#Biggest Boat Fair Show

[worldsportsboats]

boot Düsseldorf 2024 - Leisure boat premiers

Registering just under 237,000 visitors from over 60 countries and more than 1,500 exhibitors from 68 nations occupying 220,000 square metres in Halls 1 to 17, boot Düsseldorf from 20 to 28 January 2024 will be the world’s biggest yacht and watersports trade fair. Both yachtspeople and powerboaters will find a wide variety of boats, dinghies, superboats and luxury yachts. The popular sports…

[nova2kss]

Influencer island

“GOOD MORNINGGG AMERICAAAAA”

“I’m your host Yanna Bailey to Influncer Island. It’s new, it’s hot, it’s dramatic, and it’s your new obsession!”

“We’re bringing all of your fav influencers and Internet personalities across the country for a steamy hot adventure”

“You all know them”

“And you all love them”

“I have hand picked these hotties myself…some ofc more known than others none the less they are all wild and ready to come in swinging!”

“Before I introduce you to the men that will participate in influencer island I think it’s fair that I give you a run down of what this show will look like!”

“These 16 hotties will come in ready to pick some partners and participate in challenges”

“Each pair will receive points based off of where they place on the board and based off votes from the viewers aka you guys”

“At the end of each episode there will be a poll placed for voting”

“You guys will be able too vote who should stay, go, and receive a punishment, or a hot date”

“With that being said let’s introduce the men of INFLUENCER ISLAND.

“Coming in first we have the famous polo boy himself”

“Armin Arlert”!

“He’s best known on instagram for being the cute polo soft boy model as stated in his bio, the internet has named him the number 1 golden retriever baby and I couldn’t agree more!”

“Armin is such a sweet heart and I know he can’t wait to be here….but with him being a sweetie pie…will he be able to hang and get wild with the rest of the contestants?”

“Especially this chipped tooth, beer drinking, horse riding, dirty country boy gone viral”

“Reiner Braun”!!

“This big beefy boy best known on that clock app has gone viral for bringing his southern ways onto the app, Reiner caught the attention of many wild men and sexy ladies and was requested by the merrier”

“Currently living in Mississippi but we all know he’s a real south Floridian gator wrestling boy. He’s the perfect match for this cast”

“Next up we got this black cat clothing owner bertoldt hoover!!”

“Best known for his brand flontae clothing and getting hella wild on them boats, don’t let the pretty eyes fool you this city boy knows how to party”

“Kristen made that cast Okay!”

“Y’all know him cause he definitely produced your favorite songs”

“He’s worked with Nicki Minaj, lil Wayne, drake, lil durk, Kanye west, and so many more”

“However when he’s not in that Stu making beats he’s out hosting the biggest parties and filming it all letting us know he was a perfect candidate for this cast!”

“This hot head was requested by the executive producer herself, we’ve seen him whoop ass in that underground ring, we’ve seen him getting wild in the streets, we’ve seen him catchin ass on twt and we wanna see MOREEE!!”

“Everyone love porco”

“But I don’t think as much as y’all love this sexy stoner”

“Constance springer the man that you are”

“He’s 6’0 tatted like a chipotle bag and he is the life of the party! This skater boy most known on TikTok and YouTube is definitely  influential and definitely deserves his spot here

“As stated himself he is a fine chocolate sexy black man”

“Get this! He’s also a brand ambassador for flontae clothing who would’ve known”

“Onyankapon, such a pretty name for a pretty boy.”

“We don’t know how wild ony gets and that’s why he was picked cause the whole world wants to see, he’s seen as someone who doesn’t do much. But I’m willing to bet as soon as he steps foot on this sand that will change.”

“And last but certainly not least”.

“Eren Yeager.”

“Or jaeger”

“Regardless this man dose not need an intro at all, you’ve seen him right with Beyoncé on her ivy park campaign”

“You’ve seen him on the front page of Louis Vuitton”

“You all love him and rightfully so he is something else sporting that black motorcycle when he’s not doing them photo shoots”

“You see these men? These are who are gonna be across your screens in the next few weeks!! Now just imagine the women.”

“On the next preview we will be introducing your favorite wild ladies! It’s your host Yanna Bailey signing out!”

How do you guys feel?😁

(Not proofread)

[66sharkteeth]

Weekly thoughts, ep 179. Caution for spoilers, bigger than usual!

Oh man, I'm glad this episode went over...for the vast part positively haha. I think it's kind of ironic that the character I always joked about only having 8 fans turned out to be the biggest deal in the story lately. I've been kind of down lately, so I'm glad this episode went over well with the majority of readers.

I WAS super nervous about this episode though- I know people sometimes have strong feelings about fake-out deaths, and there are a couple of comments expressing that (which, fair), but the vast majority seem just to be happy Desmond's still alive. I did also promise I'm cooking something with this twist, but it looks like 90% of the comments already know what that is, though I won't 100% confirm yet haha.

The only thing I wish got a little more recognition was the actual interactions with Lyss and Nia, which I thought were really fun haha. But I get the Desmond reveal stealing the show. I know at least a few people really didn't like Nia this episode and how aggressive she was. Which... Hm, I dunno. This is how she's always been to Lyss, who she is still working hard to get over thing she's done in the past. Much like Lyss getting over her biases against blanks, Nia's in the same boat with humans. She only even recently started liking her dad again. She's just a very head-strong and heated character, and I get if that's not everyone's thing, but I always make sure she never crosses a line unless it's called for, or if she does, she gets reprimanded for it (like when Rex called her out back in ep 151).

For the actual episode though, aside from the reveal, one major goal for this episode was just get rid of any chance of misunderstanding trope. It's a big thing I don't like in stories and I even made Nia 4th wall break about it a little haha

No misunderstanding tropes in this comic, only fake-out deaths!

Anyway, I always kind of write Nia to be the character who says what the audience is thinking and I think that was more clear than ever this week lol (down to "you pick now to have impulse control?"). Basically, I have a lot of fun writing Nia.

I think that's it this week. I'm glad people enjoyed this one, I really needed that small win this week. :'D

[wishwingalpha]

I drew were I think Joel and Lizzie’s fragments would apear. I know they don’t actually glow out of cloathing/shoes— but I wanted to show where they were. (Yes they are falling in the void, shhh it can be different colors they are glowing.)

Explanation;

Lizzie has two fragments, one from last life and one from secret life. I hc that she fragments more easily and hers are much larger than pretty much anyone else’s. (Other than mumbo)

Her fragment from last life is on her back for the amount of times she was backstabbed/ betrayed in the series. (Obviously I couldn’t draw her back and her face so.. too bad-?) but I imagine that the fragment covers the majority of her back.

The fragment from secret life is on her face almost like tears. This was the heartbreak of no one coming to her party, and how the rest of her series played out after that was quite tragic to be fair, she never really got any revenge or closure.

—

Joel are e v e r y w h e r e.

He’s been on every series and never won so he’s just got a bunch. Most of his fragments are small because I don’t think the watchers would get much from him. The only times they get to feed off of him is usually because of the loss of his wife, only sometimes from a team mate. He isn’t usually close to people in most series, just causing chaos.

3rd life’s fragment is on his foot. I did this because of the kinda funny way he dies trying to put the fire on his house out but dies in the process. So yeah— he kinda just stepped in the fire. (Fairly small fragment cause he ain’t got no friends)

Last life is the neck because of how he always had it out for people, putting a target on him. (Again no friends except for scar but they barely counted as allys) ((lmao I didn’t know where to put this one really ))

Double life is his hand. I did this because boat boys and it’s like he’s rowing the boat (idk that’s my reasoning) I imagine Etho has one on the opposite hand because they are rowing the boat together <3 ( you get it right? They both have an oar to row the boat with) This was the first time Joel has a meaningful alliance, and it’s bigger than the first two fragments.

Limited life is his chest/heart. I felt that this was when Joel had the biggest connection with his team and was completely distraught when Jimmy died. The watchers were eating that shit UP. ( the fragment reaches out to his arm that’s why it looks like there’s six. I totally DIDNT make a random one somehow and am making an excuse for it being there)

Secret life is on his face, matching his wife, how cute. This was because of all the heartbreak he endured in the episodes including and following the wither-warden battle. He loses Lizzie, Jimmy, and mumbo all in one day and then on the last episode is the reason that Scott is able to kill Bdubs when he accidentally shot him. Overall just real sad times for him. And not even that— he dies to Scott once again, the one person he wanted dead the entire episode.

His fragments grow larger each season as he grows closer to the other players.

—

Edit— yes I know the fragments don’t look how they do canonically, but they look cool so shhhh. Also the ones I said are small but don’t look small in the picture, also just mistakes.

[pinkeoni]

Joyce’s Aunt Darlene

In season one, we get a throwaway line from Lonnie regarding Joyce’s Aunt Darlene—

We don’t hear a lot about her specifically, but there’s a lot of context clues that actually tell us a lot about her.

This line comes up when Joyce and Lonnie are discussing how Joyce has been seeing and feeling Will, which Lonnie remarks is all in her head.

When Lonnie compares her situation to Aunt Darlene, Joyce becomes defensive. I’m not like her.

Lonnie’s solution to Joyce’s situation is to see a therapist, or even, religious intervention.

So here’s what we know about Aunt Darlene given the context in the scene:

Joyce has an Aunt Darlene who used to see things that weren’t there and had delusions.

They both talk about her in the past tense, indicating that she might not be around anymore

Neither Lonnie nor Joyce speak about her with a particular fondness

The solution to Darlene’s situation was either handled with doctors and/or a pastor

Now, it’s possible that Darlene just has a mental illness, and Lonnie brings her up as a point of contrast to the audience between them, Joyce is not like Darlene.

Unless, Darlene’s mention here is actually supposed to be a point of comparison, in which this line could point to Darlene:

I mean, with how this show works, I think it’s fair to question if there’s more behind Aunt Darlene.

Where is Aunt Darlene?

I’m gonna answer this question first because I think it will lead well into everything else.

We know that Darlene was likely diagnosed with some kind of mentall illness, likely schizophrenia if she was seeing things that no one else was seeing. It’s possible that Darlene is just living somewhere at home, but especially in the 80’s when mental illness was a lot more stigmatized, I’m wondering if she was institutionalized. I did point out earlier that Lonnie and Joyce speak about her in the past tense, as if she isn’t around anymore.

What mental hospital is mentioned earlier in the same season? And then gets brought back in season four?

I think Aunt Darlene might be in Pennhurst.

Here’s what I’m thinking: Aunt Darlene either witnessed something regarding the Upside Down, and/or she has powers.

I think about this line from season two regarding Will’s true sight visions:

“Let’s see if he’s a wizard or a schizo.”

Another point in season two is a line thrown in about El’s “Crazy great aunt Shirley,” and El being a character who we know for a fact has powers.

If powers are passed down genetically, it would make sense for some of her family to have some. Aunt Shirley was probably in the same boat as Aunt Darlene, and their abilities of sight was misinterpreted as mental illness.

Right now what I’m thinking is that Darlene either had a true sight ability similar to Will, and/or she was able to see into the future. Whatever power she has is definitely related to sight. I think too about this line spoken by Will in season three:

If that isn’t the biggest “I have prophetic powers” indicator then I don’t know what is.

I’m honestly leaning more in the camp of her having powers, but if she’s being compared to Joyce, it would also make sense if she only witnessed something related to it, and was called crazy because no one believed her.

This would reflect Victor Creel’s situation pretty well. He was witnessing something supernatural of he was seen as a paranoid schizophrenic by others. The earlier reference to religious intervention makes me think of Victor as well. I know that Lonnie meant Joyce should just talk to the pastor and not have an exorcism done, but the small mention still draws a connection. It’s possible that whatever Darlene was seeing could have been misinterpreted as divine hallucinations.

If she does have powers, I think it likely that HNL would know about her. I’m still working on a post that talks about the possible connection between HNL and Pennhurst, but I think Victor’s residency in Pennhurst is enough to see a possible connection between both institutes.

So here’s what I think happened to Darlene (Maldonado?):

Darlene was either seeing something with her powers, and/or she witnessed something supernatural that no one else saw

She was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia and sent to Pennhurst

It’s possible she might have been dangerous similar to Victor, or possibly percieved as such

She likely still resides at Pennhurst

I think it might be possible that we might even see Darlene in season 5.

This is just theoretical, but especially it both her and Will have powers, I could see him meeting her and learning more about where his powers come from as a likely possibility, or another character visiting her in Pennhurst and learning more from her. She wouldn’t have a whole storyline, probably just a cameo in one episode.

tagging: @heroesbyler

[noonblight]

Champion Geeta, The Pokémon League, & The Hidden Story Of Pokémon Violet’s Turo - Another Analysis 

So this is just a small analysis to tide you over before my biggest two posts planned (Analysis of Arven and Turo as characters) drop, and while I am terribly sorry for the long title and the multiple parts, it’s warranted, I promise!

You see, while going through ScarVi, I noticed some very interesting background storytelling and symbolism that I thought would be interesting to bring up in a post in case others didn’t catch it. I also think it would be super cool if any future DLC expanded upon these concepts, because they tell us a fair bit about the League, Geeta, and Turo! Of course, a lot of this should be taken with a grain of salt as it is based on inference, but I still felt it was important/interesting enough to share. As usual, this post will contain giant spoilers for the plot under the read-more. 

I adore any feedback / opinions on what I post, and everyone’s comments on my last post were so sweet they made my day. So if you have any theories or things to point out that I may have missed, please do bring them up! I love reading them! :D

Without further rambling, here ya go.

The League and Champion Geeta know a lot more than what they say throughout the game, and it’s entirely possible that both the Academy and the Pokémon League were financing Professor Turo’s dangerous research in the Crater for a time, but then stopped.

We know already that the first successful foray into the Great Crater a few centuries ago was funded by the Uva Academy, as can be viewed in the picture below which can be found within the Violet Book.

However, who was financing Professor Turo’s Research? When exploring the Research Bases, we’re introduced to many journal entries written by Turo, all which shed some light on the main plot, but also help to hint at several things that have happened in the background.

First of all, we know that he was being funded by a corporation of some sort. We can also infer that this funding was given with the expectation of receiving the fruits of that research (we will revisit this and why it is important later).

So what corporation funded this exploration of the unknown? Well, you see, there’s a littering of symbolism across Paldea, and a lot of it revolves around two concepts: Treasure, and Travel. More accurately, how to find treasure through exploration. Maybe looking at some of that can help us.

Let’s start with the research stations themselves. Each one has a large logo branded upon it, fairly difficult to miss. This logo depicts the silhouette of the Great Crater, and the latitude and longitude lines of a map. This makes sense, as for centuries, the Crater has been a culturally significant mystery and the driving force behind many expeditions which had intentions of documenting it. That, and maps are often associated with treasure, something which the Crater was fabled to hold within it.

Now, where else have we seen other similar symbology linked to exploration?

The Paldea Pokémon league displays quite a bit of this symbolism, with the boat logos of the gyms potentially representing the journey, and the vessel that drives one forward through it. Each gym is a pace forward on the path of discovery.

However, it’s the compass I really want to focus on, considering that we see it throughout the entire game. From the loading screen icon, to the gloves and lapels of every League staff member, the symbols seen across the League building, to even the rooftop of the very building itself!

The meaning of a compass is simple enough, it shows the viewer where the cardinal directions are, and is used as a reference point for navigation. In relation to the gym challenges, this makes a lot of sense. If the gym is the boat on a journey, then the League is the direction one should go in. It’s a point to work towards.

But what if that wasn’t the only thing the League was pointing you in the direction of throughout the game?

You see, I initially thought that the League and Champion Geeta were quite boring and more of a backdrop for Nemona’s fun little antics until I started to notice things in the background. Quite literally.

When you fight Champion Geeta, throughout the entire fight, you can see the Crater looming behind her. The roof of the League building even has a gorgeous compass incorporated into it, sure, but did you know that the ENTIRE building is actually in the shape of a compass too?

But rather than pointing in the direction of true north like the rotom on your map does, what is that compass and the building pointing in the direction of? The Crater. This isn’t simply an error either. With the specific placement of the league building beside the crater, and the way it’s framed during Geeta’s fight, the League has a little too much association with the Crater symbolically by this point. We even know that the building is oriented correctly, because the Compass on Geeta’s glove lines up with the shape of the building perfectly.

Speaking of Geeta herself, she also happens to have a rather damning reference to the Crater baked into her design. Her signature Pokémon, Glimmora, the Pokémon whose design shares visual flare with her outfit, is a Pokémon who is found exclusively within Area Zero and Terra Raids. It is also the only ‘regular’ Pokémon to have a dex entry that explicitly links it to the Tera concept.

She’s even the one who gives your character the rare TM and recipe for the move Tera Blast, a move that is best utilised by Pokemon that have undergone Terastalisation in battle.

All this symbolism to do with travel conveniently lining up with the Crater, Geeta’s signature Pokémon being a Glimmora instead of the pseudo legendary of the region, what’s it mean? Surely these are too weak a link, you say. Well, I wouldn’t be presenting it if it was my only proof! Do you remember how you’re given your Tera orb when going through the game? Nemona states that these orbs are difficult to obtain and receive permission to use, and she very politely gets permission from Champion Geeta for you to use one. So the Tera orbs are a limited resource. It also just so happens that the League and the Academy were given these orbs by Turo, as told to the player by Miss Raifort in one of her history lessons. Seems awfully convenient, doesn’t it? 

It’s because of these details that I think we have a good reason to believe that the League is profiting off of the Tera technology developed by Turo. I believe that they even helped to fund it, for a time.

Geeta’s polite and professional Champion Of Champion’s personality also happens to be accented by a desire to set an example for others (such as Nemona) and to create a spectacle with the battles that take place throughout the gyms and the league challenge. She also has a habit of being very interested in taking time out of her busy days as Chairwoman just to scout talent to recruit it into the league. Everything she does is to further the League, even recruiting Penny for tech support for the League in postgame.

So it stands to show that she and the League would have a fair bit to gain from investing in the Tera technology, especially considering that she is currently stated to be the active Chairwoman of the League. And now here’s the part where I get to say that I think support was discontinued for Turo some time ago. 

You see, I think that in his obsessive downward spiral after Sada left, Turo became paranoid that others would discontinue their support of his project. And honestly, I also think that they did. Turo was stated to have been missing from public view for a while, even before the window of time we can assume his death occurred in, and the league probably had what they needed from the Tera Orbs, so they might have left Turo to research whatever he wanted. After all, the League never really talks about Turo, despite him being the most famous scientist in the region and the reason anyone’s Pokémon can use the Tera phenomenon in battle to begin with.  However, there’s another possibility. And that may be the possibility that the League doesn’t speak about Turo not because they were simply done with things, but instead for… other reasons.  You see something that bothered me quite a bit during the story was this interesting technicality about the AI Defence System and the Pokéball Lock Technology that Turo created.

Why would Turo need this? Think about it for a moment. If the Paradox Pokémon were the real danger, the very thing that ended up taking Turo’s life in the end, why was the security system built entirely around the concept of trainers other than himself?

Turo built this futuristic AI and the defence system it is connected to, and the Pokéball lock system. He built all of it to keep the Time Machine, his one shot at a perfect world, safe.

But why did he assume that he needed to keep it safe? We know already that the heavy iron gates and League rules bar most normal people from entering the Crater, and if that doesn’t deter them, there’s even biometric scanners that inspect any visitor who steps inside The Zero Gate. We also know thanks to a piece of dialog from Hassel that only a very small percentage of gym trainers even make it to over halfway through gyms in the region.

So then who was Turo afraid of? Easy!

The League.

If the league were these mysterious investors, all of this would make sense. If they had visited previously, they could get past the gate or the biometric scanners. They could use force to stop Turo if they felt he was finally going too far. It would have given Turo enough of a reason to be afraid they would come bashing down the doors with Tera Pokemon, maybe even with his ex wife who might be able to figure out how to put a stop to his research. 

No wonder why his answer was to build a battle system that could defeat champions and, if all else failed, could take the opposition’s Pokemon away entirely. Ironically, this paranoia for a defence system had Turo so afraid of other trainers, that he stopped being cautious around the paradox Pokemon, and ultimately lost his life because of it.

Without bleeding over too much into my post that I’m making about the psychology of the Professor, and without making this post too long, I think I’ll wrap-up by saying this. We know that the Professor’s experiments were starting to get dangerous, so dangerous that they were beginning to make even corporate backers fret and even eventually driving away Arven’s other parent.

The Professor was an impulsive, obsessive individual, to the point where they did not care for the ecology of the Paldea region, they only cared about the means to an end. Keeping the time machine running. Even after corporate backers jumped ship due to the risk, the Professor continued. If the Pokémon League found out, they would surely intervene, and the Professor knew that.

So they made the Garden Defence System not for the safety of anyone who worked there, or for the protection of the local ecology, but to protect the Time Machine itself. And in order to protect the Time Machine from every possible threat that could face it, the Professor had to build a system that could even defeat the Champions.

So that’s where things stand. Can’t wait to dive into why Turo is such an obsessive prick and how he expresses that in my next post, because there is a LOT of juicy hints around the game >:)

[svperluminous]

All of Finnegrin's speaking lines by episode by scene, including the characters who interact with him.

Under cut because it's a big chunk of text.

5.06 - Bait and Switch

Scene: Ezran first comes to his office

Finnegrin: I'm not best known for hospitality. Don't usually like uninvited guests. But the waves be gentle today, and so is my mood. Name's Finnegrin. What can I do for you, lad?

Ezran: I'm Ezran, king of Katolis. I've come to your fair port because I need a ship. My friends and I are racing to stop a great evil before it's too late, and time is running out. Can you help us?

Finnegrin: You say you're a king, eh? Then where's your crown?

(Ezran hands him the crown)

Finnegrin: Hmm... (bites into the crown)

Ezran: Hey!

Finnegrin: (laughs) It's made of steel. It's worthless.

Ezran: It's not worthless, it's really important to me. It's made from my father's sword.

Finnegrin: Sentiment's worth even less than steel here, lad.

(Ezran is sad)

Finnegrin: Don't look so sour. King or peasant, don't matter to me so long as you're offering something of value.

Ezran: But I don't have anything else.

Finnegrin: Oh, come now, I don't think that's true. Come here, look. See that ship? She's the fastest in my fleet. Well, second fastest. (chuckles) I'd name you her captain for the right price. I'll give you the ship for that glow toad.

Ezran: What? No. What could you possibly want with Bait?

Finnegrin: It's not really the glow toad I want, it's what I'll catch with it. Sea leviathans, lad. With this one on my line, I wager I could reel in the biggest leviathan in the eastern sea. Imagine the gold that could fetch.

Ezran: No. He's my friend.

Finnegrin: Hmm, you drive a hard bargain. Fine. I'll give you the ship for half the glow toad. But I choose which half.

(Ezran shakes his head)

Finnegrin: All right, all right. Let me sweeten the deal. On your way. (he sweeps a crab off of a chest) What's in here may not be of much value today, but I think you'll see the potential for growth. In time, it'll be worth three times the value of your glow toad friend.

Scene: Soren comes to the office

Finnegrin (to his crab): Oh, you're squeezed in there tight. Due for an upgrade, aren't ye?

Elmer: Sir. You have another--

Finnegrin: Deadwood. Get this one a bigger shell. Something roomier, but not lacking in style.

Elmer: Aye, sir. You have another visitor. Says he's here on "really big business."

Finnegrin: Fine, fine. Send him in. And who might you be?

Soren: Name's Smort Longpocket. Nice port you got here. A little small for my taste, but love the vibe. So... word around the market is that you're the type of guy who likes doing business. Big business. Legal or not legal.

Finnegrin: You heard right.

Soren: Now I've got some goods on my ship that I think might interest you. Goods I got by doing crimes.

Finnegrin: What goods exactly are you sellin'?

Soren: Let's just say these goods are so good, they should call them "greats."

Finnegrin: Hmm...

Soren: (chuckles) What do you say you and I take a walk to my big business boat and you can see for yourself, hmm?

Finnegrin: Fine. Show me your wares. Of course, you understand that if you're wasting my time...

Soren: I'll never be welcome in Scumport again. (laughs) Got it.

Finnegrin: Quite the opposite. Waste my time, and you'll never leave Scumport.

Soren: (chuckles nervously)

Finnegrin: Lock the door, you useless hunk of flotsam.

Soren: My man, it's just a quick walk. There's no need to...

Finnegrin: I always lock up.

Elmer: Squid, sails, a hammerhead's tail.

Finnegrin: I know how it goes.

Scene: At the market

Finnegrin: (grunts) Back to the tower. Now!

[5.06 recap before 5.07]

Finnegrin: Deadwood, ready my ship.

[5.07 Sea Legs]

Scene: On the deck of Sea Legs

Finnegrin: (flips a coin) Tails.

Finnegrin: Take 'em to the brig.

Rayla: (grunts) No!

Finnegrin: Keep the boy separate. I've got special use for this one.

[5.08 Finnegrin’s Wake]

Scene: First conversation with Callum

Finnegrin: (humming) ♪ The sea shall bow to me ♪

Callum: Tell me where my friends are.

Finnegrin: Your friends won't be springing to your rescue. One of them's already gone. Traded me something I wanted, and now she's free as a bird. Look at you. Slave to your friends, your loyalties, your pride. I can give you your freedom, though. I just want one thing.

Callum: Yeah? What do you want?

Finnegrin: A spell. One dark magic spell, boy, and you go free.

Callum: Never. I don't do dark magic. I will never help you.

Finnegrin: (sighs) I see. Seems you're the type that needs persuading. Deadwood! Get over here, you teak freak!

Scene: Second conversation with Callum

Finnegrin: Listen, boy, this ain't that complicated. You're a dark mage. All I'm asking for is one spell.

Callum: I'm not a dark mage.

Finnegrin: You take me for a fool? You stole the wind right out of my sails.

Callum: That was primal magic. I don't do dark magic.

Finnegrin: Never?

Callum: Never.

Finnegrin: You're crying innocent but in your eyes I see guilt. What have you done that's got you so twisted up inside, huh?

Callum: I did one spell. One. I just... I turned some chains into snakes. I had to, to save my friends.

Finnegrin: Oh, how noble. Just one spell and you never thought about dark magic again?

Callum: Uh, well, I've just... I've read a lot about it. But not only dark magic, all kinds of magic. Your kind, too. I've read about the ocean, and the tides, and how...

Finnegrin: Well, maybe in all that reading you found what I'm looking for. Few years ago, a human took down Avizandum, king of the dragons, with dark magic. And I want to know the spell that did it.

Callum: Why?

Finnegrin: Simple. I want to kill the Archdragon of the Ocean... Domina Profundis.

Callum: No. I'm not going to help you murder the Archdragon of the Ocean.

Finnegrin: Murder? You know, when you say it like that, you make me sound like a bloodthirsty fiend.

Callum: Oh, I'm sorry, do you have some kind of nice reason for wanting her dead?

Finnegrin: (chuckles) Sea Legs had a sister. She was my loyal pet, my steed, and my ship for 40 years. And I loved that crab. Out in the deep, she could take sea leviathans and krakens with her own two claws. Well, Domina didn't like that, said the deep sea was under her protection. But that ain't freedom. And so I challenged her domain and she took everything from me. She let me live but she told me if she ever saw me more than a mile offshore she'd drown me. Me. The fearsome Captain Finnegrin. Ships turn and flee at the sight of my flag. Any sailor who docks at Scumport pays their due. But if I cross the great Domina Profundis, she'll make flotsam of everything I've built. So long as she's out there, I'm never truly free.

Callum: (chuckles)

Finngerin: Something funny?

Callum: Listen to yourself. You think you want freedom, but you're just trying to control the entire ocean.

Finnegrin: You think I want control, do you? I'll prove you wrong right now. There's a decision I've been mulling over, and I'm going to let you make it for me.

Scene: On the deck

Rayla: Callum. What is he doing to you? Let him go!

Finnegrin: Control the prisoners, Deadwood, or I'll chop you up to make a new mast.

Elmer: Sit back down.

Finnegrin: Big dumb hunka wood-if-he-could.

Soren: Hey! He's actually doing a great job. I'm very under control.

Finnegrin: You all care about justice, right? Well, one of you stole my glow toads so one of you has to pay. Now the old-fashioned price for stealing is the thief's hand. So, boy, which of your friends is losing a hand? I give you that choice.

Callum: No. I won't pick.

Finnegrin: Oh, you will, or I'll take a hand from each of 'em.

Ezran: Take my hand. I'm the one who stole from you.

Rayla: No, take mine. I almost lost one before, so suppose I'm due.

Soren: I've got the biggest, strongest hands, don't you want one of mine? Huh? Huh?

Villads: I can get on fine without a hand. Hooks are in fashion these days.

Finnegrin: What is wrong with you people? You bunch of barnacle brains all want to lose your hands?

Elmer: I do not understand. A hand will take weeks to regrow.

Soren: No, buddy. It'll take way longer than that.

Callum: See? So long as we protect each other, so long as we love each other, you can never control us.

Finnegrin: Charming. Really tugging on my heartstrings. Think I feel a good cry coming on. (cuffs unlock) They'll do anything for you, so surely you'll do anything for them, won't you? Go on.

Finnegrin: You've done this before. Turn their chains into snakes and then you can all overpower me and sail to freedom. You have all the power and control here. If you care so much about them, set them free. Is it such a big deal dirtying yourself with a little dark magic?

Ezran: Stop! Just take my hand, that's all you wanted, isn't it?

Rayla: Don't do it, Callum. Not again!

(Rayla frees herself, Finn casts Venus Frigoris on her)

Callum: Rayla!

Finnegrin: Hurts, don't it? That's your blood freezing in your veins. Now you see what keeps everyone on my ship in line. The chains, well, they're really just for show.

(Callum punches him)

Finnegrin: You shouldn't have done that.

(Elmer punches Callum)

Scene: Back in the captain’s cabin

Finnegrin: That was quite a display. All that talk about how love makes you stronger, but the second you see that elf girl in pain, you completely lost yourself.

Callum: What are you doing?

Finnegrin: Oh, don't worry. The cage is for his protection. This way, he lures us a leviathan but doesn't get eaten. The one getting thrown into the sea serpent's hungry mouth is your elf girl.

Callum: (grunts) No, no, wait! A dying breath. Blood filled with hatred. And a unicorn horn. That's the dark magic you want. Just... just let her go.

Finnegrin: (tongue clicking) Oh, my poor lad. That deal was no longer on the table.

Callum: No!

Scene: Back on the deck

Finnegrin: What did you think you could do, boy? I control everyone on this ship. Everyone.

Rayla: Callum!

Callum: (exhales sharply) Do not ask how the ocean's blue... or why the tides their time do keep. To love is simply to know this... The tides are true, as the ocean is deep. (casts the spell)

Finnegrin: How?

Callum: You don't control anything. But then, you already knew that, didn't you? Because it's the secret of the ocean itself. The arcanum.

Finnegrin: Impossible.

Callum: You helped me figure it out. I thought it would be about controlling the tides, or fighting the currents. But... it's the opposite. The ocean arcanum is accepting that there are depths you can't see. Parts of yourself you can't understand. And things you can't control. You know what I'm saying is true because you were born knowing it. No matter how much you try, you'll never control everything. And that terrifies you.

Finnegrin: Oh, you're wrong, boy. I can control you.

(Callum choking and gasping)

Finnegrin: You see after all that, I win because this worthless lump of timber obeys me no matter what.

Soren: Stop! You don't have to do what he tells you. He calls you names and says you're worthless, but you do everything he says. Why?

Finnegrin: Because he knows his place. Doesn't even have blood to freeze, but he'll still do what he's told. Like this... Deadwood! Hit the handsome loudmouth.

Soren: (grunting) He deserves dignity!

Finnegrin: Oh, if you say so, I can treat him real dignified-like. There he is, the great Sir Splinters, Lord of the Logs. Look at him, he's got a face only a carpenter could love. Again!

(Soren grunts)

Ezran: Soren, stay down.

Finnegrin: This is over. Again!

(Soren groans)

Elmer: Why do you keep getting up?

Finnegrin: Again!

Soren: (groans) I know... what this is like. I know how you feel. He's cruel... but you don't have to be.

Finnegrin: What are you doing? I didn't tell you to stop. Hit him again. Do it, you pathetic rotting husk. Do you hear me, Deadwood? Deadwood!

Elmer: That is not my name.

Finnegrin: Unhand me! I own you! I control you! You are mine! Deadwood, put me down! Deadwood!

Elmer: My name is... Elmer.

(Finnegrin screaming)

[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.

[orangepanic]

Sorry if this is an odd question but what lead you to the Iroh Asami ship? I've always been interested in hearing how it came about!

WELL! In this essay I will…

It’s not an odd question at all though. Why are you frothing at the mouth over a tiny kids’ cartoon ship that sank over a decade ago and breaks up the biggest pairing in the fandom, Orange? Are you mad? Who does that?

Okay but look at them 🥹

My interest in Irosami was initially a rage-based aesthetic. I love Asami. I really admired her courage in standing up to her father and being willing to lose her whole cushy life in the process. That takes serious guts. This isn’t a fighter! She’s just a random girl who hit the wrong guy with her moped. But she always steps up. She does everything right. And then she gets treated like absolute crap!! My poor baby. Why is nobody choosing Asami to love?

Right on cue, enter buff buff hero man. I think I actually shouted when Iroh showed up, not out of Zuko nostalgia but because finally here was Asami’s love! Way to upgrade, girl. He’s gonna save the world and buy you dinner and make love to you all night long on his big phallic boat.

Then I started watching Iroh. He never smiles. He’s always tense. We don’t see him eat or sleep. He’s constantly shifting strategies so is clearly smart but without an ounce of it used for self-preservation. There’s something sad about him. He just keeps getting the crap kicked out of him trying to save people. And I start to think Iroh might need love just as much as Asami does. Maybe more. How must it feel to be named General Iroh of the Fire Nation? The weight of that history.

So by the end of the season they were married in my head. Just two young people handed more than their fair share of responsibility and poisoned legacy and doing everything they can to redeem their family names and do right by the world. I think they’d understand each other. I think they’d be kind to each other. I think they’d poke each other in the side to make them laugh and kiss each other breathless and hold one another in the dark when it all seems like too much. I think they’d deserve each other.

And I find that way more compelling than canon.

[winterviolet1]

Enhypen reaction: Places they take their S/o on a date

Sunghoon:

It wouldn't be a surprise if Sunghoon did take you out on an ice skating date. As the ice prince he is. Sunghoon would love to teach you and enjoy the time with you as his s/o on the date.

"I got you, trust me you'll do just fine love"

Heeseung:

I see Heeseung taking you out on a beach date. He would pick the prefect time when no one is around so it just be you and him. Enjoying the time with you on the beach date was all more worth it when he manage to get a day off.

"How do you enjoy the date Hun, I know we don't get to do this often so I wanted to make this worth while for us"

Sunoo:

Sunoo would do a home date. But instead of hanging out inside the house. Sunoo would take you outside for an backyard date. While you were out, Sunoo wanted to surprise you as he set up the surprise. When you came back, Sunoo smiled and took out to the backyard to show you your surprise.

"I hope you don't mind this, I thought we could have our date here as it would just the two of us alone without anyone bothering us"

Jay:

Jay would take you on a boat ride on your date. He would already handed you a bouquet as he takes you over to the boat you two are gonna take.

"What do you think of the scenery Hun, this was something new I thought we both would enjoy"

Jake:

Jake had planned a scenery picnic date. He was able to get a day off so he could take you on this beautiful date. Jake packed up you favorite food and drink when the two of you arrive to the area.

"I picked this area cause it was beautiful, but your more beautiful then the scenery love"

Jungwon:

Jungwon would be the type to take you to a fair for your guys date. Jungwon would so proud cause he would play a game so he could win you the biggest prize. Towards the night, Jungwon would take you on the ferries wheel so you two would share a kiss at the top.

"Did you have fun babe, I hope you like the prize I got you!"

Niki:

The classic arcade date. Niki knows you would have a grand time playing games and win prizes at the arcade with him. When you two took a break from gaming, both of you order some food and had some lunch.

"I hope your enjoying yourself love, maybe our next date we can be a picnic date or something"

[izzysillyhandsy]

Re: The Deathbed Conversation

Assuming for a moment that Izzy was completely honest and meant what he said (and it wasn't more like a last service to Ed, telling him what he needed to move on) - and assuming Izzy was 100% objectively correct and not shouldering all the blame out of misguided guilt, and what he told Ed happened, exactly as he told him.

Then what exactly did happen in those 20-30 years of Ed&Izzy?

Blackbeard… it was us. You, me.

Ok, but when did it start? Did Izzy and Ed meet as young men, did they create Blackbeard together (as in coming up with the name, the aesthetic, flag design, the silly little spikes on the ship, etc)? Did both of them agree that this scary, inhuman monster could be their safe space, their ticket to survival?

Or did Izzy join in later, when Blackbeard was already established ("When you made me first mate...")? Did Izzy kill the former first mate?

How much of Blackbeard is Izzy? How much came from Ed? Was Ed in any way forced into this? Was Izzy in any way forced into this?

I fed your darkness… Blackbeard.

Great, but how? What kind of power did Izzy have over Ed? In the show, very little it seems - at least as long as Ed is certain that Izzy'll always be there (he seems very afraid of Izzy leaving, at least when he's not distracted by Stede).

The only time Izzy seems to have any influence on Ed in S1 is in Ep8, when he is (kinda) feeding his darkness with Ed being at his most vulnerable. I really don't believe for a second that Ed was actually threatened by Izzy - as in "Izzy physically harming or killing him". At most, it was a threat of abandonment or withdrawal of affection/love.

Is that what it was? Was Ed so alone, did he feel so unloveable that Izzy was the only constant/love in his life? And did Izzy threaten to leave/withdraw that love if Ed didn't "perform", at least in public?

But then we have the retirement plan - and Izzy going along with it so easily... and the way they interact which seems so familiar and playful. I just don't feel "forced companionship". I feel long, complicated marriage. And Izzy's undying loyality.

Was Ed really so insecure and unstable that a few well-chosen insults could tip him into darkness - over and over and over? For decades? From Izzy??? With the way Izzy looks at Ed, does everything he asks, obviously adores him?

What did Izzy say to him, every time, for all these years???

For years, I egged him on, even though I knew you'd outgrown him, but the truth is… I needed him.

Ok, Izzy knew that Ed had outgrown Blackbeard. But that implies that for some time (probably years and years) Ed hadn't outgrown him yet. At the beginning, and for some time, Blackbeard seems to have been at least somewhat useful for Ed and Izzy (both of them are respected, relatively wealthy and alive).

But what does "outgrown" mean?

Wasn't it just Ed getting bored (and depressed) after years of the same old stuff? Or was it traumatic for him to be forced into this violent persona over and over again, and he was finally ready to be just Ed and feel secure in that?

But do we really think Ed went into a different mental state every time Izzy "egged him on"? That his whole personality changed every time they raided a ship (and Blackbeard didn't even kill anyone)? Is this supposed to be a Jekyll/Hyde situation?

Ed himself says that his biggest problem is that all the fun and adventure have gone - he doesn't even have to be on the boat.

How does that fit in with "feeding the darkness" and "egging him on"?

I understand Izzy needing Blackbeard (as in their shared fuckery, not "Blackbeard" as a separate person to Ed - "you and me" is unambiguous) and everyone else staying a step back. I also understand that Izzy wanted to keep Ed to himself in a way. In the end, Izzy (rightly) realized that that wasn't fair to Ed.

But are we meant to assume that Izzy wouldn't want the "real Ed"? Or that Izzy is insecure himself - as long as there's Blackbeard, Ed needs him. Without Blackbeard, does Izzy think that Ed will inevitably see how boring and useless Izzy is and leave him?

What's going on with these two? (a co-dependant relationship where both are bringing out the worst in the other at times. But that's not what Izzy said)

Well, going with Izzy's words as truth, it seems to me that:

for many years, Blackbeard did both of them more good then bad

some years ago though, Ed wanted more/got bored/wanted a softer life/wanted to be "just Ed"

Izzy held onto Blackbeard because he enjoyed being the only one who really knew Ed, and he didn't want to share him (and potentially lose him - which actually happened so he wasn't wrong)

Izzy held onto Blackbeard by feeding Ed's darkness and preventing him from being "a regular dude"

I have no idea how exactly Izzy fed Ed's darkness - by making him feel unloveable and worthless? By sharing in/encouraging violence and making it exciting and an escape from depression?

the only darkness-feeding moment we see in the show that worked (and "better" than expected) was after Stede left, and we can safely assume that normally it didn't escalate like that

I think the threat was Izzy leaving Ed (by withdrawing all affection) and insinuating that if even Izzy doesn't want Ed, noone else will

in that situation that was like pouring oil on fire

before that though, it might have worked in a "us against the world" way

something like "you'll never make it alone in this cruel world, stick to what you know"

like Pop-Pop said - Ed's good at being Blackbeard/violent (and at nothing else)

Does that make sense? I don't know. I tried to make it make sense by writing this but... the big question in all this is still how did Izzy do this for decades (this guy must be really good at darkness-feeding).

Ed as Blackbeard was like a rockstar - was it all just a show, Ed an empty, manipulated shell and Izzy the brains behind the operation?

Or maybe Izzy did lie to Ed to make him feel better, after all.

[crowtrobotx]

I'm on a huge Kris x Karl kick rn please tell me more about these two losers I love them

Anon. Beautiful anon. I am so sorry this is late lmao. I wanted to actually give you something in response to this ask, not just muse for a few sentences. I hope you enjoy this ficlet (is it a ficlet if it's over 2k words??? whatever) involving the aforementioned losers, and I'm so very glad you love them as much as I do. :) ******************************************** Tunnel of Love Pairing: Karl Heisenberg x OC Setting: No Village AU, maybe set in Check Engine's universe if you've read my fic Genre: Mostly humorous fluff Warnings: Swearing if that ain't your thing, some heavy petting but nothing I'd classify as too intense. ;) Word count: 2243

“Next. Next, please.”

Kris could scarcely think of a worse summer job than manning a boat ride at the county fair, and she couldn’t blame the exasperation evident in the teenager’s voice as he tried to explain a laundry list of safety precautions to the already-too-handsy couple boarding their swan-shaped vessel. The line staggered ahead lazily as the enticing smell of funnel cake wafted from somewhere nearby. She wondered, if only for a moment, if she could convince Karl that eating more fried monstrosities was a better idea than getting in a completely non-seaworthy watercraft with peeling paint and God knew what staining the moist cushions, but given the way he was already bouncing on the balls of his feet to see how many more couples were ahead of them, she abandoned the hope all too quickly. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, or that she was afraid of water - quite the contrary, under normal circumstances she would have agreed to it with no reservations. If you ignored the questionable sanitation, a slow boat ride through a quiet, dark tunnel sounded almost divine. But these weren’t normal circumstances; she was exhausted. How long had they been here? Twelve hours? How many rides had Karl dragged her on against her will, how many cheap beers had she downed to quell the anxiety of getting into a giant metal death trap over and over again? The ride looked exceptionally dark against the backdrop of the neon carnival lights, the distant ferris wheel in particular drenching the night sky in a sort of kaleidoscope effect that sent Kris’s already uneasy stomach churning. The larger problem, though, as she saw it, was that they were the oldest pair in line. By at least two decades. They were the only middle aged couple in a sea of overly horny teenagers and they looked like lunatics - particularly because Karl also had the “overly horny” part covered. Kris had swatted his hand away from her backside more than once now, the cover of night blessedly shielding her burning cheeks and ears from prying eyes. The line moved again. She shuffled forward, arm in arm with Karl, trying to look as small as possible - a feat that was next to unthinkable given the gargantuan stuffed puppy tucked under her free arm. Yet another ingredient in the stew of her agitation, her boyfriend had made it his God given goal the second they’d arrived to win her the biggest prize possible. It was cute, at first - adorable, even. Karl had scrutinized each game at least twice, asked her opinion on each of the potential spoils and finally landed on the strength-tester after some intense negotiations. “But there’s bigger stuffed puppies at the basketball game over there - don’t you want one of those?” “Babe, they’re bigger than me - are you gonna carry it around? Besides, these ones have bow ties, and everything’s better with a bow tie.” It had been a partial truth. Mostly Kris didn’t want to see Karl get dunked on - literally - by someone half his age. The last thing she needed was him dedicating the following year to avenging himself and trying to become a sports phenomenon with knees that sounded like snapping crab legs every time he stood up. He’d made her laugh, at least, as he put on a show of exaggerated stretches and warm-ups before his attempt. Kris had expected him to fail, to be honest. Karl was strong but she knew most of these games were rigged. Still, she didn’t have the heart to kill his excitement and if he wanted to go for it, who was she to stop him? If he couldn’t do it, she’d happily settle for a more manageable sized prize - perhaps one of the tie dyed teddy bears - and she’d nearly looked away when he’d at last swung down the hammer against the block. She supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised when the bell rang out. Kris had gestured slack-jawed at the black and white puppy with the purple bow tie while Karl grinned like a smarmy tomcat. 

Her poor therapist was going to hear another earful of musings about why exactly she’d fallen in love with this greasy asshole - no one could explain it, least of all her. “I think we’re next,” Karl’s excited voice barely restrained to normal levels. “That kid up there chickened out at the last minute.” Probably because they realized these boats are one splinter away from sinking, Kris thought miserably. She turned her head over her shoulder and grimaced at the hordes of teenagers waiting behind them - bright eyed and fashionable and looking nothing like her, with her ever darkening under eye circles and Karl’s ill-fitting oil stained hoodie thrown over her shoulders.

“Oh boy,” she said, straining to match his energy. At last they stepped forward onto the dock, its wet surface shimmering under the cascade of surrounding colors. The ride operator, the only person who looked even remotely as tired as Kris, turned a dead-inside gaze toward them. If he had any thoughts about the weird older couple hopping on a ride notorious for awkward first kisses and wandering hands, he blessedly kept them to himself. “You’ll have to leave the stuffed animal here, ma’am. You can pick it up when the ride is done.” “Oh, yeah. Thanks,” Kris’s arm practically cried out in relief as she plopped Karl’s oversized gift down next to a collection of other toys and purses left behind for safekeeping. “How, uh, how long is this thing? Usually?” The kid sniffed. “I dunno. Five minutes, tops. That is, if no one falls overboard and we have to stop it for an hour.” “Great.” Karl nudged her, practically vibrating with excitement despite the banality of it all. He’d pushed his sunglasses up into his hair, apparently deciding that it would be too dark in the tunnel even for him with them on. His eyes were almost brighter than anything else around them, and Kris nearly felt like complimenting him until he opened his stupid, annoying mouth. “Bet you a corn dog I can get you off before we come out the other end.” The ride operator sighed. Kris wanted to drown herself.

“Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times and in a place where we can all see them. And please no inappropriate displays…” he sounded like he wanted to get hit by a stray meteor at all costs. 

“Define inappropriate.” Kris had known Karl would say something once they got up here but she hadn’t been sure what. She rolled her eyes and elbowed him in his soft midsection, earning a snicker and a feigned offended exclamation. “I was just asking!” The operator stopped their boat with his foot just long enough for the pair to clamber in. Karl, ever ungraceful, managed to splash water onto the floor when he flopped down next to Kris with zero regard for the integrity of the vessel. He flung an arm around her shoulders and waggled his eyebrows suggestively as the boat lurched forward, setting off into the black light filled tunnel ahead at a lopsided angle. “You’re obnoxious, you know that?” Kris booped the end of his nose with her index finger and pretended to be more interested in the neon paint on the walls than him. “Yeah,” he said, proudly, before scooting a touch closer. “And you’re pretty.” Was he…. Oh no, was he being romantic? “Tell me something I don’t know.” Kris leaned back a bit, forcing Karl to lean in even further. The sounds of the carnival outside began to deaden the further in they traveled, until all that was left was the lapping of the water against the sides of the boat and the crackling sound of public domain piano music warbling out from hidden speakers. To her horror and private delight, Karl decided to put his mouth to use on something better than cheesy pick up lines and infodumping about motorcycles and cars for once. He brushed aside her dark curls from the shoulder closest to him and set to work leaving hot, open-mouthed kisses on the exposed skin of her next while Kris subconsciously shifted, the ache in her feet from walking all day replaced by an ache of another sort, higher up her body. Jesus Christ. She was mad. Mad that she’d agreed to this, mad that she was letting him act like a hormonal sixteen year old on a shitty fair ride, mad that she was getting into it. She had been a respectable person, once. Then her lizard brain had taken over and she’d gotten the hots for her mechanic, and with every passing day she was turning into more of a clown. “Karl–” it came out breathier than she would have liked– “Karl, stop. We’re going to– oh – we’re going to get in trouble, you buffoon.” “Who’s gonna tell,” he murmured against her ear, before tracing her jaw with chaste kisses and bringing a hand up to turn her face to him. “You don’t think they have cameras on this thing?” “Sure they do,” Karl shrugged, “but you think anyone’s actually watching? These guys don’t get paid enough to give a shit.” He was probably right about that. Before Kris could come up with another excuse, Karl captured her lips in his own and settled his hands near her waist, filling her senses with him. She sighed and surrendered herself to the action, too tired and too stupidly in love to fight it. She threaded her fingers through his silvery hair and dragged him closer, pretending to ignore the victorious smirk she felt him pull while his scratchy beard undoubtedly reddened her skin. Jackass. Whatever hastily painted designs littered the walls of the tunnel, neither of them noticed. Kris decided that because the fair was closing in an hour anyway, it wouldn’t matter if they got kicked out - she’d already indulged so much today, what was one more thing? She slipped a hand underneath Karl’s collar and toyed gently with his chest hair, earning a deep growl in response. “Two can play at that,” he muttered before quickly sneaking up the back of her shirt and unhooking her bra with practiced ease - much better than the first time, when Kris had thought he was about to burst into tears trying to figure out how it worked. Some engineer. “Karl!” “What? I’m just following the rules. He said nothing inappropriate - inappropriate would be if I tore your clothes off and did what I’m actually thinking of doing right now. No one’s gonna know I just gave the girls some room to breathe…” “Fuck you.” “Please do, doll.”

Stupid,  stupid man with his stupid unkempt beard and his stupid uneven grey hair that he cut himself while drunk in the bathtub. She was angry at how much she liked him. Furious. Kris decided that when they were done sucking each other’s faces off, she was going to throw him overboard in the nasty ride water and make a comment about how he needed a shower anyway. She dragged him in again, with such force that the boat wobbled this time, and let him content himself with his wandering hands and probing tongue. She hated to admit she was enjoying herself. Maybe, maybe, if he behaved, she’d even admit that he’d been right about this whole thing. He’d never shut up about it, but maybe he deserved it… just this once.

The moment never came, though. All too soon the light at the dock beamed around the corner and he pulled away after one last kiss, punctuated by a nip on her lower lip. Kris gasped as if coming up for air, and to her horror she subconsciously leaned after him, trying to capture the moment before it slipped away into the night. She practically crawled into his lap, ignoring the self-satisfied look on his face. “That’s not fair– Karl, you can’t do that to me and just– get back here!” 

“Ma’am, please don’t make me call security on you.” Kris froze. When exactly they’d pulled up and stopped, she wasn’t sure. What she was sure of was the fact that there were now a bunch of judgemental teenagers looking at her, someone technically old enough to be their mother, on top of someone who looked like he’d been pulled out of a dumpster, and her hair was undoubtedly askew in such a way to make it obvious what they’d been doing. Karl exited the ride as if nothing was amiss and clicked his tongue in mock disappointment.

“Yeah, pumpkin. So sorry about her, can’t take her anywhere,” Karl gestured in Kris’s direction with a smug grin that made her want to punch his throat. “Let’s get you home to sleep off those beers. You’re kinda obsessed with PDA, you know that?”

Kris clambered out of the boat, quickly snatching the stuffed puppy and tucking it back in its rightful place under her arm, patently refusing Karl’s outstretched hand. The swan boat’s faded eyeball regarded her in a way that was somehow both lifeless and mocking, as if it had seen so many such instances over the years but never got used to them. Her cheeks flared as she stormed past into the yellow glow of the night ahead, ears roaring so loudly it almost drowned out her partner’s guttural laughter. 

“I’m going to skin you alive, Karl Heisenberg.”

[ask-artsy-oncie]

I’m obsessed with your Anastasia AU. Do you have any more thoughts or ramblings?

Sorry this took six months to answer anon - know that I resolved to answer it before the year ended, and so here we are!

Obviously the Anastasia AU post I made leaves something to be desired. I was getting carsick while writing it so it peters off at the end. It's especially lacking in actual Llewerius content - especially especially stuff from Ty's point of view - so I want to focus on that.

The biggest thing that Ty and Louie tend to clash over in this AU is Louie's godawful work ethic. Ty has pretty good work ethic, and in this AU literally grew up as a servant, so the fact that Louie seems so keen to laze about and not take this "posing as a prince" business seriously annoys the hell out of him. And he's not beyond verbalizing this.

Either way, they're both smart-mouthed individuals with similar criminal habits and it's easy for them to get on each other's nerves. Baloo considers it love at first sight, though he might just be missing Becky.

Despite all this, there is physical attraction at play, and once they get over their petty annoyances with one another, the two end up genuinely enjoying each other's company (not that they would openly admit it, at first)

The nightmare on the boat still happens in this AU. To accomodate for the lack of pets in this AU, it's worth noting that Ty is a (relatively) light sleeper to Kit and Baloo, so when Louie flopped out of bed and started sleepwalking out the door of their cabin, Ty woke up. Took him a minute to fully wake up and realize something was wrong, though, so he didn't bolt out of bed right away.

Yes, he carried Louie back to bed in his arms. They probably slept in the same bed that night, too, just to feel a little safer. They do not acknowledge any of that at all the morning after.

Once Ty realizes that Louie is, in fact, the missing prince, it finally hits him that Louie's probably going to be in his life forever, due to their families being friends, and that makes his budding crush on Louie kind of too much for him to handle. It also makes him feel guilty to have all this sudden emotional baggage when Louie should really only be worrying about reuniting with his family, like Ty feels as though being around Louie wouldn't be fair to him, so he decides that becoming more distant is the best (and kindest) option. He essentially avoids him after the Duck family reunites.

Louie picks up on this and starts to think that maybe his own crush on Ty had him reading their relationship wrong, that Ty probably truly can't stand him, and does his best to rebottle the resulting hurt he feels into contempt.

Ty does, however, have to participate in the ball thrown to celebrate Louie's return, since his family is expected to be there. The bird kids all willingly sneak out of the party once they start to notice Magica's presence, and Ty is the only one who notices, though he isn't aware of why they left. Of course, he gets to show up just in time to clock Magica right in the face.

Since the kids all get to face Magica together, I don't think there's really any instance of any of them being injured so grievously that they'd think one of them was dead or something, like what happens in the movie. Moreso, I think that being shoehorned back together and surviving a final-gambit attack from an incredibly powerful sorceress together forces Ty and Louie to confront the feelings they have for each other and be honest with one another. Like sure, maybe they aren't scared into believing one of them died, but they're forced to wrestle with the idea that they could have, and if that's the case, there are things that shouldn't be left unsaid.

And so! We get a happy ending! Louie gets to be with his family again, and Ty and Louie learn that their feelings for one another are reciprocated!

Hope this answer satisfies you, anon! And I hope you enjoy the rest of your December!

[dreadful-home]

Rage Aspect Thoughts

Rage inspires revolution. Rage breaks rules.

Rage knows negative emotions intimately, how to destroy from the inside, how to get under people's skin.

Rage can calm and rage can infuriate. Rage can make the enemy mindless with fury and can pacify betrayers in a session.

~

A Witch of Rage is the ultimate destroyer.

They can make anything possible with enough self-justification. Meaning, as long as they stay feeling negative emotions strongly (fear, disappointment, anger, sadness), they can do anything in the moment. Think of it as their flight or fight senses kicking in at extremes, letting them teleport away if they're too upset / too scared, or giving them immense strength and whatever powers they can imagine to fight off what's bothering them. Their powers are handy, but dangerous as they feel negativity so passionately, it can literally destroy them. They have to be careful.

~

An Heir of Rage is especially susceptible to feeling rage and is receptive to other's upset emotions. They would able to shift people's rage through showing them how ridiculous their anger is (by mirroring it) or joining them in their anger/dejection and doing so helps them both deal with it together. Once god-tiered, an Heir can embody their aspect, so this could mean an Heir of Rage can shapeshift to what someone fears the most, or become the very bad thoughts that infiltrate their enemies' brains, like entering their minds to create a tailor-made hellscape they can't escape.

~

Don't mind me getting a bit personal as I try to describe my thoughts on my Classpect, lol. With how apt Mages of Rage are in sensing negativity, they are able to distinguish who is trustworthy and who isn't, essentially being able to sniff out intent. They have the most potential to be the group therapists. They understand all aspects of Rage, both the good and the bad, and treat it with compassion. They can understand anyone's troubles and be the perfect person to come to for help on what should be fair and how to deal with conflict. On the other hand, the classpect is also stubborn, and when their advice isn't taken, they can take it as a personal affront as their views on an injustice are unbreakable.

~

A Thief of Rage hoards all negative attention. They like taking all the blame; wants noteriety to be their brand. It can be a kindness that helps calm others and bring peace to the group, to have someone that's always taking the brunt of everyone's emotions so that they may pass, or it can be disastrous as they cause conflict by hogging all attention, concern, and energy that shouldve been given to the bigger picture problem. They make for a great distraction in battle, able to dodge attacks as enemies can't take their eyes off them, even zapping the very motivation to fight out of them the longer they chase and using it to make their movements faster. They can be the biggest detriment to a session or the biggest surprise asset.

~

A Prince of Rage works to soothe. They want things to stay calm and for everyone to work together in harmony. They would never want to rock the boat, never giving in to their anger with an ocean of pacience and understanding. They prefer doing everything they can to motivate people to see the bright side of things, lulling anger and fear into the background. They're the most comforting of people, knowing just what to say to make you wipe away your tears and giving the best hugs.

In god-tier, I can imagine them having the strongest pacifying power out of any Rage player. Just by being in the battlefield, their opponents start feeling chiller and forget what they're even fighting for. Like a teabag seeping in hot water, the effect can slowly take over and turn the tide.

[bts-hyperfixation]

How are bangtan spending new years with a partner?

Namjoon: Has some kind of elaborate plan made up. He started it their first year of dating and to get their attention and realised how badly he fucked up when he decided to up himself every year. It started with an intimate dinner with food brought in from the restaurant of their first date. The next year there were tickets to a private box for a light show. Then he presented them with tickets to a museum tour just for them where they could watch the fireworks from the roof. He is getting extremely stressed thinking of anything this year when his partner surprises him with tickets to another country (weeks in advance so he doesn't have to plan anything). He still brings a ring with him for a midnight walk along the beach.

Seokjin: He hosts a new years dinner party and game night in their apartment. Everyone is coupled up. Obviously, the couples have this built-in, but all of the singles are carefully masterminded into partnerships that Jin and his partner think would be cute. To make it fair they make it seem random, splitting regular couples up into new pairs, but people do start to think it's odd that married people end up with other married people and the singles end up with strangers they've never met before. (Jin's favourite pair will always be Yoongi and the mail person from his partner's firm... they have been together for four years nearly, it gives Jin a horrendous ego)

Yoongi: Loves an intimate night in. Sets up snacks and a movie that he can watch in bed with his partner. They talk about their new year's plans, all their resolutions and dreams for the next 12 months. They spend time reflecting on everything they have managed over the last 12 months. They dirft in and out of paying attention to the film and paying attention to each other, playing with each others hands, sharing idle kisses, checking the time so they don't miss the ball drop.

Hoseok: Hires a private karaoke. Dances all night with his partner and their friends. Drinks are offered by the bottle, they play games to talk about the next year, everyone has a chance for a solo to which Hobi claps the loudest, but never louder than he does for his partner. The music turns off at midnight and they share a toast. He and his partner head home and spend the next hour alone, talking, drinking, kissing, delighting in one another's company now that it's just the two of them. Seems like the type to have a morning walk tradition to start the new year off the right way no matter how hungover they are.

Jimin: Likely to want to spend time with family. Maybe his ad's restaurant is hosting a New Year celebration so he and his partner attend. It's a lot of drinking and chatting. His hand stays on his partner's hip all night if they are standing. If they are sat either he is on their lap or they are on his. They share a chaste kiss at midnight. Then they help with clear up, celebrating with family until they escape and pass out until the next morning. 

Taehyung: Once Taehyugn settles down I think he would quite happily settle in for a quiet life. Escaping to the countryside with his partner, walking up a hill at 11pm and setting up a picnic so they could be under the stars for the strike of midnight. Delicious snacks and good champagne. Slow dancing as fireworks go off somewhere far in the distance. Continuing this tradition after having children, his little princess dances on his toes while his partner holds the baby, a dog running around trying to trip them up.

Jungkook: Loves New Year with a partner. The first year he gets tickets to the biggest gathering of people he can to impress his partner, only to realise he didn't get to spend the amount of time he wanted to with them and he had to share his attention and he is far to jealous a person for that. Every subsequent year he tries for something more intimate. They settle on a tradition of hiring a boat and releasing a latern with their new years resolutions on them.#

I’m alone for new years! send me an ask to keep me company! Let me know what you are doing this year!

Taehyung's is my ideal, what about yours?

[yrys-copihwesfv]

failure; fear; guilt

Failure:

Sooo, Yrys has had a lot of moments that would count as failures but he generally doesn’t care. Like, he’ll pick himself up and carry on with the mentality of either “it doesn’t matter that I failed, it’s just important that I tried” OR “even if I failed, I learned or grew or somehow improved from the experience”

But then shit hits the fan and people start dying, and he’s not the WoL with all these fancy abilities, he’s just Some Guy with the Echo and he can’t do anything to stop these super powerful enemies from coming in and hurting people. And each time, a bigger enemy shows up and it goes from being a case of protecting a city to protecting a continent to protecting the world and he Can’t Do Anything. And I think every time someone dies, that becomes his new biggest failure because it means he hasn’t been able to improve from the last time. And he can usually move past failures but every time someone loses their life because he either wasn’t there or wasn’t good enough to save them, it stays with him, and then he just bottles it all up and keeps that facade of optimism up because if he tells anyone, he’s scared they’ll feel like they can’t rely on him anymore and that’ll just validate everything he’s been thinking already.

Fear:

On an existential-y level, he’s scared of not being needed, scared of letting people down, all that jazz. On a much more physical and present level, he’s terrified of large bodies of water. He grew up surrounded by forest and it was a long time before he saw the sea and just the sheer vastness freaks him out. He’s scared of how deep it can go and how quickly conditions can go from calm to dangerous. Whenever he has to go on a boat to get somewhere, he immediately goes below deck and stays there until it’s time to get off again. He’s also not a fan of swimming. He can tolerate swimming in lakes if necessary but he refuses to swim in the sea unless it is literally a case of life or death - and even then, it would have to be someone else’s life at risk, he would rather take his chances with whatever danger there is on land than go into the sea. He is very vocal about this fear. Put him near the sea and he instantly turns into a whiny toddler.

On a similar note, he’s not scared per se of wide open expanses but he’s not comfortable with them. Steppes or deserts or generally places where there’s no trees or dense foliage unnerve him, kind of like a liminal space, it just feels wrong.

Guilt:

Yrys is most guilty about not being dragged to the First. He couldn’t stop his friends going through traumas there and when they came back as changed people, he had a weird kind of survivor’s guilt that it wasn’t fair that he got spared that trauma. He spent a lot of time basically glued to Ryn (and to a lesser extent, A’linhbo) trying to make himself as useful as he could to make up for not being in the First. He was sort of coming to terms with it by the time everyone went to Ultima Thule and, yet again, he was rendered useless there and history basically repeated itself. He’s still trying to come to terms with everything that happened and how, yet again, he wasn’t able to share the burden and lighten it for his friends