#I'm totally normal about the three guns show

[rea-grimm]

Weapon Zoro

You've been alongside the strawhats for a short time so far. Even so, you clicked with everyone and could say with a light heart that they were a new family to you. 

You were one of the few masters on board. There were more weapons than masters on the ship. 

You hadn't found your true weapon yet and weren't looking. You chased your own goal, convinced that if you were ever really going to find it, you would do so without looking. 

The weapon you used was the katana you've had since childhood. It was also the weapon you had tattooed on your wrist. So you wanted to learn to use it as best you could so that you would be impressed with your weapon when you came across it. 

You knew Zoro was a weapon and even a katana and he didn't even have a master. He wanted to become the strongest sword even without a master.

Quite often you trained together or fought against each other. But you never used him as a weapon. 

You were in the middle of a fight against other powerful pirates. You kept your distance the whole time and had no problems. 

It all came together quickly when another ship showed up and you were trapped. You'd still be able to handle them if your sword hadn't broken. 

You had nothing to defend yourself with and were far from the others. You already thought that was the end of you. You tried to defend yourself as best you could, but you were outnumbered.

It looked like it was going to be the end of you when you saw a green blur and then someone threw a sword at you. Just as you grabbed it, you felt like you'd caught your second wind. 

You were full of strength you didn't even know you had. During the fight, the Katana split into two more, leaving you with a total of three swords in your hands. You had to put the third one in your mouth like Zoro used to. 

Thanks to that, you managed to pull off a combination that turned the fight in your favour and soon enough, it was over. 

After the fight, you were helping Chopper with tending to the others when Zoro came over. 

"Hey Y/N, you got a minute?" He asked you. You looked at the doctor, who nodded at you, saying he didn't need your help anymore. 

"What's going on?" you asked. Zoro just nodded his head to the side for you to follow him. 

Together you walked over away from the others where you had more privacy. You sat down on the ground and for a moment there was silence between you. 

"May I..." began Zoro, thinking of a question to ask you. Normally he wouldn't have a problem, but now he was intently thinking about something. "Can I see your gun tattoo?" He finally asked. 

"You felt it during the fight too, didn't you?" He asked as you unbuckled your wrist guard. 

Revealing your wrist, you looked down at your tattoo, which had changed drastically since the fight. Like Zoro said, you could definitely feel it, but you weren't completely sure since you had no idea if he felt it too. 

You recognized him as a sword when you caught it, but truthfully you might have figured it would be your weapon. You were on good terms before, and this proved why. 

You showed him your wrist, on which you had a katana with two crossed shadows. His unique ability to split into three katanas.  The main one also had three gold earrings hanging from the hilt, strikingly similar to the ones he wore on his left ear. 

"So it's true," he replied seriously, and for a moment you didn't know if that was a good thing or not. "I couldn't have pulled off such an attack on my own," he hummed, a satisfied smile appearing on his lips. 

"Do you know what that means?" He asked you, running his thumb over the mark. 

"That I'm your master and you're my weapon?" You replied since you weren't sure exactly what he was referring to. 

"Exactly," a satisfied and proud smile spread across his face. "And together we will become the best swordsman in the world as a master and his weapon. Will you help me with that?" He asked, still holding your hand. 

"You can count on me," you nodded, smiling in agreement. You were glad that you had finally managed to find your weapon.

" That's the way I like it," Zoro replied just as enthusiastically before pulling you close to him. 

It made him happy that you were his master. He had never sought out a master because he originally thought it would be Kushina. After her death, he didn't look for anyone else, as he didn't want his master to keep him from his goal. 

But it was different with you. He knew you were strong and that together you would reach the top.

Zoro Masterlist

[nyarumie]

Brains to Brawn. (Chapter 3)

narumi gen x f!reader — 2.2k words, co-workers to lovers, slowburn, multiple parts, semi canon compliant, they're both in denial (later on).

STATUS: Ongoing. Chapter links: 1, 2, 3

Author's Note: Please send some feedback about the pacing and characterization! I unintentionally turned this into a slowburn series 😭

Cross-posted on ao3. — Likes, Reblogs, and Comments are also appreciated; Happy reading ♡ Ask box is open!

Feeling oddly good about yourself today, joyful hums are heard coming from you while brewing your favorite daily dose of iced coffee. You made your way to your work table, co-workers staring inquisitively at you—was it weird to have little skips on your steps as you prepare to work for the day?

To say that you were happy is an understatement. You were practically glowing.

"Ahem." one of your friends tried catching your attention.

"Hmm?"

"Did something happen after the test yesterday? You're awfully… flowery today." Your small friend group was surrounding you, waiting to hear you spill some juicy details.

"Oh!" you started. As if to show you were proud, you crossed your arms and held your head high. "I'm going to be a millionaire!" you declared.

A chorus of 'Huh?' was heard, your declaration earning the attention of a few of your co-workers.

"Scratch that, I'm going to be a billionaire!" you said, determination exuding off you.

Just as they were about to ask if you're in your right mind, a stack of papers hit your head.

You turned towards your 'attacker', glaring playfully at him. "Wha— That hurts! Was that necessary, Kurusu?!"

He sighed, "Go back to your stations. And you—What were you thinking?" he sounded exasperated.

You tilted your head, confused.

He sat beside you and whispered, "What happened to rejecting the proposal?"

"Oh. Didn't you want me to accept it? I have my own good reason for it too, you know?" He raised his eyebrow at you, curious to hear your reason.

"... Salary Adjustments?"

And he smacked you with the papers once more.

"Hitting me again?! You said the same thing last night! How many people in the defense force are offered such an amount? It's too good to miss out on that!" you argued.

Waving his hand in dismissal, he handed you important documents for you to fill out. "I told you to think it over for three days, not overnight. Just answer these forms within the day and return it to me."

One of these forms is the application for new recruits. Staring blankly at it, you totally forgot it'll be held only 2 days from now… and you have no idea how to prepare for it! It's not like you've held a gun before, nor fought any Kaiju? Hell, you even bawl your eyes out at the sight of a roach and it flies off before you can even hit it! Oh, you're definitely gonna die now.

Kurusu snorted beside you, snapping you out from your thoughts. "It's too late to regret your decision now. I should've clarified it's more than just the salary adjustments I told you about." Is he a mind reader?

"It's not too late if I don't sign these forms, right…?" you asked, a mix of nervousness and hope evident in your tone.

"Good plan. But you shouldn't have addressed Captain Shinomiya in your email. He'll be expecting you."

You groaned, your head thumping down on your table.

"I'm gonna die… Don't wanna die… I'm gonna die… Don't wanna…"

You earned highly concerned looks from your co-workers, hearing you mumble repeatedly and mood significantly plummeting.

Feeling bad, Kurusu offered you a two-day paid leave for your preparation, but you're sure he's just pulling some strings to make it happen.

"No thanks. I'll work as normally as I can. I hope." You opened your work-issued laptop, timidly starting one of your few remaining normal work days.

Morning session passed by like a breeze. You were too cooped up in your work, one of your friends had to drag you all the way to the Cafeteria to get some lunch. Instead of lining up for a perfectly balanced meal, you went to grab an instant cup noodle in their snack station and filled it with hot water. Your realization from this morning took away your appetite, so it seems. You weren't in the mood to mingle with them either.

Bidding farewell to your friends, you made your way to the long-range training room observatory, deciding to watch fledgling recruits; you might pick up a few pieces of advice from the senior officers training them too. Not that you'd ask them directly, though. You're basically just eavesdropping, albeit obviously.

Upon entering the room, you nod in acknowledgement at your co-workers stationed there. One of them pointed at your cup noodles, then made an 'X' with their arms. You simply returned a mindless shrug, knowing you can chug this thing down within 5 minutes.

You made yourself comfortable on a seat, enjoying the view and your 'meal'. Seems like the shooting training has yet to start, you're just right in time then. From below, Platoon Leader Hasegawa can be seen going through final checks and reminders as the recruits gather behind him, bearing their standard long-range weapon.

"Listen up! You all have been on this line of job for a year now. We'll be going back to the basics from your very first training—one of them is reaction time. According to the memo, punishment is due to those who fail to at least show two times the better result than the record they had from a year ago. Are we all clear?"

A chorused 'Yes, sir!' resounded from the recruits, them obviously thinking it would be a piece of cake. What Hasegawa didn't mention, however, is that the shooting targets pop out much faster and they're moving in random directions at the same time. And the number of targets is significantly multiplied.

The first few officers who volunteered were found sulking at the very back of the pack. Not only did they fail to beat their amateur records, they weren't even able to find the locations of the other targets! As a result of this, the remaining officers were visibly anxious and discouraged, subtly pushing each other to go first.

"What are they? High Schoolers?" you mumbled. Though, you find yourself pitying them. A year of service in the Defense Force and the level of training is upped by this much—it does seem cruel. But that's the harsh reality. If they can't deal with these wooden shooting targets, what more if it's a real Kaiju jumping out to attack them at the same time from different directions?

You slurp down the rest of your meal, giving your now undivided attention to the training. You noted that the wooden targets have a specific echoing sound upon popping up due to the strain held by the metal holding them, and their volume determines which area they're located in. This observation allowed you to guess their number, treating it like some kind of minigame.

"Commencing in 3…"

You close your eyes as you hear the countdown, trying to focus your senses on your hearing. If you recognize the distinct sound and volume resounding from the dummies, you might be able to tell just how many of them there are.

"2…"

Suddenly, you feel stupid for doing this. You haven't even learned anything from watching them. How could you know better than they do? They're the ones on the field.

"1… begin."

'Ah… three dummies for Ground A this time?' you thought.

"25 seconds—Ground A clear!"

"4 on B and 3 on C," you mumbled. The echoes from Ground B and C aren't as loud as A's, so you expected Ground D's sound to be even softer.

"4 minutes and 12 seconds—Ground B and C clear! Officer now heading towards Ground D."

"5 on D… No, it's 6. Sixteen targets overall?"

"18 seconds on Ground D—all clear! Total record: 4 minutes and 55 seconds, 2 minutes slower than the previous record."

Before you can even hear your co-worker announce the total targets cleared, you abruptly open your eyes at the sound of someone talking to you, catching you by surprise. A pair of pink-reddish hues meet your own eyes.

"Bravo. How'd you guess that?"

Leaning right at your face is Platoon Leader Narumi. He's too close to your face, too close for your comfort! Is he shameless?! How long has he been observing you and your stupidly mindless action?

You put some distance from him, subtly pushing your chair backwards.

"Just some quick observations, I guess…?" you answered briefly, unsure whether he'd like to hear you ramble.

"Tell me more."

How do you even start this? He might not follow your line of thought. But here goes nothing. "Um, the dummies pop out with a distinct sound. I've heard what one pop sounds like in each area, so imagination is key to assuming how loud it'd sound if multiple of them appear at the same time." you paused, checking to see if he's still listening.

He, in fact, seems absorbed in your explanation. With newfound confidence, you continued, "As for which area, the farther they are, the softer they sound. I believe no further explanation is required here. Bottomline is, hearing one pop in each Ground is the key."

Still intently observing you, you spoke up again. "Is there something wrong?"

He pointed at the recruits below, now being lectured by Hasegawa.

"These dimwits who already had an experience of one year got outsmarted by you. That's what's wrong."

He stood up straight and continued, "Not only do they fail to showcase their improvement, their senses and heads weren't working at all. Makes you wonder how they're still alive after all those attacks."

'Well, you probably soloed most of the Kaiju…' you thought.

"You're making it seem like a big deal that I guessed the numbers. I work in the Operations, isn't it normal for us to be more observant than most people?"

You hear a co-worker chuckle. "Ah, well, the thing is, you're the most detail-oriented out of all of us. Remarkably good hearing too. That's why you're our designated eavesdropper—or gossiper, rather." they joked.

Narumi snickered. "Why're you here anyways? Desperate for advice?" he taunted, wiggling his eyebrows. "My word comes with a price, just saying."

You stood up and crossed your arms, wanting to appear grumpy. "Whatever price it is, I'm not paying it. I don't need any help at all."

"The price is helping me with my training. Right now. What do you say?"

…Were you hearing things? Help with his training? So many officers would beg and die to be offered this opportunity.

"I have work to do."

"Nahh, I'll have Kurusu deal with that." He grabbed your wrist without warning and led you away, earning worried stares from the people stationed behind.

"...Pray tell, how is this exactly training?"

"Mhm? I'm showing you my shooting skills, and you get to assist me with that. And— Hey, watch out! They're attacking you from the back!" he screamed, his focus still on the huge TV display in front of you.

That's right. The training he offered you is playing a 2-player shooting game. You seemed like you needed advice, and luckily (for him), he needed a player 2 to get the reward locked behind co-op. Fair trade, he'd say. It's not like you have any other choice again, so you quickly pushed away the disbelief you initially felt when he led you to his game room office. Two separate blankets were draped over your heads, sitting cross-legged with a pillow to support your arms.

You hear him sigh out in relief as you both finish the current level, as if he was holding his breath for the entire fight. "6:43 PM. We'll finish at exactly 7 for your dinner."

Oh, so he wasn't totally inconsiderate. You've been cooped up here for the entire afternoon, hoping that Kurusu wasn't hosting a search party for you. It was also kinda your fault for incorporating his gaming habits into his training schedule recommendations.

You played wordlessly, following along his instructions. You got the grasp of the game after an hour of playing, but leave it to the expert to take charge. He wasn't lying when he said you'd finish at exactly 7, the huge golden "Congratulations" banner displayed on the screen.

"Meh. That was too fast."

Looking at him incredulously, you said, "You call that fast? My ass hurts from sitting here for the entire afternoon!"

"But you stayed anyway, though?"

Ah, well… that was true. He never said you couldn't leave. But somehow, you felt like you can't.

"Can I now, then? I'm hungry." Standing up and going straight to his door, you didn't fail to notice how serious his expression has gotten.

"How do you feel now? What are you thinking of?" he asked.

"I feel… hungry? I can't think of anything to think of." Not knowing why he asked those out of the blue, but it was a harmless question to begin with.

He turned his back to you, moving to turn off his gaming console. "Good. Remember that."

"What?"

"Don't think of anything. Just do what you can in the moment. You'll know once you're there. That's my piece of advice."

Oh. He's right—you totally forgot about the recruitment. But it didn't stress you out as it did before. Did he also feel this way when he took the tests? Probably not. But you're sure he does whatever he can at all times.

A soft smile adorned your face, thinking that he wasn't such an ass after all. "Thank you, Platoon Leader Narumi. I'll make sure to remember it. I'll be on my way now, then."

Once he heard the door close, he lightly scratched his nape. Truth be told, he only did this to slightly repay you for looking over him as his personal manager. Still, this was so unlike him. Maybe he was the one feeling restless?

He'll definitely watch you on your examination.

[davidwarnercorner]

Hostile Takeover (1988), starring David Warner, Kate Vernon, Michael Ironside, Jayne Eastwood, and Will Lyman (Youtube Link).

This is the first obscure David Warner movie I'm reviewing! Not the first one I've watched, but the one that made the biggest impression on me so far. I genuinely liked it and would recommend it (the only downside is that the only versions I can find online are VHS rips with not the highest video quality).

The premise: Eugene Brackin (David Warner), a disaffected, repressed office worker at a local power plant, takes three of his coworkers—Larry Gaylord (Michael Ironside), Sally Laird (Kate Vernon), and Joan Talmudge (Jayne Eastwood)—hostage, but makes no specific demands. Outside, local police chief Smolen (Will Lyman) tries to diffuse the situation without resorting to violence.

The sets are limited: most of the action takes place either in the office or just outside of it (it would probably make for a good stage adaption). Hostile Takeover is a character driven story about what it takes for someone to crack and what happens when they do. It engages with ideas about modernity, alienation, and longing; interwoven throughout are references to the T.S. Eliot poems "The Hollow Men" and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (and maybe others that I didn't pick up on). Whatever you make of it, this movie was trying to say something about modern life.

(More under the cut because this gets long. Spoilers below.)

Reviews

Reviews for Hostile Takeover are mixed, but I'm going to defend it a bit. Is it a perfect movie? No. But I think the experience suffers if you come into it with the idea that this is a true horror film, when really it's a psychological thriller. There are two brief scenes where there's a lot of dramatic blood, but those make up maybe half a minute of the total 90. There are tense, suspenseful moments, but I'm quite a coward when it comes to horror and this didn't bother me.

A lot of other online reviews call it a "Thanksgiving horror movie," and I'm not sure how this category got attached to it. It came out in December 1988, so it can't be based on release date, and Thanksgiving is never mentioned, we only see that it's autumn. Maybe it's because the movie was released in some countries under the title Office Party and the fact that it starts on a day when people would normally be out of office, like for a holiday (admittedly, I thought it was just a weekend).

Characters

All the central characters in this are interesting in their own ways and get their own moments of backstory, but the ones I want to talk about most are Eugene, Sally, and Smolen.

Eugene - a man who is frustrated enough to take his coworkers hostage but also polite enough to demand that the police bring dinner for them and repeatedly says he doesn't want to actually hurt anyone. David excels at playing characters that are a bit angsty and not quite satisfied with themselves, and Eugene fits that mold.

We're never explicitly told why he did what he did, but it's not that hard to infer. Eugene is a shy middle-aged man who lives alone in a tiny apartment, has nothing better to do than come in to his meager-paying job on an off day, and is maybe a little infatuated with his younger female coworker but is too restrained (and too self-conscious?) to pursue her even when she shows interest. He seemingly followed the "right" path for the 20th-century man and yet still feels his life is hollow. He insists that he's not a crazy, "psycho-type," he only wants to be perceived that way so he'll be sent to a hospital in the end, presumably because he wants to escape it all.

I wouldn't pick up a gun about it, but I can understand his despair. The loneliness and alienation he feels (and, on the other hand, the obsession some of his other coworkers have with money and power) are predictable side effects of the capitalist hellscape we live in.

...Moving away from that, let's talk about how hot David is in this. Some of that may be down to my personal preferences: I'm a sucker for stressed-out businessmen and the role that made me notice him for the first time was Sark/Ed Dillinger in TRON. But here...the suspenders with the gun holster. Him walking around with his tie loose. Being 1988, he'd started going grey and late 80s-early 90s David is peak dilf for me, the silver streaks in his bangs and at the temples make me feral. It's no wonder the next character, Sally, wanted him.

Sally - some Letterboxd reviews were very negative to Sally, saying that she's actually the most unsympathetic character and that she manipulates and seduces Eugene. I disagree, though I may be biased because if I were in her situation, I'd probably (want to) act the same. Textually, though, I think there is some support for my interpretation.

In her introductory scene, we see her walk into the office and immediately flirt with him. It didn't seem like she was doing it to mock him—she's also the only one (I think?) to call him "Gene" instead of his full name, which implies some fondness. We later learn that Sally is attracted to power, and she comments about how powerful Eugene is in his newfound position as hostage-taker, but let's remember that she was interested in him from her first scene, before there was any hint of anything being different that day. We also see that she previously attempted to "sleep her way to the top," but that it didn't work for her and she's bitter about the whole thing.

People also seem to think her affection towards him was just in service of self-preservation, but by the end she doesn't even seem to care about that anymore. She says to him, "you can still get away if you use me as a shield...you're loving and honest and kind, you don't have to die for this, Gene!". You could argue it's some kind of Stockholm Syndrome situation, but imo she seems to be basing this on experience beyond just the last two days spent in the office.

Also, like, is it really so hard to believe that she might genuinely be into him? Some people are just into dilfs and that's okay! It's normal! Us dilf-fuckers deserve the representation and Sally is great! She hates her asshole boss and wants the old man dick, she's just like me fr.

Unfortunately (spoilers), she doesn't get her tropical beach vacation ending with Gene and instead has to watch him die. And she'll have to live with that memory. It's all the more tragic because there are hints that their relationship could have worked if they had been able to open up to each other under different circumstances. As Smolen says, "what a fuckin' waste."

Smolen - there's more to this guy than initially meets the eye. He looks like the total opposite of Eugene, a stereotypical jock, but as the story progresses, parallels are drawn between the two. Someone even accuses him of holding the rest of the police force hostage because he won't let them go in guns blazing. He also takes the time to try to understand Eugene; he's the one who figures out the poetry connection. Eventually (spoilers), he ends up being the one to kill him and, though this is probably an artifact of the bad VHS quality, it looked like there was a trickle of blood running down his own forehead. In the end, both of them were forced into violence they didn't want.

Connections

Random connections I made while watching the movie, kind of like a trivia/fun facts section I guess?

Eugene reminded me a lot of D.B. Cooper. All these years later, we still don't know who he really was or why he hijacked that 727 on Nov. 24, 1971 (now that'd be a Thanksgiving movie!). What we do know was that he was middle-aged, polite to the crew, and had an unspecified "grudge."

One of the T.S. Eliot poems the movie references is "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," a stanza of which goes like this:

No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two, Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, Deferential, glad to be of use, Politic, cautious, and meticulous; Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse; At times, indeed, almost ridiculous— Almost, at times, the Fool.

This part is not quoted in the movie, but it hit me kind of hard considering this context: David played Hamlet on stage in 1965, but it'd been almost 25 years since then when Hostile Takeover was made, and he was in the middle of being in a bunch of random B-movies. It also makes me think of when he was asked, around the time TRON came out, about playing so many villain roles and what he'd like to be in next, and he said something like "I'd like a romantic comedy." And then he...didn't get that? Ever? At least not as a lead. I...yeah. He does at least get the girl in this one! Briefly!

Conclusion

Should you watch this movie if you're a David Warner liker? Definitely. Should you watch this movie otherwise? At least give it a try. I didn't know where else to mention it but the soundtrack also stood out to me, it's very 80s but still good. The way they incorporated the popping and clanging sounds the heaters inside the building make into the music...banger.

I'll be posting some gifs from the movie soon. If you do watch this, or have watched it, please let me know what you thought....am I getting it all wrong? Are you team Sally?

Youtube Link Here. This is to a different or upscaled version than the one I watched. I only found it after I took all the screenshots and did all the gifs. My loss is your gain...?

[novankenn]

"Jaune Gets A Gun AU" Somewhere in Vale...

Inspired by @howlingday's RU-JA-GUN-CON

Neo was walking along, merrily eating an ice cream cone, totally enjoying her free time away from "Fire Bitch" when she heard the sound of multiple trash cans being knocked about. Finishing her cone, Neo moved into the alley and hopped her way to take a seat on the nearest fire-escape...

She tilted her head to the side as she watched a rather unique looking young woman utterly trashing the rear of the alley...

After about 5 minutes, Neo growing board hoped down and approached the young woman, who had just finished demolishing her surroundings, only to realize the figure was talking to herself... out loud and answering herself back.

????: Calm down, Harley. You'll find him, even without that shitbag douche's help.

Neo paused in her approach, her sense of self-preservation kicking in. This Harley... was even a little more unhinged than Neo was. Correct that... FAR more.

Haley (Calm): Now, now, Harley... Mxy did warn you...

Harley (Angry): He's still a little shit douche!

Harley (Calm): Yes, yes... but we have work to do.

Harley (Angry): And HOW are we supposed to do that? We have no idea where we are... or where our Puddin' Mister J is!

Harley (Confused): Which Mister J are we talking about again? There are two of them, you know.

Harley (Calm): Easy... we find an information broker. Every world has a criminal element...

Harley (Confused): Like the short-stack over there?

Neo glared as Harley pointed in her direction with her baseball bat.

Harley (Angry): Short-stack looks like the strong silent type.

Harley (Happy): We can fix that...

Harley (Confused): Should we break her head of legs?

Harley (Calm): Focus, girls... focus. Obviously her legs... we need her to talk and tell us where to find Mister J.

Harley (Confused): Which MISTER J?!?

Harley (Calm): The hunky blonde that Mxy showed us! The one that will treat us the way we should...

Harley (Aroused): The one that will fill us with babies!

Neo decided this was an altercation she didn't want a part of. Normally people just knew to be afraid of her... but this Harley... she was wrong in the head. Seriously wrong in the head.

Harley: Ready short-stack?

Neo had so, so many questions going through her mind at this point. One, why she just didn't use her semblance to get away. Two, who the fuck was this woman. Three, where did she get the bubble gum from. Four, how messed up does someone have to be to talk to themselves like she was, and five, again where did the bubblegum come from.

Harley : I asked you a question. It's not polite to refuse to answer.

Neo nodded then shook her head and tried to sign, as she planned out her escape route.

Harley (Motherly): Harley! You're scarring her, and you're being rude. She obviously can't speak. Be nice!

Harley (Sad): Is that true?

Neo slowly nods, still trying to figure out why she just didn't use her semblance and escape.

Harley (Sad): I'm sorry. Do you think you could help me? I'm trying to find someone.

Neo just nodded, and Harley smiled.

(Just something a threw together... the idea popped into my head and I just couldn't resist. May or may not keep it as "Canon" for this AU... but until that is decided, please enjoy.)

[killthefuhkinglights]

[page transcription below]

Apparently Frank Iero Is Not Okay.

For the ultimate test of My Chemical Romance's seemingly inescapable ubiquity, stay tuned to MySpace pages and message boards everywhere. When XØ- the debut from MCR guitarist Frank Iero's hardcore-punk side project LeATHERMOUTH- reaches the masses, you'll surely start seeing a gazillion comments from teenage girls raving, "OMG! Frank is sooooo hot! I love LeATHERMOUTH!" Were this record the product of just about anyone not involved with MCR, you could safely wager that most of said fans would run away from XØ as fast as humanly possible with their fingers wedged in their ears.

LeATHERMOUTH, who officially consist only of Iero on vocals and Rob Hughes on guitar, specialize in a particularly punishing form of hardcore that combines sludgy doom metal and harsh grindcore, topped off by Iero's ferocious screams and often twisted, eye-brow raising lyrics. Speed and fury are the name of the game here, and thus none of the album's 10 tracks break the three-minute mark (the disc's total running time is just over 21 minutes). While LeATHERMOUTH certainly aren't reinventing the wheel, songs with names like "I Am Going To Kill The President Of The United States Of America" and "Your Friends Are Full Of Shit" are far from dull. XØ's sheer brutality and shock value alone make the record the complete anti-My Chem experience, a perfect soundtrack for driving around with a corpse stashed in your trunk. (EPITAPH, epitaph.com) Brendan Manley

In-Store Session WIth Vocalist Frank Iero

LeATHERMOUTH are your forum to vent. What's got you so angry?

Just everyday life, and things that affect us that people want to pretend doesn't exist: feelings of isolation and depression, and the way the world is going. There are other things too: "Catch Me If You Can" is based on the letters written by Jack the Ripper. It's basically about cutting up girls, which is always fun. [Laughs] A lot of the songs seem to be about killing girls.

What's the story behind "5th Period Massacre"?

Kids are killing each other in school, and people are very quick to condemn the entertainment industry, or the parents or the kids themselves, who must be "off." I'm not saying those aren't some of the reasons, but no one talks about the little fucking prick who calls the kid a "faggot" or beats him up every day, so he sees no way out other than going home and getting his father's gun.

How about "Sunsets Are For Muggings"?

It's about going to see my psychiatrist. Every appointment I had was at night, around sunset. It's about taking all the pills to make yourself better, yet never feeling normal, and knowing that everything you're saying is going in one ear and out the other. I've definitely had to deal with mental illness in my family; that's a very personal thing that I deal with on a daily basis. "Sunsets" is my way of saying that no one is looking out for you but yourself, and you have to consider that no one fucking cares.

Will teenage girls who are into My Chem be horrified?

That's the funny part. "Catch Me If You Can" for example, has some pretty harsh lyrics about women. The last half of the song says, "A gift from God doing the Devil's crimes/I'll set shit right one whore at a time." Watching a good handful of little girls singing that line with you is a little weird, and really fucking funny. The things that make me laugh are things that are horrendously awful, [like] people falling down or getting attacked by animals. If I can have girls singing back about cutting themselves up or setting themselves on fire, that's pretty much a good show.

Some people will say, "My Chem is huge. What's this guy's problem?"

There are a million things I can say are great about my life, and a million things that really fucking suck. I can't explain why I have a problem with depression or anxiety; I don't know, and nobody can tell me why, either. I just do what I can to stay sane on a daily basis, and [LeATHERMOUTH] are one of those things that help me, getting it all out on a record, and playing shows. The first tour we did was really refreshing, exhausting and cathartic, and I wasn't pissed off anymore. Now that I've been home for a while, all that hate has built up again, and I think I need to do a couple more shows. [BM]

Alternative Press, In-Store Session interview with Frank Iero on LeTHERMOUTH's album XØ

[balletwatchespokemon]

Indigo League Episode 12

This episode we get the last of the Kanto starters, Squirtle! The gang encounters the troublesome Squirtle Squad, Ash and Pikachu both have their life endangered in different ways, and Team Rocket attempted to kill the whole Squad with literal bombs. Yikes.

Say you regularly encounter pit falls like these three do and one of you puts your foot through the ground like Ash has here, would you (a. be careful of the likely pitfall, or (b. crowd in as close as possible?

If you answered (b. you were right and you're also stuck in a hole now.

The Squirtle Squad! Hmmm, I wonder who's the leader. (This is such a cute shot.)

If I recall correctly we actually will be going to their habitat later in the Indigo League so good job setting it up ahead of time show!

Officer Jenny of course Ash knows your name, you share it with every other officer Jenny. If he knows the name of one he knows them all.

This police station has a matching symbol to the one on Jenny's hat. I went back to the other station we've seen so far (in E2) and that one didn't match that Jenny's hat symbol, I wonder if it's something they decided to start doing partway into the show or if them matching this time is a coincidence. We'll just have to wait and see.

Pikachu looks so sad here! Ash, give him a hug. (Pikachu is very cute while sad though.)

I love it when anime does something like this where it's just the facial features visible. (Though just Pikachu's eyes and mouth by themselves are a little scary looking.)

Look at these sopping wet beasts. Someone get them a towel.

Silly Pikachu, this is Pokemon not Mario Cart, why are you getting taken out by a red shell?

And now we're doing Jaws, love to spot a reference for a movie I've never seen.

Love to see Ash being a violent feral child but I personally would not enjoy the mouth full of fur from biting a cat tail. And this is the most valid reason for Meowth to scratch Ash in the face so far.

Squirtle Squad how could you say no to a cute little face like this.

Squirtle Squad just casually threatening to kill Misty. Very normal thing to do.

The Pokeani world has so many rickety rotten rope bridges. I wonder how many people die to them per year.

A Pokemon shop! The western town vibe is interesting, though I am suspicious of that beef sign. We're still in the period of time where they still had regular animals in the Pokemon world.

Love Gary just showing up in this episode to knock Ash out, not even notice what he did, and leave.

Also, Ash was unconscious overnight, I'm pretty sure it's really bad if you're unconscious for that long. He should go to the hospital and get checked out.

Ah early Pokemon, where anyone and everyone can have a gun at any given moment.

Ash is so concerned about Squirtle! I love how much he loves just all Pokemon.

And his actions proved he's a good guy to Squirtle! I really feel the bond better with Ash and Squirtle than the one for Ash and Charmander in the previous episode. I wonder if that has anything to do with how difficult Ash and Charmander's bond gets after he evolves.

Get yeeted idiots! Also, I love how Misty, Brock, and the other Squirtles are acting like they're gonna catch Ash and Squirtle but that's totally not happening.

Look how happy they are to have Squirtle join the team!

And that's the episode, Ash has a full team now and all of the starters! Next episode on Wednesday we see Ash catch another pokemon, and we encounter the OG oversized pokemon. (Way before gigantamaxing.)

[thegeminisage]

SEARCH FOR SPOCK breakdown

i watched THIS movie three days ago and im still not over it. incoherent phone liveblogs translated to normal human language below:

firstly, this movie is extraordinarily quiet. even with my computer and browser volume and 100% i still couldn't hear it. we had such trouble finding a copy that was both loud and subtitled i had to download my own - even actually starting a free paranmount plus trial didn't work because their website is GARBAGE and refused to load the movie for me on any browser. which meant losing one day. and then the second day i was out of town. i had to wait SO LONG to start searching for spock. i basically forgot the first 12 minutes of the film bc of those two lost days

uhura was very hot in this movie. i love how she had stuff to do. idk how she keeps getting hotter every movie but she's the most beautiful woman in the world i think. her telling that little ensign to get into the closet while calling him a good boy was maybe the sexiest thing she's ever done. i wish she had gotten to go with them the whole time!

the absolute screaming that ensued when kirk found bones sitting in a pitch black room with spock's voice coming out of his mouth. like i said i knew vaguely about this but i did not expect him to be FUCKING POSSESSED??? i need to find time to read 4000 spones fics about this specifically if anyone has recs i am soliciting them

everything was so good. the comment about poison in a bar not being logical. the failed nerve pinch. him being able to suddenly act as first officer. mwah

i like the snowy cacti on genesis even though most of those sections lagged for me personally. not like computer lag but like. psychologically. and baby spock was so cute!! teenage spock did not need to be fucking his former student who is now way older than him tho. that was wack. sorry saavik

the entire section of busting bones out of prison and stealing the enterprise is one of my favorite trek scenes from everything i've seen so far, actually. it's exciting, it's funny, it's heartwarming, the chemistry is off the charts, and they all truly feel like a family.......cathy said it best but this is what aos was missing tbh

ALSO I TOTALLY RECOGNIZED LEONARD NIMOY'S VOICE IN THE ELEVATOR SHAFT. am i faceblind maybe a little bit but my ear never fails me

very shocked to see christopher lloyd in this movie. his makeup was um questionable. but he did a great job

we went back and forth for awhile on whether or not bones realized he was possessed. i guess "you're suffering from a mind meld" wasn't specific enough. like did he know spock was IN THERE. but we didnt know for sure until jim was like "how are we doing" and bones was like "WE are doing just fine thank you but i'd rather he have just taken a kidney" which was fucking hilarious. third best best line after "i've got all his marbles" and "THAT GREEN BLOODED SON OF A BITCH THIS IS REVENGE FOR ALL THE ARGUMENTS HE LOST" he's so iconic. like it wasn't actually just revenge for the stunt he pulled in the empath.

deeply mourning the enterprise. i knew there were different enterprises and that they had to blow her up eventually bc spoilers but this is the one and only first ever enterprise TO ME. watching her go down in flames was almost as painful as watching spock die. rest in peace queen :(

absolutely FLOORED they fridged david. i didn't expect them to do that ever but i'm SO glad they did bc 1. cry bitch and 2. i didn't actually care about him. despite them finding spock on genesis those parts of the movie felt slowest to me because spock wasn't able to like, Be Spock and i just did not care about david. i like saavik but i liked her better when she wasn't fucking spock. so. perfect choice

final fight was good. i was like I DONT CARE ABOUT THIS SHOW ME SPOCK but then i gasped every time one of them almost bit it. rip christopher lloyd's character he did a great job

did i burst into tears when kirk held spock and pointed a gun at people? yeah

however what we missed was the bit where bones goes to hold him instead when kirk has to put him down. truly the mcspirk movie of all time.

bones going "i choose the danger" HE IS SO IMPORTANT i love him so much

having absolute kittens in the section where i had to wait to find out if they put spock's katra back. like obviously they were gonna. did i start crying again when spock started talking? YEAH. i knew he was gonna have amnesia but i forgot so i got to be surprised anyway. and then also cried through the credits too bc ofc i did. spock is so important. bones tapping his temple at the end was everything though

idk why everyone says the odd ones are all bad! 1 was bad and i know everybody hated 5 but 3 was REALLY GOOD. i liked it even better than wrath of khan - aside from, again, the pon farr thing. there was more interpersonal stuff than in 2 but it didn't lack action and momentum the way that 1 did. it was perfect. there's no way 4 can be better than this. no way. sincerely hoping i eat my words <3

[sagesariadnd]

Please Watch March on Faewunder. I Just Think It's Neat.

I'm waiting on a few things before I start posting pictures like I promised, so in the meantime, I have a recommendation if you're looking for a D&D actual play show that isn't one of the Big Three.

I've fairly recently started dipping my toes into the World of Io, a collection of streamed short campaigns set in the DM's homebrew world of, well, Io. I started with, and am still in the middle of, March on Faewunder. I started it because my current parasocial squish Tom Fawkes is in it, and I'm sticking with it for some of the most wholesome and funny roleplay I've ever seen. A warning now that the following is an unhinged infodump about how much I love this campaign, but I promise a link is at the bottom!

Highlights include:

Actually streaming session zero! I don't know if other shows have done this, but it's the first time I've seen it and found it really cool to see the process in action. This includes an introduction to Io's history and world makeup and answering the players' questions about it, so it's great for onboarding new viewers because they don't have to have watched the other campaigns. Plus, hearing the players talk about the kind of characters they were making made me immediately excited for the campaign and the dynamics within the party, which was clearly the case for the people watching too because there was fanart literally that night.

Mark Hulmes - the host of High Rollers...you know, that actual play show that did the one-shot with the Baldur's Gate 3 cast last year - playing a half-lagomon paladin with the energy of DiC dub Sailor Moon. Yeah that's right, a grown-ass man is shamelessly playing his ideal bunny girl waifu and nobody judges him for it because Gloria is a precious cinnamon roll and must be cherished.

A southern belle dhampir ranger named Vidalia whose parasol is both a sword and a gun...crossbow...thing. Also she's a swarmkeeper ranger and her swarm is birds! Used to be corvids, now I think it's hawks. And she's the sweetest damn person you'll ever meet and doesn't even hide that she's a vampire.

An elf bard named Pandora who got her name literally because her player thought it was fun to say in her character voice, and she says it to herself in character when she's anxious. She's also a vampire hunter who's afraid of birds.

Disclaimer: Pandora is an emotional wreck of a character with a heart of gold and she WILL make you cry at least every other session.

Did I mention those three are totally in an awkward disaster lesbian cuddle puddle? Cause they totally are. Vidalia even calls Gloria 'hunny bun' and it's the most adorable thing in the world.

Hey, you wanna have lots of emotions about skeletons? Well Tom has you covered with Ribeye, the skeleton bard who wants to be a chef! (Gee, DM, how come your mom lets your campaign have TWO bards?) Don't be fooled by his punny name or his Ed Wynn voice, this skeleton will fuck you up emotionally almost as much as Pandora. This youtube funnyman has made his fellow players wail loudly into the microphone like Rocky freaking Lockridge.

And you wanna know why there's so many emotions about skeletons? Well for one thing Tom's just really good at roleplaying but the big catalyst is that neither Ribeye in character, nor any of the players out of character, know Ribeye's HP. The DM just tells him if he gets knocked out. The DM rolls his hit dice for him. And he can't be healed by normal healing magic, only necromancy. Yeah uh...nobody in the party can cast necromancy. They found a backup, but it's VERY temporary and the DM plays the game HARD. Your butt WILL clench every single time Ribeye takes damage. The party's butts sure do. No really, it's genuinely sweet how hard they all work to protect their skelebro.

I feel bad that I don't have a lot to say comparatively about the last member, the changeling monk Kagami. I think he's just along for the ride. But he's there, and he's as badass as a monk should be, and he's the source of a good few funny moments, including the ever optimistic statement "I haven't exploded yet!" (no you don't get context, watch the show) and the pure D&D energy of spending all your money on a stupid carnival prize because it's so ridiculous you just HAVE to have it. It even comes in handy, how the heck did that happen???

If you like crafting, Faewunder has you covered with all sorts of fun homebrewing! Every long rest is an adventure! Ribeye whips up all sorts of fun dishes and names them! Kagami supes up everyone's weapons and armor! Pandora desperately tries to keep up the supply of potions Ribeye can drink! The DM has a chart of all sorts of fun buffs they can unlock and put on their gear, so long as there's time to make it. It takes up a decent chunk of the sessions, but the party makes it work through...

Camp RP! Banter and sharing feelings around the campfire almost every long rest, including the ones that come from just travel time with nothing happening! I've never seen a party so willing to share their feelings with each other and they're so delightfully close, even if Kagami's still keeping things close to his scarily muscular chest at the moment.

Intense combat with some of the wildest luck (or usually lack thereof) I've ever seen on a VTT. I thought it was roll20 that hated us, who kicked Foundary's dog???

Crazy fae shit

Fucked up trees! Every DM needs to have at least one fucked up tree encounter.

Fun with voice modulators!

Distinct and lovable NPCs!

A disclaimer that the NPCs will never flirt with the PCs unless the PCs initiate. That's just a good rule of thumb to have in a DM-player dynamic! I mean, check that the DM is comfortable with it too, but really I'm just sad that 'not sicing a horny NPC on my players' is noteworthy.

A channel in the Io discord exclusively for rules lawyering, so the DM can receive feedback on goofed up rules (or ignore the ones from people who forget his houserules) without them cluttering up the twitch chat or distracting him from running the game! Now THAT'S innovation, y'all!

Fanart every night, and bingo cards that the DM fills out with the chat!

The DM is a racoon wizard! Seriously, how can you say no to that?!

Anyway it's really good, and if any of this sounds appealing the playlist is below. It's a relatively short campaign - 13 sessions averaging around three hours apiece. I'll definitely be checking out the rest of the Io campaigns after I finish Faewunder, but I feel like it's gonna be hard to top this group.

[memorydragon]

Have you calmed down Mem? You haven't posted in a few days? - No, I have not. I just started my rants and realized I needed more time to rotate those particular details, so I'm sure you'll be getting more of it later. Also, I needed to pause my reread of Tun Hai because I'm not altogether sure I won't go right back to Poyun once I've finished, and I needed January to be over before I read it a third time this year.

See? I'm consuming media that makes me unhinged in an entirely normal way.

One of the reasons that these novels make me so feral though is the underlying premise of Knowing someone. Because we're all queer here and that totally makes us feral, I know.

But just, I saw someone comment about how Yan Xie accepts Jiang Ting despite the lies, and that's kind of not what's going on. Yes, Jiang Ting is a lying liar who lies. He's not even very good at saying what he wants in the relationship, Yan Xie specifically calls him on this repeatedly.

Because he's not very good at saying it, but he shows up in Yan Xie's apartment after the key was tossed at him, he drinks the 'wife tea' once the tea cake has already been rendered valueless (And I adore that Yan Xie has to break up the second one before he'd touch something so expensive. Yan Xie sees through him), he takes Yan Xie out to lunch and hangs out with him, not just for the case (though he's definitely doing that too. He's a trauma kitten that needs enclosure simulation because he will overthink everything if left alone), but because he sees that freedom and yearns for it, and that yearning turns to affection that he can't stop himself from getting near, no matter how bad an idea it is.

So yes, he's lying, but three separate people in the novel have watched him long enough to know Jiang Ting isn't who everyone says he is and who he himself thinks he is. Yan Xie watched as Jiang Ting raised the gun to his own forehead when Jin Jie triggered him and he knew that Jiang Ting couldn't have pulled the trigger against rivet. Han Xiaomei knew there was something wrong because she might be just an intern but she's not stupid, but she saw that Jiang Ting would kill without blinking an eye and she also knew he kept her hidden intentionally to protect her. Ma Xiang listens to Jiang Ting say yes, he is the most suspicious of everyone, but chooses to ignore all that and trust him anyway because he sees how broken Jiang Ting is while Yan Xie is in the operating room. Jiang Ting is essentially the open secret of the whole sub-bureau and this is not because Yan Xie is besotted with him, but because they've all judged his actions and decided against all reason that he's not the mole.

Of course they know he's lying about his past. They saw the him of now and decided what was known wasn't nearly as relevant as the evidence of who Jiang Ting is before them.

When Yan Xie says 'Why are you always so dishonest about your feelings?" When he says "Why do you always choose the wrong people to protect you?" When he says "Why don't you trust me to still love you?" He knows. He knows Jiang Ting. He knows the past is important and that it matters, but none of the past will ever change the fact that he's in love with Jiang Ting now - in the person who Jiang Ting is to him. Because that person who Jiang Ting is, who he sees, isn't wrong.

When Jiang Ting asks "Do you still trust me?" after Yan Xie has finally uncovered everything, and Yan Xie responds with a shrug and "What do you think?" Jiang Ting has to hastily cut him off, saying "It's better that you don't." Because he's half-afraid of the answer Yan Xie will give when he has to betray him and point a gun at his head and it has to be believable or they'd both be dead.

Yan Xie has already deleted the one picture from his phone album that he couldn't get rid of. He's already had his heart broken. He doesn't even realize when he's started crying when Jiang Ting kisses him and points the gun at him. But he still never denies it. Even when he can't fully believe in the hope that's being dangled before him, because Yang Mei is the one who saved him and that had to be planned, he still goes to Chief Lu and asks. He still says 'it was too fast and I didn't see clearly' despite Jiang Ting shooting ten people in front of him.

He still goes home and sees Jiang Ting everywhere in their apartment. And when he finally, finally finds evidence that Chief Lu was the one lying this time, he bluffs his way to finding out the truth about Jiang Ting being undercover without a second thought. Because despite everything, he loves the person Jiang Ting is.

Tun Hai goes a step further, and there's a reason I go ride or die so fast in that novel. Because Bu Chonghua is wrong about so many things. Like, I genuinely love how off he is on the mark of his analysis of Wu Yu, while still being 100% right about seeing through him. When he falls in love with Wu Yu, he falls hard, and all of his assumptions get turned on their head in the end, but that doesn't matter to him. What matters is Wu Yu in front of him that he's fallen in love with. That this is the person he's been chasing after for twenty years, without even knowing who he was. When he raced back to the martyr's cemetery because he bet that he knew Wu Yu, despite everything and that he couldn't be wrong because he knew the person he had fallen in love with. And Wu Yu isn't there, he nearly turns back, but then he sees Wu Yu is just a little later than him and he won his bet despite everything.

Wu Yu is terrified of Bu Chonghua's ability to see through him. He knows it's only a matter of time and he's set to disappear entirely, he's already known. Jiang Ting pulls him back, helping him hide and letting him stay a little longer (and I am So Normal about this, fuck, Jiang Ting this isn't even your novel and I'm feral), but it's already too late. When Bu Chonghua asks who a'Gui is, when he flat up tells Wu Yu that's it's a nice story, but that doesn't make the story less of a lie, and he says "But none of that matters because I still love you."

It's not that Wu Yu and Jiang Ting lie. It's not that Yan Xie and Bu Chonghua accept them despite knowing it's a lie. Because it's not a lie, not really, not where it matters most. There is evidence and there is the truth that is before them, and these dumb ass cousins choose to love the truth in front of them instead. When everyone, including Wu Yu and Jiang Ting themselves told them of the Monster that they are, Yan Xie and Bu Chonghua said that maybe you are a monster, but you're not a Monster to me. I'll look head on, because I've already seen the Truth.

And listen, I'm aware this is a gay coproganda novel, but it didn't have to go so hard at being Queer. That's just rude.

[ex0rin]

@5ummit encouraged me to make an end of the year post, so here we go:

Fandom: Andor (May/June, September/October) Fic Count: 2 Word Count: 2,139

Fandom: The Witcher (January) Fic Count: 6 Word Count: 28,917 

Fandom: Top Gun: Maverick (July-September) Fic Count: 7 Word Count: 38,342

Fandom: Other Marvel (April/May) Fic Count: 7 Word Count: 11,043

Fandom: HydraTrashParty 🥳 (January-May, October-December) Fic Count: 52 Word Count: 150,286

Total Word Count:  228,061

Find me on AO3 here

and also, find my own personal fave fics of the year under the cut:

should go without saying that you should heed the AO3 tags if you click through on any of these:

Top Three:  1. Crawlin’ back to you / Baby we both know (HTP, winterbones)

Pt1: An old "friend" of Bucky's is one of Selby's guards. Zemo and Sam have no idea but Bucky absolutely does, what a shame that he has a role to play.

Pt2: Rumlow has been biding his time, working for Selby in exchange for information about the soldier's whereabouts - conveniently the winter soldier is about to show up on their doorstep with a new handler.

OR: an extended rehash of That One Scene in tfatws s01e03: Power Broker from two different perspectives.

2. We'll be a fine line. (TGM, roosmav)

Bradley really notices Maverick for the first time when he's thirteen. Every year after that is a struggle.

OR: 4.5 times Maverick had no idea what was happening and 1.5 times he said “wow, what a terrible idea but I guess we're doing this”

3. Something Broken (HTP, winterbones)

Bucky and Rumlow really fucked each other up over decades of brutal conditioning, maybe (definitely) more on one side than the other.

It turns out that Bucky can't get over the wiring in his brain that makes him really susceptible to following orders and dropping to his knees anytime his old handler shows up PLUS he hasn't had a chance to test it a ton, but he can't come unless he's told? Oh and he also went back for Rumlow's very specifically modified sidearm back during the collapse - I'm sure there's a totally normal and not weird reason for that.

And Rumlow? Well it turns out that having a building dropped on him and then almost being burnt alive by his own fucking bomb (which frustratingly did not kill Captain America) has rendered his dick pretty much out of service which could be a good thing - the bomb not killing Cap A - since Steve went and abandoned a traumatized Bucky Barnes and left him totally open to having his handler waltz back into his life.

Also the dick thing is probably fixable with the right encouragement.

+1. Take my head and kick it in. (Rumlow/Reader)

Because I reached a thirst-related breaking point and just really really needed a fic of Rumlow throwing me the reader down some stairs 😅

Should have written all my thank yous here and not in the tags so here we go, I'm gonna tag some people:

@5ummit @sparklingbinjuice @the-ravening @unlikelymilliner @pohjanneito @crushcandles , the entirety of the Trash Fam and many many more - thank you for all of your encouragement and love in this past year, I don't know what I did to deserve it but I'm glad to know you all❤️

[standardquip]

Gungrave live reactions

for the entire series CW: sexism(?), racism(?), vulgar language, I am a 36 year old man who did not censor my thoughts as I was watching it. This took a little over a month and is just a compilation of discord messages I sent

gotta say the opening scene of the first ep is great I wish his name wasn't "Brandon Heat" though I'm sorry but that's a lame name Especially for an anime ok his anime name is "Beyond the Grave" Glad we got that established

I'm about 2/3 through the first ep and this is definitely a 90s anime 😂 (not that there's anything wrong with that)

gungrave ep 2 They named the black kid kenny I will be very surprised if kenny doesn't die this ep

someone died in ep2 It was not kenny I am genuinely shocked here's to ep3

kenny has finally died But so did a lot of other people RIP Kenny

It's going a lot harder (emotionally) than I was expecting, given the first ep I'm just starting ep4 now

so far my biggest problem with gungrave is that brandon seems like a mute character but he talks sometimes But the times he talks make no sense, they're not really that important So the whole decision to not talk a lot seems super awkward instead

yeah edgy teen show is definitely ep 1 and not any ep after that (so far) (I'm only on ep 4)

another thing that bugs me is all the pans are weirdly fast but the mute/not actually thing brandon does bugs me way more than the pans

ep6 I like harry more than brandon didn't anticipate that

oh god the audio delay on this ep is horrible I hope it's just this one ep and not the rest of them

ep11 of gungrave bold strategy, cotton.gif let's see if it pays off it only worked out because of plot armor

ep12 of gungrave Brandon got a hair cut and looks like a real yakuza now

… I hate it

gungrave ep14 normally I don't care about fictitious relationships or how problematic they are but maria has convinced herself she loves her grandfather, who raised her, because brandon broke up with her and orchestrated a perfect moment And now she's pregnant by her grandfather and like this is scummy in so many different ways but mostly I just feel kinda 😩 about what it says about maria's intelligence in fact all the women in this series (actually now that I think about it, there is literally ONLY TWO) are just really fucking dumb

ep14 has some real beautiful compositional symbolism (unsure if that's the accurate term) Harry wears white and brandon wears black harry is in the shadow and brandon isn't harry tries to get brandon to betray the family and of course brandon won't. He goes to shoot harry. But doesn't and starts crying the gun lands precisely in the middle. Implying brandon's thinking about it? Or maybe it's just for symmetry. idk

this scene really slaps you over the head with symbolism. I don't care. I'm a fan

damn this show took a fucking turn

oh good just in time for Harry's break down ep15 is where the grey haired brandon comes in!

Maria is the dumbest bitch ever "I just found out brandon is alive! Oh I didn't see him myself. An aide of mine said they talked to him" Maria: Cries from happiness "Oh just knowing he's alive is enough!" bitch please supernatural stuff isn't known in this canon do you just believe everything you're told? wtf This is some pregnancy psychosis shit

damn you think Harry went crazy with power but he really went crazy with power

damn what's in this suitcase that makes it weigh so much ep18 brandon finally comes out of a coma

ep18 is where ep1 left off

while watching gungrave I had some fever memory recollection of an anime called Heat Guy J So I looked it up It seems to be a combination of robocop and minority report?? Also it has a werewolf apparently

ep22 of gungrave I think I can fit this in before I need to leave this is totally gonna end with mika, who is like 17, dating brandon/grave if it doesn't, I'm gonna be surprised so all three women in this show will get with dramatically older guys and also be stupid idiots

hm ok brandon/grave only has 10 days of life left unless they magically come up with a different way to make him live so there's 2 eps to figure that out and/or have sex we'll seeeeeeeeeee oh, 4 eps actually Whatever anyway I'm out for a few hours to the family function

gonna attempt to finish gungrave I'm starting ep 23 of 26 gonna play them at 1.5x normal speed good mika (16ish) professes her love for grave (40+, died once) and grave is like "I'll be your guardian and protect you but that's all" Good We don't need yet another pedo relationship in this anime

ep24 "promise me you won't die before me" the girl who married a guy 30 years her senior says 🙄 oh I guess this was foreshadowing She got shot and died

grave is literally falling apart like bad pottery ep25

lmao harry, the guy who has no issues murdering literally anybody, swerved to avoid a cat in the road

the crash from the cat was so bad his whole life flashed before his eyes. This ep was a huge flashback oh grave's hair is white instead of grey now I guess because he's almost dead… again ep26 Last one

it's over they killed eachother

[fandom-susceptible]

Supernatural Rewatch S1E6 Skin

Is the color balancing this bad for the whole series or is it just the site I'm watching it on? Everything's so washed out.

*wheezing* oh my god I forgot Sam being like "oh I'm an innocent college student just like you but Dean's totally a cop" to convince his friend Becky they could help. Like these two really just spout off the most insane stories about each other to strangers and the other one just rolls with it.

It hurts me watching Sam try so hard to maintain friendships outside of hunting and Dean be convinced he shouldn't. Because Dean couldn't.

The random leanings into animals being aware of the paranormal is kinda hilarious in this show with it being so inconsistent. Like right here, this one dog's aware of Shit Going Down with the murder. But this only comes up at random intervals.

"That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen" Sam says. Have you looked at much video, Sammy? It's. This is random eye shine.

Okay but fr what ARE they doing there at 5:30 in the morning? Also, can Sam stop bitch facing for two seconds and answer the question instead of dragging everything out?

What made them think the ambulance going by had anything to do with their case?? This is in a city. Ambulances go by all the time, unfortunately, for good reasons and bad.

Why do these two keep having conversations about their cases in broad daylight in public? It's a wonder they weren't caught more often than they were. Or were the cops just over there like "yk what we don't get paid to go after the crazies that we don't have a current crime connected to." Also why didn't they get in worlds of trouble opening a manhole cover, again in broad daylight on a busy city street right next to a crime scene?

Can Sam quit bitching and just acknowledge that Dean's right about the lying to his friends bit and how bad it can go?

Sam can't see shit apparently, and also can't aim.

Again, these two should be in worlds of trouble for fucking around with manholes in busy public areas.

Sam walking around trying real hard not to tip anybody off, meanwhile Dean just runs down the street with a gun in hand. How many times has he been arrested?

Ok props to Sam for calling the shapeshifter on his shit so quickly, but also be a little more decisive bro this is how we end up in shitty situations.

Jensen's acting is phenomenal. I also think it's interesting how the shapeshifter (from Dean's POV, speaking from Dean's memories) says "I know I'm a freak." The stress pattern there on just the first "I", as if it isn't that Sam's actually different - it's that Sam doesn't know, refuses to know, that he's also a freak. And it's that ignorance that lets him have that shot at a normal life, it's that ignorance that Dean's jealous of. Then we get into Dean's abandonment issues, straight into the deep end, the shapeshifter pretty much confirming that Dean's sluttiness is a substitute for the real connection he wants but isn't getting from anybody.

What the hell was the yell back there when she screamed, Jensen? It wasn't even like, a Menacing Roar noise, he just fuckin yelled the same way lmao, it's so funny

why is the makeup identical on every woman the shapeshifter's attacked this episode. I could swear every single one has had the bandage wrapped around the head, bruising on the cheeks, three lines of blood dripping down the right shoulder, hair caked in the same spot . . .

I remember the shapeshifting scene really hitting me in the creepy feelings the first time I watched this but this time I was just fascinated by how much Jensen's changed over the years. He packed on so much more muscle over the next four years alone.

They really just like tying these men up don't they? And Dean is so much more relaxed about it than Sam is, and there's so many fun headcanons you could pack into that. Is it angst? Was he just trained to it? Or does he just Like It?

"Did Jessica know?" "No, she didn't." Yeah, because you weren't. doing it then. Sam. "What can I do, it's my family" you're literally only back because you've got it out for Jessica's killer, it's still about you, mfer. Why do you try to pretend it's for Dean?

Do they ever go back to St. Louis? I could swear they do. Shouldn't it come up more that Dean's wanted for murder there? They had the one season where the FBI were hot on their tails but then the angels started getting involved and we suddenly got a whole lot less of the consequences of the boys' actions.

[sizzlingpatrolfox]

Oh, I so wanna hear what you think of the whole Jimin / Tkk thing at YG concert ( we are not free from Tony Montana, MY GOD).

I find it hilarious, as an ex-joker now PJM, I am glad to say I don’t feel anything anymore and seeing Jimin being carefree and just his independent self makes me so happy. Tkk could be very well hanging out everyday and as long as Jimin is unbothered I don’t really care. I am curious if some people feel similar as I do and totally lost their ability to see JK’s appeal?

Now, I wonder what switched? What happened to make Tkk so close? I am dying to know the tea, give me drama.

I feel so free, birds are singing and we, at least for now, have one less problem.

I've been giving my opinions here and there, maybe you've already seen some. I think it was all very normal, casual between the three. Jus classic Jungkook, classic Jimin and classic Taehyung.

Jungkook and Taehyung have been sort of concert buddies, starting from the Harry Styles one in November 2021 (the day that was also my start to stop thinking jikook are together lol), then silk sonic in Las Vegas which they also attended together, then Harry Styles this year again. Jungkook goes to a lot of shows (the ones I've mentioned and others) and he never goes with Jimin. And the only time Jimin was there in recent times was the Harry one where Jungkook spent the entire concert vibing with Taehyung. So taekook vibing together this time and Jimin just by the side was textbook vminkook from what I know.

I guess I'm surprised that people can't seem to find a middle ground. I personally believe Jimin is not hanging out with either of taekook a lot, and if he is it's because he works out with them (probably picked up boxing with Jungkook again), or because he sees them at the company. But when you say that Jimin is not really spending time with them, people completely jump to the other side and think that the next time they will all three show up with guns and point at each other. None of them could ever hate the other or intentionally hurt each other. So I still get really annoyed when I see those who think

being okay = they're fucking each other

as well as those who believe

not fucking each other = hating each other

I always think of this tweet 😂

And that's all I see. Friends. Friends in their late 20s, 30s who spent the last ten years pretty much obligated to see each other everyday and now are in different vibes and different life paths and probably putting all their energy and interest in doing things they weren't able to do before and meeting people they didn't meet often before. Like when you finish high school and college starts and you go from seeing your friends everyday at school, to seeing them only during the weekends or for special occasions. Or sometimes at work, in BTS case.

Well, personally my feelings about Jungkook started to change in 2020, so my detachment now is just a regular development of things. Sometimes I do feel sad and I feel like i miss Jungkook, but then he shows up and I don't feel anything. So I believe I don't really miss Jungkook or at least not this Jungkook right now (though ironically he's more humane and I guess softer than he's ever been). I've realized I miss something bigger, maybe the good things I used to feel about Jungkook, maybe I just miss the way things used to be.

I don't think there's any tea or drama about taekook, just them having more time for each other. That happens too, you get friends that you align better with depending on certain periods of life. I guess they just click better now.

[spocks-husband]

I finally made it to season three of Picard, so as I said I would to a very very good friend who happens to be quite important to the creation of this show (🤭) I am gonna live blog the first episode and possibly others! So yeah let's go :3

-i love the ink spots dude this soundtrack goes so hard

-OMG ITS BABYGIRL BEVERLEY

-Shes so cheekbones

-omg she has a gun yasss

-OHH MY GOD NO THEY SHOT BABYGIRL

-erm that phaser rifle is NOT set to stun 🤓☝🏽

-can I ask why this whole opening scene is made up of like two colors--

-OOH NEW TITLE SEQUENCE HELLO??

-i want a painting of the 1701-D in my house :(

-little Bajoran statue on his desk..... That's there specifically for me......

-THE FLUTE OH MY GOD

-i love my beautiful boyfriend Jean-Luc

-omg I know the computer voice she's my favorite person ever 🤭🤭

-THE old uniform omg I'm screaming

-the lighting is giving sub rosa for some reason

-that was very cryptic Beverly are you fucking your grandma's old ghost boyfriend again

-why would she cut them off?? That's. Very odd

-its been two seasons of this already but can I ask why the Romula OH MY GOD SHE KISSED MY BOYFRIEND

-GET OFF HIM YOU FREAK HES MINEEEE

-RAHHH

-sorry I'm normal I promise

-AGGGHHHH WILL IS SO HOT

-The fat ones help 😭😭

-if they make Deanna and Will fight I will LOSE MY SHIT

-i'm so glad will is gonna be actually relevant in this season I missed him sm 😭

-this reminds me of the Orion bar on Nimbus III that you go to for that one mission in Star Trek Online that I can't beat lmao

-does being able to recognize and distinguish different star trek alien scripts make me a nerd ☹️

-SEVEN AND RAFFI BROKE UP????

-broooo

-i wasn't all that attached to them actually it's fine

-why is everyone having a mental breakdown and it's only episode one 💀

-i wanna have my bones crunched by a hot Orion man........ He's so green and beautiful.........

-earth space dock is a lot quieter outside STO lmao

-neo constitution?????

-OMGGGG HI SEVENNN

-making seven use her human name when she pretty explicitly doesn't like that is sooo cute........ I don't trust this new captain.......

-OMG GEORDI'S BABY??????

-NOOOOOO OH MY GODDD I'M LOSING IT

-is geordi not gay. Is that not actually canon. Did I make that up. I think I made that up.

-wathcing Jean-Luc and Will harass each other is my favorite thing so far

-New captain is kinda hot unfortunately ☹️

-Oh god and he's an asshole. That's my type. Oh God. Oh no.

-dude I can't stand this man. But also I need him.

-"bragging rights" will please

-everytime Jean-Luc gets something about modern starfleet wrong and embarrasses himself I contemplate suicide

-DUDE THIS GUY SUCKS

-"ACTUAL OFFICERS"??? DUDEEEE

-fuck this guy actually

-THE EX-BORG COMMENT??? HOLY SHITTTT KILL YOURSELFFF

-nvm he's not hot anymore he was mean to my boyfriend

-raffi needs help dude is she okay 😭

-13 COURT MARIAL LEVEL OFFENSES???? DUDEEE

-Uhhhh what's up with this. Handler thing.

-the warrior comment made me think Klingon but that's probably very very wrong lmao

-AWWW THEY GOT BUNK BEDS!! They're having a sleepover :3

-angry Will is really really hot. Sorry. Sorry. I'll leave.

-seven is so cool I'm losing it

-OH OMG OMG SEVEN COMMITTED MUTINY THATS SO SILLY YESSS

-yeah no I can't stand this guy

-OLD MEN COMMITING CRIMESSS

-The special effects in this show are so bomb I actually don't care what you all are going to say, you have no whimsy and joy

-OH FUCK THAT STARFLEET BUILDING JUST HOLY SHIT NOW ITS COMING OUT OF THE SKY HELLOO????

-Jonathan Frakes has never done anything wrong in his life and I'm obsessed with him

-will stop playing with the cremated remains

-i'm so tired of British people dude

-YEAHHH BEAT HIS ASS WILL aw he's done nvm...

-HER WHAT???? HER HUH????? HELLO????

-oh that ship is totally fine and not terrifying at all

Overall rating, 9/10. Very solid.

[icharchivist]

Who in the FF VII gang do you think can bake? I've got cookies on the brain now

HELP

i think Tifa probably knows how to bake, with her running a bar both in canon and post canon, i think she probably got her hands in doing other stuff in the kitchen

in my heart i feel like Barret would be good or maybe was in the past before he lost his hand, but he would be a bit awkward with his prosthesis (especially when he was only having a gun there). But i think Barret would still try because it's important for him to be able to have those bonding moments with Marlene. So i think he probably wouldn't bake with ease but he'd help out as much as he can in the kitchen still.

(in fact i totally picture that when Tifa and Barret met each other they both teamed up to give Marlene as much of a normal upbringing in this chaos so they'd be in the kitchen with Marlene on Barret's lap, and Barret would whip the ingredients once they were all together, while showing Marlene how to do, while Tifa would help out for all the things Barret would be awkward with doing)

I also believe Reeve can cook pretty well because his mom taught him right (he's a real momma boy, watch On The Way To A Smile: A Denzel Story to learn more--), but he's always so busy that he keeps just feeding himself with energy drinks and food so much so he probably forgot how to cook. Save him.

the remake also leads me to believe Biggs would cook pretty well since he was very active at the Leaf House taking care of kids and the others folks there talk about how Biggs would effortlessly take good care of the place.

for the rest of the cast, i feel like most of them either are neutral or disaster in the kitchen. I don't think Cid ever set a food in the kitchen to help out. Nanaki cooking with his paws is out of the question. Cait Sith is a robot and probably inherited his creator's lack of focus on that. Vincent has been locked in a coffin sleeping for 30 years this man doesn't know how to even navigate in a kitchen anymore.

I feel like Yuffie is probably more used to survival cooking type to really know how to bake but who knows.

I don't believe Cloud, Zack, or Aerith would be able to not fuck something up in the kitchen. I genuinely believe Cloud and Zack would both have the idea of "if we need to cook 10 mins at 300° degree it'd be quicker if we cook it at 3000° right" "i'm getting out the fire materia brb" and then they would fuck it up, and for Aerith i believe she would try her hardest and all but something will go wrong somehow. I believe those three would be disaster in the kitchen, i believe in my heart--

oh and in the Crisis Core squad, i believe Angeal could bake quite well. Genesis would never dirty his hands with that but he'll be here reciting Loveless verses for mental support (his friends are not feeling supported there). Pre-Madness i feel like Sephiroth would help out but never be really good with it, since he was always made to focus more on war stuff anyway, and i feel like it'd add a layer to how his Madness was pretty much "well i'll be the monster they set me out to be anyway" by also reacting like "oh they think i can set a kitchen on fire? what about tHE WHOLE TOWN" (Nibelheim dying in the back)

Kunsel could probably bake but he's always busy with data collection so he's probably not having the head for it. Also Avalanche-wise i have no idea for Jessie and Wedge, could go either way.

and oh god there's the Turks too i can't forget.

before that: Rufus never cooked in his life he's a rich kid. I don't trust Reno in the kitchen at all, Rude, it's up for debate. I feel like Elena wouldn't be good either. The only Turks i'd trust are probably Tseng because he's a perfectionist, and Cissnei because she seems more put together at least

... so yeah in term of the main squad i really only believe in Tifa, and Barret is probably the closest to her because he makes effort damnit, else i include Angeal, Tseng and Cissnei on the list.

this is my final message--

[the-woild-is-y-erster]

I'm going to bed soon, but I just want to say (as an adult that dropped outta college and then went back) that your education is not final. It's not be all end all.

It'll hurt for a while, everythin hurts for a bit, but either you'll tell her or you won't, and that's okay. Your choices are for you, and we all care about you man. You're not stupid for jus like? feelin feelins. All that shits totally normal and valid but you hafta stick with life nd with us or whoever you ends up spending life with. I can't help much nd I ain't gonna pretend I can (<- on the aroace spectrums) with the whole love thing, but jus know that it's ALWAYS better to write your thoughts out then keep em inside. That way you can come back later and look at them nd see your thought processes nd stuff. Or you can write em out nd delete it if that helps.

Life might suck right now, but it ain't gonna suck forever. The only way that it WILL suck forever is if it's cut short, so don't let that happen, y'know? If life tries to kick you down, throw mfing hands and take your time and get back up when you can. It don't matter when you do, just that you do at all.

I dunno. I dunno if this helps, but I'm jus tryin to say that you're not alone and youse cared about nd also jesus christ my typing style help god please not the newsies the infection (/lh). Stay safe man. - Jack

fuckyou im sobbing now/lh

i just

i grew up being taught that showing any emotion besides Happy or Neutral is Bad!™️ so its really difficult for me to like

deal with anything? because i was taught to push feelings down and stick it out, and my parents have made it all worse by never showing emotion either. i didnt see my dad cry in front of me until i was fourteen, and the only time ive seen my mom cry was when i got a bad grade, so its all fun and games here. and my pa is literally bashitbonkersoutthewazzoo. like he's a conservative (we live in the south us for context so its even Worse!) and he taught me to shoot a gun at the ripe age of three! and theres a gun in every room and he's a. he reveres ben shapiro and jesse kelly and those guys, and i spent the entire quarantine listening to him talk abt how the election was faked and how covid was either fake or brought by the chinese (he couldnt decide) and hes severly racist!!! yippee!!/s so feelings arent a big thing in my house.

added onto the fact that i was raised christian? the first time i looked at a girl differently, or the first time i realized how uncomfortable i was jn my own body was horrifying to me. im atheist (ish? it's complicated) now so it doesnt matter to me, but i still have all that internalized crap abt liking her.

and i have severe pain in both of my knees like literally 24/7 and ive had it for YEAAARS but my ma didnt believe me until super recently and so i only just got an appointment with an orthopedic doctor! because the first general doctor told me i was faking it<3

and!!!!!!! the real fukcing kicker!!!! my parents have blatantly refused to pay for my education!!!!!!! like outright and several times!!!!!! only because i wanna get my bachelors in fine arts in theater!!!! they said it was a stupid degree and that i would get nowhere<3 so ive got that ahead of me too. and the last time i got a bad grade, i got grounded for two months. and it was a 79.5 on a minor quiz.

so we have fun here.

but i have all these plans!!! and dreams!!!! and places i want to go to and food i want to eat and languages i wanna learn!!! so i know that i'm not gonna off myself, but sometimes.

sometimes it seems reaaaally tempting.

but i really genuinely appreciate you, and riff, and toff, and dave, because you guys are so much nicer and more sympathetic than anyone i know irl.

so like.

love you/p <3