#and i feel like it can be adapted depending if you believe each season is fully chronological

[rotten-vivs]

unfortunately it is just AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, but i can dig for some coherency. i really have nothing to connect all my thoughts on each relationship (other than...scott), i've been just coincidentally thinking about all pairs independently at the same time. i guess what has intrigued me the most for all four is how each relationship has changed throughout all seasons

jimmy and scott were each other's everything in third life. while others had big groups to distribute their loyalties, scott and jimmy just had each other to protect. but that has slowly fizzled out as seasons have passed, which culminated on that scene on limited life (the "i love you" "you have 30 seconds" "say it back" "30 seconds" scene). it was a short-lived relationship, but it was beautiful while it lasted. i see them as opposite of the concept of soulmates (not as in doublelife, but as in the popular concept of soulmates being destined in every timeline), where their relationship could've only worked in that one specific scenario

pearl and scott are similar to jimmy and scott in that their relationship could only work in last life and not anywhere else, the reason being that they are both so similar and so different in such an incompatible way. they both have very strong characters and are very persistent, so when they clash they clash strongly. scott is someone who likes to be direct while pearl likes to dance around conversations for fun. scott values trust over anything while pearl is fully willing to lie and betray. why did they work in last life then? because 1.they both have strong survival instincts and understand each other very well in that sense. and most importantly 2.they are both people who have a lot of love to give. even if they (especially pearl) would deny it, they both need people to care about. and they understood that about each other so well when they met

cleo and scott are interesting because of how well they have worked together in EVERY season. even if they are not allied, they have this inherent trust between each other since third life. cleo goes to scott when everything around her is falling apart. i go into their relationship a bit more in this post. but in very few words, cleo values trust and scott values kindness. and that is why they have worked together so well each time

martyn and scott are strange because they have spent most of their time at odds with each other. they were on opposite sides of the war in third life, martyn was tasked by the watchers to kill scott in last life, and martyn blamed scott for cleo leaving him in double life. even limited life started rough with a failed boogey kill from martyn, and him temporarily "abandoning" scott after it in episode 1. but scott allows him back, and they work together surprisingly well. the sad thing about it is while scott welcomes love with open arms, martyn keeps it an arm length away. martyn cares for people despite of himself, and always tries to have a quick escape plan (planning to kill ren in third life, making the shadow alliance separately from southlands in last life, was the first one to turn against scott and pearl in double life)

i tried and possibly failed to give them coherency, it's just AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

im thinking about scott and jimmy, and scott and pearl, and scott and cleo, and scott and martyn

i've just been thinking a lot about life!scott recently

[thewritertiger]

strawberry shortcake au!

i can't believe i'm actually going to bother you with my recurring hyperfixation, but here we go,folks!

world building:

This Pinescone au is based on the 80s Strawberry Shortcake series. but with some modifications that I made to adapt to the au and the characters and at the same time taking elements from the other reboots

In this version, Strawberryland is a quiet, remote small town where the tiny habitants spend all seasons harvesting their fruits and vegetables. At the pace of the series, there will be no villains, but there will only be simple problems in the town that end well in the end. (like the children's series of those times. Take reference from My Little Pony (the first generations), the Moomins, the Smurfs)

All the habitants are smaller than fruits, each one has their own job or house in a shape of a sweet (like a cake house, etc.). and each inhabitant is characterized by its fruit flavor and aroma. what makes them unique and differentiable

Everyone in Strawberryland has a specific skill in cooking. (For example, Wirt specializes in the sweets served in cafes.)

There are other towns depending on the flavor and taste (a vegetable town, another of flour, another of ice cream) but Strawberryland focuses on fruits.

pinescone headcanons:

They both met like it happens in the 80s series, except that Dipper would get lost trying to find the town and Wirt would offer him a hand. (just look at the damn video and imagine wirt and dipper singing this adorably!. don't tell me this is not a big deal)

2. Wirt runs a coffee shop in the village and lives there. It is his home and his coffee shop at the same time.

3. (NOT DECIDED YET) Dipper being a strawberry his sister Mabel is a blueberry. Together they are the Berry twins (Help I don't know what fruit to give Mabel I'm between blueberry, cherry, raspberry or like the canonical sister in the 80s series "Apple Dumplings". I need help with this part). Mabel specializes in cooking with excessive sugar dishes and is also the town's fashion designer.

4. Mabel forces Dipper to wear the clothes she creates for Dipper. Dipper is embarrassed and frustrated to walk around the town like that. Wirt finds it adorable and cute, and is always curious to know what cute clothes Dipper will wear.

5.Wirt loves cooking for Dipper, it's one of his favorite things because he loves every tender expression of joy that the little strawberry puts on when trying his new and improved desserts.

6.Wirt has the personality of a spoiled and affectionate mother. She loves her friends very much (especially Dipper) and will show her affection through actions.

7.Dipper is considered Wirt's favorite customer at the cafeteria. He sometimes helps him taste his new or improved desserts.

8.They both give each other affectionate nicknames, Dipper is "little strawberry" and Wirt is "orange pie"

9. Dipper doesn't know how to cook, every single thing he cooks burns. It's considered weird not to know how to cook or specialize in a recipe in Strawberryland. But Dipper doesn't care, his true talent is writing. He writes diaries and books and works for the town newspaper (the poor thing has a lot of writer block)

10.Wirt tries to suppress the desire to kiss and pinch those chubby, pink cheeks that the strawberry has. He is so adorable that sometimes he can't control himself.

11. They both like each other, Wirt knows his feelings perfectly while Dipper still doesn't admit it. They both didn't declare themselves for fear of ruining their friendship.

12.Wirt writes music and poetry in his freetime, he shares it with Dipper after closing at night. All his poems and music are dedicated to Dipper but he doesn't realize it yet.

13.Dipper is very absent-minded and clumsy lol

that's all you can go now pipipipi

[dailydegurechaff]

fav light novel only characters? like not animated or drawn in the manga yet

So this has been in my inbox for a couple months now and I think I can finally confidently answer it bc I have a couple of characters who I wanna talk about.

Spoiler warning: Due to this ask being related to characters only seen in the light novel there’s going to be spoilers under the read more! I talk about content as far ahead as novel 11. I think we’re safe on stuff from 12 tho!

If you want a no-spoiler summary: Colonel Calandro (not depicted here), Counselor Conrad, and Major Joachim

OK SO,

I think the main two that I like the most and are LN-Only so far are Colonel Calandro from Ildoa, who is the observer that ends up attached to the Salamander/Lergen Kampfgruppe on the eastern front and Counselor Conrad, the imperial diplomat that Lergen talks with a lot.

In Calandro’s case, he’s introduced I believe as early as book 6, so I think he’s probably the one of my favorites who is most likely to be in season 2, so I hope Studio Nut does well by him with a good design. In the sketches above, I decided against trying to make a design for him because 1) I got no ideas man and 2) I think (hope) he might show up in the anime soon so I’d like to hold off on drawing him until there’s an official one.

Anyway, a lot of his scenes are great when he’s attached to the Kampfgruppe. If I recall correctly, there’s this scene in one of the books (Book 7?) where he’s talking to Tanya as she’s making preparations to bombard what is obviously a church and he’s like “What are you doing? Isn’t that a war crime?” And Tanya just goes “No, no, it’s fine. They’re not openly displaying anywhere that this is a building used for religious purposes and even if they were, the other side hasn’t signed that treaty so it’s not like we have to adhere to it if they won’t.”

It’s such a funny scene. Tanya’s like, “Oh he’s concerned that we’re committing a crime. I should assuage him by telling him not to worry, we’ve managed to legally justify it.” And instead of any relief he’s just like “Oh my god what the fuck is wrong with them? Why would they ever think to circumvent treaties like this?”

They're funny as hell together and Tanya’s constant griping that she has to babysit him is so good, I hope we get to see it.

Also also a good scene with him is from the end of LN11 where Lergen calls him in the middle of the night, demanding to speak to him because it’s of vital importance. That ensuing conversation where Lergen’s basically like “I can’t say who’s calling, but you recognize me from the sound of my voice, right? Something’s going to happen. I’m really sorry, I can’t say anything more. Please just remember that I called, okay?” I’m so sorry… but it’s giving ‘Tragic Lovers Doomed To Breakup By Circumstances They Can’t Control’ vibes.

It is now my firmly set headcanon that Lergen and Calandro were lovers throughout and in spite of the war and when the time came for Lergen to choose whether to betray Calandro or his country, he chose to betray Calandro, something he feels immensely guilty about. I know it isn’t what Carlo Zen was trying to convey at ALL, but unfortunately that’s what I got from it. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk, moving on.

I guess next up is Counselor Conrad, the Empire’s diplomat who we first meet in LN10 I think? If we don’t get any content of him, I’ll literally cry. Depending on how far season 2 gets us in the story, we may not end up seeing Conrad and that’s so sad to me. There is a scene from LN10 that I absolutely need adapted into the anime. It’s like 160ish pages in. It’s that scene where Tanya, Lergen, and Conrad are talking with each other and Conrad turns to Lergen and gestures at Tanya and says “How did you raise this?” and Tanya’s like “????”

There is another scene where Lergen describes Conrad as handsome, and because of these two scenes, the delusional headcanon has sprung up that these two eventually end up in a relationship and Tanya is their daughter. I’ve mentioned it in another post. A friend of mine actually talks about Conrad (& Lergen and Tanya) in more detail in her post here. And hey, while I’m recommending posts about Conrad, look at all of these too okay?

Conrad actually has an official design in the novel artworks, so I based my above sketch around that. Here are the few canon images we have of him. Interestingly, in the text he's described as having blue eyes at some point, but the colored version we have has them as brown. These drawings come from Books 10 & 11 I believe?

Ok, last one, for minor characters, there’s Major Joachim who we meet around the end of LN11, who becomes Lergen’s subordinate. I think the best way to describe him is that he’s kind of a boyfailure in the way that Grantz is (that is to say before Grantz got some character development and became somewhat competent). He’s a cutie, I do hope we get some scenes of him.

I did actually do a little sketch of Joachim as we saw above. That one for some reason just came to me very easily, unlike Calandro. Here was my prelim sketch idea:

And I think that’s about it for now. If you note that all of these characters are in some way related to Lergen, um… Well, I can’t help myself really. We know by now he’s one of my favorites so I like characters associated with him too.

[firedragon1321]

How to Spot an AI-Generated Tai in the Wild!

Because I am insanely obsessed with the blorbo and AI art is a hot-button topic right now, here's a silly thing. I'm sure most artists can tell the difference between real and AI art. But my autistic brain wants to pick apart Tai's character design a bit so here you go. This applies to all seasons, touching on basic traits Tai has between them. So I won't go too much into clothing here (people like to dress him up in different cool outfits anyway- keep doing that).

Note that this isn't true to all models, but works 90% of the time. AI art is advancing so quickly that this may be obsolete by tomorrow. Also, real art might "fail" these little tests simply due to lack of experience drawing the character. If you suspect someone is posting AI art, just block and move on. Report if you want, but you know how Tumblr feels about AI. Most importantly? Don't use this post to be a dick.

WARNING: This post uses AI-generative images found from around the Internet for demonstrative purposes. No credit is given because if the "creators" wanted credit, they should've learned how to actually draw. :)

SKIN TONE

Tai has this nice, tanned skin tone that the rest of the Adventure DigiDestined do not have. While he keeps it in 02 and tri, he loses his color in Kizuna. A real fanart piece is most likely to reflect this, or even add color to his paler designs.

Most AI models have a generic pasty white skin tone for anime characters. This applies to any anime character, not just Tai. I believe this model might have gobbled up his Kizuna skin tone. But I've seen fake Tais even paler than this.

There are some AI models that combat this. But the standard AI identification tricks apply. Here, the tongue is mushy, and the highlights on his goggles make no sense.

HAIR OF FLOOF FLOOF

Ah yes- my point of expertise. Tai's hair is a difficult thing to draw. I don't blame anyone for dropping the ball here. But AI does have some notable, repetitive failings.

A "legit" Tai tends to have fluff, rather than spikes. The bangs consist of one stripe over the forehead. The few spikes present designate messiness, but the general shape is actually curvy (look at the top right side of the head for the most wavy lines). The size of the floof ranges between adaptions and even storyboard artists.

AI-generators are convinced that all "anime hair" is spiky. Notice this AI Tai has more spikes and less curved lines.

Then, there's this one, which drops the ball on Tai and Matt so bad that both characters resemble Bakugou from My Hero Academia.

WHO'S THAT DIGIDESTINED?

Eye shape and color has some leeway depending on the artist's style. Adventure/02, tri., and Kizuna supply three different eye styles. However, there are still some dead giveaways.

Revisiting this AI-generated image, the eyes look...familiar. No?

How about now? The modern Pokemon anime style has been completely absorbed by AI models. Sometimes, Digimon and Pokemon will be confused for each other, resulting in similar eye shapes and other traits (look at the noses, too).

HUMAN TOUCH

There's some times you can look at an art and know with confidence it was human-made, such as-

MS Paint blobs/sketches on lined paper/anything showing layers/etc. They're too unrefined for an AI image creator to want to profit off of, so why would they make them?

Some fetish art. A lot of kinksters are using AI, which is why deviantArt made good ammunition for this post. But many have distinct art styles that AI has not copied yet.

Western-cartoony art with hard or thick lines. AI is allergic to these traits atm. Notice the softer, thinner outlines on all three fakes.

Clearly attempting to master Tai's unique traits, even if they don't translate well (e.g.- a dome vaguely shaped like his hair is more credible than a "perfect" hairdo with too many spikes).

FINAL NOTES

All of this could change tomorrow, at the rate at which AI advances. I'm fairly good at deducing AI art from human-made art. But a recent piece almost tricked me (interestingly, it was Davis- not Tai- who looked off). These things are constantly evolving. But in addition to the usual tricks, knowing your blorbos can help identify AI images so you can freely block (or, when applicable, report) the idiots who made them.

[samuelturn]

Aight so now that I have finished Brothersong I have THOUGHTS on further logistical breakdowns of how Green Creek could be adapted to a GLAAD Award-Winning HBO TV show. Spoilers so here is a cut for anyone who wants to be fresh to the series.

PRE-PRODUCTION

OKAY SO! The filming block for Season 1/Wolfsong would MOST LIKELY be the biggest, especially for scenes involving younger versions of the actors. As these are spread out across, like, all four books, some are just “scene we’ve seen but from a different perspective or with ‘Dream Seauence VFX’ so we just need more blocking/extra takes to make it all seem believeable using B-roll” to “yeah this requires Young Thomas and various child actors so we’re filming this beforehand so that everyone looks the same when these scenes come up later” to “ah hell we gotta shave their heads anyways might as well film the revenge road trip.” Thus, basically everyone but, like, Dominique would have to be cast by Season 1, and probably all of Season 1 and half of season 2 would need to be written and finalized and drafts/outlines of Season 3 and 4 would need to be made before casting would begin. Writer’s room would include TJ and a racially-diverse LGBT staff.

Caswell wouldn’t need to be fully built but enough of a location would be needed to film individual scenes with the younger actors and scenes set in the big house at Caswell (ie arguments between Mark and Thomas, Joe being taken, Thomas in the woods with the kids, Thomas writing the letters)

Title sequence would be based on the lovely new covers for the hardcover editions from Tor. They’d get longer with each season and by the end we see the whole pack in the papercraft style of the covers.

CASTING

Yeah we’d need a big ass cast. With multiple actors to play different characters at different ages.

Babies:

Carter, Kelly, Joe, maybe also Gavin depending on things

Children:

Gordo, Gavin, Mark, Rico, Chris, Tanner, Carter, Kelly, Joe, Robbie

Young Adult (ie Teen to Mid 20s) and Adult (ie by the Rough Present of when Ox first discoveres the secret of the Bennetts)

Basically everyone else

The tricky part will be that, yeah, there will probably need to be different actors for 20s Thomas, Elizabeth, Mark, and Gordo because while a 20-something can play 16 or so, its harder for 30-40 year olds to play 20-something. The upside being that an older actor CAN play Gordo for the scenes after Ox’s dad leaves (also Ox’s dad will need a name lol). You would need to switch to older actors for the Bennett kids and Ox basically once Ox graduates high school. But then you can keep all the same actors for the rest of the “present” set scenes. Osmond, and Robert Livingstone would also need younger actors. Richard Collins would only need one actor he’s barely in the flashbacks as it is.

STRUCTURE/PLOT RAMBLINGS

There are a few things that would need to be done in order to improve the pacing for TV, imo. Mainly, that the handing off of Alpha of All to the Fairbanks pack needs to feel more earned and less semi-random. Like, show them taking in Omegas at the end of Season 2, have them be allies at Caswell in Season 3 and the final battle in Season 4. Flesh them out a bit more. Also some continuity smoothing would be needed (ie clarifying that Gordo refused Mark’s MATE bite not Thomas’s BECOME WOLF bite).

Some more forshadowing of Robert’s failsafe in Season 2 would help. Obviously SHOW Gavin’s timber wolf in the attack on Jessie (and ideally have the actor be the body actor wearing the CGI ball suit moving all wolf-like in the scene) in Season 1.

I’d personally add in more of a wrap-up in Caswell at the end of Season 4. And also an extended aftermath scene or episode after Ox’s resurrection. Joe’s wolf is still bigger than almost everyone else, but not as big as it was when he was Alpha. One thing that I’d ask to be added is, maybe with the death of Robert and the ressurrection of Ox there’s a big ass magic pulse and we get a follow-up with the new Alpha of All from Alaska training Betas who have become Alphas thanks to Mystical Moon Magic as they rebuild packs across the continent. Idk the story needs more of a denumont. Alpha of All making more of an effort to try and bring Omegas back from the brink before just automatically deciding to kill them.

Dominique could have human bite marks on her to show thar Jessie tried to “Mate Bite” too even as a human. Bambi and Rico too.

He/They Gavin? Maybe? Gavin feels very he/they. Also Elizabeth showing affection to Maggie (hey if we’re gonna imply that Thomas and Richard had a kind of romantic love for each other in Brothersong before he went Omega Lizzie can make side-eye at Maggie).

Show more of the three year gap between Ravensong and Heartsong (not a lot but more than just one bit when Robbie is kidnapped). And the new story in the deluxe hardcover books too. The myth or whatever. That can be animated in a sketchy style (think Princess Kaguya or Wolfwalkers) with VO from Elizabeth.

Anyway rambling over I love these books so much. TJ I woudn’t say no to a LIGHT DRAMA/mostly fluff 5th book or short story. Maybe from Chris or Tanner’s perspective? Or Jessie’s?

[oddlittlestories]

42 + 44 for House, 27 + 37 for Wilson!!

- Housethemd (can’t ask from a sideblog, how annoying)

@housethemd

Ooh making me work for it with Wilson

House

3 comfort items:

The softball canon answer is (1) his ball of unknown origin (2) his motorcycle and (3) his instruments. (Add to that his t-shirt collection, his favorite fruit apron, and his assortment of desk items collected randomly over time. House is a secret collector. He loves his things.)

But I think I can push it further with 3 fun headcanons / fan ideas.

1. Favorite book—maybe Moby Dick (for obsession and a flight of fancy, characters who are even more intense than he is as a way of release) or Twelfth Night (yearning and gender fuckery plus you know he was that kid who devoured Shakespeare in middle school just to prove he could). For a genuinely “really, Bee,” option—the collected works of Sherlock Holmes. There are lots of Sherlock adaptations House wouldn’t relate to but the original works are not one. Anyways whatever it is it would be some old fancy volume with paper thin pages and a leather binding. Smells great. Feels great. Looks great on the shelf. He’s read it so many times he can quote from it so he doesn’t pull it out much anymore.

2. Weighted blanket. This man would love and needs a weighted blanket, but maybe he has one already. He would use it an unreasonable amount. Imagine the Ducklings rolling up to ask him a question and he’s in Thinking Mode but with a weighted blanket.

3. French press. He likes the way it makes coffee, it’s copper and he likes the way it looks. He likes the ritual of it. Yeah. French press.

Also he should have a tiny comfy (as much as possible) folding chair in his kitchen. Just saying.

His happiest memory:

I think this strongly depends on what time in his life we’re talking about, so I’m gonna play with that a bit.

Pre-infarction: the paintball game with Stacy. Can you imagine the sexually-tense snarking? The glowing feeling of meeting someone who implicitly understands you - or at least can match your blunt deviousness? A fun way to meet someone so much like you.

Post-infarction to s3: I like to think that somewhere in there was a fun & tender moment with Wilson that something reminds him of and makes him smile on occasion.

s4-5: his whole relationship with Kutner tbqh. Kutner blowing up patients. Kutner switching to no. 9. Screwing with Kutner in the cat episode.

s6: when Wilson buys the organ.

Thereafter I think his happiest memory is doing the spud gun thing with Thirteen and when she tells him that promising to kill her was the best way she’d ever been loved.

Wilson

Guilty pleasure:

I’m just gonna redefine this as “embarrassing pleasure” for my own sake.

Canon: Telenovelas. Look at his defensiveness. Look at the plea in his voice when he begs for the season finale. This man is not learning Spanish. He knows Spanish. And loves telenovelas.

Headcanon: stuffed animals. He doesn’t keep any in the house for a long period of time, but he buys them as gifts as often as possible. He can’t help but anthropomorphize them and likes to hug them and do funny voices. If he was more able to allow himself to do what he wants and fly in the face of convention, he’d have quite a few. (Not hundreds or anything, bc he’d connect with each one, but maybe four or five. They’d live on the bed or the couch.)

What he really thinks about himself:

See now this is the tough one. So many (all?) of the House MD characters are layers within layers, and Wilson is tough bc he’s often unaware of what’s going on with himself. So what he *really* thinks of himself? Hmm.

I think he thinks he deserves better in so many situations. I think sometimes he might be waiting for someone to save him, that if he’s good enough maybe he’ll deserve it & it’ll happen. I think he believes he has to be as giving of a person as he can be or else he is committing a crime / causing harm / not fulfilling his moral and ethical responsibilities. I think he knows he goes above and beyond but is terrified that isn’t true. (And I do think the one hc that he has moral perfectionism OCD makes a lot of sense.)

[bluepeachstudios]

GitS Asks!

The boys still have some growing up to do! Nothing but Truffle happens like it does in canon, Ghost is just there for the aftermath. He doesn't really like his kids hanging out with someone he doesn't know very well, but he also doesn't want to talk to Todd, so--

@sam-the-friendly-ghost

Ghost's "again" tactic was one he learned from his dad, where Splinter would let (usually Raph) rant about something, get the anger out, and then Splinter would say, "now try to tell me that again." and it would change slightly. For Ghost and Donnie, it became, "I know you aren't saying what you really mean. I know you have a hard time saying it. Try again. I'll be patient. I can wait for you to figure it out." It gives Donnie the chance to mess up his words without judgement, to figure out his own feelings, and figure out how to vocalize those feelings.

I concur with this, 03 Don's power scaling is much higher in the "ninja" range and much lower in the "mystic" range, although that changes depending on if he was in season 5 or not. I agree my headcanon for the Rise boy is that they can take much harder hits without really even feeling it.

Fresh Ghost(tm)'s reactions to the beginning of the show would be a lot of "oh my god how have you lived this long without getting captured by someone". While the end of the show he's more like "OH MY GOD HOW HAVE YOU NOT ACCIDENTALLY KILLED SOMEONE OR EACH OTHER".

Either way I think he'd find them pretty cool.

Yup! They play it regularly as a training game. Ghost notices they train better when it's framed as a game, so this one is focused on stealth. So far no one has found Ghost yet.

Ghost has a different outlook on "bushido", which is a samurai code and not a ninja one. Splinter adopts and adapts it to teach his sons the concept of honor while still remaining capable of performing necessary duties to keep themselves safe. Ghost probably doesn't even call it that, as it's very incorrect.

Ghost considers it morality, and while he does teach the kids the concept of honor, he doesn't believe it's worth more than your life. His morality has changed since he's been separated from his brothers. He won't lose his kids because of a silly thing like honor.

Nope! Raph already has Ghost as a sparring partner, he doesn't need another.

[my-shields-are-down]

WHY I THINK ROSALIND IS STILL ALIVE

The Rookie episodes follow the standard seasonal arc trope of what was started in episode 1, will be resolved in Episode 21. What were the topics of Episode 1?

Chenford

Nolan and the stupid golden ticket and becoming a training officer

Rosalind’s escape

So then each topic would need to be addressed during the season and resolved by the end, right?

The first third of the season (1-7) - NOLAN was the focus of the season and him learning and reacting to the dynamic of being a TO. I love Celina , because she is forcing Nolan to learn and adapt - much Ike Talia did because their backgrounds and motivations are so vastly different than his. And she pushes back on his smug, condescending, know-it-all-ness.

The second third of the season (8-15)- LUCY has been the focus and we’ve seen and are seeing her find confidence and strength within herself via her blossoming relationship with Tim.

In 5x1, Chenford, they are in massive denial about their feelings and attraction to one another - and have their 2nd kiss because of, and ultimately hook up blocked by Rosalind. Plus I love yous and possibly, possibly a proposal. Depends on Rosalind.

That would mean, by season’s end, they should be open and honest with their feelings with each other, in a committed relationship that everyone knows about and finally vanquishing Rosalind once and for all is the last real hurdle to them being together.

The final third (16-end) is about the capturing and ultimate killing of ROSALIND .

I never believed she actually died. Her death was too easy. I think she has a twin. You all can laugh at me, I don’t care. If Lucy + Tim can have unrelated doppelgängers who are lovers? Then, fuck yeah, Rosalind can have a Twin who she sacrificed to secure her freedom and give her time to plot. I don’t think it was an accident that Rosalind’s disguise was of Ashley, or that the Tim in time was in darker blood on the wall.

We had a conversation about EVIL today and whether a person is themselves inherently evil or a person does evil things - a third of the cast had opinions! Plus, there was a Priest in this episode- and Catholic Priests do exorcisms to battle evil. (Altho I hope Damian isn’t involved in any way with Rosalind)

Oscar. I love Oscar. He is a sociopath - EVIL personified, and every time he shows up, very bad things start happening to the people in our show,

Chris returns. Yes, this could be innocent and unrelated. But he’s always seemed off to me. He’s never fully clicked with Lucy. He’s got a nasty/mean streak to him. Hello ? He treated her like crap when she got upset about him singing that song. If he really did watch the video multiple times, that means he watched Lucy DIE multiple times. That’s heartless. And like Voldie he never seemed to care about Who Lucy actually was or help with her trauma.

Plus, the timing of his bleeding out has always bothered me. That UC op was need to know, so how did Rosalind KNOW to leave Chris on her sofa at that exact time. The only person Lucy told was Tamara. (I’m assuming everyone in the precinct is not linked to Rosalind ), so Rosalind had to have cloned Tam’s phone. (Chris and Austin had best chances to do that).

Thought of another one. Chris was picked up at night by Rosalind. A) how the hell did she know that he would need a ride and what time he would need to be picked up? B) What happened between the late night hour of his pick up and when the next morning he was placed in her apartment, like 8 hours later? Was he drugged? Held hostage? There was no mention of torture? I HAVE QUESTIONS! Seems like a very big ball for our detectives to drop.

Nolan publicly took credit for saving Lucy.

We are seeing Lucy really come into herself this season. So having a showdown with Rosalind would be in line with that.

I think the final coda will be Lucy + Nolan + Rosalind in some kind of final showdown.

Oh, hello. Melissa even said the audience said we’d see what’s coming and I believe that starts with Oscar and that smell Lucy deals with next week.

Cannot wait! Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[pridepages]

eARC Review: Napkins and Other Distractions

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

AMAZON SYNOPSIS:  On paper, they’re a disaster. In the sheets, they’re a perfect match.

Kent Lester is proud of the joyful, thriving learning community he’s created as principal of Lear Elementary School. But seven years after his divorce, he’s ready to focus on his personal life and spread his bisexual wings. Things get off to a rocky start when Kent’s first date is an uptight control freak — although that doesn’t stop them tangling some sheets.

Vincent Manda never seems able to move past the friend zone, and besides, he’s not sure anyone can handle his OCD. But that night with the bearded, older Kent revealed a side of Vincent he’d never experienced before. And he’s equal parts scared of and desperate for a repeat.

When Lear’s test scores take a nosedive, Kent finds himself under the microscope. Forced to implement new software to monitor and collect school data, he’s horrified to discover that Vincent is working on the project. With his last install ending less than ideally, Vincent’s job depends on this one succeeding — and butting heads with the principal won’t help.

Vincent and Kent need to view each other in a new light, but that could change their futures forever.

RELEASE DATE: June 4, 2024

See my full review under the cut!

The lead couple of Napkins and Other Distractions are unlikely romance heroes. They're both solidly middle-aged, separated by a fifteen-year age gap. One is divorced. One is perpetually single, isolated by the severe OCD that most people cannot understand.

But Kent and Vincent are about to discover that sometimes even the 'well-seasoned' could use a little spice!

Wardell is frank about his open-door sex scenes. He wants to be known as a 'spicy' writer, and with each new book he turns up the heat.

These guys are kinky! Even if that's not your personal taste...

...you have to love how open they are to self-discovery.

It's so easy to become set in your ways. As you pass those early, tumultuous years and start to settle into adulthood, you start to think that you've discovered everything there is to learn about yourself. But that sort of thinking sets boundaries--it keeps your world small. Being alive should be about experiencing everything you can: trying new things, meeting new people, and embracing change. Living is all about learning.

Learning how to love is the education in this book. Unlike the other books, the secondary storyline about what's happening in the school is...uncompelling. Part of the problem is that there's no heart in a storyline about data-gathering. There's an attempt to get us to care by injecting the stakes of Kent's job being at risk, but... My prevailing feeling was that this story didn't need to be set in a school the way Teacher of the Year and Mistletoe and Mishigas needed to be to serve their narratives. the more thoughtful lessons aren't set in any classroom--they're in the interactions between Kent and Vincent as they learn how to fit into each other's world.

I really appreciated how much nuance went into each of their arcs. The takeaway wasn't "Vincent needs to get better" or "Kent needs to change." Both of them had to learn how to make space for each other and how to fit together. Kent learns how to make Vincent's world feel safer in little ways like remembering his preference for even numbers and in big ways like sitting together through episodes of intense compulsion. In turn, Vincent learns how to ride out the chaos that comes with loving a messy, klutzy man. Watching them figure out how to communicate, adapt, and do the work of loving--the work that makes you feel more instead of less--is the lesson.

Napkins and Other Distractions is a chili pepper dipped in a sugar glaze--the kind of sexy book that feels accessible to real people not because it's tame, but because it invites the reader to see themselves in it. It's the kind of book that makes you feel good because you leave it believing that you too may contain multitudes. You too may still have adventures ahead.

You too may have a person.

Even if it takes you another decade or two to find them.

[ashesandhackles]

8 TV Shows

Thanks for the tag @yletylyf <3 <3

Rules: list eight TV shows for your followers to get to know you better! 1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Years, years ago, I sporadically watched earlier seasons of Buffy and enjoyed it for the campy fun they were. And then I watched, "Innocence" - Season 2, episode 14 and I was obsessed with Buffy Summers. Buffy Summers is that one character of all time for me - she is heroic, aspirational but she is also flawed and messy and so delightfully complex. I love her and I forever have a soft spot for Sarah Michelle Gellar for playing her.

2. Fruits Basket

I first read Fruits Basket as a manga, saw the first anime adaptation and the reboot came out during the pandemic. Fruits Basket is a very important piece of media to me because of the way it tackles abuse and the nature of systemic abuse. The show/ manga's ideas of rehabilitative justice were truly ahead of its time. Also the anti hero of the story is my all time fixation - Shigure Sohma.

3. Inuyasha

Another long running manga turned anime. Something about this series turns me into a nostalgic goo. It's probably Rumiko Takahashi's brand of characters, where there is something interesting going on with each of them. But my forever love from the series is Sango, the girl who crawls out of her own grave <3

4. Fushigi Yugi

I greatly dislike the main lead in this anime, I great dislike the romance in this series but my heart went out to the antagonist, the main lead's once best friend Yui Hongo. And if this series wasn't so enamored with its ridiculously cheesy and tiresome main romance (i do not have enough criticism for how truly bad it is, believe me), it had decent worldbuilding and politics. A fact that the original manga author knew and corrected with her spin off prequel - the vastly superior manga Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden (with likable main heroine! an intense romance that never takes over the plot!). She is currently writing Fushigi Yugi: Byakko Senki and I am curious to see what she does there.

5. Nana

Nana is about my early 20s life lol. Co-dependent, almost romantically charged friendship with a roommate/best friend? Check. Misogynist, controlling boyfriends? Check. Intense but fucked up relationships? Check. It's like this show reached into my heart and displayed it to the world.

6. Shadow and Bone

I'll be honest: my interest in the show is largely due to the fact that I have read the Six of Crows duology and loved those books. I only read the original Shadow and Bone series recently, just so I can keep with the main plotline in season 2 and boy, the original trilogy is very poor lol. The only thing that has bones of something interesting is Darkling and his relationship with Alina, and watching Season 2, I feel the show writers aren't comfortable tapping into that. Too much time moralising "this is bAd!!" - lol, yes we know. It is very childish finger-wagging writing, and it's very boring and not at all reflective of human experience (Shadow and Bone writers need to watch Nana to understand how to write abusive relationships without making it look like they are doing 'Toxic Ex Boyfriend for Dummies'). The reasons why Crows shine so much is because they are based on books that are good. And I agree with general consensus that the moral universe of the Crows and the Shadow and Bone stories do not match at all, and it creates horrible discrepancies in narrative framing.

7. Cowboy Bebop

This is a show that has influenced my writing the most: dream-like vigenettes for characters? People dreaming and having nightmares? Characters stuck in the past? I wish I could be as subtle and genre-bending as this show often was. So beautiful.

8. Death Note

If you have inhaled animes during your teen years, you won't go without bingeing Death Note. Fantastic premise, fantastic protagonist and just outright brutal to watch. I keep returning to it time and again.

Tagging @merlins-sequined-hotpants @hinnyfied @bluethepineapple @phantomeo @thedreamermusing @turanga4

[aaeds]

While we settle down until the gavel drops on the series,

Here’s a reminder, to those who like the show and haven’t, to pick up the books and give them a go. 

Lockwood & co in my opinion was given the best adaptation by one of the best crews and casts. I’ll never be a purist and adaptations will always deviate from the original content, while picking them up again for another read I didn’t feel robbed of their core concepts.

That said, the first two books which are covered in season one have so much more content (what might have been considered filler) to flesh out the real horrors and nature of the story and what the world is all about. The final 3 do as well, and they’re worth the time and effort. 

The parallels that can be drawn from each character to a counter organization are subtle but well done, from familiar traits to what each character lacks individually and gains as a cohesive group to round themselves out to do and be better. And though it’s not as overt as the series, Lucy and Lockwood are not so subtle for readers to miss a connection that runs deeper than any YA novel on book-tok. Love and belonging will always be hallmarks of character development, along with trust and solidarity. (Also please think more deeply about the Holly and Lucy dynamic, please. There are some hot takes that just make me want to die from a critical reading standing.)

Which, speaking of subtle but intense - there’s a scene in The Creeping Shadow (I believe) which describes depression without actually acknowledging depression itself through Lucy’s POV. I think it’s very unique and personal where the horrors become more human than ghost. Truly the emotional constipation is a sight to behold on page but it all really comes down to their profession. When Jacobs writes off an agent’s death in the series to Lucy’s remark (George's in the book I believe) to Kipp’s high mortality rate you can see that even the protagonists understand their worth in society is lauded - but expendable. In the books the characters are much younger, Lucy was 8 when she started and her mother no less neglectful or emotionally abusive. She has six sisters, where Lucy is the youngest, and all the signs are indicative of a life of working for approval or love. Pride, as a small child, that she has worth and something to be recognized for in an industry - which is terrifying.

My interpretation of Norrie over the addition of 6 sisters was to show how Lucy feels she must apply herself for attention and how that attention can be gone in an instant without rhyme or reason and how the Problem has robbed her a great many things - namely connections to the living. Norrie was a great representation of something she didn’t have to work for and found a responsible, wise sort of love she never had in her family. Someone who looked after her and later trusted with her life, their relationship wasn’t entirely professional. Lucy found her ‘family’ in her work life after being alienated from a normal one. Lockwood calling her an asset was akin to her mother’s signing her up as a dependent into Jacob’s company for money.  Though a misunderstanding, it showed they all still had a fair ways to go from being fully on the same page as as team and as friends. There are growing pains in the script which aren’t quite in the books - but there are plenty of pages to show everyone’s character development over time. 

Also Kipps is one of my odd but favourite characters in a sympathetic sense. He was a genius addition to the crew from another angle of the industry as an older agent. What does one do when their talents are fading and you lack a full education? How much more can you be exploited?  I could type until my hands fall off about how much I love the running themes in these books and how interwoven it all is with the characters and how they grow. I am hoping for a season 2, but if you are new here and haven’t yet and we won’t get a season 2 - do yourselves a favour and get closure by reading the books. They’re truly like a piñata of all the good things adventure should have and that were (largely) fairly left out of the tv adaptation for the sake of time.  And now I have to go cry or draw fanart or write a fanfiction. 

[whatsinyourstory]

SELF LOVE STARTS WITH BOOK LOVE

Recall how we needed to expound on how books are our dearest companions in each paper challenge or test? What's more, we expounded a ton on nature, kinship, information, etc, all of which we learned to get passing marks. Notwithstanding, as we become more seasoned, we discover that it has both a strict and a significant importance. Each feeling is substantial. We didn't have the foggiest idea what confidence or self improvement implied in those days, yet all of us are mindful of the more prominent impact that watching movies or television series has on us. We respect a person's qualities and start to envision ourselves as them at whatever point we watch a film or a Program which is likewise a piece of confidence or self improvement. I can in any case envision myself moving the entire day on AAMHI JE TOMAR in the wake of watching Bhool Bhulaiya. We begin to picture ourselves as those fictitious people to us; this is a decent close to home capacity. Psychological wellness influences discernment, insight, and conduct and is impacted by close to home, mental, and social prosperity. It likewise influences how they adapt to pressure, cooperate with others, and decide.

Psychological well-being is the main viewpoint that is frequently disregarded, yet there is a conviction that can assist us with feeling improved. "THERE IS Trust, In any event, WHEN YOUR Mind Lets you know THERE ISN'T"- JOHN GREEN. We are mindful that emotional well-being is a delicate point that many individuals try not to examine for different reasons. How improve? Certain individuals talk about their thoughts to look for counsel from others, while others share it basically to dispose of the stuff, nevertheless, others like to hush up about it.

Others urge us to counsel specialists, which may without a doubt help us in settling our concerns and upgrading our psychological well-being. Yet, managing it is challenging for individuals like me who struggle with communicating their thoughts. I'll educate you concerning my own insight during the pandemic. It was only excessively hard for me to converse with my family since I was apprehensive I'd begin crying. In any case, on one occasion I saw a post about the notable book The Shortcoming in Our Stars and I chose to try it out. At that point, I had extreme nervousness issues and had secluded myself to the place where I didn't actually address my relatives. I wasn't a book lover in those days. That book caused me to understand that life, as NAVRASA, is brimming with highs and lows and various feelings. Anything it is, we as a whole prefer to win subsequent to investing some parcel of energy. Albeit troublesome from the outset, whenever you've dominated it, you'll feel large and in charge. In the wake of completing the novel, I started to contrastingly see things. I understood what confidence and self-realizing implied. I believed constantly in myself. I started to deal with myself and was effective. I'm simply infatuated with my new character!

Perusing works on our psychological well-being and shows us confidence and self-learning, though screen time makes the contrary difference. We can decrease pressure, pulse, pulse, and muscle strain by perusing. Perusing healingly affects our perspective as well as giving us information. For what reason how about individuals preferably read romance books or self improvement guides over watch them? Most of movies depend on the tales in the books. They are planned to show watchers how their creative mind could become reality, yet in all honesty, you can feel each of the feelings while understanding them! HARRY POTTER, THE Issue IN OUR STARS, Half Sweetheart, alongside a lot more ring a bell.

We generally track down engaging data via online entertainment stages; for instance, on the off chance that we see a reel or post about self esteem, sentiment books, or double-crossing, we find a great deal of articles about it that we appreciate perusing/watching. A genuine book is dependably a choice, however the drawback of innovation is that it strains our eyes and redirects our consideration when a notice springs up on WhatsApp or Instagram. Books, in contrast to contraptions, can encourage us, quiet us down, and eliminate any abundance negative energy that has amassed in our current circumstance. We start to see things in new ways and according to new viewpoints. We can look for self improvement guides or sentiment books on the web and get different outcomes, for example, Nuclear Propensities, Take on a similar mindset as a Priest, It Closures with Us, It Starts with Us, and so on.

Allow us to attempt to discover a sense of reconciliation through self esteem and self-learning, and usher in energy by perusing and smashing on our number one person, which is an exceptionally fun and imaginative method for unwinding. Perusing fundamentally affects our characters since it builds our insight, extends our jargon, and makes us more familiar. So why not ? Buy second hand books from the best online bookstore - Whats In Your Story.

[myinterestsvary-writes]

As of now, I definitely agree.

They do not need to be romantically involved from the way they are involved in each other’s lives now. They don’t need to be together like that right now. I can easily see Mark rejecting Eve for a multitude of reasons and the reasons he doesn’t tell her anything either is for a multitude of reasons as well, biggest being because that’s his friend and he doesn’t want to hurt her or lose her, he’s also confused and utterly defeated from so much, and also maybe because he does have feelings for her too. We don’t fully know.

I personally like them together so I do believe they can still develop stronger romantic feelings for each other organically just by simply spending time together, for me it all depends on the way Season 3 goes for them. They’re good friends after all, and we do know Mark would like Eve prior to this had they’d been more available to each other that way initially (it was made clear in the beginning of the show contrasting Mark’s feelings for Eve not being as clear or seemingly existent before this same thing happened in the comics). I don’t think it has to be the shadow that’s always hanging over everything between them now. If they just give the both of them the freedom of choice and not dip too far into the being “magically in love” part of their development that was in the comics - don’t get me wrong though, I appreciate the comics attempting nuance in that Mark wasn’t completely influenced by Future Eve in feeling what he felt, I personally don’t think it’s possible to make yourself feel something for someone just because you want to or believe you should, much less sustain a happy, committed relationship with them for years after - because of the push Future Eve gave rather than it primarily being them truly caring for and enjoying each other, it can be really great and the bizarre true beginnings of their romantic development can be looked at more favourably and maybe thematically.

I remember seeing this scene being adapted and instantly being filled with dread. I feel you on thinking this was unnecessary pressure added to Mark’s dilemma. He still needs to figure things out. I hope things are better explored between them in the future and this is actually addressed, otherwise I’m going to be deeply upset.

SPOILERS ‼️

i don't really care for the comic version of mark/eve and i was hoping their relationship in the show would win me over because i do think they have great potential, but it was such, SUCH a bad idea to keep the scene of future eve confessing to him. it's kinda tainting the whole idea for me unfortunately

mark has a ridiculous amount of stuff to deal with, especially right now, and he does not need to be pressured into deciding how he feels about his friend + telling her one way or another so she can "go on with her life"... basically implying that she'll be sad and unfulfilled forever if he doesn't. i don't think mark, or eve for that matter, has put much thought into it considering he JUST got out of a serious relationship with someone else

it also feels ooc for the show's version of eve, who has much more character outside of mark, to be so hung up on her crush from 20 years ago that she'd be willing to disrupt the space-time continuum and plead for him to give her closure. i can understand her having some lingering feelings, wondering what could have been, but i think that could have been conveyed just through some forlorn looks

as it is, future!eve basically just gave mark another obligation to fulfill. i don't think our current eve would even WANT that for him, and with that in his mind i feel like it'd be hard for him to come to a natural decision on his feelings anyway. i really don't know why the writers thought this was essential relationship development. it sucks

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

Lucky Charm: Reflekdoll

Summary: Adrien struggles to adapt to his powers as Mister Bug while facing an old villain with a new trick. Will he be able to learn fast enough to save his partner?

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

"Reflektas, start turning the rest of Paris into me!"

Adrien hid behind the overturned car as Reflekta's clones started attacking untransformed civilians. Apparently, Reflekdoll broadcast a signal that brainwashed any copies. "That's new."

"You are Chat Noir, correct?"

Turning, he spotted a red kwami holding a pair of earrings. "Yeah? And that over there is... Ladybug?" Adrien asked as someone who could only be his Lady launched herself at the giant sentimonster. The suit may have been different but the cat ears were a dead giveaway.

"There's been a little mix up with the Miraculous. I'm Tikki, pleased to meet you!" Tikki offered Adrien the earrings which he accepted.

"Well! Tikki, transforme-moi!"

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

Marinette dodged blast after blast from Reflekdoll.

"Well, my Lady Noire, looks like you're playing the easy part today!"

Lady Noire looked over to see who could only be Chat Noir with her Miraculous. "Not so sure about that!" Placing herself in front of him Lady Noir whirled her staff as a shield, blocking Reflekdoll's beam. "Looks like we'll be taking on two opponents that amplify each other's powers!"

They jumped onto the top of a nearby stone pillar as Reflekdoll attacked again.

"Stay focused, Mister Bug!"

Mister Bug took his yo-yo out and whirled it like he'd seen Ladybug do countless times. "Just my luck. I'm gonna have to capture two akuma instead of one."

"No, one akuma and one amok," Lady Noire corrected.

Reflekta fired her beam into one of the ports onboard. The magic layered by Reflekdoll before it shot a concentrated beam. Mister Bug acted on instinct and tackled Lady Noire out of the way. They rolled to their feet and charged up Reflekdoll as Lady Noire explained what a sentimonster was.

"Would've been nice to know what the Peacock could do before their sentimonsters started showing up!" Mister Bug commented as he launched a kick at said sentimonster to little effect.

"It was on a need-to-know basis!" Lady Noire swung her staff into the sentimonster with similar results.

"I really need to talk with the Guardian about what he considers 'need-to-know'!" Mister Bug leapt back towards the ground with Lady Noire. "Okay, so we need to find Reflekta's akumatized object and the baby monster's amok."

Lady Noire deflected another beam from Reflekdoll. "Can you manage or should we switch back?"

"C'mon! I'm totally capable of doin' it!" Mister Bug smirked.

Lady Noire pulled him out of the way of Reflekdoll's beam and they ran towards the Eiffel Tower. "We need to figure out where the akuma and amok are!"

"Probably the same place as the last time we fought her. In her bracelet!"

They jumped onto the tower itself and used the iron structure to shield themselves. "Maybe. We're gonna have to check that!"

"If I could just get my hands on a mirror I'd be able to reflect her own beam back at her!"

Landing on the first level, Lady Noire turned to look at Mister Bug. "That's not how it works." She crossed her arms. "The Lucky Charm doesn't just give you what you want."

"You ever asked? Watch and learn!" Mister Bug grinned. "Lucky Charm!"

"A mirror!" Oh, Adrien was gonna lord this over her so much! 

"Beginners luck," Lady Noire declared. Chat Noir was gonna be insufferable about this she could feel it.

"You're just jealous of my mastery!" Mister Bug teased.

A loud banging interrupted them and they looked down to see Reflekdoll climbing the tower. Reflekta steering with one hand and shooting her much smaller lasers through the window eyes with the other.

Mister Bug held out his mirror and reflected one of them back at her. Bullseye!

Reflekdoll shot at them with its big beam.

 "Very effective, Mister Bug."

"Hey, it worked didn't it?"

Lady Noire sighed in exasperation. "May I remind you that the Lucky Charm doesn't just give you an object to defeat the villain with-"

"I thought that's exactly what it does?"

"You actually have to figure out exactly how to use it!" Lady Noire poked him in the forehead. "Using your head!"

Reflekdoll reached there level and started firing. Mister Bug jumping for cover while Lady Noire blocked its attack with her staff. "Since you wasted your Lucky Charm. I guess that means it's my turn, buggaboy! Watch and learn! Cataclysm!"

Lady Noire leapt at the sentimonster and-

Her body was pulled out of the way of Reflekdoll's beam just in time. Mister Bug unwinding his yo-yo none too gently. "What was that about using your head? May I remind you that Cataclysm needs a physical medium to work properly! If that sentimonster is made outa magic I doubt it'll do what you want!"

Lady Noire held the Cataclysm as close as she could without actually touching it. "Well, what do you suggest?"

Mister Bug pulled her out of the way of another beam. "Uh... I... Knock her back to ground level while I come up with something?" Adrien smiled with the most conviction he could muster.

Lady Noire groaned. "Think fast!" And rushed out. Dodging Reflekdoll's attack she extended her baton and struck the sentimonster with her full momentum. Reflekdoll crashing back down to earth.

Taking advantage of Lady Noire's distraction Mister Bug glanced around from his high vantage point. Trying to spot anything that would spark an epiphany like Ladybug. "Okay, I admit it!" he cried out, shoulders slumping, "Being Chat Noir is way more fun."

Lady Noire leapt around the sentimonster and struck at its body. The Black Cat giving her a bit more agility than she was used to. Very handy.

Mister Bug added a swing of his yo-yo to one of her attacks. Reflekdoll stumbling with their combined force.

Lady Noire landed beside him. "What have you got?"

"Ah," Mister Bug rubbed the back of his neck. "About that..."

She stared at him. "Seriously!?"

"Well, I'm sorry! Some of us are just slow learn-"

"LOOK OUT!"

Lady Noire didn't think. She just acted. Mister Bug was the only one who could purify the akuma and he needed to keep going. She pushed Mister Bug out of the way as one of Reflekta's clones attacked... Just as Reflekdoll fired its beam.

"My Lady!" Mister Bug cried out.

Lady Noire stood immobile as a Reflekta copy.

"Yes! Now get bug boy's Miraculous!" The original Reflekta ordered.

Springing to life, the Reflekta that used to be Lady Noire aimed her bracelet and fired.

Mister Bug whirled his yo-yo as a shield and leapt to the nearest roof.

"You won't get away from me!" Reflekta called after him as he fled for cover.

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

Adrien leaned against the wall of his hiding place. Breathing deeply, heart hammering in his chest. "Okay. It's okay. Ladybug does this all the time! What would Ladybug do? What would Ladybug do?"

The Ladybug earrings beeped insistently.

"This is fine!" Adrien announced as he detransformed.

Tikki falling into Adrien's palms as he fell to his knees.

"This isn't fine! Tikki, I can't do this! I'm no Ladybug! We should've switched back when she said! I-" Adrien's chest constricted and he forced his breath to slow.

"She trusted you enough to keep going," Tikki said weakly.

Her state bringing Adrien out of his head. "You need food."

Tikki hovered closer to his face, looking him in the eye. "No two of my Ladybug's have ever been exactly alike. Some are slower learners than others. I trust you, too."

Adrien looked away, shoulders hunching. "But I messed up."

"Remember Stoneheart?" Tikki prompted. "Ma- Ladybug messed up too. But you still believed in her." She placed a paw on his cheek. "Believe in yourself now."

Adrien's gaze came back to her.

"Don't ask what Ladybug would do. Ask yourself: what would Adrien do?"

Steeling his resolve Adrien nodded, rising to his feet and cupping Tikki in his palms. "First things first," he inched closer to the alleyway's entrance. The overturned car with his stash of Camembert a short sprint away. "Let's get you recharged."

A gaggle of Reflekta clones chased a group of civilians past him. The people hit turning into more copies and standing still until the akuma villain's voice came booming over the city. The new clones springing to life so they could follow her orders.

They lit up in Adrien's mind and his head shot back to the sentimonster in the distance. Its beam lighting up too.

Adrien gazed down at Tikki and grinned. "I've got an idea."

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

"Lucky Charm!"

A mirror fell into Mister Bug's hands. "Wow, twice in a row. Lucky me," Adrien deadpanned as he tied it to his arm like a shield using his yo-yo. The plan was a laughably simple two step process.

Step One: Get shot.

"Hey, Reflekta!" he hollered from a rooftop at convenient shooting hight. "Don't you know that pink frills are so last season?"

"Once I turn the whole world into Reflektas it'll be the only season!" She fired into Reflekdoll's port which concentrated her energy into a stronger blast.

Just as planned. Mister Bug braced his feet and held his Lucky Charm directly in front of him. "Here we go!"

The sentimonster fired.

Step Two: Shoot Reflekta with her own sentimonster's magic.

The beam reflected off Mister Bug's mirror and perfectly into the round eye windows. Blasting Reflekta dead center.

Adrien held his position for a moment, peaking past his makeshift shield. Reflekta and Reflekdoll stood still. Waiting for orders from... themselves. The enhanced magic dependent on the sentimonster and by extension whoever was driving it.

"Yes!" Mister Bug raised both fists. "Now just a little pest control and we can all get on with our day!"

Finding and purifying the akuma and amok was easy when he wasn't being shot at. Grabbing Juleka as the sentimonster vanished and setting her down on the ground.

Adrien looked at Mister Bug's reflection in his mirror... "I've always wanted to do this." And tossed his Lucky Charm into the air. "Miraculous Mister Bug!"

As the ladybug's restored Paris he spotted a familiar black suit. Adrien ran for her.

"Mister Bug? What- OOF!" Lady Noire stumbled as her partner barreled into her and tried to squeeze all the air out of her lungs. Once she could breathe Marinette wrapped her arms around him and patted his back. "You did good, little bug."

Adrien just held her for a moment. She was okay. He'd saved her. She was okay.

Then his earrings beeped.

Breaking the hug, Mister Bug jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Ah, we should split."

"Yeah..." Lady Noire readied to extend her baton. "... I think I finally get why you're so protective."

Mister Bug smiled. "And I get why you're so focused all the time."

He offered a fist bump and she accepted. Both heroes leaping in opposite directions.

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

"Tikki!" Marinette cradled her friend to her chest.

"Marinette!"

"I can't believe how much Chat trusts me... Knowing you might have to do that again? I don't think I could handle it."

"He's your Chat Noir for a reason, Marinette," Tikki agreed.

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

"Fighting by yourself is horrible, Plagg! I don't know how Ladybug does it." Adrien held him tight. Deciding never to let his Miraculous out of his sight again.

"She's got you most of the time, doesn't she? You're supposed to support each other, ain't ya?"

"Yeah. You're right..."

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

"... Well, one things for sure, Tikki." Marinette gazed off in the direction Plagg flew towards.

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

"She definitely-"

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

"He definitely-"

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

"-got the short straw."

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

Yes, this is technically the last prompt... But it's already written and I'm impatient.

@adrienaugust

[sasaranomiya]

hello! first off, thank you so much for all your efforts to translate this series. your translations are actually the reason why I decided to go back to tumblr lol. a few questions for you: how popular are the light novels domestically and internationally? I've only seen a few people discuss it in forums and I've even heard them call the anime underrated (though it's probably just the niche genre and there are a lot of big names airing this season, but still.) so in line with this, how much, do you think, is the chance that the anime gets a second season? or will they try to cram as much as they can in 12-13 episodes? if it's the latter, do you think faithfully adapting all the volumes would be hard to pull off? do you think the writers are doing a good job so far?

Hmm I would say that the novels are pretty popular within their niche. I believe they sold 1.2 million copies currently and one of the top sellers for the publisher. Honestly I feel like they'd sell a lot more if they had a manga too. As for internationally I have no idea, but I do know there's a Taiwanese and Korean translation (and an upcoming official English translation)

Yeah I never really expected this anime to be super popular when it's airing in such a stacked season (imo it would have had a better chance if it aired in the summer, which was pretty dry imo), and it's the type of work you have to watch carefully bc there's a lot going on (and the animation is nothing amazing)

I don't know if it'll get a second season, it'll probably depend on the sales. I highly doubt that they'll adapt all the books since it'll just make the anime incomprehensible bc of all the lore and worldbuilding that's needed for it to make sense. The anime is already cutting out a lot of stuff and speeding up the pacing so the story can fit into the time that's given. Tbh I feel like koukyuu no karasu is one of those works that just doesn't work well as a typical 12 episode 22 minute anime, bc there's really a lot of stuff and exposition going on in each chapter (and it ends up sort of abandoning the "case of the week" format near the end) and the writing style and pacing are very deliberate. Honestly I think the writers are doing the best that they can with what they're given, but yeah, the novels are still the best way to enjoy the story. In fact I feel like the anime is best enjoyed after reading the novels so you don't feel lost with all the names and terminology and what not

[callmecyan]

First time doing something like this so here we go I guess?

Hermittober Day 1 - Wings

List by @/ink-ghoul

Since I don’t know how to draw I decided to write! I have some headcanons at the end so ye :D

 It was the start of a new season, season 7, saying he was excited wouldn't even be close to describe how he was feeling. Grian was so, so happy and excited, it's like the last season was all a dream he had, a good dream, he couldn't believe it was real. He was here, he's part of hermitcraft, he is a hermit. And it's awesome, just like when Mumbo told him that Xisuma wanted to talk to him, that he got invited there.

 He was so nervous the first season, even when he was at the war, even when he was the one who started it, he was so scared that he could be stepping over a line. But god it was so much fun, and everyone was so nice.

 He was living in the jungle now, with other hermits as his neighbors, Scar, Mumbo, Stress and Iskall. And it was amazing, as much as he had to get used to mining and grinding again, he loved it, he felt like as the season kept going everyone would focus more and more on their own individual big projects, that this beginning was nice, he would see the others quite a lot and they would chat and help each other and it was just amazing.

 Something he found out is that the meetings they would have, that he thought were monthly meetings just so X could see how everyone was doing, were way more frequent at the beginning of the seasons. So everyone could talk about their plans, if they needed help with anything, plan mining sessions together, or even to just chat about anything, and of course for X to check on them. At first he thought it would be a bit awkward since he really didn't really knew much about all the things they had on hermitcraft or even knew anyone besides Mumbo, but they proved him wrong once again, everyone was so nice to him and he even remember the hermits ‘fighting’ to see who would get introduced first, who would show him around etc.

 They decided to meet up where the shopping district would be, he directed himself to the center of the island where he could already hear some of the voices. As he got closer Mumbo and Scar were the first one to notice him and they started waving at him, he wasn't the last one to appear, some people were still missing from the messages he saw on the communicator.

 He placed himself between Mumbo and Scar as he greeted everyone. He could feel Scar looking at him, so he looked up with a questioning look

 ‘'What's up?’’ Scar seemed a bit embarrassed, and he could feel some of the hermits looking at him too.

 ‘‘Uh- just- uh your wings? They- it's not purple anymore?’’ and he finally realised ‘oh’.

 He could feel Mumbo holding a laugh at his side and he could feel himself blushing a bit out of embarrassment, he put a hand on his neck

 ‘‘Yeah, I- uh I kinda forgot to tell you guys this is actually my bad. But my wings change whenever I’m in a new smp, world or somewhere that I wasn't before. You can say they kinda ‘adapt’ themselves into what I’m doing and working on basically, its weird really, not even I understand much of it I just got used to it’’

 ‘‘So’’ - False started, and he could see how the others were curious but probably afraid to ask, maybe scared of offending him accidentally?- ‘‘Do you know why they were purple before? Or you like- you don't know the reasons?’’

 ‘‘Uh it depends really, like how I said most of it I can try and break it down to why they would look like that, but it's never something certain’’ - he was trying to figure out how to explain things in a way that, hopefully, would help the others understand- ‘‘I think they were that purple color so it could look like an Elytra, I mean it was basically the first time I found out and even had contact with one, and I don't know, maybe because i really didn't know any of you guys? So it was kinda the way my wings found to ‘fit in’ I guess? So they would be similar to everyone else?’’ - as he looked at the others he could see how they were thinking about it, probably processing everything he said or trying to understand his explanation.

 ‘‘Knew’’ He heard Xisuma saying, he looked over to the admin and he could tell he was smiling.

 Grian made a confused sound, he heard other hermits laughing a bit and he heard Mumbo saying under his breath ‘‘oh my god’’

 ‘‘You said you didn't know any of us, but you do now. You’re part of the hermits, you are part of the family now’’

 ‘‘Yeah’’ he felt Scar putting a arm over his shoulders and basically giving him a side hug ‘‘you dont troll someone with a zombie spawner on the first day of the season if you ‘dont know’ them’’

 He couldn't help but laugh ‘‘aw c'mon Scar it was funny, you can't hold that against me the entire season’’.

 He saw Scar putting his other hand under his chin as he pretended like he was considering this possibility ‘‘hmmmm nope! I think i can do that’’

 After that everyone started laughing and the meeting continued, with a lot of them asking about his wings, how they look in other places, and it was fun, it was home, and he's so happy to be part of this family.

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Some of my headcanons around the wings

Grian - his wings, as said, change depending on where he is. For example if he goes on somewhere his wings already ‘adapted’ themselves then they change to that.

Season 6: light purple wings, similar to the elytra color.

Season 7: parrot wings, the red ones with the yellow and blue details.

Season 8: a very dark blue very similar to black.

Creative worlds: white fluffy wings.

Watchers: he had two pairs of wings, in a darker purple.

Stress - unlike Grian, she can't ‘carry’ the wings outside of Hermitcraft, its a specific thing from Hermitcraft. Like when players have specific skins to specific smps? If that makes sense?

Stress wings are bug themed unlike Grian who has bird ones.

Season 6: dragonfly wins, with very soft light blue and pink.

Season 7: blue morpho butterfly.

Season 8: cicada wings with green and the golden-ish color.