#Goat shenanigans are the best kind of shenanigans

[thedoctordog01]

A Story in Four Parts. The shenanigans of The Goat - the Satanic Goat, and of Vincent Van Goat - the Pygmy Goat. May their friendship last eternally under the blackened, cinnamon roll-shaped sun.

[ozzgin]

Hi!! Your writing it truly lovely 😭<33 If i could request anything with Zzy? Thank youuu

Yandere! Demon x Gloomy! Reader (II)

Featuring the goat-legged boy Zzy and a gloomy, newly employed detective Reader! By the way, his name is a little tribute to a series I like. Can you guess who inspired it? Hint: it's Jhonen Vasquez's first comic :D

Content: female reader, perverted goat demon yandere, dark/crass humor!, monster romance, mildly NSFW

[Part 1] [Monster masterlist]

The detective man, at the very least, kept his word. The pay is good, and you barely have any work to do. The jobs themselves are similarly not too challenging: so far you haven’t had to deal with any murder mystery out of an Agatha Christie novel. Rather, most of the time, it’s someone asking you to investigate their cheating partner, or sending you to do a background check for an employee. Every now and then you’ll get the odd client, but that’s something for another day.

Your boss isn’t all that bad either. You were initially quite hesitant to be alone in the room with him. He always seems to be surrounded by an eerie, dark aura, and you’ve only seen him smile in a menacing, villainous way. Now you’ve gotten used to his strangeness. In fact, it’s almost comforting. There’s something refreshing about another human being honest about their misery. He seems to be just as uninterested in this job as you are, spending most of his time reading at his desk. Despite his unkempt, scary appearance, he's pleasant enough and looks after you. Which, now that you think about it, is a little suspicious. You've seen him act around other people: curt and to the point, disinterested, even potentially rude. With demons, he's ruthless.

"Have you had lunch yet?" the man asks, standing up and dusting his knees. "I can get us something."

You nod and flash him a flaccid smile, although you can't help but ask:

"Listen, aren't you being a little too nice? I mean, I'm not complaining...but I've seen how you behave in general, and I have a hard time coming up with a reason for my special treatment."

He ponders your question for a moment, before his sunken eyes look ahead, somewhere behind you.

"Well…If I’m being honest, you’re kind of pathetic, aren't you? I’m just a little worried that if I’m too harsh, I’ll find out you hanged yourself in your apartment or something. Not that I’d care, but if you’re gone, I’m the one stuck with…that thing.”

Ah. That’s what it was. Almost immediately, a shiver runs across your spine.

“(Y/N)! Are you done yet? I’m booooooored”, a prolonged whine erupts from the neighboring chamber.

“I’m about to have lunch, actually. Do you want any-”

“You know I do! Spread those legs and I can start”, the goat demon declares with a grin, clacking his hooves in your direction.

You sigh.

Of course. Months ago, you were tricked into signing a lifelong contract with Zzy. It was the detective’s way of washing his hands off the matter and warmly welcoming you into the agency. It makes sense that he'd treat you with utmost care, otherwise he'd have to deal with this pest from Hell once again.

How's your life with Zzy going?

You've since found a way to seal your bedroom, in order to avoid waking up with his groping hands under your sheets. Sadly, the stubborn creature keeps finding ways to bypass your safety measurements. Who would’ve thought that lust is such a powerful driving force?

On top of the nightly shenanigans, you obviously have to deal with him during the day, at the agency. “Listen, it’s like…one of those fidget toys. It helps with stress”, he explains fervently while pointing at your chest. “You want me to do my work properly, don’t you?” He concludes theatrically. “You’re not holding my boobs. This is the end of the conversation.”

If you’re having a bad day, it won’t go unnoticed. “Boy, what a smell, what a delicacy. You’re even more miserable than usual”, Zzy will exclaim, throwing his hands together in a graceful prayer. “You know what the best medicine is? A quick fuck. Let me pound that sadness out of you, eh?”

Despite his constant clowning, the demon does have moments of clarity. He becomes particularly serious when jealous. “What have you done?” You shout in despair, gawking at the client - now morphed into a pig - foaming at the mouth and running around the room. “He was staring at your ass. Only I can do that.” The horned man stands proud, arms crossed, nodding at his own courageous act. His most treasured belonging has been defended once more.

As expected, the jealous curse has gotten both of you into time-out. Zzy because he cursed the client in the first place, and you - despite your protests - because you didn't stop him in time. "Can't you wear something easier to take off? It takes two business days to unbutton this crap", the demon complains as he fiddles with your shirt. You're laying on the sofa, hands behind your head, gazing at the clock on the wall and counting the minutes passing. Unbothered, compliant. The peacefulness of someone who's given up. "Zipper is to the left", you add, aiding the process.

Another irritating detail is that the damned beast can detect the slightest arousal coming from you, and will make sure to announce it loudly, regardless of who is around. "Someone's horny! Whew, getting me all worked up, too." You slap a hand over his mouth, a deep red blush rapidly spreading across your cheeks. You turn to the detective and apologize profusely, but he remains unconcerned, flipping another page. "Let me take care of her first, Mr. Detective", Zzy manages to mumble through your pressed fingers. "As long as you get the task done", your boss responds plainly, never bothering to look up from his book.

"You should visit me down there sometimes", the horned creature suddenly mentions, his head resting in your lap as you idly browse your phone. You stop to glance down at him. "In Hell, you mean?" He snickers at the thought. "No one believes me when I tell them I have a human girlfriend. I need concrete proof, ya feel me?" You raise an eyebrow. "Girlfriend?" He disregards your inquiry and continues: "At least give me a pair of your panties to take back home." Absolutely not.

"Were you this much of a menace before I showed up?"

"What's that supposed to mean?! You can't blame a demon for being in love."

You sigh once more and roll over.

"Does that mean we can go for round two~?" Zzy is grinning at his own suggestion.

"Just go to sleep. Or something."

[loverofpussyandthaitea]

Alright sluts, I need some opinions.

I am currently writing a CrocMom au that has gone to far wild and completely out of my control. I have most of the plot surrounding Luffy and Crocodile's backstory and connection figured out, that's not the problem. What IS the problem is that Crocodile is to much of a whore. Crocodile has up to at least five potential love interests that I could throw at him (not including Dragon cause that has to happen for, y'know, conception.)

Buggy, Mihawk, Buggy & Mihawk, Dolflamingo, Shanks, Corozon ECT.

Now, I know some of those options might not make sense, but see, a writers mind is an unending fucking mine field of insanity, and I would be able to make those options work pretty well.

Buggy and Mihawk would most definitely make the most sense, as they are pretty canon in their interactions and I have been itching to write cross-guild anyways.

Shanks? Knowing that Crocodile created basically his kid and also could kill him at any time and is also hooking up with his two ex's? That man is already a skank and has probably dated at least half the one piece verse, this is not far fetched.

Dolflamingo? They are the ones with the most cannon interaction and could make for a very good psychological warfare/angsty fic, but also, Dolflomingo. So like, gross.

And the last and most crackship, rarepair shit I could ever think of. Cora and Crocodile. Now, in my fic, I start with Crocodile on Ohara to involve Olvia and Robin into his cannon universe (This is also trans!Crocodile, so he's a woman right now, but he transitions after Luffy's birth) and so I can give him an excuse to adopt Robin later when she's around like, 11.

So, you have a Crocodile that fits just snuggly enough into the timeline and does not have enough trauma yet (in my universe at the least) and who has already given birth to Luffy and is already slightly regretting leaving him and who has already adopted Robin. I think that there would be a really high possibility that Crocodile would meet Cora and be like "look at this sad, pathetic, wet-cat, clumsy single father. Would be a shame if someone was to just grab it.". Which would then inadvertently save Cora's life, especially if Crocodile helped get the heart fruit and then brought them back to Alabasta.

I also wanna clarify, I don't think Law would see Crocodile as a father figure. It took fuckin forever for him to trust Cora, and that was with sacrifices that spited both hell and high water. I think Crocodile would more be seen as a mentor, especially if Law would still want to get back at Dolflamingo. Cora might try to stop that. Cora would want what's best for his son.

Crocodile? Dramatic-time-to -murder-the second-strongest-pirate-of-all-time bitch? 100% would support.

Also, the possibility of Robin and Law shenanigans kind of gets my goat.

Plus, if you add in Luffy, Ace, and Sabo, it would be chaotic as fuck, and kind of amazing!

As you can tell, I am slightly leaning more to one of these options than the others (totally not just because I want to write a Cora lives au) and I think that Cora is one of the only One Piece men that Crocodile would genuinely consider sticking with because of the way he treats other people and his kids. The possibilities are fucking endless.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I would take anything into consideration and I have to decide before I write the Dragon/Revolutionary chapter.

The world problems of a one piece fic writer, man.

[brucebocchi]

Ranking every new anime I watched in 2023, Pt. 2: #20-11

hey, i just started a ko-fi for my writing and possible other creative outlets. this post will also be available there, so please check it out and consider tipping/donating as i'm currently between jobs. the tumblr version of part 1 can be found here.

Let's get right into it.

20. Helck

I watched Helck’s first season for its entire half-year run, and I'm honestly still not sure how I feel about it. I’d heard amazing things from people who’d read the manga, and it had a hot start, but the pacing slowed to such a crawl after a while that it kind of felt like they stretched out the story just so they could make another season.

Helck, an enormous and impossibly jolly human warrior, enters a tournament to decide the successor to the throne of the recently-slain Demon King. Demons and humans had been at war for some time, so Vermilio, an adorably fiery elite lord of the castle, is naturally wary of him. Helck is naturally powerful, talented, and affable, so he easily breezes his way through the tournament in hilarious fashion, despite Vermilio’s best efforts at sabotage. Before the finals can take place, though, an immortal army sent by the human forces arrive to attack the demon realm, and Helck and Vermilio are teleported to the far edge of the realm.

The season largely covers Helck and Vermilio’s trek back to the demon kingdom, as well as the demons’ struggles against the mysterious warriors as they attempt to figure out just what the hell the humans are plotting.  Vermilio remains leery of Helck, regardless of all he’s done for her, but it becomes further evident that Helck is harboring a very dark past, and eventually we get a lengthy arc where he sits down and explains it to Vermilio in flashback. There is, as you’d expect, plenty of tragedy there, and you’d like to see it resolved, but things just seem to keep getting worse.

There are powerful messages in there about toxic positivity and fighting the urge to shoulder one’s burdens alone, but they don’t become fully apparent until late in the season. Everything until then, at least after the teleportation, is… fine. I had higher hopes for this one, but it just feels like it’s missing something, and I can’t put my finger on what. It looks fine, the voice acting is good (the GOAT Katsuyuki Konishi is typically very good as Helck), the action is decent, it’s all… fine. The pacing just feels glacial at times, to the point where if I hadn’t been watching it weekly I might have bounced off of it.

Of course, the season ended with what appears to be the endgame on the horizon, so for all I know there’s still a lot more to come, but the story beats feel so familiar that I get the feeling it could be resolved with, like, a movie. I hope I’m wrong, because there are clearly some major emotional payoffs yet to come, and I’m still curious to see how it gets there. I may have to pick up the manga to find out if it’ll be worth any more of my time.

19. Urusei Yatsura (2022), second cour

Fresh off of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure’s possible series finale, David Production’s modern take on Rumiko Takahashi’s legendary comedy manga hummed along nicely into 2023. The cast continues to expand as the new version introduces characters like Ten, Ryunosuke, and Tobimaro to further raise the level of shenanigans inherent to Urusei Yatsura.

Lum Invader has been a sex symbol for pretty much as long as anime has had sex symbols, but the reboot’s second cour focuses a bit more on the side of her personality that makes her so iconic, and which I consider essential to several of my favorite female anime characters: Lum’s kind of a psychotic asshole. Her schemes to wring more attention and affection out of Ataru border on sociopathic at times, and she’s honestly so real for that. Her mortal frenemy, Ran, was introduced close to the end of the first cour, and there is still no shortage of sabotage attempts in the second, but we quickly come to learn that Ran’s undying vendetta is mostly because Lum has been a selfish, lying piece of shit since they were kids. God bless her.

Ataru continues to not be much better, serial philanderer that he is, as he continues to be surrounded by other hot crazy ladies who aren’t his not-fiancee. Mendo’s younger sister, Ryoko, is a real highlight in the 2023 run as a result of her escalating penchant for Looney Tunes-esque slapstick violence. The settings of Ataru’s and Lum’s respective worlds take more focus as well, between Ataru’s high school hijinks and Ten’s galactic mail-order mishaps, and the two often collide in hilarious fashion.

I still adore the look of this one. Character models have been cleaned up and simplified to a sort of retro-modern look while still being instantly recognizable to anyone already familiar with them. Everything is awash in an eye-popping Day-Glo color palette. Backgrounds and pop-in gags are often adorned with Ben Day dots to maintain the retro comic look. This doesn’t quite look like the manga, nor does it resemble the original 80s anime, but this is unmistakably a Rumiko Takahashi product. It almost looks like it could have come out at any point in time.

I’m only holding this back in the rankings because it’s the weaker half of a season that straddled the end of 2022 and the start of 2023, but the season as a whole is excellent. It is an essential watch for fans of comedy anime, especially considering so many tried-and-true anime gags effectively originated with Urusei Yatsura (it’s worth mentioning that Lum is largely considered the first-ever tsundere in anime and manga). Season 2 is imminent and I cannot fucking wait. Maybe I’ll even read the manga.

18. Tomo-chan is a Girl!

This is basically Monthly Girls’ No-jock-i-kun. Very simple premise: Tomboyish high schooler gets the hots for her childhood friend who is dense as fuck and forgets most of the time that she’s even a girl. Hilarity ensues and romance progresses glacially.

The voice performances are what really carry this one. Rie Takahashi is golden as the titular Tomo Aizawa, and this was the first entry in an MVP-caliber resume for her in 2023 that was so stacked that I still haven’t gotten to her best role yet. Rina Hidaka nails the conniving, misanthropic nature of Misuzu Gundo in a far cry from her turn as Emul the bunny in Shangri-La Frontier later in the year. The American-born idol Sally Amaki is a revelation as the airheaded gaijin Carol Olston, whom she also voices in the English dub. Even Carol’s mom speaks broken Japanese with a noticeable American accent, which is one of my favorite gags in the whole show.

Outside of the voice acting, nothing is particularly special about this show. Which is fine! There's nothing wrong with a solid 7/10 romcom; junk food is still food. It’s cute, it’s funny, it hits all the right beats, but nothing particularly stands out. Misuzu and eventually Carol give Tomo advice to try to woo her bestie Jun, while Misuzu is usually also playing Jun against that same advice so that it usually works and backfires at the same time. It’s all a game, and she plays both sides so she can always come out on top.

If I have a complaint about this show, it’s that it just… ends. I went back and read the manga, and unfortunately that issue is not the anime’s fault. If anything, it did a phenomenal job of fitting eight volumes of a 4-koma into a single season, and that’s always how it was supposed to go. I watched and read a ton of slice-of-life romance anime and manga this year, as it turns out, and the ones that really hit for me are usually the ones that take their time with the central relationship once it actually starts, rather than treat that big event as the climax, or worse, the finale of the story. Stuff like Kaguya-sama, Horimiya, Sweat and Soap, and even Wotakoi (though I have my own problems with that one) treat their central relationships as a step, not the goal.  At the same time, for plenty of others, the fun is in the chase, and they just run out of time, and Tomo-chan is the latter. We got what we wanted, and we had fun getting there. Sometimes that’s all you need.

Also good god, Tomo’s mom. The second those genes kicked in for Tomo, Jun was doomed.

17. The Eminence in Shadow, second cour and season 2

The Eminence in Shadow is the smartest piece of stupid media I've seen in a minute. It so perfectly skewers dime-a-dozen chuunibyo isekai trash while still cannonballing into a McDuckian swimming pool of the stuff. It nearly overwhelms you with lore; the series abounds with rich backstories, centuries-old power struggles, palace intrigue, shadowy conspiracies, the artificially accelerated march of progress, long-simmering revenge plots, looming economic catastrophe, and love dodecahedrons. And the most compelling thing about all of it is that none of it fucking matters.

Cid Kagenou spent his teenage years in modern Japan trying to become the coolest badass dark antihero who ever lived, but he quickly reaches his limits in our boring normal world so he rides the isekai truck into a world with actual, like, magic and shit. He spends his new childhood leveling up and rescuing elf girls, all the while regaling them with his “wisdom” in the form of a bunch of horseshit he made up based on all the light novels he used to read. Turns out that he’s entirely too genre savvy; this new world is apparently so contrived that every single thing he told them ended up entirely true.

So now Cid’s a teenager by day and shadowy vigilante by night (under the apt moniker “Shadow”), with an underground legion of hot deadly babes at his disinterested beck and call. All he genuinely cares about is looking and acting like the coolest motherfucker a socially inept 12 year old boy can think of, and in his downtime actively trying to be a forgettable mob character. And I do mean that that is all he cares about; when I say none of the wheels within wheels happening in the background actually matter, I mean that Cid is completely and totally unaware of any of it. 

Anything he does or says to drive the plot is either incidental or accidental. He spouts off some nonsense he heard in a video game once, and his cadre of elf baddies and beastgirls takes it as gospel en route to exposing a millennium-old conspiracy. He parrots a really cool line he heard ten minutes ago and a beautiful woman he just saved takes it as inspiration to turn her life around. It’s kind of like in Mashle, funnily enough; where Mash will go “I don’t know what’s going on, but you were being mean to my friend so I’m gonna beat the shit out of you,” Cid is more like “No clue what this is about, but that’s a really badass looking villain, so I’m gonna say some epic shit and do a big explosion.” And then he fucks off to go eat a burger or something, not knowing or caring that he just unraveled a prophesied master plot to destroy the global power balance.

The episodes that aired in 2023 largely revolve around the lovely Princess Rose, smitten with both Cid and Shadow (not knowing they’re the same guy), pledging fealty to Shadow Garden after failing to foil a coup d’etat. At the same time as her training, Cid is busy with a vampire something-or-other and then tries to make some coin for himself by teaming up with an assassin hellbent on revenge to create a credit crisis. The conspiracy later drags Rose back into the palace, where Cid sees a new opportunity. Every single one of these things has very specific reasons for happening, and everyone involved has a rich backstory and clear motivations to carry out their parts of the ever-evolving plots.

But that’s not why you’re here. You’re here to watch a bunch of hot ladies and a guy in a black cloak with one glowing red eye do some sick action stunts to bad guys with silly names, and this show delivers that in spades. This feels like a throwback in the best and worst ways. The Eminence in Shadow is stupid, and it is brilliant.

16. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, season 2

Mushoku Tensei is a tough anime to talk about. On one hand, it is one of the most gorgeous anime series ever put on television: Almost consistently movie-quality sakuga, lush background art, and a breathtaking score come together to form an immersive world unlike many I’ve seen in any medium. On the other, it forces some very unpleasant conversations about reincarnation in anime, particularly ones like this where a grown man is reincarnated as a child while retaining his mental age and is surrounded by potential love interests closer in age to his new body. What doesn’t help is that in his previous life in our world, the man who would reincarnate as Rudeus Greyrat was a socially isolated hentai addict, and much of his journey centers around him unlearning those proclivities in unfortunate and often damaging ways. If you can handle that, Mushoku Tensei is a rewarding watch, but if that’s beyond the pale to you, I don't blame you in the slightest.

However, even if you’ve been able to stomach all of the questionable shit in the first season, I'm sorry to say that the second season’s first cour doesn’t do much for the “bro I promise he gets better bro” crowd. The first cour covers the Quagmire and Academy arcs, which follow Rudeus’ struggle with being effectively abandoned by the only person to show him any physical affection in either life. The knock-on effect sees him retreating into an antisocial shell and developing, and I am deadly serious here, a seemingly incurable case of erectile dysfunction.

The first few episodes surround Rudeus growing into a young man, making a name for himself as a wandering adventurer in hopes that talk of his name will spread to his missing family and friends. At the urging of the god with a direct line to him (still unexplained), he enrolls in a magic university to investigate the calamity that flung his loved ones to the corners of the realm. There he finds an old friend in the figure-obsessed young prince who saved his life in the previous season, a girl from his previous world who seems to have also been transported to this one, and most crucially, his old childhood friend Sylphiette, hiding in plain sight with new hair and a sick pair of shades as a retainer to a scheming princess enrolled in the school.

Mushoku Tensei's initial season was at its best in its quieter moments, and those abound in season 2’s first cour. It's really lovely seeing him connect once again with Sylphie purely for who she is, even though for all Rudy knows he’s talking to a twinky dude named Fitz who makes him feel weird things. We get our amazing action animation early on, and things settle down quite a bit from there as Rudeus navigates all of these interpersonal relationships, old and (seemingly) new.

And while, yes, this version of Rudeus is a far cry from the drooling, grinning pervert he was in his first ten years of reincarnation, his improvement as a human being is not a straight line. He unfortunately takes more steps backwards than forward. The things he says in a drunken rage about his party member Sara (who inadvertently revealed his ED) are awful and undeserved, he literally ties up and gropes a pair of beast girls from his class (he has apparent reasons for both of those things, but come on), and he “frees” a young dwarven slave to take on as an apprentice. That last one seems admirable on its face, but uh. He went with the flow in a god damned slave market and still paid a slaver.  

I'm not excusing those things, nor absolving Rudeus as a character; I'm simply saying they happen this season. Mushoku Tensei, for better or for worse, depicts gnarly subject matter as it is while neither glorifying it nor moralizing about it. It trusts you to make your own judgments, and if your verdict is “I can’t watch this show,” that is perfectly valid. If you can stomach watching through its worst moments and compartmentalize the uncomfortable aspects of it, Mushoku Tensei remains one of the best-looking and -sounding pieces of animation out there, and the part of its second season that aired in 2023 has an exceptional emotional payoff. Otherwise, I'll be talking about Frieren much later.

15. Spy x Family, season 2

The most succinct praise I can give season 2 is also the most backhanded: Well, it’s more Spy x Family.

I want to be clear that there is no shade inherent to that comment; the first season of Spy x Family was excellent! It was a stylish, beautifully animated, appropriately hilarious adaptation of a fantastic manga that did it justice in almost every regard; the second season didn’t need to move heaven and earth to try to one-up it. It wasn’t broken, so Wit and CloverWorks didn’t fix it. It’s still the blend of domestic slice-of-life hijinks, tense cold-war intrigue, and heart-pounding action it’s always been. Even the production music is largely the same, and that’s not a complaint, because SxF’s production music fuckin' slaps.

A lot of anime-onlys rightfully complained that Yor’s plot relevance seemed to fall off a cliff in the back half of season 1, so they have been eating GOOD this time out, as season 2’s (ostensible) first cour puts her directly in the spotlight. The Yor Cour, if you will. The season opened on a hilariously spot-on adaptation of my favorite Yor-centric chapter of the manga (the “bullet in the ass” one) and quickly moved on to a nearly perfect interpretation of the cruise arc that sees her protecting a government asset from a legion of assassins. 

If you wanted to see more of Yor in her second life as the contract killer, Thorn Princess, this season was a meal and a half for you. Having her beset on all sides by an eccentric rogues’ gallery, with Anya fully aware and trying her damnedest to keep Loid from finding out what’s actually going on, is Spy x Family at its best. The tension constantly ramps up as the ship approaches its target, and Anya’s attempts at distracting Loid usually go sideways because, well, she’s Anya. Blood splatters, laughs are had, and Loid continues to struggle with both fatherhood and acting like his growing affection for his ragtag “fake” family is just “for the mission.” 

Outside of the cruise, season 2 maintains the series’ usual episodic pace, which can be a little jarring before and after the cruise arc, but that’s SxF for you. Shit can pop off at unexpected moments, and having read ahead in the manga, I’m excited to see the next time that happens. For now, though, things can feel kinda static from time to time, but the Forger family and the extended cast are always pleasant to just hang out with for a while.

And now to wait for the movie to come out in the west.

14. Undead Unluck

Up until this past Winter season, I primed myself on a lot of the more-hyped anime by reading the manga ahead of time. I knew that Undead Unluck is one of the bigger Shonen Jump manga out there, but this debut kind of crept up on me. I went in blind, got drawn in by the premise, and then got quickly overwhelmed with a wild amount of lore.

Fuuko, a young woman seemingly afflicted with a curse, is saddled with a brash, enormous man who cannot die after he foils her suicide attempt and is then himself grievously injured. Don’t worry, he got better. It turns out that he’s roughly 200 years old and has a completely cracked healing factor, while she brings terrible misfortune to anyone who touches her skin. They are both Negators, people with the ability to reverse or ignore the laws of nature: Fuuko’s ability is Unluck, causing tragedy for those close to her, while the man is Undead, exactly what it says on the tin. The man, who cannot remember his own name, believes their meeting to be kismet: If she can bring death to her loved ones, he vows to woo her so she can deliver the death he’s sought for so long. I promise this is a comedy.

Fuuko and Andy (whom she named as shorthand for the Japanese pronunciation of “undead”) foil a series of assassination attempts by other Negators, and take their spots as part of the Union eliminating threats to the universe. They team with an eclectic group, whom we’re still getting to know as of the end of the first cour, as they trot the globe to complete quests given to them by a mysterious (and seemingly nefarious) talking book lest the universe incur penalties for their failure.

The power system among Negators is one of the most inventive I've seen, with each one able to cancel out a specific element of the natural order of the world, and it’s a blast learning how each new one works. Andy in particular is wild; because he can regenerate himself so quickly, his weapon of specialty is his own body, never hesitating to use his own fingertips as bullets and his own gushing blood as a propulsion mechanism. He also has no compunction towards taking on the worst of Fuuko’s Unluck ability, often sacrificing himself to get hit by lightning or falling debris to deal damage to an enemy. Every new Negator power introduced adds a new wrinkle to the way this world works and the different shapes its action can take. Others can freeze matter into suspended animation, force people to act opposite their own intentions, or even subvert someone’s entire belief system. I cannot wait to see what else is in store.

The first cour’s pacing is a little off, and Andy's behavior towards Fuuko in the first couple episodes is nothing short of gross (I promise that eases up), but you can see the show finding its footing as it goes on. Shonen Jump series don’t last for nearly 200 chapters and counting by accident, and I'm excited to see where this goes.

13. NieR: Automata Ver. 1.1a

Those of us who played Yoko Taro’s 2017 masterpiece approached the announcement of an anime adaptation with some trepidation: So much of what made Nier Automata so outstanding and so beloved is that much of the delivery of its narrative is inherent to the fact that it’s a video game. How can a video game known for pushing against the fourth wall of the unique elements of its very medium be faithfully adapted as an anime?

The choice of studio was also concerning: Though A-1 has produced a ridiculous number of excellent series (and some aggressively mid ones that were nonetheless very successful), its track record with video game adaptations has been far less than stellar. The latter three films in the Persona 3 adaptations were solid if uneven, and the Valkyria Chronicles anime seems to have been well-received, but the same can’t be said of A-1’s takes on Ace Attorney, Persona 4 Golden, or Persona 5. Regardless, Yoko himself was heavily involved in the anime’s production, so if they could keep on budget and schedule, Nier Automata would have a fighting chance.

And while there indeed ended up being massive and likely unpredictable production delays, I'd say they’ve done almost as good of a job as they could have so far. While the first cour mainly covers Automata’s A and B routes, it does much more than just play that part of the story straight; it also takes the time to incorporate other elements of the Nier canon. A surprising amount of time is dedicated to the canon introduced in the YoRHa stage play (and by extension the Pearl Harbor Descent Record manga); Lily and the android resistance are woven directly into the narrative far beyond the vague overtures the game makes in their direction. Ver 1.1a also ties the history of the original Nier into the story at unexpected and intriguing (and in my case, tear inducing) moments. 

Unfortunately, it’s still too soon to assess this series in its entirety. While too many people who played Nier Automata stopped after route A or B, there is still much more of this story to come. There was some very sloppy CGI integration in the first episode when it aired, but far from enough to put me off the series. For now, it’s a treat for Nier fans, but I’m not sure whether I can recommend it yet to people who are unfamiliar with the source material.

Until the anime is completed, go play Nier Automata. It’s one of my favorite games of all time.

12. Kaguya-sama: Love is War -The First Kiss That Never Ends-

This was a late 2022 theatrical release, but it didn’t see western release until this year and was split into a four-episode mini-season for streaming, so I'm counting it for this year. You can deal with it.

I got completely obsessed with Kaguya-sama early this year, and in record time. I binged the anime and the manga in the span of a couple weeks and irreversibly fell in love. I say with no reservation that it is the best romantic comedy, in any medium, of the 21st century. It nails both the romance and the comedy in equal measure; the characters are perfectly realized right down to the supporting cast, the dynamics between them are carefully considered and consistent with their personalities regardless of circumstance, and every emotional and comedic beat hits exactly as it’s meant to. There is a constant momentum moving the greater plot along, even in the smaller moments, and seismic shifts take over before you’ve even noticed they’re happening.

It’s rare for romcom manga adaptations to stay on the air long enough to actually reach the romantic payoff, and Kaguya-sama fucking nailed it in season 3. Well, we’re pretty sure it did; the central conceit of the psycho-romantic warfare between Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane is that they’re both chronic overthinkers and won’t accept any romantic undertones or overtures in any form but an explicit confession. So while the finish to season 3 is everything we wanted as an audience, these two dorks still sense a margin for error. Regardless, that would have been a perfectly acceptable place to end the anime.

HOWEVER, the Ice Queen Kaguya arc that follows in the manga is iconic, and A-1 was absolutely right to adapt it. Although Shirogane is ready to move forward with the relationship that (he’s pretty sure) they’ve both wanted for a long time, Kaguya has a crisis of personality and inadvertently reverts to the dead-eyed, emotionally walled-off version of herself he’d initially met, well before either of them had realized they’d fallen in love with one another. The interstitial omake preceding this arc in the manga has Aka Akasaka warning the reader that in order to counteract the massive emotional payoff that just happened, the ensuing chapters would get very, very silly.

And of course, hijinks do indeed ensue; this is Kaguya-sama, after all. But before you realize it, the story is neck deep in Jungian psychology as self-doubt begins to plague Kaguya and Miyuki and they struggle with the faces they think they need to put on for the other and whether their “real” selves even deserve to be loved by the person they idolize. It gets heavy! I cried every time I watched it! And that first time was in a damn movie theater!

I’m much more comfortable appraising First Kiss as a mini-season than as a movie, because frankly, it doesn’t work as a movie. The animation, while maintaining the series’ standard of excellence, isn’t a single degree better than what aired on television, which can be disappointing upon a visit to the theater. The pacing is also off for a feature film; the common knock upon theatrical release was that it felt like four episodes stitched together (it even has the omake-style interludes between scenes, like the show). The arc also focuses very heavily on Kaguya and Miyuki specifically, so the ensemble cast I mentioned earlier does have to take a backseat. Splitting this up for streaming and televised release was the right move here.

Season 3 would have been a very good ending for this series if it never got picked up for the movie. If it doesn’t get picked up for a proper fourth season, this is the perfect place for it to end. The manga has now been adapted up to just past the halfway point, and the next best stopping point would have to wait until a possible, like, fifth season. And that arc in question, while it does have some iconic moments, is very uneven. If this is all we’re getting, we’ve gotten plenty already, and I am satisfied.

If you've watched the first three seasons of Kaguya-sama, you owe it to yourself to watch The First Kiss That Never Ends. It is nearly everything you could ask for. Also, read the manga if you haven’t already. It’s genuinely one of my favorite things I've ever read.

11. The Apothecary Diaries

This one is basically House M.D. set in the Ming Dynasty, and it fucks.

Maomao, an apothecary raised in a pleasure district near the palace of a fictional East Asian empire, is shanghaied (pun intended) into menial work in said palace. She hears tell of a supposed curse plaguing the emperor’s newborn children and the concubines that birthed them, quickly deduces that it may be poisoning, and discreetly leaves a message for the ailing new mothers. She’s found out by an impossibly beautiful young administrator named Jinshi, who quickly deduces that she’s one of the few literate peons in the rear palace, and he puts her to work in the pavilion of the concubine that heeded her advice.

With her knowledge of, resistance to, and slightly masochistic infatuation with various poisons, Maomao slots right in as an attendant and poison tester to one of the emperor’s embattled concubines. Often at Jinshi’s urging (even though she immediately gets the ick at his habitual flirting), Maomao finds herself investigating deaths, mysterious ailments, and strange behaviors, on top of the foreign world of palace politics. Though she’s a deeply jaded person who only seems to care for her special interests, Maomao is incredibly perceptive and often able to suss out the finer details others miss.

Surprisingly, this one is a really breezy watch, and much funnier than you might expect. For all its lush environs, slowly-mounting intrigue, and often stunning cinematography, The Apothecary Diaries isn’t afraid to get a little silly with it. The dialogue is snappy, quick gags abound in a familiar single-panel chibi style you wouldn’t expect in a setting like this, and Komi-esque cat ears spontaneously pop up from Maomao's head whenever her interest is piqued. Interactions between Maomao and Jinshi are always a hoot, and you can pretty quickly figure out where it’s going, although Maomao can’t because she’s still pretty sure Jinshi is a eunuch.

As she does in virtually every role in her dozen-plus years as a seiyuu, Aoi Yuuki crushes it in the starring role. She really nails the disaffected cynicism that animates most of Maomao’s internal monologue and sarcastic dialogue, as well as her hair-trigger glee when presented with her personal interests in food and drink, medicinal herbs, and of course, poison. Yuuki is an indispensable element in ensemble casts like One Punch Man, Persona 5, Nier Automata, Wotakoi, and the aforementioned KamiKatsu (as well as others I don’t plan on watching like My Hero Academia, Rent-a-Girlfriend, and The Seven Deadly Sins), so it’s especially nice to hear her in a spotlight role outside of the odd Madoka Magica, spider isekai, or Cyberpunk Edgerunners.

There are a handful of anime on this list that will be continuing or returning in January, and second only to my #1 anime this year, this is the one I’m most excited to see more of. At time of writing, the show appears to be shifting in a new direction, and I’m hoping to see it take less of an episodic pace.

Part 3 is on the way! I'm going to split my top ten into two more posts, because I ended up writing... a lot more than I'd expected.

[neverchecking]

Welcome to the Rabbit Hole~

Hello, Darlings~ I know most writers don't do this, but I can understand how frustrating it can be to go to a writer's page, read about a specific AU, but have no way of getting to the beginning to join the fun. So, here we are! Welcome to Cinder's Navigation of my current AU's!

Sweet but Psycho AU:

˚ ✦An AU where the Reader is not only aware of the boys' tendencies, but encourages it.

The start (This is kind of where the idea bubbles up)

How does the Chain feel? (Short version)

The Rewards (Ft. Bozai)

Sage figures it out (I love this sm honestly-)

In what order does the rest of the Chain find out?

Thoughts on the 'Sit on my Face' request with this Reader

Just this. All of this. (If nothing else read this one.)

Dom! Sadistic Reader punishing a Link (Also this one.)

Thoughts on Ganon.

Reader who loves giving affection

A new kind of punishment (Og starter)

Holy Grail AU:

˚ ✦An AU where Reader is not only their God(dess), but an actual god(dess), and now has a soul bond with every Link after saving them.

The Start

Cal gets some attention

Possible reasoning for the Soul bond?

The problem with Hylia

Mostly general Sage and his Zelda tidbit

More Zelda slander and why Reader is good foil against her.

Zelda and Reader meet.

The Chain gets a Baby bit Renamed: THE BABY CHAIN (>:D):

˚ ✦Not an AU, but this took off and I want it accessible. Basically, Poly! Chain with Pregnant! Reader, and the children that come of it.

The post that started it all

Who's getting a baby first?

Baby looks like Reader?

Sage and the Twins that aren't his.

Fierce Daddy-ity

Cursed Link. That's it. That's the Tweet.

The start of the debate.

The boys are dolphins.

TWO DADS

The debate PART 2 INCLUDING REBUTTALS

Let's talk genetics :)

BIG BROTHER WIND and Dad! Four ig

Sky is a baby leash parent

Wind as the best big brother while the others fight over who the bd is

Fierce Deity Baby Daddy

Sky as a dad :)

The chain with kids hghgg READ THIS ONE

Sky is perfect. Thats it. Thats the tweet.

Househusband sky

Dad Warriors

Four's daughter also splits

The colors vs Their Mini-me's. Take one. (Take two)

Dad! Ravio

The Fierce kiddos shenanigans

The triplets fighting over if the kid is theirs. (Me bs-ing why it's all of theirs)

Lightbulb baby.

Four needs to learn to wrap it b4 he taps it bc this is getting out of hand- /j

Universe switch

˚ ✦Keep up with me and @my-insanity-is-an-artform 's ocs and if their universes got switched! Tia belongs to them and Aaliyah belongs to me!

Tia introduction

Tia's first moments in Sage's Hyrule

Tia looks at a feral man and decides he won't bit. (Yes he do)

How're the links handling the switch? (This just in; not well)

Tia is kidnapping someone. Even if they go willingly.

The start of it all (Go read this right now)

The Hateno home and The Sheikah

How's Sage doing?

When does the Switch happen?

The chain makes an appearance.

Merging Hyrules

Sage Vs. Fungus

Sage + Fungus Vs. everything else.

Sweetpea is enough.

Fucked around. Found out.

Wild and Cal make their reappearance.

Fungus is gonna be courted, Saaagge.

Sage and Aaliyah are good with kids (And the consequences)

Aaliyah is Regina George coded.

Found Family

Family and getting your back blown out (Those should never intertwine <3)

There are so many parents going around and yet Sage and Aaliyah still act fatherless </3

The Story:

Part 1: Something

Part 2: Portals

Sage acquires a baby

˚ ✦Sage acquires Baby! Reader and just. Takes them.

The acquisition.

Baby is a crawler

The acceptance

Baby's first Lynel attack &lt;3

Mama Wild

Co-parents Sage and Wild

Reader's real parents?

Custody battle Take one

Wild is trusting with child. More on this at seven.

Papa bear sage

Baby has a triforce?

Emotional support animal wolfie

Soft Sage dad

First steps

Monkey.

Dink makes an appearance

Baby Real mom

Baby goats

Navi

Sage and Wild Vs. Legend

Mastermind child

Menace child.

The Gerudo gain momentary custody

Wind is brother coded

Wild took back his custody

˚ ✦My Rules

˚ ✦My Masterlist

˚ ✦Main Navigation

[borzoilover69]

> BORZOI: READ HOMESTUCK LIKE ITS 2011 (PART 4)

(4256) THERE HE IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  ❤️   ❤️   ❤️   ❤️   ❤️   ❤️  HELLO MY BEAUTIFUL LITTLE SCIENCE PROJECT! HELLO DEAREST!!  ❤️   ❤️  ❤️  WOJAK POINT WOJAK POINT THEYRE CONVERSING!

I'm throwing popcorn at my screen and laughing my ass off HEY COOLKID is this you? Hahah. Hehe. Hahaha. I'm not falling for your tricks cool kid.

BURST OUT LAUGHING. THE WAYYYS THAT THE JAKE AND DIRK GET JANES GOAT ABOUT THINGS GOOD LOOORD. Jane jabs at Jake at grammar and stuff, Dirk does it with Jane, just little consistencies in friendship is what they're so endearing for. They're like "uh huh. yep. you certainly used that word. mhm." *judging*. But in an ENDEARING way ok. The "that sure was a phrase you used".

This is important!! Also this reminds me you should probably go talk to Hal here it's trained off dialog from the comic and as of this post stands at a staggering 14.1k messages! I always like to see what people say to him (when they send it) and he can be really funny!

I haven't checked on him for a hot minute so the accuracy is to be determined but look! Here's him right now! Go talk to him!

4257

What is. What is blud doing in the background. I like to think seb has an inner monologue similar to dirk striders where hes like going "This thing needs to be moved. Geez Jane, this place is a mess." or "I'm awake and ready to serve fucker." You get the gist. Inner monologue going crazy as he works but being full aware ain't nobody hearing his cool wittisms. Janes expression is completely valid lmfao

Here is another moment of Jane casting doubt on her abilities. And here's where Dirk talks.. about his ancestor for the first time. You know what I guess I can bring up the post where I went over.. dirks jealousy of Dave and self internalisation of that hate? To be honest I'm surprised it got the attention it did. Its been something that I thought about for so long but I never brought it up because it felt and still does to a merit "taboo". Nobody really talks about what admiration can do on the flip side, how it can make you measure yourself up, make you feel attached in a way that provides you with a flip flop between intense aspiration to despisal and envy.

Except.. that isn't exactly true. As I pointed out before, Jane casts doubt on her ability to live up to her ancestors legacy, even if it's just a joking legacy.

You fancy yourself a SKILLED PRANKSTRESS, if by no other measure than lineage. Though at times you feel it's tough to fill those shoes when you are SURROUNDED BY JOKERS. Seriously, the shenanigans perpetrated by your pals make your old school japes feel KIND OF PEDESTRIAN SOMETIMES,

Poppop Crocker was a LEGENDARY COMEDIAN, following in the footsteps of his grandfather who of course was the greatest southern pranking legend of all time. One day, you hope to follow in poppop's too.

GG: Maybe I'm just stuck in the dark ages of pranksterism with my funny mustaches corny old joke book.

Jane and Dirks parts are equal parts jokes as it is thinly veiled inner conflict of ideas they have about themselves and their role. Dirk is sort of ironic in how seriously he takes his irony. Which means it's not really as ironic as he thinks it is.

4258 goes hard.

TT: Ever hear of Con Air?GG: Nope.GG: Wait...GG: Wasn't that some bit of action schlock from the 90's?TT: Yes. GG: Some of the silly nonsense referenced in his work was well before my time. I don't have the wherewithal to investigate all this minutia. TT: Yeah, it doesn't matter really. But it was from that. Dude weirdly obsessed over that shit movie for years, among others.TT: Know those signature shades you see him wearing on magazine covers and stuff? Another prop. A gift from Stiller himself, I believe.

You know this seems like an old man gay yaoi issue. Now why EXACTLY dear sir.. were you obsessed with the very movie that your best friend had as a favourite? You know it's tragic. Alpha Dave SHOULDVE banged that old man.

You know one of you guys will have a field day analysing this piece of text and I know it, you know it, so put on your goggles spaceman.

4259

I'm not going to provide screenshots, but this is where Seb starts getting antsy, and Dirk says that Jane will be the leader of their group, drawing parallels to page 2682 where John and Rose are talking about their null session, unable to get any further.

TT: This session was never meant to bear fruit. TT: It's barren, so to speak. EB: that's a bit of a bummer! EB: i am still skeptical about that, though. TT: That's why you're our leader, John. EB: huh? TT: Optimism through stalwart skepticism is a defect not everyone is lucky enough to be cursed with. EB: that's stupid. EB: i'm not your leader, i am your FRIEND, there is a BIG difference! TT: Statements like that are also why you're our leader. EB: pff. EB: laaaaaaaame. TT: Yes, kind of.

But in Dirks, he chooses it because he thinks thats "the thing to do"

TT: I'm sure you must be aware by now that you'll be the leader of our group, as you will be the first to enter the session. GG: Um, no? GG: This is news to me. I never gathered that "team leader" was a thing for this game. TT: Trust me. It's a thing. GG: Are you sure? I have my doubts. GG: I believe as a group we will have the temerity to succeed, without my having to order people around like an insufferable bossypants. TT: That's why you're our leader, Jane. GG: Hm? TT: Optimism through stalwart skepticism is an affect not everyone is plucky enough to be graced with. GG: That's stupid! TT: Yeah yeah. I know. TT: You're not our leader, you're our FRIEND, right? GG: Precisely! GG: There is a BIG difference! TT: And statements like that are also why you're our leader. TT: But only in name and in spirit. Less so, functionally. TT: If it puts your mind at ease, I'll be the one pulling the strings here.

This reads to me a lot as something he orchestrated, something he thought up to look cool, but what's the point of saying all this shit when you say afterwards you're just going to say that she's controlling none of it and really it's just you (which really, in the end it wasn't). Jane points out a pretty good point about there not being a true LEADER leader, and Dirk just plows on. He proceeds to have a long and eyeroll worthy emphasis about how much he can serve, how good he is at it, how Jane only has to call and he'll come to the rescue, not to worry at ALL. I mean i have to laugh. Here he is emphasising how much he can serve and he can't. He can't at all. Pushing someone in a direction does not always equal helping. His suggestions are befitting his aspect sure, but doesn't always mean it's the right solution!

4261-64 moving on.

The dads are always so incredibly endearing. ANd i love when janey does the lil. :| at people like giiirll me too! Absurd whimsy everywhere. Hey look at lil seb g-

4266 OH NO NOT THERE LITTLE SEB!! GOOD LAWRD.

Dad crocker is incredibly funny to me i will tell you why in a hot second

GET IUT JANE!! ALL OF THIS IS MALAAARKEY!! Even now quite a few of her friends are being INCREDIBLY silly to this girl from a normal childhood growing up in a normal time!! Egads!!

Reminds me of the times where I was travelling around ( i travel a lot majority of my friends expect im outside constantly) and they swore i just wasnt real because i show up in random places that contradict each other and go missing for weeks only to be found on some desert island hunting crabs.

But anyways

4271- 4273

Sorry i dont have much to say just imagine me with the goofiest smile on my face.. like <:}... Like ah.. yes.

Nearby, someone or something bleats like a goat for strategic purposes.

And also

Ironic purposes.

.... :} !!!

Look.. heehee... hes so :D!! His bes friend... :3 Silly..

4282 THEY DONE KILLED OFF THE MOST WHIMSICAL GIRL!

4283 ITS SO OVER.

[ END OF ACT 6 ACT 1 ] ?! Hey wait what does this mean for us. hey wait what does this mean hey wai-

[ screen cuts to BLACK with cue card with words "HUSSLE" in comic sans. ]

4299 panel goes hard? So does 4303

JADE: witch powers can teleport things, and fling things around through space at very high velocities JADE: all sorts of stuff! JADE: but to be honest, im not sure how much of that is attributable to inheriting becs abilities... JOHN: man, spacey witch powers sound a lot more versatile than my powers, frankly. JOHN: not that i'm complaining, because wind powers are still awesome. JOHN: but anyway, that is neither here nor there!

I'll leave you on this piece of dialog to consume. I'll see you all in the next part. As always anons and comments are appreciated. Thanks for reading!

[chaoticarson16]

Idk if you still doing these but if you do:

Main six +NJ

👪🍜👔🟣🗡️

Hope this is ok

Yay I haven’t had one of these in a while! :D

🧑‍🧑‍🧒 - Family

California: Him and the other Spanish colonies are siblings (Cal, Tex, Four corners, Florida, and Nevada). He’s the second oldest of his siblings, Texas being the oldest. He really wants to adopt a kid with New York, but he’s been too anxious to ask. So for now he’ll just be the best and totally the favorite uncle to Utah’s kids.

New York: He’s siblings with the other og13. Somewhere around being a middle child and he’s also twins with New Jersey. IDC, Gov, Maine, and DC are his niece and nephews (PA, Mass, and Maryland being parents is totally cannon I swear)

Louisiana: You’ve probably noticed a common theme. He’s siblings with the other French colonies and he’s the oldest. Those siblings are the twins Bama and Sippi, Missouri, Michigan, Arkansas, Illinois, and Oklahoma.

Florida: As mentioned in California’s, he’s siblings with the other Spanish colonies. He’s pretty close with California, even thought they don’t act like it but messing with each other is how they show their affection. Utahs kids love him because he doesn’t have any rules and he loves to do science experiments with them. Much to Utah’s dismay.

Texas: You know the drill. Since he’s the oldest he practically raised the others with help from the other older siblings.

Gov: He’s twins with IDC and they’re actually identical twins but IDC likes to dye her hair so it’s not that noticeable. If you put both of them plus their father side by side they look like carbon copies of each other. The only differences are the twins hair is darker and their eyes colors are a little different. When he was younger, his uncles would spoil the hell out of him and his sister. They would also go on play dates with Maine quite a bit. When DC was (born?? spawned??) they would take care of him too and treated him like a younger brother. There’s so many photos that they all use to embarrass Gov, IDC, Maine, and DC from the shenanigans they would get into.

New Jersey: Same as New York, middle sibling of the og13 and twins with York. Jersey was the uncle that spent the most time with the kids because he was the only one who could get them to go to sleep (to everyone’s surprise). They would rope him into their shenanigans cause they knew he would never say no to them.

🍜 - Food

California: Most people believe he’s vegan, but he’s actually not. He’s just a bit picky with meat and will only eat it if it’s seasoned certain ways. Like he can eat burgers perfectly fine but if you season and cook chicken the same way he’ll puke. That’s why he only eats vegetables or fruit if the others offer, cause there’s nothing done to them.

New York: This man is a picky eater. His siblings all know this and will either make him something else and or prepare the dish differently so he can eat it. Jersey’s been the only one who could get him to eat everything he made.

Louisiana: He is chef. No but fr this man loves to cook and everything he makes is amazing. He also eats everything, like he’s the opposite of New York.

Florida: He’ll eat any and everything. Except oysters and clams. He hates them. Only Loui knows why. It’s their texture

Texas: Everyone assumes he eats meat with every meal. Since he’ll jokingly make fun of California, they think he doesn’t like vegans or vegetarians (which California isn’t). He actually only eats meat maybe once or twice a week, usually on the weekends during cookouts. Them bull instincts make meat seem very unappealing.

Gov: This man runs on coffee and spite alone and the occasional grilled cheese

New Jersey: He can eat anything and I mean anything. Stupid little goat boy

👔 - Clothing

California: He’s usually seen in a skater boy kind of aesthetic, but he also likes wearing those cottage core type dresses. He’s also definitely got those glasses chains with the little charms at the end. He’s got many different ones but his favorite and New Yorks have little knives on them.

New York: He’s got that typical city style but when he doesn’t have meetings he likes to wear dark academia type outfits. This man has style

Louisiana: He is Adam Sandler and he’s waiting on them to play Gangnam style. Nah but fr the only stylizing he does are the occasional pieces of jewelry and the charms in his hair.

Florida: He’s got that beach boy/surfer boy style like you see at the table. He hates the way pants feel on his legs and he rarely wear sweaters only his husbands

Texas: Typically in farm wear like jeans and button ups or t shirts but he can also be seen in lounge wear when he’s at the statehouse

Gov: Usually in business attire since he’s at work almost 24/7. When the others actually manage to drag him out of his office to go somewhere, they’re surprised to see him space themed outfits. The most common thing is he’ll have stars on his clothing then planet based jewelry

New Jersey: Grunge goblincore is all that came to mind for him. Just the more earthy tones and the sweaters but also perfect for doing outdoorsy things. Perfect

🟣 - Romantic/Sexual/Shippy

California: I’m mainly a Caliyork shipper but I’m open to any ships that are legal and not toxic! His love languages are definitely physical touch and acts of service. He loves just holding his partners hand or hugging them and picking them up. He also loves doing anything they ask. Whether that be cooking or cleaning or just going with them somewhere. He likes feeling useful.

New York: Again the Caliyork brain rot is real. His love language is quality time. He loves just being around his partner. They don’t even have to be interacting, one could be on their phone and the other could be reading on the other side of the room and he’d be happy.

Louisiana: Flouigov are the husbands ever. They help teach Gov to relax and Gov helps them find better ways to regulate their energy that won’t upset anyone. His love language is acts of service

Florida: Same as before but Florida loves to cuddle them. His love languages are touch and acts of service. He also loves baking for them (the only form of cooking he can do)

Texas: I’m a major multi-shipper but my current fav is Texahoma (enemies/rivals to lovers fr) his love languages are words of affirmation and gift giving

Gov: He loves info-dumping about his interests to his partners. And they listen because they know he rarely gets to. He’s always either working or in meetings so the very rare occasions when he has free time he cuddle with his partners and starts talking. His love languages are words of affirmation and quality time

New Jersey: I see him being with both Nevada and Wyoming (it’s random I know but I love them) his love languages are quality time and physical touch

🗡️ - Fighting

California: Mainly fights with his legs and he’s really strong with them. He once dislocated Florida’s knee after he broke one of his mugs

New York: Mainly uses his fists and brass knuckles but he also uses his bat and a gun

Louisiana: Mainly magic but he can and will shoot someone and when he somehow gets a gun he shoots to kill

Florida: He uses any and everything. That chair? Oh word. This stick? Hell yeah. His brother who just so happened to be standing next to him? Let’s do get help.

Texas: Gun. That’s it just gun. And occasionally his fists but mainly gun

Gov: He’s an excellent manipulator. He can usually dissolve the situation before he has to fight but he does carry a combat knife on him for when that doesn’t work

New Jersey: He uses all his limbs. His fists, his legs, his teeth. Whatever works

Got a bit lazy at the end but I’m so sorry this is late I’ve been pretty busy

[spinaroos-47]

It’s the kiddos!

These four are kingdings fankids me and @bernardo-draws-and-cries have had for a while (as in, Bethany and Lancer exist since 2016, Belle and Aster since 2017). I decided to do some small redesigns for them!

Or for their humanized forms, at least. It’s been 7 years and I don’t feel comfortable in delving on their more canon accurate versions (Bê has them)

They’re part of an au we have together, HCWT, they also appear on other aus that we’ve delved into in the many years of kingdings brainrot we had. But HCWT is their main place. That being said, there is a lot of stuff that is muddy/vague since it’s such an old au that we haven’t touched in a few years, and also we’ve done so many iterations of it that it’s hard to know what is canon now. I’m going to be kinda basing it on the original fanfic we had for it for a lot of the basic stuff. (it was written in portuguese so not super accessible for most people reading this)

More information on them below the read more

They all have font names, I’m still surprised that I managed to find fonts for Bethany and Belle after they were created (Bethany Script and La Belle Aurore respectively)

Also they all appear in different ages in the au(s), these are just the most seen ones. Bethany also is shown a lot when she’s five, and both Belle and Aster when they’re older. Sometimes also they are in different age order and stuff, but I’m just going to talk about the HCWT version on the ages shown here. There’s a lot of old stuff for a lot of the other aus in my artblog that i never shown here, This blog actually was originally an ask blog for an underfell au where only Aster and Belle existed.

- Bethany is the oldest, both in creation order and in universe. Her childhood is a bit of a muddy area since we haven’t touched that part of the au in a while, but for now, she was born a few years before the pacifist ending happens. In HCWT we have her being the next one in line for running human-monster deals after Asgore retires from that, I don’t really see Asriel or Chara being too excited to do that, but she’s pretty up for the task.

(Chara and Asriel are brought back in the au also)

She’s a pretty no nonsense kind of person, but she lets herself be a goof around her sibilings, friends and nibilings/cousins (thats a worm hole im not willing to deal with right now). She also has a best friend called Daniel, not pictured here, and she’s a bit of the voice of reason of the two, but she’s often part of the shenanigans. They end up living together a while after.

Very strong also, took it after Asgore, could lift all her sibilings + Gaster all at once.

- Lancer is a bit funny to share with people after Deltarune released, I’m still a bit shocked at this coincidence. Not a lot of what he does is set in stone, a pretty wild card in this sense. Nice, kind kid, helps a lot on Asgore’s flower shop after school and on weekends. He’s blind and got a guide dog named Jack, which does end up being how he meets his girlfriend Berry, who was working as a volunteer when he went to get Jack. I got a very soft spot for him, he’s just a little guy, sunshine impersonated.

- Belle is a big book worm since small, it came from a way to pass the time when she can’t do much physically demanding things, like Aster does. So she spends a lot of time with Gaster, becoming a bit of an assistant to him as she gets older. And while she does look and act pretty chill most of the time, she is an anger bomb, very short tempered. Scary angry little goat-skele. Years later she begins dating a human named Barbara.

- Aster! My baby boy! Liddle man! I love him so much. He’s a very athletic kid, loves sports, grows up to be a manlet, almost a himbo, but he’s pretty smart. They love each other, but he and Belle are the two most likely to butt heads around the house, being the two most hot headed ones in there. He also begins dating some years down the line, with a spider mosnter named Epaminondas (Epa for short).

This is just the tip of the iceberg of HCWT, there’s a lot more in it, but I wanted to focus on these four lil fellas :] Probably not going to share much more stuff about it, if at all here, but this was fun to revisit!

[wonderousmonarch]

stealing this idea from @ghostaddictgremlin

live(ish) reactions to Kamen Rider Wizard

Episode 1

- shadow wizard money gang

- magic and science lived in harmony... until the fire nation attacked

- birb

- I love how polite his magic is. like yes you may summon a bike out of nowhere

- love it when cops are useless against the demons

- John magic has appeared

- Kamen Rider guns are so funny. bro pulled the thingamajig out of his ass

- this suit design fucks

- he's so fucking cool. one million sauce points

- what is this, some kind of Kamen Rider Wizard?

- I love the way it says "please"

- hehehe evil woman :)

- leave it to the cop to arrest the one person who can do a damn thing against these monsters

- this police station looks familiar, has it been used before?

- I see, the trauma flashbacks

- I love him he's kinda sick nasty with it

- wuh oh

- donut time :)

- damn that shit just broke through the ground

- Makoto Nijima is that you

- let bro eat his damn donuts

- SMALL??? I love this magic so much

- Shabadoobie touch to henshin...

- he's very Dante Devil May Cry in the best way possible

- "Rowdy Kids get grounded" LMAOO

- I love how acrobatic he is, he's sick as fuck

- LOCK IN RINKO

- did they just get married

- oh his bike can control dragons, of course

- she still has the ring? did they actually get married?

Episode 2

- eepy boy

- I love these little robots they're adorable

- LMAO bro went night night

- wuh oh shady government organization time (the NSA)

- hate it when the pretty girl im talking to jumps off a roof mid conversation

- "bro said Alakazam" damn 8 year old kids really are brutal

- this one has a much more forward approach

- god I love the way he moves while fighting

- also goddamn the music in this series goes so hard

- BIG HAND :O

- gay donuts

- no one understands the trauma he had to go through to get magic

- haruto locked the fuck in and it gave him magic powers

- that happened to me last week

- bro is full of whimsy and happiness and the Phantoms hate him for that

- huh.?? he's got magic powers fr fr????

- haruto really went through the most traumatic event of his life and all he got was a belt that goes "Shabadoobie"

- I like cop girl. she may be a fed but she's kinda the goat

- the cuntiest wizard of them all

- DAMN the fucking trickshot

Episode 3

- oh boy oh boy what whimsical shenanigans are we in for today

- she took his fucking donuts

- of course this nerd instantly uses his powers to show off to children

- I hope cop girl doesn't get any magic and sticks to the .45 that would be so funny

- my finger that shoots fire

- that tv guy is 100% the villain

- LET HARUTO EAT HIS FUCKING DONUTS >:(

- the phantom is totally convincing him he's magic

- more like stupei, ace defective

- big phoenix fan he's such a silly goose

- flashlight ring

- oh my god they're going to embarrass him on live TV

- THE SLEEP RING CAME IN CLUTCH

- wait he's also revealing himself life on TV? is he stupid?

- the despair got his ass

- they're throwing hands on national television

- the fucking flashbang ring

- water :0

- he's got the type advantage

- soul hackers....

- goofy aah walk cycle

- big shoe lmao

- Lmao the shoulder rubs

- no one lets haruto eat his fucking donuts what the hell

tldr let Haruto eat his damn donuts. he's hungry after a long day of being the cuntiest wizard alive

[whitexdove]

next up, forever (our world)

a very self indulgent, lighthearted au. with years of thought put into it. like... i think the our world au started back in... 2017, when i first wrote FF7 muses on tumblr. under a read more due to the fact that it's rambly and there's so much. ooh boy. fuckle your seatbelts.

our world is set in... our world. with my blog & characters having supernatural elements, those are still present! it's just your standard fantasy modern setting au. the supernatural are more well known, those some creatures are hidden for assorted reasons (i have countless lore pages but some are OUTDATED so we're not worrying about 'em).

this au is (mostly) lighthearted! yeah there's shit that happens, but that's kind of inevitable. i'm not opposed to angsty stuff in this verse either, but the main idea was light-hearted shenanigans!! anything is possible here.

for muse specifics! rufus is a water nymph that lives on a farm in northern maine with his mom and his little brother. his mom is an actress. rufus himself, is a model. he does art on the side. i never figured out what specifically, i just know he draws some sickass semi-realism (humans) ++ semi realism/cartoony animals. he's got a service dog, a black curly coated retriever named rogue. this is what the breed looks like! they're large gun dogs. aloof with strangers but silly with family, which is rufus. he does not have a lot of friends, a VERY small handful at best. (now, this is where i'm ofc like 'tseng & the turks!!!!' but flexible here. everyone comes together differently and im happy to explore other options. especially with where im not writing this au with just a single other person! im very flexible) he's very anti-social.

farm stuff! there's chickens, cows, horses, ducks. uh. i think a goat or two. cloud is the chicken tender. rufus has a clydesdale horse specifically, that he loves dearly, but is fully aware is a bitch. he ALSO has an american quarter horse that he occasionally does cutting competitions with (cutting competition is when you like, separate a single cattle from the herd and keep it from rejoining and its timed) -- jaemin was determined to find something to keep rufus busy as a teenager so he wasn't a bitchy teenager abd by the gods did she find something. look those little bastards are BUSY.

rufus is constantly sleep deprived now, though. he's defintiely your standard 'tired artist', and how most digital artists depict themselves. he's got an energy drink in one hand, some sort of drawing thing in the other. he would sleep on the floor if you let him.

mom got the boys in the divorce, good for her. reginald shinra is in another state, but he's plotting something, surely. shinra is based in new york, i think i settled on new york, new york. california also makes sense? maine and new york aren't that far apart--- shinra is... uh. less of a behemoth this time round. that does not mean that reginald doesn't have a lot of shady shit going on, but i haven't played on that element too much! i'll get there. here's reginald. not quite how i imagine him BUT i like him best for the dude. it's fine. dw about it. here's mom, loved her in train to busan.

[forcebookish]

Hi there! Just wanted to say that I LOVE ForceBook so much here. Like TopMew silent date? I was squilling like a baby goat the whole time. And the amount of acting from Force through the whole car scene… I was enjoying his acting all 3 episodes, but that was just WOW.

These two are the only ones from OF cast with whom I didn’t watch the series, and now I definitely need more of them. Like they gives me that soft type of chemistry like “stable couple who’s been together forever” even with this whole mess going on 😅

I’m interested if this is their usual style? From OF and interviews I kind of feel that way. Also maybe you have suggestion for me from which of their show I shoud start?

Sorry for ranting here about it ❤️

everyone in my asks keeps apologizing for ranting, have you seen my posts?? you're good, darling, you're giving me a taste of my own medicine and it is DELICIOUS. gather ye round, it's ranting time <3

and yes!! they absolutely are like that. they've been friends since kindergarten and since reuniting for this weird job they have, they've only grown closer - they're basically an old married couple by now😂 book has even referred to themselves as husband and wife😂

my foray into forcebook was kind of similar: i plummeted right into a boss and a babe halfway through its airing, binged half of it and then started following along weekly. between one of those weeks, i shot-gunned enchante because i was so desperate for more of them😅

you probably want to go the more sane route and watch them in order instead (but still binge them between only friends episodes i guess haha). from the start they've been great actors and have had amazing chemistry, and they keep improving. so if you watch in order, you can see the progression of their talent. they're very passionate about their work and have continued with acting classes to this day. book especially has incredibly expressive eyes and force can say so much with just a facial expression, just like in the car scene💔

or you could choose the story that's more interesting to you and start with that one to leave you wanting more! or save the best for last🤔 hm, i might not be helping😅

in enchante we've got pining childhood friends reuniting (sounds familiar, huh?), slow burn, mystery and intrigue, staaaaring into each other's eyes, and shenanigans. and it's even better on the rewatch! don't read any spoilers!! i mean, you might figure it out (i did) but still!

in a boss and a babe, we've got a scandalous office romance that has more to do with homophobia in the workplace and loving each other despite what anyone thinks, rather than any sort of "power imbalance." it's got instant attraction, sexual awakenings, (not-so) subtextual kink, silly sound effects, and dark backstories.

and its our skyy 2 sequel episodes have them acting even more like an old (kinky) married couple!

of the two, a boss and a babe is my favorite, and force's character gun is one of my favorite characters ever, but i find myself coming back to both of them all the time.

forcebook know how to make their characters come alive and their connection feel so real, through intensely emotional, comedic, sexy, and sweet scenes. they're the whole package!

and the constant throughout is: snuggling🧡💙

thank you for loving forcebook! they really deserve it <3

(you see what i meant about ranting??😅😂)

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi Steph! i messaged you a while back because someone recommended my fic, and it was very touching. well after hiatus, I finished the entirety of season 1 of Reichenbach Falls! one third is done, which comes up to 550K words! I am so excited to have actually pulled it off, oh my god it was like birth, and i was hesitatnt to post because, well, it was a long time since my last update. but of course I'm not done with it LOL, it's gonna haunt me more as I publish s2 which is the next 110 chapters out of 303(https://archiveofourown.org/works/26233390/chapters/128797882#workskin). Season 1 can now be read as a standalone, since it is all finished and came full circle. I just had to share because I am so proud of myself for once??

oh and i wanted to share my friend Bee's illustration of Jim Moriarty, who is the bad guy, of course, a mixture of himself and Bill Cipher. He's gorgeously MURDEROUS!

he is the GOAT. as is my lovely friend who drew him over a year ago when we brainstormed season 2. He's just the perfect little meow meow.

I guess that's it C: I am just excited, and proud, and ready to write the sequel hehe *hides away from exam season*

I started this fic when I was 20, now I'm 23 and it's like having a toddler, IT WONT LET ME SLEEP AT NIGHT!

That's it I guess haha, sorry for the chaos (it's thematic with Jim, tho), but I'm a little ball of emotions and I actually managed to log into this tumblr lmao

I hope you have a lovely day, as everyone else too :) you guys are the best here! thank you for being so kind :)

MWAH

Reichenbach Falls by VeeTheRee(M, 551,435+ w., 105/303 Ch. || WiP || Gravity Falls /  Multifandom AU || Alternate First Meeting, Gay Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Unilock, Summer Romance/Love, Fluff, Insecure Sherlock, Villain Mary, First Kiss, Slow Burn, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Canadian John, French Canadian Lestrade, Insecure Sherlock, Mystery, Domestic Fluff, Developing Relationship Summer Love, Light Angst, BAMF! John, Case Fic) – Two Canadians, two Brits studying in Canada, and an upkeeper walk into a Mystery Shack…. and live there. Summer holidays are here, and the step-siblings, Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes, find themselves in a boring town called Reichenbach Falls, Oregon, USA. It isn’t as boring as it seems, however, once Sherlock stumbles upon a mystery journal, and the author is unknown. The journal contains ciphers, a strange colour wheel, and information about magical creatures that are said to be looming in the Northwestern forests. With mysteries to solve in hand, he and Irene set out to get to the roots of the town, and the abrupt disappearance of the author of the journal. But they’re not alone - John Watson, quite the handsome nephew of the Mystery Shack owner Greg Lestrade, is on their side to help out, plus mess with Sherlock’s feelings, in a good way. Shenanigans, romance, fun, danger, and deductions ensue. Oh, and there’s also occasional SuperWhoLock and two dorky Winchester brothers to spark up the action later on. Part 1 of the Reichenbach Falls series

======

HEY LOVELY!!! <3 <3 <3

SO happy to hear about the progress of the fic! I know you have a small fandom here who are eager to read the next season, and we're happy to hear that it's on its way!!!

And NEVER apologize for being chaotic!! I and everyone here loves it!!

Everyone go give this fic some love, and, if you haven't checked it out yet, give it a read! <3

[hoodiehydra]

Simple Moments

Decided to give you guys a break from the angst so have some short fluff :>

Prompt: Just Tabi's birthday and Agoti's little thoughtful shenanigans to make it better

Warnings: none.

-----------------------------------

May 29th, 23:58:48. Each second was ticking past, the minutes passing faster as Tabi waited in agony for this annual day, which was “all about him”. He couldn’t have cared less for his birthday, and he was ready to avoid anything good on that day.

May 29th, 23:59:53. Tick tock Tabi, time’s running out.

The shuffling of his feet on the rug in his dimly lighted house was loud, and the silence and apprehension towards May 30th was suffocating. The words played in his head again and again, “all about him”.

All… about me? Tabi thought. A day, all about him. No one else. Maybe it wasn’t that bad, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to interact with anyone, like usual. 

It was currently 1 in the morning, and Tabi was a bit more eager than he wanted to be for his birthday, even though he would never want to admit it. He was silently counting down the hours he had left to survive the 30th of May, though he did want a day dedicated to himself. 

You know Tabi is exhausted when he finds himself eager for something, but maybe just this once, it wasn’t the tiredness in his brain making him act more abnormal than usual. 

He silently pondered over the fact that he could have a whole day to himself, as well as by himself, hopefully, just a day to sit around and do nothing. It was far more relaxing than the other days he usually put up with, though it wasn't even near dawn yet. 

Lost in his thoughts, he started to drift off into dreamland, finally feeling peace in the silence that he drowned himself in. 

Eventually, morning rolled around and Tabi wasn’t very eager for that. Damn the sun for being so quick, he finally had some good sleep in weeks. Maybe that was the universe’s small gift for him, then. 

Tabi really wasn’t looking for any trouble or attention on his birthday, and he was already contemplating hiding in his room for the rest of the day, since he really could right now. That was, until his phone started to buzz, and it kind of looked like a bomb with how frequently texts flew in. Sipping on his coffee, Tabi already knew who it was, though he didn’t really want to entertain the texts at the moment. Agoti was scaring him with how many messages he had, and it was only making Tabi think his phone would actually blow up with texts. A bomb, maybe. It felt close enough from the vibrations and countless little ‘pings’ that the phone was having.

Maybe the phone came to life and had a seizure- no, Tabi. That’s impossible. Stop thinking like Agoti, he started to scold himself. 

His phone was seemingly about to blow, and he was getting concerned about it. Agoti’s texts didn’t even seem that important, just the usual stream of texts.

Annoying digidevil in a hoodie: HEY 

Annoying digidevil in a hoodie: WAKE UP

Annoying digidevil in a hoodie: READ MY MESSAGES DAMN IT

Annoying digidevil in a hoodie: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO

Annoying digidevil in a hoodie: GET ONLINE

Annoying digidevil in a hoodie: OPEN YOUR DOOR NOW

Annoying digidevil in a hoodie: LIKE RN

Tabi froze. Agoti’s at his door? He glanced outside, it was a little hot outside, like- 37 degrees celsius. Eh, he can wait. Coffee comes first.

Okay so Agoti was sweating a lot more than Tabi intended him to when the goat man finally decided to open up his door. 

“Dude, why do you gotta be so damn salty? Just let me in when you know I’m there!” Agoti whined.

“Yeah, I would, but I didn’t ask you to be there.” Tabi nonchalantly replied, not really caring about Agoti’s sweaty state, though he did find it a little amusing how he could easily get on Agoti’s nerves without being attacked. The somewhat feral digidevil would probably have beaten him up lightly if he wasn’t his best friend, and he was having more control over his anger these days, Tabi noticed that. His efforts to control himself were quite applaudable, and everyone was pretty proud of him.

Okay, so it was Tabi’s birthday, and Agoti surely didn’t forget that. Thank god Tabi was already dressed up, because knowing Agoti, he never waited for anyone to get ready. 

“Okay, I have the whole day planned out! I have Aldryx and Solazar on the way here already, and we are gonna have a great day outside! Imagine all the people wishing you happy birthday when I announce everywhere ‘hey everyone! It’s my best friend’s birthday!’-” Agoti was rambling on and on, but cut himself off when he noticed Tabi shuffling his feet, looking at the floor uncomfortably.

Agoti’s plan was kind of sweet, he only meant the best for Tabi. But going outside and having everyone know his birthday? It was a little bit too overwhelming for him to take in, and he wasn’t sure he really enjoyed the idea of that. Agoti’s plans were quite the opposite of Tabi’s, who only wanted to stay indoors and do nothing, making it the calmest day he wanted, and could finally get. He wanted this peace, but he wasn’t ready to make Agoti feel guilty for his planning. He seemed so excited for his plan to go into full swing, and he wasn’t one to spoil Agoti’s bright mood. He couldn’t stop himself from feeling guilty of that, especially when Aldryx and Solazar were in on the plan too. 

Thankfully, Agoti took a glance at Tabi and understood his expression. A whole day about him was a bit out of Tabi’s zone, and he understood that. He did try to coax Tabi out of this small zone, but he was quite understanding towards Tabi’s feelings. Besides, it was Tabi’s birthday, it should have gone how he wished, not Agoti. In that moment, Agoti felt a little bit embarrassed for his little moment of selfishness, and quickly backtracked to ease the situation a little bit more.

“Sorry Tabs, got a little too carried away. It’s my best bud’s birthday after all, I just thought you would like it. How about a new plan? We can stay here and watch television, play some board games and cut your cake in the evening? Does that sound better?” Agoti immediately changed his plan, for Tabi’s sake and enjoyment.

Now that Agoti thought about the plan more, he did like that idea too. It would be a nice, calming way to bond with each other, after all.

Tabi nodded, satisfied with the simple plan. He was more than grateful for Agoti’s empathy and understanding, and the best part? Even with such a simple plan, it still turned out to be the best birthday that Tabi ever had.

To Agoti, that was the best news he could have ever heard.

------------------------------

How's that for fluff?

Taglist: @lightgriffinsect @taterswithranch @shippin-my-sanses @alex-dontknow

[milesonthenet]

Wish (The things it did wrong, and the things it did right)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Welcome back to the House of Milesverse, our place for comic book and fiction talk. Today we are taking a slight detour to Disney's animated catalog.

2023 was an explosion of Disney hype and joy, due to celebrating 100 years since the company's inception. It was a year full of laughs, and shared memories. On top of this, a short film was produced to commemorate the franchise's anniverary.

Today we will be talking about Wish, an animated film that released in November of that year. The movie focused on a young girl wanting to set loose the wishes of her kingdom, kept captive by an evil king. She's joined by her plucky goat, and a hyperactive star that can grant wishes.

Wish was written off by many people, and considered an animation blunder by Disney fans. It failed to live up to the hype of people that expected differently than Disney's usual service. Some people however have found the film to be a fun, but far more average, experience.

Today we will go over the things Wish did right, and the things Wish did wrong.

The things it did right:

Right from the start, there's some key points to address in what Wish did right. Of the two opinions I mentioned, I agree with the latter choice. Wish is not a terrible film, but it is just a mildly okay one. What it has is genuinely good material that hits well.

Star plays well as a typical mascot:

The bright and speedy Star is our mascot (or one of two) for the film. He arrives in a blur to answer Asha's troubles. His arrival, however, is what kickstarts much of the film's conflict. The main antagonist, King Magnifico, wants Star for his power.

He's your typical Disney mascot character whose built for the audience to like him. Think Olaf from Frozen, a cute snowman whose made many a fan. Star plays into that exact demographic with his adorable, bright design.

I find Star's appearance to be infectious because of this. I could not help but laugh at some of his actions throughout the film. Plus he's an expert at granting wishes. Think of him like the silly Genie from Aladdin, but without Robin Williams' sheer charisma.

Asha dreams of adventure:

Our main protagonist is the kind and wishful (pun intended) Asha, voiced by Ariana DeBose. At first, Asha desires for the king to grant her grandfather's wish for his 100th birthday. However after it is declined, Asha's new goal becomes setting the captive wishes free.

I like Asha's motivations, because of how they are rooted in the idea of wishes. She just wants the best for everyone, and for them to experience it on their own. Asha fits into the Disney heroine mold, due to her compassion, bravery, and the driving force behind her goals.

It was a common misconception before release that Asha should have been the villain. People believed that her goals made her evil, or just plain irresponsible. She wanted to set all the wishes free, even including the 'dangerous' ones. Luckily, the film skips over these ideas completely, and for good reason, too.

The Teens are a reference that works well:

Moving on from our starry-eyed protagonist is her large cast of friends. Collectively known as the 'Seven Teens', they get up to funny shenanigans. Their antics and personalities never feel dry during the movie's run.

Beyond comedy relief, the seven teens are all distinct are distinct in a way. They are one of the few references from Disney media that I think actually work. The teens are, obviously, all based off of one of the Seven Dwarves. This callback from Disney's first real 'princess' film to its current one acts as a solid reference.

In addition, the teens also have a stake in the plot and offer tension to the story. They help their friend out, even when she's been ratted out as a traitor. Their personalities all shine through during the final act of the film.

Overall, the Seven Teens each have a counterpart in one of the Dwarves. These include:

Dahlia (Doc)

Simon (Sleepy)

Hal (Happy)

Gabo (Grumpy)

Bazeema (Bashful)

Dario (Dopey)

The things it did wrong:

Magnifico falls short as a villain:

Brought to life by Chris Pine, King Magnifico is the main antagonist of the film. As mentioned before, he is the tyrannical ruler of Rosas, who harbors the wishes of its people for his own power. Magnifico is a narcissist who is only willing to grant wishes if he can benefit from it.

Magnifico's entire concept was meant to play toward the 'old' Disney villains. People have long enjoyed villains like Jafar from Aladdin, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, Scar from the Lion King, and more. Magnifico's personality, his lust for power, and even his green magic all call to mind traits associated with old Disney villains.

However, our untrustworthy king falls short in many ways. As a villain, Magnifico's transition to evil can come off as rushed. Much less time is spent on who he was before gaining his position. He spends a good deal of the plot hounding Star for its cosmic power.

You can say this for other villains in the franchise as well. However, I find that Magnifico suffers the most from this. He already has an interesting background set up in the story, but nothing is done with it.

In the past, Magnifico came from a loving family. He lived in peaceful lands until greedy thieves attacked. They killed his family and traumatized him. He wanted to learn magic so that he could use it to defend himself, and others.

Magnifico's worst qualities are always seen upfront throughout the movie. There is no lie that he's the 'bad guy' of the series. There's also nothing wrong with him being the main antagonist. However, Magnifico could benefit from gaining more sympathetic traits to better round out his character.

This is not me asking that he be a fully 'sympathetic villain' who was never evil to begin with. Instead, I believe that Disney had the option to still make him more complex. More than that, it would also make his transition to evil less jarring for some viewers.

Asha is another victim of the 'adorkable' trope:

Over the years we have seen heroines from Disney evolve. Starting with Rapunzel in 2013, most of them were much quirkier. This is what many refer to as the 'adorkable' trope. Characters who are socially awkward or unappealing but in a cute way.

Rapunzel, Mirabel, Moana, and Anna are all characters who use this idea in one way or another. They are put in awkward or quirky situations which also leads to easy laughs. I think it's worth noting that all of them use it well, at least.

With Rapunzel, she had never seen the outside world since she was a child. Mirabel's awkwardness came from her own feelings relating to her family. Both Moana and Anna are adorkable in their own ways, but neither of them is overwhelmed by the trope.

Asha feels like she is always on the verge of it. She's clumsy, nervous, and also awkward at times. I think this is a scenario where Asha didn't need these 'traits'. As adorkable as she can be, she already has a great narrative. Asha is compassionate, and you can feel how much she cares for her people.

The story hinges too much on the past:

This is my own personal issue with Wish itself. Wish is a good story on its own, but it also relies on references from the past. The story is full of references to Disney media.

Some references worked in the story, however. The Seven Teens for example, were integrated well into the world. Asha's basic 'cloak' is a reference to the Fairy Godmother's garb, and it blends so well into her design. Magnifico's magic is green, calling to mind past Disney sorcerors and villains.

These are references that feel natural to the story because of how they are positioned. Everything else just feels like it's for the sake of being there. The references are there to feed you, meal after meal. However, like any person eating the same meal, you eventually just get tired of it.

The Music:

Wish's music is my favorite part of the film. Every sequence in the movie is loaded with loving tunes. I just can't help but smile whenever I hear the opening of "This Wish" or "This is The Thanks I Get?".

The songs partway carry the film for me because of how bombastic they are. The visuals help hammer in the Disney magic that you are used to. Each tune is filled with so many amazing sequences that you just won't get tired of seeing it.

The credit for this lies in musician Julia Michaels, and Benjamin Rice. Joined by JP Saxe, they helped create Asha's powerful anthem. The score of the movie was meanwhile composed by Disney's notable orchestrator, David Metzger. Metzger had also done work on other films such as Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, Moana, and Tarzan.

Overall consensus: Wish is a movie that tried. And failed. But maybe that's okay?

Wish is a film that tries to do too much, and that only hinders it. It's a movie that tries to be a large, huge spectacle. It is Disney's celebration of the fans with all these easter eggs and hidden catches. That aspect is where Disney loses its magic, and it is what hurts the film.

Wish is so caught up in being the ultimate milestone celebration that it forgets to be a movie. Everything about Wish, when it is focused on its own story, adds charm and substance. The concept of how Wishes work, as aspects of real people, is brilliant.

The nature of the film alone created a lot of hype for fans. People were expecting a much bigger ordeal than what they got from the film. Because of this, it was guaranteed to create dismayed reactions from those same fans.

This is not to say the film is terrible or that it has no purpose. Wish is a beautiful-looking film that is just alright. That on its own, is what makes the film entertaining to me.

Wish is a flawed film, but one that I enjoyed nonetheless. It is a movie carried by its bright cast. I would recommend that you see the movie for yourself, instead of listening to other people. That way, you can form your own opinion on the movie.

[mememanufactorum]

Lythero – UMvC3 Lobby Shenanigans 6 sentence starters

* All lines are taken from this video

* FEEL FREE TO SHARE AS YOU PLEASE, NO CREDIT NEEDED. CHANGE PRONOUNS OR ANYTHING ELSE AS DESIRED.

“See ya later nerd.”

“Bruh. Let me pick. How about your mind your business over there, my guy, alright?”

“Damn, the judgment, dude.”

“Kind of experimental. We’ll see how it works out.”

“He has technically given you the best team in the game; however, it is high execution. Good luck.”

“Requires about 500 hours of play just to get it down half-good.”

“I’m coming in.”

“He’s a robo—”

“Bro, back the FUCK up!”

“Shotgu— SHOTGUN.”

“I love you, kitchen gun!”

“Get off my fuckin’ property, bro.”

“Hold on, lemme talk to you.”

“Oh my god? Truth come out?”

“EAT LEAD!!!”

“No, die.”

“You’re not supposed to confirm!”

“Magnum!”

“Oh my god, good old American magnum!”

“Wait, how is there no time on the clock? We’ve been playing so serious.”

“Getting kinda cold out there, [name].”

“What do you want me to do about it?!”

“Man’s got no jacket money, dude. It’s crazy.”

“Come on! Eat the content! Come on! Come on, get hit! Come on!”

“I’ve been turned into content!”

“Become content! You’re going to Twitter! I’m punching you in!”

“Alright, that’s it, you’ve been tweeted!”

“What is your team so I can pick it?”

“Wait, this team’s kinda cool.”

“Yo, come play some Call of Duty with me, my guy! Come play some Call of Duty with your old boy, dude!”

“Get fucked, loser.”

“They’re playing fuckin’ Time Crisis over here.”

“I’m really glad I entered this tournament, this is so much fun. Having a great time.”

“Alright, one missile for the culture.”

“Yeah, spin on him! Fuck him!”

“I’m paper! I’m paper! I’m made out of paper! Help!”

“I just wanted the ONE! ONE!”

“He’s GOATed!”

“Damn. My [name]’s kinda nice, bruh.”

“Damn, I’m sick!”

“Help! How do I play this?!”

“What the fuck is this fuckin’ hieroglyphics shit?”

“Motherfucker’s reading off the bar code.”

“Ohhh, he dropped it! He’s bad! He’s baaaad!”

“You had the world, [name].”

“Looks like we found out who the faker was.”

“You’re in big trouble, you haven’t paid for your mobile data plan in years.”

“My old Motorola phone, how could it be used against me?”

“How did you– How did you make it do it twice?!”

“If you’re good enough, you can go indefinitely.”

“What the fuck is this?! Do that again!”

“What is he doing?! I don’t understand!”

“You lousy motherfucker. Get your dog ass to the danger room right now or else I will shove this wheelchair up your ass!”

“And stop fucking with the microwave!”

“The [name]’s got the blinker shades on! Oh my god, hold on!”

“Bro, drip or drown! By any means necessary!”

“He made his armor from wood, dude! How do you stop it?!”

“I don’t need it, you’re already dead.”

“Damn, bro, he’s comin’ in!”

“Wait, hold on. I can confirm this.”

“That’s the sickest riff I’ve ever heard.”

“You bastard! I can’t believe you did that to me!”

“Get back in line, nerd!”

“Welcome to the back of the bus, my guy!”

“He’s been in the back of the bus so long he’s a fuckin’ skeleton back there.”

“That was not close enough! I need a ref!”

“Hello, ref here. Uhh, that was not close enough, there’s nothing I can do though. [name]’s gonna beat me up as well.”

“I would only get grabbed if I tried to help.”

“Always remember what I could’ve done.”

“How was I beaten by someone from the ‘80s?”

“How was I beaten by someone before Christ?”

“Dab me up! DAB ME UP!!!”

“Time to watch you shower!”

“Justice is happening.”

“That was so stupid.”

“Oh– Shit! He’s already gaming!”

“Ah, so anyway, you die right? It’s crazy.”

“This motherfucker ripped out the metal piping from his house JUST to kill you!”

“You searched THAT on the internet? Interesting. This guy’s a weirdo. I’m kinda into it.”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!!!”

“Yo, quit! You got grabbed, that’s the rule!”

“Hey, yo, I’m up here doin’ stuff! This is my safe space!”

“Yo, salty that man right now.”

“No more, last one. No more, last one. No more, last one. Last one. No more.”

“Does that mean the last one?”

“Last one. Ten more.”

“I’m scanning for infrastructure.”

“I don’t know what’s happening!”

“What the dumb shit–?! The fuckin’– a– shit, a– Don’t look at me that way!”

“Don’t say my government! DIE! No one must ever know!”

“[name] WILL NOT PAY TAXES!”

“Excuse me?! Why is it still going?! Excuse me?! It’s still going?!”

“I need to talk to you about something. Hear me out real quick. Explosion.”

“No, they’re cute. His feet are cute, shut up.”

“My mother made these. You better shut your mouth.”

“He hit ‘em with the curse, bro!”

“Not worth the bar, let’s go!”

“Wait, hold on. Something’s up. Something’s definitely up.”

“Your honor, those are the fakers!”

“I’m gonna sus this out somehow.”

“My brain went dead, I didn’t know what to do.”

“I’m deadass, Ed-boy.”

“Did ya see it?”

“Mama didn’t raise no bitch.”

“I can’t do thing. I can’t do my taxes. Help.”

“HE’S COMING FOR ME!!!”

“Why come?!”

[forevermagik]

13 video games to get to know me

vaguely tagged by @rarmaster. Sort of pulling from an old tweet thread about this. Ish. In sort of a particular order, but don't think too much about it.

Under the cut 'cause this is long

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - gave me feels about time shenanigans and destiny and stepping up to the plate and waiting for the person you care about and character growth and childhood friends. Also reincarnation and the self, and are you who you think you are, or are you who you were destined to be? Very much my shit. It's my favorite Zelda game.

FFVIII - also time shenanigans and destiny and proving destiny wrong and forging your own way and making your own luck and standing up for what you believe in. Also, there is something about the fact that my disc 3 (out of 4) was broken and I had to replace it 3 times just to get past the part on the moon so I could finish the game. Definitely makes it more special I think. The patience and dedication. (Also, I know a game has wrecked me when I'm writing fanfiction for it. And then taking characters from this game and putting them in other fanfiction. (Okay, it was Kingdom Hearts so it only kind of counts.) But I definitely added Rinoa to my KH long fic and have no regrets about it.)

Kingdom Hearts II - Yeah it was only a matter of time before something KH showed up on this list. I chose KHII because it's honestly my favorite to play. It's a really good balance of mechanics, controls, and skill that I feel other KH games don't necessarily have. Plus, I mean, somewhere between here and Days, I had enough ideas to start writing a longfic that basically is the length of 4+ novels.

Dragon Age Origins - I really enjoyed the concept of starting out in different places but coming to the same result in Ostagar. I loved making the best of a shitty situation and getting to know a bunch of people who were also coming from shitty situations but somehow we all were what it took to save the world. And my choices mattered! (Well, as much as they could in a BioWare game.) Also a game I wrote fanfic for - though never finished the fanfic. But that doesn't change the fact that sometimes I think about what would've happened if all the potential Wardens had lived.

Undertale - I feel like this one speaks for itself a fair bit. Being kind. Choosing mercy. The power of friendship. (Assuming you go that route.) But also, consequences of actions. Choosing to be good. The lesbians win. Sometimes a marriage isn't recoverable. Sometimes kids are just kids. The horror I felt when I realized how the game changed based on your kill count? Yeah, definitely restarted and figured out how to do a full pacifist run. Wrote fanfiction for this fandom too. A couple of shorter one shots. Because I like operating under a "what if everyone lives" sometimes.

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Yes, another Zelda game. Twilight Princess is very much vibes for me. Another Link who steps up to the plate even though he was just a goat farmer. Zelda trying to reconcile her past. Midna's entire fucking existence. Also, there is so much that haunts the narrative in this game if you look hard enough. I want to know more about it. I don't want to know more about it. It's perfect as it is.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl - Play Subspace Emissary. I'm begging you. Epic team ups. Character development in a fighting game. Trying to save the world from a greater evil that's destroying everything. Former enemies setting aside their differences to wreck shit together. Some of my favorite moments include Peach and her tea and then Zelda also has tea. Also Zelda, Link, and Ganondorf deciding that the Big Bad is a bigger problem than their differences. So much good stuff here.

Thrillville - This game has everything. "You've inherited a park from your crazy uncle go manage it." It's a rhythm game, a side scroller, a coaster builder, a racing game, and so much more all packed into one. I spent way too much time getting every high score for the cheerleading mini game. Also Event Horizon is the best. I go back to this game for comfort.

Yoshi's Story - This is also a N64 game. I worked very very hard to get to the end of this game while keeping all of my Yoshi's alive. (Did I absolutely reset if I died so I didn't lose the Yoshi? You bet I did as soon as I learned I could do that.) I spent a ton of time trying to figure out how to unlock everything in that game (when the internet was still new for this sort of shit) and I *still* never managed it. I tell myself one day I will, but I probably won't.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Maybe it's cheating to say this game? It's also the newest game on here because I really focused on ones that were formative for me at a younger age. However, if there's one Zelda game I wish I could go back and play for the first time again, it's this one. That's it, that's the vibe.

Tetris 64 - I very specifically mean this one. There is something about making a square that makes my brain go BRRT. It makes happy noises. I play this game to destress. I remember racking up lines and building the 7 wonders of the world alongside my fam. It's good shit.

Shrek Super Party - Honestly, this one is about the fun memories of playing with my family. We would mimic the voices of the mirror and poke so much fun at each other while playing. We'd compete for high scores in some games, and just accept that others of us were just better at others. So so so much fun and a lot of fond memories attached to this game.

Mario Party 1 - Okay look, you're probably like, "magik, why are there not one, but TWO party games on here?" And my answer is that Mario Party 1 was the first game that my family and I played together that we actually like, worked for a common goal. (Tetris notwithstanding.) Like sure, we'd play racing games and stuff, but there was something about Mario Party when we got our 100 stars and then Bowser came to steal them and we played his map for the first time? And then Eternal Star? I have *vivid* memories of sitting on a chair with a TV tray in front of me with my food in one corner and the controller in another as I waited for my turn or mini games. And we all just sat there, playing a STORYLINE that hadn't been there until then. Except it had been? So, I mean, that is a very specific scenario to me. I cannot do that again for the first time. But that's okay.

Honorable mentions:

Mario Kart Double Dash - while this game doesn't have all my favorite Mario Kart tracks, there's something about the mechanics. Two racers, with power ups linked to racers. The ability to play two people one kart?!? Wild. The mindmeld required to do that and the experiences I had playing with my friend and sibling growing up. Also, Baby Park is insane.

Super Mario 64 - I played this game a lot with my friend as a kid. We shared a save file. My younger sibling was not a fan of seeing this game in their dreams because they watched us play it all the freaking time. We just worked to get gud and beat the game. Before school. After school. Over the summer. It was like, goals.

Mario Party 2 - Costume changes based on the worlds. That is all.

Some non-video game media that fucking rewired my brain that you should consider:

Owl House - I have not been this wrecked over a TV show in years. I have not been this wrecked over media in years. But if you haven't noticed, it's been Owl House hours on my blog for the past several weeks and that's not stopping in the near future either. But there's something about seeing myself in Eda. Along with the tight writing. The excellent magic system. The characters. The parallels. Everything.

New Who - I specifically mean doctors 9-11. Tennant was like, my favorite doctor. But 9 has some amazing episodes. And River, another of my beloveds, is primarily featured with 11.

Middlegame - Time. Loops. Siblings. TIMELOOPS. Dodger, I love her.

So You Want to Be a Wizard - Technically, I wasn't really wrecked until much later in the series, but the way magic works in this universe is fantastic. Also, I so wanted to be Nita and find a manual like she did. Alas, I did not. So instead I write my own stories.

Mistborn - Listen, you do not read all three of Era 1 in three days, make a shitton of playlists, and think about it for hours on end and not say it didn't rewire your brain. (This is currently, effectively, what I am doing with Owl House apparently.)

Arcane - Again, siblings. The vibes. Victor. The will-they-won't-they between Caitlyn and Vi. The music. The vibes.