#I feel like it's super lackluster most of the time and it bothers me to no end

[figurativepieceoftrash]

Idk wtf they were talking about I really like your prose and I especially like how you use it to build atmosphere. You’re one of maybe three writers that can make literal shivers run up my back with words alone and whenever you post a thing it makes my whole day. Like. You GET it.

Aw ty, that's very sweet of you to say! I definitely don't think so most days but it's always really encouraging to receive complimentary asks like this, they drive me up the wall <3

You've probably already been exposed to their writing in some capacity bc they're very popular within the tumblr bnha fandom, but if you've never read any of owlf45 or aconstantstateofbladerunner's stuff (esp Candor or Butterfly respectively) I'd highly recommend, their prose is leagues better than mine and I adore their work so so much!

[brainmaniaman]

what do you have for cory/trevor :3

I saw that you added you wanted a male reader for Cory and Trevor. I want to give you the forewarning that while Cory and Trevor aren't my cup of tea, I'm happy to give you some general headcannons I have! If you have any specific prompts, feel free to send them in. I know what it's like to love characters that have like, 0 shit written for them, so here you go! (I'm sorry if this is lackluster, feel free to send more requests.)

I am so sorry but I just can't see Cory existing without Trevor. I think the two have to have a polyamorous relationship to function. I know that Cory/Sarah/Trevor were kind of played off as a joke but it just made sense. So being in a relationship with Cory means being in a relationship with Trevor and vice versa. It's just kind of one little polycule.

I actually think that Cory and Trevor are pansexual, given that they hooked up with two transgender women. I know that was supposed to be a joke but I think that's super transphobic and I'm choosing to actively believe they didn't give a fuck, they just thought those ladies were hot, because Cory and Trevor just give me pansexual vibes and I love it.

Cory and Trevor literally do nothing but play videogames, smoke, and go clubbing. I don't think they know what a fucking library is. That's why I love the idea of Cory and Trevor having a significant other who works in a fucking library.

I think they meet you because they were tagging along with Ricky while he was signing up for a library card, something small like that, and you were the librarian that helped them out. I think they both kind of have a thing for you so they get a library card even though they probably barely know how to fucking read

I just think it'd be really sweet if they just kept coming into the public library with random ass stupid ass fucking questions while Ricky was trying to study. Ricky would tell you "don't mind those two idiots, they're so fucking dumb they can't tell left from right, just ignore them." but honestly? you find it endearing. Maybe you just have a thing for golden retriever gamer boy idiots. Though you do wish they had a little more drive.

I like to believe that you read your favorite books to them. I don't know, I think there's something insanely intimate and endearing about one of them laying their head on your lap and the other on your shoulder while you read your favorite book to them. They probably ask a million questions but that doesn't bother you. To you, it shows you that they're engaged in what you're having to say.

They've definitely picked dandelions, like those yellow weed ones, to give to you because they don't have money for actual flowers but it's just as sweet as it is weird.

I think they're the people who introduce you to weed. You're not a big smoker, and probably won't ever be, but smoking with them is fun and honestly they provide a safe space. I also think that they're very affectionate stoners. There's something nice about having someone rub your back and stroke your hair while you're absolutely fucking blown. You can appreciate the touch more, since your senses are heightened.

I think they take care of you during bad highs, too. (God knows I've had some really shitty highs, smoking a bad strand is ass. It's probably a strand they picked off of a dealer they weren't so familiar with.) They'll take care of you, give you water, rub your back, shit like that.

Make no mistake, you pay for most of the date nights. That's just what it's like being with Cory and Trevor. They're not exactly driven and they don't exactly make shitloads of money.

I like to think that you push back against Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles when they give Cory and Trevor shit. I think for that reason Ricky doesn't really like you, because you stand up for Cory and Trevor. Also you don't sell their time like Sarah does?

I think when they both get really happy they kiss you on the cheek at the same time.

These guys are so free-spirited I mean they had such a great time at a gay bar, I don't think they'd have any problem holding your hand at the same time in public.

You definitely get a lot of shit because it's 1999 and the general public doesn't understand it, but within the park . . . to be honest, nobody gives a fuck. Nobody cared when Sarah was seeing both of them at the same time. Honestly, the park is somewhat progressive for the time. Probably because they've seen stranger things.

I think it's important to note that you're probably the only person who hasn't called them stupid and really believes in their ability to change and like them as a person. This is really important because they're constantly put down by most people around them. They are kind of losers who think too highly of Ricky and Julian, but I think it's wonderful that in a relationship with you they can be themselves and really feel confident in themselves.

You probably get into a lot of fights about cleanliness, though.

I think it's kind of funny that you get them on a chore schedule LOL

You probably have to teach them how to read.

I mean . . . I don't know I think they're a bit out there. I like to think that they show up to your work (the library) and hang out for too long. You try to get them to leave and go do literally anything else because you're working, but they convince you that they can make their visit worth their time if you just give them a few minutes alone with you in a secluded section of the library . . . if you catch my drift ;')

I mean they don't do much other than work for Julian and Ricky, so they like to spend almost every waking moment with you.

Sleeping in the same bed means being stuck between both of them in a sandwich. It's hot and sweaty and sometimes uncomfortable because of that, but you wouldn't have it any other way. After all, two is better than one.

[peachiseas]

I would like to hear about the side character treatment too please... I do remember feeling like there weren't enough reactions on both sides. I think the MC being quiet didn't bother me too much because I usually pick the quiet/shy options, but there were definitely more moments where I wish they could have talked or like... the ice cream moment broken up over suddenly 21 questions while eating ice cream.

Derek's DLC always makes me cry due to the fact that I struggle with his exact issue a lot even now and do not know how to not overwork myself or always put everyone else first so it always ends up hitting a bit too close to home oops

I adore Derek's struggle and like thematics in his DLC, especially in a time where everything is super uncertain and no one I know my age are feeling fulfilled especially with their college experiences. Imo its genuinely just so good and handled so well, and his family + Liz are my favorite batch of side characters just from how developed they are and how much they care for Derek and the MC respectively. (Very long post ahead bout side characters underneath the readmore)

That being said, Baxter's DLC side characters... to put it simply, Miranda and Terry were done extremely dirty in the DLC that was supposed to have them feature as supporting characters. We barely get any noteworthy character development with them beyond the redundant one note "oh they like each other but haven't said anything about it" which was the same plotline before the DLC was even worked on. And then when you think Step 4 we're going to see their motivations outside the basic one note "we like each other" plotline, they get their roles essentially replaced with Jude and Scott who we are supposed to care as much for despite the fact we don't know much of anything about them until step 4 and even then their both still one note. Xavier was there to egg on Baxter and MC scenarios but the whole thing falls flat if your MC isn't on good terms with Baxter, it reads like once again an overstep on boundaries.

With Jorge and Nico, you got to know them but you also saw them grow Outside of the mc and see them develop their own hobbies, fashion sense and different views on the world. Nico can straight up not like the MC but explains his reasoning and put that ill will behind him and it is Believable. Jorge has issues with being the middle child and that feeling of neglect in comparison to his younger brother and that whole fight was just excellent writing because you see so much development and plotlines come to a head that when they make up, it feels Satisfying. I think that became a staple in regards to Our Life characters, you expect the characters to be well written because most of the time they are!

But what do we know about Miranda beyond her basic occupation and one hobby? How does she feel about Jude and Scott arguing? How does she feel about Baxter beyond the mc? Does she disapprove of him now? It is one thing to write characters who are more quiet and reserved but it's another thing to make a bare bones character and equate no character development to being shy. Miranda is a nothing character and it's so weird that her brother gets more personality than she does and he's only in one step.

But Terry is so much worse in comparison, we get Terry accidentally making jokes at the MC's own expense which is such an insane thought to me because he should be far more aware of any potential issues because from what was written in his lackluster parts in step 3, he is hyperaware of societal norms and what should be said and what shouldn't. There is no care for Terry at all and we still know absolutely NOTHING about him beyond the fact he's the friend who has a van, has a girlfriend, is Cove's best friend and is a lifeguard. He has no motives, he doesn't actually have any narrative reason to be in Baxter's DLC beyond the fact that Miranda likes him. You could replace Terry's entire presence in step 3 and 4 with Cove or Derek and nothing would change whatsoever. I think it’s even worse considering he’s the first explicitly trans character in game and the only black trans character in the game. It felt like they didn’t even try.

In fact, that's the main issue with the entire set of supporting cast in this DLC. You could replace them and nothing would change, they are just there to waste play time and prop up Baxter to make him look good but they have no character development or plot development at all! You have Jorge, Nico and hell, even Liz had so much development in Derek's DLC that it felt organic to them! But we see none of this with any of the supporting characters in the cast, especially Miranda and Terry who deserved far more than just a forced plotline about having a trip together just so you can Once again have Baxter come in and be the good guy so the MC can't help but feel like he's becoming a better person! They are just shells of what little characters they already were and it's just so transparent that the devs thought diversity quota first and character development second when writing them that it's so disappointing having it be so full force in this DLC.

[villanesus]

Another KE edition:

V's kills:

1. Favorite kill, be it the most memorable, the ugliest, bloodiest, most ruthless, most deserved...that one kill you liked best for whatever reason.

2. A kill most unlike her?

3. A kill that shocked you the most?

4. How do you think she killed her mother?

This is a fun one! Thank you, beloved Pistachio.

Favorite Kill

(source)

Inga in the Hole. The entire sequence from the introduction of Inga to their actual fight is a favorite of mine. Vil doing her little tests and jump scares, waiting for Inga to do something—anything. And when it finally happens, the fight is just scrappy as hell and the audience (or at least I) was really kind of worried for Vil. And she goes fucking feral, which I adore. The brutality, the blood, the way she kind of dissolves back into Oksana at the end. <3<3<3 

(source 1, source 2)

Runner-up is when she kills Kasia in the first episode. This is based entirely on my headcanon that Villanelle was intending to follow Konstantine’s instructions and make her death look like a suicide. But she sees Eve and she’s so thrown off that she loses focus and kills half a dozen people. The fact that she even bothered with the nurse’s disguise and her reaction in the next episode when she figures out who Eve is are the selling points for me.

Most Unlike Vil

(source 1, source 2)

Guns. The couple of gun deaths are so… lackluster. The first one in Bulgaria is used to highlight her dissatisfaction and waning enthusiasm for her job. Later on, when she shoots the accountant guy, the show tries to make it super dramatic with the framing making it look like it’s going to be Carolyn who dies. But the reality is Vil just pulls them over, walks up, shoots a guy, and walks away. Yawn. Not creative, not clever, not emotional (from Vil’s perspective). I know there are other times (Anton, shooting [but not {killing] Eve}), but the couple I mentioned are the ones I'm thinking of.

Shocking Kill

I’m gonna cheat and give two answers (again). For me, the kill where I personally was most shocked was Bill. He was super interesting and the story had established so much about him. We knew he was a dad, saw his kid, heard about his wife, knew he had some history with Eve, and learned about his various adventures. Such a fun dude, definitely recurring character material! It made sense when it happened—I really shouldn’t have been surprised. In the early episodes, we have a Villanelle who likes shock value and gets a thrill out of murder. We see her intentionally luring Bill. The audience’s whole lens on her is violence and playfulness. But I was still just… no way! Why Bill? Why Bill?

(source)

The kill where I was shocked because it felt out of character was when she murdered May and the pastor. I’m counting this as different from “unlike her” because I feel like a character can still be “in character” but execute an action that reads as “out of character.” This felt like a completely different person to me. Season four, so, eh. I know Vil was hurting from multiple rejections (her family in the previous season, Eve, the church group, God?) and obviously in some very chaotic headspace to be having the Jesus-Nelle vision, but it didn’t play right for me. The shock of "why bother"? Sloppy and weirdly personal for people whose opinion Vil really wouldn’t have given two shits about.      

Killing Tatiana

You know, I wondered about this when the camera pans past her body before the explosion, but never really considered it. I’m gonna say she strangled Tatiana. We’ve seen some indicators that strangling comes out when she’s emotional. The bathroom at the club in Amsterdam. Rhian later on. I also think she wanted to watch Tatiana die. She wouldn’t have done something sweet and quick like she did for Gabriel in the hospital. Vil perceived her mother as a monster and I think she would have wanted to experience that suffering as she killed her.

And, after all, she likes the breathy ones. 🙃

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 010: The Night of the Prowler (ASM 78-82, Ann 6)

MASTERPOST

This arc, we transition from the 60s to the 70s! And we start by Annual 6 which is, and I quote, "41 pages of indescripable excitement"! The Sinister Six are here, muahahahhahaaaaa!

(Note: Ann 6 is a reprint of Ann 1, which I hadn't read but definitely makes sense, and a re-telling of the first issue).

Sadly, this issue is drawn by Ditko, which means even a shirtless Peter can't make me drool. What a shame.

So Otto escapes prison by Bluetooth-manipulating his detached mechanical arms, Ditko and Lee re-establish the setting, and that's only on the first page because no time to mess around because Thor's here on page 2! Good grief, the pacing is brisky. Sadly, after two panels, Thor is already far away. It was very subtle advertisement! But it also helps reinforce the (for now very lackluster, if that's what you're looking for) idea that the super-heroes are part of the same world.

Then suddenly Flash is here in his high-school personality, and then DR STRANGE is here to tell you to read his magazine. Wow, they really wanted to sell those magazines! This sure reads as the editorial becoming aware of how much of a success Spider-Man was.

We can see the writing has definitely improved since the first issues... even though this one is from 1969, just like the Tablet arc!

So the storyline is set "months" after Uncle Ben's death, which confirms to me that this is still high-school. Okay. All right.

And then as soon as Spidey loses his powers, he sees the Fantastic Four in what appears to be an attempt at showing as many cameos as possible.

In spite of his colleagues' messy yet sensible plan of "let's all gang up on Spidey at once", Otto says they'll each have a go, one after another. The idea is to weaken him by fighting him in each of their respective favorite elements. Okay, that's not so bad...

May's wondering what's wrong with Pete, surmising it might have something to do with "that girl he's been seeing", who's obviously... Betty Brant. Hey, remember when Betty Brant was a character? Me neither!

Peter's confused on what to do now, and passersby are amazed at "Giant-Man... and the Wasp!" Meanwhile, May and Betty get kidnapped. May by coincidence, and Betty because, according to Peter, "they know [he] was willing to fight [for her]".

The cameos pile on vertigineously as the Torch sends a message in the sky to Spider-Man and Charles Xavier says to "Ignore it! It doesn't concern us."

Spidey goes to fight Electro and the miracle happens! He's got his powers back. Basically, he was feeling depressed about Ben's death, but now he's fine! I must say I prefer SM2's version. It's a bit more subtle and well-executed. But that's still a commendable effort.

Jameson calls the Fantastic Four to ask if they've seen Spider-Man, and Jane replies that no, she didn't, and she adds that Jameson should probably call the police. Dear Lord.

Johnny wants to help Spidey (he seems to be Spidey's most regular partner) but Spidey objects. This fight is personal. This makes no sense but go off, king. But Otto is far from being a monster. He serves tea and Danish pastries to his lady guests, what an angel!

Then the X-Men attack Spidey but nooooo they're Mysterio's robots! So many plot twists!

Then we get some real comedy that I could absolutely see in a MCU movie. It's actually really funny!

Another comedic scene is the Vulture ordering Spidey to remove his web-slinging device, or he'll just fly away and won't tell where Betty and May are. Because every time Spidey beat him, it was thanks to his webbing. Spidey obeys, because of course he does.

Spidey almost beats Otto, but then Otto's like "hey, I can control my arms with Bluetooth. Why should I even fight in person?" and thus, Otto proves his girlboss status. He can't be bothered to get to the party! However, he can't help himself but want to be there to drown Spidey in a giant fishbowl (what the writer smoked for this issue, i can't possibly figure).

The two ladies are eventually rescued, but May hates Spider-Man and is really starting to dislike her nephew's slang, so she asks that he FUCKING stops saying stuff like "shook up".

There's a second story that re-tells in more details the first meeting between Spidey and the Fantastic Four (hey, remember to buy their mags!), which is basically the same, then a third story, where Spidey thinks he's going to mess with the Torch and his girlfriend because he lives in a telenovela.

Johnny actually has a really cute outfit that I'd love to cosplay one day. I already got a white shirt, the tie seems to be red, but I don't have a red tie. Still. I think it's a great look. Simple, but it definitely works!

...Well now I want to be checkered pants. Jesus.

Anyway, he quickly gets rid of this outfit to fight Spidey. Spidey gets angrier, Johnny gets angrier, then the other Fantastic Four arrive, show their sympathy to Spidey, who gets even angrier, they fight, then Jane and Spidey flirt with each other. The end. Oof.

Overall, Annual 6 is a lot of fun thanks to its bizarre assembly. It feels like a greatest hits that I'd recommend it if you want to see what Ditko's run was like. But it's definitely a downgrade, sandwiched between Romita Sr. issues. Lighthearted fun, at least.

Now, onto the main dish! As a reminder, I haven't read anything between 1969 and 1973, so it will be mostly new for me!

(gosh I really need checkered pants)

My familiarity with the Prowler is his appearance in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, and his appearance in Into the Spider-Verse. Since Miles doesn't exist yet, I'm curious about what's going to happen.

Peter calls Gwen, but...

What the fuck.

Turns out Gwen wants to understand why Peter keeps disappearing and stuff. Be careful, honey. Curiosity killed the cat...

After about 10 pages of delightful soap opera (seems like the 50/50 ratio's back!), I suddenly get flash-backs (both types) as Hobie Brown makes his entrance. I remember, now!

Hobbie wants to help his window-cleaning fellows be better protected, but his boss is against it because money. CoMiCs ArE nOt PoLiTiCaL!!! And Jameson tries to defend him because he's not racist.

From the very beginning, the Prowler is a very compelling character. He explains (to the reader) that he modified his cleaning equipement to become a super-villain. This is great! Economical exposition and very interesting.

A very compelling issue and a great return to the soap genre. In the letters, Ronald Gayda makes excellent points and did the maths:

Yes yes yes!

Michael J. Susko, meanwhile, argues that someone knowing Peter's secret could help him hide it! Didn't think about that, but absolutely.

The opening of the next issue assures us that it was initially planned as a three-issue storyline -- but it's been reduced to two! Which concludes neatly the year, yay!

And the first pages are absolutely terrific. Peter looks like a shojo romance hero.

And the issue concludes just as stellarly. Spidey doesn't turn Hobie in. I wonder what's in store for this character...

With these panels, we're done with 1969. Onto 1970!

I always appreciate Peter Parker being a handsome motherfucker. I hope we get to see the Prowler again, though!

But first, Peter wants to fight.

Anyway, the Chameleon is back! His last appearance was Issue #2! That's a blast. After taking the place of Captain Stacy, he takes the place of... none other than Peter himself! What a fun twist.

It's another fun issue that I really enjoyed.

In the reader's letters, the topic of Peter's hair regularly comes up. I think his hair are perfect, so Linda, yes, you're right.

Issue 81 features the Kangaroo, a villain nobody cares about!

Most importantly, this issue features the return from Aunt May, to my displeasure. She was nice where she was. She's been away since #72! And she's immediately worried about her nephew. Next to them, the aforementioned Kangaroo escapes from custody and recounts his sad life story.

He looks like a kid, then as his resolve comes back, he's an adult again. Kudos to the artist!

So Aunt May's dead (and I laughed).

And that's a nice panel.

Naturally, Peter girlboss gaslights gatekeeps May and she now thinks she's senile. Which, come on. Isn't far from the truth. She treats Peter as if he was five. Dear Lord.

In the letters, the readers talk about the same subjects again and again, but the Prowler is praised. Good! It's a great story.

In the final issue of this post, #82, Electro's back! But more importantly, Harry's shaving his stache. He had it since issue 74! I honestly think it wasn't so bad.

Peter wants to get money, so he asks to appear on TV, however he needs to dry his Spidey suit, but can't do it while showing his face...

So what's his solution?

Excellent.

The issue is alright, has fun ideas, but overall isn't that great.

The letters finally address my biggest gripe: I have never been able to faithfully reproduce Spidey's hand gesture to shoot a web, and Stan Reynolds has the same experience! Someone also wonders what kind of name is Flash. It can't possibly be written on his birth certificate, can it now?

There's the occasional weird letter, but there's also heartfelt opinions. Hobie seems to be a beloved character! They had to make him come back after that, didn't they?

So here we are. We finished the Sixties era of Spider-Man... What a journey!

[bellamysgriffin]

It’s funny, what you said about GG condoning bad behavior, I always felt that way when it comes to Logan. I mean, I personally think he lacks layers and I tried to make sense of what ASP wanted to tell the audience through his character/his romance with Rory. Am I supposed to root for them even though it seems like he’s just this guy who allows Rory to act recklessly? Are we supposed to hope for development or to get used to the way he is because that’s all we’re going to get? I know there’s more to it but just the way you put it reminded me of how I felt. And I think that once you get to AYitL this thing she does with Rory’s character gets even more evident (worse). And I sympathize with what Rory is going through then, but ASP doesn’t seem to be very into making a “the moral of the story is that THIS wasn’t okay at all” or a “she learned from that, she isn’t supposed to get away with that just because we love her” and that bothers me. And so does the way Dean’s behavior is romanticized and never treated seriously. (I don’t know how you feel about his behavior and all, but yeah.) Sorry if my ask doesn’t make any sense, I just wanted to share a few confusing thoughts! 🫠🫶🏻

okay i'm gonna break this up since there's a lot of moving pieces here! also, let's preface this by saying that i've only watched through 6.13 so i might not have all the info yet.

first off, i am (unfortunately) gonna have to disagree on the whole logan thing. i don't think it's entirely fair to say that logan allows rory to act recklessly. i think we should acknowledge rory's agency in these decisions. she was the one who talked logan into the boat thing, he wasn't sold on the idea until she basically insisted. and it was her choice to drop out of yale. we might be able to admire jess/lorelai for calling her on it, but i don't think logan should be condemned for "allowing" rory to make her own choice about her life.

i might agree that he feels like he lacks layers, but that's mostly because has no ties to characters outside of rory. i actually see a very clear point for their relationship, and i think it's to give rory a bit of a reversal when it comes to romance. with dean and jess, she was always the pursued, golden child. but logan is not really impressed by that side of her and she's the one who pursues him, she's the one who is criticized by his family as not being good enough, and she's the one who says i love you first. and so we get to see rory in a very different romantic position.

if i'm being honest, i think it's pretty clear that logan treats rory better than jess or dean did. i think it's her most functional relationship yet. that said, i'm not necessarily super emotionally invested in him as a character or their relationship. i liked them a lot at the beginning of s5, but they're relatively static/lackluster to me right now. logan is pretty smarmy/smug/spoiled rich kid, but to be fair, that seems to be what rory is interested in right now. this storyline is clearly partly about her exploring the emily/richard side of herself, and logan represents that life which is why (yeah, i know the spoiler) i think it will be interesting to see her reject his proposal partly as a rejection of that life (or at least thats what i assume the context is, at least partly). i was definitely more emotionally invested in both jess as a character and his relationship with rory, but that's because jess was a lot more well-rounded and had a very clear, well-executed arc outside of rory. the storyline it represented for rory at the time was an interesting one too.

moving on to the other part of the ask, i will have to see how a year in the life goes but i don't even mind if ASP doesn't outright condemn rory's actions, it's more that the show honestly seems to be promoting them. we're supposed to support rory's betrayal of paris with the paper wholeheartedly. we're supposed to see her side when she's icing out her grandparents. and i don't think either of those actions are great, and we shouldn't be rooting for them.

and finally, the dean point is SUCH a good one. for the record, i hate him, i think he sucks, and i cannot believe the show continues to frame him as the best boyfriend in the world. he was a piece of utter trash and treated rory worse than any of her other love interests, was persistently angry and treated people badly, but the show seems wholly oblivious to this fact. so yeah, maybe it's consistent with ASP lmao

[cafalla]

Dorothy, Volume 1 (2005) Background // Part 1 of 3

Today I wanted to talk about and show off Dorothy, Volume I (2005). 

This book is my biggest scanning project to date (148 pages). So it took quite a while to scan and edit this book. Same goes for writing this post. For tumblr's sake, I've broken it up into 3 parts.

This is Part 1 of 3. See the end of the post for links to the other 2 parts.

Part 1 will focus on my sorta deep dive into the wayback machine for information on this comic, and the cool stuff I found out about it!

。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

This book is a collection of the first four chapters of the Dorothy comic, which is based on the story The Wizard of Oz. The comics were originally published in a single magazine format starting around 2004.

These comics are super interesting to me, because they are green screened photographs of an actor/actors/props with a digitally edited environment. From the very short wiki entry for Dorothy, I learned that comics illustrated with photographs are called “fumetti” or “photo comics”. 

I can’t say I’ve ever seen a comic like this before, so it was a super interesting visual experience. I admittedly was very impressed when I found this book buried in the thrift store children’s story book bin.

Like, "What the heck did I just find? This is so cool!"

I was even more surprised to find out that this was a signed copy from one of the creators and writer, Mark Masterson, that was signed at Emerald City Comic Con back in 2007. I think that's a different signature on top, but I can't make out who it belongs to.

Like what!!! What a weird find.

I felt compelled to buy and keep it, even if it’s not something I personally would pick up at the store. 

。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

So, a bit of a detour before I go into the book and share some scans.

I tried searching the internet for more info on this comic, as it just felt like a cult classic type of thing that other people would've been talking about…right?

Nothing came up besides a short bare-bones wiki and some links to purchase the comics from various online comic stores.

Really? Nothing?!

But then I had an idea to search the wayback machine, and I was able to get access to the old main site! 

Here is a screenshot of how the site looked from 2004 to 2005.

Unfortunately, a lot of the images are broken and do not load. I'm not bothering to include other screenshots of the different tabs because of this. There isn't much to see.

However, I did get lucky with the downloads tab! 

There were some wallpaper images still available to look at, so I went ahead and downloaded them.

I’ll probably throw those up full size on my Internet Archive account too, why not.

Here's how the site looked from 2006 to 2007.

The site remained mostly unchanged during these two years, other than updated news info.

Here's screenshots of how the links appeared.

The Twister Times aka the news and updates tab:

The Great Store of Oz aka the store and merch tab:

You know I'm going to be on the hunt for Dorothy merch now. The designs are pretty lackluster but I feel I'm in too deep in the Dorothy sauce to care. All I feel is the desire to obtain one of these T-shirts someday.

The Balloon Rides aka the self promotion and other related links tab:

And lastly, the Behind the Curtain aka the cast, crew, and behind the scenes tab (my personal favorite):

Even though these pages used to be public, and I doubt any of their contact information is correct in 2023, I am not going to post any screenshots of their bios.

Well, I'll post a bit of just one. I felt it was pertinent to point out that Mark Masterson's photo was…this…

Which uh….was certainly was a choice…

But also, this was the mid 2000s. Most people would've seen this as edgy, quirky, and funny, as opposed to cringe and off-putting.

。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

Before I talk about the actual comic and such, I did want to share screenshots from the behind the scenes tab. THIS was the kind of stuff I was interested to see after reading this comic.

I have a feeling these may have been the same photos under the BTS tab on the 2005 version of the site.

Very cool stuff! Cool to me, anyways.

I'm glad I got to see a glimpse into what the site looked like at the peak of this comic being published. It looked like they were doing rather well and having a good time.

Unfortunately, the site all but dies after 2007. This was also the year the last comic, Issue #7, was published. According to the very short wiki, Issue #7 also ended on a cliffhanger! How sad.

At least we can still experience and appreciate the art and comics that were released.

Before I dive into the content of the book, if you'd like to experience it without spoilers, you can read it on my Internet Archive account.

If not, then come along! Let's get to the (abridged) story of this now defunct comic!

Part 1 -> You're Here! Part 2 -> Chapters 1 & 2 Part 3 -> Chapters 3 & 4

[eddis-not-eeddis]

So the K-drama my sisters and I all liked has turned out to suck, because, quite frankly, we are much better at writing romance subplots than any of the writers on that team were. We are devastated.

Things Wrong With Once Upon a Small Town

The leading lady does entirely too much pining. I am not opposed to a reasonable amount of pining. I may even pine a bit myself, from time to time. But her level of pining is practically indecent, and often unnecessary too.

We had the secondary romance plotted out perfectly. The vet tech (oh she of the instant coffee stash) was supposed to fall for the peach farmer who ran the local cafe. Finally getting a taste for real coffee, etc. etc. It was going to be adorable.

LOOK IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A K-DRAMA CATCH AT LEAST DO IT RIGHT! MY GOSH! The woman was LITERALLY on a STEP LADDER and the LIGHT was SIFTING through the TREES and THEY WERE HAVING a MOMENT. Perfect set up. Zero execution. The lame excuse of a K-drama catch that happened when they were all drunk after the party (she literally tripped over nothing!) just doesn't cut it. -3/10

We all decided that if the male lead's ex was gonna get with anyone it needed to be his bestie, because none of us like him or her, but we were all in favor of her not ever getting married ever and accidentally driving into a ditch...until we realized that would probably have led to her getting amnesia or something and lengthening the already overburdened plot.

Too many awkward meetings on the road while the characters are walking their bicycles. Get ON the bike and pedal folks. You can't awkwardly gawk or stare mournfully after someone when you are trying to hit your deadline, so get moving! Y'all are supposed to by super busy! GET! YOUR! TAILS! IN! GEAR!

There should have been more cows.

No really. He's a country vet, WHERE ARE ALL MY GOSH DARN COWS?

Also we expected to see at least a few sheep and they never appeared and we were heartily disappointed.

I really thought the rivalry between towns was going to amount to something, but it was honestly quite lackluster and rather boring.

Seriously people, communication is key. I had to watch thirty minutes of the leading lady lying to everyone about her feelings and then being mopey about the fact that the male lead wasn't dating her.

Um. Why is the peach farmer always just there? Doesn't he have a peach farm and a cafe to run? WTH? My guy, you have one (pardon, two) jobs. Stop hanging around the leading lady. She's not that into you.

I am expected to feel bad for a guy who has waited multiple years to confess his feelings and then only does so once he is drunk in front of his rival. No. Zero compassion. Love triangle drop-kicked into the ether. All of these people suck, but he sucks the most.

This is a stupid thing to be bothered by, but since I'm already on a roll, the male lead's socks personally offended me.

WHY WEREN'T THERE MORE COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWS!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Luckily there is only one episode left and then it will be over.

[flowergirlmiwa]

Toonami Super Saturday: a retrospective

Toonami: Super Saturday

Written 4/5/21

October 20, 2001 – May 25, 2002 Lineup

1:00 PM – Dragon Ball Z 1:30 PM – Dragon Ball Z 2:00 PM – Dragon Ball Z 2:30 PM – Dragon Ball Z

After Rising Sun’s lackluster reception on Saturday mornings, Toonami would return to Saturdays later that year with Super Saturday. The express purpose behind this block was to rerun that week’s new episodes of DBZ. I’m not sure if I do or don’t like this, dedicated viewers will have seen the new episodes, but this could also give people who missed an episode a chance to catch up or to give fans a time to reflect before the next slate of new episodes the next week. And, of course, the promise that if something awesome happened and you forgot to tape it, there was always the rerun on Saturday.

Besides that, Super Saturday had the expected bells and whistles or lack thereof. It just used regular bumpers and maybe had the Super Saturday graphic show up every so often. It could be pretty accurately described as programming filler. That’s okay, though.

June 8 – 15, 2002 Lineup

11:00 AM – Dragon Ball Z 11:30 AM – Dragon Ball Z 12:00 PM – Dragon Ball Z 12:30 PM – Dragon Ball Z 1:00 PM – Dragon Ball 1:30 PM – Dragon Ball

June 22 – August 17, 2002 Lineup

1:00 PM – Dragon Ball Z 1:30 PM – Dragon Ball Z 2:00 PM – Dragon Ball Z 2:30 PM – Dragon Ball Z 3:00 PM – Dragon Ball 3:30 PM – Dragon Ball

Two lineups, only difference being their time. There was evidently an attempt to move the block back to begin at 11AM, but it ended up being rejected back to the 1PM start time it had held originally. The only difference here is the addition of Dragon Ball. I’m not sure when this would have happened, but obviously, DBZ ran out of new episodes. In fact, by this point I believe they were doing Saiyan Saga Reruns. This leaves open the question as to whether or not the episodes aired on Super Saturday were the episodes aired on weekdays like before or not, but I don’t really know.

Note that this block went nearly a year being nothing but Dragon Ball. This should give you a good indication how much the show was being pushed by Toonami by this time. Of course, that doesn’t bother me much.

August 31 – November 2, 2002 Lineup

1:00 PM – He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002 TV series) 1:30 PM – Transformers: Armada 2:00 PM – Dragon Ball Z 2:30 PM – Dragon Ball Z 3:00 PM – Dragon Ball 3:30 PM – Dragon Ball

This new lineup adds two very 2002 newcomers, He-Man and Transformers: Armada. If you ask me, this is a change for the worse.

November 9 – December 21, 2002 Lineup

1:00 PM – He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002 TV series) 1:30 PM – Transformers: Armada 2:00 PM – Dragon Ball Z 2:30 PM – Dragon Ball 3:00 PM – G Gundam 3:30 PM – G Gundam

G Gundam had just ended its initial run on Toonami, so this was a precient move. At this point, the lineup feels very ‘weekend Toonami’.

December 28, 2002 Lineup

No schedule because it’s just a Samurai Jack marathon. For some reason, this was contextualized as a Toonami marathon, even though Samurai Jack had never aired on any version of Toonami at the time.

Plus, it’s basically all downhill from here for the block. You know it’s a bad sign when the schedule starts changing weekly, but this was the case for much of the rest of Super Saturday’s time.

January 4, 2003 Lineup

1:00 PM – He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002 TV series) 1:30 PM – Transformers: Armada 2:00 PM – Zoids: Chaotic Century 2:30 PM – Zoids: Chaotic Century 3:00 PM – Zoids: Chaotic Century 3:30 PM – Zoids: Chaotic Century

Probably the most impactful thing Super Saturday ever really did was this mini marathon, which both debuted and was the only ever airing for these four episodes of Zoids. So that’s something.

January 11, 2003 Lineup

1:00 PM – He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002 TV series) 1:30 PM – Transformers: Armada 2:00 PM – Dragon Ball Z 2:30 PM – Dragon Ball 3:00 PM – G Gundam 3:30 PM – G Gundam

Another one-week-only schedule, but this time it’s returning to the status quo.

January 18, 2003 Lineup

1:00 PM – He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002 TV series) 1:30 PM – He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002 TV series) 2:00 PM – Dragon Ball Z 2:30 PM – Dragon Ball 3:00 PM – G Gundam 3:30 PM – G Gundam

The only difference is more He-Man. Why? I have no clue.

January 25, 2003 Lineup

1:00 PM – He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002 TV series) 1:30 PM – Transformers: Armada 2:00 PM – Dragon Ball Z 2:30 PM – Dragon Ball 3:00 PM – G Gundam 3:30 PM – G Gundam

And one final return to the longest running lineup that wasn’t entirely Dragon Ball episodes.

February 1 – 22, 2003 Lineup

1:00 PM – He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002 TV series) 1:30 PM – Transformers: Armada 2:00 PM – Dragon Ball Z 2:30 PM – Dragon Ball 3:00 PM – .hack//SIGN 3:30 PM – G Gundam

Super Saturday aired three more times with this lineup, then faded away into the ether. The obvious notable here is the addition of .hack//SIGN, marking the show’s only appearance on a Toonami lineup. The end of Super Saturday coincided with the birth of Saturday Video Entertainment System, which would pick up and begin airing all of Super Saturday’s shows besides DBZ and G Gundam. It is a bit amusing to see .hack//SIGN introduced at 3PM, then after a while end up all the way at midnight.

And that was Toonami: Super Saturday. It’s possibly the least interesting or notable Toonami variant block to discuss, but it still had its moments. To me, its biggest crime was involving He-Man and Transformers: Armada, which I just personally find to be very ‘okay’ shows. Ah well

[trulyinspiringmovies]

The Bob’s Burgers Movie

“The Bob’s Burgers Movie” feels like just the right amount of special for fans of the show such as myself.

Bob and Linda Belcher are denied an extension on their loan and are forced to pay an amount they can’t afford in one week. Linda’s optimistic, but Bob is stressed out because he could lose everything he’s built. His fears are exacerbated after a giant sinkhole opens right in front of his store. What he soon finds out is that the sinkhole contains a sinister secret.

I watched a few episodes of “Bob’s Burgers” back when it was on Netflix. It got removed from the platform before I could finish what they had, so I never bothered to seek the episodes out. When the trailer for this movie came out, I knew I was going to have to catch up with the show. What I found was that the show was easy to binge. It’s super casual, but still super creative. It even helped me get through COVID-19. I fell in love with the cast of characters, the music, and the jokes. Needless to say, I was excited to watch this movie. The experience of watching this movie was super chill too. It truly felt like everyone in my theater was a fan of the show and we were all just watching a longer episode together. So, how was the movie? Well, I thought it was perfect as a fan of the show. As a normal audience member, I had some problems. Let’s start with the story. The show is pretty lowkey when it comes to its plots. It never tackles anything beyond local sitcom scenarios unless it’s a vignette episode with the kids taking turns telling fantasy stories. This movie felt like the perfect step up from the show’s normal fare. There have been episodes where the restaurant is at risk of being shut down like any episode featuring Hugo, but the movie felt heavier. Bob being so stressed out really made me feel like the restaurant truly could be lost forever. We’ve also gotten episodes involving murder, specifically the suspected murder of Helen and the attempted murder of Felix Fischoeder. The movie actually shows the murder, so the murder mystery with the kids has weight. The animation is so much better. Remembering what Season One looked like compared to how the movie looks makes me happy for the creators to have gone this far. The lighting and shading are more dynamic, the movement is superfluid, and the 3D environment felt seamless. I also enjoyed that this movie incorporated most of the more important characters throughout the series. I feel like they incorporated them naturally and made the setting feel truly lived in. I just wished some of my favorite characters showed up, like Jen and Millie. Now, I want to talk about some aspects that I thought could be better. For starters, it felt like Tina’s subplot was just another attempt at winning the heart of Jimmy, Jr. I feel like it was lackluster for the movie because we’ve seen it so many times at this point. Plus, I don’t like the idea of Jimmy, Jr. ending up with Tina. He’s irredeemable after the episode Nat debuted in. I thought that Gene was also sidelined as well. Louise’s subplot about her hat was cool, but I wish it was handled slightly better. It all boiled down to a misremembrance that felt a bit hollow. I knew Grover was going to be the main villain because he’s the most disposable character that gets introduced into the movie. I mean, he’s technically appeared in two other episodes of the show and when I saw him on screen today, I was trying to figure out if he was an original, one-off character for the movie. Finally, my biggest gripe was the lackluster music. I thought since this was a special thing, the music would be top-notch, but all of them fell a bit flat. I mean, it’s hard to top classics such as “Twinkly Lights”, “Bad Stuff Happens In The Bathroom”, and “The Briefest Of Glances”. Even one of the latest episodes had a banger in “What If They’re Right”. Those songs get stuck in my head all the time. After watching the movie, I didn’t have a single song stuck in my head. Still, as a fan of “Bob’s Burgers”, I feel fulfilled. I feel like this movie rewarded me for sticking around through the whole series. It feels grand and it has heart. I definitely recommend fans watch this movie because it’s still a lot of fun.

★★★★

Watched on May 27th, 2022

[panlight]

I know it's common knowledge that Smeyer had a ton of self inserts within the Cullen family, what do you think they would be like if they weren't such caricatures? Would Alice and Bella be just as close, for example? Would their relationship include something besides fancy clothes and big parties? Would Esme have more agency and personality instead of being the perfect housewife? Would Rosalie (and her valid points) be taken more seriously instead of written off as bitchy and shallow? If you could rewrite it without Smeyer's need for self inserts how would you have the Cullen family?

I’ve always just struggled with this idea that everyone in the entire family would be wrapped up in one member’s girlfriend. I get that it’s a big change and all but like, shouldn’t they still have lives independent of this? I suppose the in-universe explanation is the whole “if a vampire’s mate dies the vampire will kill themselves” and so the Cullens HAVE to be super invested in Bella almost instantly in order to keep Edward, who they do know and love and care about, alive but I’ve never been wild about that concept in the first place. 

Mostly I’d just want to see them having lives independent of Bella and Edward’s drama. Like, “sorry bro can’t help protect the human tonight, Rose and I have plans.” That maybe Carlisle’s just not conveniently available to take care of Bella’s medical needs so she doesn’t have to go to the ER like a normal person. That Esme and Alice and Rosalie and Emmett have like, friends??? They can be vampire friends! But it’s weird that Carlisle and Jasper are the only ones with canon friends outside the family. I mean I guess the Denali coven are their ‘friends’ but they consider them family, too. Why didn’t Esme have some friends she could call on to witness? Are you telling me Alice didn’t make a bunch of friends during her time waiting for Jasper? Alice? Friendly, bubbly, outgoing extroverted ALICE? EMMETT doesn’t have any vampire bros? Show me that stuff. 

The Cullens--and really most of the characters in Twilight, actually--feel like Sims that just kind of stand around doing nothing when they’re not actively in the scene. Even in the established canon, SM didn’t bother to come up with anything for what Carlisle was doing from the time he arrived in America to when he met Esme in 1911. We have no idea what Alice was up to while she was waiting for Jasper. They’re just kind of frozen in stasis because whatever they were doing in that time doesn’t end up tying into either building the Cullen family or being relevant to Bella, so, meh. Or how Rosalie’s desire for a family/a baby ends up being less about Rosalie and more so Bella can have an ally during the Breaking Dawn drama. But other people would be invested in this debate, too--Esme was a mother! She’d understand! Carlisle’s mother died in childbirth that seems like a relevant fact and could have been an interesting discussion, but it doesn’t end up mattering. 

I think realistically Alice and Rosalie would be closer--their interests mesh so well; Rosalie likes showing off and being the center of attention, and Alice likes giving fashion makeovers and designing clothes. Bella doesn’t like that kind of attention, but Rosalie would! I think Emmett and Rosalie’s relationship would be written differently if the narrative weren’t so centered on Bella. It’s clear that SM/Bella likes Emmett and doesn’t like Rosalie, so then we’re in the weird place where Emmett can’t be on Rosalie’s side on certain things because then he would be ‘bad’ like her and he’s ‘good’ (because he likes Bella). Rosalie trying to apologize in NM and Emmett being like “doesn’t count until she conscious”? I feel like he should be written more supportively; if anyone’s giving Rose the benefit of the doubt, surely it’s EMMETT.  

And the wild thing about Esme is that even if she just exists to be a mother-figure to Bella, a replacement for lackluster Renee, we still don’t even really get THAT. It’s implied, and Esme’s always saying “oh you’re already part of the family” but even though being ‘the mom’ is the basically the one character trait she gets (she doesn’t even get much in being ‘the wife’ to Carlisle, either), it doesn’t get development. When does Bella find out about Esme’s history? It doesn’t happen on the page in the any of the books; she gets the dead baby and cliff story the first day at the baseball game and then literally learns nothing else about Esme for the rest of the series, but she’s supposed to be the mother Bella always wanted or something? Show me! 

[mavda]

Beast Tamers

Ch.1 |  Ch.2 | Ch.3 | Ch.4(1) | Ch.4(2) | Ch.5(1) | Ch.5(2) | Ch.5(3) | Ch.5(4) | Ch.6(1) | Ch.6(2) | Ch.6(3) | Ch.7(1) |

Ch.7: Of burdens and duties (2)

Naruto is sitting at his desk when Hinata wakes. She just rustles and turns until she can see him from where she is and then stares. His back is curled and he’s reading some documents with his eyebrows furrowed and Hinata waits.

She waits till he looks at her. A glance, his eyes passing over her out of habit and then catching her eyes looking at him.

“Good morning,” he smiles and Hinata rises immediately. Walks over him on her knees, grabbing the bedclothes around her naked body.

Naruto receives her with open arms, his hands slide through her waist to her back and he brings her closer to him. “Slept good?”

She rests her head on his shoulder as she nods. Naruto is soft with her, moves her hair out of the way and lays kisses along her jaw. Hinata accommodates herself in between his legs and Naruto keeps on moving papers in front of him. He brings one out for her to read.

“We’ll be going to this one in a month,” he shares. Hinata looks at the document and nods in understanding.

“The s-summit.”

“Ever gone there?”

“No… Neither has f-father. He thought it w-was…”

Naruto chuckles, “Yeah, well, it’s more or less the Beast Tamers putting up a show to check on each other.”

Hinata reads the names written in there, guards and servants and an itinerary. She doesn’t really know how to feel. She is excited to go there and actually see one of the biggest festivals the Beast Tamers have to offer, but now she is part of them and it means…

Naruto moves his hand up and down her body, presses her skin to catch her attention, "I can't wait for us to get there. I want you to meet Gaara."

Hinata stills a second, remembers her classes with Lord Minato before saying, "The One-t-tail."

"The one and only," Naruto chuckles.

"Lord Minato d-didn't tell me you two were f-friends."

Naruto shrugs, steals a kiss from her lips, "Dad usually doesn't say much unless necessary or asked." He lets the papers fall on his desk and buries his face on Hinata's neck. She squeaks and Naruto finds it endearing, "We've known each other since I was like 12."

Hinata opens her eyes in surprise and tries to bring Naruto up to her, "I didn't… I didn't know that."

"It was a point in time where I was super rebellious and my dad thought I needed a friend who was actually going through the same thing as me," he has a smile in place still, "he's a year older than me and now is super aloof and mellow, but at the time he was even more annoying than me." He gives a loud laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. "We fought and I got pretty roughed up but I won," he gives her a smirk, pride in his eyes.

And Hinata is still trying to grasp the story, "Why d-did you fight?"

"I… actually don't remember," he squints his eyes in effort, but gives up soon after. "At that time…"

He pauses, gulps down out of nervousness, but Hinata stares at him with nothing but open interest, and Naruto talks, this time softer, this time quieter, "I was just starting to see the outside world. I grew up sheltered and followed my dad everywhere. I didn't know what being a Beast Tamer entailed, I didn't remember anything regarding the sealing so when I had to go under the reinforcement… I started to feel pretty resentful, you know? I wanted to be normal... Whatever that means. And I started to act out. My father, bless his soul, did his best and then thought it would be a good idea to put us two together for a while. Gaara's dad accepted under the condition of my dad checking his seal and so they came here." Naruto looks down at her, kisses her temple, "Two kids who hated themselves and everything around them, I don't remember exactly why we fought but it must have been the dumbest of reasons. We were just ready to fuck everything up at a moment's notice. So we did."

"How… you s-said you are friends."

"Oh, for sure." He laughs again, shakes his head as if remembering what he wanted to say, "we ended up roughed up and all but by the end we were friends. In the fight… I guess I ended up lifting him up? He felt worse than me, that's for sure, and I guess I ended up telling him that we could lick each other's wound, being the same and all. That I understood… what he was going through."

Naruto looks lost in thought again, and Hinata raises her hand to cup his cheek. He nestles into it.

"I-I'm glad you two became f-friends."

Naruto locks eyes with her and Hinata can't remember ever seeing him so melancholic. His childhood must have been… different. She opens her mouth to say something, anything to help him feel better, but Naruto opens his arms and hugs her again, buries his face on her body.

Hinata squeals in surprise and Naruto laughs. Laughs and kisses her and although Hinata doesn't want to let this topic go, Naruto doesn't go back to it. They talk dates and guards and servants and Naruto doesn't let himself fall back into that lost look he had before.

⁂⁂⁂

Kiba finds her one afternoon. He looks around her before getting closer and Hinata knows he's trying not to meet Sai.

"My lady," he greets. Looking to the two servants behind her, "may I take over and guard you where you are going?"

Hinata smiles at him and dismisses the servants with a polite nod. Kiba may be brash and bold to an absurd level, but he has been nothing but civilized and nice with her and even though his sense of humor might be crass, she has come to enjoy his open-mouthed laughs.

“Has the lady been able to check the name of the guards tasked with protecting you at the Summit?”

Hinata nods, knows where he’s going with this.

“And the lady is all right with them?”

Another nod, and Kiba looks at her like she has just told him she hates dogs.

“Because you can totally tell me that you don’t want them guarding you, you know?”

When it’s the two of them, when it’s them and Naruto or the people close to him, Kiba lets go of the way he addresses her normally. It’s a breath of fresh air. He made sure to check with her if she was comfortable and the moment she shared she rather enjoyed it he had smiled like a child.

Naruto had thought she was doing it because she didn’t want to bother him, but Hinata really enjoyed his company and his conversations. Naruto had chuckled, and told her that she was really something. Preferring Sai’s or Kiba’s company over a polite servant.

But she’s sure Naruto would understand if he stayed in the Hyuga compound for a while, where loud laughs like Kiba’s or the honesty of Sai are never heard. She’s sure anyone would understand if her only source of entertainment came from what people told her. She loved hearing Kiba’s boisterous voice narrating the most mundane of activities as if they were big adventures. Or Sai’s overly meticulous explanations that almost fell into comedy at times.

“I mean, Sai you already know and like, don’t ask me why,” Kiba walks with a gait that makes him look ferocious. His unkempt hair and the coat with fur lining over his hood only adding to the look. “but I’m here to vouch for Shino, all right.”

Hinata smiles, because both of them know Hinata wouldn’t turn down Shino either way. Quiet and somber, but polite and nice always. Almost always near Kiba, as their techniques are most suitable for surveillance, and almost always making Kiba groan in frustration. Very much like Sai.

“Gloomy, sure, weird, also sure, but he’s good, ok?”

Hinata giggles as Kiba’s lackluster defense of Shino continues. He will stay, as the clan still needs to be protected and his mother asked for him to work with her. His sister, Hana, is away on a mission and his mother, as the chief, refused to let him go. Their master may be away and watchful eyes may go from the compound to wherever he goes, but still, the clan must stay protected.

Kiba leaves her inside her room, with guards outside and servants at the ready. Hinata looks around the room, moves towards the garden and sits right next to the window. She’s nervous and excited and although she worries about a list of things she tries to forget, she can’t help the giddy feeling that surfaces inside her.

A trip like she had never had before.

⁂⁂⁂

Naruto comes late into the night and does his best to remain silent. But like many other times before, Hinata stirs awake and stands to help him undress.

He has told her time and time again that she doesn’t need to, doesn’t have to, that she should sleep without worrying when he’s late, and she has evaded his pleas with smiles and kisses he can’t resist.

He worries, because he wonders if she feels she has to wait for him. He worries, because her hands always travel places that make him feel on edge and whenever he answers those advances she’s eager to accept. He worries, because there’s been hardly a day in which he hasn’t spilled his seed inside of her and…

Her body is soft and plump and Naruto never tires of grabbing and dragging her to him. His passion is never-ending and seeing her eyes fill with longing and lust is everything to him. Because if those eyes ever fill with worry…

Naruto feels his stomach tightening, and Hinata clamps around him making him gasp for air. She huffs and puffs and her hands search for his face and Naruto kisses her palms, searches immediately for her eyes. Craving and hunger. He sighs in relief, brings himself down to her and kisses her. Lets his tongue move lazily against hers.

When his hips move away from her, Hinata crosses her legs around his waist, shakes her head no. “Don’t p-pull out,” she breathes, and Naruto can already fill his thirst for her washing over his body. “M-more.”

Naruto takes his time. Touches and teases, drinks her, breaths her. Naruto takes his time because this is not a chore now, and will not become a chore later. The moment his mind wanders to unwanted thoughts he buries his face on her body, concentrates on her breath and the way her hands drag over his body, the way she squirms under him and presses to him whenever possible.

He looks at her eyes, feels himself hardening at her rosy lips, her hair splayed out, his hands never quite able to hold her breasts on them. Her moans…

Naruto comes inside her and he grabs hold of the legs over his shoulders. Hinata shivers under him and drags her nails over his thighs, making Naruto gasp in pleasure brought by the sharp feeling.

The pop of his penis exiting her fills his ears and he cleans between her legs with care before giving a fast wipe over himself. He brings her to him, searches for her hand to hold. He has stopped watching his seed fall out of her in fear of giving her the wrong idea. He has stopped caressing her flat stomach after sex in fear of making her fall to the wrong conclusions.

He’s not worried. He’s not in a hurry, either, but it pains him to think she is troubled. Makes him want to bring her closer to him and whisper in her ear that there is nothing to worry about.

But he can’t. So he kisses her goodnight, nuzzles his face on the back of her head and sleeps with her body close to his.

And he worries… for her.

[indigosprite]

In another ask, you shared your thoughts on why you didn’t like 6996 etc. do you think 2795 share the same problem? I think while Tsuna and Kyoko doesn’t seem as weird as 6996 on the surface upon further speculation and reading works where Kyoko becomes this bamf vongola tenth wife who does anything for Tsuna, it sort of treads the same vibe as Chrome and Mukuro in some way. Idk I just want to hear your thoughts on maybe 2795 and maybe 2786 as well.

Hi hi

Had to search these because I literally did not have any ships for this show until I rewatched it and just merged my favorite characters into one pair that happened to be a ship. I  forget the others exist...With that being said, take this with a grain of salt because I honestly don’t even think about these ships a lot, forget they even exist. How KHR was written will always make the the very idea of Tsuna with any of the female characters feel weird or odd unless you’ve managed to read or create enough Fanon that changes your characterization of the original dynamic. I don’t think they share the same problem but maybe a similar one ? Tsuna and any female character compared to Mukuro and Chrome is very different in my opinion. (funnily enough it’s also because Mukuro isn’t a misogynist shsjsjsj) 6996 could work, they actually have a relationship that’s very personal to both parties and unlike 2795 they’re both aware of it and have a distinct unique connection with each other that consists of shared interests trust and mutual respect. it’s just odd to think about because chrome looks up to Mukuro and the power imbalance feels weird, he’s literally keeping her alive. (Which I know is disgustingly sweet I find it very heartwarming. )

2795 is this one sided crush with zero redeeming qualities. There was nothing remotely romantic or intriguing happening between Tsuna and Kyoko the entire series. If we took out Tsuna’s inner thoughts we honestly would’ve thought she was just this nice girl he knows from school. If we took out Tsuna’s thoughts in general and left it up to the fandom pulling this ship out of their butts it would honestly be 1000% cuter. All their interactions read like

“this girl is so lovely I really like her and she’s talking to me that’s amazing”

“Thanks for the pencil. Do your best on the test okay?”

I’m not swooning over the most lackluster interactions on the planet because he is over romanticizing it. Even the reason why he likes her is not that interesting or convincing. Which I mean I get it he’s only 14 he’s not thinking about all the small stuff like emotional support or validation or like not wanting to be alone etc. It’s still just you’re pretty let’s be happy all the time while you hold my hand forever. He deserves that he’s literally a kid. but even when i was younger i didn’t see it between them ever. On top of their interactions being boring they never give us things that make you go “oh wait she might actually like him hmmm” . they could have tried a little harder to make it a little more romantic? sometimes they show us Kyoko in a pink background hands clasped surrounded by hearts and I forget she’s supposed to be viewed in that light. I forget we’re supposed to actually consider her liking him too but what are we supposed to think Kyoko is looking for in a guy that makes Tsuna a possibility when she doesn't exist past eating cake and worrying about her brother and Tsuna. I think it’s also fair to note that they never imply that Tsuna actually thinks about her beyond his image of her but we see how caring he is with his friends to the point where he can point out their flaws and work through them anyways and accept them. Tsuna realizing Yamamoto was not himself during the Guardians trial is a perfect example of this, it establishes the relationship they built with one another. another example is Tsuna acknowledging that Gokudera is overwhelming and short tempered but he wouldn’t trade the guy for anyone because he is loyal and a good friend.  he cares for Kyoko as a person in general but he never reaches that depth when it comes to her. he doesn’t have to either because it’s just a crush, how you manage to take that through the next ten years of his life I honestly don’t know. 

TL;DR : My ONLY problem with 2795 is the fact that there is nothing to work off of but the implication that Tsuna likes this girl and that’s why they are endgame. she matters very little, just a figurehead of his normalcy. she’s written just as badly in fics, can I blame you? no you were probably like 14 writing them. do a lot of people still do this ? yeah so i’m just not interested until the fanon has changed her character for everyone. 

I know I sound super hypocritical because “Sprite what the fuck does 6918 have that’s soooo intriguing they actually canonically hate each other how is that any better.” the answer: Mukuro and Hibari have a more established relationship with mutual feelings than those two, even better they’re actually really strong feelings (of pure hatred). Bonus, despite being aloof both characters also have fully developed personalities and Opinions/Behaviors that we can mold however we please. they actually have a relationship to play around with that's what makes it fun and lets you have those “actually they’re pretty similar in this aspect” because you know shit about both of them individually. 

Now for 2786,,, as i sit here and think about it Haru and Tsuna make so much more sense for all the reasons him and kyoko don’t . 

Kyoko and Haru were already made solely to be Tsuna’s love interests (specifically Kyoko) , but then it went on to be something they didn’t even bother hiding when they reduced their characters and their interests to looking after kids and repeatedly worrying over Tsuna. The reason I don’t find it appealing is because there really wasn’t any dynamic there at all. This boy liked this girl and that’s literally all it was. She has no depth , and despite being written for him nothing about Kyoko screams you’re perfect for this kid. Nothing says, You’re compatible, You have common interests, you two can rely on each other. She was pretty and nice and polite and that’s all they shared along with half the cast. With Haru they went the completely opposite direction, this girl likes him and is upfront about it. she's not a better candidate just because she's not the typical pretty girl whos quiet and polite and caring,(She’s not the better written female character either, this is reborn. they all lose here.) she’s the better candidate because we actually have a personality to compare to Tuna's. she was purposely given this big personality because he was never going to be in love with her because she’s like all the other intruding figures of his life. Again we have this one sided crush, know he doesn’t like her at all but you can actually see where they do go right and wrong. she’s a complete person. 

Haru can handle a little wild in her life, she was the first one to know he would be a mafia boss and it didn’t phase her at all. Tsuna might need that later in life.

In the future when Tsuna finds her crying she tells him not to think her feelings have anything to do with him, completely different dynamic from kyoko whos emotions are always directly related to male characters and what they are doing. 

Haru and her cosplays are so perfectly absurd and she does not care how weird he finds them, she has this big embarrassing trait to her that Tsuna comically responds to but just grows to overlook and accept.  

she actually talks to Tsuna quite a lot and helps him out whenever she can, because he doesn't like her she's allowed to actually exist in his world and he sees her fully because of it. It makes sense to see his significant other who will be involved in the mafia as an asset who he wants to protect and not just...something he needs to protect bc they honestly don't want this.

she interviews the entire cast of the show because haru just fits there, in a yamamoto like way, she can just handle it. 

Tsuna and Haru could have been perfect friends or a couple. they had the grounds for it. it’s just not what he wanted but I can totally see them working out for each other later in life. they make so much sense! i’ll have to think about them more sometime soon. 

Hope I answered you questions, this got long.

[shaolin-spin-doctor]

a Very Heated Battle of The Realms review

No spoilers:

It was bad. Really bad.

Scorpion's Revenge wasn't a masterpiece by any means, but it was good enough to get me hyped for this movie. Eye-catching style, outstanding animation and an interesting enough story to get you hooked despite its overall lack of depth - if the first installment could have all these things, surely the sequel would improve on them and be even better, right? Right????

Wrong.

This movie sucks. Sure, the first few minutes are entertaining, if pretty uninspired, CageBlade is cute, and the Subzero / Scorpion subplot in and of itself is actually pretty decent, but it fails in pretty much every other aspect - most of the characters are barely even... well, characters, the plot feels all over the place, the fights are short and uninteresting, the animation is lackluster... And the ending. Oh my god, the ending. I want to know who in their right mind looked at that and said "yep, seems about right!". The rest of the movie had been whatever-ish, but it completely lost me at that point. Some Annihilation level bullshit, I'm telling you.

All in all... Only watch this movie if you want some background noise, are drunk with a couple of friends, want to see some mindless violence for an hour and 20 minutes, or are a subscorp shipper and can ignore everything else in favor of their scenes. If you aren't in any of those categories, please spare yourself the headache and don't even look at it. Forget it exists. It's not worth it, not one bit.

As a side note that has nothing to do with the base movie itself, if you're a Spanish speaker and are thinking of watching the Latin American dub... Don't. Please don't. The audio mixing is disgusting and whoever directed the voice actors didn't even try, so everyone's bored and unenthusiastic all the time and it really just makes an already unimpressive experience worse. If you really need to watch this, do it in English for your own sake.

Spoilers:

LISTEN. I swear this has nothing to do with Lao getting murdered. Y'all know I was fully prepared for it to happen, and was not surprised at all when his was the most brutal death in the entire movie. In fact, I was actually kind of excited (sad, too. but still excited), since the whole thing up until that point had been a complete drag and I was sincerely hoping we'd get some actual action from it. Sadly, it was not the case, and instead Liu Kang got a Dragon Ball Super level powerup... and whatever the FUCK the ending was. Legitimately, I screamed when he turned into a dragon - I wanted it to happen, but in a BADASS way, like the games, y'know? Instead we got... that, and I think my father said it best when he described his presence as a "dying asthmatic shrimp". aND SHINNOK?? WHAT THE FUCK?? I fully believed his appearance was gonna be setup for a subsequent movie, ESPECIALLY when Shao Kahn grabbed Kitana - i thought he was gonna kill her at first, and then we'd have the main group of revenants (sans Liu Kang) for Shinnok to call upon, and I was kind of hopeful that perhaps they would explore them better in the future and give us the Legends version of mkx or something like that - but he ended up just. being a Big Evil Monster. His defeat was so stupid, too?? Idek man I can't even begin to describe how dumb and nonsensical and pathetic the whole ending was. Legitimately one of the worst endings for any movie I've ever seen in my entire life, not even kidding.

L/iutana came out of NOWHERE. I adore this ship with my life, but it was so poorly set up i was left absolutely flabbergasted when they kissed. What the fuck? Cageblade was okay because of the setup in the previous movie and the little development the two had in this one, but L/iutana was just. God. Legitimately. If you aren't even going to bother writing a romance in a slightly believable way or give it any development, why bother writing it at all????

Speaking of Liu, I don't know about you, but I didn't connect with him at all here???? See, he's supposed to be the protagonist, but he gets barely any development and his spotlight is constantly being stolen by Scorpion and Subzero. Yes, I know he's just as flat in the original games and he's only began developing his own personality fairly recently, but you had so much potential for him, both as a person and with the potential lore attached to him. Why did the Tarkatans kill his family? Why did he get a random powerup and managed to lift Shang Tsung's "curse" (which, by the way, was completely pointless), which only Raiden was supposed to be able to heal? The only thing I liked about him was his chemistry with Raiden, who is also one of the only few highlights of this movie for me, and everything else... Nothing, really. Hell, he doesn't even talk to Kung Lao ONCE. For a man he's supposed to consider his brother, you'd think they'd have at least a single scene of them together - at least as a way to display their bond, if the writers really didn't want to give them any real character traits aside from "good guys with pure hearts" - but no. That's partly why Lao's death didn't carry any weight - yes, it didn't lead to anything, but it hadn't been set up at all, either. Same with Stryker. He was just a guy who happened to get involved, said two lines, and then died. He had no real relationship with anyone in the group, so his death was completely unimportant, and really, if he had just vanished, just like those rain clouds that appeared to soak Liu after Raiden's death for like 2 seconds before going away without a trace right in the next sequence, I probably wouldn't have even noticed.

Really, he, Lao and Smoke might as well have been cut, and it wouldn't have made any difference. It's sad.

All in all... I didn't like this movie at all, except for a very few things here and there. I know it's supposed to be Mortal Kombat, and people are always gonna defend it by saying the story doesn't matter, but... Why shouldn't it? Why can't we have a good Mortal Kombat story with better thought out plotlines and characters? And if we can't have that, why can't we at least have coherent fights? This movie had a lot of potential, and it was just tossed out the window. I'll be salty about this for a while.

[duhragonball]

What are your favorite fights from each anime iteration of Dragon Ball? (DB/Z/GT/Super etc. Yknow lol) I’m curious!

This is a good ask, anon. Just wanted to point it out.

I'm not sure how long a list I want to make for this, because if I really go nuts with this I'll probably end up covering like 75% of the fights in the franchise. But I don't want to just pick one favorite fight from each series, because that feels too short. Tell you what, let's just play it by ear and see how this goes. I won't bother ranking these, because I'm not sure I can.

OG Dragon Ball

1) Goku vs. Jackie Chun, 21st World Tournament final

2) Goku vs. Tien Shinhan, 22nd World Tournament final

3) Goku vs. Piccolo Junior, 23rd World Tournament final.

We'll start with these, because they're tentpole moments for the series, and they define Goku's character arc so well. The Jackie Chun fight was pretty short, but it was really the first big fight in the franchise, and it set the tone for all the later battles to follow. What makes it work is how Chun is determined to keep Goku from winning, not for his own sake, but because he thinks Goku will lose interest in martial arts if he wins a big tournament on his first try. Chun entered as a ringer, but he finds Goku a lot harder to stop than he expected, and the match very nearly ends in a draw.

So you'd think Goku would be a shoo-in at the next tournament, but he has to get through Tien for that, and Tien turns out to be extremely tough and he wants to murder Goku to avenge his master's brother. It's an awesome fight, made more awesome by the way Tien's character arc begins to overtake the action itself. He starts out wanting Goku dead, then decides he'd rather fight fair because he enjoys the competition too much.

So by the time we get to the 23rd tournament, the contest itself feels like an afterthought. This is just the venue for the more important showdown between Goku and Piccolo. Except Goku still wants that World title. It means a lot to him, and no one else seems to get that. Through this whole arc, everyone is scared shitless of Piccolo, worrying that Goku might not be able to beat him. But Goku has a game plan, and he sticks to it and powers on through to victory. And yet it's still this insanely close match. I dare say this is the most even battle in the franchise, but Goku seems like an underdog to start out, and by the end of it, you see that he had things under control the whole time.

4) Goku vs. Red Ribbon Army HQ

5) Goku vs. King Piccolo

6) Goku vs. Grandpa Gohan

I guess you can call these #reference fights, because when I rewatched these episodes in 2019, I noticed how much they resembled battles I've written in to my big-ass OC fanfic. Goku just charging headlong into an army base is sort of the prototype for Saiyan mayhem, and when I started writing Luffa I quickly realized that this would have to be the sort of combat she'd be used to. There's no Vegeta or Perfect Cell to tackle a thousand years ago. She's got no rival, so her best bet is to fight large armies single-handedly, as Goku does here.

Likewise, I ended up inventing a lot of villains who think themselves invincible, only to get knocked on their ass when they find out how vincible they really are. King Piccolo's meltdown during this battle is a sight to behold, because once he starts losing, all he knows how to do is talk about his fearsome reputation, except it's completely hollow when the other guy is feeding you a can of whoop-ass. He just doesn't know how to process this beating, and that's always left an impression with me.

Let's just say, hypothetically speaking, that you had this character who has some relation to another character, and gosh, wouldn't it be nice if they could meet and fight each other, and one of them could leap forward beyond their natural lifespan to make that happen? I dunno, maybe it'd be kind of emotional? I haven't actually written anything like that so far, but if I ever do, it'll probably resemble Goku vs. Grandpa Gohan quite a bit.

Dragon Ball Z

1) Goku vs. Vegeta

I mean, what else can you say here? This one's a classic.

2) Anybody vs. Cell, pretty much.

Obviously, the Goku and Gohan fights from the Cell Games are the best of the best, but Cell's entire run in DBZ is awesome, including the fights he has with Vegeta, Trunks, Android 16, Piccolo... you just can't lose. I could go on, but I don't want to get too far down this one category.

3) Pikkon vs. Goku.

This one gets dunked on a lot because it's filler, but it's excellent. Just a friendly competition where everyone's dead and there's nothing at stake but bragging rights and fighting spirit. Pikkon's a brilliant opponent and Goku has to find a way to beat him, and that's really all the story you need, sometimes.

4) Goku-Vegeta II

This one's a bit wonky because there's no clear-cut winner and the Buu crisis overshadows it, and it doesn't quite hold up compared to the original Goku/Vegeta fight, but it's still awesome, because of the buildup and also a lot of the intensity. It kind of functions as a coda to the Androids/Cell Saga, where both guys were Super Saiyans but they never got a chance to duke it out. As it turns out, they're so evenly matched that it kind of works against the fight. One of them does a big move, and the other one just shrugs it off like nothing happened. In a way it's kind of the opposite of the Goku/Piccolo fight. When it's a couple of Super Saiyan 2's, there's just no way for anybody to pull ahead, and ultimately their battle takes on a very tragic tone, which is awesome.

5) Majin Buu vs. Everybody in Season 9.

Okay, apparently Tumblr won't let me post any more images, but that's cool, you all know what Buu looks like. I remember flipping through an issue of Beckett DBZ Collector at the grocery in 2003 or 2004, and it did this top ten fights article, with this as #1. I just liked the sheer gall of counting the entire Fusion and Kid Buu Sagas as one big fight. But let's face it, it works. From the moment Evil Buu shows up to the Spirit Bomb finale, it's basically nonstop action for Majin Buu, as he takes on one opponent after another in a zany gauntlet. And sure, I'd probably say Vegito and SSJ3 Goku were my favorite portions of that larger battle, but it's tough to isolate any one section.

Dragon Ball GT: There were no good fights in GT.

Dragon Ball Super

1) The Tournament of Power.

I suppose this also counts as one big battle, although my absolute favorite part is when Caulifla and Kale battle Goku and he ends up using Ultra Instinct to beat them.

There's also a lot to be said for Vegeta vs. God of Destruction Toppo, and the whole endgame with Jiren against Goku, 17, and Frieza. Oh, and the part where Universe 9 gets wiped out in one episode.

For my money, Dragon Ball Super doesn't really get off the blocks until the Tournament of Power begins, which has always frustrated me about DBS. It's basically one really good run of episodes at the tail end of an otherwise lackluster series. The U6 tournament was pretty weak and the Zamasu/Goku Black saga was downright pathetic.

Movie-wise... let me see here. Mystical Adventure had some good action, Dead Zone, Cooler 1, Super Android 13, Broly 1, Fusion Reborn and Wrath of the Dragon were classics, and Battle of Gods and Super Broly had some excellent fights too.

And yeah, I think that about covers it.

[momentsofbllove]

A year of BL Love

I discovered BL for the first time this year, and boy what a year it was! I wanted to write up a quick and simple review of the shows that I watched just to finish off the year. So here goes! (Spoilers EVERYWHERE. So... be careful.)

Shows that I loved, will definitely rewatch in the future, and will skip very little of when I do:

The Untamed - beautiful story, beautiful production, all around worth every second of the 50 episodes. technically not a BL because of censorship, but still managed to portray the most beautiful love story I watched all year. Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan deserve every second of the acclaim and praise they have received for this masterpiece! 10/10

Until We Meet Again - I love every couple in this series with all my heart! a lot of people felt it was slow but I honestly just thought it was a beautiful story full of love and heartache and friendship and just... uhg, everything. I will rewatch this one again and again and again. 10/10

Like In The Movies - this one was heartbreaking and hopeful and beautiful and tragic and sweet and just altogether perfect in every way. I need the sequel right now immediately please! 10/10

He’s Coming To Me - this one was so good?!! I don’t know how a show about a love story between a ghost that was murdered 20 years ago and a university student could be so perfect, but it was? the only thing that was a little iffy was the previous relationship between Met and Thun’s mom. this one is sweet and sad (Met is dead afterall) and has love and mystery and good side characters and friendships. yeah. just altogether great. 9/10

HIStory 3: Trapped - fascinating story (I want so many more BL’s that AREN’T set in high school/university please!) and great chemistry between both couples. the acting was fantastic and the storyline was compelling. I truly love this show except for the fact that we’re not getting that sequel they were hinting at and that makes me SAD because it makes the ending hurt so much even if it was a hopeful one. 9/10

HIStory 2: Crossing the Line - cute story, amazing actors, wonderful side characters, just all around great! the only reason it’s not getting a perfect score is because I feel very OLD when watching highschool storylines. it makes the intimate scenes... awkward. even if the actors are adults. 9/10

Where Your Eyes Linger - loved the storyline, loved the chemistry and dynamics of the couple, the ending was rushed and left me wanting so much more, but since it was one of the first Korean BL’s to ever be produced it was wonderful. 8/10

Cherry Magic - I love Adachi and Kurosawa with all my heart! this show was so good. so so good! the only reason I’m not giving it a higher rating is because Tsuge and Minato’s storyline gives me so much secondhand embarrassment ALL THE TIME! but they’re still so cute despite that, so it’s not horrible. Rokkaku and Fujisaki are SO CUTE and the perfect side characters. basically this show is perfect (except for the second hand embarrassment) and the fact that we never got a proper kiss. like... I don’t need skinship in every BL show I watch, but that last second cutaway in the end was just... frustrating. 8/10

Theory of Love - OffGun have my whole heart and are 80% of the reason I love this show so much. but also I really liked the story line and the way Third and Kai’s relationship progressed throughout the show. it had a perfect resolution for all the couples (including the teacher/student ‘couple’ which I usually HATE) and was definitely a stand out from all the multitude of ‘university’ shows out there. 8/10

3 Will Be Free - this was was so interesting and lovely and tragic and I loved every single second of it... up until the last ten minutes. I almost put it lower just because of the ending. we deserved a happy, loving bisexual polyship d*mn it! but I’ll definitely rewatch it again. and stop right before the end when I do. 8/10

Because of You 2020 - ridiculous nonsense that I will gladly watch again! really there is no justifying this one being in my top list because it is NONSENSE but it makes me happy and that’s all that matters. all three couples are adorable and the last scene makes me smile so much! 8/10

Shows that I liked and will probably watch again, but will be skipping a lot of parts when I do: 

My Engineer - this show should be in my top list. but I HATE BohnDuen so much. so so much. and they are the main couple. so because of them when I rewatch this show (which I have several times now) I have to skip 60% of it because I really really hate them. so much. but the other three couples make up for it - especially RamKing who GIVE ME LIFE - so it’s at the top of my ‘not the top’ list. 7/10

Mr. Heart - this one was cute, but I felt like the couple was very... lop-sided. Sang Ha was almost obsessed with Jin Won before they ever even properly met and that gave me a weird feeling. their relationship was cute by the end, but... idk. and the whole side story with Sang Ha and the debt collectors was... odd. I felt like it was a very serious storyline that they did not take seriously at all. very off-putting. but altogether the show was cute enough, and short enough, to deserve a rewatch. 6/10

Why R U - I just... did not like SaifahZon. like... at all. Zon’s character annoyed me, their dynamic was... off, and Zon’s sister makes me so mad I can’t watch her at all. I adore FighterTutor (they are one of my favorite couples which is why this show is still getting such a high rating) and I have rewatched their part of the show 3 times now. but the rest, including the THREE other side couples (seriously? 5 couples in one show? why? it’s too f*cking much!)... no. no thank you. 6/10

Roommates The Series - it was cute, and did very well on a VERY low budget and a very limited cast because they filmed during the pandemic (or after the worst of it was over in their country at least). the side female characters were great (a rarity in BL’s for sure!) and there was a few really great scenes that I loved. altogether a bit of a lackluster show compared to others, but definitely worth at least one watch. 6/10

Tharntype - I know how problematic this show is, alright? but it’s fictional, and sometimes people like things in their fictional stories that they HATE in real life... all the very serious consent issues for one. that being said, if I had been watching the show as it aired I probably would have given up on it by, like, episode 2. as it was I knew everything that happened before I ever started watching and that gave me the freedom to appreciate the storyline for what it would become at the end. I love MewGulf and the way they portrayed Tharn and Type. I thought Tar’s storyline was interesting and heartbreaking and he is a precious bean that I want to protect with all my heart. however, a big factor in this series not making it into my top list is the handling of Lhong and the ending of his story. you want me to feel sorry for that monster? are you kidding me?!! he should have been locked up in prison for the rest of his life, not had Tharn’s brother come APOLOGIZE to him as if he was the one who was wronged. if that hadn’t happened, despite all the problematic things in this show, I would probably have put this in my top list. 6/10

Wish You - this one had SO MUCH POTENTIEL. the storyline was unique, the ‘twist’ reveal was interesting, and the main characters had a lot of chemistry. and everything was RUSHED RUSHED RUSHED! this show needed at LEAST 5-6 more episodes. there was no time to develop the relationship between In Soo and Sang Yi, and I wanted them to so badly! there was no time to deal with the ‘twist’ and the fallout that happened from it. everything just happened and then you moved on, and then more things happened and you moved on. uhg. despite all that I’m putting this one a little higher because the actors, writing, and production value were very good. but gosh do I wish there was so much more of it. the wasted potential is painful. 6/10

The Effect - wow. this one was... not what I was expecting. be cautious of watching this because it could be VERY triggering. but the acting was PHENOMENAL! I think they took a very dark and serious subject and portrayed it with a lot of care. one of the best things about it was Shin’s friends reaction to his trauma and how carefully and kindly they helped him heal. beautiful to watch! the only reason this is not getting a higher rating is because that ending was INFURIATING! absolutely unforgivable for them to leave it so ambiguous like that. Shin deserved to have a clear and obvious happy ending. not... whatever the hell that was. 6/10

Love By Chance - AePete are precious and adorable and I love them. But Ae’s possessiveness in the later episodes really bothers me, the fact that Perth was 17 when they were filming really bothers me, and once AePete get together halfway through the show it’s like they just get dropped to focus on TinCan which is a couple I can’t stand even a little. and don’t even get me STARTED on Techno and Kengkla. just... just don’t. that whole ‘relationship’ is 85% of the reason I refuse to watch the sequel. altogether, I probably WON’T watch this one again, but I probably would at least have watched the AePete and TumTar (yes, I liked them leave me alone about it) storylines if Perth wasn’t so young, so I’m still giving it a 5/10

Together With Me - MaxTul are fire both on and off screen and I love them with all my heart, but I hated, like, 95% of the show that wasn’t strictly about them. teacher/student storyline? gross. couple with a huge age-gap that ends up being super toxic and emotionally destroying a sweet and lovely character? thanks, I HATE IT. yet another BL portraying the girlfriend as a conniving b*tch so that we’re okay with one half of the main couple being a cheater while they figure out their sexuality crisis? ew ew and more ew. honestly if it wasn’t for the fact that they had two fantastic side female characters (again, such a rarity in BL’s!) and the pure intense chemistry between KornKnock this show probably would have been put even lower. 5/10

Dark Blue Kiss - I can’t stand PeteKao? like... why do so many people love them so much? Pete is SO JEALOUS ALL THE TIME! I just want to smack him! and he’s also completely not understanding of Kao’s fear of coming out. he basically spent the entire show sabotaging his own relationship and then blaming it all on Kao! uhg. no. just no. but I love SunMork with all my heart and wanted them to have so much more development and screen time. it would have made the final scene with them so much better if they had just had TIME to really show their relationship and how it grew, instead of just getting them together and deciding that was good enough. I’ll watch their part again I’m sure, but only their part. 5/10

Shows that were very subpar - I may rewatch some of these for a specific couple but only if I’m really bored and feel like skipping 80% of the show:

#MyDay - I know there’s a lot of people that really like this one. but... oof. the writing was so bad. so so bad! the pacing of the show was weird, there were some major moments that needed a LOT more attention, and some minor moments that got way more screen time than they needed. things were just... awkward all the time when they weren’t meant to be. and again, we have a character that needed to go TO PRISON but ended up being forgiven in the end. just... no. I’m honestly only putting this show as high as I am because the chemistry between Ace and Sky was fantastic. but that wasn’t enough to save this trainwreck. I might watch the sequel for them. maybe. but also maybe not. 4/10

Quaranthings - this one had so much potential but was honestly just so subpar in the end. I really just don’t even have much to say about it. it’s worth watching, I guess. but put it at the bottom of your list, after you’ve watched all the better stuff. 4/10

YYY (and the 3 special eps) - look... weird shows are just not my thing. I love Lay and his portrayal of Punn, Nott was okay as the lead character, but the side characters and storylines were... bizarre. I get that it was supposed to be a parody of other BL’s and their tropes... but honestly I like tropes. and this show was just... too bizarre. especially the three special episodes. in fact... I’m just now remembering I never watched the 3rd one. oops. 4/10

En of Love - This was such a mix and match of good and bad. I didn’t like Tossara AT ALL. Gun pressured Bar into that relationship, including flat out blackmailing him with his necklace to force him to go out with him! they may have been happy in the end, but Bar was CLEARLY uncomfortable with Gun’s advances for most of the first three episodes and it really grossed me out. I kind of liked Mark and Vee together, but the issue with Mark’s girlfriend was frustrating and their whole relationship was just a little bit toxic. and I actually liked Neua and Pra-Ram... AFTER they let us know that Pra-Ram was a legal adult. I hated their relationship up until they had the birthday party because I thought Pra was 17. I’m still a little iffy about a very experienced third year student in university dating a very inexperienced high school student. but at least it wasn’t ILLEGAL. oof. 4/10

HIStory 1: Obsessed/Stay Away from Me/My Hero - My Hero and Stay Away From Me were cute enough although I’ll probably never rewatch them, but Obsessed was toxic and horrible and gross in all senses of the word. -4 for that one which puts the whole series at a 3/10

Tien Bromance - y’all this one is... I don’t even know how to describe it. weird. bizarre. confusing. badly written. strangely acted. (the acting wasn’t bad... it was just... strange.) I watched the special episodes first and thought it was just a cute little domestic family drama with some strange moments. then I watched the rest. and the fact that the first episode started off with a ghost possessing and killing like 8 people while they were on vacation at a lake was the least weird thing that happened. 3/10

Craving You - no. the storyline makes no sense. why are a popular cake baker and an upcoming musician partnering together? why? it doesn’t make any sense! And one of the lead actors is just SO BLAND. I think he was going for ‘quiet and sad’ but just ended up with ‘emotionless and boring’. the most compelling part of the show was the side character dealing with the unexplored feelings that he had for his first love that were denied to him by a homophobic family and how those feelings are now interfering with his current relationship. the rest was pointless and bland. 3/10

My Gear and Your Gown - I liked this one SO MUCH for the first 3-4 episodes. then is went downhill and FAST. Pai and Itt had no chemistry for the last 8 episodes. they spend the whole show angry at each other and then we’re just supposed to accept them getting together in the end because Itt confessed his feelings. like... that’s not enough! the best part of the show was PureFolk. Pure finally believing in love again because he met the ray of sunshine and sweetness that is Folk? yes please! but even their storyline was not fantastic because it got rushed and pushed aside in the end to focus on Pai and Itt breaking up AGAIN and having to deal with the issue of homophobic parents for all of one episode. the last episode was so pointless! there was no reason to shoehorn in that last little bit of drama. none. 3/10

Oxygen - uhg. I do not understand why so many people liked this one so much. Solo’s feelings for Gui were UNHEALTHY. he became obsessed with him over one tiny act of kindness! that’s... that’s not love. that is a broken young boy desperately seeking out love and forcing it onto someone because he doesn’t know what it’s supposed to be like. and the side story with the fujoshi barista and her brother and the doctors was creepy and weird. the only good part of this show was PhuKao but they got about 3 minutes of screen time per episode. I would watch a sequel with them in a heart beat, but leave everyone else out of it! 2/10

Shows I’m currently watching but haven’t finished airing yet so my rating may change:

Manner of Death - this show is EVERYTHING! the murder mystery, the suspense, the suspicion, the CHEMISTRY! I have no idea what’s going on or who I trust or don’t trust (except for Dr. Bunn and Sorn, they are precious rays of sunshine!) but I love every second of it. MaxTul are FIRE and I am so so happy to get to watch them in a story like this! 10/10

Ingredients - this show is EVERYTHING! and yes, I just said that about MoD, but this one is on the complete opposite side of the ‘everything’ spectrum and I love it with all my heart. Win and Tops are SO. FREAKING. CUTE! their pining for each other for eighteen d*mn episodes was so beautiful and sweet and infuriating! their love for each other as friends above all else is precious and perfect! and now that they’re actually together my heart just bursts every time I see them. I think the series only has 1 or 2 episodes left and I am DEVESTATED because I want 20 more! 10/10

TonhonChonlatee - I watched the first two episodes then stopped. I’ve been ‘watching’ the rest via people’s reactions to new episodes online. I get that Tonhon’s homophobia and toxic masculinity is supposed to be awful and is a major plot point in the show... but I don’t want to f*cking WATCH it! I’m hoping we’re getting to a point in the show where he’s calming the f*ck down and starting to learn better and BE better. I want to watch this show. but I can’t watch THAT. 3/10

Color Rush - this one has started off fantastically! the story is interesting and the characters are compelling already. but... I can tell you right now that it’s going to go the way of all the other Korean BL’s that came out this year. it’s not going to have enough time. AT ALL. it’s going to be rushed, I just know it. I applaud Korea for getting into BL’s in the first place and for giving us such interesting storylines and characters to watch, but these 10 minute, 8 episode shows are KILLING me with want of better development! 7/10

Well dang! That was... a lot! lol! Sorry for making such a long post, but BL’s have been such a huge part of my life this year I really just wanted to get my thoughts and feelings about everything out. I was originally going to make a part of the post be about my favorite (and not favorite) couples, but I’m going to end this here and put the couples in their own post.

My ask box is always open to discuss any and all shows on this list. You agree with my faves and want someone to talk to about them, hit me up! You disagree with my not-faves and want to tell me why... let me hear your opinion. You have suggestions for shows that I definitely should have watched by now but have somehow looked over... give them to me! I’ve got a whole new year to fill with beautiful couples and interesting stories!