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ambrosiagourmet · 2 months

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Rin Masterpost

Rin! Rinsha Fana! Beloved side character I think about far too much (or maybe not enough?)

I decided that it might be nice to put together an informational post about Rin, since she has some of my favorite background details of any character in Dungeon Meshi. This is partly as reference for myself, and partly for anyone else who might be interested in her but not know where to chase down the tidbits we we get of her, both in canon & extra materials. There’s also a little bit of theorizing and analysis sprinkled in for fun.

If anyone spots something I missed, please let me know and I will add it in!

Alright. Time for ultimate #rinposting

History and Timeline:

We don't have an official timeline for Rin (even in the expanded Adventurer's Bible, sadly), but we can put a lot of pieces together based on Kabru's timeline & their respective ages.

Rin is 2 years older than Kabru, and they met when he was 9. Assuming that he met her soon after she was taken to the elven capital, that means that the elves took her when she was 11.

Before that, she lived on the Northern Continent. Interestingly, when Mickbell asks about Shuro, Rin says she was born "here."

Since "here" doesn't mean the actual Island itself, it must mean simply "not the east." She is described in the Adventurer's Bible as having "no real knowledge of or attachment to the East," so maybe that's why she draws a "there" verses "here" line.

I'd also like to add a note here that the elves don't seem uh... they don't seem great about respecting the value of other cultures, especially those of short-life species. Milsiril seems to have discouraged Kabru from eating or remembering food from his hometown, at least, and that's even as an adoptive parent who cares (at least in some way) for her child. As I will touch on later, the "care" that Rin was under probably had even less respect for her history or ties to either Eastern or Northern culture.

That is all to say, considering that Rin spent many years with the elves, I'd take her having "[no] attachment to the East" as more of a comment on how she feels now, and less as a definite choice she made. She may genuinely have chosen that approach and opinion for herself, she may have been pushed towards it by the elves, and she may have had little choice at all in the matter - all are valid interpretations, though I personally lean towards the thought that it's unlikely the elves didn't have at least some hand in it.

Anyway, Rin does seem to know at least a bit about her heritage - she can presumably name and identify the specific island her parents are from, and she recognizes that "Shuro" isn't a name used there. She also knows that different places from the Eastern archipelago speak different languages, so she knows at least a little about the other islands as well.

Some additional extrapolations I'll make based on these facts: she never mentions, and probably isn't in contact with, any family from her island. This may be because her extended family died, because her parents didn't (or weren't able to) maintain contact, or because she lost contact when she was taken by the elves. Somewhat relatedly, she also prooobably doesn't speak the language, at least not fluently, though her being able to comment on the state of language in the archipelago makes me think that she at least learned a little as a kid.

Anyway, Rin's parents were refugees from the archipelago, though we don't know what specifically caused them to leave. There is this little tidbit of info we get (from the cover of chapter 48, of all places), though:

So yeah, that seems like it would be the backdrop of Rin's parents fleeing. As I said earlier, it's unclear if Rin might have any living family left back on her island. The listing she has for “family” in the Adventurer's Bible is just a dash, but so is Izutsumi's, for instance, and we know that she was taken from her family with no knowledge of who might still be out there. It's possible everyone else was killed, it's possible they were separated... it's possible that Rin's parents didn't even know.

As an additional note, and this is speculation on my part, but I think there is an argument to be made, with this tidbit from the cover as well as the Nakamoto clan's specialty in espionage and use of ninjas, that the politics of the archipelago are partially based on Sengoku era Japan. Not necessarily super relevant here, but I think it's interesting context for all... of the archipelago characters, honestly.

(Especially considering it seems like the Nakamoto clan is in a relatively comfortable position, and yet clearly are involved, or at least prepared to be involved in larger conflict. How stable is their position, really? How is Shuro's father viewed by the wider region and archipelago as a whole? What about his lord? NOT THE POINT THIS IS A POST ABOUT RIN. BUT IT'S VERY INTERESTING TO THINK ABOUT.)

Okay, back to Rin's parents.

Whatever caused them to leave, they made their way to the north, where they made their living with their magic for a time. There are no specifics about what kind of magic they used, but we know at least some examples of jobs that magic can get you, based on the flashback to Laios and Falin's childhood in chapter 26. Laios proposes that Fain could use her magic to be a priest, gravekeeper, or wandering exorcist. Though these are specific to Falin's affinity with spirits, they give some idea of the shape of the work that might be available. It's important, but it is also on the outskirts of society - not necessarily admired or appreciated by the average person.

And Rin’s parents were killed by vigilantes for that magic. It's not entirely news that superstitious villages in the area would sometimes kill magic users - we see a small drawing of people being burned at the stake in a panel towards the end of the manga:

Nonetheless, Rin is the only person in the main cast who has experienced this brutality firsthand. And she did experience it firsthand, having been found by the elves as the sole survivor within the burnt ruins of her home.

It is unknown exactly how she survived, or what happened to her parents before and during the fire. Rin lived, and they did not.

The elves came some time after the fire, intending to investigate reports of ancient magic. They (and we) don't know if Rin's parents actually did use ancient magic, or if the reports and murders were simply spurred by general fear and superstition. Rin was the only piece of "evidence" that remained, and so she was taken back to the west with the elves when they left.

We don't know much about her time on the Northern Central Continent (where the elves/Canaries are based), but it doesn't seem like she was adopted or taken in by anyone the way that Kabru was. According to the Adventurer's Bible, after being taken into custody, "under their care she was treated as a captive animal would be." I would guess that means very basic food and shelter, little to no education. Probably the most social contact she got was from Kabru, as well as maybe, occasionally, from elves treating her as a curiosity, such as in this bit in the Adventurer’s Bible:

Assuming she left with Kabru (which seems like it is the case, there's no info about them having separated during that time), she spent 9 years with the elves, and has been with Kabru on the Island in the 4 years since then.

She also stays in the Golden Country after the end of the story, apparently working as an alchemist.

Additional Details (& Speculation):

What does she remember of her family and home?

I'd like to take a moment here to explore a little of what Rin might remember of her parents and home.

For reference, we can look at Kabru. The canaries came to Utaya when Kabru was 6, and he arrived in the capital when he was 7. He remembers the events of the tragedy in his home, and has some memories of his mother and life in Utaya, including memories of local dishes.

Rin lost her parents and home at 11, so she presumably has much clearer memories of the events that lead to her being taken by the elves... or she might, assuming that they haven't been completely blocked by her trauma from the event.

Yeah, I am fairly damn sure that she's got some memory issues from trauma and PTSD. For one, this is the state she was found in:

As already mentioned, she was also treated like something of an animal by the elves. She probably didn't have a lot of contact with other people, which would further perpetuate that sense of isolation and dehumanization. What I'm getting at here is that Rin probably didn't have much to help pull her out of this place, or heal these wounds. She had Kabru, who was also a kid and even younger than her, and she had herself.

Obviously trauma leaves different scars on everyone, and everyone responds and copes in different ways. But I do think it is interesting that we never hear anything about Rin's parents or life before the elves, and there are no real details about it given in the Adventurer's Bible the way we have for Kabru. What's presented is more surface level facts: they were refugees, they made a living with magic, they were killed.

I'm inclined to believe that things are laid out this way because that's how Rin holds on to these things. She knows things about them, but possibly remembers them more as things she was told/knows to be true, rather than actual memories she can picture herself experiencing.

Rin's Magic

In an interesting counterpoint to her potentially spotty memory, I do actually think Rin may have learned magic from her parents (or started learning, and was self-taught from there). She never attended a magic academy, and actually has a bit of grudge against people who did - owing to the social protection afforded to "upper-class mages," which her parents did not have. She also almost certainly wouldn't have been taught by the elves, who not only treated her as an animal but also knew her parents may have been involved with ancient magic.

Falin began to show signs of magical talent at 8, and was sent to the Magic Academy at 10, and that was as someone who had absolutely no guidance about or exposure to magic in her home town. Raised by two mage parents, I think Rin absolutely could have been learning some things by the time she was 11.

In terms of continued learning, I'll add that Rin is able to identify Marcille's magic as being A) from an Academy student, and B) cast by an elf:

This makes me think that she continued to study magic on her own while held by the elves, and probably even more so after leaving with Kabru. They didn't form the party until two years after they left the elves, which would give Rin plenty of time to try and learn from other adventurers on the Island, or to study up on her own. She'd probably be able to pick up some dungeon-crawling basics (like the water walk spell), as well as become familiar with the skill level and expression of skill common in different people with different backgrounds (hence why she is able to comment on the "textbook" academy wards).

Much like Marcille, Rin also seems to rely on a 'one size fits all' Big Boom method of dealing with monsters: lightning. We see the best example of its power in the fight with Chimera Falin:

But we also see her cast it pretty recklessly in a few other places, including the end credits of the new anime ED, which I think provides a good example of the downsides to such an approach...

Yeah, it is very much a 'get out of the way or get zapped' spell.

Especially since Marcille's offensive magic is self-taught and works very similarly, this definitely reinforces the idea that Rin figured most of this stuff out herself.

Outfit and Character Design

Dear sweet Rin of the Red And Black... how I love her design.

First of all, her clothes are damaged. Despite the fact that Rin looks relatively well put together overall, her outfit is worn out. I have some theories on why this is that I'll get to in a bit, but for now I'll just touch on what this design communicates in general about it.

I think, just like with Kabru's horribly messy room, it creates a sense that there is something more complicated underneath the surface. Something that isn't being addressed or seen to, just as the dress hasn't been mended or replaced.

It also reflects her not caring a ton about her appearance. She's neat, but she's not concerned about being pretty, so she doesn't bother with fixing up her outfit after her dungeon crawls. This also fits with her perpetual scowl (which I will talk more about in a bit), and slightly disheveled hair.

Next: the gloves. At first I thought they might be a sort of uncomfortable-with-touch thing, but after skimming through the manga and some bonus content, I have another theory. Rin takes the gloves off to eat, as well as a few other instances, such as when working on a spell with Holm and Marcille in chapter 36

This one is especially interesting because she has them on in the next chapter, during the fight with Falin. Since she also isn't wearing gloves during some of the Daydream Hour art of her outside of the dungeon, that leads me to believe that they are specifically for combat.

What does she need them for, though? Most other casters we see don't wear gloves. Well... just look at the other half of the page where she attacks Falin with lightning:

She is enveloped by this spell. I said it before was pretty reckless magic, but maybe its not just a problem for her teammates, but for her as well.

So here's my theory: maybe the gloves are rubber, or some other electricity-resistant material? They might help protect her from her own magic. I don't know why a caster would need gloves for combat otherwise.

I also think this might be why her dress is tattered at the bottom, by the way. Especially since the Daydream Hour genderswap design doesn't have a similar problem with his outfit, since the tunic isn't as long.

I will admit this is a bit of stretch/guess, but I think it's a fun one, and I wanted to share. I do think I'm right about the gloves being for dungeons/fighting specifically, at least. That seems pretty consistent throughout all of her appearances.

I also mentioned her scowl, so I'll touch on that briefly as well. The (fairly confirmed) explanation for Rin's expression is that she intentionally wears a frown to prevent her other expressions from showing through. I think it's important to emphasize that it's not just smiling that she is trying to suppress here - it's any strong emotion:

Anyway, because I can, here is the art of Rin smiling.

Rin and Kabru

I have talked a bit about Rin and Kabru's history, but I think it deserves its own section.

I think it's very interesting that Rin is pretty much the ONLY character in all of Dungeon Meshi that has explicit canonical romantic interesting in someone. It's literally part of the main summary sentence in her character profile.

This could be sort of reductive as a way to describe a female character (and in some ways it still is), but I think in part the simplicity and directness of it actually is part of what makes it so interesting. Especially when on the very next page we see the comic about her backstory. "This mage is in love with Kabru" -> one page of a horribly traumatic event and a child frozen in shock with no one to comfort her. What does that do?

Well, in my opinion, it shows how much Rin focuses on Kabru as something to keep her in the present. In contrast with the immense loss she has experienced, her love for Kabru is current and alive. He has presumably been her anchor for years, and I think that her love is part of that anchor.

Adding to this, in contrast with how explicit her feelings are, she never seems to actively pursue Kabru. She complains about his potential interest in other women, but she doesn't really flirt. She doesn't let herself smile around him any more than anyone else, and she doesn't hide her bitterness or anger from him to present a more appealing persona.

As much as she craves Kabru's attention, and has stayed by his side for years, I don't know that she really wants to possess him. He seems to know about her feelings, more or less, and she seems to know that he knows. Maybe she believes he doesn't reciprocate and is respecting that, maybe she's afraid of what she could lose if she tried to change things, or maybe the change itself frightens her. In any case, though she's not exactly happy with the way things are between them, she doesn't seem to be trying to change that status quo.

A specific thing I'd also like to talk about with their relationship, beyond Rin's love for him, is her fear for him. As the Adventurer's Bible puts it, "she worries that his knack for dealing with whatever life throws at him might lead him to get too full of himself and end up in serious trouble."

Rin is an interesting mix of restrained and explosive, herself. Her magic is destructive, her temper seems to run hot (she gets annoyed easily, at least), and her feelings for Kabru are apparent. At the same time, she doesn't let her emotions show on her face, she is the one who bluntly states that the group has hit the limit of their abilities, and she doesn't act on those obvious feelings for Kabru. It's interesting, then, that what she fears for Kabru is that he won't restrain himself.

And a small personal idea about that as well: I wonder if she somewhat blames her parents for getting killed. Again, this is very speculative, but I think it's interesting that her fear for Kabru is that he will get too full of himself. Take up too much space. It's never really stated what Rin thinks of her parents, but it can be easy in grief to search for control, and control often means blame. If they hadn't been so confident, so flashy, would they still be alive...?

I don't know if she's ever thought like that, and it could well be that her fears for Kabru come from a totally different place. But it's an interesting connective thread between her past and present - the idea of "getting in trouble" for taking up too much space and being too confident in one's own abilities.

Miscellaneous Tidbits:

On that note, I'd like to wrap up the main part of this post, and move on to a few extra things that I couldn't find another place for.

Rin plays with her hair when she's stressed

Using stressed as a pretty big umbrella here, because I think it's hard to perfectly pin down all the emotions at play, but it is a habit of hers. Best displayed in chapter 32, but it shows up in other places, too.

Her design contrasts with Marcille

This is a small thing, but I just love how much they are visual opposites.

Rin wears red and black and has dark hair, Marcille wears blue and white and has light hair. Marcille cares a great deal for her hair and puts it up in elaborate hairstyles, and Rin's is mostly loose and a bit messy. Marcille was even educated at the Magic Academy, which Rin dislikes. They both have little capelets. Also they both look very cute in each other's clothes.

Rin knows Flamela (and they meet again in canon)

Nothing much is done with this in canon, but I think it’s super interesting that Flamela's squad are the ones that find Rin as a child and take her away to the west, and then they end up stuck in the dungeon together for a bit.

Two days??? I'm so very curious what things were like between these three.

Aaaand I think that's all I have to say about Rin! For the time being at least. There's a lot more analysis that could be done about her and Kabru especially, but for this post I wanted to keep things at least somewhat anchored to canon facts, with only a layer or two of speculation on top.

If it isn't already obvious, I think Rin is a super interesting character with a ton of potential depth to explore. She mostly interacts with Kabru in canon, but has ties to a bunch of other characters: she and Marcille fill similar roles in their parties but have differing personalities and histories, she and Falin (and Laios) have been tremendously shaped by xenophobia and fear of magic common in the Northern Continent, her parents fled from conflict in the same region Shuro and his retainers are from, and she has history with Flamela and some of the second canary squad.

Her temper, her fear, her love... her repression and passion - they all inform her character, even in small ways, even with as little time as she spends on the page.

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #rinsha fana #rin dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi spoilers #dunmeshi analysis #thank u to anyone who takes the time to read this ♥️♥️♥️ I love rin and lot

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mxmajor · 1 year

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Cool things i learned abt the Dora Milaje from the dora milaje training manual

this is canon to the 616 and comics, not the MCU, but it was cool to learn about and definitely impacts my canon compliant AU fic. So it might be useful to others. Its not the full book, not even a chapters worth of info, but if you were considering getting it, do so. It made me look at wakanda forever differently, too.

Joining

they accept women from all 5 tribes (17 in the comics) between the ages of 15-20 to become Dora

They have to bring a gift and be accepted by Bast to begin training

If accepted they are called Kanwata and the process takes 4 years to complete.

Upon initiation they go through an ori ceremony where their heads are shaved and they received their first ritual tattoo. They receive another tattoo each year, an ink with vibranium, until the second and final ori ceremony where they receive the final tattoo after their acceptance from Bast.

Training

They have to learn 7 of 10 languages: Wakandan, Xhosa, Hausa, Arabic, Yoruba, English, Igbo, Mandarin, Swahili, and Korean. They have 9 additional elective languages they can learn, especially to connect to the diaspora and blend in: cantonese, Hebrew, Japanese, French, Farsi, Spanish, Amharic, and Portuguese. They get to conversation and translation in the following years.

In the first year they must learn hand to hand combat in the forms of Ngolo, Laamb, Silat, Muay Thai, Musangwe, and Krav Maga. Once the required mastery has been met they add weapons in the second year. The Dora are considered "living weapons".

In the comic verse, they have a mystical and supernatural combat section. The kanwata training is in 3 pillars: physical, mental, and spiritual/herbal. They study vibranium application and properties as well as herbal practices like identifying plants for food and medicinal purposes.

Essentially, Dora are super smart and well trained so it takes a unique situation for them to be unprepared lol. There is even more that goes into what was listed above.

Structure

The DM have 3 major units: Guard Units, Airborne Units, and Support Staff Units. This includes Domestic, international, and Off world teams in the comics.

Dora can be broken into units, squads, or teams (helpful when trying to name group that they might be on a mission in)

They are all trained in combat and munitions (weapons) but some units are researchers, mechanics, pilots, healers, or apart of a secret division (like the cia) but no one knows who is in that secret division

Kanwata are the trainees, the 3rd and 4th years apprentice with Iya Dora and/or train younger Kanwata.

Ile Dora Milaje is what the group of active, graduated, and fully initiated Dora are called.

Iya Dora is the council that confers with wakandan leadership (Taifa Ngao, the council of elders), determines the graduation passage of kanwata, and governs the active duty, dismissal or removal from Dora ranks. There are Dora that have been re-instated after dismissal.

There are some cool excerpts if you clicked the link below. I am tired of typing lol.

#the dora milaje #dora milaje #black panther #black panther wakanda forever #protectors of wakanda #general okoye #Aneka #captain ayo

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kiwiana-writes · 2 months

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I dont think anyone subscribes to you for t rated 5 +1s in your own au lol. Chop chop with those wip’s porn girl!

Well. Quite a bit to unpack here on an otherwise unassuming Friday!

#1:

#2: I actually track this stuff. Admittedly the E-rated percentage is a bit higher if you look at RWRB only, but overall...

#3: I think anyone who subscribes to me on AO3, or indeed anyone who follows the kiwiana-writes tag here on tumblr and sees all those fucking WIPs, knows that I like to write a bit of variety. That's not to say there aren't definite underpinnings of, like, themes and vibes that I return to over and over (which I can only assume are why people subscribe to me), but if someone only likes my college AUs, or only likes my post-canon stuff, or only likes my E-rated stuff, or only wants to listen to my podfics, they're probably going to have a much more successful time saving the tag search than subscribing to me at the author level. Or they've mastered the art of archiving and moving on without complaining about it, like I do when the authors I'm subscribed to write something that doesn't interest me. It's a useful skill! I highly recommend cultivating it.

#4: AO3 not giving series stats is and continues to be the bane of my life, but based on the number of people who subscribed to the OG actor AU, there's probably a significant chunk of people who aren't subscribed to me as an author and only want the actor AU verse stuff. And good for them! I LOVE that AO3 offers multiple ways to subscribe so you can get notified for the stuff you want (my kingdom for the ability to subscribe to individual pseuds, though.)

#5: This fandom is OVERFLOWING right now. Like, I can't keep up. You only want to read E-rated stuff? Awesome! Well over 100 E-rated fics have been posted in the RWRB bookverse tag just this week (it looks like most of the movieverse smut has also been tagged bookverse, but either way it's also very easy to find). Or go back to older fics and find some hidden gems—there's nothing an author loves more than for someone to come in and gush about a fic they wrote a year or two ago.

#6: You don't pay me, and I'm not subject to annual review. One of my favourite authors was talking this morning about how sometimes she thinks about taking a break from writing for RWRB because it's starting to feel a little rat racey, and that would suck for me personally because I love her stuff but god knows I couldn't blame her, because the (extreme minority but still exhausting) entitled comments and rudeness really do not help. Stop treating your favourite authors like content creators who owe you something new on a regular schedule, because that's a damn good way to ensure they don't want to create anything new ever again. Like... anon, you haven't even bothered to couch this in a compliment. The bar is ten feet underground and somehow you still managed to trip over it.

#7: Not to be all 'back in my day' but... well, back in my day, snippets and peeks into the universe of a remotely popular longfic were pretty much the standard lol. Nobody is forcing you to read them, I promise.

#8: I've posted two E-rated fics in the last two weeks.

#9: Honestly I just really want to reiterate #1 because what the hell lol. While pronouns don't equal gender, it's pretty reasonable to extrapolate from pronouns if you don't have any other info to go on—and of the three "main/standard" pronouns, the one most closely associated with 'girl' is the only one that ISN'T in my bio 🤦

#anonymous

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cyphernet · 3 months

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CYPHERNET 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞 9 Days of Yoongi 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐢𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢'𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲!

From March 1st through March 9th, we will be featuring original content (gifs, gfx, edits) on CYPHERNET to showcase the talents of our community and love for BTS’s maestro Yoongi.

Creators: you can choose among any of the following prompts to participate in the 9 Days of Yoongi celebration. The way you bring these prompts to life is entirely up to you and your own interpretations! Enjoy :)

Favorite Lyrics/Verses

SUGA/AGUST D Tour

Favorite Hair

Make Me Choose: Tangerine Yoongi vs. Kitty Yoongi

Favorite Dynamic [relationship with members]

Favorite “Suchwita” Moment

Best of Yoongi on "Run BTS"

Make me Choose: Agust D, D-2 or D-DAY

Free Choice: ♡

Participation is open to anyone! Just use our tag #cyphernet

We look forward to seeing what magic you all will create! 💫

▾ More Info Below! ▾

Notes:

✥ there are no image/gif minimum or maximum requirements needed to participate

✥ content we will be featuring includes: ORIGINAL gifs, gfx and edits(please no reposting content from tumblr or other platforms)

✥ you may choose to create content for as many days as you’d like and there is no set order to the prompts, so you may post any prompt on any day

✥ admins will repost/queue content during Eastern Standard Time

✥ please check our FAQ to review our guidelines for what kind of content we permit on our network

✥ please make sure the #cyphernet tag is within the first 20 of your tags so that they will appear in tumblr’s search results

#9 days of yoongi #9yg24 #9yg #events #admin post

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nekomim1 · 3 months

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I just wrote this all down for a paper I'm writing, so I figured I'd share this info in case anyone is interested and doesn't feel like looking it up!

Here is a list of all the Bible verses referenced in the John chapters of Nona the Ninth (pls let me know if I missed any). Keep in mind theres about a billion different translations of the Bible which can differ a lot, sometimes they even split the verses up a bit differently. So! Keep in mind, all of these quotes are taken from the NIV (New International Version) translation!

John 20:8

“Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.”

John 5:20

“For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.”

John 15:23

“Whoever hates me hates my Father as well.”

John 5:18

“For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”

John 8:1

“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.”

John 19:18

There they crucified him, and with him two others - one on each side and Jesus in the middle.”

John 5:1

“Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.”

John 3:20

“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”

John 9:22

“His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.”

John 1:20

“He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely ‘I am not the Messiah.’”

John 5:4

“From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had.”

Jod Bless you all 😔🙏 Amen.

#tlt #tlt spoilers #the locked tomb #nona the ninth #ntn #gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #gtn #htn #john gaius #alecto the ninth #atn #anyway do with this what you will

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fayes-fics · 2 years

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Moments ✨Masterpost✨

Pairing: Benedict Bridgerton x fem!reader

Rating: Teen and up (except Epilogue 1, which can be skipped)

Status: COMPLETE - Main multi-chapter story. (24k words) ONGOING - One shots set in this universe.

Beautiful moodboard by @margowritesthings 🧡

Summary: A slow burn fic. Follow on to No Good Advice. Best to read that first, however In case you haven’t/don’t (please note: it is rated as 18+ explicit) - reader has an arranged marriage to childhood friend John Darby, but has a passionate pre-marital relationship with Benedict Bridgerton which results in the conception of a child on her wedding day. Reader is now married to John Darby and he believes himself the father of the child, one James Darby. This fic is what happens next for all of these characters.

❥ angst . ❀ fluff /humour . ❦ smut . ❖ suggestive

Prologue: No Good Advice ❦

Chapters 1-4 ❥

Moments from a family life

Moments from a tragedy

Moments from a ballroom

Moments from a drawing room

Chapter 5-6 ❥❀

Moments from a card game

Moments from a garden

Chapters 7-8 ❀❥

Moments from a family visit

Moments from a country ball

Chapter 9 ❀

Moments from a long walk

Chapter 10 ❀❖

Moments from an engagement

Epilogue 1 ❦

Moments from a wedding night

Epilogue 2 ❀ set 6 years after Epilogue 1

Moments from a different family life

Moments one-shots in chronological order, various ratings

Moments: A High Moment ❀ set between Chapters 8 & 9

Moments: Midnight Moments ❀❖ set 7 weeks, 7 months and 7 years after Epilogue 1

Moments: Christmas Moments ❀❖ set 4.5 months after Epilogue 1

Moments: The Birth of Baby Isobel ❀ set 9 months after Epilogue 1

Moments: Sweet & Spice ❀ set 1 year after Epilogue 1

Moments: Benedict's Heart ❀ set 2+ years after Epilogue 1

Moments: Family Dinner ❀ set 5 months before Epilogue 2

Moments: An Art Lesson ❀ set 1 month after Epilogue 2

Moments: A Ladder Interlude ❦ set at end of Moments: an Art Lesson

Moments: Twas The Nights Before Christmas ❀ ❦ set 6 months after Epilogue 2

Moments: Picnic ❀ set a year after Epilogue 2

Moments: Like Father, Like Son ❀ set 3 years after Epilogue 2

Moments: James’ Societal Debut ❀ set 11 years after Epilogue 2

Other Moments content

Deleted Scene from Chapter 9 ❖

Some more info about James and his siblings ❀

Fics that could be part of Moments-verse but aren’t officially written as such

Insatiable ❦ (filthy pregnancy sex)

Kinktober Drabble #9: Gags ❦ (married horny sex)

#benedict bridgerton fanfiction #benedict bridgerton angst #benedict bridgerton fluff #benedict bridgerton smut #benedict bridgerton x reader #benedict bridgerton x female reader #benedict bridgerton x you #benedict bridgerton x y/n #benedict bridgerton imagine #benedict bridgerton #bridgerton fanfiction #bridgerton imagine #bridgerton

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temporarilyunstable · 10 months

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it's a monster of a ppp essay

Finally writing about this film I’ve pretty much obsessed over for months! Hopefully I can put some order into this but in case I ramble you have been warned lol. Spoilers will be discussed.

I first saw this film in Japan on opening day— prior to that I tried to gather as much information as I could via JP tweets and impressions, especially those of the pre-golden week screening on April 29, then adding more info as soon as spoilers were lifted to increase my understanding. And now a couple of months later, I finally have full context, but really happy that most of the information I got was accurate, and the only details that I had to clear up were related to the more complex elements of the plot, plus the ever-important talk-no-jutsus (tnj) in the film.

If I were to give this film a score, it’s a 9/10. Prior to this, my fave iteration was case 3, being the ever-economic-just-over-an-hour-but-does-everything-right entry to the series. Maybe it’s my Akane bias but PPP just knocked that one right out of the park. The animation was great (I am not well-versed in this so you won’t hear me talk about it much), even if wonky Arata took me out despite the emotion in the scene. Voice acting, no one does it better than the JP actors, I will not be convinced otherwise. It’s my preference and frankly if you’ve never watched this in sub I do think you missed out. The music was TOP-TIER. I’ve not stopped listening to this OST ever since it came out, blessdt Ennio-Morricone-esque Is this your choice, Akane Tsunemori? track #27 CD2?!!?!??! *INHALE*

I can’t actually use technical film critic jargon here so in short, I LOVE this film so much.

A bit of background info from the recent interviews Director Shiotani participated during the roundtables/live stages in JP - the “switching” of the timelines were at the behest of the producers (Fuji TV), including the introduction of new characters, in order to continue the story indefinitely from a TV perspective (link). It was a ballsy move, and in hindsight it paid off, but not without its pitfalls which I will touch on later. PP3/FI was developed during PPSS, and PPP was developed during PP3/FI, so you can imagine the difficulty of making sure the creative team have crossed their t’s and dotted their i’s. That being said, apart from telling the story it wishes to tell, the purpose of this film was to tie the past to the present, and I think that they did it very well.

My thoughts are still evolving, but interestingly enough, most of my impressions haven’t changed. So I’ll talk about some elements of the plot that interest me, then I’ll go to specific characters, and ofc I’ll talk about the ship (not the Grootslang 😉).

There’s a clear three-parts to this film: up to Saiga’s death, up to Atsushi’s death, and Akane’s career death (if it is to be said, so it is lol). Each part had their pros and cons, but it’s quite a feat managing to squeeze all the information in. There was no dull moment for me.

I think the deaths here (especially of the characters we were supposed to care about)— the manner and speed in which they perished, and at a certain point in the film, all for nothing— were part of the point.

Before I watched this with subs I actually thought that it would be more difficult to understand, but I have to say that the nolan-esque expositions were well executed and nicely placed, for example the talk about possession between Kogami and Shion was a good prep for the audience for when we actually get to hear about how it works from Akira. Also a great way to show both Kogami’s detective skills that have not dulled the slightest, and his and Shion’s closeness(?/familiarity? Call it what you want). Another example is the Mika-team essentially telling the audience what’s about to happen prior to us seeing Sugo get things done in the sky (also I forgot he was just flying a drone and was out of harm’s way ehehe). I would say that the hardest parts to piece together have to do with the elements related to PP3, including the involvement of Bifrost. I’ll touch on this later.

I’ve talked about Saiga’s death to my friends way before the first trailer ever released. Him not being present in PP3 was the biggest clue, and not that I wanted it to happen, but it was necessary to raise the stakes and make it personal. As a fic writer, admittedly I’ve never been happier to be right 😅. His scenes with Akane and Kogami at the beginning of the film were standouts. I particularly love how Saiga and Akane are so at ease with having a simple conversation— they’re talking about work but he could so easily talk about his doubts regarding Atsushi, for example. I love how he’s the same with Kogami, how he clearly states his allegiance to Akane, and ofc reminding Kogami to apologize (and something else I picked up that I will discuss later).

I can say that despite the initial ridiculousness of the Divider/possession, the way it was explained was quite convincing to me compared to how they brushed over how Arata’s mentalist skills worked in PP3. Also, there’s kind soul from the JP fandom who attempted to explain how it could probably work irl (link). It’s creepy, if you think about it, and well-documented too. Have a read if you’re interested.

Action scenes, definitely a strong suit of this film - you just know they can’t help themselves sometimes LOL. Kogami v Akira is definitely the best one (RIP Kogami’s balls hihi), and I’ve said this before but they definitely have perfected Kogami’s animation when it comes to fighting, and he is always the most flawlessly animated, however I think they did Gino really well here too. There’s this other really wonky one where Sugo falls down the escalator and it just looks like he’s a solid object and not a human body asdlfkjaskldfj. Honestly I finally understood the critique that the Sugo drone scenes were definitely way too long (I didn’t notice this bec it was hella entertaining when you don’t have subs plus it was super fun if you watch it in 4dx/mx4d).

Really dropped the ball on the Stronskaya Papers imo. I think, for something that was meant to be so important, the exposition regarding its use was really a lazy excuse. “SEAUn essentially proved its value” ain’t gonna cut it. If this is something so important people choose to kill/die for, then the implications of it should have been shown to the audience, not told.

I only noticed after the third subbed rewatch, but to me, everyone is being measured against Akane in this film. I will elaborate later.

Sibyl as an AI

Finally, the little complication about using the term "AI" when describing the Sibyl System. When the first impressions of this came out, there were a LOT of dissatisfied JP fans. Until it was described as such in the film, since the system constitutes actual human brains, then the interpretation is that it is human. I’m not sure if this was a general interpretation btw, but since this is the first time the term “AI” was used to describe Sibyl, ofc it rubbed people the wrong way, especially bec it feels like the whole concept of Sibyl was retconned.

I somewhat agreed with this interpretation— I had always considered the Sibyl System as an independent character in this series, who was meant to be impartial but somehow acts/reacts as a human would— and it's not hard to think so, when you look at the way the system has acted and evolved throughout the show. At times, the system is shown to be curious, greedy, and even cruel. I am ofc talking about them as a whole and not their androids (Kasei, Misako, Chuan Han, Hosorogi, even the dude in Case 2, etc)— individual brains act as human with a CA constitution (so still slightly different from a normal human), that’s clearly shown in the series.

When I read about this through interviews of Director Shiotani, I didn’t quite get the full context as it was used in the film. My initial interpretation was that the system was human, but the mechanisms that make it work (the claws swapping brains supposedly without human intervention, the city/country-wide whole network/surveillance system, the immediate reaction to process a Dominator’s request, etc) were powered by AI. I thought that they used the term AI to update the terminology, since this technology is quickly becoming commonplace irl. Now I've seen PPP with subs and thought a bit more about it, I still somehow think this is the case but also, all things considered, the term AI also makes sense.

Bear with me as I try to break it down. The Sibyl System is a system that is bound by its raison d'être: the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people (very important: not all). To achieve this, it has taken over control of the lives of its citizens via the Psycho- Pass, a quantified measure of mental states/psychological tendencies and aptitudes— a supposedly objective measure. This includes law enforcement, as the system is able to predict an individual’s tendency to commit crime. We also know that the Sibyl system has auxiliary functions, like planning citizens’ lives or recommending the best option for the individual’s happiness, matchmaking, art/cultural/historical/religious control. Its role is very simple: assign the best possible job that one is most capable of (essentially eliminating non-productivity as a society), and through psycho-pass measurements, maintain/execute (criminal) law and order under the PSB. It can be implied that other non-criminal laws can’t be divorced from Sibyl, since its functions make all these possible within the confines of what Sibyl constitutes as “right” (and is implied,) based on the rule of law. Sorta like a chicken and egg situation, but the law, being at the base of it all. Sibyl came into legal force - it is, first and foremost, lawful.

Applying that to the definition of AI, we could say that at its inception, the law would be Sibyl’s code/algorithm, prior research (be it criminal/non-criminal data/aptitude/psychology/physio etc etc) and eventually its actual application is its data set, and the use of human brains as its processing mechanism. If we review how the system has "acted" so far, it's all consistent with the fulfillment of their purpose, EVEN if exceptions, limitations and anomalies exist.

A key concept that has been repeated in the show’s run is Sibyl’s “evolution”, which coincides with the same concept of AI “developing/learning automatically”. If I still have your attention, you will probably know that the main driver of Sibyl’s evolution has always been Akane, be it directly (S1, PP movie, PPP), or indirectly (PP2, PP3). This has been introduced from the start, with Sibyl itself acknowledging its imperfection, but insisting on the need to maintain its perceived perception in the interests of a peaceful society.

What makes it a bit contentious is the fact that the individual brains ARE very obviously still human - so I think that the “the Sibyl System is an AI” really feels off somehow, or at least conceptually feels like it should have been carefully defined rather than left up for interpretation, given what we’ve seen in the series thus far. In any case, here are some references to help you think about it and make your own interpretation.

World Affairs (OffiPro)

Genesis 1-2

Genesis 3-4

Characters - I’m just gonna put this disclaimer, basically if I quote something from the film please just understand that it’s mostly paraphrased.

Akira

Definitely one of my favorite additions to this massive cast. Not the first one to say it but what a shame (he’s so sexy UwU). He’s probably less complex of a character than Atsushi (oh we’ll get to him), since his motivations are not “heavy” enough for me to believe such a sacrifice. He volunteered to be a double agent, burned his face to prevent identification, took on the mental (physical, actually) load of the chips in his brain and for what? For the greater good? Where did we see that anywhere? It is implied that as an immigrant he’s had his fair share of exposure to wars/conflict - we all know this was the same case with characters like Kei and Maiko, for example, but if we’re simply relying on the context of this film, I got the impression that he was merely doing it for his brother.

Things I love:

Dropping the machine gun post shootout with Kogami, signaling that he has no intention to go that far (gonna talk about the other side of this coin in a bit)

RECITING THE GREAT ASO on top of that holo cliff *chills*

In the JP version, his very VERY noticeable voice change when he surrendered to Kogami and Gino

His “please take care of Kei” never fails to make my heart ache T-T AKIRAAAAAAAAAAA

Atsushi (& a bit of Yabuki)

One of the best characters in this film (who no one will invite in their wedding— oh the irony lol). I think that a good baseline from watching PP3/FI really helps appreciate him, though I didn’t actually care much if not for Niki making me notice in PP3 that there are conflicting accounts about him (a malicious one c/ o Obata in her testimony, vs Arata’s POV of him as a good and loving father), plus the more I learned about the complexities of Bifrost the more I got interested in him, too. Atsushi is clearly a morally grey character, and in this film it both comes out of his mouth (as a form of admittance in his speech), and shows in his actions. His speech: "The right choice can be wrong in a different time, that’s because righteousness is relative, but the truth is absolute. What we need is the truth, the means to accept that truth and choose the path where no one gets hurt." is clearly directed at only four people in that room. The speech also served as an admission of his guilt— and once again, the theme “he did what he had to/someone had to do it”.

There’s a line during his interview with Akane where she says “you don’t make mistakes. Everything you do puts you a step further in your career, as if you’re following a path laid out before you.” When she seems to have hit the right line of questioning, he was clearly about to confess, but alas, it was not to be. I remember reading an interview where Director Shiotani said “he doesn’t get to have it easy” and you know what, ok fine.

Atsushi and Yabuki’s approach is, in a nutshell, big picture thinking, the end justifies the means. They make difficult decisions, get things done and can’t avoid people from getting hurt. This is also driven home by Yabuki’s words to Frede “ideals are not enough to bring about change”. (He also said something good about needing that kind of power to exact justice and being prepared for the infamy that would result - help me if you remember this was my takeaway from it). To me, they both represent the kind of people who are about to become obsolete in Sibyl society IF it is heading towards the path people like Akane and eventually, Arata, are aiming for (put a pin on that).

We know that he was a Bifrost Inspector, and interestingly enough, it seems that Yabuki is too since they’re communicating via the terminal we saw Kei use. As is on trend for anything related to Bifrost, you do not see the hands of these guys getting dirty despite all the dirty work they actually do. That said, Akira, Milcia and most likely Saiga, are probably foxes.

Things I love:

I think that he and Tonami, while they must have believed there was no other way at the time, acknowledged that there was no excuse, and as a result are inspired (or in Tonami’s case, persuaded though begrudgingly) to trust the newer generation to do it better than they could. I feel like Atsushi already knew his time was coming the moment the deaths of those he had personal ties with started piling at his door.

His conversation with Kasei/Sibyl: “we’ve been watching you for a while”, implying Sibyl being complicit in all the dirty work he’s had to do. “Do you believe in the potential of humans?” and the response “of course. this is the reason why we exist” — really rubs the god/religious themes here, handing him the gun that will take his life as their parting gift, as if to say “this is your judgment”. I’m gonna touch on this again with Akane.

I’m not the first person to say this but with the exception of Yabuki, who was killed, at the end, Milcia, Akira and Atsushi’s acts were extreme, and I’m just not gonna gloss over this, cowardly. Choosing to die instead of living. Choosing to be absent instead of being present (in his brother’s life, in her daughter’s life). Atsushi preached it to his son (“do not dive without a lifeline”) but not only failed to act on his teachings but continued his approach. You could say it was the only choice at the moment, but all their previous choices led them there, and it’s even worse that they got someone else involved and killed, even if that wasn’t their intention.

HOWEVER, and this is going to be brought up again: someone has to do it, and therein lies the nuance in the other main character in PPP we’ll talk about later.

Saiga

I don’t really have much to add except they made him especially handsome in this film… 😳 And ofc I love that he picked up the lack of people in the building, he really said you can’t hide anything from my keen observation skillz. I loved that he was pretty chill about it too, maybe he was trying to cool down his favorite student 🤗

Things I love:

Akane visited him at 23:41 in the evening, I am assuming on that same day (it’s the time stamp on his laptop, also confirmed by Director Shiotani). I guess the concept of after office hours does not exist bec it looks like they left for Dejima immediately after.

“People aspire for comfort and find themselves unable to escape it, like me” and Akane immediately saying that’s not the case 🥹

Coffee on the lips. Leaning back on the couch. The toast and the chuckle RIP

“She’s not a saint/bodhisattva”: I’ve understood this to mean that she WILL enforce Kogami if it comes down to, hence he better apologize to her while he can.

His very meme-able criticism of Kogami before they got on the elevator

“Well, that was crazy!”

HIM BEING PEAK HANDSOME WHEN HE HAD A KNIFE ON HIS THROAT LIKE?!?!

The desperation and VERY obvious there is no other way here when Akane’s whole body is about to fall just trying to hang onto him

That they muted Akane’s scream when he fell

That she went straight down to him without so much as looking back at the fighting still happening

That she fixed his body 😭

I’m really gonna miss him. I always used to hc that Akane and Kogami would have a moment with him at some point in the future, calling back to their visit to his house in s1 but alas… we can’t have everything we want, huh?

Tonami

AHHHH old man, old man.

My favorite part about Tonami is that they clearly improved on making sure they don’t paint him as an evil guy. They tried to do this with Garcia, but frankly the novel did a better job at making him look more nuanced than the movie did— and that’s saying a lot since like I said, I love case 3. This is probably because they had the benefit of time, of course, and we’re gonna touch on this again later, they spend less time making Kogami look good (i mean, not physically) in this film.

They were very economic with how they portrayed his character, too. With just that one scene of him and the kid, you immediately empathize and are forced to listen to what he’s actually saying. My favorite scenes of any iteration is the “reckoning”/tnj that Akane has towards the end, basically summarizing the thesis of the story, and the questions it poses to the audience. This film is probably the best at presenting the most nuanced argument of the series so far between two sides. Very simple, very straightforward, and the movie’s prior scenes have done the legwork for the viewer to connect the points each is trying to make, like neat little puzzle pieces that make you go oh.

Things I love:

“Don’t forget you were the ones who made me this way.” (mic drop).

Akio Otsuka’s voice acting, especially when Akane was crawling to grab the Dominator. THE FRUSTRATION IS REAL.

This was pretty much confirmed and I’ll touch on it again later: he was not going to kill Akane (link) . I thought this was up for debate at first, but actually after seeing the subbed version I am convinced this was actually not up for debate due to the following:

It was him talking to Kai when he killed Milcia, he asked “You killed her?” and said “You messed up, Kai”

We do not actually see him kill unless there is a purpose. Killing the SAD guys to get to Milcia, killing the SAD guys to get to Saiga. He revived Bokamoso because he needed to get the papers (wasn’t convinced that Saiga really didn’t have it, as already established by Saiga a few scenes prior), and was biding their time when he engaged with Frede & Gino after Kai confirmed the papers were not there, probably waiting for Kai to finish with Kogami (“time is up”). Decided the ops team (Ko, Gino, Frede) needed to die after they were exposed and the safety of the General and Raphael were put in jeopardy.

He shot Akane in the same place he shot Kogami a few scenes prior— this is also why I do not believe this is random, but rather just a means to incapacitate them while he needed to do what he needed to do: possess Kai bec he now knows where the General is and needed him out of there, (unclear whether he knew at the time that Kai had the papers but likely he did since he referred to the memory chip during his first meeting with Akane), and have Akane not bother him while he possesses the peacebreakers in battle).

Shooting Akane again, not fatally wounding her.

Akane’s line “why don’t you just kill me?”. Like, really, why didn’t he? The link above sheds some light on the creator’s vision on this and it’s delicious, lol. IMO, if he had wanted her dead they’d not have even talked. Very simple.

This is not to justify his actions btw, in fact, Akane even called him out “the same wars you helped perpetrate”, and her lichrally saying “I promise to expose the truth about the peacebreakers, but this doesn’t excuse what you’ve done”. Madame Justice said YOU WILL BE JUDGED BY THE POWER VESTED IN ME AS AN INSPECTOR OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY BUREAU ETC ETC

He cares about Kai/Akira (the line to Atsushi “so Kai is your pawn, too?” at the helipad, and his concern about the divider overloading and his reaction that Kai is choosing to die). He clearly cares about the peacebreakers, too. Nuance, man. Delicious.

“You can’t stop what you started here” CHILLS. Definitely reminds me of Kamui’s tnj in S2.

Frede

I have a soft spot for her. She’s clearly more loyal to Yabuki & the MFA than to Saiga, and, judging by her character we’ve seen so far, she’s taking after Yabuki as well 😉

The reason why? #21 in Director Shiotani’s Q&A space last June 15 (link).

So pretty when she was conflicted about not telling Saiga/Kogami about le grand ̶f̶a̶i̶l̶ plan

I like how she calls Yabuki “boss” 🥹

Fave scene when Kogami calls her out for lying to Saiga LOL, I just love that he can just do that and that she doesn’t even bat an eye, I like that about them.

Gino

He’s not my fave, but I’ve grown a bit soft on him here I have to admit. Love that they gave his devotion to Akane more context, and that this whole system of trust between them (and the rest of Div 1) is shown.

He is right, it’s his ego talking (the boat convo). Akane didn’t and isn’t staying/tied to the CID bec of them (Ko & Gino) jeez man. It’s not about YOU. LMFAOOoOOOOooo

Little Ginomika moment, I loved that. Speaking of…

Mika

“This is no time to be playing politician” sis— did anyone ever tell you that you have an aptitude for it? The whole plan about selling them out if they all die so she could save their asses, then actually coming to their aid when it truly mattered? Does your fave ever?!?!?!

While she’s probably the one who has one of the best charadevs in the show, I fear a little that she’s starting to become a gag character, ALTHOUGH i’m arguing that she’s clearly still a writer’s fave with the way they give her critical hero moments when it counts (the whole rock star raid at heaven’s leap in PP3, then this “I got it covered” in PPP). I think Mika best displays the balance required to stay (sane) in this job. She’s able to take on what she needs to, and accomplish the role she’s set out to play, and at the end of the day she probably goes home and has a boba, binges netflix and has a good night’s sleep.

I dunno where I read this - but there are main characters, and there are main side characters. This is Gino and Mika’s fate in the grander story, with their arcs pretty much over since Case 1.

Finally, the good stuff. If this ain’t much of an overly long essay already.

Kogami

Before I go off, my experience is as follows:

When the first trailer of PPP came out, his words “I have no regrets” were so jarring to me. I didn’t quite understand how that was supposed to add up to the Kogami in my head, the hopeful man who was ready to come home at the end of Case 3, and the guy who said sorry at the end of PPFI. This led me to find some answers by machine translating the PP3/FI novels, and the case 3 novel.

In a nutshell, I had thought that the ending of case 3 meant that he was going to turn a new leaf and fight for the same justice Akane was (in short, no killing). Guess what? I forgot that he did kill Jackdaw in PPFI, and the novel pretty much confirmed his actions and thoughts around it (aka, he was really going to kill the guy— I mean, he came into the scene guns blazing, you know? AND I FORGOT ABOUT IT (I call this my akane-tinted glasses 😉).

Another line in Akane’s monologue that cemented my reinterpretation of Kogami, and I was immediately reminded of this passage when Akane sadly spoke to him right after he shot Tonami:

“Believing in the meaning of the stars was something only she herself held, and it was as if she was being told that the stars were just stars by the others she believed to be her comrades. When she began to consider that perhaps it was not the incomprehensible others who were truly isolated, but rather herself, true loneliness arrived. The moment of being cast into the sea of true loneliness, without even the stars or the sound of waves.” (the stars here was implied to be either law, or justice)

It’s been confirmed by Ryo Yoshigami that Akane’s monologues in the PP3/FI novels were written with the plot of PPP in mind— so you all know, this was intentional. The novels really helped me take a step back and assess what I was really looking at as a character, and Kogami’s role in the overall story. I thought he was someone who was on his way to change, I was wrong. I thought that his values have aligned with Akane, again, wrong. Now I know what some of yall are gonna say, that you didn’t misinterpret him. Sure, this statement isn’t for you then. BUT don’t lie to me, those who DID. 🤪

As for the rest, go read and form your own opinion (PP3 Novels)

Kogami’s sense of justice

As a main character of the series, Kogami’s journey has been up and down, but one thing that’s consistent about him, in the simplest terms: his justice is personal. Whether it’s one of revenge, which he had closed the door on post case 3, his inability to turn away from injustice, and in PPP, his acceptance and taking responsibility of what he stands for, and what he can do.

In the beginning of Case 3, he was making an effort to avoid killing— even using it as a condition for cooperating with Kinrei on the raid in the train station. This was during a time when he was clearly at a loss of what to do, still swimming in his regrets and just letting himself go in whichever direction life takes him. Come the end of Case 3, we see his hopeful decision to return, and, in PPP, clearly stated during his convo on the boat, his reasons. He did not come back to die, but to help people. This is essentially an explanation of his choice and lack of regret that he failed to explain properly to Akane, but if it wasn’t clear yet, this is also where the lines have been drawn between the two protagonists, interestingly enough, since the beginning of the series. Akane’s sense of justice is directly tied to the law, whereas Kogami’s does not (and, I think a moot point to argue now, will never).

He does what he does because it’s what he can do. The difference between Kogami S1 and Kogami PPP/PP3 is that he’s found a purpose/place that aligns with his sense of justice. He owns it, and takes full responsibility for it. It’s a facet of growth, though probably not in a direction that would bode well for him if he fails to look from above, as was Saiga's last words to Akane. I can take this apart in a few ways, firstly, and especially towards his “belief” in Akane, he’s a hypocrite (LOL). Says one thing, does another. Wanting to be judged after the fact is like, are you kidding me, man? Right in front of the blood of someone she just tnj’d “you will be judged according to the law”?!?!?!!

Let's take a break, I’ll throw him a bone.

He simply cannot turn away from injustice and would rather get his hands dirty than allow others to get away with their crimes

This is a great callback to his time with Garcia “you hesitated, and now someone’s dead.” See? Charadev. (I’m being sarcastic). It must suck for him that though he didn’t hesitate, Saiga is still dead.

To me, he’s started walking forwards post case 3, and while he still regrets everything he did before that, he’s left that behind to fulfill a new purpose in his life

In this scene specifically, he would rather kill than have Akane be killed.

Very personal, very short-sighted, very impulsive, reactive sense of justice. That he agreed with what Tonami had said, for all that talk of his belief in Akane, he’s a funny ̶l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ guy, isn’t he?

I’ve always argued that if his aim was that good (and again, Tenzing commented on this, he CAN shoot to disarm someone), then why didn’t he? Kogami in PPP, in every scene, operates on a shoot to kill. I’m no longer here to apologize for the guy, even if he did, three years too late. I think that it helped me come to terms with their differences, and this is fundamental. Don’t get me wrong, I still like his character, maybe even more now that we’ve learned quite a few things about his… shortcomings (lol), but I’m not gonna make excuses for him in the same way he doesn’t make excuses for himself. He chose. He still chooses to. Cool motive, still murder.

Where this will lead him, it’s been alluded to in the film. Tonami is what a misguided Kogami could become, and even Saiga clearly reminded him of it. That’s a matter for his future, but know that this movie is sowing seeds the creators may decide to reap someday.

Things I love :

He got his balls kicked!!! Love that for him 🤣

Used to complain about how lousy his shirt looked is in pp3 and whoooaa he took the jacket off and I'm sweating

WET HAIR

TACTICAL GEAR

The PP OST and the dominator UI, before he takes his first shot *chills*

Despite all my beef about him, I still really do love the guy. Now I just dunk on him every chance I get, it's fun. And ofc, I still have a tiny bit of hope about his future, and I’ll be holding him to that standard, otherwise yeah, he can die in a ditch (or if we’re going there, he can die whilst leading an uprising to destroy Sibyl) 😉

Akane

So when I said earlier that everyone is being measured against Akane, I really meant it. She had taken a back seat since the PPSS films, and in PP3/FI the whole mystery surrounding her imprisonment was an invisible hand driving many elements of the show. PPP is HER film, and as a character, her continued relevance to the series' thesis cannot be discounted.

“The law doesn’t protect people. People protect the law.”

If Kogami was consistent about his sense of justice, she is even more so. What makes her leagues above him is that she’s driving change, and change DOES happen in the manner that does not allow her to break her principles… that is, until the end of PPP 😉. I’m not going to elaborate on her sense of justice, it’s pretty straightforward even if the series likes to throw stones at it as if following it is the hardest thing in the world. What makes Akane stand out is that it's actually not hard. Look, ask yourself whether it’s easier to kill another human being or not— I’m not talking about exceptional circumstances, but even then, I think you know the answer— there’s a moral and ethical basis here that she shares with a great number of people. Killing is wrong, it’s against the law to take another life. To me, the point of each iteration is to keep stacking odds against her through characters, each with their own complexities and nuance that the audience is made to empathize with and contrasted to her sense of justice, resulting in making it look like her principles are ideal and impossible to achieve, when actually, they're not.

One of my favorite lines of the film, when Tonami says to Akane, “these are the facts that lie in the shadow of the peace that you enjoy”. Let’s be real. Akane is privileged. She’s not had to fire a gun to defend herself in a war torn land— but the argument against this is the same argument for it— it’s because she doesn’t have to. Kogami is back in Japan, it stands to reason that he must adhere to its laws, because despite his experiences abroad, he is not and will never be above the law.

I’m gonna touch on something I already discussed on twitter, because there’s a difference between the way Kogami has killed, versus the way Gino and Sugo have.

As far as the series has shown, the following are Sibyl-sanctioned “killing”, the last one specifically relates to PPP:

As judged by the Dominator (LE/DD)

In cases of national defense/during the execution of duties as members of the NDF

In cases of self-defense in the course of an official operation

It stands to reason that just because they are sanctioned does not save the person from their hue deteriorating, because that part is directly related to a person’s view of guilt. Throughout the show, the audience is constantly reminded that the act of (indirectly) killing does not necessarily impact one's hue (e.g. the PP of the person who manufactured the gun is not the same as the person who fired it, the whole premise of the foxes in PP3, etc), hence the "guilt" associated with the act falls on the person who does it, which may result in a higher cc. A person is able to absolve themselves precisely bec they know they're doing it within the confines of the law, but this doesn’t always follow (e.g. Sugo’s hue deteriorating in Case 2). There's a good example of this in action during Akane's operation in PPP, when Tonami issues the order to kill, and the team, who had been disarming/arresting everyone a few minutes before, was left with no choice but to defend themselves, often resulting in a kill.

While the Peacebreakers were able to hand over this guilt to Tonami via the Divider, Gino and Sugo could not. At the start of the film, they only used the guns when the Dominator was not functioning. The difference with their actions in the last third of the film is they participated in an unsanctioned operation with Akane, have killed as a result and are now likely above regulation. Had no idea the words “once the hounds have thrown away their collars, public safety will never tame them again” also served as foreshadowing as this is probably why Sugo and Gino were requested for transfer to the SAD. And if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that Gino actually gets the job done with fewer bullets than Kogami does. Kogami, from the start, comes into the scene, kills all his enemies on sight without hesitation. This is a huge difference, and this is what Akane is trying to keep him from defaulting to. Violence to fight violence was not the answer, but they clearly do not align on this. It’s a perspective thing. 😉

So why did she do what she did?

In principle, she made herself an anomaly, directly challenging the decision to repeal the law, by committing a crime in public while not having her PP deteriorate. In short, she pretty much broke the law to protect the law. So how did she objectively know that her plan would work?

I had a few discussions on twitter surrounding this, and frankly the “she knows she’s doing the right thing, not for herself but for the greater good” doesn’t cut it for me, nor does the premise of “leap of faith”. To do this, she HAD to have known with certainty that her hue would not deteriorate because if the dominator suddenly activates for her, then it was a pointless act, and more importantly, she was fully aware (as stated in the PP3 novels) that she was committing a crime.

There are cases to be made of course, the first being she knew that Kasei is merely an android and that Akane avoided shooting the brain (effectively keeping Kasei alive), but that still doesn’t establish the fact that Akane does not absolve herself of the act, and again, that she needed to objectively know this would work. This is theory time, but the only thing I can think about are two specific things, one in the film, one not.

Defying Sibyl orders to enact her own operation in the Kuril Islands - this is directly disobeying Sibyl, using her Chief Inspector authority to assign temporary roles to Kogami and Frede so they could participate, loading the Stronskaya Docs to her Dominator and giving it to the General, all these, unsanctioned and should have at least raised her PP. My guess is, in the aftermath, she noticed that it had not, despite the scale and the effort and potential losses had things gone wrong, and decided that was enough to go ahead with the “answer” she found for herself.

She had to have procured a gun. This was not in the film - but procuring the gun establishes her intent/motive, and should have also raised her PP - my guess is it did not. This would have been sufficient, but you can imagine, until the point of carrying the gun to the venue (probably hidden inside her hat), the fact that she wasn’t flagged basically made it certain her plan would not fail.

In the June 25 roundtable (link) , Director Shiotani wished that if he had 3 more minutes to add, he would have added a scene right after Atsushi’s death where the men in the roundtable ultimately decided to proceed with the abolition of the law. In hindsight, I think adding this scene would have been better, because it takes away room for interpretation that Akane was actually in a desperate situation, and not just frustrated at the close of the case. In the movie, this was supplemented by Kogami’s line “what Tonami said is probably going to come true, the law will likely be abolished.” Not as desperate, if you ask me.

Deviants

The difference between Akane and Atsushi is that, Atsushi, in his capacity as a double agent and methodology as a Bifrost inspector, is like a puppet master holding the strings, indirectly enabling change and leaving mere traces of his impact while others either take full credit (or fall) from it, whereas Akane pushes change by directly challenging Sibyl head-on. We have yet to clarify Atsushi’s motivations in rising the ranks of Bifrost (he was alluded to be on the way to being a congressman or that he had the talents for it), and the fact that he’s played double agent for so long with his methods steadily growing shady over time just goes to show that there was clearly a better way (and he ofc acknowledges it).

In the same way a CA can only be recognized by Sibyl by committing crimes OR if a Dominator was wrongly pointed at them, Sibyl becomes aware of these deviants (I’m gonna call them that) the moment they start defying Sibyl while being able to keep their hues clear. Perhaps Atsushi would be an imperfect version of a deviant, Akane the better one, and Arata probably the ideal despite being CA, sort of like Genesis 3-4’s Makami Sou. It would be interesting if Akane becomes APA, let’s see (read the Genesis links above 🙂).

“Do you believe in the potential of humans?”

Post-op Akane was forcibly promoted to Atsushi’s role (iirc, a Department Head of Statistics in the Ministry of Welfare c/ o Steohsama's translation). I think it can be read two ways: one, in the context of the recently closed case, to get her fully out of the way and busy with other, bigger stuff that she was already dipping her toes in prior to Atsushi’s death (referred to during their convo, about her not “making a fuss”). Two, that she really did have the aptitude to be someone like Atsushi— only that her methods would clearly be different. Now that she’s back in the CID, there’s obviously a question of Akane’s future as a statutory enforcer (fun fact, the creators pretty much confirmed that it’s just a name for someone judged according to the law but whose PP did not deteriorate / someone who was appointed as an enforcer whose PP is below regulation ( link / link ). If Hinakawa will be promoted to an Analyst, then there’s a spot open for her in Division 1, assuming she’ll be playing detective. While I think this is likely to happen, I think it’s a boring outcome for her. Like Atsushi, I want her to move up in the world, especially if the world is gearing towards Sibyl going public. It’s going to be interesting what role she’ll play in the future, especially because, as Niki had so nicely put, “she can’t do this alone”.

Oh, Koaka.

Objectively, I no longer think the ship is romantic in canon. I’m gonna copy-paste some thoughts I already shared at length in discord and edit parts of it, but if you’ve seen me the last few months, this isn’t new.

This is nitpicking, because I'm a writer and facts like they don't know each other, not really (they spent not more than 100 days in s1, maybe a few days in PPP) are things that are at the back of my mind always. I have yet to see Kogami and Akane treat each other more than the pedestals they put each other on (arguable for Akane but I think this is also why she keeps getting disappointed that their sense of justice doesn't align).

This divide between their sense of justice is their biggest flaw as a potential couple, and one that is too fundamental. I do not see compromise here, especially after the events of PPP. If Kogami were to gear towards a positive change, then there’s hope, but I leave very little room for that now. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, either. I see it as a potential stance that the show is trying to make. “You murdered someone, you can’t go back.” If he had been heading towards change it should have been on the way for a while, not a “possibility” that he keeps failing to live up to. Getting over this hopeful assumption took me a while, but I think that it also helped me appreciate the wider story being told.

That being said, I think that romance in stories is important and I would like to see the writing team go there, not just from a shipping perspective but from a storytelling/amping up stakes perspective. In PPP I felt how Gino was much, much closer to Akane, and I didn't see this previously. In the past he was more like a controlling dad esp in s2, undermining Akane's POV, improved a bit in the pp movie though he still felt a bit on the overprotective i know better than you side (nicely resolved in ppp where we see a piece of his mind btw)— there's a whole lot of trust there. With Kogami and Akane, while they cleared the air after the infirmary scene, once again I saw that trust shaken when he shot Tonami.

These characters are depicted as human beings, and I think that entails grounding. While meaningful connections can be made through short moments (destiny, if you will), relationships built over time like literally and not let's have a nice moment in a film i'll see you next movie kind of thing, is something that, to me, means more. That said, Kogami was separated for a long time and it's lichrally impossible, but they're in the same place now. Where does that lead them? This is where part of my hope lies, small as it may be. Granted, this is not that kind of show and I'm fully aware of that, which is also why I'm happy to get what we get and that artists/fic writers are there to fill those gaps.

I still ship them but a lot less— I find it funny because even before PPP, I was always looking for more (I'm greedy haha!). I always saw the PPFI scene as just the beginning of their relationship— I wasn't convinced that scene was enough, despite the romantic undertones. And let me tell you the betrayal I felt when I found out the reason why they did the whole back to back thing in PP0308 was because... IT WAS AWKWARD FOR HIM TO CROUCH DOWN THE LITTLE WINDOW OF HER CELL and not the little romantic shit I had going on in my head— I just ( ╯°□°)╯ ┻━━┻

I went through the five stages of grief but at the same time it's not as bad since it's not like I didn't think that way from the start (it's just me being anal about it all, really. Because I would end up writing whatever I wanted anyway and canon didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things).

I do like their dynamic now given the recent developments, Kogami especially being particularly unskilled in the romance department just makes it all the more funny (I'm not capable of writing him that way though so I guess all my fics are ooc now 🤣). If they don't develop past the Arguably Platonic™️ way they treat each other then I won't be surprised if I stop creating for the ship, likely bec it will no longer satisfy my enjoyment of it.

Final Thoughts

I think it’s pretty much confirmed we’re getting more, it’s just a matter of when (can’t believe I’m staying here forever, huh?). Director Shiotani wishes that he will be making PP in the next 30 years, gotta love him for that.

As the series progresses, there was a clear tonal shift and hopeful direction it seems to be heading towards. To me this is partially because in a practical sense, this benefits the prolonging of the show (which we already know is true), but in a thematic sense, destroying Sibyl means the end of the series overall. No Psycho Pass without the Psycho Pass. And to this I give credit where it’s due. This is not the kind of progress you’ll see if Urobuchi is still in the writer’s room, and frankly, the complexity and depth of the show ever since he left has pretty much taken off in great strides. I had wished they were heading towards a natural conclusion (Sibyl going public) and leave it alone for a decade before they pick it up again, but I guess the producers have other plans. After all, they don’t have any other IP that has withstood the test of time, is ahead of its time and continued to remain relevant as time went on. While not perfect, this is an amazing feat of a series, and this movie is a stellar addition to it.

They’ve got a dilemma of course, because until now it seems they went with a serialized format (with a definite ending) versus an episodic one (criminal of the week). By choosing to expand the world and explore other facets of society, all the while connecting the threads in an overarching plot, they have to complete the “passing of the torch" before going back to an episodic format, which means they MUST give the new kids their time of day,̶ a̶n̶d̶ ̶e̶x̶c̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶a̶s̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶e̶c̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶l̶e̶t̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶n̶k̶s̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶l̶a̶i̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶l̶l̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶e̶a̶l̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶S̶h̶i̶z̶u̶k̶a̶. Shifting the timelines allowed them to usher in the new cast, but now they’re marketing the legacy cast and have to contend with their obvious popularity compared to the new, fully knowing that the legacy cast is returning to the back seat once we kick things off again. This is a problem that can be solved if a spinoff is decided for SAD, because at least a chunky (huehue) part of the cast will be cordoned off doing their business in Dejima, while the CID with its usual players can stay where they are. I think if you’ve been following Director Shiotani though, this is not happening without him in the driver’s seat, so it’s like… if they’re smart he will delegate this task to someone he trusts and we’ll get both a main and a spinoff, then a converging point somewhere in the form of a movie. 🎶Psycho-pass forever!🎶 (to the tune of Emilia Clarke "best season ever" GOT S8 interview, iykyk).

Finally, I’m just gonna say that I love Akane so much, I’m glad she got the spotlight on her in this film. To be able to experience this film is unforgettable, I’m so grateful that it was possible for me. I’m training myself to expect she’ll take a step back next time I see her, but more than anything, I hope to see her happiness fulfilled, no matter what that entails. Once more, I just can’t thank these creators enough. They’ve made a series and a world I’m obsessed with, makes me think and makes me evaluate its implications in real life, makes me create!!!!! I’m so happy that they continue to believe in the stories they want to tell. I hope they are all healthy and resting now (until the next one, eheh!)

I’ve talked way too much and it’s really just because I want this out of my plate so I can start writing my fics now lololol. If you made it this far, thanks for reading! Always happy to discuss!

#psycho pass #psycho pass providence #pp #akane tsunemori #kogami shinya #ginoza nobuchika

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thoughtsandbones · 1 year

Text

Time for Tea?

Simon 'Ghost' Riley x F!MedicDoc OC (codename: Blue) 💀💙

WARNINGS: Mention of profanity, self harm scars, scars, fluff, medical inaccuracies and just getting the POV of our friendly neighbourhood masked menace.

Plot: Doctor Ruhari Hari Kaur (OC is South Asian ☺️) joins the 141 again, but this time as their doctor. After the betrayal of Shepherd and Graves, Task Force 141 begins their hunt on his whereabouts and locating Makarov.

PLEASE reblog and like! Hope folks are enjoying the series, I am building up characters and plots, cos I have a lot ideas and just been enjoying writing :D

Song inspo: Across the Spider-Verse playlist basically only Spotify

Word count: It's long... sorry, not sorry.

A/N: Flashbacks are getting messed up when I am indenting them and I am getting lots of errors when publishing the work, please bare with some mistakes and spelling issues.

I grew up with the OG MW2 game, so there are some references to the old one, so kind of a mix of both the OG and the new timeline... (Also I'm ignoring the OG Shepherd betrayal and keeping in line the one with the new timeline..)

spelling and some grammar mistakes as I am bad at times... :/

(FYI: bold sentences... that are like this... are supposed to describe redacted data/info to the plot... ;] .. )

Please do let me know how you all are finding this fanfic! :D

PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7, PART 8, PART 9 and PART 10

Part 11

<CUE FLASHBACK> Siberia, Russia, October 12 2010 Day 3- The storm was making it difficult to see where you were going; the harsh sharp wind was piercing through your morf snood, cold needles prick your skin. You breathe out, the moisture cooling the cold around your mouth. "Yer drifting right Blue, come to your left a bit" The Captain said over the radio Looking over to your left you could no longer make out the silhouette of the Captain. "Copy Cap" You say back and change your direction walking left, you see the outline of the Captain emerge. "Stick close, we are nearly there" He said over the radio again "Yes sir" Both of you walked, slightly crouched. The storm bringing in snow, being the perfect cover for the two soldiers infiltrating the base. Up ahead you see barbed wire fencing appear, the silhouette of the buildings of the base coming into view. The Captain puts his hand up, signalling you to stop, you do so. "Here we are Blue" He says "Hanger on the right hand-side of the tarmac Cap?" you say "Aye, make our way through to the left and head to the tarmac where the MiGs are." "Copy Cap" The Captain crouched down, looking left and right, and you followed him "Blue, yer nervous?" The Captain says You look at the back of his head, he doesn't turn, because you know he's looking on the look out. "Staying focused Cap" You respond, trying to keep a cool demeanour. "It's alrigh' to be nervous" The Captain teased "Nervousness produces adrenaline, which is keeping me on high alert for any Russians sir" The Captain chuckled through the radio "Aye, yer nervous" he said "Yer got me, so yer'll good" The Captain added You laugh back "Aye Cap" you mimic his Scottish accent which earned another chuckle over the radio.

"This is Major Perov! Come up with your hands...."

The hiss of that memory electrified your whole body awake. Hot sweats lathered your body, your baggy t-shirt clung to your back and chest making those parts of your t-shirt damp. You can smell the sweat coming off you as you turn to lie on your front.

Not another dream like that again You think, groaning into the pillow. The sticky sweat had seeped through your t-shirt and onto the bed. Running your hand through your hair and down the nape of neck, you could feel the droplets resting on the surface of your skin as they were squashed against your fingertips.

Gross

Getting up, you sit crossed legged on the bed, the sweat on your body going from hot to cold. You shiver. Grabbing the duvet you wrap it around you. You feel the cold within your marrow.

You grab your phone. It was 3:46am. Laying back down on the bed all snuggled with your blanket and sweat ridden shirt. Pondering at the thought of going back to sleep. The bad odour coming off you made you abandon the thought.

Unraveling yourself from the blanket you head to the bathroom, turning the shower on and wait for it to get warm. Taking off your shirt, still damp with sweat and chucking it in the laundry basket. Catching your naked body briefly in the mirror.

Your torso a lighter shade of brown than your arms and neck. You turn your body admiring the right side of your arm and shoulder, flexing the muscles under the skin. The bullet scar curved over the top of your shoulder, the black humerus bone tattoo standing out. These markings make you, you.

The mirror began to steam up from the heat of the shower, stepping in, bracing yourself for the onslaught of hot water droplets that somehow pierced into your skin and warmed your bones directly.

Once you dried yourself and got ready it was 4:26 am, you were hungry but the mess hall wouldn't be open. Price did say he had a small kitchenette next to his office you could use. In your second drawer you grab a mug along with a small bag that contained your emergency stash of tea, sugar and milk sachets. You hoped Price would have fresh milk and tea, but you brought yours just in case.

You put on a black hoodie over your clean grey shirt that was tucked in your black joggers, trying to keep you warm, and your trainers, walking out with your mug, whilst stuffing the your home tea kit in the large pocket of your hoodie.

Damp strands of hair clung to your face as you walked to the kitchenette, putting your AirPods and playing music to drown out of the echo of your dream.

Meanwhile in Price's kitchenette/break room, Simon sat on the sofa, head laying back with a cup of chamomile and lavender tea, it was the smell of this brewed tea that helped calm him from another restless night, he held the mug close to his chest, giving warmth to his heart.

The steam from the mug drifted to his naked face, his mask hitched above his brows. He brought the mug to his lips and took a sip of the tea, savouring the warm bitterness of the lavender and sweetness of the honey. His ears perked at the sound of approaching footsteps outside the break room, he quickly pulled his mask down his face with his left hand, holding his mug steady with his right.

The doorknob turned and the door opened. There you walked in, your long damp brown hair reflecting in the dim light, you did not turn the light on.

Ghost froze, he had not expected you to come here, especially at this time in the morning. He watched as you headed over to the kettle and placing your hand on it's side.

The kettle was warm, it had just been used, and someone was in here, as you heard movement come from behind you.

Price? You think and then turning around expecting to see a grinning gentlemen.

Nope. It was the masked menace, Ghost, sitting on the sofa, holding a mug of tea. Through the little natural light that lit the room, you could make out his blue eyed-balls widening at you.

"Morning Lieutenant." You say turning back round, and switching the kettle on.

"Mornin' Doc" Ghost gruffed, he cleared his throat. He watched as you took out a bag from your black hoodie, and take out a Tetley tea bag along with a spoon. You didn't even flinch.

Tetley girl eh? Ghost thought gazing down you, wearing black joggers. His eyes went back to your brown hair draped over your shoulders, some parts still damp.

The kettle began to shake as the water within boiled. You placed the string around the handle of the mug and plopped the tea bag into the mug. The kettle boiled as the switched flipped up. Waiting a few seconds then pouring the water into the mug, watching the colourless water become seeped with dark amber.

"Is there milk in the fridge that I can use?" You ask, your back still facing away from Ghost.

"Yeah, blue top on the bottom shelf" Ghost says watching as you move to the fridge

"Thanks" You say, opening the door and grabbing the milk.

Ghost watched as you set his pint of milk next to your mug, you stirred the teabag with a spoon you brought out from the little bag. You take out a sugar sachet, ripping it and placing its contents in the mug, then swirling the tea. He watches as you squeeze the teabag against the side of the mug and toss it in the open bin. You take his milk and pour a dash of it in, stirring the contents, you add a bit more.

Ghost wondered how milky you liked your tea...

You screw the cap back on and then put it in the fridge, grabbing your mug you sit on one of the four chairs surrounding a small square table, where you place your mug of tea. You look over your shoulder and see Ghost still staring at you. Looking down at your wrist, noticing you forgot to put your watch on so you couldn't count the seconds of how long he was staring at you this morning. You let out a sigh, delving back into the music that sprang from your earphones.

Ghost diverted his gaze back to his mug. He then watched you take a sip of tea in the corner of his eye. He looked back down at his tea, the mugs warmth bringing him a sort of comfort as you sat there. Ghost noticed you move your left arm up, like a magnet his eyes were drawn to your movements, you pushed you hair back, he noticed you had those wireless ear buds in, he scanned your body noticing your left leg resting on the chair opposite and your right foot tapping the air gently.

He was frozen in his seat. He felt like he could not move or get up. Ghost was drawn to you again as you raised your arm and placed your elbow on the table, resting your head in the palm of your hand.

You take another sip of tea. Gulping another sip of the hot liquid down, trying to warm your insides that felt cold, warming the nerves.

If only you could make some chai but you didn't have the spices with you.

"This is Major Perov..." echos in your left ear but faintly this time, you try and focus back on the music..

Should've brought my jar from home you think. You lean back into the chair sighing again. You turn your head to the left and see Ghost looking at you, he moves his head down, to look at the tea in his hand.

There was no heavy tension between you two... or so you could tell... He could've left when you went in but he didn't. You wonder how would you bring up a subject like Siberia to him. You don't even know him. He's just a masked enigma.

Wish the Captain was here. You think, worse case, Sergeant Riley would do, the distant memory of him awakens in your mind He'd surely tell you to leave him be but throw in the sarcastic comment to see how'd he'd respond and go off that. 12 years since they've been gone. 11 and 10 years for MG and KD. Your former mentors and comrades. Gone.

Now you've got new ones to get to know. And one currently sitting in the same room seemingly hates your guts or has some major trust issues.

You clear your throat, pausing the music, taking the left ear bud out, taking your shot...

"Did you get the email sir?" You ask, turning slightly towards him, bring your left leg down from the chair opposite.

Ghost looked up "Yeah I did" he responded whilst nodding, his the fingers on his right hand drumming against the mug. Lump forming in his throat again.

You nod back, bringing your mug in your hands and close your chest, and then take a sip. The insides of you cold still. Perhaps cocooning yourself with your blanket will help? You think

Ghost watches as you bring out your phone, taking your other earbud out and placing them back in your pocket. His eyes stuck to you as you get up and take your mug and little tea kit bag, stuffing it back in your pocket.

"See you later Lieutenant" You say not smiling

Ghost nods back at you and watched you leave, closing the door gently behind you. He glanced at his watch. 5:15am... In about 9 hours you both were going to have another interaction together... Why were you up so early? Training perhaps?

The stoic face you had flashed across his eyelids when he blinked.

You were annoyed, who wouldn't be? Ghost retorted to himself, slightly scoffing. The looped voices bouncing across his cranium.

He leaned back on the sofa, his tea now lukewarm, he lifted his mask and took a sip.

"Bleurgh" He said as the barely warm liquid ran down his throat. He gets up, takes the teabag out and tosses it in the bin and pours the tea in the sink, washes the mug and places it on the drying rack. Ghost stands by the counter, looking at the seat which you sat at moments ago.

He had a chance to apologise but missed. He left the break room and headed back to his room, his mind more clouded than before.

Later on that day

"Hope my blood pressure isn't too high" Price said as you wrapped the cuff around his right arm.

You smile slightly and shake your head at Price's remark

"Shall find out soon enough" you reply pressing the start button on the blood pressure machine, the cuff fills up with air, the machine whirrs, the numbers on the machine rise up.

Once you hear two beeps the reading is complete: 125/80

"125/80, that's perfectly good for someone your age" You say

"My age?" Price chuckles

"41 is a good age sir"

"You're 9 years younger than me Doc"

You look up "Don't look it though" You smirk.

Taking off the blood pressure cuff, you write the reading down on your chart for the Captain.

"Your med kit is good, I just put more Celox, the haemostatic gauze, and saline in there" handing him his med kit, zipping it up.

"That shellfish stuff?" Price asks as he takes his kit giving you a semi-disgusted look.

"Yes sir"

"Not a fan" He added looking at his kit

"Good thing you won't be eating it for rations" You retort

Price chuckles, and checks his watch 10:55 am.

"Right, I'll leave you to prep for the next patient" Price says, you get up and take the tissue paper where Price sat and placed it in the bin. Spraying the bed with disinfectant and wiping it down with blue roll. You wait for the remaining disinfectant to dry and go to the bathroom and wash your hands.

For the duration of the 30 seconds it takes you to thoroughly wash your hands you scan your reflection in the mirror. Drying your hands and turning the tap off you head back in the main room.

Laying new tissue on the bed, you hear footsteps approach, checking your watch it was 10:59am. Perfect timing you think

Gaz appears in the doorway, you propped open after Price left, you look up and force a smile

"Morning Gaz" You say

"Morning Doc, you good?" Gaz asked, he carried his half empty med kit in his hand, sort of hoping you won't scold him. He looked around the infirmary, it was done up well. Clean. Organised. A laptop on your desk, along with a few files stacked neatly next to it. A small brain statue lay next to the lamp.

"Good, how are you?" You say gesturing to the med bed as you closed the door.

"Very well doc, er.. my med kit is a mess" Gaz says handing over his med-kit.

You take it, and examine, a little worn and torn, but expected when out in the field, somewhat similar to Price's bits of sand trapped in the edges, unzipping it you see it stocked with a few plasters, one ambulance dressing and gauze. Looking back up, you see Gaz's concerned face.

"I can stock this up fully, don't worry" you say smiling, "Fill what you can on the chart, don't worry about address" you add, heading to the cabinets behind your desk and place med kit on the counter. You turn back to see Gaz and walk back over.

You take out your equipment and move over to where Gaz sat, placing the clipboard with the pen to the side.

"Temp check" you say placing the IR thermometer to his forehead. The screen turned green, 36.4 ℃, normal. You grab the chart and jot this down.

You place a pulse ox monitor on this forefinger on his left forefinger.

"What's this for?" Gaz says flickering his finger where the oximeter was clipped.

"Measures pulse and percentage of oxygen in your blood"

"Cool gizmo"

"98%, good" You say checking the screen and scribbling the number down. "Pulse at 88 bpm, also good"

"Why not 100%?" Gaz asks looking at the oximeter, he breathes in sharply and holds his breathe, the oximeter changed by 1%.

You let out a small laugh "Not always, as we have a little carbon dioxide in our blood" You say

"Interesting" Gaz says continuing to look at the oximeter.

Taking the oximeter off his finger you proceed with the other checks; blood pressure, height and weight check, general well being, medicine enquiries but mostly refilling his med kit.

You hand it back to Gaz and explain what new stuff you packed. Gaz nods and thanks you and leaves.

It was 11:45am, Soap will be here soon, you follow the same procedure, strip, wipe down and set up.

Never did you think you'd be doing the job of a GP, seeing patients one after another, no surgeries, no rotations and no other doctors, least no friendly doctors yet...

There was a knock on the door. Getting up and opening it, you see Soap grinning.

"Morning Doc" He said

"Morning Soap" You reply back, making way for him to enter as you stood by the door, he walked and looked around.

"How are yer?" He asked turning facing you as you closed the door.

"Good" You say "How are you?"

"Been alrigh' Doc, Ghost beat me in target shooting this mornin'" He adds, awaiting your reaction when he mentioned Ghost's name.

You walk over "Ah, better luck next time" You say

"Take a seat on the med bed and fill out the chart on the tray" You gesture to the clipboard.

Soap picks it up and starts to write down his details, he notices are large x in pen over the personal details section apart from name and date of birth.

He fills out what he can and places the clipboard back on the tray.

Walking over, you begin with the your check list of check-ups. Soap took his shirt off, you stare at him blankly, trying not to ogle at the toned and defined muscles of his upper body.

"Ergh what are you doing?" You say apprehensively

"Don't yer need to put those electric cables on my chest?" Soap said looking at you confused.

You meet his confused face with yours. Your cheeks feel hot as your eyes dropped to his abs and down his snail trail, Soap followed your eyes and grinned. Swiftly turning on your left heel I cannot believe I looked you cling to your white coat.

"I'm not doing an ECG, please put your shirt on" You say closing your eyes trying to shake the image, now realising what Soap thought.

"Alrigh' doc it's on" He laughed "Sorry, I genuinely thought.." he trailed off as your turned back around, your cheeks showing a tinge of pink. He saw you biting in your lips and your ears going red.

You proceeded with the checks:

Pulse oximeter on; 98% and 97bpm

BP: 126/70

etc etc etc

You finish by asking Soap to step off the weights.

"Got your med-kit?" You ask

Soap's face dropped, the one thing he completely forgot that he should not have forgotten.

Taking in his shocked face, you smirk

"Get it to me when you can. I have Lieutenant Ghost at 13:30 so before then please" You say and Soap nods as he leaves the infirmary. Glancing at your watch, 12:40pm, enough time for a quick lunch.

Heading down to mess hall, it was busy of course, you wait in line for food along with other soldiers. You felt like you stood out with your blue scrubs, it's not like you were actually working in a hospital. Should've worn my black fatigues and sweater you think as you move along with the line.

Lunch was a steak and ale pie with chips. You felt full after half-eating the pie, you check your watch 13:10pm. You swiftly stop eating and get up, putting the food in the food bin and placing the plate and tray on their associated piles.

Heading back to the infirmary, you spot Ghost and Soap talking outside, Ghost looks at you and lowers his voice, Soap also looks at you and nods, you see him holding the med kit in his hand.

As you approach, they both stop, both looking at you as you open the door.

"Afternoon" You say to Ghost,

"Goo' afternoon doc" Ghost said, taking a deep breathe as he stepped inside the infirmary. He looked around, it was nice, orderly and clean. A better state than before you came.

"Got the med-kit" Soap said, bringing out out of his pockets of his fatigues, it was rolled up and empty. You take it off him, "I'll give it to you once it's ready" You say, Soap nods but doesn't move

"Here's mine" Ghost said as he uncrossed his arms and brought his kit, it was fuller and heavier as it was placed on your hands.

"Right, I'll have a look in a bit." You say looking up at him and then to Soap who was still hovering.

"You alright?" You ask Soap

"Yeah, just..." Soap started looking at Ghost.

"Johnny, you had your check up, now bugger off" Ghost said turning to him, knowing exactly why he was lingering

Soap grinned at Ghost and then at you, he began to walk away but turned slightly

"Lt, if you wanna make the doc blush, all you gotta do is take your shirt off" Soap winks and teases closing the door

"Wa-What?!" You say stammer as Soap closes the door, you could hear him laughing on the other side.

Ghost whips his head from the door to see your wide eyed shocked face, you turn your head to meet his eyes, he taken in your doe-eyed expression.

"He took his shirt off on his own accord" Υοu blurt "Thought he was getting an ECG done" you say motioning to the empty space between you with your right hand as if to swat the memory away.

"It's alrigh' Johnny likes teasin'" Ghost says, he watches your face return to normal, and head to the back counter placing both med kits there and opening them up, examining the contents.

Ghost watched your back, like he did this morning.

"Sorry about yesterday" He says looking at your back, he watches your head come up, listening.

"I was out of line, you're good.." He added "Just was.. cautious" Ghost added slowly. He felt his right hand reach up out to you, wanting to tell you it's...

You take in his words.. inhaling for four, you turn around and head back to where Ghost was, exhaling for four.

Ghost swiftly brought his right arm down in his back pocket of his jeans. He looked at you and you smiled, he relaxed a bit more.

"Thank you lieutenant" You say, accepting his apology, you still feel like he somehow... For some reason he still despises you...

You look up at him and smile, he nods back, you his eyes crinkle a bit, hopefully smiling underneath that mask...

Ah the mask and the clothes... You always observed him wearing long sleeve shirts or sweaters, no t-shirt in site so far...

"So.. I'm going to check your blood pressure, pulse, weight, height..." You trail off looking at his blue eyes grabbing the clipboard on the tray.

Ghost blinks and looks back at your deep brown eyes, framed by your black mascara'd lashes "Yes doc..." He says slowly

"I understand the mask stays on, but need to take a neck reading for body temperature if that's okay?" You add looking down from his eyes to his shoulders then to your clipboard.

"Of course" Ghost says, lifting the hem of his mask to reveal is neck. You were entranced by the sudden willing nakedness of his neck, the hem stopping under his chin with his ungloved hand; snapping out of the haze you grab the IR thermometer and press the button, you look back at his neck and notice a mole on the pale skin covering his jugular.

The thermometer beeps, screen turning green, 36.8 ℃. Good. Placing the thermometer down, you grab the chart and jot it down.

Ghost pulls his mask down, watching you scribble out parts on the form. He unzips his jacket, revealing his own black pullover hoodie.

You look up and notice your lieutenant take his jacket off, and then reach for the hem of his hoodie. Leaning on your heal you turn your back.

Please don't strip down like Soap you plead trying not to imagine what his naked torso would look like.

After taking his hoodie off, and folding it on top of his jacket. He looks and sees you've turned fully, your back facing him, smirking slightly under his mask, he wonders if he should tease you and take his shirt off too...

Turning back to face the Lieutenant, you see him wearing a black t-shirt which hug snuggly to his muscular torso. Grabbing the blood pressure cuff you bring it next to him. You notice on his left fore arm a myriad of different tattoos.

Ghost watches as you move towards with a blood pressure machine, he rolls up his sleeve of his t-shirt, he gazes at your brown hair now braided, slightly messy, as few strands have fallen out are now tucked behind your ear, he notices two small silver hoops hugging your cartilage.

Unravelling the cuff, you wrap it around his chiseled bicep, you noticed a few scars up and down his arm, even a few on his hand, but you didn't say anything or linger on them too long. Not when you knew how awkward it is when people stare and make remarks of your own scars.

Looks bigger than my thighs you think, admiring the muscles laying underneath the flesh of his upper arm.

The cuff did not fit fully. You look up at Ghost, he was looking at you, your eyes widened slightly.

"Good thing the machine came with an extra large cuff" You smirk, taking the cuff off the machine and heading to the drawers he cleaned last week.

"Good thin'" Ghost repeats, sitting up taller, observing the way your white coat glided with your movements. Your left breast pocket filled with pens, he noticed some writing underneath the pocket, but couldn't decipher it.

Walking back to Ghost with the XL cuff, you plug it in the machine, unravel it and placed it around his arm above his elbow. You swiftly look at the tattoos again on his left arm; a black monochromatic piece, a wonderful chaos of skulls, a dog tag, guns and other army related pieces.

Your cold fingers grazed his warm skin, Ghost felt the cold ripple all the way to his chest. He watched on as you adjusted the cuff.

"That alright?"

"Yeah" Ghost says

He watches as you press the machine and watch the numbers go up, he felt the cuff tighten as it filled with air around his arm. The air hissed and he watched the numbers fall down. 137/88

Grabbing the clipboard and the pen, you jot down the numbers, and you frown slightly.

"You've got high blood pressure"

Ghosts huffs Great he moans in his head

"How old are you?"

"34" Ghost grumbled

"How's your diet?" You ask looking up at him

"Alrigh'"

"Are you taking any drugs, legal or illegal?" You ask

Ghost looks at you, stunned by the wording of your question

"Legal?" He asks narrowing his eyes at you. You gotta be pullin' my leg

"Paracetamol, simvastatin, antibiotics, opioid based pain relief etc" You say

"And illegal?" Ghost asks perking up, curious as to where this will go...

"Cocaine, cannabis and other not so fun things" You add smirking at him.

"Only done the legal kin', paracetamol and hold up - opioid based pain relief? Ghost whips at you, now realising what you said.

"Morphine, codeine and oxycodone" You say "They're legal but addictive like heroin."

Ghost takes it in, of course, he had his own familial experience with that dark side of drug addiction. Tommy...

"Just paracetamol and antibiotics from injuries in the field" Ghost said quietly

"Okay" You say, jotting that down.

"Any new stress in your life?" You say looking back up to him

Ghost looks at you, and then back at the reading of the BP monitor, 137/88 flashes at him.

You observe Ghost, looking at the monitor

"High blood pressure is not worrying if we can correct external factors like diet, exercise and maintaining any stresses" You roll off your tongue.

Jeez you sound like the pamphlet you remember your mum getting from the nurse about high blood pressure You slide back slightly on your chair turning your head, manoeuvring yourself to the trolley tray, rolling your eyes to yourself as you aimlessly fiddle in the tray.

Of course these guys would have a few health issues, they are super elite soldiers, they've dealt with so much...

Ghost looks at you. He's been here before, doctors telling him to change this, do that, etc etc...

You grab the pulse oximeter and move back over to Ghost.

Alright, Sergeant Riley taking your advice; sarcastic comment, time to throw that..

"Look, I sounded like a damn pamphlet, but I'm here for all your health needs" You say bringing your hands up to your sides, foolishly giving him jazz fingers and you smile with teeth.

Ghost scoffs a laugh out, then clears his throat turning his head to the side.

"No new stresses" Ghost says, his gaze back to you, he watches you raise an eyebrow and tilt your head.

"Not even me?" You add, remembering the encounter yesterday after the target course.

Staring into your narrowed brown eyes Ghost knew it was you who was slightly causing stress. Ghost shook his head and then looked at the BP monitor again.

You get up and take the cuff off his arm. You show him the pulse oximeter, and he brings his hand up, you clip it on his forefinger.

"What time do you usually get up?" You ask, remembering the encounter this morning at around 5am.

"Couldn't sleep last night if you're referrin' to this morning" He says looking up at you

You nod back at him, your lip curved slightly. 98% and a pulse of 72bpm. Strong heart

"Not able to get to sleep or wake-up in the middle of the night?" You ask writing down the readings of the oximeter.

"Both" Ghost grunts

"Have you tried any medicine for sleeping?" You ask

"That herbal stuff, calm, from Boots" he said

He watches as you wrinkle your nose. "Didn't work?" You say

"Yeah"

"I'll give you zopiclone, just one, for tonight, see how it goes and we will have another check-in tomorrow" You add, heading to the small locked cabinet and cut out one tablet from the sheet. Locking the cabinet, you head back and give it to Ghost, he places it in his jean pocket.

He continues gazing upon your movements, your hand flicking back a strand of hair that got near your amber brown eyes.

"Take it an hour before sleep, avoid going on your phone and alcohol and should help with aiding sleep. Keep water or squash nearby as it can have metallic aftertaste" You command softly whilst writing away on the clipboard sitting on the stool.

Ghost looked at you, all this seemed so natural coming out of you. He nods along, mesmerised with your poise and assertiveness. That's the rookie you remember from all those years ago. He smirked under his mask and leaned forward a bit.

"How was the herbal tea?" You ask looking back up

"Eh?" He guffles, how could you know?

"This morning, I could smell lavender, was that your tea?" You say, eyes becoming doe-eyed.

'Course, the smell of lavender was soothing, especially after that... episode... nightmare

"Yeah Doc"

"Does it help?" You ask

"Sort of, chamomile and lavender tea..." Ghost begins and then pauses.

Gazing upon his eyes, which shifted left to right as he spoke to you. His cool blue eyes strike yours, they were even icier against his blonde eyelashes.

Ghost looks at you, he notices the writing on your white coat, Dr Hari Kaur Neurosurgery threaded in black cursive under the pocket full of pens.

"What abou' you?" Ghost asks, he notices your eyes narrow.

"What do you mean?"

"You were up early" Ghost retorted

Tilting your head back, your roll your head around. Maybe if I open up, he'll too...

"Bad dream woke me up." half-lying to him. You didn't want to talk about Siberia, not now..

Ghost watched as your eyes lost a bit of brightness, becoming dull.

"Tea help?" He asked, trying to bring that brightness back in your eyes

"Tea always helps" You smirked

"What one you have?" Ghost asked, knowing full well you had Tetley.

"Tetley, but I prefer PG tips" You grinned, eyes twinkling again.

"Oooh" he sucked in some air "Yorkshire is best" he sighed

"Tetley is from Yorkshire!" You snapped

"Was from Yorkshire" He retaliated "Run by an Indian company now, Yorkshire Tea is still based in Yorkshire" He added crossing his arms and puffing his chest out.

You scoff at him, looking away and then back at him, admiring his chiseled torso.

"Actually prefer chai, with PG tips" You quipped

"Hmm" Ghost says "Maybe you could use my Yorkshire Tea next time and I'll judge" he added

Nodding back at him you get off the stool. "Next time for tea then?" he nods back.

Ghost watches and listens as you ask him to step on the weight balance, and checks his height. He continues to gaze at you as you complete other checks needed, obliging your every command willingly. It was the least he could do after the way he treated you.

You would understand if he told you later convincing himself that now is not the right time.

You would understand, bad people are out there

He gives a nod and a yes comes out of his mouth, as you say something about his med-kit, his eyes drawn in on your back as you walk to the counter checking their contents again.

You would understand, it's safer for Simon Riley to remain dead to you.

Ghost looks at you, wondering if you ever thought about Simon Riley...

"I am the death of everything you know and love" Roba's voice echoed faintly in his skull

You would understand

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