#⌜VERSE 5 –––– so much and yet so little has changed.⌝

[luxdea]

THE QUESTION WAS simultaneously a surprise & precisely what zelda had expected. mipha was not the first to ask about the beast, & zelda knew well that she would not be the last. but, this was different. she wasn't speaking to wide––––eyed, curious children or someone wanting a tale of heroism & triumph. this was a friend who had fought beside her & missed a century of life & changes. answers were the least of what zelda owed her.

❝ i don't feel him any longer. ❞

THAT WAS THE truth. if she wished it, she knew that she could leave it at that. but it felt too much like a lie, a promise singed with ichor. mipha deserved more than that, even if it might not bring her the peace that zelda assumed she hoped to get from her answer.

❝ but, truthfully, i'm unsure if i would be able to. after a hundred years of use, my power hasn't–––– it isn't gone, but it's...❞

SHE HAD THOUGHT, briefly, that her power had vanished, but she knew now that it lingered somewhere she could not reach, temporarily unable to heed her call–––– a discovery that had been as liberating as it had been oppressive. she felt like a bird that had somehow lost it's wings. she had returned to a world & a state that had once been familiar to her, & yet she felt as though something was missing.

❝ weaker, now. it doesn't answer me as it once did. ❞

FOR A MOMENT, she allowed her gaze to drift away from the zora princess. her eyes fell to her hand, & she found herself turning it–––– front & back, front & back–––– as if searching for the symbol that had lingered there for a century, seared into her skin as though a brand from the goddess herself. a constant reminder of the battle she fought. she stole an extra moment to flex her fingers, reassuring herself with the simple motion that she was free from her stasis with the beast & her body was once again whole & hers to command.

AS IF SUDDENLY remembering the conversation, her head rose, & her focus returned to mipha. the smile she offered was small, but she hoped that it would assist her words in providing her the reassurance that she sought.

❝ i can't help but believe that its absence is an omen of peace. my power came when it was needed most. though it was new to me, it held fast for a century. I truly believe that if I still needed it, it would be there. ❞

@luxdea || continued from here!!

The celebrations have been quite nonstop ever since the Zora returned from the grasp of Ruta. For a century, she called her Divine Beast her home, her sanctuary, her prison, her hell- 

And now that she has returned, there’s a longing to go back. Is it a longing, or is it that she knew nothing else? Zora lifespans, while rather long in comparison to their Hylian counterparts, did not grant Mipha the benefit of living her life ON THE OUTSIDE OF CALAMITY GANON’S GRASP. Her acquaintance with the beast lasted much longer than her life outside of Ruta. Longer than her childhood, longer than the time spent with her own long-passed mother-

So she has been avoiding the reservoir. Each time it is suggested that the warriors take a gander, Mipha objects to the elder council && her own father. She knew what was there, and it is now long gone. No one needed to be there unless it was her.

She is tethered, and there is nothing she can do.

Overprotectiveness, a large amount of disgust, and a desire to return and never come back. It’s a vicious cycle of rather ambiguous feelings best left in her dreams and journals. No one quite understood what the Zora Champion was speaking about, not from a lack of effort either. Her father tried to soothe her worries, and Sidon promised her to the Heavens, and back she would never return to that place.

And so, she stays within the Halls of the Domain, waiting for word from the castle. Instead, her allies come to her && it is the best gift in the world.

For the first time in a long time, she is able to say that she feels safe.

The Zora quietly slipped away throughout the knight’s recalling of the final battle. As she brushed shoulders with her fellow Zora, she couldn’t help but notice how different his face seemed now, dramatically enhancing the story for the hatchlings. (As if he were reborn anew where the weight of his destiny fell to the wayside.)

She had not been rather discreet in her shadowing of the Hylian Princess; rather, wanting this moment alone to be noticed. When she is finally greeted, her chest tightens. So many questions, so much to say. Even when Zelda allows her the chance, her words are caught in her throat. No, she has to ask this-

“Do you feel it anymore?” she breathes, “Calamity Ganon, is he... can you say for certain he is gone?”

[frownyalfred]

i am completely willing to reread ASOH to figure this out but when an omega or otherwise is showing deference to someone significantly shorter than them, how does that work? Like I have my Pack Alpha and he's 5 ft 6. Bruce is 6 ft 3 and change and the Pack Omega. How the fuck....

[[also side thought i had was in ASOH verse what if Thomas was the Omega and Martha was the Alpha? Or they were an Omega/Omega couple??? Did someone already ask about this?]]

Oh!! I have an answer to this I actually thought out already! So the way I went for showing deference in ASOH was 1) scent, obviously and 2) flashing your neck at the person, which can look very different depending on the person, how they're positioned, and obviously like you mentioned, height.

So in my mind, if the person you were deferring to was much shorter than you, you're not flashing your neck by jerking it up and to one side, like most do. You're instead turning as far as you can in one direction and then looking down, baring the side of your neck.

(normal throat baring, back and to the model's left)

(shorter throat baring, down as far as you can to the model's right)

Ideally, if you were doing the short version you might even duck your head a little to emphasize this. The point is, you need to show a vulnerable part of your neck to complete the equation. Both versions do this, though different "vulnerable" parts are flashed (traditionally, the full one flashes the whole front of the throat, including the windpipe and various veins/arteries, while the shorter version might only flash some veins/arteries).

When all else fails, dropping eye contact will usually seal the deal. Esp with alphas, in my mind.

As for Omega Thomas/Alpha Martha -- no one has asked about this yet! I'm intrigued. Though I will admit I am a little tied to the dynamic I set up in their fic of the verse since I really liked the idea of Thomas being this traditional, thoroughbred alpha who defies his "proper" upbringing and Martha still feels guilty when she can't immediately conceive for the Wayne family line...hmm.

[omegapheromone]

Ok so, between the recent psa about miscecanis scent and reblog of the incels of omegaverse, I can’t stop thinking about how the two would correlate in a verse.

Like, “Chad alphas” could say you need to go buck wild on the Axe so other alphas know what’s “your property” (which becomes yet another omega-repellent because of scent sensitivity). Or even the opposite, where they don’t use anything, like no hygiene At All, because “omegas like the musk” but they just??? Smell like BO?????

But that’s not to say omegas/betas are exempt from this!!!!!! You’re telling me you don’t think some omega incels wouldn’t over-scent all of their bags and shit to like, “allure people in the halls”, but it’s just a Lot and it’s Everywhere. Or even an insecure beta who’s like “can anyone even smell me?????” And it’s like, Yes Buddy, I Promise You We Did Before And Can’t Stop Now

Also just????? The role of actual perfumes in omegaverse. I’m sure they’d exist for so many reasons, but I just wonder like, how they’d be marketed or even placed. Because you’re supposed to place perfume right where scent glands would be normally so I feel like people have a Problem with that while for others that’s The Point, you know?

Idk this just became a ramble. Any thoughts/insights are appreciated :’D

Chai your mind...... this is so good

Niceguy McFedora-type alpha that showers once a month because they think it's unnecessary because your "natural scent" is supposed to be strong to show the "weak and fragile omegas" what a strong and ~healthy~ alpha that will Definitely Treat Them Well you are. (He always has a personal space radius of at least 5 meters or more and doesn't connect the dots)

Or the *ndrewwww t*te type alphas making a point to go to the gym and Not Shower every time they go anywhere in public as some sort of a ridiculous show of dominance and thinking the nasty looks they get from people is because other alphas are feeling insecure and Betas are envious, obviously the Omegas are just pretending to hate it but actually they're all going into heat right now all because of his ~mUsKy AlPhA sCeNt~ (no sir, I know you live in delusion about owning a porsche but this is public transit and your stink is making everyone gag in disgust)

The desperate yet insecure folk of any gender and dynamic buying ridiculously expensive perfumes modelled after celebrities' natural scents (like that one headcanon post) because they think the scent is what made the celebrity famous/desirable/attractive and so if they smell like them then maybe they will also get courted...

And man I'd feel a little bad for the betas thinking they have no desirable scent and trying to "make up for it" because of how much importance society places on alpha&omega scents (that tend to be slightly stronger, sure, but It's not like betas don't have scents!!) And how little betas are talked about in the context of pheromones/scent

Also YEAH on the perfume thing!!!

My own headcanon sort of separates scents into their own cathegories of like, there's the natural scent that's associated with pheromones, it's not the same as body odour from sweat, but also the pheromones are slightly different/separate in that pheromones can affect the qualities of the scent but not the actual scent itself? And then there's obviously body odour, and then on top of that, I think perfumes are often used to either mask or even enchance one's own scent. They'd probably be especially affirming for any transdynamic folks! But also I can imagine some people feeling like their natural scent should be sort of "private" or they just don't want people to pay attention to it, esp if it's very unique? so they'll use fragrances to change it somewhat. Also for people with weaker scents, it could be an insecurity so they'll use perfume to feel more confident?

Oh and I wanna talk more about my headcanon about the pheromone-natural scent relationship! I think pheromones are what cause and are affected by emotional responses, almost like having a sort of... "aura" or "energy" people can read? But pheromones so it's an actual thing. but I also imagine it could affect the actual scent a lot too! I'll use my own peony+peach combo to explain since I know it best, but for example, if I was angry or annoyed, the pheromones would probably make the scent appear slightly "sour", like a sour candy or a flower that's slightly past its best bloom but still emits a really strong scent that starts to smell almost a little "stinging"? Or if I was really content and happy, it'd be like freshly-bloomed peopny blossoms and sweet, perfectly ripe peaches.

Probably in heat the scent would turn more "warm" and "heated" as well as stronger, too, like sitting in a garden of peonies eating a peach dessert during a heatwave in the summer? (Also I just like using that analogy for my own scent a lot. Sitting in a Peony garden and eating peaches. Except in heat it'd be more like a heatwave and much stronger/warmer) Like almost a little overwhelming, but not necessarily in the same way that overusing axe body spray is overwhelming, more like... a heat-scent becomes sort of really thick and warm? And that's why it's so noticeable? Like so ripe it would be "tempting" or something, idk.

For example if someone's scent was "pine forest", and they went into rut, I imagine it'd also increase in intensity a lot. Like... maybe the scent of pine sap really intensifies and gets really "thick"? Or maybe it'd be like... if it rains during a heatwave so the smell is extra strong but also really warm. And maybe someone with a scent like that would smell more like a cold winter forest when they're irritated (which would also be a wonderful way to describe personality through scent- people whose scents turn "cold" and "wintery" being more likely to have that sort of stoic, cold anger than the more explosive hot-headed type bursts of anger...) and when they're content, it'd be like a camping trip in good weather somewhere deep in the woods where you feel safe and relaxed in nature?

Idk man I just like thinking about scents and how scents change based on pheromones & emotions........

I also think perfume could be used to permanently amplify some aspects of specific emotional states in scent. I imagine customer service workers or salespeople using a perfume that maybe doesn't change their scent, but makes them always smell really happy, inviting and nice for better sales results and a better customer experience (especially since I imagine customer service is probably still absolute hell, even in omegaverse... not like they'd actually be feeling very happy to deal with some Karens all day)

Or for people who want others to stay out of their way (bouncers, gangsters, idfk depends on the canon I imagine), they'd maybe use a perfume that makes their own scent always appear a little aggressive/stern, not in the challenging kind of way, but just so people get the idea that it's probably better not to mess with them

But also certain professions having bans on those kinds of things, or even requiring full on scent blockers to be used (especially prevalent in the medical field I imagine)... just. Yeah lots of thoughts on this!

[alexanderlightweight]

Hi! I’m a long time reader for both you and saeth and joined tumblr so I could read more of your works. I’m hoping this is the correct way to submit a prompt and if not please ignore!

I would love to see more scheming Alec. Maybe he sees magnus come to the institute to update the wards as a kid and he knew that this is his One Love (which is rare for nephilim hence political marriages). so Alec plots to meet Magnus and/or convince magnus to keep him

Thank you for all your lovely works!

thats really sweet! and this was fine, you did great and actually this is the kick off to a new verse because i have another 3-5 asks abouts manipulative/scheming alec as well. it's called the craft of adoration

i hope you enjoy!

lumine

-

“Are you alright?” Jace asks and Alec nods, ignoring Jace in a way he rarely does before shooing him along.

“I’m fine, just paperwork.” Alec says and he gives the grimace he always tries to hide when Maryse is giving him extra work. Jace relaxes at the normal byplay and Alec watches him leave carefully and then he turns, breathless.

Alec knew that his parents wanted them out of the Institute because the High Warlock of Brooklyn was coming over, but while he was fine if not a little annoyed at their instructions before, he’s now livid.

Alec could have missed seeing and realizing the most perfect being in the universe already existed.

Magnus Bane is everything Alec’s never let himself desire or dream of and standing there, standing up to Alec’s mom, he’s the only person Alec can ever imagine wanting.

Maryse is biting out vitriol and Magnus Bane is matching her barb for barb, a dark, pointed smirk on his face as he lays Alec’s mother bare to the world with only his words.

Unlike Maryse, his tone remains even and cool and even when he raises it, it never becomes the yell that Robert's voice does.

Alec carefully remembers his words and where he wounds Maryse, and he holds his breathe and leaves. He refuses to let Magnus meet him like this. Alec is fifteen, he’s practically a child compared to a High Warlock and he has nothing impressive to his name.

It’s with renewed passion that Alec returns to his studies and the next time Izzy and Jace try to goad him into letting them get away with anything, he thinks of brown eyes that flash gold and shakes his head.

It’s not difficult to manipulate Robert, now that Alec knows what to look for. It’s almost worse, realizing that Robert is expecting Alec to help him hide his affair, not that Alec is going to blackmail him.

“I don’t want the Lightwood name.” Alec says again, for the third time since he’s sat down with Robert. “I’ll be the Trueblood heir, but I won’t be the Lightwood heir.” Alec smirks, “you can have Jace or Izzy be your heir, you don’t need me.”

The Lightwood name is more heavily tarnished than Alec realized at first and while Alec won’t hide who his parents are, he’ll change his last name if it means ensuring Magnus at least looks twice at him.

The separation is quiet and Maryse is contemplative in the months that follow but Alec doesn’t worry about it, too focused on forging connections with other young and political nephilim. He’s back and forth between New York and Idris a ridiculous amount, but it’s worth it. 

Alec is known and knows all the heirs of the next families and the Institutes. Perhaps he doesn’t have friends, but he doesn’t need those just yet, not when he might have to get rid of them if they interfered.

Alec is impatient and he knows he is. He only saw Magnus back then for a few minutes but Alec knows his heart and it’s may not love at first sight, but Magnus is the only one Alec’s heart will ever beat for.

Alec uses that impatience to build his reputation and his skills and as a reason to gently let Jace down when his brother hopes to become parabatai.  Alec won’t take any chances with Magnus not being interested.

Alec gets tall and he gets strong and he focuses on knowing as much as he can because whatever Magnus needs or wants, Alec is going to ensure he achieves it.

There is not room for failure on his list and it’s not an accident that during Alec’s evaluation, Camille Belcourt is caught breaking the accords. The new leader is Raphael Santiago and Alec introduces himself casually, with a politeness that he doesn’t even give the clave. It’s easy enough when Alec remembers that this will be important to Magnus. That Camille is no longer a threat and that someday, Alec can offer her eternally preserved heart that rests in a chest in Alec’s room.  A present for whenever he finally sees Magnus again.

[luxdea]

IT WAS DIFFICULT, even with so much time since the defeat of the calamity, to admit that she had been through nothing less than an ordeal. harder still to admit that it was one she did not deserve, & so her response ignored the thought entirely. ❝ i cannot sit idly while my people put their all into rebuilding. ❞

HER GAZE REMAINED focused on the map before her, heavily marked with ink to show plans already in action as well as future goals. she could not meet the other's eyes until a bit of the weight of guilt had been lifted from her shoulders.

❝ —— you have been through so much, try not to push yourself. ❞ // @luxdea

[serraphinm]

➹Chapter 5 - The War➹

WC: 9k

Warning: Blood, gore, and some NSFW stuff. Proceed with caution.

Taglist: @bready101

A whole moon has passed since Raul declared war... and things weren’t looking good. His armies had moved south towards us at an alarming speed. I also wasn’t well versed in war, and General Roe could only help so much. The Prime Minister decided to help take over some of my work so I could focus on the war efforts, but he wasn’t doing an excellent job. Who could blame him, though? He wasn’t exactly supposed to run the country. 

Ellie had healed a substantial amount and was already walking around helping wherever she could. I insisted she rest, but she would brush me off every time and say, “you should too,” and that until I rest, she won’t either. 

Why’d I have to fall in love with the most stubborn woman I could find?

Alas, I couldn’t get on her case too much since I didn’t have the time. She knew of my disapproval either way and just decided to do her own thing. Which I could respect.

Joel had decided to aid me in the war, which was surprising, but I guess Ellie had something to do with it. Currently, Jackson and Midiri were both at war with the Mortican Empire. Joel declared war two days after Raul did, which shocked even him. 

General Roe is droning on and on about where I should send troops and what strategies I should use, but I can’t help but worry about all the innocent lives that will be lost while I hide in my palace of ice.

“I’m going to the battlefield.” I declare to the whole board meeting. Their heads snap to me in utter shock. 

“-absolutely not!”

“Your Majesty, you can’t-”

“Midiri needs you!” 

Shouts overlap each other, but I’ve heard enough.

“There are many people who can take over for me while I am on the battlefield. I refuse to sit around and let Raul take over my kingdom. I want to fight for my people, so I shall.”  Standing on my declaration, the room erupts in complaints again—in one ear and out the other.

Pushing my chair back as I stand to my full height, the room gets quiet, and I pay attention with bated breath.

“This is not up for discussion.” My cold voice snaps throughout the room. Members of my council flinch as I make my way to the door.

“Your Majesty, please, think this through.” The Prime Minister’s voice reaches my ears.

I hesitate.

“There’s nothing I hate more in this world than having the power to change things and doing nothing about it. “A bit softer this time, “I will not think about it when I have already made my decision.” 

Staring at the door handle, I reach out, take it, walk out of the room, and slam it behind me. 

My little temper tantrum with the council caused an uproar of gossip. According to the nobles, I had become a Mad Queen undeserving of the throne. So, I may have upped their taxes in retaliation. Not my most mature moment, but I needed more money for the war anyway, and all they were doing was buying gems and clothes anyway. Rumors got worse, and I was leaving for the battlefield before I had time to fix them. The past month, Ellie had been teaching me all she had learned from Joel on fighting, so I was a little better. But I still mostly sucked. I was mostly heading to the battlefield to help commanders with troops and help in any way I could.

I was much better at controlling the darkness affinity but had no time to work on the weird exploding one. Using it came easy but controlling it did not. So, for now, darkness was yet again my best friend. Ellie helped me work on my sneaking skills, so now I could make a large area dark and stealth kill a bunch of people all at once. Well, at least that was the hope, as I’d never really tried it before. 

I had yet to tell Ellie about my plans but figured the night before I left would have to be good enough. She didn’t take it well…

“You’re going where?? Without me??” Grabbing my face, she shakes it a little.

“Is that brain of yours working right?” Her voice is concerned, and I can sense she’s hoping I’m joking.

“Ellie.. I’m not joking. You need to stay here.” My voice is barely above a whisper.

“Y/n, you will die out there if you go… tell me this is a joke..”

My eyes don’t reach hers as I stare at her cheek. 

“I can’t just sit back and do nothing… we lose if I stay… but if I try to fight by their side, maybe I can save some of them.” 

“That’s bullshit, and you know it; what makes their life so much more important than yours, huh? And what? You seriously expect me to stay here while you’re out there fighting?? To do the exact thing you don’t want to do??” Her tone is harsh as I finally meet her face.

“I don’t expect you to understand-”

“I do understand! You need to listen to me... Some people are better help sitting at a desk than they are putting their life in danger!” She argues.

“That may be, but I refuse to be the person sitting at a desk! I can fight Ellie!! I’m not some weak, helpless Queen!”

“No one said you were!!” 

“Raul believes that! I would rather die on the battlefield protecting my home than at a desk watching the numbers of my troops dwindle!” 

I watch as her anger subsides a little, understanding creeping in.

“I’m sorry, Ellie… but I refuse to be known as a Queen who watched her people die. I may die on the battlefield, yes… but I will for sure die behind a desk as Raul celebrates his victory.”

Her breaths are uneven, and I watch her contemplate something for a few moments before she says, “Fine.”

I beam a smile up at her. “But, I want to come with... And we go to Jacksons front lines. I’m sure Joel will happily fight alongside us.” She sends me a small smile, and I can’t help but agree to her terms.

“Great.. We leave tomorrow morning.” My voice was quieter now that we were no longer arguing.

“Good.. I’ll uh see you at bedtime then...?” She fiddles with her fingers and looks me up and down, hopefully.

“Yea.. you will…”

Ellie grins.

That went relatively well.

The battlefield was nothing like I was expecting. Most of it was trying to figure out how to give everyone rations and take care of the injured. As of now, there was little fighting. Joel had taken charge of the troops like a pro and was giving out orders. 

Currently, I was spooning some porridge to a wounded knight whose arms had been broken and who needed help eating.

“You’re a saint, miss.” His voice is scratchy as if he were parched, so I reach for the water.

“Thank you.. Just Y/n is fine. Thank you for your service,” I say, helping him drink from the glass.

He finishes drinking and signals with a nod. “That’s real kind of you; your husband is one lucky man.”

“Oh no, I’m not married. My girlfriend and I haven’t been dating long enough for either of us to propose anyway,” I say, my face flushed.

The knight raises a brow. “Well, you two better hurry then, don’t know how much more time you have left to be waiting.”

In a perfect world, his words would never ring so true or hit so close to home.

“Yea.. I know..”

Suddenly, sirens sound, and I stand up quickly. Setting his porridge down next to him, I call over a nurse to finish helping him.

“I must go help the others… but thank you for the lovely conversation.. “

He smiles at me, nods, and bids me farewell before I run out of the tent flaps. Once outside, I search for Joel and Ellie to see what is happening. They stand next to each other, looking over a map of the whole continent. The map is massive, with intricate details and figurines. There’s even a tiny me next to a tiny Joel and Ellie.

A soft drizzle soaks everything, including the map, but no one seems to care.

“This is where they’re coming from,” Joel says gruffly, his voice reaching the ears of all his commanders. 

Approaching the table set up in the middle of the open field we are on, I give the map a once over. Raul seemed to be coming in from the north while spreading his troops to the southern parts of the Mortican Empire. Closer to Midiri. It seemed Raul was attacking both of us at once instead of focusing on one. 

He was an idiot. 

This caused us only two problems: one, it would be harder to spread rations out, and two, it would be more difficult to go offensive. 

Other than that, we were doing well.

“Why don’t we force them to go through the mountains?” I ask, looking the map over once more. If we could hold them back like a wall and force them to take a risk through the mountains, we could gain an advantage. The people and troops of Jackson can maneuver through the mountains just fine, but only ’cause they know what they’re doing.

“If we can push them back enough, they’ll be forced to go through the mountains, giving us an advantage.”

Joel looks down at the map in thought. I can tell he’s thinking about something but is unsure how to execute it. 

“How many men have they sent our way?” Ellie asks one of the scouts we sent out. The scout stands taller at the sudden acknowledgment. 

“Around 2,000 men, Prince Ellie.” His voice is meek.

“Alright, Let’s take our troops up and block them. We’ll use Y/n’s idea and drive them into the mountains,” Joel says, leaning onto the table, his dark, wet hair dripping onto the map.

“I’ll go with them,” I say, gaining their attention.

“Fine, but then so are Dina and Jesse,” He doesn’t fight me.

Ellie speaks next, “If Y/n’s going, then so am I.”

Joel sighs but says, “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Yea, yea, you got it, old man.”

I smile at their banter before getting ready to go. Jesse and Dina meet the two of us by the main tent, fully geared up. Opening the green flaps of the tent, Tess comes out in full uniform with an AN-94 strapped to her back. 

“I’m coming with you,” The way she said meant it wasn’t up for discussion. 

“Dina, Jesse, you guys never told me your affinities,” I say with a grin.

Dina grins back before flexing her muscles playfully and saying, “I have a strength affinity while Jesse has a glitter affinity.”

“It’s not a glitter affinity! It’s electricity manipulation!” he argues, crossing his arms. “At least mine does something other than enhance physical abilities.” 

His voice is full of contempt as we all chuckle.

“Alright guys, enough messing around, we gotta get going, “Tess breaks up the conversation, effectively reminding us of the current situation.

“You think the Wolves will be there?” Dina asks as we begin walking to the stables.

“I’m not sure.. They could be heading to Midiri instead..” Ellie says lowly. The Wolves were an elite team of knights Abby was leading. Their members consisted of a few well-known names, including Owen, Mel, Nora, Jordan, Leah, and a few other bastards. None of them were too noteworthy, though, so I wasn’t too worried. 

“I hope they’re with this group... I’d love to wipe their smug faces off with my knife,” Ellie mutters darkly. All of us turned to look at her, and she shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Well, alright then…” Dina says in response to that before grabbing Japan’s reigns. Ellie hops up on Shimmer and makes room for me. I get up on the block and hop on, swinging my leg over.

“Jesse, just ride with Dina,” Tess says impatiently as Jesse begins looking for his horse.

“But-”

“Jesse.” 

Tess was not having it.

Jesse gets on Japan.

We ride north for a few hours before we reach the front lines. People are screaming so loud I wonder how my ears aren’t bleeding. The battlefield sprawled across a commanding expanse of vibrant green, its lush grass covering the valley floor like a rich carpet. Towering hills flanked the field, their slopes punctuated by wildflowers that swayed defiantly in the breeze. Riding straight into battle, Tess starts firing her gun like mad. Knights drop like leaves in the fall. Ellie moves the earth from underneath hundreds of men and slams it back on top of them. Blood gushes from under the rock like a waterfall as I gape in horror. Dina hops off Japan and pulls her sword out of its sheath before running into battle. Jesse takes over Japan with ease and shifts so he’s no longer running into battle. That’s when I hear Ellie start to swear. I hold on tight to her waist and ask, “What is it?”

“The Wolves, they’re here,” Her voice is cold, and she hops off Shimmer.

“Stay here,” She orders. Not in the mood to fight, I decided to be of some use. Hopping off Shimmer and hiding her away, I move into the battle and follow Ellie. Watching her fight is mesmerizing. She knows she could use her affinity, yet she chooses to be brutal. Tossing a rock in someone’s face, she charges at them with her switchblade before hitting them with the machete she got from Joel. I wince and decide to stop watching. Running up behind her, I cast darkness over a small section and used my daggers on a few knights who were getting too close to her. 

“I thought I told you to stay with Shimmer?!” Ellie yells at me through the sounds of screams.

“We both knew I wasn’t going to listen!” I yell back, kicking a knight.

She rolls her eyes as she makes the ground shake and cave underneath a bunch of knights. 

Gunfire sounds, and I look to see Tess shooting men down.

“Does Tess not have an affinity?!” I yell.

“No! She was born a commoner!” Ellie digs the machete into a man’s chest before pulling it out and kicking his dead body to the floor. 

“So she’s just a badass then!?” I ask as a sword grazes my arm. Seething in pain, Ellie glances at me and gets cut on the thigh.

“Yea! Pretty much!!” She says through the pain.

“Focus on your own fight! I’m fine!!” 

I hear Ellie huff, but she thankfully listens.

“Oh yea! Ellie, one last thing!” I yell as I fight off a knight with a hammer.

I meet her eyes as she asks, “Yea!?” 

“If we make it out of this, I wanna marry you!” Dropping that out of nowhere, I stab my dagger into the knight’s temple. His eyes roll back, and he falls to the floor. I bend down and pull the dagger out of his head before flicking some of the blood off it in a downward motion.

Elle just stares at me for a moment before she finishes off the person she’s fighting and walks over to me. I look up at her in confusion before she grins and licks her dry lips.

“Deal… but I get to propose...” She doesn’t yell this time, but I can somehow still hear the nervousness in her voice.

I look behind her and shove her out of the way as a man swings. Rage consumes me, and I let both affinities come forth. I don’t know how it happens, but I snap his neck with a thought as darkness creates a protective dome around Ellie and me. Everything gets quiet, and I step closer to Ellie since I know she can’t see me.

“How did you-”

“I don’t know!!”

“I thought you exploded things?!” She asks with a panicked voice.

“So did I!!” I respond equally as panicked.

She pokes the darkness dome. “What now??” I ask, still letting the energy flow freely.

“Release it, try and use the other affinity again, but try and make someone fly.” She says as if she’s figured it out.

“You think it’s telekinesis?” I ask, letting the darkness return to my body.

The loud environment returns, and I feel slightly overstimulated.

“I guess we’ll find out, babe!” She says, jumping back into action. Taking a deep breath, I let the other affinity reach my fingertips before I use it to lift a knight coming my way. I twist and turn him in all sorts of directions before I send him flying across the battlefield, his screams disappearing along with his body.

“Guess that solves that mystery!!” I yelled to Ellie.

She grins and uses vines to hold the surrounding men down.

“No more messing around, I’ll go after Abby. Think you can handle these guys?” 

“Yea, I got them!” I say before she nods and rushes off to find Abby. With no time to watch after her, I focus on the knights she so kindly left for me and use my darkness to show them mercy. Suffocating them with it, I move on to a different tactic. Covering the entire battlefield in darkness takes me a little while, but I manage it. I grin as I watch my allies pull on their night vision goggles.

Dina turns and sends me a thumbs-up before she starts attacking relentlessly. I wasn’t sure how long I could hold this, but if it gave my allies an advantage, I’d hold it for eternity.

Thankfully, the land is flat and covered in grass as the rain pelts down, which allows me to see everyone in the radius of the darkness. I watch as Ellie begins full-on attacking Abby. However, upon looking at her, I realized Ellie wasn’t wearing the night vision goggles. She’s attempting to fight Abby one-on-one. Swearing, I glance at my surroundings before I spot a sharp rock. Checking back in on them, I notice Abby saying something to Ellie, causing her to get riled up... and sloppy. Abby may not be able to see right now, but neither could Ellie. I needed to act fast before she got hurt. Using all the energy I have left, I lift the sharp rock off the ground and send it flying straight towards Abby.

If I hadn’t been paying attention, it would’ve hit Ellie from how sporadic her fighting is. The rock ebbs itself in Abby’s side. She screams and pulls it out before throwing it on the ground. 

“I thought you said no more messing around?! Put the damn goggles on!!” I scream from across the battlefield. It’s almost as if she hears be because she pulls them down and flicks them on before grinning. Just as she does so, the darkness comes back to me despite my best efforts to keep it up. I had to hold out a little longer, so I closed my eyes and dug up the dregs of energy I had left.

The world is quiet in the darkness. Someone taps my shoulder, and in a panic, I turn around, holding up my hands. Jesse stands there, looking concerned, holding his hands up.

“Woah!! It’s just me!”

I let out a breath and glared at him, “Don’t sneak up on people like that! I could’ve killed you!”

His eyes roll, and I detect some sass in his tone. “Dina has already tried it. Now come on, the Wolves are the only guys left.”

He starts running off towards Abby and Ellie, so I follow. Letting the darkness return to me as I run, I feel some energy come back. Dina and Tess meet up with us, and we head over to Ellie, who is still fighting an injured Abby.

“Just give up, Abby! You can’t win this!” Ellie’s voice is drained, and I can tell she’s reaching her limit.

“Not until that motherfucker dies!!” Abby swings at Ellie, seemingly having lost her weapons.

Ellie dodges and kicks Abby in the stomach. She falls onto her back with a choked noise.

“Raul will kill all you fools- you may have won this battle, but I swear on my father’s life-”

“Can’t really do that now that he’s dead, can you?” Ellie quips.

Abby screams in outrage and tries tackling Ellie, but I hold her in mid-air.

“Sorry Els. Know you wanna fight fair, but I’m afraid I won’t allow her to hurt you.”

Ellie glances at me, gives me an understanding look and smiles. Dina walks over to Abby in mid-air and pokes her.

“So how does this work exactly?” She asks as Abby practically growls at her.

“Put me down!”

“No.. I don’t think so,” I say, moving her to be upright.

“What do we want to do with her?” Jesse asks, walking over to Ellie as well. Tess stands next to me and crosses her arms.

“I think we should kill her.”

All heads turn to Tess without an ounce of shock.

“We could keep her and torture her for information?” I suggest. Heads snap to me, this time covered in confusion.

“I’ll never tell you anything!” Abby says, spitting in my direction. Doing my best not to chuckle, I address her, “It wasn’t a suggestion for you, Anderson, more of an idea.” She gives me a pointed look, and I grin.

“Where are the rest of the Wolves?” Jesse asks, surveying the battlefield. Despite having their leader held up like a pinata, no one had attacked us yet. I supposed that was why.

“They ran into the mountains along with the remaining troops,” Tess informs.

We all look at each other, silently communicating that we should bring Abby to Joel. Nodding to Ellie, she summons vines to contain Abby so I can finally set her down. 

“I’ll bring the horses around,” Jesse says with a sigh before walking off, “Unless someone wants to help me..?” I follow his gaze to see him staring at Dina with puppy dog eyes. Dina rolls her eyes and walks after him. “Watch my ass as I walk away, guys. It's a great view, I promise,” She winks and saunters off with Jesse. Tess rolls her eyes as Ellie and I laugh.

Finally, walking up to Ellie, I match her post-giggle grin. “You ok?” Looking her up and down a few times. Tess walks over and shoves Abby away from the two of us.

“Yes, light, I’m fine; however, you-” She points to a cut on my arm that is bleeding down to my hand, “Are not.”

Currently, there is no pain, so I don’t mind it. “Tis but a scratch, a mere flesh wound, Milady. I swear I am perfectly well.” My tease causes her to roll her eyes so hard I’m surprised they don’t fall out.

Grabbing my arm, she pulls me closer, and I hiss in pain.

“Now look who’s the liar,” she says lowly. I watch as she moves the tattered fabric to take a closer look at the cut. “It’s not that bad, Ellie. I wasn’t lying.” 

In my defense, it wasn’t that deep of a gash. Letting go of my arm, she holds her hands out and grows a small thing of Aloe Vera. She grabs one and flicks her switchblade open, slicing it along the side. 

“El, I don’t need-”

“Don’t worry, I’ll use some on myself too..” 

She gives me an expectant look, so I huff and hold the fabric out of the way so she can rub the aloe vera on the gash. It hurts for a moment, and I wrinkle my nose at the feeling before a cooling effect settles in. 

Ellie pulls out a med kit and wraps the gash securely before treating her leg. After helping her out a bit, I do the wrapping part for her.

“Are you ok to walk?” Glancing at the wrapped bandage as blood soaks it a little, I meet her eyes once more. “I was just fighting on it; I’ll be alright.”

“Yea, but that was with adrenaline. You should sit—” I looked around, and there was nowhere for her to sit except on the grass. “Uhhh, on the grass.” It sounded like a question, and I couldn’t tell if it was or who I was asking.

“Never mind, I’ll just carry you. We need to get back to Tess anyway,” I say, bringing her arm over my shoulder. She rolls her eyes with a smile but doesn’t complain. 

Joel didn’t seem surprised at all to know Abby wanted to kill him. In fact, he seemed more surprised by the fact we all made it out of that battle alive. Ellie and I had gotten our injuries healed as soon as we returned to camp. The pain now was non-existent. Joel had determined that- as soon as we could- we’d head back down to Midiri to finish off the rest of Raul’s army. 

Things were looking good as I went to bed in a cot set up next to Ellie’s. The blankets were thin, and I half-debated, joining Ellie in hers. Tossing and turning for a while, I ended up not being able to sleep. My thoughts were so loud—too loud. 

Throwing the blanket over Ellie, I walked out of the tent and went for a little walk. The stars were shining brightly tonight. A fresh breeze guided the scent of wildflowers to my nose, so I inhaled. Everything out here was so much simpler...

Footsteps sound from behind me, and I see Ellie half awake, wrapped in our blankets.

“El- what are you doing out here awake?” I asked, walking over to her. I saw that her eyes were a little darker than usual. 

“Why are you up, hm?” Her voice is groggy and low.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she says, taking a step closer. “That’s all,” I give her a small smile. That one stubborn hair of hers falls into her face, and she blows it out of her eyes.

“Hm.. wanna watch the stars with me instead then?” Her voice is low and soft.

“Sure, but only if you tell me what I’m looking at.”

She grins and lays the blankets down on the grass. “Deal,” she says, seeming excited. I lay down on the blanket, getting comfortable with her next to me. She starts talking about the stars and whether they are part of a constellation. I try to follow where she’s pointing but end up confused every time. 

“- and that is Hydrus..” She points to a random spot in the sky yet again. Scanning my eyes, I try to remember where it is from the books I’ve read in the past, but it’s all lost to me. 

“Got it,” Lie. I have no idea where she’s pointing, but if it makes her smile, then I’d do anything. “You know we’ve been to the moon 12 times?” she asks, looking at me now. Huh... interesting.” It really was. 

“I’m boring you to death, huh?” A chuckle. An inhale. 

“No, and that isn’t a lie. I like listening to you talk,” a glance at her mouth,” a lot..” She smiles before reaching over and messing with my hair.

Laughing, I swat her hand away. “Knock it off, you goof,” I tease. Ellie blushes like mad as I lean in closer. “So about our wedding… I was thinking we should hold it in the Midiri palace gardens…” My voice is softer than the breeze. She looks into my eyes before glancing at my lips and leans closer.

“Thinking about our wedding already light?” She whispers as her nose touches mine. “It’s only fair. I need something to look forward to.” A hum and another glance.” I haven’t even proposed yet.” Her face is red. With a small smile, I turn so my whole body is facing her. “Are you going to? Or will you get too nervous?” My tease affronts her. She glares at me before dragging her thumb across my lips.

“I can be bold when I want..” She whispers before kissing me softly. I kiss back as she wraps a hand around my waist to pull me closer. Leaning to be on top of her, I make a noise as she bites on my lower lip. Her fingers trail up my back before she pulls me wholly on top of her. It’s clumsy and messy, but we don’t stop; instead, her other hand finds its way under my shirt. She almost gets it off before screams reach our ears. We both stop and turn to see a fire spreading through camp. I get off her stand with such speed my mind spins. 

“Ellie?!” 

“Yea, I see it babe! Get behind me!” She yells over the screams. I help her get up before we start looking for our friends and family.

“How did they get past the guards!?” I ask, looking around for any troops. Dead bodies litter the floor, and I get my answer. Ellie says nothing as she leads me through the camp. We reach the central area of the fire when Raul himself comes along with a smug grin. Swearing, Ellie grabs me, and we hide behind a supply crate.

“Find the bitch. I know she’s here somewhere..” His voice is excited, and it sickens me to the core.

‘Yes sirs’ ring out as a response before Ellie makes a run for it. I do a double-take before rushing to follow her.

“I’m guessing I’m the bitch..” I whisper to her. She huffs. “You’re not a bitch so don’t listen to him,” Her voice is dripping with rage. I huff. “I wasn’t going to Moth,” My voice is barely above a whisper. All she says is good before she sneaks into the main tent at camp.

“Keep an eye out for knights; I’m gonna look for Joel,” Ellie walks further into the tent while I guard the door. A few minutes later, she comes back over and shakes her head. We keep moving. The fire continues to spread as screams come from every direction. Ellie grabs my hand and crouches through some tall grass with me in tow.  We manage to hear a short conversation between two knights on Raul’s side.

“They’re still looking for the Queen; I think I saw some group near the north end of the camp, though.”

“Think she’s with them?”

“Don’t know. Just keep looking.”

They both nod and start walking around the area. Glancing at Ellie, I noticed she was gone and sneaked up behind one of them before killing them quietly. I follow her lead, sneaking up behind the other knight and taking him out. We meet back in the middle of the area, and she whispers, “We gotta head north... seems like that’s where the others are.” Her breath tickles my face.

“Alright.. lead on.”

We managed to find the others despite all the chaos. Joel and a bunch of knights had fled towards the north but were sticking around to find me. Raul’s army had attacked with numbers we’d never seen before. Things were not looking good, and we couldn’t even determine how many of his men had been sent to Midiri. Joel had managed to secure a small section of camp. However, Raul’s men were making their way here while we had barely any defense. We all stood around a small table lit by torches at the edge of our secured space.

“How far away are Raul and his troops?” My eyes meet many familiar faces, and each one is more concerned than the last. This was it. Our final stand…

“Twenty minutes out..” Maria says lowly. 20 minutes till we fight to the death.

 Was there seriously nothing we could do?

We debated what to do, like rapid fire, but nothing sticks. Either we all die and lose, or we let Raul take over our homes with the hope he lets us live. Neither option sounded pleasant. Ellie stands closer to me, her face hollow. Looking back to the group, I notice everyone but Joel sporting grim faces. He just seemed mad. Tommy sets his gun on the table, and we all look at him.

“This is bullshit. I say we fight till our last breath,” His voice is strong as if he’s decided that’s how he wants to go. Dina yells out her agreement before Maria follows.

“I’d rather die than submit to that bastard,” Ellie says, grabbing my hand and intertwining our fingers. 

I look at each and every one of them and make my own choice as well. Dying by their side is much more worth it than living a lie. 

“Then let’s take a stand here… as one, regardless of how cheesy that sounds,” My voice is as light as I can make it, and I feel Ellie squeeze my hand.

Tonight, we’d fight to the death.

The battle rages on for hours to the point I can no longer feel my arms. Somehow, we’ve managed to last this long despite the large amount of men attacking. None of them seemed to have affinities, so we were killing them off like flies. I hoped Oren and Nakir were ok. I had left them in charge of Midiri. As I’m fighting, a knight manages to get the upper hand and grabs me by the hair. I scream as he drags me off, but no one else can help me. They’re all fighting their own battles. The knight throws me into a field as I try and wield my affinity. Nothing. I’m weaponless against this bastard, and he knows it. He saunters forward and pulls me up by my hair again.

“Where’s your little affinity?” He gives me a fake pout, “All out of energy?” He slaps me across the face, and I grunt. Tilting my chin up, I smiled at him.

“What are you smiling about bitch? Huh?” He pulls on my hair harder and grins, so I spit in his face. Disgust covers his face, and he wipes it off before rearing back and punching me in the stomach. I cough up a bit of blood, tasting it on my tongue. Swishing the rest of it in my mouth, I spit it out as he lets go of my hair.

“You bitch.. I’m gonna make you regret that..” He grabs a dagger, and just as he goes to stab me, I roll out of the way. The dagger grazes my side, and I scream in pain. My hand flies to the cut, and warm blood seeps onto it. Wincing, I look up to the knight, who is grinning down at me. I wanted to cry. To scream. To do anything. But the pain was blinding, and I was losing blood fast.

“I’ll bring your head to Raul all pretty, don’t you worry,” He spits out as he leans down to me. But before he can make another move, an arrow flies straight into his temple. The knight flops to the side as blood sprays out. I scream and back away from him. Looking around, I spot a woman with blonde hair and a warm smile.

Lady Isabella.

She walks over to me and helps me up.

“I was afraid I hadn’t made it in time. Seems like I barely have,” Her voice is soft as she helps me stand straight... My hand is covering the wound with as much pressure as I can muster. 

“Isabella.. You came!” My hopes lift. She smiles and looks out to the battlefield a little ways away. A massive army begins attacking Raul’s troops along with Midiri’s and Jackson’s. Lady Isabella and I had been exchanging letters ever since we met at my coronation ball. She’s become a wonderful friend of mine.

“It’s actually Queen Isabella now," She says shyly. The ring on her finger is more prominent now, and I smile at her.

“That’s wonderful..but why did you come? You owe me nothing?”

“Because I want peace. Ruling during a war is no fun for me or my people. It affects all of us. And besides… you’re a dear friend.”

My heart warms. I wasn’t the perfect Queen, that’s for sure, but I had made changes that impacted my life. “Thank you, Queen Isabella… now let’s win this thing…” My body is growing weaker, and by the look on Isabella’s face, I’m fading fast. She catches me before I fall to the ground.

“Queen Y/n? Oh my…”

I flutter in and out of consciousness before my lovely darkness overtakes me, and I close my eyes.

My head hurt. A lot. 

I crack my eyes open a bit and feel silk beneath my fingertips. Looking around, I notice I’m back in Midiri palace… and in my room. Taking a deep breath, I hiss in pain from the gash in my side and attempt to sit up. The sun is streaming into the room in a breathtaking manner. My room looks the exact same as I left it. My maids are here right now as well, cleaning away.

“I wonder when Her Majesty will wake up,” Anais says, dusting my desk. I blink. Once. Twice. Assumed they were too busy to notice I was awake.

“Prince Ellie should be coming by soon, right? She always does around this time of day..” Mariah is working in my closet.

A knock at the door has me fighting to pretend I’m still asleep. I clear my throat and say, “Come in!” All four of my maids snap their attention to me with various shouts of surprise. The person outside the door slams it open, and Ellie stands there with a few flowers in hand.

“You’re awake!?” She rushes to my side before setting the flowers down on my nightstand.

All my maids rush over and begin asking me millions of questions. How was I? Did I want water? Pain meds? Food? “How long have I been out?” My voice is groggy, and I stretch a little.

Ellie glances at the maids before saying, in a grim tone, “Four years.” Her voice is so serious that I almost believe it.

“Knock it off Moth. How long, really?” She huffs before pouting, “I thought that was pretty convincing…” I watch as she adjusts to sitting on my bed, her button-down wrinkling under the change, “Don’t worry, just a few days. Doctors said you’ll be fine in a month, so take it easy.

“You weren’t, but nice try. What’s been going on while I was out,” I say, removing the covers and trying to get out of bed. Ellie grips me so harshly that I feel a bruise forming already. She pulls me back down into bed, and my maids chuckle.

“Honestly, miss, give yourself a second,” Ivone scolds. Man, I missed these girls.

“If you think I’m just going to let you walk around while you’re still bleeding, you’re dead wrong light,” Ellie says sternly. I huff and lay back on my pillow, flicking her arm. “Fine, but I still want to know what’s happening..”

I watch her eyes soften. “Alright… but no getting up, or I swear I will carry you back to bed myself.” Her tone is playful, but I know she’s not joking. “Ok, ok, I get it!” Putting my hands up in defense, Ellie finally seems satisfied. 

She takes a deep breath as she begins to recall the events of the past few days. According to her, Queen Isabella and King Alwyn have decided to ally themselves with us. Fortunately for us, they also have a large army due to the funds they get from trading. Our combined forces drove Raul to flee for now. Jackson is safe, and the knights who ran into the mountains have been dealt with as well. All was well—for now, at least.

“Well… I guess it’s a good thing we’re back home. We can do more from here for now since there’s no active fighting.” I still felt the need to be useful despite actively bleeding, but hey, I did that once a month—nothing I couldn’t handle.

“By the way, where’s Jane?” I ask the other maids. She was usually the happiest to see me.

“Jane felt sick this morning, so she opted to stay in and rest,” Ivone’s soothing voice said. 

Which was odd because even when she wasn’t feeling the greatest, Jane would be by my side. I guess she really wasn’t feeling well. “Well, alright then.”

Ellie studies me momentarily, and I shrink a little under her gaze. “When we need things, we use our words, Ellie,” I tease. But her expression doesn’t change. My smile falters. 

“Girls, why don’t you give us a moment?” My eyes don’t leave hers as I dismiss my maids. They curtsy and close the door behind them. 

“Are you ok, El?” I say lowly. She looks away from me, suddenly wiping her eyes. That’s when I realized Ellie was crying. I’d never seen her cry before. She’s always been private about showing people her emotional side. Shifting so I’m in her lap, I wipe her tears and kiss where the streaks remain.

“Oh, Ellie… talk to me.. What’s going on?” My voice is as soothing as I can make it. She meets my eyes, and my heart breaks. Puffy eyes, red nose, and a tear-streaked face.

“I thought… you were going to die..” she whispers before looking back down, “When Queen Isabella brought you back to us in such a condition.. There was so much blood… I just didn’t know if I’d ever see you again and-” Ellie starts to ramble before I can even comfort her,

“-Ellie, you need to breathe-”

“-and for days, I wondered if you would ever wake up-” My lips slam onto hers, and I cup her face. I feel her relax as she wraps an arm around my back, the other running her fingers through my hair. Pushing my tongue into her mouth, I hear her moan lightly. She moves a hand to my chest and the other slowly down my right side when she grazes my cut, and I wince in pain. She pulls away immediately and apologizes profusely. Shutting her up again, I kiss her before moving both hands to her hair and pulling on it gently. She moans. Alright, so Ellie has a hair-pulling kink. Grinning into the kiss, I continue kissing her while gently tugging her hair. I pull back to assess my work to see her breathless and puffy-lipped.

“Better now babe?” I whisper against her lips. She nods and bites her own before pressing her mouth to mine again. Moving me gently with her hands, she lays me on my back, careful not to aggravate my injury. Stupid right side. I moan into her mouth as she cups one of my breasts through my shirt and flicks the nipple. 

“Mmmm, Ellie-” I start but she shushes me. “Not while you’re injured my light..” Her voice is low, and I want to argue, but I know better. Damn, how well has this bitch trained me. “Fine..” I’m breathless and puffy-lipped, too, and can feel my growing arousal. Oh, how she tortures me so..

“Promise I’ll fuck you so well someday..” She whispers against her lips. The sincerity in her voice takes me by surprise, and my legs clamp shut. I wiggle underneath her as she trails her finger along my jaw.

“Kiss me again, Ellie... Kiss me till I can’t breathe...” I beg so quietly that I wonder if she hears. It seems she does as she smashes her lips back to mine. 

We spend the rest of the day in each other’s company.

A few weeks later, I’m doing much better. Ellie finally stopped following me around the palace, so I can actually get some work done. Walking into the Prime Minister’s office, I see he’s at his desk reading over some paperwork. He smiles when he sees me before standing to bow.

“Your Majesty, what a pleasant surprise!” His voice is cheerful and warm. I can’t help but smile. “Give me one moment, Your Majesty. I am just sending off some important information.” He writes a quick letter before walking over to a Peregrine falcon. Gently folding the letter, he hands it to the beautiful bird and opens the window. The Prime minister watches him go before turning to me with a smile.

“What can I help you with today, Your Majesty?” He asks, closing the window and walking over to me. 

“I just came to let you know I can resume my duties now. If you want to have the work sent to my office, I’d be more than happy to take it off your hands,” Truthfully, I didn’t want him doing the work anymore anyway.

“Ah, I see… I shall have it sent over immediately…” His tone has changed. I watch his face for a different expression... but he’s still smiling. My brows furrow a little, and I feel my gut screaming at me.

“Right... well, I’ll be going now…” Deciding not to ignore it, I head towards the door when he’s suddenly in front of it. With a beaming smile, he closes the door and locks it with a key. Tucking the key into his pant pocket, he pats the spot as if mocking me.

“Perhaps it’s best you stay…” 

Ok, now I was really freaked out. Maybe the Prime Minister had been replaced by a shapeshifter? But nothing seemed different about him physically. 

“What is the meaning of this Prime Minister... Let me out this instant.” My tone is demanding but wavers a little. He hears it, too.

“I don’t think so. You still don’t get it, do you..?” His smile was pissing me off now.

“Don’t get what? You are mental if you think this is ok-”

He sighs and rubs his temples. “I was hoping you’d figure it out before I revealed myself. But alas, here we are.”

“Figure what out? I don’t understand?” I’m beginning to panic. There was a high chance he was going to kill me if I didn’t get out of this room. I glance at the window, but it’s too high a drop. 

“I suppose I better start from the beginning. With Barrow..” My eyebrows furrow again. What did this have to do with the previous Duke?

“Barrow was working for Raul,”

“But that doesn’t make any sense-”

“Doesn’t it? Just as soon as he was no longer useful, you got the very thing you needed to get rid of him…” The Prime Minister’s words run chills down my spine, and I begin to question everything. Pieces of the puzzle were still missing.

“The late Duke Haleson was trying to hand Midiri over to Emperor Raul.. in exchange for the blackmail he had on him... His birth certificate.”

The very thing that destroyed him was what he coveted all along. My kingdom was the price. How fucking dare he… I clench my hands into fists and feel darkness swirl around them. The Prime Minister continues while I continue looking for a way out.

“Barrow knew that under Emperor Raul’s reign, he’d still get to live the life of a Duke.. he had nothing to lose and everything to gain!!” 

“I thought you said you two were friends!” My voice cuts him off. The Prime Minister seethes, “That was until that bastard forced me onto his side!! I was loyal to your parents. They were the best king and Queen there had ever been.. but Barrow couldn’t hand the kingdom over to Emperor Raul without them dead.. so Raul had them assassinated and you kidnapped.” All this new information was hitting me like a brick. 

“Why are you telling me all this?” My voice wavers once more, and I curse myself internally.

“Because now I’m going to kill you,” He says so simply as if it were about the weather.

I did a double-take to make sure I heard him correctly. Then it all made sense. Raul had something on him—something Barrow gave to him.

“Listen to me. Whatever it is Barrow gave him, we can get back…”

The Prime Minister looks so defeated, “There’s nothing you can do except die Your Majesty..”

Scanning the room once more, I realized I needed more time. So I started asking questions, “Why not have me killed like my parents?”

“If you were dead, so was the royal bloodline, and Emperor Raul couldn’t have that.”

“Why not? What is so important about me he’d rather have me live.”

“He wanted to marry you when the time was right. Your bloodline is the most powerful in the world, but you just wouldn’t marry him! You had to go and fall in love with that prince!”

The Prime Minister starts getting more and more upset as my heart begins to race.

“So he knew where I was the whole time? You knew, too?”

“Yes.. we knew everything about you..” Shivers run down my spine once again before I feel rage. Suddenly, another question pops into my head, so I ask it before I forget.

“What about Rose then? Was she working for you too?” 

He huffs before giving me a pitiful look, “Rose never betrayed you; it was Jane. The assassins Raul sent were supposed to bring you back to him, but Jane tried to have you killed... It was foolish of her, really. I ordered her to have you kidnapped and brought to Raul of your own violation..” Where was Jane now then? Was she even really sick? So many questions swirled my head, but I knew I had to be smart about this if I wanted to get the most out of him.

“Why did she want me killed..?” My heart breaks. Rose was wrongly accused and sent to death, all because I was too foolish to see what was really going on.

“If you were gone, Emperor Raul would have been mad, yes, but he would’ve moved on.” His voice is oddly calm now. It almost sounds like…

“The man in the hallway... with Barrow... That was you! You were the one defending me in the halls!” The conversation I overheard ages ago suddenly makes more sense now. They were talking about Raul and me. 

“Huh.. so it was you who overheard that… I did wonder who it was for the longest time.. But no matter, I still have to kill you now. Emperor Raul doesn’t want you any longer.. I’m sorry.”

His voice is low and a little menacing as he approaches me slowly. I back away from him, not wanting to kill him.

“Bennet, please..I don’t want to kill you. What do they have on you..?”

He doesn’t answer and pulls out a long, thin dagger. Deciding I can’t be kind anymore, I pull the dagger from his grip with my telekinesis. Before it reaches my hand, though, he swipes it from the air with a speed I’ve only seen from speed affinities. Suddenly, he came at me at a speed I couldn’t handle. Wrapping darkness around myself, I manage to avoid getting cut by the dagger. But the blunt force of his blows still hurt. Grimacing, I focus on his heart and slow it down with my telekinesis. He begins to slow down and coughs up blood. While he’s down, I kick him over and take the dagger from him. 

“Bennet… I’m sorry they took whatever is dear to you.. Just talk to me..” He rolls onto his side and props himself up.

“I can’t.. He’ll know if I do..” More blood drips down his chin before he wipes it with his pure white-gloved hand. I lean down to him as he slowly dies.

“You’re going to die, Bennet… you might as well tell me anyway…” Moreover, my curiosity was getting the better of me. 

“My daughter…” He whispers as tears fall down his cheeks. Dread fills my entire being as I realize what Bennet is implying. If he doesn’t cooperate.. His daughter dies.

Well, shit. 

No wonder he hates Barrow… I couldn’t imagine the rage I’d feel. My eyes soften, and I ease up on his heart. 

Bennet lays his head on the hardwood floor and blinks blearily up at the ceiling. My emotions overwhelm me a little, and I tear up alongside him.

“Save her..please..” His voice is fading, and I can tell he’s barely holding on. “Do what I couldn’t do.. And save my daughter.. please… “I start to cry and sit down on the floor next to him.

Oh, to be loved so much, you’re their dying thought. 

“I’ll try..” I whisper. He nods slowly, understanding I might fail. 

“If you don’t. I hope to be worthy of meeting her again in the afterlife. My precious daughter..Annabelle..” 

His last breath flows from his lips, and I close my eyes. So much made sense now. The photo of them on his desk was a constant reminder, not of what he had, but of what he was fighting for. The grief he must’ve had looking at that photo brings more tears to my eyes. Reaching over and closing his eyes for him, I stand and grab the portrait. Setting it on his dead body and grabbing the key, I unlock the door before closing it behind me. Somehow, I was not covered in blood, but my heart was bleeding. 

I was going to save his daughter… Not for him, but for the innocent life he left behind. Because, for some reason, I had to prove that I was the better person.

Besides... I had a plan. 

And it was going to end this war.

↞ Previous ⨾ଓ Masterlist ⨾ଓ Next ↠

[kiwiana-writes]

Fic Writing Review 2023

Tagged by my fellow stats nerd @stereopticons - thanks pal!

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please don’t eat glass but don’t feel like you have to do this either.

Words and Fics (fics written in 2023 only)

143,107 words published to ao3. At least 3,900 more guaranteed by the advent fic so... I think I should make a concentrated effort to break 150k, right? 👀

No good way of tracking unpublished words in WIPs written this year. My goal for 2024 is to set up my spreadsheet to track words written as well as published so watch this space.

3 published fandoms: Red White & Royal Blue (book), Schitt's Creek, The Last Of Us (TV show). Technically 1 unpublished fandom in Red White & Royal Blue (film) 😅

Most recent drop: Apart from the daily advent fic drops lilnked above, a PWP interlude in the hockey boyfriend Henry 'verse

Longest (published) fic: By a country fuckin' mile, With so much of my heart (that none is left to protest), aka the Much Ado actor AU, at 65,586 words.

Longest (published) oneshot: Kinda think that I might be his type (Alex and Bea fake date) at 12,864 words

Top Fics by Kudos (fics written in 2023 only)

With so much of my heart (that none is left to protest) [RWRB, Alex/Henry, rated E, 65,586 words]

Kinda think that I might be his type [RWRB, Alex & Bea + Alex/Henry, rated E, 12,864 words]

We were supposed to find this [RWRB, Alex/Henry, rated M, 3,384 words]

Puck It [RWRB, Alex/Henry, rated E, 9,739 words]

Feel your hands in my hair and you whisper my name [RWRB, Alex/Henry, rated E, 2,508 words]

Miscellaneous Data From My Unhinged Spreadsheet about 2023 fics

To no one's surprise, highest percentage of private bookmarks goes to Bukkake Breaky Heart.

Out of 24 fics published in 2023, 14 were explicit, 2 were mature, 7 were teen and up, and 1 was general audiences

3 fics didn't have a title sourced from anywhere. 3 were sourced from literature/poetry, 3 were puns, and the remaining 15 were song lyrics, with 3 each from Taylor Swift and Matt Nathanson.

My highest kudos/hits ratio was on Empty your heart of its mortal dream, aka the Fae Prince Henry fic.

My fandom fic events in 2023

Nilch nada zip in terms of, like, fests. I wanted to do Threesgiving but the words wouldn't come, so a sort-of-threesome-sort-of-foursome will probably appear on some random day in fucking February or something lmao. However while they weren't fandom-specific events, I did do:

Kinktober 2023

Advent 2023

Upcoming Events and Projects for 2024

I have a lot -- a lot a lot a LOT -- of WIPs that will be completed in 2024, so please don't think of this as an exhaustive list, but they are the ones I'm most excited for:

A Practical Arrangement - @clottedcreamfudge has Devised A Punishment if I don't get chapter two out for y'all by Christmas because my usual methods of pushing past my brain bullshit weren't working, so technically this is a 2023 project 🤣 @ships-to-sail and @celeritas2997 have the carrot and CCF has the stick.

Anastasia AU!!! I LOVE this fic and I think it's in the 'meaty one-shot' range buuuuuut we'll see. It might get a little out of control.

Angstapalooza RWRB edition - this is gonna be another long fic, 10-11 chapters, 50k words ish, and I cannot WAIT to make y'all cry sink my teeth into it. My Schitt's Creeks babes know what happens when I deem something 'angstapalooza' lmao.

Hockey Boyfriend Henry part 3, aka the whole reason I started writing the fucking series in the first place lmao

Leverage AU, which I haven't shared anything of yet because it's a post-angstapalooza longfic but I am VERY HYPE FOR.

Rafael Is Surrounded By Disaster Queers, aka the Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead-style Rafael POV... 5+1? Vignettes? set in the Much Ado actor AU verse. Which at this point is just a gift for @inexplicablymine and @cricketnationrise and I wouldn't have it any other way.

STFAU 👀

*infomercial voice* And much, much more!

BUT, 2024 is also for taking original writing seriously. Maybe flash/microfiction on patreon, definitely diving into an original novel. I've thrown in the towel with my contracting agency in the new year and everything. Ack.

Tagging anyone I've tagged above and also @anincompletelist @cha-melodius @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @indestructibleheart @myheartalivewrites and anyone who wants to play because I love data.

[popculturebuffet]

Top 20 Animated Episodes of 2023 Part 1

Hello all you happy people! It's now 2024, and with 2023 behind us it's time for my faviorite yearly thing on this blog: my top 20 episodes of the year list!

For those of you new to this tradition or needing a refresher, each year I take 5 episodes each (or less if the show had less), from the various shows I watched that year, and then slowly wittle it down from a massive pile to the 20 best, split into two digestible parts, and let you all enjoy the results. It's one of my favorite things as it gives a nice, personal, wide berth of what happened in that year, gives this blog something unique to do, and allows me to touch on shows I haven't covered yet or may simply not get to for some time, if ever.

2023 was a mixed bag for me, both professionally and personally: It started.. with a kick in the teeth as my cat Stewie died after living a long, fufilling life of looking mildly pissed at everything but still being cute.

He was a good cat and his loss is something I still haven't fully gotten over a year later.

It was a harbringer of change: with Stewie's death we finally moved out of the house I lived in pretty much my whole life, and into a smaller, nicer and far better apartment with my own mini office in my room even and all my children/books/children returned to me. It's taken 6 months but I feel like i've fully settled into my new, wonderful home.

And towards the end of this year as the loss of Stewie still stung all this time later, I got another great change with the addition of Maddie

Maddie was the dog of a close friend of the family who had to go into a retirement home. She needed a home, and now has one in my room looking morose, licking my face and occasionally going under the bed for hours at a time like the cave goblin she is. She was a much needed bolt of sunshine in this storm of a year. I do metaphor good.

So with all these c-changes, how did this blog fair? Suprisingly great but not entirely in tact. Quality wise I do think I did some of my best work this year: I tackled the first apperances of every spider-man, woman and pig in into the spider-verse, the movie itself, finally web swining around a bit thanks to kev with a little more spidey planned for this year, with a tie in for Kraven later this year that's exactly what you think it is. I finally got to do an x-men month, covered rocko's modern life static cling for pride month, and in one of my finest hours, got to do a retrospective on one of my faviroite fairly recent comic strips breaking cat news with the help of my friend emma. Her sponsorship meant I got to cover something great and while few people have read it, i'm happy just to have it out there.

In addition to that I covered Tugs, an osbcure UK series and spirtual brother to thomas the tank engine that involved state mandated death dates for boats, pirates, and eleven minutes of explosions. I finally got to enjoy the madness that was the Telltale Sam and Max Games, with Save the World in the pocket and Beyond Time and Space wrapping up next week. And biggest, best and brightest of all I did a retrospecitve on little shop of horrors, finally seeing both the stage play and original corman film, as well as little shop. And someday i'll have recovered from seeing little shop.

The delay on that though brings me to the other shoe.. this year my productivity was in the basement and my week was at an all time low. Several reviews got delayed, from stewie's death leaving me unable to work for a few days for damn obvious reasons, to the move frequently taking my time or leaving me off balance. Not only that I didn't plan my time off for the move well, so I was left having to rearrange my whole schedule. It's why both pirate month and pride month, proud institutions on this blog, were reduced to a week and a three part special, something I wasn't remotely happy with. Things kept slipping by, and in general it wasn't my best year for getting shit done. I realized i'd simply taken WAY too much on, and thus have scaled back to ten reviews instead of 12 a month, and may scale back further if necessary: i'd rather these reviews be their best and get put through a spellcheck than be glad it's done only to realize I have nother thing that's due yesterday.

Not helping were towards the end of the year, a massively loud noise from my computer fan that made it hard to concentrate, something that's hard for my adhd ass in general let alone with a giant whirring fan that nothing can out loud, and having finally solved tha tproblem thanks to my dad's help.... then having my wrist go out, and while it's recovered now, it meant an extra week off, which sounds nice and was in places.. but was mostly spent in pain or asleep to escpae the pain till I got things to help with that. Then after a nice christmas, a lovely few days after... I got a cold, which spent up a large chunk of my vacation in a sick coma.

I apologize a bit for all the venting as you can tell this year's been a long one. I came out the otherside well with a loveable dog and a great new work/living space, but it was a bitch getting to here.

Thankfully animation wise, the industry wasn't in as MUCH turmoil this year. It still wasn't great: We got more cancelations with Lumberjanes and Phoebe and Her Unicorn announced formally dead before arrival had even started, and cancellations for Inside Job, Star Trek Progidy and Praise Petey, the last two seemingly in limbo as a result, with only one getting saved. While it wasn't the cancelnado of last year that wrecked many a service and nearly ended me, it was still pretty bad and Warner showed zero signs of learning from their lessons: after taking a few months off thinking the heat died down they tried canceling coyote vs acme.. only to then nakedly start a bidding war, making what they were really doing with most projects obvious: making them unaviliable.. and then starting a bidding war for other streamers. I'm not upset many of these shows are on other streamers as their safer from Zaslav there, but it shows just how nakedly greedy, transparently corrupt and blatantly fraudlent Warner Bros Discovery has become.

While the sales of the brilliant Merry Little Batman and sure to be great Batman: Caped Crusader to amazon are GOOD as Amazon has learned what animation means, it unmasks warner as simply doing all this tax writeoff shit to make money.. and then often forgetting to even sell the shows, not carring if no one's buying and just shrugging off someone's heart and soul being cast into the void. The loss of Final Space and Close Enough STILL stings and hasn't gone away even with the maker of the former both having found a way to finish the story and move on with his life.

The cherry on top of this shit sundae is Zaslav, no shit, saying the decision to shelve Batgirl, a movie that was entirely done and could've had the elseworlds label slapped on it if they didn't want it in the DCU, BRAVE. Yes that.. really happened.

It wasn't just Zaslav fucking up this year though, as other execs certainly tried their hardest or were arm and arm with him: The biggest blunder is obviously the strikes which while not affecting animation for the most part, was still a long dark night of the soul that was entirely the fault of executives not wanting to give up the precious theorietical money they could make once AI gets to the point it can create actual things, nor the likenesses of DEAD PEOPLE they should have no right to. Exec behavior was at it's most disgraceful this year... I don't know how that bare somehow got lower but that's the hellscape we're in with both zaslav and iger beign part of the corprate hydra that kept rejecting any deals presented and tended to flip the table and leave in a huff , leaving the negotations for weeks at a time till it became apparent that no amount of veiled threats of starving them out.

That said the strikes... were a net positive: they were long, brutal and threw tv off and delayed a show or two.. but it was well worth it. It helped show just how much actors and writers of all pay levels are needed, got them badly needed pay increases and protections and left the door open to help fiddle with AI protections as while AI isn't remotely good at creating scripts, that's never stopped execs from promoting something anyway. Despite MANY attempts to demonize the strikers, frame them as hollywood elites despite the fact the bulk were just trying to live on and were putting their liveleyhoods at stake to make sure they had one, or paint them as the bad guys.. it never worked. The public held firm, the strikers held firm and deflected most attempts with solidarity, with said big fish they tried to use as propoganda.. instead gladly donating to help the strike keep going. Fran Drescher and co fought hard, and the result is a slightly better hollywood.

And that hope for a brighter future really radiated this year: while Animation is still in flux in places, a lot of the networks hit hard by corprate dumbfuckery last year started to regrow: Netflix, after a year or two of rapid cancellations and baffling decisions, finally regrew it's animation divsions: Outside of Inside Job, most cancelations were shows that really weren't the best idea or execution to start with, and most hits got renewed, with them even picking up Star Trek Prodigy for another season and likely as many as they can carry. They pivoted more to adult animation with hits like Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Pluto, Castlevania Nocturne, Carol and the End of the World and Blue Eyed Samurai, the latter three I wish I got to but i've heard are incredible.

While WBD was still BURNIN DOWN THE HOUSEEEE, it snuck in a few hits with My Adventures with Superman and tons of great stuff I did'nt get too like Scavengers Reign, the beginning of the end for Craig of the Creek, Fired on Mars, and Hair Love, while having a suprise banger in the form of Tiny Toons Loonveristy, proving just how to reboot a classic property once again. Not only that the finale movies for Venture Bros and Metalocalypse came out, which given the last year was a huge fingers crossed thing. But both came out, I got both on blu ray, and got neat posters with them in the bargin and both closed up two of adult swims best series in the way they richly deserved. We also got an Urkel Christmas Movie. I guess.

Amazon continued it's own building: in addition to the dark knight picups mentiond, Invincible and Legend of Vox Machina both had amazing season 2's, with Vox Machina picked up for two more seasons to close it out proper and a Mighty Nein spinoff, with a Belles Helles Spinoff all but guarnateed at some point, and Hazbin Hotel after a truly agonizing year of waiting for someone to announce they had it, finding a perfect home for the happiest place in hell.

Finally, the indie scene, already thriving blew the fuck up. For the first time I nominated six diffrent pilots from various indie creators who all did a fucking great job: Godspeed, Lackadaisy, In Limbo, Atlas and the Stars, and Swift Spark and the Defensive five all had impressive showings and I regret not watching Lackadaisy in time to support it, but I can't wait to see what it brings to the table and to see all of these shows make it to series, not to mention up coming ones like ToonrifiqTariq's "Hey" that are likely going to come out next year.

It's a strange time for animatoin.. but one tha'ts proven you can make your own way, that the big coprations are trying and that in film.. is at one of i'ts brightest: while there ere some stumbles we had masterpieces like Nimona, which also made disney look horribly stupid for homophobically canceling it, Across the Spider verse (which needed to treat it's animators better but still deserves mention), and TMNT Mutant Mayhem.

It was a hell of a year and I can't want to share the best of it with you. And as a result of such a good year there's a few firsts: This is the first year with Anime included and if you want to know why i'ts taken so long it wasn't snobbery.. I just.. plain forgot to watch the ones I DID want to watch the past few years. That's... really it. I usually prefer reading the manga, as it's both faster and less time consuming, and Some of the best often aren't on the streaming platforms I do have. Pluto and Scott Pilgrim got by by being adaptations of something I love with all my heart a piece and thus coudln't bear myself to miss, but I might try to vary up my viewing more next year. I do want to check Zom 100 out at some point.

Anyways the other is that I allowed two dtv movies in here. Now this is with a caveat: It has to be directly linked to an existing animated series, a sequel, a prequel, etc. It's something I never really thought about before, but makes sense: While Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart and Army of the Doomstar were both considered for my film list too and are films.. their the proper conclusion to their stories. Not only that with Pluto's inclusion on this list, we have a series that had episodes only about ten minutes or so shy of both films runtime, so I figured fudging the rules like this was fair. I would've included Craig Before the Creek, but I want to wait to watch it when it comes on HBO Max next month.. and buy it on Physical as I don't remotely trust WBD to keep digtial copies up forever anymore. And really it feels in the spirit of things like operation zero back in the day or in both metalocalypse and venture bros own histories, all this and gargantua 2 and doomstar requieum.

Okay now that's settled this years list is intresting as while there's a decent amount of returning shows most haven't been on this list before. Of the nominees the only returning shows are The Legend of Vox Machina, Invincible, Helluva Boss, The Great North, Miraculous and Big City Greens, with mainstays like Tuca and Bertie and Close Enough sadly gone thanks to WBD being pralines and dicks. Thus our shows competing are an eclectic mix of returning combatants, one for sadly the last times, revivials of old shows, reboots of old shows, two limited series, and a handful of spectacular pilots

These are the shows that I got to see this show and thus entered the running, all sorted by platform since.. there's a lot.

Amazon Prime: The Legend of Vox Machina Invincible

HBO Max: YOLO: Silver Destiny Clone High Tiny Toons Looniversity Adventure Time : Fionna and Cake Aqua Teen Hunger Force My Adventures with Superman Disney+: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur The Owl House (Final Year) Kiff Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir Big City Greens Hulu: The Great North Futurama Bob's Burgers The Simpsons Netflix: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (Limited Series) Pluto (Limited Series) DTV: Venture Bros: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart (Special) Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar (Special)

YouTube: Helluva Boss Godspeed Lackadaisy In Limbo The Amazing Digital Circus Atlas and the Stars Swift Spark and the Defensive Five

So with our nominees in clear view, who shined the brightest, who didn't and whose going to yell at me over my choices? find out under the cut!

FULL SPOILERS FOR MOST EPISODES ON THIS LIST. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

20. The First Episode (Atlas and the Stars, Pilot)

"Sorry for dragging you into this man. You don't have to trust me but I promise to make this up to you, I swear."

Coming in just under the wire as the last released episode on this list, it's placing is just a fun concidence, we have The First Episode... the pilot for new series Atlas and the Stars. You can watch it here

So it's come up soon but the reason I put MOST episodes on the spoiler warning.. is this pilot and another on the list, I really DON'T want to spoil much as both rely on you watching it, this one in paticular not revealing what the show's premise will be from here on out, instead telling the parallel tales of Atlas, a human from a dying planet who hyjacks a space ship to acheive her dream of endless freedom in the stars, Atmosphere, a shy loveable alien embarking on his first day regestring ships at a space port, and Quasar, the lord of a mysterious planet who keeps having to sacrifice.. somethign to a portal to keep it alive... and it can't keep up forever and his beligeured assitant nebula. ALl of this comes togeter in a beautifully animated, well active and creative sci fi adventure with one hell of a hook from where it goes form here, awesome character desgin work and some neat sci fi tek in Atlas' googles. Miranda Toomey used every inch of whateve rbudget she had to make this and it turne dout gorgeous, and I can't wait to see the next episode in this and how this story progresses. It's well done, gorgeous, heartfelt and engaging and I recommend you go watch it before we move on to our next entry.

19. Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart (Venture Brothers, Finale Movie) "All you need to know is the person who gave birth to you loves you, I promise you that"

From a start to a finish we have Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart, the long awaited and thankfully came out with a dvd and everything ending of the Venture Brothers. It's shockingly low on this list, but as much as I love this series.. it came out in a tight year with some even better finales, and had the burdern of having to cram in a season's worth of content, even with the cuts they made, into an 84 minute film.

The results are still excellent: Radiant is a fun, frantic race to the finish line that satisfyingly answers a lot of the series biggest questions: Who the boys mom was, how Monarch and Rusty are related, can HELPER fire a shot gun, will Hank and Dean reconcile... all the closure we needed in a tight 88 minute story that also includes classic hip hop traick it's takes 2, magnetic shenanigans, Hank using giant novelty checks for money, dermott using a piss filled super soaker, dean thinking he's a vampire, a halfway house for supernatural heroes, and Mantilla, one of the series most delightful villians and one I really wish we'd gotten proper time with. It's a joyous reaffermation of what this series is about, has nice moments for most of the best cast members, including Brick Frog my beloved, and ends on a mostly satisfying note. It also gives us a golem made entirely of pants and isn't that the greatest adventure of all?

18. "Lights, Camera, Sparks?!" (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Episode 5)

"You've known him for three f***ing days!" "Is that all it's been?!" Scott Pilgrim Takes Off was an easy faviorite this year and given my longstanding love of the Scott Pilgrim comics and like of the movie, it wasn't a huge shocker i'd love whatever the anime turned out being. I was pumped from the announcement, worried it'd just be "the movie but animated" when the cast was announced.. and then over the moon when it turned out that no, the cast was all coming back but the take on the franchise was all new.

What we got wasn't the straight adaptation that was pitched.. and was all the better for it. If you haven't seen Takes Off.. please do it's fantastic, I did a whole review on it, go, and if you won't then this is your last warning as I can't really talk about the episodes of it on this list without getting into spoilers as it's one of those series where the first episode twist.. defines the rest of the show.

Okay we good. So the first episode progresses as normal, a few tweaks to let you know this is it's own universe, enough character moments to show that even with the film voice actors the main cast is closer to the comics..... then Scott seemingly dies.

From there things go off the rails, and that's where the magic kicks in: While Scott's still key to the story and turns out, naturally, NOT to be dead, instead kidnapped by a mysterious portal, Ramona takes the lead, with us getting to know her better now she's the pov character instead of the guy worshipping the ground she skates on. While Ramona was fleshed out in the comics, the series gives her more to do as she solves this mystery. It's intriguing, it's fun, and it gives Mary Elizabeth Winstead the chance to play a more fleshed out version of the character with more sides to her than "aloof".

What the series also does well.. is go the fuck off the rails. Matthew uses his newfound confidence to punch gideon out of all his companies and fancy suits, Gideon becomes the best worst couple with julie, and Young Neil becomes a spacey moron who assumes the mysterious person writing a script based on how the story originally went is his sleep paralysis demon. The series has a lot of great character, animation and development as Ramona's forced to .. talk with her exes instead of her new boyfriend punching most of them for her.. but it can't be forgotten it's also delightfully nuts, easily the goofiest this franchise has gotten and i'm here for it.

That brings us to "Lights, Camera, Sparks?!", easily the biggest shit post of the entire series, and one of the funniest episodes of the year easily. While the previous ones are a bit melancholy in tone with the goofy stuff as a nice side dish, fitting how scott pilgrim rolls, LCS is just one long farce with Ramona struggling to get any detective shit done while Wallace wrecks envy and todd's relationship, Edgar Wright but voiced by Kevin McDonald slowly looses his mind, and Neil gets into various shenanigans while only being a quarter aware of anything going on, including what was in the script his sleep paralysis ramona from the future wrote.

The setup is simple: Toronotwood is making a film based on how scott's story usually go, again ghost written by a mysterious sleep paralysis demon, and hired Lucas and envy to play scott and ramona. Lucas got can...something for dating a 30 year old who looks like a high schooler, so now i'ts todd clumisly shoved into Scott's clothes. Wallace is also there, having throughly humilited the notoriously straight actor playing him out of a job and letting his ego grow 15 sizes that day.

What follows is a mocumentary masterclass as Envy and Todd can't stop being horny for two seconds, Wallace making out with Todd and being his bi awakening reading them to constantly "run lines in his trailer", Neil is hilaroius and you will repeat everything he says and Ramona is left bobbing around unable to actually get any answers.

This all leads to a delightful explosion as Todd falls in love with Wallace, Wallace is a callous dick, Wallace sicks his stunt doubles on Envy, Ramona is sicked on them, and everyone is confused, all cumilating in todd binge eating poutine and crying, an option I wish americans had but alas we are poutineless while Matt shuts down the production then sputters like a kid who got a lucky punch in on his bully when he finds out Scott is alive. Also Knives and Stephen get a meeting with him leading to the greatest musical of all time.

As you can tell this episode is very stupid and I love it. It's just 100% nonsense the whole way through, letting Wallace do something since the only main character who isn't Ramona he interacts with is in the future right now. There isn't much to disect, i'ts just pure comedy gold with props to both Kirean for really nailing a more douchestastic wallace and especially Brandon Routh who has shockingly deep comedic chops. A great episode and a nice break before we dive full speed into just where Scott went.

17. Lackadaisy (Pilot Episode)

Old Man River! That seems far too austere a name for something made of mirth and rage. O, roiling red-blood river vein. If chief among your traits is age, You're a wily, convoluted sage.

Is "old" the thing to call what rings the vernal heart of wester-lore? What brings us brassy-myth made kings. And a preponderance of bug-type things.  To challenge titans come before!

O, demiurge to a try at Avalon-once-more?

And what august vitality in your wide aorta stream. You must have had to oversee alchemic change of timber beam to iron, brick and engine steam!

Your umber whiskey waters lance the prideful, sober sovereignty of faulty-haloed temperance, and wilt her self-sure countenance; Yes, righteousness is vanity.  But sport's for imps, not elderly.

So if there's a name for migrant mass of veteran frivolity That snakes through seas of prairie grass and groves of summer sassafras; a name that flows as roguishly as wild waters, fast and free, It's your true name: Mississippi.

That beautiful poem opens up Lackadaisy, thank you wiki so I didn't have to transcribe that whole glorious thing, as a roustabout cat in 1927 St. Louis names rocky spends the first few minutes playing fiddle, basking in the glorious moonlight and waxing poetic about the mighty missisipi. It's a beautiful opening that shows off the series deft animation and MIssouri setting, something that makes me want to learn more about my own state's history. It's clear from the word go a LOT of love and research went into this setting, and given creator Tracy Butler had started Lackadaisy as an even MORE lavishly drawn webcomic.

Lackadaisy has a simple setup: three cats working for the titular saloon, Rocky, our dreamy narrator and mild loon, Freckle, his grumpy sidekick whose perhaps a bit TOO good with a gun, and Ivy, a peppy girl who takes jabs at Rocky and flirts with Freckle. I .. I ship the fuck out of it. These two are adorable. The three are robbing a body for canadian hooch but have to deal with the deathly serious and deathly hot, Mordecai Heller and his much more excitable, jokey and bloodthristy associates Serfafine and Nico Savoy.

The short is mostly a tense back and forth between both parties as our heroes barely surivive, we get a lot of good Ivy and Freckle content and Rocky saves the day by hyjacking a goddamn steam shovel and loading it with dynamite while waxing poetic and laughing madly. If that's not enough to get you to check it out if you haven't, I have clearly failed in some way as Lackadasiy is excellent and like Atlas and the Stars, leaves me wanting more of this cast. I'll defintely be reading the comic and plan to at least try to get the print editions coming up soon, as the pilot does a good job of showing who these characters are simply by action.. but leaving you questioning WHO they are and how they all ended up in a failing saloon, and why say Mordecai spares Ivy towards the end. Whatever it is I only want more of this, and am so happy those of you who weren't late adoptres like me helped get us a full season 1. Thank you so much and I can't wait for this show to show up here again. It's gonna be a riot and Micheael Kovach steals the show any time Rocky speaks, while SunWongCho is just... amazing as Mordecai and gives us a great antagonist to work with, a classic mystery man whose side your not sure who he's on, you just know he's a threat when he shows up.

16. Simon Petrikov (Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, Season 1 Episode 2)

Does somebody jump for joy? Does somebody cry? Now that I'm not part of that sadness? Does somebody want me now? Now that I can’t fly? Now that I'm not part of the madness? Part of the madness?

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake surprised the hell out of me in the best way possible. See while I never stopped caring in SOME way about adventure time, my dropping off mid series after ... THAT happened in Breezy, only coming back occasionally for an episode or two, the orgalorg arc and the finale, I really wasn't interested. I did enjoy the two episodes of Distant Lands I saw, Stakes was excellent and Together Again felt like a more fitting final chapter to the series. Both didn't feel like continuation of the story: Stakes was a coda giving us the Bubbline content CN denied us and Together Again is an Epilogue, set at the very end of Finn's story.

So I was kind of.. Meh on Fionna and Cake's announcment. I wasn't against it but I'd just never really cared about these two, with the series having made two great episodes about them (and two more I hadn't seen at the time), but the whole "created by a creepy old guy" part of it always held me back from fully embracing these two. I was badly hoping they'd throw away the whole fanfic conceit and just move on.

They didn't do that.. but Fionna and Cake not only found a way to revitalize that, but reminded me WHY the original series was so strong. Fionna and Cake grew up with the original audience, a piece about metafiction, fandom, growing up, and depression all made wonderful and really stretching the property as far as it'll go and i'ts unexpected season 2 greenlight makes me all too excited.

The thing I was most excited for though.. was still greatly done. Alongside Fionna and Cake getting a slice of life makeover thanks to Simon going back to "normal", we get some closure for Simon who ended the series seemingly fine: Betty is gone, but he's sane, Marcy gets her real dad back, job done right?

Adam Muto, Adventure Time's ep from season 6 and the archeticht of most things from Rebcca Sugar's leaving till present day, disagreed, planning a simon special for distant lands before rewriting it for this series. And it points out something a lot of fans noticed about this ending: it's.. not okay. Simon lost betty AGAIN, and is now trapped in a world he never made.

And the series makes this into his arc, how does he fit into this world, and what he tries to do to escape it instead of dealing with it. Simon Petrkiov paints a picture of where Simon's been in the 10 year time jump between Come Along With Me and his debut in this series, Simon Petrikov.. and it's a deeply depressing picture.

Simon's a living exhibit on the humans floating island, unable to connect with his fellow humans as he can't relate to them in any way shape or form. He's a 20th Century man and their 24th century men and women. Not helping is an overzealous, or sweet fan girl he keeps shooing away who just CAN'T understand that the man who wrote Fionna and Cake.. ISN'T the same guy making toast in a fake apartment and watching Cheers every day. The Ice King was PART of simon, but they were never the same person and every reminder of the hell the poor man went under, the things he did, the people he hurt just reminds Simon how far away he is from home.

Not helping is something all too common with depression and trauma, something I know all too well... Simon won't open up to people. He doesn't get help (and as we learn via a minerva bot in the finale Therapy was ALWAYS there for him), and he keeps space from the surrogate family he does have. He dosen't want to "ruin" marcy finally being in a good place and thus barely calls her, content to just visit and pretend things are okay. Finn TRIES reaching out.. but while he's older, wiser, and beardier now, and to my delight still with Huntress Wizard (and in headcanon in a throuple with Flame Princess, but that just me. ), but he's still an adrenline junky raised by a loveable manchild who can't quite relate to someone like Simon, who just wants his old life back.

All this is punctuated by the return of Rebecca Sugar, who sings the beautiful and tragic "part of the madness" which sums up where Simon is: he's normal, he's who HE wants to be.. but the world simply feels like it rejects him, when really he's just as much rejecting it. Instead of trying to find some calm in the storm of this life and admit he needs help.. he chases betty, trying badly to get her back even though it just.. isnt' possible.. and causing this series as a result. He just can't let go.. but the series shows him he has to if he wants to truly live.

15. Miraculous World Paris : Tales of Shadybug and Claw Noir (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir World Special 4) | In the daytime, I'm Gabriel Just a normal man, with a normal life But I have a secret I must keep at any cost Or all hope will be lost. Miraculous! Fear is a cage! Hear the message, answer the call! Miraculous! Yes, you can change! The power of love will free us all! Miraculous!

Yeah after two years of watching it, Miraculous Ladybug actually made this list. I'm shocked i'ts both this high AND this good. See while i'm a fan of Miraculous Ladybug, most of the fandom is more a fan of what it could be, the potetial it'd have if Thomas Astruc hadn't been the one mostly running it for 5 seasons and running it straight into the ground into the molten core of the earth. The Recent film, while far from perfect, felt like more what the series SHOULD'VE been, with the secret id bullshit resolved by the end of what's essentially movie/season 1, Gabe given more depth etc.

So i'ts ironic that in the same year the show itself, via it's spinoff specials gives us ANOTHER universe that's way better than the mess they've made of the main timeline with Miraculous World Paris. Mirror Universes are nothing new, to the point Kev and I have a whole series on mirror universe episodes featuring this very special planned, starting later this month.

With Ladybug's lack of subtley, misuse of good ideas and goofy incompetence, I assumed this special would be at best goofy fun with overblown multiverse and mirror universe tropes. Instead... it's the single best episode of the shows run, a truly moving piece that made me enjoy mirror universes again the same way Fionna and cake has made me enjoy AU's again

Miraculous knows just the right way to make evil counterparts: instead of the earth 3 versions of Marinette, Adrien and Gabriel the complete opposites of our heroes or just "Evil, Evil and less of a prick", Shady Bug, Claw Noir and Betterfly are all the same people we've come to know, simply gone down a diffrent route. Gabe is a better person, having STARTED as his earth 1 shitheal self working with his earth's eviil shadow overlord supreme... the loss of his life somehow changing this course. Instead of using the butterfly miraculous to try and bend the world in shape to get his wife back, he honors her legacy as Betterfly, helping others, something that seems IMPOSSIBLE for our gabe to consider without an ulterior motive.. but all too plausible if he just let go of his ego and his wife and let her die in peace instead of holding her in a dome coma and fighting teens. If he accepted he can't control something

Likewise Shadybug is Mari if Alaya hadn't befriended her, if Chloe just kept bullying Mari and Mari never stood up to her, the bullying just made her worse. If her parents WEREN'T there to support her: the bakery and her room is.. but it's very clear her alternate parents just aren't the loving duo our Mari's are. This is the kind of Mari that would've easily become an akuma.. but instead becomes something WORSE thanks to Supreme, a mysterious entity linked to the guardians, very heavily implied to be earth 3 Master Wu, who gives out the miraculouses to those who can tighten his grip on earth, and selected Mari and an Adrien who never went to school and thus never got out of his shell and is even MORE distant form his dad due to Gabe's new job as his pawns.

It results in a tearful battle as our heroes are both forced to TRUST the best life version of their nemisis, and battle what easily could'e ben them, while their counterparts find out , after Shadybug tries the wish thing, that supreme was using them and their lives are being drained by overusing their powers, explaning why the regular miraculouses limit our heroes to one use of their powers and limited timing. This is what happens otherwise and Monarch is all too happy to take advantage of that. There's more to this special, a lot more I can't wait to explore in april, but needless to say Miraculous World Paris.. is what I wanted from this series: a creative, tightly told, heartbreakingly well done superhero story with tense action, creative uses of the kwamis, and good character stuff for BOTH versions of our protagonists. I'ts a true masterwork and I wish THIS is the show we got more consistently.

14. The Amazing Rudy (Bob's Burgers, Season 14, Episode 2)

"I kinda walked away on dinner with my dad and her boyfriend and dad and his vicky for the first time which I guess how family dinners are gonna be from now on and I guess technically... I ran away"

It's weird but despite my deep love of the Great North (Which for the first time since it's debut missed the list this year, but damn did it have a good one, even if season 4 had to wait for 2024), until this year I wasn't consistently watching it's sister show Bob's Burgers anymore. I liked Bob's, I loved the movie, I had nothing against it. But any time I tried to get back there'd be an episdoe that just took me out. So now while I won't watch every episode, I still watch most, as the show is good as ever, if not on a comeback after a few seasons apparently felt (if TV Tropes is a good indciator) as very hit and miss. Season 14 is fantastic and it's no surprise it's second episode ended up being one of the series best.

The Amazing Rudy is something completely different in tone and staging, with a more melancholy peanuts style soundtrack, a somber tone and more muted humor. It fits perfectly, as the episode isn't centered around the Belchers this time but Louise's best friend, future husband and morality pet Rudy. The show has had secondary character spotlights before, Rudy getting a few himself, but usually the Belchers are still front and center and one of them still plays a major role in following this character around. For instance a few episodes later we get "bully-leive it or not" a zeke spotlight episode, but one where the other three kids are still very present: Zeke and his shameful past are the focus, but Louise and Tina still figure heavily into the plot, louise nearly bullyign Zeke's former bullying victim thinking the guy bullied zeke and that's why zeke freezes up seeing the guy, while Tina guiding the kid around is what kicks things off. The two aren't the focus, but it still feels like a bobs burgers adventure, helped with a bob subplot where he grapples with Jimmy Pesto, now played by Eric Bauza after a long absence thanks to his previous actor being an insurrectionist which lets face it Jimmy totally also was or at the very least thought about before finding the air fair was too much.

Here the focus is on Rudy to the point it feels like an episode of a Rudy spinoff show that does not exist but we now all want it too. It's still in Seymour's Bay (Which I forget is the name of the town this show takes place in as mostly people we know are in wonder wharf or on ocean avenue), just following Rudy as the lead instead. The Belcher's show up, in the middle of a bob's burger's episode we'll never see about Gene getting good grades and thus getting baked potato lasagna, a recipie he made up and assumes "everyone else must enjoy" is part of the reward, with the payoff him realizing he can't force someone to love his abomination, but he CAN have their portions. Being Rudy's closest friends and future wife it makes since there the ones he talks to when he goes to the mall with his dad to get a magic trick for the night and a snappy hat when he crosses them.

The Belcher's presence also hammers home what Rudy's dealing with though and that's.. a loss of family. Rudy's Parents are divorced. This isn't a new fact as it's come up casually in the past: being the kids Teddy, i.e. the person closest to them in their age group to be clear, not the person who defintely has passed by the restraunt at night every night and just.. stares in the window. But being the kids most prominent supporting character, with Jimmy Junior and Zeke a close shared second, we've gotten to know him: his parents divorce is amnicable, he alternates weekends, and they've both moved on. We haven't really seen his mom but Rudy seems just fine with her and with his dad being his primary caregiver, is a bit closer to him, as shown in this ep as the two are adorably in synch and have their rythm.

See Rudy didn't LOOSE his mom or dad, both are still very present.. but he lost the three of them as a family and until recently had their monthly "We're still a family' dinner", what, as we learn in a heartbreaking montage i'll get too shortly, was a monthly family dinner and became a way to show that both his parents still loved him and still liked each other even if they weren't together. The problem is while a well meaning gesture, both parents have started bringing their partners, which is fair but makes it less a family dinner.. and more Rudy stuck with four adults having a hangout who accidently forget he's there. While I never went through one of these as a middle schooler when my parents broke up, I know the type of event Rudy deals with all too well: it's mostly adults, there's no one to talk to and your alone. Granted I was fine with it because I just.. read whatever book I brought anyway, but rudy is a social butterfly, an awkward awkward butterfly, so he has no idea how to handle this, or really deal with it.

His one ace in the hole is a magic trick, from his faviorite shop, the same one we saw in the magic episode way back. See while Rudy's love of being a magician is another character trait that's come up, this episode gives weight to it: Rudy got into magic not just because he dearly loves it and the person at the shop gladly mentors him and supports his talent, but it's seen in a montage of previous dinners that any time his parents started fighting, before and after divorce, a simple trick reentered the night and reminded them what's important.

Naturally the trick, done using a glass of drinking water and some tablets, goes wrong, and while Rudy's parents encourage him to try again and no one really is mad at him or upset it went wrong and spilled everywhere, he feels utterly humiliated, something we all went through as kids: you screw something up and while your parents don't make a deal out of it, you just can't. Hell I still have that problem. So combine that with already not wanting ot be here and Rudy bounces, his parents not aware he's gone.

Naturally, given the earlier setup, he bounces to the Belchers. And it's easy to see why: The Belchers are a loving, wonderful family, and Bob and Linda not only gladly let Rudy join, but engage with him in a way Rudy's parents simply forgot. Rudy's parents aren't callous... adults simply make mistakes and in likely trying ot make sure rudy's okay with both their partners being there, their partners feel good, the million other things they got going on.. they talked over Rudy. It's what makes this work: we feel for rudy, but it stings more that this isn't some problem with an easy fix. There will be plenty more dinners where he's wallpaper and plenty more times they likely forget him without meaning to. The trick COULD'VE helped.. but it failing was a reminder it was just a distraction from the fact his parent's aren't a family anymore, just two people who share a kid, loving him and caring about each other.. but what little bit of what he had before the divorce is just gone.

Brian Huskey's voice as he gives the monologue I used for this episode's quote is just heartbreaking.. you can feel the kid just.. relaizing he can't just run away from it. It's just.. how things are. HIs sad revelation of this just hits, Louise's "Oh boy", and Rudy sounds on the verge of tears.. we've seen him mad, we've seen him kinda sad.. but never like this. Just a child realizing things won't be the same and he has nothing to do but go back to it.

Thankfully as bob and linda mindly panic after realizing "oh god this child just ran and his parents don't know oh god", Louise knows what her best friends need and offers to walk him back. not only is the moment shiptastic.. it's sweet. Louise gets Rudy is having a hard time with all of this and needs some support, needs someone his own age there to talk with and to help deflect attention. And to punch out anyone on the way who tries to hurt them with brass knuckles, which naturally linda gave her as santa. After all he IS from the streets. It provides a pretty morose episode an utterly sweet ending as the two walk back, Bob couldn't be prouder, and Rudy.. for now at least.. isn't alone among his own family anymore. He may never have what he had back.. but he's gained someone pretty good along the way.

13. Watching and Dreaming (The Owl House, Season 3 Episode 3, Series Finale)

"Eda, King, Thank you for Everything" "Right Back atcha kiddo" "Weirdos?" "Weirdos"

The Owl house was the best show of the 2020's and while it had some stiff compettion this year, it still hasn't been surpassed. It was hilarious, had a wonderfully built messed up world with lots of thought, deep character arcs, and was sadly cut short way too soon, but will never leave the hearts of those of us who loved it.

So thankfully they stuck the landing, as Watching and Dreaming was a worthy conclusion to the series. After the decent but easily weakest of the three season 3 specials "For the Future", Watching and Dreaming is a nicely packed finale that wraps up the series wonderfully and while it leaves me wanting only MORE, MORE DAMN YOU MORE, as the series always had, it's a good note to end on while Dana gets the hell out of mouseton for a while.

It was also the last episode of a show I covered as it came out, with an attempt to do so with legend of vox machina adding way too much to my work load this year to really work out, and as a finale to that.. it was just as welcome.

Watching and Dreaming spends it's first third on the Collector, and while there is a bit of disconnect between what he puts our heroes through and where he left off, with Luz once again hving her anxieties reinforced via a horrifying puppet show, the show quickly recovers as the big three are reunited after two long episodes and several long months in and out of universe: Luz has her other mom and little brother back, Eda has her kids back and King has her family back. We also get a quick show of just how far they've come since the pilot as each one easily bodies the collector's games... and leaves him wondering why they won't play fair, why this isn't working. It takes three people who had to learn their lessons the hard way through tears, isolation and learning their life was a lie, to teach the boy god empathy and unveil that at his heart.. he's just a kdi who REALLY didn't know what he was doing was awful.

Unfortunately just as the collector learns friendship, belos POSSESS THE TITAN'S CORPSE ITSELF and plans to do .. something.. genocidey and after an attempt to just forgive him fails, the only thing our heros have is each other, with Luz's friends aka our other heroes busy saving allt he puppets with their new starry pjamaed pal.

Luz gets a last minute somewhat asspully upgrade, but it's all three together that defeats belos. It's an epic finale but one that nicely focuses on who Dana intended as the core of the series: a child who found her place in another world and learned responsibility and to forgive herself, a witch who learned to forigve and let others in, and a titan who learned empathy, all kicking that blobs ass. And then curb stomping it. It's a moving, fast paced, excellently animated finale with a fun time skip epilogue to tie it all together. Owl House may be gone... but it'll never be forgotten.

12. Army of the Doomstar (Metalocalypse, Finale Movie)

"I am a wheel in the gear of the Klok. I feel not my mortality".

The other adult swim finale movie this year and the one that had the harder road. While Venture Bros got it's movie offer at the same time as cancelation, it took Brendon Small a decade, a whole ass album designed to be as close to a finale as he could get without a lisence and a LOT of campaning to finish his story to get here. Metalocalypse ended just as the final verse of blood, metal and stupidity was about to be written, and it was thanks to Small and the Fans themselves that we finally got it with this movie.

Army wraps up 4 seasons and another movie, a movie I dearly loved when it came out and still do, with an epic. It's darker in tone as the metalocalypse that begun at the start of the series is almost here and Nathan Explosion has a full on existential crisis trying to write the song that will save the world, having no idea how and not helped by his disasterous attempted propsoal to abigail while on a lot of wine and xanax (Props to small for ending a pretty disliked subplot exactly the way it shoudl without just.. tossing it out for time or some shit AND making it tie perfectly into the plot). The films dives into the overexpecations we put on creatives to MAKE US MORE DAMMIT, and how hard that actually is.. but also how fans.. are something to treasure and not spit in their face as our heroes have the whole series, seeing them more as parasites than people.

It maintains the series ballance of having an epic story.. but not sugarcoating that these guys are fucking morons with Nathan charging into a funeral on xanax and telling everyone, Pickels having ot literally be everyone's mom, and Pickles ordering a last meal fo rnathan of cool ranch diritos and choclate milk. The shows as goofy as ever, but adds a heart that's been only glimpsed on occasion as our heroes are allergic to feelings, as our heroes must save the world. We also get some kickass metal music as always, with SOS being a standout, giving us one last awesome dethklok performance and song as our heroes rally the world to show them their not alone.. and they never were. An epic, hilarious, and well done film that manages to cover all the bases it needs to and wrap everything up in 96 minutes. Pretty brutal.

11. The World Vs Scott Pilgrim (Scott Pilgrim Takes off Episode 6, Series Finale)

"Hey, because I'll have a lot of trouble saying it later, let me say it now: I love you, Scott. And I run away from the thing that I love. But what I've done in the past doesn't have to define me. Help me keep remembering that, okay?"

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off was a thrilling watch but there was one worry I had as it went.. sticking the landing. It set up a compelling mystery, to the point I genuinely wasn't sure who would kidnap scott as while the twins DID have to show up and were likely involved.. it just didn't fit that it was them. It being their robot who being a robot has never eaten anything, thus never eaten meat and would have none of the bilogicial weaknesses of a human, was brilliant as it is hilarious bonkers.

Who sent the robot.. was even better as it turned out to be Scott himself, a twist that told me everything was going to be alright. Specifically this is a scott who lived what this story would've been: Scott beats the exes, gets the girl, and they have a happy relationship and then marriage for 15 years, having become their best selves. The thing the series challenges though .. is if they can STAY better versions of themselves. It's something the other versions didn't really WANT to poke at because it makes the ending less happy: if they don't end up together, what's the point of all this. Yet.. relatoinships break up. Hope Larson, the real life inspriation for Ramona, divorced Brian Lee O Malley. The relationship COULD fail and where would that leave them.

As it turns out.. not great as Ramona bailed when it got hard while being vauge as usual, and Scott spiraled hard into his worst habits, moving in with wallace, again, and rather than figure out where he wen twrong.. wanted to hit undo on what he felt was a sunk cost, a relationship he put his heart into only for it to seemingly fail, even if he still had a chance to save it. Hence the brilliant and only not making this list because this year was paccckkked with good episodes, 2 Scott 2 Pilgrim before this. It also helps the takes off scott spedrun his charater development as future him is everything Scott tries to ignore about himself, his laziness, selfishness, short sightentess and very stupid brain, as a person he really can't ignore because that person kidnapped him because he took a joke Wallace made seriously.

So Scott naturally motors with the help of Future Wallace and Older Ramona, who was indeed the sleep paralysis demon and like her ex husband really sucks at plans, but gives Scott a lift home. So.. everything good? Ramona Grew, Scott Grew, Scott acknowlegeds he never should've dated a literal teenager... we goo dright? Right?

Thing is as this episode reveals midway through... Older Scott REALLY didn't want his past self to take the gamble that he could do it the right way and instead of giving himself tips.. gave himself anti kissing nanites so he and ramona can't kiss, the two naturally thinking it's the exes. We get a great opening here as scott confronts each of them, having only kinda witnessed their changes.. and most don't care. Even Gideon's moved on to Julie, his perfect match and a pariing I can't belivie I love and fits perfectly: their both the worst, and together their awful. Brilliant.

The two seemingly don't solve things.. but thankfully Old Scott is more than willing to show his hand.. as even older scott. Even Older Scott is terrifying, taking some of Scott's good traits.. and making them into something nightmarish. After his failure to change the future, not considering that

Instead looses his mind, training himself in video games and the martial arts for 10 years, all to counter everything his friends and the exes can do... all so he can KILL EVERY LAST ONE. Scott's worst nightmare across all realities has come to past, he's an evil ex.. and the evilest ex of all. Well in terms of power and madness, Gideon still put a bunch of women in jars because they broke up with him who Matt hopefully let out in this timeline.

We get a great fight as the utterly jacked, utterly terrifying even older scott, who nicely resembles evil ryu from street fighter and has pixel effects ala movie!gideon, cleans house, with Ramona wondering if she should just.. leave all this. It's only realizing that's literally all she does that gets her to realize she want sto fight for this, even if it ends poorly, and Scott, already all in, helps her.

Ultimately it's not the duo who win their future this time.. but Ramona's own future, what could be, even older ramona, saving her past self via fusion, a super mode (Just like Sonic 2.. or 3.. or dragon ball.), and some words of encouragment, giving EOS another chance and Scott the beautiful words above.

It's a powerful message and one that's real: it's hard to change.. but it's even harder to get change to stick. You just have to keep remembering it.. and keep trying. No matter how bad things seem.. you can make it better.

This is all helped by the beautiful ending, a pixel version of god only knows as everyone, exes now included, gets to live their best life and we last see Ramona as she dons what we finally find to be her natural hair color, blond (with some highlights because, hey, it looks badass), ready to face the future)... and the best worst couple hyping a sequel that will never happen, but frankly it'd be werider if they didn't, A truly spectacular finale to what may be the best version of this story.

[luxdea]

     THERE WAS A heavy, nervous feeling stirring in her stomach as she watched link finish the preparation for their journey. she had agreed to a trip back to the castle. she knew it was best they go sooner rather than later.. she had helped plan for it, written & re––––written lists of supplies they would need for both the journey there & the potentially still hazardous trek through her former home. she wanted to go. & yet, there she stood, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth & wringing her hands as the preparations finished. she did her best to let her expression settle into neutrality at link’s statement. the last thing she wanted to do was worry him.

     ❝ why wouldn’t we go? ❞

HER HAND REACHED up to absently pet storm's mane, though she didn't even turn her head to look at the stallion. she hoped it would be enough to calm him.

     ❝ now that ganon is gone, it's only a matter of time before others become brave enough to venture towards the castle. there are things that i would prefer not fall into the hands of others. ❞

❝ THIS ... SHOULD BE ... THE LAST OF IT, ❞ link announces through a grunt of effort, hoisting the last of his and zelda's travel supplies onto epona's back. as he fastens the bag securely into place, his gaze shifts towards his travel companion and the anxious energy he's pretended not to notice since the two of them began planning this trip. it permeates off her now in a constant wash, more noxious than the fumes of a hinox. he frowns. ❝ we don't have to go, you know. ❞ / @luxdea

[mashmaiden]

The long story no one asked for!

So, my trip to LA. Holy crap what an adventure! Absolute whirlwind experience but totally amazing!

So last Tuesday, at like noon my time, the main casting director for NCIS and NCIS: LA posted on Instagram about an NCIS-Verse themed picket event the following day at 9am. Now, I live in Phoenix, which is about a 7 hour drive away from LA. It's doable alone, but a bit hard to go there and back in a day by yourself. But I decided I'd do it if I had to!

As an alternative, I looked at flights and buses, and found that Greyhound prices were about the equivalent of what gas would cost me, and that sold me. Bought the ticket and had about 5 hours to get ready to leave on an overnight bus. So I left my house at 10pm, parked at my friend's house, took the light rail to the bus stop, and got on a way too cramped bus at 11:30pm and headed to LA!

We got into Downtown LA at 8am. I caught an Uber to a neighborhood adjacent to Paramount Studios, got some coffee and walked toward the gates.

A little preface before we get to the rest of the stuff you guys ACTUALLY want to hear about. So, when I posted the Rosa pop on Instagram before the series finale, Natalia (the actress who plays Rosa), followed the account, and reached out, mentioning she would love a Rosa Pop of her own. I told her I could make her one if she wanted. When I posted to my insta-stories about potentially coming to the Strike that day, she messaged me with a "I hope I'll get to see you there!" So part of the 5 hours I had to get ready included finishing painting the Pop I'd created for her.

AT THE STRIKE

After checking in, I got a SAG strike sign and started wandering around. I saw Medalion (Fatima) and Kavi (Shyla) and Gemmill from afar, but was too chicken to approach any of them at that moment. I reached out to Natalia via IG and she said she was nearly there. A few minutes later, she and her boyfriend Nick arrived, and I went up to them. I presented her with her pop but offered to hang onto it for the time being (she only had a small bag with her, and the pop was in a box). She in return, had a gift for me! She framed a copy of the call sheet and sides (that day's script pages) from one of the days of filming the S13 finale episode! Totally unexpected and so sweet!

So the three of us walk around in the circles in front of one of the gates for a bit, and then we wandered over to the writer's strike checkin booth, where there was a small sign, indicating the "NCIS" meetup was at the OTHER gate. We head over there, and Natalia immediately spots a few of the writers/actors and we head their way. She introduces me to them - I think at this point it was Justin, Matt, and Duncan (Castor/COD's stand in -- he loved the Hetty pop!) - and we chat for a bit. I mentioned how my desire to do film work was started by all of our "ideas" we'd come up with for alternative plots, and one of them actually asked me what my favorite idea was! I half blanked, half chickened out, and kinda fumbled my way through the question.

After that, I ended up behind Kavi while we were stopped at the crosswalk, and I actually worked up the nerve to introduce myself to her. Told her how much fun I found Shyla, etc. She loved the Pops, and was so shocked that I came from Phoenix, that she started telling EVERYONE she saw about it. Around this time, we noticed Dani was on the corner, talking with other NCIS peeps (I think this is when she was taking the pics with Vanessa, Brian, etc), and Kavi asked me if I'd met her yet. I said no, and she was like "well we have to change that".

A few minutes later, Dani starts walking the circles with the rest of us, and as she passes us, Kavi gets her attention, literally DRAGGING me by my arm to follow her. She again repeats my bus tale, and I get to show her the Kensi pop. This moment was captured as a beautiful candid pic by one of the photographers who has regularly been taking/posting pictures of the strike.

Dani asked if the pop was for her. And, I'll admit, that was not my intention when I went, as the wedding Kensi was a little beat up, having traveled across LA with me 3-4 times by now. But, how could I say no?! So, now wedding Kensi is in the hands of her inspiration! *squee*! Beyond that, Dani and I talked a bit about working in the industry, I mentioned how I wasn't quite decided on where I'd end up, but was looking into writing and creative producing. She admitted to not being so into the writing side of things herself, but she enjoyed the directing/producing/acting side.

As we were standing there talking, we were surrounded by mostly NCIS: LA cast/crew members and someone suggested doing a group picture. I was in the middle of the mass of people, and no one made me move, so I somehow got to take part in the super cool group pic! lol.

I also managed to get one-on-one pics with with Erik Palladino (Sabatino), Don Wallace (Navy SEAL Frank Wallace), and Kavi. I got one with Natalia too, but not on my phone. I saw so many people I recognized from behind the scenes of the show, but didn't get to talk to everyone.

About noon-time I got picked up by the wonderful @anonkp who took me to a delicious lunch in Larchmont Village. Then she dropped me off near the bus station when she had to go back to work. But I had a few more hours to kill until the bus came, so I rode the metro line down to Santa Monica, took a few pics at the beach from far away, made my way back, and got on my bus!

I was REALLY hoping to sleep on my way home. By the time it got dark, it was 9pm and I was running on the short spurts of sleep I got on the super cramped bus on the way in. I wasn't as cramped on this bus, and I had the row to myself this time, so I started to try to nod off for a few hours... and then our A/C died. Just as we entered Arizona, of course. So we made an extra stop on the way home just so we could cool down from the hot bus. I finally pulled into my house at 3am, 29 hours after I'd left the day before.

And that's the crazy adventure I had! But it was an absolutely wonderful experience, and I'd happily do it again if given the opportunity! lol. (Even if I'll probably be remembered as "the girl with the dolls" from here on out!) I'm probably forgetting 800 things, but this is already too long! 😂😂

[luxdea]

A VISIT TO rito village was never complete until she found time to visit the flight range. it was where she found revali training during nearly every one of her visits before the calamity struck. as much as he wanted his talent to seem natural, he worked just as hard as any of the other champions. she had little doubt that this would have been where he'd want her to pay her respects.

SHE WAS RARELY alone no matter what time of day she visited, & so she wasn't surprised to see teba & tulin–––– the latter moving through the sky & hitting targets as if he had been destined to do so. she hadn't expected to be turned away, but she was still glad teba didn't mind her sitting in on their training sessions.

     ❝ thank you. ❞

SHE TOOK A seat by the fire, turning her full attention to teba for just a moment. there was no way zelda could let the use of her title go without even a small tease.

     ❝ i would remind you, again, that there's no need for titles, but i'm beginning to accept that the reminders are ineffective. ❞

TULIN FLEW BY as she laughed, bringing a gust of wind with him & successfully turning her attention back to the trainee. he was very clearly working hard & had been working hard. but, most of all, he seemed to enjoy it & that realization made zelda feel warm even amongst the frigid temperatures.

     ❝ he's become very skilled. one might think that he was born knowing how to use a bow. ❞

SHE KNEW, OF course, that it was because of his father's teachings. teba was a mighty warrior in his own right, & it was gratifying & heartwarming to see tulin be able to follow in his footsteps because he wanted to, not because it was a necessity in a world ruled by calamity.

      ❝ you must be very proud.❞

( continued | @wiindful )

[a-friendly-fangirl]

Random thoughts on We're in Love (or "Your average Italian girl has had an awful week and Boygenius' love saves her ass again"):

So, I've been listening to the Boys and to their solo stuff the whole week (for the past 5 months, to be honest... but who's counting?) and I've been going crazy lately for the beauty of We're in Love.

I think we can all acknowledge that that song is one of the greatest songs in "The Record" and one of the best ever written. And then I started bawling, when my mind got stuck on its lyrics and realised just how heartbreaking and beautiful it is.

This will be kind of my personal analysis (also inspired by some suggestions here and there... thank you to all the geniuses around that have noticed certain things. I wish I could write down all your names, but my memory is awful), so if you disagree with it or feel the need to add something, do it. I'd be happy to meet more Boygenius fans!

Ok, I'd like to begin with the third and fourth line of the first verse, where Lucy sings: "I don't need the symbol of a scar/ So put down the knife, we're not swapping blood". And yet, in "The film", Julien still takes a blood oath with the young versions of Lucy and Phoebe. I think that this was such an interesting choice to make, considering the difference between the words and the actions. This actually makes sense though, when underlining that 20$ is Julien's song and these words belong to Lucy.

Julien, as her solo albums readily witness, has no real problem with hurting herself ('Cause I'm so good at hurting myself - Brittle Boned) both physically and psychologically. We also know, from 20$, that she does believe in being connected to Phoebe and Lucy in every universe or life (In another life we were arsonists). Lucy does too with them (And I told you of your past lives; In the next one [life], will you find me? - We're in Love). Same goes for Phoebe, even though it's a little more subtle with her. In fact, more than believing in other lives, she seems to believe in changing herself in the present life, so much that, even though Emily I'm Sorry is her song, she has decided to sing it with her best friends, because, maybe, she'd rather be someone that can be loved by them in particular and not someone only Emily "could want".

To better understand the scar line/imagery, I think it important to notice that Julien doesn't take the blood oath with her adult friends but with their younger selves. In my opinion, it's like a machine has brought them in Julien's universe or timeline to help her get out of her home, which, listening to her music, is a synonym of recovery or at least of a better state of mind (in Go Home and Please Stay, it is quite clear: "I wanna go home, I'm sick", while in Graceland Too she finally gets out once she's feeling better). But, not belonging there (and we know they don't thanks to Julien's surprised expression when she sees little Phoebe), pehaps she's afraid that she'll lose them once they're done with the car, therefore asking them to do that oath. Childhood scars never fully leave us, so Julien might be convinced that it'll help adult Phoebe and Lucy to remember her, once they meet as intended or hoped.

When you think about it, the layers here are so many that it's scary. Scars have always at least a touch of negativity, even when you get them for something not negative per se (I have so many scars I got from running around as a child...), because they always follow pain. Julien and Phoebe have dealt with it their whole life and have actively put themselves through it more than once, so of course Julien chooses to use a knife (which also brings us back again to Please Stay: "The hunting knife you kept by your bed". I don't think the mention in We're in Love is a coincidence) against herself if it means being sure Phoebe and Lucy know it's her. But Lucy stops her for two main reasons:

Julien won't have to wait for them to find her, because she and Phoebe will, according to Lucy, be the ones going to her, if they want to (Will you find me?);

Instead of remembering each other through something painful, they could use the happy and positive memories they've shared in this life. Lucy once again wants to do everything in her power to dismantle her friends' self-destructive tendencies and replace them with something good (even the "happy" in Letter to an Old Poet was her suggestion).

Moving on to the next lines (Isn't it enough that we stripped down to our skin?/ Cold and porcelain like bathers in a painting), the beauty of this specific portrait delivered by Lucy kind of proves the point just made. Saying that the skin is "cold" and "porcelain" delivers a poetic image of extreme fragility that could be both literal or figurative and it shows just how much they trust each other. What Lucy appears to be pointing out is that she doesn't need any more pain to believe they're in love with each other, since they've already done the great sacrifice of showing themselves when they were most vulnerable (something they're still learning to do, according to recent interviews).

In Lucy's specific case (And I told you of your past lives, every man you've ever been/ It wasn't flattering, but you listened like it mattered), I'd go as far as to think that she did that by letting Phoebe and Julien listen to the stories of her past friendships or even relationships, telling them whom she had had by her side before them. She sings that that tale wasn't flattering: why? If I had to express myself on that, I'd guess, by her albums, that, just like any other human being, even Lucy has had a lot of troubled bonds with people she might have wrongly thought were as true and loyal to her as the Boys are now (take Strange Torpedo, Nonbeliever or Brando as examples). My personal take on this part is that she hasn't tried to tell Phoebe and Julien who they've been in the past, but to confess them who had had their roles in her life previously, feeling perhaps embarassed by it. But they're in no way bored or mad at her for that, listening, however, "like it mattered" (quoting True Blue: "It doesn't matter anymore", 'cause they're together now, but it is still important to her that they are paying attention to this part of her story).

She also admits being open to them about her own insecurities, especially the fear of being or seeming crazy (I feel crazy in ways I never say/ Will you still love me if it turns out I'm insane?/ I know what you'll say, but it helps to hear you say it anyway), making herself vulnerable by exposing this side of her she usually keeps hidden in hope of being reassured by them, which they've probably done a thousand times already.

Long story short, coming to the end of the first chorus: Lucy loves and values them for the trust they've put in each other and no scar will ever match that feeling. I have a lot more to say about the rest of the song, but this is mostly me ranting about it, so I'll see how it goes. Sorry for all of this :P

[handeaux]

In 1905, Cincinnati Vainly Hoped To Double Its Population In Just Five Years

Talk about optimism! In 1905, the Cincinnati Post ran a contest looking for ideas on how Cincinnati could increase its population to 600,000 in time for the 1910 census, only five years hence.

Although Cincinnati was still a growing city – no census marked a decrease in our city’s population until 1960 – any notion that the population might top half a million, much less 600,000 was beyond ambitious. It was flat-out crazy. Still, the progressive Cincinnati Post [16 November 1905] persisted, announcing monetary prizes for the best ideas on how to achieve a population explosion in a few short years.

“If someone should start a 600,000 club in Cincinnati, it would become the biggest organization in the world. This is evident in the fact that every one in Cincinnati, and nearly every one in Southern Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia, would join it. Not only are the people of Cincinnati interested for the greater city, but those outside the city also.”

In the event that folks needed a little incentive beyond civic pride, the Post offered monetary rewards for the best ideas on how to increase the city’s population to 600,000 by 1910. First prize was $50, second prize was $25 and five third prizes of $5 rounded out the awards. From November 1905 into mid-January 1906, the Post published ideas as they arrived and interviewed city dignitaries about the ingenuity of the contest.

Among the celebrities interviewed about the initiative was Joseph B. Foraker, former governor of Ohio and current U.S. Senator from Ohio. He told the Post [15 November 1905]:

“Keep building skyscrapers. One can scarcely realize the great change that has come to the city. Why, from my window they are jumping up until the city is looking like an oil field. They are filled, too, just as rapidly as they are built. Make room for the people, and they will come along.”

Compared to some of the other ideas submitted to the Post, Senator Foraker’s suggestion was rather tame.

J. Louis Bunn, a house painter, suggested rerouting the Ohio River from Coney Island to Sedamsville southward into Kentucky, so that Covington, Newport, Bellevue and Dayton would be transplanted to Ohio and therefore become part of Cincinnati.

Frank Boies, a shoe-cutter, was convinced that closing all saloons on Sunday would do the trick.

Harry Dilg, an express delivery driver, lobbied for more championship prize fights being hosted by Cincinnati.

A contestant who signed his entry “Stranger” made a list of obstacles to Cincinnati’s growth. Would Cincinnati ever achieve 600,000 population? According to “Stranger”:

“Not as long as the Traction Company is not compelled to give the people better service. Not as long as the sweeping of any old rubbish, especially paper, off the sidewalk and into the street is allowed. Not as long as property-owners or their agents are indifferent to the appearance of property that has become vacant. Not as long as corporations are not compelled to think of others as well as themselves. The worst case of this kind will be found in the so-called ‘waiting room’ at the foot of Art Hill, sometimes called the Lock-st. Incline. W. Kesley Schoepf [president of the Traction Company] would not think of using it as a garage for his automobile, yet he expects patrons to ‘wait’ in there until one of his 5-cent carriages that you are compelled to stand up in half the time comes along.”

No newspaper contest, of course, would be complete without an entry from an adorable schoolgirl. The Post [28 December 1905] prominently blazoned the ideas of 13-year-old Gladys Schultz of Linwood, who wrote her contribution in verse:

“Annex all the villages in Hamilton County; Give all small manufactories a bounty. Exempt from taxation all chattels; Help the businessman fight some of his battles. Tax real estate all it will stand – The banker can lend a helping hand. Fill the Mill Creek Valley above high-water mark. Build factories thereon with space for a park. An underground railway, with a boulevard top, Our unsightly canal will make a beautiful spot. A union depot for all railroads to come in, Will bring 600,000 by 1910!”

The Post encouraged contestants to submit multiple entries and John Miller, a harness maker, complied by compiling 36 ideas into a single entry. Mr. Miller [11 December 1905] covered quite a bit of territory with his suggestions, ranging from the mundane . . .

“22. For Cincinnati to send a letter of thanks to President Roosevelt and Secretary Taft for the good they did in the last election.”

. . . to the idealistic.:

“36. Abolish capital punishment.”

Along the way, Mr. Miller lobbied for more monuments, an eight-hour work day, honest elections, free schoolbooks in the public schools, more parks along the riverfront and better service at the city hospital.

The winner of the big $50 prize was Marion L. Pernice Jr., assistant advertising manager of the Fay & Egan Company, manufacturers of woodworking machinery. His suggestion boiled down to essentially one word: Advertise! Pernice suggested that all goods manufactured in Cincinnati be labeled “From Cincinnati” and that only goods manufactured in Cincinnati be eligible for that slogan. All suburban manufacturers would lobby for annexation to Cincinnati to carry that prestigious mark.

Alas, the contest did not achieve its stated goal. Cincinnati’s population in 1905, approximately 340,000, reached only 364,000 in 1910. Evan worse, the census of 1910 marked the first time since 1830 that Cincinnati was not ranked among the largest 10 cities in the United States. It would be 1950 before Cincinnati achieved 500,000 residents and 60 years of population decline followed until an uptick in the 2020 census.

And yet, no serious discussion about re-channeling the Ohio River.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 10/05/2024

The Jamminest of All

Season 5 Featured on: The Space Jam Charity SLAM!: First Quarter

Ripped by Nozobot

Requested by TimTom! (Request Form)

I think I mentioned it before in a post once or twice, but part of what makes Space Jam so difficult to cover on here is because its the kind of mashup source that's almost intentionally used uncreatively a lot of the time. It is THE mashup song even more than All-Star is - a nostalgic 4/4ths time signature tune with verses so catchy yet oh so redundant, they can be interspersed together with just about any piece of VGM and end up creating a new earworm. Hoopache was interesting if only for breaking that trend by its time signature change, and Space Jam has been used as a *supporting* source to great effect in rips like Mother, Father, Technoman to maintain a rip's momentum - yet for a while, it felt as if getting creativity out of Space Jam mashups was like squeezing blood from a stone. That was, of course, part of the joke, and further part of what led to the Space Jam Charity Slam!: a charity event wherein viewers could donate to request Space Jam rips to be made, althewhile also being provided hours upon hours of brand-new Space Jam content. Space Jam stocks were at an all-time high - and all rippers were on deck.

I'll be honest - I didn't exactly pick The Jamminest of All to cover today necessarily because I believe its the BEST rip from the event, because I've honestly not LISTENED to most rips from the event. With 500+ rips uploaded in total, its a daunting task to go down - yet one that's undeniably fun to put on shuffle if only to see the funny thumbnail changes. Yet what stands out to me about The Jamminest of All is specifically how it connects to the end of the last paragraph - how ripper of all sorts were all on board contributing to this massive bonanza, even ones you'd never think would have interest in Space Jamming. Not that I'd say Nozobot is above being a little stupid - Sex - Steve Harvey remains the most stupid video on this entire channel - but they're also the kind of ripper that made Assassin's Sneed, Hidden Headtoilets (skibidi toree 2) and tons of fantastic YTPMVs on their own channel. What I mean to say is, they're not one to cut corners, one to always put their own spin on things - and when given the task to do a Space Jam rip with The Jamminest of All, you can really feel that personality exuding from it.

I mean first of all, the choice of song alone. Lucky Strike isn't exactly one of Maroon 5's biggest hits, released right as the band was sort of, um, getting bad - but it is, fun fact, the first Maroon 5 song that Chaze the Chat ever used on SiIvaGunner for a rip. The contrast between it and The Jamminest of All is insane - the former primarily just using its instrumentals to add touches to an Undertale song, wheras this rip is hitting us with Space Jam's background vocalists being pitch-shifted right off the bat. Within just a minute's runtime, Nozobot crams in so many fun uses of the Space Jam audio - I love how perfectly the "yes sir, yes sir" is replaced with "Space Jam, Space Jam" just through removing a measure of the Space Jam intro, the way Barkley's lead vocals end up feeling so seamlessly hype despite how much they've been shortened and spliced up - and all the while, the rip is having tons of fun sprinkling in clips from NBA Jam and Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden just for flavor.

Still within that same minute, the rip briefly turns into an actual Space Jam mashup, with Adam Levine's vocals returning for the bridge in the typical 4/4 Space Jam mashup format - only for the chorus to break out into the biggest surprise of the whole rip. No matter how many times I watch it, the NA-NA-NA-NA-NAs from the original Space Jam being pitch-shifted to the "ooo-oohs" of Lucky Strike's original chorus always just cracks me up - its such BRILLIANT use of such a minescule, oft-forgotten part of the Space Jam tune and EXACTLY the kind of thing that I'd suspect Nozobot of coming up with for a rip using it. I realize now that I've practically walked you through the rip's entire runtime - but I hope you understand why! Every step of it is crafted so expertly, yet never to a clinical degree - always with Nozobot's patended craziness just an inch away from breaking free.

Despite that zaniness still present in The Jamminest of All, it's remarkable how "controlled" it all ends up feeling. I can't quite describe it - its as if Nozobot actually engineered the rip with a three-act storytelling structure, and it ends up working far better than it has any right to. But then, that's part of why Space Jam rips can be so fun to follow - amidst all the people just making the simple ones for fun, the likes of which were plentiful during the Charity Slam! (many of which were fantastic), there's always going to be true gems like this, rips that find frankly insane mileage out of such a played-out source all of these years later. Hell, you remember how it was used in my rip :) right - even the most "played out" mashup joke still has enough life in its bones to bring so many incredible rips to fruition. Be it through ironic enjoyment or post-ironic enjoyment, who really cares? Slam Jam's fun, and The Jamminest of All is a testament to how fun it can be when wielded at the hands of a true expert.

[convulsionofhonesty]

top 5 books of 2023

i read many less books (for fun at least) than i read last year but it was really nice to do this kind of post for 2022 so i'm repeating for 2023

--------

1. the idiot - elif batuman - making a reappearance from last year ... i know many people don't like to count rereads in their top books of the year since they weren't new favorites but for the impact this book had on me this year i simply couldn't omit it. i read this no less than 3 times in 2023 ... it became so much more relatable and painful than it was upon first read in 2022 and instantly became my current favorite book of all time. not a day passes that i do not think about this. stunning, meandering character study about a floundering 18/19 year old who is, unfortunately, in all the best and worst ways, the fictional character that most represents myself. i have already done 10x my share of pr work for this book on this account so i will leave the review here. but please read this.

2. contradictions in the design - matthew olzmann - almost dethroned siken's crush as my favorite poetry collection ... the tumblr girls will understand how serious this is. absolutely gorgeous. i teared up at a solid 50% of the poems. contains countless life altering lines and a really profound mixture of the abstract and the concrete, the general/philosophical and the specific/mundane. love.

3. when the emperor was divine - julie otsuka - quick read with deceptively simple prose that's absolutely drenched with symbolism. demands to be read with a highlighter in hand and a murder wall behind you to decipher each iteration of each motif. under 200 pages but you could easily spend weeks trying to pull everything out of it. just on a craft level this is absolutely sublime, fiction at its finest.

4. fun home - allison bechdel - this is of course one of the graphic novels that everyone has heard of but certainly not enough people have read. because if you haven't read this i implore you to change that. from the very first page i knew that this was crafted with such unbelievable intentionality. so many little details in the backgrounds of panels carry immense weight; this is a graphic novel masterclass. everything is perfectly balanced and thought-out. again on a craft level, and an emotional level, this blew me away.

5 - autobiography of red - anne carson - most inventive book i read probably? a disjointed yet fluid verse novel that follows a fascinating main character and winds effortlessly through mythology and reality, paying no attention to the usual borders of geography, time, or the body. i don't know how to describe this other than as a deeply confusing book that you will probably not understand at all but your body will somehow still feel everything. you will understand it on a subconscious level more than on a conscious one.

--------

honorable mentions (bc last year i did a top 10 but my opinions past this point are not as strong and also i don't want to write all that)

- body work by melissa febos

- sirens and muses by antonia angress

- comfort woman by nora okja keller

[lilacmuffins]

into the kandy-verse

[oc-tober (day 5) - redesigned oc]

>> kandice (kandy) foxx

more kandy! good LORD the old designs were bad... 2016 Google Plus was cursed with the original design and I'm sorry for that. she's gone through a lot of changes both major and minor, and she looks SO much better now...

here are the old refs:

clearly a good amount of stuff has changed, and her newest design is still being sort of tweaked so it doesn't have a ref sheet yet. the years that these refs were made are something like 2016, 2020, and 2022? something like that anyway,,

just a little more yapping (about kandy, the drawing, & the prompt list) under the cut!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

About Kandy: So Kandy's whole thing is that she possessed a Toy Foxy suit at her Freddy's location (NOT the one in the games for obvious reasons) and sort of merged with it to stay alive. As time went on that became more of a ghost thing when I got older and realized that it didn't make any sense. She got tricked by William on her birthday which was really sad and uhh,, yeah! She hangs out, I tend to draw her with the canon animatronics even if it was at a different location in Utah or whatever.

The Art: Nearly 3 hours of work!! I struggled trying to figure out how to make the OG Kandy design work in my current art style ,, yikes!

Prompt List: