#and guess what! you are GOING to find yourself relating to him on some level!

[maxivermismind]

mou

Thinking about how the creator of mouthwashing said that a huge part of the horror is meant to be that every player will identify in some way with Jimmy, relate to him on some level, and realize that they share some traits with such an awful person, with that being what "I hope this hurts" was meant to mean. The point is that Jimmy is someone you are going to feel a connection to and that should hurt, that should cause you to reflect. Anyway I think the mouthwashing fandom really missed that because there is a truly awful self righteousness problem that no one is doing any self reflection on. I actively avoid the fandom for this reason every post I see from the mouthwashing fandom is people talking about other fans the same way Jimmy talks about the other members of the crew (esp Curly and Anya) with 0 self awareness lol.

[maysileeewrites]

🫧 what is this feeling? 🫧

Fiyero Tigelaar x gn!reader

Synopsis: „Stop calling me that!“ „What - darling?“ || Or: Fiyero suddenly finds himself spending an unusual amount of time in the Shiz library

c.w: enemies to lovers (sort of), tension & bantering, gratuitous use of darling & super cheesy ending; (also most of my Wicked knowledge [you’ll notice that I made up a back story of my own for Fiyero] comes from seeing the movie three days ago, I did see the play in the West End 2 years ago, but I’m not in as deep as I’m with other musicals like Phantom) 

w.c.: 2.5k | masterlist

Sighing frustratedly, you slammed your textbook shut in annoyance.

Something you usually didn’t do - the slamming the book shut part, that was. 

But then, you also didn’t usually feel this level of frustration after an afternoon spent at the library; at least not over things that weren’t related to your studying. 

Reaching for your book bag, you got up from the table right next to the window facing Shiz’s garden you’d managed to secure earlier this afternoon. 

But what good was a good table, if the atmosphere in the library was so distracting that you couldn’t concentrate on anything? 

Grabbing your books, you glared at the object of your ire. 

Prince Fiyero Tigelaar. 

Most of the other students here at Shiz, especially Galinda, seemed positively obsessed with him, but you happened to share your friend Elphaba‘s opinion about the young prince. 

In your opinion, he was nothing more than a shallow, self-absorbed troublemaker that apparently didn’t concern himself too hard with other people’s wants and needs. Really, couldn’t he have done his strutting around anywhere else instead of the library? 

„What did that poor book do to you?“ 

You flinched, losing your hold on the books in your hand. You’d been so lost in your thoughts, you hadn’t even noticed Fiyero approaching you. 

The books slipped from your grip, and fell to the floor with a loud, clattering sound. You winced, bending down to pick the books back up, but Fiyero had already beaten you to it. 

He’d already gathered three of the four tomes in his hands and, feeling weirdly annoyed at this sudden, new … helpful site to him, you reached for the last book - at the same time as Fiyero did. 

Your hands touched. 

You felt the rough callouses of his fingertips and wondered what he, as a prince could have possibly done in his life that was the reason for this - before trying to remind yourself that you didn’t care. 

Hastily, almost as if you’d been burned, you drew your hand back and got back up. 

„Well, there you go, darling“, Fiyero said, flashing you a surprisingly genuine smile, as he handed you the four books. 

Again, you felt a weird tingling in your fingertips as your hands briefly touched, and, almost defensively, you clutched the books to your chest. 

„I - thank you …“ 

He laughed, the sound surprisingly warm and deep. This wasn’t his typical, obnoxiously loud laugh you’d come to despise during the last few weeks. 

„It’s nothing … still curious what that poor book did to you, though …“ 

„What?“, you asked, frowning. 

He grinned. „That poor-„, suddenly, he leaned in closer towards you - and was it just the used-up library air you’d been breathing in all day that suddenly made you feel slightly dizzy? - eyes fixing on the covers of your textbooks, „history book. Really darling, I wouldn‘t have expected you to treat a book like that.“ 

„You’re one to talk“, you muttered, without thinking. 

„Well, I guess you’re right there, darling.“ 

„Stop calling me that!“, you exclaimed, feeling your cheeks flush. 

He smirked. „What - darling?“ 

You rolled your eyes. „Yes! Now, if you’ll excuse me-„ 

„You’re off to study some more?“, he asked, genuine wonder in his voice. 

Your eyes met, and you immediately looked away from him again. You didn’t like the way his gaze made you feel. There was genuine curiosity in his eyes and his gaze was far too intense for your liking. 

„Yes, because unlike some, I actually care about my education and my future!“, you exclaimed, before turning away from him. 

Fiyero just chuckled. „Trust me darling, you’re missing out on a lot of fun.“ 

You only rolled your eyes at his statement and walked out of the library without looking back at him. 

If you had, you’d have seen him trying to fight off a smile. 

The next day, your luck was even worse. 

Things started out alright - after classes, you and Elphaba went to the library, managing to secure a table near the garden windows again. Elphaba, however couldn’t stay long, as she had her magic lessons with Madame Morrible in the late afternoon. 

After she left, you managed to catch up on some of your assignments for a while. 

Then, someone sat down right next to you. 

You didn’t need to look up to know who it was. 

„Go away, Fiyero“, you said, not looking up from your textbook. 

Fiyero just laughed. „You’ve really been quite grumpy lately, darling.“ 

„Stop calling-„, you began to say, but stopped. Knowing Fiyero, you commenting on this particularly annoying habit of his would only serve to egg him on. 

„Never mind“, you therefore muttered, turning a page. 

„What are you doing here, though?“ Somehow, the question just slipped out, even though you kept trying to tell yourself that you didn’t care. 

„Studying, of course“, Fiyero replied, his smirk widening even more when you turned to look at him, raising your eyebrows.

„Really?“, you asked, frowning. 

He just smirked. „Really. I mean, there’s quite a lot to catch up on, isn’t there?“ 

„I can imagine“, you replied, frowning. 

To your great annoyance, Fiyero just smirked again, before taking a textbook out of his bag, opening it and grabbing a notebook and a pen. 

Your eyes widened. Was he actually here to study? 

To your utter surprise, it did seem that way, because during the next few hours, Fiyero was completely engrossed in his textbooks, only looking up from them occasionally to jot something down in his notebook. Even his handwriting surprised you - it wasn’t at all the unintelligible scrawl you’d imagined it to be, but a rather concise, if somewhat over exaggeratedly loopy handwriting. But then again, he was a Prince - elegant handwriting must have been taught to him from a young age, among other etiquettes and niceties, not to mention historical and sociological knowledge. 

Really, it was such a shame that he didn’t seem to care at all about a good education. He’d probably already had all the best opportunities one could only imagine, and now he was here at Shiz, studying at one of the most renowned universities in all of Oz. Not that he seemed to particularly care about that, though. 

It did make you wonder, though. Was he really just the rogue prince who rejected every expectation society imposed upon him, was he really as shallow and self-absorbed as you’d perceived him to be these last few weeks? 

Suddenly, you weren’t so sure anymore. 

You chanced another look over at him, and caught him staring at you. Despite yourself, you felt your cheeks flush, when he grinned at you. 

„If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that I’m distracting you, darling“, he said, grin widening. 

You had the sudden urge to grin back at him, but quickly suppressed it by biting down hard on your lip. And was it just your imagination or did his eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips and back to your eyes again? 

„Every time I think your ego couldn’t possibly get any bigger, you surprise me again“, you muttered. 

He just chuckled. „Well, that’s me, darling - full of surprises.“ 

Right - that. 

„Why - why don’t you care about any of this?“, you asked him, the words slipping out before you’d thought them through. 

When he raised his eyebrows at you in confusion, you quickly hurried on. „You’re here, studying at Shiz University of all places, and yet it seems that classes and studying are just this huge burden for you. You’ve been handed this great opportunity on a silver platter - and yet you’re not making any use out of it!“ 

Fiyero’s smile froze and for a second, his eyes seemed to darken as well. „There’s more to life than just studying and books, you know?“

„Like what?“, you challenged him. 

„Like actually living life, instead of just going through the motions“, he replied quickly. 

You frowned irritatedly. Was that what he thought of you? That you were just going through the motions, like you were some kind of robot, devoid of actually having any feelings. 

You felt your cheeks heat up again, though this time it was out of anger. Standing up, you started stuffing your textbooks into your book bag, glaring at him. 

„Well, excuse me - I have to go, going through the motions, because some of us aren’t privileged enough to get everything in life handed to them on a silver platter.“ 

With that, you walked out of the library rather dramatically, not bothering to look back at him, still seething with frustration. 

How was it that he seemingly always managed to get under your skin so easily? 

And why did you care? 

Why did you care about anything having to do with that stupid, arrogant prince who was too full of himself to form any complex, intelligent thought. 

You didn’t. 

You did not care about Fiyero Tigelaar.  

Not at all. 

But no matter how many times you tried to tell yourself, deep down, you knew that it wasn’t true. You hated to admit it, but just thinking about that moment yesterday when your hands had touched, made your heart beat faster. As did thinking about all the not so subtle glances he’d sent your way this afternoon. 

You sighed, running a hand through your hair in frustration. 

Sweet Oz, what was this feeling? 

You didn’t see much of Fiyero during the next few days, at least not in the library. You did see him during classes and at meals, but you did your best to keep out of his way. You were ashamed of your outburst at him in the library a few days ago, and if it were anyone else, you’d have already apologized to them. 

As it was, you did feel sorry for your comment, but the feeling was lessened whenever you thought about how he’d insinuated that you were just going through the motions. 

Somehow, that had frustrated you much more than his stupid insistence on him calling you darling - not that he’d done that since that day in the library. In fact, you’d hardly spoken to each other at all, other than a few off-handed comments, made in passing. 

You could tell that your friend Elphaba was already becoming somewhat frustrated with the situation, because you’d forced her to change directions, walking through empty hallways and taking a detour on the way to class just to avoid having to walk past Fiyero more than once. 

You were starting to feel rather frustrated yourself, but still - you weren’t about to be the one to take the first step. 

And anyway, it wasn’t like you cared much about Fiyero and whether your comment had hurt him. 

Or so you kept trying to tell yourself. 

Frustrated, you turned a page in your textbook, trying to concentrate on your studies. Today, you weren’t in the library, but rather in Shiz’s magnificent garden. You were sat on a bench under a willow tree, a field of red tulips right next to you. 

But no matter how serenely beautiful the atmosphere around you, you were unable to concentrate on your textbook. 

„I thought I might find you here.“ 

Your heart started beating faster and you didn’t have to look up to know who the voice belonged to. 

„Fiyero …“, you said, closing your book shut and getting up rather awkwardly from your bench. 

Fiyero’s eyes found yours and he smiled nervously. 

Wait - nervously? Fiyero wasn’t one to be nervous - at least you’d never perceived him to be so. 

„I - I wanted to apologize … I didn’t - what I said, in the library - I never wanted to imply that you were just going through the motions, I-“

„I wanted to apologize as well“, you interrupted his nervous rambling, fighting off the smile you felt tugging at the corner of your lips when his eyes widened and his gaze seemed to soften. „I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, I … I had to study - like, really hard, to get a scholarship for Shiz, my family isn’t - I …“, you trailed off, biting down hard on your lip. 

You didn’t know why you were telling him all this. Maybe it had something to do with the soft, concerned gaze in his eyes, or maybe it was just his sudden closeness making you feel rather dizzy. 

„I get it“, he said quickly, running a hand through his hair. „Honestly, if I were you, I’d hate me as well.“ 

„I don’t hate you“, you pointed out. 

„See, darling? Always a good start“, he said, grinning. 

„Don’t test it“, you said, rolling your eyes, but you weren’t quite able to fight off your own grin anymore. 

„The thing is, my family -my parents, they expect so much from me“, he said, turning serious once more. „And I know what you’re thinking, poor prince, his parents put so much pressure on him, yet he’s still living a privileged life, boo hoo“, he continued, shaking his head, his eyes fixed on some point in the distance. „And you’d be right, at least to a certain degree … my parents, they - sometimes I feel that no matter what I do, I’ll always manage to disappoint them somehow. To them, I’ll probably always be a failure.“ 

„You’re not a failure!“, you interrupted him, shaking your head. „You’re not!“ 

„Oh really?“, he asked, and his grin was back in place, though it did look rather shaky and uncertain. „I thought that a good education was the key for everything?“ 

Despite the seriousness of what he’d just said, you rolled your eyes. Trying to soften the mood, you said: „Well, someone once told me that there’s more to life than just books and studying.“ 

He smirked. „Sounds like a wise someone.“ 

You just rolled your eyes.

A moment passed, during which neither one of you said anything, yet the silence didn’t make you feel uncomfortable. 

Then, you found yourself asking: „What were you doing in the library, though?“ 

Fiyero laughed, though somehow, he seemed nervous once more. Maybe it was the way he ran his hands through his hair distractedly, or maybe it was the way his eyes kept flickering between you and the willow tree behind you. 

„Well, for one I am trying this thing called studying …“ 

You laughed, though you could sense that there was more he wanted to say. 

„But … there was also - there was someone I was trying to build up the nerve to talk to …“ 

Suddenly, your heart started to beat faster and you felt that weird tingling sensation in your fingertips once more. 

Fiyero was standing so close to you now, your noses were almost touching and you could feel his warm breath on your skin. 

„Who - who were you trying to talk to?“ 

He laughed. „I’d hate to disappoint you, but I think there’s some questions textbooks simply don’t provide answers for, darling …“ 

Before you could come up with a reply, he’d leaned in even closer towards you, and then his lips were on yours. His lips were soft and full, and the kiss surprisingly gentle. 

Without having to think about it, you found yourself reciprocating the kiss, moving your lips against his. 

Whatever this feeling you felt when you were with Fiyero was, it felt good. Exceptionally good. 

And so, abandoning every other thought, you wound one hand around his neck, tangling the other in his hair. 

And when you felt him smiling into the kiss, you felt your heart soar. 

[maxlarens]

perhaps bsf!reader and ibiza!lando in a sitch where like, lando isn’t getting girls in the clurb bc everyone thinks reader is his girlfriend and he ends up pushing her away????????

-🧃

perfect and beautiful thank you!!! i feel like it’s been five hundred years since i wrote or posted anything, i sooo hope u guys enjoy this! not much lando when i read it back but i guess i had some emotions to hash out here?🤨

There's a certain level of willingness to be observed that you have to subject yourself to in being Lando’s friend. You know that full well. Have been more than aware of it in the past few years, as Lando performs better, becomes more and more known.

You’re used to it for the most part.

The wandering eyes that slide right off you and Fewtrell, to instead favour Lando’s head of dark curls. The skeptical ones that linger, wondering what someone like you is doing around someone like him.

At least you have Max to commiserate with. To share that pulse of shame that beats like a second heartbeat occasionally. To remind yourself that Lando is your friend, not some burning star whose wreckage you’re caught in.

You’d never want him to feel like his success is a burden, or that it’s not always the easiest thing in the world to be his friend. That’s not really the case anyway— you’ve never had a friendship like the one you have with him. Max might be a close second, but it’s not the same. Point is, you’d move heaven and earth just to continue being friends with Lando.

It’s just— the eyes—

There are a lot of them on you here.

Appraising (but never of you independently, always in relation to Lando. You can tell), skeptical, jealous, bitter, even pitying. You think it must have something to do with Lando and the way he’s got his arm slung over your shoulder. The way you’re leaning into him as he bops to the beat of the music. The way you’re holding his drink in your hand, lifting it up for him occasionally so he can gesticulate in his conversation with some friend of his that you’re only vaguely acquainted with.

You feel the eyes on you as you half listen to them chat. Something dislodges, seems to wriggle around under your skin, or settles in the pit in your stomach and gnaws. Anxiety, something like it. Shame again perhaps? You just know Lando’s arm feels heavy. Your clothes don’t fit right, on your body or in this club. You’re suddenly sure that you’re an imposter, a fraud.

You look for Max, eyes darting around but only find unfamiliar faces looking back at you.

It’s not that your chest starts to feel tight or anything like that, it’s just that out of nowhere there seem to be one million ants crawling around inside your body. You take a deep, steadying breath and it burns. The back of your neck seems to give way, your head spinning.

You blink hard, bring yourself back.

You duck out from under Lando’s arm and mutter, “Be back soon. Bathroom.”

Lando nods absently, lets his arm drop back to his side. You’re not sure what to do with your drink or his, he doesn’t seem to care. So you drop them on an empty bar table and flee to the toilets.

They’re semi-private, dark and (best of all) quiet. Apparently soundproofed from the club outside of it, there’s some crackling lo-fi playing on low volume and blissfully no one else seems to be in here with you.

Because it’s apparently a bathroom for the upper-echelon, there’s a plush armchair in the lounge section that you immediately collapse into. You shove your face into the cushions and breathe slow until your heartbeat returns to what feels like an appropriate pace.

You pull out your phone to text Max,

Ever reliable and always understanding, Max talks you down from the proverbial ledge. He convinces you to go back out and to talk to Lando, who’s always been able to kill the nervousness in your gut when he puts his mind to it. If that fails, then Max promises to order you a taxi back to the hotel.

You thank him profusely, apologise for interrupting anything he was doing with Pietra and gather yourself as effectively as you can—

(“Hey. Is she your girlfriend, man?”

Obtuse as ever, Lando frowns, eyebrows furrowing with it, “What? Nah, she’s my best mate.”

Tony, tips his head back and laughs, “Doesn’t look like it to me. Are you sure?”

Lando nods, crease creasing even harder, “Definitely.”

“Dunno mate, you’re all cozy with ‘er,” Tony shrugs, “If you’re looking to get some this weekend you might want to dial it back.”)

—and back into the crowd.

You fight through to the booth where Lando, his friend and a few others, that you’re again, only tangentially acquainted with are. Lando has moved to sit down on a couch, still wrapped up in conversation with the same guy. He’s got another drink.

You’re half-expecting him to hand a vodka soda with lime to you when you sit down next to him. You feel a confusing mix of guilt and upset when he doesn’t, only barely turns his head to acknowledge you. You sit for a moment, adjusting your dress your bag. Not needing him to stop talking altogether, but hoping to be brought into the conversation. Even for Lando to move so you’re not just staring at his back.

Okay, you blink, maybe this is on you? Maybe you shouldn’t expect drinks from him like that, maybe you should be grown up enough to know how to enter a conversation. Maybe you shouldn’t be sitting here feeling sorry for yourself as you watch him lean over and talk to a girl on the other side of the railing.

You’re ignoring the burning thing in your eyes as you survey the back of Lando’s head and the pretty girl that he’s hanging out of his seat to talk to.

She doesn’t look anything like you.

You feel pathetic just watching them. Especially when her eyes flit briefly to you and you offer up a well-meaning smile. It’s a little weak, a little cobbled together but you’re not a bitch. She might be though— she sneers at you. Only for a short moment, when Lando’s not really looking, but you see it nonetheless.

Oh. Alright. That one’s gonna stick with you.

You turn away immediately, blinking quickly, but tears dropping anyway. You pull your phone out, admit defeat and try to at least quell the thing that’s lodged itself in your throat all of a sudden.

You sling your bag back over your body, then reach out to grab at Lando’s shoulder. You squeeze a little, wait for him to turn his attention to you while you press a knuckle not-gently into your eyeball.

He half-turns, looking up at you but holding a hand out to someone who’s talking to him. Still half-listening to them. You frown, feeling confused over anything else. This… isn’t like him. You don’t get it, why isn’t he treating you like he normally is? You’d understand if he wanted to spend time with other people over you, you get that. Why wouldn’t he just say that if that’s what he wanted? Because that’s clearly the case.

You manage to choke out, “I’m gonna head off.”

Eyes glittering and huge in the dancing lights of the club, his mouth parted, he nods up at you in confirmation. Briefly, you make eye contact before he’s being drawn back into conversation by a shout.

“Sure, yeah. See you later,” he says, patting the hand on your shoulder, then dismissing you as he turns away to pay attention to someone else.

You can’t tell if he’s being a total asshole or you’re pathetic. You know what Max would say. And you’re leaning towards the same thing right now— he’d have known. Seen it plain as fucking day in your expression when he’d looked at you. You don’t know what to make of it. You think you just feel sick.

It’s not like you need him to cater to your every whim. You’d just expected a little bit more. At least for him to notice that you’d nearly had a panic attack in the bathroom. At least for him to not go from being totally normal to icing you out all of a sudden—

and you know he’d done it on purpose, intention aside. You know. Because, historically, he’s been no stranger to it. He knows exactly how it feels.

You’re more hurt by that than anything else.

this turned out longer than i expected lol. but yeah, angsty sorry i didn’t prepare u guys😵‍💫 i’ll either write a part two or i’ll write something else for them in ibiza that isn’t so angsty soon!!!!!

[severinewrites]

Finding Independence Without Love

Dependency is common in some relationships and could happen in both platonic and romantic relationships. We see our partners/friends as a source of happiness every time we feel down. Our clinginess strengthens when we have a special person in our lives, thinking of them as a person without flaws or perfect. This can be an unhealthy way of how we act or think in our relationships with other people, we can’t expect they’ll satisfy our needs immediately, it’s like you are viewing them as the top of our pedestal, admiring them a lot.

I am saying this from my perspective as a young adult, I’ve experienced the first time feeling disappointed in my ex-crush when I hear he likes someone else. It hurts a lot to hear from the person you’ve admired for so long like someone other than you, I mean, it’s a universal experience, right? Getting disappointed or rejected, you start to get mad at yourself like hitting, pulling your hair, or even slapping yourself for not getting chosen, you feel like an idiot for being delusional thinking you’re the “one” for them. It’s a tragic feeling, I know—but I tried to forget about them, not as a friend but as a “crush”.

During my Christmas break, I struggled to cope with my feelings, so I doomscrolled YouTube for 10-12 hours for 3 days straight without reaching out to someone because I needed to isolate myself from what happened, trying to forget it ever happened. Then, I stumbled upon a show called “Moominvalley” on my for you page, I decided to watch the clips, and guess what? I fell in love with it quickly even though it’s been 3 days since I knew about this show. Moominvalley is a comforting show, and what intrigued me about the show is the character Snufkin, an easygoing and carefree enjoys thinking about things and always comes and goes as he pleases, going on adventures. Like Snufkin, I enjoy solo trips, I'm not a big fan of trips with my friends (depends on my mood but I prefer solo to groups) since I do treasure my alone time a lot, able to think about stuff or explore everywhere without any people around trying to drain my energy emotionally and physically. With my solo trips, I'm able to reflect on many stuff without any distractions. Just because I enjoy being alone doesn't mean I don't feel lonely… I have friends who care about me a lot—including my ex-crush but despite them being overall supportive and approachable, I can't help but try to push them away from me—isolating myself, especially what happened between my ex-crush and me, I can't face them anymore something that leads me to isolate myself from them and my friends, not wanting help or comfort from them anymore. I shut myself from them, I don't want to make things complicated. Snufkin really relates toMoninn on a deeper level, making him my kin since he does push away friends, has abandonment issues, fears getting attached, is sad on the inside, and struggles to talk/chat with someone.

I’ve learned the hard way that even the people you deeply love and admire, you need to accept that you can’t control how they feel or act, because well… they are humans, right? They deserve to feel or act what they want, even having feelings for somebody they like, even if it’s not you. It’s sad because that person made you feel alive or wanted, through the physical touch, words of affirmation, and more—makes me so special to them. Maybe that’s the reason why I fell in love with them in the first place. This also relates to the relationship between Moominttoll and Snufkin, Moominroll being clingy and a bit obsessed to Snufkin makes him admire him because of his adventures but unlike Snufkin, he tries to avoid any attachment to Moomintroll, resulting him to leave everytime to get some alone time or to isolate himself in his adventures. Moomintroll is also one of the characters I've kinned too, him being so clingy towards Snufkin reminds how I acted towards my ex-crush but not as obsessive, just right. Moomintroll has longings for Snufkin, always wanting to be in his side everytime, like how I've wanted to be in my ex-crush's side whenever I have a chance too—but sadly they found someone they always want to be close with… I'm glad for them but I tend to feel lonely without them around, yearning for some message or conversation from them—nothing is the same anymore as before… but that's life, there will be changes, whether you like it or not.

Therefore, I still need time for myself and watch more Moominvalley to find my purpose in life outside heartbreaks. Even I would love to talk/chat with them, it’s time to use this vacation to take a break from them for a while, giving myself time to grow as an independent person—not needing their comfort or help and focusing on my passion for writing, like what I am doing right now. Sometimes, we need to depend on ourselves, without needing anyone to fix us. That's what I did to cope.

To end this, I would like to add a quote from Moominvalley from the character Snufkin, he once said:

“You can't ever be really free if you admire somebody too much.” - Snufkin (Moominvalley 2019)

We can't really be free if we admire that special person too much, draining your energy mentally and emotionally. I wish I've heard this show during my childhood then I wouldn't have to deal with heartbreaks all of the sudden. But I guess things happen for a reason. Moominvalley is truly a masterpiece, especially the creator itself Tove Jansson, the one responsible for making this beautifully crafted show for us to love and enjoy, making us learn meaningful lessons.

We humans seek longing, wanting be loved by that person we admired but I know we're better than that—I’m better than that anyways! We know that those people we love are humans too, so why waste our time waiting for approval from them? We could try to look after ourselves and be a independent with or without them—needing no love from them at all! Love can wait but not with hopes and dreams, our passions in life are much more important than some hopeless romance. We don't need that person we deeply admire to take over our lives, we should move forward and never look back! It's such a shame not to take a chance to do what you're passionate about when we only live once.

It's possible for us to grow to independent individuals thriving to make the world a better place! With my strong love for writing, I could write freely, writing down my musings, feelings, and emotions. I’m grateful to be alive where the world is filled with endless possibilities, where you can be free from everything! Be who you want to be, explore everything until you find your purpose—that’s the beauty of independence without love!

“It is simply this: do not tire, never lose interest, never grow indifferent—lose your invaluable curiosity and you let yourself die. It's as simple as that.” - Tove Jansson (Fair Play 1989)

[souliebird]

[[and then I met you || ch. 10]]

Series: Daredevil || Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader || Rating: Explicit

Summary:

A one-night stand years ago gave you a daughter and you are now able to put a name to her father – Matthew Murdock. Everything is about to change again as you navigate trying to integrate your life with that of the handsome and charming blind lawyer’s and Matt realizes he needs to protect his new family from not only Hell's Kitchen but from the world.

pt: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Words: 4.2k

banner thanks to the wonderful @theradioactivespidergwen

When Minnie was six months old, you used to sleep on the couch so you wouldn't wake her up trying to get ready for bed. It would hurt your back - your couch was not very comfortable to sleep on - but you would sacrifice your comfort so she could sleep. No one in their right mind would wake a sleeping baby - even one that was always happy to go down for a nap. 

As your mind begins to stir, you become aware of the familiar ache in your lower back and the unfamiliar one pulsing around your eyes. Your hand slowly snakes up from where you had curled it against your chest and press your fingers along the bridge of your nose and up to the curve of your eyebrow, testing to see if the throbbing was sinus related. Nothing is triggered but your memories of the night before creep into your consciousness. 

Minnie with her tantrum and Matt with his amazing senses. 

You groan into the cushion as it all falls into place. Your eyes hurt from crying, not your sinuses, and you must have fallen asleep on the couch after your breakdown. 

Shame and embarrassment course through you. You hate crying and you hate that someone witnessed it. You can't imagine what he must think of you now - losing it like that. You should have been able to handle the news far better than you had and you're going to promptly apologize the next time you talk to him. You had acted so selfishly when it was clear he had control over the situation. 

But you don't have time to sit and wallow in your wretchedness - your daughter needs you to get up and be a capable adult, so you will your aching body to sit up. 

Your phone is sitting on the table in front of you, so you grab it to check the time. It's half past seven and your daughter has probably been awake for at least an hour. More shame courses through you - you always try to wake up before her so you can take care of her. You can only guess what state she is in. 

Your head spins as you stand, but you try to ignore it in favor of heading towards the bedroom. You prepare yourself to find a soiled bed - you didn't bother to change her into her night clothes and a pull-up and she is still mastering waking up when she needs to pee at night. 

The door is partially open and as you near it, you hear her tiny voice talking nonsense as she plays with something. You take a deep breath and push into the room, ready to face the start of your day.

Your mind short-circuits at what you encounter.

Both beds are clean and made, far tidier than you usually make them, and Minnie is sat on the floor with Scooby and some of her other stuffed animals, having what looks to be a tea party. To your absolute confusion, she is already dressed, and her hair has been put into pigtails with mismatched bows. You know for a fact she can't reach where you keep her hair supplies - you put them on a high shelf after she got into them to play salon before and managed to get her hair tangled so badly you had to cut things out. 

It doesn't even take her half a second to notice you and her little face breaks into the biggest smile, “Mommy!”

Still very much confused, you step forward to join the tea party circle and kneel down to be level with her. “Hi, sweetie,” you greet, trying your best to not alarm her. “Did you get dressed all by yourself?”

“Not-uh! Mister Matt helped! We watched lots of videos about hair and he made me pretty!”

You frown at that, “Mister Matt helped?” Had he stayed the night after you fell asleep? If so, where is he now? Your apartment isn't that big, and the bathroom door is open. Had he left before you woke up? You don’t like the idea of him leaving Minnie unsupervised.

Your daughter nods as she turns back to her toys, pretending to pour you a cup of tea and handing it over. You automatically pretend to take a sip.

“He helped make me pretty,” she confirms after putting her tea pot down, “now he's getting foods. Bagels!”

You turn the statement over in your mind - there is a bagel shop around the corner Minnie loves and if Matt is right about her also having enhanced abilities, maybe, just maybe, he didn't leave her unwatched. 

You bite your lip, then dare to push.

“Mouse, do you think you can tell me where Mister Matt is right now? Can you hear him?”

She doesn't acknowledge you right away, fussing with another piece of her tea set. You wait, allowing her to process what is being asked of her and watch as she slowly starts to move her head in minute movements, like she's tracking something. It's terrifying and fascinating to see a look of concentration come over her face and after about thirty seconds, she breaks into another big smile.

“He's talking to a frog!” 

“A frog..?” You ask, wondering if Matt was wrong about Minnie having heightened senses and she's playing pretend again.

“Yeah, he says…he says.. He's telling froggy he can't go to work. He's gonna stay with us!”

It clicks instantly. Matt isn't talking to a frog. He's talking to his business partner, Foggy Nelson, and as far as you know, Matt hasn't mentioned him or Karen yet by name to Minnie. 

“Can you tell where he is?” You ask again, being sure to be gentle with your question. 

“Outside,” is her response, like it is the most obvious thing in the world. “Froggies can't come inside. Do you want sugar?” She holds up her toy spoon and you offer her your tea cup.

“Yes, please.” 

She pretends to scoop sugar and you watch her in amazement. You are of course going to have to confirm that Matt was talking to Foggy, but it is so hard to believe your little one can hear that. You can't hear what is going on in your own living room, let alone outside your apartment. You cannot imagine how loud everything must be, how much input Mouse must be getting - but she doesn't seem bothered by it at all right now. 

She seems to be completely over her tantrum from yesterday and you want to ask her about it, but you aren't sure how or if she has the ability to express it. You know there are days you get overwhelmed and upset and you can't think of another way to explain it other than “too much”. You can't expect a three year old to articulate it better than you can. 

She's got a sweet little smile and part of you fears if you bring up her previous upset, it will spiral right back into a meltdown. So, you watch instead - watch as she goes back to playing make pretend with her toys, seemingly unbothered. You sip at your tea, making up a list of questions for Matt when he returns from his errand. 

Minnie plays for about five minutes before she perks up, beaming up at you, “Mister Matt asks if you can open the door, please thank you."

Her statement throws you for a moment and you aren't sure how much you like the idea of her being able to tell you all these things. It scares you - her knowing things you don't and not knowing what she does know. 

Maybe it is one of the things you and Matt can talk about - then talk about it with your sweet Mouse. You are going to have to get used to it, either way.

You push yourself into standing and motion for Minnie to come along. She scrambles up and runs out of the room, delighted laughter following her.

You are still in your clothes from the night before and you wish you had taken a moment to check your hair or even brush your teeth. You try to tell yourself it is fine, but your anxiety just argues back, and you feel like a complete slob by the time you get to the front door.

Your stomach and heart both do a funny clench at the sight of Matt, who is still sporting his borrowed shirt. You don't know if you want to fall into his arms or throw up or go hide under your covers so you can pretend all of this is a dream. Instead, you step aside so he can come inside and silently beg your mind to stop collapsing in on itself. 

“Breakfast delivery,” Matt says as a greeting, his entire face lighting up with a smile. He's holding a bag from the shop around the corner in one hand and a drink carrier with two large drinks along with a small one in his other.

You can feel your face starting to heat up and force your eyes down to the ground, mumbling, “you didn't need to do that.” 

He shrugs as he toes off his shoes, “I wanted to, and someone,” his voice turns teasing as he directs his next comments to Minnie, “wouldn't stop talking about bagels.”

Your daughter erupts into giggles, then turns and runs back towards the kitchen. Matt gives a pleased laugh, and your stomach flips again. He follows Minnie, and after you relock the door, you join them. 

They are sitting at the dining table, Mouse watching with a big smile as bagels are laid out on the table. Matt narrates for both of you, “Three egg bagels with plain cream cheese, two large coffees, and one kid’s hot chocolate. Now, is that the right order or was someone taking advantage?”

Minnie giggles more and that relaxes your shoulders. “No, that's right. Thank you, you really didn't -” You cut yourself off as you realize the table is clear of any mess from the night before. There are no plates on the table or in the sink, there's no lasagna stains on the floor, there's no leftovers sitting out. Your eyes drift to Matt. 

He must have cleaned after you had fallen asleep. Guilt courses through you - he shouldn't have to be dealing with your messes, especially in your own living space. You are going to need to not only apologize but return the favor somehow. You aren't sure how you'll do that - no one has ever done this much for you before, and Matt has done so so much in such a short time. 

You're dragged from your thoughts as a coffee is placed in front of you. 

“It's just black, I didn't know how you took it,” the kind, handsome lawyer says, and your heartbeat is so loud in your ears. It beats harder when you remember that not only can he hear your body and mind freaking out, but so can your daughter. 

Your instinct tells you to panic at the idea of someone knowing that much about you. You always try to stay calm on the outside while having a meltdown, but that doesn't matter with him. He'll know you're a mess. You can't hide it. 

You hear Matt ask Minnie something about her tea party and watch as she skips away from the table, but it's like your mind doesn't process it. You feel completely frozen because you don't know how to act - you don't know how to hide yourself from the man in front of you. You don't know how to hide yourself away from your daughter. 

How can you protect her from yourself? Your own body?

Suddenly, Matt is in front of you, cupping your cheeks with his large, warm hands and whispering your name. He's practically right on top of you, gently rubbing his thumbs over your skin, “Hey, hey, it's okay. It's okay. Everything is okay. Can you take a deep breath for me?”

“What?” You ask, so confused about what is going on. You don't understand why he's saying it's okay. 

“A deep breath, sweetheart. Can you take a deep breath?”

Your mind will not wrap the reason for the instruction, but you do as you are told. You inhale through your nose and that earns you a soft smile. He continues to pet you, gently instructing you to exhale after a moment and you obey. 

“Again?” He prompts and you nod. You feel shaky as you try to focus on breathing. You've always hated these exercises - they've never worked for you and have only served to frustrate you, and now you are just trying to make sure you are doing it right. How embarrassing would it be to fuck up breathing in front of Matt? 

“That's it,” he says so calmly, “Just breathe. I know it's a lot. I know. One step at a time. Let's have some breakfast, okay? Let's sit and have coffee and we can all talk. How's that sound?”

It sounds good, it sounds like the right thing to do, but your throat is clenching and not wanting to produce words, so you nod instead. 

You close your eyes to try to center yourself and somehow calm down. Matt lingers, keeping a hold of you until you hear Minnie coming back to the kitchen. It seems like he waits until the last possible moment before pulling away. 

Seeing your daughter looking so happy helps to reset your mind. She's fetched Scooby and Pig and runs up to the table to put them in their chair. You smile at the sight.

She really does seem like she's perfectly fine and maybe Matt is right and everything is okay. For now, at least. 

You force yourself into action, moving to set one of the bagels in front of Mouse, setting it on a napkin. You're going to need to transfer the hot chocolate into a mug or Mouse will spill on herself.

“Thank you, Mommy!”

She practically dives into her bagel, picking it up and taking a big bite and getting cream cheese on her cheeks. She is completely engrossed with her food.

“Thank Mister Matt, he got us breakfast,” you advise before going to get a napkin. While you are in the kitchen, you grab your creamer from the fridge.

“Thank you, Mister Matt!” she chimes before barreling on. “Mommy, did you know Mister Matt can braid hairs!”

Guilt courses through you and you remind yourself you need to thank Matt for everything he has done for you. But you tell yourself to not think of it right now - you are terrified of Minnie sensing your panic and that somehow shuts your mind down and you go into parent mode. 

“No, I didn't. Did you ask him to braid your hair?” You ask as you move in to wipe her face. She obediently tilts her face towards you and closes her eyes as you clean away the cream cheese. In the corner of your eye you see Matt sip from his coffee, a smile forming in his lips.

“She wanted puffs,” he advises, “I learned a lot of new hair terminology today. Minnie is a very good teacher.” 

Your daughter preens at the praise before taking another bite of her bagel. More cream cheese gets on her face. You decide to wait until she's done eating before tidying her up again. It will be pointless otherwise.

Instead, you start to fix your coffee, removing the lid to add creamer. You eye your daughter as you do, letting yourself finally take in her appearance. 

“You're a good stylist,” you tell Matt, and it is true. Her pigtails look even and as smooth as can be expected for a toddler. You don't see any tangles and if Minnie is happy, you have no grievances with the outcome - only guilt that Matt was the one who dealt with it. 

“I have some experience,” he hums, before taking another sip of his coffee. Then he directs his smile to his daughter, “my best friend used to have long hair. He has little nieces and they used to do his hair at Christmas, and I got roped into helping. I'm told I do a pretty good French braid.”

Mouse giggles before gasping and pointing at you, “do Mommy's hair!”

Embarrassment floods you - you don't think anyone has done your hair since you were Minnie’s age, and your current hair is a gross greasy mess and you don't want anyone touching it. 

Matt hums as he tilts his head towards you, “I think Mommy is better at doing her hair than I would be. But maybe next time?”

“Maybe next time,” you agree, hoping that will be enough to deter your daughter from this path. 

Luckily, she quickly parrots, “Next time!”

You offer her a smile and take a much needed drink of your coffee. It not only warms you but helps to ground you back into reality. 

You remind yourself nothing has actually changed - you are just more aware of the world. To Minnie, this is the same as any other day and you need to get yourself back on track. 

Which means you need to confirm some things with Matt. 

You set your coffee down, then pick up Minnie’s hot chocolate and bring it to the kitchen to transfer into one of her kid-friendly tumblers. You clear your throat, then dare to try, “Minnie said you'd be spending the day with us?”

“You told the froggy!” Mouse happily adds.

Matt looks confused for a few seconds before it must click, “Foggy, sweetheart, not Froggy. Foggy is my best friend - the one who had long hair.”

“Froggy!” Is the defiant response and you know better than to argue. Once something is named, the name sticks. But of course, Matt doesn't know this and you decide to let him learn.

“Foggy,” he tries. “Like a cloud. Not a frog.”

“Froggy!” 

“Fog. Foggy. No ‘r’.”

“Frog. Froggy! Froggy! Froggy!” Minnie bounces in her seat, starting to giggle. You return to the table, securing the lid to the sippy tumbler before placing it down.

“Ribbit ribbit,” you add and that gets you a delighted burst of laughter.

“Ribbit ribbit!”

Matt practically pouts but seems to realize he isn't going to win this. “But yes, I… told Foggy I wanted to spend the day with you. When I was in the phone, outside.” His dramatic sad face turns into something soft as he tilts his head towards Minnie, “Did you tell your Mommy you heard me?”

“I, uh, asked if she could,” you say, feeling silly for admitting it. But you know this is the path you need to take to start understanding what enhanced senses mean.

“I can hear everything,” your little one proudly says, and you've heard her say it before - but now you know she isn't just playing pretend.

“Yes, you can,” is Matt's soft reply. Unlike your underlying panic, his voice seems to carry a fondness about the whole situation. He is the one with the experience and you want to trust him with the lead on this, but it's still absolutely terrifying. 

But you know you need to set the ball up, so you gently push, “Did you know Mister Matt can also hear…everything?” You know it's not everything, at least by what Matt said, but you aren't going to get technical with a toddler. “Mommy can't, though. Mommy’s hearing isn't as good as yours and Mister Matt's.”

Mouse looks between the two of you, pursing her lips up as she thinks, then she reaches out and pats your arm comfortingly, “I'll tell you what I hears, Mommy.”

Your heart soars with so much love and you turn your hand so you can take hers and give it a gentle squeeze, “Thank you, baby.” 

“I can hears a bark-bark dog and a woofy dog,” she starts, “and there's a puppy going ‘yip-yip-yip!’”

Matt laughs a little and your focus is ripped away from Minnie and over to him. He absolutely beams at you, looking proud as can be. You wonder what this like for him - having someone else who can hear what he can.

“There's a doggy day care about two blocks north,” he informs, and it is so hard to wrap your mind around the fact your daughter can hear that far. “Clients are starting to arrive, and they are lively.”

There's a flash of brown and Minnie is waving Scooby at Matt, “Bark bark bark!”

“Is Scooby a barky dog?” He asks, leaning forward towards her and putting his elbows on the table. “Not a woofy dog?”

“Bark bark!” Is the response before Mouse makes him growl. You finally allow yourself to sit and watch the sweet interaction. Everything still feels like it's too much and swirling inside you, but seeing Matt and Minnie bond is soothing - even if it's over something you can't understand yet.

“What about Pig? Does he go bark-bark or woofy?” 

His question gets Minnie to gasp as if she's scandalized. “Pig isn't a doggy!”

“Oh, he isn't?” Matt teases, “I can't see him. What is he?”

“He's a piggy!” She snatches up Pig and clutches him to her chest beside Scooby. You hope she doesn't have cream cheese on her fingers because cleaning her toys is always an adventure. She hates when they have to get washed and now, you guess, you understand why. They probably smell different after being washed or the texture is off. It's something you'll have to explore later.

“What type of noises do piggies make?”

“Oink-oink-oink!”

“Oh, that makes sense,” he hums, then hunches forward more and lowers his voice, like he's talking in secret, “And what sounds do little girls named Minnie make?”

You finally get to take a bite of your bagel as you watch her contemplate the question. Her face screws up in thought before lighting up when she decides her answer.

“Ooogie-boogie-boo!” 

Matt throws his head back with laughter, which makes Minnie dissolve into happy giggles. The sheer joy between the two of them pulls a smile out of you and the heaviness in your chest starts to lighten more. 

“Ooogie-boogie-boo?” You question and your daughter giggles more. 

“Ooogie-boogie-boo! Like Scooby!”

You don't understand what that means but you just let the positivity continue. 

“What about Mommy? What sounds do I make?” You ask, curious what her response will be.

“Bumbum-bumbum.” They aren't words, but you instantly get it is supposed to be your heartbeat. You feel yourself start to flush. Matt had told you that Minnie listens to your heart to ground herself, so of course that is what she associates you with. But hearing it from her mouth and getting that confirmation still rocks you. 

“It's a good sound, isn't it?” Matt asks Minnie and you can imagine how red you are turning. You try to hide behind your coffee.

“The bestest,” Minnie agrees before adding, “After Scooby Song. Scooby Dooby Do! Where are you!”

“We've got some work to do now,” you half mumble, half sing with her.

“I've never heard the Scooby song,” the man beside you says and that triggers Mouse into action. She slides off her chair, and still clutching her toys, hurries across the room to the television. She knows how to bring up what she wants, so it only takes a few seconds before there is an episode starting to play on screen. 

She drops her toys and the remote before running back to Matt and tugging on his - technically yours - shirt. “You gotta listen!”

He barely gets to stand up before being pulled into the living room. He does not resist in the slightest to being directed to sit on the ground and you watch as Minnie begins to explain the intricate lore of her favorite show. To your wonder she describes each character by their voice first and you can tell Matt is completely enthralled by what he is being told. Scooby gets moved from laying on the floor to being shoved into Matt's lap so he can hold onto him. 

You realize without fanfare that you can barely hear the television. It is still on low volume from last time you had it on, and it dawns on you that you never really have it turned up too loud. Minnie can probably hear it just fine and doesn't need it blasting throughout the apartment. You never got to really watch television as a kid, and you wonder what the normal volume for watching things is supposed to be. 

You sip at your coffee, watching as Minnie plops herself next to Matt on the floor, going on excitedly about mysteries and different sounds. Both of them are smiling and laughing like they don't have a care in the world. 

This is what you want your life to be like, you decide. 

You want your family to be full of love and joy and you have fought so hard to get to this point. You've climbed your way out of a cold and distant household to make your own little corner in the world and right now you need to enjoy it instead of letting your mind be taken over by darkness and despair.

So, you set your coffee down and move to join your daughter and her father in front of the television, asking in a teasing voice, “So who is the blonde man again?”

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[coimbrabertone]

Offtopic Offseason #2 - The Incoherent Musings of a Star Wars Fan in Big 2024.

So, being a Star Wars fan is hard.

I don't mean that for some stupid "STAR WERZ IS WOKE NOW! CHILDHOOD RUINED!" bullshit, I mean being an actual fan of Star Wars.

I want to watch Star Wars shows, I want to play Star Wars games, and I deeply disagree with the idea that Disney is making too much Star Wars stuff. No, in fact, my stance here is quite similar to my stance on superhero fatigue from the last Offtopic Offseason - and that's that people aren't sick of Star Wars, they're sick of bad Star Wars content.

Let me put it this way - the only buzz I've heard about Skeleton Crew is that they referenced something from the Holiday Special and that there's a kid from that Max Rebo species - the Ortolans, the blue elephant guys. That doesn't fill me with an urge to watch it.

Just like I haven't had the urge to finish The Bad Batch.

Just like how I haven't picked up Star Wars: Outlaws yet.

There is, however, one Star Wars project that I did engage with in 2024: the Acolyte. Yup, the show that the internet was shitting on before it even came out and the one that they managed to get cancelled despite the first season ending on a blatant cliffhanger. I want to talk about that show.

Why? Because the thing is...I don't think the show is that bad.

I certainly don't think it's any worse than Book of Boba Fett or some of the later episode of the Mandalorian.

In fact, I'd say the concept of the Acolyte is more interesting than either Mando or Boba Fett, and here's why: the idea of a woman, who had the only home she ever knew taken away from her by the Jedi, training under a Sith to get revenge is an interesting premise.

That same Sith disguising himself as her bumbling accomplice to monitor and influence her had potential as well.

The Jedi Order being this corrupt, detached organization trying to maneuver the political intrigues of Coruscant is interesting, as is the fact that the plot is ultimately set into motion by Master Sol making a series of impulsive and violent decisions - thinking they he knew better - that ended in him killing the girls' mother, Aniseya.

All of that I'm good with.

There are a few things I'm not so good with. The vergence stuff and how that relates to the twins (and them being two sides of the same person) didn't quite work with me. I also felt that some of the stuff they did with Aniseya in the final two episodes undercuts the Sol storyline, because one: she really does demonstrate she's dangerous, and two: if you're still planning on letting Osha go with them, why are you using a Dark Side ritual to turn yourself into an dark smoke monster and absorbing your other daughter while doing so?

Like if the point you're going for is that Sol broke the Jedi teachings because of his selfish attachment to Osha - later leading to Osha killing him as her fall to the Dark Side - then why are you giving him a justifiable reason for stopping Aniseya?

And I guess on some level, I question how much purpose there was to having both Osha and Mae as characters. I know this is probably approaching a sort of Ship of Theseus point where I change so much about the Acolyte that it's not the Acolyte anymore, but I feel like there was a way to tell this story with just one character rather than this split person/twin thing.

You know what, I'll commit to it - here's how I would've done the Acolyte show.

Indara, Sol, Kelnacca, and Torbin go to investigate Brendok, just like they do in the show, however, when they find the convent of Dark Side witches, they decide they need to stop them. So rather than a series of potentially sympathetic misunderstandings, it's that the Jedi saw a Dark Side threat, they got spooked, and they decided to crush it.

This is to mirror some of the other darker Jedi moments in Star Wars, such as Mace Windu saying that the "oppression of the Sith will never return" before attempting to finish off Palpatine, or the Legends lore of the Jedi bombardment of Korriban after the Great Hyperspace War, aiming to destroy it.

Neither of these things worked, sure, but it demonstrates a rare Jedi ruthlessness that could suit this story nicely.

Anyway, having lost the only family she had, Osha (who, remember, we're treating as a single person at this point) wanders the galaxy and eventually winds up at the ruined Sith Academy on Korriban - and here she finds Qimir.

Qimir plays it cool and doesn't quite reveal who he is but starts telling Osha about the Sith and feeling her out, trying to figure out if she'd make a worthy pupil or not. Qimir sends Osha through the tombs like in KOTOR or like the Sith Warrior/Inquisitor storylines in SWTOR and starts revealing more about the Sith to her as she goes on. By the end, she believes in it, is willing to become a Sith, and makes a red lightsaber.

Then Qimir sends her out to hunt down the Brendok Jedi. At this point you could probably split the show into a season one and two, where the first season, "The Acolyte" is the story of Osha being an acolyte on Korriban, and the season two would be like "The Apprentice" or something a bit less trademarked, probably, and be about Osha actually hunting down the Jedi.

And hey, maybe it's a shitty idea, but I think it would place the show better in the lore and give us an interesting perspective where we follow a Sith character who fully believes she's in the right, and because of how this version of the Brendok events played out, we can't really say she's wrong either.

Maybe all of that is a product of the kind of Star Wars fan I grew up as though. I was born in the prequel era, meaning that for me, Phantom menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith were always part of Star Wars. I grew up playing KOTOR on my dad's computer and then later watching Clone Wars and then after that getting really into SWTOR for awhile in the early-to-mid 2010s.

Star Wars to me is lightsabers and deep lore and the Jedi versus the Sith.

I guess that's why Acolyte, for all its flaws and mistakes and strange writing choices, got my attention in a way that a lot of Star Wars stories haven't.

I mean, I watched Acolyte all the way through while I still haven't felt motivated enough to watch Andor - I'm sure that for a lot of nerds, that's downright sacrilege - but that's where I'm at with this franchise.

Do you have any idea how long it's gonna take for someone to be willing to make a female-led Sith show after how the Acolyte bombed? I'll be waiting decades at this rate. I'll be waiting even longer when I ask for those characters to one: be aliens because goddamn all these species in the galaxy but the only ones that ever seem to do anything are humans, and two: be lesbian because...I dunno man, representation makes me feel good.

I guess Mother Koril checks a lot of those boxes but...she's got like fifteen minutes of screentime max and then kinda turns into a cloud of smoke and we don't see her anymore. Is she dead? Is she alive? Is she some other third thing?

Nobody knows.

And we're probably never gonna know because the show's been cancelled.

Fun times.

So yeah, these are some incoherent musings from a long-suffering Star Wars fan in 2024.

Like the meme says...

Star Wars would be so good if it was good.

[the-s1lly-corner]

Hiiii can I pretty please request Lucifer, Vox, and Vaggie x fallen angel reader? Thanks!

Lucifer Vox and Vaggie x fallen angel!reader

Locking the fuck in I'm down twenty pounds lets fucking GOOOO

Notes: reader is fem for vaggie, gn for vox and lucifer, short post, though i guess this is written more platonic leaning for lucifer and vaggie- opening relationship dynamic stuff instead of something old and established

CWs: mentions of canon typical violence

LUCIFER

he can... relate to you- odds are you were unfairly cast out for not conforming to heavens ideals, and he gets that. so much. it may not instantly make you friends but its definitely going to open a few conversations for the two of you to have- centuries of hurt and frustration can come out in a passionate garble once you get him comfortable enough

though outside of that he doesnt actually talk about his past as an angel all that much- one can only feel so much until it burns them out and hes got other things to worry about

some part of him feels sympathy for you but another part of him is still distrustful- though... he still does keep an open mind when interacting with you, hes not going to let you build yourself back up from the ground if you dont give him a reason to ditch you

VOX

will try to find a way to profit off of it- or at least he would if he didnt take another few seconds to realize just how much of a bad idea that is- not just for you, but how would it reflect back on him and the other two if theyre harboring an angel- fallen or not?

hes... actually not all that interested in hearing what heaven is like, so at least you dont have to worry about him prying all that much, especially if the circumstances of your fall are... sensitive... for once him being self centered pays off to save you some level of pain, at least in this instance

he does however ask what all you can do, even in your current state. youre mighty powerful, yeah? so youve definitely got some ability to do some real damage? hes definitely going to keep that in mind going forward

you land a job easily under him so you at least have some level of income to adjust to your new home so thats fun at least...!

VAGGIE

very similar to lucifer in the sense that shes not going to instantly trust you as soon as you fall- you were just in heaven and one indiscretion in their eyes isnt enough to change her mind on you- even worse if youre an exterminator like she was. you know how to fight, and you know how to kill someone. and the odds are you still have your weapon. she is NOT going to be taking any chances with you- very much icing you out for the longest time

its going to take something for her to let those walls down around you- earn her trust and to make her feel... not on edge around you. even after that getting her to open up past that- its like pulling teeth. WILL make a cover story on why you may or may not know her so no one else puts the pieces together (pre reveal)- and she advises you hide your angel status... fallen or not...

there is definitely some anger held for heaven but the way she talks about it she treats it more as something to not be trifled with- a threat that can very well ruin everything the hotel is aiming for. will be keeping her eyes on you if youre ever allowed anywhere near the hotel

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

Ok so what would Mihawk be like with a lover who is very bipolar... like their happy on minute and angry the next how would he calm them down🤔 or yk they get a lil bratty and he gotta put them in their place🌚

WaitwaitwaitwaitWAIT

Hold the F UP, Mihawk AND psychology? You're spoiling me 🤭❤️

Oooooh I can't not do this one right now.

Kinda personal because I have some issues that can result in bi-polar tendencies, so this hits quite close to home for me.

I've rewatched this scene a totally normal amount of times I swear. Totally normal.

Mood Swings

OPLA! Mihawk X Reader

Mostly SFW headcanons, only the slightest bit suggestive, kinda hurt/comfort I suppose

Trigger Warning ⚠️ (possibly) for mental health issues, bi-polar and related disorders

♬♫ Rosanna - The Fratellis ♫♬

Baby, you're a mess, I confess

But I guess that I'll save you one of these days

Mihawk doesn't exactly have the patience of a saint, but he still honestly has more patience than most—you don't dedicate your life to becoming the world's greatest swordsman and actually achieve that goal without at least a touch of patience.

Your mood swings amuse him more than anything. Not a cruel sort of amusement, but a more endearing one. You remind him a bit of a cat—sweet and playful one minute, then all claws and bared teeth the next.

Though as amusing as it can be, he sees how it drains you, mentally and physically, and that more than anything is reason enough for him to stay patient with you in the moment.

He'll keep a level tone, just tells you to calm down, even while you're yelling at the top of your lungs that you are calm, yelling insults and potentially hurtful words.

He can't help but smirk a little at how quickly you fly off the handle, which probably doesn't help your own anger, but he really can help but find it a little entertaining, even a little enticing.

Oh, he wants to shove you against a wall, pin your hands over your head and murmur in your ear for you to behave yourself, to just devour you then and there—but he knows that now isn't the time. That can come later, after you've calmed down.

So he just keeps up a calm and reasonable air about himself and lets you vent out whatever frustrations you need to, taking it with a grain of salt because he knows that it won't last.

Just gives a little sigh once you have calmed down, once you've apologized for whatever you have said or done in your anger.

Tells you it's fine, pulls your head down to rest on his lap while he combs his fingers through your hair until your tension has eased off the rest of the way, not faulting you for your moment of vulnerability. Might tauntingly mention that he *should* punish you for being so troublesome, but he's honestly more focused on ensuring you recover.

He really has more trouble dealing with your depressive episodes—he can't stand the thought of you being so low that you can't even pull yourself out of bed.

Mihawk understands that patience is absolutely vital in such cases, but he's not sure whether it's better to give you space or keep you company; to try to convince you to talk, to just hold you quietly, or to leave you to your own devices until you recover on your own.

So in those instances, he's a bit all over the place, and more than a bit frustrated. More likely to be short or snappish in spite of himself. He desires complete control over all aspects of his life, and being at a loss of what to do drives him up a wall, especially if it concerns your well-being and his ability (or inability) to fix it.

He's not going to put you in your place for anything until he's sure you've leveled out, that it won't trigger you or make things worse.

Not until you're able to calmly discuss what's been going on with you, until you're able to laugh and smile and breathe easy in the wake of your own turbulent emotions.

He might punish you relentlessly for being intentionally bratty, for being a sarcastic little shit and clearly doing it to test his patience for the fun of it. In that case, he might pin you to the bed, might tease you to the very edge of sanity, might make you beg and plead for relief or release, but only then.

You're still his lover, and he doesn't have any intention of hurting you in any way that could be lasting, in any way that isn’t consensual—in any way that could make your inner turmoil any more difficult to bear.

[fandomforg]

ok, so, mcu peter parker somehow gets sent to the star wars universe

we’re all familiar with the trope of ‘earth girl who’s a big star wars fan goes to star wars galaxy and tries to save everyone there with her knowledge of the Plot’ but now think about if peter parker, resident star wars nerd/super genius/superhero, gets sent there

first things first, he would lose his marbles seeing all the cool aliens and technology (even though he’s already seen plenty of aliens/tech just from being on earth) but like!! it’s not just any aliens!!! it’s star wars aliens!!! woah!!!!

he wouldn’t really even have to worry about hiding his enhancements bc he could just go ‘uh, i’m not baseline human?’ and everyone there would just go ‘oh, ok’

as soon as peter got his bearings tho, he would absolutely immediately start scheming on how to stop palpatine/prevent the clone wars or whatever. like full on murder cork board with red string as he thinks. whatever poor soul has offered to let this lost child stay with them is very concerned because every time they bring him a snack it looks a little bit more like this kid is trying to overthrow the government (he kind of is planning to overthrow the government)

peter has gotten in enough debates online to know that most of the groups that might be able to help him (the jedi, the mandalorians) are a little too wrapped up in their own stuff (connections with the senate, civil war) to stop palpatine with any sort of efficiency, so he just goes ‘huh, guess i’m gonna be a vigilante again’ now he’s spiderman again!!! but this time in star wars!!!!!

webslinging on corusant would go so crazy though

so by day, peter is working part time at some little corusant shop where the owner lets him use the spare room (and the owner is also constantly so concerned over this insane child that just showed up one day without knowing the date, but knowing many random historical facts that they space-google and find out are absolutely correct)

and by night, spiderman is swinging between the levels of corucant, stopping petty crimes avoiding the jedi who keep trying to figure out who this spiderguy is. they think must be force sensitive (‘just look at how fast he’s running! and he’s sensing hits before he sees them!’)

eventually, peter finally makes his move and goes after palpatine. it’s uhhhh, actually easier then he expected. peter may have had a few too many backup plans. palpatine was not expecting his sixth lightning to be absorbed by a brightly-colored suit (‘thanks, mr. stark!’) nor was he expecting to be covered??? in spider?? webs???? it’s very hard to cut yourself free from webs when you can’t move an inch to even ignite your lightsaber

the next day, palpatine’s guards find him still stuck to the wall of his office and spitting mad, while the jedi find security footage of the chancellor attacking that one vigilante with force lightning and pages and pages of evidence of palpatine’s crimes (sith-related and not) just sitting in their inbox. the arrest goes pretty smoothly after that.

once this all finally hits the news, the shop owner that peter’s been staying with (read: slowly being adopted by) just kinda shouts out a ‘kid! what did you even do?!’

well now that that’s handled, the next thing on peter’s to do list is, uhhh, getting home. yikes.

[mousemannation]

NASDAQ-100 Open Post-Match Press with Roger Federer March 27, 2004 / March 28, 2004

NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 27, 2004

Roger Federer

MIAMI, FLORIDA

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English first, please.

Q. I have one that's not directly related to the match. What are the advantages and disadvantages that you find playing without a coach?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I think it's difficult to answer. I think there is definitely some on each side. The negatives ones, I think you have to try to, you know, put them little bit on the sides if you are with a coach or without; the same as the positive things, you have to put them more in front. You look more at those and take them, because it makes you play better tennis. I think you will always have both ways.

Q. What are some of the pluses and the minuses?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, totally depends what kind of person you are and what for you a coach or no coach should do, you know. So, I mean, I'm not going to start saying what is good and bad in a coach or not having a coach, so it's very difficult to say.

Q. Are you close to finding a coach?

ROGER FEDERER: No, I'm not.

Q. What are you looking for in a coach?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, somebody, you know, who can help my game to bring it to a better level and give me advice. That's what I'm looking for in a coach. But right now, there's nothing going on.

Q. Could you see going the whole year without a coach? Could that be a possibility?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, obviously. If things don't work out, I'm not stressing myself out. So you never know what happens. But, you know, so far it's been all right. I know I can play an entire year without a coach, so...

Q. Is Stefanki someone you've given thought to?

ROGER FEDERER: Let's put it this way, I've thought about many coaches. Everybody who might be a candidate crossed my mind. But really haven't been close at all to have taken any decisions.

Q. I saw you here around noon, so you've been here at least seven and a half hours at this point. You had a long wait yesterday. Can you just talk about that, just the process of waiting to play this match.

ROGER FEDERER: Well, you get used to it as a tennis player. At the US Open, I had to wait for three days until I could play a little bit. Then I had to come off after a set. So you get used to it. Sometimes it's fun, you know, sometimes it's really boring. But we're here in a group. You can entertain yourself. You know when the matches take long, at least you're here early enough to prepare. It's all about being professional.

Q. What is your scouting report on Rafael Nadal?

ROGER FEDERER: Luckily, I played him in doubles last week so I know a little bit more about his game than I would have. So at least I don't have to see him play anymore because I know how he plays now, and I'm looking forward. It's gonna be a good match. He's definitely one of the guys that will be around in the future.

Q. His scouting report, if he had to play you, was if he plays as well as he's capable of playing and you have a bad day, he can win. Otherwise, he says, he loses. What is your reaction to that?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, I guess he wants to take some pressure off himself, which is kind of normal. Because maybe people expect already too much of him. I don't know, people expect him maybe to beat me on a good day, which I think is totally possible. But he's right, he should push it away from him. Tomorrow he's definitely got a chance. Today wasn't my best, and I got to improve.

Q. Can you feel the target on you, people aiming for you because you're No. 1, even more so than when you were No. 2?

ROGER FEDERER: I feel it is more of an enjoyment, being No. 1, than, you know, feeling pressure. I think I've also shown it with my results. I really just try to, you know, while I'm No. 1 in the world, I really want to enjoy it and give as much back to the game as I can.

Q. Do you sense opponents taking more risks against you because you're No. 1?

ROGER FEDERER: Some of them might change their games, you know, because they think that maybe playing with me from the baseline is not the best idea because then I will come to the net and they have to make the passes all day so they'd rather come in themselves. I feel they maybe play a little bit more aggressive than against other players, certain players. But I think their best, they play their game and on a good day, that's sometimes good enough.

Q. How concerned were you out there down 3-1 in the third?

ROGER FEDERER: Very. Very concerned. I was not feeling well today. I mean, incredible winds here. So it's very difficult to play. It's tough to get the rhythm. He started to play well, I thought, in the middle of the second. So was a tough one, and I didn't think I'm gonna turn this around today.

Q. The miss-hit you had would be because of the wind primarily?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, wind and fatigue and just not used to play; first day I played was yesterday. So I'm really missing, you know, to hit enough tennis balls.

Q. You had a cold or flu?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I was sick. I had a fever and threw up and those kind of things, so...

Q. And you missed your flight? You were, what, a day late coming here?

ROGER FEDERER: No, just a couple of hours.

Q. How much practice time did you miss then?

ROGER FEDERER: Two, three days.

Q. You have problems with your feet?

ROGER FEDERER: No, the tape was coming off. Didn't disturb my game. But just had to take it off.

Q. What did you say to yourself at 3-1 in the third that changed everything?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, the wind was getting stronger and stronger, you know. I didn't have my confidence on my forehand. I couldn't hit three or four balls in a row, so I felt like he was really starting to -- not to hardly miss anymore from the baseline. The beginning, you know, he was giving me a lot of easy points. I thought, "Geez, this will be very, very difficult, you know, hopefully I can just get a good start to one of those games on his service." That's what I got right away at 3-1, so, got a little fortunate today.

Q. (Inaudible)?

ROGER FEDERER: No mistakes, tried to move and at least hold your own serve so you don't get down two breaks. But you got to hope on mistakes from the opponent.

Q. A couple days ago Andy was in chatting with us. We were talking about how difficult it is for players at the very top of the rankings to have any kind of relationship because they always want to keep a certain distance because of the competitiveness. He said, "If Roger called me up and said, 'Why don't we go out for dinner,' I'd love to do that, I'd have no problem with it." Would you?

ROGER FEDERER: Sure (smiling). I mean, we shouldn't talk, like, in a triangle, but I agree, it is very difficult because, you know, usually we stay at different hotels or we're very busy. We've got our own, you know, people around us. I think, you know, I go out with the Swiss players; he probably goes out with the Americans or his clan. I'm talking about any player now. You know, it's a professional sport so you want to do everything just for that day so you're ready. We get along well. We never had a problem together. I could imagine myself having a drink with Andy, I have in the past so...

Q. Do you feel you would have won that kind of match like today like two years ago?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, you never know. Obviously, I'm a better player now, mentally stronger, physically stronger. But I cannot say because last year I lost it 7-6 in the third in the quarters. But, you know, different opponent, not so much wind.

Q. You used to hate the wind when you were younger?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, well, you see it. Tennis is just not as much fun as it is without because you cannot risk as much, you cannot hit the ball as hard as you want. You've got to really calculate everything you do. So that takes away a little bit of creativity, I think. I've learned to use the wind to my favor. That is important to my game.

Q. When you say that Rafael maybe wants to take pressure off himself because there are a lot of expectations on him, do you see in what he's going through maybe what you went through?

ROGER FEDERER: Sure.

Q. Do you think, is that part of what -- maybe you see that where other people would not?

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, but, I think, you know, his ranking , he has already proven himself at his age, you know, to be ranked as good as he is, I think he's already actually proven that he's a great player. He doesn't right now need to beat all these top players just to show them that in three years' time he can be No. 1 in the world and win Grand Slams. I think all he needs is time, and I think he's a very quiet guy and confident on the court. I felt the same way at his age. So looking forward to playing a player like him, you know, because I think he's a good player. Tomorrow maybe I'll tell you he's a great player, but I first got to play him, so...

End of FastScripts

---

NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 28, 2004

Roger Federer

MIAMI, FLORIDA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Your thoughts on the match? What was he able to do to get you out of rhythm?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I think it's always difficult to play someone for the first time, first of all. But I think, you know, overall he played a very good match. He was the better player today. It was tough for me to, you know -- I mean, I had time to get the rhythm, but, you know, he played very aggressive and I couldn't quite play maybe the way I wanted to.

Q. Were you surprised how aggressive he did come out? It seemed like every shot he was hitting was perfect.

ROGER FEDERER: He doesn't hit the ball flat and hard. It's more with a lot of spin, which makes the ball bounce, bounce high, and that's a struggle I had today. I tried to get out of it, but kind of couldn't. I thought in the beginning I maybe wasn't going for my shots enough, where in the end I thought I was hitting the ball better. But I felt the match maybe kind of went his way, and, you know, he hit some really incredible shots. That's what youngsters do, so... (Laughter).

Q. Are you surprised such a young guy could come at you like that?

ROGER FEDERER: No, no, I'm not surprised. I've heard a lot about him and saw some matches of him. I think this is not a big surprise for everybody.

Q. You played a lot of tennis this year already. Do you feel more tired physically or mentally?

ROGER FEDERER: My fatigue right now has got nothing to do with all the matches I've played this year. I've been sick, and this was my problem for the imperfect preparation for this tournament. Yesterday I was (going) a lot in the wind. Today I played against a player who was just better. That was my problem for this week. Now I have time to rest and prepare for Davis Cup.

Q. Do you feel better physically than yesterday, or do you feel the same?

ROGER FEDERER: Different. I had a lot of pain in my whole body from the match of yesterday because I couldn't prepare the way I wanted to. But, you know, I didn't feel as tired as yesterday. But tough to explain. Just, you know, I felt what was missing today was just the reactions and maybe the fight in the corners which were not the same than maybe I'm used to.

Q. What do you think is the biggest weapon Nadal has?

ROGER FEDERER: I think his forehand, you know, is for sure his biggest shot in his game, and his all-court speed.

Q. It wasn't long ago you were 17. Can you imagine playing with that attitude against the No. 1 player in the world?

ROGER FEDERER: Was it not good?

Q. It was great. His attitude today, I mean. Could you imagine you at 17 years old...

ROGER FEDERER: Well, we have to get a tape when I played Moya, Moya in Marseille when I was 17. But I think, you know, he's a different character on the court. He relies much more on his fighting spirit, like Lleyton does a little bit, you know, I compare him at his age. So, you know, everyone has their attitude. I think it's a definite good one to have very much success early in his career.

Q. As the world No. 1, still only 22, does it frighten you that he is almost five years younger than you?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, what can you do (smiling)? I think he's put a lot of hard work into his game. We all know that, you know, the youngsters from today - because we feel young, but there's always younger players than you, and, you know, we all remember when we were 17, we already felt we were great players. Then suddenly, you're around for a few years and you feel like, "Well, now I've proven it to everybody I'm a good player." It's totally different view of the game, especially I think interesting are the first three years. So I think he's enjoying his tennis. That's exactly what he should do. We'll see how strong he will be in two years. But, I mean, the start to his career so far has been incredible.

Q. Did you sense that he was nervous at all? Did you see that in him?

ROGER FEDERER: No. In the beginning maybe little bit, when you walk on court. I think he's kind of a little bit shy, you know, on court. He looks at me as an incredible great player, you know. I just felt more of a respect level than nerve.

Q. I guess this win for him tonight must feel, in a way, like it felt for you when you beat Sampras, that sort of major victory, that major breakthrough. How important is that kind of victory to your career?

ROGER FEDERER: For me, it was -- I think it's -- I don't know if you can compare. Mine was in Wimbledon, you know. Definitely this is also big tournament, but, I don't know, it's tough because I'm still not much, much older than he is. Sampras, for me, was more of -- I think more than I am for him. He's got different idols, I think (smiling). For me, I think this win counts little bit different for us.

Q. How will you prepare for the Davis Cup?

ROGER FEDERER: How I will prepare? The way we always do (smiling).

Q. When do you go to Switzerland?

ROGER FEDERER: I don't know when I'm leaving, when I'm arriving to the team. They started practicing on Monday, which is tomorrow. They will start the practice tomorrow, and I will join them when I get back to Switzerland. So when that will be, I don't know.

Q. Do you think the heat stroke that you got in Indian Wells, although you've got a thick head of black hair, do you think of wearing a cap in those conditions perhaps next time?

ROGER FEDERER: It's a good point which I thought about. But it's really the first time I've experienced something like this. I've played in some heat in my career. So, I mean, I'll try to continue playing the way I did. If I will get it a second time, then I'll put even more thoughts into it (laughter)... and start playing with a cap, thanks to you (laughter).

Q. What's closest to your heart - to win Davis Cup or the Gold Medal in the Olympics this year?

ROGER FEDERER: Olympics would mean more to me.

Q. Do you go with any particular plan today and you couldn't make it happen, or you went just to see? Considering that you do not have a coach right now and you're coaching yourself, how did you prepare for the match in this case?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I think the difficulty was that I've never played him, so that makes it more difficult. He's a young player who takes, you know -- you never know what he will do next because he's very unpredictable. He will suddenly take a lot of risks. That's what he sometimes did and surprised me. So for me, you know, it was important to, you know, to try to play aggressive. But I felt, you know, the conditions were very slow out there and maybe lost a little bit of my confidence in the early -- beginning of the match. I came to the net a few times and missed my chances there. He passed me well. So this is actually when maybe already I started to lose a little bit, you know, of confidence, when the match went his way. I started to take more chances from the baseline and maybe I played a little bit too much from the baseline with him instead of maybe coming to the net more. It's definitely got something to do with his game as well; he didn't allow me to. That's the way he played.

Q. How do you think you'll do at the French Open on clay this year?

ROGER FEDERER: Myself?

Q. Uh-hmm.

ROGER FEDERER: Long way to go. I don't know. Looking forward to it, you know. I can only do better than the last two years. I didn't win a set, so... (Laughing). My goal is to do better and hopefully win a round. But I've proven in the past on clay, you know, it can also work out for me. It's definitely one of the -- I have high hopes in the French Open this year.

End of FastScripts

[millenialfanfictionaddiction]

YN Bakugo: Big Sister

Bakugo featuring Class 1-A and various cameos x female! Yn Bakugo (she/her pronouns)

Warnings:light swearing, 99% fluff with mild angst, Bakugo being soft 🥹

AN: This is an anon request!

Ahh good ole UA high

A wonderful place for training up the future hero’s of the world

It also happens to be the home to our resident boom boom boi, Katsuki Bakugo 🥰

Ahh how we adore this little fire ball

Katsuki might be rough around the edges, but deep down inside we all know he has a soft side

And you know who knows that better than anyone?

That’s right, his lovely sister, YN Bakugo

Now, looking at you, one would never guess that you were related to Katsuki

Why you might ask? 👀

It’s definitely because you look and act just like your father, Masaru Bakugo

Your calm, cool and collected

While your brother and your mom, Mitsuki Bakugo, are more outgoing and loud

You prefer to keep a level head, especially in high pressure situations

You got along well with your parents, unlike your brother who was more arrogant and self-centered

“Katsuki you should act more like Yn! She’s an amazing hero!” Your mother would say

“The queen of the nerds? I will absolutely NOT be like YN!” Katsuki would argue back

You and your dad simply ignored them at this point

You quirk and calm ability helped you in everyday life

Which is perfect because like Katsuki, you followed down the path of becoming a hero

While you were a few years older than Katsuki, you still made a name for yourself

However Katsuki did his part to distance himself from you

“Bakugo, how is Yn doing?” Aizawa would ask after class

“No clue who you’re referring too,” he’d say, walking out

You were essentially the nerdiest of the nerds

And while Bakugō did love you, in his own Bakugo way

He also didn’t talk about you

He liked that his family life was separate than his school life

However that was all about to change 🙃

Now Katsuki knew Sibling Day was coming up but he simply chose to ignore it

He managed to intercept all of the flyers that were going to be sent to your parents home

He made sure that there was absolutely NO WAY you could find out

The last thing he wanted was for you to show up

Thank god a certain noisy someone would never tell you 😅

Right…

RIGHT????

“Hey YN, did you hear about the sibling even at U.A. this weekend?” Hawks asked you on one of your nightly patrols

“No, I had no idea! Katsuki didn’t mention it,” you said, figuring your brother probably didn’t want you to go

“You should definitely go YN! It would be cool for all the kiddos to see your quirk and stuff. I’m going to be there because it��s open to all pros,” Hawks said as you nodded

The night came and everyone was dressed and ready to mingle

A bunch of Bakugo’s classmates siblings showed up

Some of them were hero’s, others weren’t

It was really a great opportunity to get to know everyone

“Hey Kacchan!” Midoriya said : D

“What do you want nerd!” Bakugo responded

“I figured since neither of us have siblings, we could hang out!” Midoriya : D

“Like I’d ever hang out with you Deku!” Bakugo scoffed as he turned, stopping in his tracks when he saw you

Bakugo 👉🏻😠😐😳

You 👉🏻😁👋🏻

Bakugo 👉🏻😐😠😡

You 👉🏻😌🥰

“YN what the hell are you doing here?!?” Katsuki growled as you went in to hug him 🫂

“Suki it’s so good to see you! I missed you!” You said hugging your brother as he stood there, stiff as a pole

Everyone around you started murmuring

“Hey that’s Yn! She’s a huge pro!” Mina gushed

“She’s gorgeous and super popular,” Denki added

“Is anyone wondering why she’s hugging Bakubro?” Kirishima asked

Everyone 👉🏻😐🤨

“Ahh YN! It’s good to see you again!” Aizawa came up, giving you a small hug

“Erased, great to see you! I’m so glad I get to be here!” You say 😊

“I’m surprised your here Yn, I was sure Katsuki would have tried to stop you,” Aizawa said

“Oh I’m sure he did but hawks told me!” You said

Bakugo looking at Hawks rn 👇🏻

“Well I’m glad you could come!” He says as Bakugo stands there, glaring at you

“Did you ever think maybe there was a reason I didn’t want you to come?” Katsuki says as you stare at home

You 👉🏻 Nope : D

“Bakugobro whats up?” Kirishima says and him, Denki, Sero, Mina and Midoriya approach

Bakugo rn 👉🏻😐🤦🏼 why me

“Omg hi!! You must be Katsuki’s friends! I’m Yn Bakugo, his big sister!” You smile

“His… SISTER?!?!?” They all shout as you just smile and wave

Sero looks at you both, so confused, “umm I don’t get it. You two look and act nothing alike.”

“I know right? But it’s true, we are brother and sister,” you say, hugging Katsuki who is totally stiff as a board

You 👉🏻🥰🥰🥰

Katsuki 👉🏻😐🙄

“I gotta say, this is super weird,” Denki commented

“Try being related to her,” Bakugo adds

“Awe Katsuki, you know you love your big sister! Now come on, say it!” You sing

“Absolutely not,” he says

“Come on,” you say : D

“No,” Katsuki 😐

Suddenly, you hear an explosion happen right outside

The entire hall rocks with the aftermath of the loud boom

“Shit!” Katsuki yelled as everyone tried to get their footing

“YN let’s go!” Hawks yelled

“Katsuki, stay here and protect everyone! Leave it to your big sister to handle this!” You said, taking off before he even got to respond

“Alright nerds! Everyone stay put!” He screamed

“Uhh Kacchan, I don’t think calling everyone a ‘nerd’ is super reassuring,” Midoriya adds

“Well it got everyone to shut up didn’t it?” Katsuki shouted back

Midoriya 👉🏻 noted 📝

Meanwhile, you were outside, fighting off the criminals who caused the explosion

“YN look out!” Hawks shouted as suddenly your works went black

“Holy crow YN got hurt!” Someone shouted as Katsuki turned and ran towards the window

“What happened?” Mina asked

“She was fighting when someone threw a car at her!” Someone answered

Katsuki’s blood ran cold, he had to get to his sister

“Move nerds! Kirishima, make sure nobody leaves and protect everyone!” He shouted as he took off towards you

When he entered the steer, he saw you weren’t moving

He needed to get to you

“Bakugo no! We don’t need you to get hurt too!” Aizawa said as Katsuki watched hero’s race in to help

Someon grabbed you, quickly whisking you to an ambulance and taking you to the hospital

“Get out of my way!” Katsuki said before blasting off into the air and heading towards the hospital

Your parents were there, waiting when he arrived

“YN’s ok right?” He shouted

“Katsuki this is a hospital! Will you keep it down?” Your mother whisper yelled

“They are looking her over now Katsuki, but the hero that brought her in said she was conscious,” your dad said as Katsuku let out a breathe he didn’t know he was holding

Later, your parents went in to see you

You were pretty battered up but thankfully, you were able to protect yourself from any major damage

Katsuki stood by the doorway as your mother fawned over you

“Katsuki! I’m so sorry I ruined your night with your friends!” You cried

“Yeah whatever nerd, im just glade your ok,” he scoffed

You 👉🏻👁️👄👁️

“Katsuki got here as fast as he could Yn! Aizawa said he tried to get to you while uou were still knocked out!” Your mom said

“Mom will you be quiet!” Katsuki growled

You 👉🏻😐🥹

“Get over here and give me a hug?” You shouted as Katsuki looked at you like you had two heads

“I don’t do hugs nerd!” He said as you wiggled your fingers

“Come on, bring it in!” You said, still extending your arms

Katsuki 👉🏻😐🙄 fine!

He came over, giving you the worst most lack luster hug ever

But it didn’t matter, you knew your brother loved you ♥️

[charlottesbookclub]

should we talk about the interlace on gwayne's horse's armor?

since I spend altogether too much time looking at stills and gifs of gwayne anyway, I figured I might as well share some observations I have about the really interesting visuals that are happening with his horse's armor

this is part art historical analysis, part gwayne meta, and part "let's look at some gorgeous images under the guise of doing visual analysis" so if that's your thing, please read on! if not, that's also totally fine – I get that this is hyperspecific and also a symptom of my very serious gwayne brainrot, so I'm putting everything else below the cut! 💚💚 (also it's quite long – sorry! 😅)

okay I want to be upfront about my qualifications and my shortfalls here: I'm an art history phd student and so basically all I do is visual analysis of objects. I've studied a number of medieval manuscripts that feature interlace (which is where I'm going to draw most of my knowledge from here), and I've taken a seminar (an advanced graduate course) specifically on medieval manuscripts, for which I wrote a research paper entitled "From Kells to Celtic: The Aesthetics of the Book of Kells Illuminations as a Marker of Irish Identity." HOWEVER I am NOT a historian of armor, so I will be taking my knowledge of interlace on other objects and applying it to the armor we see in the show

a short intro

so, the first thing that struck me about gwayne's horse's armor is that it's really different than the other equestrian armor we see, even amongst the other men who came with him from oldtown. to be honest, my guess is that this was likely done in the show to help him stand out and also show that he is a special and precious princess (which he is btw 😌😌) who needs fancy armor for his horse. I'm not sure if further thought went into it than that (but maybe it did! I'm happy to stand corrected here!)

however, the catastrophic levels of brainrot I've developed over this man have compelled me to read much further into it than that, which I shall now proceed to do with great enthusiasm! ☺️

first, let's look at the armor:

it's hard to find really detailed close-ups, but it's clear that the armor is incredibly intricate. not only do we have this very complex interlacing, but certain designs are marked out with different colors and internal patterning, making the whole thing even more visually interesting and complex

while interlacing is used across a vast range of time, cultures, geographical regions, and artistic mediums, given both the visuality of this armor in particular and knowing that westeros is based on medieval europe, seeing this interlace instantly called to mind a style that we today call "insular fusion" (I'm not going to go into all the specifics of it here because that's a post all its own lol 😅). it's a style perhaps most famously exemplified by The Book of Kells, but it is found throughout many different objects of the same period (ca. 700-900 CE)

now let's look at some fucking interlace hell yeah!!!!!!

from The Book of Kells (ca. 750-810 CE)

from The Lindisfarne Gospels (ca. 698-721 CE)

and two non-manuscript examples:

Animal Head Post from a Viking Ship Burial (ca. 825 CE)

and a later example, but one of my favorites:

Wooden Portal of the Urnes Stave Church (ca. 1050-1070 CE)

do we see the vision??? are y'all picking up what I'm putting down???

"okay, charlotte, I see the similarities, but why does this matter?" you may be asking yourself (or maybe you aren't idk), and the answer is: this type of interlacing had some super fascinating meanings and uses, some of which I think we can apply to gwayne! 💚💚

let me break it down from least to most potentially related to gwayne:

the aesthetics of interlace as an identity marker

use of interlace in a religious context

interlace as a status symbol

the protective potential of interlace

and now let's go into detailllllllll!!!!!

the aesthetics of interlace as an identity marker

I bring this one up because it's what I focused on in my personal research on the topic of interlace, but I also think it's the least relevant to gwayne. my argument in my paper was that the aesthetics of the interlace in the Book of Kells have been thoughtfully and intentionally re-used throughout history and into the present as a clear visual marker of identity that draws a narrative back to the production of the Book of Kells. however, in terms of the show, we have very little indication that the particular style of interlacing we see on gwayne's horse is associated with any larger identity concepts. it doesn't seem to be associated with house hightower, as none of the other men with gwayne seem to borrow this motif, nor do we see it associated with alicent (as far as I can tell from the little looking I've done, but I'm more than happy to revise this!). for it to make sense as some form of identity marker, it would have to be clear what identity he's visually referencing, and since his use of interlace seems unique, I think it's doubtful that it's part of a larger visual invocation of identity

use of interlace in a religious context

part of what makes insular fusion so interesting as a style is that it is indeed a fusion of a number of different regional styles, including vine scrolls from the mediterranean, triskeles from the northern british isles, and zoomorphic (meaning "in the form of animals") interlace from northwestern mainland europe. although insular fusion is used to decorate christian objects (like gospel books and churches), its component parts are much much older and have connections to various pagan religions that significantly pre-date christianity. obviously it's impossible to be 100% certain of the exact significance of interlace in any of these religious contexts (there are no written records explaining it), but scholars have a few guesses

one suggestion is that interlace in some way represented the spirit world/the world of the gods, or perhaps even a point of connection between the human world and the world beyond. although the religion of westeros is obviously different than any of the real-world religions that used interlace in this manner, I do still wonder if there could be a religious connection here. it's pretty clear that gwayne's mother was quite religious, and alicent is as well. although we don't totally know gwayne's relationship with religion, we could certainly guess that it's at least a little bit important to him, given the beliefs of the women in his life. I know that the most common religious symbol in westeros tends to be the seven-pointed star, which is not something I see on the interlace on the armor, so I'm not sure how far I would want to take this hypothesis, but I did want to put it out there for anyone who might have further thoughts!

interlace as a status symbol

as I mentioned to in the beginning, I do think it's likely that this particular type of armor was chosen for gwayne's horse because it does come off as a bit ostentatious. the manuscripts with interlace that I mentioned above were hugely expensive and time-consuming projects, and only the most affluent religious communities could afford such luxurious gospel books. given the level of detail on the armor, I have to imagine that the same is true in the world of the show. in some ways, it's a mode of conspicuous consumption; a demonstration of the hightowers' wealth and influence. there's a reason gwayne's horse's armor stands out: because it's meant to. it's meant to set him apart, even from the other soldiers who came with him from oldtown

now this next part is just my own conjecture, but I also wonder if the armor is meant to speak to a more artistic sensibility on gwayne's part. after all, equestrian armor is a very functional object with a very clear goal: to protect the horse. from a purely functional standpoint, the interlace does nothing to serve this purpose (and may actually hinder it a little??), it simply adds a complex visuality to the armor. aside from just flaunting the wealth that must have been expended to commission such a piece, it also suggests that it was crafted by artisans who had both functional and aesthetic goals in mind while creating it. whether it was gwayne himself who directed the commission or not, it seems significant that he chose to use this armor that doubles as a kind of art piece. he does seem to be someone who enjoys the finer things in life, so it wouldn't surprise me if he had an artistic appreciation too, and was using this armor as a way to demonstrate that (or perhaps even just as a way to show his own personal artistic taste/preferences)

the protective potential of interlace

technically, I think "interlace as a status symbol" is the most likely reason for the armor being the way it is, but this one is my favorite theory, so I'm putting it at the top. circling back to the religious uses of interlace, another theory of its religious significance is as a mode of protection. some scholars think that its creators believed that the weaving, intertwined lines of the interlace would confuse and trap evil spirits. building on this theory is the fact that complex interlacing was often used at transitional or liminal points, such as the beginning pages of a gospel book or on the doors of churches. the idea here is that the interlace wields its protective powers at these key entry points against any evil entities that might try to enter sacred or protected spaces

interlace as apotropaic (a fancy technical term meaning "protective," often used in reference to magic or magical practices) seems particularly poignant for an object that was literally going to be worn into battle. now, I admit once again that there is little canon evidence to suggest that interlace is thought of in this way in the world of the show, so I'm running with this theory more because I like it rather than because I think it's legitimately based in canon. but I just think it's very sweet that gwayne's horse would be adorned with this complex interlace that seems to be woven with protective powers. even if gwayne (or others) didn't literally believe that interlace had those kind of powers, the fact that he still made the choice to invoke the idea of protection against harm and evil is a lovely thought. (it makes me think of how people today still might carry a rabbit's foot or have charms against the evil eye, even if they don't actually place stock in the beliefs surrounding those objects. I just think it's cool that generations of cultural belief still imbue these objects with a kind of magical aura). I just like the idea that he (or someone else?? otto? alicent? his mother?) chose armor that might have been associated with protection against harm

and now I'll finally wrap up!!

whew that was a lot! if you've read this far – thank you so much!! I'm honestly not even sure if these thoughts were coherent, but I kept thinking about this when I looked at that interlaced armor, and I just had to get the ideas out of my head lol

but I'd love to hear what others think about this topic! I'm certainly not an expert on the matter, and I'd be super open to hearing if others have different interpretations!

if nothing else, I hope you learned something cool about interlace! (and also just how far I have descended into madness over this man that I am writing pages-long analyses of his horse's armor 😅🤪)

[fernsnailz]

February 2024 Review Roundup

well i sure did watch some stuff and read one book this month

the things i finished this month reminded me that for every incredible piece of art i find myself enjoying, i end up watching some Hot Garbage immediately after to balance things out again. idk why i do this.

i have quite a bit to say about both the things i enjoyed and the things that brought me physical pain this month, so there is um. a lot under the cut. any previous desire for brevity i had in january has been completely thrown out the window as i use these roundups as an outlet to gush about things i like and complain about things i didn't. fair warning, if you open the readmore you will be scrolling for a while. enjoy i guess

House of Leaves

does any other book out there have the balls to write a completely fake interview with stephen king

House of Leaves is a novel you gotta throw around a little bit. It feels really weird that my copy is still in the pristine state I bought it in - It seems like it should have water damage and smell like mildew with its pages falling out and spine cracked into pieces. Getting the full story from this book requires flipping back and forth, turning it around, searching for answers. All things considered it’s not that difficult of a read, but its format still allows you to feel like you’re discovering every hidden piece for yourself, and I really liked that interactivity. I was engaged pretty much the whole way through.

I don’t really think I’ll be able to revisit this book anytime soon though. It’s difficult for me to format what else I’d like to say about it because to be honest, it caught me off guard and disturbed me on a fairly personal level. There’s a relief I feel when I remember that I don’t actually know what was going on with the house - maybe that was intentional on the book’s behalf, maybe I just didn’t look hard enough for answers. I don’t know. But the implication that something divine was down there was enough of an answer for me. The book's good. read it if you want a spooooooky time or if you never want to look at a hallway the same way again

Doctor Who (Series 1-4) (rewatch)

ok so this is a fuckload of doctor who to cover so i’m gonna give some thoughts on a few of the characters and my favorite + least favorite episodes

9th doctor: My favorite butch lesbian. Christopher Eccleston truly embodies the concept of The Doctor so, so well: otherworldly guy who knows too much, genuinely cares about life across the universe, and also has a bit of deep, unresolved rage. His moments of joy and careless fun stick with me the most, he absolutely radiates with life and brings so much to this character.

Rose: I first watched Doctor Who when I was in middle school, and I didn’t like Rose that much back then. And guys. I have bad news. I'm still not really much of a Rose fan

I definitely understood her more this watch through - that desire for adventure and some sort of control over her life, emotions so strong that she’s willing to throw near everything away. That’s just what being 19 is like sometimes. I think Rose is a very compelling character who just happens to frustrate me a bit. And that’s kinda the point, her co-dependent relationship with the Doctor is doomed to fail and it's meant to hurt. Ultimately, I think when I first watched the show I was too young to understand Rose, and now I’m just too old to relate to her.

Captain Jack: Jack is my favorite character. I fucking love this guy. Dude has the worst luck in the whole universe and still cannot be stopped. Legendary. Every episode with him is a goddamn delight because he has so much chemistry with every single cast member. No notes 10/10 i love my problematic bisexual king

10th doctor: About four episodes into David Tennant’s run I realized that he dresses like a Hazbin Hotel character and it made me very sad. Still, there’s a reason this guy inspired every middle schooler to buy a pair of converse in 2008. He has style, he has depth, he’s got the sauce. It’s genuinely terrifying to see his anger, I like that a lot of 10’s run is about his denial of godhood and power over life in the universe, something that the rest of the time lords desired. idk i like my sad pathetic little weasel but he's also a huge fucking asshole sometimes which sucks. especially when it's directed at Martha.

Martha: Martha I am so sorry for what this show put you through. Martha was my favorite companion when I first watched the show, and I still have a huge soft spot for her. Her ability to hold her own and navigate foreign worlds using her own intelligence absolutely rules, and her drive forward is unbreakable. But the show seems to put her down at every possible opportunity, most notably with how 10 treats her. Her struggles and wants are constantly ignored, and she's often treated as a rebound from Rose. And I like that she eventually chooses to end it by not traveling with 10 anymore, but it hurts because it feels like she was never given the same chance or care that Rose and Donna were. This era of Doctor Who really doesn’t treat its black companions well because Mickey goes through something similar - both Martha and Mickey are characters designed to be ignored or left behind, and it sucks.

Donna: Donna Noble is one of the greatest fictional characters to ever exist. Despite seemingly living a fairly average life and working a fairly average job, Donna reflects the idea that no one is truly "average" and every single person is brimming with personality, life, and love. I love that her relationship with 10 is purely platonic, personally their friendship feels like it has a lot more depth than either of the romance-oriented relationships 10 had with Rose and Martha. 10 and Donna bounce off of each other so well and it's delightful, Donna brings so much humor and life to every world she's taken to and it's incredible. I wish her and Captain Jack could have interacted more.

My favorite episode: The Runaway Bride is hard to not choose as my favorite. I have a blast every time I watch this episode and it’s such a good introduction for Donna. Also the Tardis car chase kills me, I love when it cuts to the kids in the back of another car clapping and cheering. I was also surprised by the episode Midnight - it’s dreadful to watch and I kinda loved it. So much spirals out of control when shit hits the fan, even though no one has any idea what they’re trying to fight against. Really interesting exploration as to how fear can drive people apart.

My least favorite episode: It’s Love & Monsters. I wish I liked this episode - stories that follow regular ass people living in this world are often some of the best episodes in the series (Weeping Angels and all that). And this episode definitely has some of that. It’s honestly really touching to see this group of nerds get together and enjoy life in the first part of the episode. I think the antagonist of “guy who absorbs people” ends up dragging down any charm this story had because he just. eats all of the interesting characters. But despite me disliking this episode, I honestly have a deep respect for it - it’s fucking crazy. It ends with the main guy telling us about his sex life with his girlfriend who is now stuck in a piece of concrete. Where else are you going to get a story like this. It fucking sucks and that’s hilarious

oh also the production design: GODDDDDD I FUCKING LOVE THE PRODUCTION DESIGN AND SETS ON THIS SHOW. I love how dirty and rundown a lot of the spaceship sets look with wires and lights scattered everywhere. And a number of alien designs also go CRAZY with the prosthetics - I keep thinking about the Hath from The Doctor’s Daughter and how every head prosthetic had liquid inside it that could bubble. Absolutely crazy. I also love the moments where you can clearly see they did not have that much time and just had to throw something together or pain a bald cap green. Jank is the nature of sci-fi production design and I dearly love and miss that Doctor Who jank.

Rebuild of Evangelion

Last year after finishing the original Evangelion series + End of Evangelion, I remember going through the Evangelion tumblr tag and being very confused by the number of slice of life/found family-esque fanworks of the cast. It left me puzzled and thinking “...did we even watch the same thing??”

APPARENTLY NOT

[spoiler warning here because these movies are very good and i give the best parts away. if you want to watch these movies then DO IT NOW!!!!!!!!]

I honestly never expected a world where these characters got a happy ending. I so, so badly wish I could see 3.0 and 3.0+1.0 in theaters - these movies are stunning. I know I say things “go crazy” a lot, but man. They go fucking CRAZY.

While I have a few issues with how the first two movies adapted the original show, I do think the changes they made better serve the story this rebuild is trying to tell. For example, my favorite episode in the original Eva series is episode 18, where Toji is chosen to pilot Unit 03. It’s absolutely terrifying because Shinji doesn’t know who 03’s pilot is, yet he’s forced to be inside Unit 01 as it tears 03 apart. His resolve not to kill anyone despite not even knowing who’s in danger is an aspect of that episode I love and speaks to Shinji's inherent humanity, and when he learns Toji was in there it hurts even more. The rebuild movies change Unit 03’s pilot to Auska, and Shinji knows she’s in there from the start. I think this choice works for the movies and is still an effective emotional beat, but personally I still prefer the version where Shinji had no idea who was in there. That lack of knowledge is infinitely more terrifying to me.

I really like what these movies did with some of the angel designs though. The sixth angel (the fuckin. blue diamond cube thing) works really well in 3D/CG animation. The way the thing warps and moves is otherly and terrifying - and it’s just a fucking cube. I’ve always really loved how the Eva series approaches angel designs and the divine - despite the alien-like designs, there’s often something extremely familiar about them. They’re often reminiscent of an animal, a machine, or a human. This is also how they approached the anti-universe in these movies, I loved how it takes the form of various locations from the series and turns them into a movie set. It’s deeply familiar, but ultimately just an illusion of familiarity like the angels and the divine.

Also I gotta say. I fucking love Mari. I think she’s hilarious. She first meets Shinji by accidentally parachuting into him and then immediately starts crawling on all fours to sniff him. This girl also introduces “Beast Mode” where the Eva pilots can go wild turn their mechs into a fucking. superpowered beast of some sort. And also she defeats a whole army by using the Eiffel Tower as a spear. She’s such an absurd character and I honestly kinda love it. The only thing I knew about these movies before watching them was this gif of her Backing That Shit Up and she truly lives up to the insane nature of this shot.

My favorite section of these movies is definitely the first part of 3.0+1.0 where the pilots are basically just living a domestic life in a small town - it’s truly beautiful. The growth that Rei’s copy goes through here is fantastic, I love stories about seemingly emotionless beings learning how to live. And right after she dies, we get the shot that absolutely broke me the first time I saw it:

This shit. The way you can just barely tell he’s been crying from the red around his eyes. They don't talk about it, they barely linger on it, but it's allowed just enough time to punch you in the gut. I don’t know why this shot got me as hard as it did but goddamn. jesus christ. i want to throw up

There’s some goofy shit in these movies. The infinite synch rate. Misato’s stupidass hat and sunglasses. Some goofy ass 3D animation that doesn’t age super well. The rainbow that shows up every time an angel dies. But these things really didn’t take me out of the core of these films, and there’s so much genuine emotion and beauty in this series that had me absolutely hooked - especially in the last two films. They go crazy. My favorite line is 100% “The only thing a son can do for his father is pat him on the shoulder… or kill him.” and man. ain’t that what Evangelion is all about. i love these movies

High School Musical 3

kinda slaps just a little bit

High School Musical 3 starts with a finale number. The last high school basketball game of Troy Bolton’s life - and it goes kinda hard. The classic pep band brass that’s essential to so many High School Musical numbers returns, and the constant theme of two feuding cheer teams in the background? Genius. This is truly art. I love listening to Now or Never without visuals because in the middle Troy just starts coughing and gagging seemingly out of nowhere

Unfortunately, starting the movie at such a high point means that the rest of the runtime doesn’t quite match up to it. The story lags and meanders quite a bit, but part of me kinda appreciates that - it’s their last semester of high school, which is always a time of confusion and turmoil. However, I do have a pitch for how they could have countered the constant falling action this movie seems to go through:

The Wildcats should have lost their last game at the beginning of the movie.

What if the game is instead the inciting incident that leads Troy and his besties through their tumultuous last semester? Troy is still torn between basketball and theater, but his identity would be even further challenged here - is winning and success all that matters for him, or is it the love of sport and performance that keeps him going? idk whatever this movie came out 16 years ago i can’t be out here writing AUs for it jgnfsgfnjdksg

Some miscellaneous thoughts about this movie that i don’t care about formatting into larger paragraphs:

Ryan and Sharpay’s number (I Want It All) slaps as usual. The part where Ryan shouts “MADISON SQUARE GARDEN!!!!!!!” makes me so happy every time i hear it

The production design and sets go absolutely fucking crazy. I still have no idea how they pulled off the spinning hallway in Scream.

One of the classic staples of HSM is Chad’s shirts. Most of them are fairly silly and like something you would expect to find in the walmart clearance section. However, there’s one shirt he has in this movie that confused the hell out of me. It’s this one:

What the FUCK does Greenster mean. Is it just a combination of Green and Monster?? Why??? What green monster are we talking about here????? Where the fuck did this shirt come from?????????

Avatar The Last Airbender (2024)

There’s really only one word I can think of to describe what this show is like: sauceless. No flavor. No depth. No character. No sauce. This show is honestly so fucking boring and seems to fundamentally misunderstand what the appeal of the original Avatar series is - not necessarily because things are changed or removed from the original, but because nothing of substance is added in return. 

Most of the characters are mere echoes of their original counterparts when compared to their source material. Sokka is reduced to a guy who wants to fight good, Katara’s stubborn and confrontational nature is very rarely utilized, and Aang’s mischievous antics and love of fun is sorely missing. One of the major reasons for the dull interpretations seems to be the directing - While I have faith that most of these actors are trying their best (especially since a number of them are kids/young adults), the direction seems to be incredibly lackluster and takes away nearly every cast member’s stage presence or personality. There’s a number of reaction shots of the main trio that just look like this: 😐😐😐 as if they were just told to “look concerned” at the events unfolding before them. And these issues are apparent in the majority of the performances - for example, General Zhao talks like he’s in a board meeting up until the last episode, and it’s an incredibly flat performance. He talks somewhat monotone in the original series as well, but this live-action take on the character often meanders with his dialogue and lacks that sharp, terrifying quality that I think this character needs. Uncle Iroh also feels incredibly stiff in this adaptation, and it’s a goddamn crime that they took away the cunty little outfit and chains he was originally wearing when he gets captured by earthbenders. wait who said that

Credit where credit is due, there’s a few cast members that seem to be giving their best. It’s clear that Aang’s actor enjoys the role and does pretty well despite the lackluster direction and dialogue he’s given. On top of that, I think Zuko’s actor is honestly the best part of the show. His take on Zuko leans much more into teenage tendencies and sarcasm, which, although it can be silly, is a welcome take of the character in my opinion and pretty fun to watch. There’s this one line he has at the beginning of episode 2 where, in an incredibly whiny tone of voice, he goes “He RAN! The ultimate warrior! He’s a Coward :((((“ and the read is so. fucking funny

The case of bad direction isn’t limited to the performances, however. It’s also stunningly apparent in how everything is shot. Despite being in a widescreen format, most shots are incredibly centered - you could crop the entire runtime into a 4:3 frame and you wouldn’t be cutting out much of anything. I’ve seen some speculation that this was an intentional choice to make things more adaptable or readable for TikTok/phone video, but honestly I think that’s a dumb take. I think the issue stems from a lack of creativity and thoughtless composition. Keeping everything staged in the center can make shots feel disjointed, lacking much depth, or completely empty. It’s a boring way to shoot and indicates that the show lacks any unique vision at all.

Overall, this show doesn't really seem to understand what makes Avatar interesting in the first place. It's more interested in spectacle and action than the characters' relationships, emotions, and mistakes. I try not to compare it too much to the original since it's allowed to take liberties with its adaptation, but very few of its changes add much to the end result or give it a unique voice. It's just sauceless and boring.

Some YouTube videos i liked in February:

💥 My House.WAD - Inside Doom's Most Terrifying Mod (some supplemental House of Leaves material for ya) 💥 Martha Jones Deserved Better (this video explains how Doctor Who did Martha dirty better than i ever could) 💥 bringing JUSTICE to the worst garfield game 💥 Selling Kids for Clout: The Downfall of Family Channels

And that’s my roundup for February! Thank you for reading, I promise there are no more reviews left to scroll through below this goodbye. Nope, nothing else I watched this month. Bye!

…ok is everyone gone. phew, i’m glad no one noticed i pulled an hbomberguy and hid the largest part of this post under a false ending. Anyway holy shit i need to talk about hazbin hotel

Hazbin Hotel

well i didn’t like it

Hazbin Hotel is a weird, fascinating mess of a show. Every episode left me wondering what creative decisions (or lack thereof) led to the sequence of images I just watched. There’s been a lot of discussion of this show recently and I’m not interested in covering every critique I have, but there’s a few things that I'd like to talk about somewhat in-depth.

Hell is real and it's just Red Chicago

The setting of Hell is kinda boring in this show.

Let me try to put this into perspective. Aside from the hotel, here’s a list of the locations we see in Hell:

A boardroom

A video store

Vox’s evil lair (it has cyber sharks which is kinda cool)

Various streets

Another boardroom

A BDSM club

Carmilla’s house (it’s gray and has. balconies?)

A porn studio

A bar

Another bar

A town square (full of cannibals)

None of these locations really take on any sort of otherworldly form besides some vague demonic imagery scattered throughout (and the cannibals. i guess. whatever). In short, Hazbin Hotel’s setting resembles Chicago more than it does Hell.

I can see a world where that’s intentional. Perhaps making Hell resemble a modern city could be used as a thematic tool or point of relatability? But Hazbin doesn’t really do anything like that - since the characters rarely ever interact with their environments, these locations end up seeming like they lack creativity, like they’re just cardboard sets where characters go to swear. They all start to blend together after a while - every street feels the same, every boardroom fades into the background, and every bar feels like a google image search result for the word “club.” This world feels stunningly empty despite the busy designs and colors. Even though the backgrounds are painted and designed fairly well, nothing of substance is ever really added to them through the story.

However, a few musical numbers take effort to break away from these settings. This felt like a weight off of my shoulders whenever it happened, it was nice to see some interesting setpieces and backgrounds that weren’t red. I liked the bombastic and over-the-top broadway lights in Loser and the glowing alternate world in Charlie and Lucifer’s song. But these moments are few and crowded by the dull locations in Hell - or worse, the Hotel itself.

Despite being the namesake of the show, the actual Hazbin Hotel is… lifeless. Which, yeah, it’s a hotel where dead people go in the afterlife, but it’s missing any sort of personality or history besides “it’s old and falling apart.” I expected the hotel to be full of secrets - like maybe some hidden passages or rooms, or mysterious cabinets full of rotted meats, or old valuables hidden under the rugs by the previous owners. Something for the cast to explore and discover, and as they get closer to each other they also start to understand the hotel more. Alastor seems very intent on keeping the physical hotel standing for some reason, but I never really understood why. There’s nothing there. And that nothingness is fully realized when at the end of the show, they just rebuild the entire hotel to be grand and beautiful - an emotional beat that didn’t hit me at all because I never felt like I knew the hotel in the first place. Despite rebuilding it from the ground up, it will feel just as empty.

3 SHOTS THAT DRIVE ME CRAZY

I was truly baffled at how some of these scenes are timed and put together. Multiple sequences left me feeling nauseous and dazed - the camera moves like it’s being swung on the end of a rope, and there’s so many misplaced or meaningless cuts scattered through these episodes.

There’s a sequence of three shots in the first episode that I want to dissect. I will fully admit that I'm breaching nitpicking territory here, but the shot composition issues in this show are pretty rampant and my analysis here is just a hyper-specific look at a single part of that larger problem. Hopefully you can also use it as a quick storyboarding lesson too idk

First, we see Adam teasing Charlie.

Then, it cuts straight to this shot:

A few things here. 

Shot 2 is just closer on the characters, which is not a great idea to cut to after the previous waist-up shot. On top of being a jarring jump cut, there is no purpose for this new shot. All the information we see here (Adam laughs, Charlie fake laughs) could have just been conveyed in the previous shot.

Despite the characters being in the same position as the last shot, the background changes. This straight up just feels like an error. I think the idea is supposed to be that the camera is at a different angle, but the position of the characters does not convey that. It looks like reality changes behind them.

And if that’s not enough, this is the shot we get immediately after those two:

In this shot, the residents of the hotel sit on the couch as Vaggie walks into the shot, framing them between her legs. But there’s something… off.

Vaggie either looks like she’s floating or she’s three stories tall. Quick storyboard lesson as to why:

The main problem with this shot is that the perspective of the background doesn’t match up with where Vaggie is placed. The couch is framed as if the camera were above it, but Vaggie is framed like the camera is floor-level below her. I’ve traced the shot and added a perspective grid to hopefully better illustrate this:

Do you see what I mean? If the camera WAS actually on the floor like Vaggie’s position in the shot suggests, the composition would look more like this:

Notice how much closer the floor grid is to the bottom of the frame and how you can see the underside of the couch.

And to be fair, this is probably what the original storyboard for this shot looked like! Personally I think something went wrong in the compositing stage - this might be a couch background from another shot that was reused here to save time, or whoever approved this shot just let the error slide since the shot is so short (i've been there. sometimes you let the jank slide). Most animated shows will have some poorly framed shots and continuity errors because mistakes are bound to happen, but two egregious ones right next to each other like this is. pretty bad. It's so noticeable from a directing perspective.

Here’s the thing: these three shots happen in the span of like 10 seconds. Most viewers probably wouldn’t notice these issues, and that's fine. But even though these errors are quick, they stack upon each other so fast that even if you can’t pinpoint exactly what’s wrong, something still feels wrong. There’s so many other moments where the show breaks extremely basic shot composition, continuity, and staging rules - for example, the second musical number of the show breaks the 180 rule like four times for no good reason. The whole show feels like a dizzy, nauseating mess because the shots rarely feel like they form anything cohesive.

MY ROOMMATE TOLD ME TO GO TO BED SO HERE ARE SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

Here’s a rundown on some other thoughts that I don’t care to format into larger sections:

The show seems to lack much to say about sin and redemption other than “redemption good.” like sure, but what are they being redeemed from? Is heaven truly the place they deserve to go after being redeemed, even though it’s shown to be unjust? Are there sins that are too great to be redeemed from, or others that shouldn't be considered sins at all? I asked myself a number of questions like this, but never got many answers from Hazbin.

This show has a bad relationship with kink and sex. Both are mostly used as a punchline or a form of control. I didn’t like it. Perhaps the reason Hazbin never really comments on the nature of sin is because it needs you to consider sex and kink sinful or otherly for these jokes to hit.

Some of the animation is crazy good. I will praise any animator that even attempts to make these character designs move. A number of extremely talented people worked on this show, a few of the musical sequences in particular have some incredible movement.

Alastor is a very boring character. It’s wild that most of the side characters in this show only exist to talk about how much they like or hate Alastor, he mostly just stands to the side of some shots or kills random nameless goons. I expected him to have a much larger role in the story, but he just gets his ass kicked in the final episode and then crawls back to the hotel.

Episode 4 is the most cohesive, and i think Angel is the best character in the show. Unfortunately, the fact that Hazbin takes so much effort to show Angel’s misery left me… concerned? None of the other characters get treated as poorly as Angel by the narrative. There’s a few smaller explorations of trauma, but nothing remotely compares to what Angel is put through on-screen. This isn’t to say that I think the whole cast needs to be extremely traumatized and constantly miserable, but rather that I find it concerning that the only character subjected to incredibly graphic abuse and torture (that we see or hear about) is the gay sex worker. Which sucks, because I think the concept of hypersexuality resulted from sexual abuse is an important topic worthy of discussing in adult media. I just think they tried to execute this theme without much critical thought beforehand.

I think the voice cast does a fantastic job for the most part. Keith David is way too good for Husk.

I really liked the one shot where Charlie opens her phone and we see that she has a contact for every individual egg minion.

I was very brave and got through this whole review without talking about my new least favorite character of all time, Vox. here’s what I think of him:

The overall vision and end result of Hazbin Hotel is just mediocre. While I don’t know what led to the messy state this show ended up in, my guess is that it was probably the result of inadequate direction, sloppy writing, and lacking creative support from the studios involved. Because of this, please understand that I have no desire or intention to put down any individual artists that worked on this show - I hope it's clear that most of my criticisms are directed at the larger vision these artists were given to execute and/or the lack of creative support they received while working on this show.

I also don’t really have much desire to participate in any further Hazbin discussion or discourse because it has wasted enough of my time already and I want to be free of this curse. please spare my inbox from hazbin hotel discourse. please. i'm begging.

You want to know what the most fucked up thing about this is though? Despite everything I said about Hazbin, Avatar the Last Airbender 2024 is still the worst show I watched this month. I would take Hazbin over Avatar 2024 literally any day.

well if you got this far. thanks for reading. also sorry you read all that. whelp alright back into my hole i go bye bye

[pseudophanti]

Okay, is it just me is it annoying/disrespectful when people joke about Dan being anything other than gay. Not trying to start drama but some people's comments after the whole "Phil is gayer thing" have been annoying me so much 🙄

i keep not seeing asks on this blog so this is very late i'm sorry but yeah no i agree lol it pisses me off SO BAD. sometimes dnp say something and it's funny in the moment but then i realise oh fucks sake this is gonna make people really annoying isn't it..

it's like. people are verrrrryyyy obsessed with labels and seem to believe it's a Scientific Thing that you're assigned at birth and then you just have to idk. find it? i guess? and it's like babe no you choose those. you don't choose your attraction but you very much choose your labels and the way people jump at any and every chance to call dan bisexual makes me SO MADDDDD like he spent so many years trying to accept that he isn't bi and you want to shove him back into that label so fucking bad

idk how to word this in a way that won't get misinterpreted i'm sure someone will manage to but lets preface it with #notallbisexuals this is not in any way shape or form a judgement on all bi phannies no one twist my words Please but i think. SOME. some. a select few. bisexual phannies. got very attached to the idea that dan was bi back when that was the most recent label of his we had to go by. and then when he came out and it turned out he's actually gay they felt like idk, they lost something, and now they're grasping at any straws to make him bisexual again. the first half of this i know for a fact cause i had several people straight up say it when he came out lol like both anons and friends of mine were like actively disappointed he wasn't actually bi and i mean i do kinda get it? i'm not like 'wow isn't that insane' like no it makes a lot of sense, you relate to this person you love a lot and you think you've got the same labels and then it turns out you don't and you're disappointed. and that's what i mean about people being obsessed with labels because truly at the end of the day not much changed lol. but i do get it, in a way. it's just the portion that clings onto hope he could still be bi....... keep it to yourself maybe. i understand wanting to relate to your fave on every level but at a certain point you just have to accept it's not about you i'm sorry

this got long can you tell it's a permanent annoyance of mine

in conclusion god i just wish dan could talk about the nuances in his identity without people immediately assigning him new labels he didn't ask for

[lunar-years]

Can I ask about that Keeley kiss conversation/scene between Nate and Roy and what the micro-aggressions were? Or can you point me to where Nick talked about it? I’m so curious now

I dove wayyy back in Nick’s Twitter archive for you, anon, lol. Unfortunately he doesn’t elaborate on it much, but he wrote this in his season 2 recap: “season 2 is jam full of micro aggressions against Nate… from Ted laughing at the prospect of Nate being a ‘big dog,’ to Roy not being bothered that Nate made an inappropriate move on Keeley, to him not receiving a Nespresso machine.” (He may have also said more in interviews around that time but I couldn’t begin to link you)

If you want to read the full thing see below (and get ready to zoom in lmao) ⬇️

Along the way searching for that I also ran into his season 3 Nate recap; that one goes on for three pages so I’m not putting it all here, but I want to draw an eye to this line in particular: “it’s no coincidence that Nate chose a black suit to emulate Roy following his inappropriate pass at Keeley in 211, which is gross for all kinds of reasons, but shows Nate’s toxic and confused mindset at the end of season 2.” !!!! Which is unrelated to this conversation about micro aggression but very related to how Nate sees Roy.

Taken from this page ⬇️

(Also on Nick’s Twitter if you want to read the full thing).

I am absolutely NOT a definitive source on the matter, and there were some really good metas on it during the season that spoke about it much more eloquently than I can. If anyone has links to those posts or consider yourself a Nate scholar please feel free to add your thoughts!!

Just my two cents…compare Roy’s reaction to Jamie telling Keeley he still loves her in s2 (or his reaction to Jamie sleeping with Keeley in season 1 after they’d broken up, or his reaction to Jamie telling Roy he’s not going to stop pursuing Keeley in season 3…) to how he reacts to Nate inappropriately kissing Keeley. Jamie doesn’t do anything on that level of inappropriate or untoward (if still wrong, that’s up to you) and yet Roy is FURIOUS. He’s head butting Jamie on the pitch!! He immediately shifts to violence and yelling!

But to Nate, who’s just made an actual pass at his girlfriend without her consent, he basically…laughs it off? And I guess you can say that the difference is all in the history between Jamie and Keeley and Roy and maybe it is, but that’s definitively not how Nate sees it. To him, Roy is able to quickly dismiss the issue with Nate because…unlike with Jamie, Roy doesn’t see Nate as an actually viable threat to his relationship in any way. He’s not much bothered by the kiss because, well, it’s Nate. Keeley would never go for a guy like Nate. (This is how Nate views Roy’s reaction anyway.) He apologizes expecting a HUGE backlash from Roy and possibly violence, and is all braced for it, and instead Roy just dismisses it as bygones be bygones. Rather than being relieved, Nate finds himself offended.

[djcube1701]

Secret Level: Each Episode from Worst to Best

Amazon’s Secret Level is a collection of shorts based on various video games. For the most part, they’re alright, but many don’t work that well as shorts, feeling like something chopped out of a larger piece. A few do stand out as great pieces of work. Here’s some quick reviews of them in order of worst to best.

15. Playtime: Fulfilment

This episode was marketed as a big PlayStation crossover, with many (myself included) presuming that the makers of Secret Level accepted making an advertisement for Concord in exchange for letting them ust PlayStation characters. 

Playtime follows a bicycle courier in a world where mobile games with lots of noise and grinding have become augmented reality as a way of life. A stranger offers her a package when she starts getting attacked by PlayStation characters. First are some armoured goons (my only guess is Killzone) then a colossus from Shadow of the Colossus, which turns out not to be a huge threat, then the courier just drives past Kratos. Eventually, Sackboy just drifts past. Not only have they no relation to the story, but they’re not even obstacles. 

The main villain is actually the courier’s assistant bot, which hates the Courier cheating and having fun in a different way. At the end the lesson seems to be “don’t forget your nostalgic PlayStation memories”, yet there’s little nostalgia to be had in this. This felt like one of Sony’s old strange PlayStation adverts, although even then it would be a poor one.

14. Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear

One thing Secret Level has in many of its episodes is that it doesn’t do enough to get people invested in the characters for the events to matter. I can only presume that the main character is an existing character elsewhere in 40K lore. 

For the most part, this is mindless and meaningless action. It’s full of gore and violence to the point that it has zero impact. The second half has the marines face some kind of fear demon. There are some stunning looking visuals, but nothing really made a connection to me. The narration talks about a life of war and conquering fear due to this, but none of this is shown in the short.

13. Armored Core: Asset Management

Keanu Reeves is a tough, grizzled mech pilot that feels unattached to everyone else as he was connected to his mech in a way that has now been lost. Part of the core of the mech has somehow joined him and speaks to him.

The problem with this one is that the episode is mostly comprised of unnatural exposition. We’re told things instead of getting shown them, and this suffers the same issue as many in that it feels like we’re jumping into the story at the wrong place, only in this one, the exposition reminds us that this is the first time the audience is seeing this character. 

The battles are also poor as we’re only told of the dangers and limitations of what is going on. 

12. Crossfire: Good Conflict

I know nothing of Cossfire, but the ongoing theme from everyone involved is “we’re not the bad guys”. It takes place as someone is escaping an abandoned city (I have no idea why there’s nobody else there) and hiring a squad to take him. He has a mysterious briefcase he needs to take with him as he escapes something unknown, and the only thing we find out is that it could be dangerous in the wrong hands and is warm.

It’s just two small military squads attacking each other, each believing that they’re the ones doing the right theme. This is certainly a potentially interesting thing, but without any information on the motives of anyone involved, it doesn’t carry much weight. 

11. Sifu: It Takes a Life

This certainly has a nice visual style to it, but is another one that has no substance to it. The twist of Sifu is that each time you die, you come back to life as an older version of yourself, so this is about one afternoon of revenge turning into someone wasting away most of his life 

The big problem is that the episode doesn’t really have time to dwell on the questions it has of “was it worth it?”, and the fact that it tries to be philosophical kind of takes a lot away because it just doesn’t work. The audience feels like nothing has really happened, especially as the fight with the guy the main character was hunting for is skipped.

Was this supposed to create an unsatisfying ending so that the answer to the question is that “no, this episode was not worth the time”?

10. Spelunky: Tally

This episode also plays around with video game respawning, as the main character of Spelunky 2, Ana, dies again and again. Although, with the main character being a child, we’re spared the gore and are shown implied deaths. This game talks about roguelike mechanics of respawning and how each “run” is different, but you could easily replace Spelunky with any other roguelike and nothing would change.

The message is also confusing. The “mentor” character, Liz, talks about Ana being too lighthearted about everything and not caring about dying, and that death should have a much bigger meaning. Then when Ana breaks down from one too many deaths, Liz then talks about how the deaths don’t matter, as you get to enjoy a whole new adventure. 

9. Exodus: Odyssey

Exodus seems to be a game that doesn’t even have a release date yet. It’s from “some ex-Bioware” staff. From this, I’m quite surprised that Drew Karpyshyn is involved as the world in this short is incredibly bland, less interesting than the world of Anthem. 

The main gimmick seems to be focusing on time dilation, with the story focusing on a father searching for her daughter (who has gone into space searching for adventure), with him spending years of time dilation as his daughter ages. The big problem is that it seems to ignore the daughter’s own travel, as they go the same route for most of the short. The logic of this one just falls apart.

8. PAC-MAN: Circle

The Pac-Man episode actually turned out to be a secret trailer for an upcoming metroidvania called Shadow Labyrinth. It shows a strange man falling out of a tube of liquid, having the urge to consume other beings to survive and being pushed even more to do so by a mysterious yellow orb. 

The stranger eventually realises that the maze they’re in is actually a prison for this orb, and refuses to let it out, where it tries to take over his body to force them out the door. It ends with a new being being released from a tube as the process starts again.

It’s intriguing for its strange take on Pac-Man, but somewhat feels less unique now that it’s the prequel to an actual game.

7. Dungeons & Dragons: The Queen’s Cradle

This episode creates an interesting cast of characters, but doesn’t give us enough time with them. It even focuses on the least interesting character, leaving you wanting to know about the others even more. It portrays the world of Dungeons & Dragons well, and has some amazing visuals.

But it all feels like you’re watching it out of context. It seems to be written as though you’ve already seen these adventurers on a previous journey, like jumping into a series in episode 4. It even ends abruptly and in the middle of a fight. It did leave me wanting more, though.

6. Mega Man: Start

Just like Dungeons & Dragons, this feels like something cut out of something even bigger. In particular, it feels like the last part of a pilot episode for a new series. 

It’s a shame, as the snippet we see is really good. Dr Light’s inventions have been taken over by Dr Wily and are ransacking Mega City. Dr Light’s robotic son, Rock, wants to help but Dr Light refuses, before Rock is forced to combat Light’s last robot as it gets hacked inside their lab. 

It’s a fun fight making use of a few powers, and Rick is immediately likeable. The short ends up feeling unsatisfying as you want to see more.

5. Honor of Kings: The Way of All Things

I had to google what this game was after watching the episode. It’s some boring looking colourful MOBA game. Luckily, other than using a few place names, this episode isn’t really based on the game. Even the main character is someone created just for the collaboration.

Instead, this is a very artistic short that adapts the board game Go (also known as Weiqi). It takes place in a city that moves around, but has been having issues. Anyone can face the computer controlling the city for control, yet anyone that tries ends up insane.

The young hero we follow ignores the danger and tries to conquer the machine, not just to fix the city, but also for revenge as the city killed his parents. Throughout the short, we see (instead of just getting told) pivotal movements and the emotions the hero went through to become so determined to break fate. 

It’s a really solid thing that works really well as a standalone short. 

4. Unreal Tournament: Xan

The main character of this short, a robot called X4N, manages to portray more development and emotion with a single light than most of the other shorts combined, and our connection to him is what makes this action-heavy short actually work. The snippets of the world we see gives us enough story without the need for exposition, as well.

It’s an enjoyable and meaningful tale, and you don’t need to know anything about the source material for it to work.

3. Concord: Tale of the Implacable

Considering it took less than two weeks for Sony to completely abandon Concord and delete it, it’s somewhat ironic that the Secret Level episode for Concord is one of the better ones. Even more so when the big reason the game failed was its immensely boring cast of characters.

In this short, we follow a new group of characters, who are a group of misfits that are part of a crew trying to save their captain for the oppressive guild. One really fascinating thing about this particular short is that it feels like you’ve watched an entire film in just a short timespan, with plenty of twists, turns, funny moments and emotional moments. 

This shows that the world of Concord is actually an interesting one, it’s just a shame they couldn’t turn it into an interesting game.

2. The Outer Worlds: The Company We Keep

The Outer Worlds felt like Firefly with a bit of Fallout thrown in, and this short portrays that vibe beautifully. The short is a little snippet of the universe, following the journey of a garbage worker trying to follow the girl he loves, who left to become a scientist. He gets a job as a test subject for the company she works for, suffering a ton of hardship as a result.

It’s a well told and emotional story, with amazing visuals and plenty of dark humour and violence that actually works with the short. It works both as a new story in the world of the game and as a standalone short. 

1. New World: The Once and Future King

I have no interest in this MMO and I still have no interest in it, yet this short was highly entertaining. It’s about a king who loses his army as he tries to conquer a mysterious island. Despite this, he’s still determined to take on this new land for himself. He soon discovered that everyone on the island, including him and his servant, is immortal and comes back to life when they die (although reset to the beach they landed on).

The king is a kind of incompetent buffoon who is baffled that other people are better than him at absolutely everything, and Arnold Schwarzenegger does a wonderful job with this character and heightens the uselessness of the character. No matter how many times he fails, he’s still determined, yet it has a surprisingly emotional ending. 

It’s highly enjoyable and rather humorous, its only failure is that it doesn’t make me want to check out the game, the short works fine on its own.