#I also think that I'm not suited to s2. it felt like...

[notbecauseofvictories]

I tried to watch season 2 of the bear, and flamed out tragically when I saw all the famous people in episode 6. I'm sorry, those are Faces, I know who they are and therefore the illusion is broken entirely and completely.

[brujc]

Spoilers for S2 promo content

Okay guys so I'm gonna be totally honest here it's just gonna be me being a petty bitch and rambling about my first impression on tbhk S2 (from the POV of someone who got into it not a long while ago and stopped the s1 at ep 5)

I would LOVE to say I'm excited about this second season but honestly I am more worried if anything haha...

So...PURELY ANIMATION WISE the op didn't appeal to me like uhh I feel so bad saying that it's like disrespecting the animators but like I mean I just hate how awkward a lot of shots turned out. I mean tbhk's manga art style is like super awesome and it is surely hard as fuck to animate but I really don't think the "thick lines" (idk how exactly to describe ) anime style will do justice to the manga, especially when we consider the pretty action packed and more serious scenes that are to come! I can feel some really clunky movements coming already

Like in this part of the intro, when Aoi and Kane were running towards the group idk why but it felt so... awkward... also this kinda chibified anatomy really doesn't suit some characters.

Like it makes some design choices very questionnable..

Like look at him... Because of the head-bigger-than-body choice he looks a bit weird? Like to be honest he doesn't look like teru at all, if it weren't for his iconic features like the blond hair I wouldn't have recognized him. Where's his prince-ly look? Or idk I don't care if he ain't jaw dropping but his "sharp" vibe and whole hair silhouette is gone..

(I'm super sad like I cannot express how sad I am)

Same goes for Aoi, I don't like how she doesn't have the Aoi vibe, she just looks like some random character (also is it a curse? I feel like she always have shots where her anatomy is super strange like in the flower shot above. Super big head awkward hand position and all)

Even before her major personality reveal she looked less empty than the anime one??? Idk how to express myself

Again with the anatomy, I just genuinely hate it I don't even know why it's just awkward as hell to me ( I said that multiple times already I'm really sorry). The very detailed shading and colors of the clothes and background with this very kid like anatomy and thick outlines just throws me off, idk the characters don't really blend in with the atmosphere (I mean in closer shots, sure but distance/half body shots usually are there most of the time)

I'm sorry I just can't bring myself to like his anime design...the eyes and just everything are so off..

I have a lot to fear but I'm begging please do him justice this season

Baby face again (I mean the characters are young so I might just be a shitty complainer but I just think they don't look good)

Overall I'm super worried for the meaningful scenes in pp arc, they have like chances to be ruined because of clunky animation but I really don't hope so! I can already picture a super awkward fall off the building scene with Kou or super mega awkward escape of the perfect picture with like the bike not feeling fantasy at all.

Anyway I'm losing focus! Ofc there are some fluid shots in the op but I just have the overall feeling that it won't be super good

Sorry for complaining like this but I'm just sad about the adaptation cuz I think some really cool stuff could've been done with the banger base material that is tbhk, so much potential...

I do hope I will be complaining for nothing and that the anime will in reality be very good tho (begging to be proven wrong)

[knight-a3]

Hazbin Masterpost

Heavenbound Masterpost

Sir Pentious

So the problems I had with the canon design is that he looked more like a slug than a snake and there were too many eyes. His design just needed to be streamlined. I guess I'm not a fan of the eye motif in general, but that's a personal preference. I altered the colors to add more variety to the hazbin cast, and to reference his early design, which had quite a bit of green.

More notes under the cut

I based his design off of the Indian monocled cobra, because the design of its hood was most similar to Pentious', and Hognose snakes. Hognose snakes also have a hood, although not near as impressive as cobras. If that doesn't help to ward off danger, they are will play dead. They are very insistent about playing dead too. It's honestly hilarious. I thought the behavior fit Pentious' overall pathetic demeanor.

Body:

I slimmed his lower body to match his upper body to get rid of the slug look. He also doesn't really have much in terms of shoulders, his suit jacket has padded shoulders to make it look like he has them.

Then I changed the vertical lines to horizontal, which can open to reveal eyes, I guess.

Head:

So a snake hood is literally just their neck. They flatten their neck to make themselves look bigger than they are. I don't have to strictly follow that, since he's a demon and not a real snake, but I felt the need to somewhat allude to the fact. I also liked the animation of his hair/hood as it went up or down and wanted that to stay. So I had the hood part attach to his neck before the collar of his shirt, and the hair is an extra part.

I adjusted the mouth shape to more accurately resemble a snake's, which has a space for the tongue to pass through. The teeth aren't always visible, because snake fangs only show when the mouth is open. I didn't really consider what it would look like for him to unhinge his jaw, but he can totally do that.

Clothes:

I wanted to give him a more clearly Victorian outfit. Specifically late Victorian, because he apparently died in 1888. Fashion was basically transitioning into Edwardian at that point. But the hard part is that men's fashion didn't change as dramatically as women's over time. In a simplified style, I had to make sure it didn't just look like a regular suit. Especially since he doesn't have pants to help complete the look.

I opened his suit jacket to show the waistcoat(vest), and include a chain for a pocket watch. I chose to give him a cravat because it has Victorian vibes, and helped me in my quest to reduce the number of bowties. The tie pin looks like an eye because I didn't see a reason not to.

Top hats were fairly popular in this era. Bowler hats were probably more popular, but the top hat has an older vibe and steampunk aesthetic.

Egg Bois:

I don't actually understand them. He created them, but I don't know how that works. Or why he made them eggs. But they're there. Frank is there. I think one should be named Egbert. Yolkshire(oh, with a Cockney accent too). Um... any other egg pun names?

Mannerisms:

His height is variable, based on his mood and if he's trying to be intimidating.

I didn't consciously decide this, but I kept drawing it and liked it, but he tends to stick his tongue out and hold his hands up. It's pretty autism-coded.

Human: Soooooo. I did see the S2 leaks. I incorporated some things, but changed some as well, so I don't think this will be significant spoilers or anything.

Really long hair was not Victorian style, but there wasn't exactly a strict standard either. So I gave him the longest that I found examples of. Facial hair would have been typical for men to have, but I guess he didn't get the memo. Maybe he was worried about it getting caught in the machinery.

His name is Mr. Pendleton. I don't know a first name, but I sorta like Simon. He was a socially reclusive weapons engineer. To be perfectly honest, I don't have all that much else to say. I'm not sure how deep canon will delve into his human life and I don't want to theorize much at this point. So I'm not sure how he died either. Maybe it was a weapons malfunction.

He might only be in hell because he felt guilty about something that might be spoilers to say. It was honestly a pretty mild sin on his part, and I wonder if he was redeemed because his sacrifice relieved him of that guilt. I'm sure the show will touch on that though.

Redeemed: So the direction I'm going is that angels are more human-like in appearance. Those in hell look different because the place corrupts their appearances. But that mean his redeemed design had to be very different than canon. But it was a chance to give him his iconic hairstyle without worrying about historical accuracy.

(edit notes will go here if necessary)

[areyoudoingthis]

god I truly love the red suit (because it's hot obviously and i am not immune), but also because of the glimpse it gives us into stede and where he's at halfway through s2 (thee season of change and growth).

he's been wearing the same shabby, stained white shirt all season so far because he left everything he owned behind, and he hasn't complained once about ed throwing all his favorite clothes overboard, because nothing was more important than finding ed and finally being able to tell him how he felt about him, and I'm so proud of stede for that bit of growth. the white shirt is symbolic of that growth, of his willingness to put ed and the crew first, of him not needing all his physical belongings anymore because he has people to care about now, he doesn't need things.

but he likes them, and the way his whole face lights up when he sees the red suit and he stops to put it on in the middle of a raid (and almost gets stabbed for it) is so stede. he's grown but he still loves his fancy clothes, he loves bright colors and frills and buttons and gold thread. growing doesn't mean he has to stop loving those things, and that's such an important thing for the show to say, especially given where stede is in his journey of self discovery this season. he's still allowing himself to enjoy those things in spite of the undercurrent of fear of not being good enough and self hatred that thrums under the surface since the opening of episode 1 (and eventually leads him to kill a man and get progressively more butch in his outfit choices as the season progresses). i LOVE that he gets to have that, that he gets to feel hot and pose in front of the mirror and strut around all day (and that he gets to be a righteous bitch when the crew destroys the suit).

it's such a realistic representation of someone on a journey of self discovery, of someone who's figuring out what he's worth and why he's loveable and what he likes and will allow himself to like and how he will allow himself to present in front of others. and he gives it away because he loves his little piratical family and wants to keep them happy, but he still got to enjoy that, and he still looked great in just the red shirt with a low neckline and black lace all over it (and he got a "you wear fine things well" for it!!!!!!! ed saw and he understood what it meant to stede and stede got to hear that!!!!!! I'm kissing the show on the lips).

i still feel some type of way about the teal shirt and the leather pants and everything they say about his state of mind throughout episodes 6-8, and i feel fifty more things about him finally being able to have his romantic fantasy come true and know that he's loved in the color that represents repression and being forced to perform a type of masculinity that's been destructive for him his whole life (as I've said before). I think it was insanely symbolic and important for him to be able to wear that particular outfit at that particular time and stay in it for the entire finale.

but. BUT. i can't wait to see what becomes of Stede's gender expression when he has time to rebuild his wardrobe, when he's not running around trying to keep everyone safe or prove he has worth, when he starts to realize and embrace that he doesn't have to be a certain kind of man for people to respect him and for ed to love him. i can't wait to see the choices he makes when he's finally free to choose. I think s3 might kill me yall

[yuurivoice]

Do you have any specific tropes that always make you emotional or teary eyed?

Also any trope that you HATE?

Some of my personal favorites in no particular order are...

Time Loops (YV's Version)

Haunting the Narrative (YV's Version)

That Thing Where A Character Doesn't Know It's The Last Time They'll Speak With Someone Important To Them And Future Events Reframe The Conversation's Context

I Waited For You

Lovers So Desperate They Overcome Time & Space (YV's Version)

YV's Version = I'm very particular about how these are portrayed and I'd argue that I'm so critical of it that you'd think I don't actually like the trope. I'd also argue that people just don't bother utilizing those tropes to their fullest extent. They might be fine, but there's so much left in the periphery that remains out of the text that I find it mostly unsatisfying in most popular media.

As for tropes I hate, I don't have much of a list but communication based conflict is the quickest way to piss me off. The circumstances needed to execute a reasonable, enjoyable version of this are so rarely achieved that I pretty much loathe its very existence. Communication based conflicts are so real, but in media they're often treated as a way to manufacture stress for the audience rather than actually explore the characters or create an interesting scenario. It is short term conflict with less than satisfactory resolutions, because the audience KNOWS what the outcome should be, KNOWS what the solution to the problem is, and KNOWS the quickest way to solve that problem. Unless you are willing to dedicate time and effort to giving purpose to that conflict, I would rather not even be bothered.

House of Dragon did this (you'll likely be spoiled if you've only watched s1, so be warned), and I felt it cheapened one of its core conflicts by giving an antagonist a soft out for their badness. There's a Big Thing that was all a misunderstanding. At first, it appeared they let the Big Thing breathe, and our knowledge of it was meant to make the conflict tragic. Then, midway through s2, the Big Thing is cleared up and just used as a way to garner pity for a character that likely would have been best suited left simply as a selfish asshole rather than.......an accidentally selfish asshole?????

They ALMOST had a "the conversation recontextualizes everything" and that knowledge belonging purely to the viewers would have been good, actually. But they pissed it away and it was clear it was just an excuse to get two characters on screen together a few more times than the source material would have allowed. And I think that's actually Quite Bad!

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

TOM GLYNN-CARNEY TALKING ABOUT KING AEGON II TARGARYEN IN 'HOUSE OF THE DRAGON' S2 FOR CBR MAGAZINE.

HOW AEGON DEALS WITH THE PRESSURE OF LIVING UP TO THE CONQUERER?

"[Aegon] puts that pressure on himself a lot. He wants to be heroic."

"Aemond's always been the warrior and the one with the physical presence. Now that Aegon has the crown on his head and sits [on] the Iron Throne, his power comes in a different form."

"Aegon's very aware that he's not Viserys in any way, shape or form, as much as he'd like to be."

"He's of the opinion that he wants to be loved and feared at the same time. We know that those don't go hand in hand. They can't function in tandem. He's working out which side of the fence he sits on."

WHAT IS AEGON'S WORST QUALITY THAT MAKES HIM ILL-SUITED TO SIT ON THE IRON THRONE?

"His impulsivity."

"[Aegon has a] lack of thought that goes into decisions. He's explosive and volatile. All that immediate angst is right at the surface the whole time."

"He needs people around him to rein him in."

"He's a bit of a dog in that way."

AEGON ISN'T A WARRIOR OR EVEN A DRAGON SLAYER. HE HAS A CLOSE BOND WITH HIS GOLDEN DRAGON, SUNFYRE, WHOM HE DESIGNED HIS BANNERS AFTER. BUT THAT MAY BE ONE OF HIS ONLY CONNECTIONS AS AEGON ALSO ISN'T A PEACEFUL RULE LIKE HIS FATHER, VISERYS.

"[Aegon] wants to be liked by people rather than actually do things out of the goodness of his heart."

"Those first impressions [with the smallfolk had] a sell-by date."

AEGON WANTS TO FIND A BALANCE BETWEEN MAKING A GOOD IMPRESSION AND WINNING THE WAR AGAINST HIS SISTER.

"He wants both, but the chances of either of those being possible are diminishing in front of [Aegon]'s eyes."

"He's clawing at anything he's got to make [both] happen."

HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS TWIN CHILDREN, JAEHAERYS AND JAEHAERA IN S2. HIS LOVE FOR HIS CHILDREN UNVEILS A VULNERABILITY:

"It's easy when you play a character like [Aegon] to be cold and calculated and pretty numb to it all."

"[But Aegon's] capable of loving. His son is a creation of his [Jaehaerys] is something he made and is proud of."

"He sees a lot of himself in his son. This is what I was telling myself, anyway that it felt like he could almost start again with Jaehaerys."

"He could almost build the person that he wanted to be and never got a chance to be."

AS THESE INCIDENTS, NOTABLY HIS ASSAULT OF A SERVANT GIRL NAMED DYANA IN SEASON 1. WOULD AFFECT AEGON IN 'HOUSE OF THE DRAGON' S2?

Glynn-Carney couldn't get into specifics about Aegon's "nuclear" journey, but he didn't defend his character.

"He's made a name for himself, hasn't he? People know what he's capable of and how he behaves. The smallfolk are aware of his antics."

TOM GLYNN-CARNEY DESCRIBED HIS COMMITMENT TO PLAYING A VILE CHARACTER AND THE POSSIBILITY OF RECEIVING HATE FOR PLAYING HIM.

"There's a lot of responsibility with this character and his involvement in the show."

"You can't think too much about [people's reactions] because you'll never step foot on set ever again. You just have to blag to yourself that it's just another day at the office."

"He's wild, unpredictable, dangerous, vulnerable and funny. He's a bit of the whole spectrum. He's at those extreme ends of the spectrum too."

A CONTROVERSIAL CHARACTER LIKE AEGON SHOULD BE HANDLED CAREFULLY. THANKFULLY, GLYNN-CARNEY HAS A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF WHO AEGON IS, EVEN IF THE NEW KING HIMSELF MAY LACK THE SAME SELF-AWARENESS.

"It's now time for [Aegon] to try and redefine who he is, if he's capable."

"[However] I'm not sure if he's that interested in doing that. He thinks that now the crown's [on his head] he's just going to get the respect, validation and ears of everyone in Westeros to listen to him and to do as he says."

"It doesn't come as easy as that."

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s2 episode 8 thoughts

tears. in my eyes. shaky breathing. oh. okay.

well. no place to start but the beginning.

stares at my laptop screen for a long, long time before typing. give me a minute. allow to me collect myself.

okay. we start with scully's mom narrating. and we learn, thanks to the subtitles, that her mom's name is margaret. this is information i will also be storing in my useless scully facts book.

so we knew she had two brothers, but a sister is also mentioned, named melissa. and we get this story from her childhood, about how dana- which feels wrong for me to type, but i will- was given a bb gun by her brothers, and she joined in with them shooting a snake. but then she realized it was bleeding and she cried as it bled out in her hands and held it while it died. which is already So much to handle. and her mom is saying that she feels how her daughter felt that day watching the animal die.

the next thing we see is mulder is there, and. he's saying it's still too early to know if she's gone. but. well.

we see a gentleman bring something out. and it is a gravestone with her name carved into it.

he turns away like he was burned from even looking at it. and man. that hurt. very badly.

we see that her middle name is katherine. and we learn this because we see it on her gravestone.

he goes back to his place (where he still sleeps on the couch) but then he gets a phone call that they've found her. and he busts into the door when the nurse says he can't go in there. that's our man!

he's screaming at these poor healthcare workers, somewhat rightfully suspicious they're involved with the government who took her, but also man. they don't get paid enough. however, i understand the emotional explosiveness this had to have provoked. so he is really just screaming, at the nurse, at the doctor, demanding to know what the hell happened, where she came from, and he says "i swear i'll do anything, i'll find out what they did to her" while being escorted out

then there is a very tense conversation between the doctor and her mother and him. the doctor must have already have been in quite a state, because mere minutes ago a raving angry man accused him of stealing his friend, and now he's sitting with said angry man explaining that they genuinely have no idea how she got here, and that she has no indication of injury.

we also learn that she had no desire to remain on life support past a certain point. and mulder knows this because. he. he. he uh. well he signed her will.

now i think maybe that's just something you have to do at the fbi and i can see them making a little joke out of it- a nice little trip to get each other's will signed, make a day of it, keep it light and funny- but man. man in this context. oh i'm gonna be Sick.

so we see a woman holding a crystal over her body and we learn it is her sister melissa!!! she's really pretty. she tries to show mulder that you can feel her energy by holding his hands over her but he gets angry and leaves.

(i love this dichotomy here, that somehow the ultra skeptic has a sister who is into talking about spirits and crystals. truly i feel this is what happens to people raised catholic)

at this point i wrote "girl i'm stressed tf out" and yeah. kinda the whole mood.

melissa is saying that his anger and fear is blocking the positive emotions she needs to feel, which echoes my statements about how he has been too cranky this season. but i can't even laugh because the man is in Distress.

he goes back to his place after saying he needs "to do more than just wave his hands", and he's bouncing a basketball and putting tape on his windows. i get it. that oppressive feeling of being unable to sit still. every moment dragging like a lifetime. bounce bounce bounce. he wakes up and rips the tape off his windows.

and back to attending to her bedside. i do not think this man has been clocking into his shift at the fbi.

we see a fellow enter wearing a suit and carrying flowers and i was like oh shit is it last rites time? um. so maybe i don't know what gets worn to a last rites event. i realize my weakness in this area and will do some research when we're done here.

but it's not anyone here to do that- it's frohike, the guy from the lone gunman who was making weird comments about scully! he must have come to pay his last respects. he picks up a clipboard and i thought oh my gosh he's gonna start reciting poetry- but he notices something weird on her chart and sneaks it out

it seems the whole thing was orchestrated, because mulder goes back to the freaks at the lone gunman, who invite him to come over and watch earth 2 and point out the factual inaccuracies- which, all things considered, is very sweet- but they send her blood data to a hacker that uses a richard nixon persona and he says that yeah, her blood is weird. and mulder's like, is she gonna make it, and they say no. it got very somber.

in terms of scully view, we see her on this dock of a boat between life and death. i thought that was nice imagery, and extremely eerie. those around her bedside are on one side of the dock, and it looks like the rope could snap and drift away at any moment.

the nurse comes in to do some blood work and i have another "augh blood" moment. so i look away. and mulder is REALLY pondering her blood. i thought he was honestly gonna take it for himself, maybe bring it in for testing or keep it like an emo.

but no! a strange man in a suit STEALS the blood!

so mulder is back into track star mode and is SPRINTING after this guy. i always forget that he is a runner. and he is RUNNING around this hospital and makes it to the parking lot until...

he is stopped by deep throat 2.0, a man for whom i realize i have no other name. but you know who i'm referring to, right? so i guess that name will work for now. deep throat 2.0 says that mulder needs to stop NOW, and that HE got deep throat 1.0 AND scully killed by looking into things too hard. which is an absolutely awful thing to say btw. deep throat 2.0 has a gun to mulder's head and says to stop searching.

mulder proceeds to run after the blood thief despite these warnings. can't say i blame him. he finds the blood thief!!! and they have a bit of a fight until...

deep throat 2.0, who earlier said he wanted to remain out of this mess, rolls up? so we're getting mixed messages here. and he says i'll take care of this and SHOOTS THE BLOOD THIEF?????? in the head.

back to the hospital. mulder is not pleased about the prospect of life support being removed but melissa says he has to honor her wishes. and he's going on about the blood protein and the doctor is like "why do you think this has anything to do with blood protein" and he Does Not Explain

her mom calls him "fox" again and says this is a moment for the family, but he can come too. and he won't come in. he's the wettest and saddest a man has ever looked as they go in there. and then the rope holding her to the dock of the afterlife is severed.

man. if i had been a contemporary viewer i would have been sobbing. thank god i've seen gifsets that prove this wasn't the end for her. because if i hadn't, i would have been in shambles. i mean i Was in shambles but like i would have been bawling on the floor.

cig man is with skinner. i honestly didn't think we'd get up to any sort of fbi related tasks in this episode, but he hands skinner a report and leaves. and then mulder comes in and denies being involved with the shootout at the hospital

(it's worth noting that he is doing all the denying to be an ass to skinner, and yells about "how does it feel, all the denial")

and he says that it was "cancer man" who took scully. i had been calling him cigarette man, but cancer man is very comparable.

the next thing i wrote was "SKINNER IS A BITCH????" this was because he said that mulder is "just as responsible" as cancer man for scully's situation if he knew the risks of this line of work and didn't warn her.

skinner baby YOU CAN'T SAY THAT? seriously i cannot figure this guy out. every time i think i have a read on him he does something like this that shifts my interpretation. what a horrible thing to say to someone.

cut to scully cam. she's on a table in metaphysical land. and her dad is there. he calls her starbuck and refers to himself as ahab- so the first mate and the captain. and he's monologuing about how he never knew how much he loved her until he realized he could never be with her again, and he says they'll be together "soon", but not now. so i'm wondering if she can hear all of this going on. i would guess so.

mulder is in the cafeteria with melissa and she is trying to talk a bit of sense into him. she says "you could spend the rest of your life finding every person that's responsible and its still not gonna bring her back" and he replies "including myself?"

now usually i would say that mulder taking the blame upon himself is tragic and typical, but here, having it also been implied by skinner AND deep throat 2.0, i am thinking, man, he's got to really believe it, even more so than all the other times he couldn't save everyone. which is. fucked up. so immensely fucked up. i'm sorry you pissed me off last episode baby but we can go to the zoo again like i planned. let's go see some tigers and cheer you up.

a woman walks in and asks him for change for the "cigarette machine", which was the first time in my life i have ever heard the term "cigarette machine", so maybe the earth really is healing

but he finds a pack with an address in it, and then, straight from my notes:

"CIG MAN'S HOUSE. OH MULDER IS THERE AND POINTING A GUN AT HIM. AND ALSO SCREAMING. "why her" oh his finger gets very close to the trigger"

cig man says he likes her and mulder, and. wow. what a despicable human being. he says that he likes mulder more for showing up to his place with a gun. says he's playing the game. mulder seems to have a realization he is acting just like those he swore to destroy and puts the gun down. cig man says it'll be their secret. and also that he was the one that told skinner that mulder shot the guy in the hospital even though he didn't think it was true.

we next see mulder sadly tapping at his computer. he prints a one sentence resignation letter "effective immediately" NOT even a two week's notice, that's how bad they fucked this man up

skinner comes by and says it's unacceptable while mulder is packing all of his things. and mulder says:

"i hate what i've become"

man. fuck. he hates the rage he has been driven to. the loss of control. the way he sees himself as being responsible for deep throat and scully. and all of it stemming from his need for answers, to track down his sister. he hates what that feeling of insufficiency has led him to and the path he now walks upon. hates it. hates his situation and himself and the world.

skinner decides to share some personal story time: he went off to vietnam- willingly enlisting on his 18th birthday. and then while he was there he shot a kid who was covered in grenades. the camera glances back at mulder occasionally, who, despite all of his grief, seems to be consulting his oxford training to try and remember what you're supposed to say to a guy who just told you he killed a child in vietnam.

and then he says he watched all his friends die and that he almost died- he was put in a body bag, and was in a coma for two weeks- and he was too scared to learn what happens next. but mulder isn't. and that's why his resignation is unacceptable.

mulder adds things up and realizes that it was skinner that gave him cancer man's location. again. complicating the vibe i get from skinner in doing something positive now. he says that every day is a risk.

deep throat 2.0 rolls up, saying that the people who did this to scully are going to break into his apartment tonight, and he'll have to kill them. he looks displeased by this- aversion to taking any sort of lives- but resigns himself to it.

so he's in his place in the dark ready to start blasting, when he gets a knock on the door. and it's melissa.

this is where we get the iconic exchange "why is it so dark in here?" "because the lights aren't on" which made me laugh so thoroughly seeing it out of context before i ever decided to watch this show

and melissa is MAD. scully is weakening, and she came to get him to say his goodbyes, but he won't go because. well. shootout is about to go down. this is his ONE chance to learn who did this to scully. but she doesn't know that is why he won't leave, so she YELLS at him, about being in a place even darker than her sister, and asks "why is it so much easier for you to run around trying to get even than just expressing to her how you feel? i expect more from you. dana expects more from you"

and man. those words are heavy. he locks the door, knowing that his place is gonna be robbed, and that he'll never know who hurt her, and comes down to see her.

and he's talking to her. holding her hand. saying he's here. he doesn't know if it'll change anything, but he's here.

when he goes home, his place is entirely ransacked, and he falls to the ground crying. fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. i can't even put into words how bad this broke me. big strong mulder weeping on the ground, his career in shambles and his best friend dead.

i feel like i need to pause there just for how heavy it was. like this was his lowest low. lower than even vampire sex.

but he soon gets a call and he smiles so wide!!! and we learn her eyes are open!! it is the sweetest smile i have ever seen!!!!!!

he gets down to the hospital and she's awake and talking- but she doesn't remember anything- and he, being the insufferable man that he is, says the following:

"i brought you a present (holds up a vhs tape) superstars of the superbowls"

man. man. man. man. she deadpans so quickly. "i knew there was a reason to live"

he must have grabbed a random tape off his shelf and brought it to her with the express intent of antagonizing her back in the realm of the living. and he thought of something to say along with it on the car ride down, his hands shaking. something, anything to make her laugh. a stupid vhs tape. his constant sports references. her quick tongue. oh dear lord help me these two have ruined me.

he gives scully her necklace back, which i wrote about in all caps, while her mother and sister watch

and then we learn that the nurse who was taking special care of her was never actually there when scully wants to thank her and the other nurse is like "um no one who works here has that name" so. SCULLY PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE (POSITIVE)??!?!?!?

overall. man. i am experiencing such a volume of emotions. what the hell. she's back, though. and we saw how much she means to him. and i feel like i could type a million words on the subject but i don't even know what to say because they're still all stuck in my chest. they love each other sososo much.

will he ever tell her what he did in her absence? how he tried to quit? how he broke every rule trying to save her? how he screamed at the doctors, how he broke into cigarette man's house, how he almost pulled the trigger? how he watched a man die when deep throat 2.0 shot him? how he was blamed for her condition by himself and by others? how he left his apartment to be ransacked, giving up his one chance to catch whoever did this to her, to try and let go of his grief and be with her instead? or will he keep quiet except for the latest witticisms and frequent visits and presents and stories by her bedside while she gains strength and recovers?

and how he left, too, when he knew she was okay. how he must have wanted to be there more than anything in the world, but knew she needed to rest, so he left her with her family. how he could breathe easy again. how he had to make it seem like it was cool, and everything was contained.

man. this tv show. i just typed all of those words out and i still feel like i didn't even begin to cover the things i'm feeling. i feel like i need to shake them up and down.

but this should be good, because the x files are reopened... so are we seriously, as the kids say, so back? only time will tell!

[markantonys]

i was looking at your latest gifset and realised why cauthor is such an amazing ship. mat needs someone who has his back in the way rand does. all the years of his parents and everyone else telling him he's no good, he'll never amount to anything - that kinda stuff sinks in until eventually you start to believe it yourself. and i'm not saying mat doesn't have any flaws of course, but I think some of the time his actions are dictated by what he believes about himself, that he really isn't worth it.

but rand - he's been mat's protector from day one, hasn't he? always in his corner, always defending him and letting mat know without equivocation that he is worth it, that he is a good person who deserves love and a second chance. and that was even before the whole dragon reborn thing came into play. when mat said at the start, "don't stay up-mountain too long" rand answered, "i won't". he won't stay up too long because he misses mat and knows mat needs him too. is it any wonder even ishamael shipped them?

THIS!!!!!! all of this, i'm weeping!!!! i remember in the wait between seasons i was going "oh man the cauthor reunion will be so angsty, rand will be so hurt over mat having stayed behind at the waygate!" but then we got to the actual reunion and it turned out i'd sorely underestimated rand's love for mat! rand is nothing but happy to see mat again, he gives him 100% unconditional love and understanding without bringing up the waygate incident at all, except for taking a moment to tell mat that they aren't better off without him. because he knows mat well enough to guess that the reason he stayed behind might've been that he thought the gang was better off without him, and he loves mat enough to believe this IS the reason rather than supposing something less charitable like selfishness or cowardice. and rand himself, for the first time in his life, has been struggling with feeling his loved ones are better off without him ever since the eye of the world, and this has given him new empathy for and new insight into how mat has felt for his ENTIRE life.

i know that "i'll take care of you" "it's rotten work" "not to me, not if it's you" has become a meme at this point, but it truly is the perfect descriptor of the cauthor dynamic! and on both ends too, since in s2 we see mat starting to be protective of rand and take care of him too now that rand's getting his own share of Issues. mat also assures rand that they aren't better off without him, after all! their lil amateur therapy session in cairhien is so perfect because they are both so well-positioned to understand the internal issues the other is currently dealing with, because it's similar to their own issues. and they each have their own way of showing care, and it just so happens to be perfectly suited to what the other needs; rand is very earnest and vocal in telling mat he's a good person, which is what mat needs to counteract all the fears that have been driven into him since childhood about being worthless, and meanwhile mat takes care of rand by teasing him and joking around and making him smile, which is what rand needs to lighten the burden of being TDR for a while. no wonder ishamael ships them, indeed! he is not immune to homoerotic devotion!

also, what really gets me is that mat didn't get to witness rand's passionate defenses of him in fal dara! nynaeve, you better have been recording the fight on your phone so you can show it to mat, he Needs To Know just how well rand continues to speak of him even when he isn't around. there probably won't be time for it in s3, but i would love a scene where egwene and mat talk for the first time after the great waygate abandonment, and mat's apologizing and egwene's like "well i was pretty mad at you at the time but we're cool now" and mat asks if rand was mad at him too, because he needs to know if he hurt rand but knows rand won't admit if he did because he'd want to spare mat's feelings, and egwene tells mat that rand was not mad at him and in fact defended him tooth and nail against everyone else, and mat's like 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 trying not to cry, and egwene's internally like "oh my god can you two just make out already". this scene happens between 2x08 and 3x01 in my heart!

[miimo96]

Thoughts on My Adventures with Superman S2 episode 3

It's Cool seeing Clark unlock a New power each episode, however correct me if I'm Wrong, but I don't remember Superman having the power to Summon a protective Aura around in order to Sheild him and other people, it's probably a Power that came from the Newer comics but in my opinion, it just kinda Defeats the whole purpose of him being "The Man of Steel" if this makes him even more invulnerable, I'll probably get used to it eventually, but for now it's Not my cup of Tea, However I do LOVE the way the show handles his powers and introduces them to us very Slowly, kinda reminds me of how the CW would do the same thing for the FLASH, before the show eventually became Trash, Making this Show even more of a Banger than it already is ^^ (also love the little nod to Cyborg here )

Either General lane is COMPLETELY Oblivious or he Really doesn't have the possibility of Clark being Superman due to how EASY it would be, So he Rules out the possibly of him immediately, or maybe Does know and is just messing with him to see how he reacts

METALO!? Omg it so awesome to see this character make an Appearance I wonder how far they will go with this character, will be like the killer android from the animated series and comics, or will it be something different, I'm really excited to find out, however I DO HATE the design for most of the mechanical Villains in this show, Don't get me wrong it's a great design, I'm just not feeling the whole Gundam/Eva vibe here myself, hopefully they'll Fix this in later episodes of S2, however I guess I'm just gonna have to be stuck with it for now

Nice to see Vickie vale Return and I'm really glad that the show is still Bringing in more DC Characters as it continues like Silas Stone, and Jonathan irons, maybe We WILL get to see other heroes down the line, especially for Next season if it's Announced, I SO Can't wait to see who they decide to bring in Next for the whole Season, also Why is Vickie Vale even here, She lives in a whole other city with a much cooler Superhero, so why even come to metropolis? unless of course you're sick of being the Bats damsel 😏 or maybe she just loves to Troll Perry

Livewire is Literally Superman's version of Shocker from Spider man, the fact that they don't really HATE their Superhero but rather just find them really Annoying is Just so funny to me, and I really love the look she Gives Superman here like "Omg Why are you here, why is it Always you, Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Is just Hilarious ^w^

Glad to see that STEEL is here but in all honesty, I'm Not a complete fan of his design, I get that it's Supposed to be a prototype or something but in my opinion most of the designs in this show are either hit or miss, with the most of them being Misses, however I Do like a few designs from this show, like Parasite and Silver banshee and even the Superman suit itself, but the majority are Always a Miss, especially with these Stupid ASS Robot designs, I understand their purpose and Why they're here, but c'mon, you couldn't come up with anything else, I mean even Ultimate Spider man, a show Absolutely despise, has way better character designs, So what the hell? I hope this gets fixed later during Season 2, especially Since we know Brainiac is coming Very soon ^^

Seriously What is this Power? So far It seems to just give him the ability to contain/Shield against anything of Major damage, and while I'm not gonna deny that it's a very cool, it just doesn't feel like Superman to me, maybe with time it will, but as for now Not a total fan, as long they don't decide to give him anything Stupid like the Ability to rebuild walls with his vision or to freaking Rewind time like the Christopher Reeve's Superman, I think we'll be ok 😅😅 also I Love that they're Humanizing their villains and really giving us a reason to Sympathize with them, like I felt bad for Thomas Weston at the end, I mean he didn't MEAN for this to happen, he just wanted to BEAT his competition

I Really love the parallels Set up between these 2; While they're both clearly trying to keep the other in the loop of their life, they both have a Secret they're withholding from each other, While Clark is Trying to tell lois about his cousin, Lois will be trying to tell clark about her job offer, resulting in the drama continuing to build for these 2, and maybe eventually end in disaster, with I think neither of them revealing their secret properly and lois maybe leaving Metropolis, leaving Clark with Kara and her working in Gotham maybe we'll see the Bat In Season 3👀

This is LITERALLY Jessie eisenberg's version of Lex, Just Treated way better, I mean we're already seeing him unfold into the Big Villain he's meant to be, with him already achieving Lex Corp, and Now having an entire army of evil robots, that im sure will probably be infused with Kryptonite as a way to kill Superman, I gotta say I'm loving his character arc so far and I really can't wait to see how he turns Evil, I even have theory of he'll lose hair due to going completely crazy, because I heard that one of the signs of insanity, is SHAVING your hair completely, now he may just lose it in a Freak accident or maybe even just shave it for charity, But can you imagine if he shaves his hair off due to his hatred toward Superman and because he's losing his Sanity of his former self, That would be pretty AWESOME, and interesting to see

[a-cat-in-toffee]

POST WHERE I TALK ABOUT MY HERO OUTFIT DESIGNS FOR END OF SEASON 2 SLASH SEASON 3 PRIME DEFNDERS :33 LONG ASS POST FOR THE RECORD

also I have pictures of their og design in this so. warning for white skinny pd jumpscare /joking

for sake of navigation I'm going in the order I drew them, and the order theyre in on the above image heart emoji.

"Virion" Vyncent Sol up first!! also can we talk about how his hero name is straight up just his name. lol. lmao even.

I HAD THE MOST PLAN FOR VYNCENT GOING IN TBH I wanted something similiar to the origami outfit while still staying reminiscent of his old outfit

I knew I wanted the jacket and I went with the turtleneck so it was the same as Jason's outfit. also Jason has really cool glove sleeve things I thought that was so fucking cool guys. and vyncent is generally from an actual outfit standpoint like... really simplistic? so just ourple pants and boots seemed most logical. I liked the mask and it was in both of his old designs so I decided to stick with it.

and then of course. the belts. there are ten total belts on his outfit jot including the two that would come with the sheath LMAO. plus the two pd colored belts on his boots!! I decided while drawing I wanted them all to have something in eachothers colors cause thats really cute.

i MUCHHH prefer the shorter jacket because of how it shows off the outfit and is reminiscent of his s2 post fauna design . . .

generally had the most idea going into his so there was very little in ways of additional sketching

also the Japanese where Jason's jacket had said Origami straight up just says Knife. I thought that was so funny. ENTIRELY ACCIDENTAL THING his outfit is basically just cantrips but colors flipped LMAO

BUT THATS ALL FOR VYNCENT. next up is (drum roll please)

"Wisperer" William Wisp!!! El wiwi himself. OKAY SO AS YOU MAY NOTICE. THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN THE DESIGN I ORIGINALLY POSTED. I had Not been happy with that one because it felt too cluttered and a little out of character so I ended up redesigning his jacket and redrawing the refs.

WILLIAMS OUTFIT WAS REALLY FUN THO I ended up going with a gas mask like he had in the greyscale arc, hoodie (which will get its own paragraph), cargo pants!! for his cargo and gadgets and gizmos, and then. because it's me and he's william. platformish boots laced with the orlther pds colors.

the hoodie was the thing I had changed in the new design because the old design wasn't william wisp enough for me yknow

i wnjoyed the outfit and it looked really need but it was much more complicated than his original hero suit and didn't really seem like smthn he'd design and wear.

i really liked the wisp belt and wanted to keep that wisp motif, which is why I ended up putting the flames on his sleeves! it looks cool as hell and keeps w the flame designs. IM ALSO SUPER ATTACHED TO THE WISPERER W THAT WAS ON HIS ORIGINAL HERO DESIGN.... so the hoodie has a stylized w.

also dakota and vyncent beads :)

I HAD A.... PROCESS MAKING THIS ONE LMAO. SO THERES A HANDFUL OF DRAFTS

i cinsidered adding stuff to make his outfit like Silhouettes then remebered i haye Silhouettes outfit. the images are out of order but I'm on mobile and can't be fucked to fix it. NEXT UP!!!!!!

"DC" Dakota Cole! only SLIGHTLY better than vyncent just using his name, bro is using his initials......

I CHANGED THE LEAST ABOUT HIS DESIGN HONESTLY. it was very nice to just get to draw Dakota though :)

the most I changed was I made it a bit simpler, and changed the jacket to be more like the Hexpert armor

also made the zipper look like her weird chest thingy....

I REALLY DISLIKE THE SHOES AND THE LITTLE BITS ON HIS ANKLES THOUGH. SO I CHANGED EM. they're now his thing in the others color heart emoji. I'd like to think they all sat down together and brainstormed ways to encorperate eachother into their costumes.....

i also made a little note of the back of hia jacket and I tried to make it look like a jersey

because he played soccer :)

ALSO.... DAKOTA COLE HONEY YOU SHOULD NOT ME WEARING A BELT EITH A BUCKLE. but it looks cool </3 if a little impractical

BUT THATS ALL OF EM FOR NOW..... love these guys.

next I. tackle redesigning this thing.

sighs. I so got this

[ageless-aislynn]

Aislynn's Absolute Screaming, Crying, Flailing Thinky Thoughts About Halo s2ep8

Under the cut since its the finale and I don't want to be That Person who spoils a finale for anybody if I can help it 💖

First thing: KAI, my baby, noooooooooo

Okay, do I love the Halo games? So much. So, so much. Did I know what actually adapting them would mean would happen in the live action show, especially since s2 clearly wanted to pull closer to the games? Yep.

Did I want to see characters I've come to love, appreciate or love to hate get infected by the Flood? HECK NO.

However, the fact that the Flood spores were much smaller than their game counterparts (Evil Cabbages with feet were my initial thought of them when I met them in Combat Evolved the first time 😂🤷‍♀️😉) was a definite win, IMO. Obviously they couldn't be germ-sized in game and you be able to shoot them. But just the visual of them being smaller and much more virus/germ-sized made them a bazillion times scarier because they felt more real in that way to me.

Why do I watch so many zombie things? Zombies FREAK ME OUT SO BAAAAAD, MAN. And the body horror, dude. Ohhhhh, I can't with the body horror and people getting mutated and... UGH. Yet I've made, like, half a dozen Alien/Prometheus vids. I AM A CONUNDRUM, what can I say? 🤷‍♀️😂

Now, ever since Vannak died, I've been trying to figure out how we can, you know, bring him back to the show. I still don't know how it could actually be done but one thing I do know is that KAI COULD TOTALLY BE FOUND INJURED BUT ALIVE. Her Mjolnir can protect her from deep space, so it could have totally protected her against a big KABOOM, too. Her body is intact, she wasn't vaporized or whatever, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it. *nodnods very seriously*

I think I'm going to have to either invent time travel or cloning to save Vannak, though. Give me a minute. 🤔😉

If we do get another season (or 2 or 5 😉), I'm wondering if they're really serious about Silver Team being gone, if we're going to get Blue Team, then? Mannnnn, I don't want Silver to be gone, though. I've fallen so in love with Kai, Riz and Vannak now, too!

I'm kinda glad that not-Thel!Arbiter wasn't Thel because that was a good ending to his storyline, with Chief's "I know what he said" and finishing him off. Obs, though, I don't want Thel to have met the same fate.

Makee's line about being a demon, too? That was a good one, yep. Still annoyed that John's first question to her last ep wasn't "Um, hi, nice to see you and how is it that you're alive?" That being unanswered was just one of those clearly "because we changed showrunners," things.

John and Cortana (now in his suit), together again, YESSSSS!!!

Hello, Guilty Spark! If this is Gravemind they're talking about, they NEED Dee Bradley Baker for the voice. Just, no question, don't even think of casting anybody else.

John doing that badass "fight through the smoke and haze to save the day" made my fangirl heart go pitter-pat, what can I say? I'm easy to please, lol!

In summary, I did love s2 in a different way than I loved s1 and I hope we'll get news of a renewal ASAP!

Also, Kai's fine, she's just having a little nap, no worries!

[tackykachowch]

So, this is finally the time to say goodbye.

My history on this blog is pretty long, about 10 years, but I started being an active blogger fairly recently. I was originally active in the Portal fandom and while I did quite enjoy my time there, I still felt very out of place and hated everything I did, from text posts, to memes, to drawings. And only 3 weeks ago did I finally felt that I truly belonged.

You, wonderful people from Arcane fandom and critical tag specifically, had given me an awesome opportunity to express myself how I wanted to, and discuss the topics that interested me without a fear of being shunned or insulted. I don't exaggerate when I say that this means a world to me. Because it truly, really does. I couldn't be more thankful for gaining so many new wonderful acquaintances. You really made me feel like I belong and my opinions truly matter, and I'll never forget that.

But then, why am I leaving? There's a lot of personal reasons that I'm not going to disclose, but I'll just say that I'm currently at the point in my life when I leave a lot of past things behind and start things anew. This blog included. So, it was all kinda inevitable anyway lol, but I'm very glad that I managed to spend the time that's left with all of you.

Although I am saying goodbye, I still wish you all happiness, hope and strength to overcome any difficulties you have in your life. Even if the difficulty is just being really, REALLY pissed off at a season of a TV show lol. Even though it's important and very enjoyable to be angry at stuff, don't also forget the things you truly enjoy and what brings you happiness. Because ultimately these are the things that will help us to carry on.

This is why even when I'm immensely upset by my departure from this blog and this community, I'll try my best to focus on how we all had a great time kicking s2 with our legs *insert my favorite Silco gif here*.

To tip this all of I would want to quote my favorite character of all time, as I think this suits very well to this situation:

"Don't cry. You're perfect"

[spywhitney]

Thoughts on ships in The Bear

Sydcarmy (Sydney x Carmy)

I filtered out the tag weeks ago and I haven't undone it yet 💀.

98% of posts on my page in the last 6 months or so is to do with this ship- I've had a lot of thoughts about it.

S3 soured my opinion on it, and I've seen some eyebrow raising opinions emerge after s3 that are kind of wild, but sobering I guess?

But unfortunately I've hyperfixated on this ship now so I won't let go until it's over. So yikes for me I guess.

Like I've invested so much attention to it and the odds are looking terrible, but I hope it works out anyway?!?!

Sydrichie (Sydney x Richie)

It's the older man/younger woman trope. That's all it takes for me lol.

I read these fics when I'm tired of the above ship lowkey.

Their dynamic is so interesting to me.

If there weren't so many ****** **** ball sucking/suit licking on Richie while simultaneously trashing on Syd I'd like it a lot more (probably).

I was going to say how Richie treated Syd in s1 is what turns me off too, but I ship Syd with Carmen so, welp.

If they got together it would piss so many people off. Like the hater in me is cry-laughing thinking about how upset certain people would be lmao.

Wish we saw more of them in s3, it would've made so much sense too.

Sydmarcus (Sydney x Marcus)

Um, are the sydmarcus shippers even alive?

Y'all were done dirty. Y'all didn't deserve that man.

I never got the impression Syd liked Marcus however, but still.

If she did, they would've been so cute, like omg.

Marcus has had Syd's back the most and is arguably the only friend she has.

He treats her like a friend/overtly asked her out as more than a friend too etc etc.

The fact Syd didn't even acknowledge the fact Marcus made a dessert and named it after her is wild though.

Their dynamic has a healthy balance of reciprocation, exercised respect and care.

Obviously there are some that insist they should('ve) got together because they don't want sydcarmy which is ridiculous.

Then there's the "Syd deserves better" crowd which while I understand and somewhat agree, I also believe people choose what they deserve, so that's her business lowkey.

Saying all that I'd be all over Marcus. He's passionate, fine as hell and he's super chill?! Already climbing that man personally.

Claircarmy (Claire x Carmy)

I don't care about Claire, so it's hard to care about the relationship.

As much as the Claire hate is entertaining to me (and very valid points have been made about her), I'm pretty neutral on her for the most part.

I will say, the fact that their relationship has been shown to be perfect up until the s2 finale and Carmy calling her a waste of time was all it took for her to walk away is hilarious.

Like, if you can't deal with Carmy saying one mean thing about you, you're not ready to be with him girl lol (especially when compared with--)

The show pushes this a lot so if they're endgame fine, I just want that plot point to be done my goodness.

Carmrich (Carmy x Richie)

I've read a couple of fics and woah?

I like this quite a bit.

Their dynamic is so engaging in the fics I've read.

I almost feel like I don't appreciate their relationship enough in the show.

Sydluca (Sydney x Luca)

Kind of yummy if it was endgame, eh if otherwise.

I'm being dramatic, see my post here for more context.

The actor is british so maybe my bias is showing with this ship ngl.

He's one of the few actors I recognised also.

They look kind of cute, or whatever.

Fak x Richie

They have moments for sure.

I get it.

Marcus x Luca

I never saw this honestly.

To me, it was feel-good to just see a black man eagerly learning in a healthy environment.

I want Marcus for me though, like I said so lol.

Nat x Pete

They're canon.

They go well together, though I will say I don't have a strong opinion on them.

I guess since we don't see any significant conflict with them/they're very stable there's not a lot of emotional weight?

Nat x Richie

I felt some vibes here and there, you know?

They're sweet.

Richie x Jess

It would make sense as a part of Richie's arc.

Funny how some people that ship them based on a couple of looks hate sydcarmy with 3 seasons worth of interactions though.

Michael x Richie

I feel like I'd like this like camrich, but also it might break my heart, so idk if I want to see what's up.

Marcus x Chester

Chester was chill, shame he only got two seconds in s3.

Knowing Marcus had someone outside the restaurant who's supportive was comforting.

Tina x David

They were adorable in "napkins".

Makes sense they're married irl.

Tina x Michael

Felt a vibe for a split second when she talked about him in s1 ngl.

If she didn't have a husband atp--

Sydney x Claire

I think I saw a fic with this on ao3. Don't care about Claire, so you know.

Richie x Tiff

Clearly there's still love there, shame with what happened to them.

Carmy x Luca

I don't see why not.

Carmy x Chef David

😳 I mean, I get the appeal but in the context of the show, yikes. (Not that I haven't shipping something "worse").

[stepmarchen]

what's your general opinion on season 2 ? what did you like/dislike ? which characters you wanted to know more about or generally to appear more ?

Overall, I thought Season 2 was great! Like a super solid 9.5/10

Season 1 was great in terms of establishing story and characters but S2 is when the main story realllyyy starts to play out as the timelines diverge more and more.

I can't really say that I was looking forward to anything specific though. iirc ASM already wrapped up S1 and was starting S2 when I first started reading.

See more below the cut

I'm always preferential towards older characters, so I'm glad we got the 3 year timeskip (even though the majority of our main cast is still Very Young). ofc it was refreshing to see characters that act their age in S1, but I don't know how many more seasons of chaotic kiddie shenanigans I could take before I'd get secondhand parenting fatigue. I think it stopped right before we reached that point.

to be honest, I always cringe a little when pre-pubescent characters act and talk like adults but ASM doesn't really do that (thank god). "Adult in a toddler's body" is a super common trope these days that I'd rather do without it. that's just me though

3 years was the perfect amount of time for a timeskip. Elias' teen angst Sheiss arc was the perfect way to address Shuri's history without making her address it herself. They could've done a cringey scene where Shuri says "you don't understand pain, I know pain," but I'm so relieved they didn't. That would've been... really dumb and more common that you might realize.

The characters getting older also suits the somewhat darker tone that S2 takes on, finally delving deeper into the characters' traumas and violence themes.

The art also got a huge upgrade in Season 2. Orka has always been a genius and a top tier artist even in S1, but she somehow still manages to surpass herself with each new chapter. We live in a household where Orka slander is not allowed but I think we can all agree that Cardinal Richelieu got one of the biggest glow ups of all time.

A super small gripe I had was that a few chapters felt a little rushed in terms of the art and were heavy on reusing old art (not naming which chapters. If you missed it, then there wasn't a problem). That has less to do with Orka and more to do with rushed deadlines, I think. And with 95% of the manhwa looking as great as it does, it's hardly a complaint.

S2 really drove home some great character building moments with Jeremy and Nora. The S1 Jeremy we all knew and loved was obstinate and loudmouthed while S1 Nora was calm and kind. S2 flipped things on its head as Jeremy's stubborn attitude turned into righteous devotion and Nora's will to protect turned ferocious and roguish.

Nora's still my top boy but Jeremy really shot up my rankings this season. He's just such a good boy that only wants the best for his people and you can't really find any fault in that.

Lucas was also a surprisingly good character in Season 2. Not because of who he is (which is a piece of shit) but how much depth he gained as a character. I won't talk about it again but I go into more detail about Lucas here.

[thesevenwondersofawitch]

Watching Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 10, Hegemony

I believe this is the s2 finale, so let's go!

I love how they mentioned the singing from the last episode 😂

Why am I kinda shipping Batel and Chapel

I feel like Captain Batel is gonna die

HOLY SHIT

IT'S THE GLOW CLOUD

Or the Gorn

Oh shit, Batel's ship blew up 👀

Chris doesn't have much luck when it comes to romance, it seems

Nitrogen bombs + Gorn = Gorn Popsicles

Erica is a genius😂

Quite the memorable first landing party for her to take part in😂

The fact Spock plans to add zombie movies to his research is so funny to me😂

Also, the fact that he's seen movies, makes me think (or hope) he and his mama watched Alice In Wonderland because he loved the book

I love how everyone (especially Pike) felt sick after Erica's driving/diving

If anything happens to her, I'm gonna be very grumpy

Aw man, Spock is so upset that he doesn't know what happened to Chapel

"Sickbay is gone" CHILLS LITERAL CHILLS

Spock ^

Wow, the planet really turned into a Wasteland 👀

Awwww the baby Gorn is kinda cute!

This is why I would never survive a zombie/Gorn apocalypse/invasion

Ooof, cannibalism

PELIA MY BELOVED

^ I love her in case it wasn't obvious

The way Pelia turned to Uhura like what did you figure out then turned away like ugh don't waste my time(when Uhura mentioned she needs an engineers help) then turn around when Uhura said she had a crazy theory 😂

I feel like Pelia and Raffi would get along famously

SCOTTY

HELL YEAH

Scotty: "That's a lot of lieutenants."

Erica: "There'll be a quiz."

BATEL IS STILL ALIVE

WOO

I love Scotty 😂

I love how Scotty is so crafty and resourceful

Pelia to Una: "And if you had answered like that in my class I would've given you an A+"

Una: -_-

I love how Batel knew exactly what Pike was up to when he thought she was sleeping

Pike and Batel: * having a slightly emotional conversation about not going alone to look for stuff/Pike trying to save everyone, ending with them looking flirtatiously at each other in silence*

Scotty, lurking behind Batel: "You're never gonna be able to retrieve the device without my help"

Batel and Pike: °_°

Scotty: "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. Not my fault you decided to have a secret conversation right in front of my sleeping spot."😂

CHRISTINE!!!!!!

The fact that it's Majel Barrett(I think) doing the voice for the computer while this Chapel is plugging things into the computer makes me so happy

Chapel: *banging on glass trying to get Spock's attention*

Spock: *casually floats by not noticing*

Damn, Batel's got a strong stomach I would've gotten sick being that close to that Gorn

IS BETAL GORN OR SOMETHING AND THAT'S WHY IT LEFT HER ALONE

OH SHIT

SPOCK SAW THE REFLECTION OF THE GORN

Uh oh, it took his gun

Whoa, the Gorn was also wearing a space suit, cool

Oh no, did Marie get Gorn eggs planted in her and that's why it left👀

OH SHIT SHE DID

Batel this episode ^

That's why she was so upset Chris came for her😭😭

I love that Scotty interrupted them 😂

Ooooooo Pelia is required in sickbay

PELIA KNOWS SCOTTY?!She cringed when Pike said his name😂Pelia: "One of my best students who sadly received some of my worst grades."

Pike: "Well, I'll leave you to it" *speed walks away*😂

Pelia, shaking her head looking at the jumble in Scotty's arms: "What the hell is this supposed to be?!"

Scotty in a voice similar to a child whining to their parent: "Something that could help us hide from the Gorn."

Pelia: "Oh"

Scotty: "If we can fix it."

Batel to Chapel: "I'll need you to take me out." Okay, it's a date then😁🤗

Wait the Gorn still have their people? I thought they rescued the surviving Starfleet officers?🤔

Idk it brings me such joy to see Pelia helping carry Scotty's project in the halls as things blow up, but it does

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? IT'S A CLIFFHANGER?!!!!

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

This is fine.

[landwriter]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @tiltingheartand <3 thank you!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

11!

What's your total Ao3 word count?

129,874. Brevity evidently is not my strong suit! Which is also why the rest of this is under a cut.

What fandoms do you write for?

The Sandman! I also just watched Dead Boy Detectives and think I might write a couple little things for it too.

Top five fics by kudos:

Saint Morpheus (11,882 words) - My first fic! Saints and worship

The Death of Translation (10,968 words) - the Language fic

Oaths (60,443 words) - Tam Lin AU and my precious baby. I'm so proud of this one. It's got so much of me in it. Def the first fic I would consider a full send

Border Country (6,100 words) - Clothing, the inherent body horror of being alive, and self-denial. Have always meant to do a sequel for this and may do for S2

Black Shore (3,962 words) - Monsterfucking :-) Weird little beast of a story that came out of nowhere fully formed

All Sandman, all Dream & Hob, haha. Doubt that will change with new fics unless I find a more popular pairing in a more popular fandom to write for

Do you respond to comments?

I do! I love discussing characters and theeeeemes and sharing enthusiasm with people. I love hearing what I've inflicted and I'll thank you for telling me <3 Once I started getting busier I found it a lot harder to keep up, but I treasure all my comments so if you suddenly get a reply like, a year later, you know why!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It's for sure The Many Lives of Hob Gadling. Everything else I've written except Border Country has ended, like, tooth-rottingly kind and optimistic and love-filled. But lbr Dream is a man of tragedies. There'll be more

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

It's such a personal thing, but Oaths has the happy ending I would consider most wonderful sort of happiness. It's not the fluffiest or most fairy-tale (having written just that also), but this specific flavour of joy and peace in terms of experiencing the beauty of the world around you and being just shot full of love. The happiness of growing things and sunrises. Or Just Like Love. From the Corinthian's perspective. He's so happy with the state of things at the end.

Do you get hate on fics?

Only the once! Fortunately everybody else who has hated a fic of mine has been able to find the back button and gone off to read something else or grouse about it in private, which is the correct way of things. There's no reason, ever, to tell an author you disliked their story. They will not be grateful for it no matter how certain and correct you feel in your criticisms. Nobody wins! Sorry! Go tell a friend instead.

Do you write smut?

You betcha I do! The first time I wrote it for Saint Morpheus it felt so unnatural and I was just making a :| face the whole time but now sex scenes are among my favourite things to write. I feel like I've really cum come into my own with them more than any other kind of scene.

Craziest crossover:

I've never done a crossover! I love reading them though.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so! I mean, not great, etc., but personally I also deeply don't care. I imagine having a job where what I am actually creating & selling for money gets stolen often sort of skews my perspective on my fic getting stolen. It's not a commercial product. It isn't paying my mortgage. I give these words for free and with love. If they end up places I never put them, so be it! Such is the internet.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! 【授權翻譯】翻譯之死 The Death of Translation by Ethiseth. Legitimately one of the highest honours I think a fanfic writer can ever receive <3

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No!

All time favourite ship?

Hob / the world :-)

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My very first WIP for Sandman! I started writing it then joined tumblr the next day, saw some of @messmonte's art, and was off writing Saint Morpheus in short order. Sorry 1989 canon divergence fic! Maybe one day.

What are your writing strengths?

Five dollar words. Long sentences. Big sweeping feelings. Instilling my personal values, i.e. love is real, you are surrounded by beauty at every turn, you deserve the things you want, monologues are a normal and practical form of communication, etc.

What are your writing weaknesses?

God, actually finishing and sharing things, I think. I haven't had enough time in my life lately and it kills me! But it's also such a me problem because I love to worry at and chew on WIPs forever. Writing fast would be so cool. Pew pew pew! New fics left and right. You guys would be buried in them. Man, I wish.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Can run gimmicky but also I love multiple languages in one conversation as subtext so much - I'm torn. Same as accents in that I suspect it's most cases better to just note it in the speech tags, unless you're willing to go through the trouble of inline/hovertext translations, and then at that point it's a bit If You Give A Mouse A Cookie for me where I'll want translator's notes too, maybe some metatextual payoff, etc.

First fandom you wrote in?

Technically FMA, but that's a story for another day hahaha. Sandman, really.

Favourite fic you've written?

Oh golly. Oaths. I did so much for the first time with that story. But it's hard to choose, which is such a nice problem to have. I think it's easy when you've never written fic before for each new thing to mean something different to you!

No-presh tagging @wordsinhaled, @moorishflower, @tj-dragonblade and anyone who wants to do this too - just tag me so I can be nosy <3