#I literally rewatched the series like- 4 times already-

[purpleshadow-star]

I celebrated the release of the pjo show by baking blue cookies. It was the best way to enjoy it.

[bloos-bloo]

I just have a strong hyper fixation for greninja 😭 my baddd-

[castieltrash1]

the devil has come home → charlie w.

summary → during one of your regular movie nights, charlie asks to take your relationship a step forward

word count → 3.4k

warnings → smut; virgin!charlie x f!reader, oral, literally an entire fic dedicated to charlie eating pussy idk what u want me to say, dirty talk, switch!charlie, established relationship, almost fingering, premature ejaculation, cumming untouched, overstimulation, and hair pulling

a/n → everyone and their mother is in their rory culkin era rn so here u go, whores (affectionate) <3 no but fr i watched scream 4 the other day and knew what i had to do so pls enjoy xoxo

+ bonus points to whoever can figure out the title ;)

---

Charlie shifts beside you, gnawing at his bottom lip to restrain the interruption on the tip of his tongue.

“Did you know,” he suddenly begins, unable to stop himself. “That the school is actually called Ewen High in the book?” On the screen in front of you, a meek Carrie White stumbles through the library in a scene oddly similar to your boyfriend’s own reclusive attitude, and you drag your tired eyes to meet his; wide, with an excited glint reflecting off their pale blue hue. “They renamed it in the adaptation as a nod to Psycho.”

“Really?” you ask, surprised. “I don’t think you’ve told me that one yet.” The comment, while honest, makes Charlie flustered, and he unconsciously shifts closer to the opposite end of the couch. “But I like hearing about all the facts you know,” you reassure his silent insecurity, nuzzling closer. Pressing your lips to his shoulder and kissing the soft cotton sleeve of his shirt, you continue, teasing: “Even if I have heard most of them before.” He groans, but his chest rumbles beneath you with his own restrained amusement.

Peering up at Charlie, you prepare for what is bound to be a lengthy explanation. “So, what, it’s like Norman Bates?” you ask, but Charlie simply nods, mumbling a quiet affirmation under his breath. Already, his eyes are locked back on the television, colorful lights bouncing off his face. It must be his tenth time watching the classic horror film but he stares with the amazement of a first-time viewer, as if he wasn’t rambling about something called a split diopter shot just a few scenes ago.

You can’t help but smile at his quick shift in attention, ultimately content with settling down and letting him focus. As long as a scary movie is playing, you’ll always be the second most important thing in the room to Charlie; a title you hold with pride. Unlike others in his life, his passion doesn’t bother you. In fact, you find yourself admiring his ability to juggle a film studies degree, the leadership position of your college’s cinema club, and weekly series rewatches with the rest of his busy life. Your only complaint would be having to share the small couch in his apartment with Robbie, whose presence makes the already rare mid-movie makeout session completely non-existent. Thankfully, he’s visiting family this weekend, but the lack of a clingy roommate has seemingly had zero effect on Charlie’s inclination to make a move.

So, when your boyfriend awkwardly clears his throat, you quickly tune back in, caught off-guard by the scene unfolding. On-screen is a vivid reminder of the part of your relationship that, up until now, has been virtually unexplored. Despite being unphased during the naked locker room title card, Charlie now fidgets uncomfortably as one of the male characters, whose name you can’t remember, receives a blowjob in his car. The actual act is offscreen, but there’s enough crotch-leveled head bobbing in the camera’s view to surmise what’s happening below the cutoff.

When it comes to anyone else’s sex life, Charlie is as interested as you could expect any newly independent young guy to be. If a couple is getting handsy during a party or other gathering, he’s the one to speak up and tease them about getting a room. When one of your friends unknowingly makes an innuendo, it’s him who laughs, derailing the conversation with some form of that’s what she said joke. Even during the gratuitous nudity scenes popular in his favorite genre, your boyfriend usually pairs his reddened cheeks with a low whistle of appreciation.

Simply put, Charlie is not a prude.

That fact had been what stumped you as your relationship grew, regular milestones coasting by at average speeds. It took three instances of him not reaching under your bra during makeout sessions, happily groping at your chest through two layers of clothes, for you to realize that his personal experience ended abruptly atop second base. Even when it was physically obvious he was ready to move on, Charlie had never mentioned or hinted at continuing, so neither did you. Now, it’s almost as if the glaring depiction of a couple being intimate has finally reminded him how little you two have done.

Thankfully, a bout of bad editing eases the sudden tension. “How is she talking right now?” you snort, referencing the actress’ voiceover poorly edited into the scene. Charlie flinches at your interruption, but you barely notice, too busy jabbing your pointer finger directly at the screen. “She’s still got John Travolta’s dick in her mouth!”

“Billy,” Charlie tensely corrects.

Assuming his tone is just a result of your outburst, you roll your eyes. “Whatever. All I’m saying is you can barely remember how to breathe while giving head, let alone start… I don’t know… monologuing about the girl you hate.” You huff, shaking your head. “Sorry, I won’t interrupt again. Promise,” you apologize, feeling a wave of guilt wash over you when Charlie doesn’t immediately reply. You hadn’t meant to insult him or the movie, but maybe your attempt at a bad joke had fallen short, too personal and poorly timed to do anything more than hurt his feelings.

You start to pull back, intent on apologizing again but are surprised to see Charlie already staring at you. Thinking he’s waiting for your regretful spiel, you start to speak. “I’m s-”

“I want to try,” Charlie says at the same time. The rest of your words suffocate in your hitched breath, offering a subsequent silence that he quickly tries to fill. “Giving you head or, like, e-eating you out, I mean.” The admission makes him swallow heavily, wide eyes unblinking, and you sit there motionless in surprise. When you offer little more than a shaky exhale in response, Charlie squeaks out an excuse. “Not that we - not that you have to or anything, I just…” Regret spreads across his face and you quickly recover, grabbing his shaking hand with yours.

“Okay,” you agree, trying to steady your breathing as the image of Charlie between your thighs flashes through your head.  “Are you sure?” He nods so quickly that you almost blink and miss it.

“I’m definitely sure,” Charlie reassures, squeezing your fingers between his. “A-are you?”

“Definitely,” you echo, already feeling a steady warmth spread across your body. Despite your shared revelation, there’s a long moment where neither of you moves even an inch, hands clasped together as if carved from one marble stone. It isn’t until Charlie’s gaze flickers to your still-parted lips that you take the bait, reeled closer and closer until your mouth meets his.

“Fuck,” Charlie breathes, words becoming a muffled vibration when you press harder, tongue dragging to gather the taste of him. You reach for his hair now, dark waves weaving themselves between each of your fingers, and he lets out a little whimper when you tug, pulling him against you. His grip seems to have no end in sight, blindly reaching at and grasping whatever parts of you he can, fingers meeting your thighs, hips, chest, and neck. His thumbs prop up your chin, giving him the angle to lick needily inside your mouth, and you melt in his grasp, letting him take what he needs.

“Can I…” Charlie leaves a shallow bite mark on your bottom lip, soothing it with a gentle pass of his tongue. His fingers dip to the hem of your shirt now, tips brushing the inside seam. Faintly, you remember he’s never felt you here. He inches back just enough to speak clearly, voice filling the thin space between you. “Y-you can take it off and…” Already, he’s trying to pull the offending garment over your head, and you let go of his hair to help, tossing your shirt to the side the second you can.

Despite your arching into him, Charlie doesn’t immediately kiss you again, lashes fluttering as he stares shamelessly at your exposed skin. Without thinking, you reach back to undo your bra clasp with ease, straps sliding down your arms until they fall off completely. Still amazed by the previous sight, Charlie inhales sharply, pupils blown out with lust as you become barer in front of him.

“Woah…” he finally breathes, fingers tentatively brushing right below your chest. Slowly, his touch inches higher until he gives in, cupping your tits softly. The warmth between your thighs grows as he feels you in ways you’ve only imagined alone at night, eyes squeezed shut and fingers under your panties. “Holy shit.” Each exclamation falls under his breath as if he can’t contain them, commenting only to himself. “Fuck…” His grip tightens, thumbs dragging over your hardening nipples, and you sigh. “You’re so… soft.”  With a grin spreading across his face, Charlie looks to you for reassurance, squeezing harder when you nod and let out a pleased sound. “D-does it feel good?”

“Mhm.” You wonder if he can feel your heart pounding, skipping beats against his hands. “You can be rougher, though,” you tell him, reaching up to lay your palms on the back of his. “I’ll tell you if it hurts, I promise.” Growing more confident from your words, Charlie begins experimenting with different levels of pressure, nails digging into your skin one second and then pinching and tugging at your nipples the next. His breathing grows heavier with each passing moment, and you can’t help the low moans escaping your lips at the feeling of his desperation and the excitement radiating off of him.

And then, without needing any reassurance, Charlie replaces his hands with his mouth, sucking eagerly at every inch of your heaving chest. “S-shit,” you gasp, then let out a breathy laugh. You push some of his long hair back, tucked behind his ears, and smile at the sight of him. His eyes are closed, face red and warm, lips slick with spit as he runs his tongue against the contours of your body. “You’re so good,” you tell him, panting when he moans against you at the praise, the vibration tingling your skin. He wraps his mouth around your nipple before pulling it between his teeth, the sharp sting sending a shiver up your spine.

“I could do this forever,” Charlie lets go to admit, and then, remembering the task at hand, begins to descend lower, kissing and licking down your bare stomach. His hands steady your twitching hips, ticklish as his soft hair brushes your sensitive skin. You continue to whisper praises until he reaches the waistband of your pajama pants and halts. He swallows heavily, the movement of his bobbing throat almost audible above the drone of the television. You blindly reach for the remote and crank down the volume until it plays a low buzz of sound you can barely make out. God help him if your boyfriend gets distracted by a bucket of pig’s blood at a time like this.

“Do I just…” Charlie trails off, unable to vocalize his thoughts. Instead of answering verbally, you lift your hips, fingers meeting his. You drag the elastic past your thighs, letting Charlie pull the rest of the fabric off once it reaches your knees. He stares intently at every inch of your exposed legs, amazed by the sight, as he mindlessly tugs your feet free. It’s only when you start to move, making yourself comfortable against the arm of the couch, that Charlie finally shifts, offering you more space. He moves closer the second he’s able to occupy the emptiness between your legs.

It’s not the most ideal position but if you stop him now, Charlie might lose his boost of confidence in the few seconds it takes to walk down the hall to his room. With one knee pressed against the back of the couch, your opposite leg balancing precariously on the edge of one of the cushions, you spread out as much as you can, offering yourself to Charlie entirely. Even with your whole body on display, his eyes stay locked on one spot: the center of your underwear, where a wet spot is surely visible. You love knowing the only other time he has this look is when one of his favorite films is on.

“Is this good?” you ask, breaking him from his stupor. He blinks, confused. “The position,” you clarify, smiling at the blush that rapidly coats his cheeks.

“Y-yeah, it’s…” Charlie clears his throat, leaning in slowly. “It’s perfect. You are, I mean. You’re perfect,” he whispers, gaze darting from your face to your panties before returning. “I can see it… Does it - do you feel good?” Even with the physical proof, he seems unsure, the tone of his question bordering on disbelief. Before you can find your words, he moves in, shaky fingers meeting the inside of your thighs. “What can I do?” he asks, skin growing redder with desperation. “I-I wanna turn you on more and-”

“Charlie,” you interrupt, propping yourself up on your elbow. “You’re doing so good.” Your amazement thankfully doesn’t embarrass him, and soon enough you feel his warm exhale right where you’ve imagined him so many times before. “I-I’ll probably cum pretty fast,” you tell him, unable to make the desperate confession sound like a tease. “If you want, you can tease me through- fuck,” you gasp, feeling Charlie’s nose bump against your clothed clit, his tongue darting out to tentatively lick at the damp fabric covering you. You whimper something that vaguely sounds like his name when he presses harder, now dragging his tongue over the entirety of your core.

“Charlie,” you repeat breathlessly, grabbing at the hair that frames his face. “T-take them off, please,” you suddenly find yourself begging, hips arching for more. When lithe fingers brush against you, you almost whine at what is surely an attempt at teasing, but then Charlie is pushing your panties to the side and tentatively sucking at your now exposed cunt. Overwhelmed by the change in sensations, you buck into the feeling, immediately rewarded by the slow drag of Charlie’s tongue circling your clit before lowering to ease inside you. The technique in his actions is not lost on you and you heave in a breath, trying to speak.

“Y-you’ve really n-never?” you squeak out, thighs squeezing around his cheeks when he attempts to shake his head. When he pulls back, you shiver at the feeling of your panties sliding back into place, fabric sticking to your wet skin. Charlie looks up at you shyly, instinctively licking his lips clean of your arousal.

“I’ve… I’ve imagined this a lot,” he whispers, tone rising as he grows more confident. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted this.”  His cheeks are flushed and his body shakes as he clings to you for support in every form. “I’m just gonna take off your panties and- and I want you to cum, okay? Don’t hold it back or anything, please. I-if you need to hold me in place or move me, just do it. I’ll…” Stunned by his proclamation, you wait in awe for him to finish. “I’ll be good for you, I swear,” he finally promises.

True to his word, Charlie immediately resumes the task at hand, finally tugging your panties completely off and shoving them to the side. Despite the vulnerability of your position, laid bare for him, you can’t stop yourself from bucking your hips when he leans back in. Charlie drags a soothing palm down the inside of your thigh before his mouth is on you again, now slower and more precise. His gaze is focused, flickering between your expression and body, taking in every shift of your features and shiver that runs across you.

He starts by tasting the entirety of you, tongue flattened and firm as it glides against your cunt. He repeats the motion a few times, letting you grind onto him until you both build a steady rhythm. It’s not enough to make you cum, but it isn’t meant to be; a consistent sensation that keeps you wanting more, without unbearably teasing you. That comes when Charlie begins to flick his tongue against your clit, so quickly and effortlessly that it takes your breath away. A litany of sounds escapes you as he dedicates all of his attention to your most sensitive spot, torturing it endlessly. His own moans only add to the sensation, a low vibration that seems to trail up the rest of your body, filling your head with a rhythmic buzz.

“Fuck,” you gasp, vision blurring and thighs trembling as Charlie replaces his tongue with his thumb, calloused skin circling your clit in a steady motion. With his mouth free, and between quick inhales, he starts to speak again.

“You taste so good,” he says, the vulgarity of his words no longer seeming to phase him. He rubs harder, faster, and his breathing hastens. “I-I want you to cum on my tongue, please?” His question sounds more like a plea, especially with the way he seems to pant around each word. “I’m gonna keep licking h-here, okay?” he asks, thumb dragging lower until the tip sinks into you with ease. Both of you still, the motion propelling the room into complete silence. Charlie lets a bit more of his thumb push into you before he pulls back completely, shakily exhaling. “It… You’re so warm,” he remarks, staring intently at where the arousal slowly drips from you. Like a moth to a flame, his mouth returns, messily licking clean your wetness.

You cry out his name, tugging on his hair so harshly you know it must hurt, but he doesn’t relent. Your hips buck and you grind your clit against his firm thumb, his tongue pressing inside you just as the thick digit had moments prior. Your mantra is only quietened by the sound of Charlie’s, a muffled please, please, please mouthed against your core that has you spiraling, desperation mirroring his. A quick glance shows you that while his head and hands are focused, the rest of his body is uncontrolled as he ruts against the sofa, so turned on he can’t help but chase release.

The sharp edge of your own impending orgasm hits you so hard it seems to isolate the rest of your senses, body and mind falling into an endless abyss with only Charlie’s touch anchoring you to the present. His incessant effort to satisfy himself with your pleasure intensifies everything until you find yourself succumbing to his ultimate desire. A broken admission falls from your lips as you cum on his tongue, neverending high propelled as his licking and rubbing only grow in speed and desperation. Even after you’ve stopped grinding against him, Charlie tastes you like it’s his last chance, his hips bucking wildly into the cushion below. He eventually slows, but his tongue doesn’t stop, and you’re too overwhelmed to realize what’s happened.

It takes you whimpering from overstimulation and pulling Charlie back by his hair to make him stop, his mouth chasing you even after you’ve pressed your trembling thighs together, knees digging into his heaving chest. After a few seconds, he seems to blink back some clarity, swallowing heavily and shifting back awkwardly, cheeks flushed bright red. “Charlie?” you breathe, shakily pushing yourself into a sitting position. “Are you - oh.” Despite his quick maneuvering, the new angle allows you to see the slowly spreading wet spot at the front of his jeans.

“I-I’m so sorry,” Charlie squeaks out, trying to yank himself from the couch. “Let me just - fuck, uh - go to the bathroom or something and…” When he tries to cover his crotch with his hands, you bat them away, immediately reaching for the zipper and button on his pants. “W-what are you doing?” he asks but doesn’t stop you, even when you ease his sensitive and spent cock out from his stained underwear. His expression is pure shame as he quickly hardens in your grasp, hips bucking to escape the overstimulation of your fingers wrapped around him.

“Let me return the favor,” you tell him, tilting your head softly in silent questioning. He must only think of the wetness of your mouth on him since his blush deepens, cock twitching against your slick palm. You stroke him slowly and softly until he stutters out a yes, which you reply to with a widening grin, unknowing that he’s imagined this moment more than you could ever guess.

You lean down with a teasing imitation of his previous word and Charlie suddenly feels all of his wet dreams come true.

“I want you to cum on my tongue, okay?”

[curlyjohnlock]

Hi,

I'm new to this. I'm genuinely curious how johnlock fandom happened. I watched sherlock and didn't notice any chemistry between them. I'm just trying to understand. And how do you feel about Ben and Martin not liking each other in real life? Thanks.

Hello anon!

The Johnlock fandom was born long before BBC Sherlock aired. I think there was a speculation about them in the late 1800s but, obviously, talking about homosexuals was out of the question at the time. But the ship took off in 2010, when it all started.

I have met several people in the fandom who told me they didn't notice anything romantic between the two at first viewing, but then they had to change their minds with rewatches.

Now, it must be said that the characters themselves constantly imply that the two of them behave like a couple.

1. Mrs Hudson

From the first moment, in A Study in Pink, she believes that Sherlock has brought his new 'boyfriend' home.

In The Empty Hearse, she can't believe that John is now engaged to a woman.

"So soon after Sherlock?"

"Hmm... well, yes."

"What's his name?"

"It's a woman."

"A wOmAn?!?" and then she laughs. She sounds rather incredulous, perhaps believing he is moking her.

"You really have moved on, haven't you?"

2. Mycroft

Nobody knows Sherlock better than Mycroft. In A Study in Pink, when he meets John for the first time, he says: "Might we expect a happy announcement by the end of the week?" and literally Sherlock and John met the DAY BEFORE! Why would Mycroft bother stalking a poor army doctor if he doesn't believe that Sherlock could be attracted to him? 🤷🏼‍♀️

In The Final Problem, Mycroft already knew that Sherlock would sacrifice him and save John. Sherlock loves John more than Mycroft, AND HE'S HIS OWN BROTHER!

3. Angelo [the restaurant owner in A Study in Pink (although I prefer the one in the Unaired Pilot, better known as the Gay Pilot)].

Angelo has known Sherlock for years, and why would he make Sherlock attractive to John? "Hey, you know this macho guy got me out of prison?" "OH! Wait! I'll get you a phallus candle, that'll be very romantic. 🥰😍😛"

4. Donovan

In The Great Game, when Sherlock finds the abandoned car, Donovan says to John: "I see you're still hanging around him. Opposites attract, I suppose."

This one may not be the best example, but it's worth including.

5. Irene Adler

My God that woman. She's in love with Sherlock, and that's fine. Who wouldn't fall in love with Sherlock or his brain? But she also knows that Sherlock only has his heart set on John. In A Scandal in Belgravia, when they go to her house, she immediately says to Sherlock: "And somebody loves you. If I had to punch that face, I'd avoid your nose and teeth too."

Then, when John goes to Battersea and meets her, she asks: "Are you jealous?"

"We're not a couple."

"Yes, you are."

Again, she met them for literally 3 minutes and immediately realised it!

6. Mary

Mary should hate Sherlock to death (and I'm still convinced that she never liked Sherlock).

What was that proverb again? Respect the owner's dog for your own sake. It means: like the dog to please the owner. Or something like that.

In this case, the owner is John and the dog is Sherlock. It's obvious that at a certain point Mary starts shipping them, almost as if she doesn't really care about John.

7. Magnussen

In His Last Vow, Magnussen meets Sherlock and John for a few minutes, and immediately tells them: "You two are sooo domesticated." Later in the episode, he tells Sherlock that John is "your damsell in distress."

I hope this was exhaustive from Johnlock's point of view! Maybe try looking at it from another point of view and rewatch the whole serie. At that point, if you're still not convinced, it's okay, anon, we don't bite!

Moving on to Benedict and Martin... we all know that Martin has a particular character and that he has trouble getting along with literally anyone, but I don't believe the newspapers. They are journalists, they HAVE to cause a SCANDAL!! Otherwise no one would read them. They take sentences from a completely different context and pass them off as true. Take for example when it was said that Benedict had called Martin 'pathetic.'

There is a video of this interview. The presenter asked Benedict to drink tea the way Martin drinks it, Benedict imitates him and then says 'pathetic', but it is not strictly intended to refer to Martin.

I know for a fact that Martin took it out on Benedict when he got married to Sophie Hunter, just because he didn't invite Martin to his wedding. On the same day, Amanda reported Martin's tantrums on twitter!!! 🤣🤣

Anyway! Even if the rumors were true, it doesn't matter. It's their problem, not ours.

Yes, it may upset us as fans, but these two are real people in the real life.

I'll conclude with this. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me again! And anyone is welcome to comment on this or ask me anything. 👋🏻

[butterflydm]

rings of power (belated reactions) season 1: eps 1-4

Backstory: I'm a casual Tolkien fan, I would say -- grew up watching the animated movies (literally knew the songs by heart as a kid); read LOTR & the Hobbit but not the Silm; loved both the LOTR and the Hobbit movies. Read a bunch of fanfiction over the years by people who know a lot more about the lore than I do.

I tried watching the new series when the first season came out, but still felt like the pacing was really slow by the end of the second episode, so never got around to watching more.

Found out about the twist at the end of s1 and was intrigued, but not quite enough to give it another watch. Heard more bits and bobs about s2 when it came out, with people who share some of the same tastes in media as me enjoying it (shoutout to @markantonys). Liked and reblogged some interesting giftsets. Finally decided to give it another try.

Below contains vague spoilers for the whole show so far and for LotR

I went ahead and rewatched the first two episodes, and I found myself getting a lot more out of it this time than the first time. I remembered liking the dwarves a lot, and still really enjoyed that plotline, but I was able to get into the other plotlines a lot more as well this time. I actually do feel like I get what the pacing is doing now, even if it didn't work as well for me the first time around -- we start with the single thread of Galadriel's search for Sauron and then keep expanding outward from there, introducing the other important plotlines gradually. It was, perhaps, slightly too gradual for me in my first try at watching!

I've seen through episode four now and am thoroughly enjoying the show, enough that I plan to watch more of it with my mom later today.

Things really do pick up with increasing speed after episode 2. We also get some amazing costuming in Númenor -- the queen in particular has some great outfits, but I also really love the banded dress that Galadriel wears there.

My mom (unspoiled about the show) is fully willing to go with the theory that Adar is Sauron going by another name (as proposed by Arondir's (now deceased) guard-captain).

Now, unlike my mom, I am spoiled about the show and so I am watching Halbrand very carefully. One thing that I do find interesting is that the show starts out with Galadriel narrating that nothing begins as evil, so I do feel like that feeling is meant to extend to Halbrand/Sauron as well. Which is to say, I give him the benefit of the doubt that he actually does want to stay in Númenor and start a new life (whether or not he could actually stick to that once he'd spent several years there... that's more of an open question). I don't think his plan at this time is to return to Middle-Earth and set up shop there.

Both Nori and Galadriel have talked about feeling like there is something important about sticking with their mysterious respective stranger. Both of whom are Maiar (Maia? I did mention that I'm mostly a casual fan of Tolkien, lol). They both just give off the vibe of being important and consequential... to specific people. Not to everyone that they run across.

I really like what they're doing with Halbrand -- they are definitely leaning on his superficial (and false) similarities to Aragorn in LotR and, especially when he was in the prison cell, there were some moments when he really looked like Viggo too. I feel like I've already seen a lot of range from him as a character -- we've seen him being persuasive and diplomatic; we've seen a brutal flash of temper and violence; and we've seen him give Galadriel advice on how to manipulate people; we've also seen him teasing and bantering with Galadriel (very much enjoying their dynamic in these episodes).

Speaking of Galadriel, I am enjoying her a lot. She doesn't stop! Willpower and determination just always constantly turned to a thousand. She decides what's going to happen and then doesn't let anything stand in her way.

I'm glad that we got back to Elrond's storyline in the fourth episode and caught up with Durin and the dwarves. I did spend a lot of time trying to remember if Moria and Khazad-dûm were the same place (yes) and so that means that it may well be these unsafe mithril mining practices that lead to the Balrog waking up and the mountain being abandoned by the dwarves. I don't know the timelines well enough to know for sure. It made sense to me that it was the same place, because of the elf word for 'friend' being the word to open the gates into Moria in LotR.

Though I am fairly well spoiled about certain things about Sauron, I am still missing a lot of the connective tissue about the various plotlines, so I don't know what the blood-drinking sword is going to lead to yet. Except that it means that the mayor (tavern owner?) of the village was a true believer in Sauron even after all these years and has been keeping it. And probably encouraging the rest of his people not to trust the elves.

Super-minor note: I love the costuming for Bronwyn -- the blue dress with the reddish boots. It really pops against all the other characters in her storyline and she's always easy to spot. Appreciate that!

There really is a heartbreaking contrast between the lives of the people of Númenor and the people of the Southlands.

What are the Valar trying to do in all this? Was it the Valar who made the petals fall or was Halbrand/Sauron trying to help Galadriel out? He seems to enjoy... how did he put it? Her galloping around full-speed like a colt? Something like that, lol. So he might have wanted to give her a chance to get what she wanted from the queen. Playing multiple sides against each other seems to come pretty naturally to him.

We are seeing that ambition is being set up to lead to doom already in Middle-Earth, even without Sauron's direct presence -- Celebrimbor explicitly wants to create objects of power, not just objects of beauty. Adar is trying to find that blood-drinking hilt and is leading the Orcs to some kind of terror (he's already enslaving people in his search). And the dwarves have been mining in the dangerous old mines because they found a vein of mithril there.

Gil-galad tried to send Galadriel away to Valinor because he foresaw that her continued hunt for Sauron might end up bringing his danger back to the forefront and, from what I know (spoiler-wise) that ends up being true (in fairness, she did find Sauron! Even if she doesn't know it yet! And he will get defeated. You know. Eventually.)

Other things of note: I love Disa! Disa is wonderful. Disa-Durin-Elrond could make for a very nice polycule. What if Elrond had made it to their wedding and there hadn't been any estrangement! But I really like that we saw some consequences for long elven lifespans and how it can affect their relationships with people who don't live as long.

I like the angsty young teens well enough, though Theo is definitely in the roughest situation out of any of them (see: the Southlands kinda sucking as a place to live). Definitely perked up when I heard Elendil and Isildur's names!

I'm really curious about whether or not the isle of Númenor turning against the elves is all based on them being more insular and isolationist or if there's something else at work. That the old king was trying to return to the ancient elven ways because of a vision in a palantir... very curious where that vision is coming from. Galadriel's arrival being tied to the breaking of the sea wall and the destruction of the city. I... don't know my Middle-Earth history enough to say for certain, but I suspect Sauron is gonna be involved in that. Because it's Sauron.

Arondir is our most plainly heroic character overall, I'd say (Galadriel is driven by vengence; Arondir's focus has been on trying to save and protect) and he is very dreamy. I do like that we have these PoVs in the Southlands and what's going on there, so we see that Galadriel is justified in feeling like there is still evil to fight.

Having a lot of fun with this. Glad I gave it a second chance.

[perseidlion]

This is why streaming is dying.

I'm Canadian, and I used to watch Star Trek on Crave. Crave saved us for awhile from the fracturing of the streaming landscape because it stayed as an umbrella service for quite some time. I used to get Star Trek, HBO, WB shows, Starz, Sony stuff...basically Hulu + HBO + Paramount. That was actually worth it because for the same monthy fee I could get House of the Dragon, Star Trek and more.

But that wasn't going to last forever. When Paramount+ launched in Canada, Star Trek got taken off Crave. I'm a huge Star Trek fan but even I couldn't justify a FIFTH streaming service just for Trek.

So I waited until Discovery was finished. And then I binged it and season 4 of Lower Decks. And then I cancelled. I won't get it again until S3 of Strange New Worlds and Season 4 of Lower Decks are finished, then I'll binge and cancel again.

There is literally nothing else on P+ I want to watch. I looked, because if there was something I'd cancel Netflix for a bit. But it's all movies I've seen and don't want to rewatch, shows I already have access to on other streamers, or things I have no interest in.

When the networks were working together to put lots of tasty treats under one streamer, it was absolutely worth it. I'd pay $20 a month for Crave if HBO kept making good shows (instead of cancelling them, RIP Our Flag Means Death) and if P+ had lots of Trek (and...didn't keep cancelling those shows like they did Lower Decks and Discovery.) Between that and Trek that would mean I always had a show releasing on the platform that I wanted to watch.

As long as there isn't a steady diet of things that appeal to me, I WILL keep subscribing, binging, and cancelling. Churn is the reason these networks aren't profitable. But there is literally no incentive for me to NOT do that when the things I want to watch are scattered across 5-6 different streamers, each charging $15+ a month.

In trying to get their slice of the pie, the networks have guaranteed there isn't enough food on their buffet to keep people coming back for more.

It creates a vicious cycle. This fracturing means there's not enough budget to support the flagship shows/franchises. Then, they get cancelled and/or budget reduced. So they take away or vastly reduce the thing I want to watch the most.

PLUS none of the networks are nurturing the cult hits/franchises of the future. Shows that have the potential to be the reason I subscribe are being cut off at the knees after virtually no promotion.

I watch every new show like Dead Boy Detectives knowing there is a very high likelihood that this will be the only season I'll get to watch. So much potential is left on the table. If there were four or more shows like Dead Boy Detectives and Kaos getting ongoing commitments from Netflix I wouldn't even consider cancelling my subscription. Instead, I know that any show that isn't an immediate cultural moment is probably getting the axe, or getting two seasons, max. Especially if it's SF&F. Especially if it's queer.

We live in the world where even the critically-acclaimed and franchise-based House of the Dragon is getting truncated episode runs and reduced support.

Regardless of how you feel about how Game of Thrones ended, that franchise is a cultural juggernaut. House of the Dragon is legitimately good and packed with talent. The rough patches of Season 2 can be easily traced back to reduced budgets/cut episode run at the last minute that forced the production team to scramble and adapt.

Honestly. Is there anyone actually committing to their series other than FX, AMC, and Amazon with Rings of Power? Although RoP can also be considered a sunk cost fallacy since Amazon invested a SHIT TON into the IP and the series, so they need it to work. They also have a wobbly track record supporting other shows. (I will never forgive them for cancelling A Leage of Their Own.)

FX and AMC are the only networks that feel like they're actually supporting their content. And what do you get for that? Shogun, one of the best shows in recent memory. The show absolutely swept awards season (and rightfully so) and is now setting itself up to be a tentpole show in the mold of such classics of the historical fiction genre like Deadwood, The Tudors, and Rome.

Interview With the Vampire, is an AMC show which has a very active and passionate fandom eager for more of it and Anne Rice's Immortal Universe. This is a rare example of a new franchise (albeit based on an existing, well-know IP) is really finding its feet and its audience. The audience for it is not of the size of something like House of the Dragon, but AMC is feeding the audience it does have unapologetically, with queer camp horror full of messy, toxic relationships.

Then there's What We Do in the Shadows, which seems to be ending on its own terms this year. FX is a Disney subsidary which somehow manages to commit to the series it creates, which proves it can still be done.

I do hope that FX and AMC continues to support their weird and wonderful shows, and I hope they keep getting rewarded for it with high ratings and awards so that the rest of the networks will smarten up.

If we hadn't just come out of a golden age of streaming where every network was producing excellent TV, all of this heavy cancellation and fragmentation wouldn't be quite so devastating.

Entertainment seems like it's constantly in a feast or famine churn. Right now, we're careening toward famine, which is full of one-season shows, overextended franchises, flagship shows being cut/restrained and a whole lot of cheap dreck.

It's the reality TV heyday all over again and I hate it.

[mad-serotonin]

who are your top ten favorite black clover and ships? talk about them! (welcome back to the fandom, always loved your art)

I’m thinking you meant top 10 CHARACTERS and top 10 ships. Here’s the characters for now! I have another ask for ships and since that’s gonna take me a bit more time to really think about you’ll get those soon with that ask I promise!

My top 10:

1. Finral

Already talked about him in depth so I’ll let everyone else shine here lol

2. Magna

The manliest man. The actual best underdog character in Shonen. Like Tabata knew what he was doing during the Heart kingdom training arc. (Vague manga spoilers for spade arc) Having to work insanely hard to catch up to everyone when they can do something you can’t and finding a way to accomplish something no one else can do????? That’s such a real experience and he’s so admirable.

The literal best friend you could have in this world. He’s so silly and supportive and awesome. Design wise one of my fav character designs ever he’s so sick. I should probably make a solo post about him too cuz I could go deep into his character.

3. Rill

THE ARTIST’S BEST FRIEND!!!! I heart him so much and the approach to his upbringing was so beautiful. His destruction circling around a lack of direction and inspiration for his work is so insanely relatable. And just seeing him be so carefree and happy in battle creating art 😭 I wanna be him.

Winner for the Clover Kingdom’s best laugh. Cutest character design he is so fluffy and pastel. I want to see more of his magic it’s made some of the best battle scenes in the show with just how much freedom there is with its imagery.

He’s so baby I just love him. Also shout out to him for changing the squad name for azure deer from gray deer. I can’t remember if it was explicitly stated but I KNOW that he did that.

4. Asta

The boy of the hour. Honorary spot at #1 because he is the one of the most successfully written Shonen protagonists of his archetype. Really love taking the going for the top motivation and giving a depth to it outside of personal ambition and having the concentration be on changing the world for the better. The purest soul.

Asta is so important. He not only motivates and inspires EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER. within the story. But also inspires so many people irl. Like i literally think “would this make Asta proud” when I do stuff sometimes JSJDHDDHHD and it motivates me to get through rough times.

He’s a cutie patootie and he breaks all expectations for what characters would typically do when faced with conflicts like he is. He truly is one of a kind and brings out the best in everyone.

I absolutely love the aspect of his character where he’s literally everyone’s lil brother. He just cares and trusts everyone on his team and fights for them SIMPLY because they are teammates no questions asked. Every time I rewatch the series I just admire the effect he has on their world and how it spreads one step at a time with each adventure. So many things wouldn’t have been possible without him being himself in situations and setting people straight in understanding their world. (This fact stands true even if not considering the anti magic as a factor. It’s all him baby.)

5. Langris

UGHHHHH I could write another essay but I shan’t. He is such a wonderfully complex character who has been so forcefully shaped into a figurehead of a group that represents strength, giving him such a terrible egotistical, yet self loathing view of himself. And despite all of it he genuinely wants to love and be loved outside of those factors. He’s just a very confused kid who needs genuine support instead of ego-feeding elitist parents HDHDHDH.

I’m very passionate about him. And I am SO PROUD of his character development through the story. Especially with his relationship with Finral. (I will for sure write a whole separate essay discussing them sometime soon). He was written so well both in his antagonistic position which in my eyes was very much mostly out of his control (not completely he’s not totally excused ✋🏻). Seeing him make genuine effort to change his outlook and behavior to rebuild a healthy sibling relationship, to support his brother and motivate him to improve himself as well, AND to remove himself from a position of high status when he knows he’s no longer the one suited for it really just proves how much he has grown. His complexity in his character just makes him so interesting and I want to see him and Finral team up more please I beg there was not enough. HAHSHSHS

6. Luck

I always loved Luck’s story and the exploration on his ability to express his emotions as time goes on is so good. Like the elf battle always makes me SOB he’s so good. I genuinely am obsessed with his friendship with Magna they are the best duo ever. He’s such a lil weirdo and his antics are just so perfectly lil brother energy to the rest of the squad. I will say Tabata had PEAK WRITING with his unwavering fear in battle that made the perfect set up for the seriousness of the Spade arc when they show him not wanting to fight ABSOLUTELY beautiful setup and reward right there. He’s a baby boy who doesn’t need to be protected but I want to anyways.

7. Klaus

OUR 👏🏻 KING 👏🏻 OF 👏🏻 CHARACTER 👏🏻 GROWTH👏🏻! Literally perfection how this man goes from prickly noble to Asta and Yuno’s number 1 fan. He has the perfect older brother energy and really became just an absolute sweetheart. I adore his support for Asta so much it always makes me laugh when they pan to him doing some weird stuff in hopes that it helps him out.

His magic is also so cool and damn I wish Tabata would give him some more badass spells because he could do SO MUCH. Give him a suit of magic armor mayhaps idk but it’s such a fun magic for him. Also design wise I love his hair and his features are just so pleasing. ESPECIALLY during the elf arc my god he looked like a model. I just think he’s very pretty HDHXHDHD. BUT YES an absolute king and deserves all the love.

8. Mars

Oooooo we need more of him in the manga. I swear the coolest dudes are underutilized this man is so sick. I love Mars’ story and I’m so glad that he reocurred in the story the way he did. He was really the perfect set up for the diamond kingdom being in the plot at all. But he himself. AN ABSOLUTE SWEETHEART he’s so good. He and Fana are precious together and I really admire his strength and commitment to his goals throughout his whole story. He had some of the coolest magic and I desperately need a Mars and Asta team up with their massive swords.

One of the best character designs from silhouette, outfit, colors and all. He is very handsome and just a cool dude overall. Y’all need to make more fan art of him I don’t see enough. I’ll make some too I promise.

9. Leopold

The king of not being in the story enough. For REAL he is so powerful and cool and he’s one of Asta’s rivals too I NEED a triple team up of him asta and yuno it would be FIRE absolute pun intended hehe

I love how straightforward he is, he’s so motivated and such a strong mage. I hope he gets to lead the crimson lions one day he absolutely deserves the position. He is the best friend of best friends. Being supportive of Asta from the start and being one of the least “noble” of all the other squads immediately solidified him as a favorite to me. And he just continued to kick butt and be a cool lad. His power is fun and I desperately wanna see him make full blown fire tornadoes NSHXHDH it would be SICK. but yeAH he is such an awesome character and a perfect rival and I think he deserves more screen time. I will for sure be drawing him again soon.

10. Yami

That’s our DAD 🫵🏻

God I will say this with all the confidence in the world he is the BEST WRITTEN DANG TEAM LEADER in Shonen. Like Tabata really said let this silly goofy man rescue all of these outcasts and be their dad and help them grow and I cannot handle any moment from any character without thinking about Yami’s influence. HE HAS DONE SO MUCH FOR EVERYONE.

The smartest idea ever translated from brain to paper was making this man a walking poop joke. LIKE INGENIOUS. I always find it funny and I always will. Make this absolute badass a true dad. He poop and he make bad joke. Honestly the funniest character.

His story from what I’ve gotten to is so interesting. It was so worth the wait to get to see more about him but even so his story just in the clover kingdom is so wonderful. I love how he really sets up the themes Asta stands for before he even gets to the squad. Where all of the change in the kingdom that happens wouldn’t have been done without him (a foreigner) and his whole team of unloved and unwanted individuals who were seen as worthless. Literally showing the world how wrong they are. Yami is best dad and he always will be.

Special shout out to William, Vanessa, and Gordon they deserve to be up here. Also David cuz I think he’s pretty and I love his magic but he is SO background character it hurts.

In the end I would have loved to talk about more of them but It’s hard picking favorites with this show. Literally everyone is written so well and I love them.

Thank you for the ask sorry if i went on a tangent a couple times LOL

[bg-11]

Ripping into TCW's A Friend in Need, in which every character is awful.

I'm going to be upfront about this: I do not care for TCW, I never really have. See, I've always been a big stickler for continuity, even as a kid, and by this point there was *plenty* of Clone Wars related content that had been set across the whole 3 years of the war. The big issue of course was always Ahsoka, who of course just couldn't neatly slot into that timeframe at all because there were already plenty of comics that made it clear that Anakin never had a Padawan. She was a square peg the writers of TCW had jammed into a square hole. Of course, Ahsoka wasn't the only example, it was clear the writers never really gave a shit about what other, better writers had already established, and so retcons and continuity errors were rife with the series, only increasing as it continued. Exactly the kind of thing I was leery about. I was willing to give it a chance when it first came out, but that optimistic goodwill didn't really last too long.

I watched it on-and-off when it came out to check it out, I didn't want to judge it without having seen it. It was the same when I heard about how obnoxious Karen Traviss' Republic Commando series was, I wanted to see if that was as bad as people were saying it was (it was worse). By Season 4, I was pretty ready to write it off, the retcons were getting bigger and bigger (Even Piell getting killed off before his Canon death in Coruscant Nights, changing Asajj Ventress' backstory and fate contrary to what it was in the Republic comics, treating the Nightsisters as if they were literal witches who could use actual magic, the list goes on, but those were my biggest gripes). One episode that stood out to me though, was A Friend in Need, an episode in which pretty much everyone except for Artoo is stupid, malicious or both. At the time, I thought it was the worst episode of TCW yet. Has that changed since then? Yeah, but I'd still count this episode as the dumbest.

For whatever reason, the episode popped into my head recently after...I don't know how long its been, relatively shortly after the episode aired, I guess? And, I don't know, I guess I wanted to take a jab at picking it apart? I've never really done this before, there've been a couple of times when I've wanted to examine bad media, but for whatever reason, I never really got to it. So, fuck it, better late than never, I guess. So, I rewatched the episode to get it fresh in my mind. As the old EU was still Canon when this aired, I'm putting it through the lens of it still being Canon when I talk about it.

There's a good reason why my friends call me a masochist, I guess.

Things start out on Mandalore, where Ahsoka is escorting Padme, Bail and Mon Mothma in talks with representatives from the Separatist Senate when Lux Bonteri walks in. When I first watched A Friend in Need, I had missed Lux's Introductory episode which also introduced the Separatist Senate, so I was a little confused here. Confused because prior to TCW, there wasn't a Separatist Senate, the Confederacy was solely ruled over by the Separatist Council. Now, there's commentary from Filoni that apparently, the EU writers had misunderstood the purpose of the Separatist Council, that no, they weren't the leaders of the CIS, and that the megacorporation's who made up the CIS were just neutral parties. I have two issues with that, first being that I trust Dave "I sincerely believe this man wants to fuck wolves" Filoni's word about as far as I can throw his furry ass, and two, that isn't how it comes across in the movies at all.

The leaders of the Trade Federation, Intergalactic Banking Clan, Techno Union and Commerce Guild are all present, outright saying they're pledging their alliance and their armies to the Separatist cause. That they're apparently neutral, uninvolved parties doesn't gel at all, it just seems like a clumsy retcon to me. One of many.

But anyway...

Lux busts in and causes a scene, accusing Count Dooku of murdering his mother, so the Separatist senators have their guards drag him away. Ahsoka, concerned, gets permission from Padme to follow him, as long as she's discrete. Lux is dragged back to the Separatist's shuttle, where a hologram of Dooku appears to gloat a bit, before telling the droids to execute Lux. Why he doesn't just use the Force to choke him, I don't know, all you need is line of sight.

Now, I'd actually misremembered how this scene went down. In my memory, Lux dropped an ion grenade to disable the droids and *then* Ahsoka showed up. Apparently my flawed memory made Lux more competent then he actually is in the episode. How was he actually planning on getting away? We'll get back to that in a moment, but for right now, he's at the battle droid's mercy.

And then Ahsoka intervenes.

Here's another issue I had with Ahsoka, her characterisation. There were a couple of moments that stuck with me that I think are relevant here.

Season 1, episode 19, Storm Over Ryloth: Ahsoka has to learn not to be a reckless, headstrong idiot because she gets her troops killed.

Season 2, episode 1, Holocron Heist: Ahsoka has to learn not to be a reckless, headstrong idiot because she gets her troops killed.

This episode? Ahsoka is a reckless, headstrong idiot who forces her way into a hostile situation, gets the attraction of a bunch of armed droids and leads them back towards the Senate Guards who are stationed at the Republic shuttle, quickly alerts the unaware men that some pissed off droids are on her tail, then boards the shuttle, takes off and flees back to Coruscant, abandoning the Senators she was supposed to be escorting *and* the Senate Guards who are now taking the heat for her.

Ahsoka is such a shitty bodyguard, Jesus Christ. Getting Lux to safety is a priority, fine, but why does she need to board the ship herself and flee the system entirely? Why not just have Lux board the ship, then go back to help the Senate Guards deal with the battle droids that she *led* there in the first place? They're not just regular battle droids either, they're droid commandos who are supposed to be a lot tougher and smarter than the standard B1 battle droids. We don't see the outcome of this fight, so I presume the Senate Guards won, which, good thing. Because Ahsoka abandoned the Senators she was supposed to be watching over, and I genuinely wouldn't put it past the Separatists to pull something now that these peace talks have collapsed because of what Ahsoka did. They were never going to work out anyway of course, given Sidious' whole purpose behind the Clone Wars, but the characters aren't aware of that.

Anakin gets in contact and when Lux tries to apologise with "Master Jedi, I'm sorry if I've caused you any trouble." ("If" you caused trouble? "If"?)

Ahsoka tries to brush it off with "It's nothing." Uh, no, it's not. See the above paragraphs for why it *is* a big deal, and I can't see Anakin of all people being too happy with Padme being left in a dangerous situation like that. But I guess we're brushing past that, cool.

Ahsoka points out how dumb Lux's plan was, saying he would have been killed if she hadn't intervened (true). Then Lux says no, actually, he *did* have a plan, then he pulls out a taser and stuns Ahsoka. Seriously? His plan was to go in, confront Dooku, hoping that he'd send a transmission just to gloat (apparently he "knew" he would, but why? He could just have easily been shot by the battle droids), and he went in there armed with a dinky little taser? Brilliant plan, I'm sure that would have done *wonders* against a squad of droid commandos all armed with blasters.

Ahsoka wakes up hours later aboard the shuttle with just Artoo, her lightsabers missing. She goes out to talk to Lux and finds out the contacts he's meeting are the Death Watch, that Mandalorian supremacist group of terrorists who are awful even by Mandalorian standards.

Jesus Christ, Lux is so fucking stupid.

Despite Ahsoka attempting to tell him that they're bad news, he keeps brushing it off because they *also* hate Dooku, so it'll be fine. Back aboard the ship, Artoo finds Ahsoka's lightsabers tucked away in a random drawer. So, if she had bothered to look for them, she would have found them in the space of five minutes. My God, she is useless. These two deserve each other, I swear.

Oh, and we meet Bo-Katan for the first time.

Awful, *evil* Bo-Katan.

On the ride back, Lux reveals he had a way to track Dooku's location through his communication.

Serenno. He was probably on Serenno, his homeworld of Serenno, where he has a mansion on Serenno, Serenno on which he is a Count. This isn't exactly hidden knowledge.

They go back to the Death Watch compound. see them using kitbashed battle droids as target practice and Ahsoka is marched off while Lux talks to their leader, Pre Vizsla. Apparently, he has beef with Dooku now and the Count gave him a scar. Which, first thing, if Dooku had wanted him dead, he'd be dead. Second, I actually don't remember those two falling out, so I looked it up and apparently it happens entirely offscreen between his last appearance and now, so whatever, I guess. Also, Vizsla threatens to cut up Lux if he doesn't hand over the tracer, and Lux seems pretty fine with that. Brilliant, that one, real smart.

Ahsoka gets thrown in with a hut full of enslaved women from a nearby village. Great people, those Mandalorians. Artoo, meanwhile, is taken to the droid shack and told to fix up the damaged battle droids so they can be used as target practice again. They don't even slap a restraining bolt on him, they just leave him to his own devices. Which, in this case, happens to be a room full of battle droids, several of which actually still have blasters in repairable condition as we'll see later.

Well, the Mandalorians are rock stupid, so I suppose I can't complain *that's* out of character.

Big feast is held, now Lux can see with his own eyes that the Death Watch are using the local women as slaves...but he doesn't seem to give much of a shit about it, even as Ahsoka keeps trying to point out how awful his allies are. It's at that point the village elder shows up and demands Viszla let his people go. He did this unarmed, with his only support being two other unarmed villagers, walking into a camp full of hostile people who had already taken the village's women as slaves and expected things to go well for him. When Vizsla agrees in the most sinister way possible, with several other Death Watch members openly snickering about it, the elder thinks all is well and Lux even says: "You see? They're not the butchers you make them out to be."

I...Jesus Christ, they were using the local women as slaves, but you're fine with that so long as they take them back when they're done? Lux has to be the stupidest character in this series, I swear. There is exactly one smart person this entire episode and it's Artoo.

Next day, the Death Watch take the enslaved women back to their village, the Elder thanking him for it.

And then he takes out his stupid edgesaber and stabs the man's granddaughter in front of him. Can't help but feel this would have been more impactful if obvious sacrificial lamb character had more than a minute of screentime, but okay, its awful and its typical Mando behaviour. For good measure they start torching the village and maybe set one villager on fire. And much to my shock, Lux finally gets it. I was half expecting him to brush it off as them setting fires to keep the villagers warm. Ahsoka seems to impale a guy with a blunt pole, before getting tied up. And then they drag her back to their camp from their speeder...yeah, Ahsoka should be dead.

Then Lux says this...

"I believed you had honour, but you're just murderers."

What possibly led you to think that conclusion, you absolute dumbass? This whole time, Vizsla has been acting as blatantly sinister and creepy as Dick Dastardly, if he had a moustache he'd be twirling it. Lux seems like the kind of character who needs to be told not to drink drain-cleaner, I swear to God.

As Vizsla is preparing to deal with Idiot and Useless, Artoo shows up with an army of kitbashed droids...and like I said either, a few of them have working blasters. Literally the only competent character, I swear. Artoo gives Ahsoka her lightsabers back, and Vizsla decides to duel her one-on-one, because like every Mando, he has a totally unearned superiority complex. She ends up slicing his jetpack and he doesn't even notice until Ahsoka points it out to him. How did he not hear her hit it? How did he not feel that? In the confusion of the exploding jetpack, Dumb and Dumber manage to escape, chased by Bo-Katan, but they get away.

Then Lux fucks off in the escape pod, the end.

And apparently the next time Ahsoka runs into Bo-Katan, they're besties and join forces to free Mandalore. Guess Ahsoka kinda forgot about the whole slavery, village torching and innocent people she murdered, huh? Yeah, guess so. Bo-Katan fucking sucks, she doesn't get a redemption, the narrative just wants you to forget all the atrocities she commits because she doesn't want Maul to be her leader. Zuko she ain't.

Ahsoka majorly screws up her assignment, puts senators in danger and gets some guards killed, Lux is so braindead that he blindly trusts the most obviously evil pack of killers he could find. I'd say he needs a helmet, but I don't think its possible for him to get anymore brain damage.

TCW is massively overrated, this is a hill I will die on.

[magicalgirlsandcerulean]

Boueibu VA comments (Happy Kiss vers.)

Original comments here. Also see the student council, Defence Club VAs' and Goura/VEPPer's comments.

Naoyuki Shimozuru [1] (Kyotaro's VA):

This is Naoyuki Shimozuru, who plays Kyotaro Shuzenji.

Congratulations on the 10th anniversary since the broadcast of the anime series and the announcement of the movie Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu ETERNAL LOVE!, Chikyuu Boueibu series! Also, this time I'm very honoured to play my role alongside my LOVE! upperclassmen in this new work.

HAPPY KISS!, the anime which began airing in April 2018, has always been close to me from the beginning of my voice actor life and has also made people feel love for 10 years. I'm happy to be related to this kind of amazing work!!!

I want to support the Chikyuu Boueibu series, which has continued to give and spread love, forever and ever, even though my help may not be much.

Everyone, let's bask in Boueibu at the theatre!!!!!!!!!! [2]

Ryoga Komata (Ryoma's VA):

Are You HAPPY???

This is Ryoga Komata, who plays Ryoma Kirishima.

Congratulations on the 10 year anniversary, Chikyuu Boueibu series!!

Boueibu is a work which I have a lot of memories of at the start [of my voice acting career].

Boueibu, which was the first audition I received as a voice actor.

Boueibu, which gave me ma---ny first experiences.

And! My first! Movie [role]!! Is also Boueibu!!

I'm very happy to be involved in this work.

Even now, you've given me love and happiness, everybody.

Everyone who has given me love and happiness from the beginning, I hope you enjoy this work!! [3]

Takahide Ishii (Nanao's VA):

Are you happy? This is Takahide Ishii, who plays Nanao Wakura. Congratulations on the 10 year anniversary, Chikyuu Boueibu series!

To me, Boueibu is a work which I have a very deep emotional attachment to because it was a big step forward in my voice actor life. I'm very honoured to also appear as Happy Kiss in the movie that's meant to be commemorating this work's 10 year anniversary. Thank you. Also, I'm happy to portray Nanao again...!

This is also the first time I've played a character for so long. It's to the point that it's an indispensable work for me!

How will [the Happy Kiss characters] interact with their LOVE! upperclassmen...?! Please look forward to the movie's release! Thank you in advance!

Rikuya Yasuda (Taishi's VA):

I would like to formally congratulate Boueibu for the 10 years.

I was happy to be involved with Boueibu again and that I could be recording with the same cast from 6 years ago. Please look forward to watching this work, which is crammed with more than enough love.

Because it's a rare opportunity, also watch Happy Kiss or rewatch it and then please be sure to go to the theatre! If you watch 4 minutes a day, you'll make it in time for winter 2025. [4] Let's start today.

Shota Hayama (Ichiro's VA):

Congratulations on the 10 years, Boueibu!!

I'm very honoured I could participate as one of the lowerclassmen who is continuing the series, which is connected by the staff and upperclassmen's [5] love. Like the movie title literally says, this is a tale spun from eternal love [6]. When the movie is released, dash! dash! dash! to the theatre [7], then please watch Chikyuu Boueibu on the big screen and receive the big love. ⭐︎

Make no mistake - everyone will be happy by the last scene.

Takuya Eguchi (Karurusu's VA):

Congratulations on the 10 year anniversary! The days of recording Boueibu were irreplaceably fun times. I was happy I could play Karurusu for the first time in a long time!

Hikaru Midorikawa (Ata's VA):

The Chikyuu Boueibu series, which agitated the world back then - it's already been 10 years since it was broadcast????? That was already a long time ago, huh? (sarcastic laugh)

Making a movie to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the series is an expert move!! (LOL) Also, I'm happy I can participate in it. m(_ _)m What scenes have been prepared for us to be in? Look forward to it♪.

Personally, I'm looking forward to a big screen transformation scene!!!!! Even seeing it in TV size, it's cool, but if it's a movie, it's cool on cool! Right? (LOL)

Everyone, look forward to it too, right? (LOL)

By all means!! If you understand that, please enjoy it to the fullest♪.

Kosuke Toriumi (Taiju's VA):

This is Kosuke Toriumi, who plays Taiju Unazuki.

This unexpected movie! A considerable amount of time has passed since the anime's airing, so it was really unexpected to have a movie. While I'm thankful I could be part of this unexpected movie, everyone, by all means! I think you're waiting expectantly for it. No~, nevertheless, this unexpected-[The rest is omitted.]

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Maasa's VA):

First off, congratulations on the 10 years! It was interesting to be able to play a role I really hadn't played in a long time. Also, please look forward to the surprising contrivances in the content!

The no. 1 problem is if my voice will come out perfectly. Until the day [of release] arrives, I'll be nervous, alright? (LOL) However, everyone, I think we've made an interesting work which you can support, as you always have. Until the day [of release], please await it in anticipation!

[T/N 1: Over the years, I've gone backwards and forwards on the exact spelling of Shimozuru's name, but the page from his talent agency Rush Style says "Shimozuru", so that's what I'm using now.]

[T/N 2: This might not be clear in a translation, but the Japanese word for "bask in" is also the verb used for taking a bath or shower. Also, that's 10 exclamation marks.]

[T/N 3: 1) Not sure if it was intentional, but Komata's comments were left justified to a slightly unnatural degree, so I've tried to replicate that in the formatting by having each sentence on its own line. 2) This last part was a bit of a double-up in the Japanese, so I had to replicate that in the English.]

[T/N 4: For those coming from the future, these comments were made on Binanshi in October 2024, so if you watched 4 minutes of a Happy Kiss episode a day from that day, you'd take 72 days to complete the series or until January 7th 2025.]

[T/N 5: As you may have gathered from the comments before this one, "upperclassmen" (senpai) in this particular case refers to the LOVE! generation and thus "lowerclassmen" (kouhai) are the Happy Kiss generation.]

[T/N 6: "ETERNAL LOVE!" is in English in the movie's name, but Hayama says it in katakana to explain it to the Japanese audience.]

[T/N 7: Reference to Ichiro's character song.]

Update: Missed a music note.

[blueishspace]

Third part of my Pearl Double Life pov rewatch/ analysis.

The finale.

P1 / P2

Episode 5. Reunion.

Session 5, finally, Pearl and Scott working together again and it doesn't really look bad, like they act way more calmly then I expected them to. Like, Pearl's ends session 4 on absolute low and yet... She's ok? She's there with Scott and Cleo making jokes about other people and not being mean to eachother whatsoever. All antagonism in this section is done by Pearl in the form of slightly suggesting they aren't friends in front of BigB and even then she's not even being serious about it. She has gone full circle, lost her mind so much she's back to normal or something... And then she goes manic again but it was nice while it lasted.

And then Scar comes again, this time with cactus, and Pearl despite being completely chill with Scott, the pettiest member of the life series, at this point in time and she still jumps onto cactus. Not even for Scott, not really, I don't think she even tought of him during the whole thing. She literally jumps on the cactus for fun and no other reason whatsoever.

And the thing is Scott and Cleo haven't called Pearl insane in the whole session, earlier Cleo called her "ultrasonic" over saying she's insane. They are clearly trying to not use that specific word around her for her sake. And when he tells Grian and Scar to leave he corrects himself and tells Pearl to make them leave, ultimately giving Pearl the final say. But Grian and Scar don't really care, they play it up, it is the perfect plan because "no one wants to deal with Pearl's insanity" and only then does Cleo use to word and they do so only to say that they have.

While Scar and Grian use Pearl's insanity as a way to scare off reds... Trying multiple times and then ditch her... Scott and Cleo bring her aside and give her enderpearls to give her a chance to escape. Sure It's strategic since Scott and Pearl share health but Grian and Scar are litterally horrible to her and nobody ever cares. Justice for Pearl!

Episode 6 p.1 Something wicked.

This session starts with a bit of espionage, I forgot about that actually... This rewatch is making me notice how I forgot about older series... Still there is surprisingly little Scott-Pearl interactions that are either negative or very positive... Except she says to the reds that Scott and Cleo wouldn't trust her and she's straight up lying about that because she just said that she has connection with them at all. Also she's really good at lying because to trow off suspicion she pretends they are there listening in when they are not as far she knows.

Also the red keep killing her dogs, she's not having a good time, she's having an awful time, she's so distressed she can't even be unhinged.

Episode 6 p.2 The End.

Voilà, they talk about it finally... and it doesn't do anything.

Why? Because they talk about it but don't communicate, they forgive eachother both of them keep the idea they had, they both believe they are fully in the right.

Scott still cannot seem to grasp how hurt Pearl and Pearl cannot see how going to the nether hurt Scott.

So they talk but no communication actually happens.

Still this brings me to Wild Life, Pearl makes sarcastic comments about Double Life despite her forgiving Scott at this specific point in time so uh alright... And then Scott dies and she with him. And she ditches him as karma, despite forgiving him.

Also, Scott suggests the Tilly death do us apart here. It's not something that he comes up with in the last confrontation. It's a thing he and Pearl come up together with at this specific point in time while they split off.

Finally half a session, the finale. I think there's not much to say that hasn't been said already. But neither of them expected to win, Scott choice is made in a rush because something he didn't expect happened and he just happened to have tnt. This could have gone so differently if he didn't. Some people say that "Tilly death do us apart" upon inspection doesn't really makes sense as a line but he didn't really have time to come up with a different one did he? Again, them winning was not expected. So he said something he and Pearl come up with at the start of the session and stuck with it.

[ihopesocomic]

Have you ever thought that maybe MP's success was partially because of children migrating from The Lion Guard? I can see a teenager being told that they're too old to watch Disney kids cartoons, finding MP and shielding themselves with the ableism, gore, etc... To feel more "mature" while still watching a lion cartoon.

It would be a bit depressing, honestly.

"Success" is a strong word because that would insinuate that it did what it was meant to do, as in be popular enough to warrant getting a season 2 picked up by a studio. It also would be successful with its intended audience which is adults. MP isn't nearly as popular as people think it is. Its views plummet after episode 1, my guess is because general audiences gave it a chance and then thought it was stupid and then stopped watching. And the only audience left was people who already liked Tribble from COTW or her warrior cats stuff. Is it more popular than it should be? I'd say so, considering I've seen more people calling male lions "manes" unironically on nature documentaries than I'm comfortable with. And most people who like TLK have never even heard of MP. And TLG is less likely as the majority of people who watched it were between 2-7 years old. But I can probably agree that the majority of people who started watching it, who weren't already fans of Tribble, watched it with the belief that it was going to be more mature than TLK. But it is a really immature show. - Cat

-

It's also worth noting that Tribble literally tried to sell it as a 'more mature Lion King' so that does come across as trying to ride off TLK/TLG's coattails to me, anyway. It's also part of what set this show up for failure. Not only is The Lion King not what I'd call a childish movie (I mean, for fuck's sake: we see a legit dead body on-screen) but My Pride also comes across as very immature and actually censors a lot of its violence when it's not treating it as edgy content.

And I could also rant for days on the incredibly stupid and patronising "trigger warnings" that treats its audience like they're toddlers. The fact that this isn't how you do trigger warnings aside, it's almost like Tribble was aware kids would sneak a look at this "adult" show and couldn't help but poke fun at it.

So, the demographic for this show is just all up in the air and I think that's another issue to consider here. I feel Tribble certainly wanted to appeal to more adult fans but she also didn't want to completely alienate her minor audience because she got big off a minor-driven fandom (Warrior Cats). Decisions, decisions...

But like Cat said, MP fans have this weird perception that this show was a smash hit based on its views alone and there's a lot of nuance that goes into YT view counts, such as rewatches being counted as new views and so on.

Not to mention certain things occurred that also affected the overall viewership of the entire series too. Things like Tribble being called out around the time Episode 4 came out and people just opting not to watch any further when homophobia was revealed to be a thing in Episode 7. - RJ

[that-sarcastic-writer]

Safe Haven (4)

Soldier Boy X Fem!Paramedic!Reader

Summary: You and Ben have been bonding for a few days, but after a scare, you both have an important conversation

Warnings: Foul language, talks of PTSD, some slapping (not from ben), angst, this is literally the slowest of burns, eventual smut, so minors dni, Soldier Boy bc he's a warning on his own

Like I've said before I write sb as less insufferable and horrible, he's still a dick but he's warming up to reader so he's nicer

WC: 3.2k

A/N: I AM SO SORRY. I know I left this tory forgotten for a year, and that's so not fair to you guys, and I am truly sorry for it. I've never been good at finishing my series. I tend to get blocked in the middle and I'm never able to get past it. But I started rewatching s3 again and decided to give this series a second try. And I think I have a much clearer idea of how to proceed from where I left off. I just always have a hard time with the middle. But I will do my best to not leave this series unfinished because yall were more than supportive to it and it's not fair to just leave you hanging. So if you stuck around thank you.

Next part | Series Masterlist | Soldier Boy Masterlist

The last thing you expected to wake up to was the smell of freshly brewed coffee and Ben, in the kitchen, actually cooking something. You were still a bit out of it from sleep when you walked into the kitchen, but you stopped dead in your tracks and your eyes grew at the sight of him, frown plastered on his face as he stood with a pan in his hand. You blinked a couple of times and snorted in disbelief. 

“Since when do you cook?” You asked as you moved to stand beside him, slightly tilting your head as you looked at the slightly burnt sandwich on the pan. “If that’s what you would call cooking.”

“Fuck off,” He rolled his eyes at you and scoffed like he took offense to your words as he grabbed the sandwich from right out of the pan and took a bite out of it. His face remained in a frown, lips pursed into a displeased grimace. “I got hungry and you were still in your room, so I improvised.” 

Well at least you appreciated him not barging into your room so you would cook for him. After you went off on him the other night he gave you space, he was just as flirty and inappropriate, but respected your space and wouldn’t antagonize you much. If he could do something on his own he would, but was still silently grateful if you ever did anything for him. And much to his surprise, you still allowed him to stay, for some reason. But he didn’t mind it. And honestly, you didn’t mind his presence either, if anything he was pretty bearable most of the time. 

“Does that not burn?” You asked, eyeing him with big eyes as you turned the stove off and placed the pan on the sink. 

He shrugged, “The Russians burned me with flamethrowers the size of your head for fun, so no, this doesn’t burn.” 

You stared at him blankly, lips slightly parted as you tried to process his words. 

“Right..” You simply shook your head, not even wanting to inquire further. You were about to walk away when you heard him say your name. 

“That’s for you,” He said, pointing at the glass mug you usually use for your coffee, droplets of water already pooling around it like it had been sitting there for a little while. You looked between the glass of coffee on the counter and him, confused. 

“You made me coffee?” You asked slowly, squinting at him with confusion. He grabbed a glass of his own from the counter next to the stove and he nodded as he drank from it. 

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

You grabbed it and hesitantly took a sip from it, eyes widening in surprise. It didn’t taste half bad. So he wasn’t entirely useless. 

“I don’t know. I mean, you cooked and you made me coffee,” You said slowly and paused, narrowing your eyes at him suspiciously, “What do you want? Is this your way of convincing me to fuck you?”

He laughed at that, tongue running over his pink lips playfully and an equally playful glint in his eyes, but he shook his head, “No…” His lips curved into a small smirk as he stood in front of you, leaning down close to your face. “Is it working?”

You took a deep breath, eyes wandering to the side to avoid his. You'd be lying if you said you hadn’t considered it. In the days he had been pretty much hiding in your house, you had grown to like his company, when he wasn’t being a dick of course. And he was irresistibly attractive in more ways you would like to admit. But you knew better than to let him in your bed. 

“You wish.” You moved away from him and hopped on the kitchen island as you sipped your coffee, your face already flushing with heat, though you were glad he couldn’t see that. 

“You know the offer is always on the table if you change your mind darlin’.” He winked, lips curled into a smirk as he drank from his coffee. You rolled your eyes at him and shook your head.

“How did you even manage to get the coffee machine on? I’ve seen the way you look at my phone, it’s like your brain is computing. Technology isn’t your thing.”

His face turned blank and his lips fell into a flat line, jaw slightly twitching, like he was not amused by your comment in the slightest bit.

“You can suck my dick, thank you. For your fucking information I’m not that stupid. I’ve seen you make coffee every morning for almost a week, I can manage to make some goddamn coffee.” 

You were trying your hardest not to laugh, you had to close your eyes and exhale through your nose so you wouldn’t laugh at his clearly offended tone. And when you opened your eyes to look at him, he looked anything but amused. 

“Jeez alright, don’t get your panties in a bunch. It’s not the worst coffee I’ve had, so.” Your lips curved into a half smile and he rolled his eyes. 

“That’s how you like it right? Iced, a bit of cream and caramel?” 

“Yeah, actually.” You said with a half smile, surprised he actually seemed to have remembered that, most guys you've dated wouldn't have bothered to remember even after months.

He smirked almost proudly and he hummed as he stood in front of you, and had your legs been open, he probably would’ve stood right in between them. You straightened your back as you looked up at him with curiosity. 

“That’s a good girl. I like a girl who knows her stuff.” The words rolled off his tongue so naturally and yet so breathtakingly hot it made you inhale sharply. He knew what he was doing to you when he did things like that, and the worst part was that he would often just walk off, almost as if he was hoping you would chase him. Which you never did, as much as a part of you wished you did. “I’m a pretty quick learner, I can do things just the way you like ‘em, you just have to ask.” 

And with that he walked off, smug smirk full on his lips at the sound of your sharp breaths and quickly beating heart. Your sanity and modesty could only last so long if he kept this up. And honestly, you didn’t see it stopping anytime soon. 

~~~~~~~~~~

You blew out an annoyed sigh as you padded down the hall from your room to your living room, the persistent sound of Ben calling your name nonstop having pulled you out of your own space. 

“Dude what.” You sighed out as you stood with your arms crossed and looked down at him. He was sprawled out on the couch, an arm behind his head. For a second your eyes drifted to his bicep under the soft fabric of the henley you had given him, and you had to force yourself to look at his face instead.

“What are you fucking deaf? I’ve been calling you for like five minutes.”

“Yes Ben I heard you the first five fucking times you screamed my name. I was busy. What do you want that is so urgent and you can’t do yourself?” You asked, leaning your weight into one heel. 

“Do you have any drugs?” He deadpanned, not bothering to take his eyes from the TV. You stared at him, blinking a couple times. 

“What?”

“What I said. Do you have any reefer or benzos or some shit like that?” He turned his head to look at you this time, face completely serious. 

“Uh.. No? What the fuck do you want drugs for?” You asked, rubbing the side of your face, still trying to process his request. 

He ran a hand over his face, fingers threading through his hair and he sighed heavily, looking up at the ceiling before speaking.

“I need something to help me take the edge off. I’m constantly restless, I always have this feeling like I’m going to punch a hole through a wall, I can’t sleep and I didn’t feel that way when I was fucking high all the time, so.” He said with complete honesty, he was serious too. 

Your lips slightly parted as you thought about it for a second. You guessed it made sense. If he did have PTSD weed probably would help him relax. You knew that feeling pretty well. You sympathized with him even. 

"Yeah okay. I know a guy." You finally said.

Ben gave you a surprised look, his eyebrows slightly raised. He definitely didn't take you for the drug type. But then again, maybe you liked to feel numb sometimes, too. 

"Thanks sweetheart." 

"Sure." You gave him a half nod as you glanced at your phone. "Listen, I'm gonna go out for a bit. I'm gonna buy some groceries and stuff. Stay here? Please. Your face is still all of over downtown. And with the whole Homelander Starlight bullshit I just don't think it's safe." 

"Aww sweetheart, you worried about me now?" He sat up with a shit eating smirk that made your roll your eyes. 

"Not particularly. It'd be less money I'd have to spend if you weren't here actually." He shot up an eyebrow with disdain and scoffed at you, making you grin. "I mean it, after what Homelander did in plain daylight, nobody's safe." 

"What did that fucker do this time?" He asked, his tone suddenly changing and he sat up straight. 

"Didn't you see? Oh yeah, you don't even own a phone." You sighed, "Homelander lasered a guy at some form of public event. The guy wasn't a criminal, he wasn't dangerous, he was just telling Homelander the truth to his face. So he killed the guy." 

"In plain daylight? You're kidding." 

"I fucking wish. I saw the video, it was all over Twitter before it got taken down. The worst part, everyone there cheered him on. He murdered an innocent person and everyone praised him for it. It was terrifying." 

Ben sat in silence for a long minute, even after you were done speaking. His lips were parted but he never spoke. That was his son. His only son. He couldn't say he was a saint, he knew he had done plenty of wrongs, unforgivable things, but he had never killed a person without reason. Let alone an innocent person. He was disgusted, digusted that his own flesh and blood could do something so horrible. Disgusted that Vought made him that way. He couldn't live knowing Homelander was still out there like this. He had to end this. One way or another. 

~~~~~~~~~

"Ben!" You called out loudly as you kicked your front door open, struggling to carry the multiple bags you so wrongly assumed you could carry on your own. You groaned loudly, the one time you needed this motherfucker. "Ben you useless asshole I need your super strength!" 

Still nothing. 

"I cannot with this motherfucker…" You muttered angrily to yourself as you pretty much dropped the bags on the floor. 

You left the door open since you still had more bags in your car but you wanted to find him first. You called his name a few more times as you walked around your farmhouse. He sure wasn't downstairs. You went up to the second floor, maybe he was in the guest bedroom, he slept there sometimes. 

Still no Ben. 

You stood in the middle of the hall with a frown on your face. Your stomach twisted with uneasiness. Your palms began to sweat cold as you thought the worst. God, where could he have gone? He clearly didn't know his way around town, he had no car. And worst of all he was still wanted by FBSA and now the CIA as well in a joint task force. 

He was gone. He was actually gone. 

What was this feeling? You felt sick and lightheaded, and your heart was racing. You leaned against a wall as you took deep breaths. Were you actually upset he was gone? Was this worry and panic you were feeling? Your mind was racing with every possibility, the next being worse than the previous. Maybe he got hurt? Or worse, maybe he blacked out and hurt somebody else again. God, why didn't he listen to you? 

You were drowned in your own worry when you heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. You straightened up, afraid someone had come for you, another supe, or the cops. You had been aiding a known fugitive afterall. 

You didn't know how long it had been, but you heard your name. It was his voice. 

"There you are. You okay? Why is the front door wide open?" Ben stopped at the top of the stairs, eyes furrowed into a worried expression. 

You didn't realize you had been holding your breath. And you felt like you could breathe again. But the knot in your stomach was quickly replaced by your blood boiling. God, how could he just walk in like that? Did he not realize how worried you had been?

You were worried about him.

You hadn't worried about anyone since—

You didn't think, you simply marched in front of him and your flat palm collided with his cheek. You were so fucking furious with him.

"What the fuck were you thinking? Why did you leave without saying anything? Are you so reckless and careless that you didn't stop to think you're literally the most wanted Supe right now?" You were shouting at him, shoving at his chest like it was going to do anything. The man didn't even move. He was stunned, surprisingly not angry. If anything seeing you like this turned him on.

"Jesus Christ, woman, can I tell you my safeword first?" He scrunched up his face a bit. He didn't feel your slap. It didn't even leave a tingle, but it was more so the fact that you had the guts to do so. You glared at him and smacked his chest one last time before you crossed your arms over your chest, face fixed tight and fuming. "Why are you so angry? I wasn't gone long." 

Did he seriously not realize?

"Why? Why am I so angry?" You repeated his question with disbelief. "Maybe because you could've gotten hurt out there or arrested! Or worse you could've—" You stopped, catching yourself before you said the words.

Ben raised an eyebrow at you, sensing the heat in your words, and he gave you a half nod of his head, knowing what it was you didn’t dare to say. 

"I could've what? Go on say it. If you had the balls to smack me then have the balls to finish that sentence." 

"You could've hurt someone." You finally said after a few seconds of silence, your voice much quieter now. 

"Right, 'cause I'm the brainwashed terrorist supe who just loves to blow people the fuck up, is that it?" He lowered himself to get in your face, his words accusatory, but also hurt by your accusation. You didn't to outright say it for him to know what you meant. Everyone else seemed to think so anyway. You avoided his eyes, mouth closed. "What? You got nothing to say now?" 

"I don't know! You're unpredictable, your powers are unpredictable. I'm not saying you meant to hurt those people, but you did Ben, I saw it. I saw all of it. It wasn't fucking pretty and I just—" You swallowed, closing your eyes, frustrated with yourself. Why were you so upset about this? About him? "I know you don't want any more of that on your conscience."

Ben stared at you for a long while, lips pressed together, and his jaw ticked with frustration, but he didn't snap at you. He just sighed. 

"I didn't hurt anyone. I just.. I can't keep hiding here with you when Homelander is out there. I just can't." He finally said, his voice strained with emotions you just couldn't quite understand. "I went to see an old friend from Vought. I needed to know what was going on. I need to do something. But I'm…" 

He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing and lips pursing as he tried to say his next words, like it was hard for him to do so. You met his eyes this time, expectant. 

"I'm sorry for worrying you. I didn't think… To be honest with you I don't know why you care but I'm glad you do. So I'm sorry." He breathed out the words with his chest, like he was lifting a ton of bricks off his chest and he could breathe. 

Your eyes grew in size at his seemingly sincere apology. He had never sounded so genuine, he had never looked so much either. But he was, his green eyes were big and apologetic, and there was no smug smile, no grins, just a flat line and his big eyes. 

"I'm sorry for hitting you. I was just worried. I thought something might’ve happened." You sighed, giving him an apology of your own, which he welcomed with a tiny smile and nod. "But I... Fuck, I'm still worried about what you're doing. Homelander is extremely dangerous, Ben. I don't think you should get yourself in more trouble than you already are." 

Ben would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised by your concern, it made him feel strange, actually. No one had actually shown him such selfless care before. Everyone always needed something from him or were just pretending to care for him. But no you. Everything you had done for him you had done because you wanted to, not because you had to. And he still didn't know why. 

"Listen darlin', I can't tell you much, but I can tell you this— I had a mission before you found me. I started something and now I need to finish it." You frowned even more, and he couldn't help but reach his fingers to smooth the tight lines above your brow, and for some reason, you let him. "I have done some pretty bad shit, I'm not gonna lie about that, but if I can do one good thing by killing that motherfucker, I will. I can't just sit here while he's out there doing God knows what and with nobody to tell him otherwise." 

"I don't know what it is that you got yourself into, or that you got me into, but we're here now. I just ask you that you tell me what's going on. I think I've proven to you that you can trust me." You finally said with a long breath, but you still felt that pressure on your chest. "Do what you gotta do, just be careful." 

His lips curved up into a small smile. A genuine smile. He hesitated at first, but something in his chest told him to do it. You had already slapped him once anyway. He closed his eyes for just a second and leaned down, his lips touching your forehead ever so slightly. 

"Don't you worry about me, sweetheart. There's nothing that fucker can do that hasn't already been done to me before. I'll be okay." 

He'll be okay as long as you let him stay because somehow, you have been the only thing keeping him sane.

[independent-fics]

Leverage OT3 Casual Touches

(Cont.)

This is mainly for @werewolfsmile and anyone else who wants to shout into the void with me about this ot3!

So far season 4 started off strong with lots of little ot3 moments I’ve been clocking on my latest rewatch. Today I watched “The Office Job” through “The Gold Job” and wanted to recap. Ngl it isn’t much…

Still good things but it was a lot of what we already see which is still beautiful. But mainly it was a lot of leaning, being in each others spaces, and a lot of the handshake. (For the purposes of this post I’m skipping “The Girls Night Out Job” and “The Boys Night Out Job” simply because those two are a whole other beast of ot3 moments that I would like to gif separately and also not a lot of touching (besides the handshake in the boys night) which is what we’re focusing on here.)

“The Office Job” is my favorite comfort episode of Leverage. Everything about is pure gold. Despite Hardison and Eliot arguing the whole time about a sandwich they still manage to pull together in the end and have one of the funniest moments in the episode which is of course topped off by the handshake. Once again mainly in each other’s spaces or leaning this episode.

“The Lonely Hearts Job” also such a great episode of basically the ot3 parent trapping Nate and Sophie and Eliot out here doing the absolute most showing he knows his team in the end of the episode.

As for casual touches a lot with Eliot and Parker (I feel like there’s always more with Eliot and Parker in trying to find more with Eliot and Hardison but mainly they just always lean in each others spaces and orbit each other, compared to Eliot and Parker which sometimes have a similar but different dynamic due to comparing how Parker in the beginning of the series was very adverse to touch. Not from Hardison and Eliot now though:)).

This scene starts out with them with a gap but they gradually get closer (I know this can happen when scenes are reshot. As I always say though let me read the subtext how I want. They were further apart then they got closer soooo)

My favorite thing is the shoulder bumping as they’re walking out. All I have to say.

Here they’re betting whoever gets the highest bid gets a steak which is super cute later because Eliot loses and puts up a fight about making it but then totally has heart eyes and smiles when he “loses” that argument too. Why wouldn’t he make his boyfriend a steak. There’s also a later scene I totally forgot to gif when they’re getting the guy flirting with Sophie out of the way and he calls Hardison (who’s in character) an idiot and I know Eliot did not need to take him down as hard as he did all I have to say.

And once again we have the leaning in each others spaces, shoulder touching, and once again the handshake. None of the other bachelors were standing this close on stage just saying.

Then we have “The Gold Job” where Parker literally gets up to sit next to Eliot? Wonderful. But then there’s some shoving but for context the whole scene was kinda tense because Hardison was running his first con. But then right before the camera changes Eliot moves closer!!!

But then they end up further apart again which I’m assuming may be due to reshoots.

Just generally the comfort between all of them gets me in these scenes. They’ve come a lot way and even though the beginning of season four I feel like shows this a lot more I’m still glad I’m finding scenes with their casual touches as I’m finishing out season 4.

That’s all I have for tonight :D I’m finishing up season 4 tomorrow so I’m sure I’ll be adding to this later.

Hope you like my gifs :) haven’t gifed in so long but I’m happy I’m learning again. Quality still needs work though.

Bonus:

Here’s a bonus gif of Eliot looking like he’s blowing a kiss in the button cam footage in “The Office Job” because I thought it was funny. This is once again getting added to my “why didn’t I notice this before” list. I just wanna know for whom Eliot. :)

[kaleen-art]

The Big Golden Showdown is Peak Part 1

I have been a long time Part 1 fan but I always had a few episodes I never finished. Back in November or December of last year, I embarked on a rewatch of the Part 1 episodes I had already seen as well as watching the ones remaining, primarily the last 3. It took a while due to personal issues, but I completed the last 3, and I especially enjoyed the final episode (#23), The Big Golden Showdown. So I wrote an essay on it! Read it below!

Hayao Miyazaki has always had a thing for raising the stakes to the utmost degree in his finales. Though I have not yet completed Part 2, I have watched the finale of which he was the director of and you can see that there especially, in which the usually low-stakes silly Part 2 builds a level of tension and terror in the air through its sheer scope. Part 1 however differs, because at face value there is nothing particularly different about the Part 1 finale. It’s a pretty standard Lupin caper, and it ends as most Lupin capers do. They get the treasure, end up losing it somehow anyway but just barely make it out while Zenigata chases after in an attempt to apprehend them. But it’s on a character level I think this episode captures my heart.

Most evidently, Zenigata is at his literal wits’ end. It’s important to note this episode solidifies one of my favorite aspects of Part 1, its continuity. Zenigata acknowledges by now he has captured Lupin twice in the series, and has twice lost him, and after continually failing to get and keep him behind bars, even with the help of a supercomputer, he seems to have given up when he admits to the Police Commissioner that even if he was at the bank when they were transferring the gold coins over, Lupin would’ve been able to steal it anyway. This appears to be a far cry from the Zenigata we’ve previously seen who stuck it through thick and thin. Goemon even remarks that Zenigata is acting differently, though Lupin stubbornly denies it (this underestimation becomes his crucial flaw at the end of the episode). But now he says that if he’s unsuccessful, he’ll resign. This already adds serious weight to this episode. You can observe this in the general tone. 

Additionally, while Part 1’s soundtrack is often ridiculed I find it incredibly fitting for how it’s used. The somber tones of the songs set an overture of finality to this episode, and it really makes things seem like this is the end. And historically speaking, this show failed to meet rating expectations, so to the staff at the time, for all they knew, it WAS. This would be the last time Lupin would ever be animated and the manga was already over, so I believe knowing this, they made this episode as a somber farewell to the characters. It is a bittersweet goodbye.

I think another facet of this is how the characters act. Even though for a majority of it, we see Lupin and the gang act on usual business, they sense something is different, as Goemon says. When Lupin goes to his old hideout, he carelessly wrecks tons of his family heirlooms saying they’re junk and he doesn’t need them. As if he’s ready to move on. Everything seems like it’s going to culminate in this heist, and though I don’t think this was ever going to be their last heist, it’s the climax of their careers (at least up to that point) in a way.

And on that note, it’s in the episode’s climax that these themes come together. Lupin the entire series is always very brash and though it always works out for him, it is here where his crucial flaw comes in. He makes a grave error in this episode and ends up leading the police and Zenigata to him and the gang. Now LUPIN is at his wits’ end. Even though at first it seems like Lupin was just bluffing to Zenigata about not wanting to live anymore after making such a screw-up, I think in a way he was being genuine. As we saw in Episode 4, Lupin takes it hard when he loses to Zenigata. That's why he was willing to fake his death rather than just be taken into custody. There's no doubt he would have escaped, but the idea he could be arrested over such an oversight, he'd rather fake his own death in a dramatic explosion. A true finale.

But that's when the beautiful ending comes in. Lupin thinks he's finally won once and for all, that he successfully faked his death, and the viewers then likely thought that this would be the end of the adventures of Lupin III, once and for all. But then, Zenigata comes back unexpectedly, and in that moment where Lupin and Zenigata look into each other’s eyes, under the water, I think both them and the viewer realize something. It will never be over. And though "the chase will never end" is an easy thing for people to say in a world where this show has been running for 50+ years, back then, that meant something truly special.

Once again, it is the perfect bittersweet ending, and I think the episode’s character writing and exploration in how these characters deal with such heavy stakes make it a personal favorite of mine. Part 1 was so good, only an ending like this could top it off.

[yandere-romanticaa]

Ana, what would you say your top 5 anime are?

The only secure place shall we say is #1 but the rest really are not set in any particular order. Regardless, I've already answered this question a while ago but my opinions changed a little bit and these ones are definitely my favorite of all time.

#1 Bungo Stray Dogs.

My all time favorite anime is this one - Bungo Stray Dogs. It really hits hard for me because it just sucked me in immediately upon first watching it. I also really enjoy reading so being introduced to Japanese literature was just such a lovely bonus to me, so much so that I actually own two books which were written by Osamu Dazai.

If you've been following me for a while, this anime needs no introduction and you probably already knew that it's my favorite.

#2 Moriarty the Patriot.

Such an underrated gem...

Moriarty the Patriot tells the story of a math professor, William James Moriarty and how he wreaks havoc amongst the upper crust of British society as the secret Lord of Crime. He's a very morally ambiguous character who yes, does want to ultimately do good but his methods can be considered very extreme at times.

The anime is set in 19th century London and just the overall vibe of the show is immaculate. Every episode starts by setting the atmosphere which really gets you going, wondering how William and his associates will handle the chaos. His natural foil is the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and watching the two interact is a blast.

If you're in for anime which is packed with mystery, crime and some cool 19th century vibes, this one is incredible.

#3 Code Geass.

This is also another really popular anime that I don't think needs much of an introduction.

I've rewatched this show I think close to 10 times and never ONCE did I get bored. Keep in mind, I do NOT like mecha anime and this is one of two I've seen in my lifetime, the other being Aldonoah Zero.

Even so, despite my bias, it's still one of my favorites.

Literally everything is perfect about it and Lelouch is just... I'm speechless. He has my heart, I love that man.

All hail Lelouch!

#4 Re:Zero.

This is another one that had me on the hook since episode one.

I've always liked isekai anime but this one is just built fucking different. The author of this series really knows his craft both inside and out and I don't see enough praise for his world building.

Re Zero tells the story of a loser 17 year old otaku, Subaru Natsuki and how he got isekaid to another world. Since he's a dumbass, he thinks that he can have any ability he wants and that things will instantly go his way but Subaru is in for quite the rude awakening once he realizes just how horrible his situation is.

At the time of writing this, season 3 literally just came out and I am eagerly waiting for each new episode to drop.

#5 Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Horror packaged in frills and ribbons is my whole aesthetic and this show feeds right into that.

It really does look like a simple little magical girl show upon first glance but by now, it has received the almost legendary status that it has for a damn good reason. The story manages to make the usually cheerful archetype of the magical girl into something much more sinister and tragic, exploring some interesting themes along the way.

Feel free to comment or share your thoughts on my fav list. Some honorable mentions would be Naruto, My Next Life as a Villainess, The Case Study of Vanitas and definitely some more shows which I can't recall at the moment.

[saucy-mesothelioma]

I wanted to compile a very short list of some of my favorite M*A*S*H scenes and why I love them so much. It's a long post, so everything will be under the cut

Winchester and the Pianist. Season 8, Episode 19, "Morale Victory":

This was the scene that made me truly fall in love with Charles's character. This was his third season on the show, and in my mind he was still "Frank's cooler replacement"- stuck up but not as insufferable. He had his moments of course, but none of them truly got to me like this scene. Stiers puts the perfect amount of subtle passion that Charles has for the fine arts and uses that to not only connect with Private Sheridan, but with the audience as well. Charles, with all of his haughtiness that was very prevalent in his earliest seasons, went beyond caring for Sheridan's physical injuries but also the blows to his sense of purpose. He sees a man with as much passion for the arts as him, and he's determined to show Private Sheridan how much he really is capable of. He wants to keep that passion alive in the face of hardship, and the look on his face when he sits back and listens to Private Sheridan play says it all. He's done more that repair a man in the literal sense, but he's also done so with a man's hope. It was the turning point that made me see Charles as not just Frank's replacement in matters of minor antagonism and subject of Hawkeye and BJ's antics, but truly as his own character with so much more to him.

Father Mulcahy's Interview. Season 4, Episode 24, "The Interview":

This story was based on something a real army doctor that served in a Korean M*A*S*H unit told the writers, and it's such a visceral picture that even rewatching it I have to just stop and take it all in. And it's just a fragment of the horrible conditions that the doctors, the soldiers, the locals, and pretty much anyone in the line of fire in Korea at the time had to deal with. This show might be a dramady showing some of the antics of a fictionalized army hospital, but this is one of those moments where the show really just pulls you into the stark reminder that not everything they talk about or show in this series is fake. Despite all of the jokes and slapstick, at its core M*A*S*H is an anti-war commentary and it makes no attempts to hide it. This episode just happened to be one of the earlier instances where the majority of the comedy was removed in favor of really highlighting the brutality of war. Scenes like this cut deep, and that's exactly what they're supposed to do.

Sometimes You Hear The Bullet. Season 1, Episode 17, "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet":

I'm not afraid to admit that this scene made me cry. Not a full-out cry, but the kind that hits you so hard that you barely even register the fact that you're crying until you're already doing it. Even now I'm having trouble conveying how this scene makes me feel into words. It's another one of those scenes that holds nothing back when it comes to the message that war is a taker of so many lives, and it doesn't discriminate with its victims. Hawkeye's frustration with his disassociation with the deaths of his patients is just heart-wrenching, especially since it's something he essentially has to do because it's his job: "I've watched guys die almost every day. Why didn't I ever cry for them?". You can tell that it's not only the death of his friend that's affecting him, it's the fact that his job has forced him to distance himself to the idea that the people he operates on every day are people with lives, hopes, and dreams. When he's confronted with the death of a friend who died just as so many soldiers before him, Hawkeye is reminded of the fact that the soldiers suffering from unimaginable injuries that he operates on every day were just like him. It's a realization that I couldn't possibly fathom dealing with, and yet it's one that Hawkeye has to deal with every time he's in the operating room.

Through the Wisecracks. Season 11, Episode 5, "Who Knew?":

This episode is the one that hits me hard the most. I think what gets me about this episode is how it reminds me of the people in war who remain forgotten: the nameless soldiers, locals, surgeons, company clerks, and many others. And I think that's the point. We never see Millie. She is a faceless character who we know little to nothing about, and the people at the 4077th know little to nothing about her either. It's only when Hawkeye puts in the effort to learn about her and to read her diary, that Millie is given substance. We learn as Hawkeye learns, and it hurts for both him and the viewer. She almost went forgotten, just another casualty among a million other causalities, but someone took the time to remember her, and that's more than can be said about so many who died in war. Another thing that gets be about this episode is the same lesson Hawkeye learns: to care about each other and let the people you love know you care, because someday it might be too late for that. Millie was too shy to get close to anyone at the 4077th, so Hawkeye never knew that she cared about him until it was too late. Hawkeye reflects on how he hides behind his jokes, and we can see other examples of characters on the show doing the same thing such as Margaret hiding behind her military correctness and Charles behind his haughtiness. But Hawkeye refuses to hide behind his jokes during this moment and tells his friends just how much he cares for them. He knows that especially in their circumstance, the people that he grew to love in the 4077th could be dead tomorrow. So he decides he won't go a second longer without letting them know how much they mean to him. He ensures that not only Millie won't be forgotten, but neither will his friends.