#and i love that because its such a good contrast to the main timeline's VERY imperfect world

[note-boom]

I read the last chapter of the BEAST manga without reading the whole thing in full and why does it hit so hard??

1. There is absolutely no metahumor that pokes fun at Akutagawa being the good guy. It takes it seriously and the storytelling about him on the ADA side is so openly raw and sincere. I can FEEL him as the Aku that I know but I also feel the way he really is trying to live on the light side.

2. A reformed Mori as Atsushi's father. Do you not understand how much POTENTIAL??? The way it catapulted me across seven different realities because, canon Atsushi or Beast Atsushi...why would a reformed Mori actually make a good mentor/father figure to Atsushi??? His more clinical and logical way of viewing the world might actually help Atsushi's idealism and tendency to "either or" in his judgments.

3. It's the way the BEAST characters, unlike the main timeline characters, are aware that they are living in a story - living in a finite world. Obviously, the main canon has that "we're all ephemeral creatures in an ephemeral world" thing going on....but the theme of striving in spite of the shadow of death looming over hits so much harder in BEAST where Akutagawa KNOWS that he's living in a world that could utterly disappear one day. Even knowing that, he affirms his humanity, his goal to be good, that he will do his best to be human. They're more aware of their roles as characters that will end soon AND STILL they're more determined to live anyway???

[youshouldjustliveinmychurch]

Symbolism of Jinx's Hair

*Arcane spoilers*

CW: Violence, self-harm, suicide

OH. MY. GOD. So so so many thoughts, but for now a few quick thoughts on the symbolism of Jinx's hair.

-The bangs are there the whole time and represent her relationship with Silco since we see young Silco with similar bangs. (credit to Tik Tok for that).

-After Isha's death, Jinx's very long hair is completely undone from its braid. This calls to mind Rapunzel, perhaps symbolizing that in her depression Jinx is isolated in the tower of her mind and - maybe - needs someone to rescue her but it's difficult to reach her unless she tosses her hair down and lets someone in. Problem is, Jinx doesn't feel worthy of letting anyone in. Silco, while well-meaning, is reminiscent of Mother Gothel, who keeps Rapunzel trapped by teaching her to act a certain way. The hair is unbraided, which symbolizes the loss of her identity as Jinx. Her inability to form and be comfortable in a distinct identity not explicitly attached to another person leads to a lack of self-worth that causes her death.

-THEN she cuts her hair to the length it happens to be when she's powder in the other timeline. This symbolizes a reversion to - not necessarily her old self (too much has happened) - but to someone closer to who she would have been without so much trauma. This is the point when she's about to *you know* and Ekko manages to stop her. The sad thing about Jinx in the current timeline is that her identity has become irreparably tied to other people because of her trauma so she doesn't think she has any value on her own. First she (and her identity as a younger sister / daughter) was linked to Vi and Vander, then attached to Silco (as a daughter). When she loses Silco, she loses her identity, until she once more finds an identity in being a sister / attaching to Isha. She thinks she has value by playing that role. When she loses that, she once more loses her sense of identity and worth because she's never been allowed to grow up / form one on her own because of her trauma. That's why her "sacrifice" in the end is such a tragedy and not actually something to be admired.  It all stems from her lack of valuing herself, which is a tragedy. The Powder in the other timeline is different because she's had time to form an independent identity and sense of self-worth which we can see demonstrated by her clothes and the fact that she's not very susceptible to the slight pressure from Vander and others to be more ambitious and live up to her potential. The ONLY thing that makes her help Ekko is the fact that Vi is alive in the other timeline. She expresses her love in her own way by creating something contrasted to how Jinx expresses her love for Vi by destroying herself. Also, Ekko is the only one who can reach her in that moment and stop her self-destruction because he sees her soul - the real Powder. It's like the difference between friends and family. We love our families. They are (good or bad) important. But they have preconceived notions about us and our identities related to them. Our friends, on the other hand, CHOOSE us. They choose to be around us (ideally) because they like us for who we are in our natural state.

-When she zooms up with Ekko, her hair has been changed yet again. She keeps the bangs (representing Silco) and has dyed a streak purple (to represent her and Vi together - pink + blue and also VIOLET). The rest, however, is jaggedly cut off close to her head. Instead of this representing an entirely new identity, I see it as representing the hope and POSSIBILITY of a new, more authentic identity growing (see hair growing) while still keeping the foundation of her care for the people she loves. The hair is cut jaggedly and isn't necessarily beautiful or put together by typical standards, but it doesn't have to be. One of the main themes of this season is that "brokenness" is essential to who we are and isn't always a bad thing. As Ekko says, it's a chance to build something new. Unfortunately that never happens because of the consequences of trauma.

I'm not sure I agree with Jinx's death because on the surface it feels like the tired trope of villain / morally grey character is redeemed by sacrificing themselves for someone else. Personally, I think it's much more powerful to have a character take responsibility for themselves while also forgiving themselves. I concede that this was done in a really nuanced way. The thing is, I don't think we're actually supposed to read Jinx's death as a heroic act that redeems her. Instead, it is more in line with the themes to read it as a horrific suicide caused by trauma, oppression, and a lack of self-worth/identity. In that split-second decision, Jinx reverts to all that she knows and has been taught, even though for a moment she did have a shot at a new identity. She chooses to die because she doesn't value herself / doesn't know who she is and has been taught all her life that you show love through violence (even if it's violence in protection of those you love). With as clever and innovative as Jinx is, don't tell me she and Vi couldn't have figured out another way to best Vander. It makes sense to read this moment as an avoidable, tragic suicide because Jinx is clearly suicidal and even makes an attempt. The song that plays during her attempt also plays during her death. We're supposed to see this event more in the light of what happened to Isha, which HEAVILY foreshadowed and paralleled Jinx's death by showing a child's misguided attempt at expressing love. An innocent child shouldn't feel obligated to sacrifice their life to save someone else's life. That moment is horrific. Not even an adult should be asked to do that. That's an unmistakable tragedy. Just like Isha was doing what she was taught (the simplicity and complexity of "pew-pew"), Jinx was doing what she was taught. It's a cycle of innocence, violence, and trauma that also mirrors Jinx's accidental role in Vander's death when she was trying to mold herself to what everyone expected her to be. It's haunting that Jinx says, "Killing isn't mercy." She doesn't give herself mercy in the end. We see that even though Vi tries her hardest to show Jinx she's loved and can have mercy/ a second chance, Jinx doesn't know how to accept that. It's not a coincidence that in that same conversation with ghost Silco they talk about identity. That's just my personal interpretation.

Anyway.

[year2000electronics]

Did Mario know about the rumors of the Dark Star Child? If yes, what exactly did he know?

What exactly was that one alternate timeline with Luigi on Bowser's side like? And what had happened to its version of Mario?

Has Antasma ever used his vampire transformation powers (in the main timeline)? And what exactly does that whole process entail?

What happens if any of the Star Children are seperated from their jems?

Does Luigi's Dark Star necklace act funky after the prophecy was foiled, with all that forbidden power but its assigned cause being no more?

EXCELLENT QUESTIONS! answers going under the cut because they got long

so both light and dark prognosticus are kept very secret in the FOTS world, obviously, but seeing as the dark prognosticus is ACTUALLY dangerous, it's far-better kept, so the prophecies of the light prognosticus enter the cultural consciousness much easier, so the stories of the four star children get spread far and wide, and in contrast, the far more secretive dark prognosticus gets seen as "not canonical" or just "old wives' tales"- so for a lot of people, the idea of the dark star child ALONE is ridiculous (it'd kinda be like if you talked to two different, i dont know, christians, and one says the book of revelations is about a hypothetical end, and the other says the rapture is happening Tomorow)

and even then, people who DO believe in the dark star child usually go "well it's probably that furious monster king they mention. he sounds scary"

it's the same for mario, because as much as i love to focus on Luigi's Issues, taking a step back into mario and luigi's ENTIRE life- yknow from birth to present- here's pretty much what it looks like, right

the purple tallies are every "foreshadowing moment" i've put in the timeline, so there's yoshi's island, where the only person who saw that foreshadowing is kamek, and then dream team, where antasma says he sees something dark in luigi, brothership, which i won't get fully into because spoilers, and finally, what i've been lovingly referring to as "the train wreck"- where a bunch of grand reveals all happen near the tail-end.

so for mario, it never even occurred to him! he's lived with this guy for at least 20 years with no incidents up until now! the heck is going on??

as for the alt timeline, i imagined it would be a very similar sort of situation to mlp season 5's finale where the gang travels through a bunch of different super-crazy timelines and you get just enough info to understand what's going on, but you can't stay for long because THERE'S THINGS AT STAKE!!

BUT this specific timeline has luigi being raised by kamek as one of his own, so it's bowser and luigi who end up being The Brothers instead of mario and luigi! mario ends up fine, of course, he just needs to work twice as hard to get stuff done. maybe peach teams up with him instead of getting kidnapped? much to think about. in a hypothetical where this was the real timeline, mario would have to convince both bowser and luigi to go along with him to do SPM lol, what a headache

i did a few sketches of some hypothetical alternate timelines- flashy, conveys what it is quick, and then POOF! its gone

as for antasma, i actually had the idea a while back that maybe he slowly starts turning everyone on pi'illo island into his army, so the more you clear the story, the darker the island gets- but that kinda happens with brothership and the glohmed concordians so i might have to scrap that

but yknow, in bowser's early appearances, he's portrayed as this blue-pale colour, and he also is rocking this really cool cape- and seeing as antasma is using bowser for his own plans in a parasitic way, i think it would actually be super cool for bowser to be a vampire for most of dream team

i think antasma would be the only one who could CAUSE nightmares/fear but anyone turned into a vampire by him would have to suck all the rest/good dreams out of people, so youre left super exhausted and when you go to bed you'll either have no dreams at all or have freaky nightmares

the necklaces have a special connection to the star children! i'm sure youve seen those 'cursed object' or 'magical object' stories where the object will just spawn back somewhere if it's lost. that's good for the star children! their artifacts aren't Artifacts Of Power or anything, moreso just yknow, charms of protection, of good luck, stuff like that. it's a representation of the star spirits' blessing. so a lot of it is just 'these things have sentimental value to these crazy kids'

but of course, they'll come back even if the star children don't want them to at the moment...

and after the fact, luigi's necklace is... wait for it... perfectly normal! it's no longer hidden, but it's not like it's some big scary macguffin, either. it symbolizes that the star children have broken free from the chains of "fate" and "destiny"- how they can choose who they wanna be now. and luigi chooses to be a normal guy!

thanks for your questions!!

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I'm finding rankings difficult, there's a lot of middle of the pack action and some serious top contenders

Organized, in each category, by ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Dec 2023 Wk 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

Last Twilight (Fri YT) ep 5 of 12 -  I love how they’re slowly revealing bits of their past to each other. It parallels the slow burn of them falling in love with each other. Knowledge + understanding = affection. I cried during the part with his doubles partner, of course I did. As has been mentioned many times in this blog, I am a sap. Also I’m realizing that there is something particularly clever about this show: Because Day is blind, there must be a ton of physical touch. And physical touch is something that Thai BL does really well. 

(I gotta say, while I ADORE JimmySea in these roles, a small part of me wonders how JoongDunk would have handled these parts.)

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 3 of 10 - Phaya is SO DAMN SMITTEN. It’s great. Have I mentioned recently how glad I am Billy got this role? This was the: “it’s not a date” date ep. 

I gotta say these 2 BLs are neck and neck favorites right now.

Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube) ep 1 of 12 - Uh oh. I like it a lot. I think I was always going to because I have a soft spot for TayNew on screen. It is such funny to watch Tay play such a stiff character. I like it. This is very fast paced for a Thai BL I wonder where they’ll take it with this speed, are they’ll following the manga more closely? 

My Dear Gangster Oppa (Thurs iQIYI) ep 7 of 8 - Wait, no. Wahl you’re such a problem. The pacing of this is very KBL. I’m not mad about it but it feels odd in Thai. Still enjoying this one the most as my "early in the week" offering.

For Him (Thurs iQIYI) ep 2 of 10 - The booty call flirting is next level with these two. Like Bed Friends but with less pain. I love that Nail is such needy evil wild child - the story gets all its tension from that.

Baby boy gives off so many danger signals I wouldn't tap that with a 10 ft… pole. Him is a braver queer than I. I do like how the high heat is being used to drive the story. It stands in stark contrast to Playboyy. Which is using high heat to drive, well... piles apparently.

Twins the series (Fri GaGa) ep 6 of 10 - I'm enjoying it again, the main couple is getting more BLish. 

Bake Me Please (Mon Gaga) ep 3 of 6 - Shin and Peach flirting is very cute. Although they got into that sack swiftly. Guy leaving was contrived and reactions overwrought but okay babies. 

Absolute Zero (Weds iQIYI) ep 11 of 12 - Now I'm mostly just confused.

Which timeline are we in?

Do they know each other in this one's past or not?

Have they met yet?

Who has which memories of what?

I feel like I’ve been through a lot for the show.

I’m not saying the reunion scene in the theater was worth it, but it was a really spectacular reunion scene. I’m terrified that there’s one more episode. I wish it had ended here.

Cooking Crush (Sun YT) 2 of 12 - I’m just not that into it. 

Pit Babe (Fri iQIYI) ep 4 of 14 - A new ship has been set afloat, we are now Team #WayKim / #KimWay and if you're not with us, you're against us. Trash watch happening here.

Middleman’s Love (Fri YT & iQIYI ep 5 of 8 - oh look, it’s everybody’s favorite big brother!

That was a kind (and kind of lovely) coming out sequence. KingUea being the worst best Gay Advice Dads is awesome. Mai is SO SWEET. And we end on some good old miscommunication / misinterpretation, so that Jade can behave in an even more unhinged manner next ep. Our brief respite from absurdity has ended. 

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) Fake Love ep 16 of 24 - They cute fake bf but it’s oddly unappealing. I mean most us queers have slept with each others exes, that’s swimming in a small pool, for ya. In my experience, only hets get butt hurt about it. (Hets never use enoug lube, they butt hurt about everything.) So the whole drama just felt confusing to me. Or maybe that's just my experience with swimming in lube? 4/10 whatever... not recommended

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 4 of 14 eps - I’m seriously considering dropping this. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

VIP Only (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 4 of 10 - They cute. Are aquariums now gay? That’s not the definition of fish that I grew up with. 

Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 2 of 8 - I'm suffering from terrible second lead syndrome. Glasses guy is new Best Boy. Also, Rise is trying to earn the Namgoong Award for Best Wingman. 

It Finished But...

SHADOW (Thai Gaga) 14 eps - completed it's run. Reports are:

It's pretty good horror but not BL. Ending is unresolved.

Given that info and this review here, it's not for me. DNF

It's Airing But...

Behind the Shadows (Korea movie) - a historical I'm interested in (if it's BL) but have no idea how to find.

The Whisperer (Sun ????) 10 eps - Thai horror BL that ALSO involves cheating (what joy is mine). I don't think even the perfect single dimple can motivate me to watch. Word is... it's terrible.

7 Days Before Valentine (Weds WeTV) 10 eps - Giving me Luminous Solution vibes. I'm waiting to binge if it's safe.

Beyond The Star (Weds iQIYI) 8 eps - House of Stars meets Boyband. I was NOT impressed with ep 1. Been told I shouldn't bother.

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - I find this series more fun to binge, so I'm waiting until after it completes its run next week.

Next Week Looks Like This

12/14 Dear Kitakyushu (Thai/Japan movie) in theaters in country only, I know nothing about distribution.

Still coming:

12/23 Dead Friend Forever (Thai horror) iQIYI

Original 2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED). With the end of the year upon us I'll do an "announced for 2023 but never happened list" soon.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Of course I loved all the little language moments. I am here for the kinkification of phi.

That request for a shirt was v sexy phi+na. Thank you Jimmy.

Last Twilight bringing the pronoun and particle game to play hard.

It was a nice kiss. (Absolute Zero)

This as a perfunctory flirting kiss, I anticipate we still have The Kiss to come.

I love that Phaya's personality seems to be spin doctor, just accuse the boy of doing that you are already doing to him (or want him to do to you).

Boyfriend shirts!

And a meta reference.

The Sign is basically made for me.

(Last week)

[woodenfawn]

Rewatching Re:Zero again, for various reasons, and I really want to take a closer look at it because it's been stuck in my head for such a long time. (It's actually the first scene I ever watched!)

Going back to the Rem Infodump, well- this is part of the reason I think Rem's definitely not stopping her character development. From the beginning, we get the message from this story that self sacrifice without any reward is not something someone should be satisfied with.

And this is extremely interesting because of what we learn later on- that despite all the physical pain, Ram was relieved that her horn broke. She didn't regret it, and only Rem was hurt by it emotionally.

I wonder if she ever properly talked to Rem about it? I wonder if she knew how to do that. I wonder if Rem ever knew how it felt to hold the pressure the clan was putting on her sister...

Ram's only guilt here comes from how it hurt Rem.

And then Ram asks Subaru who he'd prefer to be friends with, and I realized something pretty interesting.

These describe each of the twins, but they also describe Subaru himself. Both, together. Those two things add up to a large part of his internal conflict, and are made difficult by the fact that they contrast each other so much.

Because Subaru cannot just save everyone easily, because he's just a normal kid who was thrown into situations far beyond his abilities, he has to learn to love himself while dealing with both of these issues simultaneously. Letting go of one of these flaws (as he sees it) means completely and shamelessly embracing the other. If he refuses help, the only way he can be strong is to sacrifice himself. If he prioritizes himself, then he'll only ever be able to take from those he cares about.

I love how the story doesn't give him the option to become stronger, either. Like- he has Guiltywhip, he has Beatrice, he has Witch Authorities, but he's not the Isekai Protagonist he'd hoped he could be. He can't be Reinhardt (though... I don't know if he would want to be. That comes with its own rabbit hole, doesn't it?).

Rem and Ram each are like two mirrors of different parts of him, and they each have dynamics with each other that play on these connections.

Rem and Ram each embody different parts of the message of Re:Zero and I think that is so cool. All of them do, but the way this is presented just. I love it.

I don't mean to always talk about Subaru, I swear... I'm just in love with his character... Subaru's got such good dynamics with the whole cast,,,

I wish this conversation was in the final timeline, or that Subaru recreated it somehow... got the message across... man

Dear Diary, today I thought about Re:Zero again

also can we talk about how there's little trinkets and items that represent the main cast's personalities? Like, the spoon and the quill represent Rem and Ram in this story, the flower pin that Emilia gets from the little girl is like... the proof of her kindness, and the 10 yen coin represents subaru's brand of kindness- from the very beginning of the story. as well as the key from the elior forest being another one of emilia's, which has a similar diamond shaped gem to the quill and spoon. The only one of the main cast I can't pin down is beatrice... her book? her crown? I'm not sure. I hope we see Subaru's Beatrice diary in the next season!!

[br1ghtestlight]

NOT THE ENGAGEMENT RING STILL BEING IN THE BIRD NEST LMAO

loving this morning routine so far. we rarely get to see into characters lives outside the belcher family (obviously i mean. its their show) but this morning routine feels both painfully awkward and Very real in a way that we don't see with the belcher family in the same way?? their house is always so chaotic and LOUD with so many people and siblings but this is just rudy and his dad. its not exactly missing the love and warmth but its very intentionally different vibes

god rudy's dad is trying so hard :( compared to the natural and fun interactions of the belcher family this is just.... a very stark contrast with rudy's dad trying and failing to relate to rudy on his level

RUDY THINKS HIS DAD IS EMBARASSING OHHH :(

assuming that this Fancy dinner is rudy and his parents getting together every weekend (with tonights dinner being with his mom's new boyfriend) and CLEARLY does not enjoy it and finds it awkward its kinda funny that they keep doing them. like his parents probably don't like each other very much AND rudy hates the dinners and its awkward and uncomfortable like do we really need to keep doing this. is it worth it. are they trying to stay connected like a normal family while also very clearly disliking each other?? who knows im excited to find out

like "you've always been a trooper" IF THE DINNER ISNT FOR RUDY THEN WHO IS IT FOR LMAO???

and we all love you so much 😭😭

love seeing the belcher family in a non-focused setting like you can tell this episode is about rudy so it makes seeing the belcher family feel almost like?? like WE ARE rudy seeing a friend at the mall rather than them being the main characters. very interesting creative choice

gene is such a sweetie in this scene <3 him walking on the fountain edge

ROUDATHAN

gene got a B- special dinner..... god im sorry his family loves and supports him so much its so sweet :( like gene NEVER questions that he's adored by his family and they think he's amazing. they celebrate all his accomplishments no matter how small uhfghh i need a minute

its his day dad. tina is such a good big sister 10/10 love their relationship

"rudy you should come over for dinner!!! i think its gonna be one of the WORST foods we've ever tried" the belchers are so funny and sweet in this episode bcuz the conflict isn't really about Them and its very enjoyable. like they're just hanging out & having fun

our monthly We're Still A Family dinner with your mom. like SURELY there is a better way

MY MOMS NEW FRIEND ALLEN HES OKAYY 😭😭🤘🎶🎵

ohhh rudy's dad passing his own insecurities onto rudy :( this is so fucked bcuz he doesn't MEAN to do this but he ends up passing on his anxiety and neurotic tendencies onto his son and he doesn't build up his confidence like he should vs the belcher family where they hype each other up to an almost dangerous degree and they're all so happy and confident..... the parallels they are paralleling And it makes me upset. painfully real dysfunctional family relationship

you're the guest of honor....... :( BUT NOT A GUEST BECAUSE YOURE OUR CHILD :(

how on EARTH does this boy end up at the belcher's house for dinner 😭😭

I WAS BORN IN 2002 okay this confirms that louise was definitely not a 2002 baby unlike when the show started because that is a Grown woman and louise is nine. we have figured out some kind of timeline here and for this season louise was canonically born in uhh 2014 OH GOD DHES SO LITTLE. what the fuck gene was a 2012 baby

you know who would liven this party right up?? Louise belcher

BABBBYYY RUDY COMPILATION WITH HIS PARENTS WAHH i dont care that its awkward because he is so small. from this compilation i would guess his parents got divorced when he was around six or seven

rudy using his magic tricks to help the awkwardness of the dinners when that was never his responsibility as their kid... wahh

OHH NO RUDY 😭 this poor boy is having a panic attack somebody needs to save him. but honestly he's the sweetest kid im sure nobody is angry at a nine year old

RUDY IS GOING TO THE BATHROOM AND FULLY RUNS AWAY TO THE BELCHER HOUSEHOLD LMAO ZERO THOUGHTS HEAD EMPTY no plan just vibes. louise is his safe space which is not something i want to think about right now because its too much for my tiny heart. god

(fanfic where rudy has a panic attack and louise helps him through it will be incoming shortly)

rudy crying is going to make ME cry 😭😭

okay gene kissing the ketchup bottles goodnight is very funny that got me to laugh. what is bro DOING

rudy's parents about to file a missing person's report and he is FULLY commiting to the disgusting terrible lasanga dinner good for him!!!! BECAUSE ITS WITH A HAPPY FAMILY THAT FEELS SO COMFY AND SAFE GIVE ME A SECOND.... JUST GIVE ME A SECOND

gene saying he loves rudy. great moment

"rudy are you sure your parents know where you are" is the CORRECT reaction thank you linda lol This boy is very clearly not somewhere that his parents know about and she's being a responsible adult. obviously she would but its just nice that they're treating this situation somewhat seriously. good mama <3

EVERY GENE LINE IN THIS EPISODE MAKES ME LAUGH

rudy in this episode is gonna make me CRY he's so anxious and sensitive and they all love him so much god. like linda and bob are such good parents in this episode and louise is a great friend too. he's so so loved by everybody around him not just his family. and of course he is crying again

LOUISE AND RUDY ARE THE SWEETEST SHES SUCH A GOOD FRIEND SHE CARES ABOUT HIM SOO MUCH her staying for dinner so he feels less awkward and uncomfortable because he always feels safe with her :( what the hell

rudy and louise dinner date!!!!

SWEET GIRL WE GOT THERE SHE IS SOMETIMES ISNT SHE louise is literally the best i dont care if people think she's overrated or too many episodes focus on her. she's amazing and so incredibly sweet and she loves rudy more than anything

ngl when louise smiles and nodded i did think she and rudy were going to hold hands for some reason. roudise week got to me

LARRY MURPHY AS PAUL i knew they would find a way to squeeze him into the episode because he has one of the main credits he has to be in every episode. which is kinda funny tbh Legally contracted to make an appearance as at least one character per episode doesn't need to be teddy

OKAY FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE I DIDNT EXPECT THIS TO BE SO LONG this episode was adorable and very stylistically different in a good way?? i loved having a small peak into rudy's home life and his relationship with his parents. loved seeing rudy's mom she seems really sweet and supportive of him :) louise was the BEST in this episode and gene was hilarious as always. bob and linda are great parents and brian huskey did great considering he was voicing about 80% of this episode completely by himself. GREAT episode and a strong start to the season along with episode one!

[quetzalpapalotl]

How did you begin liking Sentinel Prime as a character? What are your thoughts on each version of him (Bayformers, Animated, One, both IDW runs, etc.)?

Sorry for the delay, Sentinel anon. Under the cut bc it got long.

So I started liking him because I got really into IDW1's pre-war politics. Like, the ruling classes are usually thought of as just some asshole oppressive guys that are there to set the stage for the Autobot/Decepticon conflict and that's not entirely wrong, but they're not just a hivemind of evil. They're people with their own interests, The Functionist Council is in conflict with the Senate, the strongest faction of it being led by Proteus who is a highly active schemer in contrast with Nominus Prime who is kinda lame, doesn't seem to do anything and gets killed by either his Senate or the Council depending on the timeline. I like that!! It provides context for the main character's choices that I consider very important, but it also makes the world feel alive. Like these politician bastards really are people who exist on their own and not just in service of the plot.

So Sentinel also plays a role here, as Proteus' puppet Prime. We are told in Chaos Theory that the Senate suddenly changed his mind and became okay with Decepticonism (obviously this is a front, since Proteous still wanted to blame them for a terrorist attack) and later during Sentinel's time as Prime, we learn that hardline functionism is losing its hold over the planet, and by extension so is The Council. So it's very likely that Sentinel and Proteus allowed the anti-functionist sentiment to fester in order to diminish the council in favor of the senate, naturally having a Prime that works for the Senate instead of the ambivalent Nominus works great for that. The Council really seemed to have lost all power since when Megatron rose up, his efforts were focused on the Senate and later Zeta Prime could do away with (official) Functionism no problem.

Obviously they didn’t do this because they cared about the unfairness of the caste system and Cybertron was still a place full of inequality. But it's funny like, they probably thought they could deal with the masses, I mean Sentinel was the leader of security forces, he must have thought there wasn't a pest he couldn't stomp. But allowing Decepticonism to grow just ended up killing him (...or well, not actually killing him, but you know).

Also his whole speech about romance being for people who are deranged is hilarious ngl. Just overall a fun guy.

IDW2 is very good. I liked this take after it seemed that Sentinel being a self serving asshole and/or a villain was now the default. I mean, he acts somewhat antagonist to Orion and he's not exactly nice but he has some very interesting stuff going on. He's trying to keep Cybertron going after being devastated by a war caused by their own greed, he is truly the heir to the Nominus edict, he truly is trying to work for the greated guy and I would hate to have his job. As stagnant as Cybertron may feel, the population really is looked after, everyone is fed, people can choose their own paths, inequality doesn't really seem to be a problem, but he's also had to do some awful stuff for this, like how the titan sparks were locked away. I liked how he went out fighting and felt bad that he died bc a guy who misses colonialism and Wants to Make Cybertron Great Again exploited the dissatisfaction with his movement to further his radical agenda. So yeah a complex, flawed guy in a difficult position. A tired politician.

TF One is great fun. He reminds me of IDW1 Zeta and I kinda like him for that. He's just a self-serving asshole. Narratively speaking, he is a very efficient villian, he does his job. I also love how D-16 used to admire him and that Sentinel will probably continue to haunt Megatron in the future because of it. There's something interesting in how he complains about the Primes not dealing with the Quintessons efficiently and uses it as justification for his actions (which included giving the planet to the Quints). I also think it was fun how he was like "Shut up, old man" and killed Alpha Trion fwjgdjdkfjd mood. Except not really because that was an Alpha Trion I actually liked. But yeah, he is evil and fun live him.

Animated!Sentinel is mostly just annoying. I don't think this is a bad thing and I do not dislike him as a character... or rather, I don't dislike him as a narrative tool. His purpose is to be annoying to get us rooting for Optimus and he does that well and the story wouldn't be the same without him. He's just not the kind of asshole that's endearing to me, so I don't really care about him, ah. Sorry if this dissapoints you.

I have never watched any Bayverse movie so I can't say anything about that Sentinel.

[joltning]

insane ramblepost Abt Georgia and utah. My blorb i hope they explode.

ok while these are thoughts and shit that happen outside of it, all of my thoughts about them are inherently tied to an au (is it au if its canon plausible) that I’ve been planning for… (checks notes) 8 months. so it will heavily bleed into that (I’ll try to keep spoilers light since it don’t exist yet). I also have another au planned with them as a focus but it’s not important to this

ok! Georgia is a BITCH! love him to bits but he’s the big bully of the moi and everyone thinks he’s annoying and dumb. (it’s cause he is)

I’m a strong believer in georgia xi theory, and have mapped out the timeline multiple times in my head. Xi was not the first, ob, but he was very early on since both love and greed (which I soon found out were also opposites… fun!) are very strong core emotions that could protect alpha + it makes sense timelinewise

however, even though I have a personality or design for Xi, he does Not have a trait. I try to write Xi in a way where logically, he could embody either a twisted version of love or a loving, selfish version of greed. this works well with Georgias character, as the fear of losing someone and staying away out of love can also be a sort of greed that follows alphas line of thinking. fear and selfishness are inherently interconnected feelings and Georgia is a scared, scared man. bullies tend to be aggressive to deflect from their own feelings, and his rude nature tends to that, esp with picking on lower leaderboard members to feel superior.

georgia in s2 of my au was written to parallel both Wash and Carolina. (Though I realize he’s closer to maine than to wash? accidents happen) His gradual loss of self due to his ai, reliance on that information despite it, and change in character from friendly to aggressive back to more docile but really fucking paranoid lends him to wash, while his superiority and icarus complex brings to mind Carolina’s own inferiority and icarus complex. i also intend utah and georgia’s dynamic after their split to be similar to york and Carolina’s, what with how one of them decides to leave instead of making the smarter decision, and later regrets that.

enough about that stupid green guy let’s get into the stupid white guy

utah is a silly guy…..bleehhhhh…. I think he believes in slenderman and will whisk around when you say he’s behind him and also will occasionally shout “URETHRA!” When he thinks of something

ok but for real. he contrasts Georgia’s faux bravery because he really is courageous, seeing the positives in everything (even thought part of that is because he isn’t too bright)

When I draw him in Georgia’s memory, I black out his eyes, draw his brown highlight in a different spot, and change the color of his armor trim. Its symbolic of how he fails to remember him, mostly because of the fact he keeps forcefully pulling his ai, losing bits and pieces he cares about as he goes. Also, I give him a blue visor when drawing him with helmet, to differentiate him from Wyoming

Utah knows Georgia is a huge asshole and tells him to stop, but he can’t really do anything about it. He tries to see the good in everyone, which backfires on him when people try to get a little farther from him whenever geo is around. Dunno how they got close though

his loyalty and trusting nature ironically makes Georgia not trust him as a confidant and stray away from him later on under the context of care.

also, utah has a theme of air. or, lack of it. spoilers whatever

ummm basically opposites attract love wins Bye

[narhinafan]

People that say NaruHina has little development do not paid attention to the Naruto manga are the same kind of people that say Sussaku has development even know the development is almost non-existent. Sasuke and Sakura barely interact with each other in part 1 as anything more than teammates the way Sasuke treats Sakura is just like every other person he doesn't treat us anyone special he doesn't treat her in a way that is different. If Sakura was Sasuke's intended love interest he would treat her differently he would hesitate to harm her in his reunion with her in Shippuden he wouldn't constantly treat her as an annoyance or avoid her in the sequel series. Sasuke and Sakura have barely interacted. There's not one on screen kiss not one moment where Sasuke expresses concern or his affection for Sakura physical or with words none so how is their development for them? Almost all their interactions are negative if people think that's development that's good then I question if they understand how romantic interests work.

Naruto and Hinata in contrast have far more development in both part one and part two ever interaction they have is their relationship progressing. Their first interaction we see on screen Naruto thinks Hinata is weird then when he sees her in the tuning exam he sees her in a different light and then her proud failure speech he blushes something he never did around Sakura ever. Also unlike Sasuke Naruto is very careful how he talks to Hinata or how he treats her which is pretty obvious for a main character they would treat their love interest differently than any other person. Yeah the development is subtle that's because Naruto is not a romance manga but if you look at the sequel series there's more interactions with them as well and it's positive and Naruto and Hinata are the only couple that have confessed their feelings for each other and had a kiss on screen people can whine and moan about oh the last should not have needed to exist to resolve their romance but at least it's more than the banshee and Sasuke ever got and they could go suck it.

NaruSaku and SusSaku are garbage ships that needlessly hate on other ships for the most ridiculous reasons I can go on the non-cannon filler ship Narusaku but that would be it making this too long so I'll just ended at that.

The people who say that didn't pay attention NaruHina actually has a lot of subtle development from the start of the exams all the way to the end. Like when he checked on her in the manga Naruto puts his hand over hers its very hard to tell, but it is there. While during the Pain fight Naruto actively protects and avoids Hinata when he loses it and there are many more subtle moments in their interactions during the manga.

SasuSaku though it is one sided Sasuke sees Sakura as annoyance and while he does treat her as a teammate that is where it end nothing more. The reason their interactions are almost always negative is cause Sakura doesn't mean that much to Sasuke, like he has tried to kill Sakura several times in part 2 with no hesitation yet they want us to think he sees her as someone special.

NaruHina you knew it was going to happen, but with SasuSaku there was always that underlying feeling he may never come back or it just won't happen. As early as part 1 it was obvious and only became more so it went on, by the proud failure speech NaruHina was pretty much set in stone as I think that was when Naruto truly fell for Hinata as his face when she calls him a proud failure the slight blush you can tell he is touched then saying he likes girls like her.

What makes it worse is the amount of filler SP pumped for NaruSaku they even ruined several NaruHina scenes by altering them and then films with it like RTN was advertised as NaruHina and SasuSaku film only for it to be filled with NaruSaku rubbish. Like seriously how nice would it have been if they worked harder to make it possible to fit into the canon timeline and showed NaruHina/MenmHina as well as Hinata getting along with Naruto's family and ended it with say they lose their memories of what happened in the genjutsu world. It could have been a perfect film if they made NaruHina a focus.

[betterbemeta]

I don't really understand why Ace Attorney went with Kay Faraday as a Helper Cutie for Miles Edgeworth in Ace Attorney Investigations. They had Ema Skye right there, and the game was even originally conceptualized as her game.

'The Yatagarasu' is pretty much a whistleblower, not 'a thief?' Theft in this case is like a performative identity smokescreen for the whistleblowing activities. While whistleblowing often requires illegal action or breaks contracts which can result in lawsuits, I think the game's whimsy dodges a serious discussion about 'the limits of the law' even as it has at least one major character say those words outright:

While this is a pretty strong theme for a game to even mention, it's undermined by a) Kay having a very simplistic understanding of the topic as one who 'inherits' it, and b) the main character himself.

I personally felt it could have been really good to more explicitly contrast,

how Manfred Von Karma discarded the limits of the law for the sake of corruption, and

how 'the Yatagarasu' discarded the limits of the law for the sake of fighting corruption.

But we only really go there... indirectly, through the Amano Group and the Smuggling Ring. We get to name these things as corrupt, and catch them, but all completely within a system that is considered 'just' even while these entities could set it up in the first place to spit out injustice very easily. Hell, in main series Ace Attorney games, Phoenix often has to surpass 'the system's expectations' to kind of prosecute from the defendant's bench when the Real Criminal gets called to the stand, 'catching them' via their testimony. Because that is the only way to get his clients acquitted.

But I don't think "Kay Faraday, the Second Yatagarasu" as a character can carry this theme (of having to transcend a corrupt system) on her own very well. And the game itself won't help her: it's a little too cowardly to actually question 'the law' in a serious way-- in fact, we rarely engage with 'laws', besides occasional restrictions that can complicate a case.

In AAI, we are usually facing down individual corrupt people instead of asking questions like, "what is the law for", which a baby Edgeworth ALMOST gets to,

but stops short. Tool for what, kid? Wielded in whose interest? Later in the timeline, this guy will go on many Tsundere Rival Defeat Field Trips, in order to Contemplate... and will return with a face turn but very few serious answers.

A game where we use tools, and even kind of worship the tools, to 'uncover the truth' is much more suited for someone like Ema. Through her, the discussion must be more about epistemology and specifically deduction (a priori reasoning) vs. induction (a posteriori reasoning). Ema applies scientific methods to uncover evidence that is observably 'true,' and Edgeworth applies logic to understand what also must be/have been true for the evidence to have arrived in place even if he can't directly observe it.

I love Kay, but her backstory and the real-life significance of its ideas sometimes feels like something Ace Attorney games may not be ready for. Her Little Thief tool is like a visualizer that would help us reach a consensus between the two types of knowledge above, not 'a crime simulator.' It has relatively little to do with what's really significant about her character.

To me, this tool feels like a better fit for Ema who herself seems like the better fit for what Edgeworth circa this game is ready to digest.

[orangejuicekiddo]

okay, this post did a lot better than i thought it would. so i've decided.. PART TWO: stuff i wish was in s4

once again, SPOILERS for the umbrella academy

1) klaus/dave, sloane/luther, or sissy/viktor AT ALL. one ounce please. one smidgen. one drop. klaus and dave having an apartment and a cat. viktor and sissy raising harlan together. luther meeting sloane at the leaning tower of pisa or somewhere and finally getting the life they wanted. just some cheesy fluff to heal my soul after all the bitterness and discontent this season. 2) GENE AND JEAN. i would've loved to see more exploration of them as characters. i think their story is very interesting and just sort of swept under the rug because of the pacing of the season. i think some scenes exploring their alternate timeline versions, how they managed to get the squid, and how they organized the keepers would flesh them out a lot. 3) giving klaus something to do, rather than flanderizing him into comic relief. i know, i know, 'look, he used to be crazy but now he's a safety freak!'. haha. funny. i really dislike the way they trashed his sobriety, that obviously he was very proud of, for no good reason. him having powers again is not a reason. they could've done something interesting with this, showing klaus dealing with his powers and remaining sober. he has even less to do with the main plot this time around than usual. he literally sits in the van, leaves, and gets kidnapped. not to mention the biker scenes i couldn't even watch. 4) an apology and acknowledgment of what allison did to luther in season 3. i have a lot to say about this one, so apologies for the length. i thought about the barn fight during season 2, how lila rumors allison 'i heard a rumor you forgot how to breathe'. luther has to give allison mouth to mouth to get her breathing again, and then immediately apologizes as soon as she's okay. luther realizes that allison's happily married, says sorry to her after saving her life. this is in harsh contrast to when allison rumors luther in order to assault him. there's no mention of this again. i can only assume either the writers forgot about it or (and this is sort of confirmed in my mind by the way klaus is treated in season four) it's supposed to be funny. if that's the case and i'm supposed to be laughing, i'm not. i could absolutely write a whole post on why i hated the treatment of these two situations and i might 5) allowing the family at least some time to heal before they're wiped from existence. let them work out their problems with one another. it feels so bitter and ugly. diego and five were at one another's throats, viktor failed to save ben, and allison was losing for a fourth time the only reason she'd done all this in the first place. i cried both for the erasure and for the shattered relationships and character assassination they died with.

once again, season 4 has interesting and creative plotlines and falls flat on its face. character assassination soup, anybody? it's what's for dinner

i need to talk about this i apologize so: SPOILERS for the umbrella academy season 4 1) jean and gene are the best, justice for jean and gene. me when crazy southwesterners. 2) I'M SO MAD ABOUT KLAUS. he was handled so awfully this season, left to die with almost everything unresolved, extra trauma, and all his character development reversed. not a word about dave, even though the first thing he reaches for in the box of umbrella stuff are his dog tags. biker gang scenes made me deeply uncomfortable. 3) FIVE AND LILA. five cares about his family so much, that's been established over three entire seasons. he wouldn't hurt diego by taking his wife. i hate when shows take this route for duos, let them be friends, they made great friends. even if five did have to have a romance arc (which he didn't), why not make it with someone who's not his sister in law? gross, especially to shoehorn it in after aidan was legal. hate it 4) previous relationships are completely ignored. to be fair, dave was forgotten about with no resolution after season two. but sissy, ray, and sloane? ray comes up once, sloane is mentioned in passing, sissy is forgotten about altogether. lila and diego are written completely out of character 5) six episodes was obviously not enough time to tell the story they wanted. i think if the season was the usual ten episodes it would have been drastically better and more fleshed out. durango and marigold could have been explained, the subway could have a reason at all, the new powers and janky marigold they drank could've been fleshed out a bit more. why is lila shooting lasers from her eyes? why did viktor's powers change colors? why is five warping to the subway in the first place?

anyway this season was all over the place. not canon. show ended after season two, they all went to therapy and viktor and sissy got married.

[linkspooky]

Hello!

I was wondering what inspired you to have Mimiko and Choso interact in Werewolf?

They are two characters I would never thought would interact, but I absolutely love their interactions and friendship throughout the fic. It’s like the Nanako-Mimiko-Junpei friendship that I deeply love!

Is one the reasonings is to give Choso a sort of found family?

Sure, I can give you a peek into my chaotic story planning process. So, as I've said previously before I even start a fic I jot all my ideas on paper. Basically just scenes I think would be cool or things I want to happen in the story. Brainstorming is obviously different than an outline though because you can't shove every single idea you have into a story, otherwise the story will be too long.

So in the outlines I try to be as efficient (read: lazy) and cut scenes and characters down, basically how can I tell the story in as few scenes as possible (every scene I cut I don't have to write, which saves me a lot of work yay!)

Werewolf and its prequel Three's Company basically started with the thought "I don't have a lot of female characters in my fic, I should write some more female focus fics." Then, Werewolf became "The Mai Fic". It didn't really materialize until I watched the Fear Street Trilogy, and the second movie ended on a shot of two sisters who were complete opposites and spent all their time fighting with each other spending their final moments reaching out for one another. All the chapters in Werewolf are named from tracks on the Fear Street soundtrack because of that inspiration. So basically it goes Ideas -> Characters -> Scenes -> Exposition and in between parts.

The plan was always to include Choso in the fic, because of two reasons number one Nobara never really had to face the fact she murdered Choso's brothers and felt very little guilt about it unlike Yuji, and second it's timeline wise takes place right after Origin of Obedience. Also, since my previous fic Butterfly Curve took a deeper look at Mahito, I wanted to feature Choso in a fic. The idea of making Noranso the main antagonist literally came from my friend going "It's kind of lame Choso has six other brothers but we're never going to meet them because Gege doesn't think they're important."

In my original draft for Choso's involvement in the story he was not going to spend time with Mimiko at all. The first plan was that Choso, Mahito, and the curse spirit Non/Not-Mai would all be visiting the village together and act as a secondary antagonist to Noranso. This idea got axed for two reasons, one it would be a pain to write three characters every time that trio was onscreen, number two I couldn't come up with a good enough explanation for why Non was still alivein some form after the end of the Junpei fic because that was sort of her final hurrah.

The next idea was to have Mahito and Choso together, to contrast their different beliefs of what a cursed spirit is, and what humans are. Mahito considers himself a "true" cursed spirit and despises humanity and human values, whereas Choso is ambiguous on whether he's human or a curse, neutral to humanity, and values his connections to his brothers in a really humanlike way. This idea got cut because I like Mahito. No, I really like Mahito. I know everyone hates Mahito, but that's exactly what I like about him. I wanted to make Choso the focus of this fic, the same way Mahito was the focus of my "Butterfly Curve" fic, but if I shoved Mahito into this one I knew he would take focus away from Choso. So I cut Mahito.

The third idea was to send in Choso alone, but I thought we already kind of had a scene like that in Shibuya, we saw Choso revenge driven and alone and fighting against Yuji. I didn't want to just copy that scene exactly but with Nobara instead of Yuji. So from then on I needed two criteria for Choso's inclusion in the fic, 1) it had to be someone he played off of well, 2) someone who wouldn't draw attention away from him.

That's when I decided to throw Mimiko in. Number one because I have used Mimiko and Nanako as a pair of twins to contrast Maki and Mai's relationship before. Mimiko being the weaker sibling between the two, needing Nanako to boss her around and make all her decisions for her resembling Mai always needing to be protected by Maki when they grow up together. Mimiko and Choso also resemble each other, they're both really morose, quiet, they're kind of broody outwardly, while hiding deeper emotions inside themselves.

Then I realized there was a deeper connection there, because Choso and Mimiko are both entirely codependent on their blood siblings. They were both abandoned by their parents so their blood siblings makes up their entire connection to the world around them, Mimiko and Nanako pretend they're the same person divided into two bodies so they won't ever lose the connection they have as siblings, and despite how much Choso genuinely cares about his siblings he's also like kind of delusional about his family like he imagines them in his head constantly cheering on big bro and imagines a more wholesome family than he really is. For example, Yuji is kind of neutral on Choso though he shows him some affection whereas Choso would die for Yuji in an instant.

So my idea was to have these two characters interact to show you can move away from blood family as the only family you're ever going to have. Mimiko has already taken the first step in this. After losing Geto her and Nanako thought there was no one else in the world who would take care of them, but then Michi made taking care of Mimiko and Nanako his only priority, and they were able to befriend Junpei which showed they can make connections with people outside of their closed off little family. The idea was also to continue Mimiko and Nanako's arcs from previous fics by having Mimiko just learn to function on her own by going solo the whole fic. Therefore to show this slight change in Mimiko's thinking, number one she goes out of her way to do something kind for Choso in their very first interaction because 1) she notices how much Choso is suffering from the loss of his siblings, and 2) she understands that loss because number one if she were to lose Nanako it would destroy her, and two she lost Geto who was the most important person to her besides Nanako.

Choso is in the middle of what is basically a desire for murder-suicide against the two people who killed his brothers because he believes he cannot live past the loss of them, and that was something Mimiko once belived that she couldn't go on without Geto and yet she made new connections to Michi and Junpei. Therefore when Choso has his big moment of attempting that revenge against Nobara that he's willing to die right then and there fore, it's Mimiko who pulls him back from the edge and literally heals him with RCT.

I also wanted to write a fic more focused on Choso's mourning of his brothers, because that was essentially kind of skipped over because he focused more on revenge than feeling his sadness at the loss of them, so in this fic Choso is essentially called upon to feel his sadness around someone like Mimiko who understands his loss. Mimiko realizes that Choso may act like the oldest brother, but deep down he's just a crybaby.

[thebreathofthewild]

i very much prefer the story of breath of the wild to the alternate timeline we got in age of calamity. not because i’m a timeline purist, i don’t really care much whether it splits off or not, but what DOES matter to me in a story (next to the plot itself) is mainly characterization, relationships and theme.

my main issue with age of calamity’s story isn’t just what they changed... it’s what they DIDN’T change, which then didn’t fit with the new stuff they’d written.

breath of the wild’s story is, in my mind, far from perfect, but it has a consistent, vibe, flow, and a character arc for princess zelda that i believe. more than an individual arc, it’s also a relationship arc with link. the development of that relationship is a key driver of the plot.

in age of calamity... despite reaching the same conclusion - that zelda saves link, her love for him activates her power - that development is absent.

i rewatched all the memories from botw and its like. bro. age of calamity can't even begin to compare. their relationship in botw has an arc.

every scene they're in together serves a purpose to establish a new relationship status or milestone. zelda goes through a Bunch of emotions about link: first quiet resentment, then Louder resentment at how he’s doing better at his role than she is at hers, then full-on ANGY, then admiration, mixed with guilt and regret for having lashed out that way to someone who would save her anyway...

from then, she humbly tries to be nicer through tending link’s wounds. she allows herself to be more playful and goof off with him, then Actually Opens Up about her insecurities - displaying true vulnerability when they're caught in the rain together. we know from zelda’s diary that link also shares his own troubles with her, and that she was trying to get him to open up was well. 

then, zelda’s excitingly sharing more hobbies (ancient tech) and hoping that maybe, just maybe, her research can substitute her lack of powers. in the same scene, link gets to witness a true relationship milestone: a parent yelling at your friend/gf in front of you. then zelda shows Even More vulnerability as she has a meltdown about her fears & insecurities at the spring of power in front of him (knowing he's there & not afraid to show him). at this point, she even allows herself to be angry at her dad, instead of solely blaming herself. 

then she gains further appreciation for link teaching her how to handle horses (and says she’s trying to be a bit more empathetic to the horse, as a metaphor for her being nicer to link and more selfless in general), sharing her faint hope for mt lanayru...  then that hope is crushed, and zelda decides to stay by link’s side (instead of urbosa hiding her) regardless of danger.

the calamity strikes. they flee together - which leads to zelda having a total beakdown, as the others die and link’s the only one she has left. the mix of guilt, despair and grief becomes too much, so she leans on him, both physically and emotionally, and he is always there to comfort her. 

THEN, finally, zelda has reached a point of loving link enough to be able to save his life, knowing he will do the same someday. which he does, and in the epilogue, she acknowledges both the pain of the past and how (because him remembering her is what unlocks this ending) he is a big part of the reason why she can accept herself now, even with her power fading & her role fulfilled.

that's an ARC, baby! 

i have my problems with botw as an overall narrative (especially its muddled messaging on whether zelda should be forced to have this traditional role), but i cannot fault how carefully they built the zelink relationship step-by-step without taking shortcuts. in these brief snippets, you see just enough to understand how zelda went from almost hating link to truly loving him.

by contrast... here’s the AoC zelink arc, despite having 3x the cutscene runtime: zelda feels quietly insecure, but doesn’t take it out on link. link saves her, as a bodyguard is supposed to. they exchange glances. they don’t talk / bond. link saves zelda again. they exchange glances. they don’t talk / bond... they flee together. then she saves link out of “love.”

that’s it. that’s literally it. 

AoC-zelink go from two (2) Meaningful Glances to zelda activating her powers, because of a bodyguard she has not spent one real second bonding with. 

link saving zelda was a turning point for their relationship in botw, yes - but here’s the key difference: it was a starting point, not the end destination. it made zelda re-evaluate how she saw link, because she was a dick to him first. THAT prompts her to try to understand someone who was kind and selfless despite how poorly she treated him. which leads to many scenes of them bonding more.

so, hot take: the real, original sin here which almost all of these issues grow from, is that they didn’t let zelda be flawed in age of calamity. 

because age of calamity-zelda was never a jerk to link, she has no reason to go out of her way to be nicer and get to know him when he saves her anyway. that’s just standard bodyguard stuff, and that’s all it’s allowed to be. they don’t share private moments of vulnerability. they don’t share at all, really.

because of this, their relationship - which became its own, organic thing in botw - is never allowed to grow. it stays knight & princess without any real flavor to it. 

i think this could be avoided if age of calamity-zelda was as strong of a character as botw-zelda was. neither is like, a literary masterpiece, but there’s a clear contrast. both are insecure and want to stop ganon, but... that’s all AoC-zelda is allowed to be, until she’s suddenly a Perfect Badass Goddess with no personality other than shouting “for hyrule!”

botw zelda didn’t just have that central insecurity. she has hobbies, she goofs off, she gets angry at people, she starts out with a huge inferiority complex towards link. she can be selfish and rebellious and clearly likes research more for its own sake than its ability to stop the calamity. she becomes nicer over time and more compassionate (unlike age of calamity, which treats it as given that she was always “boundlessly” compassionate), but that’s where she got because link was nice to her, not where she started out. 

and all of this fits into theme. age of calamity is a power fantasy in a notoriously over-the-top warriors franchise. its all about self-empowerment and looking good while kicking ass. breath of the wild is about exploration, slowly piecing together what happened 100 years ago and moving past grief into hope for the future.

i’ll put it this way - botw zelda had an arc to become a better person. aoc zelda only ever became a more powerful person.

[helnjk]

Sweater - G.W.

George Weasley x fem!reader

Requested: yes

hi could you write something for george weasley using prompts 29, 11, 36? if your requests are still open❤️⚡️

“i’m running out of jumpers, just so you know”

“i like having something that smells like you”

“how long have you been standing there?”

Word Count: 3.2k

Summary: the 5 times George Weasley sees you in his sweater and the 1 time you get your own. 

Warnings: mentions of food

A/N: we’re just gonna //ignore// that this doesn’t follow the canon timeline exactly (especially where they spent christmas certain years) okay? cool. also! this was very festive so i guess this can be counted as a christmas fic 🥰

Prompts are in bold

-

One 

The Gryffindor common room was freezing. Despite being situated as close to the fire as physically possible (without getting burned), you shivered and shook in your thin sweater. You were trying to work on a last minute potions essay, the last one before the Christmas hols began, but your current freezing state was stopping you from writing another word. 

You scanned the empty room, most students already having retired to bed that night. A flash of blue and yellow in the far corner of the room caught your eye. Quickly, you scrambled up off the floor and rushed to investigate. 

On the back of one of the squishy red couches hung a blue sweater with a yellow letter G right in the middle. You knew immediately who owned it: George Weasley, another Gryffinder first year like you. With another glance around the room, you quickly snatched it up and slid it over your head.

Immediately, the thick wool provided enough warmth for you to get back to your work. 

A while later, you finished the last sentence of your paper with a flourish, just as you heard someone shuffle down the spiral staircase and into the common room. Your head snapped up as the person in question came to view and your heart stopped.

“Y/L/N?” George whispered, barely making your face out since the fire was directly behind you. 

“Hi George,” You squeaked, “What’re you doing up so late?” 

His eyes darted around the room in search of something, and you felt your stomach drop. “Erm, yeah. I got cold so I was just looking for my–” 

When his gaze circled back to you he finally noticed what you were wearing, “Is that my sweater?” 

You nodded, squirming under his gaze. If it wasn’t past midnight in the dead of winter, and if he wasn’t hazy with sleep, he would’ve probably teased you senselessly about it. But seeing the sweater swallowing you, the shoulders slipping off and the sleeves way past your fingers, all he could do was grin. 

“It’s alright,” He said, “Just wanted to know where it was. At least now I know that it’s in good hands.” 

With a cheeky wink, he turned on his heel and trudged back up the boys’ staircase. You were left staring at where he previously stood, your mouth slightly agape.

Did that really just happen?

Two 

Gleeful shouts carried over from the snow covered fields and into the warm house. From your spot by the window, you could just barely make out the tiny figures zooming past each other, contrasting against the pale landscape. 

You clutched at a steaming mug of tea, basking in the warmth it gave your chilly hands. Despite your best efforts, you were still shivering in the house that most likely had several heating charms in place at all times. 

After being friends with the Weasley twins for nearly three and a half years, you were finally going to spend the Christmas hols at the Burrow with their family. To say you were excited would be an understatement. With everything going on in school, you were ecstatic to be able to spend some time with some of your best friends. 

The warmth and the heavenly smells radiating from the kitchen made you gravitate towards the door. Maybe helping out with the cooking could ease up some of the chill you had in your bones. 

“Would you like some help, Molly?” You asked hopefully, seeing her putter about in the kitchen. You knew that she had a whole hoard of mouths to fill, so you were happy to offer her some assistance. 

She tutted in response, “Nonsense, dear! I’m quite fine managing on my own. Thank you for the offer.” 

With a swish of her wand, several things in the kitchen began moving at once and you were left to your own devices. You spared a quick glance out the window, only to see the silhouettes still racing in the sky. 

An idea struck you and you made your way up the stairs as quickly as possible without drawing too much attention to yourself. Thankfully, the twins’ room was just on the second floor of the house and their door was left slightly ajar. 

You were quick to spot George’s battered old trunk laying at the foot of his bed. Your cold fingers nimbly popped the latch open and clutched onto exactly what you were looking for. His old blue Christmas sweater was soft to touch and a little worn, but you thought that it added to its charm. 

One of the main reasons why you rummaged through George’s things for his sweater, instead of Fred’s, was that his distinct woodsmoke and apple scent clung onto it and made you feel safe and warm wrapped in it. You pressed the soft fabric to your face and inhaled deeply, taking comfort in the familiar scent of your best friend. 

You were not sniffing the jumper because it reminded you of your crush on a certain redheaded twin, no. Not at all. 

Swiftly, you lifted the jumper above your head and slipped into it. You loved the feel of the warm wool enveloping your frame. It would have been almost perfect if you hadn’t heard someone clear their throat from the doorway.

Your heart jumped to your throat as you turned on your heel and spotted George leaning against the doorway. 

“Well, well, well,” He teased, making his way to you, “What do we have here? A sweater thief?” 

“How long have you been standing there?” You mumbled, wrapping your arms around yourself. 

“Long enough to see that you’re apparently obsessed with me.” He grinned cheekily. 

You rolled your eyes and tried to hide the fact that a blush was creeping up your neck and onto your cheeks, “Shove off, Weasley.” 

He swung an arm loosely around your shoulders, “Well I don’t think you can use that kind of language on me now, Y/N. Especially when that’s my jumper you’re going around wearing and sniffing.” 

You groaned, shoving your head on his chest to hide your embarrassment, “I just like having something th–”

“You’re going to have to speak up, love, I can’t quite understand you.” He said, and you felt like his teasing grin would be permanently etched onto his face. 

“I like having something that smells like you, okay?” You mumbled, this time a little louder and less muffled. 

When George didn’t immediately respond, your heart began to pick up its pace in your chest. Slowly, you backed away from his face and your gaze landed on the flush on his cheeks and the tips of his ears. 

A slow smile etched itself onto your face, “Have I just made the George Weasley blush?”

“Oh shut it sweater sniffer.”  

You laughed, the slightly awkward tension dissipating at the sound and the two of you made your way back downstairs. 

Three 

“Psst.” A voice whispered next to you. 

Your brows furrowed and you looked up from the book in front of you to see your boyfriend grinning cheekily at you, “Yes, George?” 

The Great Hall was practically silent, the only sounds resonating throughout the space were the scratching of quills and the rolling of parchment. Your voice was barely above a whisper as you weren't about to get scolded for chatting during study hall. 

“Nothing,” He said bashfully, “I just think you look very beautiful today.” 

Surprised at his sudden show of affection, you grinned up at him, “Thanks Georgie.” 

Your hand slid across the dark stained table to squeeze his and you hadn’t let go as you continued on with your coursework. You were able to get quite a bit done before you felt George squeezing your hand to get your attention. When your eyes met his, you sent him a look to say what is it this time? 

Slowly, he shuffled close enough to you to whisper directly into your ear, “I think you’d look much better wearing something of mine though.” 

With a roll of your eyes, you focused back on the rolls of parchment before you. Ever since you two had officially gotten together, George had a thing for you wearing any type of clothing of his. His most favorite, he had confessed, was when you wore his Christmas jumpers. The nostalgia attached to the piece of clothing and seeing it envelop you made his heart soar whenever you’d slip it over your head. 

The next Friday, despite the freezing weather, all students were required to head out to the Black Lake to watch the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament. You took it as an opportunity to adorn the blue and yellow sweater, making sure to layer appropriately for the below zero temperatures. 

You could hear the twins’ shenanigans before you even reached the stands. The pair of red hair stood out among the crowds and let you know which direction to make your way to. Thankfully, you also spotted Lee Jordan saving a few seats around him while the twins went and collected bets. 

When you reached him, he sent you a grin and patted a space next to him. The two of you chatted aimlessly for a bit, waiting not so patiently for either the twins to come back or for the second task to begin. 

From George’s spot within the crowds, he glanced back at where he knew Lee to be saving a seat for him. The sight of you all bundled up in his sweater made something in his heart stop. The chilly breeze nipping at your face had caused your nose to turn slightly pink, and the way your hands fumbled at the end of the long sleeves moved something in him. He’s suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling of wanting to keep you in his life for as long as you let him. 

You catch his eye from your position and send him a small wave. He grins and returns the gesture before Fred nudges him in the side to take the payment a third year is holding out. 

Four 

The whole house seemed to absorb the darkness that the Weasley clan brought with them. It was nearing sun up, and the lot of you along with Harry, Remus, and Sirius were all gathered in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, awaiting any sort of sign that Arthur was going to be okay. 

After being shaken awake at the dead of night by George who was a mess of stumbled over words and tight grips, you didn’t think of anything else but to slip on the sweater he had lent you and follow him to Dumbledore’s office. Professor McGonagall simply raised her eyebrows at your presence in the midst of the rest of the Weasley children, saying nothing as she saw how George had clung on so tightly to you. 

The illegal portkey Dumbledore created landed you right in the middle of the dreary old house you had spent much of your summer in. Remus and Sirius had tried their hardest to distract everyone from the brutality of the situation, but your boyfriend and his siblings wanted nothing but to sit around anxiously for any signal from the outside world. 

So far, you had nodded in and out of sleep, your head lightly tapping against George’s shoulder as you fought to just be there with him. His grip on your hand had not ceased, but you weren’t complaining. His leg bounced up and down anxiously and you could practically see the gears turning in his head. 

“It’ll be okay Georgie,” Became your mantra of the night, whispering it every so often and rubbing the back of his hand gently with your thumb. 

He wouldn’t say anything in reply, his red rimmed eyes were unfocused, but you knew he heard you with the way he squeezed your hand. 

When the message from Molly comes, spirits are slightly raised, but there’s still so much uncertainty. You decided to step out for a moment to use the restroom, splashing some cold water on your face in an attempt to wake yourself up some more. As you took in your sleep deprived and disheveled state in the mirror, you remembered that you’ve been wearing George’s sweater. 

Quickly, you haphazardly pulled the garment over your head, smoothing down the crumpled sleeping shirt you’ve been wearing under it. In a flash, you’re making your way to where the Weasley clan has settled in for what seems like the whole day and take a seat next to George once again.

Silently, you held out his sweater to him. It took a few seconds for him to realize that you were offering for him to wear it. 

“Thought you’d need the extra comfort right now,” You whispered, urging him to put it on. 

A spark of recognition blazed in his eyes and he gently took the soft sweater from your hands. The moment it slipped over his head, he was immediately engulfed in your scent. All of a sudden, he was transported to three years prior when you had told him you enjoyed having something that smelled like him. 

When his eyes met yours, you could make out a ghost of a smile on his lips. It had been the first expression he had pulled that night, or well it was early morning now, that wasn’t a grimace or a look of concern. 

You smiled tentatively back at him, and he took your hand in his once again. 

Five 

The pale winter morning light leaked in through the windows and you blinked blearily. The soft inhale and exhale of George beside you and the warmth under the covers almost convinces you that you could afford to shut your eyes for a few more minutes. Almost. You groan as you remember what day it is and that you should be up soon. 

It was Christmas morning. The first Christmas after the war had ended, and everyone was eager to bring some festive cheer back into their lives after having gone through such dark times. 

As silently as you could, you left the warm confines of the duvet and began to pad your way into the kitchen. Christmas morning called for a full english and a pot of fresh tea. On the way out of the room you shared with George, you snagged one of his older blue sweaters and pulled it over your head. 

Thankfully, that morning Fred hadn’t made it out of bed yet. Breakfast at the flat above the shop could go two ways; either you made it out of bed first and got the food cooking on the stove before one of the twins stumbled in sleepily, or Fred would be sat on the couch nursing his nth cup of tea that morning, having woken up due to some nightmares that he couldn’t quite shake off yet. 

With a flick of your wand, ingredients made their way into their perspective pans, and plates and utensils floated down from the cupboards and onto the kitchen table. Soon, the enticing aroma of your favorite meal of the day was wafting through the corridors and into the other rooms. 

As you were plating the steaming food, a voice called out from behind you, “I’m running out of jumpers you know.”

You looked up from your position fixing the plates of food on the table, to see George leaning against the door frame. Clad in only his pajama bottoms, you silently wondered if he was just never cold or if he did this to tease you on purpose. 

“What’s yours is mine, love.” You shrugged, walking over to him and pressing a small kiss at the very edge of his mouth.

“Guess it’s good that you make me wonderful food everyday,” He says, eyeing the food laid out in front of him. 

You roll your eyes playfully, “Oi, keep talking like that and I’m making meals just for myself!” 

-

Later in the day, you sipped peacefully on Molly’s famous hot chocolate, seated on the squishy couch as the rest of the Weasley clan began to open their gifts. Fred was sat under the tree, rummaging through the different wrapped packages and throwing them to whomever they were addressed to. Little by little, each Weasley sibling began to pull out their signature colored Weasley jumper. 

It filled your heart with so much warmth that you could all come together, especially after the last year you’ve had. Being separated from the people you loved and cared for the most had really taken a toll on all of you, so being under one roof together with nothing dark looming at the back of your minds, was such a blessing. 

“Hey,” George whispered from where he stood behind the couch, placing a hand on your shoulder. 

You turned slightly to look back at him, “What’s up, Georgie?” 

“Come with me,” He nudged his head in the direction of the door. 

“But I’m all warm and cozy,” You whined, motioning to the cup of hot chocolate in your hands, “Do I have to?” 

“Oh just come on,” He rolled his eyes, going to place his hands under your armpits in an attempt to lift you off the sofa. 

“Oi!” You complained, “I’m coming, I’m coming! Don’t get your wand in a knot.” 

A few of the Weasleys sent amused glances your way, but this kind of interaction wasn’t unusual in the household so they mostly left you to your own devices. You hadn’t noticed that Molly was eyeing you with a slightly cheeky glint in her eye. She knew exactly what her son had in mind. 

You gently placed your mug on the coffee table before turning around and linking your arm with George’s. He brought you just by the window of the kitchen and gave you a big grin.

“Alright then, Weasley. What’s all this about then?” You asked, crossing your arms in front of your chest.

“I just wanted a little privacy so I could give you your gift.” An eyebrow raised slightly, you waited for him to continue, “I just thought you would finally like one of your own this year.” 

To say you were confused was an understatement. You eyed your boyfriend nervously as he pulled a wrapped package seemingly from thin air. You wasted no time pulling the ribbon and carefully tearing at the brown paper. 

Inside was a sweater that matched the exact blue of George’s, and right smack in the middle was the initial of your name in the same shade of yellow. 

Your eyes darted from the gift and back up at the wonderful soul in front of you, and you couldn’t help but feel the prick of tears welling up. 

He noticed this too, “Are you alright? I didn’t mean to make you cry. I just thought that you loved my jumpers so much that I would make you your own–”

At the realization that he had made the sweater himself, and hadn’t commissioned Molly to do it, made the dams of your eyes break. Your tears were freely falling by now and all you could think of doing was throwing your arms around George and pulling him into a slightly salty but ever so sweet kiss. 

“I love it,” You whispered once you broke apart, “This is the best Christmas gift ever.” 

[missmungoe]

I don’t know if you’re caught up with the manga, but if you are;…are you going to incorporate the new info in your stories? (Specifically thinking about some of your in progress ‘Shanties’ stories)

I haven’t been reading the new chapters religiously (I like to wait until I have a decent chunk of chapters to read, and I’m currently following the Wano arc in the anime), but I try to keep up with any new developments! As for whether I’ll incorporate this one in Shanties - that’s a good question! (Spoilers under the cut, for those who aren’t up to date!)

The most relevant fics would be Andromeda Unbound and On the Water, since they’re set so close to the current storyline. In On the Water, I refer to the events in Wano as vaguely as possible, as we still don’t know the final outcome of that arc, and I’m prepared that this story won’t slot perfectly into the canon timeline (but then again, this fic is about Makino going out to sea with Shanks, and so it already deviates from canon by quite a bit). But in part 3, I do allude to the Gorosei sending someone to eliminate Luffy in Wano, so it would only be natural to work this into the next part of the story, given that they’re now also set on eliminating Makino (meanwhile, poor girl just wants to run her new bar).

In Andromeda, Wano hasn’t happened yet, and so Luffy hasn’t awakened Gear 5, but I love the idea of the Gorosei losing their minds over the threat of Luffy’s existence, and meanwhile, he’s in disguise eating appetisers a few rooms over. I don’t know if I’ll include the actual awakening in the fic, because there’s already so much happening in this story and Luffy isn’t the main character, but I’m not leaving out the possibility, and it would actually fit with what I’ve already got planned, so….hmmm. We’ll see!

Either way, I’m loving this new development, and the implications. If the gomu gomu no mi works like the One Ring - in that it has a mind of its own - does it seek out people who embody the spirit of freedom, and who can use it to its full potential? If so, it would make sense that it ended up with Shanks first, and then how Luffy came to eat it. I also love that the fruit’s power is dependent on the user, and that it’s Luffy’s boundless imagination that makes it so ridiculously powerful, because it’s such a great contrast to Blackbeard, who’s spent his whole life chasing what he believes to be the strongest devil fruit, because he believes it’s the fruit that gives you power. He’s such an excellent foil to Luffy - and, of course, the Sun/Darkness contrast is very thematically appropriate.

Now, the question that tickles me is whether or not Shanks knew the real nature of the gomu gomu no mi when Luffy ate it. If he did know, it makes sense that he freaks out like he does, and it also explains why he left his hat with him, thereby giving him a reason to go out to sea and become the liberating force that he currently is. This also fits nicely with how I’ve interpreted Shanks’ role as Emperor in Shanties, where he knows he has a purpose/role to fulfil, and that it’s connected to Luffy, which is why he’s become the pirate he is - not an obstacle in Luffy’s journey, but rather a guide/aid.

On the other hand, if he didn’t know about the fruit’s true nature at the time, but discovered it later, it still feels very much in line with his character. Just picture Shanks, upon learning what the gomu gomu no mi actually is, and that he accidentally let a seven-year-old kid eat it - the same kid who is now en route to upend the entire world order…

“Huh,” Shanks said, after a stunned beat wherein his whole crew turned to look at him, before his grin broke, the memory of his old captain in the delighted width of it.

“Whoops?”

…and nearly laughing himself into cardiac arrest.

[selamat-linting]

parts 2 of my previous homestuck post, now on to the things i find silly!

-yaoi tournament will live free forever in my head. so as the horse cock. this is the worst thing hussie has ever done. i legit did not know it was an actual horse cock like i think it was just a giant blue dildo 😭😭😭😭

-the dancestors are really lame people like oh my god. beforus kids are giant dorks i cant believe their alternia counterparts are so badass like, take aranea and mindfang. just look at the contrast. first one is a nerd who would pay people for attention and the other is a girlboss who doesnt give a shit.

-one thing i do like from kankri is that he gave us plenty if funny karkat suffers joke. i love how this loser makes karkat do the walter white face lmaoooo he just cant get a break is he?

-and penis ouija!!! god why is he like that? everytime karkat is on screen i feel secondhand embarrassment like. i cant believe i shared classpects with this guy. why are you biting dave's cape are you in kindergarten? worst of all i think i've done something similarly embarrassing in school. thats it im changing my classpect im a knight of light from now on fuck off.

-still, thats not as horrible as rose's fuckup with her date. oh my god somebody gives her a chill pill she is going to lick herself bald like a stressed kitten. which is really funny because she and kanaya seems so... not nervous when talking to each other. you'd think their date would be a normal casual discussion between two awesome self assured girls. No its not. theyre both have gotten good at looking like theyre not close to exploding. but we all know none of them are Hinged.

-And oh, tavris they are doing you both dirty. like, its an improvement that vriska actually says something positive to him and that tavros did speak up against her at some points. but the narrative doesnt really want them to grow as a person. i think hussie has gotten too attached to vriska the unapologetic thief of light to the point that its reflecting badly on her and other's character development. okay fine i did say i wont take it seriously, but im a writer too. ofc i will notice the issues.

- this might be an unpopular opinion but i like the elevatorstuck music. gamzee is like, getting close to be my scrunkly like i know he does atrocities but he is really funny when doing it.

-the lands for the alpha kids are really fascinating. its less lively than the beta kids but im glad i actually get to experience the puzzles they have to solve on quests and its relations with the players' classpect. i want to see jane fulfilling her planets wish to be green and fertile. she gets too much shit talk from caliborn so i want to see her get a win yknow? and she's so goofy like her beta counterpart i want to see her happy and silly like egbert too.

-speaking of egbert, im kinda worried for him. can you believe it? he doesnt like con air anymore. i've been in his phase of starting to lose all joy in things i used to like and feeling lonely even with people around me and its not pretty. i know he went through a lot. i hope the experience with the dream bubble would make him happier even if just for a bit

-and another beta kids i want to be sad about: davesprite! he's so alone. all of his friends from the timeline is gone, he's not the main dave anymore and john keeps treating him like a replacement. its like he's relegated to a nobody who happens to have a recognizable face. poor guy.

-and to be sad again, i know i made fun of karkat a lot, but i have the biggest parental instinct for him. aside from terezi. he's the biggest crier out of the group. he's shouty and annoying but thats very much the kind of annoying shit that children do yknow? at first i dont like him because of his attitude to jade, but slowly i did warm up to him. he never really hated anybody and most of his tantrums are generally harmless to other people. in fact, he blames himself a lot about things that are out of his control. he's the one with the least body count from the rest of the trolls and he literally had to grew up hunted and unwanted by society. i want to give him a hug, i truly do.

-okay back to fanboying. roxy!!!! shit. man i adore that she has an aura that makes any surveillance camera blackout nearby. yes, girl, BECOME UNGOVERNABLE.

-and i cant believe im saying this, but i miss sollux. at first i was just joking about finding him interesting because he has my star sign and is good at coding but yeah. i do miss the guy. where is he really?