that the two don’t separate much/if at all, showing that the doc did genuinely listen to her)

I’ve heard people say that they didn’t enjoy Legend of the sea devils that much but personally I love it- both because holy shit they’re so gay, but also because it again demonstrates that yaz is genuinely so smart and capable and there’s really no wonder 13 fell for her so hard (because she did. 13 fell so hard) I also like that this episode shows that the two play off each other and trust each other a lot, even if they aren’t always in sync

And finally onto the power of the doctor! Yaz’s best episode by far and my favorite of the entire series!

Yaz. Is. So. Fucking. Amazing. In this episode. She really shines so much which is saying a lot because she usually shines anyway. She looks so ready to punch the master if only he’d give her a reason, ready to shoot him (maybe not fatally… maybe) if he threatens the doctors or her own safety

She openly defies him, she leaves him stranded on a planet and if not for the plan she might’ve never came back for him, she flies the tardis! All on her own! We can assume that the doctor helped teach her but how much of that knowledge is from those 10 months? (I like to think that the first time yaz helped fly it was completely by accident)

Do the doctor holograms share knowledge? Cuz if not, that implies that she figured out it can change interface on her own and used it in their/her plan.

She saves the doctor! Multiple times! Runs out towards a fucking laser to make sure she’s safe (another favorite scene), she flies everyone home while the doc rests and recovers, she is just so cool in this episode!!

And honestly, I hate her ending. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic that she survived, really truly fantastic, if they had killed yaz I’d have balled my eyes out and sworn doctor who off for a second time, but her ending? No.

I do not think she should’ve stayed with the doc, I believe she loved (romantically, she’d love every doctor platonically but) 13 only, she’d be traveling the stars with 14 or 15 but I think over time she would’ve slid into that grief, that the doctor is still there but hers isn’t. But just having to go back to normal life? Go back to her family and job and life? That’s bullshit

Graham and Ryan got the psychic papers, yaz could’ve too (which btw that’d make a fun spin off I think), or she could’ve gotten the doctors coat (which would’ve been the cutest thing ever), or even her sonic! (Least likely) but- nothing? Nothing? No!!

She and 13 should be allowed to be immortal space wives together (with river, maybe) and nothing bad should ever happen to them

#doctor who #new who #13th doctor #thasmin #thirteenth doctor #yasmin khan #yazmin khan #outing yaz is bs #she’s underrated #this is so much longer than I meant for it to be #jodie whittaker #mandip gill #she’s great #she is so cool

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

Now that submissions are closed, we can talk stats. There were 881 valid, unique submissions for 474 characters! Woof, women have it rough out there!

The most submitted characters, with a relevant propaganda snippet included, are:

1. Sakura Haruno (Naruto): 28 [where do i even fucking begin]

2. Cordelia Chase (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel): 21 [OH SO MANY THINGS]

3. Misa Amane (Death Note): 20 [The author of Death Note invented new forms of misogyny just to apply them to Misa.]

4. Kaede Akamatsu (Danganronpa V3): 15 [Oh, you thought we would have a female main character in one of our mainline games? With a cool defining talent, no less? That's stupid of you]

5. TIE: Kairi (Kingdom Hearts): 14 [I'm so mad. I think she deserves a gun.]

5. TIE: Stephanie Brown (DC Comics): 14 [She does eventually get retconned as surviving the event and hiding out in Africa (don't ask, it does not make more sense in context)]

The canons with the most submissions, with a relevant propaganda snippet included, are:

1. DC Comics: 61 [DC has SO MUCH sexism it's laughable]

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel: 35 [Fuck Joss Whedon, man.]

3. Naruto: 33 [because Kishimoto hates women]

4. Warrior Cats: 26 [Warriors is one of the most misogynistic children's series I've ever seen]

5. Danganronpa: 25 [I honestly had to think about it just to decide which woman is treated the worst because this series hates them so much]

The canons with the most characters submitted, with a relevant propaganda snippet for a specific character included, are:

1. DC Comics: 21 [Free her from the huge tits back breaking pose.]

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel: 12 [Anyways she was so hot and for what. 10/10 my lesbian awakening.]

3. Supernatural: 11 [Yeah, she got randomly killed off-screen for shock value and manpain, but she sent an email right before she died so at least her death wasn't in vain, right?]

4. TIE: Star Trek: 9 [She literally gets teleported out of her clothes in one episode.]

4. TIE: Yu-Gi-Oh!: 9 [One loss is particularly brutal as she falls from a large height directly onto her head and goes into a coma (again. yes this was the second time).]

5. TIE: Warrior Cats: 8 [I'm sure she'll get submitted again just ask any reasonable fan they'll tell you about her and her sister]

5. TIE: Attack on Titan: 8 [As a child soldier, she does commit some war crimes]

And here are some charts to show how some of these entries fucked the scale on my charts:

Look at Sakura, fucking up my chart with her numbers.

On a similar note...

Good god, DC, I know what you did, but add fucking up my charts to your list of crimes.

And now, enjoy some rankings of my favorite things:

My favorite universal sentiment quotes from propaganda are:

She lived she served cunt and then she got killed off super early so that the male characters could experience man pain and also because I guess she would have been too powerful if left alive. [Wen Qing (Mo Dao Zu Shi)]

That design. Dear god. I don't want to live on this planet anymore. [Mitzi (The Queen's Corgi)]

In the end she may have girlbossed too close to the sun, but I support her anger. [Ling Wen (Heaven Official's Blessing)]

the victim of “writer doesn’t understand women and also hates them” disease. [Naomi Misora (Death Note)]

She could 100% kill somebody but nobody ever effing lets her. Rip queen. [Kairi (Kingdom Hearts)]

My favorite raging at a writer quotes from propaganda are:

1. You took every single protagonist to weird lion heaven, Clive, but suddenly Susan isn't good enough. [Susan Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia)]

2. Being a woman written by Joss Whedon should automatically entitle her to financial compensation tbh. [River Tam (Firefly)]

3. A lot can be summed up in a couple words, namely, "Furman, why?" [Arcee (Transformers)]

4. Can you tell respect women juice ran in Tolstoy's veins. [Lise Bolkonskaya (War and Peace)]

5. TIE: (specifically a guy called Dan Didio, who we all hate) [Stephanie Brown (DC Comics)]

5. TIE: until Geoff motherfucking Johns comes into the picture [Pantha (DC Comics)]

My favorite quotes from propaganda that have nothing to do with misogyny, y'all are just funny:

I wish I could use bold here, because there's no such thing as uppercase numbers. [Arcee (Transformers)]

the most convoluted and lore dense piece of media this side of the afton criticality. [Jane Crocker (Homestuck)]

ended up starting a gang war by accident [Stephanie Brown (DC Comics)]

Ashfur, who later turns out to be a murderous incel [Squirrelflight (Warrior Cats)]

Hawkfrost is actively seeing Brambleclaw and his evil father in cat hell. [Squirrelflight (Warrior Cats)]

#not polls #stats

[kiwinatorwaffles]

I found This is About a Stuffed Bird bc of you and its one of my favorite fics ever. Do you by chance have more suggestions?

hermitcraft/mcyt fic recs? :0 let's go!!

i get a lot of my fic recs from other friends since i don't really go out and search on my own all too much for this fandom. but there are lots of great works out here! i will be listing out some of my favorites :3 mostly hc but a couple general mcyt ones that i think are an excellent read no matter what. all of the fics i'm listing will be genfic without ships!

also i just realized a lot of my bookmarks are grian-centric which is funny i guess because i am admittedly quite picky about content of my other favorites and grian just tends to have the most content in the fanbase. hope that'll be alright

(i hope some of my friends and mutuals don't mind me tagging them for their works)

hermitcraft longfics:

the last days of the free angel of carrows by @theminecraftbee - loved stuffed bird? here's another great longfic by second! this one is about joe and cleo in an urban fantasy mystery setting. again, second writes our beloved hermits into an captivating au!

leaping and hopping on a moonshadow by @lunarblazes - a fantasy au by luna my beloved! pearl suddenly gains magical powers and goes on a quest to find her long-lost friend grian who might know what's happening to her. she meets a lot of familiar faces along the way!

Recall by @redwinterroses - hey, i was the artist for this one! :D mumbo goes missing, so grian and scar search for him. they find that grumbot has been up to some... things along the way. the fic isn't finished but i think the chapters red put out is worth a read if you don't mind leaving off on a cliffhanger because it really is super interesting

dramaturgy by wormcity - a universe where gem and pearl join in a season 7 that was never finished. mumbo became the mayor, but the turf war went so very wrong afterwards. admittedly i have not finished reading this yet because ummm short on time xD but it's super interesting with a lot of layers of drama(turgy hahaha)!

hermitcraft short fics/oneshots:

for trying. by @autistic-evil-xisuma - a stuffed bird universe oneshot of x and xisuma during their lab days. great if you want to be sad over the doomed brothers again :D

the wheels on the bus by sparxwrites - a hilarious post-s8 oneshot about grian being a little shit towards the watchers. one of the first fics i've read from this fandom and i still love it

a body is an object by ruffboi - grian is a mimic, and pearl's arrival in s8 shakes him up. she hasn't seen him in a while and is quite upset to learn that the grian she knew died a long time ago. a great read for familial connections and conflict of friendships!

Goatman and the Rift by TheDepressedCanary - doc's eldritch powers start acting up when the rift appears. what shenanigans will ensue?

other mcyt fics/crossovers:

late at night, when the stars don't look quite right by @lunarblazes - an excellent empires s1 and hermitcraft crossover longfic, where grian lands into the server and is discovered by pearl! very great worldbuilding and relationships, i especially love the dynamic between gri and pearl and pearl and gem :D

every new discovery is just a reminder by amaranthinecanicular - grian begins pulling alternate versions of the hermits from the life series into the server. he does save a lot of them, but at what cost? it does end on a cliffhanger but this is genuinely one of the most captivating oneshots i've ever read... argghhh

The Fair and the Brave and the Good by @slashmagpie - an afterlife smp longfic centered around the shelby, scott, and sausage. i have never watched afterlife smp before in my LIFE and this is still one of my favorite pieces of literature ever. the characters and worldbuilding is impeccable and perfect if you like something dark with themes of hope and renewal.

Two Can Keep a Secret (If One of Them is Red) by anonymous secretmcblog - a 3L oneshot! ren suspects grian has stockholm syndrome with his pact to stay with scar, but his expectations are wrong. a truly excellent read and one of them first fics i've read! i still go back to reread it from time to time

dog at the door by fluffy_papaya & iamsolarflare - a longfic where doc and ren take a trip on a van on their way to s8. ren, however, is not quite himself, and doc has to learn to befriend the red king.

devil town is colder in the summertime by @bananasofthorns - a oneshot from a 100hsmp/life series d&d au! team BEST ventures into a cursed evil fucked up forest. uh oh.

Interview with the Aftermath by @ranchersrevenge (wanderlasts) - the last life contestants are invited for an interview. the responses vary greatly.

stars, smoke, and stolen car keys by wormcity - a 100hsmp modern au oneshot where grian, scar, and joel go on a hike. it doesn't go quite as they expected.

the beehive state by amaranthinecanicular - a dsmp oneshot after wilbur moves to utah. tommy visits him, and the two reconnect. i have to say i stopped following dsmp a long time ago but this fic made me BAWL. i don't even think you need to know any of the characters that well to really enjoy just how amazing the writing itself is

Can't Go Back (This Time) by @duckmumbo (musicaltvbooks) - soup group goes end raiding and accientally finds themselves in afterlife smp. nothing goes wrong, surely! also admittedly i havent finished reading this either but roy i swear i will. this is a great read nevertheless and the soup group dynamic is impeccable!

TommyInnit's unbeatable method of avoiding sudden death by eneliii - on the train of dsmp fics, this is the superhero au longfic that inspired my own hc superhero au, vdhau. it's a lot of funny shenanigans with tommy and his friends. the fic does take a dark turn at the end, but that can be skipped entirely (as said by eneli herself) if you just want the wholesome aspects.

if you don't mind a little self promo, here are some of my fics!

it takes two to play (the game of mutual secrecy) - the aforementioned hermitcraft hero au. this installment is centered around xisuma and evil x as brothers resolving their issues through hero work and solving the mystery of welsknight's disappearance :D there are other works that are set in the same universe if you're interested for more!

how to form the ultimate besties dynamic: an unreliable tutorial by hypnotizd - a oneshot! hypno is a warlock who goes treasure hunting under the sea. he meets a guardian who later becomes his unlikely friend.

smoke and mirrors, the hunt perseveres - grian's arrival in empires s2 unwittingly brings the watchers' suspicions with him. cue jimmy freaking out and a lot of shenanigans.

ballad of etho’s lab - my newest installment! a oneshot about etho's storied life as the redstone god.

i'm also currently working on the sequel to the game of mutual secrecy and a new (well not exactly new since i made concept art for it) au called private detective gem tasey! these will likely be released sometime late january or february. have fun with these fic recs! i haven't been reading as much lately but i hope ill be able to find more if anyone else asks in the future. cheers!

edit: the fics are out! here they are!

hiding in plain sight (the meaning of trust) - sequel to the hermitcraft hero au! it follows an escaped lab rat trying to acquaint themselves with human society while avoiding suspicion and making friends with familiar faces from tgms ;D

private detective gem tasey: a rotten mystery in london - a hermitcraft detective au where gem gets hired for a case that spirals completely into drama and politics!

#birdhouse inquiries #why am i hereagain tag #writing #hermitcraft #mcyt

[sinimake]

Big agree with what you said about Johnshi. I've been in fandoms for a fuckton long time and this isn't new but damn does it bother me that in the year 2023 we still have to go through this.

It isn't only how the story goes for both Kenshi and Johnny (they meet at their lowest, go through hell together and come out of it as better people). It's also the banter in the intros (not only between them but also the fact that Kenshi and Johnny talk about each other to the others). And don't get me started with how their designs work : the blindfold is now forever tied to Johnny and the whole red/blue design going on.

But no. We can't have what would be the most organic relationship in the whole MK1 story. Instead we have Syzoth and Ashrah (which, don't take me wrong I LOVE them both) who happen to breath in the same room and possibly bond outside of the mainstory?

Agh sorry for the rant but sometimes I get bitter bc we couuuld have it aaaaaall >:(

EXACTLY 😤😤 I AM SO MAD!!!

Let me rant some more about this.

NRS was the first to introduce the first ever gay character in the fighter style video games. Love them for it, love that Taleena is canon. However, they're still pussayh for not making johnshi canon.

So i have been fangirl for more than a decade and IT IS ALWAYS THE SAME DAMN PROBLEM WITH BIG PRODUCTION COMPANIES they're so afraid of public backlash.

Let me tell you why not making Johnshi canon situation is different from Taleena and Kung Jin by opening big ass can of worms.

1. MK is dominated by cis hetero males. Yes, many people from various bg play the game, but it is undeniably true that the majority of fan base is men.

2. There's a phenomenon called the fetishization of lesbian and bisexual women. I am aware that I'm being controversial by saying this, but this fetishization makes the general public be more "accepting" of lesbain couple than the rest of the queer community, and it resonates mostly in straight men where they see queer women as objects that are simply putting on a show for the enjoyment of those watching.

This leads to my next point that it is a high probability that Taleena is allowed to be canon because the backlash from the cis hetero male fan base will be less than having gay relationship in the game. And let me tell you, Taleena interaction is bare minimum in the story mode!! I mean, yeah, they're trying to hide their relationship from others and the story is not exactly focused on them but they can be so much more! I can gloss over the lack of taleena content but was hoping for more in the future installment. But guess fucking what? Alternate universe Tanya and Mileena are rumored to be married to men in the upcoming mk1 side story.

Like imagine the vast possibility of having alternate universes where you can notch up the teased Forbidden Lovers trope but instead of having Taleena being happily united, NRS makes their only queer relationship straight???? *maniacal laugh* Honestly i will fight NRS on SIGHT. In my eyes, this only proves that they don't really care about queer representation, they're just filling the diversity qouta.

3. With what i said, NRS is a fucking coward for not making their popular male characters gay. You might bring up my boy Kung Jin but listen to me, debuting new queer character and making existing fan favorite character queer are completely different things. Kung Jin is first introduced in MK X and his sexual orientation is subtly suggested in the game. While Johnny Cage has been rated among the top Mortal Kombat characters by various gaming media publications.

If NRS made Johnny gay and in a relationship with Kenshi, imagine how fucking big the media coverage of them would have been. Literally, the second coming of that beer company queer backlash would have happened. Every gaming news outlet would be making articles on it. Johnshi would be trending on twitter.

I understand that it would be quite a risk to that to your business but guess what? They gave the most organic, the most heartfelt, the most tender story arc (ok i could be lil baised but you cant deny the chemistry) then slapped good ol' guys being pals and best friends forever crap on them 🙃

If Johnny and Kenshi were opposite gender, no cap, NO FUCKING CAP THAT THEY WOULD HAVE A FUCKING COUPLE.

4. I think Johnshi arc takes almost half of the story mode because we go through Johnny, Raiden, Kenshi, Baraka, Ashrah, Syzoth POVs till they come back from Outworld mission and in every chapter, Johnny and Kenshi get significant moments. And those moments are exclusive to only two of them, specifically tailored to them.

People say they're just friends, but i think the difference really shines if you consider that Kung Lao and Raiden are equally friends with them too. During outworld mission, Kung Lao has minimal dailogues and screen time when Johnny and Kenshi have interaction. If Kenshi and Johnny were just friends, they should have shown Kung Lao's reaction to Kenshi's blinding, Kung Lao's worry for Kenshi in the Shang Tsung's real laboratory, Kung Lao's line for Kenshi's regained sight RIGHT ALONG SIDE WITH JOHNNY.

What Kenshi and Johnny have exclusively belongs to them. That sets the difference between platonic friendship and the connection of those two.

Straight couples have less fucking interaction than one fucking scene and they are magically together. So tell me why the fuck Johnshi is not real

They SHOULD BE REAL and I'm so DONE with NRS

#johnshi #mk1 2023 #mortal kombat #mk1 #kenshi takahashi #mortal kombat 2023 #johnny cage #johnny x kenshi

[theastrical]

maybe, in the next life?

Soulmate, separated by death. In an alternate universe where one’s soulmate could be discovered by the red thread around their fingers when they’re in the verge of death.

diluc x reader || first person point of view.

hurt/comfort, angst, rollercoaster ride fr, major character death.

notes: i hate this pls kms.

a year before

“Do you believe in reincarnation?”, i asked diluc, my cheeks were pinkish, well it’s normal because i’m in his sight and we were there, together, for once. he could easily teased me for this…though i wish he did teased me. He looks cold and distance, even when the ice from the juice melts he doesn’t seem to budge. Whatever happened? It seems like he forgets that i’m in front of him..or maybe he doesn’t want to talk to me? I don’t know. So i let diluc wander around until he gets into his senses.

“Why bother asking? of course i do..as a myth though. Not for sure i believe in it. Why?” The way he says it makes me wanna punch him. He could just say no! Why give me hope! “You could’ve just said no! I thought you really did believe in it for a split second!”, i said it with my cheeks now much more red than before due to my rage, well small things really do trigger me, i realise that when diluc pinch my cheeks-“what? You’re acting like a toddler..sorry okay? I was just messing with you.” He chuckles, somehow that sounds sarcastic.

but that is, in fact, one of my favorite moment with him. He would look like he doesn’t care, he would like he hates me…then again i wish he really do hate me.

6 months back

i remembered what happened 6 months ago, i’m in my 20s of course my memory is still up to date. I remembered a spark, a red spark. i didn’t know what happened but i know to well that it doesn’t seem good if the red spark comply it’s sight to me. I was in my father’s funeral and diluc was beside me, sitting down with his left hand on his jacket, the right one hiding it’s physical stature behind the pocket with my left hand. I saw a string, it was from his fingers first, specifically his ring finger.

“Diluc..?”, i move my stiff neck to the sight of his jawline, trying to reach his gaze.

“hm?”

he’s distracted, from the tomb? No, he barely knows my father. From the rain? No. From the crowds of people crying? No, He doesn’t like tears. “do you want to talk about anything?”, my voice quiet, reaching his empty demeanour.

“In front of your father’s tomb?”

“well he’s dead…”

he snickered, “not now.” His small smirk left me blushing, but for what reason? I don’t even like how he snickered at me, maybe it’s because he caught me off guard looking at him with eyes full of hope? i guess that might be the reason.

after that small talk, i know something is up with us.

8 days later.

“oh diluc? why are you calling..“, weird, i told myself. I usually be the one to call him first. He would be choking on his grape juice and cough while he answer my calls. My hands are shaking, excitement from his initiative. That’ll be the second time diluc ever called me, maybe to make some dates? I hope. Or just to say hello to me? I can hope, i can always hope for the best. I’m expecting for the best, since diluc never disappoint me nonetheless. Even when he forgets my birthday, even when he called me when he was drunk from a bet, in my eyes, he’s just a dork who doesn’t know how to interact with the world.

so i jumped into my bed and hold my pillow, acting like a plush to be hugged. Acting like diluc is here hugging my presence, squeezed by me. “Soooo what’s upppp?”, i hope my voice can sweetened whatever he wanted to talk about. I just want to let him know that i can respond to him, that i’m here to listen to him. 10 seconds, he barely reply, he didn’t even gave a sigh per-usual.

that’s weird, diluc always sighed before chuckling.

why is he not chuckling? Did i say something stupid? But all i say is a “what happened” not a “diluc you’re so dumb!!” Which i always say in our date.

“diluc are you th—“

“i’ll get forward okay? I want us to break up.”

“It’s for your own good”

“Please never talk to me again.”

“I’m sorry”

“let’s talk first, you always say the relationship needs communication right..so can we tal—“

“There’s nothing to talk about [name].”

“goodbye, sorry.”

“N-no don’t be so—“

the call died just like that. I was in fact, dizzy as fuck. i wanna scream but i can’t. My grip loosened from my pillow and the cellphone dropped just like that, i didn’t feel the need to cry but i sit there for half an hour with my eyes all empty. and with my last braincell that i currently have, i run to his place, i didn’t even use any sandals or shoes, i run with all of my might to his house, my white robe all dirty from the mud around his place, my eyes red, and my hair cramped up.

i run to his place and knock on his door. I’m your first and last crazy ex…and i know you hate me for that. Yet i can’t help but to knock on your door as rough as i can just for you to talk to me, and told me what i have done wrong in this relationship.

tell me if you need help, your pride isn’t going to help you survive diluc, tell me why should i break up when we’ve been here altogether now.

i knock on his door for hours and i can see his silhouette behind the door…i know he’s keeping his body behind that nasty old door for hours just to keep me back, whilst thinking that he’s not home any longer. But i see everything in that rotten home, i know for too well that diluc presence never leave that home, from his shoes, his corridor, and his maids all inside the house during rainy days.

I’m insane indeed, but i’m here. I want to talk, i want to ask.

And when i see that solemn thread on my finger, connecting to his finger behind that door. i knew what i have to know.

“Diluc…i hate it that you didn’t talk to me about this. I FUCKING HATE IT WHEN THE RED THREAD IS THE ONE TO TELL ME THAT MY FIANCÉE IS GOING TO DIE SOON.”

“DONT LEAVE ME OUT OF YOUR BOOTS…IM ALSO HERE YOU BASTARD!!!”

“don’t come here again, you’re not welcome and look…”

“This is for your own good.”

“IF THIS IS FOR MY OWN GOOD, THEN WHY AM I THE ONE CRYING OVER IT?!! I SHOULDVE BEEN HAPPY BUT NO DILUC, IM HERE ROTTING BECAUSE OF YOUR SELFISH SELF”

“Listen…[name]…you’ll be in pain, but until then…you’ll be thankful that i break this whole thing apart just for your happiness in the future.”

“fuck…” i cried. I finally cried.

“diluc please just talk to me, please…” i slam my head onto the door just so he can hear my desperation.

I love him, god, i really do.

how come i have to leave my man in the hand’s of death before he can enjoy life to the fullest? At least, let me help him prepare his death…so he wouldn’t be afraid of death.

i just wanted another chance. I just wanted him to live. All i asked is for diluc to know that i would never give up on him.

When the door was opened, oh god…

He hugged me.

And he barely sobbed.

“it would hurt a lot.”

“i know, and i’m willing to make this our first and last.”

he snickered, i hate that sound.

“You’re so desperate it cringes me”

“And you’re dumb, that makes us equal.”

and i guess, for months…after months. I’m just there, while you’re in that bed. I would always wheel your wheelchair from one place to another, you always mention that i suck, that i’m not a good company for being all emotional in my line of duty. but then you kissed me and smile. You smiled as if you’re trying to make sure that i no longer cry everytime i look at you. You kissed me and that felt so good. You kissed me and i try to not miss that soon.

“wheel me to that spot…theres so many cats in that exact spot and i know you like that.”

i immediately wheel his chair as fast as i can to meet my lovely kitties. Though it ended up with diluc getting scratched by one of the cats so we left early, then he complained, again and again. Saying that “maybe i’m tougher than the kitty” as if, he’s now just an ordinary man with life support all over his body.

then when we just sit around the hospital, he would gossip…saying that the nurses in here cheat on their husband with that one pretty doctor.

“And how do you know?”

“I just know”

“you can be a good evidence for a lawsuit you know that luc?”

He snickers.

“Unlike you”

i pinch his cheek.

“oh shut up, you’re the one stuck in this wheelchair, IM the one who supposed to help you!”

“And if that’s not because you’re desperate. You’re a little mad you know?”

“I am not!!!”

he snickers again and again just to make me annoyed and i hate that. I wish i never miss that voice, so i can sleep well with the thought you hate me.

now that i know you love me, it’s hard for me to sleep.

then again i remembered when he look at me with an affectionate gaze on his eyes, he was pale, and his hands are already blue. Fuck diluc, whatever have you done to me, it’s working.

“I love you”

when he waves his hands just to make me smile.

when he tried to smile, to blink, just to keep holding my hands while he’s already half there.

And when he tried to make things better, i failed it.

i’m selfish and i didn’t regret any of it.

“let’s meet again.”

he nods. “Where?” He asked with his hoarse voice, possibly from the effect of the drug the doctor forced him to consume.

“i don’t know, your choice.”

“the same place you bury me.” He chuckles, i know he say that out of spite of knowing what will happen next if he sleeps.

out of anxiety, i kissed his forehead.

“What’s that for?”

“I’ll miss it if i don’t do it now”

“I’m not turning into an ash, you can kiss me while you bathe me naked in the body room.”

“I like warm better than cold.”

He suddenly kiss my cheeks.

“And i like to have my life longer than short.”

he jokes.

I know for too well, he wants more of this life.

The red string is real, it’s everywhere we we kiss each other cheeks. It’s invisible when the heart monitor flatlined. Yet i know, he was just trying to savor the moment where the red string finally connected both of us at the end.

“You look better in a suit diluc..”

my eyes are red.

“Next time, i’ll make your tie every morning.”

“So your co-workers won’t be making fun of you..”

I kissed his cheeks again.

“It seems i still like you cold.” I laughed.

next time, i’ll make sure that you’ll be here in the aisle, Instead of another man.

“you may kiss the bride”

his lip is warm, unlike yours, diluc.

#fiction #diluc ragnvindr fics #diluc angst #diluc fanfics #diluc ragnvindr #genshin diluc #diluc x reader #diluc x you #diluc ragnivindr x reader #diluc ragnvindr angst #genshin impact fics #genshin impact angst #genshin impact fanfic #genshin x reader #genshin x you #diluc #diluc x y/n

[acourtofquestions]

Sarah J. Maas really does a good job as a writer when it comes to guiding the reader into the opinion you want them to have for the best emotional investment in the story. … It’s never going to be 100% unanimous (often it’s fun in a way because everyone has their own interpretation, favorites, etc.) however I think her fandoms have more generally conclusive agreements & that’s a pretty impressive feat saying how often her characters & their relationships change; they are built, destroyed, & rebuilt again. The ability to twist the story (even starting with the Beauty and the Beast comparison within A Court of Thorns and Roses is impressive). And I say this as a fan who tends to be PRETTY loyal to my favorites, her books have been an exception.

Tamlin (the beast) is at first a VERY hesitation drawing character, by the time one finally starts to like him; it still feels off (& confusing because isn’t he “supposed to be” the main love interest? “Shouldn’t you” like the MAIN LOVE INTEREST?) then when you finally start to think you love him, your all in on the ship, it starts BREAKING YOUR HEART, until one page changes everything & you now LOATHE HIM FOREVER. 1 book, 7 chapters, & the reader goes through it WITH Feyre.

Rhysand (the beauty😂😊😘) goes from a “who is this tall dark “beautiful” stranger”, to holy**** he’s the one decapitating people😅 & now everyone is terrified of him (for & with Feyre), so the hatred officially starts, until it presses pause because it’s just straight up confusing (“what am I supposed to feel?”) and start getting confused by all the feelings for him; one second he’s annoying, then hilarious, then everyone is drawn to him, until you can’t tell if you like or hate (or love to hate) him. AND THEN SOMETHING IS DEF UP AND YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT RIGHT NOW so you spend all this time guessing & waiting & brooding & pining—until you think you understand him & “even if it’s fucked up you love him” & then you REALLY do LOVE him and your just WAITING for Feyre to realize it too… And then EVERY shoe drops; you never knew anything, now you know EVERYTHING, & they are officially ENDGAME… until that gets too literal & now your crying CAUSE IT CANT END & thankfully it doesn’t! It just begins 80 times over for Fae Infinity (depending on how that whole death bet bargain goes😅).

Sam we fall for him (even knowing from DAY 1) how it ends; we fall for him because she did; and he did love her. Truly, steadily, from the beginning—to the end. They had something real, a beautiful promise (to be kept… & betrayed, not by them but by the very universe) born among sorrow but not out of it. Something good, built by them. We fall for the assassin, the boy, the best friend; the one that should’ve gotten to be the one or at least gotten more time… the first love, always love, & un-ended one because it’s ending came without a goodbye & before it even had a chance to begin…

Dorian the beautiful & forbidden prince — the good boy, to one day make a good king & a good man; the dreamer you fall for because he wants to make the world better & just might be a better benevolent ruler; ever-looking for his equal to rule by his side. The forbidden affair, yet always almost promised to be — the Daughter of Terrasen & the Son of Adarlan — enemies to friends to lovers (& friends again) burdened with glorious purpose & dark powerful pasts. The might have been; two sides, same coin… seen by all… seemed fit to be…

Chaol the opposites attract; magnets always in orbit always moving toward this; them. The love that brings life, back to-well-life. The guard & The Assassin; the killer & the protector; the prophesied end to evil rule, a woman scorned & hell-bent to burn the crown to the ground — the one who gave everything for an ideal, a good man, given to protect it at the cost of his very life & all he knew; the daughter of ruin & the fallen — the son of ruiners who destroyed to survive, yet survived nonetheless. A truly good man in a world of evil, a goodness that makes her believe again. A resilient sun, she blazes among deaths darkness, he watches her like Icarus. They are the goodness that came out of the ashes. Opposites yet the ones that understood (even to a fault). It was always meant to be… right?! — Their story. You see & fall for yet ANOTHER future, their “brood of children” & running away together. Until…

Rowan I have yet to meet him but from the little (trying to stay spoiler free) he is her match. Though I was strongly team Chaol… and Dorian… and Sam… I am sure I will fall once again…

There is something genius in that

#Sarah J. Maas #Maasverse #Sarah J Maas #Sarah Maas #ACOTAR #ACOMAF #ACOWAR #ACOFAS #TOG #Throne of Glass #Crown of Midnight #Heir of Fire #the Assassin’s Blade #Tamlin #Rhysand #Feyre #Sam Cortland #Dorian Havilliard #Chaol Westfall #Ilias #Celaena Sardothien #Aelin Galathynius #Rowan Whitethorn #writing #writers #written by women #ships #power of writing #audience persuasion #fandom opinion

[thegeminisage]

it is time for. NOT a tng update. but a ds9 update!!! wednesday* we watched "emissary" and actually i'm not clear on if we watched both parts or just one since my website is wonky but either way whatever we watched FUCKING RULED. i'm dispensing w the normal bullet points so i can ramble as much as i want

*it was last night actually but it took me all day to type this up so i'm scheduling it to go up later. it got looooong lol

the first most striking thing i noticed about ds9, or at least the first half of what we watched, is that it FEELS like a video game. someone tell me if this is insane. you're playing as sisko. you get flashbacks of his backstory, you get thrown into this starbase that's in shambles and it's Your Job to fix it up. you go around meeting all the secondary characters who will be in charge of this or that gameplay aspect or upgrade system or shop: kira, o'brien, quark, odo, jadzia, julian, etc. the FOLEY in this was insane. all the noise in the back CONSTANTLY suggested a lively and whole universe outside of our direct line of focus - it felt so alive in the way not even the enterprise in tos did. i could picture myself in the opening gameplay/cutscene like slowly walking my character through what will become a hub area that i gradually upgrade over time while kira or o'brien narrates the list of problems. you're starting at the bottom rung and expected to fail, but you can FEEL the potential even in just one brief walk through the promenade. IS THIS INSANE? it feels like an insane thing to say. someone PLEASE write in if you have ever had similar feelings. if they haven't made a ds9 game yet, they should.

i also notice that not only is the quality of the ds9 episodes worse than that of tng and tos - no one has remastered them into 1080p, apparently - but the lighting is very different, as well. it felt WEIRD to see picard and the enterprise D shot this way. but it also lends, perhaps unintentionally, perhaps not, a really gritty atmosphere to what is normally a very clean universe. i guess since we mostly see it from the inside of starships, it would feel like a sterile place to us, but you know how everyone always compliments star wars on how lived-in it feels? the buttons are wearing, sand is stuck in their fancy thingamajigs, etc? this was how ds9 felt to me.

okay. the characters. let's fucking get into it. what's so fun about ds9 in general is that in all other trek shows i have picked out my specialest little guy in 5 seconds flat. tos was spock EASILY. tng i knew it was data before i started. i already know seven's gonna be my favorite voyager character, but i have NO IDEA!!! who my precious little baby in ds9 will be. what a fun surprise for everyone involved. if anybody wants to place bets go ahead.

like, i thought tng had a pretty solid lineup (hence my eternal frustration with its wasted potential) but they're not anywhere as eclectic as ds9's core cast. iirc, sisko and o'brien are the ONLY humans who for once are outnumbered by trek's cool aliens. i'm saving sisko for last because that was the part of ds9 that touched me most profoundly, but for o'brien - it was a little sad to see him leave the enterprise, because picard was right, it WON'T feel the same without him, but i'm really excited to see why everybody says he suffers more than jesus and to find out if the eyepatch is a permanent thing or if it's just mirrorverse fuckery. either way, i win. like, o'brien is cool, and i always miss him when i don't see him in tng, and i'll continue to miss him in tng from here on out, but he could never shine in that show. it's too stiff and too reluctant to put its characters through any real development. it's a shame they can't ALL move to ds9, tbh.

the next person we met was kira, who was WONDERFUL. it took me a minute to warm up to her, not because there was anything wrong with her, but because i figured at first glance she was ds9's version of ro laren, the obligatory bajoran cast member to connect us with the bajoran/cardassian plot - which would of course be good because ro is awesome, but it's not necessarily anything new and i already love ro. BUT I WAS WRONG! kira's personality is very distinct from ro's; really the only thing they have in common is not liking cardassians which lmao Yeah. my favorite thing about kira is that she smiles when she's upset or angry. that's Such an acting choic, to have her grinning at the cardassians when she's almost certain they're about to blow her whole space station to smithereens. all love light and respect to ro laren my beloved, but i think i actually like kira BETTER.

odo: WHAT is that thing he can do oh my god...is this a changeling?? i got that result in a star trek quiz once. i really loved when he snuck aboard the enemy ship posing as a bag to hold gambling winnings. i was like oh they showed us the bag to show us it will get stolen soon BUT NO it was odo!!!!!!! such a fun surprise. the exposition on his backstory was a little slapdash but i enjoyed it all the same, i cannot wait to learn more

i was most nervous to meet quark because i hate hate HATE the ferengi in tng, but he was actually so entertaining! like, you're never gonna be able to entirely remove the antisemetic undertones from the ferengi as a whole, but he was smart, practical, and endearingly longsuffering. i love his wryness and deadpan humor. i have a feeling he is gonna be so much fun to torture lovingly.

meeting julian bashir felt like meeting a famous person. for the longest time all i knew about ds9 was that cardassian guy wanted to FUCK that gay little doctor, so it was a little hilarious that in his first scene he was asking a woman* out on a date. sir do you not know you're gay?? even funnier was the fact that out of everybody in the pilot he had the least lines. we barely know him, but we finally met him. relatedly, i can't to wait to meet more cardassians, especially The cardassian. so far, they're still all gay.

*jadzia!!! gnc/trans queen! the trill stuff is SO interesting and watching that worm slither in and out of people during those flashbacks was so wonderful but also made me wince. i love that she used to be an old man and the jokes about it are actually really funny without feeling transphobic or anything SO FAR. who knows if that changes. i feel like we haven't gotten much yet from her either but i cannot wait.

SISKO. damn. where do i even...first of all, he should be allowed to bite kick kill picard. i say this as someone who experienced a genuine THRILL of pleasure upon seeing picard's borged self again. i loved that whole thing, i'm obsessed with the borg. that it comes back in this small way in ds9, and has such a HUGE impact on the storyline, was so so so fucking good. i always say tng tells and not shows, but even after just knowing sisko for a few moments i felt keenly how much it devastated to find his wife like that and THAT WAS JUST FROM THE FIRST SCENE. and it only gets better! he's a great dad. he's FUNNY. he is not above manual labor. he wants to tear picard limb from limb. and he exists HERE.

the wormhole alien sequence was. so good. it was SO GOOD. explaining linear time to aliens. the aliens using his memories to talk to him. HE EXISTS HERE. back and back and BACK to finding his wife in the rubble because HE EXISTS HERE. he CHOOSES to exist here. he existed there when he applied for a transfer to earth. he existed there when he confronted picard. he never left the ship because HE NEVER LEFT THE SHIP. they dragged him out but they COULDN'T DRAG HIM OUT. he exists here because he won't leave her to exist here alone because damn it we can't just leave her here. that was the most insane series of events i ever watched. like, because at first you DO think it's the aliens taking him back there BUT IT'S HIM. HE IS DOING IT TO HIMSELF. when the penny dropped i got literal chill bumps and when the aliens said "it's not linear" and he, openly weeping, replied "it's NOT linear," i genuinely, truly, shed a tear along with him. TNG COULD NEVER. none of those miserable fucks EVER cry!!! sisko did it in the god damn pilot!!!!!!!

and like, the fact that he can choose to stay at the space station at the end, to shake picard's hand, to exist SOMEWHERE ELSE. AAAAAUGHGHGHG

i really loved the final confrontation, too. kira is so so so so good, again, i LOVE that she smiles when she's angry, when she's sad, and it's not a fake smile, it's genuine and honest emotion, and she's genuinely and honestly going to start eating the cardassians for sport if they don't leave her alone. it was very scrappy, them pretending to be bigger and badder than they actually were because they had no other choice. you get the feeling everybody on the station and indeed the station itself is barely holding together, and what little togetherness is present comes from sheer spite.

anyway, absolutely 10/10. i was so worried ds9 wouldn't be good but it not only met my most furtive hopes it surpassed them with flying colors. it's gonna be REAL hard to go back to tng after this.

#personal #star trek blogging #ds9 lb #what an exciting tag to finally get to use!

[kyouka-supremacy]

More thoughts about Kyouka and Akutagawa since I have. A Lot. Most of this was initially rambles that were to go in the tags but got too long to fit

In the end Akutagawa likes Kyouka so much and is fond of her because he subconsciously admires how she found the courage to get out of the environment that was severely hurting her and actually call out her abusive mentor for the pain he inflicted her, whereas Akutagawa is aware that he never was and never will be able to do the same. It's only subconscious, because Akutagawa couldn't ever stand admitting it to himself- because to him that would mean admitting being in pain is his fault too, as well as second guessing every single choice he's ever made. But the admiration is still there. Akutagawa is always complimenting Kyouka, and it's kind of heartwarming‚ kind of heartbreaking when you take in that that's just what he always wanted his own mentor to do to him. Akutagawa's character is so tragic...

Also, in my opinion Kyouka never really feared Akutagawa the way Akutagawa fears Dazai. She feared being hurt as long as she stayed in an hostile enviroment, in great disadvantage and with no chance to get out on her own, but as soon as her chains were broken she really... Doesn't falter in front of Akutagawa. She threatens him with a gun the day after having left the pm- and she doesn't falter, doesn't hesitate; she almost blows him up seconds after; she's not afraid of him as they fight during the cannibalism arc; in Dead Apple, she isn't troubled by the idea of being left alone with him, because she's confident in her abilities and knows she can perfectly stand up for herself. None of this could be said for Akutagawa and Dazai. Partially because Akutagawa was much more vulnerable than Kyouka when Dazai picked him up (despite them being the same age; but Kyouka was raised lovingly and had a perception of what being treated with dignity was like, while Akutagawa lacked that), partially because Dazai is way better at manipulating people than Akutagawa could ever be, who really sucks at it. Akutagawa is terrified of Dazai and still very much subject to him: God, he didn't hesitate one second to throw himself from a balcony just to catch a repetitor for a slight chance to talk to him. He begged him to allow him to prove his power although he was beaten and exhausted and every muscle in his body hurt like hell. He didn't object to being teamed up with the person he hates the most in the whole world just because it was Dazai who asked. After four years after having been abandoned, Dazai called, and Akutagawa immediately ran to him- with that desperate look in his eyes. But the list is so long, I could go on forever; every single thing Akutagawa does (or, almost every single... ), he does for Dazai. Kyouka would never do ANY of this for Akutagawa (thank goodness). Akutagawa fears Dazai, Kyouka doesn't fear Akutagawa.

It's also sorta fun how Kyouka didn't particularly try to hide her dislike for Akutagawa even while she was still in the pm. Seriously, Kyouka is so fearless and brave. I wholly believe her being so blunt about her animosity towards him contributes to Akutagawa having a liking for her, be it self-loathing, be it having the courage to do what he himself could never. (And it's also fun to remember how Akutagawa has it in him to hate Dazai. There's a whole alternative universe where he deeply loathes him from the first to the last page).

Really, Kyouka and Akutagawa are some of my favorite foils and I'll never get tired of them. Both of them are kind of ruthless. Both have a deep bond with their siblings, who bring out the best of them. For both joining their respective organizations is seen as salvation. The way they're both very pragmatic and oftentimes even cynical. The way they were perfectly on the same page in Dead Apple, to the point Kyouka deemed it the best choice in that moment to go with Akutagawa rather than stay with Atushi. The real difference lays in how Kyouka found it in herself to rebel where Akutagawa couldn't. But that's not really a difference by itself as much as it was consequence of the environment they grew up in: Kyouka was raised in early childhood with love and support, and was able to tell that what was being done to her in the pm was wrong. Akutagawa, on the other hand, never knew what love is, so he couldn't perceive the lack of thereof.

#Guess who's reading chapter 49 again and guess who's getting emotional over them again #Chapter 49 has always easily been my favorite chapter in the whole manga‚ no room for discussion. #Not even chapters 87 or 66 are match for it to me #“Once there was a man who bore the same eyes as you” there sure was alright #kyōka izumi #ryūnosuke akutagawa #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd analysis #my analysis #mine #q. #15/01/23

[anghraine]

What are your opinions on Pride and Prejudice 1980 overall?

Would you say that it is a faithful adaptation? Would you recommend it to a P&P fan?

I'm very partial to it and I would rate it over the 1995. I know most people adore the 1995 version, though.

I love it!

I was just talking about my two favorite adaptational takes on P&P here, and the 1980 P&P is one of them.

It definitely has flaws, both as a work in its own right and as an adaptation. You were asking about how it functions as adaptation, so I'm going to focus on that, but the overall aesthetic is extremely 1979 on a limited budget. Some of the visual/narrative choices are very staid adaptationally (like showing Elizabeth reading Darcy's letter by ... literally showing Elizabeth reading the letter).

On the flip side, there are a few improbable divergences, most notably the rushed and peculiar presentation of the second proposal (though getting a glimpse of post-proposal Darcy and Elizabeth's happiness counts for a lot for me!). There's also stuff added that doesn't really change anything, but is arguably not faithful per se. And this is not always acknowledged by the fans it does still have. Personally, I love the weird instrumentation that follows Mr Collins around and Mr Hurst's anti-mountain agenda, but people's mileage may vary.

Beyond that, I love it as an adaptation that veers away from tapping into accessible (or caricatured) stereotypes the way the 1995 does. The 1980 P&P's characters really do feel to me like very specific and usually more nuanced interpretations of the original characters compared to basically every other version of P&P—not necessarily my interpretations, but I always feel like I can see where the interpretation is coming from, beyond appeals to contemporary audience sensibilities.

Elizabeth Garvie's Elizabeth is the jewel of the production for me—charming, lively, witty, vain, with a distinct tinge of sweetness that I think adaptations often lose sight of. It's honestly difficult to even say much about her because she is simply perfect to me.

David Rintoul's Darcy is probably my favorite Darcy, too. His demeanor isn't exactly what I personally imagine, to be sure (he's not as somberly brooding as Colin Firth's Darcy, but the spirited, smiling cleverness Darcy shares with Elizabeth isn't quite there for me). But I truly respect the choice to retain the general stiffness and formality of his character rather than reducing him to a more palatable love interest/sex object. He's allowed to be odd and to make us uncomfortable in a way I don't think other adaptations are willing to risk with him.

As for the others, Bingley, Jane, and Georgiana all give the impression of more substance to them than they usually get IMO. Mrs Bennet and Caroline are obnoxious but not particularly caricatured (without the adaptation seeming apologetic towards them, either). I love the stylish, younger Mrs Gardiner and Lady Catherine, and the relatively subtle versions of their personalities. Probably the only character choice that doesn't work adaptationally for me is the very harsh Mr Bennet, who lacks much of the endearing wit of the original—though even there, I can appreciate how unwilling the adaptation is to give him a pass (by stark contrast with the much cuddlier Mr Bennets of most other productions).

Would I call it faithful? Not universally, but it is the most engaged with the novel IMO. I don't think anything is so faithful that an adaptation can be a perfect interpretation that shouldn't ever be tried again and done better, but it is the most faithful P&P out there for me, still.

Would I recommend it to a P&P fan? That's a bit harder. It's aesthetically/cinematically dated and in some ways, it's better as interpretation than as television. For people who aren't used to that staid late 70s BBC approach ... idk, it can be a tough sell. I wouldn't casually recommend it, I guess, just because the contrast with the polish of the 1995 and the beauty of the 2005 is so stark. But for people who can look past that 70s BBC period drama baggage, there's a lot that's really interesting and engaging about it.

I certainly prefer it to the 1995, but since I intensely dislike the 1995, that's not saying a whole lot. It's probably more useful on my end to say that I just really love the 1980 P&P, despite having criticisms of it. I don't even know how many times I've watched it. For me, it's a joy.

#veritablydumb #respuestas #austen blogging #austen fanwank #long post #pride and prejudice 1980 #andrew davies critical

[lostacelonnie]

how would honkai 3rd play out if otto was wearing cursed long shoes that gave him an ungodly urge to kick people on the ass and he had to fill a one kick per arc quota and he couldnt take the shoes off because he was cursed into liking them

FIRST OF ALL this is literally my favorite ask i've ever gotten so thank you. second of all i hope you dont mind how chaotic this is but i literally wrote everything down exactly as it came to mind, didnt proofread before posting, and also i barely remember half the older arcs. third of all this is a long post so readmore blast 💥

where dreams began + the end of destiny: im sorry but i genuinely dont know what he was even doing during this time. im just gonna say if any anti entropy personel was caught by schicksal they were just unfortunate enough to be the victim.

under the falling sky: you know that scene where he fucking shoots hua. when shes Not Quite Dead Yet he kicks her to add insult to injury

from the deep ocean: once again, i have zero recollection of what he was doing. does he even appear on screen? oh wait yeah in that one bubble universe where he has an orphanage or whatever. good lord i have no idea who that guy would kick. weren't theresa and children the only people there? oh i dont remember this part of the story At All. wait wasnt there a scene where joachim got mad at him or sth? for killing his father? well there you have it. out of character for that particular otto but it's time for a child to get punted

a shooting star streaking across the night: clueless. any suggestions welcome. perhaps void archives gets it, as it is the only one consistently around otto

elegy to yesterday: during world serpent's attack on the divine key testing site, otto Sees His Chance and disguises himself to infiltrate the battlefield for the sole purpose of kicking someone. all the valkyries present know its him bc of the ridiculous shoes but frankly they dont care bc hes a good distraction

here lies bellflower: yet another arc i dont remember. just like, In General. other than the parts bianka was in [yes i am a parody of myself] and the general gist of what happened. so idk </3

taixuan dream: he kicks senti in self defense. moments before being strangled

remaining flames: not really in this one is he. WAIT ACTUALLY NO wasnt his consciousness attached to some random HoD puppet to get the core???? then i guess he just kicked another one and nobody cared bc HoD puppets are just Like That

thus spoke apocalypse: as recompensation for all the confusion earlier, he gets to kick a lot in this one. first of all the false god otto boss fight is different, adding an attack. The Kick. second of all, while fighting in the space near the imaginary tree, he can finally kick as many of them as he can

following his death, afterlife-otto has to defend himself from the angry mob of all the people that died because of him Somehow. and so he gets to kick people until someone inevitably steals the shoes from him in order to reverse the roles. this goes on for eternity. The End

#asks #Do I Even Tag This. #yeah i will #honkai impact #otto apocalypse

[bluegekk0]

If anything I think you should speak more, because I love everything you write (and draw.) You've been one of my biggest inspirations to go back and give all of my ocs actual stories instead of just designs.

In fact, ever since you mentioned having non-fpk family ocs before, I have been incredibly curious.

Please feed me all of the information like a bird feeding its young, except its letters going into my eyes instead of food going into my mouth

you have no idea how much that warms my heart, i'm really flattered that you see me as an inspiration. it's all i could really ask for

i do have some ocs, yeah. though i will say, the fpk au characters are definitely outliers when it comes to the amount of personality and lore they have. most of my ocs have very basic backstories, and many of them only do because i used to roleplay as them with my friends. a lot of my original designs that i'm attached to don't even have names, let alone personalities

since i'll be posting a lot of pictures, i'll throw this under a read more so it's not too long

i guess i'll start with my oldest oc, a lion king character who used to be my "fursona" (well not exactly, since i've never considered myself a furry. but persona wouldn't fit here) years ago, back in 2012 i believe. she went through a lot of changes over the years, but i've settled on a design that i really like

her name is swahibu (used to be swahili, i wasn't particularly creative, and i changed it recently since it was a bit awkward for her to be named after the entire language hahaha), and she has a little brother named kobe. their lore isn't anything too elaborate, they're essentially scar's grandchildren who used to be outlanders, but after the events of the second movie joined the pridelands. swahibu is bitter and a bit mean, but cares very much about her little brother. she got her scars in a fight with rogue lions which unfortunately ended with their mother's death, so they're now on their own. kobe is a smart cub, and brings a bit of joy and innocence to his big sister's life. as they both resemble their grandfather more than they'd like, they're often the object of nasty comments from those who lived under his tyrannical rule, though they do eventually earn the pridelanders' respect. not much else to say about them, except that i like to hc swahibu as gay. also, they have a very simple family tree that i made to show what their parents looked like, here (might not work if you don't have a deviantart account, but i'm not sure)

--

next up, there's a character i've considered my persona for quite some time, and one i used to put in many funny scenarios with my friends' ocs. he also changed the most out of all of them throughout the years, and recently i gave him a more furry like design as i hate drawing human faces haha

his name is rick, and he's a hybrid of all kinds of different animals. he's very laid back and lazy, though the fact that he's a hybrid gives him some animal-like traits and behaviors. he used to have a backstory but it's kind of stupid so i'm considering changing it, but he was basically created in a lab and then released after it was shut down. now he lives on his own with his cat, jon. he's one of those characters who are very flexible, so if i wanted to, i could modify him to fit into any scenario (for example, he used to have an assassins creed universe version which i used for roleplay years ago hahaha). not much else to say since i'm still in the (slow) process of changing him

--

i also have a lot of dragon characters, most of them were made for the purpose of a larger roleplay story with my friends. in general i take 'dragon' as a very vague term, since to me a dragon can look however you want and all those classification rules are kinda stupid. but you'll still a bit of, idk, i guess a paleoart like direction for their designs, since i like speculative biology and such. also, some of these originated as heavily based on some of my favorite characters at the time, you'll see that with the first one especially

his name is stark and he's probably the dragon that has the most lore behind him. i won't go into too many details regarding the backstory since it's long and very connected to the roleplay (you know, bit of a "you just had to be there" moment haha). but tl;dr he was taken in by a village and raised from hatchling, so he's very docile and a little bit confused. the village was attacked and he was able to survive, but one of his legs was scarred pretty badly, so he noticeably limps while walking. he's a semi-aquatic dragon, so he's an excellent swimmer. funnily enough, he went through a complete "reboot" a few years ago. in the original rp, he was a massive asshole, he'd hurt others for his own amusement and was generally very aggressive and not pleasant to be around. also, he had a prosthetic leg, though i scrapped that as it was far too advanced for the setting i envisioned him in. i much prefer this direction, i love my giant himbo gator-dragon. and i wonder how many of you can guess what character was the inspiration for his appearance (it used to be a lot more obvious in his first design iterations)

(and no, his wing isn't missing. this is just to show his back haha)

these next three don't really have too much backstory to them. well, except for the first one, his name is ithaar, and he was one of my first ocs ever. he went through a massive redesign quite recently, so he has close to nothing in common with his first iterations. the other two characters, eurus and ash, were made for rp purposes quite recently, and so don't have too much lore behind them

ith is a bit of a coward, he struggles with his self-confidence and believes everyone sees him as insignificant due to his small size and inability to fly. he can camouflage, though, so he's a lot cooler than he thinks. also, he moves by hopping around like a little kangaroo. his design is very dromaeosaur-like, with short stubby arms and yi-qi inspired wings

eurus is very pterosaur-like, though much larger than even the largest azhdarchids. he doesn't like the company of others, he's a bit of a loner (with trauma!). he may seem mean on the surface, but his past experiences make him unable to walk past someone who's in need. not quite a gentle giant, though. i think it's easy to see which pterosaurs in particular were the inspiration for his design, though his crests are very dilophosaurus-like

the last one is ash, and she's the newest addition to the roster. her rp session was very short and didn't really add much to her lore, but she's generally a huge jerk who likes annoying others and stealing from them. but of course, it wouldn't be an oc of mine if there wasn't some trauma involved, and she's no exception. she believes she doesn't fit anywhere, she felt rejected by her own kind for her unnatural abilities (she can move things with her mind), and so she copes with it by being a prick. her design was inspired by junker queen from overwatch haha

---

i also have four night fury characters i made during my httyd phase, and i redesigned them about a year ago to be a lot more "natural" in their appearance. they used to be quite a bit more colorful back in the day, and not in the good way haha

their names are vel'ri, sherok, atis and marivo. no real backstory, just vibes. the first one used to be my "main" character during the httyd phase. vel'ri and atis are female, sherok and marivo are male

--

and lastly, some non-dragon characters. these don't really have any backstory that i think is worth sharing, but i still love them very much

this one is named rugat and they're a genderless, shapeshifting magma alien thing. i don't know what they are. i just really like their design. they're aggressive, but they have a soft spot for small, weak creatures. god knows what their reasoning is, but i thought it was a cute personality trait

and these two are named lox and bagel. they're a ragarox, an original species i made years ago when it was cool and hip to have a closed species. they're eyeless cave dwelling lizard things. very chubby. these two guys are not related but they hang out all the time. 🏳️‍🌈 perhaps?

lox, on the left, is the more active and territorial of the two. but he's also super affectionate towards bagel

bagel, on the other hand, is the couch potato. very round and chubby, 10/10

as a fun fact i like to think their long tongues have very distinct smells. lox's smells like lime, while bagel's smells a bit like blueberry

--

and lastly, here are two unnamed characters. i like their designs but i haven't had the chance or inspiration to think of any details about them

the first one is an okapi-like thing. with a kitty face. the second is like a weird mix between a ceratopsid and some kind of mammal

oh and, here's some redesigns of old dragon characters that i forgot to mention earlier. they used to be very different (all but one were inspired by other characters, but you can't see it on their current designs), and i don't have any backstories for them yet. their names are also going to be changed, so consider them nameless for now

(fun fact: the top left one was one of the first iterations of eurus' design, but i decided to turn it into a different character cause i still like it)

#ask stuff #gekko.art #my ocs

[gaysheep]

now my experiences might not be universal but as far as im concerned you asked far fewer questions about video games when you were a kid. the first time you encountered waluigi in mario tennis or mario party or whatever other mario spinoff you encountered him in for the first time because they only put him in spinoffs you didnt say "who's this goofster stomping around like he's a member of the crew?" you said oh ok that's waluigi i guess.

super smash bros melee the crossover fighting game starring all your favorite nintendo characters (well pikachu was second party but thats pikachu everyone knows who pikachu is) had a whole three characters who nobody in north america knew who the fuck they were, two of which were from games that weren't localized at all and one of which was from a game that was enough of a commercial failure in the united states hardly anyone remembered it a little under a decade later. now to be fair ness was in the one on the n64 also but its not like he'd gotten another game. "oh earthbound's failure was overexaggerated" you say that but my brother lived the super nintendo era and not a single one of his gaggle of friends had even heard of earthbound it was not on anyone's radar come on. but no one said "hey these aren't iconic nintendo characters" we all went "well i guess they can be here too" and now we say "you cant main a smash character if you havent played their game" like we werent saying "thats marth i dont know who the fuck he is but hes like a brother to me" in 2001

youd just go into the store and look at a game's boxart and decide you wanted that one and yknow what it usually worked out for you. i did this longer than you'd expect too i was in 7th or 8th grade and thought to myself "yknow i havent really played any console rpgs lately" so i looked up "rpgs for the wii" and i saw a gamefaqs rec thread or some shit where a guy went "well xenoblade is coming out." and i looked up xenoblade and found virtually no information about it other than that it was coming out and thought to myself "yeah xenoblade... that looks like an rpg i could get into." and you know what i did? i preordered it this may very well have been the first game i ever preordered i thought "well they were talking about it on gamefaqs so it must be a big deal i wanna make sure i can play it day 1" but i didnt need to reserve a copy of fucking xenoblade chronicles the store probably could have given me every copy in stock for no profit loss when i walked in there with my gir t shirt and my little receipt because i was one of all three and a half people in north america who played this game counting the gamefaqs guy. and xenoblade chronicles knocked me flat on my ass it was one of the best games i'd ever experienced i'd played plenty of story heavy rpgs before but this one hooked me in a way none of them ever had.

fast forward around 4 years the 4th smash game comes out but this one was different. this was when we really started to go in on the crossover fighters, character slots were now real estate that potential entrants had to earn the right to occupy as if one game ago they didnt make a failed NES peripheral a playable fighter and give it an emotional subplot in subspace emissary. no longer was it "cool i guess this guy is here" it had become "who the hell is this and what do they think they're doing in smash bros?"

and thus came that fateful night when amidst crazy new character reveals like the fucking wii fit trainer they unveil a cinematic trailer and announce that shulk from xenoblade chronicles was joining the fight. to which the unilateral reaction was "who the fuck is shulk why was this trailer framed like we already have a rapport with shulk i dont know this man why does he say stuff like 'im really feeling it?'"

but i knew who shulk was.

#mine

[heartandfangs]

YOU WISH.

GENRE Roommates AU, Playboy!Jake, Virgin!Reader, Suggestive, A bit of fluff

PAIRING f!Reader x Jake/Jaeyun

WARNINGS 18+ ONLY, Cursing, Flirting, Slow-burn, Morally-grey characters, Sexual tension, Fantasizing, Brief mention of a past blowjob, Teasing, Sub!Jake’s dirty thoughts + Praise kink exposed yet again, MC gets a little physical and aggressive (nothing crazy, promise), University/Adulthood woes, One too many puppy references

WORD COUNT 3.3k

SUMMARY One thing led to another, then suddenly a puppy was following you around in the library during finals week–  it turns out his name is Jake Sim, a flirtatious underclassman who quite possibly could be the quickest answer to your desperate prayers. But there was only one thing to do when he started getting in the way of your study time; let him know that this was your territory.

AUTHOR’S NOTE I wrote this before all the installments of IOU but forgot about it until recently lol. This could be a standalone fic, but it's essentially IOU– Part Zero. I revised it because I think it adds a layer to the story and how MC got into this debacle as Jake’s roommate in the first place. It's fun and offers more telling insight into their first impressions of each other.

I’m in the midst of writing Part 5 and it’s going to be a pretty long chapter so I hope you look forward to reading it soon! I will say Heeseung is in the spotlight a bit more while Jake is down in the dumps for this upcoming chapter and the man has absolutely no chill. So, get your dose of Jekjek here while you can!

As always, like/reblog this fic and leave me some feedback if you enjoyed it and want more. Reading your wild and sweet comments is honestly my favorite part next to writing. 🤍⚰️

TAGLIST @fan-zhan, @burningsunsun, @kazuhugs, @skzenhalove, @axartia, @stbwe, @duolingofanaccount, @writingmochi

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3,Part 4, Masterlist

© 2022, Heart and Fangs. All rights reserved. Do not translate or post anywhere.

A text notification sounded from your pocket– it was from your potential roommate and little did you know how dreadful it would be to read.

'___, I'm so sorry, but my plans have changed, as I'm taking a job offer out of town. I can't move in with you anymore. So sorry for the insanely late heads up, but I do wish you the best of luck– and belated congratulations on graduating!'

"Shit, shit– shit!"

Unable to even think about where you'd be living after graduation with finals on your mind, you pocketed your phone and ran an aggravated hand through your hair. Nothing irked you more than when people went back on their word, especially last minute; this was not helping your rising stress levels.

Jesus, feel free to take the wheel any moment now–

The library elevator doors binged on a floor that wasn't your stop; you exhaled heavily, tapping your foot impatiently.

Your bloodshot eyes darted to the boy revealed behind the elevator doors. Immediately you noticed his figure– he was several inches taller than you, lean, and had dark brown hair. Handsome. The student was dressed in a plaid shirt over a casual tee paired with denim jeans and sneakers. He probably belonged to a fraternity, but that was just a stereotypical guess.

You locked eyes with him for a split second and noticed his brows raise in interest ever so slightly, causing you to hastily shift your gaze elsewhere. You settled on staring at the button that lit up to indicate your destination was the top floor.

You noticed him stand up a little straighter out of the corner of your eye as he faced the closing steel doors. The young man's cologne suddenly filled the enclosed space, triggering your keen senses. To your delight, he smelled of warm amber and subtle lavender. Pleasant yet unexpected.

The student made no move to choose a different floor, and you pretended not to notice. He cleared his throat suddenly, earning a confused look from you. 

"Here to study?" The boy smiled at you, and you didn't miss the lilt in his voice, his Australian accent nearly throwing you off. 

"Yeah, like everybody else," You replied indifferently. 

His smile left as quickly as he gave it; he glanced down at his shoes. Your curt answer seemingly deterred him from continuing the conversation with you.

Shoot. Well, you couldn't help it.

Finals week had you tense and single-minded at the moment. Pleasantries and small talk weren't your forte in the first place.

Honestly, you just hoped that you'd come across an available seat for you to hunker down in and get shit done. However, the ride up the elevator was slower than usual, and you couldn't shake off the bit of guilt in your chest. 

The elevator opened to the top level of the library, and the boy allowed you to step out first. The two of you parted ways in search of a cubicle.

It was clear that after you made several rounds circling the floor like a hawk, every seat on the floor was taken. 

The highest floor of the library was the most ideal study spot as it was the one with the best thermostat setting, the best wifi, and the quietest environment. It was your go-to spot all semester long, and you were annoyed that the entirety of the student body suddenly piled in during finals week.

Where was everyone else while you spent time between class periods and evenings sifting through the aisles of books and hogging a study room all to yourself? It was hardly fair, but you accepted your defeat.

After a hot minute, you were back where you started, leaning against the wall in the lobby facing the set of elevators. What a nightmarish process– you'd have to try your luck on another floor.

Apparently, someone else had met the same fate as you.

You watched the student who rode the elevator with you shuffle back into the lobby, looking as hopeless as you felt. However, his expression brightened considerably upon noticing you staring at him.

Ah, shit.

You shifted your weight into your other leg as he made a beeline your way. 

"No luck staking down a spot either?" He asked from a polite distance with his hands slipped into his pockets.

Despite that, his warm scent enveloped you again, and you inhaled slightly, trying not to be obvious. You suddenly wondered if you smelled weird— did you smell weird? 

"No," you tried to inject a little more emotion into your voice, even if you just sounded disappointed, "Everything was taken, unfortunately."

"Wanna try the third floor with me? It's one of the less popular floors, but it usually has a decent amount of tables and cubicles," He asked, catching you off guard.

"Um…"

Would he end up trying to chat with you the entire time if you two did manage to find a spot to study? You supposed you were willing to take your chances to find a place asap.

After all, your photography final was in three hours, and you didn't have any more time to waste since you had put off studying for the elective in favor of your core classes.

Momentarily you regarded the boy who gave you a hopeful look, in the exact way a puppy might when they want to tag along on an errand run.

Such creatures were your ultimate weakness, right next to any offer that involved ‘food’ or ‘free’. 

"...Sure," You agreed with a sigh. 

"Alright! Let's go." You noted his eyes shone when he smiled.

Hoping you'd find better luck on the third floor, once you exited the elevators, you led the way, weaving between the aisles of books to check for open cubicles near the walls.

The boy you'd just met was in close tow behind you; not close enough to touch, obviously, but a lot closer than you'd expect someone to be when you hardly knew each other.

Maybe he just felt more comfortable around you after you agreed to join forces under the name of studying.

Upon emerging from an aisle of shelves, your eyes zoned in on a single free cubicle and chair in the corner of the room.

A wish come true!

Slowly, you glanced back at Jake to gauge his reaction. His mouth formed a silent "ah" before stopping in his tracks. Other students were in the vicinity, their noses buried in textbooks and laptops, a terrible tension suffocating the air.

"You can take it," you quickly whispered, surprised at your sudden generosity.

He merely smirked back and motioned you ahead with his hand, "Go ahead, you saw it first."

You tried to hide your amusement and insisted he take it, wanting to make up for your lack of friendliness during your first interaction in the elevator. If you two found a spot this quickly, there might be a chance you'd find another just as soon, right?

While you waited for his response, he merely looked around at his surroundings, seemingly contemplative, until his gaze settled back on you.

"Shall we keep looking?" He boldly suggested.

This time your brows raised in surprise, lips parting as a response was slow to form in your mind.

Jake's dark eyes bore into you, rooting you to your spot while all you heard was clicking keyboards and the shuffling of papers. The implication of his suggestion dawned on you. 

Did you want to continue to keep each other company? 

You really hadn't experienced much social interaction with that many people this semester, except with the friendly Dance major you'd settle in next to during your photography class. Which, by the way, was coming up hot on your schedule. 

Now really wasn't the time, and yet...

"Okay," You said, sealing your fate.

Wait, what?

You were unable to believe your own words.

Jake had watched you all the while and chuckled, extremely pleased at your response. This time, he guided you down the walkway, passing behind the rows of busy students back into the shelf aisles.

"What's your name?"

Jake slowed his pace to walk side-by-side with you, causing you to nearly brush arms to squeeze by the narrow walkways. You realized that you two hadn't exchanged the most basic information yet.

"___," You shared.

He was all smiles as he repeated it as enthusiastically as he could in a library setting, "I'm Jake."

It seemed his voice could be a bit deep at times; it was interesting hearing him whisper your name. 

"Nice to meet you… Jake." You tried his name out, and he nodded. "What's your major?"

"I'm a Business major, minoring in Marketing."

"Oh wow, you must have a lot to study for," You pondered.

"Yeah, a bit. I graduate in a year, so I have to keep it up for a little while longer."

Jake must be finishing up as a Junior then. You didn't expect that with his build, although it's tough to tell someone's age and class year these days with everyone having different paths in life. You wondered if he was an athlete on top of everything else education-wise. 

"I see."

The fact that you were graduating so soon was scary, but you were planning to play it safe for a while and rack up experience at your internship before making any big moves.

"You gotta work hard and play hard, you know?"

Although you imagined you two had different definitions for the latter term, you nodded.

The two of you suddenly came across a set of empty individual cubicles simultaneously, side by side.

"I think those are reserved for us," Jake nudged your arm with his elbow. You glanced up at him and met his friendly eyes once again. 

"Lucky us," You proceeded to take the seat to the left of the other one. 

Jake slung off his backpack onto the other table and leaned over your partition to speak to you. You eyed him in curiosity from your seat as you shimmied your laptop out of your bag. 

Settling his arms on top of the wooden divider of your cubicle, Jake suddenly dropped his half-lidded gaze to your lips, then back up to your wide eyes.

All the while, his grin never disappeared as he watched you freeze in your chair, undeterred.

Did he just—?

"Mind watching my stuff for me for a sec?" 

His voice had gotten lower again too. You nodded dumbly. 

"Thanks," he smiled at you before walking off to the lobby. 

Oh. You knew that look, but you've never really been on the receiving end of one that intense.

It made you feel pinned to the spot like you were being cornered or coerced… into what exactly? Unable to expend energy on what was going on, you decided to stand your ground regardless of what might happen. One couldn't afford to waste any more time in this scenario, so you tried to shrug it off and busy yourself with studying. 

Within a minute, your study station was set up, laptop, notebooks, and all. Facts about appropriate aperture and ISO settings in correlation with various weathers filled your mind as you crammed for your photography final, not without great effort. At some point, Jake returned and settled into his cubicle.

He left you alone, for a good while at least. 

You were pulled out of your deep thoughts upon noticing Jake's chair pull up by your side.

"How goes it?" He whispered.

"Fine… it's a little tedious of final to study for," You admitted. Who knew one would have to study so much content for a class like photography.

"You seem like a smart girl, so I'm sure you'll ace it. Want me to quiz you?"

"I… sure?"

Jake adjusted his chair to face you and leaned back in it, taking your study packet in hand. Letting his legs spread open comfortably, Jake's fingers innocently played with the stitched seam of his jeans along his inner thigh. At the same time, he rattled off some questions, inevitably attracting your attention to his lower half.

Jake watched you shift in your chair as you tried your damnedest to look elsewhere while answering his questions accurately.

In the meantime, Jake slyly took in the details of your appearance over the edge of your worksheets. He appreciated the way those tight black leggings of yours, paired with that little cropped sweater displayed the curves of your body in a way that had him undressing you in his mind, only guessing at what color panties you wore beneath it all.

He shamelessly dragged his eyes over the swell of your chest, the tips of your nipples peeking through the sweater fabric. He was glad that the library A/C was blasting even on the third floor and that you'd chosen to forgo wearing a bra. 

"Hey. Eyes up here, kid," You warned, snapping your fingers. 

Jake licked his lips, quickly meeting your scrutinizing gaze. "Sorry." 

"For some reason, I don't believe that." You moved to pluck your worksheet out of his grasp, but he kept it out of reach. 

"Sorry, I'll do it properly—! "

You lowered your head and shoved him down too. 

"Whisper, dummy!"

The way your fingers threaded through Jake's hair, albeit a bit roughly, sent wonderful sparks down his spine. He rubbed his thighs together, breath shuddering. 

"Sorry, you're just really—"

Suddenly he was being dragged out of his seat into a nearby aisle of books, further away from the students trying to focus on their studies.

You swung Jake around, his back hitting a tall shelf of books with a thump. 

Crossing your arms, you glared up at him. "Jake, stop apologizing and quiz me; I don't have time to waste. Now sit."

Jake slid down the shelf of books until he hit the floor, clutching onto your notes. His wide eyes peered up at you– and you kicked yourself for thinking he looked adorable.

You had your literal finals to study for, and it was his suggestion to help you in the first place.

You slunk down in front of him and crossed your legs, leaning against the opposite shelf. 

"Start from the top."

Jake nodded and obediently quizzed you with more focus and enthusiasm under your watch. He was impressed that you nailed every question, yet far from surprised.

You would check your watch every so often, making Jake realize his time spent with you was limited. He had to act fast. 

Once you answered the last question, you stretched your hands towards the ceiling, satisfied with your performance.

"Nice job, ___. Guaranteed A+ for sure," He stared at you, nibbling on his bottom lip, clearly wanting to please. 

You tilted your head curiously. "So, you can be a good boy."

This guy is kind of like a moody puppy. Kind of like… Stitch?

You held back a snort at the comparison your brain made, but Jake clearly had a similar mischievous side to him if he thought he was being slick while checking you out.

Jake nearly panicked while receiving your praise, trying to refrain from twitching as you ran a hand over his dark fringe to pat his head. The simple gesture felt so nice, somehow even nicer than the blowjob he had just gotten back in the business building earlier that morning. 

Unable to fight the flush of heat rising up his cheeks, he brought his knees closer to his chest; his jeans had grown uncomfortably tight. Why was he getting so worked up by just a few light touches from a girl he'd just met?

…

Who was Jake kidding? He'd been struggling to control his urges since he first laid eyes on you in the elevator.

"You should know, it’s not easy to make me like this," Jake couldn't help but reveal.

"Clearly," You chuckled quietly at his sulky expression, assuming he was referring to his compliant attitude.

Jake's face lit up at your laugh, even if it was at his own expense. His leg stretched out across the carpet to bump against yours, and that drew your attention, your amused smile lingering. 

He took a deep breath, "I'm just going to throw this out there. My lease is up at the end of this semester, and my dorm sucks. I'm looking at this apartment on the outskirts of campus because fuck my dorm RA and everyone else in it. I want a place downtown where all the nightlife is… and I'm also in the market for a roommate."

Your ears perked up. "Really?"

Jake's brows rose in anticipation of your interest. 

"Huh, tell me more—"

"Shhh!" A random student's voice scolded from nearby.

Several heads nearby whipped in your direction, and you ducked your head in apology, not realizing you raised your voice.

Jake giggled and scooted closer to you, lowering his tone of voice to a murmur. He spread his hand flat against the floor near your leg.

"Here's the deal, ___. I'm only expecting my roommate to pay a quarter of rent; I'll be covering the rest."

"Why the hell is that?" You asked, genuinely shocked at the offer.

Jake looped his finger through your shoelace, tugging at it slightly. "…I like to have people over often, so I'm not the quietest roommate, but I'll stay out of your way."

You weren't exactly sure what that meant, but you skipped pressing the matter, still aghast at what his proposition could mean for you. "That's an insane offer, dude. No bullshit?"

"Nope. Do you wanna go down there and look at the place with me Friday evening?"

You nodded, but as he took out his phone to exchange numbers, you grabbed his wrist, startling him. Jake swallowed thickly at your proximity, anticipating your following words.

"You're not trying to lure me out to a weird place to murder me, are you, Jake?"

Jake's throat nearly seized before answering.

Christ, she's a cautious one, isn't she?

"Nah, of course not," He joked, "I'm not diabolical enough to execute a big, sticky ordeal like that. Besides, you don't seem like the sort of person I'd want to cross—"

— Too much, at least.

Secretly, deep down, Jake quite liked how assertive you could get when he acted out. Interacting with you was, by his definition, fun.

You smirked, "Very good answer."

Every inch of his skin that your hand covered was set alight. The moment you pulled back, Jake wished you hadn't let go but instead chose to run your fingers up his arm and through his hair again, praising him for saying the right answer, for being such a good boy. 

He knew you two had just met and that he was insane for thinking this— but why could he imagine countless scenarios involving all the restaurants the two of you could share a meal at, all the late-night movies to catch with you, amongst the limitless ways to make you moan his name in pleasure?

Such weird thoughts to have… except for the latter. 

As you stood up, Jake flexed his tingling hand.

You snatched your worksheet back but offered your free hand to him, "I guess I owe you one."

Maybe you did, but Jake wanted nothing more than to pull you back down on him and take your stress away, however you'd like him to.

Even if it involved you pushing him up against any sort of solid surface again, especially if it meant letting him play with your lovely tits in his mouth while you got yourself off by grinding down on his aching bulge.

He didn't mind that you were a high-strung individual– couldn't even blame you, what with all the stressful energy permeating the entire campus– that just made the thought of breaking you down all the sweeter.

Fuck.

He mentally soothed himself, feeling dizzy.

Calm down, Jaeyun, calm down, calm down…

He was in dire need of developing self-control; it could complicate things. 

"If it ends up working out for your situation, then let's be roommates," Jake replied instead, slipping his hand into yours as you hauled him to his feet with a strength he wouldn't have guessed you had.

Stars tinged the edge of his vision while he focused on your bare facial features. 

Beautiful.

"And if not?" You asked.

"I just might request that you reserve us a private study room—"

You lightly shoved at his chest, rolling your eyes while he grinned at you. 

"You wish, Jake."

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[samasmith23]

Evangelion: You Can (Not) Marathon — (Part 1)

Neon Genesis Evangelion, “Episode 1: ANGEL ATTACK”

Well it's time to officially start this marathon of the entire Evangelion anime franchise, beginning with Episode 1 of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series, "ANGEL ATTACK"!

Just as a quick heads up, there will be SPOILERS for the entire franchise all throughout these blog posts! This your only warning, so if you have not watched the series yet, go ahead and do so right now! You can watch the original Neon Genesis Evangelion series + movies on Netflix, while the Rebuild Teatrology is available on Amazon Prime.

Also, for a reminder of how I plan on watching the series throughout this marathon, check out my prologue post here:

And with all that out of the way, "Evangelion: You Can (Not) Marathon"... LAUNCH!!!

First of all, words can not even begin to describe how legendary & phenomenal this series' opening credits theme is! Seriously, no matter how many times I watch this series, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" will forever remain one of the greatest anime openings in history!

Not only is the song itself, "The Cruel Angel's Thesis" (残酷な天使のテーゼ, Zankoku na Tenshi no Tēze) by Yoko Takahashi, Toshiyuki Ōmori, Hidetoshi Satō & Neko Oikawa, an incredibly unique J-Pop theme, but the accompanying visuals convey so much symbolism and important plot & character information that it would be impossilbe to discuss all of it within a short span of time!

I will state, however, that I'm personally fond of the visuals of Shinji staring out into the distance as silhouettes of Rei & Asuka float across the blue skies (emphasizing Shinji's loneliness and longing for human connection, as well as his internalized issues with women), as well as the proceeding visual of Misato glancing upward into the twilight sky as Shinji judges her from afar (highlighting the overt parallels between the two characters, as well as Misato's struggles to embrace the role of a surrogate-mother figure for Shinji).

However, I will provide a link to the video, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis Explained - What's in an OP," by anime YouTuber Geoff Thew from channel Mother's Basement, who does a far better job at analyzing the themes than I possibly ever could!

Moving on past the opening credits, it’s still hard to believe that Evangelion takes place in the year 2015. In-universe, the near-apocalypse known as Second Impact occurred 15-years earlier in at the dawn of the new millennium. In the real world we’re now in 2023, and the predicted total apocalypse known as Third Impact still hasn’t occurred yet.

2016 on the other hand… woof! Now that was certainly the year for an apocalypse since that was the year Donald Trump was unfortunately elected the President of the United States (geez... it still hurts to say those words...)! I guess Hideaki Anno and the staff at Studio's Gainax's predictions for the date of the end of the world were just one year off...

Actually, maybe that explains it all! Maybe we actually all died in Third Impact, and we’re all living inside a false dream reality where Trump managed to seize control over the White House for 4-years as a result! And we’re unfortunately still living in that nightmarish vision of Human Instrumentality considering the existence of bullcrap like Ron DeSantis’ outright fascist policies in Florida (God forbid he become president in 2024) and the Supreme Court rolling back the clock on civil rights by unconstitutionally undoing Roe V. Wade and openly threatening to go after gay marriage next.

That’s gotta be it! Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and every conservative Justice on the Supreme Court somehow discovered SEELE’s plans for Third Impact, and hijacked their Human Instrumentality Project to create the Hellscape that we’re all currently living in!

Getting back on track though, I love how these opening establishing shots not only establish the this series' post-apocalyptic setting through the half-submerged ruins of an old Japanese city, but also build-up tension for the reveal of this series' iconic monsters!

While the inital shots of the mysterious creature largely obscure its full apperance from the viewer, Anno & crew effectively convey the scale of this approaching threat through both its shadow beneath the water as well as extreme close-up shots its masked-face rapidly swiming past the sunken buildings.

So although the audience is still unsure of what exactly this monstrosity is, we already understand that its incredibly large and otherwordly through what little we see of its physical features!

The tension is further hightened through the quick-shots of dozens United Nations military tanks and their missile-armed cannons aiming directly towards the submerged ruins where the creature is approaching from, as well as audio of an emergency broadcast ordering the population of a nearby costal city to evacuate and take shelter.

Right off the bat, Anno demonstrates his talents as an animation director!

It is during this opening sequence that we get our official introduction to series' main protagonist, Shinji Ikari, and his future commanding officer/surrogate-mother figure, Misato Katsuragi!

I love how the first on-screen apperances we get of both Shinji & Misato are not through direct in-person interaction, but rather through photographs possessed by each other. With Shinji we're given an ID-badge photograph possed by an off-screen Misato driving her car, and with Misato the first apperance of her face is through a signed photograph in Shinji's possession as he's unable to get reception at a payphone!

This introduction scene for Shinji does a phenomenal job at conveying one of character's core defining attributes: namely his sense of isolation and aimlessness!

Not only is Shinji completely alone in the middle of the evacuated city-streets, but he quickly surrenders to a self-defeatist mentality when he's unable to get reception on the line, grunting to himself, "It's no use. This is dumb. I shouldn't have come here."

Although Shinji's frustration in this context is relatable even if the viewer doesn't also suffer from depression like he does! I mean, I too would personally be frustrated and confused if I was asked to wait to be picked up in an unfamiliar setting by a person whom I knew nothing about outside of a picture of herself that she mailed to me.

Speaking of which... lol! Misato’s inappropriately suggestive postcard (and in particular the “Check this out!” text & arrow pointing to her cleavage) NEVER fails to get a laugh out of me! But aside from functioning as a joke, this postcard is also important in establishing the fact that sexuality is a major element of Misato's characterization!

Also, since I'm still fairly early into the plot of the pilot episode, I want to take a brief aside to discuss some personal observervations I've made between the specific media I'm watching the series on:

So here’s a weird feature for the "Perfect Collection 0:1" DVD. None of the other original DVD releases by ADV Films have this, but in their first disc for whatever reason they removed all the kanji on objects like Shinji's ID badge or Misato's picture shown above, and instead added these weird overhanging white English text replacements where the kanji used to be that look very obviously superimposed… thank goodness ADV scrapped this weird design choice that for all the future DVD releases and instead just kept the original kanji and included subtitled translations for the text.

Conversely, over on the Blu-Ray side of things, the HD remasters for these episodes look FREAKING phenomenal! The animation and color palate on the GKids "Collector's Edition" boxset is incredibly clear and vibrant, whereas the image quality of old DVD copies could be quite muted and blurry by contrast. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that this Blu-Ray version utilizes the copies of the episodes from the old out-of-print “Platinum” DVD collection ADV released a while back (my DVDs are from the "Perfect Collection" first edition). Although I've also heard that the versions of the episodes on the American Blu-Ray release are the HD remasters that were originally exclusive to Japan before Netflix acquired the International licensing rights back in 2019 after the original series + movies were stuck in copyright Hell for over a decade after ADV Films (the original owners of the TV license in America) went out of business and Manga Entertaimnet's license for Death & Rebirth & The End of Evangelion expired.

Also, this remastering of EVA on the Blu-Ray makes a few minor soundtrack rearrangements during certain scenes. But most importantly it removes the notorious "Gainax Jitter," wherein the screen would frequently shake due to all of Gainax's anime during the 90s being produced on outdated softwares. Watching NGE on my original DVDs honestly made me feel dizzy sometimes due to that annoying jitter effect. So thank goodness that the "Gainax Jitter" is completely absent on the Blu-Ray version!

Returning to the episode proper though...

I love the sudden and mysterious appearance of Quantum-Rei off in the distance as Shinji is waiting in the phone booth for Misato to pick him up, and how instantly and just as mysteriously she disappears! Considering that Quantum-Rei also similarly appears before Shinji during the final scene of The End of Evangelion, this feels like an incredibly unique bookending device for the original series + movies, with Rei's entrance and disappearance in Shinji's life marking both the beginning and the end of his long tumultuous journey over the course of the narrative!

And here we see the first appearance of the mysterious beings attacking the Earth following the Second Impact, referred to within the series as Angels! And this bad boy here is classified as the 3rd Angel, Sachiel! When conceiving Evangelion, Anno & Studio Gainax wanted to distinguish the series from other giant-mecha/kaju anime which were airing at the time, and therefore decided to base the EVA's lore and mythos off of religious symbols and iconography lifted directly from Christianity, Judaism, and especially Kabbalhaism (i.e. Jewish mysticism) since said-faiths were uncommon in Japan, while also including references to Buddhism and Shintoism.

Concerning the etemology and translation of the Angels, most of my information about this comes from the Evangelion Fandom Wiki, but basically while both the ADV and Netflix dubs refer to these kaju as "Angels," in the original Japanese they were referred to as "使徒, shito" which roughly translates to "Apostles." However, the word "Angel" in this context is also derived for the other Japanese word used to refer to these creatures in the series, "天使 tenshi," which also translates to "sky messenger." So the term "Angel" still makes sense in-universe considering that the Angels are framed as to be destructive descendants, or "messengers," of the god-like being known as Adam, who was meant to be the original progenitor of life on Earth.

Returning to Sachiel specifically, according to Wikipedia this Angel's name is a reference to a being of the same name from "kabbalistic and Christian angelology. Sachiel (Ge'ez ሳቁኤል) [refers to] an archangel of the order of cherubim… the name 'Sachiel' originally occurs in the late 1500s grimoire called The Heptameron.”

Misato certainly knows how to make a badass entrance!

I always loved the animation during the sequence where Sachiel smashes one of the missiles with his bare fists!

Dang! This fight between the U.N. airforces and Sachiel is not only incredibly exciting in its own right (aided by composer Shiro Sagisu's phenomenal soundtrack, "Angel Attack"), but it also further communicates the threat-level that the Angel's represent, since all conventional human weaponry proves to be completely ineffective against its defenses!

Speaking of said defenses, the second-in-command of the mysterious NERV organization that's working alongside the U.N., Kōzō Fuyutsuki, refers to the Angel being protected by an "A.T. Field" (or "Absolute Terror Field").

These signature energy shields serve as a reoccuring thematic motif throughout the entire series since they're representative of the impenetrable walls that both protect the Angels from exterior damage and prevent humans from truly understanding each other.

So the name "Absolute Terror Field" possesses a double meaning from both a literal and metaphorical perspective! I love it!

Also, this angel’s weird gill flaps that are present while it’s regenerating after having this unvierse's equivalent of a nuclear bomb dropped onto it are so eerily uncanny, and further serve to hi-light just how truly alien this creature is despite it being referred to as an "Angel."

Also also, it makes sense that while the N² Mines in EVA generate nuclear-level explosions, they lack the subsequent radiation fallout considering Japan's own traumatic real-life history with the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki during World War II.

The fact that not even this world’s equivalent of a nuclear explosion is capable of killing an Angel is such an effective way of convincing both the U.N. and the viewers that NERV possesses the only means of truly destroying these eldritch threats to humanity’s survival!

Dang! Exactly just how strong are Misato & Shinji! The fact that both of them were able to push the former's capsized-car back to its proper position simply by leaning against it hard is quite the impressive feat! I mean, I know Misato drives an old beat-up sports car (literally held together by duck-tape; lol!) which is much lighter in weight compared to a SUV or truck, but still!

So why exactly did Misato steal all those batteries for her beat-up old car? Wait... I guess I just answered my own question there... lol!

The developing dynamic between Shinji & Misato during their car-ride to NERV HQ is already incredibly fascinating witness! Despite being a seasoned veteran military officer, Shinji quickly realizes just how immature and quick-tempered she can actually be.

Not only is Shinji unafraid to scold Misato for her borderline illegal car-battery shennanigans, but when she childishly mocks him for being too uptight (voice actress Allison Keith's delievery of Misato's playful teasing is absolutely hilarious) and Shinji calls out her immaturity, Misato aggresively responds by jerking her car back-&-forth!

Geez! Shinji and his father Gendo Ikari (the leading commander of NERV) haven’t even encountered each other yet, and already we’re seeing just how cold and detached Gendo’s attitude towards his estranged son truly is. As soon as Gendo decides to activate Evangelion Unit-01 and Professor Fuyutsuki accurately points out that they don’t have a pilot, Gendo simply replies, “Not any more. Another spare is being delivered.”

He essentially views his own son as just a backup program. And this gets even more revealing when you remember that Rei was originally the one who was supposed to pilot Unit-01 instead of Shinji!

Even Gendo's letter suddenly requesting Shinji’s presence after abandoning him a decade earlier only states, “COME! -Gendo Ikari.”

Man did I forget how much I absolutely hate Gendo’s guts! There's a reason why this scumbag is almost universally regarded as one of, it not the, absolute WORST fathers in all of anime!

On a more positive note, however, stairlift-like automobile conveyor-belt that Misato & Shinji utilize to travel underground to NERV Headquarters is honestly really cool! I wonder if we'll ever see futuristic technology like that IRL someday?

Ooff. Shinji's line, "What am I saying? Of course he wouldn't have sent me a letter unless he needed me for something," when asking if he'll be working for Gendo's secret agency effectively illustrates Shinji's internalized sense of self-loathing. Due to having been coldly abandoned by his father when he was only 4-years-old following the death of his mother, Shinji has suffered from severe depression and lack of self-esteem. Only finding value in his existence if he can be of use to others.

This correlates with a commonly misunderstood yet central element of Shinji's characterization that's been unfortunately subject to bad-faith criticisms on the Internet. Despite Evangelion's immense popularity and influential status within anime communities, several individuals have actively dismissed the entire series simply because they found Shinji's character to be overly whiny and annoying.

Except... Shinji is both clearly suffering from depression derrived from a childhood of isolation and paretnal neglect. To reduce Shinji's feelings of self-loathing and existential dread to simple whining is honestly insulting to other people who suffer from depression IRL (such as series' creator Hideaki Anno, who modeled Shinji as an authorial stand-in to discuss his own personal experiences with depression...), since depression is a LEGITIMATE mental illness rather than simple whining...

Also, Misato makes an interesting comment in response to Shinji's dismissive attitude towards his father: "Hmm... sounds like you don't get along with your dad. Ah, you sound just like me."

Dang! The reveal of NERV's underground headquarters directly beneath the city of Tokyo-3, the hollowed-out spherical cavern known as the "GeoFront" (which possesses upside down-skyscrapers attatched to the ceiling as well as a forested surface with a lake next to the large pyramid building functioning as NERV HQ itself), is still FREAKING epic & gorgeous!

NGE is already leaing heavily into hard science-fiction with such creative environments! Even though the idea of a gigantic hollowed-out cavern beneath a major metrpolitan city retro-fitted into a heavily armed military fortress/bunker would be completely implausible IRL, it makes for such an aesthetically unique location!

I can totally relate to Misato's feelings of confusion while navigating NERV's complex network moving walkway bridges! It definitely seems like an easy place to get lost in!

Lol! The way Ritsuko Akagi suggestively bumps into Misato on the elevator while still wearing her bathing-suit (she just finished scubba diving into the robot holding pen submerged in a weird red liquid substance)! While this was probably not the animator's intention, this still feels like some deliberate queer-coding! And this is the first interaction we see between the two characters!

Hey, I can totally see Ritsuko as being a closeted lesbian! She’d definitely be in a much healthier relationship with either Misato or Maya than the one she’s currently in with FREAKING Gendo. Like, NOT only is Gendo twice Ritsuko's age, but the bastard also previously slept with her late mother, Naoko Akagi! Gross!

Wait, time out! Fuyutsuki just said that this is Shinji & Gendo’s first meeting in 3 years, but I thought it was 10 years considering that Gendo abandoned Shinji shortly after his mother died when he was still 4-years-old?! Did I miss something?!

And here it is! The moment of truth! The official reveal of the giant robots that this series is well-renowned for: the titular Evangelions (with specific model Ritsuko & Misato are showing Shinji is known as "EVA Unit-01")!

So here's some interesting trivia regarding the EVA's that Ritsuko alluded to with her description about the "0-9 System" designed to control the mecha's activation! The physical designs of the Evangelions were directly inspired by demonic ogre-like creatures from traditional Japanese folklore known as "oni" (which "0-9" is a pun for BTW!). According to series' mecha-designer, Ikuto Yamashita:

"'So why did Evangelion wind up with that shape?' … The director instructed me to make, 'the image of [an oni].' A giant just barely under the control of mankind. I get the feeling I've seen that correlation before … The image I had for the design concept was the fairy tale, Gulliver's Travels. Enormous Power Restrained. … What I came up with was a giant that looks like a relief on a wall. … I happily discarded the efficiency and feeling of giant size that you can guess at by sight alone. … after the designs were handed in, it caused a stir — even among the staff, positive and negative opinions were flying. And from here on out, I imagine it will cause a stir among comic readers and animation viewers."

In addition to the activation system being named after a mythological "Japanese devil," we recieve more clues that there's far more to the EVA's beneath their metalic exteriors, as Ritsuko also describes Unit-01 as a "synthetic lifeform" (or even more suspiciously, "synthetic human," in the subtitled version)!

While it’s not stated in this episode, it will later be revealed that the EVA’s are not only cybernetic beings whose flesh was cloned from the Angel’s original Seed of Life, Adam (or in Unit-01’s case, humanity’s Seed of Life, Lilith), hence why they’re capable of killing the Angels, but that they also literally possess human souls inside of them. Those souls being the dead mothers of the pilots (who’s ability to synchronize with the EVAs is strongest at age 14 due to hormonal changes & all that jazz…).

It's also during the unveiling of EVA Unit-01 that Shinji is offically reunited with his father Gendo, who once again is as cold and distant from his son from both a figurative & literal sense!

Honestly, the visual symbolism of Gendo standing high above Shinji when they first reunite is an incredibly effective method of communicating both the distance between the two in their relationship, as well as the massive inferiority complex Shinji feels because of his abusive father.

Such masterful direction and visual storytelling on Anno's part!

And of course, the moment father & son are finally reunited after years apart, Gendo further demonstrates what a complete & unempathetic douchebag he is by immediately orders that Shinji pilot the EVA Unit-01 to fight the approaching Angel in hand-to-hand combat!

Again... looking back, it feels incredibly unfair that people have repeatedly accused Shinji of being whiny simply because he refusing to get in the robot as soon as Gendo & Ritsuko insist him to do so during Sachiel’s attack. Except, can you really blame Shinji here?

I mean… his father coldly abandoned him after his mom died when he was only a toddler, and now as a 14-year-old his dad suddenly calls him out of the blue to demand that he pilots a giant robot he’s neither seen nor heard of before (and possesses ZERO training experience), to fight a giant alien monstrosity he personally nearly just got killed by! That’s not Shinji whiny, that’s him being realistic!

Honestly, the whole "Get in the damn robot Shinji!" argument has always annoyed the absolute heck out of me! It was easily the epitome of early-to-late 2000s bad internet media criticism!

Also, criticisms like, "But Shinji's refusal to pilot is selfish because the fate of the entire human race is at stake," don't exactly hold water either since that can be easily explained away by Shinji lacking trust in his own abilities due to his depression and low self-esteem!

Also also, yeah it is technically a selfish descision on Shinji's part, but that's an INTENTIONAL character flaw on Anno's part, rather than being indicative of "bad writing"...

Seriously... so many people on the Internet have and still lack any media literacy skills... uuuggghhh!!!

I FREAKING love this exchange between Shinji & Misato after they realize that the Angel is directly above NERV HQ, with her sternly telling Shinji to "Get inside" the EVA before calmly asking him, "Why Shinji? Exactly why did you come here?"

It was at this specific moment in Episode 1 where it officially dawned on me during this rewatch just how incredibly efficient the NGE's pilot episode is at subtly establishing numerous elements that would help define the dynamic between Misato & Shinji throughout the rest of the series!

In addition to Misato earlier comparing Shinji to herself when he mentioned that he doesn’t get along with his father, she also compares Shinj’s more standoffish mannerisms to Gendo during the elevator ride with Ritsuko. This not only symbolizes Gendo's role as an older version of Shinji, but it also lays the groundwork for Misato’s own Elektra Complex in the sense that always views the men in her life through the lens of her strained relationship with her dead father.

And here in the present scene, we witness the struggle between surrogate parental-figure and commanding-officer that heavily defines Misato's relationship with Shinji. Despite pragmatically pivoting to Gendo & Ritsuko's point of view that Shinji needs to get in the EVA (which she intially understandably argued against...) to prevent Sachiel from destroying mankind, Misato simultaneously displays the motherly aspects of her personality by trying to positively uplift Shinji.

She confidently encouraging Shinji to find the answers to his questions of exactly why he came to NERV at Gendo’s request, ultimately telling him that he "mustn't run away."

As much as I love this scene though, one weird difference I noticed between the versions of it on my DVD & Blu-Ray copies respectively is that the timing of the soundtrack, "I, Shinji."

In the original ADV Films "Perfect Collection" DVD, the score continues to play after Sachiel's cross-shaped explosions begin targeting Toyko-3, and Misato gives her advice, whereas it stops after the explosions in the GKids "Collector's Edition" Blu-Ray version.

I honestly can't tell which version I prefer more, but considering the fact that the score on the original Japanese audio track more closely aligns with the Blu-Ray's English audio track, I'm guessing ADV didn't properly align the soundtrack during the intiall dubbing process (but later fixed it for their HD "Platinum Collection" DVD re-release I'm guessing...).

Le gasp! A ���Sound Only” on Gendo’s monitor when he instructs Fuyutsuki to wake-up Rei to pilot Unit-01 in Shinji's place! EPIC FORESHADOWING!

So... why exactly was merchandise of the injured bandaged-up Rei Ayanami so insanely popular? I honestly just don’t see the appeal…

Another clever usage of foreshadowing here! Not only of Unit 01 going berserk in the very next episode, but also of the EVA’s true nature in that it houses the soul of Shinji's dead mother, Yui Ikari, considering how quickly it moves into to protect Shinji from the falling debris, plus Gendo’s unsurprised smirk there!

Joy! Shinji's first ever utterance of the iconic, "I musn't run away! I mustn't run away! I musn't run away," line as he glances at Rei's blood on his hands before finally deciding to pilot the EVA!

This reoccurring motif is such an important element of Shinji's character throughout the series, and Spike Spencer delivers this famous line pitch perfect! He totally sells Shinji's sense of anxiety and struggles to suppress his fear in the heat of the moment!

Also, even though I've rewatched this episode and the entire series countless times, I still find myself going back-&-forth on what exactly motivated Shinji to "not run away" here!

Was it purely for altrustic reasons after he saw how unfit for combat Rei was due to her critical condition? Did he feel legitimate sympathy for Rei despite meeting her for the first time? And if so, did he recognize her from the Quantum-Rei vision at the start of the episode? Was Shinji taking Misato's earlier words of encouragement to heart? Or did Shinji finally decide to pilot the EVA purely out of either a self-centered desire to prove his own worth, or out of guilt and not wanting Rei's death on his conscious?

Questions like these are a major element of why I adore EVA's writing so much! Despite being extremely vague open-ended with no one single universal interpretation, the series' characters are so humanized and complex that it actively engages the audience to speculate and analyze their underlying motivations!

It's why even as a long-time fan of the series, I still keep finding new & fascinating elements I didn't notice on my previous viewings!

And so begins the iconic launch preparation for EVA Unit-01, beginning with the insertion of the pilot's control vessel known as an "Entry-Plug" into the mecha's body!

Also, considering that EVA is famous for its usage of Freudian psychoanalytic and psychosexual symbolism (alongside all the religious imagery), as well as the fact that Shinji's character arc is analogous to the Oedipus Complex and the soul of his dead mother is inside of EVA Unit-01, the fact that Shinji's is placed inside a suggestively-shaped Entry-Plug that's then directly inserted into a hole on the back of the EVA's neck, I can’t help but be reminded of an old quote from Mystery Science Theater 3000...

Yeah, expect me to reference that MST3K quote a lot throughout this marathon…

Yeesh! I can't even begin to imagine how terrifying of a feeling that must be to intially feel like you're drowning as the capsuel is filled with Liquid LCL! Even though that mysterious fluid is breathable for humans, having your lungs completely filled with a foreign substance has got to be uncomfortable!

I don't blame Shinji at all for feeling incredibly nauseous before his lungs adjust!

Also, Misato's a bit overly harsh with her comment, "Stop complaining! You're a boy you know!" (This will be another reoccuring motif in Misato's interactions with Shinji BTW...)

Also also, the first appearance of LCL, or as it's been commonly referred to by EVA fans for the past two-and-a-half decades: "Tang!"

Those who have already watched The End of Evangelion know exactly what I'm talking about!

And so the episode ends with an exciting conclusion to the launch sequence as EVA Unit-01 is slowly released from its holding pen and all safe guards are switched off before the giant mech is launched up a tunnel network exiting the GeoFront and onto the now deserted-streets of a nightime Tokyo-3, exiting the hatch directly in front of Sachiel, teasing a deadly kaju battle between the two!

What a phenomenal way to close the series' pilot and pique the viewer's interest for the next episode!

So that was NGE, "Episode 1: ANGEL ATTACK," and it’s still really darn great! I’m honestly incredibly impressed with just how much subtle characterization and thematic elements are set up for later developments throughout the rest of the show within this 24-minute pilot episode! It honestly surprises me whenever I hear people argue that the tone of EVA drastically changed as the series progresses considering how even from the very start Hideaki Anno was laying the ground work for all the complex developments which defined the later half of NGE as well as EofE!

Also, hearing “Fly Me To The Moon” in the end credits of the DVD is simultaneously incredibly nostalgic and sad considering all future releases completely scrapped it! Seriously, screw Netflix and that copyright bullcrap! “Fly Me To The Moon” is an important part of the series darn it, so just pay the extra cash to keep it in! And heck, just buy the rights to the original dub instead of spending all that extra time to create an inferior half-assed new dub from scratch. The original dub has its flaws, but it still has heart and passion put into it!

Sorry about the tangent! I’m just still bitter and confused by Netflix’s choices when it comes to EVA.

Anyway, onto the second episode!

#Evangelion: You Can (Not) Marathon #neon genesis evangelion #evangelion #nge #eva #hideaki anno #shinji ikari #misato katsuragi #gendo ikari #fuyutsuki #ritsuko akagi #rei ayanami #Quantum-Rei #eva unit 01 #NERV #angels #sachiel #90s anime #anime and manga #mystery science theater 3000 #mst3k