#also 5$ to anyone who can guess whos outfit i totally just stole for her

[artisthoi]

oh also drew my pjo oc fable

my friend says her lips look “too realistic” which i think is bullshit but lmk

[allnewalldifferentwildspider]

The OTHER Little Witch Academia Manga

So I was going through the Little Witch Academia wiki and saw that there was an entry on Akko’s parents. There was even a picture of the from the manga. I was like, “What the H? I have all three volumes of the manga and have never seen them.” A few google searches later, turns out that there is another Little Witch Academia manga. This one is only one volume and has five chapters. It was a quick read and I have...mixed feelings about it. Before I go chapter by chapter, here’s a few notes I have about the manga overall:

also MAJOR SPOILERS

I don’t like the art on Akko. I understand that Akko is supposed to be (for lack of a better term) the dumb one of the group, but that doesn’t mean you have to draw her dead eyed with her jaw just hanging open. It’s weird and creepy. There are several panels where Akko is just staring off into space with her mouth open. It’s weird because there are several times where the artist draws characters like Chariot, Diana, and Lotte to look really attractive. So why draw Akko looking like Patrick Star? Gross, dude.

I don’t like the characterization on Diana. In the OVA’s Diana was haughty, but she could back up her arrogance. She always did end up getting swept into whatever Akko was doing. In the Netflix series, they played it up like it was tough love. Like she’s getting after Akko for her own good. In the manga, it’s a little of both. She doesn’t hate Akko, but she does get annoyed at whatever misadventure she gets wrapped up in. In this manga, she’s more of a bitch. There’s a really sad scene in chapter two and she’s smiling the entire time. She’s always doing that anime “fu fu fu” laugh. She even tricked Akko into thinking she set her on fire. I’m a big time diakko shipper so I was not happy with this.

Changing the origin. Maybe I should get into specifics for this one:

CHAPTER ONE:

That’s the first panel up there. That’s what we start with. Not a good start and it doesn’t get any better. It starts with Akko getting her acceptance letter and then she’s at Luna Nova in the next page. No Shiny Rod. No Forest of Arcturus. She’s introduced to Lotte and Sucy by walking down the hallway. I guess the other way was too exciting. Diana is there and she’s pissed at Akko for yawning during her speech at the entrance ceremony. Little Witch Academia everybody!

CHAPTER TWO: 

Is actually very good. It’s a real tearjerker and could easily fit anywhere in the LWA canon. Everyone is making golems in class. You’re supposed to destroy them right after you use them, but Akko thinks it’s cruel so she keeps hers. Time passes and the golem (named Lemmy) gets bigger and smarter with Akko even teaching him the alphabet. However, she can’t do any of her assignments even worse than usual. The reason why witches destroy the golems right after they use them is because they’re powered by the witch’s magical energy. Since Lemmy is still around, it’s draining her of her magical energy. Lemmy messes up their room and runs away after growing larger. Akko finds him at night and gives him a notebook saying wherever he goes he can always write to her. Diana and her friends show up to mock Akko (because in this continuity she’s a huge bitch) and the golem attacks them. Akko reluctantly destroys Lemmy. Sucy believes Lemmy did it on purpose to help Akko. The chapter ends with Akko finding Lemmy’s notebook with a drawing of them together that says “MAGICAL STAR AKKO LEMY.” Then Akko starts crying and so did I. And now I’m crying again. Oh god.

CHAPTER THREE:

Is actually pretty funny. Akko discovers that Shiny Chariot’s costume is up for sale on an online auction and tries to borrow money from everyone to buy it. Diana is curious why Akko needs so much money and discovers the auction. She tries to buy the costume herself and because she’s rich, she can always just up the bid every time.

Professor Ursula overhears about the auction and checks her closet to find that her stage outfit is right there, so it can’t possibly for sale. She even puts it on. SPOILER: It’s tight. She calls her old production company to ask if they’ve ever sold a copy of her outfit and they discover the pattern has been stolen.

Akko and Diana track down the original seller and discover he’s the guy who stole the pattern so he can sell knockoff Chariot costumes. They take him down (after a very tasteless joke of the old man grabbing Diana’s ass. Piece of shit) and Ursula takes back the pattern without anyone knowing.

CHAPTER FOUR:

I don’t like chapter four. Chapter four is actually about Sucy and Lotte. They go to Sucy’s home in the Philippines and Akko stays behind because she’s Akko and has a bunch of make up assignments to do. Sucy’s mom has called her back home to choose a familiar. Her sisters try to help her but merge with this magical beast and Sucy tricks them into splitting up. Whatever. Nothing special. There is just one itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini of a problem:

SUCY WAS ADOPTED

The creator of LWA and the good manga (because that’s what I’m calling it now) both say that Sucy was adopted. She doesn’t have a mom that looks exactly like her just with big tits and she doesn’t have little sisters that looks exactly like her but smaller. Two out of three falls says Sucy was adopted. This entire chapter is flawed.

CHAPTER FIVE:

Is kinda weird. Akko, Sucy and Lotte are having lunch. Lotte says she doesn’t like fish and Akko blames the cafeteria food. They go out to the lake to catch some fish so Akko can make sushi. A giant fish attacks them and Lotte uses a spirit to move a sunken pirate ship to kill the fish. Akko takes it and makes sushi. Akko and Sucy don’t like it, but Lotte loves it until she realizes that it was a giant fish so there is a lot of fish to eat.

Overall, I really didn’t like this one. I can see why they stopped at five chapters. If I had to grade this by stars, it would be one star for chapter two but take away a quarter for making Diana a bitch. Same for chapter three. I liked it but take away a quarter for making Diana a bitch. Total 1.5/5.

Let’s hope the light novel will be good.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Finished s1 ep2 again.

Some random thoughts as the episode progressed:

Oh hai Mark

“-I’d probably be food by now.”

Mark be over here spoiling all the key points of the episode sheesh

I will never miss an opportunity to call Larry an old, racist asshole.

Lee’s outfit in this episode is my favorite. I kind of wish we could see him wear this for the rest of the game, but it makes sense why they wouldn’t do that since next episode they’re leaving the motor in and with what happens after that his jacket would’ve gotten in the way... but still. 

Oh hai Ben

Y’know what? For shits and giggles, I’m not gonna cut the dude free. I always chop his leg off- aaaaaand Travis is shot. 

By the way, it’s so fucked up to just leave the teacher there holy shit. It shows him getting eaten and you hear his last screams like... that’s so damn cruel. I just wanted to see what the alternative was because I’ve never watched it but now I just feel bad. 

Shut up Lilly.

“Come over here and see what I drew...” Clementine, you’re so damn sweet I can’t-

SHUT UP LARRY.

“Ration the food out to everyone. Good luck.”

Well, Lilly, I’d be thrilled to do so. Clem, Kenny, Duck, and Mark will be eating while you and your father starve.

“You look like crap, Lee.” Thanks, babe.

Also, that little bit of dialogue with Carley when Lee asks how she’s been sleeping is interesting. It implies that she has nightmares about what happened at the drugstore and to Doug. Interesting, indeed.

Also, Ben was in the school band. Huh. Wonder what he played.

“How’s it going, Lee? From up here, it looks like you’re playing favorites!”

And this surprises you??

SHUT. UP. LARRY.

Travis died and now Ben and his teenage mustache are sad.

Also having Travis die here in place of the teacher because Kenny still goes “You said he wasn’t bitten!” even though, no! Ben never said that about Travis because he was talking about the teacher, like Kenny, you literally saw what happened.  

Clearly, the game didn’t think anyone would leave the teacher like that so they didn’t bother changing the dialogue haha

Now the cannibals St. John’s are here. Hooray. 

I’m gonna fix the shit outta this swing!

God, I wish there was a way to run. It really makes me appreciate the controls and over-the-shoulder camera in s4. 

“Hmm. Pointy.” 😂😂😂😂

Lee pushing Clementine on the swing is such a short, sweet moment, especially when you share hope with her about the world going back to normal one day. And her telling Lee she wants him to stay lucky, too? Too damn cute for my salty heart. 

And y’know, talking to Lilly about why her dad’s such an asshole is supposed to make me go, “Oh, well, okay I guess that makes sense. I shouldn’t judge him.” but then all I can think about is Lilly turning out the way she does in ep4 and I get mad again. It’s sad though. I still think she’s an asshole but I also think she did have good in her until Larry died and I feel bad...

But then I get flashbacks to Lilly killing Mitch and kidnapping my children and stabbing James and I just...

I’m sorry. I hate her. I could try and play nice with her here but it won’t change anything. 

Ugh.

Danny, you super sketchy...

“Did you lick it?”

“...I don’t know.” 😂😂😂

Clementine said “shit” and now Katjaa and her accent think I’m a bad dad.

Playing s4 prior to this has me in collectible mode even though there are no collectibles in this game. I keep trying to find and pick stuff up 

Welp. That’s a murder room if I ever saw one.

Mark really got fucked over. The dude took an arrow to the shoulder, an injury that 100% could’ve been fixed without worry, and as a result, these disgusting fuckers just... cut off his legs and leave him behind a secret door while they COOK SAID LEGS TO FEED TO HIS FRIENDS.

BUT the big reveal of Mark and his “Don’t... eat... dinner....” still gives me chills every time I see it. And the tension as you hear him falling down the stairs and crawling towards you begging for help is just... awful? But wonderfully done? I feel like this episode is pretty slow until you hit this point where it really picks up and all hell breaks loose. 

I just helped Kenny crush Larry’s head in with a salt lick and now we’re best friends for life. In most of my previous playthroughs, I always helped Lilly instead, which causes Kenny to be all “You ain’t done shit for me or my family rawr rawr!” but the jarring difference when you help him finish off Larry is... interesting, to say the least, especially in future episodes. 

And leaving Clementine to take care of Lilly knowing that these two are going to have a face off in eight years [possibly resulting in Lilly’s death] is crazy.

Do you think Clementine ever has nightmares about what happened at the St. John’s? About the slaughter room and crawling through that vent? Shit. 

CARLEY ❤️❤️❤️ 

Yeah, I spared Andy’s life only to let the walkers get him... Course, who knows? Maybe the dude’s still out there, alive and insane, knawing on his mama and brother’s bones. I dunno. 

Now, I’ve said this before, but I wish Jolene hadn’t died this episode. I wish she had been the one to come back and kidnap Clementine in ep4-5. Wouldn’t that make more sense than some dude that isn’t even given a name? The Stranger...? Who comes after you no matter your choice to steal or not?? Like, Jolene wasn’t in her right mind and I could totally see her stalking and somehow following us to Savannah and tricking Clementine into going with her. It would’ve been a hell of a final battle with her, too. Don’t think she would’ve been as civil as the stranger. 

I will say, with the controls being what they are, this episode does drag a bit for me, but it’s all build up to the big reveal of Mark and I can forgive it for the slower moments.

And looking at my stats, 49% people helped kill Larry. Damn. 

And 51% of people stole the food. Interesting. 

Very interesting, indeed. 

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters 3x12, Original Sin -- Review

Welcome to another Shadowhunters review. 3x12 Original Sin, left me with the overall feeling of , "what was the point?"

I would like to preface this review with saying that I am NOT a huge supporter of this show. I do enjoy certain elements of it but I'm not what would be classified as a devoted fan. For me, Shadowhunters is not a good show and I do get very critical of the show in my reviews. Honestly, for me, I watch the show because 1) I'm too curious not to and 2) I find that this show can be so bad its funny and that's how I reap enjoyment out of it. I am not at all invested in this show or its characters anymore. I'm just watching to see what happens. If you're a die hard fan and you lash out at everyone who has a different opinion than you, you might want to skip these...I'm just saying. My reviews may not be for you. If you do decide to be a total troll, well then pay attention to the below disclaimer.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you're the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that's on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that's the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I'm not telling YOU how to think and feel. I'm telling you what I, quirky and socially awkward me, think and feel. So please, lets discuss with dignity and respect. If I'm critical about this show, it's only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I do not hate Shadowhunters, I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It's great if you want to promote positivity with this show (and I encourage you to do so) but that doesn't mean I'm not going to point out the things that are legitimately wrong with it. Also, keep in mind that despite the fact that I do like the books, me being critical of this show has nothing to do with my fondness for the books. I don't really care if the show deviates from the source material as long as the changes are good, it makes sense, and it doesn't create plot holes within the confines of the world the show has created. My problems with this show are problems I would have with any show or book for that matter. I think it's perfectly reasonable to take issue with a show that has plot holes, shoddy world building, and inconsistent characters. There will be spoilers for the books and movie.

So yeah, I was not a big fan of this episode. Basically, this episode is just a bunch of plots mashed together that played out in a timespan of 42 minutes and the writers called it an episode. It has no structure, no flow, it's just a compilation of moments, no connecting themes are ever really introduced and oh my god, the acting in this episode was atrocious. It's like everyone forgot how to emote and was just collecting a paycheck, they were only there because they were being paid to be there. The acting in this episode is what's known as "phoning it in". There was no spark to the acting, no charm. At least, for me. Others may have thought the acting was great and they're allowed to think that. I’m just of the opinion the acting wasn't that great and I'm allowed to think that, as well. I shudder to say it but the acting featured in early Season 1 is Emmy worthy compared to what we got in this episode. 

And the A-Plot is Back to Being Dull

You know what really would've been an interesting character arc? Jonathon being a dark mirror for Clary and Clary having to really evaluate herself and acknowledge the dark parts in her and realize she has both of her parents in her. What did you say, Freeform? Character development is for amateur writers? Your main character, the character that's supposed to carry the story should remain a cardboard cutout with no complexity? Okay, then. Cool. My mistake. I suppose it was asking a little too much for you to do character development on this show. It's nice to know that this entire plot with Jonathon featured in the previous episode and this episode was completely meaningless, a waste of time the show doesn't have, and was probably only here to showcase Jonathon's incestuous feelings towards Clary...because he's evil so of course he's in love with his sister. Now, I am in no way saying I like the whole Clace incest vibe from the books. I found it creepy and I generally didn't like it but later on in the series, I was more okay with it because of Jonathon and his feelings being a dark mirror for Clace, there was a story-telling purpose for it so I can't really fault the books for that. But the show doesn't have that. They didn't really go for the Clace incest so all we're going to get is an evil dude in love with his sister, it's basically going to mean little to the overarching themes of the story. It's more like, "Does this really need to be here? Does this really need to be explored?"

In this episode we have Jonathon and Clary just chilling in Paris, France. Although it is quite concerning just how few people there actually appear to be in Paris France, the romance capital of the world. But anyway, in preparation for leaving the apartment and experiencing Paris, Jonathon has Clary change clothes before they go out which thank god for that. She has supposedly been wearing that same outfit for days now, she even trekked through the snow in it in her attempted escape wearing that outfit. All I'm saying is those clothes must be soaked in sweat and oil by now. Honestly, I'm surprised Jonathon can be in the same room as her, her BO must be pretty rank by now. But Clary's clothing issue has been solved by Lillith conveniently being the exact same size as Clary. I'm just going to ignore the part where Lillith is technically a demon, human isn't even her true form so I don't know why she has such an extensive wardrobe. Clary and Jonathon hang out in Paris for a little bit, all the while they're trying to get the other to trust them and while they're doing that, Luke and Jace are actively trying to find our Mary Sue. They eventually end up in Siberia where Jace finds a clump of hair so that definitely means that clump of hair is Clary's and in all future scenes I became obsessed with trying to find Clary's bald spot because that clump of hair was huge. Clary notices a shadowhunter and picks his pocket for his stele. Apparently, the shadowhunters take missing steles VERY seriously because the guy reports it and Jace finds out through some sort of criminal report database so they hypothesize Clary is in Paris. I don't know why the shadowhunter would automatically assume a rogue shadowunter stole it. It could just have easily been a pick-pocket or it could've fallen out of his pocket, Paris is a busy place. Jonathon and Clary end up in some sort of store because Jonathon has heard that the shopkeeper might know of the Morganstern sword. And I'm instantly appalled that Clary is supposedly a seasoned, fully-fledged shadowhunter and she doesn't appear to know about the different classes of demons. I guess Clary is all brawn no brain. But the shopkeeper refuses to do business with Jonathon while Clary's there because he can smell the shadowhunter on her. Jonathon lets Clary leave the shop and Clary uses the stele to, I guess try to escape but the shadowhunter she stole it from conveniently finds her, she tells him who she is and I'm even more appalled at just how self-absorbed Clary is in this moment. She undoes her magical wig and just assumes that's enough to prove that she is who she says she is, she just assumes this guy knows what Clary Fairchild looks like. I mean, clearly the entire world should know who she is, she's the Mary Sue main character after all. But Jonathon figures out something is wrong when the shadowhunter twists Clary's arm and Jonathon feels it which is weird on how this whole bond thing works. Because when she passed out in the snow, nothing happened to him. So just like the parabatai bond, I think this is going to be a very selective plot device, it's only going to matter when the narrative needs it to matter. Jonathon kills the shadowhunter and after exclaiming that killing someone for Clary must be what love is, Jace, Alec and Luke show up. Clary tells them not to kill Jonathon as it'll hurt her as well but she does stab herself in the leg and that causes hurt to Jonathon which spurs him to run away. I don't know why a stab in the leg is enough to deter him considering he grew up in a demon realm and no doubt faced much worse torture. But whatever. Clace gets their reunion kiss, and by the way to no one’s surprise hopefully, time away has not built their chemistry in any way so they still feel awkward. And the episode ends with Jonathon back in the episode screaming his frustration. It was an interesting director’s decision to have the scene completely silent in that moment. It might’ve been effective except I think it went 5 seconds too long. They probably could’ve trimmed that down a little and it would’ve felt more organic. But after a while, it was like, “okay, when is this scene going to be over?”

Quick sidenote before I move on. In this whole plot to find Clary, why didn't anyone even once try tracking her? I mean, it wouldn't have worked, but still, they don't know that and tracking is their default response to everything...Jace misplaces his hair gel and I’m sure he’s knocking at Magnus’s door to get Alec to help him parabatai-track it down.

The Sizzy Plot (Can we just not, okay?)

So the Sizzy plot is still happening and it still feels very forced. I think the issue that I've really been having with show!Sizzy, much in the same vein as Clizzy as well, we're shown that Simon and Izzy are friends but we don't get any sort of understanding as to why they're friends. The thing that makes me care about any relationship in a story -- whether it be romantic, platonic, whatever -- is the personality of the relationship. I need to be able to distinguish why this relationship exists within the context of the characters and the story. Why do these characters have the relationship they do? Why do they want to be around each other? And there's none of that with Sizzy. Really, there's none of that with any of the relationships on this show but that's beside the point. And yes, I'm even talking about Malec with that statement, their relationship also has no personality. The only relationship on this show that's even close to having a personality is Saia. I've said it before, while I adore Sizzy in the books, I don't want it in the show. The show has stripped away everything that made Sizzy interesting and fun and what Sizzy has left in the show is just really dull and bland and I don't care about it. The show's better off to quit while they're ahead and keep Saia.

But anyway, the Sizzy plot starts with them walking through the sewers of New York in their search for the oldest vampire and one of Izzy's first lines is she knows these sewers through and through as she used to sneak down here to hunt as a child. So we get the scene where Izzy hides behind Simon because she saw a rat and first off, I find this extremely out of character for both book!Izzy and show!Izzy. While it’s believable she may be afraid of rats, I don't think she would cower behind someone. She would probably kill it on instinct. Izzy is not someone who cowers in the wake of her fears, she faces them head on and makes those fears fear her instead. She would take a dagger and just throw it at the rat or use the whip and slice it into little bits and pieces and serve it to her most recent ex for breakfast. Secondly, I'm confused, she says she knows these sewers through and through but rats populating the sewers is not a recent development. If she's this afraid of rats, how on earth has she gotten through these sewers before. Also, is this fear of rats thing kind of like a nod to the books wherein Simon gets turned into a rat? Is this the writers saying they found that plot repulsive and that's why they didn't use it? Just a casual observation there. But anyway, they continue their search and as they get deeper into the sewers, Simon asks if they're going the right way and Izzy responds with she doesn't know because she's never gone this deep...which again, confused. Izzy said she knew these sewers through and through -- clearly, she doesn't and that line was stupid. But anyway, Simon meets this vampire, it turns out to be Cain. The story goes that Adam broke up with Lillith back in the day because he wanted to be with Eve and the whole Cain and Able story happened because Lillith compelled Cain to kill Able. Yeah, just effectively taking away responsibility of one's actions, that's what these writers do best. I bet when they were in school, they used the classic “my dog ate my homework” excuse all the time. Lillith turned Cain into a vampire and daylighter because he drank Able's blood, I guess, which eww, I certainly never heard that part of the story in church. And Cain got the mark from the Seelie Queen so we still don't know anything about the mark, why it was created, how it was created, nothing. But we did get a magical rock that can apparently take away the mark, the rock not being Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson -- although that would certainly be cool and he is very magical to me -- but being The Rock that was used to kill Able by Cain. Simon and Izzy go to the Seelie Realm to get the mark removed and there's one scene I did like where Meliorn asks Izzy if she and Simon are dating and I don't understand what would make him think that but whatever. But that's not the part I liked. When Izzy tells Meliorn no, she and Simon aren't a thing, Meliorn responds with ok cool, in that case we should totally hang out again and you can bring your friend along as well. Now, that would've been an interesting dynamic for this show to get into. A polyamorous situation between Izzy, Simon, and Meliorn. And you know what? When it comes right down to it? I would even be happy if Izzy and Meliorn were endgame as opposed to Sizzy. At least there's been development for these two. The mark gets removed using the rock but it's excruciatingly painful for Simon, more excruciating was watching how this scene was directed. Was Simon floating in the air really necessary with shimmering cgi white lights underneath his skin? I really don't think so. It would've been just fine if he was just on the ground feeling this pain and considering this was effectively getting rid of all of the blood in his system, it might've been cooler to see shimmering blood-red cgi underneath his skin. And as I said, after this process ends and the mark of cain is no more, Simon is dying slowly because he has no blood in his system so Izzy cuts her hand and offers hers but it isn't enough so she has Simon bite her and take however much he needs. Thus, ending her sobriety.  

Now, I'm less bothered by the whole drug aspect of Sizzy that a lot of people dislike in this episode. I do think this is a real sacrifice Izzy is making to save Simon and it'll be interesting to see 1)if there are any consequences to this and 2) how she faces those consequences. After some amount of time of being sober, she's now got the taste again so we'll see. Is she strong enough to overcome it or is she going to fall apart again? My issue with this mark of Cain plot seemingly being a lead-in into Sizzy is that's it's not based on any sort of character dynamic. Again, it all ties into the personality of a relationship thing I've been talking about. Izzy, at least from the development we've gotten of Sizzy, doesn't really have that strong of ties of Simon. She like him as a person, probably, but if he were to actually die in this moment, she might be sad and there's certainly going to be repercussions with her friendship with Clary but she's been around death her whole life, death is something she more or less accepts. The relationship she has with Simon is really nothing more than a working relationship she has with those nameless shadowhunters in the Institute. I'm sure she likes them well enough, can even hold a conversation with them, but it doesn't really go beyond that. So, what happens in this scene just makes the moment, as well as Sizzy in general, feel just really hollow.

The Malec Plot

See what I mean about this episode just having random stuff happen that doesn't really connect with each other. Well, we're about to get into more of it.

So Malec has a training fight scene, it's alright. It's nothing great nor is it horrible. It's just kind of there. I'm normally a fan of Shadowhunter training fight sequences, they're pretty fun to look at and they deliver nice exposition in a way that isn't boring to listen to. I do wish they would cut out the alternative pop music though, it's very distracting. And I typically like fight scenes being used as a way for characters to flirt with each other but unfortunately, Shadowhunters is not great about that aspect of it. Whenever there's flirting involved in these fight scenes, it just always comes off as super cringey. But my problem in this scene lies more in how unequal the fight is. Magnus is on the offense primarily the entire time and Alec is defensive and just kind of taking it and letting Magnus beat up on him, which by no means is a bad thing, it's just a little unbelievable considering Alec has been trained to be a warrior since a young age so you would think he would have a little more fight to him. I thought it would’ve been cool after Magnus bragged about all this fight training he's had and throwing down Alec, Alec then throws down Magnus and is all, "you have your tricks, I have mine" and the entire fight scene is all about these two trying to prove which fighting style is more effective and then it eventually escalates to the bedroom scene where it's revealed that despite them having different fight styles (which is also sybolism for their very different personalities), that's what makes them a perfect fit for each other. That's how I would've written it but I'm not the writers and that definitely isn't what happened. Magnus beats up on Alec some, Alec gets turned on and they move things to the bedroom. That's basically what happens. We see them again just at the tail end of their sexual escapades, which was cool. And this is something I've been noticing and I can't seem to un-see since 3B began. The chemistry with Magnus and Alec just doesn't feel like chemistry of lovers. I've never felt like they had amazing chemistry before but I always felt it worked, but coming back from this year-long hiatus, the chemistry just isn't there for me. I even looked at previous seasons and I'm seeing a lot of what I saw here that I just never noticed before. Just the rigidness these two people have whenever they're in a scene together just makes me feel really awkward. I think the year hiatus is causing me to look at this show with fresher eyes so that’s why I’m noticing it now. Time sometimes changes your perspectives on things. They had one moment of passion in this episode where I almost believed them and that was the kiss at the end of the fight scene. But in the next scene where they're laying in the bed, I felt nothing and I certainly didn't believe for a second they just had sex. And the immortality talk was alright, I guess but I really just found it more out of place than anything else.

Really, this entire Malec plot didn't need to be in this episode. I don't necessarily mind that it was, but there was no purpose to it for the episode's overall plot. Like, the fight scene is fine but I don't really understand why it's there or why Magnus feels like he needed fight training when he clearly knows how to fight. It just makes this sub-plot feel pointless. I would've much preferred Malec playing a bigger role in discovering where Clary was and being more central to that plot.

So there you have it. Overall, I felt like this entire episode was just generally kind of pointless and a mash-up of plots that would’ve been better served in their own episodes where more attention could’ve been given. But as the episode stands now, it really didn’t accomplish a whole lot. And the things it did manage to accomplish, I feel it accomplished in very shaky ways that didn't really develop the characters in any way so again, really, what was even the point? That's what I kept on asking myself the entire episode. And as I said before, the acting was pretty bad. It really gave the impression that the actors didn't care. I don't know if anyone else saw what I did but that's what I saw and the general impression of what I got from this episode. There were so many line deliveries that felt flat, there was no facial expressions and a lot of the episode, it just felt like I was watching people say lines they had memorized. I'd give this episode a C-. It's still fine but it just leaves you feeling hollow. 

[laurent--stpierre]

ORIGINS & FAMILY:

Name: Laurent Saint-Pierre.

Nickname: None. He hates when people try to shorten his name to anything. Last name is generally abbreviated to St. Pierre, though.

Birthday: December 28th. 

Age: 37.

Gender: Male.

Place of Birth: Élysée, Paris, France.

Places Lived Since: Launceston, Massachusetts, and Porto Velho, California, United States. Messina, Sicily, Italy.

Current Residence: Chelsea, Kensington & Chelsea.

Nationality: French. Doesn’t hold dual-nationality.

Parents: Grégoire Saint-Pierre, Céleste Évreux.

Number of Siblings: Four. Odile, Agnès Saint-Pierre (sisters), Étienne, Jean-Paul Saint-Pierre (brothers) Laurent is second youngest, after Odile. 

Children: One (that he knows of) a daughter, Gaia Cacace. That is something he has shared with nobody. Not even Odile.

Relationship With Family: It’s complicated. Growing up, Laurent’s parents were always more focused on working and their own hectic lives. It meant that the kids pretty much fended for themselves, despite the nannies, and whilst it might seem like that would have driven him closer to his siblings, the only one he ever really bonded with was his sister Odile; the single relative from Paris he still actively keeps in contact with. It was the rejection of his parents as a young boy that drove him into the streets of Paris in the first place. When he stole, they simply threw more of their wealth at him, thinking that if they bought him what he needed then he would stop. Obviously, it didn’t work, and he’s not really sure they’re sorry about it. Don’t get him wrong, it’s pretty fucked up (considering they essentially abandoned him during his prison time) but he still loves them. He just…doesn’t like them. Laurent saw them briefly when he got engaged to Claudia, but hasn’t bothered trying to see them since.

Happiest Memory:  Without a doubt, his best friend’s wedding. Laurent might not have always approved of Oliver and Aurélie’s relationship, but finally seeing the man happy after all the shit they’ve been through was important to him. That was a good fucking time. I think all of the French took count of the things they had to appreciate in their lives at that point. It was a few days where they could just celebrate and forget about all the shit they had to go back to in Launceston.

Childhood Trauma: Besides his shitty upbringing, and ignorant parents, nothing.

PHYSICAL:

Height: 5′11″

Weight: 177lbs.

Build: As we say in the UK: built like a brick shithouse. Laurent is a big guy in terms of muscle, despite having a smaller frame than some of his colleagues. Serves him well.

Hair Color: Brown.

Usual Hair Style: Usually, he doesn’t do much to it. Has a habit of just falling into a scruffy look that suits him. Is also sporting a beard for the first time in his life.

Eye Color: Blue.

Glasses? Contacts?: Neither, his eyesight is perfect.

Style of Dress/Typical Outfit(s): Laurent is incredibly picky about what he wears. He knows that it’s important to look good to make an even better first impression, and for that reason, he takes a lot of pride in his appearance. Suits make up the majority of his closet. Tom Ford three-pieces for formal, Hugo Boss for daily. If you’re lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the rare, non-suited Laurent, then he’s probably in some black jeans, a plain t-shirt, and a leather jacket.

Typical Style of Shoes: The expensive leather kind. So try not to bleed when he’s kicking you in the fucking head. 

Jewellery? Tattoos? Piercings? No piercings, no tattoos. The only jewellery he wears is his St. Clair signet ring, and it’s a great source of pride for him.

Scars: Far too many to list them all. I suppose his most obvious are the ones when he got shot up at the Versailles hotel opening. Took four gunshots that night, and was lucky to survive. Has some pretty nasty ones from his time in the basement, but thankfully they spared his face. I would imagine the rest of his body looks pretty torn up though.

Unique Mannerisms/Physical Habits: None.

Athleticism: Incredibly fit. Laurent used to compete as a junior boxer, and has definitely kept his skills up. If he’s not at Vixen, sleeping, or on the job, he’s probably working out. Does a lot more strength than cardio. Loves to fight.

Health Problems/Illnesses: Cocaine addiction. Probably only has half of his liver left, too.

INTELLECT:

Level of Education: Secondary education, at a private, Catholic school. Finished at 16.  Nothing after that.

Languages Spoken: French and English fluently. Was in the process of learning Italian for Claudia, and is pretty good at it. Would consider himself intermediate.

Level of Self-Esteem: It’s so hard to tell with him. It’s on the lower side, but he’s still incredibly confident and thinks he’s better than you? Laurent can hate all his flaws, but the rest of you bitches are not allowed to point them out.

Gifts/Talents: Besides his boxing, he is also a rather gifted pianist. It was the compromise he had to make with his mother to be able to go to the gym. As she was adamant fighting was too aggressive, he attempted to appease her with something a little more refined. Though he always acted as if he hated it, he didn’t really, and ended up being quite good at it. He even has a piano that he takes to from time to time, though if anyone asks, he doesn’t hesitate to tell them it’s just for decoration.

Mathematical?: Fuck no. 

Makes Decisions Based Mostly On Emotions, or On Logic?: A mixture of both. Laurent is influenced pretty easily by anger and frustration, and for that reason, his actions can be swayed by that. But when it comes to anything else, his feelings slip into insignificance, and he’s pretty logical.

Life Philosophy: Trust is a weakness.

Religious Stance: Was raised a God-fearing Roman Catholic. Lost his faith in prison and never really revisited the idea of religion after that. Claudia did try to encourage him back to church when they moved back to Italy, though.

Cautious or Daring?: Daring to the point of fearlessness. That’s going to have to change now he’s boss, though, and he knows that.

Most Sensitive About/Vulnerable To: People mentioning Pénélope or Michel. Also Odile. You fuck with his sister, you drive him to violence.

Optimist or Pessimist?: Pessimist.

Extrovert or Introvert?: Introvert. 90% of the time he wants you to leave him the fuck alone.

RELATIONSHIPS:

Current Relationship Status: Single

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual.

Past Relationships: Pénélope and Claudia are the key ones. More info here.

Primary Reason For Being Broken Up With: Being closed off. Inability to commit. Being an awful fucking person. His infidelity. 

Primary Reasons For Breaking Up With People: Boredom. Laurent usually likes the chase more than actually getting the woman, and so moves on pretty quickly when they start showing serious interest. Also if they’re clingy. Nope.

Ever Cheated?: Yes.

Been Cheated On: Yes.

Level of Sexual Experience: Way too fucking experienced.

Story of First Kiss: He was fifteen, and a particularly pushy girl—the daughter of a family friend who’d been visiting their house for some kind of social function—was adamant that he was going to be her first kiss. It wasn’t like he was going to decline. As soon as she left, he’d run to tell Michel all about it, because they’d made a bet earlier in the year about who could kiss a girl first, and now he’d won.

Story of Loss of Virginity: The same girl as above, a few weeks later. Nothing monumental.

A Social Person?: The thing is, whilst I think he’s instinctively a loner, when he’s not being a total douche bag, he’s actually a really good friend. Some people see that, and really want to stick around. I think he has stages where he really enjoys the company of others (particularly female), but then relapses and hates the world, and wants them all to play in traffic.

Most Comfortable Around: Oliver. Veronika. Odile. Évelyne. 

Oldest Friend: Évelyne is the oldest friend he has that hasn’t fucked him over since.

SECRETS:

Life Goals: Laurent would say he’s doing pretty well, to be honest. I don’t really think there’s anything career-wise beyond this point? He has peaked. I guess his life goal now is to keep up the good work, and maybe try not to be miserable forever. Taking control of London from the Rutherfords would be a nice bonus.

Dreams: Same as above.

Greatest Fears: Terrified of spiders and will act little bitch if he sees one. Getting old scares the shit out of him. Probably because he worries about two things that will follow: Losing his looks, and being less useful on the job. Something happening to his sister. Something happening to him that means he’s not around to look after her anymore. Someone hurting Oliver, Aurélie, or Ronnie.

Most Ashamed Of: How much he trusted Michel. Leaving Gaia in Italy, even though he knows it was the right decision. Still makes him feel like a shit person.  

Secret Hobbies: Besides his pianism, none. 

Crimes Committed (Was he caught? Charged?): Okay, let’s be real, I can’t list all of the crimes he’s committed because I’d be here forever. The only time he’s been caught and charged for anything, however, was when he took the fall for a job both he and Michel had been responsible for. The dick left him injured at the scene of the crime, and ran away to freedom. Laurent ended up with eight years in prison. It should be noted that Laurent’s kill count is relatively high in comparison to other non-assassins in the Organization, but the two biggest names on his list are Michel Chevalier, and Margaux St. Clair.

DETAILS/QUIRKS:

Night Owl or Early Bird?:   Night owl. Unless work calls for the contrary, it’s rare Laurent gets out of bed before lunchtime.

Light or Heavy Sleeper?: Unless he’s crashing from a high/dealing with a hangover, his natural sleep is pretty light. He likes to think it’s a good thing because it means no one can sneak up on him.

Favorite Animal: Cows.

Favorite Food: Dauphinoise potatoes with bacon from Adrienne’s. That shit is banging.

Least Favorite Food: Generally not a fan of Indian. Beetroot. 

Favorite Book: Laurent isn’t a big reader, and doesn’t really have a favourite book. He has neither the patience nor concentration to finish one.

Least Favorite Book: See above.

Favorite Movie: A Beautiful Mind.

Favorite Song: I Want To Break Free - Queen.

Favorite Sport: Loves rugby. Used to get into so many arguments with the bros about it, because they were all football bitches rooting for PSG.

Coffee or Tea?: Coffee. Black, two sugars.

Crunchy or Smooth Peanut Butter?: No.

Type of Car He Drives: Doesn’t have a car in London currently. Had a silver Bentley in the United States, though.

Lefty or Righty?: Right-handed.

Favorite Color: Navy Blue.

Cusser?: Every other word.

Smoker? Drinker? Drug User?: All three. Laurent smokes like a chimney, drinks like it’s going out of fashion, and regularly uses cocaine. Has dabbled with heroin because it was always a big thing back in Launceston. So was marijuana. There are few drugs he won’t touch, to be honest.

Biggest Regret: Same as the things he’s ashamed of.

Pets: A Siamese cat called Franz. Though he usually hates animals, he likes that cats are independent. Also, Franz is a bit of an asshole. Laurent can appreciate the attitude.

[fly-pow-bye]

DuckTales 2017 - “The Golden Lagoon of White Agony Plains!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Written by: Bob Snow

Directed by: John Aoshima

Storyboard by: Jean-Sebastien Duclos, Mark Garcia, Tanner Johnson, John Ramirez

I wouldn't call this a creek, either.

This episode starts with Scrooge and the boys paying a visit to a Gala dedicated to a newly opened Glomgold Wing at the Natural History Museum. The joke is that all of the exhibits are just whatever he can salvage from Scrooge's past adventures, and some outright falsehoods. Dewey even talks about how he's trying way too hard. Dewey's right...in maybe too many ways.

Scrooge, obviously not a big fan of this duck who tries to murder him any chance he can, is only there to support Duckburg's cultural institutions as an upstanding citizen. Oh, and to steal Glomgold's cocktail weenies and teriyaki skewers. The irony is that it's Louie that calls him out for this. That seems out of character for him, though it might be due to his suit giving him a rash.

As the boys follow Scrooge's lead in taking a bunch of buffet food, one of the guests of honor walks in the room. Scrooge drops his bag and gasps at the sight at this familiar-to-him face. The nephews ask him if his gasp is about a curse, a villain, or a villainous curse, but it's even worse than that.

Scrooge: ...it's my ex! (gulp)

🎵Life is like a hurricane...🎶

Well, that's one way to do a cold open.

Specifically, it's Goldie O'Gilt. He clarifies that she's an ex-rival and ex-partner, but the boys do not buy it. Scrooge gets the boys, and anyone in the audience who hasn't heard of this legacy character, ready by telling them to watch their wallets. They trade insults to each other, Scrooge saying that she has cloven hooves, and Goldie calling him a tightwad. Well, it is a fitting name for someone who takes hors d'oeuvres from a buffet. I learned just now that’s how you spell those words.

While the insults both disturb and intrigue Dewey, Glomgold shows up to tell Scrooge that Goldie happens to be his date. Even before she says anything, her body language clearly indicates he doesn't want anything to do with this man. Once the music starts playing, Scrooge and Goldie start dancing. He tries a second plan: dancing the same kind of dance with Dewey. I don't have a comment for that one.

After that, Glomgold decides to reveal the main attraction: a skeleton of a "Glacial Klondike Monster" his oil crew managed to dig up in the Yukon. Unlike the Glomasaurus Rex, which was clearly made up of random dinosaur bones, this exhibit is legitimate. The lights go out, and the mammoth's head disappears. No, it's not another mystery story, or another ghost story for that matter. Scrooge looks around and finds a certain someone missing, and he hot-tails it out of the gala.

While Launchpad drives Scrooge and the boys to the Mansion, it will make sense to how he would know about where she went later, the boys want to know more about "Scrooge's new old giiirlfriend", while they all make literal duck-lips. Yeah, that's their only real character trait they have for the rest of the episode. While DuckTales 2017 gave the boys far more distinct personalities, this episode is not a good example of that. Wait, Huey, Dewey, and Louie acting identically? No way!

They do get to be the audience of another Scrooge McDuck flashback to a time long before Donald or Della. We’re getting into “The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck”-like material here. From what I've read, it's a very loose adaptation; no Goose Egg Nugget here.

They go into a cave in the White Agony Plains to find the titular Golden Lagoon. Suddenly, Goldie, in her scheming ways, decides to steal the map to find the lagoon for herself. Scrooge manages to catch her, but the map gets torn in half. Suddenly, the "Glacial Monster" shows itself, being what might be the last of the Wooly Mammoths. Goldie’s part of the map ended up stuck in the mammoth’s teeth, and over a century later, that same mammoth's skeleton ended up in Glomgold's Gala. We get a shot of the skeleton with a map sticking out of its teeth, which wasn't shown before when we got a shot of it before, but never mind.

Yes, I really mean a century later. While they don’t specify the exact year, Scrooge is definitely referring to the Klondike Gold Rush in 1896. Huey, in one of the few times he gets to show off his personality, starts counting on his fingers and outright asks how old Scrooge is. He obviously does not answer that question, but this episode gives a rather decent explanation beyond "it's just a cartoon, so just relax".

While running from the Wooly Mammoth, Scrooge and Goldie jumped into a freezing lake, causing them to be stuck in an ice cube for 5 years. In fact, this episode confirms this isn't the only time they've been in situtations that made them age slower. The dance scene from earlier shows them talking about a fountain of youth and several timeless demon dimensions. In an unrelated note, Goldie also offhandedly mentions a necklace that prevents burns, which the camera zooms into for a few seconds. I did not think much of this on my first viewing.

After the story that was captivating that even the driver got too interested in it, Scrooge finally reaches his Manor to find that Goldie barged into his house, and she immediately asks where his half of the map went. One may wonder how she managed to get past Mrs. Beakley, all but shown to be a super spy with great combat abilities, and her trained-in-similar-arts granddaughter.

Well, she did. As the rest of this episode will prove, she's just that awesome. After Scrooge throws a chair at his own nephews after they do the same "Scrooge loves Goldie" shtick, yeah, don't anger Scrooge, Goldie realizes that it must be in Scrooge's top hat. When Scrooge wrestles her down for it, she offers the adventure. Scrooge asks why.

Goldie: Because it's gold, because it's a treasure you never found, and because you're Scrooge McDuck.

Scrooge, Goldie imitating him: You think you know me sooo well!

They decide to go on the adventure. Speaking of the map, we later see it, and it's one of those "dotted line with the X on it" maps. I'd imagine the one that has the X on it could have at least tried to extrapolate the path. I guess I could assume that half was in that skull, but wouldn't Glomgold take it? Whatever.

Goldie puts on her old outfit, and they go into the cave. The entire episode essentially follows a similar path: throughout the adventure, they both accuse each other of trying to sabotage each other. They are totally doing that. Scrooge finds an arrow trap, which he activates by throwing a pebble at it, and accuses Goldie of doing it. Scrooge then stops Goldie from getting stuck in a giant bear trap that he totally didn't set up. Notice the difference there.

They end up at a pulley-controlled elevator, built for one. Not willing to let one person go and get a jump on the lagoon, they have to share the elevator. Of course, this leads to her complaining about his sweat. It's a funny scene.

Not speaking of particularly funny scenes, Glomgold is slowly following them. I'll be honest: his scenes don't really do much for me. All he really does is get hit by all the traps, cuts the rope of the aforementioned elevator, and talks about how Scrooge is taking his girl. He seems to disappear after this scene, because it's better to focus on the scenes with Scrooge and Goldie trying to mess each other up.

One scene has Goldie lighting a trail of gunpowder behind Scrooge, taking both halves of the map with her while he's chasing. In this universe of ducks and dogs that walk upright and talk, this trail of gunpowder leads to a bear. Not a relative of Baloo, but a bear just like in real life. I wonder how that works.

Unlike in real life, Goldie gets cornered by Scrooge riding that same bear. He even reveals that he speaks bear. This show now has just as much talking to non-language-speaking-animals as that other reboot. How can he do this? Because he's Scrooge McDuck. Yeah, that’s a running gag throughout this episode, and it does have a good payoff at the end.

They eventually reach a dead end, which happens to be right next to the frozen lake where they spent 5 years of their lives. This leads to even more backstory. After 5 years of being forced into staring at each other, their frozen scowls slowly turned into smiles. Aw, they really do love each other. While it's certainly romantic to see this, it is a horrifying thought that they were conscious in there.

Of course, there's a caveat: as soon as Goldie's half of the ice melts, she immediately leaves Scrooge behind. Scrooge realized that she loved gold more than him, and Goldie...agrees. Fitting.

They do get to the waterfall made of molten gold, thanks to the help of erosion over a century. Scrooge gets Nanook, the bear, to break the wall they thought was a dead end open in something that would have looked cool in trailers. However, as soon as they bask in the glory, a twist happens. I debated whether or not I should even have these ellipsis, to be honest.

← JAW$! 🦆 Day of the Only Child →

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Big shock, she was going to betray him in the end, just like Scrooge repeatedly accused her of doing! There is one surprise on top of this: Glomgold decides to show up, after stumbling down a hill because he's Glomgold, and reveals that he teamed up with her to do this ruse! Unlike the last time he tried, this turned out to be true.

Scrooge, telling himself he should have expected this, asks Goldie why she did this after all she did for her. He talks about how he untied her from Nanook...which he happened to tie her to himself. Again, fitting. Her response?

Goldie: Because I'm Goldie O'Gilt!

See, good payoff.

Regardless of what I feel about Glomgold’s involvement in this episode, I do like the flashback scene he describes, which is in this 50's romance comic book-like style. It even ends with him smooching the air. He sure loves that Goldie, he even came up with the shipping name: Glomgoldie.

There's a pickaxe fight that mirrors the dance scene down to certain lines, and a rather shocking scene that does give Glomgold a little more purpose in the plot. I don't want to give away everything, but I definitely questioned whether they would really do what they did.

I only have one thing I will say that will add to this review: the necklace I talked about earlier does become a plot point. What necklace? Well, that was my first impression of that ending, too; it took a second viewing for me to realize it didn't just come out of nowhere.

How does it stack up?

Promising a big adventure that happens to be a huge reference to the original comics, and the return of a classic character, DuckTales 2017 took a huge risk with this episode. As someone who hasn't really read the original stories, I can't judge whether or not it's a good adaptation.

I debated what rating I should give this. It's an entertaining adventure, sure, but it's a little repetitive, and Glomgold just became a third wheel that was more tiring than funny. This one slightly misses the mark for me. In a worse reboot, this would be one of the best episodes, but after Jaw$, it's just merely above average, which is a very high neutral for this show.

Next, the return of another classic character...whether you like him or not.

← JAW$! 🦆 Day of the Only Child →

[misterbitches]

@flootweed ​

ATOTS

That's super fucking romantic? Like tragic but in a nice way. i love that shit. i'm a monogamous slut for romance pghiosuag even tho we have to learn to live alone too but it's just like the NOTION is nice?!??! awwww i told my mom that SOPHIE's gf was like "she died taking a picture of the moon" and how it was like idk. the gf was just processing it and she thought it was romantic and my mom was like "wow.....depressing" bc think she thought it was stupid millenial shit i was like no mother doent u see she died in the BEAUTY LMAO but then i told her jessica walter's husband died the year before and then she died and she was like "aw...kind of romantic" LMAOOOO i guess two people have to die. why did i tell this story? i am so sorry. the show ended today right (ep 10?) i didn't realize it was that short. so i hope it was a happy ending? (tell me) i understand why you love the atmos! it's like, not really been done. there's this BL that i hear isn't too great but it does take place in a rural part of thailand and there's way less budget. a lot of ppl seem to like it. ep 6 LW / LW in gen gotta be honest, rushed through it. i knew spoilers from jump cause BL spoilers are just absolutely nothing and sometimes ur just like i need to know. i do not understand the ~silently lookin 4 u~ trope it always backfires and is also DUMB. so happy about tiffy. a girl who likes girls but ends up with a man bc of mommy and also the man is ok....it's me. she's gorgeous and actually [h*lf] gay so it's great. god ok i feel so old again. lmaooo but i was like obsessed with lady gaga for that reason (dont ask...also how i got kinda popular on tumblr way back in the day) and shes just absolutely fucking beautiful and bad ass. (which kind of doesnt helpcos they r all skinnty but that's FINEEEE) right? i mean like i guess cos we knew abt it? i can see why he was so pissed off, too? i mean i'm so fucking like...sensitive to being told what to do so i was angry for him from jump. i guess i was also looking at it different wholetime cos i knew the spoilers? i'm assuming u did too lmao. so we knew hed be pissed and leave. and frankly that's what sib gets. just for you my friend i will watch it and update. i think MANY times in shows in gen but it is something you notice a lot in BL bc they are just absolute novices most times. in this case, gene's actor mostly well (and i like him as a person just cos he was on that thai 3 girls in a car show and used to date on eof them lmao) can act so i will look over that scene to see how sib's actor plays off him. but the pausing in between sentences or for so long even decent actors or actors doing better. kao is not bad, not great so they will talk slowly because dramatic acting but the problem is most times it's too long. even if the person is an adept actor it won't always work and YES THEN THAT MEANS THE EDITOR COMES IN AND SNIP SNIP SNIP! it's too long. and sometimes it just does not work even if you can act. but it is GLARING when they cant or are average (someoe said this about tharntype and my god lmao tharn..is...so...slow...in...talking...the actor idk his name it's one of em, the other one with the nose (type) is....different not better but he certainly does not talk as slow. they arent bad but they are not good so.) also sometimes they are forgetting their lines. some ppl find this charming. clearly we do not lmao. what is their relation? what is going on there? i don't have a problem with stepbrothers as long as they didn't grow up with that sibling bond. many times blended families really have to watch out for that kind of fraternizing but it's always when theyre older and teenagers bc they didnt grow up w/ each other....i mean they have chemistry so i'm whatever. but. hennYYWAYYYS.actually it's bc im an idiot i didn't read it as Mhok (singular) and aey's father. Yes and his sister who i think i may hate? im like bitch okkkkkk but. his name is lhong. and he is a psycho. i mean so is type. so. oooh it could be that he stole! but also i'm pretty sure cos hes gay lol or did they

not make that explicit? the thing is i had to skip through most of that scene too because the drama was WAY too much for me. too much. lmao. the sister thing i got and it made sense and iliked that. oh yea he is gay and they know. that's a big one.

WBL

haven’t watched color rush! did you like it? i have seen wyel, parts of mr heart, and ofc to my star :) 

ohhhhhh ok. i get you. yea he definitely wasn’t being ooc cos i think that....what u said. and also like....ugh i cant even think rn. i like sam lin a lot so i like gao shi de but i gotta say. lmao. hm. first of all. yes it is creepy what he did. it’s fucking weird. and sad that his whole life revolves around him. it’s not as fucking weird as LW but still like when he did the door thing. i was like UMMMMMMMMM cos i really didnt want it to be constructed. and when it was i was like imma suspend my disbelief. but if anyone dared...

and so what he did in s2 i think he just couldnt realize that he was loved back which is why it’s good he WAS ALONE for 5 yrs imo. but he gave shu yi 0 choice and for that i am pretty sure i would be even angrier. i do think though that the father’s role is pretty important but i can see how the show is like....letting that go? bc as fucking weird as GSD is, he was still like...20? i guess and shu yi’s dad is like. crazy? i am also like he really had to fucking start a company to get noticed like are u joking? is it also that easy? and also why? lmao i just. ugh. i think that probs bothered me the most...priorities.

i like the show! well idk if i love it but sure. i think it’s decent lmao. i understand what you’re saying. for here it bothers me less but i certainly don’t think it was OOC. immature and stupid but like...that’s.....what they are. i also don’t have a problm with the timing from a technical point.

however, when i started the show? i had NO clue what concept of time it was. and that was very annoying. tehy redeemed it bc of the comedy aspects (the first time shu yi sees shi de is so fucking good, i really loved the shot and editing; it’s hilarious and silly) and i started to go with the flow of the show through that. but the fucking concept of time in the show in general esp with repetitive outfits (i understand that they are more likely to wear multiple outfits as well, it’s just that you have to split it up or it i sconfusing visually and looks like the same scene twice or just a full day of shooting which it could be but then something should change in the clothes. this is just an ex~~*~*) and partof that is they have this already controlled narrative i guess. 

i have to admit as well...i skipped episode 1. and most of 2. i was like i rly dont want to see someone slap a pereson even if they were like. not together. it’s just not cute also not in front of ppl. and then when they were yelling and bla bla i was like listen ladies lets calm down. too much angst in a boring way. what they have now is good. also they should probably like estrange the father but i doubt they will. 

i cannot make up my mind totally now bc i see what ur saying i guess i just don’t feel that way as much but i guess i have to think about it more, too. i do think he was contorlling in getting him or like when he didnt want shu yi to find out whwatshisface liked him. i guess for me it would be if he is still that way in the rship. but even tho he’s at fault for what happened, i’m also like but his dad? but also like...did he try? why did he just stop contacting? but then i guess he emailed everyday? DO U C MY QUANDARY.

alsoi have to say i do not care abt their backdoor being opened lmao like wow business? no thanks

LMAO. did they cry a lot in UWMA? i only know the teamwin parts. which one is fluke the really pale one who died? idk what it is about that kid but i just cant watch him. it’s not his fault it’s mine.

DUDE i still dont understand the husband and wife thing and ive looked into it multiple times. ive kinda just classified it as one of those things that make me uncomfortable but arent problematic lol. it you have any insight about it id love to hear it tho !!

it’s stupid. that’s what it is (husband and wife.) it’s just something they say like many gay couples may use pejoratives in conjunction with them, the f word etc. or even imply something about being a top and a bottom. whatever. but these arent gay spaces or gay storylines. sure gay men may direct them but since BL operates and relies on patriarchy without a doubt and also stereotypes poorly kathoeys or won’t cast trans women in anything substantial and use them as jokes (and see this is one of those things where it’s like...ud never see this in the US tho like our concept of third gender or kathoeys but life stillBOOOOO.) so it’s just useless when they put it into the scripts because it’s for people to consume and lots of girls are. obviously. so the idea that if you are being penetrated and u r the wife and this is used like literally anywhere but not from gay or whatever men is gross. are cis women’s vaginas sieves to them? are trans women not women? do we have to categorize people by PHALLIC OBJECTS IN OUR BODIES SPECIFICALLY A WOMAN? it dont make no sense. plus really most ppl just experiment, there’s more ways than one to have sex, we have lives so most times it’s not just full penetration for hours anyway. it’s just so gross. like oh that’s really funny lol ur the wife cos his dick goes in ur butt XD i get it, same. i say “i’m wife’ whenever there’s a penis in me. fucking kill me. it’s not a big deal but it’s just dumb and gross. if they use it they could try and subvert it too like i like how my engineer has  a whole absurdly stupid episode about it. but in TT the dad says “if ur the wife i wont accept it” and i was like u know what gals? im good. goodbye.

pgojaihousgajigko THAT’S SOOOOOOO OOWIEOFUGHOIJ WEIRD. FANDOM IS REALLY WEIRD. i have read rpf and written it once upon a time but dont do it anymore  uch. i mean it’s weird. no doubt about that. invasive, weird, strange. but very unreal anyway. it is. plus i dont like celebs or fame and think of it as a gross capitalist scheme so i had to stop (also so weird?) but i know very many people like lean in. lean in. LEAN IN. this youtuber i watch did a video on like insanely popular ships (like that 1d one) and their insane fandoms and i just couldnt. it’s so embarrassing? and then they’re so bold????? about it? 

yea it would be cool (more queer men or visibly we should say or like out whatever.) but it doesnt necessarily mean that will be good or beneficial i guess? i mean like. i dont know. so much about the genre is about wish fulfilment for young girls. its literally selling some fantasies because the other thing is for BL (i read a paper on this...) esp for girls in more conservative societies they cna maybe replace themselves in the character? but they may not feel a threat as a woman or like their life will fall apart if they engage in sexual things with anyone really. and that’s where i’m like....for a lot of these are they just writing a story and just replacing two men? bc they also seem to think it owrks like that. and in a way that’s what it is bc of the writing and how they use certain terms. you can tell the piece is about pushing a product and less about the real affects of a story. i think ITSAY is a great example of a really intelligent great piece of work that contains multitudes. and the girl was amazing. it just depends on the goal. and for most of the ppl the goal isnt...to do anything. so i dont know. idk how to talk abt representation anymore. it both is and isnt.

 i really liked tingting from my engineer a lot (idk if u have seen) she’s so fun and unapologetic. i love how much she drinks and if someone tells her to be ladylike she says no. and i appreciate that in the show when girls were rude to her she said nothing about the girls but said “NO IM NOT LUCKY TO HAVE ALL MALE FRIENDS?” i really want to see her more in the next season. obviously tiffy is goat. super excited to see how their rship develops.

[maumeetsworld]

Welcome to your tape, bitch

Oh. My. God. This show is the perfect example of how I am actively ruining my life with the conscious decisions I make. I spent one week hate-watching it mainly because I wanted to understand the whole controversy around it contribute to all the shitposting happening on Tumblr. So there I was, sitting on my couch, ready for some Netflix & Chill - the real kind, not the Grindr-enabled one - and then I heard Hannah Baker's voice, which led me to the following point:

1. How conceited is this girl?

I knew this was shit the moment I heard her saying she wasn't going to send her victimizers a podcast because she wouldn't make it that easy for them, so instead she sent them plain old cassettes. Bitch, seriously? You're dead, whatever makes you think that people who dgaf about you when you were alive, will do it now just because you took the easy way out? Next time you want to guilt-trip your classmates from the grave, at least wait till after they've contacted you through a Ouija board.

And don't even get me started on her self-proclaimed moral superiority. She blames Jessica for her death because she slapped her, but then Hannah witnessed her being raped and that didn't ring a bell on how shitty a person she was too? Like, please, you would have gotten a million tapes yourself had anyone else come up with the same stupid idea.

This brings me to the second point.

2. She was not alone

This show would have been remotely less annoying if Hannah had actually been isolated. In fact, they tried to go there by having her say how lonely, unpopular, and disliked she was, and how everyone was just trying to get her. Except they were not. In fact she made a fuckload of friends throughout the series. She was dating the jocks, experimenting with the Queen Bee, being all deep and intellectual with the gay guy, going to parties at the cheerleader's house, friendzoning the hot geek, and even having her own little version of The Breakfast Club with an Eminem wannabe.

And yet you're telling me that she was unpopular and nobody liked her? Yeah, OK, next.

3. Her reasons to kill herself are ridiculous

Somebody stole the drawing that some anon left in your compliment box? Heartbreaking. Was that a reason to kill yourself? Of course not! Well, on a second thought, maybe the fact that she went to a school where they had compliment boxes was.

Seriously, what were the writers thinking when they were working on this script? Did nobody think that this was stupid af? Suicide is never justifiable, but fuck, if you're going to do it, at least come up with a decent reason. Don't slit your wrists open over someone reading your anonymous poem in class, which, by the way, nobody even knew was you. There's a fine line between crying for help and stirring up drama just for the sake of it. Hannah Baker mostly dwelt in the latter.

4. None of this would have happened if she had not been actively looking for drama

Hannah was upset because the high school jock shared a pic of her undies. He then told the whole school that she was an easy lay. Outrageous. Then one of his friends tried to pull a Donald Trump on her (and grab her by the pussy) because, you know, the high school jock said she was easy, remember? All of that I get.

What I don't get is why over the course of the series she continued interacting with him and everyone else who was mean to her - according to her delusional ass, anyway - and even getting in a hot tub with them. I'm sorry, but that's not the behavior of someone who's deeply hurt and desperate for things to improve. That's the behavior of someone asking for it. No, I don't mean rape. Rape is never justifiable. I mean drama. She was asking for drama and if she didn't t get  it, she would create it.

5. The rape aftermath

OK, fine, the whole rape situation was not cool. Yet her blaming the counselor is what really pissed me off. Hannah, being the dumb ass teen that she is was, wanted justice - which I totally get. What I don't get is why the fuck would she even bother to go and make a scene at the counselor's office and then throw a bitch fit at him when he told her that she needed to move on? Yes, that is a shitty answer, but what was she expecting? He was a fucking counselor for fuck's sake, not Professor Xavier. He couldn't read your mind, girl. If you she truly wanted him to help, then she should have spoken up and spilled the tea on Bryce. Oh, no. instead she went crazy and stormed out of the room ready to do the job, but not before standing outside of the counselor's office hoping he would run after her.

The hell you think you are, Hannah? Cinderella? Who'd want to run behind a crazy, borderline psychotic teen with an attitude problem?

6. The Latin classmate

I'm not done hating on Hannah, but this guy got me raging almost as much as she did. Everything from his crappy personality to his outfit was just terrible, but the real mystery is what he even had to do with Hannah, and why the fuck does he pretend to be all wise and mighty? First of all, if he was that wise, he would have stopped dressing like Danny Zuko.

Also, let me get this straight: Hannah kills herself because in the end she has no friends, yet she entrusted this guy to see her tapes through till they reached the 13th person? Ahem, is this a plothole or just plain stupid writing? I wanted to vomit every time Pedro - whatever, I'm Mexican - would show up just to act all shady and remind pretty much everyone around - mainly Clay, Clay, Clay, and Clay - that they had all killed Hannah.

Hoe, no. Someone friendly enough to give her a ride home when she was pissed drunk didn't kill her, she killed herself. Well, rather the razor blades that she stole from her bankrupt parents' pharmacy did, but those are just details. Also, if Carlos - whatever, I'm Mexican - was such a good friend and concerned about everything that had happened to her, he wouldn't be dropping cryptic af messages, he would have taken the tapes to the police and let them deal with the jock. But no, of course he didn't do that because that would have required a writer to stop mixing vodka and Xanax and realize the show they were producing. No, instead he took the least sporty-looking character rock climbing because that's just how he rolls.

7. Clay

So the guy went from being the wallflower to taking justice into his own hands? What's his name again? Batman? I still don't understand how he's supposed to be all smart and yet not once, not even for a single second, does he stop and think that maybe, just maybe it's better to tell his parents, or any other grown up in fact, about what's happening and about how every other person wants to axe him. Like, I get it, you're angry, you're hurting, but you know what hurts more? That gap on your forehead, you know, the one you got after a car hit you?

Like, didn't anyone notice it? Am I the only one who can see it? Cos, girl, it's so big it makes the gender gap in the workplace look narrower in comparison. Go get stitches, like, now.

8. Where the hell are all the parents?

Underage drinking, tattoos, drugs, reckless driving, guns, teens with huge af scars all over their faces, like, where the fuck are all the grown ups? Are you trying to tell me that not even one adult noticed any of this? For fuck's sake, Clay's scar is putrid and so is half his face now, he's dying of an untreated infection!

9. The fandom

I cannot even begin to explain how annoyed I am at the people who think this is an accurate reflection of the suffering that many of them have gone through. You're wrong, and I don't feel bad saying it. Hannah had multiple opportunities to save herself if she had not acted stupid, dared to speak, and or seek help. She had loving parents, a hot geek ready to jump her, and apparently she was the best of friends with Jorge - whatever, I'm Mexican. No, if she killed herself was because she was starving for attention. She wanted to guilt-trip everyone and make them feel as shitty as they had made her felt except, guess what? She's not there to witness it.

10. The message

That's my issue with this whole fucking series. It plays with the idea of suicide in an almost hedonistic way, it's almost as if they wanted us to picture Hannah Baker laughing in Heaven - or rather in Hell cos she killed herself, obvi - at the sight of all these people suffering over her death and feeling remorseful the actions that led to it. Let me tell you something: Unless you become Casper, you will not get to see this.

To everyone thinking that suicide is as glamorous as 13 Reasons Why made it seen, it's not. You die and that's it. Sure, there will be people devastated by it - your parents - but that's it. There will be no Juan - whatever, I'm Mexican - sending tapes on your behalf or Clay growing a vagina in the middle of his forehead during his quest to uncover the truth. You'll be gone and that will be it.

In conclusion, 13 Reasons Why is a steamy pile of trash from start to finish and was clearly targeting all the dumb af teens who also thought that The Fault in our Stars is the epitome of modern literature. It's pretentious, it's boring, it's full of plotholes, and it will make you rage from start to finish. Needless to say, this is my opinion and that's about it. If you don't like it, well... Welcome to your tape, bitch.

[shrugman]

all of them

alright buddy here we go

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk?idk man probs cereal 

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?no it feels like jack frost hit me with his dick

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books?rn a plane ticket

4: how do you take your coffee/tea?milk and sugar because I love death

5: are you self-conscious of your smile?I like my closed mouth smile but you’ll have to kill me to get me to use teeth

6: do you keep plants?I try

7: do you name your plants?always

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings?poetry 

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself?yeh

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach?on side, one leg curled up under me like a flamingo, hand on the tiddie

11: what's an inner joke you have with your friends?okay first of all *friend, second of all; cheese pizza

12: what's your favorite planet?ur mum lmao

13: what's something that made you smile today?stephanie 

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like?800 succulents and 400 pillows

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is!“Gliese 581 c wants to kill you“

16: what's your favorite pasta dish?Alfredo 

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair?purple, did it. also jet black but not worth the risk tbh

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up.....stairs

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it?I have a poetry book I guess

20: what's your favorite eye color?all

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that's been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces.I got it at an antique shop and it’s a smiley face back pack but I left it with katie because she needed it more than I did

22: are you a morning person?no

23: what's your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations?die

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets?My one true love, Stephanie

25: what's the weirdest place you've ever broken into?abandoned hotel on base

26: what are the shoes you've had for forever and wear with every single outfit?I wear by black boots every day but I’ve only had them for like 4 months

27: what's your favorite bubblegum flavor?cherry lime

28: sunrise or sunset?set

29: what's something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing?When I make Stephanie laugh over snapchat she sends me a picture with her mouth wide open and idk it always makes me smile

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared?I spent the last month in fear I’d be killed by terrorists 

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks.this is too many questions 

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends.nah

33: what's your fave pastry?anything cherry tbh

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it?Teddy Bair was a gift from my dad to my mom but I loved him so much I stole him and he became mine. He’s on my bed at college with me rn

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often?I like gel pens and I color with them

36: which band's sound would fit your mood right now?TOP

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean?I like it cleanish but it’s always messy because that’s my biggest depression problem 

38: tell us about your pet peeves!people not shutting up ever

39: what color do you wear the most?black 

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what's it's story? does it have any meaning to you?I have a locket my sister got me like 10 years ago that has a picture of us

41: what's the last book you remember really, really loving?tbh idk

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it!It’s in Japan and Katie and I used to spend hours there together. It’s where we really became friends 

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with?the astronomy club lmao

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything?never

45: do you trust your instincts a lot?about certain things

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of.I really don’t want to 

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe?kale

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today?the dentist. yes

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought?I haven’t in a while bc I have no way to play them

50: what's an odd thing you collect?tears

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them?Stephanie- true friends 

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far?Have there really been any?

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them?Heathers is my favorite movie

54: who's the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face?this is a rude question

55: what's the most dramatic thing you've ever done to prove a point?at this point I don’t even know

56: what are some things you find endearing in people?when they have little things that make them light up

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics?no

58: who's the wine mom and who's the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why?I’m the vodka mom and Stephanie is the vodka aunt and we both are the wine gay cousin 

59: what's your favorite myth?tbh idk

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?I do but I can’t think of a specific fav

61: what's the stupidest gift you've ever given? the stupidest one you've ever received?mean question 

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind?I drink ALL JUICE ALL DAY

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be?leave them be and then organize them every now and again

64: what color is the sky where you are right now?idk prolly dark blue/black

65: is there anyone you haven't seen in a long time who you'd love to hang out with?I always wanna see Stephanie 

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like?black roses and light pink accent flowers

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel?sad

68: what's winter like where you live?cold

69: what are your favorite board games?monopoly 

70: have you ever used a ouija board?I’m not THAT white

71: what's your favorite kind of tea?no

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you'll forget it?nah

73: what are some of your worst habits?yeah we don’t have time for that

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.v good v pure best person on planet 

75: tell us about your pets!dog!!!!!!!!!!!!

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren't?so many things

77: pink or yellow lemonade?yellow. Idk what makes it pink

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub?please stop bringing them up

79: what's one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?i dunno

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why?white. no I live in a dorm

81: describe one of your friend's eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of.wow it sees 

82: are/were you good in school?for the most part

83: what's some of your favorite album art?I like the all about us cover

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?the only one I want rn is one matching stephanie 

85: do you read comics? what are your faves?who do u think i am

86: do you like concept albums? which ones?idk

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives?Heathers, Ghost Busters (2016), Creepy Hanna Doll

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy?I like stick figures that show emotion

89: are you close to your parents?yeah I think

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities.I like Fredericksburg because it’s boring as fuck but it’s one of the only places that I can even kinda call home

91: where do you plan on traveling this year?too many places

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch?give me it all

93: what's the hairstyle you wear the most?down with nothing done but blow drying it

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday?It’s Matthew’s today :D

95: what are your plans for this weekend?cry

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot?push it off for SO long

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house?can’t remember, Capricorn, Slytherin 

98: when's the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?idk for hiking 

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.whenever I’m really really sad I listen to Iris on repeat 

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?I guess future because I don’t wanna go back. But also I don’t think I even want to risk skipping 5 years because who knows if I’ll miss out on something I really wanna be here forThat took FOREVER ily 

[kelmcdonald]

Misfits of Avalon Writer Notes Chapter 1

New Post has been published on http://sorcery101.net/news/misfits-of-avalon-writer-notes-chapter-1/

Misfits of Avalon Writer Notes Chapter 1

Page 1

This page I wanted to show Morgan dreaming before she even gets the ring. She is the only more connected to everything going on. She’s the Morgan Le Fay of this King Arthur drama. Well, all the girls are a little, but Morgan is most of all. That’s why she’s the only one that wears plaid. The bits of her dream are all hints of what’s to come.

Page 2

You get your intro to Morgan’s world view and why. Since she is an abrasive person, I wanted to explain her as quickly as possible. The apartment is fairly small but covered in empty cans and bottles. Her dad is passed out on the couch. The whole this is something that as a teenager she is powerless to fix. So she gives up.

page 3 – page 4

Morgan’s first interaction with her dad is to reinforce the previous page. If this comic was in color his eyes would be red from his hangover. Her dad is also fairly young. The tiny lines under his eyes, I wanted him to look tired not old. He’s supposed to be 32. It’s not flat out stated until book 2, but I wanted people to be able to connect the dots that he was very young when he and his girlfriend had Morgan. The way they both communicate with each other is to show this is their normal.

Morgan and Elsie’s gang are the only teenagers in the shopping area since they are cutting school. Stealing candy from one of those candy weight displays seemed like a good minor crime to have Morgan do while she thinks no one is paying attention. I figured that would definitely be something she doesn’t think is wrong because it doesn’t “hurt” anyone. Also eating candy gives her something to do with her hands in the next scene.

page 5 – page 8

I like Morgan popping her collar hoping Elsie doesn’t notice her. Elsie is loud and not that bright. So her intro is her laughing loudly on the previous page before shouting at Morgan. Then she can’t think of a come back. I have it as a running bit that Elsie isn’t good at come backs because while I always like snappy dialogue, it’s odd when EVERYONE can be that quick. Especially, when you have a character who isn’t bright in every other instance.

Elsie’s posse are my two friends Amanda LeFranias and Lin Visel.

Every fight I witnessed as a teenager was two girls. I know the stereotype is that girls leave emotional scars when they bully and boys are the ones that leave physical scars. A big part of Misfits of Avalon is to fight against that. I never saw boys get in a fist fight, I only saw girls wail on each other.

Here I wants to show that Elsie and Morgan do have a lot of common ground. Grownups frequently lump them in together. Once they have a common enemy they stop fighting. Elsie lashes out once her offer of friendship is rejected.

page 9 – 11

This is one of the reasons why I wanted the captions to show each girl’s thoughts. Elsie’s insults do get to Morgan but she is so disaffected and misanthropic that it could be easy to miss without her “I totally have friends” caption.

Cu following Morgan was fun to draw. But I wanted to make sure it doesn’t go on too long. So we have Cu following her beat, then a beat of her noticing, then a beat of her trying something new to ditch him. That repeats 3 times. 3 is generally a good number to repeat something, because twice might be an accident and 4 is overdoing it. Page 11 ends on Cu talking finally to be a good beat before the page turn.

page 12 -15

I watched Morgan to at first doubt what is going on because I always liked that when Luna first talks to Usagi that Usagi assumes she is dreaming. Also since Morgan’s always in trouble with someone “I didn’t do it” would be her immediate reaction to ANYONE looking for her. Not just a talking dog. Any in later pages I screw it up but I in this first scene I wanted it to be clear that Cu is very large. Morgan falling on the ground while he snarls at her is to push that.

There are a few places where I sorta wish Misfits of Avalon was in color. Whenever the ring glows is definitely one of them.

I tried to break up all the exposition so there was never one big info dump. So Morgan just leaving mid-explanation was part of that and also shows how little she takes responsibility for things.

The “You– you” is supposed to show how taken aback Cu is by all this. Throughout the whole series I had a little bit of trouble with Cu emoting. I didn’t want him to end up looking like a Disney cartoon dog.

I always like to put little details in the background when I have time. So while Morgan is running away you can see in one panel a dude looking up as an unseen Cu is going over the fence. Then you get hacky sack guys get knocked over. Then we get the everyone trying to grab dog Cu. A lot of this sequence is sorta to show Cu’s size again. It easy when a mascot animal is a cat or mouse sized.

page 15 – 21

With Elsie back in I wanted to reinforce how often her and Morgan end up in the same boat. They are both banned from the movies and Elsie knows Morgan well enough to guess she stole something. I also wanted to push Elsie being friendly with being excited about Morgan shoplifting rather than judgey.

I like how I broke down Cu’s transformation into a human form. I tried to make Cu’s human disguise reflect what he really is. So his collar becomes a belt that gives his silhouette a tail and his hair sticks up to make ears. He also has a goatee and sideburns to reflect where he has a scruffiest fur. And then he has fur lining on his jacket and boots. And to connect him to the girls and magic he’s got plaid on.

Elsie immediately hits on Cu because she basically does whatever she thinks but that gets shown more in her chapter. Also I had to take a bunch of photo reference to get Morgan biting her ring to try and take it off correct.

I intentionally cut the scene here so the monster could get a nice page turn in the book.

Page 22

Big showy reveal here. So all the animals monsters in Misfits of Avalon are animals Arthur turns into in The Sword in the Stone mixed with an elemental power. In this case it’s a badger. Since the girls are in North America I looked up American Badgers and realized they don’t have the distinctive look of the badgers in England. So it’s not immediately obvious they are fighting a badger.

page 23 – page 25

There is a small reference to Clone High in Morgan’s argument with Cu about if she has to help.

For Morgan’s transformation I looked at a bunch of magical girl transformations in manga. Everyone who knows the genre probably thinks to the longer elaborate ones in the anime versions. Usually they are pretty quick in the manga though. So I thought the plaid ribbons would work well for a visual short hand even if the girls are far away from the camera.

Also I really like super tall thin panels. They are hard to find a good place for some times. So I’m glad I could use em here.

I had fun drawing both Elsie and Morgan’s reactions to the guardian outfit.

page 26 – 28

While Morgan and Cu argue some more, I wanted to show why Elsie grabs the ring. No one really commented on it but out of all the girls, Elsie is the one who has friend that we see. There is a reason for that. She might be abrasive but she is like to take care of people she cares about. So Amanda and Lin almost getting hurt by badger monster means it’s time for her to step up.

I love every bit of Elsie on page 27 while she taunts Morgan. Same for the first panel of page 28.

Cu while not human does know how they work and I put this in to show that he immediately zeroes in on Morgan and Elsie’s relationship as a thing to be exploited. It’s also why when he needs to tell them something he always tells Elsie while looking human.

page 29

I love this first panel. I should color it and use it as an ad for the comic.

So a running thing in Misfits of Avalon is the smarter a character is the more they ask questions. Elsie runs in without thinking about what she’ll do. Morgan almost does the same until she sees how badly that is going for Elsie.

Lámh Gaoithe Dubh is Irish Gaelic. All the spells are.

page 30 – 33

When ever I do a fight I try to make sure the characters use the surroundings and aren’t fighting in the void. So I liked coming up with the trying to hit the badger with one of the branches Elsie tripped on.

Morgan of coarse has to give to Elsie as good as she got because they are children.

I liked doing the lighting on the appearance of Elsie’s hammer.

page 34 – 36

As the first book progresses the girls do get better and better at fight depending on their teamwork. Morgan tripping Elsie is supposed to be the very bad start. Winning by accident is the start so that when they aren’t getting in each others way during book 2 there is contrast.

I had fun drawing Elsie’s little victory dance.

page 37 – 40

Cu says it’s a badger repeated hear to make it clear what type of animal they fought. The others are more obvious, so someone could put together the little easter egg if they wanted. But like I said North American Badgers don’t have obvious face lines that badgers in the UK have.

Morgan gets some exposition from Cu and I tried to show off the outside of her house/street a bit.

When Morgan says Cu can’t come up I again wanted to make a point that Cu’s size as a dog limits him/makes him more obvious than say a cat with a moon on it’s head or mouse with wings. So he’ll not be spending lots of times with the girls in the off hours.

That last panel is supposed to mirror the first page while she was dreaming. I thought both would make nice books ends for Morgan’s chapter.

[fly-pow-bye]

Powerpuff Girls - “Twas the Fight Before Christmas”

Written by: Lauren Faust, Craig Lewis

Storyboarded by: Lauren Faust, Greg Colton, Brian Larsen, Paul McEvoy

Music by: James L. Venable, Thomas Chase, Steve Rucker

Art Direction: Paul Stec

Animation Direction: Robert Alvarez, John McIntyre, Randy Myers

Seasons Beatings!

Narrator: ‘Twas the City of Townsville, and all through the town

all the townsfolk are stirring, as snow is falling down

It's bitter and freezing in the dead of December,

But there's reason for joy, if you can remember.

For it's this time of year that our story unfolds,

When our hearts are the warmest, despite all the cold.

Yes, it is Christmas, just two days before,

And all through the town, none can wait anymore...

No doubt about it, this is a Christmas special. Not only is it snowing and freezing, the Narrator speaks entirely in rhyme. Fitting, as this plot is similar to a Dr. Seuss classic that took place during Christmas. Well, sort of.

The special starts two days before Christmas, as Townsville awaits that “one certain fat guy”. This is especially true for the kids at Pokey Oaks Kindergarten. Ah, Pokey Oaks. Not only does the Narrator say it, we see the sign right there.

Bubbles is singing Deck the Hells as she’s taping drawings of Santa on the bulletin board. Buttercup is gloating about her long Christmas list, the only readable word being “Gimme.” Got to love the subtle background jokes.

Not so subtle is a reference to the Red Ryder BB gun as made famous by A Christmas Story. This was long before A Christmas Story was mass-marketed to the point where they made an awful sequel to it more than a decade after the original. Hmm, sounds a bit familiar. No points for anyone who can guess the response to this, courtesy of Princess.

Parodying so many movie posters that it’s hard to tell which one its referencing, Princess comes up to the Powerpuff Girls to tell them that, since Daddy gives her everything she wants anyway, she only has one thing on her list: to be a Powerpuff Girl. Duh, she’s naughty, and the Powerpuff Girls even give a list that is essentially a best of for the people who aren’t familiar with her:

She bought the city and legalized crime! (Bought and Scold)

She hired Mojo Jojo and tried to destroy the Powerpuff Girls! (Mo Job)

She gave the Powerpuff Girls a bomb for their birthday! (Birthday Bash)

She teamed up with three felons and went on a crime spree! (Meet The Beat-Alls)

She tricked their friend Robin into stealing, and then tattled on her! (Super Friends)

I believe this is the only episode that actually mentions Robin outside of Super Friends, actually. I can understand why: new characters being added late in the show is a great way to jump the shark. Still, such super friends! As Blossom walks away, she tells Princess to change her ways, or else she's getting coal in her stocking. For the record, even in the original, a walking Powerpuff Girl looks awkward.

Princess completely scoffs at this idea that she’s spoiled and naughty, as she steps on Ms. Keane’s foot on her way out. She asks her driver if she’s naughty, and we get a whole skit. It could have been a short all to itself, it’s a classic.

The same scene happens with a servant and a nanny, and this episode’s biggest problem shows its head here. This special is 44 minutes long, four times the length of a normal Powerpuff Girls episode. Season 4′s problems with pacing in certain episodes due to their double-episode length are exacerbated here, as I feel a lot of scenes are here just to fill time. This is far from the worst example.

After opening her closet to get more pillows, as her maid quickly decided not to say anything and leave the room at her "naughty or nice question", only to be completely covered in a mountain of coal apparently stored from previous Christmases. She uses the coal to put lines under her eyes, and she puts on an all black outfit. Princess is planning something big, the Narrator fears in rhyme. But first, we got to take a detour.

Some people put up their decorations early, and some people put them up really late, and the Powerpuff Girls home is certainly in the latter, waiting until at least Christmas Eve Eve to finally put up all the decorations. Then again, when your kids can fly super fast, there’s no need to spend a whole day putting up everything.

Indeed, we see the Powerpuff Girls decorating in a super hero way, all in a race to see who gets to put the star on the top. Does this actually add to the plot? Not really, but it’s still a great scene to show off the more mundane ways the Powerpuff Girls use their powers. It is also a great way to have footage a promotional music video would use.

The Professor is here to make this not-so-generic tree lighting day special by lighting up the tree. Unfortunately, he has a bit of trouble with the lights, as we see for the next minute. I can see what they could have taken out if they wanted to condense this into a regular episode. A 22 minute episode, but still.

Professor Utonium: I can make three girls out of seasoning, but I can’t get these lights to work!

Thanks, I needed this quote.

We get a small tour of Townsville awaiting for the next day, which is used for contrast with future scenes, but is mostly just filler. Highlights include a shot of a My Little Pony parody being awaited by the Mayor, doubly funny considering one of the credited writers of this special, and Mojo Jojo trying to hang an ornament on a metal tree.

Princess infiltrates Santa’s workshop in a way similar to a spy movie for the next three minutes. I will say, wearing all black was probably not a good idea in the bright and cheery Santa's workshop, but it works anyway. There's some creative imagery, being Santa's workshop and all, but I didn't remember too much about this scene. We're only waiting in suspense to learn the obvious that she couldn't realize.

She gets to Santa's private office, and is horrified to see the truth: all of the girls she hated are on the nice list, and she's on the naughty list. Actually, there's a lot more to it than that!

See, Princess was so naughty, that she’s the only person on the naughty list. He didn’t even need to make a list; he just has the naughty sticky note. She was just that bad; everyone else is nice by comparison; even Mojo Jojo is going to get something for Christmas. Remember that when you got presents even though you totally stole from the cookie jar: Princess sinned for your sins.

That, and it’s pretty convenient for Princess’s plot.

Using a magic pencil that can erase ink, she swaps the two headings. Hey, it is Santa Claus we're dealing with, he probably has an eraser with a blue part that actually does erase ink. Of course, Santa can’t possibly think that every person except for one kid was naughty, right?

At the Powerpuff home, we cut back to the Powerpuff Girls slowly going to sleep. Bubbles wakes up early because she heard sleigh bells, only to find the cookies not eaten, no presents, and a lump of coal in her stocking. Bubbles decides to investigate further.

Bubbles flies around every house in the residential area of Townsville, looking at other people’s presents with her x-ray vision. She goes to one house, she goes to another house, and then another, and another, and another, and so on. Remember when I said "worst example"? I didn’t get out of my seat and yelled "okay, I get it already!" I only thought it loudly. Honest.

At least there’s some payoff to this, as Blossom and Buttercup tell Bubbles that she must have gotten coal because she looked through other people’s presents. Buttercup tells her this again later on, leading to this great reaction from Bubbles. It’s just the way it’s animated; there’s no need for No Me Gusta. Well, there's a quarter for the "reboot jabs in original reviews" jar.

Rewinding a little bit, once they see that they got coal in their stockings, too, Blossom and Buttercup realize something is terribly wrong, too.

The Powerpuff Girls, after changing into their normal outfits off-screen, yeah, that’s it, go up the chimney to find Princess. Princess is flying, and it’s not because they didn’t know she couldn’t. Since Princess is the only nice girl in the entire world, Santa decided to give her what she always wanted, and give everyone else coal.

She threatens to fly all the way to Santa Claus to tell him that those three jealous girls that always denied her is now going to destroy Santa’s workshop in retaliation for their much deserved coal. Why would he believe her? Because she’s the only nice child in the entire world, silly! As she starts flying off, the Powerpuff Girls chase after after her.

There are boring ways to fill time, and there are good ways to fill time, and while the driver scene is close, there is no better way to fill time in the Powerpuff Girls than with an action sequence. They must have known this, too; almost an episode’s worth of time is spent with them racing towards the North Pole, them fighting, pulling each other’s hair, and much, much more.

There are so many highlights I can bring out of this, but I got to leave something out of the review or I'll be here forever. I should highlight one scene in particular, though: Blossom has ice breath, Bubbles has the ability to talk to animals, Buttercup can roll her tongue, what does Princess have?

Crown-controlled telekinesis! Well, Bliss isn’t so special, is she? Alright, fine, enough with the reboot jabs; I'm running out of quarters to put in the jar. As she throws this giant ice ball, she ends up splitting this ball into three, shaping it into her face. A neat touch.

Princess: Cool it, girls!

Even Princess is good at the one-liners.

In a speed more rapid than eagles, 8 minutes to get to the North Pole from somewhere in the US is rather impressive, they finally arrive at the North Pole. Yes, I timed it. They destroy everything in sight thanks to a hair tug caused fight. Princess ended up being right about the Powerpuff Girls destroying the workshop, as said earlier, though it was all her fault.

We get to see ol' jolly Saint Nick himself, except he isn’t so jolly. He's sad that every kid in the entire world is bad except for one kid. Maybe he shouldn't have skipped over the whole "he sees you when you're sleeping" part in the beginning. Considering how Bubbles is demonized for doing so earlier in the episode, maybe they didn't want to point out the hypocrisy.

How did they get Santa to believe that Princess is wrong, and they are right? Simple: all Santa needed to hear was that they were the Powerpuff Girls. Knowing who they are, but not knowing what they looked like; what kind of Santa are you? He's still cool.

Then again, Princess calling him "Santa Clod" probably helped with his next decision.

Santa realizes that, no, he doesn’t have to follow a list to know who's naughty or nice when it's clear to him. He tears the sticky note up. Who's to think that the only person that learns a lesson in this special is Santa? I can't even think of a time where that has ever happened before.

Well, there is one list that he will follow: the crew vanity Permanent Naughty List, as Santa noses Princess’s name on it. Maybe I should explain that: when he pokes his red nose, Christmas magic happens. I feel sorry for poor Bill and Ryan; Santa taught of them before thinking of that next guy.

Santa: Bum bum bum!

No, really, he says “bum bum bum” as the camera zooms into this face when he does this. Even with his utter lapse of judgment, I can still say this is one of my favorite portrayals of Santa Claus.

Another "bum bum bum" is that it's just too late; he's already done his journey. The fact that the workshop is in ruins doesn't help at all, but he doesn't hold it against the Powerpuff Girls. If only there were someone that can fly super fast.

The Powerpuff Girls become Santa for a year, saving Christmas like all those characters in the 80's. We don't see them go all around the world, just through Townsville's residential area. We can just assume the rest of the whole world didn't wake up to coal in their stocking, as the Narrator does.

We almost end on a joke with the Professor trying to wake the girls, but they're too tired having to do Santa's job in an inkling of the time it took Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, and et cetera. It could have ended with that, but that wouldn't have been as cheerful for a Christmas special, so they wake up and celebrate Christmas after all.

The Narrator ends the show like how every Powerpuff Girls episode ends, in a more rhymey and Christmassy way. Just wanted to highlight that because I miss it so much. Maybe I should make some plans for the new year.

Does it still hold up?

Minus a few scenes that lasted a bit too long, it’s a great special from start to finish with lots of actions and some creative humor. There’s not a lot of Christmas specials that can claim that, especially the former.

All I can say to end this review is...

Marry Krismas, Ms Kene.