#also this episode is canonically before 'for the uniform' but I'm watching it after

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buck & Eddie:  Parallels of Chris’ 3 Parents

Chris has three parents; his father is Eddie, his mother is Shannon and his dad is Buck and they all love him!

While I was watching and live blogging during episode 7x1, I was listening to the conversation Buck had with Chris but when I heard Buck explain to him that his mother died, I realized Chris’ response about how she left him and Eddie was very important because IIRC, up to that point, the show had never let Chris express the fact that Shannon left them.  I always believed she said goodbye to him before she left them in El Paso because she put him in the bed with Eddie and when Eddie woke up, he asked where she was, Chris replied, “She’s gone”.  Granted he was maybe 5 years old at the time but he remembered he asked Santa for Eddie to come back when he was 5 years old too, so it’s not farfetched.

(Hopefully Chris' storyline will continue and not be sidelined for multiple reasons but mainly because Eddie and Chris are still healing and also because I've been hoping that Chris would have his own storyline that's not directly connected to Eddie and Buck. Eddie's Chris' father and Buck's currently his legal guardian but the pain of losing a parent is something Chris has experienced all on his own. IIRC, Chimney is the only other person who lost their mother and it would be great if they're allowed to talk about it the same way he talked with Denny about his dad in 6x13. I'm so happy Chris finally has his own storyline and I've written several fanfics about it in my "Bad Cop vs. Good Cop Parent" series. Chris is not 7 years old anymore and dealing with his mother's death is something the character will have to deal with for the rest of his life.)

Additionally, their conversation reminded me of several other conversations Chris had with Eddie and Buck over the years and all of them revolved around the three of them leaving and Chris asking for them to come back.

IMO, Buck being the one to mention Shannon’s death was partially for the new viewers but it was also for those current viewers who’ve continued to consistently deny Buck’s place in Chris’ life as his second dad for the past six years (related post linked here).  If 9-1-1 wasn’t trying to make a point with the scene of Chris and Buck talking with Eddie standing outside of his bedroom door listening then they could have let Eddie say it.  The comment would have been just as effective and it still would have alerted those who are part of the new GA that he’s Chris’ biological father and Shannon is his biological mother but she’s deceased.

Since TM, the OG -showrunner is back, it appears he wants all of the GA, both old and new to fully understand Buck is Chris’ parent too.  Reminder, Buck, May, and Chris all have two dads (post linked here).  May told Bobby in 5x16, she had two dads and in 6x11, while they were at the hospital and Buck was in a coma, she explained for the first time in CANON that Buck is Bobby’s found son and Bobby responded, “He’s a good kid”.

It’s evident Chris has viewed Buck as a parental figure in his life since season 3, especially after the Tsunami but in 3x10 it became more apparent when he asked Buck if he could spend Christmas with him.  He’s been looking for Buck as his other parent for a while (related post linked here) but apparently, Buck still hasn’t realized his role in Chris’ life.  Based solely on the colors of Chris’ shirt (related post linked here) and Buck’s “looking for answers” uniform (related post linked here) it appears Eddie’s the one who will have to tell Buck how important he is to Chris and to him.  He tried during the will reveal but it seems like Buck thinks he’s just Chris' legal guardian in the event of Eddie's death, not Chris' other dad.

Back to the regularly scheduled program of Season 7 Episode 1…

Now there was a lot that happened in 7x1 and the scenes with Eddie and Chris, Buck and Chris and Eddie, Chris then Shannon were all important.  By now it’s likely everyone noticed Buck, Eddie and Shannon all sat in the same spot on Chris’ bed with Chris in the room but the emphasis was put on Buck because not only was he in the room; he sat on the bed with Chris.  When Eddie and Shannon were in the room with Chris, he was sitting in the chair.  Therefore, the question is, why would the show have Buck sitting on the bed when he could have sat in the chair since him and Chris were the only two in the room?

The answer appears to be they were making a point regarding Chris’ three parents, i.e., Eddie, Shannon and Buck!

The sections below include the three times Eddie, Shannon and Buck left Chris along with the three times he asked for them to come back. (Please note: the scenes below are listed in date order not episode order.)

In 3x15, while Eddie was trapped in the well during one of his flashbacks, Eddie remembered a conversation he had with Chris from 2017 before they moved to L.A.  He asked him if he missed him while he was gone and Chris replied that he missed him all the time.  Also, after Eddie asked him if he wanted to take a trip with him and Chris replied he did then he explained he was never going to leave him again.

In 2x10, it was 2018 and Chris told Eddie while he was in Afghanistan, he asked Santa for him to come back but it’s important to note that he told him about it after Eddie and Buck took Chris to visit Santa. 

Chris asked for Eddie to come back first then when Shannon left, he asked Santa when they were in L.A. for his mother to come back but he asked for that to happen while Buck and Eddie were there with him.

Here are two important reminders.

First this is the same episode that Eddie told Shannon he forgave her but he didn’t trust her even though he told Buck he could have his back any day in 2x1.

Second, it’s the episode where the elf told Buck that he and Eddie had an adorable son.

In 4x8, it was 2021 and Chris ran away to Buck’s loft after Eddie told him he was dating again.  During their conversation, Chris explained that he wished he could forget because people leave, not just his mom and when they do, he misses them.  Buck reassured him and explained it’s hard when people leave but they always come back (not Shannon because she’s deceased) but everyone else like Isabel, Carla and Chris’ friends would eventually come back.  This was during the pandemic and at the end of their conversation, Chris asked him if he promised and he replied that he wasn’t going anywhere.

In 6x11, it was 2023 and after Buck was struck by lightning and DIED with Eddie being the one to revive him, Buck was in the hospital and Chris insisted Carla take him there even though he knew children weren’t allowed in the ICU.  Eddie explained it but Chris said, “I need to see Buck, I have to talk to him.” 

Eddie snuck him into the room and while he was in there, Chris asked Buck to come back the same way he asked Eddie and Shannon to return but reminder, Chris asked Buck to return himself he didn’t ask Santa for Buck to come back.

 Why is this important?

It’s important because when Chris asked Santa for Eddie to return, he was probably 5 years old and he was 7 years old when he asked Santa for Shannon to return.  But in 2024, Chris is 13 years old, he told Eddie in 6x4 that he’s not a baby anymore, therefore, he’s old enough to speak for himself and he can ask for the things he wants like who he wants to be his other parent.

In 7x1, fast forward to 2024, after Eddie learned Chris had become a player since he was dating five or six girls at the same time, he asked Buck to talk to him because he’s a reformed player.  When Buck did, Chris explained all the girls were special and he likes to keep things loose 🙃.  After Buck explained they wouldn’t think he was a nice guy (related post about the word “nice” linked here) if he made them all believe they were special, Chris asked, “Does it matter?” and Buck replied, “Why would you ask that?  Does it matter?”  Chris said because “They just end up leaving anyway” then Buck asked him why he would say that and Chris responded, his mom left and even though they loved her, she left anyway.

Parallels

Eddie, Shannon and Buck left

Eddie left to serve in the Army not long after they learned Shannon was pregnant and him and Shannon got married but he returned for Chris’ birth.  After he was honorably discharged, Shannon asked him if they could leave Texas and take a road trip to California but he asked for some time.  When he woke up the next day, she left him a note that said she needed time too.  It’s obvious she told Chris she was leaving because she put him in bed with Eddie and when Eddie asked him where Shannon was, Chris replied, “She’s gone”.

Buck left too but it was because he died but two years before he was struck by lightning, he told Chris he wasn’t going anywhere.  Reminder, before they left El Paso, Eddie promised Chris he wasn’t going to leave him again, Shannon wrote Chris a letter that said she loved him even if it was from a far and Buck promised Chris he wasn’t going anywhere.

Chris asked for all three of them to come back

While Shannon and Chris were still in El Paso and Eddie was in Afghanistan (Chris was probably 4 or 5 years old then), Chris asked Santa for Eddie to come back.  Then after Shannon left them and Eddie and Chris moved to L.A., Chris was 7 years old and he asked Santa to find Shannon so she could come back.  But when Chris was 12 years old and Buck had been struck by lightning and died, Chris didn’t ask Santa, he insisted Carla take him to the hospital so he could talk to Buck himself.  After Eddie snuck him into the ICU room, he asked Buck to come back with Eddie in the room.

Side note: Hen was in the room too and since I’ve always believed her, Bobby and Chimney know Buck and Eddie are in love and that they’ve been co-parenting Chris (related posts linked here and here), I figured her response to Eddie sneaking Chris into the ICU was for the GA.  Her initial reaction was one of shock but she’s seen Eddie, Buck and Chris hangout before (in 2x4) also she was part of the conversation Eddie had with Chimney in 6x4 about Chris skipping his science club meetings.  Reminder, Eddie turned around and asked Buck if he knew anything about it and he said he didn’t but I think he did.  Also, in 6x8, Hen was in the fire truck with Buck, Eddie, Chimney and Bobby when they were talking about Chris’ crush, so she knows.

Both Shannon and Buck died but Eddie brought Buck back after doing chest compressions on him and while Buck was in a coma, Chris asked him to come back from wherever he was. 

The show made a bold statement regarding Buck’s place in Chris’ life as a coparent with Eddie along with the fact that they’ll be two dads raising their son together but it’s up to the GA to pick up on it.  Everyone who watched the episode should have understood that Buck is one of Chris’ three parents and of course there will be some who’ll continue to deny it and they’ll claim Buck and Eddie are just best friends who coparent a child but that’s not accurate.  They’re in love with each other and the show is trying to help those people who haven’t figured it out yet that Buck and Eddie will become a romantic couple otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a need for the scenes in 7x1 with Eddie, Shannon, Buck and Chris to have been filmed the way they were.

Will Buck and Eddie become a CANON couple before the end of season 7?  Only the showrunner’s writers and producers know the answer to that question.

[whovianwatchingstartrek]

A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 071 - Trip's Grief

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 3 Episode 20 - The Forgotten

As we open into this episode, Enterprise has mostly recovered from it's heavy damage. We finally have a number of casualties from the battle. Some work is still a lot of work to be done, but the ship is in functioning order.

I love that uniforms in this one are not in pristine order, their grimy, covered in soot and charring, and just I love that look. It's a quick and effective way of communicating that they haven't had time to rest yet. Trip hasn't even had time to shave, he's growing some stubble (and it suits him). I've been loving that such a heavy attack has had lasting damage on the ship

T'Pol has been finding her emotions harder to suppress, but is getting off the Trellium D well enough.

The main plot of the episode quickly takes hold, Archer boards Degra's ship to make discussions with the Xindi council, and decides that they have to prove what he has to say about the Reptilians. Unfortunetly the Council's representative is not convinced by all the evidence, but Degra is being pulled closer towards Enterprise's viewpoint.

Trip's arc throughout this episode was absolutely great. I'm a sucker for characters who overwork themselves beyond any and all reason. Between repairs after the battle and what happened to his sister, the poor dude refuses to give himself the nap he deserves. His dream conversation with Crewman Taylor, the deceased member of the crew Archer asked him to write a letter to the family of was beautiful. His guilt over not being able to write the letter during that scene and his grief over both Crewman Taylor and his Sister was heart-breaking. This breakdown has been coming since the start of the season, and I loved seeing him finally let it out.

The main plot of this one was weak, but that's been par for the course for this arc, however I really loved the character interactions here. Especially Trip, who was absolutely the highlight for me. His final letter to Crewman Taylor's family was beautiful.

Comparing my Enjoyment of this Episode with a Doctor Who Universe Story of the Same Title

Doctor Who - The Forgotten

It's been while since I've got to do one of these! The Forgotten was 6 issue comic run by IDW in 2009. I haven't really got to touch on Comic-Who yet on this blog. Speaking truthfully, most of Doctor Who comic love is directed towards DWM comics and Titan Comic's lines. IDW's run at Doctor Who comics as whole isn't spectacular to say the least, especially their 10th Doctor run.

The Forgotten Specifically, involves The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones waking up in a strange museum dedicated to his life, where he's set to become the next exhibit. A good premise, and one Doctor Who has done both before and since. Trouble is, he also can't remember before his current regeneration. The majority of the comic is dedicated to the Doctor going through the museum and regaining his memories from his previous incarnations, and we are treated to a few flashback stories with the first nine Doctors. I won't focus on those, but one small detail I liked is that the first and second Doctor flashbacks are in Black and White.

Throughout the main story, the comic keeps baiting you into thinking The Master is behind all of this, but actually it's "Ten-two" from Stolen Earth/Journey's end, and it's not even actually really Ten-Two because It's actually all just a dream caused by an Alien parasite that latched onto the Doctor, who's actually dying on the TARDIS floor.

The Forgotten is kinda the Epitome of everything I don't like about IDW's run of Doctor Who comics. It tries to throw the entire breadth of Doctor Who canon at you, but with very little of the Depth to it. This comic brings in Autons, the Kaldor Robots, the SS Marie Antoinette Clockwork Robots, but none of them stick around for more than a few pages, and it doesn't do any of the work into even differentiating them beyond their designs. They're just all robots that shoot in this comic. There's nothing about what made these individual villains unique or scary here. The Fake Ten-Two says one line about speculating to be The Valeyard, but nothing is done with that because two panels later he fully admits to being an image created by cranial parasite. It's just a random Valeyard name drop, and it feels really out of place.

I know IDW also had the Star Trek licences at one point, so I am kinda curious if they had similar issues with that. In terms of this episode vs this comic though, this one definitely has to go to enterprise. While I'm not particularly invested in the whole Xindi plotline, the character writing on this episode was enough to keep me engaged for Enterprise's "The Forgotten". Sadly, another instance of "I swear I actually like Doctor Who, Star Trek is just sharing titles with the bad stories"

[construingseacats]

Ahoy! Just going to make a quick housekeeping post before we get cracking in a few days.

I'll be keeping the reread thoughts organised per chapter, and posting at a pace of around once per day. Note that this won't be uniform, so it might be closer to posting about 2-3 chapters twice per week. I'm aiming to read about 5-6 chapters a week, so that's the pace we're looking at. Needless to say, we're gonna be here for a good few months.

While Umineko has stuck with me for all these years, my memory isn't perfect, so there'll probably be a fair few points I've forgotten about until I'm refreshed on them. Obviously I know the "culprit", but I don't remember the finer details of the cases off the top of my head. I might refresh myself with Will's solution from Episode 7, but that'll be the extent of it.

That being said, very importantly for this reread, Death of the Author is in full effect. I know things were further clarified in the manga, and Ryukishi has gone on record saying that those were the canon answers. I know of Our Confession et al. I'm not taking those into account for this - we're going full purist, so if it's not in the original Episodes 1 through 8, it's fair game. I feel part of the magic of Umineko is that the catbox is never opened (I mean, isn't that the whole point of Episode 8?), so I'm not going to taint that with media that was released after the fact.

That also means this commentary is going to be for Episodes 1-8, and that's it (I say "that's it" as if going through the 1.1 million or so total words are a trivial affair, ha). If there's enough interest I might push into Last Note of the Golden Witch as an addendum, and I wouldn't be opposed to going through Purgatory of the Golden Witch as an afterword. Friendly reminder that Uminetta is a shining star in the community and one of the kindest, most wonderful souls out there.

Also, some quick information about me! Umineko is a very personal story, so what you get from it is drastically effected by the kind of person you are. The first time I read Umineko, I was a 17 year old kid from England getting ready to study Mathematics at University, who'd watched the anime at way too young of an age and wanted to read the proper story behind it. I was really interested in the mystery, but fell way too deep into the fantasy elements (even missing the obvious hints in Episode 3), and still didn't really get the truth of it even after Will's section in Episode 7 (even though I'd encountered the true identity of the culprit). I also fully knew I was asexual, and I'd kind of heard about transgenderism, but didn't really understand it. 10 years on, I'm still very much a writer at heart (and much better equipped to actually write well), a cog in the machine of capitalism desperately trying to escape and pursue more creative endeavours, and not quite sure what's going on under the hood but definitely not cis. I think pretty much all the gender themes went over my head on my first read of Umineko - it'll be interesting to see how much stuff hits close to home this time.

Anyway - starting on Wednesday. Will be going through the Prologue up to the end of Epitaph on the Portrait, then around 6 chapters a week from there, only stopping once we've gone through all 8 Episodes. I'm estimating we'll run for about 24 or 25 weeks, although that's assuming we don't stop for any breaks. Itll be a long journey to the Golden Land - so to anyone who ends up joining me on this, be it as it happens, or some time in the far future, I hope you enjoy it with me.

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

Let's Rewind! Toast watches Voltron: Defender of The Universe (1984)

Season 1, Episode 2: Escape to Another Planet

As much as the intro is cool, I like the GoLion one better because the song slaps

Nobody sounds distressed while crashing sodivns

Line change from last episode as they call the castle of lions the royal castle, so I guess they don't know that's where voltron is? I'm trying not to give the writing too much credit because it's an episodic show more than a story based on

At least the GG believes in the team's survival,,, which isn't much anyway

Pidge is just the absolute cutest, kind of wonder why he didn't do this during his fall last episode, but he wasn't prepared for that one I guess

"Your face is disGUSTing!" -Pidge [Hunk proceeds to spit sand onto Pidge's face] True friendship, insulting one and grossing out the other

"Leave me alone, I'll get up when I want!" -Lance Trying to cover for your ass being up in the air like hunk's was after the fall isn't working my guy

"What's next?" "How about food?" "How about we look for that CASTLE" There's the Pidge sass I was hoping for, get em pipsqueak

I've ribbed Lance a lot for being sassy and almost uncaring sometimes, but that really isn't the case for him, he really does care about the Arusians and puts himself on the line for people who are too afraid to fight back What a sweet guy, no wonder my clone likes him so much

Keith hates fog, good to know

Woop animation error, Keith's tracksuit is half blue and half red when it's supposed to be all blue because of the fog the team is in everyone else's clothing is blue too

Hunk has canonically wrestled a lion cub, I wonder if this means he's worked with exotic animals before!

Oh I never realized there was a moat around the castle, that's probably where blue lion launches, but I like the idea of blue just chilling in a lake instead

The mice are so cute, very expressive too Pidge with his jumping skills again somehow bounces his way to the top of a castle wall

Have you boys never been taught to not go into weird abandoned looking places? If you're going in at least one of you has to stay at the door like c'mon That's why you losers are trapped inside now

Coran! His official title of diplomat of Arus, interesting. Also, why would you tell a random group of dudes about voltron if that's your only hope? They're literally pointing weapons at you good sir

I'm not sure of the aesthetic entirely so feel free to correct me but Arus looked like it had a lot of Greco-Roman architecture, very nice looking but too bad it got destroy OISNV

Princess Allura at last! Very much looks like Aurora/Sleeping Beauty, but I wonder if that's what they were going for since she legitimately is a princess Pidge is smitten lol, I like to think the crush lasts like a week before it changes into seeing her as an older sister figure

Immediately she starts crying about her dead dad, like maybe I'm just being too apathetic, but I don't think you should trauma dump onto strangers princess

The legend just keeps getting more and more muddy So what's true so far is that voltron was split into 5 lions because of Haggar, but apparently King Alfor had activated it before Zarkon's attack and THAT'S when the split happened?? Yeah, uh, I'm just going to stick with Voltron was a legend on Arus and the boys weren't there to see the start of Arus's destruction because it happened years before they got there

Keith "anime eyes" Kogane

I love Allura's voice, it's so nice to hear, and she very much seems her age or older GoLion said she was 16 at the boys' arrival, so I don't see them much older than their mid 20s except for Pidge who is definitely a child at 12

And the official uniforms are on! I still don't really understand why Keith never got black but iirc I was told that red was seen as the color for a leader or something like that I also like to believe that Lance chose blue because it looked good on him lol

Oh, so blue lion IS in a lake, but the castle is basically on an island in said lake which is why there's a bridge as if there was a moat interesting it's probably a moat in GoLion but shh I'm gonna build whatever lore I want with this

Man the old control room was so cool, maybe it's a me thing but LOOK AT ALL THOSE BUTTONS I WANT TO PRESS TO FEEL THEIR CLICK

Voltron is apparently king of robots? I think that's funny considering the VA for Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) is the one narrating the show

End of Episode 2! More exposition, finally getting to see some supporting cast and settling into the main setting for the show Already getting the vibes that this dub isn't supposed to be that deep but because of its more gruesome predecessor it really can be if you pay attention to it

[xoteajays]

My preference in men chances. But I'm an extremist... Either the men I'm interested in are either violent savages, romantic sweethearts and ice kings. There is never the in between personalities with these guys. But one thing they have in common is that they're violent, tendencies range from fist fights to murder. I love men who can fight, or even kill, if the situation requires it. The protectiveness attracts me to them.

~

No! That's a different scene. But the confetti scene is from an episode before the Carrie scene episodes later. Both scenes are funny though.

And there is a canonical queer character in the series. But.. He's really a completely cunt who so deserved everything that happened to him. That's just my opinion though.

~

Oh! Hostel. That's my fault.. I didn't really realize that I spelled the title wrong last time. Then you won't like The Sadness. So you do not have to watch that movie then. Which is fine. The Sadness is a gory movie.

Who? Oh! Iko Uwais. Yeah.. I guess that I enjoy him as an actor, since I have seen quite a few of his work. And Joe Taslim is also in two of the movies too. They worked together a lot. Maybe because they're really martial artists who are in these action movies. Which is so fine by me.

Surprisingly, he's not one of the actors I'm not attracted to. But I have to say the short man knows how to fight though. So credit for that.

I'm thinking about watching Little Women. Maybe not at the moment though, but I can say that it might be a maybe from me. Because I've found out Joong-ki has a cameo in one of the episodes, and you have also wanted me to see some of Wi Ha-joon's work. I blame Vincenzo.

Actually I have already been trying to search for more work of Joong-ki (Vincenzo), Do-hwan and Sang-yi (Bloodhounds). Because why not see more talent from these pretty men. You can ignore me whenever.

Do you have Tubi? Because you can watch Masters Of Horror on that channel, app, whatever. Both seasons should be listed on the app.

Wait.. What? What about documentaries? I'm confused now.

Yes! Mainly their hairstyles. But something about the features, even a little, seemed like that could pass as relatives if they actually did have roles together. Maybe we'd be lucky to have them work together? But who knows.. If they do work together, hopefully in action roles then.

~

Exactly! Either you're petty enough to kick a sick man when he would be down - literally, or you are afraid enough to have a group of people to jump this man when he's down. Nikaido's a cunt for any outcome.

That's how I imagined them dying. If they ever did kill Eri and anyone who was sick in Nameless, euthanizing them with drugs until they've died is there 'humane' way of letting them die. Besides car accidents.

Do you think Takeshi would have let Shion back into the family? Since you never see him again. Except in one scene after he left the city.

~

You can have any headcanon you want. If that's what you believe then that's all that matters then. I don't care enough about the Ichigo Girls. Except when bitching about them, bitching about their horrible types of men their attracted to. Because they're still really stupid that way.

My Orange character is five feet tall, maybe even barely five feet tall if I'm being honest. You know.. "She may be small, but she is fierce."

Apparently our ships with Cobra are short women. I'm fine with that... Because that seems funny to me for some reason. I don't know why.

Maybe Murayama learns not to underestimate women, Rocky's really scolding at Murayama for underestimating how strong women are.

I can't lie. The only person I recognized was Ayaka Miyoshi.. I actually recognized her name. But I had to do some research on the others.

And I might be biased about Ayaka being Hiroto's love interest, when comparing to the other girls. But you choose your own face claims.

You're going with school uniforms? Well.. That makes sense since any Oya boys you see are wearing uniforms, same with most schools too.

~

I've done bad things. Some things I would rather not mention, but the things I did were never what people have been lately. None of.. that...

And my punishments varied on what I did. Either a timeout, slap on a wrist, or maybe grounded. Depends on the severity of my crimes that I did. Crimes as in actions, not actual crimes. Not always. Anyway.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm a complete disappoint for everyone in my family. And I'm an only child. Which makes the situation worse.. My parents are bipolar. One day they'll believe in one thing, then they would believe in something else the next day. Completely whiplash.

My mother... The best way I can explain my mother, she is considered The Devouring Mother type of mother. That archetype is what she is.

Everything has been worse for humanity now.

mood. my preferences are a lil all over the place too. sometimes i’ll watch something thinking i’ll get attached to one character and then end up liking a different character more.

i do love a good fight-y man tho. fight scenes are so good!

~

yea i’m a lil more of the psych horror side. i mean, i’ve watched gory movies too. i’m just a lil more preferable to mind fuck-y stuff.

little women is admittedly a bit slow and not very action heavy, but i was mainly watching it for kim go eun and wi ha joon. joong-ki was in one scene very briefly, which i did recognise him in since i’d watched those two episodes of vincenzo before watching that ep.

i do have tubi! i haven’t been on it in a while tho, i should recheck it out, there’s some decent movies on there.

nevermind that! i got masters of horror mixed up with a horror documentary series! that’s my bad!

~

i think takeshi would invite him shion back if be wanted to come back. since they’d already lost one family member, i think he’d try to bring shion back to get all his childhood friends back together - and probably stop him from going to fight nikaido if shion found out he was behind smokey’s death.

~

same i dont really care about the strawberry girls. not giving them too much though really.

ur orange girl + my ojou girl 🤝 being short, dating cobra, kicking ass.

rocky’s scolding murayama for underestimating women, but also turning around to his rascals like ‘if you see the ojou girls in a fight, make sure they’re protected’.

i do love ayaka. and she’s tall (well, 5’6) and i need to balance out my short characters. plus, tall chill second hand and short fiery leader is always a fun aesthetic concept. plus her and hiroto’s actor would be. a very attractive coupling.

if you’re referencing those gifs i sent, that’s more about how she’s acting in the scenes; i think her fashion and hairstyle would be different. the full time ojou students would probably wear uniforms, but the part timers wouldn’t.

more ojou notes!

if ojou’s colour isn’t pink, i could see it being purple. more visually similar to oya’s colours, but a lil more feminine. a ‘royal’ colour for the ‘young lady’ school.

alternatively to ojou showing up at a sword meeting, i could see ojou’s leader - i’ll just start calling her yui - going into sannoh territory to confront cobra, about the ‘o’ in sword situation and sannoh fighting oya/murayama. and then meeting him and being like ‘oh no! he’s hot!’ and then fumbling the ball on confronting him. she gets hit by The Crush™ and suddenly she’s all blushy and ‘uh. ehm…😳’.

if we’re putting a label on it, she’s a lil tsundere-ish

also junko hates her. yui’s so confident in being utterly herself, even when she’s suddenly shy around cobra, and he’s paying attention to her! meanwhile junko’s still trying to make herself look ‘cool’ in front of cobra and he isn’t giving her the time of day. also yui does not care about junko and is willing to fight her, but junko won’t square up.

cobra’s really getting clocked from both sides. he’s got both oya and ojou’s leaders being like ‘cobra-chan~ 🥺’ and then they’re bickering with each other because ‘fuck off cobra-chan’s my friend’ ‘you fuck off, he likes me better’.

[makiruz]

Watched the third arc of Andor, episodes 7-9

The pacing is moving from slow to unbearable, the episodes are too long, plots aren't interesting and episode 9 didn't even have an action climax

I do not like the Mon Mothma arc, I don't get it; she's very much a white liberal who doesn't get how bad it is until it affects her, but she's funding terrorists activities, but that appalls her, but when she's talking to her childhood friends she's like "I'm a rebel without a cause!"; I don't get her (specially if you keep her appearance in Ep III deleted scenes and the fact that many of her friends were probably assassinated by the Empire). Also I'm still frustrated with her family, I checked when this show takes place, it's 15 years after Revenge of the Sith, the same time as Rebels, while Mothma's daughter complaining about her work Leia is helping rebel groups in Lothal "steal" Alderanian ships, seriously why isn't Mothma's family radicalized too?

Anyway, a positive. I kinda like Syril Karn's story; I have never seen the everyday life of normal Imperial citizens, I love getting a look into that and I am drinking it all!

Now another negative; I don't quite get Andor's story here. I had seen the scene of Andor getting arrested for no reason and I was confused, I thought it must have been a flashback or something, but no, it's happening right after he participated in a terrorist attack, it's weird; but I do recognize the irony that he got away with a few murders and a theft of Imperial money but gets arrested for walking.

Anyway, I had heard Andor had some influence of THX 1138, and I think the prison might be it, I haven't watched THX but the images I've seen match the aesthetic of the prison. Now the prison being weird it's fine, they do say this is not like other Imperial prisons; but the lack of aliens do feel strange, there were absolutely no aliens in the previous arc, in this one we see one or two extras in episode 7 but after that it's all humans all the way; this is not right. Look, the complete lack of aliens in Coruscant and the upper echelons of Imperial society is perfect, alongside replacing the busy colorful landscapes of the Prequels with the uniform white it goes to show the corruption of the Empire, the once diverse society of the Republic is now uniformly human, that's visual storytelling, it's good; but that goes with a flipside: as the humans populate the high classes they push the aliens down, the lower classes should be populated by aliens to show their downgrade in Imperial society, but it doesn't, the lower classes are still mostly human, where did the aliens go? The Empire kill them? You cannot do genocide at that scale that quickly (that's what the Death Star was for). The other thing about the prison that jumped to me, was that the prisoners were all men, I don't know why that feels wrong to me, I don't have any ready evidence of Imperial prisons holding women and men together; but it feels wrong. I guess because Star Wars has never been big on gender segregation on an instinctual level I feel an Imperial prison should have women and men.

I am more and more convinced Andor's storyline would've made more sense if he was an alien, like I mentioned before his tribal non-industrialized culture fit better as an alien, because humans in Star Wars represent USA; but also getting arrested for no reason, and stuff make more sense if he's an alien and getting profiled by the canonically xenophobic Empire.

Also, side note, the prison is not worse than anything we've seen the Empire do before; I am still baffled by people claiming that this show made them feel the evil of the Empire more than, I don't know, watching the once terrifying Geonosian race driven to near extinction to the point Captain Fucking Rex who fought Genosians during the War now has to protect the last geonosians, who are one (1) guy and one (1) egg. Even the children shows that aired on Disney showed the Empire murdering innocent people; actually that's a thing about this show, everyone kept saying it was a more "adult" version of Star Wars, but nothing here is more serious or dramatic than Rebels or Clone Wars, the shows that aired in Cartoon Network and Disney; the only thing I'd call "adult" about Andor is the tone, and by the tone being "adult" I mean it's boring and pretentious

This show was overpraised. Even if the last 3 episodes are Hugo worthy, they don't make up for the rest of the show. I mean, it's not bad and the production is gorgeous, but the writing? the story? That needed at least another draft, and more aliens

[bumblingbabooshka]

I’ve decided to forgive all of Sisko’s crimes because I just watched the opening of “For the Cause” and he is so cute

[epicene-humanoid]

some trans Jeff thoughts:

he realized he was trans in elementary school and just went fuck it I'll just start introducing myself as Jeffery and see if anyone decides to stop me (as we know, jeff winger can get away with almost anything)

he got top surgery the second he could afford it (around the same time he started at his law firm), and probably bribed someone to keep it a secret

"I'm jeff winger and i would rather look at myself naked than the women I sleep with" are the words of a man proud of his transition

he's really insecure about his fashion sense, which is why he mostly dresses like the douchey guys at his firm in the start of the show, he thought you can't go wrong with the sleazy lawyer look

he will never admit it but he feels super good about the dean hitting on him, because the dean is a (cis) guy, acknowledging that Jeff is more manly than him

i think he starts out stealth and comes out to everyone one by one, probably starting with abed because he knows abed won't judge him and will probably just see it as an interesting backstory.

abed just says it's cool and maybe worth a prequel exploring Jeff's transition, and jeff asks him to predict how all of the members of the group will react to him coming out.

abed's predictions:

britta will be over-the-top supportive and do a ton of research about trans history, probably put together a slideshow just to prove how progressive she is, and jeff will be a little bit weirded out, but also touched that she did all that for him, though he would never let her know that

shirley will be confused, because she doesn't know how someone she trusts and knows so well could be part of a group she was raised to hate, but ultimately realizes that there's nothing actually against the lgbtq people in the bible, and, as a cool character development arch, starts to advocate against use of the bible to justify bigotry

troy will just think it over and decide that Jeff's physique and coolness are even awesomer knowing how much work he'd had to put in to be like that, and respects Jeff's manliness even more

annie will give him a hug, say something sweet about how she'll always love him, and worry about his health, because even she read somewhere that taking testosterone makes you more likely to have a heart attack, jeff will explain that the risk is still only as high a cis guy, and she'll be the one to always remind him to take his shots

peirce will say at best say "jeff winger used to be a chick?" and at worst call him a slur, either way there's sure to be a lot of misgendering from him, and pestering to know Jeff's deadname (needless to say, Jeff just doesn't tell peirce)

the whole group goes out of their way to keep their beach trips a secret from pierce (the girls don't want him there anyways, he's too liable to be creepy) even though jeff knows that even if pierce saw his scars, all he would have to do is make up a story about some childhood accident and pierce would never question it

sorry this ended up being super long. can I hear some of your headcanons for him?

YES ALL THIS!!! yes yes i’m fully accepting this as canon oh my god

i’m about to type a whole ass ESSAY at midnight because i have been DYING to talk about this for months ajfdksljk,,, this is going to be obscenely long and i might end up adding even more to it as i continue to rewatch the show because there is truly no shortage of trans jeff content (especially when you’re trans and see transness in every little thing ajdkslfkjs)

spoiler warning for literally everything about this show under the cut <3

i 100% agree, i feel like he realized he was trans super young, especially since in the show we see him as a little kid a couple of times. 

like look at little jeff with the oversized sweatshirt and little ponytail!! that’s childhood trans fashion. not to be dramatic but part of me thinks that jeff’s dad left before he fully came out to his family (which gives him even more angst about it, because until that one Thanksgiving episode, he’s never able to prove to his dad that he’s a better man), but part of me thinks that his dad left after he came out (which adds that spicy i-should-have-stayed-in-the-closet guilt that he has to work through). 

either way, because his dad wasn’t there, he had to base his concept of masculinity on something else, which was becoming a lawyer!! there’s some line that’s like “after the dust and divorce papers were settled the only man i looked up to was [the lawyer guy]”. like, replacing your father figure in your mind with the concept of “a job where you can talk your way in and out of anything and distort other people’s concept of reality”? that’s trans.

 and the fucking THANKSGIVING EPISODE... i struggle to watch it without crying hehe <3 yeowch! the dichotomy of willy jr. being the “wrong” kind of man because he’s “too soft” but jeff also not being enough despite adhering to all the social standards of masculinity... fuck!! this whole scene of him telling his dad “i am Not well adjusted” and talking about how he gave himself an “appendix surgery scar” when he was a kid and he still keeps the get-well-soon letters from his classmates under his bed? oh my god. the implication of people loving him not despite his scars but because of them?? trans. i can’t think about this episode for too long or i’ll start yelling.

OH and this scene? where he talks about how his mom got him a girl costume for halloween?? and everyone said “what a cute little girl” and after a few houses he stopped correcting them?? and “once the shame and the fear wore off, i was just glad they thought i was pretty”?? THAT’S TRANS... the man needs validation oh my god... and then in all the halloween episodes we see he has these ultra-masculine costumes (a cowboy, David Beckham, one of the fast and furious guys even though he never watched the movies, a boxer with his DAD’S boxing gloves... god) costumes are about becoming something else and he always chooses to be hypermasculine and that is trans.

THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION EPISODE!!!!!!! being uncomfortable during P.E. is a queer experience. period. but him being specifically uncomfortable in the clothes someone else is assigning to him? trans. “are we gonna talk about clothes like a girl? or use tapered sticks to hit balls around a cushioned mat like a man?” TRANS. and him eventually stripping in public? celebration of transness. and the fact that he eventually becomes comfortable in both the uniform and his own style!! trans!! god i love this episode. 

AND AND AND!!! the gay dean coming out episode!!! where it’s the three of them discussing the best way for the dean to come out as gay despite not entirely identifying with that label!! so we have both frankie and the dean who are sort of ambiguously queer, and jeff who’s a stealth trans man who’s probably only out to only the study group at this point. this scene where the dean and jeff have this like eyebrow communication while frankie is talking is just so cute. queer-to-queer communication. “I am so curious” “oh?” “intellectually.” “oh...” ajfdksljfk this scene just screams high school GSA to me and i love it so much.

and SPEAKING of the dean!! i totally see you on that. i feel like jeff has some internalized homophobia/biphobia (like he’d throw punches over someone else, but when it comes to himself he has a lot of shame). and also seeing the dean so confident in all his different outfits/costumes has a weird affect on him bc it’s like “okay, the dean, a cis guy, can do that, but i as a trans guy could Not because that’s Breaking the Rules”. which, like, throwback to the halloween thing. of course there’s no right way to be masculine, but mr. winger does not know that.

another thing!! the episode where their emails get leaked? that includes his emails with his therapist. fuck!! he was outed to the whole world in that episode!! no wonder he was so fucking angry!! this whole episode (and really any time he mentions his therapist) is so interesting when you think about them as a person he talks to about his transition. OH which adds to the thing with the dean!! “and you told your therapist you wanted to be alone this weekend” and “not you jeff, i know you’ll be visiting your dad” ”I told you to stop reading my emails”. luckily his study group has his back and just makes fun of him for emailing astronauts lmao

and WHO can forget “they’re giving out an award for most handsome young man!!!!” what else is there to say about this line besides: he’s trans. you know he didn’t get awarded enough for being a handsome young man when he was a kid, and no amount of compliments when he’s fully-grown can really make up for that. some people crash a kid’s bar mitzvah to cope with the fact that they struggled to be seen as themselves when they were a teenager <3

also his weird relationship with pierce? where he kind of hates him (understandably lmao) but at times has this almost-friends-almost-father-son relationship with him? especially in this episode where he’s forced to bond with him and ends up having a good time by accident (at a barber shop no less, the perfect place to Be A Man with your Man Friend). idk what to say about him besides the fact that pierce says his mom wanted a girl when he was born and made him dress like a girl (and his middle name is anastasia!) so if they’re gonna do any bonding over transness it’s gonna be that. 

okay one last thing and then i’ll shut up for the night. this episode kills me (and almost kills jeff hahahahelpi’mcrying). it’s a very Trans thing to not be able to visualize your future self, it just is. growing up trans at the time he did? i don’t know what kind of future he saw for himself, but i’m so happy that he ended up with a group of friends who became his family and love him the way they all do. i’m so emotional over this asshole it’s ridiculous. 

in conclusion:

they’re trans, your honor <3

[alirhi]

...goddess help me...

This fucking episode. *deep breath* This... This episode is where I'm expecting to get some serious hate. Let me just get this out of the way right up front:

I. Hate. Zemo.

I do not find him sympathetic, or funny, or charming. I find him creepy and annoying. I did not like him in CA:CW and I do not like him in TFATWS. If you are pro-Zemo, you are not going to like my version of this show from here on out. Just find something else to read and don't bother me about it. You've got the actual canon, so go enjoy that.

Got it? Good. Now, on to the main event!

Episode 3: The Power Broker

First of all, Sam doesn't let Bucky walk in there alone. No matter Bucky's (flimsy and nonsensical) argument, Sam's like "hell no. I go in with you, or you don't go in." The main reason for this isn't to keep Bucky from breaking Zemo out of prison (with decent writing, he would never do that) - it's so that Sam witnesses Zemo taunting Bucky with/about the trigger words. because Zemo is a piece of shit.

Since he doesn't know the full story, Sam is confused, but he files this interaction away to ask Bucky about later. He's listening to Zemo acknowledging that Bucky was "not conscious for most of [his] imprisonment" (which, yes, clearly refers to the time he spent frozen, but can also mean while he was under their control as TWS/"The Asset" - also, key word: imprisonment) and when he calls Bucky a means to an end, Sam scowls, looking ready to go off on him, but he waits. They've got more important issues.

Neither of them entertains the thought of breaking Zemo out for even a nanosecond. He does that shit himself. And literally the only reason I'm sticking with him getting out at all is because I want to address some truly egregious moments linked directly to him in the show. Zemo makes them think he's setting them on the trail when really he's just sending them to his motor pool. Bucky and Sam are confused until they see Zemo in his stolen guard uniform, then they're both angry and want to ship him right back to prison, but he strikes a deal with them: "My help for my temporary freedom. Creating super soldiers cannot be allowed to continue; let me finish my work, and then do with me as you will." He has no intention of going quietly back to prison, obviously, and they're not stupid enough to believe otherwise, but they believe they can keep him on a short leash, so they agree for now. Anything to bring down the Flag Smashers and whoever created them.

After the title, we cut to Raynor on the phone in her office. She's agitated, fiddling with things on her desk. "No, sir," she's practically growling, "it was disrupted. - Walker did! - It's not my fault your new attack dog got off-leash!" She pauses, huffs, and says more calmly, "No. Of course not. I'm sorry. - Well, I don't see how, with the new Cap strutting around barking orders! - What am I supposed to do? Tell Captain America in front of a dozen witnesses that he can't have his predecessor's favorite pet because we're not done reprogramming him? I didn't see that going over too well. I made a call. - No. No, no, no, we can still use him. The work's not finished, but he still trusts me. He'll be back." A pause as she listens. Angry again, she snaps, "What do you want me to do, shove a tracker up his ass? He'll be back, and we'll pick right back up where we left off! - Don't worry, sir, the Asset will be fully compliant and ready to use soon. I'll make sure of it. - Yes, sir. You, too." She hangs up and tosses her phone on the couch, grumbling, "Dick."

Cut back to Sam, Bucky, and Zemo getting going on their trip to Madripoor. On the plane, Sam wants to talk to Bucky about what he's learned so far, but doesn't want to bring it up in front of Zemo... until the notebook incident reminds him that Zemo already knows more about Bucky than he does.

After Zemo's line about the list, Sam angrily corrects him: "You mean people HYDRA used The Winter Soldier to hurt." When Zemo shrugs and his response is basically along the lines of "what's the difference" Sam is like "oh hell no."

"Those words you were reciting at him," he reminds Zemo, "what were they, Russian? They clearly meant something. They were supposed to do something. What are they?" "Sam, let it go," Bucky pleads, unable to look at either of them. "It's nothing." "You wanna drown in your guilt, that's fine," Sam snaps, "but make sure it's for the right reasons." He turns back to Zemo, who's smiling at this exchange because he's a monster and thinks Bucky's suffering is fucking funny. "I asked you a question, Zemo. What did those words do?" "They activate the Winter Soldier programming," Bucky grudgingly admits. He doesn't want to talk about it, but he's sure as hell not going to let Zemo speak for him. "Or, they did, before the Wakandans got all that shit out of my head." "It's a shame," Zemo says with a smirk. "Imagine the possibilities that come with perfect obedience." "I think you mean 'slavery'," Sam growls, "and I think you're in the wrong crowd to be looking so pleased about it. Remember that we can send your ass back to prison any time." "Of course," Zemo agrees, but with an arrogant smile that shows he doesn't believe for a second that these two have any real power over him. Still, he bides his time and sits back quietly, watching Bucky fidget with the notebook. Sam turns back to Bucky, seeing his discomfort; he won't let the topic go, though, not yet. He just softens his tone. "So, they 'activated the Winter Soldier'? What exactly does that mean?" Bucky shrugs, still not looking up. "Pretty much what he said - perfect obedience. What little consciousness they left me between cryo and the chair was squashed down, locked away. And I did whatever I was told, exactly the way they told me to." It finally clicks. He'd had his suspicions before, of course, but now Sam gets it. Visibly horrified, he stares at this quiet, broken man, and finally sees the truth of what he'd been through for 70 years: "They stripped away your autonomy. Shit, Bucky, they didn't even let you be a person. That's..." He swallows, looking like he'll be sick any minute. "That's awful, man. I'm so sorry." When Bucky tries to shrug it off and downplay it again, Sam gets angry. "Look at me!" He waits; it takes a few seconds, but Bucky reluctantly looks up and is surprised to see just how upset Sam is on his behalf. "It wasn't your fault. None of it. When Steve said you didn't have a choice, I had no idea... You really, truly had no choice; not even the ability to choose. That's horrifying." "I doubt it would make much difference to the people he's killed," Zemo points out snidely. "Or their families. Let's ask Tony Stark, shall we?" "You shut the hell up," Sam growls. He watches Bucky flinch and make that face - the face he's starting to really fucking hate - that says he agrees with Zemo. Bucky still can't see things the way Sam does; he still feels the guilt and shame, and even when he himself pointed out his lack of agency under HYDRA, it didn't click for him that Sam is right, not Zemo.

It's too much, too soon. Sam sees that and decides to change the subject, to give Bucky some time to process. He nods at the notebook, and they have their little Marvin Gaye debate, where Sam is over the top about it on purpose, because Bucky needs the distraction.

Of course, Zemo ruins it by opening his big mouth again and reminding Bucky of more trauma: his time fighting in WWII. That's why Sam latches onto the bit about Madripoor; to keep the focus not only on the task at hand, but off of Bucky's past that he clearly still can't cope with.

"James... You will have to become someone you claim is gone." Sam is officially ready to throw Zemo out a window. 😂 The only reason he doesn't jump to Bucky's defense again and basically tell Zemo to fuck himself (in a PG-13 way 🙄) is because Bucky's, as Sam pointed out in ep2, a grown-ass man, and because he's just learned how few decisions this poor man has been able to make in his life. Sam doesn't want to come across as another "handler," deciding everything for him, even if he does think this plan is stupid and needlessly cruel.

At the bar, when asked if he wants "the usual", Sam just casually waves the bartender off like "nah". Zemo already said they had business to attend to, so it's not like anyone would be suspicious that now's probably not a good time to be doing weird shots lol. (wtf even was that? I'm not sure I want to know, but...what part of the snake did he drop into that drink?)

Sam's not an idiot (I'm really so sick of this trend of turning intelligent characters into morons because the writers can't think of any other way to move their plot along) so his cell phone has been off this whole time. No sudden call from Sarah to put them all in danger. There was really no point to that, anyway; Sharon likely would have killed Selby for talking about Nagle with or without the excuse of "saving" Sam and Bucky. I mean, it's not like they know who fired that shot, ever.

"They cleared the Bionic Staring Machine," Sam still jokes, but he follows it with, "and they think he's a mass-murderer." "They think?" Sharon stares at him incredulously. "Didn't he kill pretty much everyone he's ever met?" "Wow." Sam glances back at Bucky. "She really is awful now." To Sharon, he adds, "You met Steve; do you really think he'd have defied 117 countries to protect someone evil?" "He did it for Bucky," she points out. "Let's face it - Bucky could blow up half the planet, and Steve's loyal-to-a-fault ass would still take a bullet for him." "You know I'm sitting right here, right? I can hear you." "Look, I don't think you're evil, Bucky," Sharon assures him. "But I know you killed a lot of people for HYDRA." "I'm not denying it." "He didn't have a choice," Sam snaps, glaring at them both. "But we're not getting into that right now. My point is, the government's afraid of Bucky, and they still pardoned him. All you did was steal something. I'm sure they can be persuaded to see reason." "The day the US government sees reason," Sharon quips, rolling her eyes, "is the day I sprout real wings and fly off into the sunset." "Careful, Icarus," Bucky mocks with a smirk, "the sun and brand new wings don't exactly go together." Then he shrugs and glances at Sam. "But she's not wrong."

At the party that night, it takes a few minutes (grumpy old man Bucky's not sure how to feel about the music lol) but a peek of pre-war Bucky comes out to play: they were told to "blend in", so he dances. At first he's just bobbing around alone looking stoic and out of place, but soon he's smiling and dancing between two attractive people - one male, one female. Sam is surprised, but before he can tease him for it, Sharon comes to get them all. Even she's a little "wait what?" at Bucky having a little fun lol. (recovery is not linear, guys. trauma doesn't mean "perpetually miserable, no fun, doesn't even know how to smile." in my TFATWS, Bucky gets his lighter moments; real ones, not humor at his expense)

When they find Nagle, Bucky's the one who notices and opens the secret door, while Sam keeps an eye on Zemo. Bucky catches Zemo trying to grab that gun; closes the drawer on his hand before opening it and taking the gun away. "Nice try." Nagle tries to get away while there's only one person watching him, but Sam catches him and forces him back into his seat. With a bruising grip on the back of Zemo's neck, Bucky drags him back over to where he and Sam can both keep an eye on him. Nagle is killed in the shootout as they're trying to escape; Zemo still runs off, blows shit up, and comes back with the stolen car so he's not totally useless.

I had no problem with Zemo being the one to kill Nagle; Nagle was the worst and def had to die, and Zemo has never had an issue killing anyone. Where I took issue with this scene was Bucky and Sam being dumb enough to let Zemo wander and get his hands on a gun. Nope. Not happening.

Anyway, shootout! Explosions! Funny banter! The seat thing, which is my favorite nod to CW ever lol... And then the conversation on the plane...

"You okay?" "Yeah." Sam sighs. "Just thinking." "About how to get Sharon that pardon you dangled in front of her?" He shakes his head. "About how Nagle referred to 'The Winter Soldier Program" like it was some kind of after school club; like you weren't standing right there. And 'the American test subject' like... Like Isaiah wasn't even a real person." He turns to face Bucky, looking angry and weary. "Makes me wonder how many times... How many times are we gonna run around in the same circles before people learn? And how many people need to get crushed underfoot in the meantime?" "Did you really just equate me with Isaiah?" Bucky frowns, not sure how to react to that. "That man is a hero." Sam opens his mouth to say something, but his phone goes off and Zemo approaches at the same time, effectively cutting off their conversation.

When they get to Riga and Zemo tries to guilt trip them over Sokovia, Bucky deadpan reminds him, "Neither of us were involved in that fight." "I doubt you'd have been much help if you were." He shrugs. "Probably not. But I like to save my guilt for events I was actually present for. It's a thing." Zemo laughs. "Fair enough."

Bucky goes on his walk, and meets up with Ayo.

[muninnhuginn]

Ask meme- Nanami Kiryuu from RGU? 💃🏼👀

Thanks for asking! Slight disclaimer before I do this that I've not rewatched Utena in a while (aside from the shadow play episode which I rewatched a few weeks back for reasons) so I might be misremembering things a bit.

Why I like them

Her overall series arc is so good. You start with the standard perception of her as a bully, but as the series progresses you slowly realise that that’s not all there is to her in that there are reasons why she acts out as she does. And that those reasons tie into a lot of the other themes in the series (the most obvious one being the cycle of abuse* but that’s not the only one). And she does start to improve somewhat. I’m not sure I’d say that by the end of the series she’s fully completed her character development, but she’s definitely made progress? (Nanami has what Miraculous fans wish Chloe got though)

*There was actually a fanart piece I came across recently which summed that part up visually really well. I was holding off on reblogging it for spoiler reasons but it should be safe to reblog now so I’ll probably do so after this post.

Why I don’t

The cow and egg episodes. I get (mostly) what they're trying to do with her there but there are some parts of it where I'm cringing so badly that I'm just there like "pls no I can't watch".

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

Not exactly a specific ep but across a few but the stuff near the end where she's staying with Anthy and Utena and gets forced to re-examine her relationship with Touga is definitely my favourite arc for her character.

And if I had to pick a scene, I think the "there's an x in Anthy's pencil case" gag. Both because it gets funnier as it escalates and also because it actually shows how insecure Nanami is that she thinks being "weird" is reason to be mocked by friends.

Favorite season/movie

N/A

Favorite line

N/A

Favorite outfit

Her usual yellow uniform tbh. I don't even like bright yellow particularly but it's so ingrained with my idea of her that it seems weird for her to be in anything else.

OTP

I don't actually have one for her, you know? I more have a list of NOTPs in terms of "please keep her brother well away from her thanks" and overall am uh not sure she's in a super position to start a healthy romantic relationship.

Brotp

I like some of the little bits with her and Miki and Juri. They can be pretty cute, especially near the end of the series.

Head Canon

I'm not sure how canon canon this is but I was pretty convinced by some of the arguments I've seen thrown about that Nanami's entire thing with her brother is basically down to comphet? She thinks that her brother is safe as a target because he would never return her 'feelings' and that adds to the disorientation when she finds out about the blood types*.

*Though I do think the main factor with the blood relation thing is more about whether Touga is only tied to her through obligation and if that didn't exist, would he still care for her? And all of Nanami’s other “friendships” are largely superficial and centred around other topics not around actually liking each other, so of course that adds to the depth of obsession she has with her one “proper” personal connection at the start of the show. (And the superficial friendships also connects to how she was so sure that Anthy would be ostracised for being “weird” because she’s likely projecting to some extent)

Unpopular opinion

Not sure if unpopular but part of why I like Nanami is because as you find out more about her she becomes obviously more complex. However, the dress thing with Anthy early on becomes retrospectively a lot worse once we find out what Anthy is remembering at that time. And I don't really see much of those who *do* like Nanami really addressing how messed up that in particular is? Like, obviously Nanami wouldn't have realised she was stepping on a specific trauma, but the dress thing was incredibly messed up regardless.

A wish

For her to continue down the path she’s going as of the end of the series and to break free 😔.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

Falling back into the pattern with Touga. I feel like at the end of the series she has actually made progress on this because the pedestal is broken so her returning or reverting to the unabashed worship would be so yikes to me.

5 words to best describe them

Insecure bully dressed in yellow

My nickname for them

I don't have one for her in general, but have recently come across "Cownami" for her in the cow episode which amuses me.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hello! I haven't really been in Johnlock scene, but I suddenly had a MIGHTY NEED for mutual pining between the two, and your fic recs delivered in the best possible way. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing so much about these two! (and now it seems I'm lost to Johnlock, send help, but not really, this is awesome)

Hi Nonny!!

AHhhhh thank you for your kind words about my lists!!! I’m so happy you enjoy!!

You’re in luck, my friend!! I have a Part 2 list of my Mutual pining fics with enough to start a new list, so here we are!! Also, if you’re interested in exclusive pining, I’ve a part 2 to my Pining Sherlock list in its final stages of cleanup, so keep an eye out for that one!! <3 Enjoy!!

MUTUAL PINING Pt. 2

See also:

Mutual Pining Pt 1 

Pining Sherlock || [MOBILE FRIENDLY VERSION]

Pining John

One Sided Pining

Santa Knows by Itsallfine (T, 1,719 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas Party, Love Confessions, First Kiss, Fluff, Matchmaking, POV Sherlock, Pining Sherlock) – Sherlock and John both get exactly what they want from the Yard's secret Santa exchange. Pure holiday fluff.

Like Euphoria and Scotch by FinAmour (M, 1,856 w., 1 Ch. || TSo3 Fix It, Five and Ones, Drinking, Pining, Second Person POV Sherlock, Armchair Sex, Cracky and Fluff, Sherlock’s Imagination, Happy Ending) – 5 different ways it all could have gone + the one way it actually works itself out.

Hell or High water by bluefire301175 (E, 2,250 w., 1 Ch. || PWP, Frottage, Alley Sex, First Person POV John, Case-ish Fic, Mutual Pining, Bed Sharing) – John wants. Sherlock wants. Plain and simple.

To the Nines by suitesamba (M, 2,724 w., 1 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Magical Realism, Pining, Angst, John Whump, Time Travel, Fortunes, Time Jumps) – John skips forward in time, and Sherlock reads the signs that point to nine. John knows he’ll eventually be with Sherlock, but the waiting is nearly impossible, and his body is a lot more than transport. A foray into magical realism where all the canon events occur, and a hell of a lot more.

Better Late Than Never by sussexbound (NR (T), 3,021 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S4 / TFP Doesn’t Exist, Sherlock POV, Love Confessions, Drunk Sherlock / Sober John, John Takes Care of Sherlock, First Kiss, Jealous Sherlock, Emotional Turmoil) – He suddenly wants John Watson out of his bedroom, out of his flat, out of his life, because he has been lying to himself these last few months, he realises. He doesn’t want John here, not with the way things are. He doesn’t want 221b Baker Street to be nothing more than rest stop John returns to on his journeys between women. He doesn’t want to play co-parent if Rosie is going to be snatched away from him and placed in the arms of whatever nameless woman du jour John lands on next. He doesn’t want to keep being so careful, so generous, so, so…

The General Idea by agirlsname (T, 3,022 w., 1 Ch. || Retirement, Promise of Forever / Proposal, POV John, First Kiss, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Soft Sherlock, Idiots in Love, Crying / Emotional Sherlock, Love Confessions) – After twenty years of friendship, John is used to Sherlock acting weirdly. But the news Sherlock finally brings himself to deliver change the carefully built dynamics between them, and John realises it's time to act.

Bathroom Accessories by Evenlodes_Friend (E, 3,324 w., 1 Ch. || Sex Toys, Butt Plug, First Kiss / Time, Romance, Horny Sherlock, John’s Patience Wears Thin, Humour, Bottomlock) – John discovers that Sherlock has been playing with some very adult toys in the bath.

Apodyopsis by QuinnAnderson (E, 3,347 w., 1 Ch. || PWP, Rough Sex, Table Sex, Anal, Sexual Tension) – Apodyopsis: (æpəʊdaɪˈɒpsɪs) noun. the act of mentally undressing someone. Part 2 of Undressed

Sherlock and John Go Clubbing by wendymarlowe (E, 4,716 w., 3 Ch. || Clubbing, Dirty Talk, Dancing, Coming Untouched, Coming in Pants, Bi John, For a Case, Friends to Lovers, Flirting, Sherlock is Lost for Words, Sexy John, Mutual Pining, Possessive John, Floor Sex) – John pinched the bridge of his nose - even for Sherlock, this was a new level of no bloody boundaries. “You want me to go with you to a gay club, wait around twiddling my thumbs while I let you get pawed by a criminal, then out-flirt him and talk you into coming home with me instead?” Part 32 of John and Sherlock's Kinky First Times

Sleeping next to you by Salambo06 (E, 5,018 w., 2 Ch. || ASiB Fic, Bed Sharing, Frottage, Mutual Masturbation, Rimming, Anal, First Kiss/Time) – Based on an Anonymous Prompt: "So, that scene from ASiB when Mrs H has been attacked by the American CIA guy & John, Sherlock & she are in Mrs H's kitchen when John says "She’ll have to sleep upstairs in our flat tonight. We need to look after her." to which Sherlock replies with "no". John of course suggested that because he cares about her safety, but maybe he also did it cause he /wanted/ that to happen. What if they finally agreed on letting her have John's or Sherlock's bed & J&S sleep in the same one?" Part 12 of Tumblr Collection

Stranded by BeautifulFiction (T, 5,798 w., 1 Ch. || First Kiss, Communication / Relationship Discussion, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock POV, BAMF John, Doctor John, Case Fic, Drinking, Huddling For Warmth, Friends to More) –  When stranded on a derelict barge at high tide, John and Sherlock reconsider their friendship.

An Interpretation of Viewing Habits by akitsuko (E, 6,653 w., 1 Ch. || Porn Watching, Masturbation, Anal, Friends to Lovers, First Kiss / Time, Declarations of Love, Jealous Sherlock, Fantasizing, John in Denial / Internalized Homophobia, Bottomlock, Pining Idiots, Sherlock Has No Boundaries, Cockblocking Sherlock) – John watches porn. It's a perfectly normal thing to do.If every video he watches happens to feature actors with remarkable physical similarities to his flatmate, well, that's no one's business but his own. Or: John is in denial, until his infatuation with Sherlock is impossible to deny anymore.

Time on my hands by Mildredandbobbin (M, 7,179 w., 1 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post-S3, One Night Stands, Mutual Pining, Virgin Sherlock, First Time, Sexual Exploration / Discovery, Desperation, Body Worship) – Virginity’s a construct, a concept—what does losing one’s virginity entail for a gay man anyway? Sherlock wants to fill that particular gap in his knowledge but John won’t, can’t, never will assist and there’s only so much desperately unspoken pining even Sherlock can take.

Unwasted by patternofdefiance (E, 8,966 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S3 / S3 Fix-It, Developing Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Angelo’s, Fluff, First Time, Anal, Cum Play, Flashbacks to ASiB, Mutual Pining, Love Confessions, Bottomlock, Cuddles, Multiple Orgasms, BJ’s, Bed Sharing) – John finds it three months after he's moved back. He's on the hunt for something to make for dinner, is scrounging through the cupboards, when he happens upon the graveyard of pasta boxes Sherlock still seems to create when left to his own devices. Behind seven boxes of pasta, all almost completely empty, is a dark-glassed bottle, with a paler coat of dust.It's unopened. John's face falls slack when he sees it, instantly recognises it, and for a long moment he just stands and looks at it.

You fit me, Sherlock Holmes by orphan_account (G, 10,077 w., 1 Ch. || It’s An Experiment, Bed Sharing, Slow Burn, Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining, Questionable Science) – An unfortunate series of events leads to John accepting being a part of Sherlock's study in physical intimacy. As the days pass by, John realizes he might be in for more than he bargained for. He doesn't entirely mind.

There's So Much Labour Just in Breathing Lately by Susan (E, 12,708 w., 1 Ch. || Post-TRF / Mentions of S3 Events, Romance, Angst, Grief/Mourning, Grieving John, Mutual Pining, Meddling Mycroft, Therapy, Ambiguous Hopeful Ending, Infidelity) – The dreams he hated most – the ones that left him a sweating, shaking mess when he woke – were the ones in which Sherlock was just Sherlock. Laughing or drinking tea. Sitting across the table from him at Angelo’s eating pasta. Trailing his open hand behind him on the way to the bedroom. “C’mon, John. I’m about to have my way with you.”

Fucking Cake by Random_Nexus (E, 12,965 w., 1 Ch. || Pre-Slash, Humour/Crack, Inanimate Object Smut, Frottage, “For a Case” / “Experiment”, PWP / Kinky, Mutual Pining, Fluff) – Sherlock brings home a chocolate cake, John finds him about to have sex with said cake, then exceedingly weird hijinx ensue. Part 1 of "Fucking Baked Goods" - Sherlock BBC

Kintsugi by distantstarlight (E, 14,772 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, Emotional Hurt / Comfort, Regret / Remorse, Loneliness, Separation, Drug Use, Healing, Protective John, Sad Sherlock, Dev. Rel., Complicated Relationships, Love, Angst With Happy Ending, Sherlock is Called Freak, John’s Penance, Voyeurism, Doctor/Caretaker John, Guilty John, Detox, Fingering, Love Confessions, Cuddling, Slight Non-Con Turns Enthusiastic Consent, Virgin Sherlock) – Sherlock Holmes becomes estranged from the man he had once considered his best friend after John lets him down horribly in public. It seems that the world's only consulting detective will be on his own once again...or will he?

The Palmyra Atoll by elwinglyre (E, 16,609 w., 3 Ch. || TSo3 Divergence / Episode Fix-It, Stockholm Syndrome, Kidnapped John Watson, John Whump, Evil Mary, Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Toplock, Limited 3rd John POV) – As John's preparing for the wedding, Sherlock is preparing to have his heart broken, and Mary is prepared to do the unthinkable. Intervention required. Enter Sherlock. Set before Sign of Three with a far different outcome. John is drugged, kidnapped, and left on an island, but not just any old island.

Traitor's Gate by roane (E, 17,714 w., 6 Ch. || Post-TRF, Case Fic, Mystery, Bets and Wagers, Undercover for a Case, BAMF John, Scientist Sherlock, Teasing, Established Relationship, Military Base, Sexting/Texting, Military/Uniform Kink, Frottage, Dirty Sex, Anal, Bottomlock) – John and Sherlock go undercover at a top secret government lab to find out who is selling research. John is back in uniform and Sherlock is back in a laboratory, but they have to pose as strangers. Sherlock thinks he'll have an easy time of it, but John has his doubts. It's up to them to find out who is responsible for putting a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands, and try to keep their hands off each other at the same time.

Between Friends by SilentAuror (E, 18,036 w., 1 Ch. || Post S3, Alternating POV, Friends to Lovers, John in Denial, Abduction, Awkward Situations / Miscommunications, Porn With Feels, Blowjobs, Pining, Unrequited, Angst With Happy Ending) – Sherlock gets abducted. As John discovers him tied up naked in an empty storage facility and comes to rescue him, Sherlock's body has an unfortunate reaction which triggers a series of events. John is convinced that everything will be fine as long as they never discuss it. Sherlock isn't as sure...

I Think I've Come A Long Long Way To Sit Before You Here Today by ArwenKenobi (T, 18,251 w., 3 Ch. || Grief/Mourning, Passage of Time, Major Character Death, Alternating POV, Sherlock Whump, Pining Sherlock, Hospitalization, Coma, Revenge Murders, Hallucinations, Love Confessions, Brutal Accident, Mystrade, Ghost John) – One year after John is killed Sherlock starts to wonder whether John has actually gone anywhere.

Permanent Fixture by vitruvianwatson (E, 18,836 w., 9 Ch || Post-S4, Parentlock, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, They’re Good Parents, Blushing Sherlock, First Kiss/Time, Explicit Consent, Sexual Content, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Big Feelings, Crying, First Kiss, Fluff, Anxious Sherlock, Inexperienced Sherlock, Emotional Communication, Love Confessions) – Now, as Rosie sat curled up against Sherlock’s side, John watched and wondered exactly how he had ended up here. Domesticity had never suited him before, not at any point in his life. His disastrous marriage had been proof of that. But somehow, here in the warmth and safety of 221B Baker Street, here with Sherlock Holmes reading medical jargon to his daughter, Sherlock’s bony feet nudging against his leg, John couldn’t imagine anyplace that would make him happier.

You're On the Air by prettysailorsoldier (M, 20,616 w., 1 Ch. || Unilock, Matchmaking, Radio, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Sherlock POV, Pining Sherlock, Flirting, Bisexual John) – The Consulting Detective and The Woman dominate the airwaves of their university radio station, doling out advice on everything from meeting the parents to sexual positions. When their ratings start to dip before the holidays, however, manager Mike thinks it's time for some fresh blood, and who better to fill in the gaps than rugby captain--and notorious flirt--John Watson? Part 1 of 25 Days of Johnlock

Silhouettes by allonsys_girl (E, 28,585 w., 7 Ch. || Canon Compliant, POV John, Heavy Drinking, Sad/Depressed John, Grief/Mourning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Reunion, Foot Jobs, Blow Jobs, Infidelity, Cheating, Drug Use/Abuse, Anal, Switchlock, Rimming, Parentlock) – Sherlock and John find comfort in each other's arms, but as ever with these two, it's not your typical relationship. It's fluffy at the beginning, gets deeply angsty in the middle, gets porny at the end.

we have never seen a greater day than this by Lediona (T, 36,420 w., 7 Ch. || A Royal Night Out AU || WWII / VE Day, Prince Sherlock, Soldier John, Alternating POV, First Kiss, Bittersweet Ending, Homophobia, Dancing) – Peace. At long last. It’s VE Day and Prince William desires to join the celebrations. It is a night of excitement, danger and the first flutters of romance.

Nothing to Make a Song About by emmagrant01 (E, 36,833 w., 10 Ch. || Post-TRF, First Time, Reunion, Jealous John, Pining Sherlock, Romance, Angst with Happy Ending) – When Sherlock returned from his faked death, John could not forgive him for the deception and broke off their friendship. Ten years later, John returns to London in search of yet another new beginning. Sherlock, not surprisingly, is waiting.

Sentenced by SarahKnight (T, 44,777 w., 30 Ch. || Dev. Rel., Alternate S4 Canon, Drama, Angst, Pining, Feelings are Hard) – Virtual series 4 opener. Sherlock's in prison being targeted by a murderer, John's married to a pregnant assassin and Moriarty's back.

Impossible to Feign by achray (M, 49,204 w., 12 Ch. || TRF Rewrite / Reverse Reichenbach, Suicidal Ideations / Discussions, Drug Use/Abuse, Mutual Pining, Friends With Benefits, John Accepts his Sexuality, Anxious Sherlock, Meddling Mycroft, Depression, Hallucinations, Secret Agent John, BAMF John, Reunion, Make-Up Sex, Ambiguous Ending) – Sherlock leant forward, his long fingers curving round to grip John’s.“I won’t let him win,” he said, eyes hard. “I will do whatever it takes to get you out.”

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by SilentAuror (E, 50,635 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S4/S4 Divergence, Case Fic, For a Case / Reverse Fake-Relationship, Conferences, Marriage Equality, Travelling / New York, Pride, Homophobia, Bottomlock, Marriage Proposal, John POV, Sexuality, Love Confessions, Emotional Love Making, Public Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Passionate Kissing, Needy/Clingy Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Touching / Hand Holding, Bed Sharing, Little Spoon Sherlock, Intense Orgasms) – John and Sherlock go to New York to attend a conference run by the National Defence of Traditional Marriage Coalition in order to investigate the potential bombing of the annual Manhattan Pride parade. As the conference unfolds, John finds himself repulsed by the toxic ideology being presented, which becomes relevent to his own unacknowledged issues and his friendship with Sherlock...

Never Change a Running System by Lorelei_Lee (E, 54,246 w., 18 Ch. || Pre-TRF, Romance, Humour, Drama, Sex Toys, Anal, Rimming, Masturbation, Frottage, Blow Jobs, Public Sex, First Kiss / Time, Virgin Sherlock / Loss of Virginity, Accidental Voyeurism, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Experiments, Naive Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock, Possessive Sherlock, Straight With an Exception John, Hand Jobs) – Sherlock discovers his sexuality – with far-reaching consequences for John.

A Hundred Crimson Sols by elldotsee (E, 55,536 w., 16 Ch. || Astronauts AU || Mars Exploration / Space Travel, Slow Burn, Shy Sherlock, Scientist Sherlock / Biomed Engineer John, Alternating POV, Mutual Pining, UST, Angst with Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injuries, Suicidal Ideation, Zero-G Sex) – Will Holmes is a chemical researcher recognized widely for his contributions to the new Mars exploration program. Thanks to his ground-breaking developments, the IMMC (International Mars Mission Corporation) is one step closer to Martian colonization. Will and his team of scientists are headed out on the first of three manned missions before the first group of settlers arrive. Three days before launch, one of the crew has to be replaced. Will panics because...new people. The replacement is of course one John Watson, biomedical engineer and space hottie who was pretty sure he had retired from actual space exploration and was now content to work in the nice, quiet research lab. Can the crew survive this TOTALLY ROUTINE trip? Will they be able to endure each other for the looooooong trip in close quarters? Gonna be a wild ride... prepare for blast off. Part 1 of the SpaceBois go to Space series

The Thing Is by TSylvestris (E, 56,743 w., 21 Ch. || Case Fic, Dev. Rel., Anal/Oral, Blow Jobs, Meddling Mycroft, Drama, Romance, Humour, Casual Encounters, Pining Idiots, Possessive Sherlock, Orgasm Delay, Rough / Alley Sex, Public Sex, John Whump, Drugged John, Emotional Love Making, Awkward Relationship, Marriage of Convenience, Switchlock) – The problem with living with Sherlock, John thought, was that you never, never, ever knew the significance of anything. Like your flatmate's nose buried in your hair. Whilst you're in bed. Part 1 of Nitroglycerine

Lunar Landscapes by J_Baillier (M, 57,046 w., 21 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || S3/TAB Fix-It, Slow Burn Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Confessions, Drugs, Pain, Medical, Injury, Sherlock Whump, Mental Health Issues, Panic Attacks, Romance, Secrets, Tragedy, Trauma, BAMF John, Doctor!John, Drug Addict Sherlock, Injured Sherlock, Grieving John, Idiots In Love, Protective John, POV John Watson, PTSD Sherlock, Sherlock is a Mess, Medical Realism) – An accident forces John to face the fact that Sherlock's downward spiral had started long before his flight to exile even left the tarmac.

One Little Change by jadztone (E, 58,312 w., 12 Ch. || ASiB Divergence, Fake Relationship, Bed Sharing, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, First Kiss / Time, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Bi John / Gay Demisexual Sherlock, Switchlock, Alternating POV, Jealousy, Misunderstandings, Case Fic, Angst with Happy Ending, Emotional Love Making, Butt Plugs, Cuddles) – Our story begins right after John and Sherlock's first meeting with Irene Adler in September. It splits off into an AU that imagines them taking a case where they act as bait to hook a killer targeting closeted gays in secret relationships. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, many things happen that have our boys wondering if maybe they have a chance with each other. Then Irene fakes her death on Christmas Eve, and things get a lot more complicated - especially since they still have a killer to catch.

The Burning by SrebrnaFH (M, 60,658 w., 24 Ch. || Reverse Reichenbach, Suicide, Depression, Hurt Sherlock / John, Separation, BAMF John, Good Big Brother Mycroft, Angst, Implied/Referenced Torture, Fake Character Death, Rescue Mission, Reconciliation / Reunion, Hospitalization, Marriage Proposal, Illnesses, Physical Therapy, Happily Ever After) – Something went very, very wrong. John had seemed, if not happy, then reasonably content with his life. Sherlock had never predicted something like THIS might have happened. Not in his worst nightmares. He was the lousiest friend ever, apparently. At least Mycroft found him something to occupy his mind with, so that he didn't have to go back to 221B and stare at the walls and the chair, where John Watson would never sit again.

Hell Sent, Heaven Bound by ConsultingHound (M, 64,381 w, 16 Ch. || Angels / Demons AU ||  Fallen Angel Sherlock / Angel Cop John, Alternate First Meeting, Slow Burn, Case Fic, John & Lestrade are Friends Before Sherlock, BAMF John, Mind Palace John, Friends to Lovers, John in Denial, Sherlock Picks Out John’s Clothing, Clubbing / Dancing, Mildly Jealous John, Awkwardness, Kidnapping, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Sacrifice, Worried / Anxious Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, Immortal to Mortal) – Ex-War healer and current angelic guard John Watson is not having the best day. He overslept, he’s underpaid, and now there’s someone tagging the Council’s building walls. However things may be about to get interesting: there’s an unusual stranger hanging around (the definition of tall, dark, and handsome), a literal underground cult is brewing, and rumblings are coming from hell. Can he keep his neighbourhood safe, how and why is he being connected to all this, and who the hell is Sherlock Holmes?

The Vapor Variant by 88thParallel (CanadaHolm) (M, 72,684 w., 18 Ch. || Post-THoB, John Whump, Protective Sherlock, Guilty Sherlock, Anxious/Worried Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD John, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Suspense, Virus, Sickfic, Big Brother Mycroft) – They stood face to face in the middle of a clearing. The dim light of the moon barely allowed Sherlock to see the glassy terror in John’s eyes and the sweat that glistened off his forehead. His nose was bleeding again, blood dripping in a slow stream from his right nostril. They were both gasping for air, John’s eyes locked on Sherlock’s. There was no recognition there, just wild animal fear. Time stood still for an eternal few seconds, and Sherlock took a shaky breath. “John—”Spell broken, John spun and bolted back into the woods. Still heaving for air, Sherlock took off after him.

Northwest Passage by Kryptaria (E, 95,157 w., 27 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Canadian AU ||  BAMF!John, Canadian John, PTSD, Anal / Oral Sex, Rimming, Emotional Hurt / Comfort, Drug Rehab, Falling in Love, Pining Sherlock, Love Confessions, Sherlock’s Violin, Panic Attacks, Switching, Anxious / Protective Sherlock, Hugs for Comfort, Suicide Mentions, Healing Each Other) – Seven years ago, Captain John Watson of the Canadian Forces Medical Service withdrew from society, seeking a simple, isolated life in the distant northern wilderness of Canada. Though he survives from one day to the next, he doesn't truly live until someone from his dark past calls in a favor and turns his world upside-down with the introduction of Sherlock Holmes." Part 1 of Tales from the Northwest

31_Days_of_Porn_Challenge_2017 Series by distantstarlight (E, 96,540 w. across 31 stories || Prompt Ficlets, Assorted Kinks, PWP) – A collection in response to the 31 Days of Porn Challenge issued by AtlinMerrik! Thanks for doing that because this has been buttload of fun (that joke never gets old). All stories will be brief stand-alone one-shots.

A Study in Winning by Jupiter_Ash (E, 106,658 w., 11 Ch. || Tennis AU || John POV, Dirty Talk, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, Happy Ending, Sherlock Speaks French, Switchlock, Wimbledon) – John and Sherlock are professional tennis players and it’s Wimbledon. One is a broken almost was at the end of his career, the other an arrogant rising star tipped for greatness. It should have been a straightforward tournament. It really should have been. How were they to know that a chance encounter would change everything? Part 1 of Tennis

Two Two One Bravo Baker by abundantlyqueer (E, 114,574 w., 27 Ch. || Military AU || Afghanistan, War Story, Thriller) – Captain John Watson of 40 Commando, the Royal Marines, is assigned to protect and assist Sherlock Holmes as he investigates what appears to be a simple war atrocity in Afghanistan. An intense attraction ignites between the two men as they uncover a conspiracy that threatens everything they’ve ever known, but Sherlock is as much hunted as hunter, and everyone close to him is in deadly danger. Can he solve the case in time to save himself and John? Part 1 of Two Two One Bravo Baker Universe

A Further Sea by i_ship_an_armada & ShinySherlock (E, 125,492 w., 23 Ch. || Historical Pirates AU || Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Doctor John / Pirate Captain Sherlock, Sailing, UST / RST, Masturbation, Action / Adventure, Mild Angst & Peril, Romance, Shaving, Molly/Janine, Bottomlock, Hand / Blow Jobs, Past Drug Use, Slow Burn, Mild Violence, Happy Ending) – Here be a tale of adventure for both body and soul, but beware if ye be not of stout heart, for this be piratelock, ya savvy? Luckless ship's surgeon John Watson takes a chance, and finds himself eye to eye with The Ghost, the scourge of the seven seas and a definite thorn in the side of the blaggard, James Moriarty. But when John finds there's more to this most cunning pirate than be meetin' the eye, he has to choose... is it a pirate's life for him?

The Bang and the Clatter by earlgreytea68 (M, 137,049 w., 37 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Baseball AU || Slow Burn / Dev. Rel., Possessive/Obsessive Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Body Appreciation, Depression, Closeted Sexuality, Family, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Ogling Each Other, Anxious Sherlock, Panic Attack, Drunkenness, Talk of Forever, Big Feelings™) – Sherlock Holmes is a pitcher and John Watson is a catcher. No, no, no, it's a baseball AU. Part 1 of Baseball

Mise en Place by azriona (M, 161,004 w., 28 Ch. || Restaurant (Kitchen Nightmares) AU || Sherlock is Gordon Ramsay / Celebrity Sherlock, Restauranteur John, Harry Plays Prominent Role, Alternating POV, Mutual Pining, Cranky Sherlock, Bed Sharing, Slow Burn) – John Watson had no intentions of taking over the family business, but when he returns from Afghanistan, battered and bruised, and discovers that his sister Harry has run their restaurant into the ground, he doesn't have much choice. There's only one thing that can save the Empire from closing for good – the celebrity star of the BBC series Restaurant Reconstructed, Chef Sherlock Holmes. Part 1 of Mise en Place

[hazel-writes]

Pairing: Din Djarin x Female OC

Summary: Aristeia, an ambitious and self-reliant journalist on Tatooine, crosses paths with a Mandalorian after a harrowing encounter with Imperial remnants.

Word Count: 5,000

Warnings: canon-typical violence, death

A/N: Oh my gosh, I finally did it. After months of reading some absolutely incredible Mando fanfics, I took the plunge and started writing my own. I'm so excited to share this with all of you!

This fic starts during episode 1x5 and will loosely follow the show's timeline (I will be taking many creative liberties). The first chapter is from Aristeia's point of view, but I'll be going back and forth between her POV and Din's afterwards. I jump straight into the action in this fic, so if things seem a little crazy at first, don't worry, all will be explained soon :)

This is my first time writing for our favorite space cowboy, so any and all feedback is welcomed! If you want to keep updated on this fic between updates, check my bio for other places you can find me. Also, a Spotify playlist to accompany this fic is coming soon!

Without further ado, please enjoy this chaotic mess of a chapter! ♥︎

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Aristeia sighed as she weaved her way through the busy streets of Mos Eisley, Tatooine. It was almost sunset and most people were heading home after long days at work. A layer of dust rose around the feet of those attending to last-minute errands. She watched as a woman bought a large red fruit from one of the street-side vendors. A soot-covered teenaged boy stood by the neighboring building, stocking up on mechanical supplies. Near his feet, two sunburnt children fought over a small toy. The scene was normal to her: ever since settling on Tatooine years ago, Aristeia had slowly grown accustomed to the slow and gritty flow of the planet.

As she continued walking, she kept her head down, eyes always focused a few steps ahead of her feet. However, whenever someone neared, she would look up briefly to offer them a small smile. Most of the time they ignored her, scowled, or rolled their eyes, but every now and then, someone would return her gesture. Those moments made the effort worth it.

Unlike the people who meandered around her, Aristeia was just starting her work for the day. She kicked up clouds of dirt as she made her way to the recently-abandoned mechanic’s shop. She used to frequent it back when she had a speeder, but after the owners passed away, it had unfortunately turned into a popular site of criminal activity. A few days back, she had intercepted a transmission that mentioned a meeting at the location, and as a journalist, she had to be there to see what was going on. Armed with a small notebook and stylus, she was prepared to document the whole thing.

Turning the corner of a dusty alley, which was littered with miscellaneous tools and sheets of scrap metal, the old mechanic’s place finally came into view. Its exterior architecture was similar to that of the rest of Tatooine, however its dark and doorless entrance led to an underground network of small rooms. With every step Aristeia took towards the building, her anxiety grew. Unlike her other investigative stakeouts, she was going into the mechanic’s blind. The transmission didn’t reveal a whole lot about the nature of the meeting, which she knew meant it was of special importance. These were the kind of meetings that could provide her with a groundbreaking story. They were also the kind of meetings where someone could get hurt.

Aristeia had never been good at fighting – physically, at least – but she did give herself credit for not having died so far, especially in her line of work. Put a blaster in her hand and she’d probably shoot her own foot off. However, put a pen in her hand, and she was a force to be reckoned with.

Aristeia had been writing ever since she was young. It started with little stories: she would go into a crowd of people, find a quiet place to sit, and observe each person that passed by. She would notice what they were wearing, how they carried themselves, who they were with, where they were going, and then she would make up the ‘why’: Why were they dressed like that? Why did they walk like that? Why were they with this person or that person? Her imagination would stitch together the missing pieces of their backstories, creating life narratives of people she had never even met. She did the same thing now from time to time. In fact, people watching was imperative to her role as a journalist.

As Aristeia grew older, she and a few friends decided to start a local newsletter that got sent out to residents of Mos Eisley every month. It was by no means a ‘professional’ establishment. The writers were all residents, many of them barely adults, who wanted to keep their friends and family informed about any activity that could threaten the freedom they had fought so hard to gain after the fall of the Empire.

A group of giggling children ran around the corner, pulling Aristeia out of her thoughts. She watched as they kicked around a near-deflated ball with bare, dust-covered feet. Sighing, she turned back around to peer down the steps of the abandoned mechanic’s. It was just beginning to get dark and the suns had nearly reached the edge of the horizon, casting eerie shadows on the stairwell walls. She looked for any sign of movement in the space below and when nothing seemed to be stirring, she made her way down the packed-dirt stairs and entered into the main room.

The area was small with not very many places to hide, immediately making her anxious. She had never been a fan of tiny spaces. But this was too important of a mission for her to give up now. She looked to her left and spotted a large plant, which obviously hadn’t seen any light or water for quite some time. However, its pot and leaves could be big enough to hide her if she was able to fit behind it. It’s not like she had very many options to choose from.

A noise from above forced her into action. She darted behind the plant as fast as she could, curling herself up against the corner of the wall. The sounds of heavy footfalls met her ears. There were at least five people making their way into the room she was in. From between the leaves of the plant, she could make out the forms of two stormtroopers and a tall, lanky man in a gray uniform. Imperials.

After the fall of the Empire, most people on Tatooine had celebrated immensely. They believed they had finally achieved freedom. It was hard for Aristeia to share their excitement, knowing how many lives had been lost on both sides. She also had always been a realist, never letting herself get too comfortable when everything seemed to be coming up roses. She had been tracking the movements of rogue troopers around the city for a while, trying to figure out who they took orders from and where they were located. In recent weeks, she had intercepted a few transmissions referencing what the Imps called ‘the asset’. Just one day before, she had caught word of a meeting scheduled to take place in the room where she was now hiding. She knew she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get more intel. Once she had enough information, she planned on writing a massive expose, informing all of Mos Eisley to her discoveries.

A raspy voice broke her train of thought: “Have you found the asset?” Peering around the plant’s leaves, she saw that it was the man in gray who had spoken.

“No, not yet,” a Klatoonian replied gruffly. “We tracked the ship to this city. As far as we know, the Mandalorian still has it.”

A Mandalorian… Aristeia shuddered. There wasn’t much in the galaxy that she was terrified of anymore. Sure, she often felt scared. In fact, she was scared most of the time; it’s part of what kept her alive for so long. But there was very little that truly terrified her. Mandalorians were one of those things.

She shook her head, forcing herself out of her spiraling panic. Focus on the facts, she thought – it was a phrase she repeated often when overwhelmed with her work. Focus on the Facts. The Imperial man’s mention of the Mandalorian was new info to her. All she knew from previous transmissions was that the Imps needed the asset for some sort of experiment. She didn’t understand it too much – she was never very good at science.

Aristeia reached into her bag, pulling out her notebook and stylus so she could document her new discovery. As quietly as she could, she opened the front cover of the journal, flipping to the next blank page.

As she did so, her finger caught on one of the pages, slicing a thin cut across the pad of her pointer finger. Kriff, she whispered, accidentally dropping her stylus as she moved to nurse her injured finger. She realized her fatal mistake too late.

“What do we have here?” she heard a voice drawl from above her. The Klatooinian, who had taken a few steps toward Aristeia, peered around the edge of the plant before looking back at the Rodian. “Is this one yours?”

Aristeia scowled at the suggestion. “No, I most certainly am not.”

The two men chuckled, infuriating her even more. “Why don’t you come out so we can take a better look at you?” the Rodian suggested with a devilish smirk.

“Yeah, cause that sounds like it would end well for me…” she mumbled, trying to think of a way to escape the predicament she had gotten herself into.

The uniformed man and his two stormtroopers stayed quiet throughout the ordeal, seemingly bored by the other mens’ interaction.

“She must be terminated. She has heard too much,” the man in gray finally chimed in.

At this, Aristeia started to panic. She was in deep bantha munk this time. Sure, she had been in tricky positions before – it was kind of a requirement of living on Tatooine – but this was bad.

“I didn’t hear anything, I swear! I was just…” She stood up slowly and looked around the room, trying to find an alibi. “...admiring the plants?”

She mentally facepalmed at her attempt of a lie, something she was never very good at. It helped her in a journalistic sense, as she always did her best to remain objective in her articles. She recognised the power that came with telling the truth, especially now, in the wake of an empire founded largely on lies. However, in this case, she could’ve used a good fib. Admiring the plants, really? she scolded herself. After a moment of silence, the uniformed man directed a curt nod at the stormtroopers, who then advanced on her quickly.

Springing into action, she attempted to kick the chestplate of the trooper closest to her, but missed, only managing to clip his knee. Nonetheless, it threw him off-balance, sending him stumbling into his fellow trooper. She took the brief opening to run as fast as she could towards the stairs that led back up to the main street. She got halfway up, mere feet away from freedom, before a large hand yanked her back down the steps harshly. She fell backwards, scraping her elbows and knees on the hard dirt before hitting her head on the floor, hard.

She couldn’t see anything but blurry spots of white and orange as strong and grimy hands pulled her across the floor, back to the troopers. The one she kicked earlier returned the favor, sending sparks of pain through her abdomen. Footsteps approached and a heavy boot landed between her shoulder blades, forcing her against the floor. Another second passed before she heard the charging up of a blaster from above her head.

Aristeia closed her eyes, cheek pressed to the dirt, accepting her fate. She forced warm memories into her mind, not wanting her last thoughts to be of the man whose heavy boot currently pinned her to the ground. Her mind danced from memory to memory, finding it hard to focus on any one image for too long: a familiar, tender hand ran its fingers along the curves of her face; trees towered over her like arrows aimed for the stars; a single candle cast a warm glow over pieces of parchment; a sweet smile, one she probably would never see again, beamed through the darkness...

A burst of blaster fire sounded from above her head. As if shooting her once wasn’t enough, she thought, before realizing that it wasn’t possible for her to make sarcastic quips if she was dead. She opened one eye, then the other, only to stare right into the lifeless face of the man in the gray uniform. It was a sight she was sure would stay with her forever.

“I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.”

She finally looked up, not recognising the deep modulated voice that sounded from above her.

A shining wall of silver met her eyes, his blaster pointed at the Klatoonian. A Mandalorian, she thought. Waves of terror flooded Aristeia’s body. It was almost as if the universe had plucked him straight out of one of her nightmares and dumped him deliberately at her feet. She was familiar with the Mandalorians, more than most, but seeing one after so many years still managed to send shivers down her spine.

Focus on the facts. Focus on the facts. she repeated to herself.

Something about the way the armored man carried himself made her realize that this wasn’t just any Mandalorian: this was the Mandalorian, the one her attackers had been discussing moments earlier.

His presence seemed to fill the whole room. She found her eyes involuntarily moving up his figure, taking in the pure power that emanated from his armored form. Her gaze landed on his face, or where his face should’ve been. Instead, all she could see was her own terrified reflection in his dark, deadly visor.

When the Klatoonian didn’t make any effort to move, the shiny man looked down and gave her a barely perceptible nod to the side. She knew exactly what he was telling her to do.

As fast as she could, she rolled to her right, hearing blaster shots fire above her as she did so. She scrambled back towards the plant she was hiding behind earlier and watched as the armored man fought the others. While the Mandalorian was distracted with the Rodian, the Klatoonian aimed his blaster towards his silver chestplate. Aristeia considered shouting to the metal-clad man in warning, but didn’t want to draw any more attention to herself. To her horror, she watched as the Klatoonian pulled the trigger.

The Mandalorian, however, sensed what was coming and ducked. The blaster beam rebounded off of a large metal sheet that stood propped up against the wall behind him and hit the Klatoonian square in the chest. He fell to the floor, lifeless. To Aristeia’s surprise, she heard the Mandalorian curse, seemingly frustrated by the death of his attacker. The stormtroopers took his moment of annoyed distraction as a sign to run, bolting back up the stairs before the Mandalorian could stop them.

Aristeia’s senses slowly started to come back to her, as did the pain in her stomach, hands and knees. Unsure of the Mandalorian’s intentions, she scrambled on the packed dirt, trying to find the notebook she had brought with her. She finally found it tucked between the wall and the nearby plant pot.

She turned to see the armored man, having knocked the Rodian unconscious, finally focus his attention on her. She grabbed the stylus that she always kept clipped to the side of her notebook, the one that had caused all this trouble to begin with, and held it out in front of her as threateningly as possible.

The Mandalorian casually put a hand on his hip and popped one of his legs out slightly. His helmet tilted to the side incredulously. If she wasn’t so scared, she might have laughed at his almost-lazy posture.

“Hey, they say the pen is mightier than the sword, right?” Aristeia shrugged nervously, still directing the stylus towards the silver mass in front of her.

He ignored her comment and dipped his helmet towards the bodies on the floor. “What were you doing with them?”

She debated whether or not to tell him. His low, warning tone made it seem like she didn’t have much of a choice. So far, he hadn’t made any move to hurt her, despite the fact that he had every opportunity to. Even now he kept his distance, almost like he was trying not to startle her any further. That, or the stylus really had scared him.

“I’m a journalist,” Aristeia responded. “I was trying to get some information for my next story when they found me.”

She shifted on her feet when he didn’t respond right away.

“Story?” he finally repeated, almost like he was skeptical of the word.

“Yeah.”

She knew it must sound silly. Her stories, and journalism as a whole, probably weren’t on this man’s radar. A lot of people thought that her profession was impractical and meddling, but obviously the work she did was important enough to gain the attention of the Imps.

Whatever the Mandalorian was thinking prompted him to mumble something, turn on his heel, and start back up the stairs. Aristeia was left speechless, her hair settling back into place after being disheveled by the sudden billowing of the Mandalorian’s cape.

She looked around the room at the bodies littering the floor, remembering briefly that the troopers had escaped. That alone almost ensured her certain death. They had seen her face – it was only a matter of time before they would find her. Already regretting her decision, she heard herself calling out to the Mandalorian who had reached the top of the stairs: “Wait!”

He stopped his movement, pausing briefly before slowly turning to face Aristeia, who now stood at the bottom of the stairs. She looked up at his figure, which from her angle looked more commanding than ever, his silver armor backlit by the setting suns.

Finally finding her words, she spoke. “Please, I… I need to get off this planet. You have a ship, right? The troopers who ran, they’ll tell the others, they’ll come after me.”

She hated how desperate she sounded, but she didn’t know what else to do. Her friends barely had enough money for speeders. Most of them had never even been off the planet. All she knew was that she needed to leave, and soon.

“Why would they waste your time on you?” the Mandalorian asked, probably unsure how a girl armed with a stylus could possibly pose a threat to the Imps.

She ignored his underestimating tone before replying. “Because I overheard what they were talking about. Once they find out who I am, they’ll kill me.”

“And who exactly are you?”

Kriff, she thought. If the Mandalorian found out just how invested she was in her recent investigations, he could use that against her. “Well… I’m Aristeia.”

The Mandalorian voiced a frustrated sigh. “And?”

“And…”

She was about to answer when she spotted a blinking red light out of the corner of her eye. Upon further inspection, she found its source: a tracking fob held in the Mandalorian’s left hand. Of course, she thought. He’s a bounty hunter. The Klatoonian must have been his bounty – that’s why he was upset when he was accidentally killed in the crossfire.

Aristeia felt her heart rate spike as she devised the best way to backtrack on her previous request for help.

She slowly made her way towards the Mandalorian, subtly attempting to get back up to street level. “...and I really should be getting back to work, so if you don’t mind, I think I’ll just head back up those stairs now.”

The Mandalorian, unfortunately, noticed the unusual change in her disposition.

“What’s the sudden rush?” he asked as the arm carrying the fob shot out to stop her escape.

“No, no, it’s nothing! I really should go. My… husband is waiting for me,” Aristeia lied. The Mandalorian just stared, his arm remaining in place. “He gets upset when I’m late.” She offered with a fake smile, trying desperately to alleviate the tension. When he still didn’t move, she continued. “He’s very big. And uhh… He’s a sheriff!” she added, for good measure. The Mandalorian cocked his head slightly to the left in response, as if seeing how far she would take her lie. “And he has lots and lots of weapons. A whole armory with guns and knives and other… spiky things.”

“Spiky things?” he asked, almost amused.

“Well, yeah.” she replied, but it came out as more of a question.

“Well, you know what I think?” he said, taking a few sauntering steps forward. His posture oozed confidence – one hand was hooked on his belt, just in front of his blaster, while the other hung casually at his side.

Aristeia took a small step backwards. “W-what?”

“I think you have a bounty on your head.”

Kriff, she thought. He’s good.

Aristeia took another step back, but the Mandalorian closed the distance quickly. She held up her hands placatedly.

“Look, I don’t… know if there’s a price on my head. I’ve always just assumed . Over the past few years, my friends, the other journalists here, they’ve been going missing. It was pretty obvious that the Imps didn’t want us sharing their activities with the whole planet. Recently, things had been pretty quiet, at least until they started freaking out about this whole ‘asset’ thing.”

The Mandalorian’s posture straightened and his towering body leaned towards hers menacingly. When he spoke, his voice lacked all the nonchalance it had earlier and instead radiated a seriousness that chilled her to the core. “What do you know about the ki- the asset?”

Aristeia, regarding his sudden change in demeanor, stuttered in response: “N-nothing really – Shouldn’t you know?”

“Nothing really?” he repeated, completely ignoring her question.

“Just what I’ve heard over the coms.” Shoot, she thought. Shouldn’t have said that.

“You have access to their coms?” he asked, a sliver of surprise peeking through his gruffness.

She did. It was one of her biggest accomplishments since arriving on Tatooine. One evening, she had been at her desk, listening to random transmissions on an old faulty comlink her mother gave her years ago. She would do this every night, never once picking up on the voice she was desperately waiting to hear. Instead, she usually caught onto feeds from people nearby: small business dealings, calls to family working out in the dunes, even the occasional secret teenage correspondence. Aristeia enjoyed listening to the small snippets of the others’ lives; it gave her hope in a world that she seemed more and more disconnected to with each new day.

But on this night, she had intercepted a transmission that was far more concerning than her typical listening content. Two voices, one that she now knew was the man in the gray suit and another who she assumed was a stormtrooper, crackled over the comlink. Within a few minutes, she not only knew that the Empire wasn’t dead, but that they were also situated right on her doorstep . After making this discovery, she made sure to keep her com set to that specific feed, which is how she ended up finding out about the meeting that led to her current encounter with the Mandalorian.

“Sometimes I have access,” she responded to the Mandalorian’s question with a nonchalant shrug. She basked in the power that this information seemed to give her over him. “It depends on how close they are, the wind levels, and if my tech is even working that day-”

“Where do you live?” he interrupted hurriedly.

Aristeia suppressed a laugh. “Excuse me?”

“Where do you live?” he repeated slowly, though this time it came out as a more of a modulated growl.

She laughed nervously. “No way, you seriously think I’d tell a bounty hunter where I lived? That’s like breaking every single rule of common sense. I mean, come on, think of this from my perspective.”

His posture relaxed minutely and he released another sigh, this one less frustrated than the previous. “If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve done it by now.”

She recognised the truth in his statement, but that didn’t mean she was willing to go out of her way to help him. For all she knew, he could take the coms and turn her in afterwards. Aristeia tried to get a better read of him, but unlike most people she met, she couldn’t. She didn’t have any guesses as to who he was, what his intentions were, or why the ‘asset’ was so important to him. In a universe of starry galaxies, he was a black hole.

“What do I get out of it?” she asked, trying her best to sound confident. She countered the slight relaxation of his own stance with the newfound boldness of her own. “Helping you, I mean.”

The Mandalorian scoffed beneath his helmet. “I saved your life, I think that’s qualifying enough.”

“You were just going after the Klatooinian.”

“And if I hadn’t, you’d be dead.”

“Wow, consider me comforted.”

He sighed, clearly agitated by her retorts. “If you show me the coms, then I won’t tell the Guild about the little notebook operation you’ve got going on down here,” he said, waving a gloved hand towards the bag that carried her journal.

“And now I’m being blackmailed. Fantastic.” she muttered, running a hand through her hair.

Aristeia stilled, evaluating her options. She could either ignore the Mandalorian and risk having him reveal her, and her work, to the Guild, or help him and hope he returned the favor. Neither option was ideal.

“Fine ,” she relented. “Just give me a second.”

Aristeia took the Mandalorian’s lack of response as a signal to go ahead, and made her way back into the darkness of the room that now reeked of death. She tried to think back to the days when she would come to the mechanic’s to repair the many malfunctions her speeder frequently sustained. She always enjoyed the loud and hectic bustle of the establishment. Its owners were kind and would always let the neighborhood kids hang out and watch them work on one project or another, occasionally even letting them help out. Those times seemed distant as Aristeia approached the body of the fallen Imp.

“Hey, you wanna hurry it up down there?” a gruff voice sounded from above.

“Really?” Aristeia replied, astonished at the Mandalorian’s near-childlike impatience.

“I thought you had some husband with a large collection of spiky things who doesn’t like it when you’re late?”

Hearing him repeat her previous lie out loud made it seem even more ridiculous, but she ignored him and continued to move towards the gray-suited man.

“What are you doing?” he called from above, seemingly untrusting of her retreat back to the main room.

Oh my stars, she thought, surprised by her own annoyance at the Mandalorian. Her initial fear had evolved into irritation at his constant attempts at intimidation and control. She couldn’t let her guard down though – she could lose her leverage at any moment and then who knows what he’d do with her.

Aristeia reigned in the sarcastic comment she was about to make and instead answered his question with a restrained sigh. “Seeing if they have any information.”

“In case you didn’t notice, they’re dead. They can’t help you.”

Obviously, she thought with a roll of her eyes, but didn’t say so out loud.

“Yeah, but their pockets can.”

Aristeia stared at the man in gray. Even though the blaster bolt to his chest all but guaranteed his death, she still approached his body warily, as if it could come back to life at any moment. Avoiding his hollow gaze, she dug through his pockets, searching for any more information that could prove useful to her future articles. All she found was a handwritten note containing some sort of coded language she didn’t recognise. She folded it carefully and put it in her own pocket for safekeeping before heading back towards the Mandalorian.

By the time she joined him at street level, the suns had already set. He took a few steps forward but paused when he felt her hesitate behind him. She felt weird leaving behind the mangled bodies of the men in the darkness below.

“We should move the bodies,” she said cautiously, her eyebrows furrowed in confliction.

“No time,” the Mandalorian replied simply, turning back towards the street.

“Please,” she pleaded, looking to her left where a group of children played in the distance. “I- I don’t want any kids finding that.”

He silently followed her gaze and stood completely still for a moment, as if debating his own response. Aristeia tried, and once again failed, to get a good read of what was going through his head.

“Fine,” he finally said. “I’ll get them in the morning.”

She would’ve liked them taken care of sooner, but it seemed that there was no room for negotiation. To be honest, she was surprised he agreed to her request at all. Something was different about this Mandalorian, and she couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad thing.

“Which way?” he asked, referencing her house. The one she stupidly agreed to take him to, Aristeia thought.

“Uh…” She paused briefly, but it was a moment too long for the Mandalorian’s liking. “This way,” she finished, pointing down an alley to her left. She hiked the bag she carried higher up on her shoulder and took a few steps forward before feeling a hard tug on her arm.

“Hey, I wouldn’t recommend trying anything. It wouldn’t end well for you,” the Mandalorian said threateningly. His visor stared down at her coldly and she suddenly grew extremely frustrated by the fact that she couldn’t see his eyes. She felt vulnerable under his gaze and didn’t like it one bit.

“Let go of my arm,” Aristeia replied, her voice low and serious. His grip remained strong. She stared daggers up at his helmet and it was the first time since meeting him that she was truly angry. “I said, let go.”

To her surprise, she felt his grip loosen and she promptly tugged her arm away from him. Her posture radiated confidence, but the fear in her eyes betrayed her. Without a word, she spun around and continued heading in the direction of her small house, not sparing another look behind her to see if the Mandalorian was following.

He was.

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Masterlist || Next (coming soon!)

[yukipri]

For the character ask, could you please do Arthur? I'm really curious to hear your thoughts / headcanons about him!

Thank you so much for sending this in~! WOWIE unexpected character, but that made this all the more fun to write :’D

002 | Give me a character & I will tell you: Arthur

Apologies if you adore this character bc I’m not too too kind to him here, but please take this as my interpretation of the character within the context of canon, in which he’s well, an ASS, to say it lightly ^ ^; I could defs probably like him in certain AUs!

How I feel about this character:

Within canon, I feel like he was made out to be a Big Bad and given a disproportionate amount of screen time for an unimpressive end result, and caused a shitton of pain without much purpose. He like, felt like a B-rated villain, acted like one, but got the drama of a Last Boss?? There wasn’t some deep betrayal or tragic past or anything that explained his actions or made them even slightly relatable. He was a coward, and jealous, and couldn’t live up, and died proving just that.

That whole, “You get why I hate you right, Ash?” Like, tbh, NO????? You try to make it sound profound, but all I get is that you wanted what Ash had, but can’t because you’re completely different people??? It ain’t that dramatic or deep????

Also, why is he called Arthur, he’s literally one of the only charas who’s called by his last name, and the one time Ash calls him Frederick he makes it sound so Meaningful, but I’m not getting much reason why his first name isn’t used?? Is it bc Freddie doesn’t sound scary??? Like Arthur is??? IDEK MAN

Oftentimes, even if they’re completely awful people, I can find villains interesting and multi-faceted, but a lot of Arthur just leaves me scritching my head ^ ^;; I won’t say I hate him bc that’s a really strong word for a fictional character, and I’m sure that in certain AU contexts, he could be written in a way that would make me like him, but boy am I also prepared to personally stab him in the neck for his role in Ep. 9 alone ^ ^;

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Uuuuuhhh, I’m going to say Eiji, but unless it’s a COMPLETELY ooc AU, it’d likely be completely one sided (rare for me I know LMAO). He’s that creep that keeps trying to approach Eiji, and Ash and Shorter gotta protect him HAHAH ^ ^;;;

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Not quite sure if it counts as an OTP, but boy oh boy is this kid fixated on Ash…

My unpopular opinion about this character:

HhrmmNNN, idk if this is unpopular or not, but I personally really wish he had gotten more depth? Like I felt like his whole feud with Ash had so much foreshadowing of something greater, but just left me feeling??????? That it?????? I don’t need him to be redeemable nor someone I can sympathize with, but I’d be interested in getting more about him that would maybe make me feel something other than There he goesssss ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ at the end of the Coney Island fight scene ^ ^;;

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

REALLY WISH HE COULD HAVE DEVELOPED A CONSCIENCE AND SWITCHED LOYALTIES TO ASH. He’s one of the characters who was positioned so that if he HAD backstabbed Golzine at the right times, he could have changed the plot so much for the better. Maybe he was actually smart and curious, and pocketed the Banana Fish powder for himself instead of turning it in, and comes to the same conclusion as any sane person and decides it’s too dangerous, and decides to reluctantly team up with Ash. Maybe instead of being delighted at the effects of the drug, he’s horrified, and he gets Shorter out or swaps out the syringe for a placebo. It doesn’t even need to be for entirely altruistic motives, even just a, “This is fighting dirty and I want an ACTUALLY fair rematch with Ash, and that includes clearing out all the trash first.” Now this Arthur is one I could defs ship with Eiji LOL

My OTP:

Points above ^^^

My cross over ship:

UhhHHHHHHHH Arthur x His Conscience, since it clearly doesn’t exist in canon universe? LMAO

A headcanon fact:

OKAY I ACTUALLY GOT ONE FOR THIS. I gotta admit, I started seeing a lot more potential for Arthur as a comedic character after watching all the official episode previews (which almost all have funny lil dialogues between some of the characters and are GOLDEN).

In one of the earlier ones, Arthur reveals that he’s a weeb (not in the whee i like anime!uwu way, but in the White Guy Creepily Obsessed With Hyper Stereotypical and Fetishizing Fantasies of Japan way). It’s why he does the whole “Samurai Boy” thing and goes on about seppuku ^ ^;

ANYWAY in a Less Serious AU, Arthur’s definitely That White Guy, and Ash knows he’s a creep but it’s Shorter who immediately sees all the signs and has to take Eiji aside and is like Hey be careful around Arthur, he’s a particular kind of white guy you gotta watch out for, they claim they have “yellow fever” and are super creepy around Asian girls and apparently cute boys like you. And Eiji of course is clueless and doesn’t really get it until Arthur shows up one day and is like HEY SAMURAI BOY YOU WANT TO WEAR THIS SCHOOL GIRL UNIFORM FOR ME? THIS IS WHAT YOUR PEOPLE WEAR RIGHT aaaand Eiji quickly ducks behind Shorter bc yeah he Gets It Now.

(^WHICH, is not actually all that funny a scenario bc heck I’ve had it happen to me before in rl, but anyway Arthur being that Loser who follows Eiji around and probably clicks on Hot Asian Singles in Your Area links, and doesn’t get why Eiji likes Ash but not himself, another blond white guy. WHICH is creepy but is still the type of character that can be worked into AUs, unlike I Watched Your Friend Get Drugged By a Fatal Mind Control Drug and Laughed)

Also Shorter calls him Onion-head, bc that’s what his hairdo looks like :P (also from another episode preview).

send me a ship and I will tell you/Give me a character & I will tell you/send me 5 characters and I will rank them in order of preference

Please send me more~!  

[lamujerarana]

so I'm watching Corman's FF and it's bad, but I love it and I think it's my fave FF movie and I wanted to know what you think of it?

I also love it a lot! There are so many things to love! Thank you for giving me an excuse to rewatch it, lol.

I would recommend the 1990s FF animated show if you liked that! I actually think the show’s better once you get past the first season. There are some really terrific episodes.

Some thoughts: 

Reed and Victor being actual friends in college who cared about each other is good! There’s SOME justification for this in 616 canon – specifically the flashbacks in Claremont’s Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men, although other writers have seen things differently.

Why Ben, a jock, is sitting in on Reed’s advanced astrophysics class I do not understand. Was he just taking it to keep his boyfriend Reed company?

The Storm boardinghouse, run by Johnny and Sue’s mother! Which makes zero sense in 616 canon where Franklin Storm was a rich neurosurgeon until his wife Mary Storm died in a car accident, but there are certain 616 writers who didn’t get the memo (RAS – that was just…careless and sloppy on his part, but clearly he was basing it on this film).

Oh, my god, the opening scenes featuring teeny tiny Johnny with Ben and Reed are just INCREDIBLY cute. I wish 616 comics actually for once showed us how Johnny met them! How has no writer ever bothered showing us this?!!!

Cut for length.

I still hate Byrne’s ReedSue origin and am glad it is no longer canon because it never should have been.

No, but, really, tiny Johnny is the cutest, can he be in everything?

Okay, but Harmony from BTVS as little Sue is cute too. 

Victor and Reed just mad sciencing and freaking everyone out.

I love how Ben sees weird scifi lightning in the sky and immediately knows it’s Reed who is responsible. And then, of course, runs TOWARDS the creepy lightning like a not very sensible person because he’s afraid Reed is/will be injured.

I honestly like Reed’s involvement in Doom’s accident! It makes everything between them seem so much more personal and real than just, “Victor’s colossal ego cannot stand the fact that there is someone else in the world as brilliant as he is.”

Reed’s horror and concern for Victor as Victor’s being electrocuted, Ben saving Victor’s life! Victor’s (supposed) death! Which Reed feels responsible for! And cries over! Ben hugging Reed gently as he cries about Victor’s death! This Reed just has so many things to feel guilty about. It’s so Reed.

“Hi, Mrs. Storm! Can Johnny and Susan go to outer space with us?” Reed needs a crew for his spaceship…so Ben talks him into showing up out of the blue and asking two people he knew ten years ago when they were little kids and who have zero experience as astronauts. How could this go wrong? 

…I still find this ReedSue origin VERY unsettling.

Mrs. Storm randomly giving them their future team name pre-spaceflight is…A Choice.

I generally enjoy the Mole Man but I do not enjoy this Mole Man.

Ben falling in love with Alicia the second he sees her! Lifting her in the air like that! Reed teasing Ben about it! It’s cute! I approve. 

The whole spaceflight mission being in honor of Victor!

…Reed really talks about Victor as though he’s his ex…

Doom actually looks like Doom which is a plus.

I don’t know how much I like the spaceflight accident being the result of deliberate sabotage. I think it works better in the original. Here there’s just…very little for Reed to feel guilty about, while in the 616 version, well, he wrongly calculated that the ship’s shielding was enough to keep the cosmic rays from affecting them. He put his faith in the numbers, and he learned too late that they can sometimes be wrong and that some things cannot be predicted or accounted for. In this film, he never learns that lesson.

THANK YOU FOR ACTUALLY DEPICTING THE CRASH AS A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY THAT THE FF ARE LUCKY TO HAVE SURVIVED, WRITERS, AND ALL OF THEM AS FREAKING OUT OVER HAVING THEIR BODIES ALTERED IN TERRIFYING WAYS WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT.

I like that Reed immediately picks up on the fact that there’s something off about the fact that they’re all in one piece despite crashing all the way from space. Really, they should not have survived this. Also that the FF are stranded alone in the middle of nowhere for days after the crash before they’re found by anyone.

I do like that they gave Alicia a fairly major role, even if I like what they did with her significantly less. I truly loathe the “Powerful man kidnaps and tries to coerce woman into being his bride!” trope because it’s really just saying that the man wants to rape the woman without actually saying it, and can the story arcs of less female characters be about rape – explicit or implicit, please?

The little montage where Dr. Hauptmann’s trying to take blood samples from them and growing increasingly anxious and terrified is pretty funny. Johnny freaking out EVERY SINGLE TIME he flames on is especially hilarious.

Victor…really likes creepily groping people’s faces.

Dr. Hauptmann’s inclusion is a nice nod to 616 Doom’s pet Nazi scientist.

It takes Reed far too long to piece together the fact that there’s something fishy about the people who rescued them.

I like that they have Reed do the little chin stroking thing that he always does in the comics.

I like that Reed tells Ben to knock out the prison guards with a single look and Ben immediately knows what he means.

I don’t really like Ben immediately settling on his “It’s clobberin’ time!” catchphrase -- in the comics, it was several issues before he came up with it.

....there’s....no explanation for how the FF got back to the U.S. from Latveria...did they get on a flight?

The FF’s uniforms being one-piece leotards is...an odd choice. I actually don’t know how much I like Sue making them their uniforms so soon because that happened only after a few issues in the comics -- they weren’t planning on using them initially, and from what I’ve read Lee/Kirby weren’t necessarily planning on ever giving them uniforms at all. 

There also just doesn’t seem to be any discussion about them becoming superheroes here -- Sue just makes the costumes -- with a ‘4,′ btw, despite the fact that Ben had, apparently, left them -- without talking about it first. I like that the FF all jointly DECIDED to become heroes in the comics -- they didn’t necessarily have to go down that route.

Doom using a regular gun is just...odd.

Victor and his creepy face-touching make a reappearance. Poor Alicia. Apparently, she’s just in this movie to be creeped on by creepy men.

Someone needs to explain to the actor who plays Doom that less is more when it comes to hand-acting. Seriously, every syllable he says, he accompanies with some kind of gesture.

Sue and Reed confessing they love each other in front of Ben and Johnny and then being interrupted by Johnny, perennial third wheel, is hilarious.

Reed freeing himself and the others from the forcefield prisons Victor put them in by literally kicking the generator over is also hilarious.

“It’s nice to meet you” in much-too-pleased, even turned-on tone from Alicia, right after she feels Ben’s rocky skin the first time. Oh, Alicia, you and your thing for uniquely textured men. (I just got to Byrne’s run in my FF readthrough, and he’s really going hard on the “Alicia loves the Thing, not Ben” theory, which has certain implications I’m not totally sure he considered.)

The special effects -- especially for Johnny -- in this film are very hokey and very 1990s.

How is Johnny flying in space? No, really, there’s no oxygen. Never in 616 canon has he been able to fly in space.

Reed and Sue’s wedding! I love their wedding.

[fly-pow-bye]

DuckTales (2017) - “Woo-oo!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Colleen Evanson, Noelle Stevenson, Madison Bateman, Nate Federman, Matt Youngberg

Written by: Francisco Angones

Directed by: Dana Terrance, John Aoshima

Storyboard by: Emmy Cicierega, Ben Holm, Jason Reicher, David Baker, Matthew Humphreys, Tanner Johnson

Surprise! Actually, I made it pretty obvious.

Just a reminder: it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the original DuckTales. If you’re expecting me to make comparisons between this show and the original like I occasionally do with that other particular reboot that must not be named, you’re going to be disappointed. On with the review.

This episode starts with a non-anthropomorphic seagull flying in the air. The seagull flies across some other ducks who live on boats, and they’re kind of disgusted at this weird duck that’s much smaller than them and can’t talk. One of the boat-dwellers happens to be Donald Duck, along with his three nephews: Huey, the red one with the head accessory, Dewey, the blue one, and Louie, the green one.

Huh, red one, blue one, and green one. Maybe this isn't as much of a curveball as I thought. I’m just going to call them HDL, unless it's specifically one of them doing something, which will be often for one of them in particular. Surprisingly, not the one with the hat.

For instance, as soon as we cut to Donald Duck’s boathouse, we see Louie forcing his uncle’s clothes off. Oh, no worries, Louie is just trying to prepare Donald for his job interview. He’s got to wear his nicest suit, not the sailor uniform he usually wears with his current job of “none”. Yeah, he’s not going to the Navy and be mostly absent like in the original. In fact, he’s a major character now, and I’ll write more about that later once he gets into a bigger role in this episode.

One thing I will say right off the bat is that Donald Duck still has that voice, and the show gives him quite a bit of dialogue you’re supposed to understand. Most of his humor is slapstick, as it should be, but I wouldn’t fault anyone if they needed the closed captions. It’s one of those flaws that is far, far better than any real alternative, and Disney, its fans, and I wouldn’t want Donald’s voice any other way. This rule doesn’t apply to any of the other ducks, of course.

Some things other than voices do change, though. One great way to tell that this isn't 1987 anymore is that, while struggling with the boys to get them to put their life-vests on, he picks up his smartphone to call the babysitter asking where she is. Cellphones are going to be a big part of this episode, but it's also a big part of real life. It's a far better way to modernize a show than adding memes.

With the futility of leaving them home alone without Dewey hotwiring the boat, Donald is left with no other choice. He throws them all in the car to drop them off somewhere for a few hours. The boy’s displeasure immediately gets erased when Donald Duck keys in the directions on his car’s GPS.

GPS: Destination...McDuck Manor.

Huey: McDuck...as in SCROOGE MCDUCK?!!

The nephews have heard of the legends surrounding their great uncle Scrooge McDuck. He punched a rock monster and carved a statue out of its leg, he was able to figure out the chupacabra was just a shaved bear, and, said last as if it’s the most unbelievable thing, he only hunts for treasure so he can swim in it! I’d make a joke about that, but I’d be the millionth and one to say it.

HDL are super excited to be with the most interesting duck in the world. Okay, they don’t use that exact wording; they didn’t outright make a reference that would date the show. Even if it was, this scene would still work to show off how great and adventurous Scrooge McDuck is.

Or used to be, as this plays a perfect contrast with a cut to the Scrooge McDuck of the present, sitting bored and playing with his coins while listening to a trio of literal vulture capitalists saying he should lay off on the submarines. Of course, this acts as a contrast to HDL’s “most exciting duck in the world” statement, which is the exact wording. This scene also carries a lot more weight considering the long distance between the original and the reboot, even though the original is clearly no longer canon.

We see Scrooge McDuck, adventurer, now just a gazillionaire sitting through financial briefings and just dropping some gold into his money bin and closing it. We get to see Launchpad McQuack, the clumsy pilot of both DuckTales and Darkwing Duck, as a clumsy limo driver. It’s been a long time since either of them have been on adventures, in the show and in a meta sense.

Scrooge McDuck gets the boys, and he has to be told by the housekeeper, Mrs. Beakley, to actually interact with them. They immediately start fanboying, asking him questions and telling him that he used to be such a big deal. Losing his temper, he throws them in an old spare room, with Mrs. Beakley giving them a bag of marbles to play with. He's not hip with the kids, and it becomes a big plot point later on.

He later goes back to his room, and he rubs off some dust on a window between him and a diving suit. It’s made quite clear that the trio’s “you used to be a big deal” is setting him off. Again, lots of weight considering the time.

Of course, the boys aren’t too happy to be locked in a room, so Dewey breaks it open by banging it with the bag of marbles. It’s clear that they’re trying to give HDL distinct roles, something extremely rare in the comics, and only slightly less rare in the earlier cartoons. They prepare to touch some expensive stuff, only to get captured again by a shadowy figure. They get interrogated while hanging from the ceiling until they yell for Uncle Scrooge.

Webby: (gasp) Nephews! Tell me everything!

This is the reboot’s version of Webby, granddaughter of Mrs. Beakley, and it’s one of the most drastic changes this reboot does to the original. The original Webby is portrayed as a doll with a arrow shot through its heart in the tied up scene. That’s how much the writers want you to know that they really wanted to change Webby. Here, she's an idol of Scrooge McDuck, and wants to be a great adventurer just like him.

She also feels trapped. While Mrs. Beakley is alright with her preparing for it, she doesn't want her to go out to see the dangers of the world. So...a Disney Princess, but more like Rapunzel than, say, Aurora. The one from Sleeping Beauty that's known for, you know, sleeping. She opens a ventilation shaft for the boys to crawl through, so they can try to explore more of the manor.

Speaking of Mrs. Beakley, she barges into Scrooge McDuck’s room after hearing a bunch of noise, and we see Scrooge McDuck putting on that heavy diving suit. Mrs. Beakley reminds him he should spend time with his family instead, but Scrooge wants nothing to do with that. In his words, family is nothing but trouble. Dewey overhears this, as he crawls through the ventilation system, which makes him a little more weary about the great uncle.

They get out of the ventilation system, and they end up right outside what Webby calls the “Wing of Secrets”. That might be a pun.

This room contains a lot of weird items, including a gong that, if hit three times, will launch unspeakable evil. It’s going to get hit three times. Louie, already established as being the most rascally of the group, is busy calling dibs on the stuff. He only lived with his great uncle for less than a couple minutes, and Louie is already thinking about his inheritance! She does stop Louie from touching a hand that turns anything it touches to stone. It's going to be used to turn something into stone.

Being far more disinterested as his dislike for his great uncle grows, Dewey makes a bombshell statement that causes the rest of the group sans Webby to stop and think.

Dewey: It’s fake.

They were absolutely enamored by this guy when the GPS guy talked about McDuck Manor, but this one little thing, and they think he's a fraud. Well, maybe it isn't so little.

They see their Uncle Donald, and they just don’t see him as the adventuring type. The other two agree, and immediately start calling the other items fakes. Of course, Webby is flabbergasted by this, as, to her, Donald Duck is one of the best adventurers around.

Much like the “most exciting duck in the world” comment, we have to have a contrasting scene here, too. We then cut to Donald Duck waiting for his interview alongside a neat little cameo from A Goofy Movie, doing one of his trademark outbursts at a stapler.

Webby: But what about the picture of the chupacabra?

Huey: Photoshop.

Cellphones, GPS, and now Adobe Photoshop. Well, okay, While HDL tries to disprove all of this worth, Webby opens a treasure chest that reveals a floating sheet. The boys are convinced it’s just a Halloween decoration in there. Dewey pull off the sheets...

...and it turns out to be Captain Peghook, the Scourge of the River Styx. This instantly convinces the boys that, nope, it’s all real. Subplot over. They also wake up a headless man-horse and a magical sword called the Deus Excalibur. Both of these items hit the gong, and they wonder what could be worse than any of this.

Scrooge McDuck shows up, much to the chagrin, but before he could punish the boys, the ghost, the horse, and sword. To make a short story even shorter, he takes care of all three by doing one thing that causes a chain of events. I feel like being more specific wouldn’t add anything to this review. This causes a celebration among the kids until he puts his cane down.

He also tells Webby that this isn’t a Wing of Secrets, it’s the garage. Webby tries to counter this by pointing out items like...a “garden hose of destiny”. Dewey quotes back the “family is nothing but trouble” line, which really gets on his nerves. While this was all entertaining, a part of me was thinking to myself, “he’s going to hit the gong, he’s going to hit the gong, he’s going to hit the gong...”

Sure enough, he hits the gong! He does defend himself by saying he couldn’t have known it was hit twice before. Kind of a lapse of judgment, but it's better than not knowing what evil could have lurked. This evil happens to be a gold-hunting dragon, who immediately sniffs the scent of the famous giant money bin. Scrooge immediately grabs onto the dragon, telling the kids to go to their room.

Simple answer: they don't.

Slightly longer answer: this leads to a action scene, as Scrooge McDuck holds on to the dragon, while the boys and Webby get Launchpad McQuack to save him. I don't really want to talk too much about this, as I can't really add anything that wouldn't just be summary.

I will mention one thing: I like how the “garden hose of destiny” plays a part in this. They didn’t even need to go back to that joke, but they did anyway. Everything is connected, and it is seen throughout this entire cartoon. It ends with the Scrooge using that hand, and he safely lands in the money he was perfectly trained to swim in. The boys get worried for a second; I wonder if they thought about what usually happens when you land on a pile of metal.

...there, millionth and two.

After all of that, it's official: Scrooge McDuck is back in the business of adventure! This is where the episode would end, but I guess it would be disappointing if we didn't see that Atlantis adventure. It turns out, Scrooge will not be alone on said adventure, and I don't just mean HDL, Webby, and Launchpad.

It turns out, Donald Duck's job interview was a success, though not for the accounting job he wanted. Instead, he's a sailor, working for a certain someone.

Flintheart Glomgold, the second richest Scottish duck in the world, and he’s not happy about that placing. I know he's one of the classic villains. He knows just as well as Scrooge McDuck does that there’s a jewel for him to take.

Glomgold: Now, what do you know about...Atlantis?

What we just watched was the longest cold open ever, as the theme song starts right after that threat. They knew very well that nothing can be as catchy as the original 1987 show’s theme song, so it’s a modern Disney take on the classic theme sung by American Idol contestant Felicia Barton. The original can't be beat, but it doesn't do a bad job either.

I have nothing but good things to say about the visuals. It's a lot more abstract than the original, with Scrooge and the kids jumping out of comic panels, a great reference to DuckTales' roots, and eventually climbing the DuckTales logo. We even get some glimpses at the new Beagle Boys, who don't appear in this episode, so those mercanaries aren't replacements for them.

It's all well animated, and one thing I can say that should be a plus is that the animation in the show proper isn't as much of a downgrade as certain other cartoons.

Part 2 of this episode starts with Glomgold’s employee training video. He prides himself on taking ideas that were already done and making them his own, doing them better, faster, and cheaper. There would be a good joke to put here if this cartoon was worse.

While he's watching this, Donald Duck is secretly talking to Scrooge on how to take care of the nephews. Scrooge McDuck tells him not to worry, as he has a laid back schedule ahead. Of course, he's actually going into a submarine in search for the jewel of Atlantis.

One of the big plots in this episode with many of the characters is trying to keep secrets by lying, whether it be Louie telling Donald Duck that he's doing boring stuff while in the submarine, or a whole section of plot dedicated to Webby lying to her overprotective grandmother that she's going to a party.

This even continues with Dewey, seriously, he does a lot of things in this special, erasing a line on the map to a more direct path that's filled with monsters.

It leads to them getting attacked by those monsters in three one second scenes. It’s a joke anyone can see coming. There is a hidden depth in this beyond just "those kids are rascals", and it's another bit of conflict between Dewey and Scrooge.

Scrooge: You kids would be the death of me!

Dewey: DEWEY would be the death of you! DEWEY!

Scrooge says that the kids are going to be the death of him. He doesn't see HDL as three different people, just some family that's nothing but trouble. Later in the episode, Dewey challenges him to say which one he's supposed to be, and Scrooge doesn't know. I'll be honest, I got it wrong when I first watched this, too, even though they do try to seperate them a little more than usual.

Meanwhile, on Glomgold's unmarked boat, Donald is showing off pictures of him and his nephews to his co-workers, who are all mercenaries with names like Cabby McStabberson. An alarm sounds, and they see Scrooge McDuck is also after the jewel of Atlantis. Donald wonders why Scrooge is there, and is even more insensed to see the boys, saying he's going to kill them.

Glomgold takes that literally, to Donald's chagrin, and he starts to give him praise for giving them a great idea to kill Scrooge. This becomes one of the running gags with Glomgold and Donald: not only is he working for evil, evil sees him as a good employee. Also, they are able to use the word kill; none of that getting here.

So once they get to Atlantis, there's all of these plot threads. Along with the main plot of Scrooge trying to get the jewel of Atlantis, we have a lot of family drama. One great nephew in particular, Dewey, wants to confront Scrooge on his lack of caring for his family. A nephew, Donald, is working with, and yet wants to protect his nephews as well. And there's Webby's grandmother, who can't help but keep calling Webby wondering if she's okay at this party she went to.

This is all going at once, and the only confusing thing is how that cell phone would work when they're at the bottom of the sea. I guess when you're with a bajillionaire, anything is possible.

Talking more about Donald Duck, it’s interesting to see Donald in a much, much bigger role than he had in the original. Judging by the opening, this will follow through throughout the series. The stuff he goes through is very fitting. A highlight is during a scene where HDL tries to get past a laser bridge that causes, and Donald desperately tries to shield them from lava shooting out of what would have been the ceiling.

I don't want to get into any more spoiler territory than that, so all I can say is that it all gets tied up at the end. They even get out of a surprisingly insightful death trap, which teaches Donald that sometimes, you just got to trust people. Dewey even calls it a "surprisingly insightful death trap".

While the Dewey and Scrooge plot and the Donald and Everyone Else plot gets handled well enough, the Webby and Mrs. Beakley plot just kind of ends with Mrs. Beakley being okay with it, only telling her that she shouldn't lie. It's the closest thing to a forced moral in this episode, but at least it's all taken care of without spending too much time on "Liar Revealed" scenes.

I don’t want to ruin the fun for anyone who wants to watch this, which should be everyone, but I’m not spoiling too much when I say the good guys win, right? Obviously, it’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s what happens. It even leads to this line, from one of the newsreporters on the scene.

Newsreporter: Scrooge McDuck is back, with family in tow, solving mysteries, and rewriting history!

Oh yeah, that reference was beautiful. In the end, Dewey goes back to the "Wing of Secrets"/garage, and there is a really neat cliffhanger with the same painting that led HDL to doubt Uncle Scrooge’s accomplishments. I won’t spoil it, but there’s going to be some continuity in this. Unlike other certain reboots, it will definitely be touched upon again. Woo-oo!

How does it stack up?

I was of the opinion that maybe we should just leave the past alone and start making new cartoons instead of trying to reinterpret our favorites of old. Maybe it's because it's Disney and not Cartoon Network, but this show is an exception. At the very least, it's a great start.

If you want to watch three siblings that wear red, blue, and green going on adventures, this is the show to watch. Obviously, I’m not going to use a character from a far lesser cartoon to grade this cartoon, but I don’t have three faces by the same person to use here, so...have a Two Thumbs Up Dewey!

(Special thanks to martosi231234! Far better than an emoji.)

But I’m really just delaying the inevitable. This Saturday on FPB...it’s back to the usual.

Oh boy. Oh, and just in case...

← n/a 🦆 Daytrip of Doom! →

[marshmallowgoop]

I'm surprised you feel that way, although it made me sad (especially that senketsu was gone), I really loved the way they dealt with the themes of moving on, and of the impact the past should have on us.

I’m surprised that this is surprising! Apparently I haven’t salted enough about the ending recently, huh?

That said, I don’t know if you read this post that I linked in my last response, but I would recommend reading it if you haven’t (and if you want to understand more of my POV). The argument there is just one of the most eloquent I’ve written about why the ending plain doesn’t work, but I can also point to a whole slew of other essays/thoughts on the subject that I’ve done (the ☂ are warnings for Extreme Salt and the numbers in parentheses note that the essay was included on that page in my compiled meta book): 

Senketsu’s Death: For the Best? (186)  ☂

Senketsu’s Final Fate? (143) ☂

Senketsu “Outgrew” Being a Uniform? (139) ☂

OVA Thoughts ☂ 

Senketsu’s Death: Is Senketsu Really Dead? (145) ☂ , Part II  ☂ , Part III  ☂

The OVA is Awful if You Like Senketsu ☂

OVA Salt ☂

“Outgrowing Sailor Uniforms” ☂

And then the one I linked above: Gurren Lagann, Re: Cutie Honey: Kill la Kill Ending Salt ☂

Buuuut that’s a whole heck of a lot of TLDR, so let me pick out the relevant bits:

From Senketsu’s Final Fate? (143) ☂:

I appreciate how the OVA expanded on Senketsu’s dying linesome more with the idea of “graduating” from the past and learning to move on,but, opinions, it wasn’t really the closure I was hoping for. A peek in myanalysis tag shows that I don’t ever seem to stop yapping about how Senketsuis more than a uniform, and I’ll always argue that point,since that’s so much of what the show means to me. And while I’m compelled bythe OVA’s take on “outgrowing” being less about growing up but more aboutletting go of the past and moving on, it still rather adds to this idea of“outgrowing Senketsu”… which leaves a really sour taste in my mouth. Yeah, itseems to be more about what sailor uniforms represent (and particularly, what aKamui represents) than anything about Senketsu personally, but the point stillstands. He’s Ryuko’s friend and partner. You don’t outgrow that.

Worst of all, though, is that the closure at the end heregives off the impression that Ryuko doesn’t need Senketsuanymore, which doesn’t sit right with me. Cause, like, when you lose a friendand you learn to live without them, saying you don’t need them anymore feelsall sorts of wrong. People certainly need people, but with friends, itshouldn’t be about being so reliant on them that you literally need them tolive—it’s about wanting them in your life because they enhanceit by being who they are. So in this sense, yes, Ryuko doesn’t need him, butthat’s not something I want to hear in this show’s final moments. I want tohear that they were friends, that they had good times together, that she’llmiss him but she won’t kill herself in missing him, and she’ll never forgethim. This “I’ve outgrown you and I don’t need you anymore” vibe I get justfeels like a slap in the face after everything those two went through together.

From OVA Thoughts ☂:

I can’t enjoy the OVA as much as I would like because it mucks up one of the show’s most crucial elements. To spend a whole series touting two characters as equals and one and the same and then try to pass one off as just some grand mentor figure that needs to be “outgrown” and moved away from plain doesn’t work. And it works even less to treat him as though he’s been some object all along. All of that seems to be going on with the OVA, and all of it leaves me shaking my head.

From Senketsu’s Death: For the Best? (186)  ☂:

You might outgrow sailor uniforms (though I’ll point outthat this sentiment is pretty broken, considering Ryuko still has a year ofhigh school left and no, she’s not done wearing sailor uniforms just yet), butyou don’t outgrow friends. 

From Senketsu “Outgrew” Being a Uniform? (139) ☂:

Now, moving on from the battle and letting the past rest? Ican totally see that as a good way to conclude the show. With the idea ofchoosing your own destiny and breaking the strings of fate that bound you, theOVA does indeed work on a lot of levels and asks a lot of touching questions,too. What do you do with yourself once you are freed from fate? How do you moveon? All great. I dig it.

And I’d dig it a lot more if Senketsu was handled as nicely.Ryuko needs to move on from his death and not drown herself in sorrow for hisloss? Awesome! Perfect way to end the series. But it gets so… muddled.

First off, there are a million different ways to interpretwhat even happened with Senketsu. Is he dead and watching over Ryuko in theafterlife? Is he an imaginary space ghost? Is he a god? Is he in Ryuko’s heartand together they get to live out Ryuko’s greatest happiness for reals? Is heboth literally in her heart and Life Fiber Clothing Jesus atthe same time? Is he sharing Ryuko’s body a la Birdy and Tsutomu and they justhave to build him a new one? Is it like Wan and Raava where they’re fused but(I presume) they can still speak to each other and maintain their own personalities?All of these could work in canon, and for something that’s supposed to giveclosure, it’s rather frustrating and confusing. What is even meant to beconveyed with such an ambiguous conclusion to Senketsu’s story? If he’s deadand the theme is moving on from fate, make it clear that he is indeeddead—don’t complicate it.

From The OVA is Awful if You Like Senketsu ☂:

Meanwhile Senketsu’s character is totally shat on [in the OVA], he’streated as little more than an object when his entire arc was about realizinghe’s human and so much more than that, this forced, last-minutemetaphor of “outgrowing your sailor uniform!!!” that never made sense inthe first place and was totally contradictory to the entire rest of the show isfurthered in the most demeaning way possible (“lol senketsu ur just a sailoruniform and guess i’ve moved on from them even though i actually still have ayear of high school left and also weren’t u supposed to be, like, my friend andequal? not anymore!”), and there’s such ambiguity about his final fate thatnobody can seem to agree if he’s even freaking dead or not… which just mucks upthese forced metaphors even more. 

I was fucked up for days after I first saw the OVA because Iwas so disappointed by it. I could not believe the treatment of Senketsu, andeven now I still cringe a bit whenever I edit with it or write about it.

From OVA Salt ☂:

The OVA’s supposed to have this big message about moving on(and, in Ryuko’s case, moving on from Senketsu’s loss… I mean, at least, I think that’swhat they’re going for, but it gets so muddled), but it’s hard for it to meanmuch when you don’t really see her suffering. How much didthis loss mean to her? Who knows, because the show doesn’t get into it verymuch.

Which is awful, because it’s a loss that should mean somuch to Ryuko. It was literally one of her greatest fears that she’dlose Senketsu. She had a recurring nightmare about it, and she was so fiercelyprotective over him that she would have died for him without even a moment’shesitation. The two of them are described as “soulmates,” a perfect team,“two-in-one.” She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. This isthe kind of death that deserves some time. And you just don’tget much in the OVA, and what you do pretty much reducesSenketsu to an object.

It’s just… disappointing, especially because I don’t thinkany other (heroic) character would have been treated like this if they had diedinstead–and the OVA certainly wouldn’t be so widely accepted if they were.

From Gurren Lagann, Re: Cutie Honey: Kill la Kill Ending Salt ☂:

Again, I think there’s merit in tragedies and the sad factthat things aren’t always going to work out. I think Senketsu’s death couldhave been really poignant and powerful even if it broke my heart. But themessage they went with [Senketsu living “wouldn’t do anything” for Ryuko’s growth] leaves me empty and not feeling anything but disappointment,and, even worse, it’s not even a tasteful portrayal of such a message as “TheSense of Wonder” is. Senketsu’s entire person is discarded, and a loss that should bemonumental is brushed aside as something righteous and “for the best.”

Okay, that’s a heck of a lot of TLDR, too. So, basically, I guess it comes down to this:

The idea of moving on from the past is fine. It’s fine to do that in relation to a character’s death—even great! However, Senketsu—literally the second or third-most important character—has a death scene that lasts, in its entirety, hardly over one minute. One. Minute. For the protagonist’s canonically-described soulmate. It’s just not good.

And not only that, Senketsu also dies less than five minutes before the end of the series. The show only focuses on Ryuko’s grief for a brief moment and then Senketsu is promptly ignored until, right at the last minute, the show decides, oh, right, yeah, Senketsu, moving on from sailor uniforms, yeah, sure. It seems to me that Senketsu was originally far less of a character than he ended up being, and that’s fine… but then you can’t just shove in your originally-intended ending and act like it’s cool. It’s not.

In fact, I’m sure Senketsu didn’t used to be such a character, because Ryuko thinking about Senketsu in the last moment of episode 24 wasn’t even in the almost-final script. The “outgrowing sailor uniforms” thing ended up being so tacked on in the final version of the story that even the nearly-final draft just kinda threw it out there and completely abandoned it. 

So that big, overarching idea of “moving on from the past” that the OVA tries to build on? It was literally thrown together last minute. And it shows. It shows so hard.

Because think of it this way: say Mako died, in the last five minutes of the last episode, in hardly a minute. Say that, as she perished, she told Ryuko that she’d only be holding her back in life (even though the entire rest of the series says otherwise), and that it’s good for her to go. Say Ryuko cried for all of thirty seconds and then there’s a flash forward and she’s shopping with her sister with cheerful music. Say that the whole show ends when Ryuko sees a girl who looks like Mako, feels sad for a second, and then is hunky-dory because she knows Mako helped her get her to where she is.

Would that seem well done or like a sad, but beautiful display of moving on? No! There would be an uproar if this happened! Mako’s death would have felt ridiculously tacked on and pointlessly cruel!

But that’s exactly what happened with Senketsu. His death isn’t given proper time, the “moving on” message is so forced that you don’t even really see it in an almost-final version of the script, and the only reason it gets accepted is because Senketsu doesn’t look like a cute human girl or guy.

And that is why I can’t stand the ending of Kill la Kill.