#when your comfort show is 6 episodes of puppet horror | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

merinelsa · 3 years

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Have you ever done a ranking list of your favourite episodes?

not really , the thing with me is that i never rewatch tv shows . i binge through them once and then just watch few scenes in yt , but never rewatch any of it even if it was one of my favourite show. Glee is the only exception , though i really only watch very few eps from the earlier seasons and rewatched s5-s6 twice , though i’d skipped 100, new directions and the wedding during both my rewatches. there are eps like new new york and wonderful that i watch time to time as comfort eps playing in the background . from s3, first time and big brother are the only eps i have rewatched

i’d only watched glee for the first time last year , so like it’s not been that long to warrant a rewatch , but since i’d binged most of it in one stretch ( had taken a one month break b/w s3ep7 and ep8 because of how much i was getting tired of the shitty storylines of s3 , hence it being my least fave ) i forgot a lot of the non klaine stuff.

but i’ll try to rank the eps , just know that i’m very biased to klaine/kurt/blaine storylines . and the seasons too are ranked in the order i like them

6 . season 3

22. i kissed a girl

21. pot o gold

20. prom-asaurus

19. yes/no

18. i am unicorn

17. mash off

16. the spanish teacher

15. asian f

14. on my way

13. props

12. choke

11. hold on to sixteen

10. saturday night gleever

9. michael

8. goodbye

7. big brother

6. nationals

5. heart

4. extraordinary merry christmas

3. dance with somebody

2. purple piano project

1. first time

5. season 1

22. the rhodes not taken

21. funk

20. showmance

19. vitamin d

18. hairography

17. ballad

16. mashup

15. throwdown

14. the power of madonna

13. mattress

12. acafellas

11. dream on

10. home

9. pilot

8. hell-o

7. sectionals

6. preggers

5. bad reputation

4. wheels

3. journey to regionals

2. theatricality

1. laryngitis

4. season 4

22. britney 2.0

21. sweet dreams

20. lights out

19. shooting star

18. all or nothing

17. feud

16. thanksgiving

15. the role you were born to play

14. glease

13. swan song

12. sadie hawkins

11. naked

10. makeover

9. girls and boys on film

8. diva

7. glee,actually

6. i do

5. dynamic duets

4. the new rachel

3. break up

2. guilty pleasure

1. wonderful

3. season 2

22. britney/brittany

21. the substitute

20. comeback

19. special education

18. a very glee christmas

17. the sue sylvester shuffle

16. night of neglect

15. new york

14. funeral

13. never been kissed ( except for the klaine part, the whole ep is a mess)

12. rocky horror glee show

11. rumours

10. audition

9. sexy

8. grilled cheesus

7. blame it on the alcohol

6. prom queen

5. born this way

4. silly love songs

3. duets

2. furt

1. original song

2. season 6

13. the rise and fall of sue sylvester

12. hurt locker part 1

11. child star

10. homecoming

9. we built this glee club

8. what the world needs now

7. hurt locker part 2

6. a wedding

5. dreams come true

4. 2009

3. jagged little tapestry

2. transitioning

1. loser like me

1. season 5 ( i’m not going to rank the quaterback )

19. opening night

18. 100

17. tina in the sky with diamonds

16. city of angels

15. bash

14. a katy or gaga

13. new direction

12. end of twerk

11. previously unaired christmas

10. trio

9. movin out

8. the back up plan

7. puppet master

6. love love love

5. old dogs new trick

4. untitled rachel berry project

3. frenemies

2. tested

1. new new york

now top five glee episodes over all

5. original song : don’t ask me what happened besides klaine in this because i truly don’t remember . but the klaine parts are pure heavenly. s2 klaine is something i missed a lot and didn’t appreciate enough during my first watch but rewatching some klaine centric eps has made me appreciate their friendship a lot more. even the stuff leading upto the kiss is fantastic , it’s also an ep that shows how rachel and blaine can get similar but how they react to criticisms and how blaine tries to include everyone when pointed out unlike making a fit out of it with rachel is where they diverge and makes these incredibly different personalities .and the kiss was just to good and sparks were flying everywhere and it is something that glee could never recreate with any other couple. and “ reminds you of your mom’s funeral doesn’t it “” the casket was bigger but yes “ just proves that they are equally dumbasses that fit each other so well

4. wonder-ful : this is just pure comfort ep. it’s so bright and upbeat in the middle of the previous dark eps. so much kurt and klaine . a bit more focus on kurt’s mental health issues, which will later be forgotten but it’s good over here. supportive blaine as always just highlighting how much they understand each other. a lot of burt which is always a plus . a very good mercedes plotline which should’ve been given more time but still is one of the better ones she gets.just seeing how light and loving kurt turns once burt is finally in the safe zone. and ‘you get kinda cute when you get nervous’ and ‘with you in it a wondeful life’ and whatever homoerotic stuff that is going on b/w rachel and cassie

3. Loser like me : the pure angst . i love storylines where they hit the rock bottom from such a happy place and have to find their way to the top by leaning in on each other and supporting each other. great klaine scenes, s5b we where pushed to believe that kurt had it all together, but we finally got to see kurt being an absolute mess and realizing how he contributed to their relationship not working out instead of pitting it all on s4 cheating . confident got help all by himself in a better position blaine , rachel finally getting a storyline that’s interesting and makes her one to root for . This ep always gives me the chills and makes me excited for the rest of the season

2. Tested : It’s genuinely one of the funniest eps ever. amazing rachcedes moment . the guys presenting one of my fave family dynamics in the show. great samcedes and klaine plotline . and i love the way liab is shot , such a well choreographed performance and it really looks like chris and darren had so much fun doing it.

1. New new york : this ep is the perfect mixture of fluff , comedy and angst. And on top of that we get never tried before combination of dynamics like rachel and artie as well as our favourite dynamics like klaine, blam, kelliot . also , out of all the klaine plotlines, this feels to me the most realistic one and really shows how much they want to work out their highschool relationship into an adult setting but they’re still young clueless inexperienced couple who doesn’t really know what they’re doing but still trying to work it out the way they think is the best one to protect their relationship , showing how much they care for each other as we enter into the crazy hard parts of their relationship. also , to see these whole set of highschool friends trying to navigate their way into this busy adult life is so fun to watch .

#mer answers #1908jmd #thanks a lot for the ask #i'm really sorry for responding late #this has been in the works for the past two days working out each seasons one by one lol #also i've not been the best mentally and physically #i've got this terrible cold that i'm trying to contain before i have to travel #and i'm just emotionally drained for absolutely no reason #but yeah this was fun to do and think about #but i'm pretty sure all of this ranking will change once i get to rewatching the show maybe several years later

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daughterofluthien · 4 years

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Fictober - Day 6 / Whumptober - Day 6

Prompt number: 6. “that was impressive” Fandom: Teen Wolf Rating: T Characters/Relationships: Alan Deaton and Scott McCall Word Count: 2865 Warnings/Tags: canon-typical violence, possession A/N: Deaton POV of the end of 3x19 “Letharia Vulpina,” with added episode tag

The plane landed after nightfall, and he knew he was running out of time.

It was ironic, really. The majority of the trip -- including entering a Yakuza base of operations under false pretenses -- had gone nearly as smoothly as he could’ve hoped. He had even managed to carry the sample vial of lichen through customs in his medical bag with very little fuss.

The first sign of trouble was on the connecting flight out of Sacramento. According to the scheduled arrival time, they were only a half an hour away from their destination when the pilot announced over the intercom that an unexpected thunderstorm had formed, and they would be experiencing some turbulence.

This turned out to be an understatement.

When they did finally reach their destination, the pilot informed the passengers that they had not been cleared to land. This was due to the amount of lightning activity in the vicinity of the airport, and Deaton felt a sense of growing dread. The forces of nature often reacted in sympathy to intense foci of supernatural activity, and such events had been known to cause storms in the past. And when the supernatural activity in question was a pitched battle between ancient spirits known to harness electricity--

If the storm dissipated long enough for the plane to land, that might mean it was already too late.

Eventually, there was a sufficient break in the lightning strikes, and the plane landed without any serious incident. All departures had been delayed, however, as weather reports forecasted that the storm would only get worse before it got better.

The storm was already severe, and Deaton drove back to Beacon Hills faster than was strictly safe in these conditions.

If they followed the previously established pattern, then the Oni would’ve manifested as soon as the sun fully set, which meant they were already active. Of course, they weren’t technically a danger to anyone except the Nogitsune and its host, but if someone tried to interfere with their task, he knew they would show no mercy.

He also knew that Scott would almost certainly interfere.

Even through the storm, he could hear the sound of a fight behind the clinic, so he parked in front, mentally running through the steps necessary to prepare an injectable suspension from the lichen.

Intramuscular injection would be preferable, to get the solution inserted as close to the nervous system as possible, he decided. Keep the spirit from puppeteering its host by manipulating the electrical impulses controlling the musculature and brain. An aqueous vehicle would be best. Include a small amount of ethyl alcohol to break down the lichen, hopefully releasing the toxin into the body at a faster rate--

He entered the clinic and was immediately greeted by the sound of someone in pain.

His blood ran cold. Apparently, his fears on the plane had not been unfounded after all.

It was only the sounds of pain and not the sounds of fighting, which indicated that the Oni hadn’t yet materialized inside the clinic. That meant that, with a little luck, they still had time. He gripped his medical bag tighter and hurried towards the back room, closing the gate behind him as he did so. From what Scott had told him, the Oni were eventually able to break a mountain ash barrier, but it took energy and time.

Tonight, time would be invaluable.

He turned around to see Scott, rain-soaked and in visible pain, fully impaled with what looked to be an ancient Japanese sword, though it was too dark to make out any further details. Kira was attempting to pull it out, but in what he assumed was fear of hurting Scott further, she did not use the amount of strength required to cleanly remove it. Scott’s didn’t scream, but his face contorted in pain.

The sword remained firmly lodged in place.

Deaton was about to rush forward and assist, when Stiles -- or rather, the Nogitsune -- grabbed Kira by the wrist and threw her into the table with the sort of strength only possessed by supernatural beings. She slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Dread settling deep in his gut, Deaton stepped back into the shadow of the doorway. Short of breaking the mountain ash barrier and letting the Oni in, the small sample of lichen that he carried in his kit and had traveled over 5,000 miles to find was the only possible hope of subduing the spirit that was inhabiting the teenager.

And it wasn’t ready.

Between the items in his kit and the supplies in his office -- mostly consisting of overflow from the fully stocked exam room, but sufficient for his purposes -- he should be able to synthesize the mixture quickly. But it would still take time.

According to all the information that he could find, Nogitsune gained power and strength by leeching off of pain, fear, and other negative emotions. With the Oni bearing down on its location, Deaton knew the Nogitsune would be desperate for the power to match them.

It wouldn’t kill Scott until it had devoured every last bit of fear and pain available for the taking. If he worked quickly, he would have time to prepare the solution.

It was a cold comfort.

When the Nogitsune’s back was turned, he slipped into his office. He caught a glimpse of Scott’s face as he passed and saw the dread that he was feeling mirrored in Scott’s eyes. Deaton thought grimly that if the spirit was in fact looking to maximize horror and fear, terrorizing the young man while wearing the face of his best friend was certainly an effective method of doing it.

He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. After all, according to the legends, the creature had existed for centuries. Perhaps even a millenia. It was only logical that, in all that time, it had learned to hone its craft.

Once inside his office, Deaton opened his kit on the desk and set to work as quickly as possible. He didn’t close the door, as everything counted on him remaining unnoticed. He didn’t dare do anything that would alert the Nogitsune to his presence before the solution was prepared.

The open door also meant that he could clearly hear the proceedings in the back room.

He emptied the sample jar of lichen into a mortar and pestle, and began to grind it into a fine powder. Or rather, paste, as the lichen was still fresh and held a fair amount of liquid.

In the other room, the ancient chaos spirit spoke to Scott with a mockery of a best friend’s concern. “You okay?”

“Please don’t. Stop.” Scott’s reply was more accurately breathed rather than spoken, and Deaton’s heart broke. He had, of course, seen the young man terrified on numerous previous occasions -- but this was the first time he had ever heard him beg.

He tipped the contents of the mortar back into the sample vial, and scraped out every last bit of lichen that he could. He recognized the inherent danger in using all of the material that he had, but this sort of thing had not yet been quantified by science. If he skimped during the first preparation and it wasn’t enough, he likely wouldn’t survive long enough to try again.

In the other room, Scott screamed.

Deaton’s hand tightened around the vial. He didn’t increase the speed at which he was making the solution, because the risk that he would make a noise that could be heard by the Nogitsune was too great. Because any error or misstep could get all three of the teenagers trapped in the adjacent room killed.

He measured out the proper amount of distilled water in a graduated cylinder. Added it to the vial. Measured a smaller amount of ethyl alcohol.

The Nogitsune’s quiet, measured voice overlapped with the sounds of pain that started and stopped in short bursts. “Does it hurt? Hey, look at me.”

Deaton wanted to tune it out, but he was well aware that would be foolish. For one, it was important to know your enemy. Any details that the being let slip in a moment where it thought it had total control could be important. And second, as a medical practitioner, he had a duty to pay as close attention to any signs of Scott’s physical state as possible, in case the situation became so dire that he needed to intervene immediately.

He wasn’t sure what he would do if that moment came before the solution was prepared.

He added the ethyl alcohol, capped the vial, and shook it vigorously. The ground lichen swirled through the liquid, tinting it a light and cloudy green.

Outside, the spirit continued it’s monologue. “A Nogitsune feeds off chaos, strife, and pain. This morning, you took it from Isaac, then you took it from Coach. And then from a dying deputy.”

Deaton closed his eyes. Selfishly, he found himself wishing that he had never taught Scott about that side of his abilities. Though, he supposed that the teenager inherently cared so much and so deeply for others, that he would have discovered it on his own, even without Deaton’s interference.

Scott McCall was only seventeen years old, and he had every right to be as selfish and self-centered as boys his age often were. Yet without fail, he always considered the well being of others above his own.

It was part of the reason that he rose to the status of True Alpha less than a year after being bitten.

It also made Deaton worry deeply about him, as Scott refused to worry about himself.

He selected a needle -- large gauge, so there would be little chance of the particulate in the solution clogging at the entry point. Screwed it onto the tip of the syringe.

The Nogitsune’s voice deepened, finally revealing itself as the demon it truly was. “Now, give it to me.”

There were no longer sounds from Scott.

Deaton knew that if a werewolf took too much pain, their system could eventually be overwhelmed, sending them into shock and damaging them beyond the healing capabilities of the body. This could eventually lead to death.

He did not know what would happen to the body if that pain was violently consumed by an ancient spirit of chaos. He imagined that it couldn’t be good.

He was running out of time.

Deaton loaded the syringe.

“You really have to learn, Scott. You really have to learn not to trust a fox.”

He depressed the plunger slightly. Primed the needle.

“Y’know why? ‘Cause they’re tricksters.”

He tapped the syringe, dispersing any air bubbles.

“They’ll fool you.”

Done.

“They’ll fool everyone.”

Deaton walked into the exam room and -- in one clean, practiced motion -- injected the contents of the syringe into Stiles’ neck.

The Nogitsune’s control of its host was instantly severed, and Stiles crumpled to the ground.

Thankfully, Stiles didn’t immediately seize or have a visibly severe reaction. He was immobile on the ground, which was mildly concerning, as the fully human Stiles should not have been harmed by the lichen, but the others needed more immediate medical attention. Kira was still unconscious on the ground, and Scott--

Scott was braced against the exam table. Panting. Face pale. Fully impaled by what Deaton could see now was a wakizashi. He hadn’t spoken since Deaton had entered the room.

Deaton wasn’t sure if, in his current state, he was even capable of it.

Scott’s eyes were wide and panicked, as if he didn’t fully believe that Deaton was really there. Deaton met them with a grave look, because this wasn’t going to be pleasant.

Not for the first time, he wished that supernatural creatures didn’t metabolize anesthetic so quickly.

He braced a hand lightly on the teenager’s torso, careful to not place it too close to the wound, and with the other hand pulled the sword out as quickly and cleanly as he could manage.

He was glad the sword was straight, rather than curved. He’d rather not cause any additional damage during the removal.

Scott still groaned loudly as the blade was yanked free. Deaton let the offending object clatter to the ground.

Unsurprisingly, the first thing Scott did was to ask after Stiles.

Deaton wished that he had better news to give him -- while the fox inside of Scott’s best friend was currently incapacitated, he had no idea how to remove it or kill it. “Not yet.” He fixed the body on the floor with a look.

Scott appeared to have only started to process that information, when they were interrupted by a groan, and he looked over, startled. “Oh god, Kira!”

Nearly hidden behind the exam table, Kira had begun to stir. Scott started to bend down to check on her, but Deaton could see that he was in obvious pain, exhaling through gritted teeth.

He placed a hand gently against Scott’s chest, halting the movement. “I wouldn’t do that just yet, if I were you. Those muscles are still healing, and we wouldn’t want to tear anything further.” He followed Scott’s gaze to the girl on the floor. “I’ve got her, don’t worry.”

After a brief moment, Scott nodded, and Deaton bent down to help. He checked her head for any bleeding or contusions, but she seemed fine. When Kira assured him that the only thing she felt was a little lightheaded, he helped her to a chair.

If she had been fully human, he would’ve been worried about a concussion, but he suspected that the fox spirit inside her would prevent that sort of thing from happening. While he didn’t know if she had learned to consciously master her healing abilities yet, those sorts of things tended to happen a lot more automatically when the individual was incapacited.

Kira’s gaze landed on the bloody sword on the ground, before glancing up and over at Scott. “So now what?”

Scott, for his part, was standing stock still, with his hand over the wound in his abdomen. He was staring at Stiles.

Kira persisted. “Scott?”

He shook his head. “I don’t-- I don’t know.”

Deaton gathered a few medical supplies, then returned to Scott, carefully lifting up his shirt to clean the wound and tape a bandage in place. He noted with satisfaction that the torn edges of the puncture had already begun to show signs of healing. While he didn’t look up from his work, he interjected anyways. “Now, the three of you need to get back to your homes and rest. You’ve had a very long night.”

He glanced up at Scott, who could still barely move following his injury, but he only furrowed his brow in confusion. “All three of us? Even Stiles?”

Deaton nodded. “The poison I injected in his system should give Stiles control of his body back, at least for a couple days.”

A little bit of hope returned to Scott’s eyes. “Long enough to buy us some time to fix this. To save him.”

“But what about the Oni?” This was from Kira, and she still sounded terrified.

Deaton glanced over at her. “Well, they haven’t gotten in here yet. And if I’m right, the wolf lichen has surprised the spirit deeply enough that the Oni will no longer immediately register him as supernatural.” He looked back at Scott, because he knew the young Alpha had the same fears. “He’ll be safe.”

Scott released a breath, and at least a small amount of tension visibly left his body. “Thank you.”

Deaton smiled. “Anytime.”

In the end, after a matching bandage was placed over the exit wound on Scott’s back, it was decided that they would call Sheriff Stilinski to come pick up Stiles, as the older man was likely worried sick. Once Scott was healed enough to move, he and Kira would take the jeep to go back to their own homes.

While Scott called the Sheriff, and Kira texted her parents to let them know she was okay, Deaton knelt down to check on Stiles, who still had not fully stirred. However, despite the trauma of an entity invading his body and mind, the boy’s pulse was strong, and his pupils were evenly dilated. That was not a guarantee of anything, of course, but all they could do now was wait and see when he woke up.

As he worked, Deaton spoke quietly to the spirit locked inside the teenager’s mind. “You know, I know you can hear me,” he said conversationally, “And I suppose you thought that was impressive, getting them all to jump to your every whim like that. The chaos and fear left in your wake. But you chose the wrong host.”

He glanced over at Scott, who was still on the phone, tired but determined. “You chose his best friend. And he’s not going to stop until he figures out a way to remove you, permanently. And as for me, well, I’m generally not one to advocate for killing. I prefer to heal.”

Deaton thought about Scott’s screams of pain. The Nogitsune taunting him with the face and voice of his best friend.

“For you, though? I’m willing to make an exception.”

#fictober20 #whumptober2020 #no.6 #stop please #teen wolf #fic #possession tw #violence tw #alan deaton #scott mccall #whoops this one actually took 3 days whatcha gonna do #also i fell asleep right before posting this last night 😂#my fic

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jgfiles · 7 years

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Re-watching Joker Game: Ep 7 Code Name: Cerberus

So, as I proposed a re-watching, here I go continuing on doing the re-watching. Hopefully someone else will join! ^_-

Also, hopefully there’s someone out there that read all this stuff… as I know it’s pretty long… shame on me for analyzing things too in deep…

Mind you, what follows are my ramblings over Ep 7, comprehensive of my impression on how the frames were structured and so on with some occasional reference to the other Joker Game media.

Also, for personal comfort, I’ll use the characters’ names even if the anime hasn’t stated them yet. In short, as this is a re-watching and not a first watching, you’ll also get a telling that’s mixed with my knowledge of the future. Consider yourself warned.

Last but not least, many apologies for posting this so late but real life kept me rather busy this month…

And now, let’s start.

So yes, like in the previous episode I starts with the preview for this episode that was in Ep 6.

Now, we’re again in whatever place the previews take place.

Anyway in this preview we’ve Amari and Hatano.

Amari is folding a paper as he asks if there wasn’t an artist, a painter to be specific, who compared life to an ocean voyage.

Hatano answers quoting something “You start rowing from a small stream, enjoy the peaceful scenery, endure the wind, survive the storms,” while Amari keeps on folding the paper until he has obtained a boat. Then Amari finishes the quote for Hatano, “And flow into the ocean. What awaits beyond is boundless freedom,” before blowing on the ship causing it to fly away from his hand.

Sorry but I wasn’t able to find the painter who said the quote Hatano and Amari are referencing. If someone has more info I would love to hear them.

The preview is a reference to how the next episode will take place on a boat… but it can be seen also as a reference to how Amari will technically leave D Agency and move to Hawaii to take care of little Emma… because that’s what truly happened in the end even though the whole fandom, Miwa Shiro included, prefers to think he came back to D Agency with Emma. But well, we love Amari and we don’t want to lose him.

This is sadly the only interaction we see in the Joker Game anime between Amari and Hatano (in the manga they interact a little more).

And now let’s dig into the episode.

The episode opens up in a rather dramatic way.

As ‘Tōryaku’ [韜略 River] play in the background the scene opens showing us that there’s fire and people tied in the middle of it. Some of them seem dead already. One though is on his knees, panting hard, blood dripping from his side. There’s someone in front of him and it’s probably that someone who orders to plant explosives in the ship’s hold, twice the standard amount.

The wounded guy raises his head at this, eyes widening in shock.

Next we see is that the one speaking is a German, clearly recognizable due to the iron cross he’s wearing.

The one next to him asks about what to do in regards to the ship’s crew. We see that there are people still alive, closed in the engine room of what is likely a boat, banging on a door and asking to be left out…

…and soldiers outside the door keeping their arms raised against it so as to make sure they won’t manage to come out.

Anyway the German in charge comments that, as their information said, they had the instructions so they won’t let evidence behind, implying they would kill everyone. As the panting guy screams him to stop he raises his gun with a grin and, as the screen becomes black we hear a shoot, a clear hint that the panting guy was killed.

Now… Ep 7 has an awesome colouring, one of the best through JG. The fire is beautifully bright and I love how the room gets an orange tinge due to it.

But hum… back to the rest. This bit lasted exactly 32 seconds but it had a high dramatic value. At first we don’t really see the Germans, we’re just shown their victims. The bound people who’re either dead or unconscious, the bleeding sailor on his knees (to make things simpler I’ll tell you he’s Raymond Grane, even if we’ll discover this much, much later), the horror on his face as the German imply they’ll kill everyone, the crew begging to be left free.

We catch glimpses of German soldiers to show us that they’re actually in control of all those lives. The soldier who asks about the crew when they’re about to blow up the ship, the soldiers who’re guarding the door so the crew can’t escape. They’re the ones in power… but they’re actually not really acting, they’re just there, like objects. While what they’re doing is cruel and horrible… they don’t seem to either get pleasure or displeasure doing it. The question about what to do with the crew is said in a neutral tone, as some sort of clarification on the orders. In short, they’re represented as people who’s just there to obey orders regardless.

The one who’s really in power is the German officer… and that one came clearly out as a jerk.

It’s meaningful how his face isn’t showed until he gets the chance to express what sort of jerk he is.

We know he ordered to use twice the standard amount of explosive so as to make sure the ship will blow up… but we can assume he too is being a puppet obeying to orders. When asked about the crew… he sounds almost concerned… but it’s actually a mocking tone. When we finally see his face we hear him ordering what to do in regard to the crew. His order implies they all have to die and, once he gives it, he grins.

He’s not doing this in the impersonal manner of someone following orders. He’s enjoying it. He also grins again when he shoots at Raymond.

He has a very small role with few sentences, but it’s clear it’s not a good guy.

While JG often paints the Germans as jerks, in this case this is an interesting choice because that German was actually not being the ‘real cause’ due to which everyone died. It’ll turn out it’s McCloud, an Englishman like them, Raymond’s friend, who sold them out to get information.

Those people’s lives to him weren’t that important. So, even if the German is a jerk for enjoying what he’s doing… how much horrible McCloud is at backstabbing those people knowing the Germans would have very likely killed them all? Civilians, one of whom his friend?

It helps to make more understandable why Synthia’s hate, who should have been directed to the Germans who were actually the ones who physically killed her husband, actually turned on McCloud, the family friend who pretended to share her pain when, in truth, he sent her husband to death.

It’s 1940, they’re at war, the Germans are enemies from which they shouldn’t expect mercy… but McCloud was an Englishman and a friend. And caused Raymond’s death just the same. And no, it wasn’t to save English lives. It was so that he would look cooler. But let’s go back to the story.

Oh, not too sure if someone is interested but when the German guy raised his arm we could see his rank insignia and they label him as a Oberleutnant, the highest lieutenant officer rank in the armed forces of Germany. Among the voice actors he’s just labeled asドイツ海軍士官 (Doitsu kaigun shikan) which means “German Navy Officer”. No reference to his ranking is made. Personally I was expecting him to have a higher ranking (he even seems older than Bauer or Sakuma) but maybe it’s just me.

BTW Raymond Grane, according to the ranking on his hat and sleeve is a first mate (or chief officer or chief mate, do your pick, all those names work). Amari too will confirm this, later on.

‘Kikan’ [機関 Agency] starts and we gets Amari telling us the usual shortened version of the explanation of what D Agency is.

Then this ends and we get…

…the opening. Which is the same as usual. Amari is the forth spy that appears in it and we see him smoking and then smiling at the camera. If he does something at the end of it… well, I didn’t realize it (maybe he’s the one who smiles? I’m not sure though…).

Anyway the opening ends and we resume with ‘Joker Game’.

‘Yōkō’ [陽光 Sunshine] begins to play and we start… with a big cruiser boat, the Tokimaru (朱鷺丸).

The ship is currently sailing close enough to see some islands (which will turn out to be the Hawaii) so the passengers are on the bridge watching them. The ship’s captain confirms that they’re the Hawaii and that they should be docking in Honululu in three hours.

The contrast with what happened on another ship in the scene prior to the opening is staggering and it’s even increased by colours. While, due to the fire, the previous scene had a marked yellow, orange and red tinge, here the predominant colour are the blue of the sky and the sea and the white of the boat and of the sailors’ clothes, of the deckchairs and, of the clothes of someone who’s sitting on a deckchair (though, to be honest, they’ve a pale yellow and not a perfect white).

Anyway the first mate goes and ask that person if he’s not going to enjoy the view like the others. We can’t see that person face at first then he moves and… well, hello Amari!

Amari is dressed quite differently from usual and not because he’s not wearing his usual grey suit. In fact, we can see that instead than a tie he has a bow tie and instead than a fedora he has a pork pie hat, braces instead than a belt and no waistcoast. Maybe he’s meant to look dressed with an American flair since the ship is traveling from San Francisco to Japan (with a stop to Hawaii)?

Oh well, it’s not really a problem.

Amari claims he’s a little preoccupied… and then we’re shown what is tormenting him. A crossword puzzle. Before wondering if Amari is that obsessed with crossword puzzles or prone to worry over minor things give him a moment.

He starts asking help to the sailor in order to end the crossword puzzle... and that’s our clue. The D Agency boys were so very knowledgeable that it’s weird that Amari would be stumped on a crossword puzzle… for answers that a normal sailor can give him.

Well, to be honest the sailor can only give him an answer as he gets stumped as well at the next word. Anyway, as the two of them are talking, they hear a woman screaming “No! Stop! Stay!” in English, our clue that she’s English.

As the woman screams we don’t see her face, just her mouth…

…and then we’re shown the shadow of a small dog, a Scottish terrier, running in between the legs of the passengers.

The dog then turns a corner and appears close to where Amari and the First Mate are and runs past them and away from a woman, holding a child in her arms and now leaning against a wall.

Though the woman is far from Amari and the First Mate and much closer to the other passengers, none of them move to check on her, just Amari and the First Mate… which is, in my opinion, a bit weak. Amari is the first to reach for her and ask her what’s wrong. She claims a dog ran out of nowhere and startled her daughter, then put the little girl down. Now… maybe it’s a subbing problem but the one who seemed freaked out was the mother, not the little girl which seems weird.

Sure, later it’ll turn out the woman is actually lying but the lie is pitiful in itself as it would have worked better if she had said the dog startled HER.

Anyway, Amari bend down and asks the little girl to come with him. In present time it would be very weird for a stranger to do this but it seems back then it wasn’t a big deal. The little girl though is shy and moves closer to her mother. At this Amari whistles and causes dolphins to start jumping out of the water.

Now… I wonder if this is possible as dolphins aren’t trained dogs but well, let’s let this slide.

‘Sakura haru’ [桜春 Spring of cherry blossoms] starts playing as the little girl, Emma, is delighted that dolphin have appeared. This time Amari asks her if she feels like going to see the dolphins together and she accepts, allowing him to pick her up. Amari winks at the mother, who smiles at him and, after turning to the first mate likely hinting at how he entrusts the mother to him, carries the little girl to see the dolphins asking her what’s her name, to which she replies ‘Emma’.

Yeah, as many pointed out, in present time the whole thing feels weird as mothers shouldn’t entrust their little daughters to random strangers but whose were other times.

The mother seems to feel sick again (as I’ve said before either the subs messed up or the whole my daughter was startled doesn’t really work well as she’s the one who basically is feeling sick…) so the first mate asks her if she would like to return to her room, to which she replies she’ll be fine if she’ll rest a bit.

Meanwhile Emma is counting the dolphins jumping out of the water…

…and it’s surprised when, after counting five, she can’t see them anymore so she asks Amari where they went… to which he offers back to their home… which… hum… again is a bit weak as he could have whistled again and make them appear again, if it’s that what he did the first time. Emma wants then to know where’s their house, to which he has no answer.

Overall it’s a very pretty scene.

Emma’s mother, Synthia, joins them, thanks Amari, claims she feels better and gets Emma back. Emma is happy to go in her mother’s arms…

…and, other her mother’s prompting, thanks Amari, who replied it was a pleasure.

Now… in the book Emma was around 2. In the anime she looks older, around 4, and she can walk, but she will be mostly carried around in people’s arms which is a bit weird.

Still, Emma comes out as a loveable and cute child.

It’s also worth to note that Ep 7 is possibly the most visually pretty episode of Joker Game, both in terms of colours, composition of the images and effects.

I’ve mentioned how beautiful it was the fire in the intro scene but the sea is also awesome, both when we see the dolphins underwater, in which they use a wonderful effect to express the water refraction…

…or when it’s just in the background with the waves moving on its surface.

The characters are usually not static, which further proves the care used to animate this. Overall it’s definitely one of the most visually nice to watch if not the nicest.

We’re shown the ship continuing on its cruise, but it’s just a quick glance to help us smoothly accept the transition from a scene to the other. The Tokimaru won’t definitely be shown as often and with the same care as the Asia Express. On a sidenote the Tokumaru very likely is a fictional ship based on the Japanese ocean liners owned by Nippon Yusen Kaisha. Although the anime changed things a little, in the novel, this story was partially based on something that happened to the Asamamaru, so, very likely, the Asamamaru is the model for the Tokimaru.

However, since the whole thing was a diplomatic incident and a complex one, the anime preferred to change things a little and have a fictional boat (also the incident took place on January so, if they wanted this episode to take place in summer, they had to change things).

Anyway, due to all this, JG likely didn’t feel like the Tokimaru deserved the same attention that Asia Express got.

Back to the story and to Amari who tries to get back to his crossword puzzle to find a man peering at it curiously.

The man explains he was passing by and couldn’t help but be attracted by it. It’s very nice how they handled his body language.

Anyway he introduces himself as Jeffrey Morgan, someone who runs a small trading company in San Francisco. Amari presents himself as Osamu Utsumi, a Japanese engineer. As he’s giving out a fake name it’s clear that Amari is on mission.

Morgan admits he can’t walk away from a crossword puzzle…

…and Amari claims it’s perfect as ‘he’d like to borrow his knowledge for a bit’. It’s not so hard to guess Amari isn’t just as obsessed with crossword puzzles but he has ulterior motives for his invitation.

Anyway the two sits down.

The next we see as two glasses filled with what looks like sparkling white wine.

They’re relevant but the problem is ‘how had they gotten there?’. The two had apparently just sat down and yet there’s already wine served for them… which wasn’t there moments before, when they met (just look at the previous pictures and you’ll see no glasses on the table) and the one in the glasses is not just ordinary wine… not mentioning they won’t touch it for a while so they clearly hadn’t ordered it because they were thirsthy.

This is fundamentally the weakest point of all the episode… but we’ll discuss about it later on. Amari in the meantime is reading clues while Morgan is giving him the answers.

Amari then reads a definition “Variations, six letters,” and if we pay attention to his expression it’s not casual anymore and his eyes are kept in the shadows even if they’re looking at Morgan.

Even if it’s not overly obvious it’s a visual clue Amari is up on something. The other reacts with surprise at the definition then gives the answer. ‘Enigma’. Due to Amari’s confusion, Morgan explains that Enigma is also the name of one of composer Elgar’s masterpieces. Turns out that in the piece there are various still unsolved riddles and this helps Amari to switch the discussion on another unsolvable mystery, the encryptions made with the Enigma machine Germans are using.

Amari starts to sing praises of the Enigma machine and Morgan also adds some info about how the German Army improved it. Amari then claims that the movements of the German U-boats that had Enigma-encrypted orders would be completely unpredictable and this pushes Morgan to challenge that statement claiming that any form of encryption can be broken as long as one has a little hint.

Morgan is thinking that, if they were to have a message whose text they know, encrypted with an Enigma machine, comparing the two would give them clues… which is basically how the Rosetta Stone helped people to decrypt hieroglyphic scripts.

At this point Amari reveals his true face. He praises Morgan for being a really smart man in an amused tone then explains that since the Japanese Navy is also developing encryption machines based on the Enigma technology…

…they can’t let him slip inside Japan by pretending to be an American.

Please, note this as well. Amari says that Jeffrey Mordan is claiming to be American. It’ll get relevant later on.

Morgan is surprised, Amari rolls the newspaper and claims Morgan’s true name is Louis McCloud, whose codename in his country intelligence agency is “The Prof”.

Morgan, or better McCloud, bends on himself, as if defeated and claims that Amari is “Cerberus” before pulling out a blade that he kept hidden under the leg of his pants and using it to attack Amari.

While the movement is really plastic… well, it also seems pretty unnatural. The Settei book shows the first draft for that scene and that one looked a lot more natural even if maybe less spectacular.

Anyway Amari blocks the knife with ease using the newspaper…

…and presses his fingers against McCloud’s neck claiming he could use fingernails to cut his carotid artery…

…and here I’ll admit I’m not really knowledgeable enough to tell if this is possible or not as I’ve never tried killing people with fingers (on a sidenote how sharp Amari’s fingernails are?).

More likely though, he’s planning to kill him not by cutting his artery but by pressuring it so as to cause a vagal inhibition which can kill you really quickly. Either that or he’s bluffing… though, of course, claiming he’ll cut the artery with his fingers is way cooler than claiming he’ll cause a vagal inhibition so maybe they changed things on purpose.

McCloud gives up (probably understanding that Amari isn’t out to kill him and therefore he isn’t Cerberus) and Amari catches his chance to toss the knife in the sea.

McCloud starts questioning Amari on how he could recognize him since he undertook a huge amount of plastic surgery.

Amari explains he had only few bits of random intel on him like how he’s unable to ignore crossword puzzles and how the clues in the crossword puzzle were also tailored for McCloud. Still Amari claims that, despite the plastic surgery he could recognize McCloud even without the crossword puzzle because several of his facial features matched the picture he had as, like fingerprints, there are some things unique to each individual (we’ll discover later he’s talking about McCloud’s ear shape).

Now… okay, I don’t really get the plan here. Amari can force McCloud to disembark on Honululu and not get in Japan… but what after this? McCloud can always try using the next boat to reach Japan since Amari isn’t going to kill him. Wouldn’t be better to let him reach Japan and then arrest him there?

Unless part of the plan got cut due to time reasons this bit feels confusing.

However at this point the discussion between the two is interrupted. A ship is appearing.

‘Keiryaku’ [計略 Strategy] starts playing as people think the ship might be a Japanese one, then it turns out it’s not. What’s worse the ship shoots a cannonball close to the Tokimaru, causing the people on board to panic.

Allow me a second to praise how each passenger has a different face.

After firing the shoot we can see they have the English flag and that are raising another flag that means “Stop your vessel at once”.

McCloud confirms for us that the ship is from the Royal Navy in case we didn’t recognize the flag.

Behind him we can see people panicking and escaping. It’s worth to point out that, back then Japan and England weren’t at war yet. But we’ll discuss about this in a while.

McCloud feels confident, claiming he had fun playing with Utsumi’s (Amari’s) crossword puzzle and then, claiming this is a goodbye, picks up one of the previously mentioned glasses and drinks from it.

A music starts playing but I can’t recognize it. Sorry about it. Anyway as soon as McCloud drinks he starts to feel sick, drops the glass, begins to claim that Utsumi is Cerb… then dies.

‘ Seion’ [静穏 Quiet] starts playing.

The scene switches and we go back to the Greater East Asia Cultural Society. It’s clearly a flashback in which Yūki is handing Amari the current case. Yūki taks to him about Louis McCloud, showing him photos of the man…

… and telling Amari the man was hired by the SIS during WW1, working on decrypting German communications. He hads the man has changed his face and plans to travel from America to Japan. As Amari reads the documents at an amazing speed, Yūki tells him not to let McCloud set foot in Japan… and so this confirm my confusion. Even if Amari were to cause the man to disembark at Honululu what would stop him from coming in Japan with the next boat? And why McCloud felt relief when he saw the English boat? Amari had told him his purpose was to stop him from coming to Japan and, apparently, McCloud had figured out Amari wasn’t after his blood so even if he were to leave with the Royal Navy McCloud would still not manage to go to Japan and Amari would have won just the same.

Definitely there’s something missing in the plan but I’ve no idea what it is.

Meanwhile, as Amari stares at McCloud’s photo he says ‘Garderning plan’ and this is confusing because that’s the first time we hear about it, and we might think it’s Yūki’s plan for McCloud, not McCloud’s plan.

Sure, it was probably meant to hint at how Amari got info on what McCloud did that caused Synthia’s husband’s death but, right now it feels a bit random. But well, if that was the plan it wasn’t bad as an idea… only I fear it’s too distant and obscure to help people connect the dots at a first watch.

We’re back to the ships. Small boats are moving from the English ship to the Tokimaru.

Meanwhile the captain of the Tokimaru is questioning Utsumi (Amari) about Morgan (McCloud). Amari insists he just met him on the ship and so he didn’t know him and asks the cause of his death. The First Mate tells him it was due to cyanide poisoning. Hum… I’m not sure it’s a smart idea to give out info to Amari as he should be suspected but now I can finally rant about how the glasses were a problem.

In the Anime the glasses appeared on the table after Amari and McCloud started doing the crossword puzzle. They contain what is apparently the same drink. Now, as they contained apparently the same drink and McCloud picked up one at random, this means BOTH were poisoned. However we see no one coming close to them and poisoning them.

This should mean that poison was already inside them when they were delivered… but when they were delivered?

This is unknown. They weren’t on the table before Amari met Synthia and they aren’t on it when he goes back to his crossword puzzle and sees McCloud staring at it. They’ll just appear after Amari and McCloud sat down and started doing the crossword puzzle.

In order to deliver the cyanide the assassin should have seen them sitting down together, and then either poison both the drinks they ordered, or send them poisoned drinks with an excuse.

I’m saying ‘send them’ because the assassin apparently didn’t deliver them personally or Amari would have recognized that person (SPOILER AHEAD: the assassin is Synthia so if she had delivered them personally Amari would have suspected her way sooner). The problem however here is ‘how did she poison the drinks without being noticed by the one carrying them?’ and why no one checked from where the poisoned drink came from?

In the original version this story was pretty long, and even cut in two parts so it’s possible that this is all due to the anime having to cut too many things. Sure is the mystery part gets incredibly weak, which is a pity.

Anyway, back to the story, Amari thinks at McCloud’s dying words and figures that McCloud was targeted by someone whose codename was “Cerberus”.

The scene switch and we’re on the bridge of the ship. The English sailors have come aboard and the Tokimaru’s captain is protesting for what they’re doing, claiming they’re violating international law.

The English captain says he’s there to retrieve Jeffrey Morgan, an ENGLISHMAN who’s being held prisoner on a stateless vessel. Now, remember how McCloud was pretending Jeffrey Morgan was an AMERICAN? Yes, it’s a mess, especially because it’s totally random. Why should they want to retrieve him and even blow HALF of his cover (that he’s not American but not which his true name is) when the plan was for him to infiltrate in Japan? Or is McCloud trying to act on his own again? Or is he deserting England? Who knows?

In truth the whole thing is due to an anime change. In the novel the situation was based on what is called the Asamamaru Incident.

In fact in the novel the British wanted to get not Jeffrey Morgan but the Germans who were aboard the ship so they couldn’t return to Germany and then join the German Army. Yes, the whole thing was in direct violation of Japan’s neutrality and international law.

This is what basically happened to the Asamamaru and it’s something that worsened the anti-British sentiment in Japan.

The Anime makers admitted they found this too complicate of a side plot thread and preferred to change it. Personally I don’t think the idea is so bright as it gets even more confusing and random, though maybe it’s a tamer approach to the whole incident.

Anyway the English side claims they’ve permission of the American for conducting unannounced investigation on suspicious ships… which might be why they were presented very close to Hawaii. Maybe the idea is that they’re in American waters so the English abuse isn’t as bad as it originally was.

The English captain still comes out as a jerk but the Japanese captain is in trouble due to Morgan being dead.

Meanwhile the First Mate sees that Synthia, Emma’s mother and the woman who felt sick at the beginning, is on the bridge and goes to check how she’s feeling.

As he does so, he reveals that the woman’s surname is ‘Grane’. Amari has a revelation at this…

…and picks the passenger roaster. On it S. Grane and her daughter E. Grane are listed as traveling with a pet dog, Frate.

This causes Amari to figure out that the woman lied when she said the dog scared her as the dog was HER dog.

Amari whistles and calls Frate (in English because he’s an English dog…. ^_-). Frate arrives in a run and jumps in Utsumi’s arms. Evidently he’s not a shy or wary dog. Now… maybe there’s a reason for the whole thing (maybe due to some boat rule pet animals has to be left free to wander on the bridge?), but leaving Frate free to wander on the boat was pretty silly. Though it seems the meeting between Synthia and Amari in the novel didn’t happen as shown in the anime, so maybe in the novel the dog was left free for a purpose.

Anyway Amari claims he can explain Morgan’s death but needs a little time first. The two captains agree.

Let me point out for a moment how beautiful the sea is now that sunset is slowly coming…

…before telling you that Amari turns to Synthia…

…who lowers her head as ‘Aitō’ [哀悼 Apologies] starts playing.

The scene switches, Amari and Synthia are talking. Emma is asleep in her mother’s arms, which is convenient but weird as she was fully awake moments before.

Amari asks Synthia if she’s Cerberus. She doesn’t reply.

Amari claims that Frate isn’t like Cerberus but pulls out a photo from his collar and asks Synthia to explain it. In the photo there are McCloud before the plastic surgery and a sailor. The sailor is the one who died at the beginning of the episode, Raymond Grane.

Synthia turns her head away but Amari insists and asks her how did she know it was him. She admits she figured out as soon as she saw him due to the shape of his ears.

Remember? Amari talked about facial features that are unique. Those are the ears.

Synthia now explains how Emma felt ill after they left the port so, when she finally felt better Synthia started searching for McCloud’s ears. She saw him but also saw Frate, first at his feet, then running toward her, so she panicked because that photo was hidden in his collar.

Again, on the overall it’s weak. The real danger wasn’t the photo that was hardly visible, it was McCloud recognizing Frate or her or Emma. And yelling should have attracted his attention. Actually it was weird it didn’t as well as it’s weird she let Frate wander around when he had such a compromising document that caused her to panic.

Amari asked her why, since she completed her task, she didn’t get rid of the photo. Synthia replies that this is the most handsome photo she has of Raymond, her husband and Emma’s father… and even this the explanation is weak. All she had to do was to cut the McCloud part and keep Raymond.

Of course we can speculate that Synthia isn’t in the best mental state. She just betrayed her country to Germany (which physically killed her husband) to personally kill the man who caused the Germans to kill her husband, dragging along her small daughter and her dog. She also had admitted she spent all the days staring to that photo so as to memorize the shape of McCloud’s ears. There’s enough to suspect her mental sanity at the moment so it might make sense she’s not seeing such a simple solution. Synthia is full with hate for McCloud, evidently she’s not thinking straight.

‘Hifū [悲風 Sorrowful wind] starts playing.

Anyway Synthia says that now that she had killed McCloud she has no regrets. She doesn’t look exactly overjoyed or in peace though.

Amari tells us about how a German merchant raider sunk the English cargo on which Raymond Grane was the first mate. Remember how he said Gardening Plan when he was with Yūki? Those words were likely meant to explain this scene.

Anyway a flashback starts in which Synthia remembers the mourning ceremony for her husband, how McCloud joined her pretending to comfort her…

…how, searching for Emma, she ended up on overhearing what McCloud did, which was his Gardening plan, which seems to break her.

Personally I find the whole thing a bit dumb as the one talking with McCloud is basically yelling about a SIS plan that caused an English Cargo to be sunk.

True, there’s no one outside but someone could overhear… as it actually happens.

(On a sidenote can I praise again JG for its care in the details and for how pretty everything is? Look at the colour on the wooden door, they didn’t just paint it all of the same colour, they painted it so that it seems there’s paint over it and that part of it is coming away.)

With this Synthia’s tale ends.

Amari then explains what happened afterward, how the German Navy used Enigma to encrypt the stolen orders and telegraph it to friendly troops, how the English intercepted that transmission and tried comparing the two messages. How this also caused McCloud to end up disavowed by the SIS.

Synthia is surprised he could know so many things, figuring there are mysteries in his life too.

She then admits she became a German spy to get her revenge so she’s ready to consequences but, when she watches Emma, she doesn’t know anymore what she lived for or what she should have lived for.

Emma makes a timely wake up and asks her what’s wrong.

Amari asks Emma if she wants to see the dolphins again. Emma agrees but the subtle message is for Synthia. Amari fundamentally volunteered to take care of Emma from now on.

‘Kansō’ [歓送 Farewell] starts playing.

Synthia agrees…

… and Amari walks away with Emma and Frate.

Next we see a scene of a man raising Emma, Frate jumping around them.

It might be hard to figure it out but that man isn’t Amari but Raymond, whom, in the novel was described as resembling Utsumi Osamu. Hence when Synthia entrusted Emma to Amari she sort of had the feeling to entrust her to her husband.

Synthia whispers a goodbye to Emma before standing up and consigning herself to the officers.

Amari and Emma are watching the sea but no dolphin is in sight so Emma asks if they’re taking a nap.

Amari claims they’ll see them tomorrow and Emma agrees, saying they’ll do it with her mother. Amari tells Frate he can come (see them as well) then, staring at the horizon wonders to his situation of now having to take care of Emma and Frate then decides it’ll work out somehow.

On the table we see the crossword puzzle. In it the word ‘life’ is bolded.

Hum… maybe it was better if it was ‘live’ but well, we get the message just the same.

And with this the episode ends.

Ending theme.

Overall this episode is visually beautiful and the drama behind the story is one of the best but… the mystery part is a mess. Even if some things can be excused there are still plot holes. Sure, it can be they’re due to the story being cut left and right but… well, it’s a pity.

The best one can do is to watch it for the story, which is lovely, and not for the mystery, which, for once, is the weakest point of the plot.

Oh, as you might have noticed this time I didn’t pause much to describe scenes visually as there were almost no special visual shoots. It doesn’t mean they were bad, everything was really, really pretty, but we didn’t have neither smart nor subtly meaningful shots. So, beyond saying that something is very aesthetically pleasing there wasn’t much to say about the visual.

Maybe the only thing that’s noteworthy is that there are a good amount of close up and "Italian shot" or Extreme Close Up in which only the character’s eyes are visible to better express the feelings of said character but that’s not that out of ordinary in anime.

And this was Joker Game Ep 7. Thank you to everyone who was brave and patient enough to sit through my long, long ramblings for the whole episode. I hope other people will feel like sharing what they had observed while watching it!

#Joker Game #Amari #Utsumi Osamu #Emma Grane #Synthia Grane #Joker Game ReWatching #Raymond Grane #Louis McCloud #Jeffrey Morgan #Hara #Yuasa #Yuuki #JG Code Name Cerberus #Joker Game Anime

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madeofstardust17 · 5 years

Text

Someone to lean on

I DID A THING.

It's not much, I've just had a lot of feelings about this in the last few days and I love the episode where keith learns that he's half galra. The whump was glorious. Anyways, this is my take on what happens after. Enjoy!

...

Shiro could feel Keith’s almost undetectable tremble as he guided him by the shoulder away from the team’s many questions.

“Why don’t you show our guests the bridge? Keith and I will catch up”

As they walked away from the group, Lance called them, wanting to know if they were okay.

Shiro shouted back something like “we’re fine!"

As soon as the team disappeared behind a corner, Keith’s whole body slouched over, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, and his knees buckled slightly. Shiro grabbed his uninjured arm and placed it around his own shoulders, while his other arm circled Keith’s waist to support him.

The walked slowly, neither of them saying anything. Keith looked pale, and his face scrunched up like he was in pain, which was likely.

They arrived to his room, and Keith sat on the bed as Shiro started looking for a medical kit.

As he searched, Keith looked down at his own hands, covered in cuts and bruises, much like the rest of his body. He looked at them with a mix of fear, horror and surprise, like he was expecting them to grow purple and fuzzy.

When Shiro came back with the medical kit, he knelt before his friend, trying to catch his eye.

“Keith? Buddy? I need you to tell me where it hurts” Keith said nothing, he was still looking at his hands

“Keith?” Nothing. Shiro sighed and placed his hands on top of Keith’s, and finally the younger boy looked at him. He wasn’t surprised to find the tears in the teen’s eyes.

“Keith, listen” he pressed the palm of his hand against the back of said boy’s neck.

“You’re still Keith. Keith Akira Kogane, a paladin of voltron” The sadness and despair that he found in those purple eyes almost broke him. Nevertheless, he continued

“and my little brother. I left you once, I’m NOT going to leave you again just because you’re part galra, Alright? I’m with you. That’s never gonna change”

The words seemed to shock feeling right back into Keith. He blinked for a second before he closed his eyes as tears slipped past his eyelids and down his cheeks. Shiro, still on his knees, stayed still as sobs started racking Keith’s body and the boy slumped forward, falling on his knees, his head resting on Shiro’s chest. He gathered him up on his arms, careful not to touch the injured shoulder, and started running his fingers through Keith’s black hair, as the boy soaked his shirt with tears. Not that he minded.

“It hurts” the whimper that escaped Keith’s lips made tears spring up to Shiro’s eyes, but he pushed them down

“It hurts, Takashi”

“I know”

“I saw my dad” Shiro was sure Keith could feel the way had tensed up, but nevertheless he continued “I saw him and for a second I was 10 again, standing in front of a grave” his voice broke as another sob made him shiver.

Shiro held him impossibly closer, trying to tell him that he was not alone, that if he could help it, he would never be alone.

Once the sobs died down, he stepped away, brushing away with his thumb the last stray tears. He frowned slightly at how hot the skin beneath his fingers was. His face was paler than usual too, but he was blaming that one on the blood loss.

“Better?” Keith nodded.

“Now, get that suit off, that shoulder doesn’t look too good”

Keith did as instructed, wincing slightly when a movement pulled at one of his many injuries.

When he saw the state the shoulder was in, it was Shiro’s turn to wince. It was red and swollen, and it looked deep enough to need stitches. Thankfully, it had stopped bleeding, but his entire arm and part of his chest was covered in blood.

“How are you still conscious?” Shiro marveled as Keith looked at his exposed shoulder with a blank expression.

And as if on cue, Keith swayed slightly to the left, his face had a sudden green tint to it that Shiro did not like one bit. Keith slumped against his bed and drew labored breaths, trying (and failing) to get the room to stop spinning.

“Okay, so it’s a pod for you” Shiro said, but before he could do anything, Keith grabbed his arm and squeezed it weakly

“No pod” he mumbled.

“Keith, you’re at the verge of passing out from blood loss” Shiro reminded him. As if to prove his point, Keith’s head suddenly dropped for a second, before snapping upward again.

“Yeah, sorry buddy, I can’t have you dying in your room. I’d be bad for team morale”

Shiro’s weak attempt for a joke granted him a tired smile from the boy.

“‘M serious Shiro, don’t like the pods”

“No one does, but you’ve got to go”

“No"

“Keith-“

“I feel lonely” the sudden confession made Shiro speechless for a moment “I don’t like it because before I wake up, there’s always a moment where everything’s cold, and I’m trapped and I can’t breathe-“

“Keith”

“And alone-“

“Akira” that shut him up. No one ever used his middle name, his dad was the only one who did.

“I understand why you don’t like them, but I’m worried about you and we can’t afford to have you in bed rest for god knows how long. The team needs you. Not to be their leader, but to be their friend” after a few seconds, he added “Plus, I promise, I won’t leave your side”

Keith closed his eyes and was silent for a moment, and Shiro was actually afraid for a moment that Keith had passed out, he was so still, but then he said, with a small smile in his lips

“What if you have to pee?” there was a hint of amusement in his voice that made Shiro feel better

“I’m not answering that”

And without further word, Shiro grabbed him by the waist and slung him over his shoulder, firefighter style

“I can walk” Keith said feebly

“And I have two arms” The snort he received was enough to make him smile.

He stepped out of the room and made his way towards the infirmary, the only sounds were his own footsteps and Keith’s occasional groans when he was jostled.

“Sorry buddy” Shiro said when he heard a grunt of pain “you’ll feel better in no time” Keith hummed in acknowledgement.

But before they arrived, Coran showed up. He looked both surprised and worried to see Keith, with his suit down to his waist, drenched in blood.

“What the quiznak happened?” He said, frozen on the spot

“We’re gonna need a pod” Shiro said simply. Coran led the way, walking fast, and Shiro trailed behind him

When they arrived to the infirmary, they peeled the rest of the suit off of Keith, washed the dry blood from his arm, back and chest and helped him into the white suit.

As they helped him into a pod, Keith grabbed Shiro’s arm

“You’ll stay?”

“I promise” he squeezed his good shoulder and smiled. Keith took a deep breath as the pod closed, and chilly air surrounded him. The last thing he saw was Shiro’s smiling face before he fell into a much needed sleep.

Six hours. That’s how long it took for the pod to open. For a second, there was only darkness, and it suffocated him. He started panicking, his mind already wide awake. He shivered and gasped instinctively when a rush of cold air hit him. He opened his eyes, but almost instantly, he closed them again, the light too harsh for his sensitive eyes. Still dazed, he fell forwards into someone’s waiting arms.

Shiro.

A moment later everything came back to him, and he gasped again, taking in gulps of air, as if he couldn’t get enough. It took him a second to realize he was clinging to Shiro’s shirt.

“It’s fine” Shiro rubbed comforting circles across the boy’s trembling back. “I got you” Once he got his breathing under control, he said

“God, that pod sucks” his voice was weaker than he would of liked. Shiro laughed

“It does, doesn’t it?”

Keith said nothing. He buried his face on the crook of Shiro’s neck, breathing in his scent. He was fine. Shiro was still here, he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Thank you” he mumbled. And he felt Shiro’s arms tighten around him for a second

“You’re welcome” there was a silence before Shiro said "I hate to break the moment, but I've been here for 6 hours, and I really have to go to the bathroom"

That was the first time in a long while that Shiro heard Keith laugh so freely.

...

I might do a 5+1 things and this was supposed to be the first chapter. Now I'm not so sure :/

If you like it, please like or/and comment. It means a lot to me

That's all, folks!

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