#them actually trying to pursue a relationship would be Cataclysmic not just for them but for everyone around them

[krustybob]

if ur one of those people who holds summerteen romance in high regard & considers it the most canon semi-canon sooner or later ur gonna have to come to terms with the fact that feferi semi-canonically thinks bro strider is hot

#zees #HSJDNKDMKDFF I MEAN. I DONT DISAGREE. but its just extremely funny 2 me #f*feri fans & bro fans r usually 2 completely different Species and i STILL wonder if they did that On Purpose or not #anyway. brofef Real #them actually trying to pursue a relationship would be Cataclysmic not just for them but for everyone around them #but the sex would be Immaculate #and thats that on that #/half joke. u can figure out what is and isnt sincere im open 2 all interpretations #ok anyway im gonna go watch shrek 2 now bye <3

[bambi-kinos]

Now I'm also musing on what it would take for Paul to go to war over John. We see that irl he just kind of...didn't, he couldn't reach John the usual way (because of the substance abuse) and he was so wrapped up in his personal drama that he struggled to see outside it until George kicked him while he was down during the Get Back sessions. The public humiliation was key to that because he couldn't sweep it under the rug. He was actively trying to be better when they retreated to Apple which I think was actually a good first step on Paul's part.

But again, he wasn't willing to go to war for possession of John. He had all the incentive in the world to do it but with John giving him so little back, Paul unable to read John's signals like he used to, the drugs putting a haze on everything, and John's emotional storms making everything harder (John pulling away from Paul in despair because he thought Paul didn't love him anymore.)

I think it's telling that Paul pursued John relentlessly through out the 1970s, after they broke out of the context of the Beatles. That context was stultifying for them and we know it was headed for a trainwreck anyway.

But it doesn't answer the question. Paul didn't get confrontational with the other three until they introduced Klein into the mix and he was able to provoke Paul like nothing else. That's what it took for Paul to fight, when he felt pushed into a flight or fight response after John and Klein drove him into a corner.

So if Paul ever went to war over possession of John, that's what it would take. Him feeling backed into a corner, with John explicitly on the line -- and I think not confronting Paul, because John choosing Klein forced Paul to view him in an adversarial light. Going to war for John would mean Paul objectifying John, making him a prize to be won. (John would enjoy this to a degree because of his submissive nature, and being objectified would mean submitting to Paul which was what he wanted in the end though he fought it hard.)

The first and only time Paul fought over John was when he punched out Stuart in Hamburg and that was because his relationship to John was being threatened. Later Paul wanted to be unselfish and tried to protect John's happiness by letting Yoko have him (maybe some residual guilt over Stu influencing him too), but I think his defensive attitude might have been prickled more if the attempt to break up him and John had been more explicit and overt.

A lot of this comes down to "if John wasn't doped up" "if Paul was less depressed and withdrawing" etc. So in order to get Paul to make a stand about JohnandPaul it would have to be something cataclysmic coming for them both as a unit.

I think the sticking point for me and others is that in some ways Klein was that cataclysmic event but due to Paul's issues and John's antagonism it didn't inspire Paul to make a big grandiose stand (and why would it? that only happens in books and movies.) So if that wasn't enough to make him fight for John then it's just so hard to stretch the mind and imagine what would outside of something fantastical like a kaiju attack or zombie apocalypse.

Maybe if John had reached out to Paul in a more overt way and given Paul some hope for reconciliation that would have done it. Give Paul a lifeline to cling to. Maybe if he'd had that he would have burned it down and salted the earth anyway but this time with John at his back instead of in front of him. Maybe Paul just needed something from John that he could understand.

#mclennon #talktalktalk

[adriensaltprompts]

Submitted Post: "White Out"

In this alternative take on "Chat Blanc", rather than Gabriel deciding to ruin his son's relationship out of some bizarre obsession with akumatizing Marinette, Master Fu begins to suspect that her secret identity has been compromised.  Mainly because he's aware of both their identities, providing him with a better view of the whole picture... and causing him to grow suspicious about the abrupt shift in Adrien's behavior.

True, it may simply be a coincidence that the young Agreste suddenly decided to start dating her.  But Fu hasn't missed how intent he was on pursuing Ladybug... and the fact that he now currently IS strikes him as... troubling.  All the more so as Marinette hasn't brought up the matter with him.  Given how seriously she's taken such subjects in the past, it doesn't seem like her to ignore it now...

So he decides to warn her.  Unfortunately for all involved, Fu balks at the prospect of revealing the full truth of the matter to her, recognizing how badly it could crush her.  (Plus, there's a part of him that wants to try preserving Adrien's secret identity if that's still possible.  No, that's not even remotely fair to Marinette, but Fu is frankly desperate here.  The prospect of having to replace one of them is daunting enough, but both at once...?  Paired with the knowledge that this is only necessary due to his failures as a guide and Guardian...?)

Unable to bring himself to reveal everything, he hedges instead, explaining only that he has reason to believe that her identity is endangered.  Horrified, she naturally agrees to turn over the Earrings: Paris needs a hero who can cast the Cure, and she needs to stay safe.  (Perhaps he temporarily entrusts her with a defensive Miraculous, or some other way of protecting her, hoping that she won't actually be placed in a position where she has to use it...)

Though Fu intends to handle the rest of the situation as delicately as possible, circumstances don't work out in his favor.  Hawkmoth is completely, utterly unaware of any of this behind-the-scenes drama with his opposition, and there's nothing particularly special about the next akuma he unleashes... other than the matter of who meets them.

Either a replacement hasn't been found yet, meaning that Chat Noir ends up having to take down the akuma with Cataclysm or that Ladybug shows up late after a mad scramble to get the Earrings back to her... or Chat responds very badly when the new hero/ine shows up.  Because they're not HIS Ladybug, and he doesn't understand - or accept - what's going on.

Regardless of what precisely happens with the akuma, the aftermath is the same: Adrien furiously confronts Marinette, demanding answers.  Cue the traumatic reveal Fu was so hoping to avoid, straight from Adrien himself: the 'boy of her dreams' and her partner-slash-harasser are one and the same.  And while he doesn't outright ADMIT that he only started dating her because he figured out her secret, that doesn't stop her from putting the pieces together herself.

Reeling from this barrage of awful truths, poor Marinette naturally needs time to try and process everything.  But Adrien refuses to grant it to her.  Even if she doesn't break up with him outright (which would be totally reasonable on her part, make no mistake!) and just pulls away, wanting a bit of breathing room while she wraps her head around all of this, Adrien just... won't listen.  Not when he's so intent on making her listen to HIM instead.

For him, Ladybug - not Marinette, but LADYBUG - has always been a challenge to be conquered.  A prize to be won.  Having gotten what he wanted, he has no intention of surrendering his prize, or letting her slip through his grasp.

As if all of this wasn't bad enough, Adrien's efforts to force the issue unintentionally expose her secret to his father.  Gabriel naturally attempts to capitalize upon this by targeting her, her family, and the bakery - and as part of that push, he gloatingly reveals to both of them that Chat Noir was the one responsible for revealing her identity.

Adrien, naturally, denies any fault in the matter.  This culminates in his akumatization - rather than some ill-thought-out 'heroic sacrifice', his mounting rage attracts the butterfly his way, resulting in the creation of Chat Blanc.  A demon driven by the desire to wipe the slate clean and erase any of the unwanted consequences of his actions.

The precise effects of his rampage in this AU are up to the author.  The only key factor is that he hasn't been able to get what he wants - and while this is entirely due to his own actions, Blanc refuses to acknowledge that.  Clinging to the firm, unshakable belief that he WILL get everything he wants, regardless of how long it takes... or what he has to do to get it.

#Show!Miraculous #Show!Marinette #Show!Adrien

[shxwmaster]

anonymous said: I keep rereading the comment from Flynn in the new page preview, and it got my shipper heart thinking: in your expert Shaw opinion, what do you think it would mean for Fairshaw if Edwin were actually still alive? I know it's not a plausible thought, but how would your Shaw and his relationships - romantic or not - be affected if he learned (in some wild turn of events) that Vancleef was alive?

—

I... have no idea.

     There are SO SO many variables to this that it’s hard to really nail down an exact response, but I’m gonna walk through it carefully and see what I can get.

     FOR STARTERS, in my canon, Van/Shaw was 100% a thing. They were a romantic couple, and had intended to spend all their time together as spies. Shaw trained VanCleef personally so that he could join the SI:7 and they’d be together, and all was great!! Side-tangent, in the new page, Shaw writes how he didn’t know Vanessa existed, and that’s the tiny detail I was talking about how I’m ignoring that since that just... doesn’t jive with me. Mathias knew of Vanessa, met her when she was born. It’s important to the story I have that he know her.

     Anyways! Variables.

Scenario 1: VanCleef lived because he did not riot / unionize, and the Defias never exist.

     In this scenario, if the Defias never rose up, if the Stonemasons did not riot for whatever reason, either they were actually paid or they just had to take their losses and move on (like how Baros Alexston simply accepted the role of becoming the city architect), then it’s likely VanCleef would have stayed with Shaw as originally planned and become an SI:7 agent alongside with him. They would have been an official couple.

     Remember how I mentioned Vanessa? See, in this post I go into it briefly, but to rehash that point in its last paragraph, Pathonia expected an heir to the SI:7 and Assassin’s Guild (given that Pathonia passed it down to bloodline rather than to another agent, and given that it’s a powerful empire of sorts she’s built, she’d see herself as a queen in her own right, and thus pass things down that way) so when Vanessa was born, Pathonia full well anticipated that Edwin and Mathias would raise her up to be worthy of taking on that mantle the way Mathias has.

     That would be the plan. Edwin and Mathias live their dangerous happily ever after and Vanessa follows in their footsteps.

     Which means there’d be no room for Mathias to fall in love with Flynn, unless if for whatever reason Mathias was widowed prior to BFA, then Flynn would serve a parallel purpose as he does in current, which is becoming the symbol of learning to love again. But Mathias would be a dad in this case, and that love story would come from a different but very interesting walk of life. I kind of dig it? But again RIP Edwin if that were to happen LMAO

Scenario 2: Everything happens as normal EXCEPT adventurers don’t kill him (but it’s common knowledge that VanCleef is still Out There)

     This is a sad scenario because I think it’s a lifelong hunt for Mathias to try to find him and constantly have to hunt him down. There’d be a lot more guilt in him falling in love with Flynn in this case because VanCleef is just. still out there — and here’s Mathias living his normal life while Edwin’s on the run and then he dares eye someone else while hunting down the other man he was ready to commit to? He’d hold Flynn at a much further distance.

     Well, at least, that’s under the assumption SI:7′s still hunting Edwin. They probably still have to since he’d caused a lot of problems like killing Tiffin for example but what if Mathias helps him disappear by pulling some strings and then just vaguely going “idk he’s out there. defias was defeated anyways it’s not like it’s a problem we don’t know where he is” so he spared his life? Him and Edwin would probably never really make up since they’re on opposite sides, so it’s just a very complicated ex. FairShaw still possible in this setting.

Scenario 3: Everything happens as normal EXCEPT adventurers don’t kill him (but no one finds out until years later / modern day)

     Okay this is probably what you meant to BEGIN WITH but I like to ramble LOL so

     This gets... very complicated.

     Assuming everything happens as normal and Mathias enters his relationship, then WHAM hey buddy your ex is alive and well and also he’s pissed

UHH

     Mathias would desperately need that closure. I think he would genuinely take the time to explain to Flynn everything, leave no stone unturned because it just wouldn’t be fair to Flynn if he didn’t do that. Flynn would have to become aware of Mathias’ history, and why it’s important that he go find Edwin and get some answers and well needed closure, but it could potentially put a strain on the fairshaw side of things because man, Mathias loved Edwin so dearly, and did not and will never forgive himself for aiding in Edwin’s “death”. I can’t imagine it’d feel nice for your bf to explain to you that their ex is alive and they need to go find them and like ugh that’s just. such a sticky situation.

     But it’s not like the vanshaw will get back together — that damage is irreparable, and there’s no WAY Edwin wouldn’t view Mathias as anything but a traitor (especially if he’s like “so you just?? left vanessa too???”) it’s ugly, it’s painful, it’s angry, and Mathias will be LUCKY if he survives at all LOL. Mathias is likely to just try to get answers and do what he can to undo some of the damage he’d done as an apology and just tell Edwin a few things he never got to tell him.

     Slightly different if he finds out Edwin’s alive before he gets together with Flynn because then that new wave of guilt comes in, scars become fresh wounds and he’s feeling everything all at once and he’d feel WAY too guilty to try to pursue Flynn again when he still has this loose end he needs to amend. But I think he’d probably just disappear for a while while he tries to deal with Edwin (again, he’d try to undo some of the damage he’d done or make up for it) and once he at least gets that closure and gets this off his consciousness, he’d be, if anything, a little more ready to enter a relationship since that’s some baggage removed. Easier to date again when you know your last ex definitely didn’t die violently LOL

—

But yeah it seems like, basically, no matter what, if Edwin was alive it’d put some manner of strain on making FairShaw work but definitely not like, impossible you know? Just with a little more baggage and complications and of course the chance that Edwin probably tries to just murder Mathias outright LOL

The timing of when Shaw would learn Edwin is still alive affects a whole lot, and Edwin being alive changes a whole lot because there’s the after effects of the Defias and where they end up when the kingpin is downed, there’s the question of “What about Vanessa” re: cataclysm resurgence of Defias, there’s whether or not we should make the House of Nobles different, whether to change aspects of the Stonemasons or not like there’s a LOT to think about that all I can say is: shit’s complicated

But you know what’d be funny? If, in the situation where Edwin’s alive and Mathias finds out after getting with Flynn and he resolves the bad blood as best he can, the mental image of Edwin and Flynn quietly and awkwardly talking about Mathias or each other and this weird incredibly tense yet not necessarily hostile relationship they’d end up with and god that’s just so goddamn funny could you imagine

edwin, looking over flynn: “smh i knew mat had a type but this is just embarrassing”

BUT YEAH THANKS FOR THE ASK this was really interesting to think about!

#leave no trace ; ooc #missive: inbox #si report: meta #long post #the sun sets in westfall ; vanshaw

[actionjaxkol]

Crystal #?? - Interview with Jaxkol

“Alright, Interview... whatever number this is. Trixie Spinwhistle with the Gift of Gob --”

“Wait -- wait so how does this work?”

“I ask you questions and you answer ‘em, babe. S’not rocket surgery.”

“Oh. So what is --”

“Don’t hurt yourself, kid, save the brainpower for the answers.”

BASICS

► Name ➔   “Jaxkol Dawnsedge. Previously Shadowriot. Previously-Previously Shadowfel” ► Are you single ➔ “Nope! Some beautiful weirdo had a terrible lapse in judgement that I am not letting them weasel out of.” ► Are you happy ➔   “I actually don’t remember being this happy before. It’s... nice.” ► Are you angry ➔  “Weirdly, I get angry easier than I used to. Only when people are treating others unfairly though.” ► Are your parents still married ➔   “As far as I know. They’re Nobles, ‘divorce’ isn’t a thing they do. I think my mom has a consort though.”

NINE FACTS

► Birth Place ➔ “Silvermoon City” ► Hair Color ➔ “White blond naturally, the illusion makes it grey-black.” ► Eye Color ➔ “Green naturally, blue with illusion. Sometimes I wonder what color they’d be if they didn’t glow. I’m kinda jealous of humans and dwarves and stuff, their eyes can be all different colors.” “Focus, kid.” ► Birthday ➔ “May nineteenth.” ► Mood ➔ “Restless, anxious, eager but shy. Lonely, but the temporary type. At odds with myself” ► Gender ➔ “I’m a guy, but I’m also an elf and on the small side, so I get mistaken for a girl like, once an month. Not as much in Stormwind though, but it’s happened. It’s amusing.” ► Summer or winter ➔ “I dunno. Living on the streets, both suck, but it was easier to cool down than it was to warm up when you’re skinny. I have a home now, so I’m curious to see what winters are like. ...and now I’m thinking of Pryn as a snow bunny. Yeah I definitely want to see Winter.” ► Morning or afternoon ➔ “Afternoons. That’s when everyone is starting to wind down and relax. But lately I’ve had to get up super early for Argent training and watching the sun rise over the harbor is just... spiritual or somethin’.”

EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE

► Are you in love ➔ “I keep... trying to tell myself ‘no’, that I’m being stupid but... yes. I absolutely am.” ► Do you believe in love at first sight ➔ “So, it kinda works opposite for me. If I fancy someone right off the bat, it’s gonna end bad. If my first thought is like ‘who the fuck do you think you are?’ then we’ll probably be friends forever. Or mortal enemies. Like, Noah and I fought when we first met, but we were friends until.... Anyhow. Jiang and I hit it off immediately, but fucker was married. I hated Vyn when we first met, but... I trust him with my life now, he’s my brother. Totegar I was smitten with from the start and he.. Yeah. Let’s not talk about him. I didn’t know what to make of Pryn at first, I thought she was my exact opposite and that we’d be at odds but she’s my best friend. Oh shit, and Izzy! I was fucking scared shitless of him when we met and now he’s my baby brother!” “Yes or no would’a sufficed, kid.” ► Who ended your last relationship ➔ “Totegar was afraid to come to terms with being gay, so he kinda settled for me. I was safe and harmless and non-threatening. When he figured out that sleeping with another guy wouldn’t bring about the next Cataclysm, he dropped me like a bad habit and went after someone better. Like. The very next morning. ...It’s whatever.” ► Have you ever broken someone’s heart ➔  “I wanna say ‘no’ but, I mean, maybe? I know I really hurt Jiang’s wife, Yue, when I told her but... I didn’t know so I couldn’t stop it. I might have broken Red’s heart by telling him no. Over and over and over again. And probably a few more times to come...” ► Are you afraid of commitments ➔ “I’m not afraid to throw myself body and (what’s left of my) soul into things, but I’m terrified that I’m going to let people down...” ► Have you hugged someone within the last week? ➔ “Yeah! I used to be really afraid of contact, anytime anyone touched me it was ya know. Never for good stuff. Vyn started making a point to hug and touch me just in a friendly way. And then I get to the Keg and people aren’t afraid to hug me and it’s.. Nice.” “Man, you are a talker...” “Sorry...” “Nah, this is good.” ► Have you ever had a secret admirer ➔ “I don’t... think so? I’m just amazed I have not-secret admirers.” ► Have you ever broken your own heart? ➔ “Yeah... a lot. Like... daily. Wait is that not normal?” “...No, kid.”

SIX CHOICES

► Love or lust ➔ “Love. I mean, I think you need some lust in a relationship, but you need that love first. Otherwise it’s just... meaningless.” ► Cats or Dogs ➔ “So my sister Jaelys used to have a cat, and she loved that damn thing. In Silvermoon, cats are everywhere, right? But this one used to like, ride on her shoulder and sleep in her lap while she studied. She even got it this pretty collar and like... we didn’t have spending money so I don’t know how she got it. Anyhow, my brother I guess didn’t like it as much, cuz when he was rising into the Fel arts, he used the cat for a ritual. I’ve never seen my sister cry, but... I did see something die in her eyes when he brought her the little body...” “...Kid?” “...Hmm? Oh! ...Dogs. I like dogs.” ► A few best friends or many regular friends ➔ “I get... really attached to people fast. Like, if I’m going to get close to someone at all, I’m in for everything. So... probably a few best friends. But I’m friends with everyone until they give me a reason not to be! Hey, like a dog I guess!” ► Wild night out or romantic night in ➔ “It’s hard to say. I really like going out and getting that energy out, but being alone with someone special, just... watching them do those little, meaningless, private things that make up their secret world... It’s so beautiful I never want to leave it.” ► Day or night ➔ “Day is hot and involves a lot of running. Night.”

FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS

► Been caught sneaking out ➔ “Growing up it never crossed my mind to disobey. If had to leave the apartment for any reason, I got permission from either Mother, or Father or failing that one of my two eldest siblings. Jaelys and I always had to have escorts. When I was living with Vyn for a while, I’d sneak out if... my brain started eating itself, I guess. He always found me though. So. Yes?” ► Fallen down/up the stairs ➔ “Yeah my feet and I don’t always communicate correctly. I’ve tripped over my own shadow.” ► Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➔ “Yes... But it’s this weird, beautiful pain. I like being close to her because when she’s not there, I can’t believe that I have someone so amazing in my life. If I told her that she’s just call me stupid and whack me with her tail though.” ► Wanted to disappear ➔ “...yes... I have disappeared a few times. I can’t... seem to make it stick though. I guess for the best.”

FOUR PREFERENCES

► Smile or eyes ➔ “I like a smile that takes up the entire face. I mean the kind that makes the eyes bright like the stars. I like it when the mouth and the eyes agree with eachother. Izzy has an amazing smile that just lights up everything. Vyn’s is strong, protective, kinda like Ash’s. Jiira’s has secrets. Pryn’s has light that like... changes colors. Vali’s is hard and cold, but there’s fire beneath it. Drex’s is mischief. Kae is fire, white hot or smouldering embers, rarely anything in between. Aida... Aida is made of chocolate and cheesecake and -- oh shit chocolate cheesecake that’s a great idea.” “What about mine?” “...Sharp. Your smile is a blade and your eyes cut through people...” ► Shorter or Taller ➔ “I got a thing for people bigger than me. Which I guess isn’t hard.” ► Intelligence or Attraction ➔  “Humor. I’m not smart, so everyone is more intelligent than me. And I don’t.. really get attracted to people’s outside the same way other people do I guess. I don’t go ‘DAMN that dude has a nice ass, I must pursue him’ it’s more like... ‘your personality is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, I need to see every angle of it, good or bad’. Fuck, I would probably fall for a blighted murlock if we got along well enough.” ► Hook-up or Relationship ➔ “I’ve done the hookup thing, it doesn’t... it just... makes that void worse. Like drinking saltwater.”

FAMILY

► Do you and your family get along ➔ “No.” “...what that’s it? Kid you’ve rambled on ‘cat versus dog’ and that’s all I get?” “I... failed. I’ll pay for it when my luck runs out, but.. No. Three sisters, two brothers, and my parents - no we don’t get along.” ► Would you say you have a “messed up life” ➔ “I really don’t think so, but I’ve been told otherwise. I think everyone goes through their awful shit, just cuz mine is more colorfully explosive, doesn’t mean it’s any more messed up than anyone elses’.” ► Have you ever ran away from home ➔ “Not before the Incident, and after that, I didn’t exactly have a home to run away from. I ran away from Vyn when I was supposed to be staying with him and got overwhelmed, but I don’t think that’s the same thing.” ► Have you ever gotten kicked out ➔ “Yeah.” “...is that all you’re gonna say on that?” “Yeah.”

FRIENDS

► Do you secretly hate one of your friends ➔ “What?? No that’s fucked up. We might not get along, but I don’t hate anyone.” ► Do you consider all of your friends good friends ➔ “I mean, some are better or closer than others, but I think everyone is exactly how they need to be.” ► Who is your best friend ➔ “Ah shit, hard question. I don’t have just one ‘best’ friend, they’re all amazing in their own ways. Sera is pretty awesome, I love Izzy. Kae is amazing and strong and I envy her. Pryn knows me probably better than Vyn at this point. Aida is adorable...I can’t... really answer this. Though now I’m curious if I’m anyone’s best friend.” ► Who knows everything about you ➔ “Pryn or Vynlluthein.”

(Art by @attractive-zombies Big ole stack of art here. )

Tagging: @attractive-zombies @wests-wow-gang @rouilleandcompany @lemmeaxeyousomething

#jax crystal #i just can't do anything easy can i #wra rp #warcraft rp #people to follow

[myaekingheart]

81. The Domino Effect

               Tenzo scurried down the street unsure of himself. His body seemed to move on its own accord, one foot in front of the other totally against his will. There was a slight chill in the air that only further reinforced his internal conflict. Konoha was on the verge of winter, and he wasn’t entirely sure whether he was shivering because of the temperature or his anxiety. Time and again, he considered just turning around and forgetting the whole thing but pressed onward regardless. He had been stewing in his own uncertainty for far too long; if he didn’t seek help soon, he was going to lose his mind. No matter how hard he tried, there was only one person he could think of to ask for advice: Kakashi Hatake.

               As bad of an idea as this might have been, Tenzo could not back out now. And even if Kakashi was ultimately no help to him, at the very least he needed to try. His heads grew unsteady and his heart nearly leapt out of his chest as he reached Kakashi’s front door, sighed, and then knocked.

               Five minutes passed with no answer. Maybe he’s not home, Tenzo thought with an underlying hint of hope. No response meant he could get out of this, it would buy him some time. But if he waited too long, what would the repercussions be? How much did he truly care about this? His anxiety tore him apart inside. He needed an answer, some sense of guidance, and fast.

               Just as Tenzo was about to give up and leave, the doorknob slowly turned and Kakashi peered back at him with an eyebrow raised. “Tenzo? I didn’t expect to see you here.”

               Tenzo’s face went bright red as he rubbed the back of his neck and grinned sheepishly. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything!” he replied.

               “No, not at all” Kakashi reassured. Quite frankly, this all caught him rather off-guard. His mind had been so far elsewhere that when he heard that knock at the door, Tenzo was the last person he expected to see on the other side. Now that he was here, though, it was a matter of what, exactly, he was here for. “Did you need me for something? Is everything okay?” Kakashi asked.

               “Hmm? Oh, yes! Everything is just fine!” Tenzo replied. “I just wanted to ask you something is all. If you’re not busy, that is!”

               Kakashi smirked beneath his mask, his comrade’s anxiety mildly amusing. Whatever it was that was bothering him, it must’ve been something particularly embarrassing and it piqued Kakashi’s previously nonexistent interest. “I already said I wasn’t doing anything” he said, and then motioned for Tenzo to step inside.

               Tenzo paused before nodding frantically and obliging. “This is the first time I’ve seen your new apartment” he said once inside. “It’s nice.”

               New? Kakashi couldn’t help but chuckle as he closed the door. “I’ve only lived here for five years” he replied. The statement was sobering and struck Tenzo with a sudden fear that he had made a terrible mistake. Maybe he didn’t know Kakashi well enough after all. And yet who else was there to turn to? He felt himself beginning to lose his grip.

               “So what did you need to ask me?” Kakashi asked. He leaned against his desk and motioned for Tenzo to make himself comfortable. The young ANBU cleared his throat and hesitantly seated himself on the edge of Kakashi’s bed.

               “Well, it’s not really a big deal” he started. “I was just wondering…I mean, it’s not like I know a lot about this sort of thing, but you seem to—you know, considering your track record. NOT THAT YOU HAVE AN EXTENSIVE TRACK RECORD IN THIS EITHER, I just mean you seem to have been a lot luckier than I have in—” he stammered. He could’ve swore Kakashi’s eyes were about ready to glaze over, which only made him that much more nervous.

               Sighing, Kakashi ruffled his silver hair and interrupted, “Tenzo, just tell me what’s going on.” All of this build-up was beginning to make him nervous. What if this had something to do with Rei? The two of them worked together, Tenzo was likely to find out terrible news sooner than Kakashi. That thought alone terrified him.

               Tenzo sucked in a deep breath before finally forcing himself to admit it. “I need relationship advice.”

               It took Kakashi a minute to process Tenzo’s response. So this had nothing to do with Rei after all; he had worked himself up for no good reason. “Relationship advice…?” Kakashi repeated slowly, his question sounding far more like a statement.

               Tenzo nodded timidly. “Yeah, uh…I don’t really have a ton of experience, and I just need some help.”

                Truthfully, this was the last thing Kakashi had expected. He certainly didn’t consider himself an expert in romance so the thought of someone seeking his advice on the matter was a little hard to comprehend. If anything, he was likely more prepared to hear something along the lines of I accidentally murdered the hokage or my refrigerator is broken. He could hide a body and mend appliances, but relationships were a different beast entirely. “So…what kind of advice do you need?” he cautiously asked.

               Tenzo cleared his throat before anxiously explaining. “There’s this girl, and she—well, she’s really pretty, and she’s a great kunoichi. I like her a lot and I want to spend time with her but…I don’t know, I can’t figure out how I’m supposed to ask her out. And what to do if she says no.”

               Kakashi nodded slowly, chewing over the situation. “Is she a colleague of yours?” he asked.

               Tenzo nodded. “Yeah, we’ve worked together for a few years. She joined before you left, actually. I never realized I liked her until recently, but I don’t know if she’d be interested.”

               For a fleeting moment, Kakashi was struck with the wild fear that the woman in question was, somehow, Rei. There was no real way of knowing whether Tenzo was privy to the details of their cataclysmic relationship. If he was interested, Kakashi assumed he couldn’t stop him from pursuing her—after all, they had been broken up for roughly eight months now—but the fear still remained. Kakashi tightened his grip on the edge of the desk and sucked in a deep breath. He would have to restrain himself. There was no use in jumping the gun and making assumptions. “So what do you like about this girl, exactly?” he asked.

               Kakashi watched as Tenzo’s cheeks reddened and he dropped his eyes to the floor. “She’s incredibly talented, for one. Every time we’ve worked together, she’s always been a great comrade. Her chakra abilities are completely unmatched, too. There seems to be a lot more to her than meets the eye. I’ve just never met anyone quite like her before.”

               “Mmhmm…” Kakashi hummed. He ran down the laundry list of Rei’s positive traits in his head in an attempt to match up aspects. His anxiety was far too overwhelming for him to think logically, however. Skirting around the room, Kakashi approached the window and asked, “So who is she? I’m guessing I would know her if we were in the ANBU together.”

               Tenzo chewed his lower lip as he deliberated whether or not to tell. The moment he spoke her name, the confession would be out in the open like a poisonous vapor—completely unavoidable from that point onward. He could sense the tension rising in the room and wasn’t sure if it was from Kakashi or himself. Either way, he would likely have to admit it eventually. Mustering up his strength, he finally said, “Mikazuki.”

               “I should’ve known you would—wait. What did you say?” Kakashi started.

               Blinking despondently, Tenzo slowly repeated, “Mikazuki…” A wave of relief washed over the Copy Ninja’s face. “Why?” Tenzo laughed, voice nervous. “Who did you think it was?”

               “Nothing. I wouldn’t worry about it” Kakashi swatted at the air dismissively. “It’s really not important.”

               Now a sly smile touched Tenzo’s lips as he leaned forward and asked, “You thought I wanted to ask Rei out, didn’t you?”

               “Rei? No! Absolutely not!” Kakashi lied. “If it was her, why would you come to me for advice anyway?”

               “Well, you both did date. You would know exactly what she likes and doesn’t like” Tenzo replied. The misunderstanding was perhaps exactly the kind of stress relief he needed. It helped to lighten the mood, at least on Tenzo’s end, and break through his anxiety. There was something kind of satisfying about seeing Kakashi in a rare fluster, anyway.

               Kakashi’s face went deadpan as he stared back at Tenzo. “I really don’t think that’s funny.”

               “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” Tenzo chuckled, raising his hands in surrender. “I promise you, though, I’m telling the truth. I have absolutely zero interest in Rei and even if I did, I would never get between the two of you.”

               If only there wasn’t something already between the two of us, Kakashi thought. It had been nearly a week since that day she fell asleep in his arms after Naru’s memorial. He had hardly seen her since. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to because god, did he want to. He was just far too nervous to approach her himself. They weren’t officially together again. That afternoon was just a fluke. Her emotions were compromised. How were they supposed to proceed going forward now? It was still such a complicated subject. He felt himself grow even more magnetized toward her after their botched movie date, after every instance of tending to her broken soul. He didn’t blame her for wondering where the boundaries lie—he wasn’t so sure himself anymore. And that was why he was so shocked that Tenzo was seeking advice from him. As far as Kakashi knew, he had done everything wrong.

               “I wish I could be more of a help” Kakashi said, eyes locked on the rooftops outside, “But if you want relationship advice, I think you’d be better off looking elsewhere. I don’t really think I’m the right person to ask about these sorts of things.”

               “I don’t think that’s true!” Tenzo protested. “You have more experience than I do. Besides, I’ve seen the way you and Rei are. I think you know what you’re doing more than you think you do, Kakashi.”

               It was a fine compliment, sure, but could Kakashi really bring himself to believe it? He rubbed the back of his neck and sat back down. “Still” he replied. “I really don’t know what kind of advice to give you.” He was at a total loss. The love between him and Rei may have been obvious, but explaining the particulars wasn’t so simple. With her, everything came naturally. He didn’t have to think twice about what to say or how to treat her. Not to mention the factor of time—thirty years and by now it was just second nature. It was a feeling, not a criterion. How could you possibly teach someone how to love and be in love? Kakashi wasn’t quite sure it was even possible.

               Tenzo, however, remained ever hopeful. “I will take any sort of advice I can get” he replied. With that, Kakashi fully understood there was no way to get out of giving guidance. Tenzo was desperate. There was nothing more to do but suck in a deep breath and try to help him as best as he could manage, accompanied by the shallow hope that it would be enough.

               The difficult part about giving relationship advice when you are no longer in one yourself is that it stirs up a lot of previously buried thoughts and feelings about your history. For Kakashi’s case, this couldn’t be truer. He had already been so preoccupied about Rei, this only expanded those obsessive thoughts further. Once Tenzo had departed, Kakashi was left with nothing but the empty, heavy weight of loneliness and the desperation to feel her touch. He considered just knocking on her door and pulling her into a tight, hungry embrace the minute she answered but shoved the thought out of his mind as quickly as it came. He could not, and would not, push her beyond her limits. She was the captain of this sinking ship—if she wanted him, he would let her make her way back on her own accord. As much as he forced himself to accept this, however, this did nothing for the wild ache within his bones. He needed a distraction. Unfortunately, there was only one thing he could think of. Slipping on his sandals, he made his way down the hall to apprehend Might Guy.

               “My eternal rival!” Guy exclaimed upon the opening the door. “Are you back for another match? What will it be this time? A race around the village? Walking on our hands? Or maybe a good old-fashioned sparring match? Whatever it is, I am ready!”

               Kakashi fought the smile tugging at his lips as he replied, “Your pick.”

               Guy and Kakashi darted around the roof of their apartment building, dodging jabs and kicks in a classic taijutsu battle. Kakashi was, of course, strong, but there was something in his fighting this time that wasn’t quite right. His focus wasn’t as sharp and therefore when Guy swung around to launch a swift kick to the shoulder, Kakashi went tumbling. His back slammed against the ground and nearly knocked all the wind out of his chest, the sunlight blinding his vision. When he finally regrouped, Guy was standing over him with hands on his hips and one foot planted on either side of his body. Kakashi expected to see a victorious grin on his face but instead there was nothing but deep-seated concern.

               “Kakashi!” Guy exclaimed. He leaned down so that his face was close to his rival’s—perhaps closer than Kakashi was comfortable with. (In retrospect, Kakashi would think back to this moment and wonder how bizarre this might’ve looked to a bystander—Guy definitely was not bending his knees, and therefore his ass was likely pointed to the sky in an almost cartoonish display that never failed to make the Copy Ninja laugh, often at the most inopportune moments like right before his wedding or amid a harsh battle where his life was on the line.) “I think we need to have a talk.” Oh, great.  

               Seated on what felt like the edge of the world, Guy and Kakashi sipped sodas and looked out across the vast expanse of village below them. No one said anything for a long while, and Kakashi feared whatever it was that Guy needed to say. This seemed to be a recurring trend of the day, people needing to talk to him. Guy took a long swig of his drink and sighed before speaking.

               “Listen, Kakashi, we’ve known each other for a long time” he started, and for a moment Kakashi considered making a run for it. If Guy was going to get nostalgic, he didn’t want to hear it. Not now. “And in that time we’ve had thousands of matches against one another, but I can’t fight you knowing that you’re not giving it your all!”

               Oh. So that was what this was about. Kakashi sighed in relief. “I’m sorry, Guy” he replied. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.”

               “I worry about you, Kakashi. Did you know that?” Guy asked.

               Kakashi rolled the soda can in his hands and replied, “Really? I couldn’t tell.”

               Unamused, Guy took Kakashi by the shoulders and forced him to look him in the eye. “Whatever it is that’s bothering you, I want you to be open and honest with me! As your eternal rival, I should know everything that’s going on in that head of yours!” Here, he reached out and began fluffing up Kakashi’s hair with a rather focused expression as if it would restart the Copy Ninja’s brain.

               “Uh…Guy?” Kakashi asked with brows furrowed. “You really don’t need to do that.”

               Guy paused and looked Kakashi dead in the eyes, then brought his face close so that their foreheads were almost touching. “I need to do whatever it takes to get you back in the right mindset!” he exclaimed.

               Recoiling, Kakashi sighed and shook his head. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Guy, but if anything, I think I just need a distraction” he said. He rose to his feet and tossed his empty soda can in the trash before heading for the door to the stairwell. “I’ll swing back around when I’m feeling better, and then we can have a real match. For now, you take the win.” He bid Guy a quick wave and despondent smile before disappearing, leaving the Blue Beast of the Leaf to stew in his liquidated determination.

               To say Guy was overbearing about this was an understatement. All he could think about for the days following was whether Kakashi was okay. Through context clues, he could discern the root of the problem was Rei. Not that Rei was problematic in and of herself but that their relationship was bothering him. When asked to accompany him to pick up new dumbbells bought for Lee’s birthday, Kakashi seemed tired and Guy swore he caught the mildest cringe whenever they passed happy couples with hands interlocked. If their breakup was really affecting him this much, something needed to be done. Fortunately, Guy was positive he had all the right connections in order to fix this.

                The overcast Wednesday sky didn’t make it any easier for Sekkachi to get out of bed. She trudged to the training grounds anyway, like every other week, completely incapable of letting Guy down. How he had this much energy on a day as dreary as this was beyond her comprehension. “Alright” she sighed, tightening her ponytail. “Let’s get this over with.”

               Guy narrowed his eyes at her, hands on his hips. “Well, there seems to be a shortage of enthusiasm in the Hidden Leaf” he said. Sekkachi cocked a brow, a silent signal to elaborate. Guy strode forward and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, guiding her toward their usual training field. “Sekkachi, I’m going to need you to do me a favor. Today, we are going to do more than just taijutsu training! We have an even bigger task to accomplish!”

               “Well fuck” Sekkachi groaned. She reached into her back pouch as they walked, flicking a cigarette out of its container and lighting it between her fingers. “Guy, I really don’t think I’m up for any extra work today. If we’re not going to fight, can I just go home?”

               “Absolutely not!” Guy insisted. “We’re still going to fight, but afterwards I have a very important errand to run and I need your help!”

               “And what exactly is that?” Sekkachi asked, the question a sigh of sharp-smelling smoke.

               A voracious grin stretched across Guy’s face then as he began to explain his plan. “We’re going to fix Kakashi!” he exclaimed. “He’s been pretty out of it lately but wouldn’t tell me what was going on, so I spent the last few days analyzing the situation and have realized there is only one logical answer: Kakashi is depressed about his relationship, so I need you to help me fix it! You know Rei better than anyone else, except maybe Kakashi himself, so I need you—”

               “Nope. Sorry. Not happening” Sekkachi interrupted, waving Guy off. She brushed past him back toward the street.

               “What?!” Guy exclaimed, jaw dropping. “But this is an emergency!”

               “I won’t do it” Sekkachi replied defiantly. As Guy pleaded endlessly, the temperature gauge on Sekkachi’s tolerance slowly began to reach its limit. Through gritted teeth, she asked, “Does Kakashi even want you to do this? Or are you only doing this because you think you’re helping him out?”

               The inquiry stopped Guy in his tracks. He chewed over the question a moment, unsure of the answer, before finally replying, “I’m doing what needs to be done! He needs this whether he knows it or not.”

               Sekkachi rolled her eyes and took a long, desperate drag. “Just suck it up, Guy. This isn’t your battle to fight” she said.

               “But Kakashi is suffering!” Guy argued. “He is in pain, and I want to help him! He and Rei need each other! How could I possibly stand by and watch two lovers deny themselves to each other like this? Hmm? They are in the springtime of their youth! Their love should be blossoming into the perfect marriage! With a cute little house, and lots and lots of babies! The possibilities are endless, and I want nothing but the best for my eternal rival!” By now, passionate tears were streaming down Might Guy’s cheeks. Sekkachi’s left eye twitched.

               “I don’t care, Guy!” she exclaimed. “I want nothing to do with this. It’s not my problem! And even if it was, I still wouldn’t want anything to do with it.” Guy cocked a brow as he watched her face redden. She flung a wad of ash off the end of her cigarette and smudged it into the ground as she began to pace. “God, what the hell is with everyone and romance these days, anyway? It’s not like that sappy love shit is the only thing in the world! There are far more important things like filing your taxes and the current political climate and you know, have you noticed the absolute clusterfuck that is this village’s littering policy? There’s trash fucking everywhere! Someone ought to go and clean that shit up! But nobody’s worried about that, are they? No! All anyone cares about is kissing and hugging and fucking their brains out as if the population is in danger! Which, for your information, it’s not! If anything, we’re overpopulated! We need a new plague or something, but that’s of course never going to happen with the increased quality of healthcare now that Tsunade is hokage! But nobody cares about that, either! Nobody cares about anything but that romance shit! If I hear one more person talk about love, I swear, Guy, I am going to fucking puke!”

               Sekkachi’s nostrils flared with the intensity of her angst but contrary to her expectation, Guy was not perturbed. Not in the slightest. Instead, there was a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. His wide eyes sparkled. “That’s the spirit!” he suddenly shouted, raising a triumphant fist into the air. “That passion! That energy! You are brimming with the spirit of youth! Fight me, Sekkachi!”

               “Okay, you want to fight? Then let’s fight!” Sekkachi shouted back. Guy’s enthusiasm, the way he so positively accepted her outburst, was transforming her rage now into an insatiable energy the likes of which were exactly what Guy had been craving. And after years of sparring with her, he knew exactly how to get her into the zone. She flung her cigarette to the ground and stomped it out before surging forward and thus beginning their weekly match.

               While the training helped purge Sekkachi of her immediate angst, as she lumbered home sweaty and aching that afternoon, she could feel in the pit of her stomach something heavy and much more complex. In the shower, she tried to scrub it off until her skin stung but it was no use. She stood there under the beating, boiling water with her forehead pressed against the wall and tried not to feel foreign in her own body. She smoothed her hair back, the color of night when wet, and pressed her palms against the cool tile in front of her. She surveyed her long, dark fingers and the relentless slivers of dirt deep beneath her nails. For a moment, she thought that if she just put enough force into it, she could shove that wall straight out of existence and maybe take herself with it. When she closed her eyes, all she saw was a conglomerate of aspects: silky black hair, dewy skin, peridot eyes milky and shifting, the rapid flutter of shuffled cards like a flock of birds escaping death. Every joint in Sekkachi’s body ached and her stomach churned, but it wasn’t the usual flare-up. This was different. This was a strange, disgusting, nauseous desire she refused to humor. A dissociation of emotion, in which the world no longer looked the same and a familiar face all at once grew haunting, burning the back of her throat like a mint swallowed fresh. None of this was okay. Nothing about this was okay. She slammed the water off and tugged her towel down from the shelf, wrapping her body and avoiding the mirror. Without even drying off or getting dressed, she flopped face first into bed and prayed for peace.

               Kaminoki was unnaturally quiet for a Friday afternoon, and quiet moments meant loud thoughts. Rei leaned over the counter tiredly, huffing the hair out of her face, before swinging around to reorganize the mystery shelf for the third time that day. Anything to keep herself distracted.

               When the bell above the door chimed to signal a customer, Rei’s entire body froze. This was the way it had been all day, constantly blanketed in paranoia. Perhaps picking up a shift at the store wasn’t the greatest idea in her current state but staying home on her day off was even worse. At least here the organizational busywork was enough to keep the nagging thoughts at bay. Now, however, she would be forced to confront exactly what she had been avoiding.

               Footsteps, heavy with purpose, echoed through the empty shop. Rei’s entire body shivered. And then there was the voice. “There you are.” Rei turned, her heart cooling with relief, to catch Sekkachi turn into the aisle.

               “What are you doing here?” Rei asked, voice tinted with confusion.

               “I need you to do me a favor” she replied. Rei cocked a brow, setting the stack of books in her arms back on the library cart. Sekkachi licked her lips, continued. “Me and you, Yakiniku Q, 7pm tonight. We’re getting hammered.”

               “Wait, what?” Rei blinked and tried to comprehend what exactly just happened.

               There was a frantic look in Sekkachi’s eyes, bordering on psychotic. “I need to get absolutely wasted tonight, but I can’t drink alone and you like alcohol so…” Sekkachi explained. It wasn’t that Rei already had plans because of course she didn’t, or at least not ones that were difficult to overwrite. It was more the abruptness of the invitation that left her skeptical.

               “Are you okay…?” Rei asked slowly, cautiously. She gently guided Sekkachi out of the aisle and into the open entry of the bookstore, between the register and new releases display.

               “I just need to be numb for a night” Sekkachi replied. “I just need to get completely blackout drunk. There’s just too much shit in my head right now that needs to shut the fuck up.”

               “Yeah, like what?” Rei countered. It was laughable the thought of her being the rational one in this situation. Deep down, she, too, had been considering the relief of a night spent wasted. Sekkachi wasn’t the only one with overbearing thoughts.

               Sucking her teeth, Sekkachi skirted around the new releases and surveyed the books on display. At least four of the seven were romance novels. She drummed her fingers against the tabletop and shook her head. “This” she said, eyes locked on a rather steamy title. “I don’t get what the fuck is going on in this town anymore. Everyone is so preoccupied with love and romance, it makes me sick. I can’t handle it anymore.”

               A small smile toyed on Rei’s lips. “Why? Did something happen?” she asked, laughing lightly. While Sekkachi wasn’t a player, per say, she did have an extensive track record for one-night stands. She was bound to have a bad experience eventually and whining about it afterward was just the sort of thing Rei would expect.

               “Listen, I try to be a tolerant person” Sekkachi ranted, “but sometimes I reach my limit and this is one of those times. If someone doesn’t want to be in a relationship, then there’s no use meddling in their love lives! The fact that some people can’t understand that, though, is just beyond my comprehension. And whoever said romance was the end-all-be-all anyway? Just because you can’t stop thinking about a person and how badly you want to spend time with them doesn’t mean they have to drop everything for you, like people have lives! It just…god, it’s stupid! It’s all so motherfucking stupid!”

               As Sekkachi ranted, Rei’s amusement quickly turned into fear. What exactly was going on here? And whatever it was, what made Rei such an appropriate audience for this outburst? Her first instinct was, of course, Kakashi. Sekkachi was deeply entrenched in the social web simply by way of her connections. If she was to know anything important about Kakashi, she would’ve heard it from Guy. And Guy would certainly be privy to the significant details. Rei’s mind flashed back to that afternoon in her apartment, the way he comforted her until she fell asleep. She woke up alone and hating herself for ever falling back into that dependency. With every slip of her decorum, the boundaries blurred further and further. Was this in response to that day? Was Kakashi bothered by the way things happened? Did he want nothing to do with her anymore? The thought of him writing her off completely stung, but at the same time made logical sense. This was all too complicated and he really didn’t need the added stress. And yet the thought of him feeling the exact opposite somehow wasn’t much better, but that wouldn’t have fit Sekkachi’s narrative.

               Before she could ask for further clarification, Rei’s father lugged another crate of new shipments down the stairs. He eyed Sekkachi before bidding her a brief hello and then turning to his daughter. “I’d like you to get to work on shelving these as quickly as possible” he said. “Just because business has been slow doesn’t mean you can slack off and hang out with your friends.” There was an edge to his words that really irked Rei, but she held her tongue for fear of inciting another argument. She really didn’t have the energy to go to war with him today.

               “He still treats you like a kid” Sekkachi commented once he was out of sight, socking Rei on the arm condescendingly. Her fist slapped right where her ANBU tattoo rested. Rei rolled her eyes and made her way to the checkout desk. Sekkachi did not follow. “Remember, 7pm. Yakiniku. If you don’t show up, I’ll break into your house and suffocate you with your own pillow” she called, then turned and slipped out of the shop. Rei shook her head as she began unpacking the crate, and she hated how she genuinely could not tell if Sekkachi’s threat was serious or not. Either way, she supposed there was no backing out of this now. She sighed and began stacking copies of the newest romance novels face down.

               Monday hit like a freight train and Rei regretted ever taking Sekkachi’s threat to heart. Saturday was nonexistent, Sunday felt like a fever dream, and now this morning was a thick haze. Rei shoved her head between her knees in the locker room and tried to wade through the heavy sea of hangover for a viable work excuse. She doubted any of them would be acceptable.

                The soft clearing of a throat snapped her from her lagging thoughts and Rei slowly looked up to find Mikazuki standing over her. “You don’t look so good” she commented.

               “Thanks for the astute observation” Rei snapped. She didn’t have the energy to be kind this morning, even if Mikazuki did nothing to deserve her sharp tongue.

               Mikazuki hesitated for a moment, fidgeting her fingers, before asking, “Have you tried umeboshi?”

               “What?” Rei asked, squinting up at her.

               “Umeboshi” Mikazuki repeated. “They’re supposed to help hangovers. You can make them into tea, too.”

               Rei blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what was even going on. The exchange was so bizarre, or perhaps she was just far too out of it for any of this to make sense. Her eyes flashed then to the clock above the door and she forced herself to her feet. If they wasted any more time, they would be late to their morning briefing. Or at least that was a nice enough excuse to escape this unusual interaction. “I think I’ll be fine” she choked, though her vision was wonky and her legs felt like noodles. Mikazuki watched her stumble out of the locker room feeling defeated. An unasked question stuck in the back of her throat.

               A simple surveillance assignment was both exactly what Rei needed and the last thing she needed. She was grateful for something that did not require a vast exertion of her energy but at the same time, the lack of mental engagement gave too much leniency to her thoughts. Seated at the edge of the village, she forced her vision of focus on the woods below but all she could really think about was the questionable urge to vomit, consistently uncertain like a glass of water near to tipping off the edge of a table. When she wasn’t fighting back her breakfast, her mind always looped back to Kakashi.

               For the past few days, that afternoon in Kaminoki was the one gleaming fear that always somehow shone through the haze. It stayed there in the back of her mind like a spy surveying the ongoings of a busy nightclub, his eyes always fixed to your back. As she and Sekkachi drank their weight in sake, Rei tried to see past that steely façade for a glimmer of ingenuity. Rei never did receive clarification about what, exactly, was behind her outburst. That one phrase just kept beating in her head—if someone doesn’t want to be in a relationship then there’s no use in meddling in their love lives. Naruto and Sakura had certainly done their fair share of damage and while Kakashi was patient to a fault, he was only human. He could only handle so much. Perhaps he was tired of waiting. Perhaps he was angry about everything Rei had put him through, or even hated her. Perhaps he just couldn’t do this anymore and wanted to break free completely, to never see her again. It was possible. He had disappeared from her life before, he could certainly do it again.

               Mikazuki chewed her lower lip in anticipation as she crouched beside Rei, her eyes darting across the landscape. It was so quiet and time was moving too slow and too fast all at once. She was running out of time. Rei was the only person she could confide in about this. And yet perhaps she didn’t want this at all. The tension was so strong, Mikazuki could sense the chakra within Rei flowing too rapidly, her clenched hands willing themselves to stay still, her stomach struggling to retain. Finally, she asked the question, though not the one she had originally intended. “Are you okay?”

               Rei really didn’t want to have to explain herself but when confronted with the actual question, it was difficult to rebuff. Dusk was setting in and as the pair returned to headquarters, Rei let the words flow from her mouth in a waterfall of exhausted narration. She detailed the whole series of events from that weekend, though vaguely so as not to let herself become too vulnerable. Some things were better left private. “I think she’s just having a really hard time or something, I don’t know” Rei sighed as they reached the entrance to the village. They bid Izumo and Kotetsu a brief hello as they snuck through the gates. Streetlights flickered on overhead as shops began preparing for the trickle of Monday night customers. A soft, cool breeze struck the air; Rei suppressed a shiver. “I guess romance has just become a bit of a sensitive subject” she continued.

               “Oh…” Mikazuki murmured. All the intrusive thoughts that had been flooding her mind thus far piled up on top of each other: the anxiety, the lurking failure, the fear of confrontation. She sought guidance but instead received nothing short of deferment. Flies buzzed beneath the floodlight outside headquarters and she felt her stomach slowly twist and flip. Nothing else was said as her and Rei snuck inside the building.

               Mikazuki was desperate for an escape, for a way to disappear. She locked her eyes on the girl’s locker room, determined to hide herself away. Her steps were rapid and panicked, too fast for Rei to keep up. She called after her but there was no answer. Mikazuki had only one thing on her mind—the rest of the world was insignificant.

               When Tenzo turned the corner, she had barely even noticed him and consequentially bumped right into his chest. She recoiled, unable to meet his eyes, and muttered rapidfire apologies but he showed no hint of frustration. Rather, he seemed just as flustered as she was.

               “Hey, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it” he reassured her, bidding her a kind smile. “You’re actually just the person I was looking for?”

               “I am…?” Mikazuki asked. Her surprise was genuine, but only heightened her anxiety. Whatever Tenzo needed her for, she hoped he would say it outright and then leave her be. If she was lucky, it would be strictly business. Maybe she was even in trouble. It didn’t matter.

               “I just wanted to ask you something, if you have a minute?” Tenzo replied. Mikazuki chewed her bottom lip and looked around the narrow hallway. The walls felt like they were caving in closer and closer with every passing second. If she was to escape, this would be her only chance. Rei slowed her pace and watched the scene from afar but otherwise, Tenzo and Mikazuki were completely alone. Mustering her courage, she slowly nodded for him to continue. “I was wondering, would you want to get dinner together? Maybe Friday night? Or we could do it Saturday! Whatever works for you, you know, if you’d be interested.”

               He was so awkward it was almost laughable. Tenzo may not have been an outrageously confident man but this was a whole new level of anxiety. Mikazuki hesitated for a moment, considering the offer. She glanced back at Rei over her shoulder, who forced a smile and gave an emphatic, almost mocking, thumbs-up. This was all happening so quickly. The offer totally blindsided her. Did she really want this? This was not what she had expected at all, but she had to consider all of her options. Her window of opportunity was rapidly closing, and her first choice seemed to be nearing impossible. She looked back at Tenzo, studying the anxious smile on his face. There was something so generic about him, but also somewhat comforting and acceptable. He could make her happy. There was potential. A polite smile touched her lips then as she bowed her head and said quietly, “I would be honored.”

               Tenzo blinked a few times, trying to comprehend her response, before a grin spread across his face. “This is wonderful!” he said and when Mikazuki met his eyes, a sinking feeling struck the pit of her stomach. This all felt so strange and unorthodox, and yet she couldn’t stand to diminish his joy. She was far too kind. Rather, she simply smiled through the finalization of their plans and then disappeared into the locker room.

               As she removed her armor, she sucked in a deep breath and suddenly felt as if she was going to cry. She would not let herself falter, though. This was fine. It was just one date. For all she knew, this could be the best thing that would ever happen to her. She could someday love Tenzo if she truly wanted to. She hung her mask up in her locker and patted the shine away from her face with a blotting paper, catching her reflection in the tiny mirror affixed to the door. She looked so tired, so pale. This was what her life had become. Her desperation for control of her life had left her haggard, but perhaps this was the night when everything would change. Perhaps this was the omen begging her to let go and allow the current to carry her for a while. With a definitive nod, she made that vow with herself. From this point onward, she was merely a passenger. She tucked her tarot cards beneath her vest and put her faith wholly into the hands of fate.

               Outside the locker room, Rei watched Tenzo as he stepped one way and then the other as if his brain was glitching from too much dopamine. An amused smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “Congratulations on the date, lover boy” she jested, leaning a shoulder against the wall and crossing her arms.

               He could tell she was being sarcastic but at this point, he had grown to expect nothing less. He simply nodded and thanked her, but his next few words what truly left her shaken. “I never would’ve had the courage if not for Kakashi’s advice.”

               All the color drained from her face and she cursed herself for panicking at the mere mention of his name. Why was she like this? What had she ever done to deserve this brand of anxiety? She assumed the answer was loving him. She could feel all her questions form the past few days bubble up into her throat accompanied by the sudden fear that she would not have enough time to ask them all. And then Tenzo passed her, approaching the exit, and her opportunity disappeared.

               The door creaked open but before he stepped out into the cold, dark night, Tenzo glanced over his shoulder and said quietly, “He really does miss you, you know.” And then he was gone and Rei was left completely alone in that narrow, unforgiving hallway. Her knees buckled and her stomach flipped as a flood of thoughts entered her head. All she could do was lean against the wall with a hand pressed to her forehead and pray that if she stayed there long enough, the haunting emptiness would consume her and by morning, she would cease to exist.

#kakashi hatake #rei natsuki #the scarecrow and the bell #naruto #naruto oc #fanfiction #ramblings

[50books50movies]

Shin Godzilla (2016)

Trailer

It’s funny that I approached two seminal deconstructive works - Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins’s Watchmen and Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion - before I had experienced the media and the works that they were respectively deconstructing. I read Watchmen in high school, at a time when I was mostly reading Marvel Comics’s output. I didn’t have the frame of reference to understand how Moore, Gibbons, and Higgins were taking apart the idea of the lone vigilante motivated by a traumatic childhood or the godlike superman. I only realized the commentary Watchmen provided after the fact, and reading the commentary alongside the original text became a sport of its own. 

Similarly, when I watched Neon Genesis Evangelion for the first time in college, I had not seen the mecha anime that Evangelion was examining. Just as Watchmen took apart the specific tropes and character archetypes of comic books through parallel characters (Dr. Manhattan is Superman, Nite Owl and Rorshach are Batman, the Comedian is Captain America, Silk Spectre is Black Canary), so was Evangelion dissecting the archetypes found in the mecha anime genre. (Shinji Ikari is the ace teenage pilot, like Amuro Ray from Mobile Suit Gundam, Rei Ayanami is the shy, mysterious love interest who is obedient to the protagonist, Asuka Langley Soryu is the rival, hot tempered love interest and ace pilot.) 

It’s striking that both deconstructive works found their analytical powers in presenting “real world” consequences of their genre’s respective and specific tropes through mental illness. Only someone suffering from severe mental health issues could attempt to wage a one-man war on crime by putting on a mask and fighting in the streets. A more realistic version of Batman, Moore, Gibbons, and Higgins, posited, would have to look more like Rorshach. Similarly, a scientist who is able to build giant robots that defend mankind would be even more cynical and monstrous than Astro Boy’s Dr. Tenma; he would look more like Gendo Ikari, who is incapable of maintaining any human relationships and treats everyone around him like dirt. 

I revisit Evangelion more often than I revisit Watchmen, though Moore and Anno have made it difficult to follow their creative output. Moore’s return to the independent comics publishers to pursue more explicitly sexual, violent, and sexually violent works like Lost Girls, Neonomicon, The Courtyard, and Providence, while Anno’s attempt to retell Evangelion in a new context through the Rebuild of Evangelion movies has stalled with increasingly long delays. Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone was released in Japan in 2007, while Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance was released in 2009. Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo was released in 2012, while production on the final Rebuild of Evangelion film has only barely begun. 

Part of the delay in the Rebuild of Evangelion project was Anno’s and Shinji Higuchi’s involvement in Shin Godzilla, which is also known as Godzilla: Resurgence. Anno was contacted to direct Shin Godzilla after falling into depression after completing Evangelion 3.0. Principal photography for Shin Godzilla began in 2015, and the film was released in 2016. It re-positioned Godzilla as a creepy, scary monster, a force of man-made disaster that would serve as allegory for the Japanese triple disaster of the Tohoku earthquake and the subsequent tsunami and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of March 2011. (American films will allude to traumatic events in fiction, but more often than not American films will outright try to recreate the traumatic events. You might see Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, for example, reference the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, but you’re more likely to see movies that try to recreate that historical event, thereby compressing and distorting history. There’s actually more intellectual honesty in allegorical approach than trying to make a film based on a true story.)

vs. 

Furthermore, while Anno and Higuchi criticized the Japanese government’s slow response to the disasters of March 2011 through the way actions to counteract Godzilla’s advance would have to flow from the theatre of action up to sub-commanders to deputy ministers to cabinet ministers to the prime minister, who would make a decision that would have to then travel down the same of communication chain before it was communicated, Anno and Higuchi showed great optimism and faith in Japanese infrastructure. Politicians who could be interpreted as weak or concerned about preserving their reputation could be reinterpreted as figures who are willing to give up power so the country could have a fresh start in the aftermath of Godzilla’s cataclysmic visit, figures who are willing to sacrifice their honor for the country’s sake, or figures who are willing to sacrifice their reputations so they could give citizens the best information they had at the time. There’s a lot of moving from one conference room to another that might seem unnecessary to the impatient viewer, but the conversations in those conference rooms are what lead to solutions. 

It helps that Anno and Higuchi find sharp angles to film what could have been devastatingly dull conversations in these conference rooms. 

Finding these new angles to show men and women working together to solve the Godzilla problem places the emphasis on their humanity and professionalism. Godzilla will not be defeated by sheer force of Japanese or American arms. While Anno and Higuchi uses gorgeous compositions to show the futile attacks on Godzilla by the Japanese Self-Defense Force, they also show the futility of these attacks in widescreen, captivating shots that also emphasize Godzilla’s magnitude.

Instead, Godzilla can only be defeated when Japanese industrial acumen, business connections, and American arms are combined to form a strategy that requires self-sacrifice and precise timing, hallmarks of Japanese industrial culture. The hope for Japan won’t be found outside the country. Conventional arms cannot defeat Godzilla. Outlandish non-conventional weapons, like MASER cannons or Mechagodzillas, aren’t feasible. Instead, the hope for survival and the future can be found in Japanese systems like its trains and its industries. It’s subtly nationalist in a way that matches  resurgent Japanese nationalism under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s regime.

Of course, none of this would have been possible if a team of Japanese scientists and officials who do not conform to their institutions had not been grouped together to find a solution. There’s a power to the bureaucracy, the film argues, in coordinating responses among different agencies and in bringing together the outsiders and non-conformists, and there is a role for the “lone-wolves, nerds, troublemakers, outcasts, academic heretics, and general pains in the bureaucracy” in any organization. 

The film is similarly conflicted about Japan’s relationship with the United States. American officials are almost always depicted as faceless voices that demand from afar, sending a half-Japanese liaison, Satomi Ishihara’s Kayoko Ann Patterson, to connect with the Japanese crisis team. Ultimately, Patterson sides with the Japanese government at her own risk at a critical moment, prompting the idea that even those who are of Japanese descent living outside Japan are crucial to Japan’s future. Japanese officials are frustrated by American interference in their affairs; the American government goes so far as to propose using a thermonuclear weapon on Godzilla, which horrifies every Japanese official and even Patterson. In the end, the film taps into the renewed sense of Japanese nationalism by showing that Japanese officials can only move forward to solve the Godzilla problem by going their own way, defying the American attempt to take charge, and solving their problem their way. 

(There’s probably an essay to be written about how the film treats its three principal female characters: Kayoko Ann Patterson, Mikako Ichikawa’s Deputy Director of Nature Conservation Bureau Hiromi Ogashira, and Kimiko Yo’s Defense Minister Reiko Hanamori. Hiromi and Patterson are probably around the same age, and they’re equally outsiders. Patterson is the American half-Japanese liaison, while Hiromi is outspoken and somewhat socially awkward. Patterson is much more conscious about her physical appearance, while Hiromi wears no make-up at all. Reiko stands apart from them both; older than both other women, Reiko is a senior official in the Japanese cabinet and the military’s voice for the Prime Minister.)

Anno, Higuchi, and composer Shiro Sagisu also layer in plenty of homages for Evangelion fans. Based on my impressions, I’ve found these callbacks:

The use of the track “Decisive Battle” from the Evangelion soundtrack to spice up scenes of men and women working in conference rooms 

The way the film places a visual emphasis on Japanese trains 

The way Anno and Higuchi framed their shots of tanks, aircraft, and artillery pieces bombarded Godzilla in the same ways that they attacked Angels throughout Evangelion 

The way they focused on Godzilla’s eyes to show its monstrosity in the same way they focused on Eva-01′s eyes to show its near-humanity 

The way the final shot echoed the Failures of Infinity in the Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 teaser trailer at the end of Evangelion 3.33 

The way the lights turned out in the underground shelter echoed the way the lights went out during an Angel attack

The way Godzilla attacked all around him echoed the way Ramiel defended itself in Evangelion 2.0

The way Godzilla’s blood plopped to the ground echoed the way various Angels’ blood would fall after they were killed

The way military officials were framed when they released their attacks on Godzilla/the Angels were ineffective

The Japanese Twitter user named “bakashinji” who had an Asuka avatar.

While the film is dialogue heavy, it never feels slow. And it’s a surprisingly funny film, from Godzilla’s googly eyes in its first appearances to the way that an official’s title becomes a visual gag in subtitles because it takes up almost half the screen.

 It was everything that I had hoped for from a film by Anno and Higuchi: satirical, strangely hopeful, dynamically shot, wonderfully scored. In other words,

#shin godzilla #hideaki anno #shinji higuchi #shiro sagisu #godzilla #kaiju #hiroki hasegawa #yutaka takenouchi #ishihara satomi

[tvserieshub]

How do you follow a episode that could have been a season finale based on its strength? You begin, in earnest, to pursue the story arc of the next book that your series is based upon. And, you throw in the origin story of the space engine drive that makes this intrastellar travel possible (and opened up the possibility of generational interstellar travel). Some have called this episode a filler episode, but that is a function of handling the emotions of “Home” and the unexpected loss of a major character. This episode features one of the best take-downs of an arrogant politician ever scripted and delivered.

Here’s the reviewcap.

The opening recap focuses on the amazing episode “Home.” We open on Mars, with narration of a man who bought a second-hand yacht to tinker with. The pilot was tinkering to improve fuel efficiency. Since he was having difficulty with the voice command interface, he disabled it. “The rest, I guess, is history.” This is Solomon Epstein (Sam Huntington) and we are viewing the story of his invention of the Epstein Drive.

The UN struggles to understand what happened with Eros, how it moved and what happened to it. They note that whatever Eros is, it’s the greatest technological leap since the Epstein Drive. Clearly control of this is essential. Dr. Iturbi (Ted Whittall) joins the council. Avasarala notes that since everyone with any specific knowledge of Eros has gone silent, they will have to be insightful on their own. They plan to investigate Venus to see if there are Eros remains. The council notes they’ve aborted 121 of the nuke missiles and are trying to identify the fate of the rest.

Holden (Steven Strait) sends a message to his mom about his not running from the fight and how he has someone special. Although Holden wonders, Naomi (Dominique Tipper) says she doesn’t think Miller ever left the room where they found Julie, so he was ok never leaving Eros. Cue the fantastic scene where Holden and Naomi tell Alex (Cas Anvar) and Amos (Wes Chatham) that they are having sex. Turns out Amos and Alex had a bet, and Amos won. (Although Amos says Naomi is like a sister, he also says “he’d do her if he could.” Much needed levity.)

Alex pulls Holden aside and they note that nearly 30 nukes are unaccounted for. An unsettling thought. (We see the missiles being captured by a net).

THE EXPANSE — “Paradigm Shift” Episode 206 — Pictured: (l-r) Steven Strait as Earther James Holden, Cas Anvar as Alex Kamal — (Photo by: Rafy/Syfy)

Solomon is unsuccessfully trying to cut off his drive. The increasing Gs make it impossible for him to reach the emergency cutoff. He realizes that if he can’t shut off the drive, he will be crushed to death.

Avasarala (Shohreh Agdashloo) is having dinner with Dr. Iturbi, and she makes it clear that dinner is ALL that it is. She asks why Dr. Iturbi didn’t speak at all during the UN meeting and he explains that it was because of what he has reasoned is happening. He points out that Colonel Janus (Conrad Pla) thinks Eros is a Martian weapon. But, Iturbi points out that it does not make sense that they would test a weapon in an area which is a biohazard area, and he concludes that perhaps the entirety of Eros is their first contact with alien life. Avasarala discusses how she has a 900-page file on what to do in case of a war with Mars. Her plan in case of alien first-contact is 3 pages long and Step One is “Find God.” Iturbi says that he needs to get to Venus, and he’ll be her direct unfiltered contact.

The crew of the Roci meets a hero’s welcome back at Tycho, where Diogo (Andrew Rotilio) is relaying how Miller (Thomas Jane) told him that he was “the future” against a backdrop of a Miller mural. Holden and Naomi explain their nuke concerns to Fred Johnson (Chad Coleman). Johnson and Drummer (Cara Gee) confess that when they got the codes, they disabled the abort codes and overrode the drives, and they need help getting them back to the station. Johnson says that they have no specific plans, but the nukes can be useful. Holden wants to let Earth know that Eros is alien, but Johnson doesn’t want to tell them because he thinks if Earth panics, Belters lose.

Alex is now a chick-magnet because of his story. The boyfriend of one of the groupies arrives and starts slapping her around, Alex goes after the boyfriend and gets slammed into the bar. Amos shows up out of nowhere and puts a serious beat-down on the boyfriend, shocking Alex. Turns out that Amos lives next to the bar.

Johnson tells Holden that he is wondering what they were doing when they cut the motor for 5 hours on their way to Eros. Holden reassures Johnson that they were dealing with some stuff (spacing Semetimba). Johnson tells Holden he’s going to have to pick a side.

Epstein is amazed at the improvement in efficiency, and how long the yacht would keep going, and unsuccessfully tries to use his handheld. The numbers are stunning.

We see Cortazar (Carlos Gonzalez-Vio) intensely listening and working on calculations.

Naomi suggests that they tell everyone about Miller and Julie (Florence Faivre), and feels at least releasing this story gives some credit to Miller. Johnson agrees to do this.

The Roci team discusses their concern about Fred and what to do about the protomolecule sample. The Roci crew suddenly devolves into their original factions. Alex wants Mars to have it, Amos doesn’t. Holden wants to destroy it. Naomi doesn’t want to destroy it because she thinks that there might be another sample. Holden thinks there isn’t. He thinks they can permanently kill it and Amos agrees. They all seem to agree. We see Naomi by herself at a station launch a torpedo. Holden arrives and we see Naomi launch a torpedo. Draw your own conclusions…

Epstein uses his last few minutes to regret his lost future with Katy, his wife, but also to think about the profound changes this drive will mean for Mars. Because he’s a Martian, first and foremost. The ship will be the first interstellar ship, but Epstein won’t appreciate it.

We switch to Ganymede and Bobbie (Frankie Adams) with her crew. They discuss how well-armed the Earth UN troops are. Lieutenant Sutton (Hugh Dillon) is discussing that they need to be careful because things are so tense between Earth and Mars. Avasarala arrives in Errinwright’s office to have Errinwright (Shawn Doyle) contact Mao and tells Errinwright that they need Mao’s info. She says if Mao cooperates he can keep some of the life he’s known, confirming she’s willing to cut a deal. We find out that Mao has two sons and another daughter that he adores (store this fact in your show memory for the future).  Avasarala ever so casually says to let them know that if they can’t help, she will rain hellfire down on their family. She says she can because she’s the “fucking hero who saved Mother Earth from the cataclysm that Mao unleashed.” She says the only reason the corporations think they can get away with this is because they think there is some government officials looking for a fat payoff, but AVASARALA is NOT. She will utterly destroy their family. “Make sure you tell them that.”

Fantastic, grade A writing and acting.

I will rain hellfire down on them

Make sure you tell them that

Back on Tycho, Amos is “fixing” the Martian flag (to show the destruction of the moon Deimos). Alex sees this and is unhappy. Amos clarifies that he classifies Alex as someone he needs to protect, which makes Alex mad. He points out that he sacrificed a breaching pod with 25 people to save Amos and says he can handle himself.

THE EXPANSE — “Paradigm Shift” Episode 206 — Pictured: (l-r) Cas Anvar as Alex Kamal, Wes Chatham as Amos Burton — (Photo by: Rafy/Syfy)

Naomi meets with Drummer, who is working to disarm the missiles. Naomi provides a suggestion and notes that Belters have to stick together. We see an ID, and it’s a Epstein Drive. There was a lot of actual Belter conversation in this episode, both in the bar on Tycho and between Naomi and Drummer. Nick Farmer has done a sterling job with the Belter language in this show. This past few weeks, Nick provided quite a lot of information on Twitter about how the Belter language is structured. You can follow him here on Twitter (@Nfarmerlinguist). These snippets translate the “hottie” argument in the bar and what Drummer and Naomi say.

Back on Ganymede, the Martians continue to patrol. Because the Overwatch ship will be in Ganymede’s shadow and will be out of visual range for 45 minutes, the Lieutenant gives instructions to the team to avoid provocation. They see a drone, and identify that it isn’t Martian or armed. Alarms go off and Bobbie reports that six soldiers appear to be charging them. We see ships firing and the huge Ganymede mirror is destroyed. Cut off, Bobbie instructs her now radio-dead team that if the UN marines break the line, the Martian marines are to shoot. All hell is breaking loose, and Commander Sutton is killed. The Martian marines are devastated and Bobbie, whose suit is damaged, sees a humanoid creature with a blue glow staring down at her. This was a great representation of the chaos which happens during battles, where no one knows what is going on or who started it.

Grade: A

An unsung episode, with some great action and information, it will be appreciated later. We find out about how the Epstein Drive was developed but also about how it was a paradigm shift in the relationship between Earth and Mars. This highlights the current apparent paradigm shift which is happening, but not everyone is aware of it. The episode illustrates just how tribal human beings are, and how little it takes for even a close team to devolve back into factions. We get great insight into Avasarala’s ability to discern the big picture, her fear AND her righteous anger at people who would sacrifice humanity for the sake of profit. We see cracks appear in close relationships. And, some decisions being made which will have profound consequences for future events. And, grab your hats, the Ganymede storyline is great. Have a slug of ProtoGin on me.

Next episode: “The Seventh Man” airs on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at 10 pm on Syfy

The Expanse (S02E06) “Paradigm Shift” How do you follow a episode that could have been a season finale based on its strength?

#Avasarala #Holden #Miller #Protomolecule #Roci #The Expanse #Tycho