#I HATED my last job but I'm missing it which is wild

[circle-of-the-spores]

Ah yes late night depression how I missed you

[deuterosapiens]

And that's that for Echoes of Wisdom! A pleasant, charming game to be sure!

There's good and bad to be had, but it's certainly an unusual game. I'll definitely be going back over it to collect those Echoes I'm missing, which luckily for me, is a scant ten, per the post-game break down. One of which, humorously enough, is the damn carrot Echo used to summon your horse. I did not actually bother to do the Horse Ranch quest until just after my fifth (or sixth, depending on how you're counting) dungeon. Just going to drop a break here though, because I want to talk a bit more freely about this game.

So, there are a couple of Echoes I've discovered fairly trivialize most combat encounters. The Wolfos echo, any of the Darknut series echoes (the Level 3 variant I actually used basically as a blender throughout the entire last act, in the Still Ancient Ruins), and the Chompfin echo for water.

This game does a fair job of combining the "play it your way" mentality of the recent Wild era titles with the more strict flow of classic dungeons' puzzles. While you have considerably more options in this game, they will typically amount to being a variation on the same sorts of themes. Use fire to light torches- whether that comes from a Brazier, a Torch Slug or an Ignizol is entirely up to you, for example.

Let's talk about the key feature that honestly probably amounts to one of the biggest draws of the charming little game: DUNGEONS (and their BOSSES).

Let's see, there's three main dungeons, followed by Hyrule Castle, then three more dungeons (plus the endgame). Which means we follow the Ocarina of Time dungeon structure, which actually means we follow the A Link to the Past dungeon structure, which is appropriate, all things considered.

Each dungeon requires the traversal of a short Still World segment, which will bring Pokémon Platinum fans immense joy, before pissing them off at the memory of the Distortion World's absence in BDSP, and Legends-Arceus. These segments are mostly platforming with little significant puzzle-solving. They are the reason the Old Bed echo appears at the front of my Most Used list. But the weird eldritch, distorted scenery is quite nice to appreciate. It really does a fine job of setting up the game's final boss too.

I'm a bit torn on if I have a favorite dungeon. I definitely have a least favorite, in the form of the Lanayru Temple. Oh sweet Demise, these ice puzzles pissed me off. I did, however, find that dungeon's boss (SCORCHILL) to be quite fun, so we've got serious points awarded. Eldin Temple is weirdly small, and kind of hallway-y, if you get my drift, but it has Volvagia which I absolutely refuse to complain about. Hated the Mogryph fight, though I expect that's because I made it significantly harder than it should have been. The Faron Temple is interesting in that it really tries to hide its linearity: the theme is Jungle Temple and it honestly captures that feeling pretty damn well: the miniboss is also immensely fun, at least in how it is presented to you, though it's not particularly challenging: Gohma is, well, Gohma, so I don't think we're winning any Boss points with it. Vocavor is a boss with an interesting design, but underwater fish bosses have never won any awards and they aren't starting to now (it did bring to mind a Bowser Junior fight in Mario Wonder, so there's that).

Huh.

Oh, right, Ganon. Eh, this is literally the exact same fight as in Link's Awakening and, if I remember correctly, A Link to the Past. Somehow, however, and I cannot for the like of me figure out how, Grezzo has completely thrown off the timing of this fight: for some reason, and I'm admitting this solely for opacity, the Dead Man's Volley sections are timed, and I literally cannot find a better word for it, wrong. Luckily, they are technically optional if you have the right Echo (which you will, as it's given to you in this very dungeon), but it brought me death and therefore annoyed me.

This game follows up with our recent (if you call Skyward Sword recent) trend of having a massive horde battle precede the final boss. Well, sort of a horde- Zelda's Echo casts Echoes of her own that should be a challenging horde, but alas! The Hylian Blender renders this fight significantly easier than any other.

I will have to look this up, bit did anyone on the dev team have any involvement with Kirby Star Allies? Everything related to Null reminds me of Void Termina, and I am struggling to believe this is simply a coincidence.

Speaking of Null, let's talk about Null!

This thing is one hundred and fifteen percent definitely my favorite thing this game presents us with. Null is an entity from the void, imprisoned within the world itself by the Goddesses of the Triforce (sorry, Prime Energy- this bothered ne immensely), imprisoned to prevent it from devouring all life that might appear within the void. A classic primordial horror, if I do say so, and if there's one thing I'm a sucker for, it's primordial entities who are world-bent on the annihilation of existence itself. When you see this thing's lair, Earthbound had better jump so far forward in your mind you are given extradimensional whiplash.

If I were a timeline fanatic, I imagine Null would screw it up so damn much.

So, where do I stand here. Where where where.

The ideas behind this game are quite odd, to say the least, and their execution is a bit short. I feel like if this map were larger, and if there were more Echoes and quests, I would have more thoughts on how it plays. I just finished the damn thing and I'm not quite sure how I feel about the actual experience of playing it, which is absurd, really.

This one does feel like a love letter to the franchise's highs and lows, a bite-sized sandbox just screaming "We love Zelda!"

[fixing-bad-posts]

I looked around and didn't see anything about this on your blog but I apologize if I missed it.

I was wondering, what does doing the work behind this blog...feel like? I guess what I'm asking is if it does anything to you. Like, I had a thought. For a flash, I imagined you as Butters from South Park in that episode where he is tasked with filtering out all the negative comments on Cartman's social media. It ended up really messing with Butters, what with him having to see all that negativity.

You're definitely not being affected to that extreme, I assume, but I wonder if you would have anything to say about the process of finding these negative posts and reading them several times to edit them. Has it exposed you to unpleasantness that you wouldn't have otherwise seen? Or is there perhaps a kind of catharsis in editing such filth?

I'm making a lot of assumptions here. Maybe I'm also asking about your process. I just think what you're doing is neat and would love to hear about your experience with it.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have plenty of reasons to feel joy <3

oh boy, i love talking about myself haha—so thank you for giving me an excuse to do so! i have answered similar questions in the past, though never at length. every once in a while, someone pops into the inbox to ask about my mental health (which, rest assured, is just fine—i don’t put this blog’s operation above anything; it’s honestly pretty low on my list of life-priorities), and it’s always quite sweet. having a mob of strangers following one’s sideblog has its perks: one being that sometimes parasociality results in some well wishes, kind thoughts, and general goodwill. which is very nice, and probably an unearned vanity-boost for my ego.

what does the work behind this blog feel like? in turns: mundane, challenging, vindicating, annoying, amusing… and probably other things that i’m forgetting. most of the work i do on this blog is actually me procrastinating! i am a certified adult with a job™, and i’m definitely guilty of slacking off at work sometimes to queue posts submissions from my inbox, which is more fun than like… proofreading financial documents and making spreadsheets. other times, i’m sitting in a café with my partner, and allegedly i’m “writing” fanfiction. but, uh, if you know any writers, you know that sometimes “writing” means, ‘looking at a blinking cursor’. so it’s in those moments that i open up tumblr and start writing image descriptions and adding tags to prep posts for my queue. that’s mainly when the blog feels mundane.

something that i think helps me avoid negative doomscroll-spirals is that i don’t actively seek out bad posts for this blog. being a citizen of the internet delivers fodder to me naturally. that, and running a semi-popular sideblog on tumblr. when i see a bad post in the wild, that’s when the feeling is annoying/challenging. challenging, because ever since starting this sideblog, hateful posts don’t feel as vicious to me. once i see them, they stop being posts and turn into word-puzzles. and i love word puzzles!

solving the word puzzle is amusing for me, as is getting to look at my resulting “blackout poem.” it makes me laugh, it stretches my brain. when i started, i used to have to read a post several times to find the ‘good post within the bad post’ so to speak. these days, i’m so used to it, i barely read the bad posts more than a handful of times. but as i was saying to my partner, one of the reasons i love found poetry (erasure poetry, and cut-up poetry) is that it uses the same part of my brain that loves scrabble (the board game). then, of course, it's vindicating to see my posts get so many notes, sometimes surpassing the original bad post. that's more of my own vanity, i'm sure.

as for the last part of your message: yes, i have plenty of reasons to feel joy. i work with people who respect me, i live walking distance from a bubble tea café, and have friends and family whom i love. i have the good fortune to be safely out as a queer person. i’m a fanbinder. i’m currently working on a long fanfiction which is getting some very nice comments on ao3. and i’ve recently decided to become a poet (like, for real).

i must admit, i’m fascinated by how you imagine me. i often wonder how i am perceived, especially because i keep many cards close to my chest here on my sideblog.

anyhow, thank you for this excuse to ramble about myself and the process of running this blog. i hope you also have plenty of reasons to feel joy 💛

[heckthis-heckallofthis]

CAWF Tumblr simulator

🦠 Neutro-2145 Follow

B Cell hasn't worked in a while, the bacteria tastes bland…

(56 Notes)

❤️ IM1235 Follow

The neutrophils are so cool when they're saving the body! I should get them a gift to show my gratitude!

❤️ IM1235

Ok I just saw them rip out the insides of an infected cell, I don't think I can sleep tonight.

#oh my god #do they do that all the time???

(45 notes)

🧸 Dendri217 Follow

I don't think sewing lactic acid bacteria nearly everyday is good for my mental health, but it sure is fun! I need to go outside more I think

#lactic acid bacteria #my beloved #maybe I have too many of them #but you can never have too many lactic acid bacteria

(11 notes)

🎆 RegT59 Follow

As much as I love Helper T as a friend I wish he'd stop buying random things with our budget. He didn't even solve the Rubik's cube he bought last time, now he's buying those metal wire puzzles.

🎆 RegT59

He offered to get me something and I bought a conch shell just because it looked interesting. His bad habits are rubbing off on me.

#sigh #i should just stick to solitaire #our office is getting so cluttered

(64 notes)

⚪ Neutro-3033 Follow

The amount of people that don't know not all neutrophils enjoy eating bacteria or infected cells is wild. Have you tried to eat some?? It's terrible. Some of us only eat it because it's part of the job.

#i swear #its so annoying #at least the RBCS bring us stuff other than bacteria #i really wouldn't mind something less sweet

(82 notes)

✖️ Cross-TCell reblogged

🐦‍⬛ King-Killer

How do I tell my subordinates that I don't actually hate them and that I'm just strict and they need to stop being so sloppy? Believe me guys I like having you around please invite me to something I'm begging you

🐦‍⬛ King-Killer

That was a moment of weakness ignore that (please invite me please please please ple

🐦‍⬛ King-Killer

WHICH ONE OF YOU REBLOGGED THIS?? NOW ALL MY SUBORDINATES ARE CONSTANTLY BRINGING ME WITH THEM FOR LUNCH????

#its okay squad leader #we honestly just thought you'd be too busy to bother with us #so glad you actually do like us #the boys love you too

(19 notes)

🍸 Microfold108 Follow

What even is the point of living? If not just for the sake of a higher being we don't even know? Are they good? Are they bad? Maybe they're the nicest person in the world, maybe they're a serial killer who has murdered countless of their kind. Do they know we work only for them? Do they know how many of us love them?

🍸 Microfold108

Nevermind Dendritic cell came over with a lot of friends and he said they all enjoyed me so maybe there is more to life than that.

#i need to find an actual interest #maybe then I'll stop being so negative about everything

(4 notes)

🟩 HelperT31 Follow

Apparently you can just buy a house??? On Sellular?? I'm going to prank Reg T with this. It's going to be so funny, imagine I pull out a whole house right in front of the office, she'd go insane.

#nobody reblog this I can't let reg t see this #itll ruin the surprise

(1,129 notes)

🗡️ NatKiller095 Follow

Non-immune cells are literally so scary, how do you socialize everyday without getting tired or stressed out??? What do you MEAN you think us murdering cells is scarier?? At least I don't have to go around the ENTIRE body just to hand over a box of gases to someone I barely know!

✨ Eosin-9024 Follow

I agree!! How else would you relieve stress if you can't straight up explode? I would rather die than have to deal with that everyday, I'm so glad parasitic infections are rarer than bacterial and viral infections.

#non immune cells #im sorry for exploding your houses all the time but you guys genuinely terrify me

(34 notes)

🪩 B265 Follow

I love working on the skin! So many beautiful women up here! Way better than working for that insane idiot boss in the alimentary tract

#talking about helper T cell #he sucks so bad #wont let me live my life for just 5 minutes #i do really miss reg t tho #she was way better than helper T

(8 notes)

🪄 Mast92 Follow

The reason why Cellor-sun was so adamant about saving her friends despite risking her life to do so was because if she didn't she risked the Natchlor absorbing her powers and in turn causing the destruction of the whole vessel. Yes she loves her friends but she needed to take the risk, it was a big part of the plot, how do people not see that the first time they watched??

Also I hate how they forcefully gave Cellor-sun a love interest. Soma was an interesting character as Cellor-sun's new companion but they didn't have to force the love interest trope on him. I feel like the trope was so one dimensional, like two different people wrote him. The Cellor-sun I know would never instantly fall in love with someone like that! Their arc was literally 20 minutes long!!! She has high standards and yet just happened to meet someone who has all those exact standards??? Where do you find a cell that happens to be into all your interests, mesh well with your friends, and don't mind that you are a magical girl constantly risking your life for the sake of the vessel?? Soma would've been fine if he was just a friend of Cellor, he could've been her love interest, just stretch it out realistically. He has interesting powers that interact well with the rest of the cast, I really just wish his arc with Cellor would've been written better. Whoever wrote that needs to post a public apology right now.

#cellor-sun against the univessel #cellor-sun #soma-san catu #i could've written it better for real #catu

(424 notes)

[gyllenhaalstories]

presumed innocent episode 3 word vomit <3

when rusty's face went 🥺 my heart went 💔

THE GLASSES THE CLOTHES THE GLASSES THE ASS THE GLASSES

the moment during which rusty fell in love. "carolyn has kindness" no she doesn't hope that helps.

the softness. the cuddliness. the nuzzling against her face. he is a soft man. i can't hate him anymore. oh my god poor rusty.

raymond i love you. if raymond has 0 fan i am dead and he's probably dead too he's so old. poor raymond. you need to learn how to make better friends. rusty is putting you on the highway to a heart attack.

CAROLYN IS A FUCKING CREEP. I HATE HER. I WILL NEVER SUPPORT YOU CAROLYN.

ass ass ass ass back back back back ass ass ass ass

mya is hot as fuck i'm so sorry i cannot act normal around her i love her already and usually that's a bad sign because characters i like are not good people

GLASSES glasses glasses glasses GLASSES

the judge calling nico 'delay guardia' is so funny yes miss judge <3

carolyn was never in love with rusty. you cannot fucking control falling in love with someone. that's creepy. how she pushed rusty back is so heartbreaking. she broke rusty's heart and yet he came back begging and obsessing over a chance at being with her. i just know he would have left his family to build one with carolyn and she would have abandoned him and their child without remorse.

fucking in missionary right on the spot on the carpet where she was tied up... rusty you will rust in jail you're so doomed

tommy........... tommy............ tommy you are hot. i hate you.

also tommy??? if peter and jake weren't brothers in law i'd fully believe in the theory i had since their first interaction that tommy was in love with rusty and he knew about the affair and he was extremely jealous that the affair was not with him. that will forever remain canon in my heart <3

lorraine is freaky like okayyy that was spicy i can only imagine her telling raymond that barbara is having an affair and raymond would die bye poor raymond

the bartender is hot if i didn't want barbara all to myself i'd allow it teehee

barbara losing her job is so NO I LOVE YOU I WILL CALL YOU MOMMY AND TAKE CARE OF YOU SO SO GOOD I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. the scene in the train bus tramway idk? oof that was so fucking hot. barbara is so beautiful. she is so pretty. she is so magnificent. rusty you are a dumb man.

i'm the worst person for whodunnit media, i fall into EVERY. SINGLE. TRAP. i thought it was carolyn's son. then KYLE? KYLE WHAT THE FUCK. could kyle have done it. was he just following his father around and found his car parked in front of carolyn's house. is this a kyle and barbara project. IS THE EMO SON IN ON IT. what the hell.

KYLE. KYLE WHAT THE FUCK KYLE. what the fuck was that. the theory daphne and i are thinking of makes so much sense and we're so right and we should be defending rusty in court like we are absolutely brilliant the world has never seen genius like ours @sizzlingcloudmentality

RUSTY I LOVE YOU YOU'RE SO PATHETIC BUT YOU'RE ALSO PATHETICALLY IN LOVE AND I LOVE YOU.

also the way i guessed SO MANY THINGS from this episode in a fic i'm writing right now (and started like last week) is actually wild. you guys will see when i post it but i guessed so many elements that it's actually trippy. wow i did that i'm so smart this is the smartest thing i've ever done. thank you presumed innocent for supporting my narrative <3

[asleepinawell]

assorted dawntrail thoughts below in no particular order. they range all over the place

loved the first half of the msq story. super fun, cool areas, interesting npcs, paced out pretty nicely. traveling around meeting/helping people and learning about cultures is what the wol thrives on and that is their type of vacation imo. shard of azem behavior

wuk lamat is one of my fave characters in the whole series. himbos stay winning. the amount of (usually bigoted) hate she's getting just makes me like her more. people seem mad that the wol wasn't the main character but i prefer it that way. they are there to help people!

erenville 😢. enjoyed his parts and man i felt so bad for him in the last area

krile finally got more time on screen but it did feel like her main bit was crunched in at the end kinda

alpacas 💯💯💯💯💯💯

overall the scions got a lot less screen time which was mostly fine. one thing I'd really been hoping for in dt was that y'shtola would finally get the focused arc that almost all the other scions have (krile was the other odd one out until now). and boy did the opposite of that happen. i don't know why they made the choice to basically not include her at all but it sucked. estinien was the other one who got almost no screentime but he had a whole xpac about him already. so yeah, that was my biggest negative overall. sometimes i wonder if there's some writers who don't like her or if the fact many fans hate her influences the focus on her. she's my favorite character in the whole game so, yeah, disappointed

second half of the msq. hmmm. shaaloani felt like a filler area and was meh though i got a laugh because of course they put dinosaurs in the wild west area. it did feel a little "wooooo cowboys!!! and oh native americans maybe exist, moving on". I'm not going to make any comments about cultural sensitivity stuff in dt since i think there are other people better qualified to examine that, but this part did feel like everything not yeehaw cowboys was an afterthought

the sphene part of the story confused me, as in i was confused why they went with that. it felt so much like the amaurot story which... we've already done? yeah there were some differences but it had the same vibes and themes. it was fine? just a weird choice. wish zoraal ja had had a little more going on beyond daddy issues for someone we spent a lot of time dealing with. i felt like i didn't even know what his relationship with his father was like. there was some piece of story tying into his motivation and past that was missing. sphene was more interesting though i wish they hadn't gone the route of 'she was programmed to do this so you can't dissuade her' and kept it more as her choice. i'm not saying i wanted her to be 'evil' just that it makes her more interesting if she's acting with free will

las vegas as the last zone lmao. kinda bummed the area stays dark now. like yes it makes sense for the story but it's now a much less visually interesting area to run around and that's a shame. it would have been fun to fly through and now it's just bland and empty

gulool ja should NOT be in charge of a city, he should NOT be at the club, he should be playing tag with ga bu in the park and living his best life. I'm taking him into protective custody

VERMEDICA ii

cities! tulliyolal is great! they did a really nice job of making it feel alive and bustling. it will probably be my main city to hang out in for the xpac because... solution 9... just was not a fan. it feels huge and empty and has elevator music. i like cyberpunk bi lighting but it just isn't enough to save it for me. ah well. neither of them can replace radz in my heart but i didn't expect them to

dungeons. they were all pretty and i liked how they incorporated little events into them like zoraal ja blocking a path. i wasn't crazy about most of the boss fights. they're definitely harder than ew mechanics but it was more that i didn't find them intuitive. I'm sure I'll learn them eventually but the types of mechanics in them just weren't fun ones to me. also i do them all duty support and while it seems like they've broadened the ai abilities for the npcs they also added a ton more aoe and line marker mechanics and those SUCK with npcs because the npcs will run to a predefined location with theirs regardless of what you do and they sometimes wait to do this until the extremely last second. so you move to be somewhere safe and oh no alisaie what are you doing *dead*. this happened a bunch in dead ends and mothercrystal (urianger..... you know what you did) and i was hoping they'd make less of those situations but no they made MORE. so in addition to learning the mechanics you also have to learn where the npcs are going to run. once you know you know but it's frustrating the first time through when your own buddies are killing you

trials. the first one was fine. second one i Did Not Enjoy (also hope that a wipe in the second half only sets you back to phase 2 start because the cs....). third one i really liked though i still have no clue what happened in that one part. you know which part. fortunately a healer survived it to lb3 us so we didn't wipe. i don't even want to imagine what the ex of that will be like. it was a nice ending trial

i was having a harder time than usual seeing mechanics in dungeons through my own ability effects (old and new) for most of the boss fights and i figured it was just me but some of my friends reported the same issue. not 100% sure what is going on there. i only have my own effects on and i really don't want to turn them down but :(

two of my favorite cute little moments: 1) when wuk lamat was despairing that zoraal ja brought back the fancy alpaca and then apologized to her own alpaca and told it it was great and it did a little step towards her to encourage her 😭. i just loved the alpacas okay. 2) vrtra showing up! and then azdaja doing a tiny roar!! crying yelling throwing up etc

i did all the side quests as i went and I'm glad i did. especially in the first half they felt like they added to the whole learning about new people main story and there were some fun ones. i had to catch a hyper cat in solution 9... that's my sort of quest

I've only done the magical dps role quest so far. comparing notes with someone who did a different one it seems like the role quests are very silly storywise this time. it wasn't the most exciting story but i liked my npc buddy and the final duty wasn't bad

job gear looks fantastic except for poor pld who is cursed to be a shiny knight forever. gnb coat is superb. blm wins though i think. cat staff!

i had to turn off shout chat when i got to solution 9 because i guess that's where all the cool kids hang out to talk about how much they hate the game they're paying to play. i haven't switched it back on and am enjoying blissful silence

i swear we've seen that world traveling key thing before???? it looked so familiar. also looked ascian which would make sense. they should not have left it with my son he is going to make a blue raspberry slushie in it or something horrible. please give it to an adult

i haven't been looking at too much in the way of interviews or speculation about the raid series, but my guess is it will involve the ascian(s) who were on whichever shard alexandria is. my crack theory is one of them is, uh, duedaf...duedalus...dudeathon........ whatever i'll get it eventually, because the constellation from their stone is an upside down triangle like the ones on the robot faces. big if true. a friend told me there was something that might have looked like part of an ascian sigil in sphene's outfit decoration but i wouldn't have recognized it on sight

pct is great. hanmer time! i am not a 'serious' gamer and i am so pleased to have a new job with a not serious aesthetic. vpr i am trying very hard to like but so far the gameplay style hasn't vibed for me

have i mentioned i love the alpacas? the ear wiggles!!!!!!!!

i probably forgot a ton of stuff but those are my rambles for now

[whatyourusherthinks]

The Wild Robot Review

The teaser trailer for this movie was beautiful. The visuals of this robots, saving animals and exploring the wilderness, set to that beautiful music, agh, it gave me the feels. This movie looked like a dialogue-less adventure about a man-made product being thrust into an unfamiliar environment and learning to survive. This seemed like a powerful movie, especially for kids! How many kids movies have no dialogue? That's a really awesome idea for a movie right there.

AND THEN THE ACTUAL TRAILER COMES OUT. AND EVERYTHING WAS FUCKING. TALKING. THE ANIMALS. THE ROBOT. EVERYTHING. Roan there was like 8 actor names at the end of the teaser what ever you expecting? I don't know Buggnutz, maybe there would be some scientists and they would talk for one or two lines. INSTEAD THEY ARE THE ONLY THINGS THAT DON'T FUCKING TALK IN THIS GODDAMN MOVIE.

What's The Movie About?

A robot that was lost in a typhoon washes up on the shore of an island full of animals, and in leu of finding a purpose she must raise a baby goose.

What I Like.

This movie is absolutely gorgeous. It's the same CG but with painted edges style that Puss In Boots: The Last Wish had. I think there was even a part that was stop motion, I'm not sure but is was incredibly pretty. The action is pretty cool too. They do a good job showcasing calamity without losing track of what is happening or who we are following. The music, as well, is incredibly beautiful. It's almost as if the people who made the teaser trailer knew that these elements of the movie are the best and showing anything else from the movie would give away how bad it is. Roan...

A few other things I begrudgingly admit were good: The designs of all the robots and the future human cities were cool. I like that the robot can adjust her body to mimic different things and complete tasks. The hints of a post-post-apocalyptic future were neat. The baby animals were cute. The scene where the goose leave to migrate almost made me tear up. (You cried? ALMOST.) The voice acting, despite being another showcase of big names, is actually good and I feel like the actors became their characters. I liked it when the robot got beat up by the animals.

What I Didn't Like.

I hate every piece of dialogue spoken in this movie. Roan. NO. EVERY LINE SUCKS. IT'S EITHER PERFUNCTORY OR CLICHED. The lines that are expository are unnecessary and could or are communicated by the actions of the characters or the expressions of their faces. They only thing that would be missing from the movie if you removed all the dialogue is Dreamworks jokes. Y'know, the ones that go over the kid's head because they are for the parent? Well this movie has the worst Dreamworks jokes I've heard. Literally one of them is just a character saying "Male bovine excrement." The only context of that being funny is if you imagine the scriptwriter wanting to put the world "bullshit" in the script but someone telling him no. And we know that didn't happen!

Of course, taking out all the dialogue in the movie wouldn't save it, because the plot is bad. It's incredibly faithful to the book. Well the book is bad too. The structure is borked and pacing is whack, but my main issue is the tone. See, the movie for most of the run time is incredibly cynical. Not unjustifiably so I would say. All the animals are aggressive because either a) they are predators and need to eat, or b) they are prey animals and need to not get eaten. But at the same time, it's got a happy-clappy "And then all the animals in the forest got together and held hands" moral which just isn't compatible with the realistic "some animals just gotta eat other animals to live" part of the story. Am I supposed to assume that some prey animals willingly give up their lives so that the predators can eat. No, you're supposed to not think about it because it's A TALKING ANIMAL MOVIE. THEN WHY EXPLICITLY BRING UP THE FACT THAT PREDATORS EAT OTHER ANIMALS TO LIVE? FOCUS ON THE MOTHER-SON DYNAMIC OF THE ROBOT AND THE GOOSE! WHY? I DON'T KNOW EITHER OF THEM AS CHARACTERS! The robot is just tricked into following dumb programming until suddenly it isn't, with almost no build up and ABSOLUTELY no explanation beyond "it's the power of love!". The only thing I remember about the goose is that he was gonna get killed by his biological mom. That's one of the things in this movie that just rubs me the wrong way, and I don't know if this is just me way over-analyzing or misinterpreting something, but I guess I'm gonna clutch my pearls over a scene which implies killing a mother to save a baby is a morally correct thing to do.

Naturally, this movie does commit my cardinal sin of immediately backtracking a horrible fate to pull a happy ending out of its ass. They actually do it twice. The robot goes through a memory-wiping process and forgets her goose son, but it's okay because one hug from him restores it for no reason except love I guess. Love makes the world go round dude. But they don't even use the memory wipe for drama. WALL-E, which I remind you is one of the best kids movies if not movies ever, does almost exactly the same thing. (That not even a the only scene this movie basically steals from better kids movies either. The opening of Migration is copy pasted into the middle of this movie.) The main character who is a robot sacrifices themselves and loses their memory, causing distress for a loved one but an act of physical intimacy brings them restores it. But in WALL-E, the titular character goes about a drone life. He starts destroying the interesting trash he once collected. He doesn't recognize EVE. You feel a wrench of emotion before EVE gives him what she thinks is one final kiss and the happy ending plays. In this the robot says like one robot-y thing and then the goose hugs her and she back yaaaay. The second time is after the finale. The robot decides she need to return to her creators to protect the forest (which they even acknowledge in the movie and book is stupid because why did they waste their time fighting off the evil robots that came to take her away in the first place, but go off.) and she flies away in the robot ship. Now to the book's credit, it ends there. The robot contemplates her future and it's kind of a downer ending. BUT THAT'S TOO SAD FOR A KIDS MOVIE, so in the end the goose has to find the rebuilt and somehow not reprogrammed robot living in the human city and they hug again. Yeah god forbid a kid feels an emotion that isn't joy, or take the time to consider different aspects of their life with a thought provoking story.

Final Summation.

ROAN, SIT THE HELL DOWN AND SHUT THE HELL UP. The Wild Robot is a fine kids movie. Just because you're feeling cranky and are mad that the movie isn't what you wanted it to be DOESN'T MEAN IT'S BAD. Stamp it a recommendation, and MOVE. ON. Fuck you. WHAT WAS THAT YOU LITTLE BITCH? I said FUCK YOU. This movie is BAD. Not because it wasn't what I wanted it to be, but because it is a BAD. MOVIE. The Wild Robot has the same issue as Harold and the Purple Crayon, where it tries to grasp at higher concepts but falls short. But unlike that movie which was done out of a sense of obligation, it feels like the writers just don't trust kids to engage with deeper topics in a more critical way. Which is FUCKING NONSENSE. THEY DESERVE BETTER. Kids are much smarter and emotionally wiser than the creators of this movie would ever give them credit, and kids movie-makers should give them their FUCKING RESPECT.

DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE. ...I just need something to distract my kids. THEN WATCH TRANSFORMERS ONE. That movie has robots and a plot that is actually worth a damn, plus your kids will actually learn something important.

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here my dear, celebrating that its (almost) 2 weeks till we're back and feeling the need to cackle with you over today's events. Look you and I are salty benches at heart, so I'm unreasonably gleeful over the fact that not only did Timmy more or less say that TK-2 is a plot device, but he's a plot device specifically for the purpose of keeping Buck and Eddie apart so Eddie can "discover himself". Like he could have made him a plot device for the Gerrard of everything (and yeah, maybe he is aware enough that he realized two white men getting "affected" and needing to deal with the racist, misogynistic captain was too much but I doubt it) since he has some experience there but nope!! He specifically brought Tommy Boy up in the context of Buck and Eddie and you just have to laugh. Tommy is unofficially the new Marisol, no job or last name necessary he just has to be around. Meanwhile Eddie is missing Buck so badly he has to go to church about it, something he didn't even do about the literal nun he was dating, which also makes me giggle. All of this is of course is speculation at this point but fuck it, I'm having fun, family feud is in 5 days, and the best damn firefam crew is soon to be on my screen again, so cheers friend, here's to a new season of nonsense where we can get unhinged about two idiot boys while reserving our hater vibes for their crappy partners 🥂.

OH MY GOD HIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Today has been WILD because on the one hand, my irritated petty bench self is going "I hate being fucking right" about the fact that bees were just a distraction and we're apparently doing season 5 "it's all about Athena's past" opening instead of being focused on the 118 (and Athena) ACTUALLY doing first responding and saving people. I am gnashing my teeth over the knowledge that the show just is not committed to focusing on what truly made those first couple big disasters GOOD and memorable, and ENJOYABLE to watch. Instead we're doing 70s movie remakes for the fun promo material they provide and then turning into a detective show again instead of focusing on first response and disaster rescue. Which, it might all be fine and the plane stuff will also be about disaster rescue (tornado would have been better though as bees can act weird around weather phenomenons so at least they'd tie together sensibly), but I'm still gonna be 😒😒😒 about it until they prove me wrong.

ANYWAY.

On the other hand, my happy petty bench self has been *cackling* about Tim talking in depth about Eddie most of the paragraph after the most generic blanket statement about BT, like. That man has nothing to say about it because there's so little there he probably CAN'T say anything without spoiling the little that's going on.

The cast looks happier on set than they have in a LONG time, the plot devices are plot device-ing, hot priest is back?! as Eddie examines himself and who he is?! We're getting a meaty Henren/Madney storyline it sounds like, Bobby is gonna be a NIGHTMARE as technical advisor and I'm so excited to see that, plus the chance to do fake Buddie on Hotshots is RIGHT THERE and even if the show doesn't do it, I KNOW we are gonna get some super fun fics about it.

I'm feeling super 🙄 about the Gerrard stuff revolving around Buck because they have proven especially recently that they can't handle these storylines well and keep centering the white men instead of COC so like, not holding my breath it's gonna be done well. But also, they didn't have Buck do anything 98% of season 7 so he doesn't have anything else going on. If we're lucky, it gets handled well and will also lead to an examination of T's behavior, BT's relationship, and eventual reason for breaking up. But again, not holding my breath. This show just loooooves to pretend shitty people never did anything wrong so they don't have to spend time on the character, and then expect the audience to be on board with Evan "loyalty streak a mile wide and loves his family more than himself" Buckley to be perfectly fine dating them like they never hurt anyone and the notoriously nosy, bitchy, petty firefam to never ever bring it up or say anything bad about them ever. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

But overall, I'm excited and I know you always have my back when it comes to being an equal opportunity hater for the shitty people they keep sticking our boys with.

ALSO! In news that I've been saying forever but actually kind of mean it this time, I have been working on my Countdowns fic! It's currently over 12k words and I'm still only on part 2 (of like, 7? maybe?) and I need to rewatch 2x01 to clarify some stuff, but I AM writing! I planned to do more this summer, but we had some unexpected out of town trips and a new baby that needed some crochet projects done, and also I need to just get a little bitty tablet and keyboard so I can sneakily write at work now that I'm not so busy. It's not super edited so I haven't been sharing any snippets but maaaaaaybe if everyone asks nicely, I'll share a little something that I know I like and am going to keep.

It was such a delight to see your ask pop up today!! You've given me the serotonin to actually open my inbox and see what's in there, so everyone say "thank you Sleeping at Last Anon!" for any other asks I get around to answering today. And send me good vibes to work on this fic because I think if I can pull it off, it's gonna be something I'm super proud of. But I gotta actually, ya know, write it.

Cheers, bestie! I can't wait to watch this season with you!

[undeadorion]

People better appreciate that I'm not reducing Sister Imperator to a smudge for this comic. She the actress from the earlier videos looks alarmingly like my mother.

Long story short: my mother was a heinous mentally and emotionally abusive bitch. A compulsive liar. I hate her with the burning fury of a thousand suns. She is the source of 90% of my trauma.

She told me and my two sisters she was a registered nurse. Our whole lives she said that's what her job was. She needed help writing up a resume when I was in my 30s and I realized she had no medical school. She had only ever been a medical secretary, running the front desk. When I called this out she swore up and down that it had only ever been a joke. Yet she'd always come home with wild stories of saving patient's lives when she worked on the cardiac unit. One I remember vividly was claims she was straddling a patient doing chest compressions while they rushed him to the ER. She was suffering from osteoporosis so bad she struggled to get up the stairs some days. And the hospital could have it's pants sued off if a fucking secretary was caught doing chest compressions. while SITTING ON A PATIENT.

After she divorced my dad she eventually married this guy who I think was at least a former meth addict. He was missing at least half his teeth and was about as intelligent as a half boiled potato. She moved away to live with him in Texas because his mom was super rich. The family had oil on their land, apparently. This is why my mom married him. She moved back at some point claiming he was nightmarishly abusive. Like threatening to shoot he in the head and shit. But she refused to use any of the resources available then burned through like $500,000 in 6 months. I caught her talking to him on the phone one night, planning for him to come visit. She didn't know I was sitting on the stairs listening.

Mind you she hadn't told him I was trans. The last he'd seen me was before I started my transition. He was rural Texas with a gun level bigotry. She wouldn't tell him because "he wouldn't understand." So I asked her what we were going to tell him when he came to visit.

She lied to my fucking face and said that's not who she was talking to. It was her friend who lived in another state who was going to visit family. I said I'd heard her say "I love you." She legit insisted she said that to her friends. Which she'd never done in her life. So I made note of the date I'd heard her set. The night before that date she told me he'd called to say he was coming for a "surprise" visit. Surprise my ass she'd planned it over a month before. I went to stay in a hotel before a friend offered me a place to stay. I popped by about a week later to find the entire apartment except my room in boxes. My mom didn't say a single fucking word while I was there.

I got a text message a few days later just saying "He's gone, you can come home." But when I got there, of course she wasn't there. There was just a note on the kitchen counter saying "This was the only way" with the apartment keys.

This was mid-December of 2017. I texted her to say I'd sorted rent out and to never speak to me again. I haven't heard from her since.

I'm over it enough I can talk about it and obviously draw someone that looks like her. I'm mostly just angry about it now. I wanted to share this I guess so people know when I reference my mom they know exactly the sort of person I'm talking about.

Oh, and I was in the process of legal transition while I lived with her. Name and gender marker changes. She'd been fine with my transition until then. But once I started the legal process she'd look at me all full of tears then hold my face and start crying. She'd say shit like she was "mourning her baby." I was 33 fucking years old and standing in front of her.

[nancypullen]

SPRING!

Spring has sprung and I've got an itchy trowel hand. I'm dying to get stated in the gardens. Raise your hand if you think I need at least one raised bed for herbs.

I chose those baseball players because it's also baseball season! Opening day is March 28th. Hit 'em where they ain't boys! Name that movie. Here's a hint.

If I sound chipper today, it's because I am. I HAVE A DAY OFF! Hallelujah! This job has become all-consuming and honestly, not fun. With spring in the air I'm longing for home and time spent playing in the dirt. The flower beds in the front of the house wave me off every morning and greet me every night - and I miss them!

Those gorgeous irises ae from Stoner Creek Elementary where I spent many years working. When a tornado wiped out the school some of my sweet teacher friends dug up and divided irises from the grounds. My dear pal, Dina, gifted me with several and they're thriving. The tulip bulbs were sent by my sister-in-law last December. I put them in the ground and, lo and behold, all 40 bloomed! Isn't it special when you can look at parts of your gardens and feel a rush of love for the people who made it possible? Double the pleasure. Our high today is just 47 and there's a chilly wind blowing, but the sun is bight and skies are blue. No complaints from me. I spent a little time cleaning up winter debris from the flower beds and making plans for what I'll grow this year. Every fall I swear I'm not planting sunflowers again, and every spring I come across seeds that I saved and I'm pulled right back in. Of course I'll plant them. They did really well on the east side of the house last summer, so that's where they'll go again. I surrounded them with zinnias for extra color (is there anything easier to grow than zinnias?) and the grandgirl liked making bouquets with them. I'll do that again. My Zepherine rose bush arrived last week and went into the ground, crossing my fingers that she'll really show off. Of course, this is her first year so I shouldn't expect too much. I shouldn't, but I will. I need to do a lot of things with my time off, but I have a feeling most of it will involve dirt. I'm okay with that. I just want to wear old t-shirts, make things grow, and feed the birds and squirrels. I've become an old swamp witch. There are worse ways to spend my time, right? I've got a roast in the crockpot, I'll roast some broccoli and mash some taters for dinner. We eat a lot of salmon and salads, generally avoiding red meat, but I thought the mister deserved a big hunk of cow meat tonight. He has been absolutely wonderful about keeping things tidy and making dinners. I know, I know women do invisible work for decades and no one ever applauds or thanks them. We're criticized when we don't do it all, but never thanked. Still, I appreciate that he's not leaving everything for me to do, so I will shower him with beef. I know it's been forever since I posted, and I really hate it. HATE it. I ask myself at the end of every nine hour day at the library why I'm doing this. I just wanted to volunteer somewhere and meet some nice people.

I know that most folks don't see what happens behind the scenes in a library, it seems like quiet people just sit at desks and check books in and out. There's constant work to be done, lots of big plastic tubs of books coming and going that have to be processed, inter-library loans,etc. I also spend time at the information desk which is always wild. Some of the questions that people call with would blow your mind. I enjoy working in the children's room, that's always fun. I really love when I can put the right book into a kid's hands and they come back and ask for more like it. Shelving never ends...ever. I'm already working on April's displays , two in the main library and one in the children's room. I just really wish that the days weren't so long. This week is a short week for me and I am delighted. Next week will be long. If they'd just have me come in from 9 to 1 daily, I could knock out all of my work plus others' tasks and still have a life. I work every hour that I'm there, others do not. If I have down time I will float around and pick up the slack in other areas. If everything is caught up, I'll clean. I never thought I'd be that senior citizen that complained about "young people today", but my gosh there's a whole lot of dead weight on staff. Seems like everyone has a special reason why they can't complete a task or show up for work. Ugh. They're all making more than me and getting health insurance, why am I the only one worried about the work getting done? I'm the part-time granny! Okay, I'm not going to end this happy blog post with whining about work. It has been good for me to get out and meet people, I'll stick with the positives. I skipped lunch today because I was working in the yard and now I'm feeling snacky. Since we're having a big dinner I guess I'll just have some cucumbers or a cup of yogurt. That'll keep me from wasting away to normal. Might even sit down and watch some murder tv. I've really been missing my shows! I have to catch up on all of the heinous things people do to one another. I wouldn't be surprised if someone calls the library asking how to dispose of a body, I'll just consider this research. I'm off for a couple of days so I'll blog again tomorrow. Hooray!! I miss the old days of steady blogging. Until then... Stay safe, stay well, HAPPY SPRING! XOXO, Nancy

[kangamommynow]

It's been a day

Nothing major. Just small accumulating annoyances. Being tired and too warm (it got to nearly 80 degrees today, which is insane). Trying to channel the wildness of 10 year olds.

at one point I put my head down on my table and my group was concerned. "I don't feel like you are hearing anything I'm trying to teach" "I'm listening to you" "But you are also watching X and talking to your neighbor and spinning on the stool, so if you are listening it is with the 'yes I hear you' and not with the 'I'm trying to understand you'".

I have a new kiddo in my reading group. His reading is very, very low, but not because of disability. He is a refugee, an immigrant. His reading is low because he just doesn't know much English yet. My other students have the benefit that they know English letter sounds and he doesn't. His brain has to work a lot harder. He'll get there, but it's so freaking hard for him. He has ESL services, but that's not nearly enough.

We have another student who is moving away at the end of the week and I have to admit I'm glad. The class will be so much calmer without her drama. So much drama. She spends most of her time flitting from one person to another spreading rumors and stirring up trouble and provoking other people and frankly it's on everyone's last nerve. When my student M gets in a fight, it's almost always involving this girl either directly or indirectly. She is also the primary bully of one of my other students. So. I'm glad she will be gone.

After school I took J over to REI to try to find travel clothes for the cruise. We found some pants, shirts, and socks for him, and a few shirts for me. Alas, despite all my hunting, not a damn pair of pants in my size anywhere in the store. Yes, I'm short. That doesn't mean I'm tiny. They had petite sizes 0-8 and regular sizes (much too long) 10-16, but not a 14 or 16 petite to be found. So I had to order on Amazon and pray that something fits. I fucking hate clothes shopping. It's the most dispiriting activity. Especially when you know precisely what it is you need and it just doesn't seem to exist.

They are moving our school to a late start, mostly due to bus issues. We are nearly 7 weeks into school and we still have busses running 1-2 hours behind because they just can't get enough drivers. Many of the drivers were retirees and they all left with Covid. It's a sucky job with weird ass hours and rambunctious, often disrespectful kids and I wouldn't want to do it either. So they are shifting our start/end time to try to accommodate that. God knows what they are going to do as more and more teachers leave. Squish more kids in a classroom and pretend more testing will solve the problem, I assume.

I'm cranky, obviously. I am too warm, too sore, and I miss my ... whatever he is. My guy. The person I'm attached to. It's just . sigh.

[trillscienceofficer]

Hi! I saw your tags on that post & I thought I'd send you a question about B7 that I'd love to hear your thoughts about :) Quick disclaimer: I haven't seen the last few seasons of Voyager & I've only *heard* about Picard so if I'm missing anything that's probably why. Having said that - if we assume that B'Elanna & Seven dated during the events of Voyager & came back to the alpha quadrant together, what is your favourite post-Voyager version of events regarding their relationship? Thank you & take care!

Thank you so much, this is a REALLY good question!

I find myself going back and forth on various versions of this canon-divergent post-Voyager scenario, and I find it hard to settle on one in particular. Would a relationship between them implode in the abrupt transition to life in the Alpha Quadrant, since it was something that started in the relatively isolated environment of Voyager, or would it survive the change? I think it ultimately depends on how that relationship between them developed, and when. Most of the time in my writing I assume B'Elanna and Seven get together in late season 5 or early season 6, and that would mean they had around two years to figure things out about each other and themselves before being faced with leaving behind the life they've known for so long. However, I wouldn't describe the dynamic of a relationship between them as stable, either.

Both because I'm a hopeless romantic and what compels me most about this relationship is the potential for growth and self-discovery it could spur in both B'Elanna and Seven, I really would love to see them working it out in some way, and remain together. I think a relationship still wouldn't cancel out their restlessness, though. Honestly, I think B'Elanna would hate a Starfleet-type job, and I don't see either of them settling down unless it was for a short-lived, unsuccessful experiment. I think it would be fun for them to have the kind of elastic bond that would allow them to work and travel across the Quadrant doing their own thing while periodically seeing each other whenever they have time, and sometimes going on wild tangents together (honestly if Seven still got in the Rangers or a similar organization, I see them working together pretty often trying to make old, banged-up starships fly again!)

Another important question to me is, would that relationship allow B'Elanna and Seven grow in such a way that they'd be able to face their future in a less dysfunctional way? Again I think it depends on how you look at it, but my favorite interpretation of this ship is a resounding yes! It's no secret that I think Seven on the Picard show is not doing very well and is not getting particularly better, but the way in which she's not doing well is very interesting. I think Seven's main problem on Picard is that she's avoidant, both wrt her own needs and feelings and wrt the people who care about her. All this sound to me like... she's essentially taken on a lot of the issues B'Elanna had on Voyager. Simply put, I think that wouldn't had happened if she and B'Elanna had been closer and had stayed close. Not that I think that they are particularly good at recognizing each other's issues, but they would certainly have more experience with dealing with them because, again, I think some growth has happened to allow them to stay in each other's life.

As for B'Elanna... we know nothing about her post-Voyager so far, but I really would love to see her forging her own path in the Alpha Quadrant, no strings attached, while still having a partner that she can be sure she can trust (however tumultuous her relationship with Seven is) and won't force B'Elanna to shrink herself into someone she's not. I want her to have the freedom that comes with that kind of partnership, even if it would probably take time for her to realize that not settling down doesn't mean that she's failing.

tl;dr my fave version of post-canon b7 is that with some growing pains they remain together in an elastic and informal arrangement, and still see each other when they're not having wild adventures (and maybe even have some adventures together)

[grimmars]

Hello! Criminal Minds anon again. I saw your post and I'm so happy to see you like the show so far! Season 4 is a really good one, and the last few episodes are WILD, so good luck LOL!

I'm glad that you feel similarly about Reid, as well. He's easily my favorite in the whole show without a doubt, and I think MGG does a great job playing him. The relationship between him and his mom is just *chef's kiss* and gets me in the feels so fast (especially in the later seasons 😭). In regards to the guns thing, I hate to say it but he's kinda the show's whump character lmao. Everyone suffers, but the writers and MGG really love to hurt him specifically.

Big yes to Morgan!!! I love him so much and 100% agree. 'Profiler, Profiled' is one of the best episodes in the show and it sets him up so perfectly from that point on. Also him and Garcia are so funny on the phone I completely agree.

Hotch is really bland for a lot of the show I do have to agree, but towards the end of Season 4 and throughout Season 5 they focus on him a bit more and it helps to give him more character, I feel. He's still the same old Hotch, but you kinda understand him a bit better and feel for him a lot after these two seasons.

And yeahhh the show is not very kind to queer people, unfortunately. Even in the later seasons you can feel them trying to do better in a way, but it still just feels icky. There's one scene where Morgan is ribbing Reid about where he's been and that he hopes he was with a girl and not a guy and I just 💀. Also the entirety of 'Machismo' is god awful with the man in a dress thing. They sorta drift away from the trope near the end of the show, but it never leaves entirely, which sucks big time.

Elle was done so dirty by the writers and tbh the team!! She deserved better!! Her story is absolutely wild though so I had the same reaction on my first watch. And I 100% agree with you on Gideon. I remember when my friend who introduced me to the show told me he and Elle were going to be leaving so soon I was genuinely upset lol. Emily is wonderful, though, and Rossi grew on me overtime, so hopefully you warm up to him as well. And yes I love JJ so much. When Todd replaced her for a bit I was so upset. I kept saying the "I miss my wife, Tails" thing to my friends about JJ leaving, so now we all call her my wife lmao. And again Emily is so wonderful!! With her putting her life on the line for Reid, she's like that the whole show. She's ride or die for the team and I adore her so much. If you stick around for Season 12 and 13 (good luck if you do, because jesus christ those seasons are a bit tough) you'll see that aspect of her highlighted even more.

And good plan, honestly! Season 10 is where a lot of people feel the show should have ended, so that's a pretty good season to end on if you do. I will say if you do stop there, skip ahead to Season 11 Episode 11 'Entropy' and just watch that on it's own if you get the chance. It's easily the best episode in the show imo and it's so fun. And good news the baseball episode is early in Season 8!

Sorry for rambling I'm just really excited that you like the show, LOL!

Ayy! Hello again, I'm glad we share favourite things about criminal minds, infodumping to my brother doesn't always have the same effect lol.

I don't really hate Rossi now after watching for a bit, when he's first introduced he was giving homophobic vibes and recently he's more like the dad forced to follow his kids to pride

I'll definitely be checking out entropy after season 10, the baseball episode is so close yet so far away ;-;

[phanfictioncatalogue]

(TW) Heavy Angst With A Happy Ending Masterlist

before/after (ao3) - katesofheaven

Summary: Dan and Phil have a dying daughter and they deal with it in different ways, both before and after she goes.

Butterfly (ao3) - A_Million_Regrets

Summary: Phil Lester, a lonely writer, finds a dying boy with beautiful black wings on a cold, rainy night in a dingy alleyway. He recognizes the boy as one of the winged men hated by human society. They are considered to be wild, ferocious beasts, but Phil's sympathy forces him to help the boy.

What happens when the boy, considered to be a wild beast, gets too attached and follows him home with an innocent, dimpled smile?

Can We Just Pretend (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: After being seen cuddling with a childhood friend, Phil thinks Dan is cheating.

Change Will Come (ao3) - rainbowchristy

Summary: Dan’s a depressed university student. Phil’s just a cute coffee shop barista who writes notes on Dan’s hot chocolates.

Choking on My Thoughts of You (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: The first time Phil coughed up a petal, he thought he was seeing things. He blinked, staring at its perfect edges, almost as if to will it out of existence. There was no way something so small and perfect could have come from his lungs. That couldn’t be possible. Yet there it sat, perfect and white as can be, cupped in his hands.

Phil loved Dan so much it was killing him.

dollhouse (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: dan's parents are fighting, again.

Expectations (ao3) - my_happy_little_bean

Summary: They expect you do well. They expect you to succeed. That's everyone's expectations.

You, however, have different expectations from different people.

And you're tired of them.

helplessly helpless: I’m alive, can you hear me? (ao3) - MANIAvinyl

Summary: Dan’s been in a relatively good place. He’s kept his head screwed on tight recently. So because the worst of the storm has passed he feels like it’s on him to help the world to de-stigmatize talking about mental health. When he mentions this to Phil, though, it’s finally revealed how much the last few years have impacted his best friend, too.

Really, I just wanted to explore Phil’s side of the story regarding Daniel and Depression. Because mental health doesn’t just affect the individual; it also affects those close to them, in ways we can’t imagine until we’re the ones on the other side.

hippo milk is actually pink (ao3) - deletable_bird

Summary: In Which Dan Is Drunk, Phil Is Also Drunk, They Hook Up, And Things Just Kind Of Go From There

Maybe I miss you (ao3) - Misha_with_wings

Summary: Phil leaves Dan for several months to temporarily live in New York City and work on a movie set.

The distance between them drove them both insane, but neither of them could voice the reason why.

When Dan comes to visit Phil in New York his feelings are threatened to spill after an encounter with one of Phil's new friends, but he keeps lying- to both Phil and himself.

Hopefully he can eventually tell the truth, because Phil gets another long-term job opportunity in California and Dan can't take any more distance.

Maybe It'll Last This Time (But I'm Gonna' Love You) (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: “Because, if you could love someone, and keep loving them, without being loved back . . . then that love had to be real. It hurt too much to be anything else.” -- Kill Me Softly, Sarah Cross

You love him, but it's a little complicated.

Missing (ao3) - Misha_with_wings

Summary: "So we have a new update on the serial killer running loose around London-" Dan turns the tv off, he didn't want to hear anymore. He just wanted Phil back home, safe and sound.

Seized (ao3) - rainbowchristy

Summary: It started out as a fun day at the park but it ended in terror. Phil takes his little Dan to the park and while Phil is not looking, Dan suddenly gets kidnapped. What will happen to Dan? Will Phil ever see his boyfriend again? Did Phil have something to do with it?

To Love You (ao3) - A_Million_Regrets

Summary: Dan is a rent boy, a male prostitute, a cheap whore, another slut for hire . . . He's heard many more derogatory terms used against him in pointless arguments, regardless of whether it be with friends, family or a random stranger in a dingy pub. He's ashamed of who he's become, but he never says it out loud. He hides things, things like his shame, his pain, and the fact that he's helplessly in love with his bestfriend, Phil Lester.

Unrequited (ao3) - thiccennugget

Summary: Phil doesn't believe in soulmates. Dan's been searching for his for years.

Wonders Never Cease (ao3) - Yiffandquiff (paradisobound)

Summary: Dan and Phil were one of the 'it' couples at their high school until one day, Phil blindsides Dan with a break up. Hurting and seeking comfort, Dan befriends Tyler who helps him get through the first tough few months of the break up, mending his shattered heart. But Dan doesn't want to move on. He wants to be with Phil and maybe, just maybe, in the end, he'll still get to be.

[avrablake]

15 Questions Tag: Iris

Thanks for tag @nopoodles

I've also answered this for Ryu, Kaori, Nix, and Nolan if you want to see their responses.

I'm having her answer these just before she meets Nolan. Her life definitely doesn't end up taking the direction she thought it would.

1 - Are you named after anyone?

I don't know. I don't remember very much about my birth family but I do remember that my mother had a flower garden. I guess she named me Iris because she liked flowers.

2 - When was the last time you cried?

*Her face turns red and she laughs an embarrassed laugh*

Turns out I cry pretty easily. I cry when I'm mad, which I hate, and when I'm embarrassed, and when I'm sad, and even sometimes when I'm happy. I don't really keep track of it.

3 - Do you have any kids?

I'm definitely too young for that. I do have about 20 little brothers and sisters though.

4 - Do you use sarcasm?

Not really. Miss Margaret doesn't like it. The younger kids are always getting scolded for being sarcastic, especially Gram. I don't disagree with her either. It seems sarcasm is meant to be hurtful more than it's meant to be funny.

5 - What's the first think you notice about people?

Hmmm. I can usually tell when someone is trying to hide something. Or when they aren't being genuine. I guess I notice their body language? I've never really thought about it.

6 - What is your eye color?

*she points at her eyes with both index fingers and grins*

Blue!

7 - Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings for sure, but I do think scary movies can be fun as long as they aren't too scary. I like the old ones with no special effects and I think jump scares can be fun. But I don't like the really gruesome ones.

8 - Any special talents?

The kids all like when I tell stories, so I guess I'm pretty good at that.

9 - Where were you born?

*her smile slips and she blinks rapidly. She clears her throat before answering*

Uh, I was born in one of the farming villages near the city. But I've been at the orphanage since I was about six. To me that's home.

10 - What are your hobbies?

*her eyes light up and she wipes them before answering*

I like telling stories to the younger kids at the orphanage. I like to read so sometimes I just retell them stories from books I've read. But there aren't that many books at the orphanage. When some of the kids started getting tired of those I started making up my own. Sometimes I take the kids outside at night and we look for pictures in the sky together. Sometimes I make up a story about what they say they see.

I also like gardening. I grow a small vegetable garden at the orphanage. I grow a few flowers too though there isn't very much room.

11 - Do you have any pets?

Do Gram and Aly count? Sometimes I think those two are more like a couple of wild animals than children.

12 - What sports do you or have you played?

Unfortunately I've never really been able to play any sports or games. I've never had very much stamina and I get sick a lot. Miss Margaret always made me stay on the sidelines when the other kids were playing.

13 - How tall are you?

Around 5'2" I think?

14 - Favorite subject in school?

Miss Margaret is very insistent that we all are well educated. She teaches us herself but that doesn't mean our education is worse than anyone else's. She even made us learn things like etiquette and dancing. I can't imagine any of us ever mingling with those wealthy people from the city, aside from Dr. Avery. Dancing was really fun though.

I guess my favorite has always been reading though. I also enjoyed gardening and learning about different kinds of plants.

15 - Dream job?

Wow that seems like too big of a question to have a simple answer. Like if I could do anything? I suppose Dr. Avery's work is interesting. I help him sometimes when he comes here, but I'm not sure I would want to be a doctor. I don't know. I've never really thought about doing anything except helping Miss Margaret here at the orphanage. I really love working with all the kids.

-

leaving an Open Tag and also tagging (no pressure) @thegreatobsesso @eccaiia and @shellyscribbles to answer this for one of your OCs or for yourself

[kimbapisnotsushi]

okay i love volume 3 just for the mimarashi reunion and igarashi fucking with him and mima getting revenge by calling him by his first name out of the blue and doing an absolutely STUNNING job with the movie ad and bringing the most pure joy i have ever seen on a character to igarashi but like. oh my god. VOLUME 4 HELLO HAVE MY FAVE MOMENTS

(this does contain spoilers so feel free to skip!!)

shun's super cute egg shirt . . . i don't even like eggs and i want one so bad omg

hayate's lil "one of us" look is SO CUTE oh my god

the guys playing merry-go-round with the drinks and shun trying them and the ppl watching thinking it causes world peace just bc shun, souma, and hayate all believe in healthy masculinity

shun going "man movie theater seats make you feel like reaching for a seatbelt" and souma going "haha yeah i know" WHILE ACTUALLY DOING IT AND THEN HIS EXPRESSION AND THE WAY THE OTHER TWO JUST LOOK AT HIM AFTER

also can i take the chance to say that like. idk what is is with kokone nata but the way she uses effects and screentones is one of my FAVORITE things . . . like the "booms" and the sparkles and just like. i don't know what makes it different but i love it SO MUCH

shun just being naturally casually touchy is SO important to me. like. we know he's bad with words/verbally expressing himself and gets really embarrassed about it but he slings an arm around souma like it's second nature and it doesn't even faze him??? futami "physical touch is my love language" shun i love you

when shun overhears igarashi and souma and goes "what're you guys talking about, bathroom stuff?" and igarashi goes "yeah!" and then souma goes "NO??" like PLEASE why would igarashi do him like that i KNEW he was a little shit

both igarashi and asami encouraging that spark in souma to grow and create and to wield his weapon and being someone he can be proud of

igarashi texting mima "i stole all your cute friends ^-^" and mima texting back "give them back" like HELLO is that not flirting??

"MIMA BEHIND YOU" and then "NO IN THE VIDEO GAME!!"

"incredible! he's missing every single shot" god that was SO funny why is his coworker so mean

mima asking souta if he can sleep over just bc he nearly shat himself in the restroom

souta calling souma his baby bro is SO cute altho idk if that's just a yen press translation thing

"lasted for: one minute"

hayate helping shun outside of the cafe warms my heart SO MUCH

MIMA THINKING HE GAINED A NEPHEW IN SHUN I'M CRYING

"don't go anywhere with strangers" "do you think i'm five" SHUN PLEASE LET HIM BE FUSSY

hayate thinking "another thing in common with mima-san!" AND HIM BEING ALL WIDE-EYED AND SPARKLY ABOUT IT MY HEART

souma using sakura as his reference for the first tag design . . . and also using shun's absolutely ridiculously stupid adorable dog for the second one

hayate calling shun to tell him he's running late and going "yeah i lost my phone" and shun going " . . . how are you calling me right now"

KOUSUKE?? AN OLDER BROTHER?? SHUN HAS AN OLDER BROTHER?? HELLO?? LET HIM JOIN THE FOUND FAMILY KOKONE NATA I AM BEGGING

DOES SHUN READ FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST PLEASE THAT'S SO FUNNY

instead of actually doing the work shun would rather call up the actual author of the book he is supposed to read i love him

igarashi with a terrible sense of direction confirmed

"do you actually have a job" SHUN. SHUN YOU CALLED THIS MAN TO HELP YOU. WHAT ARE YOU DOING WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS.

god. shun is the ultimate teenager. kokone nata absolutely NAILED it. he hates being emotionally vulnerable. he makes the most unnecessary the most wild comments designed to stab you in the heart. he thinks all the adults are cool and have cool adult powers. but he's actually incredibly so kind and considerate and UGH i love shun

asami envisioning a future in which souma, hayate, mima, and igarashi are there to celebrate shun's birthday with them makes my heart so FULL

THOSE THREE PANELS OF HAYATE BEING THE MOST SOCIALLY AWKWARD I HAVE EVER SEEN I AM LOSING IT

shun calling an indirect kiss between two guys boring and igarashi going "oh so YOU want an indirect kiss with a girl??" and shun calling him stupid

igarashi is the older bro who mocks you and teases you and is absolutely petty to all hell and hayate is the older bro who gives you the last slice of pizza even if he's hungry and it has all his favorite toppings

"hayate . . . look this way" i'm. why did kokone nata write him like that genuinely WHAT i have so many questions

i think it's funny that momosaki got excited with souta about mima possibly going to the summer festival with a girl when in the last volume she wanted him to stay single and everyone's mima

EVERYONE'S FACES WHEN MIMA SMACKED IGARASHI THINKING IT WAS A MOSQUITO

igarashi and mima taking turns to pay for "the kids" you honestly cannot tell me they aren't a married domestic couple with three children

hayate you beautiful beautiful absolute disaster

no bc. kokone nata REALLY set up the funniest dynamic where hayate has a crush on BOTH people who are also like. latently pining for each other and it's so hilarious to watch play out

"i'm here because i was spurred on by one man" oh my GOD just ask for his hand in marriage already igarashi PLEASE

shun just straight up wearing his swim trunks from the beginning of the beach trip and bringing absolutely nothing else i love him so much

the word chain game is really interesting bc i'd love to know how it went in japanese honestly

HAYATE SAYING SOMETHING NOBODY HAS EVER HEARD BEFORE AND EVERYONE GOING "what the fuck is that"

SHUN WITH THE FULL CAP AND GOGGLES I'M YELLING

"i'm able to take action because someone else already has" souma just fucking. PERFECTLY summed up how people work

WHEN SOUMA IS ASKING SOUTA WHAT WAS MADE BY PEOPLE AND SOUTA HAVING TO LIE TO HIM THAT ICHIGO-CHAN AND RAMUNE-KUN FROM BEAR CUB LAND ARE IN FACT ALIVE AND NOT AT ALL FAKE

dude if we don't get an onizero appearance or onizero themed merch i will RIOT

mimarashi versus hayate and shun in volleyball is so cute and so funny especially when shun just straight up fucking tells them they suck

SOUMA LOSING CONFIDENCE AND THINKING HE'S TERRIBLE HURTS SO BADLY OH MY GOD

LOSING ALL OF MY SHIT AT THE PAGE WHERE SHUN TRIPS OVER HIM AND DOES A ROLL TO LAND ON HIS FEET

sorry i just. wait. i just. i need a minute. [deep breath]

SHUN YELLING AT SOUMA TO "GET UP" BOTH METAPHORICALLY AND LITERALLY AGAINST WHAT IS THE PRETTIEST BEACH BACKGROUND I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE OOOOOOOH MYYYYYY GOOOOD KOKONE NATA YOU HAVE DONE IT AGAIN