#i called this as soon as the scene was over THEY'RE. THE SAME PICTURE

[mypoisonedvine]

100 random dialogue prompts

truly random, there's a mix of angsty and smutty and fluffy in here. as a result it's nsfw and 18+ :)

"who did this to you?"

"where are you going dressed like that?"

"this isn't enough anymore. I need more of you-- all of you."

"I'm not angry, I just get tired of watching you get hurt."

"don't say stuff like that, it gets me all... confused."

"just lie to me, okay? just this once."

"I never said I didn't feel the same way."

"you should go... before someone sees."

"I hate how you make it impossible to hate you."

"too good for you? don't be ridiculous-- they don't deserve you."

"fuck, do that again... please."

"you promise you're going to behave this time?"

"oh please, you knew what you were doing... you wanted to drive me crazy."

"no, it's not over. it's never over."

"so you're saying even if we were the last people on Earth--?" "nope."

"sooo... is everything supposed to just go back to normal after that?"

"you can't ignore me. not anymore."

"it's not what it looks like!" "is that a picture of me?!"

"you really didn't notice that I was falling in love with you?"

"is this really the last time?"

"I'm sorry, I swear I tried, but I just can't get over you."

"do you really think that toy can replace me?"

"don't tell me how to feel."

"forgive me, but I'm not feeling very patient right now."

"you could do so much better than me."

"what would they think if they saw you right now?"

"I didn't know you could be so obedient."

"you can take it."

"you were never my fallback-- I always wanted you."

"yeah, I want to, but... wouldn't it be weird?"

"don't act like you never thought about it before."

"I wish they could all know about us."

"you're the best mistake I ever made."

"no, I don't hate you... I'm angry, but I don't think I could ever really hate you."

"let's just stop now before anybody's feelings get hurt."

"don't get my hopes up if you're just gonna leave like everyone else."

"I can't let it end like this."

"if you do what you're told, you'll get a reward."

"what's gotten into you? you're being so... naughty."

"I think we're on a first name basis by now."

"don't do that... don't act like you don't feel this too."

"it was never just sex."

"I wish I'd met you sooner."

"you can tell me anything."

"why do we have to get out of bed again?"

"I think this is my favorite way to wake up."

"I was already yours."

"there's no way that was just a one-night thing."

"if you can look me in the eye and tell me you want me to go, I'll go."

"has anybody else ever made you feel like this?"

"it feels like we were made for each other."

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry, and I miss you."

"I have an idea to make them jealous."

"just one more kiss?"

"do you really expect me to believe this is what you want?"

"if you say you're happy with them, I'll believe you. or at least I'll try to."

"I can think of a more fun way you can thank me."

"no, I'm in charge tonight, remember?"

"if you keep doing that, this might end a little too soon."

"hey, you lost the bet, fair and square."

"stop imagining it!" "I'm sorry, but I can't get it out of my head!"

"it's too bad we never did. we would've been great together."

"I never thought I'd hear you talk like that."

"oh, fuck me--" "okay." "what? it's just a figure of speech..."

"were you joking? I wasn't joking."

"admit it: you had a crush on me!"

"I just need you to hold me right now."

"friends can cuddle, right?"

"I wouldn't have picked this for movie night if I'd known it had so many sex scenes..."

"they're great but... they're not you."

"I always thought it would be me and you in the end."

"you're not actually trying to convince me that was a friendly kiss, are you?"

"if you hate me so much, how come you keep coming back?"

"do you remember getting drunk and calling me last night?"

"I'm free tonight if you still need a date for that thing you're going to."

"I'd do anything for you."

"I think I finally get what all those love songs are about."

"it's weird being here again... so many memories."

"I wish you'd give me a chance."

"I never meant to hurt you."

"just come to dinner with me. it doesn't have to be weird."

"seeing you with them made me realize you should be with me."

"just ask yourself for once: what do you want?"

"okay, okay, I'll leave-- as soon as I can find my pants."

"we need to be more careful next time."

"wait, why are you in my bed? did we...?"

"I took you for granted, I know. but I want to treat you right this time."

"kiss me like you mean it."

"keep the lights on, I want to see you."

"is it just me, or does your celebrity crush look a lot like me?"

"we promised we wouldn't let this affect our friendship."

"no, don't cry-- if you start crying, I'll start crying!"

"I want to see my marks on you tomorrow."

"don't act innocent, it's not going to work with me."

"is this really turning you on? I'm not even doing anything."

"come look at the stars with me."

"I lov--" "no, don't say anything. you'll kill the moment."

"what happens next in your fantasy?"

"I probably shouldn't tell you this but... you were in my dream last night."

"why do you still wear the hoodie I left at your place?"

#fic prompt #writing prompt #dialogue prompt

[soundbulb]

it makes sense to me that maggie is the one capable of saying something cutting to rust, if only by being the only woman in his life who isn't dead. the whole crux of the conflict, in terms of the state of the soul of true detective, is rust and marty's denial that all men's weakness, sadism, beliefs, mistakes disproportionately destroys the lives of women and children, and the men who do it get to just keep truckin, sometimes with guilt heaped on. they just get away with it over and over and it kills women and girls. I think of rust's, "she sounds sad, marty, like a person on their last legs" about dora after visiting the bunny ranch. how dora was predated on by her father ("why wouldn't a father bathe his child?"), ended up with charlie lang, and was then marked as a target because charlie showed her naked pictures to his cellmate who he hated.

marty's whole hang up is just a classic cop one. he's the good guy and he hunts the bad guys. rust doesn't think he's the good guy, he's just another bad guy hunting bad guys, but that's still denial. when he passes a tide of hallow rationalizations to maggie, they suddenly sound like exactly what they are. normally rust has been monologuing to male audiences -- papania, marty -- who balk and seem defensive or quietly suspicious, but when maggie is the audience you realize rust actually sounds exactly like marty giving his stupid "you gotta decompress" schtick. she's not hung up on any of his actual ideas, doesn't take a single one seriously, because it turns out they're a baby blanket. in rust's phrasing, they're just the encouragement of illusion so he can get through his reality. that scene coming so soon after rust saying, "when I think of my daughter, what she was spared." he just can't do it yet. despite all his efforts, he just can't look at anything head on, not until the end, when he's in that syrupy blackness experiencing his loved ones. he only edges up to the truth, keeping himself mostly at arms length. he gets right on top of it in that same monologue, "she spared me the sin of being a father." the death of women in girls in this season are redemptive; the childress' seem to use them as some kind of baptism. when they're not around to destroy, the men who destroy them are spared of being the men who destroy them.

marty is always under the impression his intentions are good. "was that a down payment?" and marty chews him out for "joking" about his moment of decency, but it was absolutely a down payment. rust clocked it correctly, most of the reason marty was mad was because he was attracted to beth, and he started blustering some rhetoric and then gives beth a twenty, hissing out a white hot, "do something else," like an accusation. but marty goes through all the motions of a hero, so to beth he looks like one. he slaps his daughter and calls her a slut for doing the kinds of things he does with women. he beats on the men she was with so he can feel like a Father and a Hero then vomits in front of his car because it was all just clumsy violence and cowardice. rust knows he isn't doing any good, but he still wants some of that redemption; he tells maggie his little screed about man-woman drama because he wants her to accept it. he knows the women and girls pay more to live in the same world, they don't get away with just existing while men get away with it all, but knowing that doesn't bring him any closer to looking at it head on. he's still asking maggie for something: accept it, get on the same page, spare me, and maggie says no, at least right then. eventually she does, then ultimately she doesn't.

anyway, I think it's interesting how different it feels to hear rust say what he says in that scene. you suddenly realize exactly how his words fall on the ears of reality. "at the end of the day you duck behind rationalizations just like the rest of them."

#true detective #rust cohle #htl #ht

[nobodylikety]

Hey, I'm kinda back! First of all I want to apologize for the pending requests :( I had writer's block and recently I started another semester at Uni so I'm barely writing anything 🥹 But I hope this little something about Pup! Dani can make up for it </3

Puppy! Danielle x Fem! Owner! Reader, Hybrid AU, Fluff.

Although you've bought Danielle all kinds of toys —plastic bones, balls, strings, even a squeaky toy in the shape of a steak— as soon as you get out of bed, ready for breakfast, you discover two things: Dani is not here. Your left slipper is gone, too.

Oh, my.

Still groggy from drowsiness, and more asleep than awake, you make your way across the room only to discover the entirety of the picture. Four more shoes are missing, both left and right, and the toys —the ones Dani was so amused playing with last night— are scattered all over the floor.

This is Dani's idea, you think as you bend down and pick up the squeaky steak-shaped toy, the aussie puppy's favorite. Maybe you can distract her with that (when you find her) and thus retrieve your footwear, if they're not already buried in the yard. Hopefully not.

"Dani! Where did you go, sweet girl?"

No answer.

"Dani? Dani! Where are you?

The hybrid doesn't answer your call either, so you end up leaving your room, toy in hand. You walk slowly, so you can look around carefully, in case you find any sign of Danielle's presence.

You live in a pretty little house, in a nice, familiar neighborhood, with access to a large backyard, and it suddenly occurs to you that this very spot might be the one where the puppy could be, playing around. It occurs to you that because, first of all, Dani has rambled on about 100 times about how much she loves the backyard, and because second, but not least, there are freaking footprints all over the floor.

They're mud stains, with Danielle's footprints in them. And boy, must she have been going around, because the footprints follow different patterns; zig-zag, in circles, in a straight line. You lean a little, examining the tracks that are fresher, because the mud spread on the ground is still wet, and you follow that trail of footsteps to the sliding door that leads to the garden.

The door is slightly open and when you open it all the way to get out, the morning breeze blows against your face. Brr, it's cold, and you feel a shiver down your back as you walk down the two small steps leading to the courtyard. The light morning dew keeps the grass pleasantly damp (not wet), but it looks so untouched that it doesn't look like Dani has been around.

If anything, everything is the same: the perfectly mowed lawn, the plantings of gypsophila and chrysanthemums, the little wooden bench where you sit to watch the sunset. Nothing is different...until, as you walk along, you notice small mounds of dirt and uprooted grass in one corner. Ding ding, there she is.

You follow that trail and, as you get closer, the pile of dirt and grass gets bigger, uncovering a shoe half-buried in a hole, and beyond that, the person responsible for said occurrence. Because of course, Dani not only leaves a trail of mayhem wherever she goes, but she's innocent (and dumb, in Haerin's words) enough to stay at the scene of the crime.

"Dani!" you call to her, approaching quickly. She's squatting, digging with both hands another hole to bury the lost slipper. She doesn't perk her ears up, doesn't seem to hear you, and keeps digging. "Danielle, for the love of all that is good what are you doing?"

The Australian shepherd puppy twitch and perks up her ears, recognizing your voice. She turns and her tail starts wagging, unbothered by being full of dirt from head to toe, she lunges to hug you so tightly that the two of you fall.

"OWNER, OWNER, OWNER! I MISSED YOU SO, SO, SO, SO MUCH!" Danielle squeals and spins in circles, tail wagging. She's super excited to see you at last. From the hybrid shelter days that Dani has a habit of waking up early, so when she comes to your home she does the exact same thing, so during the hours when you were sleeping, she has really missed you.

That's a lot of alone time for the innocent, restless puppy.

"I missed you too, puppy" you respond with a gasp, because Danielle's weight (who isn't exactly feather-light) is half cutting off your air supply by repeatedly jumping on you.

"VERY MUCH, VERY MUCH?" yep, Danielle doesn't know how to speak softly. She has to scream. Or bark, for all intents and purposes.

"Uh-huh, very much."

"Owner sleeps a lot," Danielle whines, frowning and pouting. "I got bored. But because I missed you so much, I stole your shoes. It's just that I wanted to play, y'know? and now I want to play too! Will you play with me?"

So many "play" in one sentence, you sigh, closing your eyes for a moment. You're going to do what the puppy wants...but in a moment. You need to catch your breath and be able to stand up.

"I'll play with you, but let me get up..."

But Dani, excited to know that you will play with her, doesn't listen to you. She jumps, spins, runs, and countless times manages to knock you down again and again. You are already tied as to who is dirtier for the dirt.

"PLAY, PLAY, PLAY, PLAY!"

"DANIELLE, I CAN'T GET UP!" you say, before another shove sends you flying. It's surprisingly strong. "Okay, that's it. I'm dead. Not moving from here."

If you'd said that to Hanni (which is like the most well-behaved), she'd probably drop her antics aside. But it's Danielle, aka 'I take things literally'.

"DON'T DIE, OWNER, YOU GOTTA PLAY WITH ME!" Danielle and her dirt-filled hands clamp down on your shoulders, whipping you around like a rag doll.

"Y'know, I thought you were going to say 'don't die, but because you love me."

"That too, BUT YOU HAVE TO PLAY WITH ME! I WILL DIE OF BOREDOM IF YOU DON'T PLAY WITH ME! so you play with me, or I'll bury all your shoes."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Um, no?"

"Uh-huh, I'll pretend to believe you." you shake your head, with some exasperation. Danielle relents and pulls away a little, just enough so she can do her little puppy eyes in an 'I didn't do it' kind of way.

God, this bratty puppy.

"So, yeah? we play?" insists the puppy, crawling towards you. She has dirt on her knees, dirt on her hands, and even leaves in her hair (and probably smells pretty nasty), but somehow inexplicably you strike her as the most precious living thing.

"Hey, sweet girl, let's make a deal. Yeah?" you get down on your knees, facing Dani, looking at her very lovingly. Even when Danielle does that kind of shenanigans on a constant, almost daily basis, it's like physically impossible to get mad at her.

If it's possible, you even love her even more. Her innocence, her energy, the transparency with which she expresses her feelings, are too much for your heart to handle. "first you're going to bathe, i'll put you in clean clothes, and then we can play. sometimes the dirt has bugs that can bite you or hurt you, and i don't want that for you. i promised you i'd take care of you, remember? that's why it's important to be clean, without dirt."

Dani nods, looking at you with those big eyes she gets whenever you talk to her. Her puppy dog look is a true reflection of the purity she possesses, and in turn, the undisguised affection in her eyes. She admires and loves you, and you reciprocate such feelings.

"You see? you're a good girl, Dani. Very good girl, and I love you so much" not caring that you are both full of dirt, completely obviating the fact of getting dirty, you clasp the puppy in a warm embrace.

"I love you too, owner."

"Now...who wants a bath then play?" you ask with a playful little smile, kissing Dani's head, her plush little ears, then down her forehead, nose and cheeks. Dani stifles a bark of happiness, as she wiggles in your arms, before letting go and darting off into the house, screaming in a baton, "BATH-BATH-BATH!"

God, you adore her so much.

After Danielle enters the house like a bullet, you stare at her for a moment, smiling without realizing it, your heart overflowing with joy and love. That puppy, who in a daily dose fills your yard with holes and buries your shoes, has brought into your life the most wonderful, unfading happiness.

Life with Dani feels like a vast ocean of possibilities that opens in front your eyes; new adventures, the almost certainty that nothing is impossible, and in general everything that you could live together with Danielle, because next to her, you can be sure that everything will be fine.

That everything is limitless, just like the sky, as long as you have each other.

#hybrid!au #kpop hybrid au #new jeans x reader #new jeans imagines #hybrid!newjeans #puppy!danielle #new jeans danielle #danielle x reader

[bluginkgo]

"Nice Corpse House My Guy" Remastered Behind Scenes!

The most glaring and obviously annoying thing that's evident in this comic- if you even wanna call it that- are the god forsaken BACKGROUNDS. There was a lot of experimentation going on for backgrounds here. Because the first couple pictures, THAT is what I used to draw backgrounds as. Trees are sticks and grass is flat. I realized that wasn't gonna cut it. I didn't like it at all. So I started experimenting and boy was it messy. It finally sorta settled on the style by the end of the comic. I'm still unhappy with it, but it'll have to do for now.

Here's a small comparison

One thing that I ran into was how I was gonna show that N was in his "killer mode." I could have placed the X's over the pupils, but found it unnatural looking in my style. So instead, it was settled to a concentrated light in the pupils.

Best seen between these two. The second N snaps out of it, the X/light in his pupils disappears, and the normal light returns to his eyes, which is similar to Uzi's.

Another thing I started slowly including was Uzi's little tooth on her beak.

The jutting out portion on her beak is a personal touch. Although it doesn't really matter, I included it to separate her from the rest of the "worker drones." Seen as she's an absolute solver host and has a solver form, something was going to creep up in her crow design, hence the little teeth. Doll would have them too, given I draw her in the form I've been thinking about.

Another thing I ran into, was WHAT WAS UZI GONNA TAKE N DOWN WITH?! This is a bird vs. a dog! No way was a bird gonna decommission a whole dog! Then this scene came up in my recent rewatch of Murder Drones.

And it clicked. Loooong long time ago, I had a very specific hyperfixation: birds. One thing I learned that some pigeons do, was they're capable of doing a somersault. And in mid-air, too!

I was finally set. The SICK AS HELL RAILGUN was downgraded to a simple piece of shiny glass/pebble that attracted Uzi- and crows love shiny things. And the same pebble will be used to launch at N's sensor that made him trip over. Because I was also not going to draw N doggo losing his head. I love gorey and bloody shows and art- hence why I watched Murder Drones- but I honestly had no idea how to recreate that, and I suck at drawing gore in general, I mean, did you SEE the crow N was chewing on? That was my best try honestly.

Here are some progress shots and how the layers worked in the scene where N is bonked with a stick.

As per usual, start with a sketch, this is actually 2nd sketch. The first is much rougher, just some circles and random shapes to outline his body form.

Then, this is all outlined and rendered. Along with some additions like the stick and the little rock.

The background was the hardest, aside from some weird angles I picked to draw Uzi and N at. I suck at backgrounds, like I've mentioned many times before. So, this needed a lot of testing and experimenting. Most of this works because I found some cool brushes to use. But aside from that, I honestly still don't like how it looks. It's slightly better than my stick trees and flat grass though, I guess.

Put it all together, add a black layer to simulate nighttime, put some lights to show moonlight through trees and voila, you've got an N doggo that got bonked by a stick! I see this project/comic mostly as practice and testing. Background testing mostly, and some brushes. The background/brush testing actually spilled over into another post of the solver Uzi I made a bit back. I'd say I was pretty happy how it turned out, but brush wise, I was going to test around a little more.

NUzi comic 'Sleep' is my next project. Uhhh, don't ask me when I'm gonna have it out, I have no idea. I'm guessing sometime end of Jan and beginning of Feb. But that might be delayed seeing as Murder Drones ep7 should be out sometime soon too, so I'll need to go crazy about that for a bit and then I'll go back to my usual thing ^_^ 'Sleep' will take place still between the Pilot and Heartbeat.

P.S. I have all 26 pages story boarded... good god what happened to the 'mini' part of the comic 😭

Anyways, why are you still here?! Have a cookie ^_^ you made it! Have a nice day now, bye bye <3

#murder drones #glitch productions #serial designation n #uzi doorman #murder drones fanart #md uzi doorman #md uzi #md serial designation n #murder drones serial designation n #murder drones n #bluginkgo's murder drones as animals #n x uzi #murder drones uzi #md n #n md #md nuzi #murder drones nuzi #nuzi #md biscuitbites #biscuitbites #n murder drones

[mayuichi]

“Rest assured, it is not mine.„

William James Moriarty x fem!reader Warnings: dark contents (murders, beating, blood, etc...), spoilers of MOSTLY the second season! be aware!

note: i'm so obsessed again over MTP, you can't know how much. i'm rewatching it rn, and i'll reread it too. ALSO i'm so sorry for my absence, i'm procrastinating and finding it hard to stay motivated, especially with my nausea, but it's slowly getting better so i hope i'll be capable to write more!

Pictures from the anime Yuukoku no Moriarty / Moriarty the Patriot.

Being the child of an earl isn't too hard. But as a woman, you are expected to be nearly perfect. Graceful, elegant, flawless, and charitable. Most respect you, or more likely.. fear your father. Speaking of which, you still live with your parents. You haven't found a suitable man yet. It was infuriating for your father, he wanted you to find a husband. But you couldn't care less for now. Strolling around in town is much more entertain than finding someone.

After one more heated argument with him, resulting in a red mark across your cheek like it happened so many time before, you call it a day and leave to your room for the night. Clutching on the plush you have managed to keep, you sit on your bed, staring at the moon through the window. Your mother didn't even tried to protect you, never. If only things could change.

Undressing yourself to slide on a warm robe, you close the curtains and fall on the soft mattress, engulfing in it, pulling the covers over your frame. Tomorrow is another day, it will all be okay.

At least, that's what you thought...

Awakening by a voice. You focus on it, only to realise it's a stranger. You've never heard them before... did you? Chills parkour through your veins, jolting you forward. You don't know who they are, nor what they want. But you don't want to stay near them.

Stepping cautiously out of your room, you hurry as best as you can to the front door. On your track, your gaze averts on a gruesome scene. Your father, resting in his blood, his life slowly fading from his body. With your mother, next to him, heavily injured. The footsteps behind you make you believe they're after you, now.

Sighing in relief when you finally see the front door. Your hands reach for the handle, your body freezes at the voice. “Leaving so soon? I've been told this family was full of cowards, but still...„ his voice malicious. You couldn't even move, feeling the tip of the blade against the back of your neck.

Just swallowing was hard. One bad move, and you'd die. Trying to take a deep breath. Your heart is pounding in your chest, your hands sweaty. “I... I am not like them..„. Hesitantly turning around, you could perceive one of his eyebrow raising. “The day... The day I'd be like them, I'd rather die...„

You don't even know half of what your father does, but all you've discovered about has never been good. A smirk displayed on the stranger's face, his golden locks falling ever so slightly above his scarlet eyes. “Hmm.. Interesting...„

Staring at him, also because you don't want to miss any of his action, your eyes get used properly to the dark, allowing you to see more of his features. And it isn't long before you recognise the second son of the Moriarty. A mathematics professor, and a noble, now pointing a blade at you.

However, he withdraws his blade, sheathing it back in his cane. Taking a step forward, he moves his hand across your cheek, his fingers grazing gently. “... Such a poor thing. I suppose it's a recurrent treatment, isn't it?„.

His touch, his words, his expression... It's so sweet, so caring. Is it truly the same man that has murdered your parents? With a sigh, he pulls away, thinking of a way to be sure you'd keep your silence over his true identity. But before he could utter a word, you got carried away and whispered your thoughts.

“I wouldn't mind... joining you. I want to be useful as well...„. Surprise filled his eyes. His piercing gaze staring right through your soul, he leans in, his tall frame towering over you. “Are you sure ? It is a dark and dangerous path. You shouldn't be impulsive.„. He hasn't dismissed you. He feels it in you, after all. That strength and resilience after all those years. This desire to be able to make a change. Even if you aren't a good fighter for now, you could become one.

His associates were unsure, at first. You were so fragile, so sensitive. How could you become useful ? But he kept believing in you, training you, and asking for Jake to train you as well. Within weeks, you were already close to be as good as them. You just lacked experiences.

And perhaps, everything that happened got you closer to their leader, the true Lord of Crime... William. He'd often invite you over tea, or to stroll around town. At this point, it became a habit of you, to go buy some pastries to a hardworking baker and have your tea party. It wasn't always just the two of you. Sometimes, Louis and Albert would join in, or even Bonde. It was such heartwarming times.

It has never been a surprise for you that in a middle of your discussions, William would suddenly fall over the couch and sleep. It always made you giggle quietly. But despite it, none of you took a step further. After all, neither knew if the others actually had feelings or if it was just a mere thought.

Months after you joined, William has went again with Louis only to take care of some aristocrats, with Fred's intel. Those nights are the worst. You're restless, incapable to be in slumber.

Sitting on your bed, in your robe, you hear the front door opening. Footsteps in the corridor, and the brothers' voice, casting each other's goodnights. Stepping out of your room, you gaze over William, blood soaked. “Is... is that blood?„

He turns around to face you, a gentle smile spreading when he sees you. “Rest assured, it is not mine.„. You blink, unsure of how you should feel. It's clear though, it isn't having the right effect. “Is that supposed to reassure me?!„

Your exclamation caught him off guard, and he walks closer, placing a comforting hand over your shoulder. “Isn't it usual now, though? You have seen me bloody a lot before.„. His words hit you like a train. You have seen him blood covered, yes, but your mind has never been calm about it.

“I know! I just-.. Ugh..„, anxiety floods you, your head lowering as you dismiss his hand. “I never said it was fine for me. It makes me worry. What if you get hurt?„. It's a stupid assumption, and you know it. He makes plan for every tiny details. He never leaves room for uncertainty.

Hurrying yourself to ask him to forget it, you go back in your room, closing the door behind you. Plopping on your bed, you can't help but hate yourself. Why are you so worried about him? He's not a child, and beside, he knows how to act upon unexpected twists. You pick the pillow, placing it in your arms, hugging it against you.

“... I hate it so much.„ you growl under your breath. Eyes closed and lost in your mind, you don't pay attention to the footsteps and the door opening. You only get out of your thoughts when you feel something, or rather someone, taking place on the mattress.

You turn around to see William sitting next to your laying form, his hand hovering over your hair, caressing it carefully. He has taken off his coat and changed his clothes to his usual sleep attire. “I find it flattering, you know? Your worries being on me. But I have my shares of worries over you, too.„ he chuckles.

It makes you groan silently, turning again to make him face your back. Seeing you holding your pillow so tight, he allows himself to lay beside you, wrapping his arms around your waist. “Don't be upset, my dear. How about we plan a tea party tomorrow? As a token of apology for all those worries I fill your heart and mind with.„

Just the thought of it cracks a smile from you, and he sees it clearly. You slowly nod, closing your eyes as you lean further in his embrace. You know it wouldn't last forever, but you'd drown yourself in it for as long as it last.

It's an hour later he withdraws his arms from you, giving your hair one last stroke, before standing up. “I will see you tomorrow, my dear. Have a good night.„

As he walks away, you turn around, sitting up quickly, calling out his name. “... William!„. Your voice is so urgent, like your feelings are about to explode. “Yes?„ he turns to face you, his eyes softening at your desperate state.

“I...„ you hesitate. Is it truly a good idea to confess ? It isn't a secret for yourself anymore, you've fallen for him, smitten by his simple presence. But maybe it isn't a good thing to tell him... “... Take care... Goodnight...„

Something tells you by the look of his eyes, he knows you're hiding your feelings from him. But he doesn't push. Not yet. You're too vulnerable for now. He wants you to willingly admit them. He closes his eyes. “I will, thank you. I'll see you tomorrow.„ and with that, he leaves your room, the silence feeling it. Your feelings drowning you in slumber.

/ᐠ - ˕ •マ Ⳋmayuichi's property. do not repost, copy or translate without permission.

#/ᐠ - ˕ •マ Ⳋ's writing #moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #william james moriarty #mtp william #mtp x reader #william moriarty #william moriarty x reader #ynm william

[skygemspeaks]

thoughts on episode 5:

when luffy returns fire on garp's ship, it was hilarious to see garp burst out into disbelieving laughter. i understand that they're leaning into the awful parent aspect of his character in this, but it's also funny seeing him unable to hide that he's actually a little proud of luffy. like hey, if you're going to be a pirate, at least you're a good one

the baratie is absolutely gorgeous! as soon as the first pictures came out last year, i was so excited to see it in person, and it did not disappoint. i especially love the little floating patios they have outside, as well as the floating docks. i would love to eat there!

mihawk is finally introduced! i love that we get to see him fighting off don krieg. i can understand why they would cut out krieg's part from the baratie arc, but as with other plot points they've cut out of the past few episodes, i like that they gave a little nod to it anyways. also, garp being the one to call mihawk on luffy gives a logical reason for mihawk to be at the restaurant on the same day as the straw hats, instead of it being an entire coincidence.

zoro and the others ribbing nami after sanji hits on her is hilarious, it feels so accurate to how actual friend groups behave. they're such children! sanji overall seems a lot more likable in this than he is in the manga, i really like him!

the scene where sanji and luffy are talking about the all blue and luffy invites sanji to join his crew is really sweet! sanji's already looking at luffy like he's head over heels for him, and that's one thing i think the cast captured really well - just how utterly adored luffy is by his crew.

when luffy tells zeff about sanji feeding Gin, and Zeff just smiles and says "he's a good kid" i just about melted. i love that he refuses to be nice to sanji's face, but is really unapologetically proud of his son behind his back.

koby's conversation with garp was well played out. i'm a little iffy about koby's character arc this season though. it seems like a good set-up for the doe-eyed, naive, kid who knows nothing about the world to realize that the organization he looks up to to protect the innocents of the world is nothing but a sham, and for him to go his own separate way, but we know that can't happen. i've always been of the opinion that koby would make a much better revolutionary than a marine tbh, and this series is bringing that out full force. but at the same time, i think i really like garp's message that yeah, the world isn't fair and it's so grating that they have to put up with the double standards inherent in a group like the seven warlords, but that at the end of the day they have to believe that the marines are doing more good by taking down dangerous pirates than the bad they're doing by turning around to the doings of the seven warlords. one piece has always done a good job at moral ambiguity, and it shows in the live action as well

also, another aspect of this conversation that i liked was garp explaining to koby that he could have been fleet admiral by now if he really wanted to, but that doing so would mean him having to compromise on his values (and for those of us who follow the manga/anime, we know that more specifically relates to taking orders from the celestial dragons), and that doing so would mean having to give up his freedom. it's a great line, because it calls back to luffy's attitude of being a pirate means having freedom. you can see that luffy and garp are both the result of taking the same ideology to different extremes. it's easy to see how they're related, and how garp's ideals had an impact as well, in the same way that shanks did.

"you could never fail me" 🥺🥺🥺 i like how iñaki played this scene. there's still a lot of room for him to grow as an actor, but i like him as luffy, and i can't wait to see his career after this. i hope we can get more seasons, so we can see him become the luffy he was always meant to be

#opla #opla spoilers #opla liveblog #monkey d luffy #monkey d garp #dracule mihawk #one piece #roronoa zoro

[theladyyavilee]

Hey, as someone newer to the fandom what is up with the sunset, construction on sunset thing?

hey nonnie! (sorry this took a while <3 I took this as an excuse to compile a full sunset meta post and there was more than I thought!) okay so this one is a little more meta even than the trapped dads meta, buuuut it is one of my favorites, because at least to me it is pretty loud and they've - especially recently - been calling back to it in very cute little ways, but the callback in this episode was the loudest in a WHILE and it is actually a beautiful parallel to the first ocurrence of the whole construction on sunset thing!

so, as far as I know it all dates back to the mention of 'there was construction on sunset, I had to take a detour' in 4x8 when Eddie returns from his math date with Ana to Buck taking care of Christopher and the connection between Ana and Sunset, which was beautifully laid out by @yramesoruniverse here in this post and there is a gifset by @catdadeddie here highlighting the parallel!!

for me personally the fact that they brought both SUNSETS aaand CONSTRUCTION back for this episode, when Eddie is dating again? yeah that was a loud choice! especially the fact that he was called over to do repair/construction work for Pepa, only the real reason (the real construction and the REAL reason for another detour he is taking on his path to love) was the blind date all along and they put not one but two pictures with a potential* sunset onto the walls in Pepa's house to make sure we saw that the 'construction was on sunset' AGAIN xD see this post by yours truly for pictures and lots of yelling! xD

*okay, I say potential sunset, because last night an anon asked about whether it is a sunset or a sunRISE and indeed we do not know for sure! now after that I went onto a google research binge and found that sunrises and sunsets are hard to distinguish on pictures, as they are the exact same phenomenon, only with movement in different directions! the only thing that sometimes makes a distinction possible is the fact that air pollution increases during the day and clears during the night, so sunrises often have a clearer and crisper feel to them than sunset, which in exchange provide more of a color spectacle caused by the increased refraction on the air pollution particles

based on that @stagefoureddiediaz, @mistmarauder and I have come more or less to the conclusion that the picture we see behind eddie could very likely be a sunrise - signaling a new beginning for him, while the picture in the living room, behind vanessa and her tia and connected to the dating of it all, is another sunset - standing for both the construction on sunset causing a detour in eddie's love life of it all, as well as a (potential) relationship coming to a close as soon as it has begun xD

now on the exact meaning of sunsets by themselves we have not yet found exact agreement, but they seem to be about endings, about the sun setting on something, as in the sun setting on a specific relationship or relationship dynamic!

(more under the cut)

so on this scene in 2x17 where we see Eddie reading Shannon's letter and more or less letting himself say goodbye to her and finally cry over this loss, while on the beach at sunset

@mistmarauder says 'Well, I don't actually think sunsets are Buddie coded. I think they're relationship coded. And really the sun is setting on his relationship with Shannon because she's gone. [...]Sunsets make me think endings. Not beginnings.' and also '[The] Sun sets on one thing and rises on another.' which after a brief conversation @stagefoureddiediaz points out doesn't quite preclude it from relating to Buddie as well by saying 'Not necessarily just because we haven’t got there yet doesn’t mean that that sunset wasn’t relevant to buddie - it’s kind of like a chapter ending - but it’s like that sunset brings on the darkness that is the tsunami which leads to the dawning of a new and different friendship - one we’re still seeing grow and change - I think if we looked at when all the sunsets appear in connection with buddie they’ll come at key moments of shift - so they’re constantly chapter endings - drawing them increasingly closer together - but it’s kind of a secondary theme with the sunsets rather than the primary one'

furthermore we have come to the conclusion that some of the smaller depictions might intentionally be ambiguous on whether or not they are a sunrise or a sunset, because at a turning point it is natural for there to be a chapter that closes and another, new one, that begins!

alright now for fun little nods to the whole sunset thing they've done since then:

we have Buck's heart drawing in 5x14 being done in sunset colors, pointed out by @fiona-fififi in this post, going perfectly with Buck 'misunderstanding the assignment' another detour having to be taken!

then we have three posts by @stagefoureddiediaz, this one about the sunset balloon at the bedside of the girl who was living a fake life in 5x15, an episode that had multiple nods to Eddie maybe also not letting himself live his life quite true to who he is! another post for 5x17 and the sunset colors on the cake for ramon's retirement! and then in this very recent costume meta for 6x13 kym points out how in the very lovely buckley-diaz scene with the math homework, Chris is wearing a shirt that has a small pineapple on it that is inlaid with a teeny tiny sunset scene!! she has also pointed out that there is a good chance that the full picture on the front of Chris' yellow shirt that he wears in the scene immediately before the Eddie/Ana break-up in 5x3 is depicting a sunrise/sunset too!

and then for two more posts that actually put various meta concepts, including 'construction' and 'sunset' into relation to each other we have this one here by @ktinastrikesback and this one by @ktinastrikesback and @fruitydiaz!!!

okay, this got kinda long, but should be most of what we have so far! which does not mean there won't be additions to this post in the near future, because we have actually decided to take a new look through all episodes under the added aspect of sunsets/sunrises, as well as actually looking at episodes that predate the Ana introduction on Sunset Boulevard, so watch this space if you want some more insanity later on xD

#9-1-1 #me answers a thing #anon #911 meta #my meta #buddie meta #sunset beloved #oh man I hope this is even remotely coherent xD #also sorry for everyone getting tagged I am trying to compile a complete overview of the sunset meta over the years xD #also trying to wrangle meta like this into post is so hard because there are always so many layers separate mentions that build #on each other xD #I'm sure I have missed stuff #PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I DID

[shimmeringweeds]

(Written between s2 episodes 9 and 10)

"The foundation of the game is mutual trust, fairness, and equality."

Part 3 of my "this game and its rules" theory: Part 1. Part 2.

This theory will be much less put together, as I feel I am not seeing the whole picture here, but maybe another set of eyes can spot what I've missed. I want to put this out there before episode 10 destroys everything.

Li Tianchen is a complicated character. He is a someone we inherently cannot trust. I'm sure I'm not the only one who found it comedic how quickly Li Tianchen took total control over the interrogation (CXS never stood a chance, the Coca-Cola tactic was brilliant.)

Why come in disguise as his sister? To gain sympathies, I suppose.

So then, did Li Tianchen know about the photograph?

Let's break the scene down:

-Li Tianchen introduces himself as LiTianxi. Cheng Xiaoshi is visibly taken aback. 1pt to LTC.

-Li Tianchen gives Cheng Xiaoshi a choice. Turn over all listening devices. Cheng Xiaoshi lies = feeling of unease. "The foundation of cooperation is mutual trust" says LTC. Minus 1pt to CXS. He's already in the negatives.

-Interrogation begins. Cheng Xiaoshi asks, "Why did you come and what do you know?" -

-Li Tianchen repeats, "The foundation of the game is mutual trust, fairness and equality. Did you forget this so soon?"

A connection is made in Cheng Xiaoshi's mind, this is Red Eyes! He then says:

"Why did you turn out like this?"

The conversation went directly from "The foundation of the game..." to "Why did you turn out like this." YEAH. That's one way to be suspicious CXS! -1pt

Cheng Xiaoshi knows about LTX's past and recognized her name. Li Tianchen doesn't know that Cheng Xiaoshi knows this. He is guessing based on Cheng Xiaoshi's reactions. (CXS wears his heart on his sleeve and I love him for it.)

Li Tianchen calls him on it, "How did you know?" The ball is back in LTC's court. + 1pt.

Cheng Xiaoshi tries to take the ball back. But the revelation that this is red eyes is too much. He cannot lie. So he speaks the truth and the ball stays firmly in LTC's court for the rest of the match.

The following Coca-Cola chugging relaxes the mood (+1pt LTC) and the sympathy building begins.

This plan of Li Tianchen's really hinges on building sympathy. He can't just grab CXS and go. He has to make him go "willingly" in order to not draw attention. This game is of mutual trust.

Li Tianchen needs (or at least wants) Cheng Xiaoshi to trust him.

Cheng Xiaoshi reaches out in a moment of sympathy... and gets possessed. Match won.

There is no evidence that Li Tianchen knew about the photograph before Cheng Xiaoshi willingly confirms it. But if Cheng Xiaoshi hasn't seen the photograph, then isn't this plan way more risky? Did LiTianchen really take that risk?

I know a lot of people are thinking that Li Tianxi is the one who delivers the photograph. That's very difficult to refute. But I cannot think of a reality where Li Tianchen doesn't know that the photograph was given. That was played.

Food for thought: the twin that delivered the photograph, and the twin that took the phone. (please note: the yellow on the jacket in relation to color of the hoodie. Thin as ice, this one. But I can't stop thinking on it.) EDIT: lmao I went a took color samples in procreate. Both hoodies are purple/red. Color theory can you believe.

I really, really believe that Li Tianchen is crying out for help as much as Li Tianxi is seems to be. Everything he does is to protect his sister. He's a hunter yes, but--

"Some (predators) are born as bloodthirsty beasts. But some are special and learn to evolve. They evolve, and they grow. Until one day in this jungle of men, they become...a hunter. So which one of those do you want to be in the future?"

vs. the English dub which chooses to take things a little farther....

"Someone to kill and eat everything. Not everyone stays the same as they were born. Some people will evolve, become something new. They're the ones who hunt predators. They learn to fight and protect. What kind of person do you want to be when you grow up?"

Li Tianchen is a hunter, a provider, a protector.

So who is Li Tianxi?

#I have so many little noncoherent thoughts that don't deserve a whole post #Like the gossipy neighbor “recognizing” QJ? #or LM abducting Emma for “his money” - the same money found in CB's home? #or “CXS” apologizing for the tracking device vs. “LL” and “CB” apologizing before death #im screaming #link click #时光代理人 #shiguang dailiren #link click spoilers #my lc theories

[nothingtherefornow]

Honestly, the fact that people to get so offended over the idea of Chloe and Lila being worse than Gabriel. Kind of makes me roll my eyes ar people screeching about the misogny of two teenage girls being called evil.

Both Chloe and Lila have both have been shown to knowingly willingly try to take advantage of the fact that Gabriel is an abuser to use for their benefits…

The reason I honestly agree with the assessment that they are both worse than Gabriel comes down to one simple thing. If you took away the miraculous from Gabriel, he probably wouldn’t have the guts to do literally any of the stuff that he does. All his confidence and all his power to do what he does come from the fact that he has that magical brooch.

Chloe and Lila have both been shown to not need a miraculous to want to do evil things to people. It is it so shocking to people the idea that teenage girls can be pretty awful coming from a girl who was frequently bullied by other teenage girls yeah teens can be awful to each other.

Portraying something in fiction doesn’t equate to condoning/normalizing behavior.

I adore this analysis of yours ^^ ! Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts :) Even if I'm a girl myself I was a little bothered that fans felt so ofended over the idea that Lila and Chloé could be worse than Gabriel. But for me it was kinda logic that they would be worse than him, because they are supposed to be the next Big baddies once Monarch is out of the picture. And Ladybug and Chat Noir became strong enough that the ml writters will have to put them against crazier villains in order to rise up the stakes

I had never thought of the kind of person Gabriel would be without the butterfly miraculous, but I think we had a glimpse of it in the episode Queen Wasp where he was ready to stop everything for Adrien's sake (and he even complimented Marinette, while in this season 5 she seems to be the second person he despises the most after Ladybug T_T). It is also the period when Gabriel had not yet developed the habit of controlling Adrien with his amok. Gabriel had not been totally corrupted by power yet in this episode, while for season 5 there is no doubt that he has descended into madness and took a liking to evil, but it was a slow descent into hell, he got worse every season, and his abusive, toxic and obsessive behavior also escalated.

Chloé and Lila on the other hand ... They're different. Of course there was a period when Chloé softened between season 2 and season 3, but the Derision episode will show us how bad she really was, and unfortunatelly became once again. This episode will also reveal how much Chloé has a very twisted and wicked view of how the world works.

And Lila is no better, if not worse. I still get goosebumps thinking back to this scene when she's cutting Marinette's face from a bunch of photos she took from a distance either by herself or by paying somoene to do it, declaring loud and clear "soon you'll have no one and nothing left Marinette". My only though after this scene was : PSYCHOPATH !

And I don't know if you've read the bible, but (SPOILER WARNING FOR THIS PARAGRAPH !) the fact that Lila can go as far as managing 3 false identities at the same time just to get attention and popularity is kinda messed up. Also her intelligence level must be as good as Felix's if she can pull something like that so easilly (also it probably helps her that most ml character are guillible dummies ^^')

And let's not forget that Chloé and Lila willingly got themselves akumatized at one point just because they were offended. They are willing to wreck havoc for the most pettiest reasons of all.

And also, while during season 5 Gabriel is mostly motivated by his madness and hunger for power and control, his original purpose was still intriguing and understandable, to bring a loved one back to life.

Lila and Chloé on the other hands, what do they want, what are their motivations ? Simple : destroying the life of another teenager girl who barely did anything to them. They are only motivated by petty jealousy and the desire to hurt.

Because yeah Chloé always enjoyed hurting Marinette more than anyone else even before she became jealous of her, and Lila seems to have developped an hate-obsession toward Marinette even more intense than the hate she feels for Ladybug, and for what ? Just because Marinette called Lila out for her lies twice or thrice and is currently Adrien's girlfriend ? The boy both Lila and Chloé covet llike he's a thing to possess ?

When there is no rationality behind someone's motives, only madness remains. And crazy antagonists who take pleasure in making others miserable can sometimes be even more terrifying than rich powerfull business man obsessed with power.

There's no denying anymore that both Lila and Chloé are not only bad persons, but also a little deranged in their head. So what happens when you give wicked teenagers more power than they already have ? They become worse, because if they can get away with hurting even more people because that's something they enjoy, what's really stopping them ?

What the fans seem to ignore is that even at 14 years old, people can be pretty messed up in real life. It's much rarer than adults doing evil around them that's for sure, but it happens. I even remember a real case where two young girls below 12 years old murdered a 2 years old kid and an old lady just "for fun". And there's many others example with boys, some can even start committing rape when they're just 14. So why is it that hard to beleive that 14 years old girls have the potential to be more evil than an adult man when they grow up ?

Also can we really talk about misoginy when the main hero character who must face those two crazy girls is also a girl herself ? And when said girl is the protagnoist while her boy partner is the deuteragonist ?

Miraculous Ladybug seems to focus much more on the performances of its female characters like Kagami, Alya, Alix and Zoé for example. And then the star characters of the New York and Shanghai specials were also female. The series has probably chosen two female characters as the future antagonists who will be "worse" than the previous one, because they are characters that we have known since season 1 as rivals of the heroine, and who also evolved alongside the season, but towards the path of evil. After all, when the good becomes better, the bad must become worse.

But I think the detail that might show that fans are wrong to howl mysoginia is that somehow, Gabriel is the one who gave Chloe and Lila opportunities to become even worse. His akumatizations and plans involving Chloe and Lila can be seen as a way of corrupting the two young girls, their viciousness is something Gabriel has always indirectly encouraged for his plans. So is it so surprising then that the student would manage to surpass the master ?

For those who have read the bible, I seem to remember that the synopsis of an episode mentioned Chloe and Lila as "the best minions and allies of Monarch" So if Chloé and Lila became worse than Gabriel, it's because Gabriel himself influenced them.

#miraculous ladybug #ml season 5 #ml season 5 spoilers #ml season 5 leaks #ml analysis #chloé bourgeois #lila rossi #gabriel agreste #Sorry I know this is a very long post ^^' #But there's always so much to tell when this topic comes up #especially when I must use good arguments

[canonicallysoulmates]

J2 Gold Panel Phoenixcon 2022

When they get on stage, Jensen shows the Soldier Boy Starbucks reusable cup that he had been gifted by a fan, which is pretty cool. Jared says that when he woke up it took him a second to remember where he was, and Jensen says the same thing happened to him because his hotel room had blackout curtains but the place he's staying at in Albuquerque doesn't so at like 7am it's sunlight to the face. He comments he doesn't know why he hasn't duck-taped a blanket up then he realizes that's something he actually can do and says he's gonna do that.

Jared apologizes for having missed Vancon, says he was so bumed he couldn't attend due to covid. Jokes he should stop licking parking meters, to which Jensen quips back "or licking people's faces" that that's a new photo op they're gonna offer where Jared licks your face but you might get covid because he's a walking petri dish. In the last month, Jared has gotten strep, covid for the third time, and his kids had the flu last week so he's had all the antibiotics in the last 30 days. Jared, I love you but I would hose you down with Lysol.

Jared makes the comment that Jensen hasn't had this problem because he's been in NM but that it's been like 80 degrees in Austin for the last 6 months which is weird because it has the implication that Jensen hasn't been to Austin in the past 6 months which is not true. We know for a fact that he has been, there are even pictures from an event he attended there recently so maybe he meant that because he's been mostly in NM that he hasn't had to deal with the Texas heat as much.

Anyways moving on to the questions, the first is actually a choice between getting a question or being told a joke. Jared says both.

The question is, on the spn podcast thing, everybody raves about how over 15yrs they never saw the boys use sides. What is their technique for remembering all of their lines, and is it getting harder now that they’re older? Jared says that last one 100%.

Jensen is a little confused because he says they used sides all the time. Not while filming but when they went to block, which is when they show up on set and work out the movement and props and such, they certainly had sides in their hand. When they show back up to film they’re probably sideless because by then they’ve had time to run the scene both in blocking and probably a couple of times in hair and makeup and if it's a wordy scene they’ll go to each other's trailers and run the scene a few times, then they’ll show up on set and be off book by then. I wanna make the note that I am wording their process with each other in the present tense because Jensen says it in the present tense 🥺

Jared says that on Walker, currently, he doesn’t know any of them as well as he's gotten to know Jensen personally and professionally - could have sworn your "wife" was on that show but okay ☕ - so he kinda bobs and weaves to them but the way he learns his dialogue is he reads it over and over again, he reads the script a dozen plus times so he kinda has an idea of what's going on and then going through it in the morning time and time again. You kind of get an idea of the day and the first scene is two pages so you focus on that, and the next is a page and a half so you focus on that, he says that sometimes at the end of the day he'll remember a sentence from what was shot first.

They would run lines a lot but they would also sometimes trade lines, they would read the scene, feel something wasn’t working, and trade lines so Jared would read Dean's lines and Jensen would read Sam's, and if they felt it worked better they would call Bob Singer to approve the change.

Jensen says Jared reads it a lot but he does it differently, he has an association technique he uses where he associates the words or the dialogue with where he is in the scene, the movement, what’s happening so it doesn't ever lock in if he’s asked to recite the words prior to blocking the scene he will go blank but as soon as he can marry it to something within the scene he knows it, and he says he’s been very fortunate to have writers and showrunners that have allowed him to massage the dialogue and put it into his own words. A lot of what we hear is not verbatim on the script, he makes it his own, and he's been given the freedom and the encouragement to do that which he thinks that's been a very nice relationship he's been fortunate enough to have so far in his career. That he's waiting for the time that he's working on a comedy or something and they're like "you said can't and it's can not". Jared says that's what it was like on Gilmore Girls.

Then the fan tells their joke: You know how they call relations with three people a threesome and with two people a twosome? And now you know why everybody calls you a handsome. That's pretty good! 😆 And it also opens the door, and gives Jared the perfect excuse to spend the rest of the panel calling Jensen handsome every chance he gets. x

Case in point, the next fan starts by saying that they're all there melting and fawning over them and Jared goes "he (Jensen) is handsome!" 💕

Who is an artist they've either already met or would like to meet that they would fawn and fanboy over?

Jared says for him more often than not it’s more musicians because he has worked with a lot of actors and actresses that he really admires. Like he met Eddie Vedder and embarrassed himself (to which Jensen nods his head and says 'yes, he did'), says he doesn’t watch tv a lot but he listens to music all the time so the relationship some fans have with them where they put on the show as background noise and re-watch it over and over again so it sort of becomes the soundtrack of your life, he has that with music. So probably musicians, if he met Dave Grohl he'd probably freak out, or Thom Yorke.

Jensen agrees with Jared, he tries to think of who he would go and watch and be in awe of and that makes him think of when he last did that and that was when he saw Robert Plant play. That everybody was jamming out but he was just staring up at him in awe, that he probably saw him and was like "weirdo" to which Jared goes "but handsome!"

Jensen also comments that Jared Leto is grossly pretty in real life, that he's 50 but looks like he's 22. 22? 22???? You need glasses, my boy. Jard mentions Margot Robbie, they met her years ago at the Scream awards before she was super well known and she's flawless. Jensen said he was at an event maybe 5yrs ago and brushed shoulders with Cindy Crawford and internally he was like "stop staring! stop staring! stop staring!" but in reality, he was looking at her wide-eyed. Jared says she was probably like "hey, that's weird. but handsome" In the span of one question Jared has called Jensen handsome 3 times. x

When they're dealing with a lot of emotion in their life, and they know they have to do something creatively, what do they do to decompress afterward? Jared says sometimes it’s more difficult than others. That after their series finale, the scene in the barn, that took a while; he considers himself a workaholic and you detox from them usually there's two weeks at the end of every season where he still doesn't feel like himself. During the pandemic he had a work detox, they got home to Austin and he'd wake up looking for his scripts and then realize he doesn't have any work there so he'd be looking for what to do, it takes time- he doesn't really have an answer to the question he just accepts that it takes time. Same with dealing with mental health, he once again reiterates that he doesn't like using the word struggle when it comes to talking about mental health because if he calls it a struggle then he feels like he's struggling, but he tries to go for a walk or a jog on a regular basis, kinda spend some alone time out on the road or something, or spends time with his dogs. Just accept that it takes time.

Jensen says he doesn’t know if he has a bag of tricks or certain tools that he would offer up, he thinks everything and every situation is different so if you have a certain situation you have to listen to yourself and try to figure out what it’s gonna take. A year and a half ago when he was doing The Boys, he was working a lot, long hours, in quarantine, stuck in an apartment that wasn't his home for weeks and months and he got home late one night and cranked Tool as loud as he could at like 4am and that's how he handled that particular situation he hasn't used that method since but he thinks each situation is different you just have to be aware of yourself and know what's gonna get you through it. Take a look at Jared's expressions as Jensen tells this story because he looks at Jensen with so much emotion and almost like he himself is remembering that night, I have the feeling that blasting loud music isn't the only thing Jensen did that night to cope I think he also made a late-night phone call to his husband. x

Jensen says that the interesting thing about acting is that whenever they yell action everything else in the world goes away. It’s weird, and for that minute to three minutes in which that scene is happening he's not thinking about anything other than what he's doing in that moment and that's a wild thing to have because it can immediately silence everything which is also beautiful.

To lift spirits a little bit the fan asks a second question: what is one of their happiest memories to pull from for a positive scene? Jared says holding his firstborn son, becoming a dad. He also goes back to the previous question real quick to add the advice to remind yourself that no feeling is final wether that's your high highs or your low lows, no feeling is final.

Jensen says he doesn’t know, that he’s a pretty happy guy in general. It’s the more emotional, intense, or somber scenes or situations that take more out of him. Bringing light, and happy, and humor is something that comes easy, he has a pretty optimistic outlook on things. Jared says that's true. And that when Jensen does get down he just sees himself and goes "what can I complain about?" Your husband is hot, we know baby we know. x

The next fan doesn't really have a question she just wanted to know if she could show everyone her tattoo.  x

And the one following doesn't have a question either she just wanted to pass on a message from her friend who could not attend the con to Jared letting him know she loves him and that she sleeps with a moose-stuffed animal every night. To which Jared replies that so does he...and so does Jen. Now y'all can interpret it however you want but to me, this is a clear case of him saying Jen but meaning it with a J, not a G, especially cause he slightly turns his body towards Jensen when he says it, so I'm typing it with a J. But, again, y'all interpret how you want. x

What is the latest happy thing that their family has done for them? Jared says before they got on stage he was face timing G and she was like 'shh' and pulled out her phone to where they have like a nest cam app cause I...guess they have a camera in O's room.....on the one hand, I get it even though they don't like to admit it we know these people have help and hire babysitters all the time so yeah load up on camera's but on the other hand, I don't like camera's in bedrooms they are not a good idea. But I'm getting off track that's neither here nor there, Jared says he guesses O has been on a little bit of a tear lately as a 5yr old who thinks she's 35 (you guess? what do you mean you guess? you don't know?) and when G holds up her phone so he can see O is in her room all grumpy, talking to herself. But she's usually very snuggly and gentle, and she's always going "i love you daddy, you're my favorite daddy". I had to listen to this part like 5 times because I know he means that he's her favorite parent/person but the way he said it makes it sound like he means he's her favorite dad so my brain did a whole record scratch. Anyways, he also mentions playing sports with Tom, and doing Legos with Shep that when they go to the teacher meetings all the teachers talk about how all the kids are individuals and he takes that as a compliment cause when they're home they know they're being supported to be themselves. So his answer is spending time with his kids.

Jensen says Arrow has really taken to a little electric piano they have, and he doesn't play piano but he knows twinkle twinkle little star so he showed her how to play and she learned it in a snap. And on Halloween D send him a video that Arrow wanted him to see, she changed the melody of twinkle twinkle little star to make it haunting. He plays a little bit of it and it's actually pretty good. Jared should teach her some piano and then in the future, if it's something she's interested in, get her a professional piano teacher. x

The last question, is again not really a question, the fan is from Brazil and he asked his friends what they would like to ask the boys and 90% of the questions were: would you marry me? 😂

J2 Gold Panel Phoenixcon 2022

#j2 tinhat #mine

[sl-newsie]

My Review of 92sies

Gotta remember this was made in the 90s by the classic Disney intro! 😄

Thank you Max for the great intro monologue! ‘Thank you Max, for that marvelous introduction!’ Hocus Pocus, anyone?

Gotta appreciate how much they were able to make a crammed set look like New York

Oh. My. God! Shirtless Mush is sooo cute! 😍 

No wonder Skittery’s always angry- I’d be too if I was woken up early. 😤

Not even 5 minutes in and Jack’s called Cowboy  🤠

Where was Kloppman in Livesies? Really, where? 

I wanna know how all the newsies characters were created. Was someone reading A Christmas Carol and was like ‘yes, we need teenage Tiny Tim!’

I noticed they have the same audio of the kid yelling ‘c’mon move it! move it!’ later at the end.

Why did they cut out the ‘takes a smile as sweet as butter?’ bit?

Aw Race does the sign of the cross! Is he Catholic?

At first I was confused about the woman singing in the background but over time I feel that she brings the idea that not all the newsies are orphans 

Sorry but Race backing up from being threatened by a stick is hilarious 

Jack is so much calmer in this version! No more angry Jack

Awww! Les is so cuuute! The way he just stares at Jack while he’s running is priceless 😊

Race and Jack show more friendship chemistry in the first 10 minutes than Jack and Race in Livies during the whole show

Already 92sies Les is so much better 

It’s really hard to not picture Jack as Batman

Half the movie is watching all-a the newsies reactions in the background! 

Headlines don’t sell papes, newsies sell papes- the entire plot summed up in one sentence. 🗞️

Properly shows how the newsies respect a lady by them removing their hats

‘What’s that deafening noise?’ Uh, that’s your employees doing their job? 

I feel sorry for the guy shaving that Snider just shoves to the side when he runs up the stairs.

LUV Medda’s getup! All of it! Anne-Margret is so good! The way she talks to Les is so cute!

I have spotted the teleporting ventriloquist dummy guy!

I personally don’t ship Javid, but 92sies shows much better chemistry between Jack and David than Livesies.

‘Then you’ll be a real cowboy!’ ‘Yeah.’ What about a painter? Now where would you ever get that idea? 🤠🧑‍🎨

So it’s raining while they’re having dinner, then it stopped when they're on the fire escape, and the ground is dusty enough so when Jack does his Santa Fe ‘dance’ he doesn’t get all muddy? Huh.

Only thing about Sarah is that I feel her New York accent could’ve been better.

I wanna know who made the birthday cake. One of the cast or crew maybe?

I prefer Christian’s daydreamy version of Santa Fe. 🏜️

I’d like know what the people in the street are thinking, like ‘what the heck is this guy randomly singing?’

The streetlights make 92sies at night seem like a very cozy atmosphere

Why did they cut out the scene of Christian using a lasso? Learning how to use a lasso was a big deal for him!

What ever happened to the horse Jack technically stole?

Race and Jack’s friendship never gets old!

Pulitzer’s calculation behavior is… weird. Also why is he imitating Tevye’s If I Were A Rich Man dance?

Ok, we need a class where every newsie is pointed out and named so everyone knows who they are

What are the pedestrians thinking when the newsies start singing?

You’re a leader! Here Jack, have a stick! Now break it!

‘Em-bastards!’

Hey it’s Lone Star in a bowler hat! 

Now I want to use ‘hoity toity’ every day.

Yeessss! BROOKLYN! But where can I find the music if it’s not in the soundtrack?! 🌉

‘I spent a month there one night.’ Uh what does that mean, Boots?

Why is Spot Colon’s slingshot never brought up in Livesies?

Ok when I first watched this I didn’t know what to expect from Spot Colon but I remember that as soon as I saw him I had a crush on him instantly. 🥰

People always make fun of Spot’s height, whether it be 92sies or Livesies. But being a short person myself and knowing other short people I can honestly say that short people definitely can be scary! Seriously I’ve scared more people than I can count even if I don’t mean to, so imagine Spot Colon intentionally trying to be scary! To quote Yoda: ‘size matters not!’ Spot Colon could kick everyone’s ass if he wanted!

I luv how all the other Brooklyn newsies are just waiting intimidatingly in the background for Spot to either give the all clear or the o-k to soak Davey.

How did numerous fan theories about Spot’s key get started? 🗝️

Seize the Day is on fire! I luv the quick footwork and acro work in the confined space even though the dance number could’ve been held in a bigger area.

Where did the newsies get tomatoes to throw at Wiesel? 🍅

How long did it take to clean up the torn newspapers after they got done filming that scene?

Huh, Jack actually cares enough to try to break Crutchy out? Also how does nobody notice Jack casually standing around with a rope?

It’s cute how Les and the younger newsies made homemade drums!

‘Never fear, Brooklyn is here!’ Oh my God yeessss! 😆

It’s over, Weasel! Brooklyn has the high ground! Star Wars, anybody?

The newsies picture looks like what every attempt at a family picture looks like, with everybody scattered and looking at different places.

King of New York, still my favorite! The way they had all these guys in this tiny room with all these tables, and yet still pull off a decent dance number! Just wow.

Crutchy your positivity is contagious, even though sometimes you gotta learn when to be sad.

Jack how on Earth can you fall asleep on a fire escape?

Nice rooftop backdrop! Wonder if Jack painted it… 🎨🤔😆

Jack still wants to leave, but at least on the rooftop he explains how he’s not used to growing roots anywhere and actually asks Sarah if she cares.

‘...others who would dare to leeee!’ What, Pulitzer?

I luv how the newsies dress up for the rally!  Even though they’re poor they still know when to act ‘proper.’ Also Spot, you look great! 👍

Seeing Medda dance with all the is always fun to watch, especially with Blink and Race completely fawning over her.

Why is it that Davey and Spot immediately see that Denton’s pointing out Snyder but it takes Davey yelling in Jack’s face for him to see it? 

Typical Race to gamble with a judge 🃏

They really make us hate Snyder. Even if you don’t like Jack (don’t know how someone could but whatever), you really feel bad for him when Snyder takes him back to the Refuge. 😣

How in the world does nobody notice the newsies hiding out around the refuge or when Davey rides on the back of the carriage? There’s cops literally 10 feet from them and they still don’t see a group of kids?

Even when Jack’s yelling he’s still less angry then Jeremy’s angry Jack.

All the Refuge gives you to sleep on is a rusty bed frame? Ouch!

‘We was beat when we was born.’ Yikes Jack got some dark thoughts. 😳

It doesn’t take going through a whole day sulking and getting yelled at by Katherine for 92sies Jack to change his mind, it only takes the Delancys beating up the Jacobs for him to finally say no. 

Once And For All is catchier than the Livesies version

I like how they show all the different kids at odds and ends jobs, as well as how some kids back then didn’t know how to read.

Only thing is I wish they would’ve talked about the details with the deal with Pulitzer

Sarah doesn’t need to beg Jack to stay, Jack figures it out that he needs to stay.

Jack, how can you leave? You’re making Les cry! 😖😭

Now Mush is looking cute next to a lamppost 😍

I’m hearing the audio from the beginning!

Yes, Jarah is a relationship I can tolerate! It’s not toxic or annoying, and they don’t look like they wanna kill each other every scene.

Spot riding away in the carriage is perfect! ‘By, Spot!’ 🥰

Overall I’d want to know what the original newsies would think of this. I mean just imagine the ones from 1899 watching this and thinking ‘I don’t think we ever did this much singing and dancing.’

And now to take a moment for the 92sies who did not make it into Livesies: Snipeshooter, Boots, Bumlets, PieEater, Snoddy, Itey, Snitch, Swifty, Jake, Dutchy, Skittery, Snaps, Tumbler, and Flipper. They will be missed. Instead they will be replaced by new newsies that are far more stupid and annoying, but on the bright side are very good dancers. 😔

I feel like 92sies isn’t talked about as much because it’s more dated and not as recent. When people mention that current stars like Ben Cook are in Livesies then everyone talks about it like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. But when people say Christian Bale is in 92sies then they just say ‘oh yeah, he’s Batman’ and just leave it at that. Just because 92sies doesn’t have the A+ Broadway dancing doesn’t mean it’s not a good musical,

#Newsies #newsies 1992 #1992sies #newsies broadway #Jack Kelly #sarah jacobs #Les Jacobs #david jacobs #boots newsies #skittery newsies #spot conlon #mush newsies #racetrack higgins #racetrack newsies #crutchie newsies #crutchy newsies #medda larkin #Christian Bale #max casella #anne-margret #snipeshooter #livesies #david moscow #short people unite #star wars #hocus pocus #disney #a christmas carol #batman #space balls

[rays-of-fire-and-ice]

As Months Go By, As Seasons Change - Part II

Rating: K+/Teen

Setting: through the 17 months between the end of the Fake Karakura Town arc and the beginning of the Lost Agent arc.

Synopsis: Momo resumes her duties as lieutenant, Shinji returns to a role he was forced out of long ago. Both of them are not who they used to be, and neither is the division they must work together to rebuild.

AN: I…I can’t believe it’s taken me this long. To @whipplefilter and anyone who has been waiting on this, I am so sorry!! For those not aware, this is part 2 of my fanfic As Months Go By, As Seasons Change, which you can read here. Some notes before we begin:

Although I recommend reading part 1 to know what’s happening here, in short: Hinamori and Shinji begin to work together to lead the Fifth Division after Aizen’s defeat. Hinamori is trying to come to terms with not knowing who Aizen really was and with working for a new captain, while Shinji is working on building trust in the division and feels responsible for what happened to the division after Aizen took over and betrayed them all. Both are starting to get along, but they’ve still got a ways to go.

A denreishinki is the phone device Shinigami use, and it works both in the Soul Society and when calling from the World of the Living.

There’s a few hints of hitsuhina here, but please feel free to read the interactions as platonic if you want. Also, I don’t go into detail here about how Hitsugaya and Hinamori reconcile. If you’re interested in how I can it’d happen, check out this headcanon post and scroll down to the section where I discuss it. I changed a few details for the sake of this fic, but otherwise it’s basically the same.

The music record Hinamori likes is by Ryo Fukui can be listened to here. The track I imagine she’s listening to in the scene is ‘It Could Happen to You’.

The first recruitment brochure Shinji sees is this one (sorry for the picture quality). The responses on the brochure can be found in the BLEACH Color + databook.

Neirkiri is a type of wagashi, a Japanese sweet/confectionary. I was inspired by the winter collection of this wagashi set here. They're apparently very hard to decorate and even make in some cases, but with Hinamori being as good at baking as she is, I think she'd like the challenge of it and try her hand at making some.

If you want some background music while reading, then I recommend the usuals (basically any somber or calming BLEACH ost track, all of which you can now find on either Spotify or here at Shiro Sagisu's offical youtube...for those who don't know which songs I usually refer to: Recollection I-III, Nothing Can be Explained, World #05, going home, compassion, etc) but also Stronger (Acoustic version) by Through Fire and the entire Losing Today EP by The Living Sleep.

There were quite a few deleted scenes from this fic. However, one did make it as a fic of it's own: For All That Was Lost. It serves as an epilogue for this fic, so check it out if have time.

For anyone who was waiting for this part, thank you so much for your patience! Thank you also for all the kind comments and encouragement from the first part, it really means a lot and motivated me to get this last part done. I hope you enjoy this part as much as the first! :D

____________________________________

The quiet of the office is interrupted by the ringing of Shinji’s denreishinki.

Hinamori bites the inside of her cheek, trying to focus on writing up a report for the latest mission in the Rukongai. It’s the second time it’s rung since her captain went to go get lunch for the both of them – his treat, he’d insisted, but she already made a mental note to shout for him next time. The tune is not the standard beeping most devices have. Somehow, Shinji had gotten a tone she can only describe as ‘jazzy’.

She’s half tempted to answer it, if only to stop the ringing and let the caller know Shinji will be back soon.

What she finds strange though is that Shinji may have warned her a situation like this might happen. Three months ago, when during their first week working together, he gave her permission to answer it if it rang three times and he wasn’t there to answer it. He told her chances are the calls would be from his Visored friends in the World of the Living.

Had he known something like this would happen? How often did he speak with these people?

Eventually the ringing stops, and Hinamori relaxes. However, it’s not even a minute later when it starts up again. Whoever is calling must urgently need her captain, but it feels rude to answer another’s denreishinki, even if she was given permission to do so.

Her hesitation keeps her rooted to the spot for five rings, but it becomes too much. She forces herself to stand and rush over to her captain’s desk. Before she can think twice, she answers the device. “Hello, this is Hi-”

“Who is this?!” a young woman’s voice shouts from the other end. Hinamori holds the denreishinkai from her ear as the woman continues to yell, “Why do you have Baldy’s phone?!”

Surely this can’t be one of his friends. “I, uh…this is Lieutenant Hinamori?”

There’s a few seconds of silence. “Has he got others answering his calls now cuz he’s too much of a coward to face me?!”

“Oh, no, he’s just gone to get lunch. I can pass on a message? W-Who am I speaking to?”

“I ain’t saying until I know Shinji is there. It’s an emergency and we need answers!”

“Hiyori, calm down. Who’re you talking to?” says a man in the background.

“Some lieutenant!” the woman says to the other. “I think she’s Shinji’s.” Then, back to Hinamori. “So he’s got a girl as his lieutenant, huh? Has he told you’re his ‘first love’ yet?”

Hinamori bristles. “H-His what?”

“Huh, guess he hasn’t then. If you really are his lieutenant, I don’t know how you put up with him. When you see him next, kick him in the back of the knees for me, will you? And tell him to – oi, give that back! Hey, Love!”

There’s a scuffle, but after a moment, the man’s voice comes over the phone. However, Hinamori can still hear Hiyori yelling and carrying on in the background. “Sorry about her,” the man says. “Who am I talking with?”

Hinamori swallows with a nervous smile. “This is Lieutenant Hinamori. Who am I speaking with?”

“Aikawa Love. We’re calling because we need to ask Hirako something, but doesn’t sound like he’s there.”

“Uh, no, I’m afraid not. I can let him know you called though.”

“Yeah, if you co – Oi, Yamada, Hachi! You were supposed to hold her back! Hiyori, stop clawing at my arm!”

Aikawa and Hiroyri argue on the other end, clearly fighting over the denreishikai. Hinamori attempts to say something but falters. To think one of them is Hiyori, the same person Shinji was livid had been cut down in the fight several months ago. These really must be his friends, but they seem so…dysfunctional. She feels bad for thinking that, but the arguing hasn’t stopped on the other end.

Just as she considers hanging up, Shinji slides the door open. “Sir…”

“What’s got you looking so freaked out?” Then he notices the denreishikai. “Who’s calling?”

“Aikawa-san and Hiyori-san.”

Shinji’s eyes widen at the mention of the last name. Without warning he drops the two bento boxes on to her desk and snatches the phone off of her.

“The heck did you say to her, Hiyori?!” he exclaims into the phone.

“Ha, I knew it!” she hears Hiyori yell back. “You were using your lieutenant to answer the phone!”

“I was not! I was getting lunch!” He pulls the device away from his ear and rushedly whispers to Hinamori, “Start eating without me, this’ll take a while.”

He gives a snark retort to Hiyori as he storms out of the office and into the courtyard. Without looking away, Hinamori takes one of the bento boxes, opens the lid, and starts eating. From her desk, she can make out pieces of their conversation – if she could call the gnashing of teeth, sarcastic remarks, and exasperated sighs a conversation. It sounds like Shinji hadn’t paid rent on the warehouse they were staying in before he left, but he insists he did and that they needed to talk to the owners. He insists not leaving that warehouse because it’s the best one they’ve ever had and that the owners never once came to see what they were actually using it for.

It's so strange to see him loud and argumentative, moving so fast and making wild gestures with his free hand.  He’s usually so nonchalant, at most grinning or laughing when something amused him. These people though, his friends, they got a different side out of him.

Hinamori didn’t know what to make of the Visoreds when she’d been told about them by Nanao. The fact there existed beings out there with both Hollow and Shinigami abilities bewildered her, almost made her consider just how blurred the line can become from thinking on the implications of having such powers. She hasn’t asked her captain about the powers he isn’t allowed to use anymore and she doesn’t plan to, but she still can’t help but wonder what it’s like for him, Rose and Kensei, and for the others on the other end of the phone.

As the minutes tick by, Shinji mellows little by little. The frown disappears and his lips are twitching, wanting to smile despite the exasperated tone his voice holds. The conversation moves on to other things she doesn’t understand – Shounen Jump, cafes, magazines, humans. As he speaks he slowly walks around the garden and fans himself under the summer sun. Hinamori thinks to gesture for him to come under the shade, but she doesn’t want to interrupt. Eventually, he walks back and sits on the veranda steps, back turned to her.

Why did he come back?

It’s not the first time Hinamori has wondered, but this is different. Until now she’d thought about the question in relation to why he’d come back after being away from the job for so long, or why he’d come back to place that’d once banished him. Now, seeing him like this with the people he called friends, and hearing how he spoke about the World of living, obviously missing some aspects of it, she wonders what drew him back to being so far away from it.

Regardless, Hinamori gets the feeling this is the first of many times she will witness her captain be like this with these friends of his.

______________________

“Is that…a fan?”

Shinji halts. Half bent over, he peers over his shoulder at his puzzled lieutenant. “Yeah, figured it was getting too hot in here. I didn’t think you’d know what this is. Was hoping to give you a demonstration and ‘wow’ you.”

Hinamori shakes her head, trying to hold back a smile. “I already knew because Hisagi-san brought one back from the World of the Living a decade ago. This won’t cool down the whole room though.”

 As if to emphasis her point, a gust of hot wind blows in from behind her. Autumn was only a few weeks away, but it seems summer wasn’t going to go without being the hottest Shinji had ever experience.

“Well, unless you can get someone with an ice-type zanpakuto in here, this’ll have to do,” Shinji says, only half meaning to sound affronted.

Something shifts in Hinamori’s expression, her eyes blinking in surprise. Did she think she’d actually insulted him?

Shinji presses the first button to make the fan move from side to side and the second one for the highest setting. He almost sighs in relief when the cold air smacks him in the face.

“As is, there will only be fifteen of us in here,” he says more neutral. “So, it should be fine, right?”

“Actually, Higuchi-san told me this morning he won’t be coming,” she says while sliding the door closed. “He got advice from Fourth Division to not do any advanced zanjutsu or kido training until they’re sure his sprained wrist is completely healed. Also, Isawa-san isn’t feeling well, he has a cold.”

“At this time of year?”

Hinamori shrugs as she hands him the training agenda. “I’ve had a few in summer myself.”

“Explains why I didn’t see him at the mess hall this morning. I’ll visit him later.” Shinji looks over the document. “We got everything ready?”

Hinamori gestures to the far end of the room, where the practice swords lay on the racks. “We only need those if I’m not mistaken.”

“Yeah. I guess we should do a run through before the others arrive.”

When Shinji hears the low inhale and exhale from her, he knows Hinamori is about to say something a lot of weight behind it.

“Before we do, sir, I’d like to make a request.”

He looks up, and resists the urge to raise a brow at her apprehensive expression. “What is it?”

“If possible, I’d like to request half a day’s leave this Friday.” Before he can speak, she quickly adds, “I promise I’ll complete all of my work by Friday morning and I won’t leave anything for you or Isawa-san to finish. However, it’s okay too if you’d prefer I don’t go on leave, I understand.”

Shinji snorts in bewilderment. “Well, this isn’t like you. You finally learning the importance of taking a break?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. You can go on leave, Isawa and I will handle things.”

She lets out a breath, her shoulders falling in relief as she bows her head. “Thank you, sir.”

“You could take more time if you wanted. You’ve been nonstop since you started again.”

“Oh, no! I couldn’t, and there’s no need as it is! I just need the half of day.”

“To do what? Going to visit your friends in the Junrinan? World of the Living?”

“No, none of those…” She stares down at her shadow, cast along the floorboards to her left. “I’ll be speaking with Captain Hitsugaya.”

His smile drops. He’d been wondering when this would happen.

He hadn’t missed the way she looked at Hitsugaya a few weeks ago at the joint captains and lieutenants meeting. Shinji had glanced back at her at one point, only to find her head turned in the direction of the Tenth Division captain. Her sadness and apprehension were apparent, as obvious as the melancholy she experienced whenever she says Aizen’s name. He’d looked away, but in his peripheral, he knew Hitsugaya was glancing at her too.

The way she walked out of that meeting, as if the wind had been knocked out of her, it almost made him order her to go talk to Hitsugaya. He didn’t, instead asking her what was wrong and receiving a vague answer. He hadn’t pressed further, seeing that this was probably territory he wasn’t equipped to deal with. There was something personal about it, something he felt only the her and Hitsugaya would know how to navigate through.

He lowers the training agenda documents to his side and asks, “I take you’ll be meeting up with him then?”

“We agreed to meet at Tenth Division’s main barracks. It shouldn’t take long.”

He almost clicks his tongue, but instead shakes his head. “Take the whole day off.”

Hinamori's mouth falls open. “There’s really no need-”

“For something like that, you’ll need the whole day. Isawa and I have things covered.” When she’s about to argue back, he leans forward and uses the training agenda to point at her. “Don’t make me order you.”

That stops her in her tracks. She blinks once, and her surprise dissipates to an incredulous smile and snort. “You’d order me to take more leave, sir?”

“If I have to, yes.”

“But that’s…that’s so silly.”

“It ain’t if my officers aren’t taking the leave they need. For something like, you’ll need it. Trust me.”

Her small mirth fades, as if remembering why exactly she was taking leave in the first place. The fan arcs back, blowing cold air over them, but neither moves or says anything.

 Again, he feels he’s treading into something he knows very little about, but he decides to put the final nail in the coffin. “How long has it been since you two last talked? A while I bet. You’ll have a lot to catch up on then, yeah? Not just about what happened back then, but other stuff. Stuff you always talk about when you see each other.”

For a brief moment he thinks back on his few phone conversations with Visoreds in the World of the Living. He’s certain he’ll get used to communicating with them like that, but a part of him misses not seeing them in person.

She sighs through her nose. “I suppose. Even before the fight against Captain Aizen, it’s been so long since I last spoke with Hitsuga – I mean, Captain Hitsugaya.”

“Well, if that doesn’t tell you you need the whole day off, I don’t know what will.” He continues, with a lighter lit, “Clearly you’ve been working too much that all though think about is getting back to work.”

Her lips tilts in a tiny smile, and she bows her head. “Then, thank you, Captain.”

____________________

After she shuts the door behind herself, Hinamori lets out the breath she’s been holding in.

Her heart flutters, her eyes sting, and the jitters are starting to calm down, but none of it dampens her relieved smile.

It was a moment in the making, something she simply couldn’t avoid for the rest of her life even if she wanted to. Regardless, she’d been so afraid of how she would approach it all. Hyourinmaru makes her apprehensive still, and to feel that way about a part of her childhood friend is enough to break her heart a little. His zanpakuto is more than just a weapon to him, but that is all she can see it as for the time being.

She’d never seen such expressions on Hitsugaya, his face transforming from guilt to sorrow to unfiltered relief. She’d told herself she wouldn’t cry, but it happened not even five minutes within meeting him.

It had started with apologies and tears, then long pauses and uncertainty. It wasn’t until she brought up her recent visit to the Junrinan that things started to calm, and it was almost like falling back into their old rhythms. Of course, it wasn’t exactly like before, and perhaps it never will be again. That thought doesn’t sadden her, for she already had hope from reconnecting with him today.

What had partly inspired her to finally take the plunge, she realises, was Shinji’s conversations with his friends. Seeing him speak freely with those he hadn’t seen in months, people he had lived and struggled with for decades, it made her think of her own friendships. It made her remember what it used to be like for her and Hitsugaya.

The memories of that day on the battlefield won’t leave her, but their power over her has diminished.

It’s been a long day, and despite her mirth, exhaustion weighs heavily behind her eyes and limbs. She considers whether she should have a nap or get dinner. As she does, her curtains flutter in the gentle breeze. She’d been so anxious this morning she’d forgotten to shut her window.

She closes it, and as she turns back to her room, her gaze lands on her bookshelf.

The warmth in her is cools when she spots a book Aizen gifted her decades ago. It occupies its own space at the top. She’d put it there to get it far out of sight as possible, but to also not forget it was there entirely, for the day she’ll get rid of it.

She prays that one day she’ll have the strength to burn it to ashes.

____________________________________

“Sir?”

“Hm?”

“May I ask you a question?”

Hinamori watches her captain step down the ladder with a tome. He hands it to her before going back up.

“You don’t have to say that before you ask me something,” he says, nonchalant.

She’s aware, but it still feels wrong to just ask personal questions without a lead up. She takes the second tome he passes down to her and shuffles to the side, allowing him to move the ladder further down the bookcase.

“When will you be going to the World of the Living next?” she asks.

Shinji freezes. He's deciding whether to take her question seriously or making a joke out of it. It doesn’t take him long to choose.

“Trying to get rid me already?!” he chuckles.

“Of course not, sir!”

“Oh suuuuure. Bet Matsumoto-san has a party planned and you volunteered to use the barracks’ hall, didn’t ya? I know her birthday's coming up, she strikes me as someone who holds big drinking parties to celebrate.”

Why does he have to escalate things like that? Her indignation must show because his chuckling turns to laughter.

He waves a placating hand. “All right, all right, in all seriousness. I don’t plan to go for a while. Did you want me to get you something while I was there? I can just ask Urahara to convert something and send it over if you want.”

Huffing out a breath, Momo continues, “I only asked because it occurred to me that you, um…haven’t seen your friends in a while.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, a slight tightness coming around her heart. “We used to encourage our subordinates to see their friends outside the division when possible. Captain Aizen said it was good to socialise outside of the groups we know.” Then, quieter. “In hindsight, maybe that was… something else he, um….”

With his back to her, she can’t gauge her captain's reaction. His fingers continue to slid along the spines of books and tomes, only stopping when finds one they’ll need.

“It might’ve been a tactic, but regardless, it’s good advice.”

She’s too bewildered to respond, and only snaps out of her stupor when Shinji waves a book in front of her face. She wanted to say the same, but feared doing so would somehow align her with Aizen.

As he climbs down, Shinji says with a smile, “It went that well with Hitsugaya, huh?”

At times like this he surprises her with his perceptiveness, so much so she forgets to correct him on her childhood friend’s title. “What makes you say that?”

He shrugs. “You saw him yesterday, right? So, judging from that question and that you’re not moping about, I’m guessing it went well. You don’t have to talk about it, though. It’s your business.”

 She smiles softly with a nod. “It did go well. I’m glad I spoke with him.” She casts her eyes back to Shinji. “I suppose it’s made me reflect on connecting with those you haven’t seen in a long time, especially when you’ve known them for so long.”

Taking the hint, Shinji’s face falls into one of contemplation. Hinamori only has under a minute to take it in, because then he resumes his usual grin. “I get your point. Once we wrap things up for the new wave of recruitment, I’ll think about visiting the World of the Living.”

“…I’m glad, then.”

He steps down and then off the ladder. “Actually, speaking of, the first lot of graduates for the year are due soon, right?”

“Yes, in three months I think.”

“Right, we should get on to promotion. Lets work on it next week, yeah?”

___________________________________________

Shinji frowns at the clock on his desk. Taking her sweet time getting here.

He wouldn’t mind normally, but this is Hinamori; in the six months he’s worked with her, she has never been late. At worst, maybe she’s a few minutes behind, usually rushing in and apologising for ‘being late’. Now it’d been almost thirty minutes since they were meant to start work on the recruitment brochure.

Another minute passes before he’s had enough. He walks briskly out of the office and to the archive storage room. He’d asked her last week while arranging this task to get relevant documents and older brochures so he could get a better idea of how they were done these days.

She isn’t in the archives, but his eighth seat, Katsuro Hoshino, is.

“Yo, you seen Hinamori around?” Shinji asks him.

“No, sir,” Hoshino says, closing the tome he holds. “I just came in, but I do sense traces of her reiatsu here.”

“She probably left a few minutes before you came then.” He goes to leave, but the tome his subordinate holds catches his attention. “What’re looking at that old thing for?”

“Oh, ever since the Lieutenant did that demonstration a few months ago, I’ve been looking to improve my bakudo spells.”

Coming from you, this isn’t a surprise at all. Hoshino is always looking to improve himself, always asking for feedback on his performance in training or after a mission. If he ever messed up, he insists on correcting his mistake. If he ever got praised for something, he’d ask how he could make it better Sometimes it’s too intense for Shinji’s liking; it reminds him of the officers from Second or First Division, always perfectionists with ambitious goals or too strict of a code.

But then, he did come from one of the lower districts, and the captain found one of the main types of officers to come from there were like Hoshino: ambitious, always looking to reach higher, always looking to provide for anyone they had back in the Rukongai, and generally sympathetic to those who came from the lower districts. He needs people like Hoshino, to understand those from the districts he was never in.

“What about the manual in our library?” Shinji asks.

“All copies are on loan, sir.” Hoshino hoists up the tome with a smirk. “It may look old and doesn’t include certain spells or have the depth of the more current edition, but it’s still helpful. We kept it around for a reason, right?”

 “…Sounds like she inspired some of you.” And judging from the way they spoke of her before, it’s not the first time that’s happened. Shinji turns to go. “I’ve gotta find her. I’ll see you around.”

Out of the archives room, he puts out his senses for her. It takes a moment, but he detects her reiatsu coming from the back of the division, near the training grounds. The heck is she doing there? But what’s more concerning, what makes him start jogging in her direction, is the way her reiatsu flickers, like a flame caught in a gust of wind.

It’s not a minute later when he finds her leaning on the veranda railing, her back turned to him and her head bowed. She hasn’t noticed him, doesn’t even flinch when an orange autumn leaf flutters down from the maple tree and brushes past her arm. It lands at Shinji’s feet, joining the others on the floorboards.

It takes a lot to make Shinji concerned or worried, but something about the way she holds herself, the way her reiatsu flickers, and the fact she was here instead of closer to the office has him on edge. Rather than say anything, he watches her carefully as he steps outside and shuts the door behind himself, loud enough for her to hear.

Hinamori startles and twistsaround, eyes wide and face pale. “Oh, Captain…”

He frowns at the papers in her hands and slowly approaches. “What’re you doing here?”

“I was…” She bows her head in shame. “I got distracted.”

“I can see that. What by?” he asks, trying to keep his voice neutral.

She holds out the papers to him without raising her head. He waits several seconds for an explanation that never comes before he takes the documents. At seeing a familiar face on one of the old brochures, his frown deepens. He shuffles through them, and almost all of them have Aizen on their covers, and her name is credited at the bottom of each as the artist. If it weren’t for the subject matter, he’d compliment her again on her drawing skills. “Ah, I get it now.”

In his peripheral, she lifts her head, eyes still wide. “I’m so sorry! I got caught up in….” She straightens, trying to put on a brave face. “Come on, let’s get back to the office, you can look at those and get started on the brochures.”

He tucks the documents into his sleeve and steps in her way and holds hands up. “Hey, take it easy. We gotta get back to work, sure, but nothing wrong with taking a breather. Besides, I just finished that paper stack you left me and I could use a break.” For emphasis, he rubs the back of his neck. “Feeling a little tense, you know?”

The urgency leaves her, but in its place is guilt. He withholds a sigh, and instead jerks his chin at the barracks over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s go grab a tea.”

A few minutes later they’re in the kitchens, with Shinji pouring boiled water into a teapot. Normally Hinamori makes this – she brews some of the best teas Shinji has ever tasted, had the whole thing down like an art form as far she he’s concerned. However, at her slackened shoulders and tired expression, he’d gone to the cabinet and pulled out the canister of tea leaves without a second thought.

She watches him now from the island counter, sitting on one of the stools they’d purchased a few weeks ago. Aside from the teapot, it’s one of the few ‘modern’ looking things in the division. It’d taken some convincing, but he brought her around on the idea of some new furniture. She’d even mentioned thinking about getting a couch for the office just two days ago while glancing through one of his magazines.

“Wanna go back to the office or somewhere else?” he asks while tossing the leaves into the infuser.

She fiddles with her hands for a beat. “Can we stay here?”

Well, most of the division is out, I guess. Just for assurance, he slides the kitchen door shut. “Sure.”

When the tea is brewed, he brings the teapot over and pours it into two cups. As he comes to sit on the stool next to her, he hands her one. She smiles at him while wrapping her fingers around the clay sides. “Thank you, Captain.”

She blows over the rim, dispelling the steam, and takes a tentative sip. At her small nod, he knows the tea good enough.

“So, wanna tell me what happened out there?” he broaches.

Whatever small comfort the tea had given her flows out. She stares down into her cup, the ends of the steam brushing over her face and the shadows under her eyes growing darker without the light on them.

Shinji considers himself a patient man – with a few blonde-haired, red tracksuit-wearing exceptions – and knows despite his own concerns, there are just times he shouldn’t step into something someone isn’t ready to share yet. “Look, if you don’t wanna talk about it, it’s fine. Just don’t let it stew in you, yeah? Keeping that stuff in can mess you up, so whether it’s me or someone else, don’t let it build up.”

“I’m sorry, Captain.”

“Don’t apologise.”

She hesitates. “It’s not my place to question your decisions, but…”

“Isn’t it, though? If a lieutenant can’t question their captain’s decision and choices, what kind of division is that? There’s a reason why they put two of us in charge, and it ain’t just because if one of us gets sick the other has to take over.”

The corners of her lips twitch up into a ghost of a smile for too brief of a moment. “Well, then, if I may ask…why did you reappointment me as lieutenant?”

He thought she’d ask sooner, but now that she has, he changes his approach at answering her question. “Well, why did you decide to come back in the first place? What made you decide to become a Shinigami?” he asks instead.

She gives him a puzzled frown, but when he says nothing else, she answers, “I couldn't leave my position behind. I feel responsible for everyone in our division. I wanted to make sure they were all right, and to try and help them through everything that happened.

"As for your second questions...I came here from the World of the Living, and while I no longer remember anything from my time there, I do remember a Shinigami sending me here. I don’t remember his face or voice, but he was kind. He assured me when I was scared that I would be okay, that I’d be going to somewhere safe and live another life.

“I wanted to help other Souls the same way, but also…” She clenches and unclenches her hold on the cup. “I think I always knew there was something in me. I didn’t know it was spirit potential at the time, but I could feel something burning in my veins. I needed to find a way to channel it, and I had a feeling the Academy could help me with it.”

It was just as Shinji had suspected; he almost felt like patting himself on the back for guessing it correctly. “And there you have your answer.”

She blinks at him. “I don’t see how.”

He smiles sincerely. “Truth is, it doesn’t matter too much why I kept you on. What matters is you didn’t forget why you wanted to stay on as a Lieutenant or became a Shinigami in the first place, and the reasons you gave are enough on their own.”

“That sounds…awfully sentimental for you, sir.”

“That’s because it is, but it’s the right answer. My previous captain taught me that when I asked him why he promoted me to third seat.” He gives his usual grin. “Needless to say, I wasn’t an idiot and didn’t question him again when he promoted me to lieutenant a few years later.”

At her deepening frown, he wonders if he went about this the right way. He sighs through his nose. “You asked me because you’re doubtful about your position. Am I wrong?”

He takes a sip of tea, and she eyes the sleeve where he’d stashed the brochures. She purses her lips and takes in a breath, making her shoulders rise.

“I thought if I just looked at him, maybe I could move on. It didn’t work, all it did was bring back memories I don’t want to remember.” It came out of her in a rushed confession and Shinji froze midway through it, leaving his cup a few inches from the counter.

Something in her crumbles, but she doesn’t hunch over into herself or turn away from him. She swallows before continuing. “When you asked me to go get the brochures, I thought I could handle it. I don’t know why, but I never realised how often I drew Captain Aizen on the covers. When I saw his face over and over again, it made me not want to be here.” She shakes her head. “I almost ran away, but I stopped myself. I can’t run from this, but even so…I’m still not strong enough to be a lieutenant or…” She trails off, at a loss for words, then takes a long sip of her tea.

It’s a risk, but Shinji puts his cup down and brings out the brochures, laying the pile on the counter but not spreading them out. The one on top is of a smiling Aizen, wearing those blocker glasses and with a branch of Sakura behind him.

“You chose to not run after seeing these, and you should give yourself credit for that. You could’ve chucked them, or burned them.”

"B-But they’re official documents, I couldn’t.”

Shinji snorts. “A shame, but I’m thinking Central Forty Fix wouldn’t take you to task if they found out who’s face is on these.” He let’s out a bitter sigh. “I would’ve, if nothing else to get rid of the blocker glasses. They always pissed me off, especially when I found out he never needed them in the first place--"

“How do you do it?” The question practically burst out of her, and it catches Shinji off guard. He blinks at her almost horrified expression; he's not sure he’s ever seen her so stricken.

“How do I do what?” he eventually asks.

 “You…You talk about him and say his name without…”

“Time.”

“Huh?”

He slides the top brochure, revealing the second one beneath. Aizen stands in profile on a veranda, head tilted back and smiling at something in the sky; behind him, in Hinamori’s neat writing, it says ‘Come join Fifth Division’. The way she drew him made that smile look so genuine, but he can imagine it was the same one he’d given everyone over a hundred years ago; it never quite reached his eyes, and perhaps she’d also seen it but drew it as though it did.

Shinji finds himself remembering moments with Aizen he’d pushed away for years. The good and the bad. He imagined his lieutenant is experiencing the same as she taps a finger on the corner of a brochure from four years ago.

“It takes time,” Shinji elaborates, listing his head to one side. “I had a hundred years to think about what happened. I don’t hate him any less, but it gets easier with time to think about what happened and to talk about him.” He narrows his eyes. “You know what he did back then, right? To me and the others?”

She nods, somewhat apologetically. “Kira-kun and Ise-san told me.”

“Right. There’s one thing they wouldn’t have told you though. I knew from the start something wasn’t right about him. I could never put my finger on it, but I just knew there was something creepy about him. I thought keeping an eye on him would stop him from doing something. When he revealed himself to be behind the attack, he showed I’d been the fool this entire time. I played right into the bastard’s hands, had been this whole time.”

“H-How so?”

He gulps down his tea, his mouth suddenly drier. Even after all these years, for all his talk of ‘it takes time’, he’s nervous to bring up that night with her. What’s he so anxious about? “I thought I chose him, but as it turns out, he chose me. I was the perfect candidate to keep up his façade, because he knew my suspicion would only blind me to the true him.”

Tears rim in Hinamori's eyes. It hits close to home, and he can understand why. Aizen had used his suspicion against him, and he’d used her admiration against her. Like with Shinji, he’d chosen her, but made her think her admiration led her to him. He took whatever emotion he strongly resonated within others and used to it to hide his intentions and true self from them.

The silence between them stretches out for another minute before she speaks up, voice quiet. “I’m sorry you went through that.”

He shakes his head. “Not your fault. It’s no use comparing suffering, but even so, what you went through I imagine was worse.” He taps the brochures. “The way you drew him, it shows what you thought of him. I bet that bothers you too, huh?”

For a moment, her lips draw into a tight line while she thinks of what to say next. “Sir, forgive me, but…why are you telling me all of this?”

Because he wants her to know she isn’t alone, that what Aizen had done to her had been done to him too. Also, on some pathetic level, he wants to own up for his costly mistake and apologise to her indirectly. He’ll be dying before he ever admits the latter though.

"Did I say too much?" he says. "Sorry, probably made ya feel uncomfortable."

"Uh, no, it's not that!" Hinamori quickly reassures. "It just seems like so much to share is all. If it were me, I know I wouldn't be able to."

"It kinda the reason why I did." He gestures to himself with his cup. “It was so you get an idea of what’s ahead. It’ll take a long time for you to deal with all this. Based on experiences, there will come a day when wake up and go about your businesses, and you realise you haven’t truly thought about him or what happened. You’ll think about it there and then, sure, and there will be days where it has you by the guts. It’s just a matter of remembering that those days come and go, like any other.”

He pours himself another cup of tea as she sighs quietly.

“Out of everyone, you’re the only who talks about him to me,” she says.

“I figured it’s good to talk about him, the good and the bad. Well, it’s all bad, let’s face it, but…he had his moments, every now and then, whether I liked it or not.”

Hinamori thought the same, he can tell – like her expression when he agreed that seeing friends outside of the division was good advice.

He raises the refilled cup to his lips. “Unfortunately, that can make it harder, but if you accepted it as ‘it was what it was’, that gets easier too.”

Somehow, Hinamori’s shoulder fall even further when she sighs. “I wish I was older.”

The sombreness prevents him from cracking a smile at that. “What’d mean by that? Most people your age wanna stay young forever.”

“It’s not like that.” Her fingers trails away from her cup and rest on the edge of the counter. “There’s nothing great about being young, because you don’t know how to handle things like this properly. I feel like everyone in the division is moving on. They even pulled up the ayame, the calligraphy he did isn’t on the walls anymore, and barely anyone but you says his name around me. It’s like he never existed, and maybe…maybe that’s how it should be. It feels like the right thing to do…and somehow, also the wrong thing. He existed here, and I hate…I hate that I still remember good things about him. It’s been so long since…since I didn’t feel like this. I wish it was…”

He frowns; something about her words struck a deep cord within him. “Wishing ain’t gonna solve your problems, dummy! You think you got out of that Fourth Division bed from wishing? You think I kept you on as a lieutenant because you could wish things in and out of existence? You gotta face it every day, head on, all the memories you have him, whether they’re good or bad. Those feelings and thoughts will be there when you wake and still there when you go to sleep, but you don’t let it keep you lying there doing nothing. Yeah, maybe getting rid of things around here helps some, but everyone’s got their own way of dealing with this shit, right?”

He softens a little when he realises she taken aback. “It’s okay to take a breather, though. You don’t have to force yourself so hard into getting over it. You’re figuring out how to deal with this shit, but you don’t let it get to you, I’ve seen it. You get up everyday, work your ass off, and look out for everyone. Give yourself some credit.”

He has the sudden urge to busy himself, and he does so by flipping over the top brochure and reading the back of it. His brows furrow deeper at the responses Hinamori had provided to the four questions. Shit. He’s quick to flick it aside and flip over the next brochure. She answered for this one too, but the responses were more positive. He doesn't bother to read Aizen's answers.

“I understand.”

He turns his attention back at her. Her eyes are still rimmed with tears, but there’s also a new, hard clarity in them. It reminds him of their first week when she’d affirmed that a division would need change but it couldn’t be done all at once. Her determination is fierce, but now it doesn’t come from a place of wanting to do right by her division. Right now, it’s come from having overcome something inside and wanting to keep moving forward, one step at a time.

“I should be more present, is what you’re saying,” she clarifies. “I don’t get to be being an adult who can deal with things like this by wishing in the present. To become that person, I need to do something in the here and now. I become that person by facing everything head on, not by retreating or wishing for it.”

His grin reflects his pride – at this rate he’s going to start acting like one of those proud fathers he used to cringe at. “Well, look at you being all wise. By the time you get older, you’ll be wiser than the Head Captain!”

She gives an incredulous snort. “That’s too much, sir!”

“I don’t know, you’re on the right track to being that way.” He tips his chin upward. “Though I probably shouldn’t say too much, it’ll go to your head. How about we make it that I said all of that just now? I’ll give you credit as my inspiration, and this way you don’t have to feel all shy about it!”

She’s laughs, almost doubles over, as tears streams down her reddening cheeks. He finds himself chuckling along with her. It’s the longest she’s laughed around him, and there’s something freeing about it. Perhaps it’s to comfort herself, to release the stress this entire situation had brought about.

After their laughter died down, and she has regained her breath, her smile becomes shaky. “It seems easier said than done.”

“Well, no one ever said it was easy, and if they did, they’re an idiot. You’re on track, just remember that.”

“Thank you, sir,” she says after a pause.

They both take a sip of tea, sitting in silence. At some point they’re both looking at the brochures. Shinji only leaves the first ten out, deciding the rest weren’t needed. They stare at the covers, all but one with the man who had brought them down. Yet, Shinji thinks, he also ended up uniting them them.

The good and the bad, Shinji thinks, allowing a bitter smile. He hates the irony of it.

The only one to not feature Aizen is of a shrub of suzuran. It takes up move of the page, expect for a space where Hinamori had written ‘We look forward to meeting you! Let’s work hard for Fifth Division!’

For some reason, the question his captain once asked him comes to mind, and Shinji’s smile softens. Say, Hirako-kun, why did you become a Shinigami?

____________________________________

Shinji hitches his scarf higher up, but it does little to brace him for the cold outside. Stepping out of the First Division, a gust blows through the courtyard, dusting the bridge in front with thin patches of snow that had gathered on the railing.

Around him, the captains all have different reactions to the cold, most showing their dislike for it by either huddling into themselves or commenting on it. However, there’s a few who barely flinch, and one of them is walking on the bridge like it’s just another sunny day. He’s also the one Shinji needs to talk to.

“Yo, Captain Hitsugaya!”

Said captain stops and looks over his shoulder at Shinji as the other captains move past him. “Hirako.”

Shinji slows his walk and waits for the other captains to be out of earshot. “Huh, still not referring to me by my title,” he teases. “Have some respect for your elders, will ya?”

“Most ‘elders’ act their age,” he retorts, but there isn’t much bite behind it. “Besides, you’ve told the others to not refer to you by your title.”

Despite his grin, Shinji frowns in annoyance. “I still can’t figure out how you and Hiyori weren’t two peas in a pod.”

Hitsugaya only snorts derisively in response while looking off to the side and folding his arms into his sleeves. With the snow falling on either side of the bridge and the white that already covers the courtyard below, he looks very much like he belongs in the landscape as an icy figure in the middle of it all.

With all the other captains gone, closes the gap between him and the younger captain as he digs his hand into his sleeve. “I won’t keep you long. Just had to fulfill a request.”

Hitsugaya turns back, eyebrow rising. “Request?”

“You have a birthday tomorrow, and I only know that because…” Shinji pulls out a small box, tied closed by a blue-ribbon bow. “…Hinamori told me.”

Hitsugaya switches his bewildered gaze from the box to Shinji and then back again.

“Hey, don’t get your hopes up, this ain’t from me,” Shinji snarks. He holds it out to him. “She wanted me to pass this on to you, seeing as she’ll be too busy to come by and visit.”

Hitsugaya is slow to take his gift, but Shinji gets the impression it isn’t because he’s surprised. He tries to make it look business-like, but there’s a slight reverence to the way he takes hold of the side held out to him, and the way his eyes are glued to it, following it until he draws it right in front of himself and holds it in both hands, it’s as if it’s the only thing that mattered right now.

Shinji expected Hitsugaya to just thank him and head off to his division. Instead, he deftly undoes the ribbon, letting the ends hang over the sides of one hand while he pulls the lid off.

For a few seconds, the furrow in his brow disappears and his lips part. Save for a few glares, Shinji’s never seen any expression other than a stoic, determined frown on the boy’s face before, but he’s isn’t sure what he’s more surprised by: the subtle softness that settles in the younger captain’s eyes or the strange jolt of relief he feels. Where did the latter come from? And what exactly was he relieved about?

He sets the thought aside for later and watches as Hitsugaya plucks out one of the treats from the box; a nerikiri with snowflake decorations on it.

“She made them this morning,” Shinji explains. “She was actually pretty torn up about not getting to see you on your birthday, but she’s got a long meeting today, then tomorrow she’s organising some missions and then we’re wrapping up some admin things.”

“It’s fine,” Hitsugaya says under his breath. He puts the sweet back with the others and closes the box. “Birthdays aren’t a big deal anyway.”

“Well, they are for her, so you better thank her next time you see her.”

The look Hitsugaya gives him says, Obviously I will.

Shinji can’t help it though, and he raises his hands defensively while teasing, “Hey, don’t freeze me, I’m just the courier.”

Hitsugaya sustains his glare for a moment longer, but then mellows, his usual frown returning while he stashes his gift away in his shihakusho. “In that case, tell her I’ll thank her when I see her next.”

“Like when you have one of your lunches planned?”

The younger captain’s eyes widen at that.

“She told me about your plans together. I always keep telling her to take all the time she wants but she insists on getting back in time to finish her work. I think it’s nice you two still catch up every now and then.” Shinji starts to leave, raising his hand in a casual wave. “Well, my work here is done. I’ll pass on your message.”

He only gets a few steps away before the younger captain speaks up. “Oi, Hirako.” He stops, and after a beat, Hitsugaya shuffles a step towards him. “Hinamori mentioned last time that you were thinking about a joint training session with my division.”

That makes Shinji twist back around. “It was just an idea. I noticed in the records our divisions haven’t done any joint training in a while. Thought it might be good for both of our subordinates to become reacquainted with each other.” His grin widens. “Who knows? Maybe you and your men can learn a thing or two from Hinamori about kido, and we’d learn something from you and Lieutenant Matsumoto.”

Hitsugaya nods to himself.

“Is that a yes then?” Shinji asks.

“I’ll ask Matsumoto what she thinks, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she agrees to it. We can discuss it further next month.”

“All right, I’ll hold you to it.” At the fresh breeze that blows through, Shinji crosses his arms and asks, “Hey, in the coming days, reckon you could shift this weather away? Make a little warmer maybe?”

Shinji knows the urge to resist an eyeroll when he sees it – Hiyori and the others had done it enough times. He’ll take it over the piercing stares the younger captain used to fix him with during the first month back as a captain.

“No,” is all Hitsugaya says.

Shinji shrugs in defeat. “Ah, well, I tried.” He spins on his heel and continues his exit. “See you around, and don’t be a stranger to the division.”

He can feel Hitsugaya’s gaze on him for the entire length of the bridge, but unlike his first month, he can sense it’s not out of suspicion.

He’s almost halfway back to his division when he thinks back on the relief he felt, but now he has an answer.

We grew up in the same district and have been friends since. He always works hard, and he picks up new skills really quickly. He can be a bit mean too, but really, he’s kind. It took me a while to realise, but he looked out for me during the Ryoka invasion. That’s what has always stood out about him though…He looks out for everyone, even when no one sees it.

Shinji had to admit, after interacting with the younger captain the first few times, he’d thought Hinamori’s view as being too biased. She saw the good in others, and perhaps it affected how she recalled certain memories about them. He hadn’t told her about how her friend had damn near interrogated him, asking probing questions about his Hollow powers and his intentions for the Fifth Division. He’d initially concluded that yes, the kid was a genius, but he was also a brat.

But then he thought about what had happened in the battlefield more, and then learned more about the captain through Rangiku.

He may have grown up in the Junrinan, but that boy would’ve gone through hell. With hair like that and the icy aura that radiated off him, Shinji can imagine Rukongai Souls, with and without spirit potential alike, would see he wasn’t like them. Hinamori had befriended him though, had known him for several decades. She saw the good in others, believed in them wholeheartedly, perhaps to a fault, but even so…

She must have been kind-hearted and compassionate since she was young. It wasn’t something Aizen had fostered within her to further his plans somehow.

Despite knowing this for months now, it feels good to finally get confirmation in a way. Knowing that, Shinij suspects Aizen thought two ways about her kindness: that it was both a weakness to exploit and he also a trait for a good lieutenant, even if it was for appearances sake.

In some bitter way, he wonders if even Aizen on some level knew her true strength, and had treated her the way he had after he revealed his true self to punish her for it. The same may have gone for Hitsugaya, who had both his left limbs severed by Aizen. The cruelty of such an attack hadn’t escaped him, not when he and others had received smaller wounds in comparison.

Shinji grins, because despite trying to prove otherwise, those two were still standing because of the very things Aizen saw as a weakness.

____________________________________

Hinamori catches herself bobbing her head to the record playing in the background. If she were alone and didn’t have so much to do, she could see herself abandoning the paperwork and dancing around the room to the tune. It’s strange how the music can help her focus on her work but also make her want to dance.

“Who’s this one by?” she asks her captain.

Shinji is lounging on the couch with a music magazine, a scarf around his neck in place of his usual tie. “Fukui Ryo. Why?”

“I like it.”

Shinji grins without looking up. “Well, finally. See, I told ya there’d be one you’ll like, and a good choice too.”

She eyes the record collection, now taking up two shelves of one of the bookcases. He has more in his room, stacked in his closet with no space to keep them. “I’ve been meaning to ask, sir.”

“Hm?”

“Where did you get so much music?”

“I worked in a music store for a little while. Got a bunch of records for discount prices.”

“You had a job in the World of the Living?”

She sounds more incredulous than intended, and it’s likely why he laughs. “Of course I did, dummy! How else do ya think we could afford to stay in a warehouse?”

Hinamori lets out an embarrassed chuckle. “Ah, yes, of course.”

“It wasn’t my only job either, but it was one of the better ones. Aside from getting records, I learned about different musicians and got into collecting CDs too.”

At least Hinamori knows what the latter are, Hisagi had brought a stack of them and a CD player back from the World of the Living a decade ago. “You don’t have any CDs though.”

“I prefer vinyl, there’s something classy about them.”

Hinamori thinks to end the conversation there, but now she’s too curious. “You mentioned other jobs, what were they?”

Shinji closes the magazine and leans back, and Hinamori takes it as a sign this is going to be a long story. As he begins, she sets aside her writing tools and shifts away from her desk.

“I worked in a café at one point, learned how to make coffee. It’s nothing like the instant stuff, it’s better. Next time you’re in the World of the Living, you should go to a café and try for yourself. Before that, I worked in a department store for a few years, mainly in the accessories section. It’s where I learned how to tie a tie, so it ended up coming in handy I guess.”

She thinks of the numerous accessory and clothing stores in the Rukongai. Maybe it was because the tie he wears around his neck or the clothes he had from the World of the Living, but she can see him working in places like those.

“Had a couple of desk jobs too, but they got boring fast.”

“What’s a desk job?” she asks.

“Basically what we do, but more soulless.” He grins at his own pun, and Hinamori tries to decide whether to let out a pitiful laugh out or cringe.

She cracks in the end, both cringing and laughing. “Honestly, sir.”

“Hey, you think I’m joking, but it’s true! They got me to sit down all day and just write stuff that wouldn’t make much of a difference to most humans. It wasn’t fulfilling and I quit the first one. The second one I got fired from. Hiyori was pissed at me both times.

“The others had jobs too, but you didn’t hear anything I’m about to tell you, all right? Lieutenant Kuna was the first of any us to get a job, usually got them in candy stores or at themed cafes. Captain Muguruma was working in a kitchen at one point, it’s how he learned to cook as well as he does. After that he worked on construction sites or in warehouses. Captain Ohtoribashi worked in the same department store I did for a little while, but he got bored and went to work at an antique store, was a background extra on some TV show, then at a concert hall.

“Hachi never got a job, his size gave him away and we needed someone to keep an eye out for Hollows, so he just stayed at wherever we had our base at the time. Love tried becoming a mangaka for a bit but never had the talent for drawing, so he ended up working in convenience and book stores to get manga magazines on discount. Lisa worked in a couple of adult stores, at a themed-café, gave being a hostess a shot but it didn’t last long, and then at a bookstore, and Hiyori always struggled to hold down a job.”

“W-Why was that?”

“Come on, you’ve heard her over the denreishinki. She’s had the most jobs out of all of us. She’s been a housepainter, courier, janitor at a lab, had a few stints as a lab technician – they actually double checked her records every time she applied for those jobs, ‘cause she didn’t look as old as her identification said. There were others she had, but I can’t remember them all.”

Shinji rests his head on the back of his chair. “We didn’t go looking for jobs initially, first we had to control our Hollow powers. After that, we more or less took it in turns. A few of us would go get a job while the others trained, then we’d switch or one or two of us would keep working for a little while longer. Helped us stay afloat in the World of the Living and integrate into it better.”

“But with you all not being human, how did no one see that you didn’t age? Did you have special gigai?”

“Nah, just regular gigai. We didn’t all get jobs in the same area and got some in towns and cities nearby. Also kept low profiles outside of work, didn’t get too friendly with anyone at any job, didn’t stay at the job for more than four years, and never made contact with anyone from old workplaces. Think we only got caught out a few times, but usually came up with some excuse.” He looses a chuckle, but there isn’t much humour behind it. “Remember one time I bumped into a co-worker from one of the jobs I had. Didn’t recognise her at first, she’d gotten really old, but she sure as hell recognised me. Had to lie to her and say I was the son of the man she used to work with and that my ‘old man’ died years ago. Didn’t feel good to lie, but couldn’t risk her finding out.”

Hinamori knew about Shinji’s first time as captain of the Fifth Division, but what he and the others had done in the gap between when they’d been forced out of the Soul Society and now hadn’t even occurred to her. He’d lived amongst humans, had to learn their customs and ways, and at times lied to them to keep his true self from being known, all the while likely dealing with the betrayal of someone he thought he knew and the place he’d once called home turning their backs on him. She didn’t know much about the Hollow powers he possessed, but if what Kira and Hisagi had told her was true, it’s something each other captains had struggled with for decades to reign in. They only had each other in a world they knew very little about.

Her heart tightens, and she raises a fist to her chest. “It must have been hard for all of you.”

“It could be at times, but we didn’t have a choice. Just had to keep going, a step at a time.”

The words he’d spoken to in autumn come back to her.

I had a hundred years to think about what happened. I don’t hate him any less, but it gets easier with time to think about what happened and to talk about him.

You’ll think about it there and then, sure, but then it’ll happen again, and again, and again, until the time you spend thinking about it gets less and less.

You gotta face it every day, head on, all the memories you have him, whether they’re good or bad.

Hinamori wonders if she should finally ask him ‘why did you choose to come back?’, but thinks better of it. She has grown to not feel uncomfortable asking more personal questions, but that one still feels like a bridge too far for her. Still, hearing him recount about his friends the way he does, she wonders once again why he and the other two Visoreds decided to leave them to come here.

“You know, now that I think about, I reckon you and Hachi would get along real well.”

Hinamori comes out of her thoughts, but realises her captain is talking to himself.  

Shinji leans forward, as if a great idea had just dawned on him. “He’s an expert in kido, can cast spells level eighty and above with little trouble. He could probably teach you a few things, maybe you’d show him a thing or two as well.”

She shakes her head to herself with a smile, doubtful she could show such an experienced user anything new.

Shinji crosses his leg over his other knee and looks to the ceiling in thought. “Love would probably get you to draw his characters for the manga he’s always wanted to write once I tell him how good you are at drawing. Lisa is a reader beyond the perverted stuff, reckon she’d have a few recommendations for you, and Hiyori…actually, you should stay away from her, she’ll probably try to soil my good name and get you to tell her stories about me.”

Hinamori laughs nervously at that, but Shinji is focused on whatever idea he has going on in his head. Without his grin, it’s one of the most serious expressions she’s seen on him, but there’s something open about it at the same time. She thinks to ask him if he’s all right, but stops when he nods to himself. “Yeah…One day, I’ll take you to meet them.”

She’s stunned for a moment, but it slowly dawns on her. It feels like she’s been let into something exclusive almost, and she smiles. She’d only heard these people over the phone, knew how chaotic they could be, but also now realising how close-knit they must be. They only had each other in a world they knew very little about; despite their arguing and antics, she knew from watching her captain to talk them he cares about them, and they care about him just as much.

To meet the people who he had led, and who had helped him survive and deal with Aizen’s betrayal, it feels special. “I think I’d like to meet all of them too.”

He gives her a lop-sided grin. “And while we’re there, let’s grab a coffee at a café. Maybe then that’ll convince why we need to get an espresso machine in the kitchens.”

______________________________

“Oh…”

It only hits Hinamori once she steps through the doors to small courtyard

“Something wrong?”

Rangiku looks back at her with her brows raised in question, but Hinamori can’t get over her revelation.

I haven’t thought about him at all this morning.

In fact, now that she thought about it, it wasn’t just this morning; she can’t recall thinking about him yesterday either. She’d been so occupied with planning an excursion to the World of the Living and then the reports she had to catch up on, she hadn’t thought about him once.

When Hinamori doesn’t answer, Rangiku fully turns to her. “Did you forget something?”

The question shocks her, and she laughs at the irony of it. “Actually, I did.”

Rangiku’s eyebrows raise further and raises the stack of reports in her hands. “That’s not like you, you’re usually organised for this sort of thing.”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing like that.” At her fellow lieutenant’s puzzlement, Hinamori finds herself smiling wider. “It’s just a thought I had for a while, I hadn’t thought about it.” She sighs. “Although now that I’ve realised it, I’ll probably start thinking about it again.”

But now that she’s had the reminder, will she go back to thinking about him? If she did, would the fleeting moment of freedom disappear to never surface again?

You’ll think about it there and then, sure, and there will be days where it has you by the guts. It’s just a matter of remembering that those days come and go, like any other.

Shinji’s words give her courage, but looking at her friend, she can’t help but wonder how she’ll judge her. Even now, more than a year after the battle, everyone avoids speaking Aizen’s name in front of her. She knows they mean well, and although not as painful as it used to be, hearing his name still brought some sadness to her heart.

Of course, there are some she can’t mentioned him to still. When she said his name and title in from of Hitsugaya on one of their lunch breaks together, he tried to keep his expression indifferent, to appear as if it didn’t affect him, but she didn’t miss the way his shoulders hitched up a fraction, the corners of his eyes tighten, or the clenching of his jaw.

She knows everyone means well, but it can’t keep going on like this. She can’t grow that little bit more if she doesn’t share this with one of the people who helped her get to where she is now. “I just realised I hadn’t thought about Captain Ai…no, Aizen Sousuke. I hadn’t thought about him since yesterday morning.”

Rangiku’s expression shifts to one of sympathy. Hinamori wonders if she’s had a similar experience when it came to Ichimaru. Did she have moments where she realised she hadn’t thought about him that day?

“What do you need to do?” her friend says.

It’s refreshing to be asked rather than told. You should go rest. Don’t strain yourself. Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to bring him up. “Nothing. It’s funny, though… sometimes he comes up in conversation when I talk with Captain Hirako. I would’ve thought it’d make me feel worse, but actually, it’s been helping somehow.

"It’s okay to say his name, and it’s okay it talk about him. Even if it makes me sad, I think I’d rather that than avoidance now.”

Her response surprised Rangiku. After a beat however, a soft smile curves on her friend's lips. “If you’re sure.”

Hinamori nods, then lifts up her own pile of paperwork. “We should get stuck into these before Captain Hitsugaya gets back.”

“I’ll owe you more than a shopping trip for helping me with these!”

They sit on the veranda, completing reports that Fifth and Tenth Division were involved in. One was for the three joint training sessions they’d completed over the course of last week, others were field reports. It’d been Rangiku’s suggestion to work outside, and although not usually Hinamori’s first idea when working on official documents, she can understand why now that she’d settled down to work. It’s a clear spring day, with no wind and the sun warming their feet. Scents of various spring flowers fill the air, and somewhere in the distance, there’s both the clashing of training swords and light-hearted, indiscernible chatter amongst a group of unseated officers.

Rangiku breaks the silence as she hands a report over to Hinamori. “When I think about it, it’s been a year since you started working with Captain Hirako, hasn’t it?”

Hinamori hums in ascent. “It was a year last week, actually.”

She’d reflected on the morning of the ‘anniversary’. It had somehow both been a slow and fast year that’d passed, filled with struggle and triumph for herself and her division.

Sometimes she’d find herself wondering down the halls and temporarily be transported back to how things used to be, with everyone happy and content, smiling and jovially greeting each other in the hallways. That had remained the same, but there was something different about it too. A few subordinates sported new accessories, some had gotten haircuts, and others simply spoke more freely than before. There was a time where she both longed for the old days and feared that any reminder of those memories would make her stop, becoming unmoveable and unchanging, fearing to stake another step forward.

Those memories will remain, there is no escaping them. It didn’t mean she couldn’t create new ones though, similar but different. Better, in some regards.

She hadn’t brought up the ‘anniversary’ with Shinji, but she thought he remembered too when he brought up – more than once - how he needed a holiday after working so hard. She went to voice her agreement with him, but he’d turned to her with a rare sincere, close-lipped smile, and she lost her words as he’d pat her shoulder on the shoulder on his way out to – at his instances – buy lunch for them.

He is a strange man to her, even to this day. His default expression were either nonchalance or a wide, toothy grin. His tastes in music, fashion, and decor are bizarre but oddly charming in their own way. He spoke freely, sometimes with no filter whatsoever. He wasn't afraid to show his annoyance or tease her or speak about a man who had caused both of them so much grief.

He's sharp too, able to perceive things beneath the surface, and he worked hard to gain everyone's trust. He did so not to manipulate or for some ulterior motive, but to work and collaborate with the subordinates to make the Fifth Division better.

Regardless, he still loathes paperwork and makes almost any excuse to get out of doing it. At worst it drove her up the wall, forcing her to show her annoyance through a tight smile or calling him on his denreishinki and asking him to return to the division. He could be flippant with orders too, usually issuing them for minor or trivial matters rather than situations that called for a direct and authoritative response.

He didn't always outward show it, but she knows he cares deeply for others, especially his Visored friends. It was a genuine care, one that ran through the conversations he had with subordinates asking how a relative was going, or if they had visited that store in the Rukongai yet. He was patient too, allowing her to speak her mind when she was troubled, but also knowing when the conversation needed to end. His kindness also showed in those moments, when he'd offer her advice or a glimpse into his experiences with Aizen.

He believed in her, even as she sat in the Fourth Division confused and melancholic. He had given her a chance she imagined would have made some hesitant. His unfiltered approach inspired a sense of freedom in her, to express herself more openly.

She owes much to him, and hopes perhaps selfishly, she has been able to help him just as much as he has helped her.

Looking at Rangiku, she recalls all the times they’d spent together since she regained her position. At lieutenant and Women’s Association meetings, she was always by her side. On the rare chance they had break times that aligned, they spent it together, shopping in the Rukongai. She always had words of encouragement, believing in her even before she was out of the Fourth Division.

There was a time when she’d apologised for being a burden and for taking so long to recover. Now, bows her head. “If not for you and Captain Hirako, I don’t think I would be where I am right now. Thank you again, Rangiku-san”

“Like I said before, it’s nothing. I’m just glad you’re feeling better.” Her soft smile returns. “You’ve definitely come a long way.”

Hinamori gives a tepid shrug. “Thank you. I just have to keep going, no matter what.”

“We all do. In the end, all we can do is keep moving forward, right? ”

She thinks about Genji and the rest of the Fifth Division, about the Renji, Izuru, Nanao, and the other lieutenants, about her friends in other divisions, and about Hitsugaya and those in the Junrinan.

She recovered in Fourth Division believing she was alone, being left behind by the very same people she thought about. I will have to move forward on my own, but how? she'd thought.

When her captain comes to mind, when she pictures him with the people in her life, it brings a peacefulness she she hadn't felt in a long time, and a single word comes to mind.

Together.

_____________________________

The world moves in streaks around Shinji, and the air is thicker than before he went into First Division’s meeting hall. The news is still fresh in his mind, threatening to break his nonchalant expression.

Hinamori, who jogs to keep up with him, is looking at him wide-eyed with shock and disbelief. “We’re at war…with the Quincies? H-How can that be?”

“Those bastards were crafty, they found a way to survive.” He shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter who it is, we’re at war now.”

His words are slow to sink in, but after a moment she nods. “Then we have to let the division know.”

She summons a Hell Butterfly and relays a message for Genji to gather all their officers in the main hall for an emergency division, even those patrolling the Rukongai and the World of the Living. After sending the butterfly away, Hinamori asks, “Do we have a prediction for when they’ll strike?”

“All we know is what they did in First Division. Anything else, we’re shit out of luck. Don’t know when they’ll strike or how.” Shinji is sure his expression has well and truly cracked now.

“Sir, about my lieutenant’s meeting.”

 “What about it?” He’d snapped the question without meaning to, but Hinamori doesn’t flinch.

“Kira-kun brought up something that might be of interest” she says. “He suspected that the invasion, the disappearances in the Rukongai, and the disappearances of Hollows were all connected. He noted that the report for the missing resident was conducted by Twelfth Division, and also that sandal prints were found in district sixty-four, but residents don’t have footwear in the lower districts.”

“What’s his point?”

“Twelfth Division may have taken those Souls. Kurotsuchi-san couldn’t provide us with any information, but Kira-kun is going to report this to the Captain General.” She shakes her head. “If it’s somehow connected to the Quincy invasion, why would Captain Kurotsuchi take those Souls? It’s so callous.”

“Shit. So Twelfth is up to something too? I should’ve known, Kurotsuchi is always up to some shit.” His eyes narrow. “What the hell is happening?”

Less than two years of being a captain and now he has to lead his division into a war. Organising the inevitable patrolling and drills around the Seireitei he can handle, but breaking this news to them, what the hell was he supposed to say?

He only comes out of his thoughts when Shinigami scramble past him and Hinamori. They go to different divisions, rushing to emergency meetings no doubt. He hadn’t even realised until now she’d been listing off everything they’ll need to do.

“…patrols for the lower districts, in case they go missing. I know we shouldn’t interfere with the matters of other divisions, but if Kira-kun doesn’t report to the Captain-General right away, Captain Kurotsuchi might try to expunge more Souls, especially now that Kurotsuchi-san knows we’re aware. Then there’s…”

She fades out again, because far in the distance up ahead is the Fifth Division insignia. Beyond the main entrance, Shinigami are running to get into the main barracks, a few almost tripping over themselves to get inside.

He can’t take the traditional route. Without a second thought, he leaps from the balcony to the rooftop down below and Hinamori follows. Any other time he’d tease her for breaking conduct, but the gravity of the situation weighs heavy on both of them.

They’re three jumps away from landing on the wall of Fifth Division’s main entrance when Hinamori calls out to him. “Sir, wait!”

He almost stumbles when she grabs his sleeve. He whips around and any exclamation he has dies in his throat when he sees her hunched over despite the firm grip she has on his uniform.

She’s a little out of breath, but she asks, “What’re we going to tell them? We have to get our plan straight before we address them.”

How the fuck should I know? No, he knows exactly what he’ll have to say. He’ll have to look every single one of his officers in the eye – seated and unseated, new and old – and tell them they’re at war, and they all know what that means. It means life won’t be the same, whether it’s for a few days or a few years. It means the new recruits get their first taste of real battle not against Hollows, but against opponents probably even stronger than them. It means the division member next to them is more likely to wind up dead. Shinigami are taught to be prepared for battle, to die in combat against enemies of the Seireitei and those that threaten the World of the Living and the balance all the worlds stand upon. It doesn’t stop them from fearing death or battle, doesn’t stop them from forming bonds with each other and mourning the losses of fallen comrades.

It’s over a hundred years ago all over again. It’s waking up to discover he has a Hollow residing in him, whispering in his ear, threatening to take over. It’s the pitying but determined look of Urahara swearing to make things right for him and the others somehow. It’s realising he didn’t know what to do or where to go in a world so foreign to all of them. It’s realising the others are looking to him, confused and unsure, to be a defacto leader. It’s knowing he took on said role in part because he was partly responsible for the what they had all become.

And in the decades in the World of the Living, it was not just the Visoreds he was responsible for. Even from afar, he was responsible for every officer in the Fifth Division and whatever Aizen was doing to them.

And perhaps Hinamori sees the conflict within him, because she straightens, let’s go of his sleeve, and leans away a fraction. Whatever she’s about to say, he gets the impression she’s been waiting to speak aloud for a long time. “This is likely not the time or place, but maybe, somehow, it will help you as it helped me.” Then with more certainty. “Why did you come back? And…why did you become a Shinigami?”

He could almost choked at how she threw his own words back at him.

Why did he come back? Because in his foolishness, he’d let the bastard in. And then when he and others were cast out and left to pick up the pieces in the World of the Living, Aizen took his place and shaped the division how he saw fit. He manipulated everyone, deceived them into being blinded to his true self no matter how close he seemed to let them get to him. Shinji had let him in, thinking he could stop him when needed, only to become part of his plan.

He’d let the bastard in, and the damage he had caused to everyone in the division was on his hands.

But that was neither here nor there. It’s been over a year, in fact, since then. The division isn’t what it used to be, sure, but it isn’t how Aizen left it after his betrayal either. And there was always that one thing that remained, that stood against every test thrown at it: the division’s sense of comradery and dedication in the face of horrendous odds.

He looks at his lieutenant, who just stares right back at him. Of all of them, she embodied those very feats.

He gives her a strained smirk. “Ain’t that a little personal for a time like this?”

She doesn’t back down; it doesn’t surprise him. “Perhaps, but maybe now is the time to remember why.” She turns to their division in the distance. “All them will be thinking it, on some level. ‘Why am I here? Why did I join the Gotei Thirteen?’. I know during times like these, you can forget why you’re here, so you ask yourself those questions to try and remember.

She softens a fraction when she brings her attention back to him. “The day you asked me why I became a Shinigami, it reminded me why I joined in the first place and why I chose to resume my position as lieutenant of the Fifth Division. It reminded me that there was a time before all of this when things were different, better maybe, but that I had a goal to work towards.”

She takes another step to him, now having to crane her neck slightly to look him in the eye. “You don’t have to tell me why, but remember, Captain.”

It hadn’t been for any noble reason. He knew he had spiritual potential and knew he couldn’t stick around in the Rukongai if he wanted to get anywhere in this next life. He’s briefly taken back to different moments in his life: to his first day as an unseated officer, to meeting Hiyori and the other Visoreds before they were changed, to meeting Aizen and knowing something was off, to having to say goodbye to his old captain, and finally, to becoming a captain the first time.

Somewhere along the way, on some level that he’d only ever spoken aloud to a select few, it had become about helping others. It had become about protecting those he cared about, and ensuring he could call somewhere ‘home’ with them.

When he becomes present again, he knows it’s not a time to get sentimental. You need more than sentimentality to win a war, but you also needed more than a skilled swordsman who fights only for duty. In an indirect way, that’s what he’d learned while at the Academy.

It’s neither the time nor place to be vulnerable; he’ll thank her for grounding him and helping him remember why he was doing this beyond some attempt to make amends later. However, he gives a determined grin as he says, “See, this is why ya need two people running a division.”

Her smile mirrors his and she gives a firm nod. They’re a team, a good one. A better one than either of them had in the past as Shinigami in the higher positions. However, the moment vanishes when his smile drops and he glances at Fifth Division’s insignia.

“We ain’t gonna mention the stuff about Twelfth Division,” he advises. “If Lieutenant Kira really is going to the Captain General about that, then that’ll be dealt with. I reckon Kurotsuchi isn’t going to lift a finger to get more Souls, not when he’ll have to answer to the Old Man.” He swallows and has to resist the urge to grit his teeth. “We’re going to tell them we’re at war, and whatever you listed off before. Sound good?”

“Yes, Captain.”

With that, they leap off the rooftop and land in their division’s main courtyard. They waste no time as they race to the main hall with their fellow officers. Some try to ask him and Hinamori what’s going on, but all his lieutenant does is to gather in the hall for a briefing.

Everyone’s gazes are on him from the moment he and Hinamori enter; to think more than a year ago, half of the room couldn’t look him in the eye. There’s a barrage of questions from some as he and Hinamori traipse to the front of the hall. Somewhere, Genji and a few other seated offers call for a hush.

By the time he stands before all of them, most of the talking and shouting has stopped. What strikes him more than seeing every officer in the same room together for the first time since Hinamori returned is how most of them look at him. They see him not as a lifeline or an answer, but as a captain. Yes, there is confusion and fear, but there’s also trust.

Then there’s his lieutenant, who stands at his left, completely quieting the room with a firm order. She wasn’t even two years away from the battle that had plunged her into a deep depression. She’d barely had time to breathe and rest. She still called Aizen by his title, though thankfully without the melancholy that used to plague her voice and posture when she referred to him. Hell, he’d even heard her refer to him without his title twice in the last month.

She doesn’t realise her own strength – in her compassion and belief of others – because it had been turned against her. If she can make it out of this war - no, he's going make sure she absolutely does - there’s a long road ahead for her still. Even so, she’d come so far. There’s a confidence in her stride where once there had been hunched shoulders and muted steps. She smiles far easier and can say Aizen’s name without the melancholy she’d been weighed down by. Shinji would like to take credit for it, but really, she pulled herself out of it.

He won’t fool himself into thinking he’d ‘redeemed’ himself somehow by nudging her in the direction of recovery, but knowing she has his back in this, it’s a comfort he never realised meant as much as it did now.

She looks to him, and in her gaze is not the doubtful and lost girl he first met in Fourth Division. There's concern and worry, but she’s strong, has proven as much time and time again since they started working together. There isn’t a hint of admiration for him, but there’s a belief in him. And after everything that happened over a hundred years ago and everything they’d worked on together, he believes in her too.

He shifts his attention back to all of subordinates. He finally addresses them, his voice echoing around the hall.

"I'm sure most of you are already aware of what's happening. There are some things you all need to remember before I get into the details. During times like this, don't forget for one second that our duty is to protect the Soul Society and the worlds beyond our own. We are Shinigami, we are to protect the Soul Society at all costs, and with our lives.

"More than that, however, remember we are the Fifth Division. We went through hell recently, but we have come out the other side. That wouldn't have happened without all of your strength and commitment. We will protect each other and we have each other's strength.

"We will not let the Seireitei fall, and through hell and high water, we will not let the Fifth Division fall."

#momo hinamori #shinji hirako #toshiro hitsugaya #rangiku matsumoto #bleach #sousuke aizen #genji isawa #hiyori sarugaki #love aikawa #fanfiction #brotp: the fifth division #hitsuhina #IT'S FINALLY DONE!! #I'll probably have to come back and edit for grammar and spelling #later though...I need to take a nap

[kudouusagi]

Free! Final Stroke (part 2) spoilers

Since they still haven't announced the new Free movies being licensed in the US, I made the trip to Mexico with @seakittens to watch the last movie this past weekend!! It was an adventure and I almost died from the heat but I guess it was worth it.... the things I do for anime, man.

It's taken me a while to recover and then type this up but I'm gonna try to write as much as I can think of so this will be long lol...

So of course, here come the SPOILERS!!

So, the movie starts Ikuya stuck under a bridge because it's raining. He's talking on the phone to Hiyori and telling him he'll be late to meet him at Maron because he didn't remember Kisumi telling him it would rain. Hiyori offers to bring him an umbrella but Ikuya says he'll just wait. When Ikuya hangs up he turns and sees Kinjou standing next to him. Kinjou apologies for being so mean to them and they talk about the tournament for a bit before Kinjou runs out into the rain.

When Kinjou leaves Sousuke shows up and tells Ikuya he isn't lost but Ikuya calls him out on it. They talk about how Ikuya has decided to go pro and the tournament in Sydney. Then Hiyori shows up with an umbrella for Ikuya.

Next we see all of the Mikoshiba siblings talking over zoom. Momo is talking about how he's going to beat Nitori at the Samezuka farewell race next week and become the next captain. Then they start talking about the Sydney tournament and they show flashbacks to the first part of final stroke.

Dried up youthful fame version:free starts playing and they show parts of Rin and Haru's fight from the end of the last movie. They added a new line of Haru saying that he wants to swim in the lane next to Rin at the next tournament. Haru sounds sadder than he did in the last movie, so things are slightly different than how they played out the first time but it still ends the same.

After the fight it slips into Still life goes on they and show more flashbacks and training...

After all that we then see Haruka as a baby with his grandma and she's showing him the water and videos of waterfalls and stuff. She comments that it's like he's loved by the water.

They show an interview with Haru like the video from the beginning of the first movie with interviews about Haru from the other team members. Haru talks about how he feels about swimming. They ask him about the relay and there's a flashback to when Haru and Rin were fighting in Elementary school and got held after class for fighting and the teacher tells them they need to talk about why they're angry or they'll never solve their problems. Makoto and Nagisa are watching from the hallway and Nagisa says that he hopes they make up and get along soon and Makoto pictures them as the Doppelganger rangers that Makoto mentioned all the way in episode 1. The rangers decide to stop fighting and join forces to beat the bad guy.

It then shows that Haru is watching this scene in a movie theater with his younger self in Albert's jersey sitting a few rows in front of him. It's quite an artistic shot I guess? It appears this is happening in Haru's dreams because they show him sleeping and talking in his sleep.

It then shows people talking about Haru quitting the swim club in middle school and Makoto chasing after him but unable to reach him. They show Rin saying he's quitting in middle school but they've got the adult voices (though acted to sound younger) rather than the original kid voices from season 1.

Haru's younger self in Albert's jersey is an asshole and says mean things and Haru keeps arguing with himself. They show flashbacks of season 1 while him and Rin were fighting and kid Haru tells him he's all alone.

They show Albert sitting alone in his room crying while thinking about Haru's swimming. Mikhail comments about how Albert's swimming is lonely and that makes it feel completely different from Haru's swimming. But that Haru's swimming is like Ryuuji's when he was younger.

Haruka wakes up and goes for a run early in the morning but he exhausts himself and crouches on the ground panting. Sousuke is driving by in his car and picks him up and takes him back to his place. Haru is just spacing out staring out the window and looks really pathetic. Sousuke tells him everyone is worried about him and asks if something happened between him and Rin. Sousuke tells him that him and Rin have fought a lot and hurt each other without realizing it but they've always made up so it will be okay between them too.

As soon as Haru gets out Natsuya is just THERE and I don't even know how he got there lol. I assume he hopped in as soon as Haru got out but I have no idea. Maybe he was secretly there the whole time. Natsuya comments how it's tough being a hero in reference to Haru.

Rin stands in front of the door to Mikhail's office talking to himself, practicing a speech to tell Mikhail about how he wants to know how to keep swimming 5-10 years into the future. To be a pro. To keep swimming with Haru. When he opens the door to the office Mikhail isn't there and he's disappointed but then Mikhail shows up behind him and apparently heard the whole thing anyway. Mikhail tells him it's decision and if he wants to do it he'll support him.

Next we see Asahi at the laundromat washing clothes and when he turns around he's startled to find Rin there. He didn't notice him at all. Rin is sitting there looking super depressed.

This image doesn't do it justice... there was a shot of him looking even more depressed lol.

Asahi tells Rin since he can swim butterfly so well he should have more confidence and Rin says he hasn't lost his confidence... or maybe he has. Maybe he was just expecting too much. Asahi tells him that he once had a time where he wasn't able to swim free anymore and he realized how important it was just just be able to swim normally. Rin tells him that Ikuya asked him what he wanted to do and Asahi tells Rin that anyone would ask him when they see him looking like that and Rin just wonders if Haru would ask.

Next we see the underclassmen joining the college teams. Rei and Nitori join Shimogami with Ikuya and Hiyori. Nagisa and a whole bunch of Samezuka guys join Naribusawa with Kinjou. The Samezuka guys comment that Kinjou reminds them of old Rin and that he seems scary. Nagisa just goes up to him and asks him if he can swim and stuff and acts all cheerful and Kinjou is kind to him so the Samezuka guys think he might be okay but Kinjou yells at them when they talk to him.

We then see Nitori, Rei, and Nagisa bowling. Rei of course sucks because he's just thinking about the theory on how to do it. Makoto shows up and they talk about how they all decided to keep swimming and Nagisa says it's because they actually really do love swimming. They ask about Haru but Makoto deflects and says that he's just busy getting ready for the next tournament. Nagisa tells him if he's worried about Haru he needs to tell him.

Haru is training with Ryuuji but he's exhausted. Ryuuji tells him to stop for the day but when Haru tries to walk away from the pool he collapses. Haru's legs twitch in a weird way and Ryuuji demands to know when that started but Haru says it doesn't hurt and that after swimming his hardest he just can't get any strength in them. Ryuuji tells him that he should stop swimming like that until he reaches the last 20m of the race and Haruka demands to know why. Ryuuji tells him that he's pushing too hard and that he's going to injure himself if he keeps going the way he is. He needs to take a year to build his body up. Haru complains that will be too late because Albert announced he was retiring after the next tournament and he won't be able to beat him at this rate.

Sousuke, Asahi, Ikuya, Hiyori, and Natsuya are all training with Makoto and Nao as their trainers. They're still worrying about Haru.

Haru is still overworking himself. Ryuuji catches him swimming hard and tells him he told him to stop swimming like that and forces him to stop swimming. We see Rin training and then he gets a call from Makoto. Rin shows up at Haru's training place where Makoto is talking to Ryuuji and demands to know why Haru isn't there training. Ryuuji tells him he's forcing him to take a week off. Rin yells at him and says that if he takes a week off now he won't be in shape to do the tournament. That swimming is too important to Haru. Makoto makes Rin stop, but Ryuuji yells back telling Rin if he cares so much he should tell Haru himself.

Rin and Makoto run around Tokyo searching for Haru. They aren't able to find him anywhere. Rin thinks about how he's always is so selfish and pretends like he doesn't notice Haru's feelings and took advantage of how strong Haru was. Rin trips and rolls onto the ground. He looks up and sees a sakura tree in bloom above him. He looks up through the branches and sees Haru on a roof of a building. Rin calls Makoto and tells him he found Haru.

Rin and Makoto go to the top of the building and find Haru floating in a pool on the rooftop. The sign outside calls it a "night pool". It's night time and there are red lights shining on the surface of the water. I don't even know how long Rin was standing there staring at Haru before Makoto got there but Makoto starts walking towards Haru and Rin stops him and starts walking toward Haru and stripping. He hops into the pool and asks Haru to race him. Tells him he has an obligation to swim with him since he hasn't said he will quit again. (reference to season 1 fence scene) They race, Haru swims better, he doesn't feel exhausted and one of the lifeguards watching the pool comments they set a world record but the other one says that's crazy. Rin hugs Haru, him and Makoto tell Haru how they feel. Rin says he admires Haru and he needs to stop making him saying over and over. Rin and Haru tease Makoto and pull him into the pull with them when he tries to get them out.

Makoto tells Haru a story about how when they were kids Haru was upset because he lost to some middle schoolers in a race and he was upset about it. The middle schoolers also made fun of Makoto and Nagisa. Nagisa and Makoto wanted to cheer Haru up and tried to go to his house, on the way they see Elvant(sp?) Volandel (which the staff said at a theater stage greeting is Albert's dad) at a stand at a festival buying a mamori (for safe childbirth because Albert's little brother was about to be born). Nagisa and Makoto decide to buy one as a present to cheer Haru up. They go to Haru's house but he's not there, they eventually find him at the festival and follow him up to the ocean lookout that they go to all the time in the series. They give a mamori to Haru but he asks why it says anzan (安産 safe childbirth) and Nagisa and Makoto are shocked it doesn't say anshin (安心 peace of mind) so Nagisa writes over the second kanji to say shin instead with a pen.

Haru trained harder and ended up beating the middle schoolers in the next tournament, they stopped bullying Makoto and Nagisa, and Rin heard about the tale of the elementary schooler beating some middle schoolers and decided he had to race that guy and that's how he originally got interested in Haru. Haru says he doesn't remember something that happened so long ago.

Haru says he wants to beat Albert at the next tournament, that he doesn't want it to end this way. That he doesn't know what will happen to his body but he wants to swim his all. Makoto and Rin go with him to talk to Ryuuji and ask him to let Haru practice and let the practice together. Ryuuji tells them to do what they want.

Ikuya and the others are all training together and Natsuya tells them they have to train hard because they have to qualify at the All Japan Tournament in order to qualify for the tournament in Fukuoka.

There's a flashback to when Ryuuji and Mikhail are younger and Mikhail is resting his arm on Ryuuji's shoulder and asking him to race with him. Ryuuji tells him there's no point since they're alone in the water. Kiyofumi comes up, apparently they haven't seen him in a while, and he calls Ryuuji "Ryuu-chan" and Ryuuji tells him not to use -chan. Kiyofumi tells Ryuuji he wants to see his swimming because his swimming makes everyone feel better. Current Ryuuji says that while they might have been cocky back then if he could go back to that time he would.

Sousuke and the others find Haru sleeping outside under a tree and they comment that he's been sleeping before practice a lot recently. They all decide to to everything they can to help him like doing his laundry and stuff.

Through the rest of the movie they keep mentioning that they're doing medical checks on Haru and he keeps passing them so I GUESS he's fine but he's sleeping all the time lol.

It's time for the All Japan Tournament. Rin and Sousuke compete in fly. Sousuke asks if they should bet who buys drinks over who wins but Rin says since they've made it this far they just need to aim for medals. Haru and Kinjou qualified in 100m free, Rin, Asahi, and Natsuya qualified in 100m fly, Ikuya qualified in 100m breast, Hiyori and Sousuke qualified in 100m back. They originally had Sousuke swimming backstroke for rehabilitation but since there were so few back swimmers they had him train in it.

Nagisa and Rei make misanga (good luck bracelets) for everyone.

The Gou, Isuzu, Momo, and the younger Iwatobis are all planning watching the Fukuoka tournament at Iwatobi SC but Ayumu isn't there because she had to do something with her family and will arrive late... apparently that means in a helicopter and they end up going to Fukuoka to watch the tournament in the helicopter.

Ryuuji is getting ready at the tournament and has Makoto helping him. They run into Kinjou and Ryuuji tells Kinjou he has learned he loves swimming this past year and that he won't run away anymore. He says that someday he'll save Kinjou too in order to fulfill is promise with "that guy" (Kiyofumi). Kinjou says okay and then tells him that he thinks Haru is at his limit. Makoto wonders what it means and Ryuuji says that Haru's overworking himself when he swims fast and he probably can only swim like that for one more tournament.

In the locker room Kinjou asks Haru why he's doing so much for swimming and Haru says he doesn't know but that being in the water is his special place.

Haru swims in the qualifier for the 100m free, Ryuuji is watching and telling him to hold off on swimming harder but Haru speeds up right after the turn and Ryuuji calls him an idiot. Haruka wins but Ryuuji asks "why now?" and they show a flashback of Kiyofumi dying.

Rin and Ikuya talk about making this far, Hiyori says that he believes in Ikuya and Ikuya blushes.

Rin and Ikuya win bronze in their races. Rin puts the medal around Gou's neck and she says it's heavy and Rin agrees and says it's surprisingly heavy. Rin's mom and Gou both congratulate him but Rin's mom tells him that he still has something to do (implying taking care of Haru.)

Kinjou find Haru sleeping on a bench and puts his jacket over him. Sousuke comes up and tells him not to mess with him but Kinjou is just worried about him. Kinjou wonders why everyone is so obsessed with Haru and Sousuke says maybe he'd understand if he swam with him. Kinjou says to let Haru sleep since Haru still has things to do. Sousuke takes Haru to the nurse and he sleeps through the 100m free final. Kinjou wins bronze. Albert wins gold. Kinjou asks Albert if he's okay quitting without racing Haru.

While Haru sleeps he has a dream about Rin and the others asking him to swim in the relay with him in elementary school. Child Haru runs away and Adult Haru stops him and asks him where he's going. He tells himself not to run away from his feelings and that he needs to do what he wants to do.

When Haru wakes up Makoto, Rin, and Ikuya are there with him. They tell him not to move yet but Haru says he has to go.

The Team Japan leaders start to announce who will be in the relay but Natsuya tells them to stop and that they should let Haru swim in the relay. The other leaders are outraged but the director is all for it and lets them do it. They set up two teams so Haru can rest and if the first team makes it through the preliminary race, Haru can swim in the final. The teams are Hiyori (back), Ikuya (breast), Natsuya (fly), and Kinjou (free) for the preliminary and Sousuke (back), Ikuya (breast), Rin (fly), and Haru (free) for the final.

Albert also asks to participate in his team's medley relay so he can race Haru.

Nagisa hands out the misanga to everyone before the relay races to cheer on "team Haru".

(at the staff talk they said Nagisa forced Kinjou to wear one too)

Haru is sleeping again during the prelim but he somehow managed to pass another medical check so he's fine.

Rin and Ikuya wait outside the room and Ikuya asks if he's okay not seeing him right now, but Rin says he told him they're not like that. Ikuya says it's their turn to support Haru this time. Rin says that's the reason he swims.

Hiyori, Ikuya, Natsuya, and Kinjou swim the prelim and win (obviously) and then Sousuke, Ikuya, Rin, and Haru swim their race. They come in first and get the gold medal. They all hug and cry. Even Haru. Ryuuji crys watching them. As they hug Haru passes out and Rin pulls him into his lap. Everyone from the team runs down to the poolside calling out Haru's name.

we see a large billboard of Haru in Tokyo that says "Stay strong! Be Free!" on it (pictured above) and people commenting about the billboard. There's a girl walking down the street reading a news article about Haru winning and being hospitalized. She looks around when people say "Nanase" commenting about Haru. It has been confirmed this girl is Aki as designed by Nishiya in one of the staff stage greetings. Nishiya also designed the causal clothes that Haru and Rin wore in the movie.

We hear Nitori and Ikuya talking about Haru. Nitori asks if he's okay and Ikuya says that Haru was released from the hospital last month and returned to Iwatobi. Nitori hopes that he's able to swim again because not just free, but relays are part of who he is.

We see the credits which show almost every single magazine art published for free over the years... there's a few missing but it's a ton of art.

We see Nagisa, Rei, and Asahi getting ready for a tournament and talking about how everyone is getting better.

Momo is the captain for Samezuka, Ayumu is the captain for Iwatobi (but how I don't know. She can't even swim!? How do you have a captain who can't swim??) She has red glasses like Rei and seems to be acting like Rei.

Hiyori comments about how Kinjou's cousin was Ryuuji's childhood friend and Kinjou says he'll explain later. Sousuke tells Kinjou to act nicer and Kisumi teases Sousuke for being the one to say that. Kinjou asks Sousuke to race him in butterfly but he says that he needs to race Asahi first. Ikuya says he'll race him in free and Kinjou says they can do IM too. They argue over it and Kisumi comments that he hopes they'll get along soon and Ikuya says it will take a while before that happens.

Next we see Gou and her friend talking about how Rin has gone overseas again. This time to Hungary. They talk about how well Haru did at the tournament and Gou's friend says that it's sad that Haru wasn't swimming anymore since then and Gou starts to say that she heard from her brother that he is now.

Albert also came out of retirement to continue swimming because he has someone he wants to swim with. Natsuya says this will make the Athens tournament even more interesting. Haru is swimming again. He apparently swim in a tournament in Mexico last week. Mikhail teases Ryuuji about being happy about Haru and Ryuuji tells him to shut up because Rin is in Hungary right now. Mikhail says he is and so is Haru.

Makoto is wandering around Hungary by himself and manages to find Haru on the street and Haru is surprised to see him. Makoto comments that Haru's rehabilitation seems to be going well. Haru says it is and it's relaxing to be here instead of Japan because he was getting hounded by reporters for interviews there. Makoto says that Rin is in Hungary too.

Rin is on the street looking at things with Ai because Ai is doing an exchange program in Hungary. Rin comments that Ai never told him that he was related to Mikhail and Ai says he was too embarrassed but now he will tell people because he's going to get even stronger.

Rin and Haru are walking towards a train crossing and the arms come down and a train passes. When the arms lift they walk into the middle of the train crossing. Rin says he saw a dream about a tournament and Haru says he did too. Rin asks if he wants to know how that dream will turn out and Haru says he obviously does.

We see Asahi and his sister talking about the Athens tournament and then they talk about Asahi's sister's husband who is a swimming reporter and how he made a documentary about Haru and the others. He took a whole bunch of things that were filmed of them over the years and interviewed people about them.

We see the second time capsule they burried, Haru is wearing his high school jersy so the image is probably when they were burying the time capsule. The letter he put in says "even if I become a normal person, I'll keep swimming" and Haru's voice over says "I can wait to become normal for a little longer."

The end.

#Free! #free the final stroke #spoilers

[ufonaut]

Will you please share your black adam thoughts?? I was also very nervous about it and how it would handle the JSA but i actually really liked it! I actually work at a movie theater so i saw it twice already 😂

i'm putting these together because they're all related to my thoughts on black adam 2022 and i thought it'd be more convenient for everybody (even if they're wildly antithetic povs)! i absolutely loved black adam and i think i'm gonna see it again quite literally as soon as i can. given that i only got back approx ten minutes ago, here's some jumbled thoughts right off the bat:

i think what makes or breaks a superhero movie is whether the people involved think comic books are beneath them or not (as the folks over at the mcu often seem to do) and black adam certainly loves comic books with its entire heart and soul and you can tell. from various black reign panel recreations to carter's picture perfect thanagarian ship from hawkman 2002, this is a very sincere and earnest movie with none of the parodic tone i so often despise in superhero media.

VISUALLY GORGEOUS. SIMPLY GORGEOUS. the fact that 99.9% of the film takes place in daylight immediately resolves the lighting issue of all modern cinema but lawrence sher (of joker 2019 fame) as cinematographer simply changes the game with this one. in fact, i can say the same thing about the magnificent use of cgi -- cyclone's powers, in particular, are one of the most beautiful things i've ever had the pleasure of seeing in action.

while there are certainly a few things i disagree with, such as carter's estate and kent seemingly having a chauffeur/butler, i think most of the major changes were unavoidable either in a lost in translation sort of way or simply in order to make this movie palpable to average audiences used to marvel. over all, i felt the jsa's dynamic was captured perfectly and what drew me to the team in the first place is very much still there in a way that's definitely absent from stargirl, for example. they're still a horrible little family made up almost exclusively of weird uncles.

SPEAKING OF. AL PRATT? I SCREAMED.

i thought it was made clear that this isn't the entire team but rather just the members carter chose for this particular mission, which i also enjoyed. and while we're here, to touch on some of the points from the anon, i don't think any marvel-style humour was actually present? or at least, it didn't come across that way to me. i mean, it's a very funny film, i was laughing nearly the whole time (or tearing up! or simply absolutely on the edge of my seat!) but it all felt perfectly natural to me, especially in al's case where it's a clear consequence of powers he's obviously still unused to. the relationship between him & carter is actually exactly the element that made me feel a first spark of recognition like.... man i'm seeing my favourite lil comic book guys up there on the big screen.

ALSO THE LEGEND OF CARTER - KENT GAY HOMOSEXUALITY LIVES ON. OLD FRIEND? CARTER CRYING? YES OKAY OKAY I'M ON BOARD. IT'S NOT CARTER IF HE DOESN'T HAVE A BIZARRE WARRIOR BOND WITH SOMEBODY.

considering i was all set on hating this portrayal of kent, i also can't believe how much i ended up completely utterly loving him. the movie definitely has a knack for making you fall in love with its characters nearly instantly (maxine!!!!!!!!! oh maxine!!!!!!!) because it's so well written but kent's random outfit changes for no reason whatsoever, the bit where he's parading around in a dressing gown on carter's ship, "i'm not that kind of doctor", the entire scene in adrianna's apartment... yeah babey. actually i was losing my entire mind at "i remember the day i saw my first aeroplane...", the way pierce plays him might not have been intended to be hilarious but by god, giffen himself couldn't have done a better job. you can tell he's not all there (and i did also enjoy maxine calling him possessed by fate) and it's precisely how kent should be even in the absence of unnatural youth.

the narrative actually allowing carter to be his usual arrogant asshole self-appointed leader with a heart of gold self was also a welcome bonus, i loved seeing him the way he's always been written at his best and i loved that his sharp edges haven't been dulled any by a script that could've easily gone the sanitized route. his black and white thinking is also something that's always been a part of him and i don't think it's necessarily odd to have him say superheroes don't kill -- superheroes certainly don't kill as easily and indiscriminately as black adam does, not even the jsa.

on that point, the jsa's actions are clearly framed to be in the wrong? i loved black adam's arc, i thought mr the rock was acting his little heart out and succeeding like never before but we're also definitely pushed to be on his side to begin with. adrianna and amon are the moral centre of the movie and they certainly stand with black adam! the movie doesn't simply co-opt anti imperialist languages for the hell of it, the jsa is plainly told they're coming here with a us-centric pov and helping nothing & nobody in the name of some nebulous form of justice. i thought it was definitely abundantly clear that the conversation opened around a colonized kahndaq does not condemn adam's actions against intergang etc.

FINALLY, MY THOUGHTS ON THE FATE HELMET AT THE END? HERE'S HOW JARED STEVENS CAN STILL WIN.

this got long enough but god, i really did love it. i loved black adam. i loved the jsa. a respectful, loving, beautiful cinematic adaptation like i never thought we'd ever get.

#asks #anon #black adam #jsa

[razzlerdazzler]

@lilyblog2006 requested for me to write a Warrick Brown X Reader. I've never written for Warrick before, so I hope I did good. I hope you enjoy

Warrick Brown X Reader

Today was just like any other day at CSI. You and Warrick were currently finishing up your lunch break and are heading back to the lab. That was until you got a call from Gil telling you to head to an apartment complex near the outskirts of Vegas. He said that the neighbors called the police for a noise complaint and when the police arrived; they discovered a young woman's body. You and Warrick immediately head to the scene of the crime.

"How much longer until we arrive?" You ask as you look towards Warrick. "Not much longer, should be there any minute now," he said. "How was the game last night?" You ask, as you were unable to make the team's baseball game last night because you had some reports you needed to finish. "It was good, we won 8 to 3." "Sounds like you guys did fine without me." You said, happy that they had fun, even if it was without you. "We did alright, but it wasn't the same without you there." Warrick said, which caused you to blush and look out the window.

Soon you both arrive at the scene. "Looks like we're the first ones here." You state as you get out of the car and grab your equipment. A police officer walks up to you two and gives you more information on the victim. "Neighbors said that they heard her and her boyfriend arguing before they called for a noise complaint. When we got here we found her on the floor and we haven't been able to locate her boyfriend. "You nod as you and Warrick start to find and bag evidence. "I'm gonna wait out here, in case he returns." The officer states.

You and Warrick nod, and get back to collecting evidence. "I'm gonna go check the bedroom." You say as you start to make your way there. "Okay, holler if you need or find anything." Warrick says, while checking for fingerprints on a cup. You reach the bedroom and open the door. When you enter the room, you notice a closet near the bed and a dresser with photographs, hair and skin products, and other things. You go to the dresser and pick up one of the pictures. In the picture is the victim with a young man.

You freeze as you feel something cold and metal press up against the back of your head. "Turn around slowly with your hands over your head." You hear a males voice say. You comply as you slowly move your hands above your head and turn to face the man. As you turn around and look at the man, you notice that it's the man in the picture with the victim. You also notice the gun that is close to your face. "Y/N, you good in there?" You hear Warrick yell from the living room.

You look the man in the eyes, "tell him you're fine." He says, still holding the gun near your face. "Yeah, I'm good." You respond as the man makes a spinning motion with his gun and says "turn around and go back to the living room." You nod and do what he says, feeling him press the gun to your back as you walk. When you reach the living room Warrick turns to look at you while saying "did you find any-" He stops as soon as his eyes reach you.

He slowly puts his hands up. "You okay?" He asks as he looks at you concerned. You nod your head and say "I'm fine." "Now listen closely, you're gonna go tell the officer outside that you got everything you needed and that you guys are ready to leave." "I can't do that-" Warrick starts but stops when you feel the gun dig into the back of your head and you feel tears start to form in your eyes.

"Okay, okay I'll go tell them," Warrick says as he slowly makes his way towards the door. He opens the door and pokes his head out. You can't hear what he says, but it sounds like the officer is agreeing with him. He then closes the door and turns back to you and says "okay, they're leaving." "Good, now as soon as he leaves I want you to stay here, I'm gonna walk to my car, and this one is coming with me." You feel his arm wrap around your neck, making sure you don't run.

"Come on, it doesn't have to be like this, how about you take me instead." Warrick says as he tries to convince him to leave you alone. "That ain't happening," the man says to him as he pulls you tighter against. I can't let this happen, you think to yourself. There's gotta be something I can do. You suddenly think of an idea, and even though it was a bad one, it was better than going with the man. You look down at Warrick's gun and then up at him. He looks confused for a moment until you look into his eyes, as tears start to roll down your cheeks, you mouth I love you.

Then before he can react you stomp on the guys foot, which makes him release his hold on you. You quickly fall onto the ground as Warrick grabs his gun and shoots the man in the chest, while he is distracted. You hear the body hit the ground, as Warrick quickly makes his way to you. You feel his hands touch your face, and you look up at him. "You okay?" He asks as you nod. You feel the gravity of what just happened and you feel your body shake as you start to cry again.

Warrick quickly wraps you in his arms as you sob into his chest. He starts to rub your back and rocks you both as he whispers "you're okay. You're okay, i've got ya, nothing's going to happen to you." You aren't quite sure whether he is trying to reassure you or himself. He keeps whispering to you and the top of your head starts to feel wet. You move your head out of his chest and look up at him to see tears running down his face.

"Warrick," you say as you move one of your hands to cup the side of his face. He closes his eyes and nuzzles into your hand. "I almost lost you," he states as more tears start to slide down his face. "I almost lost you and I never told you that I love you." You feel your breath hitch and your eyes widen at what he says. He loves you? Warrick Brown, the man you've been crushing on for so long loves you?

You move your hand to his chin to make him look at you. You then lean in and kiss him. He makes a noise of surprise when your lips connect. Soon Warrick comes out of his shock and starts to kiss you back. The kiss was better than anything you could have ever imagined. His soft lips slotted against yours perfectly, it was passionate, and neither of you wanted it to ever end. Sadly people need air to live and you both slowly seperate. Your foreheads touch as you look into each other's eyes . "I love you too." You say as Warrick smiles softly at you.

You jump as you hear a knock. You both look at the door while Warrick says "come in." Brass pokes his head in and sighs in relief. He turns his head to look outside and you hear him say "they're okay." He opens the door completely and you see Gil standing next to him. You look at Warrick confused and he says "I told the the officer outside that we had a hostage situation going on, and that they needed to go get the others.

They walk over to you and help you two stand up and lead you outside. As you walk you notice a few police cars, an ambulance, and most importantly, your team waiting for you. When you and Warrick reach them they all pull you two into hugs, telling you how worried they were.

Then you go towards the ambulence and get checked over by the paramedics. Warrick stays with you through the whole procedure, and never lets go of your hand the entire time. Soon Gil comes up to you two and says "how are you feeling?" "Well, except for being a bit shaken up, I'm okay," you respond. Gil nods and says "Brass will take your statements later, but for now you two have the next few days off." You and Warrick nod as Gil makes his way back to the crime scene.

"Come on, I'll take you home." Warrick says as you both get up, and he leads you to his car. He opens your door for you and he quickly makes his way to his side and gets in. Soon he starts the care, and you two are on your way. "Do you want me to drop you off at your place or?" He aks but you quickly shake your head and say "I don't think I can be alone right now." He nods and says "okay, my place it is then," and starts to drive home.

You look over and see that his hand is free. You move your hand towards his and grab it, intertwining your fingers. He glances over at you and your conjoined hands. Then he lifts them up to his face and presses a kiss to them. You both smile at each other and enjoy the comfortable silence, on the way over to his house.

Soon you reach his house, and he leads you inside. "Do you need anything, food, shower?" He asks. You shake your head and say "I just want to go to sleep." He nods and leads you to the couch. You sit down and he says "stay here, I'll go get you some clothes that you can sleep in." You feel your heartbeat quicken at the thought of sleeping in his clothes. You nod and he walks towards another room, which you assume is his bedroom.

While he's gone you look around and see a few pictures on the wall. One is a picture of him in a graduation gown, standing next to his aunt and grandma. Another picture is of the whole group at a bar. That was when you were celebrating Nick's birthday. The final picture made you smile. It was a picture of you and Warrick together at a club. You remember Warrick asking Greg to take the picture.

You suddenly hear footsteps coming towards you and you see Warrick walking towards you while holding a bundle of clothes. "Here, these should be about your size." Warrick hands you the clothes and says"bathroom is the first door to the right." You nod and thank him before making your way to the bathroom. When you get inside you unbundle the clothes and see a sweatshirt with a university logo on it, and a pair of sweatpants.

You quickly change into the new set of clothes and look at yourself in the mirror. The sweatshirt and sweatpants are a bit big on you. The sleeves are a little bit too long for your arms, and you have to roll them back. The sweatpants hang low on your hips. When you get done you lean your head down and sniff the sweatshirt. It smells like Warrick.

You smile to yourself and make your way out of the bathroom and back towards the living room. When Warrick sees you, you see him look you up and down, admiring you in his clothes, and see him smile. He then walks up to and wraps his arms around your waist. "You look adorable." He says which causes you to blush and hide your face in his chest. This causes him to laugh and you can feel the vibrations of his laughter. You then feel his hand touch your cheek which causes you to look up at him. You feel your breath hitch when you look into his eyes.

They are looking at you with so much love, as if you hung the stars. "I love you." He says, which makes you smile. "I love you too." You say which causes him to lean down. You let out a sigh of content as his lips connect with yours. Neither of you can stop smiling throughout the kiss.

Soon you two break apart and you yawn, which causes him to chuckle. "Ready for bed?" He asks as you sleepily, the adrenaline from the day having worn off. He suddenly picks you up bridal style, which causes you to let out a cry of surprise, and lean into him. He takes you to his bedroom and lays you on the bed. You quickly get under the covers as Warrick lays down beside you and pulls you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you. You both sigh with contentment and just lay there for a few minutes, before you say "goodnight Warrick, I love you." He kisses the top of your head before he says "good night, I love you too Y/N." Soon you fall asleep while being held by the man you love

#warrick x reader #warrick brown x reader #csi x reader

[cordeliawhohung]

Can you dissect the scene in the orchard a little more from Simon's POV in soft spot? Like how far away were they when he saw the scene? What was going through his mind as he ripped Leon off reader?

If that's too far back feel free to ignore ❤️

Spoilers ahead for Soft Spot: Everything You Touch!!!

of course we can!!! and don't worry about asking about anything too far back in the story!! when i post the full dissection of my full thoughts and process and whatnot, it'll be for the entire story. so that's not an issue at all! i'd love to talk about anything you have questions for!

now, this scene is so so so important. it's Spook's final stand, in a way. the orchard rests just past a hill, and Bukin is dragging her through the trees and whatnot when she takes the steak knife out to stab him. she then runs away from the orchard back towards the hill, where Bukin catches up to her and catches the collar of her (his) coat and yanks her back. so when Spook falls, her head is facing towards the orchard, and when he gets on top of her, his back is towards the hill.

this is important because Simon and the others come from the very same direction as they did, so when they first find her, Bukin's back is facing towards them, but more importantly they're at an angle. Simon could have simply shot Bukin and saved Spook in an instant and things would have honestly gone much smoother, but he would risk Spook getting shot too. these are the first calculations he's making in his head when he first sees that Bukin is on top of her because he wants him dead. he wants him off of her as soon as possible, but can't do it that way because he could hurt her.

because this man is livid at what he sees. even with Bukin's back turned to him it's not all too difficult to make out the way her legs flail underneath his weight or how she tries to push him away in some pathetic attempt to live. he hasn't seen her for months and that's what he comes back to.

it's something of a blind rage that takes over him. he marches down the hill, which is probably only a handful of yards away, and he wants Bukin's death to be slow. he wants him to pay for every single mark that was left on Spook. hence the quick breaking of his arm. he wants to shatter his hands for harming you, to disembowel him organ by organ, but as was sort of stated in that chapter, he frankly doesn't have the time. and you're there to watch it all happen.

but i think the thing that made him most angry was this scene here:

“I guess you were right after all, darling,” Leon spoke through gritted teeth. “Your friend really-”  A sudden ear-ringing crack filled the air around you, and it was so loud you could hear it's high pitched echo bounce around in the distance. It cut off Leon’s talking as it reduced his very being to blood and brain matter on the grass that was just as dead as he was. His eyes continued to stare at you - stare though you - as Simon stepped off of his arm with a good push as if the man could still feel the pain.  “Don’t fucking call her that,” he warned, his eyes giving away all the ways he wished he had killed him slower.

the part where he calls you darling. such a simple pet name like he was your lover and not your captor. how he only whispers his warning to him after the bullet has torn through his skull. it's that moment when Simon really started to truly get a vague idea of just what had happened to you. besides the pictures and the obvious marks, Bukin took your dignity and stripped you of your security.

and his anger goes beyond words but he knows he can't afford it because you're there. so he swallows it all down because he has to be there for you, and there's some sort of sick and twisted sense of relief when he's got you in his arms, one that doesn't pair well with the guilt he's been trying to swallow for months.

and when you got shot? despite it all, despite how close the two of you were to finally going home? it's indescribable. the pain, utter heart ache, all of it. it's so much all it does is numb him because he's losing his life all over again.

anyway, i think i probably went a little overboard on my answer lmao. there's still a little more to this scene that i'm not sure you wanted to hear all at once but Simon was in one big, angry mess when seeing you like that.

thank you so much for your question! i'll be adding this post in my soft spot dissection links once i publish the full post!

#soft spot #soft spot dissection