#Zero's cool though. they're a ghost

[checkerzarelost]

being the only non-monster alterhuman in a system where most of the alterhuman/nonhuman alters are vampires, angels, or other supernatural/fictional beings is funny cuz it's like

the ghouls are having a nite out and the monsters be mashing til the cat comes to front and wants a little treat

[odo-apologist]

Every ENT character is the most character ever. Archer is a bitch he plays a fundamental role in the creation of the Federation he brings his dog on away missions which once causes a diplomatic incident he likes water polo he commits war crimes he saw a gazelle giving birth and implements it into his rousing speeches he had a wet dream about his first officer that included his dog's funeral he had to carry the soul of the creator of the main tenets of Vulcan philosophy in his head he gives a lecture on Tycho Brahe while getting his ass beaten during an interrogation scene. T'Pol is strict in her Vulcan beliefs she doesn't believe in time travel even as she's presented with irrefutable evidence and remains somewhat skeptical after experiencing it firsthand she is the funniest person on Enterprise she is more emotional than average Vulcans to the point that she had to have memories erased for causing her too much distress she could canonically pick up any of her crewmates and carry them bridal style she has Vulcan HIV she has it cured by the woman that later watches Spock and Kirk roll around in the sand in Amok Time she is technically canonically trans she is a recovering drug addict. Trip is a perfect gentleman he undergoes incredible emotional losses his favorite movies are Frankenstein Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein he gets pregnant five episodes in he dies in the worst episode of the entire series (and the entire franchise) only to have that death retconned in the following tie-in novels he ran around the ship in his underwear he leaves the ship for a couple weeks only to come back after one person had been kidnapped another thrown in jail and the engines are on the verge of destruction and reacts like :/. Malcolm is gay he has 50 ex-girlfriends he has only had one friend in his life his own sister barely knows anything about him he dies alone he likes pineapple even though he's allergic to it he gets spacesick he worked as an agent for a top secret organization he's afraid of drowning he whined about getting a cold he had a spike driven through his leg and didn't complain at all he has a psychosexual obsession with a man he thinks is after his job and grows to respect once they had a homoerotic fight scene before witnessing him die. Hoshi is a linguistic prodigy she's the greatest contributor to the universal translator she has a panic attack on one of her first missions she ran a gambling ring she has a black belt in aikido and broke her superior's arm she has never been to the principal's office in her life she is afraid to use the transporter she became an empress in an alternate universe she is the only one who gets laid on Risa making her the first human to do so she reacted to the threat of getting worms injected into her brain to make her reveal secret information by spitting in her interrogator's face. Travis is the sweetest man ever he loves rock climbing he gets injured whenever he tries to use those skills he's a fan of ghost stories he grew up on a small freighter he gets neglected by the narrative his counterpart helps Hoshi become empress he works out when he's horny he dies in a alternate future where Earth is destroyed he's a movie buff who would probably love the Criterion Collection he likes to chill in a part of the ship with zero gravity which he calls "the sweet spot." Phlox grins like the Cheshire Cat he breaks doctor patient confidentiality to help figure out Malcolm's favorite food he goes crazy when the rest of the crew have to sleep through part of space because of how social his species is he has three wives who in turn have three husbands he responds to the news of one of his wives propositioning a crew member by being like "cool! have fun :]" he once nearly vivisects Travis because he's being affected by radiation and gets obsessed with knowing why the guy has a simple headache he has a menagerie in the middle of his sickbay. And they're all my best friends.

[i-am-snowils-admiral]

So the dpxdc fandom has been trying to come up with more ways to get Danny into Gotham without relying on the old Bat-adoption trope (though it's a fun trope that I love), which typically either means aging him up or giving him a fake id and making him live alone in Gotham pretending to be aged up, but personally I think we can streamline the process a bit by borrowing liberally from Marsalias' fic Adoption (if you haven't read it, definitely do, it's a really good fic) and sticking Actual Master of Time Clockwork in Gotham as yet another weird rich cryptid.

For those who haven't read that fic, the basic premise is that Clockwork decides to adopt Danny completely legally through both ghost and human methods. He is required to establish a human persona for this, which I find hysterical. He and Danny end up living in an incredibly creepy manor that they both love. We can easily uproot that thing and plop it into Gotham. If we want to be particularly funny about it, we can sandwich Wayne Manor between Clockwork and the Drakes to make them all neighbors.

Now what you do from there is obviously subject to whatever story you're wanting to tell, but there's a couple fun things I want to suggest:

Clockwork doesn't try very hard on his human persona. He still dresses like a time god in a fantasy novel (I'm a little in love with 13thcat's designs so I like to imagine his human form looks a little like this). You have to live, what, 40-50 years in a city to be established? Sure. Why bother aging visibly in this time? That's not necessary! What does he do for work? Uhhhh he's a woodworker who makes clocks. That's why he has millions or even billions of dollars, obviously.

5-year-old Bruce Wayne is OBSESSED with Clockwork (aka Charles Worth). This is baby's first incredibly pure crush. This is your really cool kindergarten teacher that you remain a little in love with well into adulthood, except instead of being nice CW is just really weird and doesn't care about what 5-year-olds are able to discuss. Baby Bruce does that little kid "I'll marry you when I grow up" thing that everyone finds adorable but CW says "there are many timelines where you get married, though never to me. Some options are better than others, but I won't tell you about them" because what else would he say.

When Danny shows up in Gotham decades later as CW's adopted kid Bruce is zeroed in on all the gossip. His interest is based entirely on his childhood obsession though so he uses absolutely zero Batman skills to investigate the situation and therefore finds nothing weird about Danny's background. The batkids find this hilarious because there is Clearly something weird going on with that kid.

Clockwork could easily solve all of the Bats' problems and tell them the answers to all the investigations they're doing but why would he do that???? That's boring. He's vibing in his new house with his cool liminal son why would he be worried about *checks notes* the hundreds of people dying to rogue attacks nearby.

Despite never being genuinely helpful he DOES randomly drop in-universe lore that no one would've figured out otherwise. Usually he does this about six months after it would've been really nice to know.

He doesn't do this out of malice he just doesn't intervene in things normally and if he does, it's only by request. The Bats (besides Batman because he's still oblivious) are too worried about what he might ask for in exchange to make requests though they know he's powerful but they are totally wrong because he's just sitting there baking bread thinking "hm I wonder why Timothy never asked me to help him get Batman back from being lost in the time stream, I could've done that really easily without changing too much. Oh well, whatever makes him happy."

Danny also never makes requests but that's because CW went a bit too hard on teaching him messed up karmic lessons about interfering with time so Danny just assumes it's always a bad idea to ask.

[ckret2]

What are some of your favorite books?

This is not an exhaustive list. I have read a fucking lot of books. I guarantee you I have forgotten 8 out of my top 10 favorites.

Here are the answers that would make my literature teachers proud:

Grendel; To The Lighthouse; Dracula but I was into Dracula before it was cool; Don Quixote; a moment ago I had two others but I forgor

Here are some other answers:

When I was a kid my mom said I was too young to read RL Stine's Goosebumps books so I was banned, so I picked up one of RL Stine's Fear Street books instead, because at age 7 I understood malicious compliance. The book was Revenge of the Shadow People. It was the first horror story I ever read. Because of that I've had a lifelong obsession with shadow people characters. (Heartless, Aku, Okage Evil King Stan...) It's a modest book, but it helped shape my personality, so it belongs on this list.

My middle school favorite books—because I read them 5,000 times and will never forget them—were How To Disappear Completely And Never Be Found; The Last Book In The Universe; Self-Portrait with Wings; and anything by Neal Shusterman. The Last Unicorn SHOULD have been one of my favorites except I only saw the movie and didn't learn about the book until I was an adult.

As a kid I was really into Lovecraft when I was still young & ignorant enough to be like "gee, the way he writes about other races sounds kinda racist, but I'm sure there's a good reason for that!" The reason was he's hella racist. On the bright side, there's now a bunch of very good Lovecraftian stories ABOUT racism. I liked Lovecraft Country (of course) and The Ballad of Black Tom.

Lovecraft was the biggest influence on how I think about horror and Hitchhiker's Guide was the biggest influence on how I think about comedy and idk what that combo says.

Adultier favorites: Wild Seed (anything by Octavia Butler tbh), Machineries of Empire trilogy, Sherlock Holmes Vs. Cthulhu and I shan't apologize for my terrible taste; The Android's Dream; NOS-4-A2 which I picked up because it had the same name as a Buzz Lightyear character even though the Buzz Lightyear character is a robot and the book is about a car; I'm gradually working my way through Poirot; Carnacki the Ghost-Finder. 

I read the Popol Vuh in college and was hypnotized by its poetry but that was an academic translation and more recently it's had a poetic translation that I've bought but I haven't read yet.

Here's some random recent books I enjoyed—not necessarily my "favorites," but they're in my recent library card history so it's easy for me to look them up rather than trying to pull titles of old out of my ADHD black hole. Beholder by Ryan La Sala was fantastic—fun cosmic horror (both the premise and the entity itself), fun mystery, and I like it when you can say "and it's a queer romance" as a bonus to what makes the story good as opposed to being its only selling point. Such a Bad Influence had such a perfect ending that I went to the writer's site to immediately email her about it but then my browser crashed so I went to sleep and I still need to email her about it. Darcy Coates is my current "pumps out a million haunted house mysteries" author whose books I'm working my way through. Zero Sum Game was good, I still need to read the sequels.

Separate from the above, I'm in the market for book recs that feature Death/the Reaper as a main character, because I just read one that was crap. (The book was fine; but Death was characterized boringly and didn't have any significant impact on the plot. Like he was the selling point of the book and they could have just left him out.) Bonus points if Death is depicted as an actual skeleton rather than just some guy. I'm flexible on genres, but if it's romance Death has GOTTA be a skeleton, I'm not interested in a monsterfucker bait-and-switch. I already know about Discworld and respect that Death, I just want something that isn't Discworld.

[random-thot-generator]

Late Night Double Decker Delight

Ghost x reader

Thinking about being tipsy enough to get a little naughty with the big guy seated across from you on the bus.

It's a brainrot thot that turned into a smut purge. Just go with it .

tw- MDNI 18+ only - Smut below the cut. Explicit language, explicit sexual content, mutual masturbation.

divider by: @strangergraphics

You'd gone on a pub crawl with your mates for a girls' night out, so you're still a little tipsy when you board the bus hours later, ready to finally go home.

It's late enough that the bus isn't crowded, but you still climb to the upper deck and teeter down the aisle to the seats in the back. It's just always been your favorite spot on the bus, for whatever reason.

You pay no mind to the young couple snogging at the front of the bus or to the big bloke sitting across from you. All you care about is getting those bloody high-heeled sandals off, because they're killing your feet.

Turning, you kick your legs up on the seat beside you and start working at the tiny buckles and straps. You groan when you finally slip them off, wiggling your toes with a relieved sigh.

"Christ, that feels good," you mutter, dropping your shoes to the floor with your bag.

You lean back to rest your head on the cool glass of the window, eyes automatically focusing straight ahead. You smirk when you catch the big bloke across from you sneaking a peek.

Can't really blame him. Though it wasn't your intention, you've unknowingly been putting on quite a little show for him. With your legs up and knees bent, the hem of your short skirt has worked its way up. It's just barely covering your hips now, and the crotch of your lacy knickers is on full display.

He's trying not to look, bless him, trying to be a proper gent, but his dark eyes keep flicking in your direction, like he can't help himself. Feeling a little wicked, you smirk and let your knees drift apart just a wee bit more.

Soon enough, his eyes slip sideways again, then widen. His spine stiffens with a little jerk, sitting ramrod straight when he forces his eyes to face forward, no doubt feeling caught out. His hand curls into a fist on top of his thick thigh. Your smirk becomes a devilish little grin and you titter out a giggle.

He's not a bad looking bloke, now that you're looking at him. He's not handsome in the conventional sense, but there's still something arresting about him. To be honest, he looks like a bruiser. Broad, heavy brow, nose bent wrong from a bad break, a scar bisecting his eye brow, another that jags down from his high cheek bone to nick his upper lip. Hard, angular jaw, thick, corded neck, a cauliflower ear.

Yeah, definitely a bruiser.

And Jesus, the size of him. He's a big bastard. The hoodie and jeans don't hide the thickness of his body, the strong length of his limbs. He's no gym rat with sculpted muscles and zero body fat. He's got meat on his bones, but there's no mistaking the heavy muscle underneath.

You bite your lip. Blondes usually aren't your thing, but those dark eyes of his are really something. Lazy and heavy-lidded one second, intense and laser-focused the next. You decide you wouldn't mind having them focused back on you again. In fact, you'd prefer it.

Your knees spread just a little wider apart.

A muffled moan grabs your attention. You peek over the seat to see the couple up front are still snogging, going at it hot and heavy. Tongues dueling, hands groping, it looks like they're trying to devour each other. Heat floods your body, watching them go at it. Your hand resting on your thigh slides higher, fingers dipping towards your center. A lacquered nail brushes against lace. Your hips twitch. You do it, again, just barely grazing over the lacy material. You hum, pleasure vibrating in the back of your throat.

The sound draws his gaze back to you again, his head turned more in your direction this time. Oh yeah, he likes what he sees, and that only makes you want to show him more. Knee knocking into the back of the seat in front of you, you slide two fingers over your mons, stroke down your covered slit. It makes your clit tingle and God, does that feel good. Your eyes flutter shut, but his low groan has them snapping open again.

He's slouching in his seat, hips shifting forward to spread his legs wider. Head turned, he's now openly watching you pet your pussy, dark eyes smoldering. His hand slides off his thigh, up and over his crotch, palming at his cock through his jeans. He then gives the immense bulge a hard squeeze, and oh fuck is that hot. You increase the pressure of your hand, biting your lips together to muffle a moan as you cant your hips.

Your knickers are getting damp and sticky, the smell of your own musk hitting your nose. It triggers a pulse of arousal deep in your core, muscles contracting, channel clenching, and you can feel your slick ooze out of your folds. Fingers tense, you draw them up to rub circles on your swollen clit, a whimper escaping your parted lips.

The big bloke grunts, gripping himself hard, eyes unblinking as he stares at your hand working your hard little nub. His face is flushed, color riding high on his cheekbones and damp forehead. Fuck, you want to see him, want him to pull his cock out and stroke it for you with that big, rough hand of his.

"Take it out," you gasp at him from across the aisle, eyes locking with his. You nod in encouragement when he stares at you, uncertain. Your tongue darts out to wet your lips. "Wanna see you," you breathe out, eyes flickering back down to his crotch.

His head swivels to peer over the seat at the front of the bus. The young couple are oblivious to the two of you, the randy lad basically on top of her now, pressing her back against the window. They're too busy with their own little make-out sesh to notice what's happening in the back with the two of you.

Burning gaze shifting back, he hesitates then twists to face you, throwing a heavy leg up on the seat. Tugging up the bottom of his hoodie, he works with frantic fingers at his belt and fly, parting the denim to reveal a bit of pale skin dusted with golden hair above the waistband of his undershorts. Bracing his feet to lift his hips, he works his jeans down a little lower. He then shoves a hand into his skivvies, using the other to push the waistband down, hooking it under his heavy balls as he hauls his cock out in his fist.

"Oh, fuck," you breathe, hips bucking at the sight of him. Your hand speeds up.

He's bloody big. His cock is long and thick with a bulbous, fat head that's already slipped its foreskin. It's flushed a dark pink and shiny-wet with precum. Your tongue flicks out, swiping between your lips as you watch a bead form, the desire to lick it off strong.

His fist starts pumping, eyes zeroed in between your thighs. "Show me tha' pretty pussy, sweet'art," he mutters low and guttural, rumbling like distant thunder.

Christ, that gravelly voice. His accent is northern, working class, and you can imagine it uttering the most filthy things in your ear. Your eyes roll up at the thought. Barely slowing your circling fingers, you pull aside the soaked gusset of your knickers with your other hand. Cool air hits the swollen, hot lips of your sex and you whimper. God, you're a mess, slick smeared everywhere, droplets clinging in your pubes.

"Ah, fuck," he groans, hand stroking down to grip the base of his cock in a tight fist. "So fuckin' wet."

His shaft is flushed an angry red, his grip so tight it looks painful. More precum beads then breaks, slipping down the delicate tuck of his frenulum, and saliva floods your mouth.

The tip of your tongue curls up to press into the bow of your upper lip, your panting breaths now audible. You want to lick that drop away so bad, follow its trail back up to his glossy tip and probe its tiny slit for more, before you pop the fat head into your mouth and draw deep.

Your hips roll, fingertips gliding over your pulsing entrance. You circle it, feel it contract, squeezing out more slick. You let a finger dip inside, pull it back, plunge it in a little deeper.

"Fuck, tha's it, sweet girl," he mutters urgently, fist working his cock. "Lemme— nnh! Lemme see ya fuck tha' pretty pussy."

His voice sounds like sin panting out those filthy words. It makes your cunt clench around your finger, pulling it deeper. His words sound so fucking dirty, but it feels so-so fucking good. When you add another finger, it feels even better.

"Fuck yeah, jus' like tha'," he slurs, hips rutting as his hand pumps faster. His mouth falls open, tongue lolling out to swipe at his bottom lip. "Christ, wanna lick yer pussy." He grunts, his expression turning feral. "Bet it tastes s'fuckin' sweet," he snarls, baring his clenched teeth.

You whimper and pump your fingers faster, can hear sloppy, wet schlick of each quick thrust. They match the frantic fapping noises coming from across the aisle. You fixate on his pistoning hand, hear his choked grunts, and feel your pelvic muscles tighten, your core begin to pulse.

"I— oh fuck— I'm gonna come," you pant, shocked at how fast you got there.

Do it!" he demands, fist flying. "Come f'me." When he sees your thighs begin to tremble, his eyes suddenly go wide then snap shut. "Fuck— Fuck!" he strains out, his back curling forward, then his cock erupts.

Watching him come, your own orgasm hits you like a freight train. "Oh, God..." you gasp.

His head snaps up, watching as your climax crashes through you, your body seizing up and shaking with the force of it. A look of savage pride and satisfaction has him baring his teeth in a wolfish grin. God, that expression alone could make you come.

You stare at each other as you come down, breaths slowing, sweat cooling. When you glance down at the cum striping his lower abdomen, you experience a little puff of pride yourself. It gives you a deep sense of satisfaction knowing he came that hard that fast because of you. You figure he must feel the same way, because he did the same thing to you

Grabbing your bag from the floor, you dig out a packet of travel tissues and split them with him. It begins to get awkward as you both set about cleaning up and righting your clothes. To fill the stilted silence, you exchange names, try to joke about what just happened, but it's too embarrassing to keep the conversation going. Then you remember the other couple. Bloody hell, you forgot all about them.

Peeking over the seat, it's only then you realize they're gone. When did that happen? Frowning, you peer out the window and gasp. Christ, you're almost at your stop.

Hissing curses under your breath, you grab your shoes, fingers fumbling with the blasted tiny buckles as you hurry to strap them on again.

"Ya olright, sweet'art?" your big bloke— Simon; he said his name is Simon— asks you.

You peek up at him through your lashes, feeling bashful now that your buzz is gone. "Um, yeah. Just didn't realize we were so close to my stop."

He nods, looking chagrined. "Doan feel bad. I missed mine altogether."

You laugh, liking the wry, sheepish look on his face. "We were a bit, um... distracted."

He huffs, rubbing the back of his neck. "Heh... Yeah." Then a little smirk curls up the corner of his mouth. "Ain't about t'complain, though. Best bus ride of my bloody life," he murmurs lowly.

Now you're the one who's flustered, but feeling beyond chuffed. "Me, too," you confess with a shy grin. You tilt your head. "Sorry you missed your stop."

He shrugs. "Doan matter. I'll call an Uber after I walk ya home. 'S too late f'ya t'be out walkin' alone."

His concern makes you feel all warm inside. It's been a long time since you've met a decent bloke. You give him a considering look, then smile. "Want to come up to mine for a beer first? Least I can do, since you're walking me home."

He takes you up on that beer after walking you home.

But he didn't call for the Uber until after breakfast the next morning.

-

[aceofwhump]

For the Anon wanting books with panic attack scenes, here's a few I can think of on the top of my head:

Male Whumpees: ▪These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunninngham Grant (MMC is a war veteran with PTSD) ▪The Small Hand: A Ghost Story by Susan Hill ▪A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon (IIRC Roger has one as a result of his PTSD from his hanging, book 6 in a long ass series though) ▪We Redeemed the Rain by Ashley Dill (closed door romance, the MMC has what he describes as panic attacks but they're later revealed to be more like PTSD flashback episodes as a result of CSA)

Also, I feel like you're right about Reviver by Seth Patrick, (I feel like Jonah for sure sort of had one when he had to do a speech at a conference or something)

Female whumpees: ▪The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware (thriller) ▪Billy Summers by Stephen King (TW for this as the character in question suffers them as a result of being gang r*ped)

I asked my friend who mainly reads romance and she recommended a bunch so thought I'd include them just in case nonny is into that (all of these are male whumpees): ▪How to End a Love story by Yulin Kuang (chaps 3, 19 & 22) ▪The Lifechanging Magic of Falling in Love by Eve Devon (chaps 2, 7, 16 & 23, this one has zero spice) ▪The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams (chaps 26 & 27) ▪Yours Truly by Abby Jiminez (MMC in this has severe social anxiety) ▪Unsteady by Corinne Peyton (sports romance) ▪ The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun ▪The Ex Vows by Jessica Joyce ▪Emergency Contact by Mary HK Choi (young adult) ▪One Star Romance by Laura Hankin ▪Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert ▪Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston ▪ Oxford Star by Laura Bradbury

▪Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane

Also, just a hint, if Nonny goes to either the triggerwarningdatabase or booktriggerwarnings website and selects anxiety/ panic attacks from the list of triggers then a list of books tagged with that will come up and they may be able to discover some more.

BOOKS!! YES!! THANK YOU NONNY!!!! Oh my god this list is amazing!! And Roger in Outlander!! That's the book I was trying to think of but couldn't figure it out!

I also remembered Project Hail Mary and doesn't Ryland have a panic attack in it? At least once? And I just finished reading System Collapse (a Murderbot book) and SecUnit for sure has a panic attack in it. It has a flashback and a couple of panic attack moments. So good.

And thank you for that website rec! I didn't know that existed tbh. Very cool.

[fictionadventurer]

Ranking the Adaptations of A Christmas Carol That I've Seen

Adaptations

A Christmas Carol (1910)

A Christmas Carol (1951) with Alistair Sim as Scrooge

A Christmas Carol (1971) animated version with Alistair Sim as Scrooge

A Christmas Carol (1984) with George C. Scott as Scrooge

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) with Michael Cain as Scrooge

Bah, Humbug! musical performed by a local amateur cast

A Christmas Carol (2009) animated version with Jim Carrey as Scrooge

A Christmas Carol: A Play in Two Acts script by Tom Woods

Rankings

Best Scrooge: As much as I love Michael Cain's version--such an icy, refined exterior with an underlying warmth waiting to be released--I might have to give this one to Jim Carrey's Scrooge, because I now find myself comparing all other Scrooge portrayals to his. His goblinish Scrooge is so vividly disgusting--so expressive and with such distinct mannerisms. He manages to believably portray everything from the childish glee to the pathetic old man to make the character feel layered, yet retains an appropriately Dickensian level of cartoonishness. Michael Caine's still a close second.

Best Bob Crachit: The amateur actor in the stage version. Having him played by my brother-in-law's uncle really helped to sell the everyman vibe, but even beyond that, he played him as such a nice sweet family man to a level no other Bob Crachit has reached. (Kermit the Frog gets second place).

Best Fred: The Muppet Christmas Carol by a mile. That man exudes Christmas spirit. No one else even comes close.

Best Marley: The Muppet version is great, but their version is more about the Muppets than the book. The 2009 Disney version gets points for book accuracy, but went a bit too hard on the horror imagery. No particular version really stands out.

EDIT: No, wait, the stage version actually did have a pretty good Marley. Seeing all the dry-ice fog on-stage really helps sell the vibe, and he got properly scary and memento-mori at some points.

Best Ghost of Christmas Past: Either the animated Disney version (having him portrayed by a younger version of Jim Carrey was brilliant) or the 1971 animated version, for being the only version that captures the book's constantly-shifting Bibllically-accurate-angel imagery.

Best Belle: The Disney Christmas Carol by a mile. The only one who's portrayed as a complete, strong character instead of as a sad prop in Scrooge's story.

Best Fezziwig: How can you possibly beat Fozziwig from the Muppet version? Perfect casting.

Best Ghost of Christmas Present: Almost every version does the character well (though the 1910 version had all the ghosts played by the same female actress, which was a weird choice), so I'm giving this one to the Tom Woods version, because of the brilliant adaptation choices in this scene. Playing the Crachit's and Fred's Christmas parties side by side. But especially having Scrooge watch a sermon where the priest describes all the poor people's Christmas parties that Scrooge visits in the book, and the Ghost recites some lines along with him.

Best Crachit family: The 1984 version. They're all adorable.

Best Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come: Nothing quite beats that enormous Muppet, though I did love how the Disney version portrayed it as a shadow. The 1910 version portraying it as a woman dressed in mourning was a cool choice, even if there was zero menace.

Best Mrs. Dilber: The 1951 version is pretty good (and a bunch of other adaptations kind of rip off this version), but I also love the casually self-justifying portrayal in the 1984 version.

Best ending scene: This is far and away the best part of the 1954 version--Scrooge's joy over his reformation is so palpable. This is also where George C. Scott's genial portrayal in the 1984 version really shines, though I'm not fond of how smug he seems in the scene with Fred's family. The Muppet version is very sweet. I love seeing the gobliny glee of Jim Carrey's version (though the choice to have Crachit narrate at the end was so weird).

Most accurate adaptation: The 1971 animated version. It's so short that it doesn't introduce any major changes, and the animation allows it to match book descriptions closely. The Disney version is almost word-for-word in the Marley and Christmas Past scenes, but then goes off the rails during the Christmas Present and Yet-to-Come scenes.

Best atmosphere: The 1984 version. It's so cozy.

Weirdest changes: The many adaptations that decide Scrooge's father hated him because his mother died while giving birth to him (Fanny is younger!). The 1910 version putting in a plot where Scrooge makes Fred a partner so he can marry the woman he loves.

Favorite moments of keeping something from the book: I'm putting this here so I can mention that I love the 1984 version for being the only one to include the scene with Belle's daughters. And for including (along with the 1971 version) Scrooge reminiscing over his childhood reading.

Best overall: I'm not choosing. As you can see, I love parts about all of them.

[tubbytarchia]

SOS last episode thoughts

Ok so it did just go out with a pathetic whimper lol. Again I have mad respect for fWhip but wow this was very. Lame sorry. I've spoken of my SOS thoughts before but wow the potential this gimmick could have had, and instead, we FINALLY get our first permadeaths, and fWhip decides "okay might as well end it" why. Like, things were not interesting, things COULD have finally gotten interesting after Jimmy's, Joel's and Lizzie's deaths, and instead they just ended it. Just apocolypsed the world. Super charged creepers, wither skeletons, basically no flying or else you die, no ability to sleep, world borders quickly drawing in... As the members slowly start dying they're just like "uhh well GGs um thanks for playing" it's so. it's so lame. That was so nothing burger. Zero tension, zero stakes... What was all this for. A gimmick built around reviving dead people, basically designed to bring tension, and then when the first non-revived deaths occur, they decide to just end it. I don't get it. Why. Why did we even do this kind of gimmick

This could have been something cool. And yet the only memorable thing I'm taking away from this series whatsoever is the Pillagers' suicide bomb death and nothing else (the maid trauma too but I don't want to think about it) (Mog was cool too I'm happy for Mog). And ofc Scott killed himself again. Can he stop. That's such a pathetic death for Scott he needs to stop killing himself this is driving me insane. People need to stop letting him kill himself

Anyway uhh I like that Jimmy and Joel were here as ghosts just to sabotage the horse race and to bully Sausage specifically. Deserved. And also after handing out prizes for the race, Oli just disappears until a message pops up that Sausage killed him. That one kinda hurt. Oli's blonde boyfriend died and he fucked off and was then killed by Sausage of all people. Of course. I need to watch his POV though when he uploads his ep

[adracat]

G Witch episode 16 thoughts

Or the episode where the real plot thickens. No offense to earth and Guel but these are the sort of stakes and drama I'm weak for. Truly a wonderful present to receive on this blessed of Sundays! Just in time for Walpurgisnacht too

And we start off strong with this heated Prospera and Bel confrontation! Cont. from last time, Bel just learned Eri Samaya is not Suletta Mercury or even alive anymore, but a mysterious 3rd thing-- her biometric code uploaded to the cloud aka Aerial. We learn her immature body couldn't handle it so she perished. Eri is now entirely composed of Permet particles, and without Aerial housing her consciousness she'll dissipate. The Gundam is literally possessed by a child's ghost.

And it seems with a permet score of 8, the datastorm can be extended with Quiet Zero and create a space for Eri to live. Or that's the implication, I gather. How exactly that would happen is a mystery though I suspect it would mean granting Eri a new physical body, perhaps by 'overwriting' Suletta's mind/soul. (Well this is sounding familiar, isn't it 3h fans?)

But amid all this, there's the matter of Benerit's leadership. Without Delling, they need someone to control the various corporate beasts so it's decided they'll hold an election. Awfully democratic of them tbh. Though I wager leadership might boil down to whoever can crush hardest in a Mobile Suit royale.

We know Shaddiq will be throwing his hat in the ring, as will our prodigal failson Guel by the looks of it. Speaking of, I wish he had a bigger moment with his brother but maybe later? Their surprise was pretty good, and I enjoyed Guel's talk with Petra. She's grown up quite a bit from the shallow bully/fangirl of the first season.

Moving on to Mio, I went nuts over this shot. Suletta is fulfilling all her promises!! Even cleaned her disaster area of a room and messaging three times per day. She's unnervingly good at following directions tbh.

Adored this so much too. Lauda is grateful to GUNDARM for their aid and subsequently clears them of suspicion in the terrorist attacks. He goes out of his way to say Mio is free from the dueling games too, but Mio could care less about that petty nonsense. Her heart and mind is set on Suletta.

Quick mention to Secilia for being the most relatable person in the show. She just wants to sit on this god forsaken couch, watch the drama, and see who'll be Miorine's husbando. She's so funny, I swear.

And ofc we get spacian/earthian hostility in the wake of the attacks. You can't blame these kids for being scared and lashing out at the nearest targets but also Earth House was clearly not involved and aiding students during. Even Lauda of all people can understand that. They are grieving for a friend apparently which just complicates the situation further. Sad for all tbh

Martin steps up to defend his housemates, which was nice to see, but it's Mio who is able to shut down their hostility with a clever bit of blackmail. She's so cool and taking no one's guff this season

Nika had a brief interaction with Sabina, but it was insightful. We understand Sabina's loyalty to Shaddiq now as she's an earthian who was taken in by Grassley. Like Nika, she wants to become a bridge for spacians and earthians. Their methods contrast Nika's but they're all coming from the same place. Sabina is anyway. Shaddiq is a bit more inscutable.

Detective Mio is exploring all avenues in her quest and the space assembly league are all too happy to collaborate. They all find Shin Sei and Prospera suspicious, it seems. Valid observation. She does manage to locate Nika, sorta, and brings that information back to the others.

Mio is so adorable when Earth House thanked her for everything. This is probably the first time in years people appreciate who she is on her own merits and formed bonds that aren't conditional or tied to her father. It was just a really wholesome moment. Ah I love her and Earth House! Especially after hearing that first drama cd sketch.

Shout out to Till for shipping these two like the rest of us. Solid wingman right there. Poor Suletta doesn't quite know where they stand after all this time and doesn't want to be a nuisance, but still desperate to show Mio her dedication.

Just look at this pathetic puppy face 🥺

Only a monster could say no to that look, and luckily for her Mio is an understanding and loving bride.

Prospera Jumpcare. Watch out y'all, this one has a mean bite. Her showing up suddenly was unnerving. For the love of all that is holy, never do this again lady. Creeping me out somethin fierce.

HOO BOOOY where to begin? So 5lan was rejected from Aerial immediately, unlike when Eri was humoring El4n and Mio. Is this a sign she's grown in power or just fed up with 5lan's gremlin antics? Could be a combo of both! I take this as confirmation there were multiple failed clones/instances of Eri and Suletta was the lone sucess. The others look Eri's age. 12 of them in total, making Suletta unlucky 13.

I kinda felt sorry for 5lan here, cause he has a right to want to live and not be a tool but also... I don't like him and wish him nothing but misery for being a creep + striking Bel, who I do love. Poor Bel is not having a good week in between Prospera's guilting and now 5lan's.

And we finally arrive at THE SCENES we've been waiting for. It's so wonderfully tense but also tentatively hopeful at the start. Suletta who wants nothing more than to bridge the gap and Mio who wants the same.

Mio starts off with an empathetic apology, stating she understands Suletta's choice in ep12 even if it was traumatic for her. But the reconciliation derailed the moment Suletta declares her mother was right after all. She did the right thing. Run gain one, move forward and gain two.

Mio is galvanized by this logic and hastens to ask Suletta how she can smile at something so terrible. She might understand why Suletta killed for her sake, but she doesn't get how Suletta can just blindly accept everything is ok; that murder was right. Then Mio goes directly in, striving to make Suletta understand. She presses her about her mother, asking if Suletta would do anything. Including giving up her dream for Mercury or killing again.

Her answer, while terrible, is yes. To all of it. Suletta would forfeit the school for Mercury. Would kill again at the behest of her mother. Would do anything so long as her mother said it was right.

Suletta only sees the positives. She got to go to school, have friends, and meet Miorine who she loves. All because she moved forward at her mother's demand. It's horrifying but it makes perfect sense why she would think this way. It's clear from her anxious gestures she's not wholly oblivious to the horror either, but deems her discomfort inconsequential when she gains so much from obeying.

Hearing this speech is the breaking point for Mio who dashes away, leaving a forlorn Suletta to gaze after her. And we're swiftly shown what exactly she has on her mind

This scene was electric from the start. Someone is finally calling out Prospera's manipulation and while she's unflappable as always you have to admire Mio's fire. She wants Suletta to be freed and doesn't care a whit what Prospera thinks.

GOOOOOD this quote. We know Mio loves Suletta genuinely but Prospera only sees her 'daughter' as a tool to be tossed around and used by others. Her phrasing is disgusting in this exchange. 'She's a good little girl, isn't she?' *shivers*

Prospera proceeds to lay her cards on the table and is amazingly forthright, declaring her intent. She reveals her hungry fixation for vengeance and 21 yr long grudge against Delling.

Ngl it's pretty hilarious that Mio doesn't mind the idea of these adults killing themselves fighting each other so long as she and Suletta are left alone. Mio in protective wife mode fr.

It's not that easy however, as Prospera coerces Miorine to help her with QZ. And the first step is to become president of the Benerit group. Miomio for President 2023!! Will she find a loophole from this dire situation? Cast your votes now as we await what becomes of our stellar cast until the next Suletta Sunday~

[quincywillows]

a scattered and overall supportive review of percy jackson season 1

let me just say first of all, it's extremely fun to be enthused about a tv show like this again. the adaptation isn't perfect, but it's a lot of fun, and you can tell there's plenty of heart and good intention behind what they're doing. i'm very much enjoying tuning in every couple of episodes and catching up -- and avoiding the relentless commentary of the internet while i do so lol.

but now it's time for MY commentary!! to preface, i was a huge fan of the books when i was younger, am a stalwart long-term advocate of the original five books as some of the best children's lit of our lifetime, but i also enjoyed the films a decade ago for what they were and think people (including cough rick cough) are way too harsh about them. justice for logan lerman. anyway

i'm not going to do like a play-by-play, but in summary, here are my takeaways from the first season -- what i thought worked, what did not, and things i'm optimistic about going into the future seasons.

the good

for an adaptation of the original series (which, to be fair, i have not reread in years), i felt this was honest and faithful. there were tweaks, obviously, but none that took me too out of it or felt irredeemable. there was a lot to like about this show, so i want to start right from the top with my highest highs.

the worldbuilding / production design. i absolutely loved getting to see how they imagined certain iconic characters, locations, and sequences from the books. it was so exciting to get to see camp halfblood for the first time on screen (at least, in this adaption) -- that moment in episode two definitely felt like a turning point where we picked up from the somewhat laggy pilot episode. i especially loved the design of mount olympus, aspects of the underworld (hades and his upside down castle were baller, though how did percy and grover get up there lol; and i absolutely loved the choice for asphodel and the ghosts being rooted like trees, i never would've thought of that myself but it was so chilling and unique... just wish i could see it better through the terrible lighting, but we'll come back to that), and of course, camp. even down to the small details, like the camp beads... it's just very cool to see it come to life.

the casting. i wasn't sure about some of the casting when the news was breaking, but i'm very happy to have been pleasantly surprised all around (and have majorly avoided people bitching about every single thing). there wasn't any role where i felt like someone was horribly miscast, and you could tell that everyone involved really wanted to be there and committed. i thought the casting of the gods was especially inspired at times. some of the highlights for me personally:

adam copeland as ares. i had no idea he was apparently a wrestler turned actor until my sister told me, but i thought he was absolutely spectacular. very charismatic, with just the right amount of cringefail that ares needed. i found him thoroughly enjoyable in all his scenes.

lance reddick as zeus. having just played horizon zero dawn recently, oh my lorde was this an inspired choice. he was absolutely brilliant. i'm so so sad about his passing, i don't know how they're going to recapture his performance, but i have faith now that they'll find a way.

timothy omundson as hephaestus. i love that they took a softer, more mad scientist approach to his role than like ugly basement blacksmith vibes... i just thought it was really refreshing. his scene with annabeth, where we got so much humanity from him in such a short span of time, was one of my favorite scenes of the season.

jason mantzoukas as dionysus. i mean. what else can be said. obvious choice, but he was so fun lol. i hope they give him more to do next season.

other standouts beyond the main youth cast for me were jay duplass as hades (his brief appearance in 107 was thoroughly enjoyable) and dior goodjohn as clarisse (she was by far the acting standout of the first couple episodes to me). also very happy to see jessica kennedy parker and sinclair from the 100 get work, lol.

walker as percy jackson. it was really wonderful watching walker grow as an actor even just through the first eight episodes. the difference from 101 to 108 is almost night and day. you can tell how much he cares about the project and percy as a character, and he upped his game with every episode. i cannot wait to see what he turns out in the coming seasons. to be fair, i thought all of the youth cast did a decent job, and i'm giving them a lot of leeway and room to grow since they are literally child actors -- it takes time to hone your craft, and im optimistic they're all going to do a great job as the series goes on. but walker was, definitively and thankfully as the protagonist, the standout.

charlie bushnell as luke. i was so excited when i heard he got cast because i loved him in diary of a future president, and he did not disappoint. i kind of wish he had more to do, but all of that was forgiven in the finale when he had his final confrontation with percy. oh, the acting popped off then -- i can't wait for him to get to chew up the scenery more in the coming seasons.

grover and percy's friendship. it was so sweet to see this come alive, and i thought walker and aryan had excellent natural chemistry together. they were so endearing, and i really believed their friendship basically from the start (them swapping their sandwich fillings is a tiny detail from the pilot that has stuck with me since; i just loved that choice so much). they definitely provided a lot of my favorite moments in the season, and i think evoked the most genuine "aw wow" moments from me.

percy's relationship with sally. since sally was, understandably, absent from the original novel, it was awesome to get the flashbacks here that allowed us to more deeply understand their bond. i thought walker and virginia did a great job with this, and the young actor who played little percy also did a surprisingly great job (he was actually one of the stronger youth actors in the pilot imo lol). you totally understood why percy was doing everything he was, because that mother-son bond felt believable. big shout-out to the absolutely baller line "i am sally jackson's son." one of the first writing moments where i was like oh snap!

the music. a good score really can't be understated, and this one did not disappoint. did just what it needed to do. i also loved the closing title sequence and the art direction there with the epic music -- just such a nice touch that i'm so glad they included.

some of the writing. i'll get more into some of my qualms with the writing below, but there were definitely some great moments that deserve their flowers. i thought they did a great job weaving in some early themes without being heavy-handed about it (percy having to define who he is for himself, mostly). there were some genuinely funny moments that made me laugh out loud, including "i am impertinent," annabeth's "i'm multitalented," and the entire exchange on the road side when the trio to ares are like no... we're fine... ahaha bye... oh and percy trying to drive the taxi out of the garage at the casino was absolutely hysterical.

pivotal scenes hitting their mark. when the show needed to deliver, i thought they really delivered. i absolutely loved the staging and acting in the final luke and percy confrontation -- the lighting of the fireworks was such a cinematic touch. percy's arrival at olympus and scene with zeus was also a big standout. i loved a lot of the st. louis arch episode, and thought the hephaestus golden chair sequence was really well done. overall, the episodes i thought were strongest were without a doubt 104, 105, and 108.

expansion where expansion was welcome. one of my favorite aspects of the series is how it's giving more nuance to the monsters and "villains" of the books. i loved that we got a little more motivation for alecto beyond evil -- that she clearly wanted to accomplish her own mission and retrieve the helm, whether out of loyalty or fear. i loved how medusa got much more depth and humanity, that we're sort of reexamining the fairness of how myths are told rather than just taking it all at face value. i'm really looking forward to seeing how that continues in the next seasons.

the decent

percy and annabeth. to be fair, i think my issue with this is more on the fan reaction than the show itself. i think the show is doing a decent, if somewhat awkwardly paced job, of building their friendship and offering small little hints of what could blossom in the future in classic youth awkward ways -- unexpected hugs, banter, etc. i think walker and leah are both doing a good job, and i look forward to seeing how it develops. but my god, people on the internet are really jumping the shark so hard here. i can't handle seeing more "uwu percy is in love" posts when it's like. y'all. THEY ARE 12. THEY JUST MET. LET THEM ORGANICALLY BECOME FRIENDS FIRST... i just hope the creators don't feed into that and also jump the shark. like yes, we all know where this is going, but can't we enjoy the actual journey to get there instead of forcing what isn't there yet? in any case, on the positive side, some of the moments between them i really enjoyed: the conversation on the train when grover was asleep, the hephaestus chair sequence, annabeth giving him her camp beads before going to olympus (that was a slay... that was a legendary slow burn start moment worth hyping up), the way percy smiled at her in their last scene... that's the good stuff. let's not rush through what we're getting folks. the water is fine.

lin manuel as hermes. here is the thing. i thought lin did a good job. i thought his casting was apt, and fun, and he did a great balance of hermes charisma and like, a darker edge. it's just... the thing about lin manuel is that he's lin manuel. and this is coming from someone who likes him, but it's like he shows up on screen and i'm just like. hey it's lin manuel. it's a bit of a "takes you out of the moment" stunt casting, but i'm not mad about it. i wouldn't call it a bad thing. hopefully it'll wear off (though i doubt it). i guess i'm just deciding that hermes is just lin manuel, which honestly, would kind of track.

the youth acting. mentioned this above, but again, some of that early delivery was rough. but i am giving a lot of grace, and i think they've already improved plenty in the first eight episodes. i felt the same way about shadowhunters back in the day when i thought kat mcnmara was hard to watch in season 1, but by season 3 she was my absolute favorite cast member and came so far. i have no doubt these kiddos will do the same. so very much looking forward to that.

the not so great

the pacing. this was definitely the weakest part of the story writing wise. it wasn't irredeemable, but it did hinder the first half of the show (which didn't lock in for me until about 104, when the stakes truly shot up at st. louis). and that also affected how dynamics and plot points were able to unravel. the biggest victim of this...

the luke reveal. from the start, i was worried about this. since luke was only really in episode 2, i had doubts about whether the reveal of his betrayal would be at all satisfying or earned. i don't know that i can speak on it for sure, since i knew what was going to happen as someone who read the books, but i still feel we should have gotten more of those luke-and-percy-bonding scenes and convos earlier in the series rather than tacked onto the finale as flashbacks. it worked there, but i think it could've been better. thankfully, all of that didn't hinder the delivery of the finale confrontation, which as i said, was a standout moment for me.

the fight scenes. with rare exception, i was pretty underwhelmed with many of the monster battles and confrontations this season. given that's such a huge gimmick of the novels, i hope they're able to revisit and polish up the pacing of these in the future... i just felt that scenes like the museum clash with dodds were so rushed and anticlimactic. or not even confrontations at all, like the scene with crusty. we got a bit more of this at the back half of the season, in the sword fights with ares and luke, but i wanted more of that epic feeling throughout. i'm hoping it's maybe just a budget concern and that it'll improve in the coming seasons -- especially as the bosses get bigger and the stakes get higher -- but i'm not sure i'm optimistic just yet.

some of the dialogue. it was... wooden, to say the least. i think the worst moments of this were when they were trying to force Kid Bants -- which just felt stilted in the earlier episodes -- and whenever they were explaining greek myths point blank to the audience. there were moments it worked, but many where it didn't, and i hope they flesh out how to better info dump in the future episodes. i didn't mind the change of having percy be more familiar with the myths and thus more aware, but they could afford to finesse how they relay that information to us in the audience without basically reading from wikipedia in percy's voice.

the ugly

oh my god i can't see. i can't SEE. this show went to the teen wolf academy of employing one lightbulb and it's actually criminal. there were so many scenes where i really wanted to see what was happening because the stakes were high or the scenery was so pivotal -- the entry into the underworld for the first time, the vastness of medusa's basement of stone, THE FIELDS OF ASPHODEL -- but the lighting was so god awful i legitimately couldn't see a thing. in asphodel i literally could barely see the trio's expressions, it was that bad / flat. the audience is smart, we understand it's dark out. we can suspend our disbelief so you can add some visibility to this thing. i was turning up my brightness constantly but it wouldn't go any higher. please, disney execs, rick, anyone -- GET ANOTHER LIGHTBULB. i'm losing key immersive aspects of the show to this and it's a bummer. when they were walking through waterland for the first time and annabeth was like "wow can you believe this craftsmanship" i was like i don't know, girl, I CAN'T SEE ANY OF IT. begging on my knees that they fix this next season.

well, that ended up longer than expected, but oh my gods it is so nice to be writing paragraphs about a tv show again. all in all, i'd say 7.5/10 from me in this first season. there's so much to be keen for here, and i'm really happy with how it's going so far.

friends and fellow demigods, what did we all think?

[yakool-foolio]

So just spinning a line here but thinking about it now, What if Chief Yakou was always fated to have a near-death experience? Because he actually says that master detectives don't always get their forte's right off the bat and it's heavily implied that late-bloomers involving forte's are a thing. And l suspect that he gains one involving Telepathy when he gets close to death in chapter four. Because in chapter four he reaches out to Yuma and Vivia mid-argument but he doesn't have a ghost-form and he would not have been able to be heard as clearly and at the volume he was from where he was especially not without alerting the others that something was going on, and in chapter five he calls out to Yuma from several large rooms away but the clarity and volume remains the same and one can tell that when Yuma actually approaches him it is a struggle to physically speak. What are your thoughts?

This is a very interesting theory that I've never seen before! I won't debunk it, but I'll add some 'food for thought' and leave it open for discussion.

I think it's best to start off by addressing the big elephant in the room: can an imperfect homunculus gain a Forte or powers in general? We know Makoto has Yuma/Number One's Coalescence, but we have no idea if that can only happen with perfect homunculi. Without an imperfect homunculus of someone with a Forte, we have zero idea if it's feasible to happen with Yakou if he were to have an untrained power. But hey, that makes it all the more open to theorize whatever the heck ya want!

Original Yakou had a near-death experience in the prequel novel, being nearly beaten to death by the gang leader before Mitsume's intervention. There wasn't any sign of telepathy then, and when he joined the WDO, it's clear they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with him either. As for his homunculus, it's an open field of possibilities. There's definitely something funky about humunculi souls no matter what angle ya look at it, so Vivia and Yuma hearing his voice as ghosts does lean more toward some soul-fuckery going on. Perhaps his soul was already wrestling to be released from his body, but the healing process made him last a little longer as he slowly died to the poison gas. And since Vivia n Yuma are in their ghost forms, they're not only emotionally close to Yakou (as in having tight bonds with him), but spiritually close in that moment as well.

However, I do find it odd that undead Yakou's voice is heard solely by Yuma, where not even Shinigami can hear it, is questioned in the moment but is never brought up again, and so the community has also shrugged it off. It could be because Yakou's soul is in the purgatorial space between life and death, so it's latched itself onto Yuma when he finds him right by the fake corpse of Vivia (who are once again his two closest allies). But what really throws a wrench into everything is that Shinigami shares Yuma's mind, which means she should be able to hear any voices that he hears in his head. So maybe Yuma just hallucinated Yakou's voice before they actually met??? This went so far off the rails for the original theory I'm sorry. Ya can tell I also shrugged that part off until this made me fasten on my deerstalker and smoke a metaphorical pipe. Cool theory, though!

[monarch-boo]

Mayyybe this isn't the final Season?

I feel like they would have explicitly said so somewhere if this was the final Season... this makes me a bit nervous.

If this is *not* the final Season then its it's cool. We got Saber_Heavy and Stringer_Explosion, this stage is interesting as hell,

THE SR STUFF IS SO FUCKING COOL, it looks like there is some sort of special Big Run this Season that will somehow encompass all past BR stages (maybe by being a random stage from shift to shift, kind of like the Tricolors in the Deep Cut fest at least I think that was the one they did it in, where the stage was random every round).

Fighting all 3 current Kings simultaneously is fucking insane, how is that even going to work? Gameplay-wise but also console performance wise lmfao.

That being said, aside from that, what? A new stage, music, two main weps and some kits (and some clothes that might simply be catalog stuff)? Is that really it on the PVP front?

So I'm really hoping its NOT the final Season because if I'm being completely honest... as a non-final Season this is cool, I've come to expect them to be relatively smallish now and I like the stuff they've shown in this trailer. But if this were the final Season? Frankly it'd be kinda garbo. Unless they're saving a TON of stuff for Twitter reveals.

HOWEVER I feel rrrrrelatively confident this is not truly the final Season and we will at least have Drizzle '24 after this. Reasons off the top of my head are as follows (may edit and add more later when I think of them / I hear about things I may have missed on my first watch):

○ They did not SAY this was the final Season at all. I feel like, even if the Season was lacking content-wise, they still would have made a huge stink about it being the final one if it really was.

☆☆ All "not present" content I'm talking about here comes with the disclaimer "unless it's gonna be a surprise Twitter reveal". ☆☆

○ The two currently-unidentified-afaik main weapons that dataminers found are not present.

○ King Salmonid "BigBalloon" is not present. I acknowledge that there is, however, a non-zero chance that "BigBalloon" is the codename for the Triumvirate, though I don't know how likely this is. This is something we won't really be able to confirm until the Season is actually out for dataminers to poke through, I think.

○ The Boss Salmonids in the files (Balloon, Ghost, Wheel, Silo, Stick, Fish) are not present.

These feel like enough things that, if they are not revealed by surprise for this Season, there will probably be at least one more Season to contain them all.

[ironladders]

of every ashrah outfit in all timelines, canon or even unused concept arts if they exist, which is your favorite? im very curious 👀

this got kind of long & out of hand im sorry i just like gushing about this girl (+ i have to air out my thoughts on her skins. i have opinions on literally everyone's outfits)

sadly ashrah doesn't have many costumes to choose from because she's only been in 3 games 💔 oh well though

i think my #1 look for her has to be her mk1 union of light skin:

like it's probably one of the prettiest skins in the entire game. insanity. it's so elegant/beautiful and her hairstyle is really cute, i like how it frames her face. in a way it kinda reminds me of her original design but updated to have more detail. the flowers are so pretty and ugjhghgljgkljg idk what else to say i just love this skin so much

that said i don't dislike any of her outfits, they're all great!

the only one that i actually think needs some help is her ood skin; it looks fine at first glance but the more you stare at it's just. hmmm. this could've marinated a bit longer

there's also the issue that this doesn't feel like an Evil Version of ashrah, which i think is a problem when the whole point of the ood skins is that they're supposed to be darker versions of the mk1 cast. but i digress

also if i may say something controversial..... i don't dislike ashrah's classic mkd/mka looks, i love them! BUT:

now that we've got a game where ashrah has distinct demonic features, i wish they did that for her older appearances. because as much as i love her deception skin and want them to remake it in mk1 (please @ nrs we need another skin for ashrah), she just looks like some lady? if that makes sense? like,,,, i would see deception ashrah in the grocery store and pay her zero mind:

i guess before mk1 the other demons also just looked like regular humans but idk... some facial markings similar to the ones sareena had would've at least been nice. they've got the kanji on her hat translating to "demon/ghost" and that's it.

and i know that's sort of the point, that she's supposed to look like a normal human upon first glance, but idk man! she wasn't done with her absolution yet, midway should've let her look a little strange 😭😭 there's some people who want her to have a normal human face if/when nrs gives us deception ashrah as a skin, but i'd rather they keep her demonic features

on the topic of mk1: i love the contrast here on her mk1 default between ashrah's clothing — clearly inspired by angels — versus her actual appearance. it's really smart and imo reflects how much she tries to distance from her origins as a demon. it really sells the idea of her being an ascending demon & i hope everyone that makes fun of her hairline + face steps on a lego

when the banished trailer first revealed ashrah some people were sad she didn't have her hat, but tbh???? i feel like her mk1 default is fine without one. it would've been nice and probably helped older fans recognize her but i'm not sure if this outfit needs a hat. yknow.

the only other ashrah outfits to talk about (because again she has SO little it's criminal) is the ones from mkd concept art that didn't make the cut:

i have no strong opinions about either of these, they're here i guess. the first one is cool, i like the idea of ashrah with super long hair and she reminds me of a jedi there lmao. the second one is also okay but something about ashrah with a mask feels weird so i'm glad they didn't go with it

speaking of concept art CAN NRS SHOW US THE CONCEPT ART FOR THE MK1 DEFAULTS because i really want to know the early ideas they had for ashrah. we get the final character concepts for everyone which is fine but i desperately want to see the initial ideas they had. i hope they get added to the shrine in the future 🥲

idk how to end this so boom. ashrah face

[bloodonmysqueegee]

ME SQUEEGEE I'M READY TO HEAR ABOUT IT I'VE REREAD YOUR FIC A MILLION TIMES PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

Okay buckle up @farmer-attorney-at-law @spaghettigod69

(tagging cuz u wanted to know)

Sleeper's cool Ghost x Faith AU

I have a lot to say about just general character interaction stuff so here goes

For those who haven't seen it here's the crossover fic in question

So Copia and John!! Satanic cultist singer and traumatized catholic priest. The Johnpia dynamic.

I know it would've made more sense timeline wise to have John meet an earlier papa but him interacting with young Nihil wouldn't be nearly as interesting to me

But them!! I see potential there. John and Copia essentially flip flopping from pitying the other to finding their ideas entirely loathsome. Wanting the other to come join their side to wanting to just punch each other. Lots of passive aggressive talk.

LONG RAMBLE:

John meets Copia a few times by chance, and while not completely trusting him, he's intrigued by him. Something like "how could someone this nice seeming be part of a cult I've heard so many horrible things about?"

John tends to look at things the Clergy does in a far more extreme and evil light than we do as fans obviously, he has a lot of demon cult trauma

He almost wants to pull Copia away from the Clergy even though he soon learns that that's a total impossibility.

Meanwhile Copia thinks he's far too uptight and wants to show him that the things he believes in aren't wrong, and that they have done good things. It's a real stubborn back and forth. Like they both think the other guy is being insane but they can't leave it alone kinda way.

I think it'd be funny if John went to a Ghost show once. Like he would probably expect it to be a small thing with blood sacrifices and evil speeches so hes like, pretty shocked when he gets there and the venue is massive, there's a merch stand, and Copia is singing.

He would probably have a meltdown during year zero though. Probably con clavi con dio as well. Hopefully they don't have to escort his ass out

But yeah they hang out in like a real passive aggressive way

Copia wants to show him the ministry but like. If Primo spots John it's on sight. Literally. Instant mortis. Full boss fight. Same probably goes for some of the ghouls. Actually no mostly everyone there would not like him

And John can't really show Copia any of what he does because his allies likely wouldn't trust him at all (Garcia might shoot him), and John is paranoid that if any of his enemies catch wind that he knows this guy it could be a serious issue. John doesn't want a cult versus cult war. Or worse

But somehow these fuckers keep bumping into each other.

Like John is hunting some demon to exorcize it and Copia is somehow already there and he's been talking to the demon for 20 minutes to get its opinions on his new album. Also he's been followed by 25 rats and they're all trying to go for John's ankles. Whimsy and fun maybe.

ANYWAYS IF YOU WANNA KNOW MORE SHOOT ME AN ASK SHRHSJ I HAVE MANY IDEAS

also you could definitely crackship them if ur interested.

[shkretart]

Mate, I think I just absolutely spammed you with reblogs, because DAMN is your art amazing!

I see a lot of uncertainty around how you draw Ghost and in general you seem so self-conscious when you have zero reason to be! Your art is absolute fire and I love to see new art of yours on my dash.

Others have said it before, but I'll say it again: Who cares if other people's versions of Ghost look similar? At the end of the day his face is a mistery, there's no right or wrongs here. And, besides, I think there was one person who said something on the lines of Fandom Work Can Deviate From The Canon and they're absolutely right!

In the end you are the one who needs to be happy with your art, nobody else. Sure, it's nice when other people like and reblog and comment, but you are always your most important audience.

Here, have a muffin. As a treat. <3

I think my story with how I draw Simon is that there is an actor who played the role of Ghost and in my head it is already canon, although there is no official confirmation (I mean his looks).

Plus, many draw him with white hair, shaved temples, a lot of scars on his face, and so on. Even though everyone's face is different, it's the same for everyone. And it drove me to a dead end. And when I draw my version of Simon, I think that I draw something wrong and not interesting to anyone ... It probably also plays a role that my Simon doesn't have a cool design, he's just a regular guy haha.

It's hard to explain, maybe I'm really overthinking it 🤦

Thank you very much for all the words you wrote. It really warms the heart and the mood only gets better!

Thanks for the muffin, it's very tasty ❤️

[specialshinytrinkets]

ghost: Who or what haunts your OC? What happened? How do they live with their ghosts? (Seven Seven (if bestie does!!))

guilt: What is your OC guilty about? How do they handle their guilt? Do they try to avoid guilt, or do they accept it? (Kee)

hate: What does your OC hate? Why? How do they act towards the object of their hatred? (Lioo)

mistake: What's the worst mistake your OC ever made? What led to them making it? Have they been able to fix it? How have they moved on? (Derres)

>:3€

Ghost (Seven): "Oh, hehe, don't you worry, buddy! Nobody's haunting li'l old me! And if I was, I'd just reduce the number to zero! If we're talkin' concepts and not ghosts, then... I guess I've been haunted by the family guilt this whole time, can you believe it? Crazy stuff, I know. BUT! I have been attending therapy, and my therapist, she managed to convince me I do not have to center my whole life 'round numbers anymore. I have no idea what to do with this information, but, if I'm bein' honest, it's SO much easier to live like this. I don't have to repeat the first word two times! Do you know how hard it is to hide such a habit?! To make it into a presentable, cute little scene quirk for the audience? I had to make scripts in my head on the fly! That's right, my shows are unscripted. Pretty cool, huh? Every single one is pure improv. I've always been good at improv. Been told I'm good with kids, too! If I had the qualifications, maybe I could become an elementary school teacher."

Guilt (Kee): "I have lived too long to not have any guilt on my shoulders. It's hard to pick... I've made myself a fool countless times, with my friends, family, partners, by getting too emotional or not emotional enough talking with them; sometimes I'd get violent and fight my way to self-isolation, in attempts to "prove" something, I suppose. All of that to say, I've been a jerk my whole life. And I've accepted it, after weeks of ruminating over every single incident. Some took more time, some less, but a couple of apologies, and I was fine. The only thing I'll never be able to accept is my whole... Escape. That was very, very stupid of me. Sure, it's led to some encounters I'd never otherwise have, but it will never be worth all the stress I've put my Mom and Dad through by vanishing. And Zaaze. How she's still tolerating me is a mystery. Derres, too... How did he see anything in me when I was so... Dismissive of him? It feels like he's not a human sometimes... I hope you were not insinuating THAT thing, by the way. I don't want to remember it."

Hate (Lioo): "My father. I like to pretend he doesn't exist, so that when he's least expecting it, I can clock him in the jaw. Bastard really thought moving here would save his marriage. Freakin' moron. ... Oh, we're talking about objects? Do animals count? Then, I guess I don't really like crows? They're too smart for their own good. At least they're not as bad as dolphins, though, but that's a given. I don't know ANYONE who likes dolphins. After they rebuilt Atlantis and sunk it again, nobody trusts them. Minus that one weirdo, what was his name..? Squeel, I think? But I wouldn't trust their word. Their whole biography is so shaky that - and I know it's unfounded, but I have my reasons - I believe it was raised by the dolphins. He's just way too nice about them. Plus, I heard he smells like fish? On sidenote, I never liked his moves. They're too janky. Honestly? They're such a tryhard, it's embarassing. Even if they weren't raised by the dolphins and aren't a trained fish assassin or something, they try SO HARD to appeal to the MMD enjoyers demographic it's a WONDER nobody called him out. So what if he can lick its elbow?? It doesn't make his music good! I genuinely believe its audience is compiled of wannabe marine biologists that got kicked out of university because they let an octopus escape, knowing full well what it can lead to. I read of this guy once, who said he didn't believe in the Kraken and that we're sheeps for thinking otherwise. Sorry, fishermen, your boats got drowned by a collective hallucination, I guess! Unbelievable that guys like him get to vote... What was I talking about again? Oh, yeah, crows. They're... Not the kind of bird I'd want to encounter on an empty street. Ever."

Mistake (Derres): "Worst mistake ever, huh? Hm... Well, it's a story that I don't like to recount, but, if you insist... My biggest mistake was not teaching Lioo how to perform the spider safety circle, alongside some other basics. If I had done that, she would have survived... And we could all have... Ah, but what's the use of crying over spilled milk! I've learned my lesson, as grim as it is... And, uh, now I'm teaching her all that I know myself! That will... Never make up for what happened and my selfishness... But it's a start, right? Right..?"