#I felt personally pandered to... XD

[enixamyram]

Just Saw Deadpool and Wolverine!

It wasn't as bad as I feared it was going to be. In fact, it was really quite good! Not perfect, unfortunately, but still really good.

Spoilers bellow:

Let's just get the bad things out of the way:

Why. Do. They. Keep. Splitting. Up. Couples. In. Between. Movies. Just. To. Get. Them. Back. Together. All. Over. Again?! Genuinely, they have Vanessa and Wade split up off screen before this film, they're still good friends so she still hangs around, he still has feelings for her and at the end of the film it's implied they're getting back together again. And it is so pointless! It would make no difference to the plot if they had stayed together throughout the film. It actually would have made certain moments stand out a bit more. It's just a completely unnecessary random trope that I am so sick of!

Channing Tatum as Gambit sucked... But he was kind of meant to... So I dislike Channing as an actor, I love Gambit as a character, so I was always going to have a bias about this. But genuinely I cringed at every moment of him on screen, but I think I was supposed to? I don't know if it really was intentional or not, but it seemed to me that the film was definitely playing up making fun of him. So while it was awful, it wasn't soul crushingly awful.

The NicePool dying joke went on for too long. I think every Deadpool film has that one joke that I laugh at. But then it keeps going and eventually my laugh gets a little awkward and it's still going so my laugh kind of dies. Not that big a deal, just something that really hit with this one.

OTHERWISE!

It was a really good film! It was funny in all the right moments. Ryan Reynolds continues to be supreme as Deadpool. Hugh Jackman is still the best Logan of all time. And I think the Deadpool films in general just mastered the act of upping the stakes in a way a lot of other trilogies fall down at. What I mean is, Deadpool 1 - the enemy was personal to Wade. Still a threat to others but the focus was on Wade's grudge. Deadpool 2 - the time travel aspect made it a little more intense than last time but it was still fairly personal and contained to Wade. Deadpool 3 - world ending drama that made this time really stand out against the others. It felt properly like the films before this were prepaing Deadpool to be the man he needed to save not just this universe but every universe.

Highlights:

X23!!! I was so damn excited when she came on screen! I love her, I love her comics, I love her movie, I'm just sad we probably won't get to see more of her but the stuff we did see was still amazing!

The Cameos I hated the Spiderman's film cameos because they felt cheap and pandering, but the ones in this film felt like they were done right! So it was a lot of fun seeing familiar faces popping in and reliving old stories or throwing out old lines (legit laughed hard at Blade's ice skating uphill throwback XD).

The Songlist Every song sequence, even the ones purposely out of place somehow worked so perfectly. It was hilarious in the right moments but even more than that, it was beautiful in all the right moments as well (I'm talking about you, Like A Prayer XD)!

Cassandra Nova A fantastic villain who I loved seeing on the big screen for the first time! She was delightfully psychotic and powerful and just perfect for the role as the ultimate big bad.

I think this is a good sendoff the Deadpool and the X-Men as a whole. I don't know if that's the plan, I don't know if Deadpool or any mutants are supposed to come back but I probably wouldn't rush out to see them to be honest. This feels like the right way to say goodbye. (At least until the MCU stops overdoing it and let's others remake superhero films on their own again. Not everything has to connect to the MCU for pete's sake.)

[gaycey-sketchit]

(Gary anon) Well, the new thing some seem to be mad about is the news of the episodes that dropped today: We already know the Beartic and Squirtle Squad ones, now with summaries. But, we also have an Ash and Pikachu separation episode, and one with Ash's Lapras making its return. That leaves 4 left unaccounted. (While I can understand some being disappointed with how lax and OS-centric this miniseries has been so far and expected something a big "grander";stuff like Tobias [or Alain] revenge)

.

(Part 2) (match, Giovanni/Team Rocket disband arc, World title defense, any type of tournament, Ash going after and catching multiple legendaries, etc. are not things that can be realistically done 11 episodes. It'd be lucky in ONE of those happen. Even a companion every episode is stretching it; and doesn't seem to be the case here. Anipoke is not the type of show to put all your eggs in one basket. Even if you get what you want/guessed correctly, it may not be in the way you'd)

(Part 3) (expect/hoping) JN felt like it more or less covered a lot during its run, these finale episodes feel like it's getting to what JN couldn't at the time. (Yeah, Gary is seeming more and more like the endgame; which also is causing a stir. Not so much his late appearance but the question he posed which was thought to kick off this last chapter, not potentially end it) This ended up longer than intended that I almost forgot the episode. xD I enjoyed it, nice to hear Cilan one last time.

I'm so tired. I feel like people might've expected a little too much out of an 11-episode miniseries. Putting that aside, man I'm excited for Lapras return. I love Lapras, I love Orange Islands.

Yeah, Journeys was very ambitious despite its slow start and troubled production, and it managed to do a lot! We're getting to stuff here that wasn't covered there (like a reunion with Misty) and other than that it's mostly just vibes, which I love, personally.

This fandom really will complain about anything, huh. This is why I've probably muted like a hundred people on Twitter.

But anyway! Yeah, it was a nice episode. Cilan return is good for people who watched BW (I still haven't, but I'm happy for the Cilan enjoyers regardless), Submas cameo was unexpected but neat, and the original trio is back together! It's so good to see them traveling together again. I am not immune to nostalgia pandering.

[jaskiersvalley]

🌼~BEAUTIFUL PERSON AWARD! Once you are given this award you’re supposed to paste it in the asks of 8 people who deserve it. If you break the chain nothing happens, but it's sweet to know someone thinks you’re beautiful inside and out.~🌼

This has been in my inbox for quite a while so I really hope you're still in the fandom XD As thank you for your kind message here is something really rather silly.

It had all started out with the stupid raccoon that rifled through Jaskier's bins. The mess it left behind was unbelievable, like a small, localised tornado had been by, specifically over Jaskier's bins. No matter what he did, how he weighed down the lids, there was a mess every morning. At first Jaskier tried to be more conscious of what he threw away, less food in the bins, even ate more healthily because the raccoon seemed more interested in sweet things most nights. Except for the time it seemed to go absolutely feral with the tiny styrofoam shapes from a delivery Jaskier had. When nothing else worked, Jaskier got locks on his bins. However, his raccoon must have been working out because the locks were forced off his bins and the jumper he'd put in the bin because of a hole in the elbow had disappeared. That was when Jaskier decided to invest in a wildlife camera, this was a raccoon he needed to see.

Setting it up, Jaskier did feel a little foolish. It wasn’t like the raccoon came by every night and this time he really wanted to see it. The plan was to catch it with the net he’d invested in and relocate the little bastard somewhere that wasn’t his bins. To make sure he got the raccoon on camera, Jaskier set out a couple of honey drenched pastries to lure it in.

Sleep was difficult, Jaskier wanted to watch the camera but he was an adult and knew he needed to sleep. With great difficulty, he managed to get some rest and even succeeded in going in to teach rather than call in sick so he could watch his tape. Instead, he invited Valdo over to watch with him, knowing that his claims of a muscly raccoon would never be believed.

“Right, drinks, wine?” He asked, already grabbing a bottle and two glasses.

“I’ll order the pizza I guess,” Valdo replied, resignedly pulling his phone out. “Your usual?”

“Darling, I’m providing booze and entertainment in my home, you know the least you can do is buy me pizza.”

It was a tradition of sorts, Jaskier hated Valdo’s place, finding it too drab and grey. It didn’t matter that Valdo had magazine to prove that it was the latest fashion. And the bastard had the gall to say Jaskier was the one who pandered to the masses.

Now, they had wine in hand, the TV on and playing. Jaskier had to admit, it was pretty boring.

“Oh look, a moth,” Valdo drawled, sipping at his wine. “Maybe it flaps its wings so hard it messes with your bins.”

“Shut up.” The wine was disappearing at a steady rate and both their cheeks were getting rosy. Perhaps alcohol before food had been a rather unwise idea. “Here, I’ll speed it up until something comes along.” And something had to, the pastries were gone by the morning. They watched as moths, the odd cat and rat scuttled by.

“There!” Valdo yelled and pointed at the screen. As quickly as he could, Jaskier slowed it back down. They leaned forwards as one, seeing something large and dark move in the corner of the screen. Suddenly the darkness became a blur and both of them screamed, clutching at each other. A man stepped up to the pastries, hunching over the plate and stuffing them in his mouth at an impressive rate.

Just as they were over the shock, the man looked up. His eyes, like a cat, reflected the light as he looked at the camera, head tilted. Once again, Jaskier and Valdo screamed, leaping towards each other for protection, wine sloshing everywhere. It seemed the man had no idea what the camera was, giving it a good, long look before turning to have a rummage in the bins.

“That’s a really big fucking raccoon,” Valdo whimpered and Jaskier smacked him on the arm. “You’re going to need a bigger net.”

Laughing nervously, Jaskier shook his head. He didn’t know what to make of it, a large, long haired man with scary eyes had made a habit of rifling through his rubbish.

“Sleepover,” he declared. “You’re staying here. And we’re putting more food out.”

“You don’t want to encourage him! What if he’s, you know-” Valdo broke off, “-a vampire.”

“They’re not seen on films and their eyes don’t do that. Could be a shifter.”

“Sasquatch’s freaky cousin.”

“An eldritch horror!”

“A cryptid!” That actually seemed to fit. Still, cryptids needed feeding, Jaskier was not going to be mean. So far, other than his bins, nothing untoward had happened. “I’ll leave him some pizza.”

Drinking, Jaskier decided, was definitely not his best idea. He groaned as he sat up, Valdo snoring away next to him. He remembered most of their previous night and cursed; they didn’t just leave pizza, they left a note too.

Dear Mr. Cryptid, Please don’t eat us, eat the pizza instead. Love, Valskier

Rushing out, Jaskier saw that the pizza was gone, the note was crumpled on the ground and there was a bite missing from it. At least he now knew the shape of the cryptid’s bite.

“Wake up!” He poked Valdo in the side. “We need to watch this before work.”

It was the right choice. Jaskier spent the rest of the day thinking about the strange man with the even stranger eyes inspecting the pizza, giving it a sniff while the note was on top of it. And taking a large bite out of it all. While the pizza was given a second and third bite, the note had been inspected, given a lick before being cast aside. The camera also gave them a very good view of the man, bulging arm muscles, long, probably white or blonde hair. In short, Jaskier was fucked. He bought a whole cake and left it out that night.

The strange cryptid began to show up more regularly but at least he stopped making a mess of the bins. Jaskier tried leaving a few more notes but, after watching the man squint at the note before trying to take a bite out of each and every single one, he gave up.

“What’s the latest on your cryptid?” Valdo asked in the staff room. Rather than reply, Jaskier pulled his phone from his pocket and hit play on the video.

This time, it wasn’t his usual long haired cryptid man. Instead, it was two others with the same creepy eyes, scurrying past, snagging the hot dogs Jaskier had left out and shoving the bins over for good measure as they ran. His usual cryptid didn’t show up that night.

“I told you!” Valdo screeched, earning a few scathing looks. “You feed one and more come along.”

The following night, Jaskier put out more food, hoping it would be enough for everyone. He was almost scared to watch the footage the next day but was so glad he did. All three of the cryptids lingered near the camera, eyes flashing. However, Jaskier’s blood chilled when he spotted another pair of eyes in the background, watching but not approaching.

Looking back on the videos, he was appalled to find that an extra pair of glowing eyes was often in the background. Maybe it was a mate or a very shy cryptid. Either way, Jaskier wanted to see.

“Oh. It’s an injured one!” Jaskier breathed, appalled. He had upgraded his camera and had managed to turn the contrast up enough to make out a face. In a way, he almost wished he hadn’t because the sight was so terrible. The shy cryptid was scarred beyond belief, lip caught in a permanent snarl. He seemed the most distrustful of the camera, never approaching. But, once, Jaskier watched as a hand reached in front of the camera, snagged the sugar laden jelly pot and the camera was knocked askew. Just about visible after a few minutes was a broad back in a striped and spiked coat as it retreated. From then on, Jaskier made sure to leave soft foods out too.

“Didn’t you say your raccoon had a field day with styrofoam pellets?” Valdo asked. The school had taken a delivery of biology samples which arrived in boxes filled with the stuff. Together, Jaskier and Valdo poured as much of the pellets into a box as they could and they were left out alongside the offering of food.

That night, Valdo stayed over and neither of them slept. Instead, the TV showed the camera’s feed. It was about 3am, both of them were drooping when there was movement.

“Look!” Jaskier nudged Valdo who woke with a snort. On the screen, the original, long haired cryptid had a hand clasped around the wrist of the injured one and was dragging him into view. Behind them were the other two Jaskier had seen before. He gasped, “They’re a family, aren’t they?”

“They’re something alright. Maybe it’s cryptid double date night?”

Fascinated, they watched as the four of them inspected the box. It was the smallest of the lot, one of the two Jaskier had only ever seen together that stepped into the box, hands digging into the pellets. The grin on his face spoke volumes. The other once jumped in too, the two of them beginning to wrestled for who got to sit in the box. All while, the pellets were tumbling out, making the original cryptid and the scarred one hop back. They stared at the styrofoam like it had personally offended them. Without sound there was no way to hear it but Jaskier was convinced they hissed at it. Hesitantly, the scarred one picked up a couple and, without and warning, threw it in the air. They all darted away from it, glaring as it dropped. Once again, the smallest crept closer, darting in to pick up a handful and toss it into the air, sending them scattering again. However, when the styrofoam didn’t attack, he got braver, his mate stepping closer too. All too soon, they were all tossing handfuls of sytrofoam in the air and running around. It was all fun and games until the larger of the pair picked up the box and tossed it. The scarred one caught it but staggered and crashed into the bins.

Jaskier jumped as the clatter of his bins falling over rudely reminded him of just how close the cryptids were. It felt much more distant when they were just on his TV. Tense, he clutched at Valdo’s sweaty hand and they watched as the cryptids ran away from the scene. The next morning, Jaskier had so much styrofoam to clean up, he regetted ever listening to Valdo.

Now that he knew that the cryptids could play, Jaskier decided that they were probably intelligent beings, it was a simple matter of finding a way to communicated.

“I’ve written a will, told my parents I love them and cleared my internet browsing history,” he told Valdo. “If anything happens, you know which box in the bedroom to burn, right?”

“You crazy bastard, don’t go out there!”

Jaskier held aloft the tray of foods, trying to look self assured. “I have new friends to meet. Wish me luck.”

With that, he marched out, ready to settle in for a long wait, confident that Valdo would keep an eye on him via the camera. As he’d said, he had new friends to meet, he just hoped they wanted to meet him too.

[oleanderblume]

I watched all of heartstopper today and I have THOUGHTS

Don't worry they are good thoughts.

One of my absolute *least* favorite things in entertainment media is the use of current, and predominantly online terms.

Especially when it comes to more left leaning politics. Because it comes off incredibly pedantic and pandering and insincere. Like, there was this cute show I was totally into up until it started using terms in that incredibly forced and insincere way, where I turned it off and simply haven't touched it again.

I'm really picky about this shit because I'm one of those fuckers that likes the characters to be characters before they are *insert token check box here* and that particular form of "inclusivity" just reads as tone deaf because I don't know a single person who would *out loud and in regards to themselves* use that type of language.

And like, that's generally a really big issue with lgbt+ fiction in media, because for some reason production companies and directors think that we like our identities being entirely linked to politics :/

Heartstopper was a breath fresh fucking air for me (I legit almost cried like 4 times watching it) because all the characters had incredibly believable dialog and reactions and even little inside jokes that are common within the community to the point that if you are *in* the lgbt+ community, you'd get it, and if you aren't, it's something small enough, you'd not even notice.

They felt like characters before they felt like stereotypical, tokenized identities, which was really nice. It felt like a *romance* before a story about sexuality, and the romance was incredibly well done 👏

And holy FUCK I love how they handled Elle. Actually, I loved how they handled every character's gender and sexuality, because it wasn't cheap. It was organic.

They trusted the audience to put two and two together about Elle being trans before finally dropping the proverbial bomb in I think like, the second to last episode??? Idk for sure but I *loved* it.

Maybe because I do the exact same thing with my trans character in Caring for Your Clown. Cause Oliver isn't *officially* revealed as trans until the mid point, but there are tons of hints throughout the text leading up to that point and I've not seen that anywhere else except for Heartstopper. (Granted the only other example i can think of is the trash fire that was high guardian spice trying to explain transgender people XD)

Like, Elle's treatment in the story is basically why I'm ranting about the show right now because I loved it so much. Granted, I kind of wished she had more screen time, but I'm automatically biased to love literally any trans rep so....that aside, Elle's character specifically was a really beautiful take on that representation.

I think though, the thing that really made this show so wonderful for me was how every POV character (with exceptions of Isaac cause he sort of doesn't exist) has incredibly relatable and realistic thoughts, reactions and above all else, STRUGGLES that are accurately portrayed.

Not over emphasized, or made into a caricature. It's genuine nuance to them in their individual arcs.

Case in point: Elle's crush on Tao being largely inhibited by her fear (or at least me perception of her fear) that Tao would never be interested in her *because* she is trans. Cause you best be damned if I didn't catch that.

It's framed in a "Don't want to ruin the friendship" sort of way, but you cannot reasonably convince me that she wouldn't be terrified of pursuing a relationship with him because he is straight, and how that commonly reflects the idea that straight people won't ever be into trans people on the basis of their AGAB.

Like I'm sorry. You can't tell me I'm wrong here.

(This is also a parallel in my books, cause my MC has feelings for another and he actively dismisses them because he thinks that that person doesn't want him as a *boy*— I mean, there's also like a ton of other reasons, but that's one of them)

Or the entire arc with Charlie being feeling as though he is a burden to Nick because of his past relationship. Or the fact that it is so *evident* that Nick immediately understands that his fear of being ostracized and asking Charlie to do the exact same thing he did with Ben is hurtful.

Also HOLY FUCK actual God damned bisexual representation???? Like a MAIN CHARACTER being openly, decidedly bisexual? I love that. Because it's so often the "I don't like lables" sexuality. I fucking loved it when Nick came to that conclusion.

Basically, as an author, and avid lover of storytelling...heartstopper is really good and I highly recommend it if you want to see genuine and nuanced portrayal of LGBT+ romance.

And I really hope I get more fucking Elle and Tao because I love every scene with them so much I need my girl to be happy.

[gavillain]

If you were forced to name one thing you hate about each the core Overtaker's, what would it be?

For some of them, this is gonna be easy. For others, this is gonna be really hard. I'm gonna do my best though...

Maleficent - In Sleeping Beauty, there is absolutely NOTHING that I hate about her. She's literally perfect. But over in Kingdom Hearts I can answer that. I hate how she is reduced to a secondhand villain and the Big Bad Wannabe in comparison to Xehanort. It doesn't suit her, and it's kinda just a trashy way to build up Xehanort as "Eviler Than Thou." It just makes her feel degraded and not like herself, and that's actually what spurred QAGA in the first place - my desire to right the ship XD

Hades - Easy one, I hate that his voice actor, James Woods, is a terrible person. And what's worse is that Woods is so openly terrible on twitter that it's hard to ignore. Sometimes it's hard to reconcile loving Hades when his voice actor is so terrible, but the character is so good and so special to me that I have to.

Ursula - I hate that they try to make her into Triton's sister in the Broadway Musical based on the deleted concept from the film. It doesn't match their dynamic, imo, and we'd seen sibling rivalry hatred already done better with Hades/Zeus and Scar/Mufasa. Pat Carroll sees Ursula and Triton as ex-lovers and several tie-in books agree, and THAT matches their dynamic in the movie much better.

Loki - I hate that he's such a fangirl bait character that Marvel themselves both in the comics and the MCU pandered to that by turning him into a redeemed good guy who feels like a shadow of his former self. He was and is one of the greatest villains of all time, but Marvel actively stripped Loki of pretty much everything that made him cool in order to appeal to the loudest sect of his fanbase instead of just doing justice by the character. He more than any other character makes me keenly aware of how the rest of fandom has moved away from just liking good villains as villains.

Doctor Doom - A very light one in this case, but I hate how despite the fact that he has SUCH a cool design, he can look so OFF depending on the art style, particularly with his mask. Some artists make him look so doofy, and even when he doesn't look doofy, sometimes the artists make his mask look fatter or more squashed than it actually is supposed to be. I wish he was more consistent with his design.

Russell Edgington - I hate how he was killed off before the opening credits of the season five finale. I liked his actual death scene a lot, but given how great of a villain he was and how little he'd gotten to do that season, which was supposed to be his "big return," it just felt premature and like a waste. He deserved more time.

Fish Mooney - Same EXACT problem as Russell except worse. I hate how she was killed off so abruptly and unceremoniously in the season three finale. Once again, I LIKED the death itself and her dying in Penguin's arms. That was really good. But just the fact that she did basically nothing after returning and then got killed off suddenly and without any build up was just bad.

Jafar - This is probably the hardest one to come up with something, because I don't really hate anything about Jafar. I think he's pretty perfect. I guess I hate that he's not in the Aladdin TV series. Does that count? Hades and Ursula got to be the villains of their respective shows. We couldn't have gotten some more adventures fighting Jafar?

Captain Hook - I hate pretty much everything the show did with him from season three onward. Like season two and season three onward Hook genuinely do feel like two separate characters. The writers very obviously changed everything about him to capitalize on Colin being a handsome heartthrob by making him into a love interest instead of a villain. He and Loki have a very similar answer to this question. Keep my boys as bad guys, dammit.

Queen Grimhilde - Another really hard one. I guess I hate that there's not more scenes of her as the queen. I understand completely why most of her scenes are the more cartoonish looking witch because it was easier to animate back in the early days of hand drawn animation. But she looks so cool and Lucille LaVerne does such a good job as the queen that I wish we could have gotten more screentime of her. Sometimes I have trouble getting LaVerne's voice for her in my head when I'm writing and I have to default to Susanne Blakeslee, which isn't ideal for Grimmie.

[lost-in-yujikiri]

My version of SAO "Everyone Lives" AU

I need to get out my ideas of what would happen if most of SAO's Major Character Deaths got averted before Lycoris is released (except the villains and Sachi & the Moonlit Black Cat guild's death, there is just no way to erase it without undoing Kirito's development in Aincrad). I know SAO Gameverse/ Lycoris wouldn't follow any of my ideas, so I just want to share my view. Who knows, maybe this will become a huge fanfic some day.

Note: This post is full of multishipping/ non-canon shipping pandering headcanons/implications (the biggest ones are Eugeo/Kirito/Asuna & Bercouli/Fanatio/Dakira), as well as obvious heavy Alicization WoU and Moon Cradle spoilers, please beware. I also lightly included some game-only Alicization characters (Eydis and Medina) because I like them.

1) Cardinal is alive and she has high authority enough to install kid Alice Zuberg into a free Cube to make her a living entity separate from Alice S30

In most recent live Q&A Reki said that while writing Alicization the first scene he wrote is the scene of Kirito and Alice S30 climbing back into Cathedral and Kirito convinced Alice S30 to his side, he mentioned Alice's Synthesis is an irreversible one and it aligns with my reasoning of how Zuberg & S30 are different Fluctlights so I'll keep the same settings in here. So how would this affect everyone's treatment to the 2 Alices?

- Kirito would be glad that he doesn't have to "kill" any Alice just to keep one;

- Selka would be extremely confused, but I think she would eventually accept happily that she has 2 sisters now;

- Eugeo... would have even more complicated emotions than anyone, even more than he imagined. From my own experience, during university period, I went to a class reunion full of friends from middle school, and I reunited with a classmate friend whom I used to like a lot as a person. But for some reason I couldn't like his adult self as much as his middle school self even if he still isn't a bad person. To me he changed way too much in how he behaves and how he presents himself that I can't like his adult self like his middle school self, and I was shocked that puberty could change a person that much. Same to myself, I have changed a lot in my puberty too, and he also said I'm not the same as before any more. Back to my AU, I feel like Eugeo and Zuberg might mirror what I felt when I reunited with my classmate. Eugeo used to describe Alice Zuberg like the sun on the blue sky and that image of her is his source of happiness whenever he's sad, while Alice S30 is so unapproachable and cold like ice. Eugeo being indifferent to S30 is one thing, but to Zuberg it's like reuniting with a friend in elementary school who stayed the same and both would be shocked as Eugeo's the one who changed so much due to puberty. In ARS game Zuberg even said that while being jailed in Cathedral's ceiling, Eugeo (and everyone else) grew so big while she stayed the same and she's upset.

So I think in the end Eugeo would still end up letting Zuberg go instead of forcing her into the fantasy he held up for so long. Interestingly Eugeo himself already muled over this in LN when he was reading books in Cardinal's library, that the best outcome they could hope for is to give Zuberg back to her body and send her back to her family happily while he continued his adventure with Kirito because they're being chased away by the Church.

2) (Super self-indulgent) Bercouli/Fanatio/Dakira

Dakira: "Fanatio-sama is so amazing and dazzling and I love her, but she has Commander Bercouli so I can only be her subordinate and admire her in silence..."

Fanatio: "Dakira is so hardworking and loyal, she has so much potential I love having her with me but then what would Commander think..."

Bercouli: "Don't worry I'm cool with it, take care of our Sub-Commander, Dakira. And it's not like I can stop my knights from flexing their gayness..." *eyeing Eydis Synthesis 10

Super spoilers: Even if Bercouli didn't die in the War I think he would eventually unfreeze his age and find an ending for himself when he thinks he's lived too long and done enough for the Knights many years later. He would entrust Fanatio and her son with him to Dakira before he passed away, and Dakira would become Berche's 2nd mother (instead of Fanatio taking care of the kid alone in canon).

3) (Super self-indulgent) Eydis S10 x Alice S30 and Medina x Sortiliena

I could never imagine I would like any gameverse girls before but ARS and Lycoris manga have sold me Eydis x Alice S30 and Medina x Sortiliena OMG so I ship them hard in my AU.

4) Super self-indulgent Eugeo/Kirito/Asuna

(You guys who have stayed with me for years should have known already ara ara)

I don't feel it would not be that different from this excerpt from HR manga (seriously this artist really vibes with me I wanna have a drink with him sometimes).

Everyone: "Don't you think they're just too close? Aren't you afraid Asuna?"

Asuna: "Yeah I should, should I? But like Kirito seems so happy with him around like no others could and I feel he's a good boy so I can let them be"

We also should have more Eugeo & Asuna's interactions of chewing on Kirito's bad habits XD. I also feel like they can find solace in each other being fellow victims of sexual exploits from adults, in some aspects that Kirito can't fully understand that only fellow victims can.

4) Yuuki is alive and comes into UW as Goddess Lunaria

Poor Moon Goddess Lunaria, she's the 4th God of the Human Empire but even Reki forgot her in WoU and only mentioned her more in Moon Cradle. Anime and games also made it worse for leaving her out completely :(. So I want her to get her role in my AU as the Goddess of Dreams. Yuuki extremely fits her role, not to mention she cosplayed the Moon Princess in MD before. More Stacia Asuna x Lunaria Yuuki interactions are here of course.

5) Eugeo and Lunaria Yuuki participate in WoU with everyone

- Lunaria would be an amazing fighter of course. I feel she would be even more deadly than normal now that she has to start fighting with human souls on the line, whether they're real or artificial.

- Eugeo would be a huge AoE Life Absorber and Healer and also becomes destructive sometimes borderline death. But fighting with others will help him start seeing his own values and gain his own will to survive for others. And he'll become the first proper Knight in UW without going through Synthesis.

6) WoU changes and outcome in my AU (huge spoilers)

- Kirito got unconscious and damaged for a while, but without self-destructing his own Fluctlight from guilt of Eugeo's and other comrades' deaths because Eugeo is still alive and took care of him, so he eventually healed, at least quicker than canon;

- Asuna, Sinon and Leafa came to UW at once to help heal Kirito. There is no facepalming Asuna vs Alice fights since Alice didn't develop some level of Florence Nightingale effect towards Kirito (according to Wikipedia: "The Florence Nightingale effect is a trope where a caregiver falls in love with their patient, even if very little communication or contact takes place outside of basic care. Feelings may fade once the patient is no longer in need of care.");

- Sinon won against Subtilizer instead of the anti-climatic outcome in canon;

- Kirito & Eugeo fought together to win against PoH while Asuna and other girls kicked ass to huge armies;

- When they won the War the acceleration ratio of UW was changed to 1:1, Human Empire and Dark Territory made peace with more trading, labor & technology exchange treaties that benefit both. Alice S30 & Eugeo came to real world through Ichiemon & Niemon robots and chilled in ALO while Kirito beat up Kikuoka for hiding from him the actual purpose of Alicization project, and thus Kirito forced him not to use his friends as war soldiers.

- Alice S30 chose to go back to UW in the end since she finds her most values as being a Knight, coming to events of farce in real world is not her thing, and she wants to spend time with her Zuberg family. Meanwhile Eugeo already parted with his family after dumping on them a big bag of his Knight's salary money, saying that they can live prosperously without him working his ass off for them now, and he never comes back. He still comes and goes from real world to UW to do duties as a Knight who helps connecting real world & virtual reality, and sometimes visits the Zubergs with Kirito & Asuna. In real world he lives as an all-purpose robot in Kirigaya resident, while ALO he lives in the log house and takes care of Yui whenever Kirito & Asuna are busy in real world.

THE END.

[visceryl]

“Who’s Side Are You On?” - HPHM

Hello! Finally did a long overdue prompt for @thewasp1995 that includes David Grant, my MC Konnor Rainwater, and @hogwartsmysterystory ‘s Ethren Whitecross. Enjoy whatever the hell this is XD

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Footsteps clicked in even echoes against the stone floors, leaving a wet squelch and damp impressions of a shoe in their wake before traveling onwards to the red runner spanning up to the Gryffindor Tower. 

Konn approached with impatient trembles to his white knuckled fists as a cool anger surged rampant through his skull. Like a pound of blood slamming against his temples. He was soaked from head to toe, ignoring the passing gazes a few red robed kids sent him on their way to classes. 

“My my, a drowned snake approaches!” the portrait on the wall sang. 

The plump woman within the golden frame feigned back against her lounge, a pillow blanketing her head as her gaze turned watchful on the boy.

Konnor scoffed, his footsteps stalling against the otherwise blank stone brick wall that seemed to be nothing but a dead end. 

“I’m not here for games. I just need to see a friend.”

“I am sure, my boy, but you’re not going anywhere without the password.” 

A smile glittered on the portraits features and a hand rose to cup around her ear as if yearning for some far off sound.

“I don’t know the damn code, please. I know David is in there.”

“Language!” she chastised. “No code, no entry.”

Konn ground his teeth together, his jaw jumping with irritable strain. Pandering to the woman’s request, his gaze flitted back towards where a stream of students had just left the Gryffindor Common Room. It seemed they’d already turned the corner and disappeared. 

For the love of-

Wait. He knew this.

The Slytherin stalled on his heel, digging it in as a forearm raced up to brush white locks of hair back from their plastered position upon his forehead. The tips that had stained a soft pink with growing agitation slowly began to fade.

He turned back towards the lady in the portrait. 

Luckily, Konnor had been there just a few days back with Charlie and Hal, it hadn’t yet hit the weekly mark where another passcode would inevitably take its place. 

“Inexcussus,” he tested on his tongue. 

The woman broke into another smile, waving her hand. “Yes yes, my boy, very well, go on in.”

Her portrait swung forward to reveal a sizable hole in the brick. Stepping through, the Slytherin was welcomed by a warm hearth, the fire blazing warm and casting a deep red glow across the entirety of the common room. Long stained glass windows lined the walls gazing out far and wide over the Hogwarts grounds, transparent golden curtains draped down over them. Plush red armchairs and couches crowded the fireplace while a looming spiral staircase led up behind into the dorms.

It had all but emptied out now. 

With students attending their classes, Konnor knew only one person who’d still surely be floating about. It also happened to be the one guy he desperately needed to talk to if only for his sanity.

“David? Are you still alive in here?” 

His voice echoed up the staircase, overpowering the cracks and pops of the blazing fire. No answer.

Again, Konnor’s fists clenched and unclenched as he eased himself in passing breaths. This was ridiculous. He hated that he had even wound up here, but after today’s fiasco in potions with Merula… 

He was still dripping from where the pot had opened up into a geyser right in his face. The whole class had laughed, let alone what Snape had thought with his usual disapproving look. It scalded in the back of his mind.

That girl was nothing but trouble when left to her own devices. 

Even from year one, Konnor and Merula had never gotten along. Always bickering and costing each other precious house points. She had gotten better over time, they could tolerate one another on most occasions, but ever since her and David had opted for a break in their short lived relationship, she’d been gunning for a distraction.

A distraction that came in the form of pestering Konnor.

He blew out a frustrated breath, raking his fingers through his hair and dragging nails along his scalp. “Come on, David!” 

Konnor gripped the railing, twisting himself to leap past the first two steps of the winding staircase, and began to ascend. Quickly, he found himself in the boy’s dorms, his head poking around the doorway to glance inside.

Empty. 

Save for a single figure lumped beneath the blankets. 

Konn pushed his way in, nearly tripping over several belongings of other Gryffindor’s strewn across the floor. In a series of beds decorated in more golds and reds, he could see several personalities. Ben’s clean and tidy nook, Ethren’s disaster zone with an unmade bed and books scattered about, and David’s. 

His was somewhere in between, the dead giveaway the guitar leaned at the very end of his bed. 

“Are you really going to ignore your visitor who has so graciously blessed you with his presence?”

The blankets rumpled with a tired grunt as dark brown hair poked out in various angles from beneath. Finally, with a heave, David pushed himself up. His legs swung over the edge of the bed, a hand at his head. 

“I didn’t realize I was entertaining the Queen.”

“What does this have to do with- Oh, hey. You know what? Fuck you.”

A breathy chuckle left David’s lips as his arms shot up in the air. He stretched, his left shoulder popping and muscles straining before finally murky blue eyes found Konnor.

“Did you go for a swim?”

“Courtesy of your ex in the middle of Potions,” Konn retorted dryly. 

Ex seemed a poor choice of words as David’s gaze quickly skated away. He had a funny way of showing he was hurting by always avoiding it.

The Slytherin quickly went on to correct himself, breathing out a sigh. “Hey, you mind giving me a quick dry, at least? I just want to talk about this.”

“She’s not my problem anymore, Konnor. I can’t help her if I can’t help myself. If she wants to go around acting like a deranged wolverine, kudos. I'm done.” He stood, quickly moving to swipe his wand off of his bedside table and pointed it at his friend. 

A swift incantation sent a powerful gust of warm air spiraling out over Konn. His robes flew back, hair whipping about. When the spell faded, he looked grossly windswept, but dry. 

Quickly, Konnor moved to lick his hands, smoothing down the fluffy cloud of white hair puffed atop his head. 

“Thanks for that.”

“You asked.” 

David threw himself back onto his bed, this time with arms locked behind his head and knees bent to leave room for the Slytherin. Picking up on it, Konnor collapsed at the end of the bed, the subtle thrum of the guitar jostling at the end of the Gryffindor’s bed catching his attention. 

“...Alright, look. I’m not going to pretend to understand what is going on with you two. Honestly, the hot and cold is hard to keep up with, but Merula has gone right back to pestering me as always.” 

“What she does when we’re not together isn’t anything I’m concerned with. Sorry if it ends up on you.”

“So you really don’t care at all that she’s taking up old behaviors?”

“No.”

There was a slight raise of octave in David’s voice and he sat up enough to come to eye level with his friend. His gaze held warning. “I can’t care about a single damn thing she does, Konnor. I’m losing my fucking marbles as it is, so lay off.”

A quiet scoff left the Slytherin’s lips and he fell back to drape half off the bed going across it, as if in defeat. 

“So what is it? Moving on to Penny? Or Tulip again? What do you hope to gain here by fucking every girl you see? They deserve better than that.”

“Well that isn’t any of your business.”

“Isn’t it? They’re my friends too. Just because they care about you doesn’t mean you should take advantage of them.”

David felt himself bristle. “The hell do you know? You used Tulip once. She's perfectly happy being a fuck buddy.”

“I asked her to be my fake girlfriend, there is a difference. If you plan to focus on yourself, actually do it. Don’t focus between their legs.”

Konnor knew he was testing the boy’s patience. He noted the way fists curled into bed sheets to keep from hauling off at his friend.

“You know what, just forget it. Who’s side are you even on here?” Konnor questioned.

“The side that enjoys female company that isn't Merula with a pint in between. Anything else?”

It was hard to argue. As much as Konnor desperately couldn’t handle another phase of Merula’s tyranny, it wasn’t as if it was truly detrimental to his health. She’d grown past actually trying to genuinely harm him. At the end of the day, they shared friends, shared goals. 

He couldn’t rely on David for this. Even if his coping raised a fire in the Slytherin’s gut, he had no right to butt in.

“You’re impossible, it’s not like I can stop you, so your side it is. We’ve all had it hard haven’t we?”

The tension in David began to release as the other boy backed down from his stance. He always riled so easy. His shoulders sank. “That’s an understatement.”

“It is. But fuck Merula and fuck everything else.”

Konnor rolled onto his side, his arm lashing out to find the glossy red guitar. His fingers curled around its neck and in a single sweep he lofted it onto the bed, brandishing it for the Gryffindor’s taking.

“What are you doing?”

“Catch up, David. I’ve been ordering muggle rock tapes by owl every week now. Hal got me that cassette tape and I’ve practically run it into the ground with overuse.”

“You want me to play?”

Konn jammed his arm out behind him, swinging his weight up off his elbow to dig both feet back into the rug laid out beneath David’s bed. He swiftly spun on his heel, striking a pose and mimicking playing his invisible air guitar. 

“I learned different guitars make different sounds, eh? So we’ll just have to be imaginative. Give me ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ on three.”

David didn’t have it in him to deny such a request. With an amused sigh, he eased the guitar into his lap, letting his fingers find the strings. His thumb brushed over once in testing. 

“You’re crazy. You know this won’t sound even close to the same, right? Mine’s-”

“I am crazy. This place makes us crazy, so play that damn guitar and for a second lets not care at all. Snape gave me detention.”

That time, the brunette truly laughed. He shook his head, finding the chords in the back of his mind, and began to strum. 

The acoustic was incredibly different from the electric rock song that hit much harder with available muggle technology, but Konnor jumped in immediately. Not a singer by any means, but bold enough in the quiet of the Boy’s dorms to belt out the lyrics as he knew them. 

David was much more talented. A musical savant for someone who rarely showed off, his voice made up for Konn’s sharper pitch as the Slytherin tried to contain his own laughter. 

Over the noise, they scarcely heard the approach of another up the steps. Not until caught dead in the act of furious head bobbing to their own shitshow.

“This is why Konnor isn’t allowed in the Gryffindor rooms,” a voice muttered.

David paused mid stroke, his hand clasping down over the guitar strings as a coy smirk lifted towards Ethren who rubbed his temples in the doorway.

“Oh shut up, Whitecross, we’re having a pity party,” Konnor retorted.

“I’d pity myself too if I sounded like that.”

David gave a snort. “You know bloody well I got the pipes of Bon Jovi. Care to liven us up with your tone deafness?”

“No thanks.” Ethren swung around to his side of the room, collapsing down on his bed with his eyes closed. 

Several moments of silence ticked by before finally a baby blue peeked open towards the two out of breath boys across from him. 

“Well? I never said you had to stop. I could use the laugh.”

[totallytubulargirl]

Drunk and in love (Leo x reader)

Rating: 🍋 XXX (for sexy times)🍋

Universe: 2014/16

Age of the TMNT: 21

Authors note: I’m back bichesss (jacksfilms reference XD) anyways it feels good to be back! I may have cheated on my social media break but not much :P anyways I got an idea for drunken turtle bois ™️ from (you guessed it) the “turtle tumblr” discord chat :D DM FOR A LINK ! (I always put content there before I do here) I hope you like it :D

Summary: A fun night of drinking becomes even more thrilling with Leonardo.

It was a Saturday night and you finally had your first day off in weeks. Your company was overworking you but at least you were getting paid for it. You poured some wine into a glass and walked into the living room where the boys were hanging out,

“Here you go Leo,” you handed him the glass of wine and kept the rest of the bottle yourself. You plopped yourself onto the couch undoing a couple of buttons on your blouse and taking a long swig from your personal bottle.

“Damn angel cakes,” Mikey chimed in, with his own beer in hand. “Are you trying to get sh-wasted?” You smiled,

“Isn’t that the point?” You took another drink. The wine was nice and sweet, almost like juice which made it very easy to drink. Leo sat next to the couch on a stool.

“Come here,” he slurred as he put his wine glass down on the side table next to him. You smirked and stood in front of him. “Turn around,” he smiled sloppily. You complied and turned your back to him. His hands climbed up your back and into your hair, slightly tugging it, making your heart beat a little faster. His hands settled on your shoulders, digging into the knots that had piled on due to stress,

“Oh Leo, that feels great,” you gasped as he tugged on your blouse to nibble on the bare skin of your neck. All three of the boys blushed, feeling as if maybe they shouldn’t be watching this. Raphael coughed out loud,

“Ahem,” he stated very obviously. Leonardo continued to nibble on your neck only opening one eye to shoot Raphael a cold hard look

“Why don’t we go into my room baby,” he cooed.

“Ok,” you sighed, hoping to get a full back rub out of it. He grabbed your hand as you led him down the hall and into his room. Leonardo pulled you into an embrace as soon as you were alone. He ran his hands up and down your body,

“Do you wanna take off your blouse, so I can really get into those knots?” He was slurring, and almost falling over with you, but smiling.

“Yeah ok,” you smirked as you turned your back to him to unbutton your blouse. You covered your breasts with your hands, good day to not wear a bra, you thought as you laid front first onto his bed. He got onto the bed on his knees, hovering just above you. Leo got to work, kneading the stress away with his knuckles. You groaned, it felt so good, you could practically melt into the mattress. “Oh Leo,” you moaned. He smirked at the words of praise he was able to solicit from your mouth but he was greedy and wanted more. He swooped down onto your back, planting soft kisses on your shoulders as he massaged your lower back. It all felt so good, you didn’t want to stop him, no matter how tired you were. His hands dared to go lower, cupping them around your ass, dragging them up and down. You could feel his thumbs graze your inner thigh and lead up to your center. You gasped in anticipation just as he pulled them away and back upwards. Leo gently dragged his nails down your back,

“My princess is tired isn’t she?” He pandered.

“Yes,” you moped. It felt nice to be taken care of. Leonardo lifted your hair up off your shoulders,

“Let daddy take care of that,” he smiled as you felt goosebumps rise from your skin. Leo kissed your shoulders again, attaching himself to a certain spot while one hand crawled underneath you to fondle your breast.

“Yes daddy,” you complied as your face turned a soft shade of pink. He kissed you down your back and tugged at your skirt with both hands, successfully pulling your panties off with it. He wasted no time, pushing your ass in the air so he could get the sweet juices at your center. “Leo,” you giggled, but didn’t stop him. He slid his tongue in between your folds, forcing moans from your mouth against your will. He pulled his face from you only to help you roll onto your back,

“You’re so gorgeous,” he sighed when he saw your flushed face and messy hair. He went for your thighs, landing soft kisses that made you giggle. “Leooo,” you teased. Everything felt warm, and nice. Leonardo was your safety.

“Don’t worry baby,” he kissed you up your stomach and buried his face in your breasts. “Let me do all the work,” he smiled as he swirled his tongue around your nipple. You gasped and moaned to Leo’s delight. He only wanted to make you feel good. He wrapped his arms underneath you and kissed your neck, sucking at it, leaving his mark so everyone would know you were his. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” you sighed. You didn’t notice Leonardo get naked but at some point he did. “Oh my gosh,” you exclaimed when you saw him maskless. “Your mask!” You couldn’t help but blush and he smiled,

“That’s not the only thing I took off,” he growled sensually as he pushed his tip through your entrance and slowly into you. You felt warmth between your legs and your thighs trembled as Leo thrust in and out of you. You were embarrassed at how wet you were, so desperate for his cock. All Leonardo could think of was how tight and smooth you felt. He slid in and out of you as his mind clouded. “You’re so amazing,” he gasped, kissing your breast. “I can’t believe I get to be with you.”

You couldn’t help but blush, you were unable to form words though. You could hear his headboard thumping against the wall but you couldn’t remember why that mattered. Leonardo ran his hand down your thigh and pushed your leg towards you, giving him a nice angle. You could feel ecstasy coursing through your veins, colors were brighter and love songs finally made sense. You tried to pull yourself from the edge, not wanting to take that adrenaline-filled jump yet. “Ooh-“ you moaned, how could you stop from cumming with Leo? He knew all the right spots, and what you liked the most.

“I love you gorgeous.” He said as he kissed your feet.

“I love you too,” you said letting the wave that was pushing at your center flow into your entire body. Leonardo thrust into you a few more times before pulling out to cum on your belly. You could feel the warmth pool on your stomach, then run down your sides. He rolled off of you, “that was nice wasn’t it Leo?” You asked but he was already asleep.

[shewhodoesnotexist]

Okay, so The Rise of Skywalker. Saw it two weeks ago but it’s hard to do anything when you have so much free time ;) Two weeks ago I wrote the following: I’m a little dumbfounded… It felt like a string of fan theories put together, with a video game mode of running after stuff from one place to another xD they put in so much stuff but somehow not enough… Feeling? And I think this still sums up my impression the best. Nevertheless:

So we begin with some Sith artefacts none-one’s ever heard of… This is so reminiscent of some fan videos and theories I got into after TFA, many of them based on Legends/the old EU, things that never appeared in the movies. I’m fond of fan theories, but this just didn’t fit in at all here, and seemed so… artificial, video game-like: suddenly there’s a thing we need to find and then it’ll be fine! But first we need to find this thing and go somewhere else and do another thing and then we’ll reach the place!

Like… The Last Jedi was built around characters with personalities, their interactions and conflicts, and for all its faults that made it engaging. This felt completely flat. It was just going from place to place, maybe except for some of the Kylo & Rey scenes, there was barely any feeling in it.

Also, some scenes were so artificial and obvious set-ups, like the woman with the necklace demanding Rey’s full name – maybe she’s from a planet with different naming conventions, how do you know, lady? – just so she can say she’s nobody and then have the necklace taken by Kylo, and the woman at the end, so that Rey can say she’s Rey Skywalker, and Luke giving Rey two lightsabers so that she can give one to Ben (the scene itself was awesome, yes, but the set-up was painfully transparent). Devices, yes, but don’t be so blatant about it.

What was the point of that Threepio stunt? It’s introduced as a heartbreaking sacrifice, then it turns out nobody cares, then it’s played for laughs, and then it’s reversed. Really?

The Palpatine thing is such a clumsily done retcon, honestly. Yes, he was the ultimate Big Bad in the previous trilogies, so in that aspect it kind of makes sense, but in regards to Rey... They made themselves nobodies? Yeah, no, Kylo’s vision and words from TLJ don’t fit this, you can’t square that one. And so Rey’s arc from The Last Jedi is neatly undone and she matters because of her family and very nearly (see below) is defined by her ancestry. Honestly, whichever version you prefer, it would be better to stick to one. That’s not getting into the problems of selling your children.

And really… Rey suddenly and accidentally bursting out some Force lighting supposedly shows “who she really is”? When has the Force ever worked that way? And of course it only happens when it’s convenient. And suddenly “no-one knows me”. Great, now you can be emo together.

And why would Palpatine even want to have descendants? As a backup plan?

And that’s not getting into the fact that apparently Palpatine had a son, who was alive during OT, who somehow rebelled against him, and that’s a story potentially more interesting than this movie, which is ignored. Actually… all right, possibly Rey’s father was not Force-sensitive, which was why Palpatine wanted Rey specifically, but the wording (“to protect you”) makes it sound as if all that rebellion happened only after Rey was born and he realised Palpatine’s intentions towards her, which raises further questions. But enough on that.

It is also incidentally implied that Stormtroopers who defected are Force-sensitive, and that, too, is ignored. What Finn wanted to tell Rey could be that he loved her or that he was Force-sensitive, but, of course, it is never revealed. (Wait wait, apparently it was confirmed it was about the Force. He does talk about how he understands her several times, so that makes sense.)

Speaking of which, once again there is an effort to humanise the Stormtroopers… which is then once again ignored.

Also speaking of which, for someone raised to be mindless soldier, Finn has had quite a love life – like, approximately four possible love interests?

Remember when there was a sandworm in one of The Hobbit movies and people were joking that Legolas’ blue eyes were due to Spice? Now we can do that with SW, too!

Remember when I said I didn’t believe the Knights of Ren even existed? You probably don’t. But they might as well not. For all the mystery and speculation they turn out to be slightly more elite mooks and are killed in approximately their second scene. Even the Praetorian Guards were more impressive.

Hux being the spy is… silly. Wasn´t he super into the First Order? Now he´s undermining it just to spite Kylo. But it is rather funny.

I feel that having Leia start a Jedi training and then quit due to visions takes away from her character. What’s wrong with preferring a political/military career while being Force-sensitive? But no, she needs to have run through the woods with a lightsaber and bested Luke, of course.

Plus, Leia of all people attacking Kylo… This is upsetting. At least have her appear to him as she dies, too. I mean, like so much in this movie, the idea itself was interesting, but the execution undermined it.

I liked Rey healing Kylo’s wound, but it is true that the sudden introduction of Force healing (no matter its earlier introduction in The Mandalorian) raises some questions about why it’s never appeared before.

I am amazed at Adam Driver’s acting. The moment Ben comes back to the Light, you can see it in his face. It’s unbelievable how much he manages to convey. That man is a gift and I am happy it was not Eddie Redmayne, sorry

The ship in the desert, maybe, but you can’t tell me Luke’s X-Wing is readily functional after having been who-knows-how-many years underwater. That’s just ridiculous.

What was that football stadium. Who were these people. What was going on.

What was even Palpatine’s plan? Was it that because Rey was related to him, he could body surf into her and continue ruling, as some people are interpreting it? Or was it the old “strike me with your hate/anger and complete your turn to the dark side”, in which case it wasn’t even all that relevant that they were related, as he had another Force-sensitive family to prey upon already? And then it turns to “I can just suck power out of you two and it’s good enough”.

How was Ben able to get that planet unnoticed? That’s not to mention another falling-apart ship. Oh, but his entrance, with a blaster, and then passing the lightsabre between them, that was incredibly cool :D

A fleet of planet-killing ships, fine, we needed to up the stakes yet again, but they still have a single weak point… I guess there’s not point complaining about that.

We saw Ben smile :) It was so beautiful :) And they kissed :)

...aaand then of course he had to die *sigh*

I haven’t heard the word “dyad” in that context before, but I have read a bit about Force bonds, and aren’t you supposed to completely devastated after the other one dies, as if something is torn out of your soul? Even leaving that aside, wasn’t Rey rather fond of him? Show some grief, maybe? No?

We get to the end, and we are remembering that we are watching a movie called “The Rise of Skywalker”. All the Skywalkers and their descendants are dead. Solution: have Rey tell a conveniently placed rando she is a Skywalker and leave her to continue the Jedi and Skywalker legacy (the latter of which may not be so stellar, come to think of it). She is once again alone on a desert planet, but now she is different, and ready to set out and do… something. But on the other hand, she’s alone on a desert planet again, so she ended up where she had begun (still alone!)… and so did the story of the Skywalker bloodline, on the planet both Anakin and Luke disliked so much and Leia had nothing to do with. All that to have a repeat shot. I’m not all that impressed.

On the whole this movie gives the impression that the filmmakers were trying to play it safe and pander to the fans, mostly to the fans who disliked TLJ and those who craved nostalgia, and distance themselves from TLJ as much as possible, while cramming a lot of material into the movie at the expense of emotional depth. There’s no time to explore this significant moment, we need to rush elsewhere! Many of the concepts could have worked much better if the had been given more time and focus, but the end result is a mess. Not to mention the ST as a whole feels inconsistent. And yes, I’m upset that Ben died! But that’s part of playing it safe, I’m afraid.

I’m not going to go into the last-minute editing controversy.

I watched the SCB review and they said it was a combination of Harry Potter, Avengers and GoT finales – very accurate ;)

Eh.

[warlordgab]

Analysis: NaLu in the GMG arc

It's no secret that this story arc did wonders for the development of Natsu/Lucy emotional bonding. However many NaLu moments are not what we would call subtle, and some of them capitalized on fanservice. So it's becomes a little hard to notice how NaLu scenes showcase the chemistry between the characters as well as how delusional some shallow pairings truly are

First of all we have the prelude to the arc. When Lucy recieved the news of her father's death, Natsu and Happy were with her. Even though Lucy was effectively repressing her feelings about the whole situation, Natsu not only grasped how she possibly felt but was so depressed about it he let get away a chance to join a fight...

...given his character has some traits of a "blood knight", this is actually pretty impressive. It shows how much can Lucy affect Natsu even without putting effort into it, and that's a sign of a strong emotional connection with a good chemistry

It's also consistent with something we saw in the "Rainbow Sakura" special. To sum it up, Lucy is very excited about the prospect of going to the festival and seeing the cherry blossoms, but she gets sick the day of the Hanami festival so at the end she couldn't go. During the party, while every FT guild member is enjoying the festival...

...we see Natsu and Happy are the only ones who are not enjoying themselves, all because Lucy couldn't come and she's missing something she was dearly looking foward to

Instead of enjoying the party like the rest of the guild, the Fire Dragon Slayer, in a very touching and quasi-romantic gesture, uproots an entire Rainbow Sakura tree just for Lucy to see. Needless to say Lucy knew who did that for her and appreciated it a lot

So, the moment when Natsu is feeling so down about Lucy's situation is consistent with their relationship. And it makes even more sense given Natsu can't do much to comfort her this time and he knows it. Luckily for him, Lucy found closure and let go of the sadness she felt in the same chapter.

We can also rely on an overlooked but nice detail. This and the following NaLu moments, all happened after Lisanna's return. So instead of trying to re-connect with his childhood friend, Natsu consitently stuck closer and closer to Lucy. Proving a remarkable emotional attachment to the blonde celestial mage.

Moving on, the next moment I'd like to highlight is the aftermath of the Lucy Vs. Flare battle. Yes, Lucy lost because they were getting cheated and she was really upset and frustrated about it. But who's the guy who walks up to her after the battle is over? Natsu! Who both praised and comforted her. This is an important element of chemistry between characters, when one (or both them) seek to provide with emotional support

Sadly this gets overlooked because many fans (including those who support NaLu) overhyped Juvia's paranoid delusion of a passionate GrayLu encounter that very same night. This is was taken way too seriously by many readers, but the fact remains both Lucy and Gray completely dismissed that crazy delusion, and during that late night party Lucy stuck close to the person that comforted and supported her earlier after going through such a bad experience in the GMG

Next moment is very controversial. When Lucy was brutally beaten by a Minerva, both Natsu and Gray catched her as she fell. Some manga readers are very familiar with the concept of "pandering". At times an author try to please as many fandoms as possible to either sell more of their work or avoid losing their audience. Even some western writers indulge into this. However, while the FT author tried to pander shippers here, and pretty much added fuel to the shipping war that was raging on back then; he also provided something, during the following chapter, that made some people understand who was the person Lucy felt the strongest about...

...by having her to say his name as she drifted off to sleep. Quoting Heisenberg: "Say my name"

Again, this is consistent with something we see later after the Tartaros arc; when FT disbanded Lucy spent a year tracking every single FT member. But after seeing Natsu's return we get a very interesting narration from the manga:

FT readers already know how the rest goes during the GMG. In their 2v2 fight, Natsu BFR'd his partner, Gajeel, so he could stomp by himself the members of the guild that brutalized Lucy.

Next moment is something similar to the first one I mentioned. Once again we know Natsu shares some traits typically found in the "Blood Knight" trope. He enjoys a good battle, and the GMG final offered many chances to fight very strong opponents. However under a series of plot-driven cirumstances, Lucy was put under arrest alongside a fellow celestial mage in the King's castle. Natsu was so infuriated by this that his guildmates had to tie him up in order to prevent him from storming the castle to rescue Lucy

While all the guildmates were mad about it, Natsu had the strongest emotional response and he chose to pass the chance to fight in the GMG final just to rescue Lucy

Lucy's reaction to this is both amusing and cute. Since she knows how much Natsu enjoys the thrill of a fight. Still, this is probably one of the smallest moments they had, as the following showings hold more significance and a greater impact.

From this point onwards the plot gets a little complicated for it introduces time-travel. A Lucy from the future comes with a warning about an invasion of dragons that will wipe most life on earth. Even though this is a fantasy setting, dragons haven't been seen in centuries. So naturally to imagine an army of them poping out of nowhere would seem hard to believe. Yet as soon a Lucy of the future finishes with her story, Natsu is already preparing himself for the attack much to her surprise. When she questions if her comrades will believe her, Natsu reaffirm his trust and faith in Lucy.

When Future Lucy laments not having a plan to deal with the attack, Natsu comforts her reassuring her they'll take care of the matter and in a very touching manner...

...he expressed his gratitude for Lucy's determination to protect their future

Makes me wonder why NaLu fans often disregard their meaningful moments for the sake of weaker premises. Style over substance is getting very old!

However, the plot gets even more complicated when we get another time traveler trying to ensure the bad future when nearly everyone dies actually happens. At first he tries to fool everyone by claiming Lucy is the one who triggers the upcoming apocalypse, when in reality she's one of the persons who can stop it! Yet Natsu, despite being as clueless as he is, doesn't buy the act and holds onto his trust/faith in Lucy. When the guy strikes down Future Lucy, Natsu his tears in his eyes and anger in his fist delievers this little yet meaningful line:

The tears

His line

Natsu stating how much Lucy means to him. This is consistent with another showing from the last arc. When Natsu thought Lucy was killed by their current enemy, he went into a berserker rage (and a new superform) in which he was killing everything that was getting in his way. Touch Lucy and you're getting burned to a crisp

I could actually mention the next one, but given the amount of fanservice it involved I prefer to overlook it and leave it to any real NaLu fan to explain what made it a great moment aside from the "frolicking" in the nude. For now, I'm going to jump straigh to this arc's conclusion:

As the 'dragon apocalypse' was prevented, we see Future Lucy reuniting with her comrades in what the chapter calls the "golden plains", the meaning of this place as well as its placement in time and space is up to interpretation, but who's there to recieve her. I'll give you three guesses, the first two don't count...

Natsu is there and as he enthusiastically takes her to reunite with the rest of their guildmates from her own timespace, she tears up for the joy she feels. The chapter focuses on Future Lucy's emotional response to seeing the Natsu of her timeline once again, which is consistent with the first time she sees Natsu in the present during the GMG. This effectively gives her character a closure and a happy ending. But that's not all, back to the present Lucy experiences all the feelings her future self felt in those moments at the "golden plains" and tears up as well, acting on those feelings she runs to Natsu and hugs him from behind while the chapter closes with the following words: 

"You don't need a reason to cry. All you need is to feel the warmth that dwells in your chest"

A highly poetic line that conveys Lucy’s feelings in that scene. This is more than enough emotional build-up leading to a logical conclusion:

A NaLu child XD (the other kid is a Gruvia child) Joking aside, this arc provides with a consistent protrayal of Natsu/Lucy bonding and their solid chemistry. Something not many are able to notice, but those who do come to appreciate even more the beauty, the appeal, and the strength of their emotional connection

Previous analysis on LuNa/NaLu chemistry here: http://warlordgab.tumblr.com/post/157284507416/analysis-chemistry

Previous analysis on LuNa's progression here: http://warlordgab.tumblr.com/post/163994230826/analysis-constructing-a-potent-relationship

[le-amewzing]

Have your feelings about HP changed since Rowling has exposed herself as a transphobe?

Short answer: No.

Main reason? Death of the author.

(putting under a cut bc i got a little lengthy *LOL* but thx for the interesting ask, anon!) I tried putting this under a cut, but tumblr just doesn’t fucking work anymore, so apologies. :/

More detailed: Tbh, I’ve never rly liked JKR as a person. Perhaps there was a vibe I picked up on when I was younger that didn’t quite sit right with me, but I do know that two things as I got older rly bothered me--

Her canon version of Dumbledore

The eerie likeness of her series to The Books of Magic series by Neil Gaiman

1) It always bothered me that she suddenly announced Dumbledore was gay. It came out of left field, IMO. It felt like pandering to the LGBTQ+ crowd, like trying to “get hip” with the times by including a queer character without rly giving a damn about what it might mean to include a queer character (and, oh, what a portent that was). It offends me both as a writer (I feel you should know your characters well before you write them) and on a personal level (being queer). JKR was trying too hard to include diversity as a last-ditch attempt to help boost sales for a final book that ended up disappointing a lot of fans in various manners. (*lol* And that’s an essay for another day. XD)

2) I actually was informed about this by a high school friend’s mother, and doing the research myself was astonishing. I now actually own 4 of the novel adaptations by Carla Jablonski, tho I still need to find the time to read them. But it bothers the fuck out of me, all the “similarities” (and I use the word very loosely here). I just... Pls read up on this story, bc it’s one thing to reference other works in your own creation, but man, JKR, it’s a whole new load of trouble to lift whole items from someone else.

All that said, rly it cycles back around to death of the author for me. The HariPo fandom has been p damn awesome, too, at taking the universe and making it our own in a way that a) I don’t miss canon and b) I can enjoy what I want and ignore what I don’t. I honestly, sincerely think this fandom is still one of the best bc there’s so much we experienced collectively, as readers of the books/viewers of the movies, and it’s kinda nice to be united over our creative similarities without having to worry about whatever nonsense JKR is spouting. I have friends, real-life friends, I’ve made in this fandom, and that’s something that’s great about fandom as a whole, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Tl;dr: JKR may have her awful opinions, but damned if I’m gonna let her ruin my enjoyment of something that’s been a big part of my life. :3

[elizabethrobertajones]

"God appointed him (Dean) to look after the Earth and said he was the best guy for the job." Doesn't Sam fit in there, too? God said : Earth will be fine. It's got you. And Sam.

Yeeeah, I know, and I almost put that but I thought that would require a tangent which there was no place for in there. So you get a full-length tangent for asking about something I unfortunately already had a whole list of mental bullet points on, so buckle up XD

Essentially it boils down to my “dean is the centre of the universe” theory which of course has the flipside that I really do not subscribe to “the winchesters are the centre of the universe” because I feel like the cosmic order goes absolutely out of its way to pander to Dean, and Sam is an afterthought. Read into that as much unexpected bitter Sam girl-ing as you like as the other side of the coin of this being one of those ultimate Dean girl theories, it does happen over here sometimes :P 

6x09 and 9x11 both place a magical weight on being the older brother, but it’s also a curse in a different way that it singles him out. The burden in season 5 is on him not saying yes to Michael while since at least season 2 Sam’s been saying stuff that thematically puts him on the side of letting Destiny happen and fighting it from the inside - as he eventually did with Lucifer - Dean’s always wanted to flip the whole thing over and reject it outright. So his season 1-5 stuff and 9-11 stuff were both about fighting a immense cosmic pressure and rejecting it, emphatically, and ending a seemingly fated and unstoppable thing just by sheer force of will. At this point Dean’s ability to dig in his heels and shape the course of the world around his stubborness is literally equivalent to god-like power. He can MAKE it about Sam, like in 5x22, but it’s coming from him.

Sam obviously gets much more screwed over by being “and Sam” in the season 9-11 arc rather than the 1-5 arc which was properly tailored to them with Michael and Lucifer, because the new template is Cain and Abel. The whole point of that is Abel’s dead, so as a mirror, there’s nothing left to swing at, which is why I think even some meta writers on our side when we were speculating season 10 contemplated Sam as Dean’s Colette (platonically, as the one who would fill the same sort of role) just because there needed to be something to compare him to and there wasn’t even a dramatic re-enactment to look at aside from Cas’s stock movie footage in 6x20 :P In season 11 we got Sam thinking he was talking to God but it was actually Lucifer which belatedly used something out of the parallel, but it wasn’t a whole lot and of course was like 35 episodes since Cain said that, and meanwhile the Destiel parallel to Colette had been there the whole time.

In Chuck and Amara, both of them got paralleled to Dean, Amara as his dark mirror (in 10x05, Marie promises in the second act Dean becomes a woman) and Chuck literally just mimicking him as if Dean’s pull is so strong it absorbed God into it when God couldn’t push the other way and get Dean to treat him with any awe or respect. (Meanwhile: Sam asked him why planets were round or whatever.) Can’t remember now what they were exactly but Sam did get some parallels to Amara - mostly being the angry sibling in the face of a rather absolute brother, where Amara seemed to have a younger sibling dynamic if only for “create” has to come before “destroy” and I think if I remember correctly without going to look, in the 11x23 resolution her dialogue was more obviously mimicking Sam issues and Chuck’s were Dean issues, depending on which version of the Carver era bro drama you saw it as (I thiiink I saw it as a resolution to 8x23′s dirty laundry airing that spiralled into Gadreel then to the Mark etc). Honestly I think Amara’s anger goes either way, especially since she and Dean clicked so well over season 9-10, and especially when she was fuelling demon!Dean’s rage against Sam and everything he says in 10x03, you can see her anger behind it once you know she’s there too, as the rationale they came up with for why the Mark makes its bearer so determined to kill their sibling. (It took another season and a half but there’s finally enough retcon to make the “how demons work” errors in 10x03 make sense because you can just blame it all on her :P)

I can see a kind of line of dominoes from the start of the show and the way they set up the dynamic where it gradually puts Dean more and more in the spotlight, especially when Sam’s ~out of commission~ as a reliable POV character in season 4 & 6, and just small choices along the way (since Kripke era mind you. Early Kripke era) which end up with Dean holding the emotional spotlight, and a cosmic power to shape events that Sam doesn’t really have. At which point the “and Sam” in 11x23 as the culmination of all this, seems laughably token to the dynamic, both in-world and to the fans, like, you can’t JUST make it all about Dean, and at the end of the day it will always default back to Sam n Dean against the world, cue musical number from 10x05… But somewhere between season 6 and 11, Sam became an accessory to Dean on the cosmic level, because of these unfortunate elements of the way their earlier rounds on the merry-go-round went. So Dean walks in to confront Chuck and Amara alone, and Sam gets the Mark of Cain for 3 seconds without us even seeing the conversation where he decided to do it. And it was pretty obvious Chuck was using him since the whole point was he was avoiding dealing with things properly and Sam’s personal development made him so easy to manipulate Chuck probably barely felt bad about doing it, especially when he’s probably got a messed up sense of what people do for him out of faith. (And Sam’s the one who has a line back in 9x22 about people doing messed up things in the name of faith >.>)

Anyway, cosmically, Sam spent all of season 9, 10 and 11 left out and on the side as an “and Sam” who at best wasn’t falling foul of Dean’s shot at the mytharc and getting fratricided for his trouble of sticking it out with Dean… Chuck’s “and Sam” considering the location and circumstances of that conversation where Sam was off watching Crowley eat beer nuts in the bar at the end of the world, honestly sets off a latent bitter Sam girl feeling I didn’t even know I had until the end of season 11, and this is probably why I spend 99% of the time all snuggly and warm in my Dean girl cocoon where I feel the narrative has basically never done him wrong in such a way as Sam crawled through Carver era and emerged a strange sad empty moose in season 12. 

I mean I honestly do not see these complaints now in season 12 in the same way because I’m trying to figure out what the hell they even rebuild of Sam from and figure 12x04, 5 and 6 did a brilliant job with him, all things considered. And he HAS been more emotionally present and involved in stuff or at least a spotlight is being shone intentionally on him mediating and withdrawing even when you’d think he really should have more to say and Dean’s doing all the shouting for him. Which basically means that at least they are now intentionally making Sam like this, whereas I honestly can’t tell in Carver era if they were shooting for one thing and got another, because once this season really began pointing it out, I started seeing earlier stuff in a much different light and retroactively got a lot more concerned about Sam, like the Sam girls had been for ages but I hadn’t listened. >.>

(And as a side note, I think this is why Eileen hurts so much that I’m still equal parts pissed off for the representation issue AND hook line and sinker for the Sam man pain and I see a lot of the fandom outcry between ourselves rather than Angry Open Letter Time involves Sam’s feelings too, with most of the coda fics I’ve reblogged so far angrily proving she’s fine and immediately flinging her at Sam, and my response to the episode was to go plan ahead huge chunks of the Saileen stuff in the long fic I’m working on too. He’s been so sad and empty I honestly think Dean’s reaction in 11x04 to Sam hooking up was understated because he was trying to play it cool :P Now I can’t help thinking all the progress Sam made is directly linked to how many youtube ASL classes he took >.>)

tl;dr, the way Sam’s been sort of moved to the edge of things a lot lately, I think tracks all the way back to the way he interacts with the mytharc on a cosmic level, and the “and Sam” line now genuinely bothers me on Sam’s behalf that God treated him as an afterthought to Dean, but when I’ve got my Dean girl hat on, it’s easier to treat Sam the same as that then write all this, which means I’m part of the problem aaaaah :P

[theimpossiblescheme]

I’m seriously starting to consider a series of “Things You Miss By Not Watching The Fantastic Journey.”

One of them: this flipping glorious profile shot.

[gavillain]

Thoughts on the Loki tv show then?

Short version: I'm liking it! I fully expected to hate the show given that I hated almost everything they did with Loki in the MCU after Dark World. However, they're doing a pretty good job. I think overall, it's a mixed bag for me, but a mixed bag is so much better than I was expecting that I'm very happy with it. Episode 3 really was a big step up after the first two eps and I hope future episodes continue.

Now if you want the long version, I've been writing up my thoughts after each episode to share on a private forum, so I'll copy and paste under the cut. Also spoilers galore past this point:

Ep.1 "Glorious Purpose" Loki himself is the big important thing so I'm gonna talk about him first, and I was both happy and disappointed with his characterization here. Let me explain. Tom Hiddleston obviously plays everything perfectly, and he did a great job on every moment. But the writing on Loki's character is pretty inconsistent. There were a LOT of moments that genuinely felt like they were right out of the golden era of MCU Loki that captured his speech patterns perfectly, his mannerisms, his world view, his humor. Those moments were legitimately there, and they were there more often than I was expecting. Ragnarok had Loki written wrong down to the dialogue and his manner of speaking, and so it was actually very refreshing to see him written generally well, particularly in his conversations with Agent Mobius. However there were multiple moments where he was blatantly written out of character to pander to jokes or to dip into that Ragnarok jokey joke tone. I audibly groaned at the "Am I robot" bit, which was SUCH low brow human and so not in line with the fact that Loki literally knows exactly what he is and had a "species reveal" that was very important to his character. I also would have liked him to be a little more violent. This man came out of a portal, saw SHIELD agents threatening him and immediately went into kill mode in Avengers. Yet this guy stands around and lets himself be taken and forced into situations a lot. But overall, I was happy with his general characterization because I expected the bad stuff to be much worse and it wasn't and the good stuff was more plentiful than I expected. I wasn't fond of the "I don't enjoy hurting people" bit because it's weepy and wrong, but it also was an expected development and I do appreciate that they're at least delving deep into his character on an intellectual level and playing off that "Always so perceptive about everyone but yourself" line of Frigga's. There's potential to do something interesting with him here, so I'm intrigued if not convinced. The Time Keepers concept I hate, but I think I hate it because Loki ALSO hates it and we're a bit too alike in a few regards even here XD I just kind of wish it was less bureaucratic and "we're a joke about corporate offices" and was something more mystical and other worldly. I feel like if it was more science fantasy and ethereal feeling, I would probably be a lot more down for it. But I guess you gotta save money somehow. Agent Mobius is likable, and I like how he can go toe to toe with Loki and how he's kind of morally neutral. I called that Loki was the dangerous time variant disrupting the timeline before it was revealed, but I have to wonder why in the final scene they kept his face hidden. That would have been a great opportunity to show Hiddles hamming up the evil bloodlust, and I am HUNGRY for that. But they kept that Loki hidden in shadows for a reason, and I have two theories regarding why: 1. It actually ISN'T Loki and Agent Mobius is wrong and our villain is someone else. 2. Our villain is LADY Loki and they're saving the reveal that villain Loki is a woman for a later episode. We'll see if I'm right. I HOPE it's number 2 if they kept him in shadow for a reason. So yeah. Not exactly what I wanted but we're on the right track at least for now. I hope this track leads somewhere interesting.

Ep.2 "The Variant" So, first things first, this episode had "I Need a Hero" during a fight scene and TOTALLY botched it. It was way too early to play that card, the action didn't sync with the battle, and it was between a few nameless TVA agents and the evil Loki with the evil Loki still masked in shadow and not really doing much. It just lacked the OOMPH that I felt was necessary for it to be satisfying. This should have been done better. Loki characterization update: less good and less bad than episode one at the same time. There was no "Am I a robot?" cringe, but there was a lot less of the really good Loki dialogue that caught my attention in episode 1. His seemed to have kinda settled back to the mediocrity of Ragnarok Loki with occasional moments of intrigue such as his whole bit about a wolf's ears and teeth. Loki's obviously planning to overthrow the time keepers and to become the new master of time, and he even says as much to his alternate counterpart this episode. I have a sick feeling they're going to have him grow to like the TVA and to save the time stream, but I really want him to follow through with his plans because I think that's much more interesting than the alternative. Will they do it? Time will tell. I also like how much he utterly does not give a shit about Mobius's condolences about Ragnarok happening. That was a good touch. Speaking of Mobius, I still don't care for him or the TVA. They're all just very boring to me, and I don't like Loki being caged to follow their bidding. It's restraining a hurricane of excitement by forcing it to play within this very structured framework instead of burning through freely. With Loki escaping into the timestream to chase after the other Loki, hopefully that will change for the better next episode. Mobius himself gets his character expanded a bit, but his expansion is literally that he is just a cog who doesn't question his purpose and does what he does because it's what he's told to do. And that's just not compelling to me. Sidebar: Ravona, Kang the Conqueror's lover, is the head of the TVA. A fun tidbit but where's Kang? I like the way the episode explored how time variants can't happen during massive catastrophes and apocalypses because everyone dies and everything gets destroyed, so they're safe places for time variants to hide and interact with history. I enjoyed Loki and Mobius going back and messing with Pompeii right before Vesuvius erupts to test that theory. That was fun (though I wish Loki would have, instead of just acting silly and making a scene, would have done his "Kneel before me" bit on the Pompeiians or something more villainous). And I liked the whole aesthetic of them exploring a massive hurricane in Alabama in 2050 and the whole aesthetic going on there. It gave the episode an epic quality. The evil Loki was revealed in this episode, and the twist is that she's Lady Loki. Yeah, I called it. She hasn't done much herself yet and we haven't seen her do much except posses the bodies of various others and then break the timeline with multiple sprawling timeline variants, both of which is very cool. I'm excited for her, though my biggest complaint is that she has blonde hair. No. Lady Loki has BLACK hair. Why didn't they stick her in a black wig or have the actress dye her hair??? AMORA is the blonde Asgardian villainess. Lady Loki has the same hair color as Loki. And... look, I know it's a dumb detail to get hung up on, but the black hair matters to me because Loki has black hair and his beautiful female form does too and I always liked that for personal reasons. Also, she doesn't want to be called "Loki" apparently which is weird but okay, so what DOES she want to be called? I swear if they name her Amora or Sigyn, I'm gonna throw something.

But yeah, the next episode I think promises to be a change of pace, and we can see if Loki can truly spread his wings free of the TVA. I hope he does.

Ep.3 "Lamentis" This was the best episode yet! And for MULTIPLE reasons. This episode sees Loki and Lady Loki Sylvie stranded together in time. It was away from the TVA and it's boring qualities, which was great, and it put two very interesting characters in a situation where they had to rely on each other. This is more of what I was HOPING we'd get from the show. It's a lot more engaging and fun. The TVA always feel like they have their boot on our necks, and having that boot gone, it's amazing how much easier it is to breathe. And I honestly think that was intentional too with regards to how Sylvie outright calls them tyrannical fascist time police. The whole thing with Loki and Sylvie being stranded on the planet Lamentis during its apocalypse is super cool too. First of all, Lamentis is BEAUTIFULLY designed. I can tell they relied on desert locales to save on the budget, but the purple sky, the colorful train, and the neon alien city are all really pleasing to look at. And with the sky literally falling around them, it looks even cooler and the stakes feel cosmic and intense because they ARE. A very good setting that felt refreshing after the very mundane TVA headquarters and Earth scenes. Loki continues to be a sort of mixed bag with weird moments of humor that feel like they were written by someone else for another character, but those moments were a lot more sparse this time around too. Tom is still unmatched in the role, and I love the way he got to be serious, smug, manipulative, and sincere in this episode. I've kinda accepted and settled into anti-hero Loki for this series, and I'm honestly pretty okay with it here. See, I think my issues with Loki being "good" is that it comes with making amends with Thor or working for the TVA. Seeing him pursuing his own agenda on his own terms and collaborating with a kindred spirit who he seems to genuinely like is a lot easier to stomach because it feels a lot more true to the freedom that is so potent about his villainy. I loved him talking about Frigga and how she taught him her magic. That was a genuinely powerful moment. Also even though his dagger metaphor for love got kinda undercut by a joke, I think it was quite good writing and really cut to the point of what makes Loki tic. Also this episode marks a VERY important moment: Loki was canonized on screen as being bisexual in the MCU. He is the FIRST queer main character in the MCU and the first queer main protagonist of a Disney show. And I like the way they did it too! The way Sylvie asked about if he had any dalliances with princesses and then adds "or princes" and Loki says "a bit of both." It was simple and direct and unambiguous, and I love it because Loki has always BEEN queer in the MCU and the writing for him has been very queercoded. Even if that little moment is all it amounts to, it really matters and means a lot to me that they did it and I'm so happy for it. I hope they give him a boyfriend though. Like PLEEEEASE Marvel. Sylvie I'm more okay with this time around. She IS established as Sylvie and not really identifying as Loki anymore, so I can separate her from my preconception of Lady Loki and not mind the BLONDE so much. Sylvie is the name of the second Enchantress in the comics, an Enchantress that Loki himself created. I'm interested to see where they go with her backstory and who she is and what her deal is because they've been implying that she differs from the main Loki quite a lot to the point where she barely even remembers who Frigga was. I also like that Loki's response to the bisexual question implies that Sylvie is bi too. Get that MLM/WLW solidarity. I hope they don't ship them, but I hope they DO stay friends and allies because I'm loving their friendship chemistry. Also, a minor thing in the grand scheme of this episode, but Loki SINGS in this one! And I love it! Tom's always had a very pretty voice that he's gotten to show off in other roles so I'm glad he got to show off his singing in this role too. The Norse folk song he sings was both jovial and somber all at once, and I

loved it. We deserved this Minor nitpick: please give Loki his Asgardian clothes back or something. Because this TVA suit is fucking ugly and I hate it. Sylvie looks so good next to him, and he deserves to be just as stylish. This was a GREAT turning point. PLEEEEEASE keep it up. F&WS failed to. But I genuinely believe that Loki can do it.