#also ngl but the way this scene ended is so awkward for me and so unnatural bc who tf just leaves after making out like that

[hejee]

i was trying to record this particular scene again and this shot is so [high-pitched screeching]

[pianostarinwonderland]

Hello hello guys!! I participated in the Octazinelle zine 😳👉👈 and this was the fic I wrote!

Link of the zine is found in the notes section. I really hope you enjoy!

graduation [octazinelle: high tide fic submission]

in the few months they have before getting ready to leave for internship, floyd and jade go through the turbulence that future uncertainties bring: where will they go, what will they do, but most importantly... what will happen to their relationship with azul?

ft. floyd leech, jade leech, and azul ashengrotto

╰┈➤ 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬: hello hello!! i participated in a zine titled octazinelle: high tide! you can find the full zine through here~ this was a very fun project and i'm so excited to post the fic i wrote for you guys ^^ i really care about this fic so much, so there will be additional notes that i will leave somewhere :3c don't worry, they won't be hard to find fufufu

“Floyd Leech.”

Said student is just climbing down the steps of the lecture room when he hears his name being called in an austere manner. Any remaining students in the classroom cast Floyd that ‘oh boy’ look as they leave the room. Floyd looks to the teacher’s table where Professor Trein stares at him sternly. He returns the stare with a miffed look, but he approaches the professor nonetheless.

“This is the second time this week that I have caught you sleeping in my class,” Trein rebukes. “This may be your last semester in Night Raven College before you go on your internship, but that doesn’t mean that you can be negligent in my class.”

“Uh huh.”

“Don’t give me that attitude, Leech. I do not want to give any penalties so late into the semester, but if I catch you sleeping one more time, I will. Do I make myself clear, Leech?”

“Yes, sir.” 

“You may now go.” 

Floyd steps out of the classroom with the same expression as he wore when getting called out. Damn Professor Red Squid, if you don’t wanna give detention, then just don’t, he thinks to himself. Meh, oh well. I don’t feel hungry at all, should I even go to the canteen? But where do I even wanna go? Everywhere’s so noisy. 

He walks for a bit, hands in his pockets.

Ah wait. 

There’s the supplies arriving today for Mostro Lounge. 

Floyd barely notices his frown growing ever so slightly deeper, but students walking along the same path as him instinctively step aside. Nobody in their right mind would dare interrupt a disgruntled Leech twin. 

I’m not going to help out with those. Azul can suffer with those all he wants.

“Floyd! There you are!” 

Floyd stops in his tracks. He does not look at the classmate who briskly walks up to him, but he already feels the annoyance rushing to his head. 

“Floyd, we got a paper due in two days,” the classmate yells. “We just need your part, and we'll be done! When are you gonna send it in the gc?”

“Go away.”

“Hah? Don’t give me that!” The groupmate’s voice raises in anger. “We have a literal group paper to submit, and we just need your part so that we can submit it earlier!”

Floyd faces him finally, but this time, his eyes are dilated, teeth are displayed, and brows are furrowed. An all-too familiar menacing expression. “I said go away.”

“Eep!” The classmate takes a step back, expression immediately shifting to fear for his life. “O-ok ok! Just- just submit before the 11:59 deadline in two days! That’s all I needed to say, ok!”

And right after, the student runs away.

Floyd huffs. He has now made up his mind on where to go. 

Jade is wiping the sweat off of his face in the locker rooms when one of his Octavinelle classmates approaches him. “Hey, Azul’s calling for you,” he says. “He’s by the gates right now.”

“Oh?” Jade looks up in confusion. “I thought Floyd was supposed to be with him right now.”

“Well, he’s not there now,” the classmate replies while scratching his head. “They need more backup and Azul’s calling for you.” 

“Ah, I see.” He smiles. “I shall be there, then.”

The classmate leaves the locker rooms, leaving Jade all by himself. The rest of the class has already left, eager for lunch. 

Jade slows down in cleaning himself up.

Azul’s name brings back a rip that’s been tearing at his heart. It burns in the way that electricity probably burns, maybe to a lesser degree: his body stops working the way it usually does, and his chest still reels from a shock of pain. It’s not physical by any means, though by the Sea Witch, he wishes it was. It would have been so much easier to deal with. He’d be shipped to the best hospital, all bills easily paid for, and he’d be recovering well back in Octavinelle. Or if he dies, then that is that. No more pain to feel.

No, it’s a harder kind of pain. It’s the kind of pain that makes him want to tear flesh and bone with teeth and claws, the kind of hurt that urges him to destroy a ship, the kind of ache that makes him want to burn his already burning eyes. It’s the kind of pain that won’t go away even if he does all three.

Jade breathes in. Hold it. Breathe out. Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out. Breathe in… breathe out…

He cannot afford to lose himself now, whether by wrath or by tears. 

He packs his bags, changes back to his uniform, and leaves the lockers. His light footsteps are overshadowed by the sounds of enthusiastic jogs to the cafeteria in the corridors. Jade takes a moment to breathe in the afternoon sunny air, letting out a bit more of his worries out of his lungs before he walks down the stairs and through Main Street. 

And soon, he finds himself nearing the tall gates of the school, where a group of students are gathered around large boxes. 

It annoys Jade that the gleam of silver hair stirs mixed emotions. On one hand, his troubles are dashed completely from seeing the very person he keeps close. On the other hand, it is the same person who’s making him go through hell.

He swiftly shifts his focus to the situation in front of him. Some of the other boxes should have been on the way to the Mostro Lounge by this time, yet there are still several of them that the other Octavinelle students have to carry. It isn’t surprising—after all, they decided to upgrade a few things, in preparation for the next dorm leader. Supplies that a simple run to Sam’s shop won’t cover, no matter how much he claims to have it all in stock. 

“Be extra careful with that. That tableware costs us quite a fortune.” Standing by the boxes with a clipboard resting on his arm, Azul watches his dorm mates as he writes notes on the clipboard. He has his dorm leader facade on, serious and stern, but even from a distance, Jade can see his slightly nervous gaze towards the supplies. 

As another pair leaves with a heavy box, Azul looks at them before his eyes fall on him. “Jade, good you made it on time.”

“Hello, Azul,” Jade greets. “I thought that Floyd was supposed to help with the supplies.”

“Well, he’s not here now,” Azul answers, frowning from annoyance. “I was wondering if you had any idea as to where he is right now.”

“I don’t. His history class should have ended 10 minutes ago.” 

“Hmph, nevermind. We need to get all of this into the lounge.” He gestures to the boxes. “All the boxes are complete, and we’ll do a final count of all the supplies once everything has been moved there.”

“I see.” Jade nods. “Will you need me to assist you?”

“No, you may enjoy your lunch break after helping us move these boxes,” Azul answers. “I’ll be making my next successor do that. It’s a part of his learning, after all.” 

“Ah. I see.” 

It annoys him to feel that same shock of hurt returning to his chest. 

A bemused look crosses Azul’s face. “Does that offend you,” he teases. “I never took you for one to be tilted by that.”

Jade blinks. “Why Azul, whatever makes you think I’d be offended over that?” He smiles, with a bit more effort than he’s used to. “You must be imagining things from how little rest you have in passing on your position to the little siren.”

“You exaggerate.” He keeps his clipboard and pen into his bag. “We need to move. Jade, carry that box over there.” He points to one of the smaller boxes, marked with the word FRAGILE, and picks up another box. 

And wordlessly, Jade follows, carrying a box that must contain brand new tea sets. New tea sets that remind him that a new dorm leader and manager of the Mostro Lounge will take over. 

That his term and Azul’s will end because they’ll move up to 4th year and go their separate ways. 

Jade resists the urge to break them. He’ll carry these then find Floyd. 

Back at home, the schools of fish would band together, staying close until Floyd swam past them, splitting their perfect formation. Together, apart. Together, apart. 

Together. Apart.

Separation was not new to Floyd at all. In an “eat or be eaten” world, fish and merfolk alike live with the thought that the people closest to them may be gone the next day. Floyd has hunted before, has fought before. He’s even the one who said goodbye to his parents when leaving for Night Raven College.

But he said goodbye with the promise of seeing them again after school is done. 

He stares down at the river that runs below the bridge. This spot is rarely ever frequented by students at lunchtime, if only because everyone else is either eating in the canteen, having meetings, or just being with friends, and the bridge is on the other path away from the Hall of Mirrors. Besides Octavinelle, it feels the closest to home on this campus: here, he can watch the current flow, and the fish that live below its clean stream. 

Home, huh? Floyd wonders if home will still feel like home once he returns from Night Raven College. 

It will be the same dark passageways and bioluminescent lights, the same faces but all grown up. Except that he isn’t a child that can pick fights with anyone and nab their scales as a prize, he is to be stuck with running the family business of making deals, expanding connections, beating up people who betray their trust. Pretty much like what he already does with Azul now. 

Except that the boss that would stand with him and Jade is not Azul at all. 

The fish in the river swim with no obstacle in their path. They may split apart to avoid the occasional rock, but they would be together again. Together, apart. Together. In the small space that they share, there is no vast ocean that opens up new paths for them to split ways. Not until they swim down the cliff and into the open sea. 

Floyd has never envied river dwellers until now. 

Jade walks behind Azul going to Mostro Lounge. It’s something of a routine that started in Night Raven College. When Azul walks, he and Floyd follow him from behind. He doesn’t remember how or when it started. Probably started to make Azul’s image look powerful: he is in the front, wearing a coat that imposes authority, and Jade and Floyd standing at the back makes him look almost impossible to touch. 

Regardless of the hows or the whys, it’s a position that has always given him comfort. From behind, Jade can watch Azul. He can see if Azul is pleased with something by the bounce in his step, or if he’s pissed by the clack of his heels. And from the front, Azul can’t read Jade since he’s always looking forward, and that lets Jade startle him with a random brutal teasing remark. 

Right now, though, he wishes to not look at Azul. 

Azul appears to be beaming, and Jade knows exactly why. He’s found the perfect successor for not only leadership of Octavinelle but also manager for his prized restaurant. He’s gotten accepted in all the places he applied for his internship. 

He’s gotten accepted already into the university that he aims to go to.

Jade vividly remembers the way Azul grinned from ear to ear when he received the email. He remembers the audible, “Yes! Yes, I got in!” that almost sounded teary-eyed. He remembers Floyd saying that they should celebrate over some drinks. He remembers smiling to the best of his abilities while saying congratulations for being accepted. 

That was two weeks ago. He’s said many fake things in his life, and he would never say sorry for them. But until now, the heartless congratulations weighs heavily in his conscience. 

It’s simple, really: Azul has been working hard all his life to achieve his dreams. And Jade was there to witness the journey, from the ideas to the headaches to the defeats to the victories. It’s a huge milestone for Azul to get to stay on land and study in a place where he feels he will thrive. So it’s unfair really, to not be able to celebrate such an achievement happily. 

And yet, Jade can’t bring himself to. 

Their relationship started as something transactional. Tweels keep his secrets, Azul lets them in his plans. Tweels support him, Azul entertains them. And if Azul fails to entertain, then they will drop him like plastic to the chute. There and done. That’s supposed to be their relationship. 

So why then does it hurt to hear that Azul got accepted? Why does it hurt to think about how in a few months, he won’t see Azul as much as the present? Why does it hurt to think about the uncertainty of when they will see each other again? 

“Jade, you can put down the box over there.”

Jade blinks. He’s at Mostro Lounge. Has he been so deep in thought that he didn’t realize when he arrived?

Schooling his expression, he puts down the box on the counter that Azul gestures to, unaware of the concerned expression on Azul’s face. 

Floyd doesn’t know when he started staring into nothingness to gaze at memories, but he’s now seeing the stone stage from middle school, where his younger self is playing drums to his brother’s bass and someone’s piano. 

He remembers, he was getting irritated with the piano melody, and at the time he couldn’t pinpoint why, except that it lacked something. Now that he thinks about it, it’s because that pianist’s playing had no life. No vigor, no passion, just technique that wouldn’t get anyone dancing. “Next,” he had said and stopped playing. The pianist was protesting. Floyd forgot what he said, just that he protested that he wasn’t done playing, but he didn’t care enough to hear about it.

“Everyone sucks, Jade,” he threw his sticks to the ground. “No one’s good enough to be part of our band. Let’s just go.” And he and Jade—who was bigger than him at the time—left the small auditorium of their school. And it’s a blur, Floyd doesn’t remember why he and Jade didn’t go home right away, but he remembers very well the syncopated melodies coming from the piano they forgot to close. 

And he remembers the gasp he made, the way his heart was stirred from how alive the music sounded. 

And he remembers how quickly he swam back inside to see who’s playing, and his wide-eyed gaze when he spotted the familiar octopus.

“Hey hey, that was so cool,” he said to the flustered Azul. “Play some more, play some more!” 

“Huh? No way, I have to go soon!”

But he didn’t let him go. He insisted he play the piano as he picked up his sticks and played a beat. “Come on, just one song! Then you can go!”

And he started his beat. And when it was just him for a long moment, Floyd had wondered if Azul left. But the sound of an E minor reached his ears, and the next moment, Azul’s playing was matching to the beat of the drums. And his music had heart. It had spirit, it had technique, it had passion. 

And the best part? Azul matched his rhythm when nobody else did. 

“I knew I’d find you here, Floyd.”

Eyes turning away from his reflection in the water, Floyd looks up to the face that he’s known since birth. Jade, impeccably presentable despite having PE class earlier, walks towards Floyd, leaning on the railing of the bridge he stands on. But he does not go near him. 

“What do you want,” Floyd asks. 

“We had a new batch of supplies arrive at the Lounge today,” Jade answers. “You were supposed to help out with the unpacking.”

He only answers with a curt hum before turning back to the water below. 

He hears a sigh. And footsteps approaching.

“You’re thinking about last last week, aren’t you?”

Floyd turns again to Jade. He’s by the bridge railing now, same side as him, but he continues to keep a respectable distance. Jade doesn’t look at him directly either, his gaze directed at the horizon ahead of them. 

He’s thinking about it too.

“Yeah, you could say that,” he answers. “It’s just, really ass, y’know?”

Floyd believes that in spite of their identical genetics, they are two people with different identities, dreams, and beliefs. And don’t get him wrong, it is a lot better that way to have individuality. But deep down, there is a comfort knowing that Jade probably feels the same feeling that leaves Floyd dizzy with frustration, that binds his chest with a mix of anger and sadness. And Sea Witch knows, Floyd needs that comfort now. 

“‘Ass’, you say,” Jade repeats. “Tell me about it.” 

A beat of silence passes between them. 

“It’s just that. It takes half a fish brain to know that Azul’s got grand plans after graduation. Get into the best business school, build his own corporation, build another company, and a third company. And I’ve known this for Sea Witch knows how long, and it was all fine, I didn’t care that much, but then…”

“...But then the letter came in.” Jade fills in. 

“Yeah,” Floyd emphatically answers. “That damned acceptance letter from whosit business university came in. Like, I don’t know why, but it just made everything feel… real. That Azul’s really gonna go somewhere else. And I hate that it’s been hitting me like this for the last two weeks. I can’t focus well, I’m pissed off, Trein’s told me off about sleeping. It’s so ass.”

The silent air between the twins weighs heavier. Floyd’s eyes briefly look at the fish in the river again—the damned fish that he wants to throw a rock at so they separate too—before he turns to Jade. “How ‘bout you? Was it also the letter?”

Jade doesn’t answer right away. Floyd understands; in moments like these, Jade hesitates to speak his mind, even to him. It’s part of their nature to be cowardly, after all, just that Jade exhibits it more between the two of them. 

“... Somehow, yes, but if I were to think about it… it’s actually been a while now,” he finally answers.

“Eh? Really?”

“I knew down the line that there would be farewells to be made,” Jade says. “Like you said, Azul has already made plans for himself, and he invests in those plans, years in advance. But there’s always that part of me that wonders… if there’s space for us in those plans.” 

Floyd finds himself inhaling sharply at those words. 

“I see his goals coming to fruition, and it pains me to say that I can’t even properly support him. The letter, the new supplies, the little siren he’s going to appoint… they’re all reminders that it will all change.” Jade smiles, but in pain. “Azul won’t be the dorm leader, I won’t be the vice leader, and we won’t do the things we used to do. And we won’t see each other until perhaps the next VDC. And when we graduate… would he call an end to our agreements? Would we grow so busy that we become strangers again? We would always say that our relationship is merely transactional and that we would leave him if we get bored, but…”

Jade stops, and the air weighs even heavier. Floyd feels taken back to the first day on land, when breathing with lungs felt heavy and difficult. 

Suddenly, Jade laughs. “What clownfish have we become?”

Floyd too joins his twin in mirth. “Can’t help it, Azul makes me feel understood.”

He raises a brow. “Is it gonna be about the first time you played together with him?”

“I mean, it’s how it started,” he answers. He doesn’t realize the small smile that settles on his face as he remembers once more. “Like, back then, everyone just kinda avoided, y’know? And that’s fine, at least, I thought it was. ‘Twas fun and all to be intimidating. But no matter what I’d do, Azul always matches me. He knows exactly what to play to my rhythm. And even in how we work, he knows what’s the stuff I’d like to do or the stuff I’d do well in. It just feels nice.”

It feels too nice. 

Too nice that if it disappears, it will leave his heart bound tightly by melancholy. 

“…Hey, I can’t be the only sappy one here.” Floyd eyes Jade. “C’mon Jade, share too what’s made you appreciate Azul.”

“I already shared a lot earlier,” Jade says defensively.

“Heyyy, be fair at least. I know you have your own thing.”

“What else is there to say? You already said everything.”

“Liar. I know how you started reading your books more after meeting him.” 

“So? Those were lessons that we had to learn as well.”

“Uh huh sure. Then explain why you’ve only gotten better in everything you do after meeting Azul.”

Jade glares at him. 

Floyd grins in response. “Gotcha.”

A beat of silence, then Jade sighs. “If he makes you feel understood, then he makes me feel capable.”

“How so?”

“One reason.” He puts up one free hand, with one finger up. “He’s demanding.”

Floyd chuckles. “That’s an understatement.”

“You’re right.” Jade grins, teeth flashing. “He’s exigent. Making us run around the school to do 5 things at once, on top of schoolwork. Even before NRC, he was just like that. I assumed he was insane. Until now, I still think he’s insane.”

“You say that, but you don’t look like you’re complaining at all.”

“Because thanks to that, I wasn’t pretending to be good at something anymore.” His next smile is closed. Softer. “I went from barely comprehending a textbook and barely lifting a seashell with my magic to understanding contract language and unlocking my unique ability. He made me do things, and I planned to just make someone else do it and pretend it was me.” 

“Ohhh.” Floyd’s eyes widened with remembrance. “And then he caught you.”

“Yes.” Jade shakes his head at the thought. “And I was expecting him to laugh at me, but he didn’t. All he did was sigh and teach me. Magic, studies, law, something about the way he taught those things clicked something in me. And even the things that he didn’t teach but always talked about, like culinary and how people behave, I was able to absorb things and got better. Dare I say,” a smirk forms on his face, “I’m better than Azul in some things.”

“Like flight class.” Floyd grins.

“Like flight class,” Jade repeats smugly. 

And they stop talking. Jade turns his gaze to the distant horizon, looking at something farther than the blue of the sky. Meanwhile, Floyd glances back at the river. He understands that Jade is done talking personal. But it’s fine for him. He can almost hear the unspoken thoughts. Once Azul leaves, who’s going to be the pianist in their little band that makes their every day exciting? Once Azul leaves, who’s going to tell them that they can do it? 

Once Azul leaves, who’s going to understand them?

“So this is where you two are.”

Simultaneously, Floyd and Jade whip their heads around. Floyd swears his heart almost leapt to his chest when he saw those familiar blue eyes. 

One hand in his pocket, Azul stands on the threshold of the bridge. He and Jade fully turn around as he walks towards them until he’s directly in front of both of them. 

“Hello, Azul,” Jade greets, like the conversation a while ago never happened. “How was teaching your next successor what he has to do?”

“Went well,” he answers. “His prior experiences already reassure me, but he’s also demonstrated that he knows what he’s doing. Currently, he and our other dorm mates are taking care of the supplies.”

“Weird that you’re not being so strict, considering how much you value your restaurant,” Floyd comments. “You’re not even gonna be there to make sure nothing’s going wrong?”

“I trust that things are going well with my new successor in charge. I’ve taught him very well enough,” Azul says. “But more importantly… I have matters to discuss with the both of you.”

He turns his head to look at Jade. “Jade, you’ve been out of focus lately. Just a while ago, when you were bringing the box of teacups to the lounge, you were so deep in thought, you didn’t look like you were aware of where you were going. And even during work hours, you haven’t been as sharp as you usually are. A few professors have commented on your slouched posture as well.”

Jade’s eyes widen in surprise. 

“And Floyd.” Azul turns to look at Floyd. “Professors have reported to me that you’ve either been asleep during lectures or interrupting class with an outburst. You’ve also been moodier than usual, and it shows in your cooking and your behavior. I’ve heard a few students rant about you in group projects.”

Floyd briefly remembers the group mate that approached him earlier. 

“So what are you getting at exactly, Azul,” Jade asks. “Even we have our off days as well.”

Azul casts him a pointed look. “Off days for two weeks straight.” 

He receives no quip in reply. 

He crosses his arms. “Jade, Floyd.” His neutral serious tone changes. It quivers slightly. He’s worried. “I know you two well enough that there’s something going on. Is there something that happened?”

Floyd looks away. Jade does as well.

Floyd hates the concern in his tone. It makes him want to break. It makes him want to be upfront about his feelings and how it’s been bothering him. 

But how can someone like him really tell someone like Azul that you’re afraid to lose him somehow? How can he retract all the times he said that their relationship is all transaction and no emotional connection? How do you even start bearing something so vulnerable? 

They must be the same questions that Jade is grappling with now. Jade, who’s usually good at worming his way out of any conversation, has nothing to say to leave this topic. 

Azul sighs, breaking the long silence. “Is this something that has to do with me?”

The twins stiffen. 

Floyd can feel Azul’s gaze towards him. 

A tense moment passes. 

“... I had a feeling.”

He finally looks at him but in confusion. Jade is also facing him with wide eyes. 

Azul exhales through his nose. “You don’t have to tell me anything about what you’re feeling right now. If at all.” He turns around, preparing to leave. His head is bowed down, not letting either twin see his expression. “But I just want to let you know, I’m always here if you need me. Not just for this, but for anything, even if in the future.”

Floyd’s breath hitches.

“Do you… really mean that?” Jade asks, almost meekly.

Azul looks at Jade in puzzlement. “Why wouldn’t I? You two have been with me for all these years, even in my weakest hours. It’s not like I’m going to leave you even after we graduate.”

“Really,” Floyd asks. “Even when you get really busy with university and we’re running our family business?”

“Well, I won’t deny that we will be busy,” he answers. “But I’m not letting go of you two just because of that. You know me too well, after all. And you’ve supported me all these years, it would be embarrassing to leave that unpaid.”

“You mean that?”

“Have I ever broken a promise? If you want, I can even put that on a contract and have you sign it.”

In one single breath, the binding sadness and worry that tightened Floyd’s chest leaves. 

Without thinking, he moves towards Azul and wraps his arms around his slim frame. He ignores the surprised gasp as he buries his face on his shoulder. His breathing feels lighter than it has ever been the past two weeks. 

He feels Jade joining in, hugging Azul from the other side and burying his face on the other shoulder. His breathing sounds even to any person, but to Floyd, he can hear a slight quiver, like Jade is trying to hold back tears. 

“Is… is this what it’s been all about, all this time,” Azul finally asks. His hands move to pat their heads, a motion that always comforted the twins. “You two are strange for worrying about this type of thing.” 

Despite his words, Floyd can hear the smile in Azul’s voice.

[kalims]

kiss your best friend | ignihyde

kiss your best friend and see how they react!

parts. one , two , three , four , five , six , seven

characters. idia, ortho

content. gender neutral reader as usual, platonic for the bby, wingman ortho at it again, forgot about this ngl

note. sorry guys idia's part was messy but I mean, I'm just portraying his chaotic feelings ig. I SWEAR ORTHO'S PART MAKES UP FOR IT SINCE HES THE CALMER ONE

damn part six finally hear after almost a year (I'm so sorry help)

idia

is having the fastest inner monolog you will ever hear in your life, if it was being read out loud that is. could be nominated as rapper of the year with how fast he's blurting out thoughts in his mind.

also probably vocals of the year too with how high pitched, and small in range it is. what a versatile king 🔥

'anywaysitooklike10yearstryingtofindthisitemcausetheysaidtheysawitbutohmygodwhatinthethreehellsishappeningOMGaretheykissingmechatamidreamingOMGimnot??WHAT WARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA'

to make your life easier 'anyways it took like ten years trying to find this item cause they said they saw it but oh my god what in the three hells is happening OMG are they kissing me chat am I dreaming OMG I'm not??? WHAT *incoherent screeching.'

probably has never kissed anyone besides his body pillows which is just one sided making out so completely forgets his 'lessons on teaching himself how to kiss' and freezes up. comically gets goosebumps and remains frozen even after you pull away.

then starts turning red from feet to head??

he has so many questions that he in fact, does NOT want to ask cause even if it cost his life he can't question you if you guys are dating now cause YOU JUST KISSED HIM SO THAT MEANS YOU BOTH UPGRADE LEVELS.

wait he can't call it friendship level. clearly you're both past level 10 now right?? INTIMACY LEVEL???? HE DOESNT KNOW HES PANICKING.

is too awkward to ask and acts even more awkward as the time is more prolong during the time he's just left wondering what the hell you guys are now cause he's too pussy to do anything without confirmation that you're both duos for life now.

ortho

is the one idia rants to about his predicament right after you part ways.

like, idia doesn't even try to call or contact ortho through the means of technology even if it meant getting to talk faster. he's BOLTING to the dorm with his unathletic ass (with breaks in between.) because the tea he was going to spill was that good.

listens intently and goes :O when idia finally mentions the part where you randomly kiss him out of the blue, by the way only getting to the point after idia spills.. umm.. the wrong thing to be honest, literally retold the whole day until that point.

yeahhhh.. he has the energy atleast.

idia is probably telling ortho about how it meant nothing even though you literally outright kissed him, to the cheek, mouth, or something and he's still gonna say it didn't mean anything.

ortho gotta be the one telling idia to make the move cause no idiot would mistake that for nothing (except idia apparently but he'll have everyone know that his brother is a tech genius!!)

they both do one of those scenes in movies where P1 - idia, is talking to you in real life with an earpiece, and P2 - ortho is said person behind the earpiece. basically the one telling idia what he should do because that guy is too lost for his own good.

"brother move closer!"

"... isn't this too close already though--" <- embarrassed and regretting everything

in the end he did manage to get a label on the two of you, no thanks to HIM and all the thanks to ortho <3

note. ortho's part just ended up as an extension of idia's part but I always love to include him in everything :') just some behind the scenes on how idia actually got a relationship (ITS ALL ORTHO)

not pr, who prs anyways cries

[alltheboysandgirlsiloved]

hi❤️! Could u pls give me ur thoughts on this? :

I was thinking abt the whole Yasmina coming out scene with Ben, and I can't stop seeing a subtext on this. Like, why choosing Ben between all the campers👀? And Is it "over reading" the context to say it looks like Ben knows more about coming out than he confess to Yasmina? 😅

I'm asking bc I'm afraid they'll make him straight, ngl. So I'm questioning, do u think we're really over reading on the context? bc no way fandom is the only one seeing queer subtext on this character 😭

I will answer this question in two ways so that everyone can choose their own adventure.

First of all, plot-wise Yaz coming out to Ben first just made sense! Their friendship has been steadily growing and once they overcame their initial hesitation, I think they just clicked as friends. They were different enough to be forced to learn how to understand each other from day one. Whether people agree or not, Ben is simultaneously very strong-minded and awkwardly delicate, very similar to Yaz. He will always speak his mind and at the same time, he is very accepting. I think that this is exactly the type of person Yaz needed back then - someone who would speak their opinion no matter what, would offer support and comfort But at the same time would not try to baby her. Does it make sense? I think that at that moment there was no one other than Ben who could have offered this kind of non-judgemental and honest support (also because most of the other characters were engaged in other drama!!).

It also makes sense considering their conversation in season 4 when Ben thought that Yaz had a crush on him. I mean, it couldn't get any more awkward than this, right? As silly as it sounds, in the end, it probably helped them solidify their friendship on an emotional level. At least, that's how I've always seen that.

Plus! Let's remember that Ben was the last to find out about Brooklynn and Kenji getting together! So, I guess it was fair for him to learn about Yaz's feelings for Sammy first, haha!

Okay, so that was canon, now it's time for my off-screen rambling.

I said it before and I'll say it again: jwcc Ben is absolutely queer-coded. Has been since season 1 and it has nothing to do with his looks but everything to do with the way he interacts with the world and people around him. Sometimes he is cautious, sometimes he is bold; he bites and curls in himself, he is hesitant but hot-headed; the world is a hostile place that requires taming. He likes the safety of his own shell, but once he peeks out of it - he makes the way for himself on his own terms.

I also believe that Ben was initially written as queer-coded, even if he was never meant to end up in a queer relationship (again - speaking about jwcc only). It would also kind of explain Darius and Sammy's reaction in jwct - their surprise when they learned that Ben has a girlfriend. jwcc Ben was queer-coded, his queerness was never commented upon, but it existed nonetheless. You don't have to come out to be queer, and you don't have to come out for others to be vaguely aware of your queerness. If you're any familiar with older tv shows, in which openly queer characters were a rarity, you would notice that a lot of the characters that are currently referred to as "queer-coded" were presented to the audience in a similar way as Ben was presented throughout jwcc. So yes, considering that I really choose to believe that jwcc Ben was queer-coded, I think it also explains why Yaz reached out to him. She knew that he would understand.

Additional notes:

When I say "Ben's gay-ass speech" at least two things come to mind:

1) Ben's iconic quote from season 1 - "And so what if she is asymmetrical? There's nothing wrong with being different, or bumpy," – don't argue with me "but he was talking about Bumpy" yeah, so? He was talking about "others being different", it's obvious that it's meant to resonate with more issues than just Bumpy's, well, bump

2) His conversation with Yaz when he openly said that he was "just now starting to find himself", self-discovery, figuring yourself out, sounds familiar? yeah.

I also have a whole theory (while I don't believe that the writers intended to write it as such I sometimes think about it) about Ben's entire character arc in jwcc being a metaphor for what it's like to grow up as a queer kid:

Stage one (season 1) - being in a closet, being really cautious about things you show interest in (pre-monorail Ben)

Stage two (seasons 1/2) - experiencing an event/trauma that makes you come out of a closet; as a result, your perception of the world changes and you completely redesign yourself (the "wild child" Ben era)

Stage three (season 3) - gaining courage, making statements, being bold about your choices (Ben intending to stay on the Isla Nublar)

Stage four (season 4) - understanding that just because a part of you is out, doesn't mean that you have to abandon your past self (Ben "figuring himself out", changing the habits he gained during stage two)

Stage five (season 5) - accepting yourself for who you are - queerness and everything that comes with the entire concept of you (Ben becomes a mixture of a jungle boy and that boy from season 1, these personalities merge seamlessly)

This particular interpretation is definitely me over-reading but this metaphor always worked for me, I really like it, mostly because it also reflects a bit of my own experience as a queer kid.

Hope that I answered your question anon :D

[ghcstao3]

I saw your tags, you have challenged me!

Scary Show AU (cw for cannibalism and murder)

Ghost is a very well-known yet still semi-anonymous Voice Actor for spooky shit. There's a huge following for him because, regardless of what role he's playing, he does a phenomenal job. He's only listed in the cast list as "S.R.Ghost"

Typically he plays the role of the creatures in this super popular show called "Cryptid Season" which follows a gang of college kids desperate for extra credit in their Biology class so they hunt cryptids as evidence/to study for their papers. He does the voice over and some of the motion capture (he's a big dude) for the monsters and such, his most famous one being "Goatman" (from the demonic Goatman's bridge in I think Texas?)

Meanwhile Soap is this animator who's starting to become really popular, and he announces a new show in the work: "Consume", where he voices one of the two lead roles. It's presented as a show about a normal, if not very lonely man, being tormented by a demonic presence in his home.

Plot twist: dude's actually a cannibalistic serial killer and ends up quickly befriending the demon. The demon helps make the man harder to track by police forces in exchange for the bones and souls of his victims.

Cast:

Soap as the killer

Ghost as the demonic entity

Gaz as a detective who's new to the case but also best friends with Soap's character

Price voices the seasoned detective who's been working this case "too damn long"

Ghost and Soap ABSOLUTELY fall in love while recording scenes together. The banter, the flirting, the sexy scenario of cutting up a corpse together; it's too much not to fall in love irl

(actually such a big brain idea but I don't know how you'd write it tbh lmao. Maybe the show itself, where the boys keep their names? Idk the original idea turned into something much greater)

took a minute to figure something out i'm ngl but i did. something (in any case i would love to see your proper takes(s) if you'd be up to it, seeing as it's your idea!! i feel like i couldn’t do it justice)

-

Just like any other actor, Ghost had to audition for the role.

His agent books it for him without consultation, knowing the project would be right up his alley—horror, monsters, no face required—and Ghost makes no argument in sending in his tape. He recognizes this process and takes no issue with it, and once out of his hands, he waits patiently for a congratulatory offer or a gentle rejection.

Just like any other movie, or show, or what have you. Consume is no different.

Supposedly. At first.

John "Soap" MacTavish is... many things. He's charming, according to most. Talented. A joy to be around. A man who wears more than several hats of a project, which certainly tells of someone trying to worm their way into the commercial industry.

He has the spirit and creativity, Ghost will allow him that. But he also doesn't know when to stop talking as soon as the important work is done.

Is Soap professional? Sure. Does Soap make sure all jobs are done with efficiency and done well? Yes, he does. Does it make him any less of a nuisance to Ghost? Absolutely not.

But Ghost would be damned if the project doesn’t find its way into his soft spots, despite its nature. He’d be damned if he doesn’t fall in love with Soap’s animations and the hard work and craft he puts into them.

Then he blinks, and the pilot is premiering. It does well (again, considering its content), and Consume is properly green-lit.

Which is when Soap proposes the idea of recording their lines in the same room. Together. Facing one another. Because banter, and chemistry, and whatever other reasons he insists upon.

Personally, Ghost wants to decline. He’s always felt somewhat awkward when recording as such with anyone, but professionally? He couldn’t really say no, could he?

And it is awkward, at first. There’s more takes than usual, and Ghost can sense Soap’s frustration, though the man never expresses it. He just plasters on a tight smile, calls for a break, and pulls Ghost aside.

Surely, surely this is where Ghost gets fired. This is where Ghost is told he’s going to be replaced, where he’s told to say goodbye to Gaz and Price and wish them luck, and move onto his next gig. This is where—

“Have I done something wrong?”

Soap’s face is so earnest. So painfully sincere.

Ghost clenches his jaw. Shakes his head.

“No, I—“ He sighs. “Just have to get used to the… face-to-face. Let’s—I’ll try again.”

Soap smiles wider, now, as he nods, something kind and warm and brilliant.

The second try goes much smoother. Ghost takes a deep breath and eases himself into scripted dialogue, into witty banter and subtle flirts like it’s any other project.

They continue to record lines as such, just the two of them, each episode at a time. At some point, Ghost worries, the line between script and show and reality gets blurred. At some point, he fears, that flirting becomes genuine.

And what would he know—the reviews only get better as that line becomes less and less clear. Natural, real-feeling dialogue, critics say. The relationship is authentic, claim viewers.

The love is actually heartfelt.

And fuck, if that doesn’t make Ghost realize a few things about himself.

About Soap.

Consume is no different, his ass. He might have to have a stern talk with his agent in the near future.

(Or not.)

[zyxwvutbackwards]

I wanna write down some initial thoughts about it, so Day 3 Mushroom Oasis spoilers under the cut!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OH MY GODDDDDD/POS

It was so good!!! And Mycheal got so much scarier 😭 Maybe it’s just because I was watching horror last night, but I felt like he was actually gonna hurt us at one point!!! His attitude change totally makes sense given that he thinks he’s having the one thing he wants in the world, companionship, taken away, but GOD it got to me!! If I was Mc I’d have thought he was starting to hate us given how much we asked of him - and for what in exchange? Fortunately I have the power of Access to Meta Knowledge, so I know what that is, but I really feel for Mc lmaoo!

Genuinely, though, I didn’t expect him to get so irritable 👀 for some reason I’d expected him to just get sad, but tbh it makes sense! He’s been trying so hard to get Mc to stay, so, SO hard just to prove to himself that they were different, and to show them that they should stay - plus constantly having to work to maintain that image and it failing regardless! I can’t imagine he’d internalize it healthily either - “they’re leaving because I did something wrong/because I’m not good enough/because I’m a monster.” That image is only set aside when Mc makes plans to visit! Even then, though, it can’t be fully shattered - unless something miraculous happens or they reject him, I can’t imagine he’s going to stop feeling that pressure anytime soon.

Also, I was genuinely shocked I got the good ending on the first try! Usually when playing through VNs, I do what I think I’d actually do irl and see how it plays out - which means that, in this case, I made the Mc stay suspicious. Which usually means that I get a bad (or good depending on how you look at it) ending - I can’t believe Mycheal puts up with so much distrust from someone he barely knows 😭 The kitchen scene was so awkward!!! And so was the forest scene!!! The walking in silence turning into arguing was 😭😭 my heart hurt - yet for some reason he was relatively chill about it later on?? I guess it showcases his desperation for connection, poor guy :( It does make me wonder what sort of behavior or person would push him past his limit, though. So far the only real line he’s drawn is that we have to not insult him and/or be terrified of him? His self-esteem is really low and he’s really lonely, so I think it’d have to be something he perceives as really bad for him to decide that A. He’s too good for this person and/or B. Being alone is better than keeping them around. Or, perhaps, C. The person actually doesn’t like him because their action was so atrocious that they couldn’t have possibly done it if they even tolerated him. Maybe this action has to do with his privacy - like, if Mc went through his box while he slept? Even then I have my doubts. All this said, I think it would be much easier for him to decide that he didn’t want someone around if they were never kind in the first place - so my speculating is all about once he’d already grown attached. Given he likes the Mc because of their kindness, maybe blatant cruelty would be enough? Especially towards people he’d already grown attached to. Probably, actually! I could totally see him kicking someone out who was cruel to his chickens - who wouldn’t kick someone like that to the curb? They’re his chickens! Who couldn’t love them? I digress.

The bad ending hurt ngl 😭 I hated calling him those names and I hated making him react that way. It was really hard to do, especially when we didn’t have a chance to take it back. And even after all of that he gave us gifts? His love language?? He still cares about Mc???😭 Rubbing salt in the wound there!! I wonder if he understands that Mc rejected him because of his actions not because of who or what he is. I wonder if he thinks there’s a difference at that point! He clearly feels guilty

Also!!! Several mysteries!!! A. The box?? First of all, he decorated it with mushroom stickers, that’s adorable, but second of all!! Very very curious about what was in it!! And B. The not mushrooms?? What are they??? Very curious about them and their origins.

Finally, other stuff!!! When it wasn’t awkward because he was upset about/with Mc, it was adorable 😭 we got to hear him talk in his language in two of the routes, and that was amazing!!! I want to hear what he sounds like irl so bad! It just reads like it would sound really unique and beautiful. Ough I love him so much!

Also - Vida reminds me so much of Alma, I genuinely thought it was them for a minute lowkey still wouldn’t be surprised if it was, but I’m gonna feel really embarrassed if I come out all confident that they’re the same person and find out I’m wrong so I’m keeping this in the margins 😭 They kinda look like them, and they even said “lift your spirits” at one point! Also their dog was adorable 🥹

Speaking of - THE ANIMATION??? LORD I didn’t expect it!!! When Mycheal grabbed Mc’s hand I was so taken aback!! It was so smooth!!! And so good!!! And the dog wagging its tail was so cute!!! The art was amazing as always, very comfy cozy, and the new backgrounds were gorgeous!! Plus the new sprites!! He’s so cute when he isn’t scary! And still so caring when he is!! Well, he’s caring when he isn’t trying to manipulate Mc into staying, that is. This wouldn’t be a yandere blog if I didn’t love that side of him as well though :D He’s so awesome

Anyways, I’m sorry if you read all this brain vomit, it doesn’t have any sort of nuanced thought or overall conclusion other than that I’m obsessed with MO, I just needed to ramble about the game for a bit 😭 Mycheal is such a well written character and I am so so so excited to learn more about him. I loved this update and I’m so grateful for the creator for their work. Thanks for reading if you took the time to and have a lovely day!! 💞

[gabzilla-z]

ok quick thoughts, spoilers behind the cut.

Pros:

Halle. HALLE. H a l l e. Her voice, her face, her mannerisms. They took what made Ariel special in the animated movie and built on it and she was the perfect person to pull it off.

Her beauty was distracting.

So glad they finally got a singer for a live action, I couldn’t take another B&B autotuned disaster.

Made me want to get to the nearest rock and play mermaid ngl.

I had my doubts with Jonah but he did a great job with Eric, played the shy, kinda awkward potato prince charming to perfection. Loved that they expanded his backstory and his interest in adventure and the sea. Also A+ for the movie knowing he had a white shirt on while surrounded by water and using every chance it had to drench him.

Eric still being caring and worried about Ariel even under Ursula’s spell? 10/10 no notes.

He came to chew bubblegum and be dreamy and he was all out of bubblegum.

Halle and Jonah’s chemistry was insane, I need them to do ten movies making eyes at each other.

Seriously the movie could have been 2 hours of them interacting in that library and it would have been money well spent.

or just two hours of them being cute smol and tol in a boat idc

TRUE LOVE INDEED

Can’t wait for this movie to be out in D+ so I can reblog all the gifs.

Part of Your World and all reprises were ofc gorgeous. Vanessa’s Trick is haunting and exactly what one would want for a siren song. For the First Time is gorgeous and underrated, felt very Broadway-esque. Eric’s song was corny but in a good way.

The rest of the songs are adequate but are not as good as the original ones.

Gotta said, song aside, the Kiss the Girl scene was more endearing in this version. When she helps him figure out her name?

Melissa was good as Ursula and made the character her own, though I think she was not as scary as she could have been. Better than I expected, though.

The actress that plays Vanessa knew she had 5 minutes to make an impression and used them to the fullest. Delightful.

Cons:

The CGI felt unfinished and so did the color grading/lighting. I edited all the movie images in this post (just played with the saturation and the contrast) and I’m mediocre at best. HIRE TUMBLR EDITORS, DISNEY.

Halle deserved to wear more outfits, I can't believe Disney missed an opportunity to sell more dolls. Would have given her a dress for each day on land and the water dress. Mouse, I thought you liked money.

we could have had it all

Wanted more of her sisters tbh. And less Triton, Javier phoned it in imo. I know Triton and Ariel’s relationship is an important part of the original movie but idk if it was his half assed acting or me wanting more of the sisters, but I wasn’t moved.

Flounder's weird character design was saved by his stellar voice actor and Sebastian grew on me, he was hilarious. Scuttlefina was tolerable but gosh she’s always playing the same character, stop casting her in everything.

Less I say about Scuttlebutt the better. Kids are probably gonna love it, though.

The ending was kinda weird? It felt rushed and the battle with Ursula was disappointing. Which is a surprise because the OTHER stormy scene at night was wonderfully done. 

Up to Ursula taking Ariel back to the ocean it felt really cohesive but the second Triton appears to save her it was like they were trying to speed things up and it got... weird.

Didn’t mind Ariel being the one that killed Ursula, after everything she put her through.

Cannot believe the movie robbed us of Jonah screaming “I lost her once, I’m not gonna lose her again!”

Overall it was a well paced (up to the finale), entertaining, charming movie. Despite its faults, the only Disney live action I want to rewatch (outside MAYBE Cinderella).

8/10 Justice for the foam dress.

[nijigasakilove]

Hands down one of the best episodes I’ve seen in a very long time. I just don’t know where to start with this one. I’m done fighting the recency bias tho, this show’s going in my top 5 all time.

First of all, shoutout to Kiui and Mei for filling in for Kano’s cafe shifts. Real ass friends, sadly they’re retarded and were awful fits for the job 💀 Mei over here freaking out because the customers ordered a “kiss” and Kiui too socially awkward to take orders lmao.

Kano taking some time to be by herself and find out why she wants to sing is valid. After basically being put on this career path as a way to please her mom and then that whole fall out, she hasn’t really had time to sit and sort it out. I still feel so bad for her breakdown last week.

Mahiru up to 100k followers herself now.. good for her ig.. still a snake for last week’s stuff 🤷🏾‍♂️

We finally get to see present day Mero.. ngl man she fine as hell. Love girls who dress like her. Mei stalking her at the cafe window and karaoke had me crying tho. There’s no way you should be this good at hunting people down 😭 she’s like one of them idol stalkers who check the reflection in idols’ eyes on their posts to find them.

Was kinda important that she did that though because Mero told her about how she and Kano were singing for Yukine’s sake.

Shame on the losers talking shit about Kano in class. Don’t blame her for walking out at all. Can’t escape the drama at home or at school, gotta feel suffocating.

Mei waiting outside Kano’s apartment for her “friend” not her “idol” was a great scene. Set up Kano coming clean about how she’d “used” Mahiru for her gain as well. The problem I have with this tho is it’s nowhere near what her mom was doing with she and the other girls. Also, even with that, it still don’t make what Mahiru was doing last week ok.

Like sure, they’re both flawed people but one person is clearly more wrong here. Again, doesn’t mean Mahiru is a horrible person. Just don’t fw what she did at all with going behind Kano and working with Yukine 🤷🏾‍♂️

FORGET ALL THAT THO. The end of this episode was magnificent, sensational, whatever synonym you wanna use I was shaken to the core. Mei is the real MVP of this series rn. I know she a lil slow but she has a heart of gold and literally saved JELEE and Kano with her horrible singing lmaoo. But it reached her idol and that’s all that matters. PLUS “you have to take responsibility for making me fall in love with you” oh my god I LOVE YURI.

Amazing episode I’m shook.

[fanfic-inator795]

Why I love Ansel Beauregard

I originally wrote this a couple months back - back when Michael was still making my Ansel plush and was curious about both the movie he came from and why I liked Ansel so much, whiiiich led to me just kinda going on a page-long rant asdfghjkl. I wasn't originally going to post this on Tumblr but screw it, it's Arlo's anniversary and I still have ATAB/Ansel brainrot so: Enjoy!

Beyond his really great and really charming design (love characters with big wings) and vocal performance (really want his VA, Vincent Rodriguez III, to do more animated musicals now. Like- seriously put this man in the next SING movie or something), what really grabbed me about Ansel is that he’s just such a flawed but still really fascinating and fun character.

I feel like his introduction scene does a good job of demonstrating this, as even when you see him denying his fatherhood and struggling with both his guilt and his hidden truth, he still goes out of his way to help Arlo. Yes it’s done in a somewhat shallow way and he gives him some pretty terrible advice… but it’s also the only advice Ansel knows - advice that is self-taught and that he truly believes is in Arlo’s best interest, because he himself believes that the only way to survive and thrive in a cruel world is to hide the flaws, change yourself and be ‘better’ than what you are. (Though, even if it is a bit harsher in retrospect given Arlo’s heartbreak afterwards, the song itself is still a bop, ngl)

My friend who originally recommended this movie to me (thanks again Toondandy) pointed out how Ansel’s story is very much one of assimilation - how, for as successful and rich as he ended up, hiding and changing himself to fit the mold of ‘normal’ not only negatively affected him (his so-called high society ‘friends’ only cared about his money, as seen in the Met Gala scene, and he himself admitted he was lonely despite his success, not to mention all the pressure that comes with constantly trying to hide your true self) but also put him in a position to potentially continue perpetuating the societal cycle of hurting and rejecting others who are just like him (like abandoning baby Arlo or like how he was going to gentrify Seaside, both for petty revenge against his childhood bullies and because he thought it was the best option - because ‘beautiful’ is ‘better’). 

Additionally, because he’s so focused on and weighed down by his own hang-ups, I don’t think Ansel fully realized just how much he was harming ‘not-normal’ people like Arlo and Arlo’s friends (people like himself) until he saw not only how far Arlo was going to go to learn the truth but also just how much he’d hurt Arlo/put him in danger by continuing to reject him, which is what finally pushes him to confront his fear, guilt and self-shame. (Sidepoint: I really REALLY love the double-shadow imagery that goes along with Ansel’s “what have I become?” line. It’s simple but still really effective).

But yeah, it makes sense that him growing up bullied then isolated and then becoming crazy rich at a young age made him more than a little oblivious and out of touch (though these parts of his personality are still funny/endearing instead of being annoying imo) but what keeps him a positive character even when he’s at his ‘worst’ and most selfish/self-conscious is that he still genuinely cares and I really do love the interactions he has with Arlo.

Beyond all the juicy character drama stuff, there’s a lot of fun aspects I like about Ansel too. I like how, for as flawed as he is, he isn’t your typical rich jerk that you see in a lot of cartoons and can still be a bit goofy and flamboyant at times (his song “Better Life” is a perfect example of this). I also really like all his bird-like mannerisms and how awkward and skittish he can be at times too, that’s also really endearing imo. And I also love how even with all his flaws, he tries to make up for them, even if it took him a while to fully own up to his mistakes.

Finally, I love the subtle foreshadowing to him being a bird-man (him saying things like “like a phoenix” and “my perch” during his song, the bird logo on his piano, and the feather he gives Arlo are some examples). His subtle similarities with Arlo - like a love of music/singing and the shared desire to find a community of sorts (even if they both went about it in totally different ways) - are also fun character details ^v^ plus hearing them harmonize in “Something’s Missing” is just SO GOOD!

So yeah... Lots of things I like about this character ^v^

[oldsargasso]

ep 3 stream of conscious thoughts!

so I went and rewatched ep 2 in the hopes I might remember who is who🤞With the ending reveal that Tyme is working against the gambling ring, the way he listens to the woman in the hospital about how she lost her son to debt makes more sense now. Wondering if Tyme knew the son specifically, or someone like him - he obviously has a personal motivation to take out Great's family's business. (thunderstorm while she's talking - coming back I don't think we got a thunderstorm in ep3?)

also the fakeout on the identity of the dead guy is so perfect even second time around

I never noticed the hospital logo before; the cross with a heartbeat rhythm going through. subtle!

also how is Tyme literally looking in a mirror yet is surprised to find Bee behind him when he turns around. he must've really been focussed huh

the high-pitched flatline whine during serious moments…god this show is so good

okay NOW i'm gonna watch ep3

is that the body from ep2's first scene? my interest in the brother character (??name I should remember) would go up immeasurably if he was secretly a serial killer ngl. probably more like he's revenging his brother by killing his killer the same way which is also pretty good. coming back to remind myself his name is Tonkla.

oh Great asked him? hmmm.

bed #4 you love to see it!

so Tyme has a bit of a saviour complex. or control issues (relatable). Dr Den might be a little too emotional for this part of the job though

Great has a pool table in his place? I desperately need a floor plan of his apartment. how is he living like this. not the #4 ball as the phone shows 11:01 this episode was like SEE. DO YOU GET IT YET. idc I love it

do we think Great is a little dumb? if I thought I was seeing things and recently acquired a headwound I would definitely be seeing many doctors immediately. oooh LUCKY there is one doctor already on the case it seems

(so Tyme just showed up at Great's school - how does he know where Great goes to school/when he's there - and asks a random student to give Great a drink from him?)

"can you forgive me Great?" omgggg. vision of the future or a divergent timeline orrrrr.

I don't care if the flirting has ulterior motives it's adorable and I love it

so Great's ~episodes~ are 100% being used to get him to alter his actions/path to move toward Tyme. I like the theory that it's future-Great coding out manipulating his past self but also I enjoy the idea that it's someone else (Tyme himself?)

Tyme clearly thinking "okay so it's you…who should be a psychiatric patient". personally I would've been like let's go to the hospital and get an MRI or something but asking your friends is doing something too I guess

P'Tyme 🥺

I love how much interaction we get of Tyme and other staff in the hospital, so we get to see the different sides of him. the way he and Den are together is DELIGHTFUL.

fascinating (and feels a little like we're getting dessert first) that it's only ep3 and we're already getting the characters talking and linking things we as the audience got to do earlier, like the heart patient who mentioned 4 minute future to Den.

Tyme's already asking "why 4 minutes?" this show is so good to me. I have medical-related theory that I generally feel like the show will go for, but I'm interested to see how it plays out

they're on a date your honour. what if Tyme was hungry though. circling back to my "is Great just dumb" question because clearly it's going through Tyme's mind rn. I think it's just a matter of privilege in this case though.

Tyme's a nerd too. control issues peeking through!

(the need I have for a terrible cat soft toy is ever growing)

the juxtaposition of Great's (bright red) car against the dilapidated fence around Tyme's house…chef's kiss. I love that they're having a little conversation about their different statuses.

the way they perfectly captured the awkwardness of sitting in the car at the end of a date lmao. the heaviness/weight/don't know what word I mean in the way Great moved his arm was perfect.

(not really relevant to this scene but do we know how old Tyme is?)

Great truly living out the stereotype of held a guy's hand once and is already picturing their life together

it's interesting that they said specifically 4 minutes into the future but Great is clearly seeing more than that when he is with Tyme. they're gonna kiss and then Tyme's grandma is going to be standing there like :| OR NOT LMAO she's not even looking you can still go for it my guy

you may have ONE of the many cat toys we won

I know it was mostly a pause for emotional processing but good to see Great is the wait until you're inside kinda guy

my girl better be getting very richly rewarded for all the work she is doing to take down this gambling ring. I hope she gets to kill someone

NOOO. jump into the water!!

feel like the chief could've handled that better. and more privately. that was like textbook suspicious

omg that zebra artwork!!

okay I zoned out let me start this scene again. this couldn't have been a phone call? oh I guess not lol

couldn't even close the drawer properly smh rookie move

he's a cop!!! dude. not only is he grieving he's high af right now.

I'll be honest I skipped the sex scene so if it had important character work or something let me know

Tonkla's definitely using sex to foster intimacy I just hope he's doing it in a manipulative way

I guess it makes sense that they all go to the same school. a case for divergent timelines I think re: the identity of the deceased

smoking and watching traffic in his underwear, Great has the most relatable hobbies

ohhh progression!!! 11.02. two more minutes to go?

look at Great using 2 colours for his little brainstorming. now that is organised. I like how he immediately calls tyme like. maybe he's at work. (I think the "sex?" note should be screenshot and used everywhere)

"do not hurt her under any circumstances" except for she already got shot so

well I guess the good doctor is at work in a way. is this the most soundproofed open hallway in existence?

was that a look of recognition or not. I guess not. okay Tyme!!! we love a man of action with a brain.

ughhh is it next Friday yet.

[golbrocklovely]

here is my review of bridgerton season 3 part one, episodes three and four

my review of the first two episodes is here, in case you want to read them.

obvious spoilers ahead for part one and the books

episode three - forces of nature

ngl this episode is a little bit of slogfest for me. like the first half is good, but then you get to the second half, and it's just one ball, and it's the whole entire thing for the rest of the episode. and it's just a wee bit boring. but the polin moments in this episode are top notch so it's still a good ep lol

opening up with him having a sex dream about pen??? I KNOW THAT'S FUCKING RIGHT NOT IN YOUR WILDEST FANTASTIES MY ASS COLIN BRIDGERTON

the dream itself also being just him wishing that she would feel the same as him is honestly so romantic and sweet and god i am DYING

colin fucked his way thru 17 cities and ONE KISS from pen has completely altered his brain chemistry. i love LOVE

the scene of him in the drawing room with his family is honestly my favorite scene out of the entire show. i'm not joking. seeing him so uncomfortable and acting weird bc he doesn't know how to navigate hiding his feelings for her (even at just the mere mention of her name)… i love hopelessly in love men and i'm so serious

also awkward colin is the cutest so there's that lol

that pen and el scene…. how dare you shonda. first time i watched it, cried. writing my review rn, cried again. that shit fucking HURTS

polin's scene under the willow tree, fucking top notch. so funny for no reason other than bc nic and luke are amazing actors. 10/10

i just love that he needs to know why she's ending their lessons. like… cmon now colin lol

her saying we can't be around one another for a while and his "of course :\" i'm cackling my GOD

"i talked to pene-" "whatdidshesay???" that man is a love sick puppy and i'm loving every second of it

i love lady danbury. i feel like i haven't said that yet but i really do love her lol

i wish colin would have seen his shitty friends make their snide remarks at pen. i know we see him later stand up to them but god that would have been sort hot to see now…

lady mondrich… gorgeous dress omg

colin being told that his actions will help pen find a husband, and his absolute face of disappointment… the range luke has is staggering !!

colin's nasty look at pen and debling HOW'S IT FEEL NOW BITCH

finding out that the balloon is cgi was crazy to me. like???? what the hell do you mean that's not real?????

walk him like a dog pen !!

side note, his eyes are absolutely fucking gorgeous like… wow.

the whole scene under that tent, him fidgeting with his hands the whole time, him looking so annoyed at her enjoying her time with debling, STARING AT HER MOUTH WHEN SHE LICKS HER FINGERS !!!! 14/10 i love it here

also here is something i need to note: i don't personally think he bought the cake (or whatever he ate) after she bought one so that he could taste what her mouth tasted like, which is what twitter has been saying. i personally believe that pen gave him the cake she bought when she said "wish me luck". bc we never see her eat, but we see him eat. and we never see him buy something. so… i personally believe she gave him the cake, as a sort of thank you, and he just watched her and ate it. which honestly would be weirdly hotter than him just buying the same cake as her and eating one.

the entire interaction between cressida, el, pen, and debling is so awkward i have to skip thru it. genuinely cannot watch it the secondhand embarrassment is killing me lol

why does he pull such a blue steel look after saying "it's good to be back" sksksk

ben and tilly… don't care. so sorry.

fran and samadani… also don't care lol

it's good to be back…………. but what about the debling guy? he seems weird right? lmaooo

colin springing into action seeing that pen could get hurt? HOT

pen basically almost getting hit bc she was staring too much at colin being hot? HYSTERICAL

danbury's brother is FINE holy shit

side note, claudia looks so much like my aunt it's actually a little bit scary lol

pen and cressida racing to debling…. sweetie you had no chance. cressida is built like a gazelle. take it from this short person here, you were never gonna make it sksks

fran and john meeting for the first time. so sweet.

the scene where colin talks about courage, i wonder if the heartbeat is supposed to be his or hers. i think it's her listening in on him and his words and then when she snaps out of it, that's when she goes to speak to debling.

debling's voice… smooth like BUTTER bb. just thought i would say it

el really gets on my nerves with her saying "it's probably for the best" shit. like i get why she's saying it, but again, it comes from such a place of privilege since she's a bridgerton. some of us have to get with a good match, el. god, you're making me feel sorry for cressida???? fuck me

colin and violet's scene together was just adorable. and her realizing he's in love with pen?? OMG I COULD CRY

i also love that the actress that plays violet wanted to be in the background when colin goes up to tell pen how he feels bc she thought violet would want to watch her son do that. these actors are pulling at my heart strings.

colin genuinely was about to kiss her, in front of everyone, and confess his love. WHY CAN'T MEN BE LIKE THIS

that whole scene was so intense and crazy i love it so much 12/10

i kinda feel like pen wanted colin to say something about his feelings. i don't think she had a clue how he really felt, but i think part of her hoped, even for a split second, that he felt the same about her as she did for him.

again, the english audio descriptor coming in clutch: (watching pen and debling dance) "colin's jaw tightens, he looks away… colin's eyes glistens as he watches, enraptured. helpless." LIKE?????????????

episode four: old friends

we all know why this episode is amazing. but we gotta go thru everything else too lol

her sisters literally not believing she could pull debling and she had to blackmail him… they are the worst and i genuinely hope (and know) that when her and colin get married she will have such a happier life without them in it. truly.

colin going back thru his journal, i wonder if we will get to hear more about what he has written, especially in regards to pen.

him wanting to be recluse bc he's heartbroken… my god colin, pull yourself together and go get your girl!

john really is mister steal your girl lol

for all of portia's faults, her speech on men wanting to explain shit to us otherwise they feel useless… she is 100% correct

colin immediately finding pen in any room he walks into I KNOW THAT'S RIGHT

him being jealous of debling and pen together i could fucking cackle

colin watching her thru a mirror GOD KILL ME NOW

i thought it was sweet the way debling asked pen how he should ask to propose to her. while i don't think he's a perfect match for pen, he's a good man regardless.

i want pen to have a love match, and i'm so happy she has it with colin in the end

you know what song would have been great to use? thinking of you by katy perry. such a gorgeous song and perfect for this whole love triangle going on.

i love that colin tries to get over pen but it's just not happening. he is so in love it's hurting ME lol

what i find fascinating about the scene at mondrich's club is that colin's friends are talking about all the women they have had sex with, right? and they ask him, and he brings up the contessa again, but they go on to explain "yeah but you didn't go into detail"… which basically means that even when he's supposed to be a rake and gross about women, he still couldn't commit to the bit. at most he explained that something happened, but then never went on to talk about her in a gross manner or be un-gentlemen like. god i love colin bridgerton with all of my heart.

his whole speech is so sweet and genuine, it's just a shame that so many men that would learn something from it aren't watching this show. that's just a sad fact.

portia is straight up mother gothel. all she wants is power and what good pen can give her by marrying debling. ew.

colin being fussy and not wanting to outright say he was feeling bad… what a baby lol

violet's speech to him just absolutely pulled at my heart. bc that's the thing, while anthony took the burden of being the man of the house and almost resenting his family for having to grow up so fast, colin was the peacekeeper. he was the one that wanted to make sure everyone was okay and happy. and that's what she means by never putting himself first. he doesn't care if he's in a bad mood or not, it only matters how his love ones feel, which is why he does whatever he can to make them happy and proud. and it's just a shame that so many ppl didn't understand that when they first watched and heard this speech.

pen looked so heartbroken watching the ballet. i think that was her accepting that she would never have that.

i love that in the trailer the candle sparks up, meaning that the love for pen is igniting within him. but in the show, it's blowing out, meaning that he's running out of time to confess his feelings. GOD I LOVE CINEMA

colin pushing past his "friends" THAT'S RIGHT BABY GO GET YOUR GIRL

god my heart breaks for pen. i don't get how anyone could say "debling is the better match" for pen when he literally admits that he doesn't think he'll ever love her. pen DESERVES love. so many ppl in her life have never cared or loved her, not in the way she deserves. and yall want her to continue to feel that emptiness? no way.

colin breaking all the rules to talk to pen when he easily could have waited to speak to her after the dance lmaoooo i love a crazy in love man

eros and psyche battling it OUTTTTT

debling realizing why she's at the window all the time. wow.

i kinda love that he was okay with colin being into pen but not pen reciprocating those feelings lol

portia yet again getting worst mom of the year award

the carriage scene…….. THE CARRIAGE SCENE

the first time i watched this scene, i was sweating SO MUCH by the end of it. genuinely it was obscene how hot i was (in more ways than one lmao)

also immediately after its airing, i watched it like 10-15 times. and i haven't seen it in probably over a week and i'm dying all over again for this review.

him running after the carriage, colin bridgerton the man that you are.

even while he is desperate and pleading, he is still kind and asking for permission GOD HE IS SO HOT WHY CAN'T HE BE REAL

his reasons for why pen shouldn't marry debling is laughable but i love it regardless.

his pleading face before he confesses… his EYES?????? you're fucking joking rn

his confession, hands down, is the best in the series. and hell, it's not even the last one he does omg i'm not gonna make it !!!!!

the fact that for a moment he legit thought she didn't love him back was nuts bro you are BLIND

genuinely anytime i watch this scene, i feel like i'm intruding lol like should i leave? maybe i should go sksks

every single shot of them kissing is hot and sexy and romantic and dear god in heaven i am LONELY

her running her fingers thru his hair…. god luke/colin has never looked hotter. he might as well as rolled his eyes back in head lol

it's titty season yall. TITTY SEASON BABY

i implore anyone reading this to find the clip of this scene without the music. not only bc nic and luke's moans are hot, but bc at one point he calls her beautiful and i think in that moment i died.

i think i could genuinely watch this scene 100 million times and notice something new every time

honest to god, one of the sexiest things about this scene is him watching her feel pleasure. like holy fucking shit, that is so hot.

moaning into each other's mouths??? you guys are absolute fucking FREAKS

colin saying the line about the carriage driver is so much better than pen lol

also in general show!colin is way better than book!colin. hands down.

the look colin gives her, both before their little kiss and than afterwards right before he gets out makes me fucking FERAL

him fixing her dress and hair is literally so cute i could cry

that once over he gives her when he gets out of the carriage…. why is he so hot?????

i just love how exhausted he is of her not understanding him sksksk

in conclusion i love love and i love polin. when part two comes out, no one talk to me bc i will in fact be an absolute wreck thank you and good night :)

[mbti-notes]

Anon wrote: Heya, INFP adult in standup comedy here. Your work is awesome. I'll jump right at it: I keep doing this thing where I know what kind of joke I wanna make or answer I wanna give, but it floats in my mind as a vague concept or vibe, that I can maybe match with my body language and/or tone, but not actual words. It's like I know what kind of emotional reaction would be the funniest in the exchange, and I usually even remember where I've seen it first (talk shows, comedians, movie scenes...), but I can't quite put my finger on the syntactical details in time.

Basic example. Let's say my line is "I'm too old for this" after a certain interaction: I intuitively know it's gonna be funny if I say that, =I know it's the right thing to say for the bit to keep flowing, but I also know I can't say it that way. I need to construct the sentence more, using synonyms, throwing in a reference, maybe use a funny metaphor or example... and so forth. I always called this "adding layers" to the core concept in my head, which is basically the rule I've followed to make comedy work for my entire life even if for some truly appalling reason I just can't seem to do it anymore without spending SO. MUCH. MENTAL ENERGY. like, man... I used to do this effortlessly. I thought I was good at this shit?

Every time I make an attempt at good improvisation now my brain goes nothing to see here, buddy and I end up giving the basic answer, which sometimes ruins the entire buildup, especially at the end of bits with other people (who look at me sideways in awkward silence while I pretend I'm dematerializing). It's so frustrating.

I'm assuming this has something to do with Ne? Seeing the general picture before zooming in? What's your advice (except practice, I'm already losing hair every day) to pop the bubble and come up with alternatives as fast as everyone else? Cause ngl I'd kinda like to stop rereading ChatGPT synonyms lists on my phone in the midst of a panic attack the night before meetings and weeks later realize I gained nothing from it but myopia degrees. Big thanks

---------------------

As a writer who tackles rather serious subjects, I might not be the best person to ask about comedy. I can only offer some general thoughts about creativity and the creative process.

If I had to speculate, I'd say that your problem boils down to trying too hard. It's a surefire way to interrupt and even ruin the creative process. "Trying too hard" can take many different forms. A common form is "overthinking", e.g., overemphasizing procedural details to the point where you lose all sense of practical ability.

There is a neurological basis for this. To grossly oversimplify, the parts of the brain that are responsible for executive functioning (used for analysis and planning) and creativity (used for brainstorming and free association) are somewhat separate. Maintaining a healthy balance between the two is necessary for achieving what you're trying to do. However, since they are somewhat oppositional processes, it is easy for them to get out of balance, and then problems occur when one process overrides the other.

As a general rule, mental equilibrium is very easily disrupted by any kind of stress. Trying too hard basically increases the probability of creating a stress response in the body that disrupts normal distribution of mental energy.

For instance, a stress response might get triggered by overthinking the details about exactly how to do something. This leads you to overuse executive functioning for planning, which then dampens creative functioning. And then the more you feel "blank" creatively, the more anxious and stressed you get, and then the more you overthink. It is a vicious cycle that, if left unchecked, can shut down creativity completely. This vicious cycle is also responsible for the fatigued feeling of expending more and more energy with diminishing returns.

Note that I'm always emphasizing how important it is to improve one's emotional intelligence. It is not only people with poor mental health who need to improve EI. It's something everyone could stand to improve because emotionality is baked into the center of the human mind. If you don't have a good grasp of your emotional life, it can have a negative impact on many aspects of your mental functioning.

One of the most important applications of EI is stress management, which is vital for both physical and mental health. Stress responses can easily cascade in the brain and body, like a domino effect. In the worst case psychological scenario, the cascade can lead to a "breakdown" of some kind, such as a panic attack. Improving EI should help increase bodily awareness, which would allow you to spot stress earlier and do something about it while it is still manageable.

When you're worked up about something, the worst thing to do is anything that gets you even more worked up about it. Putting more pressure on yourself only escalates the stress response in the body. Although it sounds like trite advice, the best remedy is simply to chill out. Put reliable strategies in place for calming yourself, especially your body. There are so many possible strategies to choose from: take some deep breaths; clear the mind with a meditative state; jog around the block; shout it out; give yourself a mental break; distract yourself with a different task; have a nap; etc.

The creative process requires a certain amount of freedom, relaxation, and inspiration to work optimally. A creative "block" means there's an obstacle and you need to remove it:

freedom: you have to give yourself enough open space to experiment and grace to make mistakes

relaxation: you have to choose optimal work conditions that challenge you to rise to the occasion, but not so difficult that you drown in anxiety or dread

inspiration: you have to keep looking for new ways to stimulate and exercise the generative+imaginative+associative (Intuitive) aspects of your mind

With regard to Ne, maybe it is time you switched up your method. The more you rely on one so-called tried-and-true procedure (isn't this just another way of saying Si loop?), the more you paint yourself into a corner. And the more you feel stuck in that corner, the more you trigger stress responses that undermine the creative process.

[hughungrybear]

Me while watching Last Twilight Ep. 7:

I am sooooo ready for the real flirting and courtship between P'Mhok and Nong Day to commence 😁

1. So yeah, I have read so many meta writing concerning August and what motivated him to do what he did (shoutout to Mark Pakin for unknowingly being the root cause of all my angst against August 😅). Those who tried to understand August are a lot better persons than I am. My petty ass would still like August's head on a platter 😅😅😅😅

2. Okay, the starting scene feels like Bad Buddy Episode 6 all over again - the awkward tension after a rooftop kiss 😭😭😭 P'Aof, why do you do this?

3. That's it, if we are not getting GeePorjai in this series, I am more than willing to marry Porjai myself 😂😂😂

4. No, Gee. Day does not have to patch things up with that d*ckhead August. <after 2 minutes> I am still amazed of how selfless Mhok can be that he is still willing to let Day meet August despite of everything because it will make Day happy. I guess as Porjai said, when Mhok loves, he loves deeply and passionately - and it shows 🥺🥺🥺

5. Hmmm, I guess they are trying to somehow redeem August? Ngl, the speech was good. But I'm still putting that "pity kiss" on my list of unforgiveable things along with Non's stalker behaviour (Dark Blue Kiss) and Wai's curtain drop (Bad Buddy).

6. Gee knows Day so well 😂😂😂 Also, wtf did you mean Mhok is not your type, Day??? What exactly is your type anyway? After August, one might have thought you would re-calibrate your standards. <after 5 seconds> Oh, no. 😰 That's just selfish, Day. It will be torturous for Mhok to stay and care for you, knowing how he feels about you. It's like leading him on. You should have followed Gee's suggestion, if this is the case 😔

7. Mhok is taking what he can get, I see. I just hope this does not end in heartbreak - mine. I am so tired of crying with every episode 😂😂😂

8. Porjai is just trying as Mhok's wingwoman 😂😂😂 Good thing she does not have to try that hard since it seems like Day is slowly accepting his feelings for Mhok.

9. Day sniffing Mhok's blanket - how Pat-coded you are 😂😂😂 Yes, I still have a Bad Buddy brain rot. 😅😅😅 Also, dang, Mhok's neighbours. Let other people sleep 😆

10. (Sigh) I guess what we'll get is a NightPorjai agenda (goodbye, my GeePorja ship)? Night really seems to care about Day despite the latter's animosity against him.

11. Oh, Day. 😔 You should never have put boundaries on something that you wanted to cross yourself. <after five seconds> OKAY!!! Finally boyfriends!!!! For a second, I thought I'll be hating Day in the next episodes.

12. Mhok is just gonna get cheesier, isn't he? He is going to be insufferable, won't he? Ngl, I'm a bit scared for Day 😂😂😂😂

OH, NO. DAY IS GOING FULL BLIND 😱😱😱

I guess the next episodes will focus on what happened between Night and Day. Ongoing theory in socmed is that Night is the reason for Day's condition. I'm not convinced because P'Aof has that reputation of subverting the 'obvious' in what motivates his characters' actions - i.e., Mes' uncle's financial woes led him to watch Mes die from a heart attack in He's Coming to Me, Tian's illegal race bet causing Torfun's death in ATOTS, and Ming betraying his bff, Dissaya, by stealing her scholarship grant as the root cause of the family rivalry in BBS.

I really am curious to see what P'Aof has cooked up this time. Plus, it's a beach episode next week 😊

[mikuni14]

I Hear the Sunspot - Ep 8

I'm running on fumes from the enthusiasm I had at the beginning of this show. If I had to describe my feelings about it in one word it would be: tired. This show is tiring me out rn.

This episode proved what I feel is the hallmark of a good BL show: the show has to spend most of its time on the people the romance is about, and most of that time should be spent on their meaningful scenes together. This is of course my opinion, but I bet it's also the opinion of other viewers, because after all, the huge popularity of series like Semantic Error or Love Fo Love's Sake came from something, right? Even series like To Sir, With Love, where romance is more of a side plot, are still popular because the scenes between the MLs were used to the fullest.

In this episode, we finally had some nice scenes between Taichi and Kohei (like - two scenes 🙄), until they were eviscerated by the "It's nice to be friends". After which I felt so discouraged and drained of any energy that, ngl, my first thought was: you know what, let them actually be friends and just... just end it.

The scenes between them themselves were sweet and were a painful reminder of why I started watching this show, but at this point the entire weight of the plot and my interest in it rests on Taichi as a person (no even as a love interest, I honestly gave up on that), who fortunately is so lovable and sweet that I can look at him for hours.

I like that they were alone for at least a few minutes, that Kohei went to Taichi's house finally. Their conversation. I liked that Taichi after putting his arm around Kohei pulls his hand away when Kohei looks at it, but then at home, when he catches him, he still holds Kohei's arm.

I like Taichi's enthusiasm, joy everytime when he sees Kohei.

I don't like that Taichi's words that "maybe he wouldn't hate it at all" have not been addressed so far, and a lot of time has passed.

I don't like the CONSTANT INTERRUPTION OF THEIR SCENES. This show is completely fucked up in this regard, they are interrupted ALL THE TIME BY EVERY PERSON THAT EXISTS IN THIS SERIES wtf. It's not funny, it's not interesting, it's tiring, it's boring. I don't like that they hold hands and have A Moment and of course they are interrupted and of course Taichi has to panic and pull his hand away, did I already tell you how tiring it is.

I am pleased to say that I still hate Maya and nothing can change my opinion 👍 Edit: because I forgot to mention that scene where she consciously tries not to hear Taichi and is exceptionally rude and Kohei just sits and watches and then keeps letting her drag him away even though every moment was weird, rude and awkward and it left Taichi behind. Not to mention how she behaved towards Kohei when he had a bike accident (and how Kohei didn't rush to help him, Yasu helped him). Among other things, I didn't like this episode so much because apart from the fact that Maya was so awful, Kohei also comes off as a pathetic, weak loser with no balls.

Watching the last episodes of I Hear The Sunspot I feel like I'm climbing Mt. Everest right after getting up from the couch. I'm tired. I am discouraged. This series gave me everything at the beginning, it was my favorite series, in which I liked everything. I have the impression that everything that I liked in this series is being removed from it, and the left crumbs are still being handled in an unsatisfactory way. Now I only watch it for Taichi (or more - for the actor) and Yasu, who is very chill and handsome.

[cyandreamsinwords]

i’m ded. just spent two days reading from start to finish. I’m gonna bill you for all the tears I shed. Free Lyra my girl she deserves happiness 😭. You’ve taken this premise and just spun a whole new life in it. I’m in awe at just how well you’ve written everything. Given us a whole new glimpse at this universe and i’m just sat waiting. Ngl my butt is clenched for the upcoming book. Everything so far has gone canon but do you have plans for it to stick to it or will Lyra make potentially live saving waves 👀.

also the slow burn is delicious and so good i was kicking my feet and giggling at the scene of them just dancing in the shrieking shack, it was such a sweet moment. Part of me just wants to flip to the epilogue where they’re all happy but i know the slow burn will be so worth it. I do wonder how Harry will go about it, I didn’t realize because he’s so awkward but he’s actually quite forward, at least when he decides on something, as we’ve seen with Cho and Ginny 🙈🙈🙈. Lyra strikes me as the shy one.

Also Marie is me, she’s my spirit animal.

thank you so much for dedicating the time to write, fanfic is such a labour of love and i just want to say i deeply appreciate you (and your memes lol)

I'm so happy to hear you've enjoyed the story so far and that you took the time to tell me so. Fanfiction really is a labor of love, at first just for yourself, so hearing that others take joy in my work and see how much goes into it is so rewarding. It really means the world to fic writers when we get comments like this ❤️ And I'm lucky that I've gotten such lovely people reading mine who say such nice things.

As for your question regarding how much the story is going to deviate from cannon, I don't want to spoil anything (I know all eyes are on the end of Order of the Phoenix), but I'll go into why it's been so cannon compliant up to this point -- not really what you asked for, but I love to take a chance to ramble 😉.

Something I didn't want to do with Lyra was introduce her to fix all the problems in the books. In some cases, I want her to make them worse, because that's naturally going to happen when you add in a new factor, and it opens things up to more interesting scenarios. I also didn't want to attach her to Harry's story from the get-go, outside of their underlying connection, because I wanted this to be primarily Lyra's story and her take on things. So, a lot of events happen as they did in the books because there isn't a lot of interference. It's why she barely interacts with Harry for the few two arcs, and they are more her account of those events from a distance. As we go forward though and she does start becoming more directly intwined with the story's plot through her proximity to Harry, big to small things may or may not change--for better or worse.

The dancing scenes were some of my favorites to plot and write in the last arc, and I've loved the positive reaction to them. I worried they were a bit too self-indulgent, but they were such sweet little treat after all that angst and yelling they were doing, and a fun way for them to get to know each other better. I love awkward and blunt Harry, but I also love oblivious Harry just as much, especially when he's all three at once. It's really going to be a race between the two to see which one of them figures it out first. A second race will be held to determine who makes the first move.

[mystic-myrtille]

Watched the movie and honestly it was fine. No groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece. No disasturous dumpster fire. Just an ok movie that felt like a fanfiction from s1

Here's some more thoughts I have. There's no structure it's a little chaotic. Also spoilers (duh)

The stuff I liked:

The music was good

THE ANIMATION IS GORGEOUS. The lighting in every scene is perfect, the city actually feels populated and the colors overall are so much prettier than in the show

I loved the akuma designs

They do a good job of establishing how Marinette, in the beginning, is very anxious, affected by Chloe's bullying and how she doesn't have friends. That works better than what the show tried to establish, about how Marinette had no friends but still being popular for some reason

Alya being a good friend

The way Adrien deals with the loss of his mother and how playing the piano brings him comfort and makes him feel close to her. Imo the show went overboard with how literally everything Adrien does is dictated by his dad and never something he might genuinely enjoy doing. The fact that he had this hobby made him feel like he was more than just a sad boi

Adrien also seems to struggle with not having many friends outside Nino. Works pretty well with the characterization that he's socially awkward after being homeschooled for most of his life

Generally this Adrien has more PV vibes? I‘m digging it ngl

Marinette's dad is the best

Fu's introduction to Marinette sure was something xD

Gabriel was a good villain character. The show version is just some weird ass goof who is a huge ass to his son and everyone, yet the show wants you to feel for him without giving us a reason to care. This version actually has complexity. He’s still an ass, but now the pain over loosing Emilie feels real. You also have him hesitating to use the butterfly but ultimately spiraling completely into an actually threatening villain.

the fight scenes looked great

Marinette is still clumsy and awkward towards Adrien but without being too cringe about it and doing stupid shit. It‘s just heart eyes and day dreams and some stuttering. She‘s still nervous but I never felt like Adrien brought oit her worst side like in the show. She was simply a girl in love. This was wholesome to watch and so much better than... whatever the fuck the show did with the fucking dating trauma to use for """comedy""" bc the show runners have zero respect for her seriously I'll never get over how fucking stupid that was Marinette honey you deserve so much better

I honestly think this is a better version of the square. Still heavily flawed, but their dynamic feels so much more natural. Ladynoir stuff was sweet

The end where Marinette looses the earrings and then saves Chat without the costume was a good scene

Most of their moments were just quiet moments between just the two without any outside forces and characters constantly pushing them together. This bothers me in the show so much and is another major reason I cant get behind the ship, but for the most part the movie has some gentle pushing here and there but no convoluted and stupid cringy plans. In that regard movie love square is superior

Nino had a thing for Alya from the start pretty much, unlike in the show where he was crushing on Mari five minutes before getting with Alya. I like them in both the show and the movie, but the way they got together in the show was a little meh

Nino getting screentime in general

The stuff I don't know how to feel about:

Careless whisper. It was silly goofy but especially the second time when Paris is on fire and we skip to Adrien's room where he sulks... yeah that tome switch really threw me off

Two different voice actors for singing an talking. The difference was very jarring and while good for Bryce, Cristina has the voice of an angel like cmon I need her to do at least a cover from one song

Gabriel's redemption. Ok so I'm a little torn because the way they did it ties in very well with the the "power of love" theme that his love for Adrien makes him realize his mistakes bla bla, but he still terrorized a city and yet faces zero consequences, and Adrien forgives him, which are all thing that really rub me the wrong way. Idk the franchise is so obsessed with painting this man in a sympathetic light and in order for this to feel truly satisfying Gabriel shouldn't have tried to destroy Paris like 5 minutes earlier. I see what they went for and thematically it worked but I just need Gabriel to be put in prison

Speaking of Gabriel, the Adrien Gabe relationship isn't as abusive as in the show. This isn't good or bad, but I still think (very unpopular opinion) the show doesn't handle abuse well at all bc the only point of the abuse is pity points in oder to get the fans to care about the characters. So taking that out of the movie where you have limited time to wrap this whole thing up might've been a smart decision

With the ending they sort of hinted at a sequel

The cut off kiss at the end. They still act like a love square kiss is something sacred that they can‘t just give their fans. Commit to it already

The stuff I didn't like:

The dialogue was… something. Marinette just asking her mom over breakfast how to make her dreams come true. Babe just just woke up, that deep convos are for late nights

Generally the dialogue in both the movie and the show is a little weird

Lika Alya‘s „people try really hard to fail as hard as you“ Marinette spilled some coffee it‘s not that hard

Even though I liked the portrayel of Marinette‘s anxiety, at times the went overboard with it

Going back to the Gabriel redemption, just let Adrien have negative feeling about Gabriel already. The s5 finale have him idolize him and here he just instantly forgives and forget

So the butterfly is a villainous tool by default? They could've fixed their messy lore but noooo

The scene where Marinette gets her miraculous feels rushed.

The way Adrien receives his miraculous. He was chilling in his room and suddenly a black cat shows up. He doesn't even have to proove himself like Mari when she almost got hit by a truck. The moment in the show was already weak but this is just fucking stupid

the first akuma was just some random dude. They should've used someone the main duo has a connection to

Chat being a lil bitch about Ladybug rejecting him. Hated it in the show, hate it here. They could've used the movie to fix Adrien and they didn't. Other than that being a dick move as so many people have explained millions of times now, I find this such a boring source of conflict for the climax of the movie? They worked well before and they both know they care for each other as partners and even if being rejected hurts, Chat acts like LB just threw their friendship away or something with how strongly he reacts to it. In the show it felt blown out of proportion and it does here as well. I think they should've had a different kind of conflict which actively hurt their partnership or Chat stops treating LB unfairly just because to her he‘s not a romantic partner.

The fart jokes. Though tbf this is a kids movie

The way Marinette falls for Adrien was extremely underwhelming. Adrien smiles at her and helps her get up and then just walks out of the library all like „she‘s so weird“. Could‘ve been fixed if he and Mari stayed in the library and had a little conversation

Also Adrien‘s introduction in general? He just chills in the library and… yeah that‘s it. I blame this on the writers of the movie cutting character introductions short because they assume the audience already knows the characters and therefore doesn‘t have to introduce them. I don‘t think that was a good choice

The Adrienette stuff was just a montage. Would've been nice to actually see them connect (though that was probably a time issue)

Also they didn't give any spotlight to Marinette's good qualities like selflessness and intelligence. Would've been nice to see her be more willing to be there for people and help them out with things as a result of her gaining more confidence

Seriously the montage was a big mistake and takes away a lot from what could've made the movie stand out

The reveal felt a lot like Adrien only loving Marinette because she's LB, which was a big reason for me to not ship Adrienette prior to the flip (not that I did after). Something like this would‘ve been believable in a setting where they didn‘t know each other as civilians I guess, but that doesn‘t work for the square. Had they actually shown Adrienette develop outside of a montage this would'be been way more believable and touching.

I think a reverse love square from the beginning would've worked better here, or they should've made the Ladynoir side canon

Adrien tells Marinette about his dead mom. Chat noir tells Ladybug about his dead mom. How does she not make the connection?

The "power of love" theme fell flat with Marinette. she doesn't have her moment of "oh I have to protect the people I love" like Tikki's dialogue suggests. There were multiple people at the theme park she could've spotted being in danger and that should've made her want to save them. Tom being there was literally the perfect set-up. The show does this with Alya being trapped under a car or something and Marinette seeing her

I also think the jump from anxious Mari to brave Mari didn't work. In both the show and the movie it just feels like she just decides to be confident now without really getting there through hard work. The motivation was there in the show (see previous point) but in both instances it just happened too fast. Let Marinette have time to really adjust to her new role

This would've worked if the movie didn't try to keep the show's formula of "villain of the week". Why are we getting a montage about that when there's already a whole ass show with five seasons where we already see that? This montage took up time that could've been used more effectively. The movie should've tried to be more of it's own thing, really shoud've tried to flesh out the characters more in a way the show doesn't. They didn't need LB and CN immediately competent and loved by the public after the theme park fiasco. Just use the run time of the movie to get adjusted to fighting crime on a weekly basis, have them fail to then fix their mistakes and learn from them. Why not do a training montage with the point of becoming better instead of flirting? The movie tries too hard to keep up the show formula and it takes away the quality the story could've had

Also in Marinette's case it felt like the only "power of love" that mattered was her partnership with Chat. Her family and friends weren't completely unimportant but definetely underutilized in that regard. Romantic love is not the only important love you know

Their powers of cataclysm and miraculous ladybug only came in at the very end. The built up could've worked if they spent more time showing how they become good and experienced heroes over time

Generally the climax was underwhelming. Gabriel learns Chat‘s identity and the damage is made undone like 10 seconds later

Adrien being like "yeah I didn't really get close to people after my mom died" what's with the Nino erasure smh

Luka wasn't important

Kagami wasn't even there

I think the end scene hinted at the sentimonster stuff and I wished they would've just not include that

Final thoughts

There are things the movie did better than the show and some things it didn't. They don't waste much time on establishing who the characters are because they expect viewers to already know that from watching the show. But like the show, they fail to use the concepts they've set up in an effective way. The movie not only tries to stay true to the show but is almost dependent on the audience knowing the series.

But yeah, the movie atmosphere was nice. Nothing extraordinary but also not super bad. It had s1 vibes and despite the problems I listed, I had a good time for the most part. Not a must watch but still fine

4/10