#I hope this review isn't a mess to understand!

[kairiscorner]

i'm stuck with you. — miguel o'hara x reader pt. 1 (college dorm mates au)

summary: the only good thing about having this cocky asshole as your dorm mate is for help at the one subject you abhor and had hoped to avoid: math. even art students can't catch a break from it, it seems. ah, well, the only good thing is your tutor's... free, for the most part... until he asks you for something in return.

pairing: college dorm mate!miguel o'hara x gn!college dorm mate!reader

genre: fluffy <333 a little suggestive though in one bit, but mostly fluff !!

word count: 1,481

authors' note: OK I HAVE PUT THIS OFF FOR TOO LONG, I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS LIL TIDBIT I HAVE TO SPARE ATE @binibinileonara !!! (hindi naemphasize yung art student si reader pero this was what i had in mind ,,,,,)

(reblogs are greatly appreciated, it helps get my content out there! if you guys like what you see, please reblog it too <:D)

you really hated having to do this; if you could only either be the smartest person in the world and do the math in a matter of seconds or obliterate math as a whole since it was a subject you found boring, or useless–or both. you grumbled as you stared at the incoherent symbols and operations in front of you, hoping that through this staring, the right answers would magically come to you. but alas, such a miracle did not happen, and you've spent 15 minutes straight staring at it getting even more confounded on what to do. you sighed as the door to your dorm opened, and coming into the room was your absolute ass of a dorm mate–miguel o'hara.

seeing you slumped over on your desk made him raise an eyebrow out of curiosity. "what are you moping about?" he asked you as he took a sip from the coffee he bought earlier, with your eyes narrowing up at him at his coffee. "didn't think to get me one when i've been pulling all-nighters all week?" you asked him with irritation in your voice as miguel merely sipped louder and shrugged. "didn't ask me to get you any." "that's because every time i ask you, you never get me any!" you complained as miguel peered over at the math assignment you had and chuckled. "oh, basic." he muttered under his breath as you looked over your shoulder in embarrassment, your face flustered as miguel had just called the horrible, incomprehensible mess of letters, numbers, and symbols 'basic'?

you huffed as miguel sat down next to you and set his coffee aside. "y'need any help?" he asked you with a monotonous, uninterested voice as he took a pencil and the assignment into his own hands. "you wouldn't understand this." "oh i beg to differ." he said as he got to work on the solutions, pulling up a scientific calculator and pressing away at the keys, slightly enjoying solving your math assignment for you as you watched in utter envy at his big, fat brain getting to work while yours is shriveling up and dying at the math you couldn't even begin to understand. he chuckled to himself again as he kept solving it, with you peering over at him as he kept writing down answers and tapped away at the calculator's keys, with you feeling so lost at what he was doing.

"that's my homework you've got there." you reminded him as he kept solving it non-stop. "and it's my brain doing the work for your poor, pitiful self that can't even understand pre-calculus." he said as he put the pencil down and reviewed his answers, muttering to himself as he read it over, doing the operations backwards to double check the answers.

he took the paper full of solutions away with him as he was about to leave the dorm. you scrambled out of your seat and rushed over to him, unsure if you were about to beg him for the answer sheet or grovel at his feet for them. "wait!" you exclaimed as you jumped out of your seat and onto your feet. he turned around to look at you, the answer sheet still in his hand. "what? it's your homework, isn't it? sounded like you didn't want me to do it, so here, i'm giving you want you wanted." he said as he looked at you from underneath his glasses, smirking to himself ever so smugly as you pouted up at him, your eyebrows knitting together in frustration.

you took in a deep breath and brought your shoulders down, trying to loosen up as you exhaled and looked up at his smug, shit-eating grin with all the calmness you could muster. "miguel..." you began, trying to keep your cool as miguel leaned down to hear you better. "sorry, tiny, can't hear your little ant voice, speak up." he teased you as you grumbled under your breath. you inhaled and exhaled again, trying to keep yourself focused on asking him for that damn answer sheet. "miguel, can you please... give me those answers for my math assignment." you pleaded him in a louder voice. "huh? sorry, you sound like a little cockroach right now, speak up, please." he said as he leaned down nearer to your face as you grumbled again. "please, give me the answers for the math assignment. i won't ask for anything more." "huuuuuh? speak up, couldn't hear you." " i said give me the answers for the math assignment, you cocky motherfu–" "oh, okay, here." he said as he handed you the folded up paper.

you reached out to take it, but miguel quickly yanked it away from you, with his smirk widening as you seemed so desperate for the answers... that you'd probably do anything for them. he chuckled as he shook his head. "how cute, but you gotta work for this, y'know? i'm not as generous as you think i am, chiquita." he said as he found your pouting and angry face just so irresistibly cute.

you stamped your foot and kept pleading, while also insulting, him–much to his amusement. he couldn't take it anymore, you were far too cute for him to say no to. "alright, alright, fine, chiquita, i'll hand it over, wouldn't wanna fry your cute, empty little brain, no?" he teased as he handed it to you, but pulled away again as you sighed exasperatedly. "but again... y'gotta work for it." he said as he took your seat and gently placed his hands on your waist. you shuddered as he pulled you close to him, his nose nearly touching yours as you looked down at him, and he looked up at you with more of a smile than a smirk or cocky grin like earlier.

despite you acting all angry and defiant towards miguel, you didn't pull away from him–you instead felt yourself submitting to his touch and leaning further against his chest. your breathing slowed and your defiant gestures ceased as you felt miguel's breath hot against your cheek. "so... what do you think of me?" he asked you with a smirk as you pouted up at him. "if it wasn't obvious already, you're an asshole who's full of himself." he chuckled at your honest observation. "okay, true, true... but not even the least bit handsome to you?" he asked you in a softer, sweeter voice. you remained silent, searching for the right words you wanted to utter right then and there, but all that you could answer would give away how you didn't see him as just your annoying dorm mate.

the fluster in your face got even worse as he tucked away a stray strand of hair behind your ear and murmured that you looked so beautiful. "i wouldn't mind doing your homework for you all the time, really... you know me well enough, i'm a little weak for you." he said with a chuckle as you felt flustered at his flattery. "just get on with it, so i can–" your lips had stopped moving to speak, and instead, they moved to messily lock lips with his as he leaned over and pressed his soft, supple lips against your own. you didn't pull away, you gave yourself into the kiss until miguel had pulled away and pressed his forehead against yours. "all you had to do... was admit you like me. but i guess i had it all wrong, maybe... i had to admit it first, but whatever." he muttered as he handed you the paper full of solutions. you forgot that was the reason you went through all this trouble of begging him and letting him touch you.

you tried to act tough, telling him he should've asked you first if he could kiss you, with him nodding and apologizing about his extreme boldness right then and there. "not my most gentlemanly moment." "as if you even are a gentleman." you said as you leaned against him still, with him raising his eyebrows in confusion. "you... wanna stay on me?" he asked you as you sighed. "you started it, now you reap what you sow, asshole." you said in a fake irritated snap as miguel chuckled. "okay, um... can i hold you again this time?" he asked in a whisper as you nodded. "finally, you figured out how to ask before you take." you said as you felt a little more flustered at the thought of him having kissed you earlier, him letting all his bare emotions out on you. he may be a cocky, arrogant smartass... but you had to admit, you were kind of waiting for him to make the first move; at least now, he was being just a bit nicer to you. you could get used to him doing your homework for you, in exchange for a few kisses from you.

tags !! @miguelswifey04 @binibinileonara @k4tsu3 @luvstarrstruck @fictarian @yuridopted0 @arachnoia @hisachuu @wreakingmarveloushavok @ophanimgold @melovetitties @popeheywardssecretgf

[naoko-world]

My opinion on the Percy Jackson tv show season 1!

So I watched season one of the Percy Jackson tv show as it was released and now here is time for a quick review!

Sorry I wanted to finish this drawing before, hope you like it! (To be honest i didn't draw the drawing on the shirts, I just used what was used on the Disney store, but I draw the rest.) You can see it on my Instagram too, without the review

SPOILER WARNING

I'll start my review of season one by talking about...

The characters

Well, first I wanna say I like how the three main characters are being portrayed here ! Percy is a very loving and kind character while Annabeth is a smart girl desperately looking for recognition from her mother. As for Grover, he's a kind and clumsy satyr who really likes Percy and it shows. Basically these three characters love and trust each other and it's incredibly obvious ! Even Annabeth and Percy, who start their relationship by not being that much trusting in each other. I really like how their quest improve their relationship !

What I love too is how the adults are shown, especially Sally and Poseidon. Sally, who was shown as a perfect mother in the book, became a woman who is doing her best to raise her son in the series and I find it so interesting ! The book is in Percy's point of view so it's obvious that he would see her that way, but the tv series isn't exclusively from his point of view so it can show her turning desperate because she don't know how to effectively protect her son. I can say I really like her scene with Poseidon too, that was so touching!

Just a word about Gabe, who is way less clearly abusive. A lot of people thought it was a problem, that he was too nice, but I thought it made him even more scary because if he's not physically violent against Sally, he's still clearly psychologically abusive. Though it seems like Sally is able to manage him a bit.

Just remember that abuse isn't always physical, that you can be abusive without hitting anyone.

The gods

I can say I like how the gods that appears in this first season are portrayed!

Dionysus is so manipulative and bitter, I love it! Even if we never say it in the series (from memory), it's obvious that he doesn't want to take care of the demigods, and I love it!

Ares is wonderfully portrayed as a being who has a real passion for the war ! For example, we see him having fun on Twitter and, later, Grover succeed to convince him to talk to him by talking about less-known wars. He also has that wonderful vibe of "don't mess with me or I'm going to beat you to death".

We don't see Hephaestus a lot but again you feel it's someone confident who is a very skilled blacksmith.

I love that as soon as we meet Hades he's very welcoming and behaving in a very "I don't care about what's happening with my brothers" way. He just want to protect the underworld and, again, it's obvious.

Zeus is incredibly intimidating which, again, I love so strongly ! I can understand why no one would stand to him.

Finally, Poseidon is a very loving dad who can't do much for his son but is trying when he can try. I also love how, at the end, he ends up standing to Zeus to protect Percy. Then the very awkward interaction he has with him because the didn't talk much, Poseidon was mostly absent, but he still love him.

The adaptation

Now, of course I'll talk about the adaptation. And I'll start this part by a very personal story: how I discovered Percy Jackson.

I started my discovery with the movies. Actually with the first one only, I didn't want to watch the second one because I didn't understand why it would have a sequel. I thought it was enjoyable, though very cliche, but far from the best movies. As I didn't know the original story I thought it must have been an adaptation of a very average book series who must have gotten a bit of success and has been adapted because Hollywood didn't have any idea anymore.

Then I finally read the books because a friend insisted it was good, and Internet was talking about how it was full of representations... And now I hate the movies ! Because I considered we could have gotten incredible movies out of the books ! But we didn't...

Honestly I'm not angry that the tv series made so many changes. Because it wasn't exactly my problem with the movies. My problem was it made changes that didn't make any sense, transformed the story into something very cliche and sexist, and wasn't respectful of the mythology when the book was.

I'll only give one example that angers me a lot: Grover's case.

In the book Grover is a very sweet, kind, brave and goofy character who love his friends and even more his girlfriend Juniper! He's very likeable, and a good protector for the demigods he's in charge of.

In the movie he's not likeable at all. He's a goofy character and likes Percy but he isn't sweet and only think about girls... Like you have a scene where he decides to stay with Persephone because she's hot... He clearly isn't sacrificing himself at all. Overall I don't think he's likeable, I thought he was kinda useless and annoying.

In the tv series... He's kinda goofy but not too much, and he's sweet, kind and brave. More than that, he's considerate and I actually like that he's clearly intelligent in this show because he lived longer than Percy and Annabeth. He's not entirely faithful to his book counterpart but the changes make sense and he's still very likeable and I want to hug him so hard !

For now, I'll conclude there. I'll probably rewatch it and make a new review later but I don't want to say I'll surely do it so I won't have pressure. That first season wasn't perfect but it was pretty enjoyable and I can't wait seeing what they're doing next. To be fair, The lightning thief wasn't the best book of the series so I understand it wasn't as fun as the last books.

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Ep. 14 "Flash Strike" Review

Wow this is way late. First off, I loved the animation and it looked genuinely real at times. TBB is to date the best looking animated show (not counting the "Tales" shorts). Those jungle shots were stunning. And the music! The music in the beginning was epic and it got my heart racing.

Spoilers below just in case

Rampart is just the gift that keeps on giving. Seriously, what was that scream? I was dying laughing 😂. He once again provides the comedy in these dire hours. However, his conversation with Crosshair was intense. I've already covered it, but basically: Rampart doesn't understand how some people can change. And ofc he was the one to mess everything up. Classic Rampart. Also, please Cross, you don't have to prove anything to Rampart. I get you're concerned that the man vanished, but the loser can take care of himself.

I did love watching the brothers fight side by side as usual. When Wrecker got thrown by the dryax, my heart melted when Cross and Hunter immediately went over to help him up. Also, y'all notice that the slice went all the way to Wrecker's skin? That was chilling. I hope Wrecker will be ok. I did love Crosshair's convo with Wrecker. Yes, he's scared and internally having several mental breakdowns, but he's doing it for Omega. He loves her more than anything. When he says he "owes her," it's his way of telling Wrecker that. Cross has never been one to be openly emotional about things. His actions show where his heart truly lies.

Omega was incredible this episode. Her "they found me... my brothers" just hit the spot. She knows that they will always come for her and will fight through hell and back for her. That's the level of love and trust she has with them. Also shoutout for her leadership skills and sneaking skills. Omega has grown so much and the impact of her brothers on her is so noticeable. You know the moment she sees the Zillo, she's got a plan cooking.

Hemlock isn't an idiot? Villain being competent? Well, that's both satisfying and scary.

ECHO!!!! Sweet Echo back at it, serving us with peak Arc Trooper content. Seriously, I love him so much! I also love how he now looks like Fives and the rest of his OG squad. The last Domino is carrying the banner with pride (he's fine relax 🙃). His convo with Emerie was golden. He's come so far since reciting the reg handbook back to his brothers word-by-word. There is so much meaning behind Echo telling Emerie that following orders blindly isn't the right thing to do. It might be Emerie's job, but it's putting the lives of others at stake. It's wrong. And having it be Echo who tells her that is so important. Crosshair fits better as Rampart's narrative foil due to the imperial past and prison sessions. But Echo being Emerie's narrative foil is incredible. Echo is such a beautiful person inside and out. He better make it out alive.

Anyways, I can't wait to cry with y'all on Wednesday. See you then!

[blind0raven]

Warning: I am so so so sorry to all my followers cause yes it is a rant about the Disney movie "Wish" :) I am like years years late on this fucking mess but I was waiting for it to be on Disney plus to finally witness it with my own eyes how awful this movie is despite the many reviews saying so

Sooo... I finally saw Disney's movie "Wish" :)...

I hate it, I hate it SO MUCH, I hate this soulless no identity piece of shit that can't even be a product for the 100th years celebration as well :)

The story is trash

The dialogue is trash

The pacing makes no sense and just awful

The COLOR PALETTE feels like it should have been switched or better implimented

And I have watched and heard reviews about the movie and how bad and lackluster it is, and now I can understand why...

I watched this piece of shit with a friend, and we both hate it. I don't even know where to start...

I think where I can start is just... the actual ending scene of the grandpa playing "When you wish upon a star" that leads into the Disney Castle scene? That should have been THE BEGINNING of this movie, with him starting off and narrating the beginning of the movie before it leads to the actual events and such.

Sticking to basically the song still, I know or remember that this movie was suppose to be like the origin of the song? or the act of wishing upon a star??? The movie didn't even do it well either!

The implications of wishing on a star and not entirely relying on that star to do all the work should have been more implemented. Basically since the people of the kingdom give their wishes to King Magnifico, and rely on HIM to grant their wishes when they could do it themselves. It just feels like a cult, relying on Magnifico and just settling to not have the drive to make your own dreams work and just accepting that "oh well maybe another day" without doing the work!

THIS ISN'T ENTIRELY NEW!!! THIS WAS BETTER DONE IN PRINCESS AND THE FROG!!!!

And touching upon the reliance, the dependency and complete trust of King Magnifico that they don't question what he is doing. It would make sense to the adults in the kingdom and those who already gave their wishes cause well...

Life in the kingdom is happy and well, their lives are already great. Why should they want more???

But to the young ones, people like Asha who still HAVE their wish. They're full of hope and determinations, they still have that want, that desire, that life in them to want to pursue more than they already have!

Someone already probably made this statement, but still. That could have been it!!!

And it could have been what King Magnifico takes away when he takes a person's wish! Their dream, their hope, their drive to explore! If King Magnifico has the people's absolute trust and dependency, he has absolute control over everyone, taking away their dream squashes any chance that someone will break away and lead to a revolution if they discover he's lying to them.

Also just... make it better shown who still has their wishes and who doesn't!!!

Just slight alterations

Those who still have their wishes are fine: their colors are still bright, they're more lively and energetic

Those who have already gave their wishes to the king: their colors are a bit pale or duller, not too much but still, also have a slight drowsy appearance. Help emphasize that these people are empty, they're missing something but not entirely

Those who's wishes are entirely destroyed: Dull, and hopeless. Darker than those who gave their wishes away, as they believe themselves to have no hope

Instead of telling us, the slight implementation that something is off!!! LIKE THAT EPISODE OF MLP FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC OF STARLIGHT'S CULT VILLAGE OH MY GOD I JUST REALIZED IT!!!!

But not too much that its worrying, this is why the kingdom's blue palette plays in to help hide it!

This is my main problem, I still have others but this is already too long that I'll just list em off

The Queen should have been evil as well, we should have had our lovey evil couple that was in the concepts

Star boy! I will not forgive that we have been robbed of a romance between the Star boy and Asha either DISNEY!!!!

Fuck off with all those 7 friends, cut it down to maybe 3 (preferably the Glasses girl, the short Grumpy one, and the big eepy boy. I know they have names but FUCK THEM HAVING 7 PEOPLE)

The goat should not have talked, that's it

More show of the star's magic instead of JUST MAKING ANIMALS TALK!!! GIVE US MORE MAGIC SHOWCASE OH MY GOD!!!

Make King Magnifico more unhinged at the end since he's losing control, let him go full evil instead of what the fuck they did

Asha would have been better written as possibly Magnifico and Amaya's daughter, the evil couple who loves control are training their daughter to be like them and succeed since Asha pretty much is selfish since she wants to be Magnifico's assistant only for her own benefit

FUCK. OFF. WITH THE PREVIOUS DISNEY MOVIE EASTER EGGS WITH HOW THEY ARE DONE IN THIS MOVIE OH MY GOD.

ALSO FUCK OFF WITH HOW THEY SHOWCASE PREVIOUS DISNEY MOVIES AT THE END CREDITS THAT IS NOT WHAT SHOULD BE SHOWCASED THERE

TOO. MUCH. SINGING If I am saying this for a Disney Movie then it is bad. THERE IS TOO. MUCH. SINGING AND MUSIC HAPPENING IN THIS MOVIE

And lastly imma end with this. I agree with my friend

King Magnifico is a dumb name, he choose a better name for him that works best

El Magnifico and Majestic King Marcelino!

[electronickingdomfox]

"Vulcan's Glory" review

Hey look! It's SNW's Spock... in the 80's!

Novel from 1989, by Dorothy C. Fontana. This author is better known as the writer of several TOS episodes, like "Journey to Babel", and as the producer for TAS. Given these credentials, I expected more from this novel. But it turned out to be one of the worst I've recently read.

The plot (or rather, the several mini-plots) were pretty dull, and the slow pace isn't helping. The writing style is so meandering and flowery, that it takes forever to move from point A to point B. (Some spoilers ahead): Set in the Pike era, shortly after Spock arrives at the Enterprise, the main story concerns a legendary emerald revered in Vulcan, the titular "Vulcan's Glory". The gem is easily found in the first chapters, after being presumed lost for a long time. But soon thereafter, an assassin kills a couple of scientists aboard the Enterprise, using a Vulcan killing technique (rehashed plot from "Journey to Babel") and steals the emerald. The murder mystery lacks any tension, and I found the identity and motives of the culprit really contrived (also, it presents a backstory that completely messes up Spock's unique identity as a Vulcan-human hybrid). Apart from this, Pike has his own adventure in the planet of Arete, which has no connection at all with the murder mystery. The civilization of Arete is yet another generic ancient society, divided into townspeople, nomads and outcasts (mutants, in this case). After a nuclear holocaust, they somehow have forgotten any previous technology, and Pike's mission is to check whether communication and trading between the different groups proceeds smoothly. This mission is quickly forgotten in favor of a story about two teenagers in love, who have run from home and now need to be rescued. Again, I found the whole thing pretty boring and predictable. Finally, the novel shoehorns Scotty into Pike's Enterprise, but his only role is brewing moonshine in the engine room, with no concern for sanitary measures (or the proper use of the engines, by the way). Apparently, you can distill liquor the same way you brew tea, as people is already consuming the thing a few hours after the distillery is set up... This subplot was so unnecessary, that I guess it was just included to increase the page count.

Now the characters... I gotta admit, I'm not a fan of the Pike era. But I wasn't particularly interested in Robert April (the previous captain) either, and yet Diane Carey's Final Frontier made me love the characters. This time, however, I can't say I care more for this crew after reading the book. Pike and Dr. Boyce seem like mere sketches for Kirk and McCoy. This may have been understandable in the pilot episode, but here I hoped they'd get a bit more of a personality of their own. In fact, I'd say that Pike was much more his own character in "The Cage". Number One gets a bit more development, but in general, she's simply a cold, perfect woman, created through genetic engineering (you know, the same kind of eugenicist stuff that Khan gets criticized for). And then there's young Spock... His personality in the first chapters is alright. But then the story makes him develop a pulpy romance with a Vulcan woman from the crew, and I simply can't buy the whole thing. Regardless of whether you believe that Spock ever loved T'Pring or not, he was committed enough to his betrothal in "Amok Time" to divert the ship and honor his engagement. He didn't just take the first person available to get him out of pon farr. Less than a marriage but more than a betrothal, indeed. Yet here, he's ready to ditch T'Pring for the first woman that makes a pass at him. Certainly, Spock describes the affair as "true love", and "the only woman he will ever love" yadda, yadda... But let's be honest, they just had a couple of quickies, nothing more. Add to this Spock's unrestrained and vengeful behavior in the last chapters, shouting things like "You bastard!" at the villain (no, for real), and I was left wondering who was this guy.

Last but not least, this novel has a certain, annoying sexism going on, and this is almost the 90's not the 60's. All women get cliche descriptions upon being introduced, which focus on their physical attributes and little more. T'Pring is villanized as a dirty cheater (yet Spock's no better, as seen before). Amanda is particularly submissive towards Sarek (compare with Diane Duane's far better portrayal in Spock's World). Pike and Number One are starting a romantic relationship at the end, because God forbids a female first officer is just doing her job. It seems that Vulcan males can break their engagement at any point (but Vulcan women would still need to invoke the kal-if-fee, with all that entails). And then there's the story of a Vulcan woman who, after being raped by a man, was seen as a disgrace and shame for her family, and banished from the planet! (this in the "most logical" culture of the Federation). But don't you worry, the narrative still manages to villanize this woman as well... Sigh.

Spirk Meter: 0/10. First, Kirk isn't even there. Second, Spock is super-ultra-heterosexual. Third, D. C. Fontana disliked K/S to begin with, to nobody's surprise.

[pseudowho]

Hello Haitch! Hope you are doing well.

Last year during summer, I was diagnosed with PCOS (i had gotten it checked because i hadnt had my period in like 3 months) and since i was just 17, the doctor asked me to maintain a proper lifestyle and see till November and said that if it wasnt fixed by then, i had to do a checkup again. But i'd gotten my period by august so i never reached out again.

but this year (im 18 now), the last time id gotten my period was in april so it's been 6 months now. im gonna go to the doctor again later this month. but here's the thing— last year, i went to a gyno abroad because women's healthcare isnt the best in my country. but this year, its not possible for me to go abroad right now so im gonna have to work with a gyno from here.

now i have a feeling that theyll put me on pills and while i agree thats the easy way to fix this, im worried itll mess things up for the long run. the lifestyle the first gyno asked me to follow is a little difficult for me to get into since she'd asked me to exercise plenty and im a full time alevel student and it gets hard for me to maintain a proper routine like that. i also struggle with binge eating which i've heard comes with having pcos (im not sure if this is true tho).

so in one hand, i feel like it's easier to just start taking pills but then again it has so many side effects i don't know what to do right now.

Lots to unpack here.

CW/TW: PCOS, medical discussion, endocrine disorders, diabetes, hypothyroidism, weight management, medication management

Firstly, PCOS is often diagnosed based on vague criteria; lots of doctors flippantly diagnose it based on a volume of loose criteria. If you have an increasing number of these criteria, then yes, the chances are you have PCOS. However, it's often erroneously diagnosed without proper diagnostic procedures such as scans, bloods, and a full review of your longer term health history.

That being said, being on the pill doesn't 'cure' PCOS, it can simply manage the symptom of irregular periods. There's flimsy evidence on the pill's ability to manage/prevent weight gain and the development of other disorders that are associated with PCOS.

While weight loss is often harder for women with PCOS, especially if you have associated conditions such as an under active thyroid, it's not impossible.

Your lifetime chances of developing Diabetes are significantly higher with PCOS, and this chance goes up again if you struggle with increased body weight. PCOS and appetite changes like binge eating have been associated with each other, too.

So you'll only know if managing your weight and eating habits make a difference with your PCOS, when you've actually tried them to the absolute best of your ability. If you are at an increased ideal weight, losing weight can be very effective to manage and reduce the symptoms of PCOS.

Of the many, many thousands of women I've looked after, I'm sorry to say that those with PCOS who are very pro-active with managing their weight, perhaps taking medications as advised by their doctor (the pill and Metformin are the most common ones I see), and exercising regularly, are those who have the highest chance of being 'healthy' (though I do not use the term 'healthy' lightly).

Ultimately, PCOS is one of those things that just happens and isn't your fault. I also have an endocrine disorder that makes it very easy for me to gain weight and very difficult for me to lose it, so I absolutely understand the situation yours in right now.

But, what do you do with this information? Do you say, "I am X, Y and Z because of my PCOS" and leave it at that? Or do you say "I suffer with X, Y and Z because of my PCOS, so I make life choices to reduce the impact of my PCOS by 1, 2 and 3".

So my advice is this: PCOS may be the hand you've been dealt, but your lifestyle choices can massively improve the chances of you reducing its impact on your long-term health. I'm not blaming you, or acting like healthy eating, exercise and medication decisions are easy; they are not. Please recall I'm in a similar boat, and I'm not one to blame women for their complex health conditions.

I could talk all day about PCOS but this is my best attempt to summarise it for you.

It's really hard making tough life choices to manage the hand you've been dealt. I fully understand. I've gotten better at it as I've gotten older. @mrhaitch makes similar big decisions, because he has two diabetic parents and one diabetic siblings, so he takes care of his health to a brilliant degree, to try to give himself the best chance of not developing diabetes himself.

☝️ me being your hype man

Love,

-- Haitch xxx

[phantomdialogue]

˗ˏˋ. ݁₊ ✶ ˖ 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏𝟑 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐨𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐡 - 𝟒.𝟓/𝟓 ☆ . ݁ ˖ˎˊ˗

boys of tommen book one

premise: shannon lynch has dealt with bullying her whole life which leads her to the front steps of tommen college after the christmas break. johnny kavanagh is dead set on joining ireland's international rugby team after years of training and hard work. but when he kicks a ball straight into the back of shannon's head by accident on her first day, both of their lives may change forever.

couple: johnny kavanagh and shannon lynch

tropes: sports romance, high school age romance, friends to lovers, found family, slow burn, grumpy/sunshine ish

CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING!! - includes themes such as physical and verbal abuse (familial and not), bullying, sexual harassment, and more.

available on kindle unlimited

review below!

review:

wow... i wasn't expecting to be so hooked on this so fast. even just 50 pages in, it had its claws in me and wasn't letting go for the next 600ish pages. it's a long read but it doesn't feel long either. even the 40 minute long chapters went by so fast. this book is put in the young adult section of the store but i think that's solely based on how easy of a read it is. it very much so does NOT have themes that are young adult. it's a heavy book with some darker themes, and a far amount of sexual content honestly even without smut, and i know the second book and the ones after that will just continue to get heavier.

johnny kavanagh... the boy you are. i loved johnny. i'm pretty sure if you don't love johnny, something is wrong. he really just embodies that typical sports guy with a soft spot but i related to him on so many different levels. he's deeply determined to achieve his goals and puts everything aside to do just that. he really knows what he wants and what he thinks he has to do to achieve that and he goes at it full force. and then shannon comes into the picture and messes with his head and plans and he is just deeply understandable in all of internal angst. he's already scared because he's sporting an injury and now he's sporting a crazy crush and he doesn't know what to do about it. i think that it's really interesting to read about how he handles it all and what his thought process is and when you keep in mind that he's only seventeen, it's honestly so understandable.

i loved shannon as well. she is a deeply fractured and hurt character and getting to watch her grow to be comfortable with the other characters while still holding her walls up was so interesting and i was so invested with her the whole time. she's one of those characters that you just want to hug and tell it's okay to. she has so many layers to her that are so interesting to read about because she's been through so much and is still going through so much. i love her relationship with johnny, of course, but something that i really hope we see more of going forward is her relationship with gibsie. i feel like she already has that deep brotherly bond with her brother, joey, but that is founded more so in their shared trauma, that to get to see her grow into this sibling bond with gibsie that is more on the humorous playing around side was something so healing. she has those moments with joey but there is a heaviness to them that isn't there with gibsie and i love that so much that i hope we get to see more.

honestly i wasn't entirely sure what i was getting myself into with this book but i'm really really happy i read it. i can't wait to read the rest and get my heart ripped out because i know that's coming and it's going to hit so hard.

q & a:

are they endgame? - this is one question that i don't think i can quite answer yet. my gut says yes but we've got a very heavy second book ahead that will really solidify my answer to that. so we will wait on the determination of endgame status but currently my gut answer is yes even though they are just teenagers still.

did i cringe? - i'm american... this is set in ireland in 2005. admittedly, some of the slang and banter did make me cringe a little. it's also a high school age romance i'm not going to hold back the fact that i did cringe a few times at the teenagers. i think it's not anything that deters from the book though. the cringing i did do leaned towards the endearing side as well because it's just this found family of teenagers who are all dealing with some heavy stuff and humor is definitely something that some of them, and this book, falls back on. but even with cringing, it felt natural for the book and the characters. it wasn't the kind of cringing that was from something that was wrong.

favorite part? - i love the found family aspect in this. i love how close knit our main characters are with our side characters. johnny is an only child but he really is just brothers from another mother with gibsie. if you've seen teen wolf then you'll know what i mean when i say that johnny and gibsie really are another version of scott and stiles. and even beyond johnny and gibsie, we see hughie and katie and patrick and claire and even lizzie a bit all join together to be this second family to shannon that she really needs. it's so heart warming and such a light air in the middle of all of these traumatic experiences you read through and i loved it so much and hope we get more of it going forward. my gut wants to put the slowburn in the least favorite part section but i really cant. it's such a pivotal part of this book and of johnny and shannon's characters that i have to praise it. it makes so much sense for them individually that even when it takes over 500 pages to make true progress, it feels natural. it's not something that is played out just to make the book longer. with shannon's trauma and johnny's career, it makes sense that it takes them so long to come together and i really loved it even if i was a bit in agony from the length haha.

least favorite part? - i really don't know if i can choose something. i know there is something because i feel confident in not quite rating this 5 stars but i can't place my finger on it. perhaps it's the focus on johnny so much in this book but i can tell from the ending that this book is more johnny's book and i think the next one will be more of shannon's book so even that isn't something that i have a real problem with. i don't know... it's hard to place what i think should be different because even with whatever faults it has, i think it has a lot of reasoning for each of those that makes sense.

favorite quotes (some spoilers here, of course, but minimal):

It mattered that she mattered when no one ever mattered to me before.

I remembered the way he had taken care of me. How he had stayed with me until my mother came. The way he had touched me with big dirty, gentle hands. How he talked to me like he wanted to hear what I had to say. And then listened to my rambling like it was important to him.

Shannon Lynch utterly disarmed me.

You could love this girl your whole life, the crazy thought persisted inside my brain over and over, if you just let yourself.

“I’m going to hug you,” Johnny whispered in my ear. “Tell me if that’s not okay.”

Instead, I nestled my cheek against his side and closed my eyes, allowing myself to drift off to sleep without an ounce of fear in my heart because it couldn’t exist inside of me, not when this boy had his arm around me.

I was completely fucking clueless, armed and ready to go to war for a girl I didn’t know, against an enemy no one would tell me about.

“She’s always been your Shannon.”

“She makes my heart go, like, whoa.” “Is that right?” he mused. “So bad, Da.” I sighed. “Boom, boom, fucking boom.” I shook my head. “All the time.”

[itscharh]

Hey @marvelentertainment what makes you think strobes make a good movie? I would've paid to see New World Order but your trailer editing, VFX and marketing departments have made it so I can't. (Don't worry I also blame the producers)

I most likely won't even be able to watch it on streaming seeing as I barely made it through the trailer. How did that pass the Harding Test? Or do you simply not care anymore? ( I understand that you're a major corporation so it's easy for you not to.)

People with photosensitivity make up 5-20% of the population, and while those numbers may seem small to you now, add them to your dwindling popularity, super hero fatigue, and desperate hope that this film changes the tides of box office reviews. It may start to seem like this subsect of the population is not as small as we appear. And for the record we talk. We tell each other what is safe to see and what isn't. There are communities that review films from 20+ years ago, so when trying to find something to watch on streaming, we have reliable sources.

Right now I'm telling you that your movie looks dangerous, it looks like it could send someone to the ER during a screening. It looks like people losing hope not regaining it, as they're hooked up to an EEG waiting to find out how drastically Captain America has changed their lives. I'm telling @moviehealthcommunity to flag this film trailer immediately because I nearly had a seizure sitting on my couch excited for a new chapter of the MCU.

Instead I'm mad that studios are still doing this after the mess that Venom (2018) and Incredibles 2 (2018) were. Disney had their sticky hands in both and has learned nothing within six years. In fact, the Pixar trailer for Elio is also completely unwatchable and that's for children. Feel free to search up febrile epilepsy. I have more to say but a relentless headache from my brain over firing is taking over.

Goodnight. I hope you change the damn trailer at the very least.

[fategoflatass]

My Fall 2023 Watchlist & Opinions

Welcome to the comeback of my reviews that no one expected! But hey, I think this would be a nice practice for me to develop my writing skills and my critical thinking (?).

Take in consideration this post will be long because #unemployed, so everything will be under the cut.

Ready or not (I sure am not), here I go!

Atarashii Joushi wa Dotennen

Comedy, Slice of Life // ☆☆☆¾

After an atrocious experience with an abusive boss, Momose decides to switch workplaces. Used to such a toxic environment, he never expected his new superior to be so goofy!

The most wholesome show you'll find this season, and one of the most I've seen in general!

The work environment is pretty much paradise, each and every character being the living representation of the sweetest and most tender cotton candy you'll be able to find.

While the comedy mostly relies on Shirosaki's sillyness, it never gets old. Alongside the laughs, you'll find yourself aww-ing to many, many scenes.

Also, the series is conscious of the way people takes it (no, this is not a BL) and dedicates some scenes to it by giving different double meaning scenarios (they're all wholesome, no need to worry about that). Just a heads up, in case you're not into this kind of thing.

Want to know more? There's a canonical bisexual character in it! And here I was thinking that we didn't exist for Japan.

Totally recommend for those gloomy days, or even when you just need to shut off your brain.

Dr. STONE: NEW WORLD Part 2

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi // ☆☆☆☆

No summary due to spoilers.

I don't think there's much I can say about this one? I mean, unless I want to spoil someone, and I'm not a spoiler kind of person so...

For those curious about my experience, I'm enjoying myself very much! I decided to give it a try since my best friend loves it, and I liked it so much I quickly got up to date with it.

Now, do I understand every single thing they talk about? Hell nah, do you know how many times I failed chemistry and physics?!

But besides that, this show is a pretty wild and fun ride. And not only the previous parts, but also this one! Again, don't feel like making spoilers but the quality hasn't lacked not even a little bit. The characters are still as charismatic and funny as they've always been, and the plot keeps getting more and more interesting as it progresses.

Only thing I can say without explicitly spoiling anything: one of these days, Gen will end up messing with the wrong people. Can't tell you what tells me that, but he's messy enough for me to be unable to think otherwise.

Hametsu no Oukoku

Action, Drama, Fantasy // ☆☆

Once benerated due to their wisdom, witches are now being hunted down by humans who accuse them of impeding the progress of civilization. Adonis, a human raised by a witch, swears revenge against those who took his mentor from him.

CW: instances of extreme violence, forced non-sexual public partial nudity

Yes, I watched this one. Yes, it's an edgy one. No, it's not fun.

As someone who's always down to anything that has to do with fantasy, magic and supernatural beings, as well as being able to enjoy the trashiest things in life, I had some hope in the plot. Not in the way that it might be actually good, but in the way that it could be so bad I could get some laughs out of it. Sadly, this series takes itself quite seriously.

Which wouldn't be a problem if it weren't because it isn't even that good. The characters are plain, the episodes feel longer than they should, and there are times where you can see it go all over the top.

A pet peeve I have is when certain abilities/powers have ridiculous names, and this show does that to a tee by giving them some of the dumbest/edgiest (not exclusionary) names I've seen in a while.

"Do they even have to do with what each witch's magic is supposed to be?" I ask to the void in utter confusion.

"Absolutely not, but doesn't it sound rad?!" an easily impressed twelve-year-old exclaims from the grades.

Anyway, wouldn't recommend this show to anyone unless you're looking for an edgy power fantasy where characters die in gruesome ways not even five minutes after being introduced, magic type and all.

Also, can someone explain to me what does it mean to have "Natural Law" magic?

Hikikomari Kyuuketsuki no Monmon

Action, Comedy, Fantasy // ☆☆¼

After three years of becoming a total shut-in, Komari wakes up to find out she's the newest Commander in the Mulnite Imperial Army! Although she's descendant of a pretty powerful vampire family, she's rather inept when it comes to magic, even finding blood disgusting. Will her, alonside her maid, be able to make her path to success, or is failure awaiting for her around the corner?

Damn, this one took its sweet time to take off, only to crash and burn because the method was so cliché and overused.

The first three to four episodes are boring and not interesting at all, characters are bland as a wet piece of cardboard and the comedy excels at falling flat.

(Mild spoilers ahead, because I couldn't care less about this one)

And now you mean to tell me your seemlingly powerless main character is actually OP, only that under hypnosis? I didn't need to be a hound to be able to smell that crap from miles away, now did I?

But let's leave that aside to talk about Vil, A.K.A Male Gaze 101. I understand why she's attached to the protagonist, don't get me wrong, but did she need to sexually harass the protagonist or...? Also, how could I forget about the time where she almost forced Komari to pee herself in front of her!

Bro, if I were to know this was an omorashi hentai wannabe I wouldn't have given it a chance.

Anyways, if you're into any of the things I've mentioned previously, then enjoy yourself. This anime's definitely not for me.

Kamierabi

Action, Drama, Psychological, Supernatural // ☆½

A group of high schoolers see themselves forced to fight each other to death for the coveted title of God. Who will emerge victorious and claim their godly throne?

You have no right to ask that in the summary when you spoil the results in the first minutes of the first episode.

Let's be honest, if anyone is talking about this series is because Yoko Taro's name served as free promo. But did you know he's credited, not for the story, but for the concept of it? Big yikes, huh?

If you are a three-episode-rule kind of person, I assure you won't be needing that for this anime. One episode is enough torture, trust me.

The first minute is there to make sure you understand this story is different, is mature. There are no friendships, no love interests, only tons of suffering and betrayals. You know, what people back in 2011 probably went for when Mirai Nikki first aired.

Characters are not only boring as hell, but their designs are nothing to die for, heavely based on their assigned colors because you'll be forgetting their names the minute after they get introduced.

Fun fact: If you pay enough attention, you'll be able to see their phone cases' designs. Not only they look ugly, but they also spoil their so secretive abilities!

Speaking of character design, did you know the one in charge of it didn't even bother to create background character's templates? They all look like gray extraterrestrial things trying to pass as human beings, their never changing facial expressions being the cherry on top. This might be one edgy way of showing they don't matter to the main story, but it just feels super lazy. Also, this... artistic choice is just another spoiler, since everyone who has some sort of relevance has an established design. But oh well.

Fun fact: Every single one of these NPCs are gray, expect for a couple of them in episode six who are red and blue. One of them is the bad guy, can you guess who?

In summary, this show is utter trash. Wouldn't recommend unless you're as messed up as I am and like to watch crappy productions.

Kamonohashi Ron no Kindan Suiri

Drama, Mystery // ☆☆☆¾

When police office Totomaru is assigned to a serial killer case, he turns to Kamonohashi Ron for help—a once considered genius who, after a fatal mistake, got himself expelled from the top detective training academy and was forbidden to become one.

This is your classic detective show with the more normal character having to learn how to deal with the more eccentric one who's always really good at deducing. And I love it.

Yeah, it might be a copycat of other series with the same dynamics (like many other mystery anime), but they're all still dear to my heart. I just love them, man!

Every case they've introduced until now have been interesting and fun. It's been entertainting trying to think by myself what happened, who might be the culprit, how did they do it and why. As always, it's especially cool when you get close enough or, even better, when you were in the right. Serotonin kicks like those are always appreciated.

The dynamic between the protagonists is also really fun, Ron's shenanigans never getting old. Totomaru might not be having the time of his life, but I sure am!

If you're a fan of these kind of shows, then I totally recommend! If you're tired of the same scheme over and over again, maybe not so much. Would be nice if you'd give it a try, though!

Kanojo mo Kanojo Season 2

Comedy, Ecchi, Romance, Slice of Life // ☆☆☆¼

After their hot springs trip, Naoya continues his relationships with both Saki and Nagisa. Alongside Milika and Shino, they embark on a summer vacation full of romance with a fireworks festival, camping, and Okinawa. Chaos ensured.

There are not many series that touch upon polyamory which saddens me to a fault. The closest to this concept would be harem series, but a polyamorous relationship should never be a competition to see which whom does your "shared partner" choose to spend the rest of their life with.

While KanoKano isn't the best representation of this type of relationships (Saki often feeling like she's competing against Nagisa), it's not a bad series? Or, at least, not that bad. Rather decent, actually.

It's not boring, although it isn't the most entertaining series either. If I had to decide between KanoKano and any other series that touches upon polyamory (even if they do it with the tip of a stick, miles apart of the concept), I would probably go for Hamefura's canonical (albeit not in the way I would like it to be) Katarina fan club.

I just feel something's... wrong, you know. I get Naoya loves them both and that, in theory, both of them understand that, but I can't help feeling uncomfortable when Saki mentions this supposed competition the girls have (and the way they treat polyamory as "two timing" when that would imply it wasn't consensual?).

Besides that, it's a decent series to watch whenever you're bored. Not a masterpiece, but is not like it's trying to be one.

UPDATE: Rating has been lowered to ☆ as of 11/10/23. Visit the reblog section for more.

Kimi no Koto ga Dai Dai Dai Dai Daisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo

Comedy, Romance // ☆☆☆☆

Rentarou has been rejected a total of 100 times throught his entire life. Is when he visits a shrine and prays for better luck when he meets the God of Love. He reveals to Rentarou that he'll get to date 100 women in the foreseeable future. The catch is, once he meets them they must happily love each other. Otherwise, they'll die. What will be of Rentarou and his 100 girlfriends during high school?

He has arrived. The man, the legend. The harem protagonist of all harem protagonists.

Rentarou Aijou has arrived, and he's here to make you and your wife part of his loveable and excessively numerous family.

As I mentioned when talking about KanoKano, I've been looking for series that touch upon polyamory. And if you're like me, then you've just hit the jackpot!

While I'm conscious 100Kano is a parody of harem series and was never meant to be taken seriously, the way none of these girls are competing for the protagonist's exclusive love is refreshing. They're actually a pretty big family, always supportive of each other and down to give each other a hand or two (or twenty, if needed). They'll do anything they can to make their boyfriend the happiest man alive, and so will he with them.

There're no favoritisms whatsoever. Such concept as "the first one to arrive gets to win" does not exist in his agenda. In Rentarou (and every single one of his girlfriends)'s mind, everyone wins because everyone is his favorite.

An excellent series to watch by yourself or with your pals in case you're looking for something silly and easy to digest.

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

Drama, Mystery // ☆☆☆☆¼

CW: infant death, classism, self-harm, kidnapping

Maomao lived a peaceful life with her apothecary father. Until one day, she’s sold as a lowly servant to the emperor’s palace. When rumours about imperial heirs falling ill surfaces, she puts her knowledge in medicinal herbs and poison to good use and finds a cure. It's then when she catches the eye of Jinshi, a handsome palace official who promotes her. The series follows Maomao as she solves numerous mysteries.

I can't explain just how excited I was for this one. As I said before, I love mysteries, but I also really like historical series. So when you mix both genres, you get characters who try to solve various cases with only the means they had yesterday.

Besides the art being drop dead gorgeous (alongside every single lady who makes an appearance in the story), the story is engaging and so much fun. The episodes are already a bit shorter than usual (albeit not for much, it's just me being petty), but the way everything develops makes it feel like they last no more than five minutes.

And Maomao—God Maomao! She's one of the best female main characters I've seen as of recently. She's not lacking personality—she actually has way too much, and I love that. She's so clever and capable at what she does, I bet it'd be so much fun to just stare at her as she picks different herbs or just stays still for hours, trapped in her thoughts.

I'm a sucker for good relationship dynamics and the one between Maomao and Jinshi is just *chef's kiss* exquisit. The way he's constantly trying to seduce her and she just stares at him in apathy or disgust (bonus for when she brushes off the places where he'd placed his hand on) are golden. I also love how what started as teasing and doubt about the other's true intentions morphs into genuine interest and maybe, just maybe, a tiny itty crush.

A pretty strong contestant for anime of the year, in my opinion.

Megumi no Daigo: Kyuukoku no Orange

Action, Drama // ☆☆☆½

The series follows three young firefighters who share the same goal—becoming members of the special rescue corps known as "Orange". We'll follow them from their early training days to the day they face the crisis that'll push Japan at the brink of collapsing.

I don't know about you, but I've never seen a series focused on firefighters. Yes, I know about Promare and Fire Force, but those aren't "real" firefighters, if you know what I mean.

Where's their daily life at the station, their training—just everything that comes with being one of them? I don't want flashy fight scenes against angsty twinks, I want to see people getting rescued from collapsed buildings and cats getting saved from trees.

Along with interesting characters and tense situations, all these making it difficult for you to not empatize with, Megumi no Daigo is here to bring us a peek on how the real deal is—with both the good, the bad and the ugly.

This anime is confirmed to be the prequel to a movie released in the 90's, so there's even more content in case you're interested!

Migi to Dali

Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Slice of Life // ☆☆☆

Twin brothers Migi and Dali pretend to be the Sonoyama's adoptive son, Hitori, in order to find out the truth behind their mother's death.

CW: (prepare your bingo cards) *inhales* forced non-sexual infantilization, forced partial nudity, forced non-sexual pet play, bullying, implied murder, classism, forced eating, non-sexual groping, surveillance, invasion of privacy, kidnapping and imprisonment. ~95% of these happen to a minor, so yeah.

While the main focus of the first two episodes was the comedy (it's still present in the rest of the series, just not as much), I didn't find it especially hilarious? It does give off Sakamoto vibes at times, but it never makes me laugh as much as the author's previous work did.

The mystery is still there, thought, and that's what keeps me coming back. The suspense surronding the twins' mother's passing is engaging, you genuinely want to find out what happened there and how the place where they've moved and its habitants are involved in the case.

Now, as I mentioned before this anime is disturbing and thus can be highly triggering for some. So please beware before giving it a chance.

Overtake!

Drama, Sports // ☆☆☆¾

Kouya is a professional photographer who, due to past circumstances, gave up his passion for taking pictures of people. But his fate changes the day he meets Komaki Motors, a family-run shop that regularly competes in F4 along with their only racer, Haruka.

CW: implied death (car accident)

Sports anime of the season, let's go! This time, about car racing. Never watched an anime like this one before, although I know Initial D is out there. I just haven't watched it... yet.

To be honest, I didn't expect to connect with the characters to this level. I got hooked to the story from day one and has been like that ever since.

The story is fun, the races will have you at the edge of your seat while cheering for your favorite team.

Because yes, I think the rival team can also be cheered on! Maybe their main face might not be the bestest guy, but Toshiki does deserve everything in this world and so much more.

And when it comes to the drama, it never comes out as over the top. Every single reason for them thinking, responding or acting the way they do makes total sense given their past ciscumstances.

Speaking of the characters, everyone here has enough personality to be separated from the rest: Haruka's overachieving and at times harsh demeanor makes a good contrast with Koutaro's more calm and playful behavior. And while Satsuki's charismatic, conceited and women-loving persona might be a pain for many, Toshiki serves as a good companion with his serious and ambitions being. And I could mention the adults, but I think you catch my vibe.

I so recommend this one!

Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu Season 2

Fantasy, Romance, Slice of Life // ☆☆☆½

We follow Sei, an office worker in her twenties who was suddenly summoned to another world as a "Saint". Taking advantage of her natural love of plants, she started working at a medicinal plant research institute. We also get to meet Albert Hawke, with whom she's more than friends but less than lovers.

Season two arrived and I have yet to rewatch the first one, although I think it might be a little too late for that.

Don't go into it expecting a wonderful series because it is not (or, at least, it isn't for me). It's a pretty neat feel good series, but definitely nothing out of the ordinary. Just nice people living their lives.

Sei and Albert's relationship is as wholesome as always, I appreciate them taking their time and not rushing into making things official. It feels, I don't know... adult.

There's literally not much I can say about this one other than I would recommend for those who are looking for a nice and relaxing shoujo.

Shangri-La Frontier

Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi // ☆☆☆¾

Rakuro is a "crap-game hunter"—a strong aficionado to clearing buggy and just straight up bad titles that aren't even compatible with the now more frequently used VR technology. The game he's chosen to tackle next is the widely aclaimed "Shangri-La Frontier" that counts with thirty million players and counting. Little did he know this decision would change his fate alongside with many other players he meets along the way!

I can barely count the times I had this much fun while watching a series, and I can count even less the occasions where a gaming-inspired anime made me feel this great!

I've found myself dumbfounded so many times at just how detailed Shangri-La Frontier is. It's obvious there was research behind it, the author's a straight up legend for dedicating so much time and passion to something others would've easily disregarded as another basic, boring ass medieval-inspired MMORPG.

The level of character customization (you can even modify their origins like ‼), the many monsters you find along the way, and tons of easter eggs that players have yet to find in their entirety! It's my first time saying this when it comes to gaming-centered anime, but holy hell I wished this game existed IRL!

And honestly, I identify with Rakuro a bit too much when it comes to enjoying crap. In his case, are bad games. In mine, bad anime. I would love to have a chat with him and share our experiences and disgraces that come with this harsh hobby.

SHY

Action, Drama // ☆☆☆½

When we needed them the most, they appeared! As we were on the brink of World War Three, individuals with superpowers appeared all around the planet with the only mission to mantain peace. They would eventually become symbols of their nations, their presence being enough to lower the crime rates. Teru, most known as Shy, is Japan's heroine. When a mysterious and menacing association called Amalareiks surfaces, Shy must join forces with her fellow superheroes to stop their plans, all while dealing with her shyness and, overall, her teenage life.

CW: violence, death, self hatred, intrusive thoughts

Would it be cool to call it the more mature version of Boku no Hero Academia?

I had the manga for this series on my pending list for a while and when I saw an anime adaptation was coming out, not gonna lie, I got quite excited.

Now, I have to admit it's not one of my favorite series this season. It might be the pacing that sometimes gives me the feeling the episodes are, although just a little bit, longer than they actually are.

I love the concept and how it's executed, I really like the characters and the setting in which they're established. The drama they all have feels realistic and you can easily empathise with them. In my case, Teru's constant conflict with herself hit a little bit too close to home.

I would recommend it to those who're looking for a more mature series while also wanting to watch shounen-esque scenarios.

Sousou no Frieren

Adventure, Drama, Fantasy // ☆☆☆☆½

The adventure's over. The Demon King has successfully been defeated and thus Frieren and her fellow adventurers make their way back home. Now a highly regarded mage, she goes back to her slow-paced life only to realize years later, while attending Himmel's funeral, how short human's life expectancy is when compared with her own near inmortality. Frieren then makes the decision to begin a new adventure in the search of new absurd spells and friends alongside whom she expects to understand what life means to them and just how impactful can be what she perceives as nothing more than an instant.

CW: death, grief, mild violence

Oh Lord, this one's painful. I've no idea how they managed to do it, but they got me attached to the hero's party so quickly and so deeply this crap had already scarred me on episode one.

This story's gorgeous, I don't think I have to explain myself on that. Besides the more than stunning art, animation and music that acompannies us during the entirety of Frieren's self-discovery adventure, the slow pace and quiet moments are quite the delight.

The characters we meet along the way are also fantastic, written with such love, thought and care behind you'll fall for them in no time.

I truly don't want to talk much about it since I think this is an experience that one must live for themselves, but trust me when I tell you this is something you'll never forget.

SPY×FAMILY Season 2

Action, Comedy, Slice of Life, Supernatural // ☆☆☆☆

The same as season one, only that now the family's heading on a cruise ship expedition!

I don't think there's much I can say about this one? The second season's been giving the same vibes I got from the first one, so a wholesome, found family-centered comedic slice of life about three persons who don't know each other at all and do their best so that situation never changes.

Anya keeps on being the chaotic menace she has been from day one, Yor is still one of the best mothers ever alongside a woman I would never dare look for a fight against, and Loid keeps on repeating his more than iconic mantra as he unsuspectingly falls asleep while dreaming about certain woman surrounded by a zillion flowers.

But, you know, anything for the mission.

When it comes to the upcoming arc, I'm excited for seeing Yor at work! Been dying to get anything like this, and I'm so glad my prayers have been heard.

Undead Unluck

Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Supernatural // ☆☆☆¾

All Fuuko wants is a passionate romance like the one in her favorite shoujo manga. Sadly, her Unluck ability deems this dream impossible. But that anguish will have to wait because Andy, someone with the Undead ability, takes her as his test subject to see if, thanks to her misfortune, he can finally rest in peace. It seems peace has never been an option, though, because certain secret organization has begun chasing after them.

CW: not-quite-concenting groping

If I took my sweet time to start watching this series was mainly because, for some hell of a reason, it gave me big Mashle vibes. Don't ask, I just thought the comedy would be similar. And since my humble opinion on Harry Potter 2.0 is that it has its humour stuck up its ass, you might understand I gave an olympic jump over Undead Unluck.

But then I decided to give it a chance and man, Mashle would never!

Not the funniest series I've watched, but I appreciate the multiple laughs it gave me.

Now, what I do not appreciate are the various groping scenes. If Fuuko were to consent all of those, then cool. Who am I to judge whatever two consenting adults (Fuuko's 20+, right?) do with their lives and bodies? The thing is, not every groping is consented by her, especially at the beggining. So yeah, beware of that.

Putting that aside, the characters are pretty cool and so much fun to see fighting or just interacting with each other. The ability system the series has is rather interesting, would love to learn more about it.

Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou

Comedy, Fantasy, Romance // ☆☆☆½

We've heard this story before: girl reincarnates into her favorite otome game and, since she knows her way down every route, she gets to win over her favorite bachelor. Only that, this time, it might not be as predictable. After all, who knows what's truly inside Rae Taylor's mind? Claire François for sure doesn't, especially now that she's going after her—the game's villainess!

CW: discussions of homophobia, classism, rae can be creepy at times

In the words of @arataka-reigen, “This anime is like if Maria from Hamefura was the one who got isekai'd and then fell in love with OG Katarina”. Couldn't say it better, pal.

While this series is not one of my favorites this season, the characters not going right down my alley and the pacing not being the best, I truly appreciate the cafeteria scene. I've never seen such a discussion over diverse sexualities adn homophobia in an anime before, and I can only clap to that.

And not only that, but it seems like it's going down a rather... interesting path. I mean, the whole classism that's present during the series, the "commoner" students' complains, the game's title being "Revolution"... I smell something nice.

Yuzuki-san Chi no Yon Kyoudai

Comedy, Drama, Slice of life // ☆☆☆¾

From the day the Yuzuki brothers lost both their parents, Hayato never stopped taking care of his little siblings, making sure all their needs are met and nothing's lacking. They share tears, laughter, and a specially unbreakeable bond.

I've no idea what might be the reason, but all these stories about family (whether related by blood or not being quite irrelevant) alongside the others where they include and/or center around pets are my weakness.

The four brothers feel like actual humans beings, their dramatic and joyful moments in life will definitely take you for a ride althought, admitely, it might not be the most intense one.

Hayato would do literally anything for his family and, honestly, same. Both Mikoto, Minato, and Gakuto are downright adorable and would love to pinch every single one of those cheeks like there's no tomorrow.

If a cutsie family-center slice of life it's what you're looking for, look no further. But if what you want is a drama in general, then I would recommend Frieren first.

If you reached the end, thank you so much for reading! I literally stayed up til 2 AM to finish writing this (and I didn't even include the titles I dropped), so yeah. Highly appreciate!

[color-cacophony]

I was going to make a Big Official Review Post about Rayman in the Phantom Show but I don't really have enough complete thoughts to make something comprehensive and organized, but I still want to share some points from my experience with it so uhhh without further ado, here's a bunch of thoughts on what dazzled me and what I thought could have been done better.

Here I go...

I'll start with the stuff that bugged me first because I don't like to end on a bad note:

I think the biggest issue is that giving the player the option to complete each set in any order diminishes the opportunity to have a linear story. Without a series of events building up to the finale, the actual climax doesn't feel as grand or substantial as it should be (it definitely feels like a few lines were cut from the moments before Phantom's first verse with how abruptly it starts). It would have felt more immersive to see actual scenes of the heroes trying to play their roles and have more varied quests based on puzzles or even characters and dialogue (like the search for Sweetlopek's stolen axe), all whilst gradually putting the pieces together that they were led into a trap.

Speaking of putting the pieces together, it would've paid off to have Beep-0 learn from his own arrogance in the past instead of repeating his assertion that he knew what Phantom was up to all along. That part made me kind of sad because I really like Beep-0 and it seemed like they were setting him up to eventually become less uptight and more open to admitting his mistakes, which would be more satisfying and obvious!

As we all know, Beep-0 isn't the only one who repeated himself. I remember an exchange I had with @randomrabbidramblings about our predictions for what would happen in the climax; they were hoping the final showdown with Phantom would not be redundant with his first encounter, having the same battle gimmick as before. Unfortunately that is, in fact, what they ended up doing. While framing it as Phantom being unoriginal or making a callback helps it a little bit, ultimately it made me feel let down (although I love Beep-0's delivery when he reiterates his line from Kingdom Battle. he means business).

As for the aftermath of the battle, I want to know where Phantom went. There doesn't seem to be any sign of him anywhere in the studio. It's really odd, given how this was supposed to be his grand comeback (alongside Rayman, of course), but we don't get even a simple explanation of what happened to him after he was defeated for the second time, unless I missed something. I presume this is his last major appearance in a game (unless they decide to do something completely different with him in the distant future??? wishful thinking but not ruling it out!), so it's a strangely underwhelming and mysterious send-off to our beloved ghostly diva. I would have been bummed that we didn't get lore paintings for him, but the memory entry summarizing his surprisingly short-lived career actually made me laugh and honestly, the thought of him only releasing one album and becoming so well-known just because he's notoriously a huge jerk and a producer of incredibly terrible films is so in-character for him.

Another choice I found unusual was the lack of any explanation as to how he got his voice back, since it's been established that he screwed it up by overdoing it. Although, they must have dismissed it knowing that not everyone is going to find the mural containing the only source of that detail. His voice could have healed over time anyway, but it just doesn't entirely make sense that they don't acknowledge it at all (I did see @bramble-scramble 's post mentioning a detail @randomrabbidramblings pointed out where a gramophone can be seen in a box in the studio's control room and it is supposedly the one Phantom replaced with a new one when he messed it up, but even if that's true, it's still a bit easy to miss).

I understand that a lot of these issues were due to restraints since it's only a DLC and they could only fit so much in, but that goes to show that this concept is a little too big for a DLC, but not quite big enough for a full game.

Now, for the things I loved...

I must give massive props to the artists and animators for taking reference from multiple Rayman games and essentially making the pinnacle of his goofiness. Rayman was HIGHLY entertaining to see (and listen to, thanks to David Gasman) and very lovable in this! And the way his dynamic with Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Mario changes up until the end where he becomes friends with them and realizes that he can work with the Rabbids now instead of against them it's just 🥺 awgh... It feels cheesy to talk about it but it really does make me happy now that Rayman has a chance to be an equal to the Rabbids and have something resembling a mutual understanding.

I appreciate them bringing back characters from the main game and giving them their own sets. Fittingly enough, it's like a curtain call for the final installment of SoH.

The return of Beep-0's swearing. SERIOUSLY IT'S SUCH A SMALL THING BUT IT DELIGHTED ME

The studio's lobby is gorgeous. Absolutely STUNNING I love all the details and the music notation motifs on everything.

Honestly the rest of this is just going to be me gushing about Phantom hehehe...

First of all, I was completely awestruck at the decision to give him a swing/jazz sequence because I love the aesthetic of the whole sassy big band musical number kind of thing so when I saw that Phantom was going to do that I went INSANE. The animation in the song sequences is absolutely top tier. Phantom is ALL OVER THE PLACE, very charming, very energetic. The swing bit made me realize just how unbelievably coordinated he is. Like when he's zipping and spinning around the stage and it doesn't affect his singing at all? Holy crap. Then, I went even MORE insane when rock/metal Phantom showed up. I would have wanted a verse in that style too, but I get that it was cut because it would mess up the pacing of the battle.

I love Phantom's inability to contain his excitement at the start of the battle, his annoyed lines when you destroy the lights, his smug remarks even when he's taking damage. He's just so- I'm just gonna say it- so freaking cute in this! His line deliveries in general made me fall so hard for him, especially "were you EVER a thing, Rayman?". The way he drops his voice sounds so cool...

Regarding his abilities, I thought they were going to explain why he could turn people to stone in Kingdom Battle, but they simply took that detail away. I don't have a big problem with this, as the Stone Deaf ability could have been part of the Megabug's influence (and it makes him at least a bit less OP lol). I'm also satisfied to finally know that he can indeed phase through things like any other ghost and isn't limited to just teleporting.

His death acting has definitely improved since last time, in that it's silly and makes me smile instead of just making me feel embarrassed lol.

So uummmm yeah that's all the noteworthy stuff I can think of! Overall I thought the DLC was delightful during my playthrough, but after I finished it I felt kind of sad because it just didn't feel "thorough". However, given that Sparks of Hope generally improved on so many aspects from the last game, I'm confident that they'll keep adding and experimenting with more characterizations and scenarios and make something even better if they decide to continue with Mario + Rabbids. And even if they don't, we'll always have the amazing fans to continue the story and put even more wonder into this wild crossed-over universe!

Anyway, thank you for reading through this highly disorganized rant/gush! And while I'm at it, thank you to everybody in the Mario + Rabbids community for making such amazing art and just being here to share our love for the series. That means thank you to @randomrabbidramblings @bramble-scramble @salamifuposey @hostess-of-horror @phandrow @pastelprince18 @critterzone13 @hostdoozy @majorpepperidge and more! You guys are super cool and I appreciate you even though I've never directly interacted with all of you, hehe. I suppose all I have left to say is goodnight, so goodnight/day everyone! Until next time I decide to dump more nonsense onto your dashboard :D

[namtanlovesfilm]

What you said abt p'jojo, I feel this.

For Chueam, I thought for sure she would be more developed but I understood quickly (but not so quickly) it wouldn't and i was sad. Yeah sure it's a BOYSLOVE, but I thought.

The thing is, I started the first 3 eps of the show and realized it wasn't what I thought it would be, and that is saying smthg bc I had zero expectations. So I did a thing that I already did for a little few other gmmtv shows, I stopped watching, let loose of my thoughts, and started over 2 weeks later and catching it up live again. And honestly it was better. But I wasn't like other ppl in the fandom lmao. I had no analysis, no theories, no nothing. It was just vibes😅 But then something happened and idk why, but I got bored of it ??? Idk maybe it's like you said and this series had lots of shocking value, but in other departments it was lacking.

 Like the lack of repercussions or like just you know, finishing somethings, having resolutions. And having it makes sense for the characters, bc how you feel with something tells you what kind of a person you are. But they seem to kind of always cut that ? I don't know the words exactly English isn't my first language sorry (I'm so mad I can't find the words it's killing me my god).

For me it was also too much for the stable pairings if it makes sense. Like the first and khao and book and force (Mark and neo in this series as a couple was a great choice bc I didnt that 'problem' with them). I don't follows the actors closely at all but sometimes I could sense something weird. Like it's for example an actor interacting with the other actor he's close with, and not another entity interacting with another with their own (fictional) feelings. Again I'm really sorry for my weird English I don't know how to say it 😅 hope it makes sense lol.

So all in all, kind of fun, I don't mind having characters that have a grey moral, in fact I like them the most, or having characters opposite of my morals, bc it makes me think, and keep things interesting (well usually).

I like the mess usually, and I did like some in this series, but maybe this show is not for me bc it was a mess yes be for me not the right reason in a way, I think. Also I love a series that is concentrated on friends but sometimes hum something was lacking idk.

There is one thing that happened who made me rrreeeaallly think. Bc a character isn't supposed to always be the light of reason, and can make mistakes, or just have a different opinion of mine the watcher. And I like that. But yeah at one point I wanted to wake-up-slap Chueam. Bc I dont understand what the show/the story/the show runners whatever  was trying to tell me. And that's what I talked abt earlier. Bc either it is something that is not well resolved until the end, or it is and that's just that. Honestly idk.

[ Boston find a new group of friends. Bc they're like yeah we're messy and fucked up and then act or pretend like they are morally white and the he is evil. But I do like though how Nick and Boston broke up. That he should find someone who is okay with his way of life and share the same sentiments abt monogamy.]

And lastly I like the actors but i I'm so tired of seeing them with the same couple pairing. I want them to grow up outside of their couple pairing bc you can sense a sense of safety net when they act together. I find they are GOOD actors, I just want them to fly more.

But then again, all of this is my opinion, it's very subjective (apart from the lack of development of chueam, of course).

Maybe I'll rewatch this series next year in a binge. I'll be waiting for your review, if you will do one.

Sorry this is long, I send you my regards 🐝

I agree with everything you've said above. I think that when p'jojo announced this show as the gay friend zone, I was hoping it would bring the one thing that friend zone does not have into its show: queer community. I was hoping that, despite the drama, this would feel like such a relatable show to anyone who has a queer group of friends... but it really wasn't. the only parts I truly LOVED are sand being openly bi, though sadly all of his relationships are with men, and the kiss scene between sand & nick when they just laugh bc they realize they're not compatible. THIS! this felt like the queer experience. if the show had leaned into this kind of scenes, I would've honestly overlooked everything else. but again, having watched friendzone where 1) its female characters are developed 2) its WLW characters are loved & developed 3) stud is the best "slutty messy gay" character and boston WISH he could be him 4) topmew are just a re-hash of samearth's boring ass relationship 5) arm's character in friend zone was everything boeing should've been... the purpose of only friends becomes only the audience being shocked bc two random actors kissed and/or fucked. and by the end? I got mond & first kissing yet I felt nothing. ME! the biggest not me stan & a fan of the gramyok ship... felt absolutely nothing about seeing them kiss. bc since everyone kissed there was nothing to be surprised about. I'm glad that despite the show's popularity, people are FINALLY opening their eyes & seeing that it was not a good show and never was from the very start.

note: I feel the need to say something bc a few people have been misinterpreting what I mean when referencing the queer community. I do think this show represents some of the queer community well, and perhaps I relied too much on people knowing my opinion of jojo tichakorn & his previous shows for it to get understood. what I'm saying in this ask is that the show didn't lean into the queer FRIENDSHIP enough like the nicksand kiss example that I stated above, not that the queer experience reflected on the show is bad or unrealistic.

xxx

[lastweeksshirttonight]

I've been recapping Strike Force Five both for my followers who can't access or don't really have time to listen to the episodes, and also for myself to get more comfortable with longform writing, something I was doing as well with reviews of S1 episodes of Last Week Tonight. (I promise I will keep doing those, I know they keep falling by the wayside.) Going into episode three of the show, I know I have to address Jimmy Fallon and his toxic workplace, the news of which dropped as I was listening to the third episode of SFF for the first time. Putting this below the cut, and I'm going to be mentioning toxic workplaces, alcoholism, and maybe getting more personal than I need to again, so trigger warning for those.

To start, every worker deserves a safe, non-toxic workplace. This is the LEAST a company can do for their employees as far as I'm concerned. The things a toxic workplace will do to your mental and physical health are things I don't wish on anyone, and things I'm still wrestling with after being two years removed from one of the worst environments I was ever in. The stories that Fallon's staffers tell ring extremely true, from weaponized HR to cruel, dehumanizing showrunners/CEOs, and crying rooms. I want the best for them and hope, despite the very bad "I'm sorry if you were offended" apologies given by NBC staff and Fallon, that there are concrete efforts taken to provide them with a much better, safer workplace. Those apologies don't give me much hope right now, unfortunately.

The other thing is that I really hope Fallon commits to some sort of treatment for his obvious alcoholism. It's been an open secret for decades at this point - the article dances around it but anyone with even a modicum of knowledge about the New York comedy scene knows this. Again, I don't wish alcoholism on anyone. It's a horrible, destructive disease. But I don't think that the culture rot at Late Night can be fully addressed unless Fallon makes an effort to get help.

I've struggled with excessive social drinking and alcoholism runs in my family. It's almost impossible to get out of that hole until you realize you need to make the change. I hope this is the push to get him out of that hole. This isn't me trying to avoid holding him accountable for his part in making his show so toxic, far from it. This is me, coming from a similar place where I had to work incredibly hard to rebuild my life because of the shitstain behavior I perpetuated while drunk, recognizing someone that needs to do the same work to make things right in some way.

I thought about making this part of the recap for Strike Force Five episode 3, but it didn't feel appropriate. I don't know if I will recap the third episode, honestly, and if I do, it won't likely be for a bit, or at least until I know what the future of this podcast is. Last week, episodes dropped on Wednesday and Saturday, and there's noticeably no fourth episode as of today (Sunday). The part of this that sucks is that listening to the show DOES help the staff of all these late-night shows monetarily, including Fallon's, and I want to continue to support them. (Because it will come up, I do financially donate to multiple strike funds as well. You should do the same, if you're in a position to.) It's, understandably, a mess.

In the end, I just really want things to improve for Fallon's staff. It'll take a lot of work, but it's not impossible to turn things around.

[brokebegginerartist]

I have a whole ass storyline featuring these two, spawned from that very okayish movie.

Also a spoiler review:

The sequel was pretty okay. I had a good time watching it. Obv it's very technically impressive and the way that the water ways is very good™️. The designs in general were very neat. Super pleasing from a guy who likes designs. I prefer looking at the human vehicles over the creatures but yknow, sucker for lower sci-fi stuff.

From what I remember of the first movie (which is almost next to none), I think I enjoyed the characters here a lot more. Super Memorable Main Character Jake Sully wasn't at all too interesting here. All he's really got is:

a) guerrilla leader, which the movie skips out a whole lot of potential in the prologue like seriously there was so much they could've done with that but they just didn't

And b) kinda strict father figure. Like I mean, it's something, for sure. But he never really does anything that a father figure wouldn't reasonably do. There was this bit in the beginning were his sons, uh. Noatok and Middle Child, mess up really bad and got a number of folks killed, but Jakesully kinda ignores that and berates Middle Child that he nearly got his brother killed. And his punishment for nearly screwing up a military mission? He's grounded. Around two thirds of what made this dynamic interesting was abandoned when the family bounced. Honestly though I can understand why his character takes a bit of a backseat as the film now has to devote screentime to his kids, which is more of an excuse than the previous film had.

Neytiri has largely the same issues too. I didn't really think of her as anything more than Scary Mom and Spicy Wife, but I don't rlly know what else they could've done with her.

That being said, I liked the kids a whole lot more even if the only ones who had an arc were Middle Child, Kiri, and Spider. Which is. More than ¾s. Anyways they were just kind of fun to be around even if I was getting a little tired of the discrimination aspect, though I understand why that exists. I'm especially happy with what they did with Kiri. Having that dynamic with Grace and Eywa was an amazing concept and I'm very interested to see what they do with it in the next one. I'm personally hoping we see Grace back in her Avatar.

Quaritch, compared to the last movie from what I remember, was way more interesting here than in the last movie (which is more than I can say for his squad. They weren't even particularly harder to kill than any of the human mercs. While the blue was flashy and cool, I'm disappointed with the lost potential here, even if it was only for better action scenes). It's good to see him with an attitude that isn't Military Man. He's also the main reason Spider exists, in and out of universe. At the beginning of the movie I was like "why does this kid exist besides the self inserts for young men" but during his scenes with Quaritch, I'm glad he does. I'm really into the esthetic of the military gear on the wyverns. Mega, Mega cool. Which is another thing.

I'm kind of disappointed with the treatment of the humans here. Very nearly none of them have any sympathetic qualities whatsoever. Even the ex-humans on the Naavi side were basically entirely useless. They only existed to paint a target on the Seal Naavi, telling Jakesully that, yknow, Kiri having seizures underwater could be bad (also it's very convenient that Naavi don't have the instinct to inhale when they suffocate like humans do. Very odd tbh) and to also claim that Kiris visions were caused by brain problems, which, while possible, they have actual, measurable proof that Eywa and her effects on the environment exist (I mean for fecks sake one of thems an Avatar too. Literally just stick him into a tree or some crap. I'm pretty sure they have recordings of Grace confirming this, no?). I sincerely hope this is improved in the next one, like Jesus this is a thing that took me out of the film for a bit

There's also this feeling that this whole conflict is really black and white, as in all the humans are bad guys and all the blue peeps are good guys. I'm no supremacist, and I understand that they're gonna do something with the concept with the introduction of the fire nation, but at least give us at least something to suggest that this conflict isn't that simple, like something more tangible than bullies for the blue side and, y’know, any sign at all that the humans are worried about the future of their people on the sky side.

Something besides all that, that I wish they did, was lean into the mixed esthetic like they did with Quaritch's wyverns. Something I think would've been cool for Jakesully's character. How, although he loves his wife and family and wants to separate himself from the worst parts of his heritage, he still mourns the things he lost. Even Especially if it was only the little things, like beer with friends or the general esthetics of Night City. Another thing that could've made the vibes more mixed. Like the weird coms gear that the Avatars use. I'd like some signs that both humans and Naavi have something to learn from each other, like some technical skills and even just an interest in cultural studies (if Eywa wasn't a force that solves damn well near all their problems and if they had a more open mind on anything that wasn't Eywa, although I could understand why they wouldn't considering the circumstances), and maybe, besides the incredible biology studies, a little bit of culture exchange on the humans side (if they weren't both desperate and assholes and led by a megacorp)

And besides that, some nitpicks

JakeSully's decision to leave when Avatars are targeting his family. Dumb, dumb on multiple levels. 1, You're like the only competent guerrilla leader of these people and you're leaving them high and dry. 2, You're leaving the hallelujah mountains, your most strongly defensible position, as on top of the general hostility of the entire planet, it has electro magnetic shenanigans that make the human instruments malfunction. And 3, if you decide to settle with anyone else, you'll be putting their community into danger by association because you cannot tell me you thought they were just gonna leave you alone if you disappeared from radar for a bit.

Everyone besides the kids lack of concern for Spider. JakeSully takes his family and bounces when he hears he's been captured (altho tbh what was he gonna do besides not leave, massive dumbdumb), and Neytiri takes him for hostage. She was emotional and they had Kiri, but still like wtf both of you. Butthole moves, you guys that was fucked

Why are the whales sapient? They don't seem to have admin privileges like the Naavi (or hands with which to create). What tf is the plan here Eywa

The mosasaur looking thing abandons the chase of a large fish out in open water, in favour of a much skinnier and more inconvenient Middle Child

The sea mercs plans rely nearly entirely on the whales refusal to retaliate in any meaningful way. I don't remember how much damage Middle Childs buddy did in his flashback, but his bros had all been killed. What was the difference between then and now? Where are all the high explosives that you dudes obviously need on standby?

The Sea Naavi dissappear in the middle of the climactic battle

Despite all that tho movie was pretty and I had fun, hoping the next one is better :)

[ficandkaboodle]

May I Offer You Some Funny or Interesting Channels/Podcasts in This…Time?

Dear God, I hope I don’t flub this. It feels like every time I make one of these, one person on it messes up. But so far, they’ve been going strong so let’s try!

My Dad Wrote a Porno (podcast): You read that right: His dad wrote a porno (well, literotica), the "he" here being Jamie Morton. More unfortunately, it's really bad literotica. Come join Jamie as he drags his friends Alice and James along on the whirlwinding sexcapades of Belinda Blumenthal as she takes the cut-throat world of pots and pans sales by storm -- and by suck!

What Went Wrong (podcast): Honestly, it's a miracle any movie gets made. Seriously, you'd be surprised just how much can go wrong. From slashed budgets to nightmare actors to actors developing UTIs before filming, Chris and Lizzie are here to clue you in on just how insane the productions behind your favorite movies can get.

Cult Podcast (podcast): Disclaimer: This is hosted by two comedians, so their humor may not be for everyone. That, and sometimes the subjects they cover are downers. Shocking but you'd be surprised by just how many actually aren't as depressing as you'd think. At any rate! Hosts Paige and Armando are here to give you the bizarre and sometimes downright mortifying histories of cults -- both the religious/spiritual kind, and of personality.

TruGreen7's "4 Artists Fakemon" Series (Youtube): Exactly as it says on the tin! Fakemon artist TruGreen7 invites 4 different artists to come collab on his channel. Every video has a unique prompt each collaborator is expected to regard when designing their Fakemon and as a result of the different styles and interpretations coming together, you wind up with some awesome and totally sick designs! (Check out his other vids, too, also.)

Classics Explained (Youtube): Oh no, my very blatant love of learning is showing!! Classical songs, movements, etc are broken down against a backdrop of comedic animation. We learn about the composer, the history behind the work being focused on, and the symbolism used in the instrumentation and what story they are trying to convey. It's a neat way to simplify something so complex, and can make classical music less intimidating. Think No Fear Shakespeare, but for music.

Kennie JD (Youtube): Beautiful, intelligent, and funny as hell. Join Kendall as her home skillet biscuit for just about any video of hers, but especially for Bad Movies and a Beat, the series where she reviews bad movies while putting her makeup on. However, she also reviews shows like The Ultimatum and Love is Blind, so if you want the rundown on those shows but never really wanted to actually watch them, there ya go.

Dollightful (Youtube): Need to look at something bright, colorful, and cute? Check out Dollightful! She makes cute custom dolls whose themes range anywhere from drinks to Halloween to Christmas to just plain cute!

Razzle (Youtube): Three (sometimes four or five) guys get sauced while watching and reacting to movies like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, live-action TMNT, and the bad Pinocchio movie (no, not the Disney one). I laugh way too hard at these guys, I can't watch them in public anymore because people might think I'm insane.

Mugiwara no Goofy (Youtube): So...I am technically trying to get through One Piece. But. I have cheated a bit on spoilers. And it's frankly thanks to this guy. He does other stuff but what he's best known for is taking an arc or a turning-point episode of One Piece and breaking down how actually fucking insane this shit is by putting it through the point of view of somebody who isn't a Strawhat or Strawhat-affiliated. Usually either the person who Luffy is about to beat the living shit out of, or some bystander who has a name but not the understanding of what kind of show they're in.

Squirrel Tactics (Youtube): Love King of the Hill? Well so does this Texan squirrel! So much so, in fact, that he learned how to speak, master technology and reading, and now makes Youtube videos breaking down characters and episodes from that beloved classic.

SuperRaeDizzle (Youtube): This Youtuber takes one for the team and purchases all sorts of art products -- many of which I've never heard of or could never dream of affording -- and reviews them! Sometimes we're talking something as simple as a discontinued Crayola, other times we're talking about a paint they can no longer make because it's toxic. And then, at the end of the video, she makes a piece of art using all the products reviewed!

Something Wicked (Youtube): Another thing I love to watch is model-building channels. And no, I don't necessarily mean, like, Gundam (though those are also cool). I mean, people making clay figures and models using only their skills and handy products. Something Wicked only just started a year ago and Barry only has about five videos so far but if you check them out, you'll see why: Each figure is made with such incredible detail, it's astounding. Plus, every creature is based off of an illustration provided by an old manuscript or text! So this means we currently have an alchemical creature; a kappa (with three buttholes!); and a devil with an ass on his face!

Studson Studio (Youtube): A more model-building channel, only Studson uses trash and trinkets to create replicas of La Casita, Howl's castle (all forms), and much, much more. Like a train with Shrek's face on it. Come for the building, stay for his deadpan delivery. Maybe if tyou stick around long enough, you'll catch a glimpse of the legendary Centipede Horse . . .

North of the Border (Youtube): Another figure-builder, Adam likes to make tiny, nerdy things. Unfortunately, these tiny, nerdy things also happen to be quite cursed. Not all of the time but enough of the time. It's a hoot.

I think this could do for now . . . Tell me about your recommendations!

[wutheringmights]

2023 Reading Wrap Up

I tried starting this post about 20 times already, and no introduction is really hitting. I am quite a bit hungover, and in dire need of a rest. But alas, I want to talk about all the books I read last year.

So I had the goal of reading as much as I physically could last year. Why? After finishing my degree, I was having trouble reading for the sake of reading. I wanted to be someone who read a lot, but my self-motivated reading habit was in the dumps. My sibling and I ended up making a bet to see who could read more in 2023, and I was determined to win.

I did win, but that's besides the point. My importantly, I am now back in the habit of reading again.

I really enjoyed starting my reading tag and making little write-ups summarizing my thoughts. I really appreciate everyone being so patient with my book-posting, especially as I gradually went from writing a sentence or two to rambling bullet point lists to well-thought out reviews. If you ever interacted with one of those posts-- thank you so much! I hope to continue in this upcoming year.

So to wrap up my year of reading, I figured I would rank all of the books I read. If I read an entire series, I'll count it as one entry on the list. Also, the ranking is going to be determined less by quality and more by personal enjoyment.

All that being said, let's go~

Ranking My 2023 Reads

#17) Breaking Time by Sasha Alsberg - This was my first read of the year, and my worst. This book is near unreadable in terms of prose, and features one of the most infuriating lines I have ever read in my entire life:

Add the most unoriginal plot I have ever seen, and this makes for one bad read. I knew it was going to be bad going on, but the levels of incompetency on display here was mind-boggling.

#16) Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan - Is this the worst book I read this year? No. But it definitely pissed me off more than the others. I didn't need this book to be good; I just wanted it to be fun, but it couldn't commit to a plot line long enough to do so. I will give this book credit for having one of the unintentionally funniest villains I have ever read. That man failed upwards and it was GREAT. No notes.

#15) Ariadne by Jennifer Saint - I don't think this book is terrible, but its flaws are the most glaring to me. Structurally, it's a mess. The prose tries to use imagery to cover up how much telling it's truly doing. Both hampered an overall decent plot.

#14) Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston - This book wasn't really for me. It was an entertaining read, but the references to pop-culture were more cringey than humorous. I also could not stand how the book was ashamed to be escapist literature and tried to uplift itself with shallow critiques of American politics.

#13) Lightlark by Alex Aster - That I am putting this book so high on the list is a crime and an insult against every book ranked below it. If I was ranking off of quality alone, it would be the second worst book I read this year. Unfortunately, I started an inside joke with my friends about how I'm Lightlark's #1 Fan, which ended up increasingly my enjoyment of this very stupid book exponentially. #TeamOro

#12) Garrison Girl by Rachel Aarons - This book really isn't anything special, but its place in publishing and anime history tickles my brain. It's not bad but it's not all that good either.

#11) The End of Everything: (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack - Someone with a more thorough baseline on science would probably find this book more enjoyable than me. As is, I didn't understand half of it.

#10) The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid - A fast, enjoyable read. I think it reveals its hand a bit too quickly, but the plot overall is really fascinating. Lacking on prose, but it didn't need a lot of it. This is a book begging to be made into a movie (which will probably be better than the book itself).

#9) A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes - What this book lacks in originality and plot, it makes up for with comprehensiveness. As much as I enjoyed reading all of its varied perspectives, I am still peeved by how Penelope's perspective was wasted and how Haynes had no interest in writing from Helen's perspective.

#8) The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin - A prime example of a book series that is objectively excellent, but was simply not for me. My interests didn't align with what the narrative thought was important. However, the characters are fantastic and what there is of the central conflict between mother and daughter is earth shattering.

#7) The Poppy War Trilogy by R.F. Kuang - An incredible fantasy series with some excellent characters and ideas. While I do think that the series is a little simplistic, it makes up for it by being endlessly entertaining. Except for the last book, which leaned too heavily into its grimdark flares.

#6) Beowulf by Unknown (Translated by Seamus Heaney) - A reread featuring a fantastic introduction from Heaney that connects the text to his Irish roots. The translation itself, while good, prioritized brevity a bit too much for my taste.

#5) Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - A long overdue reread that reaffirmed why I found this book life changing when I first read it in junior high. Lyrical, brutal, and surprisingly funny, this book paints an honest picture of depression and trauma in adolescence.

#4) In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado - A lyrical, dreamy exploration of an abusive relationship. I love how this memoir pushes the limits of its own medium as it also tries to establish a canon for abusive queer relationships. Machado's imagery is insane, and I devour it every time.

#3) The Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger - My last and most surprising read of the year. I did not expect to love this novel as much as I do. I will never forgive the world for insisting that Holden Caulfield is an archetypal male manipulator when he's a traumatized kid (albeit a bratty one) who desperately wants to be feel happy.

#2) Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings by Neil Price - An incredible, comprehensive look on the history, culture, and legacy of the vikings. Price parses through popular fiction to bring humanity back to a historical group of people every subculture wants to claim as their own, for better and for worse. This book broke a damn in my head that was preventing me from doing world building for a piece of original fiction I want to write.

#1) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas - I have been haunted by this book since I was a little kid, promising myself that I would one day gather the courage to read this behemoth of a story. As long as it is, every word was worth it. It was both parts entertaining and stimulating, and I ended by the book knowing why so many people call this the best book ever written.

--

And that was my year! Please feel free to share what you read this year. Let me know if there's anything I should try to read in 2024. You can also fight me about any of my opinions lol

[anulithots]

"This was late, but hey, at least there isn't a blood warning... because Teddy bear."

Writeblr Battle Royal. Tangyuan versus Teddo.

So on this battle of @writeblrbattleroyale event hosted by @your-absent-father, we have a Teddy bear and a Cat-like being paired together. This is fine.

It's so insanely funny to me that I entered in two protagonists of mine that were very incompetent compared to my other side characters. I expected them both to die horribly. Teddo did get that fate and it was hilarious.

Also also, anyone who know how to science better than me can correct any of this. It's been a while since I reviewed my quantum physics book and I am currently under the sickness, therefore headache, therefore speedrun, therefore so many broken grammar and science rules.

Thank you so much to @flock-from-the-void for keeping this battle alive and giving the funniest responses to Teddo's nonsense. I really enjoyed this and hope Tangyuan gets the teddy bear he deserves.

TW for death.

---------

Teddo thrived with data. Probabilities. Statistics. Conditional statements and expected values. Teddo would even try quantum mechanics if needed, but very rarely. That whole mess of science rubbed Teddo’s fluff the wrong way. There were already too many other stuffies that used blanket lies to explain the unknown. (“The host deserves it” “It’s just nightmares, what’s so weird about it” “You should be worrying more about your playability, you haven’t been chosen by the host for months”) 

Well, Teddo couldn’t understand these lies. They couldn’t play by the other’s rules. THEY MADE NO SENSE. That alone gave them the reasoning that, “If they made a bunch of nonsense that I refuse to follow, then I’ll just find the truth, the actual truth, no shortcuts or dumbing it down.” Teddo would make the unknown known. Find the answers in this mess. 

And the answer? 

For this? 

The only thing - the only possible explanation - for the whole “in the middle of fighting a 97th percentile nightmare” to “bright, bright, bright, when did the sun get so bright?” phenomena… it had to be quantum mechanics. 

Teddo hated quantum mechanics. 

A bunch of unknowns and ‘could never be knowns’ and ‘ha ha good luck you’ll never figure this out because everything contradicts itself’ 

But, as Teddo looked at their surroundings, they could come to no other hypothesis. This was either a quantum leap or a prolonged decoherence according to the many-worlds-interpretation. But… it’s been a while since Teddo’s looked at their notes, what theories… 

Teddo shook their paws. Nope. The scientific method is “do research” first, then “make a hypothesis.” Sure, this was only weird enough to be described by an equally weird branch of science, but Teddo would not go there if they didn’t have to. 

So first, research and take… notes…. 

Where was Teddo’s research tools? 

Teddo swiveled their head around, they had their… oh no was this the “chance of two 13th percentile nightmares” cardboard sword? The only nightmares these were effective against were accidentally calling the teacher “mom” and dying of embarrassment. 

Other than the sword, Teddo had nothing. 

Nothing. 

Teddo was lost in a web of unknowns. A sea of things they couldn’t figure out. Lies. Lies. Lies. Without their records - the files and files of research Teddo had to figure this out, and they were so so close - Teddo might as well be suffocated by the lies and left behind. 

Teddo pressed their paws to their eyes, shielding themself from the blinding light. 

Calm down. There must be… some solution. Think clearly. 

Teddo took a breath. Okay. They had to find some handhold, some… 

Someone else. 

There was someone else in this place. 

—---

Tuan Tangyuan was standing here, in the middle of a white arena, a bit bored. He couldn't focus on a voice - he was occupied with tangling his ginger hair instead and mumbling about the entertainment industry. He wished that anyone would warn him about teleportation the next time around. In the end, reality shows didn't have to be that realistic.

—--

Teddo hoped their breath wasn’t shaky. 

Teddo berated themself for caring what the others thought. They never thought well. But here was the hypothesis - put upon nothing at all - that this creature would believe in them, not like the stuffies back home. This one wouldn’t tell Teddo to stop searching for the truth and instead tell them to participate better in their lies. 

Teddo flicked their ears. “Salutations other - hopefully living - being, do you possess any parchments? Writing utensils? They are of the utmost importance.”

-----

A new voice caught the attention of his fluffy cat ears. The demon listened to the question of a teddy bear, his weaving tail uncovering his curiosity. He went quickly through his pockets, not only looking for something for writing but also making sure that all of his belongings were still there. They were.

Finally, he offered the teddy bear a pencil and a violet crayon. “ Maybe you could write on the floor with the crayon?” he suggested.

—---

Crayon. 

Well, it wouldn’t be as precise as Teddo’s meticulously sharpened pencils, (What they would do for their notes, pencils, some sense of familiarity.), but it would work. 

And that was better than nothing. It was so much better than nothing. 

Teddo snatched the crayon, and wrote down all the knowns, the postulates. A few conditional statements and the logic chain would hopefully result in some useful conclusions, then they could continue with the scientific method, find the absolute truths of this place, and then maybe Teddo’s metaphysical, non-existent heart would stop beating so loud.

Teddo wrote it down in a list, using arrows to different charts with further data and information. The crayon smudged a bit, but Teddo didn’t care. They wrote in a frenzy, the idea of data they could work off of intoxicating. 

They must be in an arena, with the not-people in the stands (1978, give or take five.), and the other crayon giving creature… cat-like, although a definite conclusion on the species would have to wait. (Some thought in the back of Teddo’s head made a joke about Schrödinger's cat.) The host has had enough dreams about owning a cat - and enough nightmares about accidentally killing it - to give Teddo enough information to write out enough stats about their opponent… although they may need information from the cat-like being themself. 

Teddo paused their frantic writing to look at their opponent. “I will need an accurate recollection of all your strengths and weaknesses.”

----

Tuan Tangyuan smirked, showing his sharp teeth. Oh, this timing couldn't go to waste. “Strengths...?”

He grabbed the opponent by the back of their head. He smashed it on the floor. Violet notes got blurry.

—--

A high pitched scream filled the arena. Teddo could scream that loud? The decibel level was astounding. 

Teddo’s stuffing tangled into clumps, metaphysical heart threatening to burst. 

99th percentile. 99th percentile. AND all Teddo had was a freaking 12th percentile sword. Teddo bet the cat-like creature never accidentally called their teacher “mom”. 

Oh, Teddo was trying to buy time from the tangled, half-formed thoughts that screamed one result. One undeniable result. 

They weren’t going to win. 

And, for some reason, that caused all reason to leave Teddo’s head. Like some unicorn stuffie, some pathetic unicorn stuffie, they threw the crayon at the cat’s face. (That wouldn’t do anything, the momentum was miniscule.) 

Well, Teddo had only one weapon. 

They bonked the cat on the head repeatedly. It wouldn’t do any damage, except for the 12.6% chance for a cardboard cu-

The sword nicked the cat’s face, a small red line that held Teddo’s only hope to survive today. And, great Eulicid, it was infinitesimally small. 

—----

Tuan Tangyuan wrinkled his nose and showed his teeth once again, this time not in a smile. His claws went out. With one hand he catched the sword - the other slapped the opponent. Tiny bits of stuffing got stuck in his nails.

—-

Stuffing pooled out from the cuts. It should hurt. It should’ve hurt. Fabric torn. Insides floating to the dust below. 

Teddo wouldn’t just loose. Teddo would cease to exist. 

This wasn’t a nightmare. This was a real, physical fight. Teddo truly was lost. Lost in a world they could never hope to understand. Their only, futile, pathetic hope was their data. 

And if that was all Teddo had, then their chance of death really was 100%. 

It was at this moment that all sense of reason spilled out of Teddo, mixed with the lost stuffing. 

Teddo yanked the sword from the cat’s grip. It tore to a jagged lump, barely 2nd percentile worthy. They proceeded to take this useless piece of cardboard and stab the cat’s foot. 

Teddo couldn’t cry, but they wanted to. “DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE.” 

They only delayed some inevitable result. 

—-----

For a good moment, he was so confused he couldn't move. He was staring and stuffing coming out of the bear. He was expecting blood - but this seemed like more fun! He had to obliterate them. Yet, every time he tried to catch them, they somehow managed to escape. He had to jump and tear, and kick, and generally have the time of his life to finally get them in his hands. Giving it no thought at all, he bit the bear and then laughed with his mouth full of material. This! Was! So! Exciting! Every stitch had to be cut, and every bit of the bear's body had to be covered in holes.

Half an hour later, Tuan Tangyuan was lying on the ground smiling, finally somewhat satisfied. The area was covered in the stuffing. He got up, collected everything he had lost during the ecstasy and bowed. After getting back home, he had to buy one of those teddy bears for himself.