PAINMEDS, birthdays, schedule. AC:B, KHR! rant re:Inheritance, and I appreciate Spade's dickishness.
So I am now 1 month plus 3 days behind on radish_lily 's birthday gift, 6 days behind on hagane_no 's, and something like almost 2 months behind on a certain Fishy-Sky's. Nevermind that my darling Kris's birthday is coming up in, oh, TWO DAYS and I still haven't completely gotten either her birthday or Christmas gift altogether.
I have decided that, nevermind studying and essaying and researching, and especially nevermind that roomie now has night shifts and sleeps during the day and I apparently type ridiuclously loudly, I AM GOING TO BE AWESOME and work to finish everything before the 12th, which will allow me to, you know, actually make it to my parent's home for the Christmas holidays and spend my time spazzing and flailing and shopping and working and actually seeing friendlies, and kidnapping Kris because she's basically high on painkillers after her rebreaking-of-her-finger surgery and finding something to distract her with is GOOD.
...also, you can tell that I, myself, have recently taken a 400 ibuprofen for my Hod-be-damned migraine because that paragraph, above? Is one of the longest run-on-sentences I have ever typed. Ouch.
Randomly on the AB:C front? Altair became Masayf's Grand Master, and now Ezio (as of the end of Sequence... 6? 7?) is the new Brotherhood's "Mentor". My bet says that the current (2010/2011/2012) group all basically gets wiped out and Desmond gets to put his ancestor's lessons to work, gdi.
KHR! The new racing spinoff in saikyo? THERE IS NO OTHER POSSIBLE REACTION BESIDES SPAZZING, SQUEEING, AND "AWWWW"-ING AT THE CUTE. If you have not read it, there is a link at the main comm, and YES. JUST. YES. Reborn has a fluffy pimp mantle, that ALWAYS works. And aw, Enma. I had sort-of forgotten that when he's not throwing a hissy fit because his plans are going awry (I'm not saying that watching his Family get sent to Azkaban's Azkaban isn't painful, but really? He's the one who started it), he's actually kind of adorable.
ON THE ENMA NOTE, ACTUALLY. Regarding... ffff, what was that, 316? 317? I DON'T REMEMBER ANYMORE, SOB. Okay, logically, if 314 was the "Shittopi can backflip/summersault through a building's fucking ROOF" and the Swamp/Storm battle lasted two sections, that makes it... 317. Yes. Sure. After Shittopi winds up in Azkaban. ENMAAAAAA, WTF, SIR. I mean... wow. Now, while the information re:CEDEF was surprising, it was also from JULIE, which means that the most stock we can put on it is, uh, none. On the other hand... Sawada Iemitsu is a goofball, and is seen by his son as a deadbeat dad for a reason, even if he loves his wife and kid to little bits, and he's lazy and loves alcohol and loves passing alcohol around. Yes, okay. He's a dork, and a weirdo, and kind of insane (like, oh, pretty much everyone that is Blood-related in this Family), and is doting and loves everyone he's responsible for and make me simultaneously facepalm and squee.
He's also the leader of CEDEF, Vongola's Second, and before taking up a position as the Outside Advisor presumably did a lot of work that earned him the nickname the "young lion", besides the usual Sky = lion reference. He is a master at lying to not only his son (Tsuna thought he was actually dead for a number of years, you can't say that finding out he was alive the entire time didn't cause some kind of trauma) AND to his wife (who, while admittedly being not the most observant person when it comes to questioning oddities, is nonetheless someone that you'd think would recognize when their spouse isn't being completely honest).
In other words, while (again) Julie/Spade is about as trustworthy as someone telling you to "PRESS THE BIG RED BUTTON, NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN!" and so the aforementioned information is automatically registered in my head as total BS....
...still, when Enma made that claim, there was a part of me that went, "Yeah, actually, I could sort-of almost easily see Iemitsu being either directly (doing it himself) or indirectly (through orders) being responsible for the murder of Enma's parents and family." Which is... unsettling, honestly. I mean, he has the trope "The Dragon" listed for him over on the Character Sheet at tvtropes, but that doesn't mean that, you know, at one point in his life being a professional hitman is something that I associate with him all that often.
SPEAKING OF SPADE BEING AN ASS. And a dick. And NOT TRUSTING HIM AT ALL. I pointed out before that the letter from Giotto to Cozart wasn't sealed with his Flame, which was a questionmarking thing to note, and then over at makeste 's recap of... 316? Yeah, sure--there were quite a few discussions in the comments that really solidified for me that something about that letter was just off. If Giotto had written it himself, with no outside influence, then he'd almost definitely be a dick. But based on what we know? No, he wouldn't have done that. He'd at least have asked to meet with Cozart to discuss the situation first if writing it out in a letter was too dangerous (could be intercepted, etc.) before asking for Cozart to blindly provide aid and manpower after how many years. It was raised that maybe Giotto had been forced or coerced into writing it, or that he didn't have enough information or was panicking and not thinking straight at the time of writing.
Looking at it, though, without the seal? Giotto himself says that Vongola's been around long enough at this point that they're already starting to move towards what Vongola would become infamous for under Ricardo's rule after Giotto's forced retirement (thank you, Spade), which means that the Flame Seal should be on there. It's not, and the letter is dubious? Almost guaranteed, Spade probably wrote it himself, sent it on to Cozart, and called in the "reinforcements", all without Giotto's knowledge. Cozart would have left some people back (like those two kids that we get a glimpse of), probably telling them that Giotto asked for aid and of course he'd go to help him out. So, as far as Shimon/Simon knew, it was Giotto's request. And Giotto not knowing about it would mean that, if Spade communicated the location just through letters and such methods, he could maneuver Cozart into position and set him and the entire Shimon up to be killed, all without Giotto knowing, not showing up to help them out because he didn't KNOW they were in a position that needed help--and yet the blame would still fall on Giotto, setting up hundreds of years worth of spite and anger against Vongola.
It would work with Spade's M.O. and what we know of him from the First Gen Inheritance Trials, too: he (and Ricardo) have one idea of what their world should be like, and Giotto, Cozart, and presumably the rest of the Guardians have another. He was willing to kill Chrome, Kyoko, Haru and Uni to prove that to Tsuna, to make him "toughen up"--he was willing to trick Tsuna himself into killing them, same reason. Manipulating the one person that shares Giotto's beliefs and kept him so steadfastly on one track into unknowingly sacrificing himself (through dismemberment, OUCH) in order to either shift Giotto's beliefs or cause him so much emotional trauma that he'd be forced to step down in favour of Ricardo? Not that surprising.
Also, if we apply what Reborn has previously been so kind to outline for us (waaaay back during the Varia thing, when he was describing Giotto's Guardians), Spade would be the one described as the former General. He's even wearing something akin to a military uniform every time he pops up, right? Spade having the knowledge, mindset, planning and strategic skills as well as the ability to pull together a plan and make everything work? Is not that far-fetched. At all.
Or, tl;dr? Things that are dead, that happened in the past and could easily be resolved by just talking things out (bloody hell, Enma, learn how to text would you?), should really, really stay dead. And, you know, not be the basis for some ridiculously complicated revenge plot. Also, Tsuna has the worst luck with dead people, and I pity this kid. I really, really do. (Maybe he should have let Romeo's ghost kill him all those months--damn, years practically now--ago. It'd have saved him a lot of trouble with all THESE ghosts, both literally and metaphorically, now.)
ANYWAYS. It is 1:10 AM here, and yet I am craving more POPCORN CHICKEN AND ROOTBEER, so off I go. Also, I get the feeling that 3...18? Is going to be popping up a lot sooner than I thought it would, and a large portion of this post may or may not be rendered obsolete. Damn.
I have decided that, nevermind studying and essaying and researching, and especially nevermind that roomie now has night shifts and sleeps during the day and I apparently type ridiuclously loudly, I AM GOING TO BE AWESOME and work to finish everything before the 12th, which will allow me to, you know, actually make it to my parent's home for the Christmas holidays and spend my time spazzing and flailing and shopping and working and actually seeing friendlies, and kidnapping Kris because she's basically high on painkillers after her rebreaking-of-her-finger surgery and finding something to distract her with is GOOD.
...also, you can tell that I, myself, have recently taken a 400 ibuprofen for my Hod-be-damned migraine because that paragraph, above? Is one of the longest run-on-sentences I have ever typed. Ouch.
Randomly on the AB:C front? Altair became Masayf's Grand Master, and now Ezio (as of the end of Sequence... 6? 7?) is the new Brotherhood's "Mentor". My bet says that the current (2010/2011/2012) group all basically gets wiped out and Desmond gets to put his ancestor's lessons to work, gdi.
KHR! The new racing spinoff in saikyo? THERE IS NO OTHER POSSIBLE REACTION BESIDES SPAZZING, SQUEEING, AND "AWWWW"-ING AT THE CUTE. If you have not read it, there is a link at the main comm, and YES. JUST. YES. Reborn has a fluffy pimp mantle, that ALWAYS works. And aw, Enma. I had sort-of forgotten that when he's not throwing a hissy fit because his plans are going awry (I'm not saying that watching his Family get sent to Azkaban's Azkaban isn't painful, but really? He's the one who started it), he's actually kind of adorable.
ON THE ENMA NOTE, ACTUALLY. Regarding... ffff, what was that, 316? 317? I DON'T REMEMBER ANYMORE, SOB. Okay, logically, if 314 was the "Shittopi can backflip/summersault through a building's fucking ROOF" and the Swamp/Storm battle lasted two sections, that makes it... 317. Yes. Sure. After Shittopi winds up in Azkaban. ENMAAAAAA, WTF, SIR. I mean... wow. Now, while the information re:CEDEF was surprising, it was also from JULIE, which means that the most stock we can put on it is, uh, none. On the other hand... Sawada Iemitsu is a goofball, and is seen by his son as a deadbeat dad for a reason, even if he loves his wife and kid to little bits, and he's lazy and loves alcohol and loves passing alcohol around. Yes, okay. He's a dork, and a weirdo, and kind of insane (like, oh, pretty much everyone that is Blood-related in this Family), and is doting and loves everyone he's responsible for and make me simultaneously facepalm and squee.
He's also the leader of CEDEF, Vongola's Second, and before taking up a position as the Outside Advisor presumably did a lot of work that earned him the nickname the "young lion", besides the usual Sky = lion reference. He is a master at lying to not only his son (Tsuna thought he was actually dead for a number of years, you can't say that finding out he was alive the entire time didn't cause some kind of trauma) AND to his wife (who, while admittedly being not the most observant person when it comes to questioning oddities, is nonetheless someone that you'd think would recognize when their spouse isn't being completely honest).
In other words, while (again) Julie/Spade is about as trustworthy as someone telling you to "PRESS THE BIG RED BUTTON, NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN!" and so the aforementioned information is automatically registered in my head as total BS....
...still, when Enma made that claim, there was a part of me that went, "Yeah, actually, I could sort-of almost easily see Iemitsu being either directly (doing it himself) or indirectly (through orders) being responsible for the murder of Enma's parents and family." Which is... unsettling, honestly. I mean, he has the trope "The Dragon" listed for him over on the Character Sheet at tvtropes, but that doesn't mean that, you know, at one point in his life being a professional hitman is something that I associate with him all that often.
SPEAKING OF SPADE BEING AN ASS. And a dick. And NOT TRUSTING HIM AT ALL. I pointed out before that the letter from Giotto to Cozart wasn't sealed with his Flame, which was a questionmarking thing to note, and then over at makeste 's recap of... 316? Yeah, sure--there were quite a few discussions in the comments that really solidified for me that something about that letter was just off. If Giotto had written it himself, with no outside influence, then he'd almost definitely be a dick. But based on what we know? No, he wouldn't have done that. He'd at least have asked to meet with Cozart to discuss the situation first if writing it out in a letter was too dangerous (could be intercepted, etc.) before asking for Cozart to blindly provide aid and manpower after how many years. It was raised that maybe Giotto had been forced or coerced into writing it, or that he didn't have enough information or was panicking and not thinking straight at the time of writing.
Looking at it, though, without the seal? Giotto himself says that Vongola's been around long enough at this point that they're already starting to move towards what Vongola would become infamous for under Ricardo's rule after Giotto's forced retirement (thank you, Spade), which means that the Flame Seal should be on there. It's not, and the letter is dubious? Almost guaranteed, Spade probably wrote it himself, sent it on to Cozart, and called in the "reinforcements", all without Giotto's knowledge. Cozart would have left some people back (like those two kids that we get a glimpse of), probably telling them that Giotto asked for aid and of course he'd go to help him out. So, as far as Shimon/Simon knew, it was Giotto's request. And Giotto not knowing about it would mean that, if Spade communicated the location just through letters and such methods, he could maneuver Cozart into position and set him and the entire Shimon up to be killed, all without Giotto knowing, not showing up to help them out because he didn't KNOW they were in a position that needed help--and yet the blame would still fall on Giotto, setting up hundreds of years worth of spite and anger against Vongola.
It would work with Spade's M.O. and what we know of him from the First Gen Inheritance Trials, too: he (and Ricardo) have one idea of what their world should be like, and Giotto, Cozart, and presumably the rest of the Guardians have another. He was willing to kill Chrome, Kyoko, Haru and Uni to prove that to Tsuna, to make him "toughen up"--he was willing to trick Tsuna himself into killing them, same reason. Manipulating the one person that shares Giotto's beliefs and kept him so steadfastly on one track into unknowingly sacrificing himself (through dismemberment, OUCH) in order to either shift Giotto's beliefs or cause him so much emotional trauma that he'd be forced to step down in favour of Ricardo? Not that surprising.
Also, if we apply what Reborn has previously been so kind to outline for us (waaaay back during the Varia thing, when he was describing Giotto's Guardians), Spade would be the one described as the former General. He's even wearing something akin to a military uniform every time he pops up, right? Spade having the knowledge, mindset, planning and strategic skills as well as the ability to pull together a plan and make everything work? Is not that far-fetched. At all.
Or, tl;dr? Things that are dead, that happened in the past and could easily be resolved by just talking things out (bloody hell, Enma, learn how to text would you?), should really, really stay dead. And, you know, not be the basis for some ridiculously complicated revenge plot. Also, Tsuna has the worst luck with dead people, and I pity this kid. I really, really do. (Maybe he should have let Romeo's ghost kill him all those months--damn, years practically now--ago. It'd have saved him a lot of trouble with all THESE ghosts, both literally and metaphorically, now.)
ANYWAYS. It is 1:10 AM here, and yet I am craving more POPCORN CHICKEN AND ROOTBEER, so off I go. Also, I get the feeling that 3...18? Is going to be popping up a lot sooner than I thought it would, and a large portion of this post may or may not be rendered obsolete. Damn.