#He was turned into Phantom early at age 12

[dcxdpdabbles]

Danny: What's one of your characters flaws?

Tim: I get attached too easily. I fall into obsessions quickly. I hero worship to the point of worry. Oh, and I get Hangry.

Danny: I meant the character flaws you put for the assignment.....

Tim: Patricide.

Danny: Alright thanks. I'll ugh, see you around?

Tim: You won't see me but I'll see you. Through my camera lens.

Danny: What?!

Tim: Don't act surprised. I just told you my flaws.

Danny: I thought you were just being edgy!?

Tim: *frog blinks* Why would I waste this chance to speak to *whispers* Phantom.

Danny: How do you know that!?

Tim: I used to follow Batman and Robin around before Robin died, and you popped up. Good thing you did, too, because Batman was going crazy. You really saved him from the void. I love you. Also, I think someone put something in my water bottle because I'm shaking and saying things I usually wouldn't be saying and-

Danny: *Grabs bottle to sniff* someone dumped a truth serum in here. Let's go ahead and get you to the cave.

Tim: You can smell that? Of course, you can; you're half ghost, which could be considered its own species since all senses are enhanced. Plus, some ghosts are born in the Infinite Realm, which means reproduction is possible between-

Danny: Let's play the quiet game

Tim: Oh! I'm really good at that game. I never made any sounds when following the Gotham Heros around! Five years and counting!

Danny: You were nine when you started following Bruce around!?

Tim: I'm a smart stalker. But shhhhhhh, it's quiet time.

Danny: I'm both impressed and afraid.

Tim: *finger guns and winks*

Danny: And oddly attracted to you.

Tim: *Beams*

[starry-bi-sky]

Danyal Al Ghul: Incorrect Quotes and Miscellaneous Thoughts

Incorrect quotes-style snippets specifically for my danyal al ghul au here (which i really need to come up with a unique au name for atp). Because I thought it'd be funny. And also some miscellaneous headcanons thrown into the mix. Some context for the au: - Danyal is 5 years older than Damian (so 10 and 15) - Danny faked his death when he was 10. Talia knows and helped him with it. - Jazz, Sam, and Tucker do not know he's an ex-assassin.

-------- Snippet 1

Danny, dryly tapping his temple: I have, as the Americans say, irreparable psychological damage, right here.

Jazz, an older sibling first and foremost: well, it's good that you're self-aware.

-------- Snippet 2

Danny, aged 10, in the American foster planning to just age out of the system: *emanating Bad Vibes. Pure, Little Orphan Tom Riddle Energy*

Jazz, aged 12, coming in to adopt a new sibling with her parents: Him. This is my brother now :)

Danny: ...what

--------

Lilo and Stitch is Danny's favorite Disney movie. He watched it when he was 11 with Jazz when she was attempting to connect with him, and by this point Danny was becoming receptive to her efforts. They had a movie marathon in the living room one night.

Safe to say? It resonated with his little 11 year old heart strongly, and he related very strongly with both Nani and Stitch. He got unexpectedly emotional and hid in his room for the rest of the night. Jazz felt really bad, but it had the intended (but kinda unexpected) effect of him trying to be nicer to her afterwards.

-------- Snippet 3

Dash, aged 12, causing trouble again and getting intercepted by Danny: *scaling up a desk* AHHHHH! GET YOUR LITTLE FREAK, FOLEY!

Tucker: Hey! Danny is not a freak!

Dash: GET HIM TO BACK OFF

Tucker, was the kid Dash was messing with: ....whats in it for me

-------- Snippet 4

Danny, saying some questionably immoral shit: What. Why are you looking at me like that.

Tucker: Bro. I mean this as kindly as possible; what the fuck?

Sam: yeah, I'm with Tuck on this one.

-------- Snippet 5

Danny, ranting about Vlad: if it weren't for the laws of this land, I would have slaughtered him

Sam, painting his nails black: I'm pretty sure you'd slaughter him regardless of the laws of the land -- and quit moving, you're gonna mess me up.

Tucker: we've literally seen you debate yourself about this, Dan

Danny: ...you are correct, but it is the principle of things.

-------- Snippet 6

Vlad: I have experience my child, and the money and power attained through using those powers for personal gain, you say. I could train you, teach you everything I know! And all you have to do is renounce that idiot adoptive father of yours.

Danny, was already contemplating committing a Violence: ....

Danny, internally: I'm going to stab him *turns into Phantom*

--------

Funny contrast I realized between Danyal and Vlad that iirc I haven't pointed out yet is that imo, Danyal doesn't rely on his powers nearly half as much as canon Danny does. He falls back instinctually on his League training, and thus sometimes forgets to use his powers in battle. This was prevalent especially early on when he was still getting used to the whole 'halfa' thing.

He incorporates them more often after a year, but still for the most part relies on his own physical hand-to-hand combat. He trusts those skills much more than he does his powers. I'm not sure where he is on a technical level compared to canon, but just to stay safe I'll say he's similar in power skill as canon Danny. Perhaps a little more finessed than him because his League training would probably have him trying to figure out his powers as soon as possible.

But in summary? Danny is strong in hand-to-hand combat, weak in powerset.

Meanwhile Vlad is the opposite. I can't recall if he even knows hand-to-hand in canon, but it makes total sense to me that Vlad Masters wouldn't because he's so confident in his monetary influence and ghost abilities that he sees no need for it.

And he's kinda got some merit behind it. He's very powerful and has 20 years of experience to experiment and fine tune his powers. He's got bite to follow up his bark. He's perfected long-range combat and his ability to phase through walls makes it impossible to corner him, but if you can manage it, then one good hit could probably knock him on his ass.

So in summary, Vlad is strong in powerset, weak in hand-to-hand combat.

And it casts a good contrast between the two of them in that regard. Danny, as a fellow halfa, can follow Vlad when he phases through walls and is fast enough to land a hit on him. His league training as an assassin, albeit rusty, is still deep ingrained enough in him that he can hold up as a rather veritable threat against Vlad without needing his powers.

But Vlad can force Danny to use his powers more often through use of his own. The duplication is the first thing to come to mind: Danny's fast enough to dispel them on his own without powers, and smart enough that he could figure out who the real one is if given a few minute. But that's not always efficient enough.

Good foils for each other that way. Also Vlad's Plasmius design mimics Ra's juuust enough that he looks like Ra's knockoff loser second cousin no one talks about, which only fuels Danny's hatred.

-------- Snippet 7

Danny, ranting about Vlad for the first time: --and it's only made worse by the fact that the little ingrate resembles a cheap knock-off of my grandfather!--

Sam, choking on her water: he what--

Tucker, doing a spittake: HE DOES?

[kaidatheghostdragon]

You know what mixture of AUs i havent seen here yet? Danny x Bruce with de-aged clones!

Bruce and danny are near the same age and meet pretty early in batman's career, maybe even before dick was adopted. Danny is a single dad of infant/toddler twins ellie and dante. (To make them young and at the same age, i imagine they were rescued after both taking serious damage and retreated to their cores, and remerged as newborns about the same time, but i also want to leave this open for others to flesh out.) Timeline-wise, that would probably make them somewhere around jason or tim's age.

So now we have an au where the bat kids are collected into a stable home where bruce and danny are also raising ellie and dante. Bruce is much closer to WFA characterization right from the get-go because danny would whip him into shape.

Tim probably gets adopted because one of the phantoms sniff him out, either living alone in the neighboring mansion, or following the bats and ghosts on patrol.

Talia either stole bruce's (and/or danny's) dna or drugged bruce (it didnt work on danny) to create damian. If bruce was drugged, danny is on a warpath and might even find and rescue damian at a much younger age.

Jason's timeline is the most difficult to predict, and i will forever simp halfa jason, so he's gotta die no matter what changes. I dont think that's terribly difficult because the joker specifically targeted him to lure him out (assuming i understand canon correctly - also this is definitely true in the UtRH animated movie canon). If jason isnt interested in finding his biomom in this au, joker will just find a different bait. Would be cool if danny is able to track down jason's ghost during the six-month down time and brings him home, and a potential point of angst if he revives without his memories as a ghost (and is lost for a while before danny tracks him down again.)

(Danny probably doesn't have the no-killing rule like bruce, so he'd have no qualms killing the joker and detaining/destroying his ghost. If not danny, then jazz would. Bruce conveniently looks the other way.)

Batman mythology in this universe is inexorably linked to phantom mythology. They both help each other out with vigilante stuff. Danny's team (sam/tucker/val/jazz) visit often and are considered aunts/uncle to the batkids. Batfam is highly liminal because they are part of danny's fraid. They might even develop liminal powers, if that's your kind of headcanon.

Danny may or may not be ghost king, but i like the idea that he's the crown prince and wont be coronated for several more decades. He's got time and all the resources that position affords him. Danny still gets hounded by the observants, but the batkids have made a game of pranking the annoying eyeballs.

Danny is a founding member of the justice league and of jld (the rest of his team might be as well). Batman is much more knowledgeable of the supernatural because of danny. I like the idea of constantine being more terrified of phantom than batman. He still gets called on for advice because he's the demonology and magic expert, while danny specializes more in ghosts and Realms technology.

Ellie and dante are not allowed to join the vigilante scene until they turn 12 (they managed to argue it down from 14), but because of their powers (and potentially retaining memories and experience) there are numerous occasions before then that they functioned as a sort of vigilante retrevial unit - zooming out and retrieving anyone who was injured or otherwise hit their emergency beacon and bringing them straight back to the cave. They might have even done this once or twice during justice league emergencies.

I'll leave their vigilante identities open to discussion, but im partial toward a really old drawing i remember seeing here on tumblr, someone designed a pink batsuit for ellie with exaggerated bat ears, and a sort of glider cloak that attached to her belt or her wrists to disguise her flight as gliding. (If someone knows the post im talking about, please leave a link so the artist can be credited!)

As for danny's old team...

Jazz works at arkham, helping to reform the place and causing many of batman's rogues to reform a bit earlier. She is the expert called in by the justice league to formulate ways to both detain and to help various rogues globally. She especially likes the flash because of the friendly attitude he has towards his own rogues.

Sam is a humanitarian. If she has plant powers, she's using them to establish food stability in poorer nations, helping the people there become more self-sustaining, as well as providing relief for disaster-stricken areas whose farms need to be completely rebuilt and regrown. Jazz introduces her to poison ivy, and the two end up joined at the hip, helping to reform ivy much earlier. (Would it be weird to make this au have sam x ivy and jazz x harley?)

Valerie probably stays in Amity Park to be its designated hero since danny moved out. If the fentons are good, she works alongside them as the fentons also develop tech for the justice league. If they arent, im gonna assume theyre the reason dante and ellie got de-aged, danny absconded with their cores to keep them safe, and the rest of team phantom descended on the fenton parents like hungry wolves. When the dust settled, valerie and her dad were left in charge of protecting amity and with ownership of fentonworks.

Tucker is a freelance hacker slash tech expert, and will kit out any vigilante's tech and security free of charge. His unique blend of magitech is very difficult to counter, making it all-the-more sought after. He probably helped set oracle up and maybe even trained/mentored barb to some extent.

There are lots of other potential changes, but ill stop here.

[fordtato]

The Gravity Falls Timeline

All of this is based on my video, but I assume not many people will want to sit through 2.5 hours of me working this out, so here's a condensed written version.

Some rules I set for myself: If the actual name of an IP, a person or an event is referenced in J3/the Show, I included it into my math for my timeline (ex: references to Ronald Reagan or The Eurythmics, or other REAL WORLD figures). If a REFERENCE is made without the actual name being referenced (ex: in the Journal, Ford mentions Phantom Bustifiers, a reference to Ghostbusters, a movie that didn’t come out in our world until 1984), I did not put that into this timeline (I know what year Ghostbusters came out, but not which year Phantom Bustifiers came out).

With that in mind, let’s begin:

The Stans are born June 15 1951.

Evidence: 

Their Bar Mitzvah happened when they were 12 (not 13, as is typical) and their birthday is on June 15th. Because a Bar Mitzvah is dependent on one’s birthday on the Hebrew calendar and not the Gregorian calendar, this means that their 13th Hebrew birthday must land on a date that is BEFORE their 13th Gregorian birthday, something that is typically more rare (the Hebrew birthday is usually AFTER one’s typically celebrated birthday).

The only viable year where this applies is 1951, when their birthday lands on Sivan 11, resulting in a 13th Hebrew birthday in May of 1964, BEFORE their 13th birthday on June 15th

The Stans find the Stan O War in spring of 1964 at age 12 (or 1961, if you think they were 10)

Evidence:

There are two viable dates for when they find the Stan o War, depending on if they’re 10 (the same age Stan was when he started writing Lil Stanley in the Lost Legends comics) or 12 (the same age as Dipper and Mabel). I think that the way the artist drew the young Stan twins in the Lil Stanley comic looks (age 10) looks slightly younger than how they look in the series (and they are designed a little differently than they look in the Jersey Devil comic, when we KNOW they have the Stan O War already), but there is evidence for both sides.

I lean toward them being 12 because they pull out a sharpie, which wasn’t invented until 64, but there is a reference to a Bruce Springsteen song in a magazine in Lost Legends, quoted by someone named “Brucey S, age 11” and Bruce Springsteen would have been 11 in 1961, so this might be 1961 (or the magazine Ford is reading from might be an old magazine.) I went with 1964, because I think 12 parallelled the ages of Dipper and Mabel better. 

Stan gets kicked out in spring of 1969 right before they turned 18. Ford starts at Backupsmore in the fall semester.

Evidence: 

Stan makes a reference to Jackie O, which means Jackie Kennedy already remarried to be Jackie Onnassis, and is also still in the public eye, something that would be progressively less common after 1969 (she also happened to visit New Jersey in spring of 1969 and that would have made state headlines, something which is probably a coincidence, but nonetheless very interesting).

Furthermore, there is a portrait of Nixon in the principal’s office, and he would have been sworn in in early 1969. 

I think 1969 is more likely than 1970 because ‘69 gives more wiggle room for Shermie to be the baby (more on that later) and for Ford to get at least one PhD.

-Stan dates Carla “Hotpants” McCorkle,(reconnecting for another date after the one at the theater in their teenage years), probably in 1971 (if this “hallucinatey” date even happened at all; if you dont think it happened at all, disregard). 

Evidence:

We know this is a later date, when stan is an adult, because his design matches the designs on one of his fake IDs from his years on the run. It was likely 1971 because that is when the term “hotpants” was used to describe those short shorts.

The hippie aesthetic also started dying down after 1972 after the Manson attacks, so I picked 71 for the Juke Joint date.

Ford graduated from Backupsmore at the very earliest 1974, MAYBE early 1975.

Evidence:

In the journal it says he went to Gravity Falls in 1975, but we know he couldn’t have graduated earlier than 74, because we know that he played DDnMoreD in college, and he says in the journal that it was copyrighted in 1974. He also says Stanley always mocked him for playing it, which literally isn’t possible, so he’s either misremembering Stanley mocking him for an EARLIER TTRPG, or this copyright is for a later edition (though I think it must be the former, since DDnMD is a clear reference to DnD which WAS copyrighted in 1974. Still. Up to you.)

This means he completed his PhD in 6 years (or, three years ahead of schedule as described in the series). I believe many of his other PhDs were honorary degrees, and didn't bother working them into this timeline. He got them later.

Stan joins Rico’s gang in the late 70s

Evidence: 

Sometime in the late 70s, Stan gets tangled up in what is implied to be the Colombian cartel, which would have been most active in the late 70s, between 75 and 79. Following his trajectory on the map in ATOTS showing his path across the country, he headed below the border toward the end of that trackline, so it was probably later on.

Ford started Journal 3 in 1981, shortly after meeting Bill in 1981. 

Evidence: 

He says he discovered his muse in 1981 in J3. He also says he is starting J3 six years after he started investigating Gravity Falls (which he did in 75). He also says early on in J3 that he is in his 30s, and he would have turned 30 in June of 1981, three days before he started J3.

There is some fuckery here on how he’s known his muse for “two years” midway J3, and the way I explain that in the video is that the first part of J3 spans nearly 2 years, and there is ample evidence that he wrote many pages out of order. This might be a page from later on in 1982, early 83, instead of mid-81. 

We know that Reagan was already in office at this point.

 Fiddleford shows up in July of 1982. Fiddleford begins making the memory gun after the Gremloblin incident later that year. 

Evidence:

We know at least a year has passed because if you track the months, they go from June, to August, and then later on down to July again when Fiddleford is called. As for the Gremloblin incident, it happened relatively close to the bunker incident (which would have been closer to summer, since it was still hot outside) but it was followed closely by the carnival, where they had squash for sale, and squash are in season after September, typically. 

First Portal Test is on January 18, 1983

Fiddleford falls through the portal, his head poking through, on January 18 1983, the day after the confrontation he had with Ford in the diner. 

Late February, 1983 - The Portal Incident

Evidence:

There are three many reasons I chose this date. Firstly, we know it is 1983 not just because it follows the trajectory of earlier dates, but because we know that Ford has heard The Eurythmics’ chart topper “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This” because when he returns he says he is looking forward to their next one, and that came out in January of 83’, before he would have been sucked through.

Secondly, five weeks after January 18th, it would still be snowy in up-mountain Oregon where Ford is, but not that snowy in New Mexico where Stan is when he gets the post card.

Thirdly, we know at least 5-6 weeks have passed because Ford describes about this many weeks during his “paranoid era” in the journal (more than one instance of ��a couple weeks, several weeks, a few weeks”, etc.). 

In the year 2000, Dipper and Mabel are born. 

Evidence:

I know most people think it’s 1999. And that is fine, but I have ample evidence that the show takes place in 2013, not 2012 (see below), so 2000 would have to work for their birthday.

But 2000 also gives a little bit of wiggle room to Shermie being the baby. (If you don’t think Shermie is the baby, disregard this section). If Shermie IS the baby, then if he was born in spring of 1969 (late 68 at the earliest), then you can barely fit two generations of Pines in the space between 1969 and 2000. It would mean that both Shermie and his kid would need to be 15 when they had a kid, which is … not great, but not impossible? I dunno man, take it up with Hirsch. (Or just assume the baby is Shermie’s kid. Follow your dreams).

In 2013, Dipper and Mabel visit their Grunkle Stan in Gravity Falls. 

Evidence: 

The Northwest ghost died in what is described in the journal as “The Great Flood of 1863”. The Northwests are trying to keep this flood under wraps in J3, because they don’t want people finding out about the lumberjacks killed in the flood. The Northwest Ghost swore with his dying breath to come back 150 yrs after his death. 150 years later from 1863, is 2013.

The 1040 form that Stan is filling out his Tax Fraud note on in the truth-telling ep is a 2012 form. To file tax returns, you use w2s 1040s labeled under the PREVIOUS year

Sevral Timez shouts "2013"

1983 is 30 years before 2013. 

Note: This would mean that the Stans are 62 at the end of the summer, which might mean that they are "pushing 70" as Stan describes himself.

Anyways, here's the full video if you have 2.5 hours. Otherwise, enjoy this resource!

[nitrateglow]

Spooky Season 2024: 12-22

Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (dir. Richard Friedman, 1989)

The opening of the new mall is hampered by one thing: a Phantom hiding in the air vents, and committing robbery and murder. It turns out this Phantom is really a teenager named Eric (Derek Rydall) disfigured in a fire set by the mall's developers to clear out any remaining houses impeding their dreams of commercial development. Now, Eric plans on having his revenge and watching over his girlfriend Melody (Kari Whitman), now an employee of the mall. But what will he make of her burgeoning romance with a journalist?

Talk about pure '80s cheese. This film feels like it was made to capitalize on the slasher cycle and the popularity of the Andrew Lloyd Weber Phantom of the Opera megamusical. It's not a particularly good movie, but it is dumb fun. I love how this Phantom makes free use of the goods available in the stores and how he spams his spin kick attack like he's in a video game.

Also, Pauly Shore is in this. He has a great scene talking about subliminal messaging in department stores, but is otherwise the usual Pauly Shore.

Hangover Square (dir. John Brahm, 1945)

Musician George Harvey Bone (Laird Cregar) is disturbed by long sessions in which he blacks out. He fears he may be committing murder, but is reassured by the police when he goes to them that isn't likely. Detective Dr. Allen Middleton (George Saunders) advises the overworked George take a break from composing. George does so by going to a pub where he meets the lovely Netta Longdon (Linda Darnell), a music hall entertainer who dreams of fame. George and Netta enter into a toxic relationship in which she uses him to advance her career while seeing other men on the side. When George discovers her treachery, his blackouts return-- this time in a far more violent form.

I'm starting to become fascinated by John Brahm, a director best remembered for his moody, macabre dramas in the 1940s. Hangover Square was his second and final collaboration with the talented but doomed Laird Cregar, who died two months before the film was released. It's as much a noir as a horror picture, drenched in that chiaroscuro lighting and urban dread so common to the classic cycle.

Cregar is astonishing in the lead role. Though handsome, he was a bigger man, so Hollywood refused to allow him to transition into leading man parts. He is marvelous here, passionate and sensitive, yet also sinister once his jealous rage takes over. I've seen Cregar in multiple films and he was truly fantastic, able to be comic as well as dramatic. Hollywood didn't deserve him.

Lastly, Linda Darnell's character sings this really catchy song when Cregar first sees her. I saw this film weeks ago but it is STILL STUCK IN MY HEAD.

The Sealed Room (dir. DW Griffith, 1909)

In some nondescript time period (everyone's dressed like it's either the early 18th century or the middle ages), a king (Arthur V. Johnson) learns his mistress (Marion Leonard) is smooching with a musician (Henry B. Walthall). Jealous to the point of rage, he has the couple sealed in a small room where they suffocate to death.

The Sealed Room is a gem from the nickelodeon era, though I admit my liking for it comes from how extra all the performances are, even by the standards of the early silent period.

It also has one of my favorite instances of what I like to call "silent film logic"-- that is, scenes featuring action that would be very loud in real life, but in a silent film, you may not think about it as much. Here, the king has the lovers walled up alive in a small room, where they lounge unaware. And yet, there's workers slapping up a brick wall not ten feet away from them! It's very amusing.

Frankenhooker (dir. Frank Henenlotter, 1990)

When his girlfriend Elizabeth (Patty Mullen) gets hacked to death by an automatic lawnmower he built, medical student Jeffrey (James Lorinz) decides to resurrect her by killing sex workers for their shapely body parts then sewing Elizabeth's severed head on top. He does this by having his victims smoke explosive crack.

No, I'm not making this up.

I first heard about Frankenhooker from James Rolfe of Angry Video Game Nerd fame. It sounded so insane that I knew I had to watch it. It's-- well, it's definitely a bizarre movie with lots of crude humor and pitch black jokes.

Would you believe me if I said it was kind of an unsung feminist work? I definitely did not expect THAT angle coming in, but that messaging is definitely there. Jeffrey is a villain-protagonist through and through, even before he starts committing murder. We learn he was already demanding Elizabeth modify her appearance to suit his tastes before she got killed. He views women as more a collection of body parts than proper people. However, his misogyny does catch up with him in the end and his fate at the resurrected Elizabeth's hands is the very definition of irony. I don't want to spoil it.

It's definitely not for everyone, but if you have a sick sense of humor and some friends that share that humor, you'll have a good time.

Friday the 13th: Part 2 (dir. Steve Miner, 1981)

A summer camp close to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake is about to open. Little do the young, horny counselors know, Jason (Warrington Gillette and Steve Daskewicz)-- the boy that allegedly drowned long ago-- is still alive and he's mad his mama got decapitated in the previous film. Lots of people die.

I confess I have a hard time getting into these Friday the 13th films. I've read it took a few entries for the series to find its footing as gloriously dumb schlock, but the first one and this sequel were mostly boring for me. About all I liked was the last twenty minutes, when the heroine's background in child psychology comes into play. Otherwise, this gets a big meh from me. Not horrible, but nothing I can imagine I'll ever rewatch.

Corridor of Mirrors (dir. Terence Young, 1948)

A party girl (Edana Romney) becomes involved with a Renaissance era-obessed artist (Eric Portman). Their fetishistic relationship leads to heartbreak and murder.

Already discussed this one is great detail at my Wordpress blog. It's a great romantic thriller in the vein of Vertigo and Rebecca.

The Old Dark House (dir. James Whale, 1932)

During a thunderstorm, a group of unwary British travelers are marooned at the crumbling mansion of the Femm family, a collection of eccentrics who may be insane. Everything goes wrong: the hulking butler gets drunk and preys on the women visitors, the area may flood, the lights go out, and there may be a homicidal maniac imprisoned in one of the rooms upstairs. Will anyone survive the night?

I have raved about this film for a long time now. It's truly a favorite of mine in general, not just for the Halloween season. Both witty and chilling, it's an atmospheric masterpiece. The damp and mold are palpable.

What fascinates me most is the Femm family itself and the gaps in their backstory. This is one movie where I feel like there's a Tolstoyan novel's worth of drama with the Femms. It's hinted that the 102-year-old patriarch of the house (played in drag by actress Elspeth Dudgeon) used to host orgies there. The death of the seductive sister Rebecca at the age of 21 may or may not have been due to inter-family foul play. Morgan the butler has a close, even weirdly tender relationship with the homicidally insane brother Saul, suggesting a myriad of possible connections between them. It's very interesting-- I like that the movie doesn't fill in all the blanks.

A Game of Death (dir. Robert Wise, 1945)

Don Rainsford (John Loder), big game hunter extraordinaire, finds himself shipwrecked on a mysterious island. The owner is Erich Kriegler (Edgar Barrier), an urbane German who also enjoys hunting, though with a slight difference-- he likes hunting humans. Teaming up with other shipwreck survivors Ellen (Audrey Long) and Robert (Russell Wade), Don tries finding a way to escape before they become Kriegler's next wall trophies.

This movie is a pallid, watered down, shot-for-shot remake of The Most Dangerous Game, one of the crown jewels of 1930s horror, so of course, I am not fond of it. And yet, I rewatch it every few years, so it must have something going for it. So instead of tearing into it as I normally do, I'll list a few things I think are actually good about it:

I like that the main character initially tries tricking Kriegler into thinking he will hunt people with him. Very pro-active.

I think Kriegler is a good villain. Not as memorably deranged and campy as Leslie Banks' Zaroff in the original film, but chilling in a more low-key way. His "the strong deserve to prey upon the weak" philosophy fits in nicely with Nazi ideologies-- no doubt what this wartime horror flick intended.

Um... I think Audrey Long is really pretty. I like her flow-y outfits.

... Yeah, that's it.

The Most Dangerous Game (dir. Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel, 1932)

All-American big game hunter Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea) is shipwrecked on the unlisted island of Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks), a Russian aristocrat and master sportsman who claims he now hunts "the most dangerous game" of all. Being a himbo, it takes Bob a while before he realizes that game is human beings. Unwilling to hunt alongside Zaroff when given the offer, Rainsford and fellow prisoner Eve Trowbridge (Fay Wray) wage a game with Zaroff: let loose into the island's thick jungle, if they survive the night without Zaroff or the terrain killing them, they'll go free. If not, Rainsford dies and Eve will become a rather different kind of quarry for the evil count.

Now, here's my favorite "hunter hunts people" movie! While "The Most Dangerous Game" has been adapted and ripped off multiple times for a century, the original is still hard to beat. The castle set drips with gothic grandeur. The jungle soundstage is thick and suffocating, and once the chase intensifies, it becomes like something out of a nightmare.

I actually think the climactic hunt is among the greatest sequences in all cinema. The editing is so dynamic and the images are brilliant. And when you consider this is still an early talkie, when films were still trying to rediscover their footing after silent cinema came to an end, it becomes even more remarkable.

Going on Letterboxd, I was shocked to find a lot of people on there have mixed to negative opinions about this movie, largely because they think it's too over the top and that it's messaging is too on the nose.

I mean-- yes, these things are true, but I don't see them as flaws. It probably helps that I love camp and melodrama, and am not ashamed to admit it. And regardless of the fervent camp on display, I still think the trophy room scene is creepy and the chase is super intense. I have probably seen this movie close to a hundred times and yet, the chase still has me shouting at the TV, willing the characters to run faster. That's damn fine filmmaking.

The Haunting (dir. Robert Wise, 1963)

A researcher of the paranormal brings a motley crew of ordinary people into the allegedly haunted Hill House. Both potential ghosts and the neuroses of the visitors bring on sinister events and ultimately tragedy.

I love this movie more and more. I already wrote a bit about my reaction this time around, though since then, I started rereading the source novel, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. Obviously, the book delves more deeply into Eleanor's psyche, but the film does a fantastic job of this as well. Given film is a visual medium, it can be a challenge to depict a character's interior state without delving into expressionism and this film does that well.

The Phantom of the Opera (dir. Terence Fisher, 1962)

Aspiring songstress Christine Charles (Heather Sears) and producer Harry Hunter (Edward de Souza) are drawn into a mystery at the London Opera House. A phantom is sabotaging any attempt to produce Joan of Arc: A Tragedy, a show allegedly written by the cold, snobby, rapey Lord Ambrose (Michael Gough). After some investigating, it turns out the Phantom (Herbert Lom) was once the meek-mannered Professor Petrie, whose music was stolen by Ambrose. Now, he wants only to see his opera done justice and only Christine's voice can make that happen.

I am very fond of this version of The Phantom of the Opera even though I think it has a myriad of dramatic flaws. Let's get the flaws out the way first. I think the film is a bit repetitive in retelling us Petrie's story over and over, at first through onscreen description and then through filmed depiction. I also think the ending is anti-climactic, like the writers didn't want to go the usual route of making the Phantom a homicidal maniac but they weren't sure how to make a properly dramatic finish without that characterization.

That out the way, this is a unique, even refreshing retelling in many ways. The Phantom/Christine relationship is no longer one of unrequited love-- in fact, Petrie seems wholly uninterested in romance or sex at all. He views Christine and himself as victims of the truly despicable Lord Ambrose: Petrie had his music stolen and Christine was sexually harrassed. Therefore, it is up to the two of them to wrest the opera back from Amrbose's influence and make it the production Petrie wanted. Petrie is one hard taskmaster. He is relentless in training Christine and at one point throws filthy sewer-water in her face when she faints.

But the Phantom is hardly an out and out villain here. He doesn't even kill people-- he has a convenient hunchbacked assistant to do that. No, the real baddie is Ambrose, among the nastiest villains in the Hammer canon. Ambrose never even kills anyone, yet he makes the blood boil with his wanton cruelty. Michael Gough (who I always remember best as Alfred in the Tim Burton Batman movies, as well as Batman Forever and Batman and Robin) is so good at being bad.

This version of POTO also has my favorite version of the Phantom's compositions. Usually, he writes a "burning" piece called Don Juan Triumphant, fitting his romantic obsession with Christine. Here, Petrie writes an opera about Joan of Arc, a virginal saint persecuted by powerful men-- a fitting subject for Petrie given his own persecution by an aristocrat. Joan's aria "I Hear Your Voice" is gorgeous and always brings me to tears, it's that beautiful.

Not a perfect film, but still a very good one.

[phantom088]

Just a light hearted rant

In other words, things in Danny Phantom that make absolutely no sense.

First off is the on button to the portal being on the inside the portal.

Who's idea was that?Jack, Maddie, I'm looking at you.

Like seriously, Jack and Maddie gave up because the portal didn't work when they plugged it in. In reality they just didn't hit the on button, which was inside the damn portal! How does that even work?

In order to turn that thing on, someone would have to sacrifice their life to push the button...and would you look at that, Danny walked right into that and now he's half dead. Skill issue I guess, but still.

At least it seems Jack and Maddie fixed the issue as in later episodes its shown that there's a on and off button on the outside of the portal, either that or they built 2 sets of buttons in the first place which then makes me wonder why they didn't hit the on button they had on the outside when they plugged the portal in.

The next thing is questioning how Danny got the thermos working.

Yeah, it seems like he transferred some ghostly energy into it as pictured here:

But the show doesn't actually conform that or tell us how Danny got the thermos working. He basically asked the thermos to work and it went "No worries fam, I got you." And it worked.

No explanation, just a "it works now...yay!" Kind of vibe.

My third thing skips quite a few episodes, even a full season and that is the existence of Danielle or Dani.

Here are the questions that come to mind.

How is Dani a female when she is supposed to be a clone of a male? Yes I've heard the trans theory, or maybe to make her stable Vlad had to mess with the XY chromosomes, or even Vlad added some female DNA into her for some reason (probably to make her stable). But non of those ideas completely follow up.

Why is she 12? In cloning cases, the clone doesn't end up a set age, when someone is cloned, their clone starts as a fetus/baby. It should have taken Dani 12 years to you know, become a 12 year old kid. So unless Vlad decided to start cloning Danny when he was 2, I don't see why Dani is 12.

How is she even stable in the first place? Yes, the other clones Vlad made weren't very stable, but it still makes no sense that Dani is stable because cloning is a very delicate process. Usually a clone of someone doesn't end up healthy like Dani, there always has to be some birth defect, and in real life most clones don't even live that long, and that's 2024 talking. Mind you, Danny Phantom was made in the early 2000s, cloning technology probably wasn't as advance then, meaning Dani isn't even supposed to be alive.

Fourth and final thing, and that's the asteroid.

Just the fact that the asteroid is made of a material called ecto-ranium says it all. This material was never mentioned before Phantom Planet, meaning it was made up on the spot, rushed per-se just like how the final episode was rushed!

Even worse is the fact Vlad managed to send the fucking thing hurtling at earth, and the best idea that wveryone could come up with was send two middle aged man to space in a rocket ship, one being half ghost and the other being a inconfidant ghost hunter, both dumped on bad terms, and hoping for the best.

Who would have saw Vlad not being able to make the asteroid intangible coming? Who would have thought his plan failed, and Jack ended up leaving him out in space. What a shocker.

Then instead of building a laser or something that would destroy the asteroid everyone decided to put their trust on a teenage ghost to fix everything. Sure he was successful, making it so the asteroid could phase through the whole ass planet even though it's made of a material ghosts can't manipulate (meaning it should be obvious a ghost can't phase through the asteroid or get objects such as a whole planet to phase through it as well but to each your own).

Let's just hope the moon or sun or any other planet weren't in it's path when it passed through earth.

And don't even get me started on the crappy relationship we all know Danny and Sam are gonna have. It was rushed, and frankly knowing Sam is someone who wants things to go her way, and Danny is someone who's too stubborn to follow that, the relationship isn't going to last.

Also, why were Sam and Tucker being such assholes to Danny through the whole episode until he restored his powers. Like bro, he got rid of his powers to specifically protect you two, why be asses to him?

And that ends my rant lol.

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

A small collection of KOTLC things Shannon told me at 3am

I promise she told me guys, this is totally legit

Dex Dizznee isn’t actually blonde but ginger, he gets his hair color from his dad. The three triplets all have strawberry blonde hair like their mom. His hair is also curly but like, loosely curly, and it’s really dry from all the shit he ‘experiments’ on it with.

Fitz Vacker once accidentally stumbled into a musical while in the human world and now absolutely loves musical songs. His favorite is Phantom of the Opera. It wasn’t like Alden was constantly watching him in the human world so he’d sometimes just sneak into theaters to listen and watch the shows.

Maruca Chebota is the most middle child ever. She has an older and a younger brother, but also another older cousin (Wylie) and two younger cousins. She’s even in the middle in terms of that, which is ironic because her mom is also the middle child between her two siblings.

Terik is Talentless, but he’s got basically a watered-down version of Empathy from his parents, who were both incredibly powerful Empaths who had been tasked with making sure Elves turned into myth for humans. He’s been scamming the whole Elven society for centuries and isn’t about to stop now.

Alina’s family was involved in a scandal when she was very young that resulted in them being cast out from the Nobility and their birth funds being revoked, though they were allowed to remain in Talentless cities. She decided to pursue Alden primarily for his family name - and the fact that she would up being one of the first people on his Match list was just the cherry on top. It made it even worse when he decided to marry Della instead, though at that point it was later enough she could detach herself from her family anyway.

Sophie Foster’s human family were anti-vaxx, Protestant, and Republican. Sophie was always a bit too busy trying to manage her telepathy to notice much about their political stances. Amy is growing to be significantly more liberal and had began to openly argue with them before everything in Nightfall happened.

Alina is Fitz’s biological mother. After Alvar was born and already not shaping up into the son Alden wanted by age 11, she used his desperation to Beguile him into having a child with her. When Alden realized what she’d done he did his best to cut all contact with her, though he did take Fitz, something with both Alina and Della resented. Alvar knew about this, which is why he dislikes Fitz so much while still loving his younger sister, Biana.

Livvy Soden is a triple agent, working in the Black Swan as a spy for the Neverseen as a spy for the Black Swan. No one is quite sure what her intentions are any more.

Wylie Endal has his own group of friends, who are all in their early 20s, and who love making fun of him for being forced to hang out with a bunch of teenagers. His best friend among them is Tanho, who’s Talentless, and was kicked out of his house at age 15 as a result after an abusive childhood. He stayed with Wylie and Tiergan for a few months after while trying to sort himself out, and is a large part of the reason why Wylie is now as observant and skeptical as he is.

Stina Heks isn’t actually an Empath, she’s a Mesmer, but a weak one. Not that she knows it.

It’s not actually Fitz who has the Nobility attitude towards humans, as in condescending and ignorant, though it does seem that way - he spent far too much time in the human world to not pick up on some of the good and interesting parts of humanity as well. It’s Biana, who spent most of her childhood being raised in a fairly isolated group of Elves who all had huge superiority complexes towards other species.

Ruewen is Edaline and Juline’s last names. Juline took Kesler’s last name to finally shut up her parents, who were harping on about how Kesler was using her for her family.

Grady Ruewen’s mother disappeared soon after he manifested as a Mesmer at age 12, resulting in a huge amount of people blaming him for it and his family, already in a precarious social position, to get hit even harder. Taking Edaline’s last name allowed him to entirely reform himself to a new person to the outside world. At least, until Jolie died.

Jolie Ruewen was a part of the Elven equivalent of a punk rock band, which tends to have a slightly more melodious (though still loud and chaotic) sound than human rock. Brant was their singer, and they had their first kiss during a concert, to excite the crowd even more. They decided they liked it and just kept doing it even off stage.

The movement began a few decades earlier, after an illegal trip to the human realm gave some twenty year old elves the idea to begin making their own instruments to try and mimic the sounds they found in the human world.

Tam and Linh Song grew up purposefully separated from each other, with Tam mainly spending time with their Dad and Linh their mom. As a result, Linh developed a love of painting, as it’s some of the only pleasant times she can recall with her mother, and Tam developed a hatred of economics and desk chairs.

Keefe Sencen and Linh Song are really good friends. No one else is aware of this. They also regularly vandalize council buildings.

Despite what certain artists and books will tell you, Elven houses are not made of crystal. They’re based on Ancient architecture, mainly using stone or wood or both, and have a wide variety of designs and patterns depending on where you go.

Most Elves do live in populated cities. Rimshire is a small-ish house located on the outskirts of Mysterium, not as close to the more densely populated parts of the city, but still with a lot of people. However, as Nobility usually do love in isolated, grand estates, it took a bit for Juline to get used to it. As Kesler grew up in a much smaller house with five siblings, he had the opposite experience.

Marella Redek’s favorite aunt is a Neverseen member. Marella is a Black Swan member. They have fought each other before and the next day hugged at a family gathering. Neither are aware of this.

Fitz Vacker talks to his stuffed animals. He has more than one - he has Mr Snuggles, obviously, but also Biana gave him one during Flashback, and Keefe made him one before he left for the Neverseen the first time. They all give different advice. Mr Snuggles sounds like Tiergan, the one Biana gave him sounds like Alvar, and the one Keefe made him sounds like Keefe.

Rayni Aria (Glimmer) was lying about her entire backstory in Stellarlune. Tam is the only one who knows what actually happened to her.

Rayni and Linh eventually grow to tolerate each other, if for Tam’s sake only. Linh can’t deal with having to share the one person she’d always thought would put her first (nevermind if he always would anyway); Rayni sees Linh’s hostility and automatically returns it with her own. As they get used to each other, they can be in a room without arguing or passive aggressively insulting each other.

Despite this, they’re actually very similar people, which makes them both even angrier. Linh can’t even make fun of how he acted with Keefe anymore now because of how she and Rayni act.

The reason Bronte is so mad at Fintan is that he found out that Fintan was dating JRR Tolkien at the same time as they were secretly dating (as to avoid being kicked out from the Council). Fintan was under the mistaken impression Bronte was also dating him, Bronte had misspoken and said he was ‘dating’ Tolkien instead of ‘rating’ Tolkien (as in, his books).

Fitz and Dex are in love, the Vackers are Desi, and Fintan has a flat ass. This is common knowledge though.

[thelostexperiment]

DT timeline from fowl (theory/headcanon)

In the early 60's Bradford was still young with a full head of hair, met and teamed up with black heron, making f.o.w.l…

Some time a little later in the mid 60's Heron tried to get the formula for gummi-berry juice, meanwhile Scrooge just joined s.h.u.s.h. as a new philanthropist, he and Beakley beat Heron, and Bradford must have just found out his partner in crime just got defeated by those two.

Scrooge's big Christmas party probably happened in the late 70's that would be a whole new decade later for him to age into the state we see him at the Christmas party where he and Scrooge apparently first met face to face.

Ludwig Van Drake got kidnapped by f.o.w.l. sometime after the 70's or at least some time after the Christmas party. If they had the stone of what was at the time and didn't lose it yet. It would be very easy to fake someone's death by just leaving a lifeless clone of that person to be found. Before being kidnapped, he still trusted Bradford enough at the time for Bradford to easily lure him somewhere to capture him.

 Later in the early 90's is when Donald and Della come to stay with Scrooge and "The First Adventure". After which Bradford becomes Scrooge's new CFO, and starts his 30 year plan to get the papyrus of binding back. 

 Then either that year or some other year after that Dewy time travels back to meet his mom and uncle as kids for Christmas.

Around 2006, Scrooge built the Spear of Selene and Bradford told Della about it, basically instigating the Spear of Selene fiasco.

Beakley attempted to shut down f.o.w.l. once and for all but finds a baby duckling who she named Webby and goes into hiding at McDuck manner. This is possibly also when f.o.w.l. lost the Stone of what was. 

Possibly after that, Bradford causes Duckworth's death, either directly or indirectly.

August 12, 2017, the triplets meet their uncle Scrooge for the first time.(DuckTales 2017 officially started)

September 23, 2017, "The great dime chance!" 

April 2018, "The Beast in the Board Room!"

July 7, 2018, Black Heron made a second attempt at recreating gummi-berry juice but was stopped by Webby. 

August 11, 2018 "the last crash of the sunchaser!" 

August 18, 2018, Magical DeSpell was released, The Shadow war happened. Then Magica lost her magic. 

September 2018, "Countdown to Termination!"

December 24, 2018, "Last Christmas!" takes place. 

 May 13, 2019, Della returned to earth and reunited with (most) of her family. 

September 9, 2019, Timephoon.

September 11, 2019, Louie became the richest duck in the world. Bradford tricked him into releasing the zombie bombie, where Louie ended up cutting the funding to McDuck's satellites before giving the wealth back to scrooge.

September 12, 2019, The Moonvasion happened. And after that ended f.o.w.l. came back "from the shadows". 

April 4, 2020, the ducks found the lost journal of Isabella Finch. And f.o.w.l. was watching them.

April 4, 2020, "Quack Pack!" the ducks found the lamp of Alli Babah.

April 11, 2020, "Double-O-Duck in you only crash twice" the Intelli-ray was invented using the Third Eye Diamond.

April 18, 2020, The lost Harp of Mervana was found.

 September 21, 2020, "The Phantom and the Sorceress", Magica got her magic back.

 October 12, 2020, The Forbidden Fountain of the Foreverglades was found by the ducks.

October 19, 2020, "Let's Get Dangerous!" Bradford got outed as the leader of f.o.w.l.

October 26, 2020, Bradford distracts the Ducks as f.o.w.l. steals all the missing mysteries that were found.

November 2, 2020, the split sword of Swanstantine was recovered by the ducks from f.o.w.l.

November 23, 2020, the blessed bagpipes of clan McDuck was recovered by the Ducks.

March 1, 2021, The Ducks recovered the stone of what was, but f.o.w.l. was able to get back a piece of it.

 March 15, 2021, the events of "The Last Adventure" Happened happened. f.o.w.l. was defeated and Bradford got turned into a feral vulture by Magica.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group L Round 2: #L5 vs #L8

#L5: Underground boxer loves vampire doctor (BL)

#L8: Teenage girl and her friends literally hack society

Details and poll under the cut!

#L5: Mignon

[Note on video: Lots of blood. Slight NSFW at the end. Turn on CC for English subs.]

Summary:

After losing his parents at a young age, Mignon lives as a mechanic by day and a cage fighter by night at an illegal arena. Living a life of exploitation and violence, the only person who gives him any attention is Oh Young-One, the resident doctor at the arena.

Despite accidentally discovering Young-One’s true identity, Mignon continues to love him, and it’s this pure kind of love that lets Young-One slowly open his heart. But when the hellish reality surrounding Mignon starts threatening the stability of Young-One’s life, can these two ever find happiness?

Propaganda:

Mignon is an independently-made BL aeni (Korean anime). There are only 12 episodes, and each is around 5 minutes long, except for the last one which is at around 8 minutes. Watching everything is like watching a short film, and not just because of the length, but also because of its quality.

The story is really short, so much so that we don’t get to see how Mignon and Young-One develop feelings for each other (It’s easy to guess why though). We’re thrusted right into the turning point of their relationship, with episode 1 ending with a shocking revelation that immediately propels you into the rest of the story. And by “shocking,” I don’t mean it was unexpected. It’s shocking in a way that its execution ingeniously builds up the tension before exploding right in your face. 

The plot is nothing new in the yaoi genre, but Mignon makes up for this by delivering each aspect to perfection. The colors are purposeful, setting the tone of each scene while also telling us the significance of the place—loud, vibrant colors for the noisy arena, calm whites in the clinic where Mignon finds solace in Young-One, drab blues and greys in Young-One’s apartment where he’s lived alone for years, etc. Seriously, the backgrounds look like stand-alone paintings.

And oh, don’t get me started on the scene direction/arrangement. Every episode is impactful and unforgettable despite being very short. Episode 10, especially, is a cinematic masterpiece. Lastly, the music. There’s a lot of 80s synth-pop vibes that just work so well for it.

Mignon is really the kind of show you can call “art.” It’s a passion project by one person, and it took them three years to complete. You can just see how much thought is put into it. It’s not rushed at all, unlike a lot of weekly anime nowadays that would sacrifice the quality on unimportant scenes. And just for that, I think it’s worth checking out. 

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Physical Abuse, Gambling

NSFW Warning: Tongue kissing and some explicit sex scenes. The parts are pixelated, but it doesn’t really leave much to the imagination.

#L8: Yurei Deco

Summary:

In the cyber city Tom Sawyer, society revolves around earning "Love," akin to receiving likes on social media. Citizens of this augmented reality exchange Love for public services and appearance-changing avatars via the Decoration Customizer, also known as "Deco," a hologram device implanted in an individual's eyes from early childhood. Under the government's careful management, the people of Tom Sawyer live a peaceful existence, outside the occasional appearance of Phantom Zero, a mysterious criminal who brings all Love to zero within their vicinity.

Berry, a mischievous girl fascinated by Phantom Zero, lives comfortably in the system of Tom Sawyer until her Deco malfunctions, enabling her to see a camouflaged prankster named Hack. Believing Hack to be Phantom Zero, Berry chases after the suspect and, in the process, begins to uncover society's most well-kept secrets. As it turns out, Hack is not the only person living outside the system's rules—and the vibrant colors of Tom Sawyer hide a darker nature.

Propaganda:

Without any spoilers, Hack can easily be interpreted as nonbinary in some sort of way (whether they’re transmasc, transfem, or otherwise androgynous/neutral/other aligned) and their birth sex is never revealed, which is a plus for me. Furthermore, it’s literally what would happen if you made a fun, hard science fiction series in the style of a Ted Chiang novel but aimed at kids and written rather optimistically. It still has the hard sci-fi elements of critiquing AI and social capital systems and whatnot, but it also has an upbeat, cheerful tone of a children’s show, and you know what? I really like cheerful, intelligent kids shows! It’s something that I could not only watch on my own, but also watch with my conservative family without being seen as inappropriate, and it’s a genuinely cute and fun show!

I also like the colorful, free-flowing art style, thanks to Science SARU’s art, and the diverse characters, not only in characterization, but in race, body type, age, and gender. And the plot twists in this show really excited me too! This is one of my favorite shows of all time, and I genuinely recommend people to watch this show as well! Sadly, it’s not dubbed, likely because of its relative unpopularity, but the Japanese voice cast is another plus, especially Berry’s seiyuu! Berry is genuinely her first voice role, and she KNOCKS it out of the part, especially at making Berry’s cheerfulness stand out. Another good point: the MUSIC. With diverse mixes of electropop, hyperpop, and bit-based sounds, it genuinely has such a unique soundtrack compared to a lot of 2020s era anime’s yakousei and anisong based soundtracks which, while I like some yakousei and anisong tracks, I’m just not fond of both genres.

Trigger Warnings: Unfortunately, as a Science Saru show, Yurei Deco is unfortunately very flashy on the eyes and thus very unsafe for epileptics, the photosensitive, and autistic people who have trouble with eyestrain, among others. There are also depictions of classism that, while shown as wrong and not good in the narrative, might trigger those who experienced class-based abuse.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[heartheaded]

TRAVELER: Yusuke Kitagawa AGE: 18 (HS senior) ARCANA: Moon CODENAME: Yuki PERSONA: Gozen (Tomoe Gozen of the Genpei War)

BACKSTORY: Yusuke Kitagawa was born in the Kosei district in Tokyo, Japan. However, he wasn't raised by Madarame immediately. Instead, the old man figured he wouldn't be able to physically handle the diaper days and dined to adopt him later. Yusuke was adopted by Madarame at 12 years old. He still has memories of the orphanage, and was absolutely elated at the time to be adopted by someone who knew his mother.

Even at this age, he was exhibiting interest in the arts. As a child he would doodle and write stories, and did often get along with the other children as he was one of the oldest. He became sort of a leader figure among them, and was beginning to accept he'd never get adopted despite not even being a teenager yet. Madarame came along when he was well and famous, adopting him with the guise of wanting to "father and educate" a child. This, of course, only brightened his image in the eyes of the public. In reality, Madarame only wanted the positive PR, and hardly ever took care of Yusuke properly as a result.

Thankfully, he had some skills outside of art. Eating on a budget, to name one. Yusuke was heavily neglected by Madarame and only had attention brought to him for further training his artistic skills or punishing him for various benign actions like accidentally slamming the door or not brushing his teeth. So, Yusuke was old enough to take care of himself--he was aware, very early on, of the true person that Madarame was.

However, Yusuke developed a plan to bide his time. In high school, when Madarame happened to send him away, Yusuke would begin digging. Yusuke couldn't be sure, but there was a locked room in the back that his adoptive father claimed was his painting room, and with the amount of art he put out each year... Yusuke couldn't be sure if there was enough time, or enough room for that matter in their small shackish house.

It is around this time, when Yusuke starts questioning things like his mother and father, that he's sent to school. And the investigations become increasingly harder, at least when he's not being watched over like a hawk when he paints.

At this point--in come in the Phantom Thieves, and instead of blindly turning away, he plans to run right towards them.

PERSONALITY: Yusuke is quiet, an internal thinker. He is used to being alone, and thus will act as such even in a crowd full of people. This could result in accidentally bumping into someone to saying something unintentionally inappropriate. For example, he doesn't understand a lot of social nuance, and may assume someone to be friendly when they are flirting. Positive interaction always makes him suspicious, so he tries to remain neutral and not much of an interjection.

The Phantom Thieves are the exception as he believes, with their track record, that they can actually help him. Joker still has to reach out, but he's more than accepting of it. Madarame is their shortest heist because of the concise insider information, but had the biggest impact thus far in their thieving.

He is the creative thinker of the team and comes up with out of the box solutions when least expected. He's also the most passionate during the palace delving, the most artistic with his movements and vocal nuances--it's almost like, in palaces, his confident and bright demeaner is like an entirely different person.

Such is the illusion of the Moon.

[popculturebuffet]

Next up for Nickelodeon era of shows, who is your favorite character from each of the early to mid 2000s Nicktoons shows you've seen like: The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius, Chalk Zone, All Grown Up, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Danny Phantom, Catscatch, The X's, and Avatar the Last Airbender?

Jimmy Neutron: This is the entry for jimmy neutron... gotta blast.. arf arf you know the rest. Faviorite character is Hugh, an easy pick I know, he was in ASB1 for a reason, but the fact the man can make any scene memorable by opening his mouth says something. Sheen is a close second. The show itself is great and having rewatched an episode recently, stay posted for that review, I was reminded how.. timeless it feels, it's 50 sci fi feel meaning that apart from some slight age on the cgi, it feels like it could slot in anywhere in time. It's got great jokes, a standout cast, and a really intresting lead who does screw up but more because he thinks he knows everything rather than being a jerk as is sometimes common in cartoons.

Chalk Zone: Hi hi hi to you all, who else could I pick i'ts gotta ne skrawl. Intriguing origin, hell of an introduction and a silky singing voice. It's concept was a tad dated even for the time, but I love chalkzone too much, from said concept allowing for endlessly creative ideas, to giving a character godlike powers in a way that isn't SUPER op. Truly great show, dearly miss it and i'm sad it probably won't be back in some form.

All Grown Up: I really wanna shout it out all grown up with you. God this block is stacked. Dil is the easy winner here. His plot lines were always funny, his weird friendship with vice principal pangborn that evolves from "He thinks their freinds" to "Actually they kinda are", and his easy charm: he gets flak from the twins for being weird as shit.. and just lets it bounce off either not noticing or more likely not carring. As for the series as a whole.. i'ts pretty good from what i remmeber. Admitley the kids ages are weird, probably should've bumped them up to all being 12, but the series itself is a lot of fun: it's neat seeing where everyone ended up, having Kimi and Dill get fleshed out more as characters, and see how they've changed and what hasn't. (I.e. Phil's still gross, but lil is growing out of it, Chucky's still anxious but ti's now more social anxiety, tommy's curosity has turned to filmaking. ) I'ts good stuff and something I should revisit , and should watch on this blog at some point.

My Life As a Teenage Robot: Her teenage robot, life. And this one was a bit hard. The series honestly has a great suply of characters but my pick is.. armagedroid. A bit left field as he basically has one appearnce.. but it's such a great concept: a giant robot designed to bring peace.. but not able to do so without destroying everything and his fight with Jenny is easily the series best as she's down to her HEAD fighting this monstrosity. The series itself is genius and one of Nick's best and how it was treated sucks hard. Jenny is a likeable, fun protaganist who will screw up, being a teen at all but in relatable ways, nicely blending slice of life teen issues with high concept robot shenanigans. I also like Brad quite a bit being a fun sidekick with extra points for not being shipped with the protaganist because 'THAT'S WHAT YOU DO I GUESS'. NOt saying it can't work (if we get to disney they had easily the best around this same time period), but god was it overdone. The series itself wasn't, having art deco style for days and is in need of a revivial stat.

Danny Phantom: Gonna catch em all because he's danny phantom gonna.. you get the bit. Vlad. Nick's best villian ever, and the perfect green goblin to danny's spider-man. His episodes tended to be the series best and martin mull, rip, was a dream as him. The series itself is a stellar superhero show, probably the best of this excellent era for them. It has some age spots (most of these shows do, you may sense a pattern), but it's a great action show with nice continuity, a killer rogues gallery and a nice sense of progression. It's top tier and reviewing a good chunk of it has only helped my opinon.

Catscratch: LALALALALALA CATSCRATTTTCHHH. This is one I need to revisit as I don't remember it well but it has an all star voice cast up front. I mean it has Wayne Knight , Kevin McDonald, and Rob Paulsen as your leads and Maurice LaMarche and Liliana Mumy as your supporting cast. What else do you need?

The X's: don't really have one. This isn't a bad one I just.. dont' remember it hardly at all other than having a great art style.

Avatar the Last Airbender; Sokka. Your faviorite jokey hot mess boy wins this one easier than he should> He was one of my faviorites as a kid, that stands now, Sokka deserved better in Korra. We deserved to see his kids if any. The show itself is one i've been meaning to revisit for years now and is one of Nick's best period: Gorgeous, has one of the best built worlds in fiction, well plotted aside from a few filler feeling episodes (Which i'm gunshy on as Steven Universe got this accusation FAR too often. You can't call every episode that's a break from the main plot filler.. but you can call some of avatar's side adventures filler for sure), including the one they outright mocked, and some shipping issues that were fine when I was a kid but now aged badly, everything else is immaculate and makes for good tv. There's a reason both this show had a second wave of popularity form netflix, and that both it's sequel and reamake have struggled to reach this level. Though Korra as we'll ge tto is still pretty good. More on that later.

[50cal-fullauto-astarion]

12, 16 & 21 for the make them suffer ask game <3

- kez

THANK YOU KEZ MY LOVE 🥰🥰💖💖🔥🔥i'm going to be bouncing around characters again lmao.

12. How easy is it for them to get lost in despair?

things born into despair usually stay in despair, and stallard's learned to live with it yoked around her neck. you can't get lost when it's your home address! she's learned from a heartbreakingly early age how to persist despite the despair, not out a sense of belligerence or truly fighting it, but because there's no other option--she keeps waking up in the morning.

16. What haunts them?

the scene of her parents' murder is what haunts rivka. the little suburban house has long since been demolished and turned into a parking complex, but there are times when she's in helsinki that she'll visit the site, and she can walk the floor plan and find the exact spots her mother and father died.

in high stress situations, she can feel her mother's tongue lapping against her right cheek (a phantom of her mother using her own body to hide rivka's, trying to speak soothingly to her through a destroyed face, her jaw and teeth destroyed, leaving her tongue to loll against rivka's skin without the support of muscle and bone). rivka has a small clear dimple piercing on that side of her face, and she will chew and tug and turn it to try chasing the sensation away.

cut for somewhat more legitimately dark content. tw: sexual abuse, hypersexuality

21. What’s their relationship to sex? Modesty?

scorpio is a weird bird when it comes to sex and modesty. in his Before period, bitch was dionysian in his exploits, and he had nothing in the way of modesty. it's his fucked up temple, he'll walk around naked as a fucking jaybird if he wants to, and maybe he'll just have blood poured down his body for show. he'd fuck people on tables in the middle of dinner parties, he'd have someone sucking him off or riding his cock in meetings--all that sort of hedonistic, insane roman emperor debauchery shit. and a microscopic amount of it was even for pleasure, he did it for power plays and to appease his hypersexuality after a horrendous upbringing where he was assaulted from a young age, but that's a whole other can of worms that plays into but is not the main reason for these things happening.

AFTER, once that sweet sweet amnesia hit and he's got a second shot at life and not being a piece of shit bastard, it softens. The Events have done a treat on resetting his entire being, and he's kind of landed in a place where he's sort of the person he could've been, had Everything Not Happened. he still longs for sex, and is dependent on it, but he winds up in a stable relationship with a loving partner that gets healthier and healthier over time, and they explore his proclivities safely. he's got a shred of modesty that's born out of decency, but if he could walk around in the buff all day every day, he probably would, even with his body as fucked up looking as it is with scars and damage and tattoos.

[mayadoesfandomstuff]

Considering the psychic damage my previous post on the protags' ages are, I've decided to compile ALL persona users' birthdays and list them according to date from earliest or oldest to latest or youngest. Enjoy!

Teddie (P4) - unknown, shadow so could be as old as time, maybe as teddy bears existed in humanity's collective unconscious memory, could be a month before he met the team, could be a week, could be last Thursday idk

Zenkichi Hasegawa (P5S) - unknown, in his 40s, probably late 1960s to mid 1970s

Baofu (P2:EP) - June 13, 1967

Tatsuya Sudou (P2:EP) - 1971

Katsuya Suou (P2:EP) - December 30, 1973

Ulala Serizawa (P2:EP) - November 30, 1974

Maya Amano (P2:IS) - July 4, 1976

Yukino Mayuzumi (P1) - April 9, 1979

Maki Sonomura (P1) - June 4, 1979

Masao Inaba (P1) - July 11, 1979

Reiji Kido (P1) - August 18, 1979

Eriko Kirishima (P1) - September 21, 1979

Kei Nanjo (P1) - October 2, 1979

Naoya Toudou (P1) - December 24, 1979

Hidehiko Uesagi (P1) - January 1, 1980

Yuka Ayase (P1) - March 3, 1980

Tatsuya Suou (P2:IS) - July 27, 1981 (EP), August 21, 1981 (IS)

Jun Kurosu (P2:IS) - February 14, 1982

Lisa Silverman (P2:IS) - May 4, 1982

Eikichi Mishina (P2:IS) - November 15, 1982

Tohru Adachi (P4) - February 1, 1984

Takuto Maruki (P5R) - unknown, possibly in his late 20s to mid 30s, probably mid-1980s to mid-1990s

Strega: Chidori Yoshino, Jin Shirato, Takaya Sakaki (P3) - unknown, late 80s - early 90s

Mitsuru Kirijo (P3) - May 8, 1991

Shinjiro Aragaki (P3) - August 11, 1991

Akihiko Sanada (P3) - September 22, 1991

Minato Arisato/Makoto Yuki (P3); Minako Arisato/Hamuko Arisato/Kotone Shiomi (P3P) - 1992/1993

Yukari Takeba (P3) - October 19, 1992

Fuuka Yamagishi (P3) - December 22, 1992

Junpei Iori (P3) - January 16, 1993

Koromaru (P3) - unknown, likely mid 1990s to early 2000s

Souji Seta/Yu Narukami (P4) - 1994/1995

Sho Minazuki (P4A) - unknown, possibly the same as P4 Protagonist, 1994/1995

Yosuke Hanamura (P4) - June 22, 1994

Chie Satonaka (P4) - July 30, 1994

Yukiko Amagi (P4) - December 8, 1994

Naoto Shirogane (P4) - April 27, 1995

Rise Kujikawa (P4) - June 1, 1995

Kanji Tatsumi (P4) - January 19, 1996

Makoto Nijima (P5) - April 23, 1998

Goro Akechi (P5) - June 2, 1998

Ken Amada (P3) - June 24, 1998

Haru Okumura (P5) - December 5, 1998

Akira Kurusu/Ren Amamiya (P5) - 1999/2000

Labrys (P4A) - April 20, 1999 (activation date)

Ryuji Sakamoto (P5) - July 3, 1999

Ann Takamaki (P5) - November 12, 1999

Yusuke Kitagawa (P5) - January 28, 2000

Aigis (P3) - February 2000 (manufacturing date), September 10, 2000 (activation date), May 1999 (Aigis First Mission),

Futaba Sakura (P5) - February 19, 2001

Sumire Yoshizawa (P5R) - March 25, 2001

Morgana (P5) - unknown, between Persona 4 Dancing All Night and Persona 5, 2010s

To give you some more perspective:

The oldest confirmed Persona user (Boafu) is 33 years and 9 months older than the youngest (Sumi).

Tohru Adachi is just two years the Persona 2: Innocent Sin cast's junior.

Katsuya Suou is turning 50 next year (2023).

The only confirmed S.E.E.S. members that are not yet in their 30s (this 2022) is Junpei, Ken, and maybe Koromaru [if he's still around which I hope so].

Sojiro Sakura might be the same generation as the Persona 2: Eternal Punishment cast.

Ryotaro Dojima (1970) is the same generation as the P2:EP cast and is three years younger than Boafu, and three years older than Katsuya.

Reiji Kido's child is probably the same age as Ken Amada and the Phantom Thieves.

Please send in any additions or corrections! I'll edit this the list if necessary.

[fridayfirefly]

Seeing Ghosts

Read Seeing Ghosts on AO3

Masterlist

For Maribat March Day 12 - Second Chance

For as long as she could remember, Marinette could see ghosts. It wasn't always the ghosts of strangers, though. Her ghost encounters started small. When Marinette was four years old, her parents told her that the family cat, Tikki, had left to live in the countryside. Marinette didn't understand, because Tikki still lived with them. Tikki still meowed for pets, still purred when Marinette pet her, still played with her favorite toy, the laser pointer that Marinette got for her last birthday. It wasn't until two weeks later, that Tom and Sabine sat Marinette down and explained to her that Tikki had died, that she needed to stop pretending that she was still there. Marinette was confused until she saw the way Tikki's paws batted right through her toys, the way she never ate the scraps that Marinette dropped on the floor. Marinette knew two things for sure: Tikki was dead and Marinette could still see her ghost.

For years and years, Tikki was the only ghost that Marinette saw. Then Marinette turned fourteen and Marinette could suddenly see.

They haunted the corners of her eyes, lurking in her periphery. They were just shadows, phantoms until Marinette focused her eyes, and then she could see them clear as day. Ghosts were real and Marinette could see them. Ghosts were real and they were everywhere, an inescapable reality for Marinette.

Quickly, the ghosts learned that Marinette could see them. They followed her around, lingering at the edge of her sight. She could hear them too, little whispers about the baker's daughter, the only person who could see them. However, none of the ghosts were bold enough to approach her. That was the status quo, until one day when Marinette came home from school one day to a ghost lurking in her room.

Marinette gasped as she saw the ghost sitting in the chair at her desk, staring at her with knowing blue eyes. He was her age, which made his brutal injuries all the more horrific to look at. His skull was caved in. His chest was mangled. His skin was shredded and burned. He had been beaten to death, tortured in his final moments.

"I've been told that you can see ghosts," the boy remarked, ignoring Marinette's shock entirely. He spoke in English instead of French, luckily Marinette's class had been learning both languages, so she was able to understand.

Marinette nodded, her throat suddenly unable to get a word out.

"You can hear ghosts, too. Can you bring them back to life?"

Marinette shook her head, clearing her throat as she began to speak in English, "I've never tried, but I don't think so."

"Could you try? For me?" pleaded the boy, the desperation in his expression breaking Marinette's heart.

"I don't even know you," said Marinette, trying to find a way to gently let the boy down. Seeing ghosts was one thing; bringing them back to life was another thing entirely.

"I'm Jason Todd." Jason stuck out his hand and Marinette tentatively shook it.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

It wasn't until Marinette pulled her hand back that she realized that his hand - and now her's - was covered in blood. With a shriek of surprise, Marinette stumbled backward away from Jason. "What did you do?"

"What did I do? What did you do?"

"This has never happened before. Somehow my touch turned you corporeal enough for the blood on your hand to transfer to mine."

Jason glanced down at his hands. "Your fingers left prints in the blood. I've spent hours trying to wash the blood away for months, and you managed to do it by accident."

Marinette stared at her hands, the realization sinking in. Jason Todd was dead and his blood was on her hands. In the blink of an eye, Marinette was running to the bathroom to throw up. She thought she would be able to handle looking at the injuries of the dead, but Jason's wounds suddenly felt personal. Someone beat him to death, beat him until his bones broke and his skull caved him. Marinette heaved into the toilet, unable to cope with the violence of Jason's death.

When Marinette finally lifted her head, she saw Jason lingering at the door, looking guilty. "I'm sorry. I know that this is pretty graphic to look at." Jason gestured towards himself.

Marinette shook her head. "You don't have to apologize." After rinsing her mouth out until the taste of vomit was gone, Marinette turned to Jason. "Come here."

Jason approached her at the sink. With the water still running, Marinette took his hands and held them underneath the water. They both watched as the water turned red, then pink, then ran clear as all of the blood washed off Jason's hands. "Thank you," Jason whispered.

Marinette took a deep breath. "I can't make any promises, but I will do my best to bring you back."

--

Bringing the ghost of a human boy back to life seemed like an impossible task, so Marinette started small: with Tikki the ghost cat. It took two weeks of experimentation before Marinette realized that with enough meditation she could funnel some of her energy into Tikki's ghost. With Jason to help her take notes, Marinette began to figure out the ins-and-outs of resurrection.

The most difficult part was figuring out exactly how much energy Marinette could expend before it took a toll on her physical health. The very first time she gave Tikki energy, Marinette woke up the next morning with bruises littering her body. Tom and Sabine took Marinette to the doctor's where she was diagnosed with anemia and prescribed iron supplements. Jason was so concerned about Marinette's well-being that he refused to let her give any more energy away before she had returned to her full health.

A few weeks after the initial mishap Marinette got back on track. Every morning she would push just a little bit of energy into Tikki. Little by little, Tikki turned from specter to physical being. Then, one morning, as Marinette pushed energy into Tikki, she felt her energy hit a wall. At the same time, Marinette felt Tikki's fur under her hand for the first time in ten years.

"You brought her back!" Jason exclaimed.

Marinette let out a whoop of joy, scaring Tikki, who jumped out of Marinette's lap with a startled meow. Marinette grabbed Tikki back up, able to properly hug her beloved pet for the first time in ten years. "I've got to go show Tikki to my parents. I'm going to tell them that I found her outside."

"You'll need to give her a new name," said Jason. "Might I suggest Alfred."

Tom and Sabine were surprised, which was to be expected. After all, it wasn't every day that their daughter found a doppelgänger of their dead cat in the alley behind the bakery. However, they were quick to rationalize the event, shrugging it off as a strange coincidence. Alfred became a beloved new member of the family.

After her success with Alfred neé Tikki, Marinette turned her attention to Jason. Their very first attempt took place in Marinette's bedroom. Marinette and Jason sat down cross-legged on the floor. Marinette placed her hands on top of Jason's and concentrated. She felt the life force within herself and pressed it forward, through her hands and into his.

"I can feel it," whispered Jason, "I've never felt anything like it before. It's so warm."

The awe in Jason's voice made Marinette feel warm inside as well. "I'm going to start with just a little bit of energy. I don't know how transferring energy to a human will differ from transferring energy to a cat, and I don't want to burn myself out on the very first transfer."

"Do this at whatever pace you need. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Marinette smiled with his reassurance. She took a deep breath, and let the energy flow out of her. When she finally finished, cutting off the flow, she looked back up at Jason and gasped. Jason's broken finger, which had bothered him for weeks, had straightened out. The cut on his collarbone had closed shut. The bruise on his cheekbone had faded. His wounds were already starting to heal.

--

Quickly, Marinette and Jason fell into a routine. Every day after school they would sit down in the back corner of the bakery and Marinette (under the guise of doing her homework) would push more of her life energy into him. It was a slow process. Though Marinette often wished to give Jason just a little more energy every day, to speed up the process, she was constantly aware of the fact that Jason would fuss over her and stop the transfer of energy entirely if he saw any sign of pain or exhaustion on her.

In the months that Marinette had known Jason, he had grown protective over her. Marinette spent most of her time with Jason. He slept in her room on the little couch in the corner, followed her to school, and wore the clothes that she designed for her. Jason changing his clothes was an incredibly embarrassing affair, as the only way for him to be corporeal enough to touch the clothes was for Marinette to be touching him while he did it, leading to averted eyes and blushing on the part of both Marinette and Jason (but it was worth it for Marinette, to saw Jason's relieved smile when he realized that he never had to see the blood-stained clothes that he died in again).

In total, it took eight months from the day that Marinette met Jason to the day that Marinette brought Jason back to life. It started as an uneventful morning. Marinette woke up to her alarm, grumbling as she got ready about how it was inhumane to make teenagers wake up so early. She made herself a coffee while chatting to Jason. They walked to school together, Marinette dodging through the crowded sidewalk while Jason moved straight through people with ease. Marinette got to her desk at school and took a seat next to Alya. Luckily the seat behind Marinette was empty, so Jason sat there when he followed Marinette to school.

Marinette had asked Jason before if it bothered him that he was unable to participate with the rest of the class since they could neither see nor hear him. Jason claimed that he didn't mind. Despite that, if Jason ever whispered comments or questions about the lesson into Marinette's ear, she always made sure to ask the teacher, even if she already knew the answer.

Sitting in on lessons had the additional benefit of teaching Jason French. Marinette did her best to teach him the basics, but immersion was the best teacher - after eight months of hearing and speaking only French, Jason was fluent in the language. Marinette often praised him for his quick learning, which was how she learned that Jason was prone to blushing when he was complimented. Jason always grumbled when Marinette pointed it out, but Marinette found it adorable.

Once school was over on that fateful day, Marinette and Jason walked home together. Marinette set her backpack down at her usual table, sat down, and got to work. It had become an easy routine: put in her headphones and play some calming music, find a quiet place within her brain, and focus on the feeling of energy welling up inside of her. Then take Jason's hands, concentrate on that energy, and push it through her arms and into him. Controlling the direction of the energy was easy - it was controlling the rate that was the difficult part. It moved slowly at first, then all at once it flowed faster than Marinette can control, and it was a race to slow it down before it could all drain out of her.

That day, however, just as the energy started to speed up, the flow of energy abruptly cut off before Marinette even had the chance to react.

"Why did it stop?" asked Jason, looking confused.

The day had been so long coming that Marinette could hardly believe what had happened. "I have nothing left to give you. You're alive again, Jason."

Jason stared at her, wide-eyed. "Are you sure?"

"I'll go test it." Marinette jumped out of her seat and raced towards the front of the bakery, heading for Tom, who was behind the counter. "Papa, can I get a plate of macaroons for me and my friend?"

Tom glanced over at Jason. "Who is he? I don't think I've ever seen him here before."

"He's a foreign exchange student," Marinette lied easily. "His name is Jason."

"Here's a plate for you and Jason." Tom handed her a plate, piled high with macaroons and other sweets.

"I might take Jason and show him around Paris, once we finish our homework. Is that alright?"

"Sure, sweetheart. Just make sure you're home before dinner."

"Of course," chirped Marinette. She made her way back to her table with a bounce in her step. "My papa could see you. You're real."

In that moment, Jason looked lost. He glanced down at his hands, flesh and blood once more. "What do I do now?"

"You're alive again. You can do whatever you want."

Jason took a deep breath. "I've been gone from this world for so long. I want to go home."

Marinette tried not to let the fact that her heart was breaking show on her face. "I have enough birthday money saved up to buy you a plane ticket. You might have trouble getting on a plane without any identification, but I'm sure we can come up with a solution."

For a moment, Jason looked upset. Then, Marinette saw on his face as a realization dawned on him. "I didn't mean alone. Marinette, I want you to come with me."

--

There was no sugar-coating it: Marinette's parents were going to kill her. The plane was half-way across the Atlantic Ocean and Marinette's phone was turned off. There was no way to check, but she was certain that her parents were already sending her frantic texts. By the time the plane landed in Gotham, Tom and Sabine would surely have already called the police.

Marinette could only hope that her and Jason's fake IDs would hold up against the Gotham Airport security officers. While seventeen-year-old Jason could easily pass for nineteen, the age listed on the fake ID for Jasper Townsend, Marinette was worried that she looked young enough to cause suspicion. The age on Marie Davis's ID needed to be eighteen in order to get Marinette onto the plane, so whether she liked it or not she had to look eighteen. Resigned to her lies, Marinette put on a heavy face of makeup and wore three-inch heels on the international flight. It was a little funny, in an ironic way, that her heels had one inch for each year she needed to make up for.

Marinette was still confused about how Jason managed to get them fake IDs in the first place. Jason just shrugged and said that he knew a guy who owed him a favor. It was a side of Jason that Marinette hadn't ever seen before, a side of him that she was deeply curious about.

They had gotten on the plane just as the sun was setting. Marinette had sent her parents one last text message, telling them that she might be a little late. It was the understatement of the century. Marinette had never lied to her parents like that before. All of her past lies had been little things - lying about the number of macaroons she ate, or how late she stayed up the night before - but never a lie about her personal safety. The guilt was killing Marinette. It made her feel sick to her stomach.

Jason placed his hand (flesh and blood) on Marinette's shoulder. "I'm sorry that I'm making you do this."

"I'm not sorry. I would never make you do it alone."

Marinette could practically feel the nervous energy radiating off of Jason as their plane landed in Gotham. "I'm assuming you know where we're going next. Should we rent a car?" she asked once they cleared security (miraculously, no one looked too closely at Marinette's feeble attempt at a disguise. Marinette was glad to switch out her heels for flats and wash off the makeup in the airport bathroom).

Jason shook his head. "We don't need to rent one. He always keeps a car at the airport just in case someone's flying in."

Marinette wasn't sure who he was supposed to be, but Jason had been reticent to share any information about his past, and Marinette wasn't going to pressure him. Jason had been beaten to death, after all. There was a lot of trauma in his past and Marinette wasn't going to force him to share it with her until he was ready.

Jason led her through to the VIP parking lot to a luxury black sedan. He reached underneath the car, feeling at the underside until he pulled out a key. "Bruce keeps a key taped to the underside."

"That seems... irresponsible." Marinette was delicate with her words. Jason had been tense since the plane landed, like a loaded gun. She didn't want to bring up anything that might set him off.

"He also has a tracker planted in the car," Jason remarked offhandedly.

Marinette rolled her eyes at that remark, unable to keep walking on eggshells around the topic of Jason's family. "Irresponsible and paranoid. That's an interesting combination."

Jason laughed. "Just wait until you meet Bruce in person. I promise you, none of what I could tell you about him would ever live up to the real deal."

They got into the car, Jason in the driver's seat and Marinette in the passenger's. Jason's driving was a little rusty at first (which was understandable, given that he hadn't driven in nearly a year), but by the time he got on the highway, it was like he never left the driver's seat.

"Do you think that your family will believe you when you tell them that I brought you back to life?" asked Marinette, her voice quiet. The closer she and Jason got to Jason's house, the more questions Marinette had. It had taken her weeks to rationalize the fact that she could see ghosts, and she was the one seeing them. She couldn't imagine how Jason's family would react.

"Bruce was the one who found my body. There wasn't any faking that. I think he'll believe you."

"We've never talked about what happened to you. I- Is it safe for you to go home?"

Jason nodded, eyes on the road as he pulled off the highway onto a winding road. "Bruce did everything he could to save me, but he was too late. I was there for the funeral. I watched him mourn. I think... I think the reason I never passed on was because he never got over my death, never stopped feeling guilty. I wanted to pass on. I wanted to tell Bruce that I didn't blame him. I went and found you so that you could pass on the message for me. But then, when you could touch me, when you took the time to wash the blood off of my hands, I realized that I might be able to tell Bruce myself. I realized that I could have a second chance. I realized how badly I wanted a second chance, because a second chance at life meant that I had a chance with you."

Marinette blushed, looking over at Jason. "You know that doesn't matter to me. I wouldn't care if you were dead or alive."

With a snort of amusement, Jason said, "You might want to rephrase that."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. I liked you before you were corporeal. Human or ghost, you're my friend, Jason, and that's never going to change."

"I know that, but I like being alive better. I like being able to hold your hand for real."

Before Marinette could say anything in reply, the car turned. Marinette was too shocked to speak when she saw the size of the house at the end of the driveway. "Welcome to Wayne Manor, Marinette."

Marinette got out of the car first, smoothing down the fabric of her skirt and running her fingers through her hair. She hoped that she looked presentable, even if no one would be looking at her once they saw the resurrected Jason. "Are you coming?"

Jason nodded, taking a deep, steadying breath. "Yeah. I'm ready." Jason got out of the car and slipped his hand (flesh and blood) into Marinette's, and even though questions and doubts were swirling through Marinette's head in a whirlwind of anxiety, she knew that as long as she could hold Jason's hand, everything would be okay.

@maribatmarch-2k21

[paperanddice]

Members of the Tigerclaw who bring harm to their own community are often executed or exiled, depending on the severity of the offense. Those who are considered too great a threat to the tribe are killed, while those who are judged too weak or unpopular to cause further problems if driven out are called the Riven and are forbidden to enter Tigerclaw territory again. Most Riven die on their own soon to the many threats of the Winterbole, but sometimes a skilled solitary hunter or a band of marauders find a way to survive and make their own way.

The most infamous of the Riven is a former Tigerclaw shaman named Shadowfang. Banished for experimenting with evil rituals and reaching out to the demon Kostchtchie, he's become a much larger problem than those who banished him expected. He's been able to convert other Tigerclaw into his service, promising incredible power in exchange for sacrifices of humanoid life. His band raids incredibly far into the Vale, occasionally reaching the areas surrounding Fallcrest and putting farms to the torch while slaughtering everyone within. The bounty on Shadowfang's head grows with each passing year, and even the Tigerclaw are starting to consider putting him down for good.

Originally from the 4e Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I'm working on, consider backing me there!

5th Edition

Tigerclaw Shaman Medium humanoid (druid, shifter), chaotic neutral Armor Class 14 (hide, or 16 with barkskin) Hit Points 55 (10d8 + 10) Speed 30 ft. Str 13 (+1) Dex 17 (+3) Con 12 (+1) Int 15 (+2) Wis 18 (+4) Cha 14 (+2) Skills Medicine +6, Nature +4, Perception +6 Senses passive Perception 16 Languages Common, Druidic Challenge 3 (700 XP) Razorclaw Shifting (1/Short Rest). As a bonus action, the shaman can shift to a more bestial appearance. The shaman gains 11 temporary hit points, its speed increases by 10, and opportunity attacks against the shaman are made with disadvantage. If the shaman starts its turn with 27 or fewer hit points, it regains 6 hit points. These effects last for 1 minute, or until the shaman dies. Actions Longspear. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8+1) piercing damage. Spellcasting. The shaman casts one of the following spells, using Wisdom as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks): At will: druidcraft, mending 1/day each: barkskin, spiritual weapon, thunderwave (as a second level spell)

13th Age

Tigerclaw Shaman  3rd level caster [humanoid]  Initiative: +6 Longspear +7 vs. AC - 8 damage Natural 16+: The target is also hampered until the end of its next turn. R: Phantom Fangs +8 vs. MD (one nearby enemy) - 8 psychic damage and the target is stuck until the end of its next turn C: Concussive Roar +8 vs. PD (1d3 nearby enemies) - The target pops free from the shaman and is stuck (save ends) Miss: The target pops free from the shaman. Limited Use: 1/battle, as a quick action. Razorclaw Healing: While the shaman is staggered, it regains 3 hit points at the start of each of its turns. AC 18 PD 13 MD 18 HP 42

[kuekyuuq]

Timeline Issues /w Supergirl

Today’s topic: Lena's age

I am aware, this topic isn’t new, but it bothers me and to my knowledge it’s been a while since it’s been looked into thoroughly - and it’s the s06 mid-season hiatus, so plenty of time to look at things closely... So, let’s dig right in:

"According to the official CW website, Lena is between 25 and 32 years old since her first appearance." 

[Source: Wikipedia, which links to a source from November 2018, but there's no mention of Lena's age in that source o.O]

...I am not sure what to make of the lack of source / credit / quote here, so what else do we have?

According to arrow.fandom.com Lena Kieran Luthor is born on October 24, 1993 [Source: Supergirl: The Secret Files of Kara Danvers, a companion book for Supergirl written by Warner Bros. Television, dubbed The Ultimate Guide to the Hit TV Show;  page of reference. ]. This much better credited source ties in with her graduating from MIT before 2012, when at the age of 19 she met and befriended Jack Spheer. And taking over LuthorCorp after Lex got convicted - at the sweet age of 23 - in 2016, and meeting Kara. She was young, but it’s a family business, she’s really smart (has 2 doctorates) and rich and her last name is Luthor, so board-members may have fought her every step, but really had to at least give her a chance, I guess.

And for some episodes and flashbacks those dates internally made sense (outside Katie McGrath being a whole 10 years older than her character ...presumably... Katie keeps her personal info very, well, personal) - and for many others it was / is inconsequential.

In episode 2x12 - set early 2017 - the title card for the flashback of Lena being brought into the Luthor mansion says "20 years ago" and we know Lena was 4 years old when her mother vanished into that lake (a theory for another day) and Lionel Luthor 'adopted' her. Which again puts Lena at being born in 1993.

But then, there's episode 5x06 (set in 2019), which features a flashback with the title card "15 years ago" and shows a teenage Lena and Andrea meeting at Mount Helena Boarding School and go (illegally) drinking. Which would set the flashback in 2004/05, and Lena being 11/12 years old - and in NO WAY would pass for drinking age and sneak into a bar with Andrea!

(Young Lena's actress, Lucy Loken, is born in 1999, making her 20 -!- at the time of filming of that episode. If the actress' age was any indication, Lena would have been 32 in 2016 at her first appearance in the show - which already exceeds the only other not-really-a source for her age.)

Yet, the rest seems to fit her vintage of 1993 again...

A 21 year old Lena, who has been working with Jack in their garage to cure cancer, while advocating at LuthorCorp, gets fired by Lex (who taunts her to go work at Jack's family business, Spheer Industries).

She takes a little time off instead, to grab Andrea and go on their treasure hunt in the Costa Rican jungle.

Their search for the Acratan medallion is set as "five years ago" according to the title card from 5x06 (set in 2020) putting the event somewhere late 2014 / early 2015, just before the series' very pilot.

A short while after that, Lena and Jack start a romantic relationship (3 years after meeting him, putting her at about 22 years old).

In 2016 (four years before the events of 5x06) Lex kidnaps Lena, ties her to a chair and brags about how he turned the sun red.

Lex is taken in by the police / gives himself up (?)

Jack comes running in, comforts a shaken Lena, he invites her to London

In London Lena meets Andrea again, who wears the medallion...

A few months later, Lex is convicted to 32 consecutive life-sentences and sent to Striker's Island

Lena (23) sees Supergirl on TV and ends things with Jack in Metropolis

Lena moves to National City, takes over LuthorCorp and gets interviewed by Kara (and Clark)...

So... yeah. Most mentions of times and dates are vague, at best. Sources are hard to find. Assumptions are easily made.

Could Lena indeed be older than stated in the only tangible source that I could? Sure. That would mean instead of just assuming Lena meeting Andrea was timestamped wrongly, several other mentions of dates and time-frames were wrong / off by some years, but it could work.  

What else does that mean? Kara's born in 1966, was 13 in 1979 when Krypton exploded and her pod got stuck in the Phantom Zone. Not one, but two decades later - in 2003 her pod landed on Earth, she's still 13 years old... (putting her year of birth in fake documents at 1990) And in 2015, in the pilot, Kara's 25. Kara is 2-3 years older than Lena.

...or 49 years old and 26-27 years older than Lena, if you add the PZ-years .-.

Then again, now we have to deal with a completely new past and changed series / circumstances of past events thanks to Crisis (since 5x09)...

...

I am not trying to shame the writers on doing anything wrong, the show mislabeling things or the creative heads of not knowing their own timeline. I could have missed something or may take the wrong source(s) or shown references to be valid! I - a crazy fan who looks at all the given details - am just trying to make sense of the given facts and the implied timeline.

Is all that really important on the bigger scale of things? No. It really isn't. But, for anyone who wants to write fanfics and keep their facts straight, wants to remain somewhat in-canon and make certain points plot-points, or just get their references right, this IS a point worth looking into.

So, I hope that helped some of you or helped to re-evaluate some things. Or that some of you can add to this and / or correct any mistakes or faulty assumptions I made, so I can figure this inconsistency out and rest more easily.

Kue out.