#and it was nice to see these characters get spotlight again after not appearing in the series for a while

[aquateenpatrolsomethingshowshow]

On October 20th, 2013, the finale for “Aqua Tv Show Show”, titled “Spacecadeuce”, first aired on [adult swim]

Guest starred Francisco Guglioni as Oglethorpe’s father

Fun facts:

The title is an homage to the 2004 failed ATHF spin-off, “Spacecataz”

This is the only episode to not feature any of the Aqua Teens and/or Carl

The pixelated rescue crew The Mooninites send are rejected/concept Mooninite designs

This is the only episode to feature a new Plutonian; Oglethorpe’s dad

This is the season 10 finale

This was the last new Aqua Teen episode for about a year and a half, before the series would come back for their last season in the summer of 2015

[nvrswrld]

Hi there!

so, how about some headcanons of the PJSK boys as Shimeji? Those are like tiny characters that walk, climb and jump all over your screen, and interact with apps and whatever’s happing on your screen! Hope that doesn’t sound to complicated, have a nice day!

Lots of Laugh — FANTASISTA SQUAD

— headcanons: fantasista squad as shimeji

note: thank you for requesting!! this took me a while to make since i've legit never heard of shimeji before this LOL, but i had a whole lotta fun with it, so i hope it's good enough for you. have a nice day as well <3

Akito Shinonome:

dude, out of the whole game, akito is my absolute favorite

i can totally see him just sitting there and eating some sort of sweet desert

like if you have google open, he'd sit on the search bar and watch you type whatever it is that you're searching for while nibbling on cheesecake

if you pick him up and try dragging him somewhere, he will throw a FIT

i can just imagine him kicking his legs with a little text bubble above his head and it's just full of censored swear words

"$!@#*" etcetera etcetera

if he's just standing idle, he's going to be glaring at you most of the time

sometimes he'll pull headphones out and start listening to ken's music, just bopping his head

that's one of the rare times he doesn't look pissed off

he'll fall asleep for like twenty seconds

he'll fall asleep standing up or sitting down

you know those big ass snot bubbles that appear when characters fall asleep?

he'll have one of those

and it'll pop once he wakes up

Toya Aoyagi:

second favorite character

please don't pick him up and drag him, he'll get scared

he'll take a book out of his pocket and read for a bit

he'll sit and clean his violin bow

takes out a little console, like a 3ds, and plays it

will mindlessly nibble on a cookie at random times

sorry this is short, i couldn't think of much for him and i feel like shit for that

Rui Kamishiro:

downloading a plugin where rui can mess around with your device is like downloading a virus

seriously, he will fuck everything up

on purpose

'rui' is literally in the word 'virus' if you mix the letters around a bit

expect random mini explosions

he'll build robots in the span of, like, five seconds and only for it to break down immediately after he finished

he'll make various balloon animals

24/7 smug look on his face

he'll move around all your apps and windows out of spite

makes blueprints for shows

falls asleep and drools on said blueprints

he'll just let you pick him up and drag him, no problem

no matter how far he is from the "ground", he'll always stick the landing

he's just like that

builds a jetpack and starts fucking flying all over the screen

again, he's just like that

Tsukasa Tenma:

no shot he doesn't start doing random poses out of no where

every time he does a lil pose, a star pops up and shimmers

he trips over literally nothing

i can just imagine a bug pops out of no where and he just starts losing his shit

running around the screen with a look of despair on his face

poor guy

if you pick him up, he'll also lose his shit

because who are you to pick up the worlds biggest star like that

if you drop him from a high distance, he'll land flat on his face and stay down for a few seconds

fun fact: i originally put that in for akito, but changed it since it was more fitting for tsukasa

will move windows since they're "in his way" and are "trying to steal his spotlight"

multiplies into fifty different versions of himself because who doesn't want more tsukasas in their life?

written by @nvrswrld

[giuliettagaltieri]

Cherry Flavored Kisses

Pairing: Varsity Player!Eren Jaeger x College student!reader

Synopsis: The life as Eren Jaeger’s girl fascinated you, but it was nothing compared to the fascination you feel for the man, himself.  He could be nice if he wanted.  But nothing is as bittersweet as a love unrequited.

Warning: Innuendos, minor violence, unprotected sex, angst.

Word Count: 5862

This can be a stand alone, a part 2, or a part 1 of Number One Fan

Eren Jaeger warned you not to get close to him.

But being around him has had its benefits.

You got to hang out with the popular kids.

Got invited to those wild college parties.

And like them, you are cool, you are fucking game, you are the it girl.

“Hey, nice top!  Where’d you get it?”

You look up to see a senior, whose name you do not know, smiling at you.  

“Max Mara.  I like your top too!”  The smile you gave her was genuine, although it did feel required.

She flips her largely curled hair and gave you a look as if she is relieved that someone finally took notice.  “Duh!  It’s Dior!”

With just the right amount of practiced surprise, you manage to again stroke one’s ego.  “So that’s why.  It looks absolutely stunning on you.”  You add an angelic smile.

She playfully swats the air at you.  “I know!”  She then flips her curls once more.  “Anyway, I’ll be having a party this Saturday.  You’ll come, won’t you?”

You brighten your smile even more.  “Oh absolutely.”

The woman claps her hands in excitement. “Awesome!  I’ll just dm you the address to my place-” She rolls her eyes and slaps her cheek gently.  “What was I thinking.  Eren will drive you there.”

“I’ll be seeing you then.”

She wiggles her fingers with bright acrylics at you.  “See you.”

You watch her walk away and disappear in the hallway before you feel a light shove beside you.

“Oh my gosh!  I can’t believe Hitch Dreyse just talked to you.”  Louise gasps beside you.

“Who?”  You giggled while your nimble fingers unwrap the lollipop that you just fetched from your bag.

Louise starred at you with her mouth ajar.  “Are you being serious right about now?”

You reluctantly shake your head ‘no’ while popping the lollipop in your mouth.

Both her hands fly to your shoulders.  “That was Hitch, the head cheerleader of Paradis University!”

Of course.  That’s why she was so familiar.

“And I can’t believe you got invited to her party.” She sulks, her arms crossing after she throws you an accusing glare.

With a gentle smile you attempt to ease her irritation.  Although, it isn’t entirely your fault, to begin with.

“Maybe I can ask her if I can bring a friend?”

She throws her hands up in annoyance.  “As if I’d be able to enjoy that party.  It’s for cool kids like them, you’re probably the only one who’ll talk to me and Jaeger will surely hog you for the entire night.”

You look away to hide your flustered face.

“Anyway, I’m off now.  I’d look like a pitiable side character if I stay here longer.” She walks off before you could protest. “Enjoy your spotlight, miss manic pixie dream girl.”

The corners of your lips twitch to a frown but you can’t really appear to be mad at her.  At least not in a hallway full of onlookers.  But you did bite the lollipop stick harder than you should have.

Suddenly, a bunch of squeals grates your ears, they’re like tires burning on asphalt.  

“Hey.”

You look up to find Eren leaning on the column beside the bench you are occupying at the moment.  Immediately, you give him your brightest smile.

“Hey!”

Eren sits himself beside you and you fight off a sneeze, a thundercloud of axe body spray seems to be present everywhere he’s in. He picks up your pastel binder and tosses it back to its place on the bench, picks up your fluffy pen and does the same as he did with your notebook.

“You done throwing my stuff around?”  You glare playfully at him while starting to put your stuff back into your bag.

Eren hums and slumps into the bench as he manspreads.  “Didn’t see you in the practice match.”  He muses while eyeing the way the leggings hugged the posterior of the girl that passed by, all the while you were too busy trying not to notice.

A wave of muttering and mumbles fill the hallway. Right, Eren had his fan club following him there.  Can’t judge them though, you were just like them last year in your freshman year.

Until you became the lucky girl by becoming his favorite yet.  

You kept bringing him pastries, plus you’re cute. Of course, he’s gonna like you.

“Hardly seemed like I was needed there.”  You glance up to meet his bored stare.  “Besides, I had to finish an essay assignment.”

Then there’s your game of push and pull.

Eren scoffs and rises to his feet. “Alright.  I’ll be seeing you this Saturday night.”  You hold your breath when he suddenly bends down, his warm tic tac smelling breath fanning your face.  “I’ll pick you up by eight.”

He holds your gaze and doesn’t move until you finally nod at him frantically.

You swirl your moist tongue on the lollipop head before mumbling a choked up ‘okay’ as your answer.  You puff out the breath you’ve been holding when he straightens up and looks at you from above, making you crane your neck to actually see him.

And the bastard had a smug grin on his face, knowing exactly what he was doing to you.  And as if it wasn’t enough, he pulls out the bright red cherry lollipop from your cute mouth, making a moist popping sound as the candy slips from your plump lips.  To your horror, Eren flicks his tongue on the lollipop before sucking on it, the stick is wedged on the side of his lips.  It was difficult not to break away from his gaze as he did that.  But you were also not giving him the satisfaction by looking away.

“Wear something cute for me, baby, yeah?”

Your lips are still parted in surprise but you shut them quickly when Eren’s gaze fall to them.  

“Mhm!”

“Good girl.”  He pats your head and turns on his heel, heading to his next class, off to ruin professor Ackerman’s day.

His flock of fans follow him quickly, but not before throwing nasty envious glares and glances of pure curiosity.

Your back meets the bench and you try to ignore the looks thrown your way.

That was the closest thing you had to a kiss!

Oh My Gosh!

The attention that you get from people around the school almost fooled you into believing that there was something going on between you and Eren Jaeger.  And when he acts like that, you think that something just might be.  How else would you interpret his actions?  Eren must have liked you to some extent to do that.

A loud ringing of bell had you scrambling up and out of the bench and on to history class, at least professor Smith is going to help distract you for now, with his engaging lectures and equally engaging physique.

Saturday night rolls by fast.  

You had to end the mandatory calls with your mother when you hear the revving engine of Eren’s car outside your dorm.

Your chunky heels thuds on the stairs as you descend it.  Patience is not one of Eren’s strongest suit after all.  Your bangles jingle and clink together.  Your hair bouncing with your motion, along with some of your other assets, the bouncing was starting to hurt that you put an arm under them for support, while you try to navigate the steps.

The tinted windows of Eren’s car doesn’t hinder his view.  The pastel colors of your dress were dimmed just the tiniest bit but you practically hopping off the last step of the stairs allowed him to peek at the bows that sat on your thighs as your ruffled dress poofed up with the air.

You stood patiently by Eren’s door, your hands clasped together as you swayed like the adorable girl you are.

Eren opens the car door from the inside and you sit your bum before pulling your tightly pressed knees inside the car until the shoes that you probably got from the kiddy section land inside.

“Look who’s here.”  Eren drawls.  “You really gone and dolled yourself up for me.”

You smile at him meekly, your fingers crumpling the edge of your dress.

“You don’t think I overdid it?”  You bat your eyelashes at him.

Eren shifts his thighs to help with the sudden discomfort, a soft groan that is barely audible escapes his lips. “Nah.  ‘S perfect on you.”

You shrink under his intense gaze, all shy.  

The car suddenly feels warmer now.

“Y-you should probably start driving to the party now.”  You smile at him like a lovesick puppy.

Eren cocks a brow at you.  “Yeah?”  You nod at him to which he only replies with a sharp smile.  “Say please.”

It was almost funny for him to watch your eyes turn round like a baby doe, your delectable looking lips following the same shape, making him feel stuff he knows he shouldn’t.  Eren swore to never fool around with you.  He enjoys your company and admiration but it felt like pure carnality to even think about running the warmth of his hands on your skin. You are pure, an untainted flower, and he feels just a bit guilty about thinking of ruining you.

Nevermind him getting off in the thoughts of your pillowy thighs and feather soft touches when his bed gets a little too lonely at three in the morning.

“Please, Eren.”  You say with a giggle.

Eren checks if you buckled yourself in and steps on the gas hard, making you yelp.

“You finished your homework?”  Eren asks an uncharacteristic question, making you frown at him in confusion.

“Of course.”  A pause.  “Did you?”

Eren glimpses at you briefly.  “Armin’s already on it.”

You look at him in disappointment.  

“Shut up, he offered.”  He sighs.

“But I didn’t even say anything.”  You mumble under your breath.

Poor Armin.

“He offered to do it.  In exchange, I’ll get him Leonhart’s number.”

You tilt your head in confusion.

“Marley U varsity player.  Women’s volleyball.”

You nod in understanding.

One of the reasons why Eren likes you is because you are too simple.  Dealing with you doesn’t require him to sit and ponder.  You are easy to understand.  You are predictable.

What Eren doesn’t predict however, was the amount of attention you will be getting because of your all too adorable dress. His plan to have you dressed attractively for him to have a delectable arm candy backfired.

One more sticky gaze from those sleazy frat boys and he swears, his fist might find an unsuspecting jaw tonight.

Even women dressed in lowcut dresses has their hands lingering a little too long on your thighs.

A bright red cup is shoved in his face and he’s just about to yell his head off when he meets the unamused stare of Jean.

“Horseface.”  He greets while accepting the cup and taking a swig.

Jean grits his teeth.  He’s not about to take the bait.  Eren’s pissed and he’s just begging for a fight.

“Cut that out.”

Eren sends a glare up to Jean before his hawk like eyes wander to your direction as you play with his other teammates.  “Cut what out?”

Connie is warding off the guys, which helped him keep his cool, but that new recruit, Surma, is standing a little too close to you. He doesn’t care if the sophomore is on your team in the game.  And you’re oblivious to his stare as you enjoy your glass of boone’s farm.

“Brooding in a dark corner and looking like you’re about to shove your shoe in someone’s mouth the next second.”  Jean sighs as he watches you cheer with Connie when you get a point.

Eren downs the rest of the contents of the cup and crushes it in his grip.  “I think professor Ackerman taught us the wrong social sciences.”

“Agreed.”  Jean sighs. “Whatever man, just stop acting like a creep.”  He stalks away, making Eren roll his eyes.

What else was he supposed to do then?  He’s can’t drink since he has to drive you home, he’s not about to go play spin the bottle with Floch and the others.

The sofa he’s on dips.  And judging by the sickeningly sweet cologne, it’s a girl who’s sitting next to him.

He side-eyes her and catches a well-defined curve in her chest that is clad in a skin tight cheetah printed dress.

Correction, a woman.

“What are you doing alone here, big guy?”  He hears her nasally yet absurdly seductive voice.

“People watching.”  Eren tells her.

She smirks at him, her dark purple lipstick making it pop despite the dim room.  “Can I people watch with you?”

Eren shrugs.  “Why not.”

The woman laughs.  “Name’s Roxy by the way, Eren.”

“You know me.”  Eren smiles slyly at her.

“Hey, bud!  Watch over Y/N for a sec, gotta run to the bathroom.”  He hears Connie yell but Roxy runs the back of her fingers on Eren’s cheek before he could turn to look.

“Who doesn’t?”

Good point.

Eren rests back on the sofa, letting the woman feed his ego with her exaggerated and poorly constructed sentences.

She’s tacky.  Her dress, her lipstick, her scent.  Roxy is a cheap chick but Eren doesn’t turn away anybody who is willing to openly praise him.

She probably thought she could get some tonight, Eren chuckles under his breath.

He shouldn’t make fun of her, that’d be mean. Especially when it looks like she’s really impressed with herself.  He’ll let someone else burst her bubble.

The night is going really well, until it doesn’t.

Like a birthday candle blown by a toddler, all humor vanishes from Eren’s face.

His features turn rigid and he has never looked more menacing than the time he stood from the couch.  The woman he left behind couldn’t let a single word out as her throat went dry.  People didn’t see Eren as he moved like smoke around the drunk bodies dancing away on the dancefloor.

It was loud.

The smacking sound of his fist finally connecting with the sophomore kid’s face, knocking the glasses off his plain looking face.

“You better watch where those hands wander, kid.”  Eren sneers.

Immediately, he felt your soft figure collide with his.

“Eren, you shouldn’t cause trouble!”  You clutch his shirt to pull him down to your level. “You’re a varsity player!  You can’t get into stupid fights.”

You’re right.  What was he thinking?  Ruining his plans for a girl?  He better wish this won’t reach their coach.

He pulls away from you and his strong grip finds purchase on your dainty wrists.

“We’re leaving.  Now.”

You nod at him quickly, desperate to get him away from the malicious spectators.

Eren drags you away from the crowd and out of the party and you just let him.

Soon enough, the back of your thighs are pressed against the cool leather seats of Eren’s car as he is too busy speeding away. Your knuckles have turned white as you grip the edge of your seat, your other hand on Eren’s forearm, a nonverbal reminder for him to slow down as he’s not the only person in the car.

No words are spoken between the two of you and you choose to keep it that way, despite your desperate need to know what just happened.

But you’ve learned.  

Eren should not be pressured to do anything he doesn’t want, especially when he is mad.  Anything that poses as a threat towards his sense of control in the situation, he will crush.

He was just barely hovering below the speed limit, going beyond it where he is sure there was no speed gun aimed at him.

What should have been a thirty-minute drive was cut down to twelve.  And the familiar architecture of your school dormitory comes to view.  The tires screech as Eren drifted to a parking space and you could have sworn your heart is pumping two hundred beats per minute.

The entire car shakes when Eren gets out of the car and slams the door close.  You watch him circle to your side and he opens the door surprisingly gentle.

You meet his unreadable expression before you get out, taking measured steps and putting a considerable distance between you.

He’s pissed, you are not quite sure if it’s because of you.

“Uhm-”

“Go to your dorm room.  I’ll be there with you shortly.”

Your eyes widen.

And Eren waits for you to say something stupid.

“I’m not supposed to have boys in my room when it’s past nine.”  You rock on your heels back and forth, clearly nervous and unsure how to deal with the situation, unsure how to deal with him.

“That’s okay.”  Eren tucks your hair behind your ears.  “I won’t tell anyone.”  He can feel the heat of your face radiating to his fingers and he barely even touched you.

He watches you chew on your lip before nodding. “Okay.”  You then reluctantly enter the building and Eren watches you from where he stood.

As soon as you disappeared from his view, his murderous expression was back on his handsome face.  

He can’t understand just where the scum got the courage to hold your waist and elbow like that, while he had his hips pressed on the poof of your dress.

Eren could think of about fifty ways to kill that filth.  But that is frowned upon, isn’t it?  Eren will have to do it smarter.

Having him run extra laps sounds like a good way to start.  The bench also looked a bit to lonely during their games, he’ll have that kid warm it up.

The sole of Eren’s sneakers scrape the pavement as he finally follows you inside.  No lights were streaming under the doors of the rooms next to you.  They must have been in the party still.  

His knuckles rap at your door and he finds your scrambling footsteps amusing.

The door swings open harshly, sending some of his hair that escaped his manbun to fly to his sharp cheekbones.

“You’re here!  I thought you went home.”  You gasped.

“What are yo-”  He checks his watch and tried to clear his forehead from frown creases. “Sorry, I didn’t realize I was taking way too long.”

You smile at him and lean your hip against the door, Eren’s eyes followed the movement but he can’t see much with your poofy dress swallowing your form.

You’re relieved that he’s in a better mood now. “It’s okay.  Come on in.”

Eren follows you inside, making sure to lock your door.  He watches you pad around in your cotton slippers, tucking away a bra under a bunch of plushies that you have in your sofa.

“So sorry for the mess.  I didn’t think you were serious about…you…coming.”  You press your lips tightly, he looked uninterested just then.

Eren hums as he continues to walk over in your direction, with that same bored expression he had in his face, it was intimidating and attractive at the same time.

“I was hoping we could talk?”  Eren smiled at you but it wasn’t warm at all.

You look down to your feet and then at his chest, not brave enough to meet his gaze.  “About what?”

Asking such question was foolish yet necessary to buy yourself some time.  It didn’t buy you much though.  Eren’s patience was nonexistent.

Eren clicks his tongue, making you look up. “Stop playing dumb!  Why didn’t you push that guy away?”  He took another step closer.  “Were you trying to get a rise from me?”  He was dangerously close now.  His voice low and his eyes wide with barely hidden rage in them.

He didn’t have to talk to you in that tone.

Your eyes turn glossy, your nose sting.  The telltale signs of your tears.  You hated crying, it makes your nose feel stuffy, you stomp your foot in annoyance.

“That is so unfair!”  Eren had to take a step back to get a view of your adorable display of anger.  “I didn’t even do anything.  Surma was also just teaching me how to aim the ball better.  You were the one who was over reacting.  Throwing punches at people who were just trying to help and making your car fly after your dramatic exit at the party.”

You are heaving by the time you finish.  Your lashes are clumped with unshed tears filling your waterline.  Your cheeks have also gone bubbled.  It’s a shame you’ll never know how adorable you are when you lose your temper.

So adorable that Eren closed the distance between you two and you fall to your butt and land on your squishy plushies in surprise. But you don’t have that much time to complain when you feel his hand cup your cheek to have you tip your head at him and he leans down, with so much force and speed that you draw a sharp breath.

Fuck.

Eren meets your wide eyes and glances at your parted lips.  He never wanted to kiss someone’s lips so badly.  

But if he meets your lips with his, it’s all over. His vow to keep you chaste.  He’ll feel guilty of breaking that halo atop your head.

His jaw is clenched and he straightens up. “Sorry.”

A frown graces your features when he drops his hand and you quickly pull them flush to your chest.  “Don’t be.”  You look away from him and nibble on your lips.  “Kiss me.”  You meet his eyes again.  “Please.”

When you ask so nicely, he’ll just have to oblige.

Eren reaches and runs his thumb over your bottom lip, pulling it slightly and letting it go with a bounce.

“Pretty girl.”

Eren takes you by surprise as he rests his knee on the sofa next to your trembling thighs and captures your lips.  He groans at the sugary taste of your cherry lip balm.

It was everything you dreamt it would be. Eren’s lips were pillowy and they feel good as they wrap around your bottom lip, just before parting to let his teeth nibble on you.

“Eren.”  You whisper as he litters your jaw with kisses.  You are perfect and he wants nothing else but to have you right now.

His fingers brush on your clothed chest and reaches behind you to roughly tug at the zipper holding your dress together. Groaning when he finally felt your soft mounds even before he could see them.  A mewl escapes your lips and you cup his hands that are groping your soft bosom.

Eren often associated you with cuteness and youth but right now, you are a woman.  A woman with sultry eyes that are just inviting him in.

His hands press on the pudge of your stomach and you moan as he presses you harder against your plushies, closing your eyes when they go lower and lower until he caresses the petals of your flower behind your soft panties.

He pinches the oozing chub of your thigh above your thigh highs and traces his hand on your thighs up to your hips.  His long thick fingers hook on your panties and you could swear you heard a soft rip.

You cried when his knuckles brush along your puffed lips, collecting wetness as he did so just before slipping inside, the foreign intrusion having been too much that you push Eren’s shoulder slightly. Eren groans as he drags another knuckle just before stuffing you with it.

“Oh!”  You moan so obscenely and Eren was taking it all, his head fogging up with how much your virgin cunt was sucking on his fingers.

“You can take more, can’t you, baby?”  He grins against your jaw as he drags his fingers on your velvet walls.  “You can, yeah?”  Eren talks you through it until he’s slipped a third finger on you.  The stretch burns but you are far too needy to care.

“Ren.”  You whimper as your walls flutter around his fingers.  “Want you to f-…Want you to do it.”

He’s about to ruin you and you still can’t say the word.

He pulls them out, making your gasp.  Eren presses his forehead against yours and grips your thigh and his dripping fingers make you shiver.  “Yeah?  You think you can take it?”

You nod at him frantically.

“Alright.”  Eren snickers as he slips off his top along with the layer under it, his jeans come off next.  His movements are swift and you are struggling to keep up as you slide off your own dress.  

You shut your eyes when it springs free, slapping to his stomach.  

“What are you doing?  Look at me.”

Eren hooks his arms below your thigh high clad knees to drag you until you feel your back resting more against the plushies. “Come on, just a peak.”

You bite your cheek when you feel something stiff but squishy on your thighs and it drags to your folds.  Eren rocks his hips and you clutch to his enormous biceps when the thing slides on your lips and kisses your clit.

It feels soooo good.

But it wasn’t enough.  You want it inside.

“Fuck!  You’re leaking.”  

Your eyes flash open when you feel it caught on you entrance.

“There she is.”  Eren says almost condescendingly.  “Want you to look at it, baby.”

With much reluctance, you do.

And you wish you hadn’t.

“That’s too big for me.”  You whimper, your gentle fingers flying to his abdomen to try and push him away.  

“It’s alright, Y/N.  I’ll be gentle, yeah?”  Eren sinks deeper and the head disappears, making you tear up.

Eren does not ask for permission most of the time and is mostly just letting you know.

He scoops you up by your shoulder to have your chest pressed against him.  He’s mumbling on your shoulder, praising you, telling you how good you are making him feel. His hips haven’t stopped moving.

“Too full!”  You cry on his shoulder and Eren grits his teeth, sweat dripping down his temples as he tried to hold himself back.

“I’m almost all the way in.”  He glances between you and still half of him is yet to be put inside you.  “Just a little bit more, alright?”  He kisses your forehead and brings you close to him.  You cry on his shoulder as he shallowly thrusts.  “Just a little bit…”  and with one swift motion, he plunges all of him inside you.  “More.”

Your lips part to let out a voiceless scream.

Eren groans, the tightness was almost painful but he marvels at how good you’re making him feel.  You on the other hand has your eyes wide, the feeling of it is weird and incredibly excruciating.

“Get it out!”  You pounded on his back but Eren only groans even more, sucking on the tender flesh of your neck.  “You’re hurting me.”

He doesn’t stop your hands, ignores your whimpers, and the bright red lines you draw on the wide expanse of his well-toned back with your cherry colored nails.

A small rock with his hips has you mewling in pain.

“Come on, stop fighting it.”  He sighs, his rough fingers already tracing your clit, drawing circles and patterns and shapes that are yet to be discovered and named. “Relax for me.”

The natural response of your body doesn’t fail to impress him.  Eren takes pride when he manages to let your juices seep from your lips.  He got himself ingrained in every fiber of your being.

From the sweet noises and gasps spilling from your lips, it is not difficult to understand that you are feeling good at the moment.  A particular upward thrust had your foot kicking high up in the air, knocking one of your plushy to the floor.  Eren glances at the fallen innocent looking plush kitty and your debauched state and couldn’t resist stealing a kiss from you.

The heat pooling in your lower abdomen is spreading, making you impossibly more sensitive, feeling every drag of his heaviness on your walls.  Every bump and vein, all designed to make you feel euphoric.

Slowly, with every wave of pleasure, you feel your control of your body slipping.

It felt like falling.  An erotic scream bouncing on the walls.  The pleasure had your eyes rolling backwards as liquid fire courses through your veins.

“There you go.”  Eren laughs, only rocking his hips against you faster, his thumb tracing his name on your clit, dragging your release longer, as he was owning you.

A loud squelch of your own kitty being pounded by Eren had you all flushed and you pull your hands to cover your embarrassed state.  A futile attempt as Eren easily pulls your hands back to his shoulders.

“S alright, baby.  Sounds hot.”

You look up to Eren with love sick heart eyes, only pure admiration is what you feel towards the man who you gladly allowed to deflower you.  Even with sweat sliding down his chest, his brows twisted to a frown, his teeth gritted, everything about him is just so enticing.

You let your head rest on the softness of the plushies and you just watch Eren make you feel good.  

“What’s wrong, baby?”  His movements halted and he stiffens before moving his hips faster and more erratically.  “Tapping out?”

Gently, you hook your legs around his hips and you shake your head.  “Nope.” You giggle but it turns to a small hiccup when he lifts your legs and presses your knees to your shoulders. The soft thin fabric of the thigh highs rubbing on his heated bronzed skin.

What a scandalous way he has you right now. But Eren doesn’t care as he uses his weight to press your own legs on your torso and pounding into you with all he has, making his heavy balls slap the globes of your ass.

He has you folded so shamelessly and still has the cheekiness to grin at you.

“Look at you.”  

Broken mewls are all you can give him as he overwhelms you, overstimulating you in the best way he can.  A shiver runs through your body when you feel your juices seeping to your bum, definitely wetting the sofa.  You open your eyes and could see your feet rocking with Eren’s movements. Tiredness hit your hips first, crawling up your thighs.

“What’s wrong?”  Eren nips your nose when you scrunch it up.

You put a palm on his face to keep him away. “Hurts.  ‘M tired.”

He hums and you smile sleepily at him.  

But he isn’t letting up like how you expected him to.

“Ren.  Eren, please.”  You sob.

A snarl rips from Eren’s throat and you feel every rumble of his bulging pecs on your chest.  Your breath hitches when he buries himself inside you and stays there. Every twitch of him inside you, every ridge of his muscular thigh against your bum, and the warm spurt of his cum.

It was thick, goopy, and too much!  

Eren continues to fuck his cum deeper inside you, unfazed by the loud squelching your cunt makes.  Tears flow to your cheek as your body gives in to him for the second time that night.  Your walls pulse around him, milking his spent cock inside you.

“Whoa there.”  Eren coos as he kisses you shoulder, your body still twitching.  He holds your hip and slips out, his cum splashing on your swollen lips.

He straightens up, his chest rising and falling just like yours.  His hand reaches to cup your cheek and you share vulnerability with him.

But his walls return quickly.

With half lidded eyes, you watch Eren get up and pick up the shirt he tossed earlier.  You manage to lift yourself up to a sitting position to watch him open random drawers until he pulls out a small pink fabric.  Your head tilting to the side as he brings it to his nose and takes a deep whiff.

Too tired to fight back, you let him slip the fabric, which turned out to be your panty, up to your thighs until its snug on your cunt.  Immediately, you feel it turn sticky but you ignore it when Eren makes you raise your arms up as he helped you put on his shirt.

You pull the shirt slightly so you can read the print.  1.  

“It’s yours now.”  He tells you.

“But this is your jersey?”  You mumble while pulling a bunny plushy.

Eren buckles his belt and puts on his compression tank top.  “I got lots of it.”  He finally slips his shoes back on.  “Come on.”

You rise carefully, your bunny still squished in your arms.  “Where are we going?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, we didn’t use protection when we fucked.”  You flushed at his bluntness.  “We’ll go get you a pill.”

You grab your keys and you slip on the first footwear you see, your ballerina flats and you quickly run to Eren’s side after locking your door.  

You smile giddily when he didn’t say anything as you cling to his hand.

“I’m surprised to see your heels touching the ground.  I thought your feet are specially made for high heels only.”

You giggle like a school girl.  “Silly!”

The trip to the pharmacy was short and you are grateful the tired looking cashier didn’t ask anything else.  

You still haven’t let go of Eren’s hand when you are back in his car as he drives you back to the dorm.  A comfortable silence fills the car and you soon see the tall building of your university.

Eren reaches for your exposed knee when he brings the car to a halt as the traffic signal flashes red and you smile at him before popping a cherry flavored bubblegum in your mouth.  You grimace at the bitter aftertaste.  Eren chuckles at your expression making you erupt in giggles too.

You wish he’d say something, anything that would tell you that you’re not the only one exhilarated at what happened between you.

It was terrifying for you but you are glad you did it with him.

With your chest so full of warmth, you can’t help the words spilling from your lips.

“Eren, I know you feel what I feel.”

The traffic light flashes yellow and he remains silent, you can tell he’s having a battle in his head with the way he’s staring hard at the empty street in front of you, his jaw twitching with every passing second, his hold on your knee getting a tad tight.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to-”

“What are you talking about?”  He chuckled dryly as he pulls his hand from your knee to shift the gear stick.  “You know for a fucking fact that this doesn’t change anything between us.”

Your back hits the passenger seat with the speed of the car lurching forward.  Your chest tightens and the street lights bled together as tears fill your eyes. There was no commitment being made earlier as your bodies molded as one.  

He is not yours as you are not his.

“I did warn you not to get close to me.”

Sequel: Number One Fan

[suffarustuffaru]

A while ago someone asked you for your thoughts on Garfiel. I figured the sibling set should be complete, so what are your thoughts on Frederica?

HALLO FINNB!!! interesting question :o my thoughts on frederica are. a little mixed. but ultimately i think what we’ve seen from her so far is interesting and that she has a lot of potential here.

we just dont know all that much about her :(( on one level i get it—rezeros cast is immense and naturally tappei has to rotate through everyone and give every character focus and spotlight at different times. but bc we dont know that much about frederica i feel like shes mostly just Kinda There, yknow? :<< we know way more about garfiel and i feel like frederica being kept on the backburner for so long kinda works against her and the emilia camp in general writing wise just bc she just has to be stuck in I Havent Had My Character Arc Limbo when the emilia camp is the main group we see consistently for rezeros main route ig. or at least thats my thoughts on it atm :<<

plus i was honestly kinda sad frederica didnt get to go along in arc 5 If Only bc she didnt get to see what her mom is up to firsthand. then theres the actual arc 4-5 interlude with frederica and garf trying to bond after sanctuary that i HOPE gets included in s3 :<< frederica is just lacking in screentime and literally almost any info at all for sure. which makes me sad bc tappei LET ME IN I WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT HER !!! >:(((

and again i get it that tappei cant develop every character in existence at the same time. dude has to juggle the most massive cast especially by arc 7. but definitely this has its drawbacks especially with the way tappei writes everyone. bc at the moment frederica is one of the characters suffering the most from it—she appeared all the way back in arc 4 and four arcs later i cannot tell you all that much about her :<

i do think though that what we do see from her so far is interesting!! her insecurity regarding her appearance, like her sharp teeth, her being so fond of petra while also being so dead set on disciplining petra firmly when needed (which is sweet!!!), that one ss where frederica takes care of ram when shes feeling more under the weather than usual (which is Again super super adorable), frederica listening with a smile as emilia gushes about subaru to her. and also her just flatly pitying otto and hearing this guy say hes totally normal and being like “he Literally cannot perceive himself accurately at all” + dropping otto in the anime just to hug petra is fucking hilarious i need fredotto fics to actually acknowledge this.

but also other details like—and ok granted i dont remember every detail on frederica (yet) but leaving garfiel like that is still kind of. a dick move HAH. and i know her reason was smth along the lines of wanting to improve the outside world for demihumans iirc but like whats her Full Reasons for doing all that?? what was she even planning to do?? why couldnt she talk to or see garfiel more in this entire time period?? i think it comes with the interesting implication that frederica isnt entirely as nice and sweet as she looks—or at least that of course she herself is flawed. which is fun!!

also her relationship with clind is. ………..naturally of course i dont trust tappei with anything regarding children and clinds weird shit with children but ignoring tappei for a moment i do at least appreciate the complicated thoughts frederica has about clind. how she had feelings for him once and they still linger but she keeps her distance bc hes like That, you know? that feeling of broken trust and “i cared for you now what do i do with This Feeling” is So interesting to me i just hate clind’s whole thing with children bc tappei will never write it in an entirely serious and satisfactory manner 😭 BUT greed if and the dynamic between frederica and clind and frederica having to help kill / kill clind bc of greedbaru and echidnas shit is SO interesting (and clinds lore apart from being Creepy About Children is very interesting). but also poor frederica……….. ;-;

and poor frederica bc if the rumors about her getting more development by like arc 10 or 11 are true then shes gonna be stuck in I Havent Gotten Development Yet Limbo for a while ;-;

but yeah anyway. the frederica crumbs so far are interesting, the shit going on with frederica and garfiels family is Interesting, and i definitely dont trust tappei with children 👍 but i hope we get more info on frederica and that her character arc slaps really hard !! i Need to learn more about her!!!

im not fully familiar with fredericas side of the complicated family drama but if memory serves me right her birth was. not an entirely happy affair bc her poor mom has been through A Lot of shit and frederica was a product of that. and then her mom later tries to go find garfiel’s dad. like all of that is just so incredibly sad to me and again, i wish frederica was there to see what happened to her mom in arc 5, and also im curious about how thats affected frederica more in depth. knowing she wasnt exactly wanted. having these demihuman features from her dad (im assuming), whos also One Of the people who hurt her mom. knowing that she was born a burden, learning that her mom cant entirely take care of her and isnt in a stable life situation and almost certainly isnt mentally stable herself. garfiel coming along and their mom leaving. frederica leaving garfiel in sanctuary herself. her growing up admiring clind, which is an unfortunate parallel to what couldve happened with her mom and garfiel’s dad. its just so so tragic to me and theres a lot of things you could explore there!!

frederica to me seems like someone whos probably grown up too fast, who comes off as composed and very disciplined and likes taking care of others but also fumbles a little at growing closer and is insecure and uncertain herself even as shes good at being the older and wiser one to petra and later garfiel a bit. but also we dont know much about her so im kinda just spitballing here but she has potential methinks :,) im definitely sad that it seems like the fact that shes a pretty anime waifu or whatever kinda overtakes discussions on her character sometimes ;-;

and also one of my pals is really passionate about animals and gave me a whole lecture once a few years ago on why they think fredericas beast form design fucking sucks and i cant remember all of their points now but like i Will back them up i think garfiel and fredericas beast forms could look better but im not an expert at illustrating animals so HAH i cant speak on that. but def the eyebrows on the beast designs is so…… whaaaaat is that 😭 go FULL beast design or NOTHING. WHERE IS MY EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA BUFF FREDERICA BEAST DESIGN !!!

also ngl i just think frederica looks really cute in this shot <333 ALSO iirc she feels like she cant wear cute outfits bc shes insecure about her body and :((((( GIVE THIS GIRL ALL THE CUTEST OUTFITS IN THE WORLD PLEASE :((( and also i just think its a tragedy just how much shes sexualized :(( and i just think there are. a lot of AFAB specific and girlhood specific themes you could explore with fredericas storyline but tappei is tappei so all the foundation is there but idk if i entirely trust him. but on another level i think its fascinating yeah!!! sad how much it flies over audiences heads sometimes.

in conclusion: i like frederica i hope we see more stuff from her. and im crying about how she reportedly wont be getting development for a wall :<<<<

[wonhuihonwuiii]

Jun + Hoshi (SoonHui)

As mentioned in my previous analyses, I have STILL been seeing people criticize Jun's relationship with the members. I cannot stress enough how adorable and unique each ship is so I have decided to do an analysis.

Here is SoonHui!

Have you seen the way they look at each other? LITERALLY THE CUTEST! I’ve seen several clips (tho I am unsure of which exact videos they are from) of Hoshi watching Jun’s every move as if wanting to take him home (he’s so whipped but honestly same)

To be honest, I feel like SoonHui have SO MUCH in common to not be (at the very least) close friends. They are both part of the 96 line, performance unit, and are called gemini twins. 

Jun is usually quiet so his interactions with most members are typically not as highlighted in their content while Hoshi is the complete opposite! I think he appears to be more extroverted on camera so we see him mostly with those equally as active as him. 

I also think that Jun being a few days older and Hoshi being the leader of the PFU plays a role in their dynamic. I don’t mean this in terms of authority but mostly how they evidently respect one another given these roles. We would see Jun respecting and following Hoshi because he’s a leader. Similarly, we would see Hoshi being taken care of because he’s younger than Jun. I find it interesting how their dynamic is mostly serious but also slightly playful.

 On the other hand, I also noticed how Soonhui is INCREDIBLY supportive of each other! I feel like these aren’t as talked about because of how lowkey these moments are but I’d like to share a few of my favorite examples.

As we know, Hoshi typically acknowledges the accomplishments of other Seventeen members outside their group schedules. For example in a concert, Hoshi brought up the release of Jun’s song, Psycho. Hoshi also kept talking about Jun’s kissing scene when Junhao were in China. In a GoSe episode, he mentioned how Jun attended a Chinese award show a few days after their concert in Macau. In their God of Music comeback show, Hoshi also mentioned Jun winning in the Busan International Film Festival. In AAA 2023, BSS was also watching Jun’s award ceremony backstage despite being in an award show themselves. Hoshi even posted a selca of himself and the livestream of Jun accepting the award. In short, I just find it incredibly sweet how Hoshi never fails to take care of not just Jun’s screen time but actually give him the recognition he deserves by directing the spotlight onto the latter. This was again seen in their recently released 9th anniversary video where Hoshi asked Jun to speak about how he feels. Honestly, most of the time, Jun is given attention BECAUSE of Hoshi. It’s the simple “How do you feel about this or what can you say about this?” that shows how much Hoshi cares about Jun.

I also noticed how often Jun acknowledges / compliments Hoshi! For example, I’ve seen multiple clips of Hoshi being a bit dissatisfied with a performance despite doing good so Jun would always reassure him that he did so well or looked cool. In one clip (I don’t remember where it’s from), He even mentioned how Hoshi creates, executes, and monitors choreographies even until late at night because he’s that passionate and hardworking. Literally Jun expresses how he finds Hoshi cool every chance he gets!

I also noticed that Jun is actually so supportive of Hoshi’s Horanghae agenda! In a video where they had to design caratbongs, Jun was FEEDING Hoshi all the tiger related designs and in the Huya video, Jun told Hoshi about the tiger character. Even in concerts, when Hoshi says “put your tiger signs up” Jun automatically raises his hand 🥹 It’s the ABSOLUTE cutest thing in the world.

Another thing I’d like to point out is how they make their presence KNOWN by being physically present. Hoshi visited Jun during his filming for Limbo while Jun visited Hoshi during his filming for Spider and Fighting (even had a coffee truck for BSS). It’s nice to know how members make time to drop by each other’s filming sets despite having busy schedules. It shows how much they care for one another.

Other moments I could think of would be maknae Hoshi to Jun (which is a bit rare since again, they’re relatively closer in age compared to others)

In in the soop 1, Hoshi called Jun because he wanted shabu-shabu. Initially, Jun said they should wait for Seungkwan since he was away from a shoot. However in the next scene, we see Jun preparing the ingredients because “Hoshi wanted to eat shabu-shabu.” It’s just cute how Jun had zero intentions of even cooking but because it was something Hoshi was craving for, he gave in.

In one of their God of Music promotions, Hoshi also whispered to Jun about his Epik High collab, wanting other members to acknowledge it. So Jun, with zero hesitation, brought it up in the conversation. After doing so, we could see the two of them giggling in the back, particularly with a happy Hoshi who once again got what he wanted! 

Another SoonHui moment that stood out to me would be Jun’s story about how quick and easy they make up after having an argument. Jun mentioned that after about 30 minutes to an hour after fighting, they would make eye contact, wink at each other, laugh it off then everything would be back to normal. I don’t know about you but the fact that they don’t even need WORDS to reconcile says A LOT about their relationship! This is literally how best friends or siblings would resolve conflicts. (This reminds me of that clip of Hoshi watching a movie in the airplane, specifically when he randomly made eye contact with Jun and the latter raised his eyebrow, making both of them laugh at each other’s silliness)

OVERALL, SoonHui’s dynamic is honestly one of my favorites in Seventeen! They have so many similarities yet are opposite at the same time. I do understand why some people would think that they’re a bit distant because l feel as if they’re ALWAYS together given their similar positions in svt so naturally there isn’t a need to be clingy to each other. However this doesn’t make them any less close. In fact, they act EXACTLY how siblings who are close in age are around one another. They would argue A LOT but in a room with many others, they would find themselves speaking up for each other! 

[stormoflina]

Hello again! It's the same overly talkative anon from the last ask lol

I wanted to talk more about the social media thing, which it sounds like you have a lot to talk about too! I didn't follow Dom when he was at Leipzig but I'm going to go out on a limb and assume the spotlight and reaction to him on social media was not as big as it now but I know he's like the king of Hungary (in a good way) anyway I say that because when it comes to the prem the fans and media are a lot less forgiving and love to put players in a box.

For instance Dom is very handsome (as are a lot players in Liverpool) but he's gotten labeled as the pretty boy who cares more about his hair than he does about his performances which is silly because every player cares about their outward appearance that's why they get haircuts and tattoos and etc. It's kind of similar with people screaming from the rooftops that Trent can't defend if he makes one missed tackle.

Anyway I think if Dom was less attractive or less confident people would stop raging about him loving the camera, if anything it's just a reaction to how good he looks on camera. Personally I already know he has a nice face and I still get caught off guard when he pops up on the TV, bless the dinosaurs that made the fuel to bring his parents together 🤣

Hii! 🫶🏼

Apologies for the late answer! I started writing a whole ass novell to you, then lost internet connection and I lost everything. But maybe it's for the better, because I was borderline psychoanalysing people lol. 😭

I admit, I couldn't really stomach following RB Leipzig just for him lol, I only started paying more attention to them (well Domi, and they came with him) after Marco Rose became their manager - I really like that man - so, I don't know tbh how he was perceived by their fans or even in the media really. What's evident is that he was a favourite of the social media team, judging by their insta haha. In Hungary, it's very hit or miss. He is either perceived as basically the Chosen One from the Footy Gods, or very harshly, unfairly criticised hated on for everything. There are a surprising amount of miserable people who are hoping that he will flop hard as a rock in Liverpool, but then again, he is still much more beloved, especially ever since he became the captain. Our sports media, hmm, let's just say, very amateur, and because Dominik is our most successful player he gets his ass kissed ever since he signed for Liverpool. The thing is with that however, is that they try to frame it more like a Hungarian success story, rather than the success story of Dominik, if that makes sense. So it's not really about the persona of Dominik, but rather the Hungarian who did something that not many could in the last few decades. Or at least that's how I see it overall.

However, all this vain, egoistical gimmick is not something that has been present in his usual criticism until recently. I mean it makes sense, the media needs characters, easily noticeable one or two traits they can give to players to sell the stories and the narrative better, and let's be honest, Dominik is a very easy target for that. For one, yes, that he is objectively a handsome man, but what I think is even more important is the way he carries himself. I think he is not someone, who will 'bow down' if that makes sense, he has a strong personality, a strong trust and sense of himself and his abilities, and he is very honest about that. The media loves underdog stories, especially for people like Dominik, but it's very evident that he doesn't lean into that. Even in Hungary, he asked the journalists multiple times, to stop listening to all his achievements, calling him the nt's best player, trying to sell the story of the 'poor hungarian lad who somehow did the unthinkable'. He seemed pretty rejective towards these underdog PR questions they tried to do with him in the start, which honestly from a straight PR point turned out to be a mistake for him, for sure hahah. But I can respect the dedication to be true to his morals and character, rather than playing the well-crafted PR character.

This turned out into me, rumbling I'm so sorry. I truly can talk a lot. 😭😭 Please, don't be shy to do the same, I absolutely love reading all your options!! 💗

[paulagnewart]

RIP Pauline Newstone

10th December marked 25 years since the Beast Wars episode Other Visits: Part 2 aired on Australian TV. Taking a moment to reflect, I vividly remember watching it (along with much of that season) on a small wall-mounted TV in a dimly-lit hospital waiting room. Hardly my idea of a grand way to spend multiple afternoons, but the prospect of more checkups and needles paled compared to the swelling dread of how, as the credits rolled, I might never see my favourite character again.

When Candice Santora announced three days later that Airazor's voice actor Pauline Newstone had passed away, that all-too familiar dread seeped its way back.

Beast Wars was far from my first foray into the world of those warrior Robots in Disguise, but certainly played an integral part of my life during the latter half of the 90's. Its writing and expansion of the Transformers history was captivating, its animation at the time second-to-none, and its voice acting nothing short of immaculate. Vancouver's finest breathed life into what could've easily been written off as another 20 minute toy commercial, but it excelled. They made the characters memorable, raw with wild, well-rounded emotions and truly raised the bar for future actors.

From the moment she burst onto the scene, I adored Airazor. Smart, sassy, more than strong enough to fight tooth and claw in battle, refused to put up with Rattrap's antics, and mistress in the art of dry wit. A welcome addition to the Maximal cast with a plethora of potential to grow. Granted the good times weren't to last; she was swiftly demoted to cannon fodder and later the role of "Mrs. Tigatron", but I was happy just to have her around. Whenever roleplaying our favourite scenes or making new adventures at school, Airazor was always my first choice. The original (and Transmetal figure a cherished Easter gift the following year) continued to have imaginative adventures after the show ran its course. For a time, something as trivial as a cartoon alien robot bird meant the world to me.

And it all came down to how awesome Ms. Newstone performed her.

It's a feeling the Aussie public clearly shared, as her video pack became one of the top 10 selling boys' toys of Christmas '98 (or maybe it's because the VHS repaint was, and remains to this day, the only version of her basic-class toy to see release here. But I digress). Yet Beast Wars proved a tip of the iceberg for Ms. Newstone's career. She lent her voice to shows including G.I. Joe, Mummies Alive!, Inuyasha, Monster Rancher, X-Men Evolution, Ninjago, and I certainly can't go without mentioning her portrayal of big baddie Frieza during Ocean Group's tenure on Dragon Ball Z (The infamous "Caressing the Balls" meme? That was her. Iconic).

Ms. Newstone was one of those voice actors I always hoped to meet someday. No means an easy feat, as she preferred to keep away from the spotlight in a fashion not dissimilar to the late Christine Cavanaugh. It would've been nice, but I understood and respected her desire for privacy, and commend the extra effort Pete and the other organizers went to adhering her "no photos" request at BotCon 2006.

Learning of her passing, let alone nobody reporting it until fellow actor Garry Chalk saw her name over six months later at the annual UBCP/ACTRA Awards, is a sad reminder how none of us are getting any younger, and each day those little things which used to give us joy slip further into the abyss of time. Cherish those memories and the ones you love, while always leaving room to create more tomorrow. Fiction generally doesn't last forever, but I like to think her memory and legacy both as a voice actor and person will for many out there.

The above image was taken back in 2011 while in Lithgow, but never made public until now. Far from my best work (assuming anything I do can be considered good to begin with :P ), but a decent day. History repeats itself, as that particular Airazor figure went on to appear in many more photos, accompanied me to multiple BotCons, a college graduation party (!), and most recently appeared on the official Oliver Brown social media page for their Rise of the Beasts promotion.

RIP Pauline Newstone. May many glasses be raised in your honour. You came, you stooped, and you sure as hell conquered.

[des2dream]

Winx Club Hot Take 6!

What ever happened to these girls?! With how well they're designed compared to other background characters, you'd think they would be somewhat crucial to the story. Meet Alice (the curly red-head in blue & pink), Emma (the red pigtail girl in red pants), Trista (orange dress & purple braided hair), Vicky ( short purple hair in blue), Marzia (a girl with blue hair, yellow head scarf, & red shirt) and Clarice (the one in the middle with the most detail & blonde pigtails). I've seen Clarice, Marzia and Trista make appearances in Season 3 while Emma may have appeared in the film, The Secret of the Lost Kingdom so I assume they were freshman at the time. By the beginning of Season 4, I would assume they're now sophomores with Alice and Vicky being freshman. Season 4, Episode 1 was the ONLY time these girls stepped into the spotlight beyond being background characters....well, mainly just Alice and Clarice. This episode had established that The Winx are now assisted teachers at Alfea having graduated so that means they can't live in their iconic student dormitory anymore.

The Winx find that out when they are met with the background girls I mentioned prior now residing in their old dorm rooms. The Winx were a bit upset by this, but the new residents (especially Alice) were thrilled at the idea of staying in a dorm previously home to the Alfea graduates who earned their Enchantix and defeated previous villains during their school years. Clarice however, isn't impressed. Throughout the first half of the episode, Clarice was more annoyed with The Winx if anything thinking that "because they're Enchantix fairies they think they're all that" since all of Alfea idolizes them. She was so bothered by them that she sabotages The Winx's exercise course as a way to humiliate them, but it unfortunately results in putting Flora in the infirmary. Even worse, Alice was accused of causing this and is going to be sent away. When The Wizards of the Black Circle arrive to attack Bloom, Alice rushes in to get help and participates in the battle. By the end of the episode, Clarice admits she sabotaged the course and apologizes so she and Alice can stay at Alfea.

That's all they contributed to the series. After that, they go back to background characters. They don't even stay in The Winx's dorm for very long because Season 5 decided to write our main fairies back into students again! These girls were such a missed opportunity! Roxy becomes a new student at Alfea so why couldn't she move in with them?! Bloom, Flora, Stella, Aisha, Techna, and Musa are Alfea graduates who now run a magic pet store on Earth while also being Guardian Fairies. They're done with school so I feel like the series would've made for an interesting new arc of Roxy, Alice, Clarice, Emma, Vicky, Trista, and Marzia becoming the next generation of The Winx Club instead of having our existing main six being 16 over and over again from Seasons 5 through 8. It would've been nice to see episodes of Roxy learning how to be a fairy in a magic school similar to Bloom's arc in Season 1. We got a glimpse of seeing who Alice and Clarice are but we never got to see the personalities of the other girls. I feel like maybe the comic issues did this a bit better, but it still would've been fun to see it onscreen.

[doctorbrown]

Alright I'm doing it.

Obligatory ramble about Doc's 'character' songs in the musical because I just saw it again and I'm so deep in my feels post.

I don't know how to be clear and concise so you're just forced to take what I come up with in the thrown-together, haphazard way I know how to get the words out.

'It Works' is absolutely one of my favourite songs on the album, but I'm not diving super deep into it because while it is one of the few songs Doc 'solo' sings, it's not exactly a character song; it serves to introduce the DeLorean time machine to Marty at Twin Pines Mall and highlight how over the moon he is to have invented one of the most impressive things of all time, something that finally works.

Though I need to say I feel so validated for the line It's a car for the stars like Captain Kirk's because I imagine Doc is a huge Star Trek fan and he and Marty definitely watched it together.

Also, his I never really thought I'd get to see how well it works! also gets me because while in the film he doesn't really get to see that until after the events of the film have played out and the Lone Pine timeline is created, in the musical it is he who is the world's first time-traveller, taking the car five minutes into the past and then appearing in the parking lot of Twin Pines Mall shortly after Marty shows up, his experiment complete.

'21st Century' is such a big, flashy number and it's the very first song of Act II, right after intermission. The set looks 24th century futuristic (which I imagine the 21st century would look like to someone in 1955 at the time) and mimics the bridge of a starship; even the backup chorus/dancers are fashioned after robots/androids.

This entire song and sequence is, ultimately, revealed to be a dream that Doc has during the week of Marty's stay in 1955 and the reason this song means so much to me is because it really nails one of Doc's core traits; it's his hope and optimism he has towards the future and everything that it could hold. He wants to believe in humanity as a whole despite all the things he's been through, he believes in their success as a species and knows they could go on to create amazing things.

Imagine what we'll see in the 21st Century!

Just think of what we're gonna find! A world that's gonna blow your mind!

Everything in that song that Doc sings about is positive and hopeful; one might also say childishly naïve. A future post-capitalism, where money and greed which are two large factors responsible for so much hardship and ruin are things of the past. Flying cars, vaporising trash (hello Mr Fusion), eradicating hunger and war and suffering—

It's the kind of future Doc has always hoped to see. What he wanted to help build with his inventions. While recognition and fame is nice in theory, in practice, I think Doc would hate being constantly in the spotlight, because we've learned he's very comfortable doing his own thing and being avoided. To be thrust in the public eye would be very suffocating and invasive and uncomfortable.

But if he were ever able to properly patent and sell any of his inventions, he would've been contributing something good to society.

Doc isn't the cynical type, but he is acutely aware of all the terrible things that go on in the world around him. He wants the good to outweigh the bad, wants to see positive things in humanity's future.

Doc's entire purpose for building the time machine, beyond his deep obsession with time and the chance to say I did it, it works! and make arguably the largest scientific breakthrough of the century, is to see and catalogue the fate of humanity after he's gone. Where we've been, where we're going, the pitfalls and the promise. Maybe even an answer to that universal question: why?

'21st Century' just perfectly captures Doc's creativity, imagination, and optimism. Unfortunately, the real future doesn't quite turn out the way he'd hoped it would.

And then there's 'For the Dreamers' which, truly, is a beautiful and fitting song for Doc. In the musical, this isn't a big, flashy number. It's slow, sombre, yet hopeful all the same, and it takes place in the garage in 1955 after Doc's revealed his plan to run a cable across Courthouse Square to harness the lightning and the small model 'DeLorean' goes up in flames. Marty's less than optimistic about his prospects. There's a single spotlight on Doc as he sings to Marty and it's very obvious that he's singing about himself here.

Sometimes, failure and setbacks are an unfortunate and inevitable part of the process, no matter how hard you try. You can put your all into something and never see a return on it. Doc knows this better than anyone. Even now in 1955, he's well acquainted with the bitter taste of ridicule and failure because he's a man with big dreams who is unafraid to pursue those dreams to their end, whatever they may be.

And this plan of his to get Marty back to 1985 is an extreme long shot. Everything needs to happen precisely on-schedule, for nature waits for no man and even the slightest delay will rob the kid of his future and leave him stranded here indefinitely. Doc needs to balance learning enough about this invention he hasn't created yet in order for the lightning rod plan to work with not learning too much about the DeLorean's construction, as he still needs to allow his personal timeline to unfold as largely unaltered as possible for risk of creating a major paradox that could potentially unravel the space-time continuum.

So this one's for the dreamers who live on inspiration, go as far as they can take it even if they don't quite make it...

And I know what it's like to be misunderstood. And I know how it feels to be told you're no good. But I couldn't give up. No, I never would.

But people just took advantage of me. My distractions just consumed me.

Doc's always been a man of big dreams, ever since he was young. He was never the type to fit in, found himself on the outside, much more interested in the sciences than people. He embodies the very spirit of inventor. He's a dreamer, an idealist, a risk-taker, driven and full of ambition.

So this one's for the dreamers who have the guts to risk it. To take a chance on what they think. Can't stare them down 'cause they don't blink.

Ridicule or call them out, no one sees what they're about.

Doc's reputation is firmly established in Hill Valley; he's willing to take the risk for the things he believes in, and this has branded him a lunatic, a dangerous crackpot, a mad scientist, earned him the scorn of his neighbours—people will see what they want to in him and others like him and there's no changing their minds.

But you can't give up. It's difficult trying to make a change and if you dream about making that big breakthrough, you have to stick it out until the very end. Put your mind to it and do it for all those who have tried and couldn't.

With so many failures up until this point and with his only real success, if you'd choose to call it that, being the work he did on the Manhattan Project, it's looking grim. The brainwave analyser, something he put months' work of research and development into, turned out to be a disappointment.

Now, though, he's got proof that all his dreams aren't just nothing; that he really is something and if nothing else, he has to do it for this kid.

This one's for the dreamers like me.

At the heart of it all, this song is very much the start of Doc's you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it. Failure, success, does it really matter if you give up in the end? And that's something Doc just can never really do.

[gorogues]

Spoilers for Flash #789!

You can see the first few pages here.

So we get an explanation for why the Rogues are doing Wolfe's bidding despite him being notoriously awful; they figured they'd just make the most of the opportunity he offered. It may not have been wise (who knows what the guy would do to them as soon as they're no longer useful), but it's understandable. We don't get an explanation for the weirdness with Girder though, so his activity in Dark Crisis may forever be a mystery.

But we do get explanations for how Wolfe is out of prison and successfully able to run for mayor -- he was acquitted, and presumably the voters believed in his innocence or simply didn't care about what he was doing to felons -- and Wally figures out the secret source of his power. Wolfe has been empowered by the Lords of Order to do some of their work on Earth, which of course explains his constant harping on "order". It's a fitting role for Wolfe, who's always been obsessed with law and order and punishing lawbreakers, so he's a good choice for one of their avatars. I don't recall the Lords of Order being quite so rigidly fascist before, but I suppose it's one way to impose order on an increasingly chaotic DCU.

Wally makes a very good speech about the importance of free will and being kind to counteract chaos, which I liked so much that it's included here despite the lack of Rogues. It's good that Adams mentions Wally's time in the Mobius Chair, as it gave him the wisdom and perspective here that makes such a compelling argument. It's easy to forget what happened to him just a few years ago (our time) when he's been so goofy and relaxed since he retook the mantle of the Flash, but he's got a unique POV that very few characters in the DCU will ever have. And the Lords of Order accept his argument "for now", with the stated threat that they'll take action if Wally's suggestions don't work. That clearly leaves the door open to their further involvement, and this may come into play in a future storyline. Interestingly, Wolfe now believes he was wrong based on what Wally has shown him, but it's possible the Lords won't take his no for an answer if they do decide to intervene again. He may find himself their unwitting puppet.

Hartley doesn't do much aside from what we saw in the issue preview, but he does stand with the West family to help Wally when needed, which is nice. The Rogues don't get as much spotlight or development as I'd like, but they do get some good moments like chiding Len for his over-confidence and considering it bad luck; it makes sense for a bunch of guys who've been beaten more often than they'd wish! And they laugh uproariously in a fantastic panel when Wally asks them whether they're willing to reform. Mick says with a smirk that they'll try, and I've got no idea if he's pulling Wally's leg or might actually consider it…he's the one Rogue of the bunch who's given it a genuine attempt in the past, after all.

Wolfe says that the Rogues are needed for an unspecified coming event, which may lead into the imminent "The One-Minute War" story. If so, that's a significant hint that they'll be part of it, and either way they'll probably be appearing soonish. I can't say I've been particularly intrigued by the solicits for the coming arc, but hopefully it'll be good and hopefully we get some quality scenes of the Flash Family teaming up, and maybe the Rogues working with the Flashes to defend the city. It'd also be great to see some lesser-used Rogues helping out as well, and not just the regulars seen in this issue. Hartley will likely be part of Team Flash too.

It's been a pretty good story arc, even if I was hoping for maybe one more issue in it. Hartley and the Rogues could have gotten more development that way, but I guess I'm glad the story wasn't overly padded like some arcs are these days. I think Wolfe's story could have gone on for longer to show the corruption in his system and that hardassed approach to crime, and wonder if it was originally intended to have been a slow-burning background plot and was just cut short for the sake of efficiency. But at least the version we got works fairly well.

[madraleen]

Chainsaw Man - Tatsuki Fujimoto   Ch. 98-132: A Disappointed Commentary and Overall Impressions.

LISTEN. If you’re as sensitive about your faves as I am, don’t read this. I’m bummed with Part 2 and it shows. (But, hey, I’m looking forward to reading more?)

-This Asa has had more introspection in twenty pages than Denji has had in his entire lifetime (this is a neutral comment).

-Did she accidentally squash Chicken Devil omg

-Holy shit, this escalated. Mr Tanaka, really now?

-I kinda like Yoru. And Yoru alone.

-Your goal is to defeat Chainsaw Man and mine is to actually see him... I don’t care about Asa that much.

-Oh Denji, u in Asa’s manga too?

-I like Denji, give me more Denji, omg, this is my nightmare scenario of endless chapters focused on characters you’re not interested in, I’ve feared this for a while.

-Where is everyone? Why has everyone left Denji alone? Like, in life.

-I don’t like that Denji is a side-character!

-Pls, Nayuta, save the story :’(

-At anyone who might be reading this and is enjoying the story: I am very, very happy that you do, I’m jealous. I am so disappointed though. I’m disappointed that Denji is not the MC, yes, but also, Asa is not compelling to me, there’s no side-characters with spark and just life, the setting is underwhelming - a school after Public Safety, I don’t see any interesting dynamics right now. Basically, what compelled me in the first arc just isn’t here. I see people saying to wait, that things will peak and twist and turn, and, well, yes, of course they might, but that doesn’t make up for the things that haven’t worked for me so far. But yes, please reframe those things, please, make me eat my words and shock me into adoring the arc! I beg! I beg to be wrong!

-There’s a lot of bread crumbs for the future, I won’t deny that. Yoshida’s random organization, Nayuta herself, the prophecy, the contract with Power of course, but... give us something concrete :’(.

-In a weird way though, it has me wanting to read on and on and then some, just to see Denji and see where on earth this is going.

-Why drown it, bitch. Why drown the cat, bitch.

-”Solitude and companionship... I’m afraid of both!” I mean, same.

-The Falling Devil ala chef, great, I like that.

-And you would care if the Devil’s a thief... why exactly, Denji boy?

-Yes, bb, yes, bring up Denji’s trauma, bring up Power and Aki, finally. God, I miss them. But yay, finally, quality time with Denji!

-Chainsaw be like “I wanna have sex!” and Asa be like “yeah, nvm, just let me fall.”

-They are ON A PLATE, nice. See, I’m lots more ameliorable when Denji is around and denji-ing.

-Actually content now that Denji’s been around for a few chapters in a row, lmao.

-Looking forward to seeing who “fake Chainsaw” is. An actual other Chainsaw? Denji from the future? Who knows.

-War Devil might win in the prophesy and prevent the Age of Devils, got it. Yoru, you’re up.

-And now Nayuta has the spotlight, phew, I can breathe again. And more Denji! We’re ending the binge-read on a positive note.

Overall Impressions: Part 1: Love and adoration, fun, ridiculousness, excitement, pain and heartbreak, shock and respect. Sometimes the plot gets convoluted. Denji, Aki and Power are one of my favorite gangs. I love all the side-characters, I love Denji, I love the character development, I love to hate Makima, I love the panel composition. Part 2: I’m bummed and curious. Not enough Denji, but I’m delighted when Denji and Nayuta appear. For the moment weak side-characters. Lots of hints for potentially exciting things to come. Lacks the visual oomph of Part 1 because of lackluster setting. I don’t vibe with Asa.

[eloquentgifs]

I'm going to say things bc that's how I cope.

As a person who thinks that if you're going to do something you should do it right, I can't help it, it bothered me how sloppy this season felt. Of course I fully blame HBO and their cheapness, but it stills bothers me. Not only we got two episodes less than s1, but the 8 we got were shorter, and you can tell. I also blame the budget cuts for the constant yet unnecessary flashbacks, and the weird editing, and the anticlimatic pace. In any case, I want to highlight the things I did like, because I fucking love this show and Im sure that after a rewatch or two I'll be less angry, so let's stay positive:

Since it seems they were having trouble to get the complete cast together in one plot, I do love they kinda let them have their spotlight one by one. Like, Frenchie in the first episodes, Wee John as Calypso, Lucius with his PTSD in ep5... It's not the same as s1, but it's something.

I've seen people complaining about this, but Im happy they didnt invest too much time on the forgiving process. I like it better when everyone gets along fine, and in the end they're pirates and they never seemed to be the kind of people who hold grudges, so yeah lets skip to the nice part.

I did like a lot what they did with Izzy. I don't care if it happened too quick or what, I used to feel indiference towards him and this season I actually enjoy his scenes a lot. I still dont know how I feel about his death tho. It bothered me a little that the whole scene was more about Ed than Izzy himself, but in the end I always saw Izzy as a narrative tool in Ed's arc more than as a character of his own, so I guess it makes sense.

Super happy with the music choices, and also the new outfits.

Really, the first five episodes were absolutely brilliant.

It made me so happy they got Bronson Pinchot as Ned Low.

Huge fan of Zheng Yi Sao and Auntie.

Im so fucking furious at Taika Waititi for his pro-Israel shit that seeing Pop Pop attacking him gave me some sort of inner peace.

Now, things I wished had been done differently: - There were a lot of paralelisms with s1, which is good, but I'd like they brought back more actual elements of s1 into play. Like, the lighthouse painting, the secret wardrobe, the pink robe, a third Badmington (he would have work better as big bad than this prince ricky guy I dont really care about?). Frenchie singing again. This oneis a reach, but I would love to have Mary Bonnet back. And I was really hoping they play with the fact that Stede is "dead". The guy doesnt even mention the Master Fuckery from ep10.

-On that note, I was a little dissapointed on Jim's arc. I was never that invested on them or their plot in s1, but it feels weird how this season it seems like none of that even happened. Even Jim felt like a different character. I feel it would worked better if some of the conflict was related to Siete Gallos stuff, so at least it would feel all of that subplot wasnt a waste of time.

-Little missing opportunities of making me happy: Anne Bonny and Mary Read mentioning Jack (to insult him, mostly); they kissing when the house is on fire; Ed finding not just one letter but the whole pile of them; a better narrative use for Seagull Buttons (well, any narrative use, really); developing the bombclocks thing in a way where Auntie was not deprived of her superhuman detective skills; having Ned Low as bigger villain, with several appearances.

-The general development of Ed/Stede in the final episode... It's just confusing to me. My reading of Stede's mind state was that he was on autopilot since he killed Ned Low, and being abandoned by Ed and having his ass kicked by Zheng would wake him up a little, but this episode he's still in PROBLEM SOLVER mode, zero regrets about anything, still hasn't talked anything through EVER, he's just fine. With Ed I dont even ask for coherence bc he's always been a wtf guy, but I dont understand the "just do whatever you're good at" thing in the beginning of the episode, and he claiming back his leathers and his pirate-self and going on berserker mode and fighting along Stede as equals and blablabla if at the end he's still chosing to be a fucking innkeeper. Also, having a shitty inn in the middle of nowhere sounds too close to the antique shop in ep4, didn't they learn ANYTHING from Mary and Anne? I mean, the innkeeping was a predictible outcome, but the setting up of the episode was really aiming to the opposite, so it feels weird to me. In any case, I'm happy they're together and if being absolutely on their own in the loneliest house in the world doesn't get them to improve their communication, idk what else they could do.

-Still think they should have been lighthouse keepers instead.

-Next season Im totally muting every OFMD tag as soon as they announce the trailer release, because the promo and bts content was absolutely TOO MUCH. Those fuckers had been showing us stuff from the very climax of the fucking last episode since weeks before the season aired. I get it's a me problem, but I do believe it ruined my experience a lot, so fuck that.

And well. That's it. Good season, could have been great. Im happy but sad. Let's just hope that, if there's a season 3, they gave them more money and time to do it properly.

And before I post this and run away from tumblr, Im checking out how much of my wishlist had been fulfilled: - LUCIUS IS ALIVE - Stede Bonnet, berserker era [Not as I imagined, but hey] - The Queen Anne’s Revenge, either being captured or coming back as the ship Ed left behind when he went to The Revenge - The Blockade of Charleston (and make really absurd) [Still might happen in the future?] - Anne Bonny and Mary Read(as middle aged women who kinda mirror Ed and Stede, but they did it right) - Since he was already mentioned in s1, it would make sense introducing Hornigold, maybe as a new antagonist or something. - A rip off of that wwdits episode with the Vampire Council, except this time is the Pirate Council and its members are pirates from other movies and shows [I was really dreaming big here] - On that note, a really weird episode with every person who has played Blackbeard in recent years [Fully tripping] - More women and more asian characters. And more people speaking their mother tongues [So many Chinese gals, not one chinese word :(] - Ed finding out about Stede’s death and believing it [It did happened but not how/when we thought] - Ed meeting Mary and getting along [Never losing hope on this one] - Frenchie adopting a cat (and singing a song about it). - More info about everyone’s pasts. - I would LOVE having Bartholomew Roberts in the show. [YES PLEASE]

[sashi-ya]

Hiii Sashi! It’s me again! My first step to see if Bleach is worth watching will be obviously to read your spicy stories about the characters (like any normal person would do it). Also I was afraid of using my user name in my asks back them, but I remember when you appeared on tumblr with your blog and one piece requests, and before I knew it I was already sending requests (I don’t even know if you will remember, but the first ones you did for Law and Ace, the ones about taking s/o virginity and the aphrodisiac ones, It was me in anonymous, because you looked so eager to write and I was so eager to read your writing but I thought was rude to send two requests almost at the same time), and a lot of time passed and you became a pillar and I remember of your strength every time I see a new post of yours, it is weird, because a lot of things changed in my life (for worse, I’m going through the worst things that could happen to a soul), but every time I open tumblr, you are there, and every time I think the same thing (sashi is here, she is saying something abou bleach or one piece, nice, she is writing, well, at least after all, she is here). I panic when you say you might leave tumblr, because your write is wonderful, you are wonderful, and because you won’t be there anymore, don’t know why I’m telling you this now, maybe I just want to have no regrets, but I think I just wanted you to know, you have impact in peoples lives, you are this beautiful. Thank you and sorry for telling you all this!

edit: I am beyond ashamed to say I found this in my drafts. I apparently thought I had answered and posted it BUT NO, I SAVED IT IN MY DRAFTS!!! I'M SORRY.

PLEASE DO READ MY BYAKUYA AND AIZEN ONES ABOVE ALL. now, kdjsfkfjsd if you end up watching bleach because of my fics I will feel the proudest mf ever!!! KUBO COME SEE THIS PLS!!

omg. OMG. I owe you absolutely ALL my success in here BECAUSE THOSE 2 REQUESTS (BELIEVE ME I REMEMBER THEM TOO WELL) were the ones that put a spotlight on my blog and made me gain A LOT of followers. Thanks to those two fics -that I still get daily notif of- I felt like I wanted to keep going!! I AM MORE THAN GRATEFUL!!!! 😭😭💖💖💖

There was one thing I wanted to do when I started posting, and it was to give people what I didn't have myself: to know someone is there, for you and to make at least the people that read a little happier. And believe me... you have made me tear up a little... thank you, thank you thank you... Believe me I am here, and I'll always be here for you. Do not say sorry for telling me this, it is for me the best thing I've heard about my blog. It's all worth it.

you are wonderful, and just as you said "you have impact on peoples lives". You did the same for me. for real... thank u 💖🥺

[fearsmagazine]

TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Paramount Pictures

SYNOPSIS: Set in 1994, somewhere in between 2018’s “Bumblebee” and 2007’s “Transformers,” Optimus Prime and the Autobots must team up with the Maximals, Noah Diaz and Elena Wallace to stop the planet-eating dark god Unicron’s “henchbots” the Terrorcons, led by Scourge, from getting the Transwarp Key.

REVIEW: TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS is the seventh installment in the Transformers live-action film series. It has all the elements of a summer blockbuster but personally felt it suffered a bit from franchise fatigue.

The plot has many similarities to the previous films. The Transformers have been in hiding, a threat that humanity could never face on their own threatens the earth and the Autobots, humans and the robots team up, and the earth will never be the same as the Autobots are left on earth longing for their home planet of Cybertron. There is a bit more character development in terms of the ex-military electronics expert Noah Diaz then the museum intern Elena Wallace. Diaz has a hefty plate of personal issues that all are driven by his younger brother’s illness and trying to support his family, impeded by a shady military service. Optimus Prime also has issues, and comes off with a bit of an attitude for most of the film, but eventually Prime & Diaz experience personal growth and team up to overcome the threat. There are plenty of Autobots. As the audience probably has history with Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, Mirage stands out, voiced by Pete Davidson. His is a simple story and Davidson adds a lot of his charm and character to bring the Autobot to life. Likewise, Michelle Yeoh as Airazoris a Maximal sage warrior who offers her wisdom and insight. The dialogue is fine, there are some lines fans are expecting, and the one liners are okay in the grand scheme of the tale.

Of course the production values are fantastic. The Maximal design is a tad confusing, it’s mechanical and animal flesh, an organic element we’ve yet to see in other characters in the franchise. The Unicron design here is a totally new and different take from what fans might remember from the movies or comics, and first appeared in 1986's The Transformers: The Movie. There are some great special and visual effect sequences, but the final battle sequence is so fast and furious it’s hard to appreciate the work required to bring it to life, or maybe to hide a few shortcomings. Director Steven Caple Jr. does a fine job, but there were moments between the action where it dragged a bit and that may have been due to the screenplay as opposed to the editing. I enjoyed composer Jongnic Bontemps’ score and his new orchestration and remix of the Transformer’s theme.

The live action cast is likable. Anthony Ramos, who came into the spotlight when he played the lead, Usnavi de la Vega, in “In the Heights,” does a fine job as a sympathetic character who has to come to terms with issues in his life and find the hero in himself. Actress Dominique Fishback feels like the helpless heroine of a classic action film until she has to step up in the final battle because of something she has learned due to her skill set. There are no memorable secondary live action performances as in the first three films and with the other notable celebrities voicing the animated characters it lacks the intensity and excitement of the first couple of films.

TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS is everything a fan of the franchise has come to expect with a couple of nice surprises added to the mix, including a scene in the credits. Given the period, the characters, and some of the locations, it's clear they were trying to skew the film to a broader demographic. I enjoyed it, found it dragging in a few spots, and overall didn’t leave me feeling energized after viewing. Having said that, you might. Again, it has all the elements that make it deserving of the label “summer blockbuster,” it just needs to deliver on that at the box office.

CAST: Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Dean Scott Vazquez, and the voices of Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, Pete Davidson, Liza Koshy, John DiMaggio, David Sobolov, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Colman Domingo, Cristo Fernández, and Tongayi Chirisa. CREW: Director - Steven Caple Jr.; Screenplay - Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber, & Jon Hoeber; Based on Hasbro’s Transformers™ Action Figures; Producers - Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy, Michael Bay, Mark Vahradian, Duncan Henderson; Cinematographer - Enrique Chediak; Score - Jongnic Bontemps; Editors - William Goldenberg & Joel Negron; Production Designer - Sean Haworth; Costume Designer - Ciara Whaley; Special Effects Supervisors - Ilya Churinov,Guillaume Murray, & J.D. Schwalm; Visual Effects - MPC, Weta FX, and Halon Entertainment. OFFICIAL: www.transformersmovie.com FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/transformersmovie/ TWITTER: twitter.com/transformers TRAILER: https://youtu.be/RjNAZ1n7_Hc RELEASE DATE: In Theatres June 9th, 2023

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay), or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

[fruitsofhell]

I'd like to add to the "Why did Cinderella marry someone she just met" because it speaks to a lot for what I love about the film and dislike about Disney movie criticism.

Throughout the film Cinderella is established to be a very romantic character, which can be easy to take for granted with how ingrained in us that is for a Disney Princess, but in the context of the film, it is a properly established trait. (Along with her kindness as defiance, which is another aspect taken for granted).

The ball is this one night in nearly her whole life where she'll see anything but the dusty corners of her house, and you can tell just how much it means to her by how she reacts to it in the lead up. To her gladly accepting an obvious trick from her step-mother at the opportunity, to her failing to convince herself that she'll be fine missing it, her once again naive joy at the mice's dress, and her despair when it's destroyed.

When she arrives literally by magic she is utterly star-struck; she literally just wanders around the castle bright-eyed not even with any objective. Then, from out of the blue, this incredibly handsome figure appears and whisks her away to dance in the spotlight as a gentle waltz plays, they then walk through a lush moonlit garden under the stars, yadda yadda - it's that Disney magic.

But what I'm getting at here, is that that Disney magic is diegetic, Disney artists have written and drawn that charm into this films TO SERVE THE NARRATIVE, not just because they're Disney and there must be sparkles and music. Cinderella feels those sparkles and music after a life of nothing but hay, and laundry, and brooms, and it's instantly a life-changing experience to her that culminated in dancing with that beautiful man.

The day after when she's reacting to the news of the Prince's search with her step-sisters there's this great shot where they're scrambling to throw their laundry at her, and she is just standing their in an absolute dreamy daze, thinking about how she had danced with a Prince who was now doing anything to find her. So dazed, in fact, it becomes her downfall as she then neglects her duties to merrily hum and dance away to prepare for him, setting off Lady Tremaine.

The film very much does everything in its power to make the fairytale make sense in a feature length film context, and this includes rather strong characterization of Cinderella and why she would follow in fairytale logic. It's still because she is a fairytale character, but as a more grounded actor than a damsel in a 5 page story, she manages to bring that magic with her mixed with a fleshed out bittersweet naivete that the film wants you to understand the power of. How important it is to dream and imagine a better life for yourself in face of everything, the importance of not letting abuse turn you cruel and spiteful to others (specifically those she has power over such as the animals of the house, the film is fine with her anger towards those who abuse her), and how spreading kindness will be rewarded. Very basic nice things like that, but executed beautifully and magically.

I feel as though a reason why some of this characterization is lost on people - besides cynicism - is due to the animation of the film, and how heavily rotoscoped Cinderella is in body and face. Rotoscoping can help make a character feel realistic, but if it's too juxtaposed with cartoonier figures (like the step-sisters, the King, the Duke, even Tremaine a bit) that acting instead become stiff in comparison. I won't go into that theory, but it did take me 3 watches and hyper-awareness of that to notice many of the characterization details I did.

After watching Cinderella (the original animated movie, which was my favorite as a child), it strikes me how it solves many common problems people have with this fairy tale. Like:

Why did they try to identify the mystery girl using her shoe size? Because the bullheaded king's only clue to her identity was the shoe the Grand Duke picked up off the steps.

Why didn't the prince recognize her by her face? Because his father wouldn't involve him in the process at all, and wasn't the one going around trying to find her.

Why did the prince want to marry a lady he only met that night? Because his father was going to force him to marry someone, and he genuinely liked this woman.

Why did Cinderella want to marry a man she only met that night? Because marriage was her best and most secure way to freedom. Fucked up, but you can't say it's unrealistic for the setting of a fairy tale. She also genuinely liked him.

If they're using the slipper to find her, wouldn't it be more sensible to search for the person with the other slipper? Yes. The King is purposefully nonsensical and the Duke is purposefully terrified enough of him to carry out his orders to the letter. Furthermore, they end up doing that in the end anyway, because the Duke's glass slipper is shattered, and Cinderella brings out the one she has to prove her identity.

Why didn't the stepmother and stepsisters recognize Cinderella at the ball? Because they were dancing too far away, and then left the party to dance in private, which was possible because the King wanted very badly for his son to hit it off with someone and tried to arrange the best conditions for that to happen.

Why didn't Cinderella save herself? Because in real life, abuse victims should not have to shoulder that responsibility, and usually can't. In real life, you need and deserve an external support system. Asking for help, in this kind of situation, is very important. She is saved by others because she is loved. Because she is not alone. Because she has friends who love her, and want her to be happy and safe and free. Because in real life, people who want to help someone who is suffering are like the mice. We can't pull out miracle solutions, but we can provide companionship and if we're in the right place at the right time, we can help the person find a better life.

Why didn't the fairy godmother save Cinderella from her abusive household, or try to help her sooner? Because she's magic, and magic can't solve your problems. Quote: "Like all dreams, well, I'm afraid it can't last forever." This (and Cinderella's dream of going to the ball) is a metaphor for pleasurable things in bad circumstances. An ice cream won't get rid of your depression, but it will provide you with momentary happiness to bolster you, as well as the reminder that happiness in general is still possible for you. Cinderella doesn't want to go to the ball so she can get away from her stepmother and stepsisters, or so she can meet someone to marry and leave with. She wants to go to the ball to remind herself that she can still have things she wants. That her desires matter. This is important because the movie does a very good job of illustrating Lady Tremaine's subtle abuse tactics, all of which invisibly press the message that Cinderella doesn't matter. While going to the ball and fulfilling her dreams may not be a victory in the material sense, it is still a victory against Lady Tremaine's efforts.

Why is Cinderella's choice to be kind and obedient framed as a good thing, when you are not obligated to be kind to your abuser? This one walks a very fine line, but I think the movie still makes it make sense. Lady Tremaine never acknowledges her cruelty. She always frames her punishments of Cinderella as Cinderella's fault. Cinderella is interrupting, Cinderella is shirking her duties, Cinderella is playing vicious practical jokes. Cinderella is still a member of the family, of course she can go to the ball, provided she meet these impossible conditions. Lady Tremaine's tactics are designed to make Cinderella feel like she must always be in the wrong and her stepmother must always be in the right. If Cinderella calls her stepmother out on her cruelty, or attempts to fight back, Lady Tremaine can frame that as Cinderella being ungrateful, cruel, broken, evil, etc. If Cinderella responds to her stepmother's cruelty defiantly (in the way she's justified to), she's not taking control out of Lady Tremaine's hands. Disobedience can be spun back into her stepmother's control. She wants Cinderella to be angry and sad and show how much she's hurting. So since Cinderella is adapting to her situation, she chooses to be kind. Not only because she naturally wants to be and it's part of her personality, but because it is a form of defiance in its own way, and it allows her to keep a reminder of her agency and value. Her choice to be kind is her chance to keep her own narrative alive: she is not obeying because her stepmother wants her to and she has to do what her stepmother does, but because she wants to. It's a small distinction, but one that makes all the difference in terms of keeping her hope and identity. (Fuck, I wrote a whole paragraph about how this doesn't mean you can't be angry at people who hurt you or that you need to be kind to deserve help, and then deleted it by accident. Uh. Try again.) Expressing anger and pain is an important part of regaining autonomy and healing. Although it is commendable to be kind while you are suffering, it is NOT required for you to get help or be worthy of help. If Cinderella's recovery was explored beyond "happily ever after" she would need to let herself be angry and sad to heal. Cinderella is not only kind because it comes naturally to her, but because it's her defense against the abuse she's suffering. Everyone's story and experiences are different, and one does not invalidate the other.

Bonus round for answers that aren't part of the movie:

Why didn't Cinderella run away? Where would she go? Genuinely, in hundreds-of-years-ago France, where would she go if she snuck out of the window with a change of clothes? With her step-family, she's miserable and abused, but she's fed, clothed, and in no danger of dying or being taken advantage of by anyone other than her stepmother and stepsisters. Even if she escapes and manages to find financial security, her stepmother might be able to find her and get her back.

Why didn't Cinderella burn the house down with them inside it/slit their throats in the night/poison their food/etc.? Because that's a revenge fantasy, and this story is a fantasy about being saved. There's nothing wrong with making Cinderella into a revenge fantasy. That's perfectly fine, as long as you acknowledge that the other type of fantasy is also a valid interpretation. (I mean, the original fairy tale features the stepsisters getting their feet mutilated and all three of them getting their eyes pecked out, so go for it.)

Why isn't Cinderella more proactive in general? Because she's a child who has been abused for the back half of her life, who has had to be focused on survival because. you know. she's an abused kid.

How did she dance in glass slippers? Gotta agree with you there man, that's weird.

[ecargmura]

So I Read The Tales of Crestoria Manga Despite Knowing Very Little Japanese

You probably know all the drama and what not about Crestoria getting shut down and how there’s now a manga adaptation that’s on a seesaw of continuing serialization and getting on the verge of cancellation. Yeah, I have the manga in my possession right now. The manga isn’t licensed in English and it’s all in Japanese. You might be thinking, “Oh, you must be good in Japanese for you to get the manga.” To that, I cackle. I can’t read Japanese very well; if I were to rate myself, I’d give myself a 4/10. I can read hiragana, katakana and very little kanji. I had to rely on translations to read through this manga.

Now that I finished Volume 1, how is it? I liked it. It was clearly nice to see Crestoria again even if the story has been filtered to remove the Tales cameo characters and alter a lot of lore revolving around them. It sort of makes you want to think about how they’re gonna do that for future content and how well they’d do it. Because they took out the cameos, the story does feel a bit fast-paced, but another reason for that is because Bamco hates Crestoria which is why this manga is often teetering between continuing to get serialized and on the verge of cancellation.

The character interactions and portrayals do seem a lot better than how they were in the game. I think the biggest notable difference between the game and the manga is how Misella is portrayed. To be honest, I despised Misella in the game—easily one of my least favorite Tales characters overall. However, the manga actually redeems her a lot by toning down her Kanata-simping and having substance. She still has an dependency towards Kanata, but it’s not overdone. She even makes her own questions outside of Kanata like how an Enforcer took Gordon and wonders if sending criminals to die is acceptable. Vicious feels a lot more vulgar in terms of speech pattern and behavior, but that’s how he is like in general. He flips Aegis off in the manga and I am actually entertained by it. I also do like that Kanata isn’t too naive like he was in the game and that he does question things once he learns the truth about his father and what not. Also, his feelings for Misella are more obvious in the manga as his actions and a lot of his thoughts revolve around her and how he wants to protect her. It feels cuter and sweeter in the manga compared to the game. Aegis does feel more capable and competent in the manga compared to the game. Perhaps it’s because he appeared at the beginning and at a low level when you fight him with Leon, hence why he felt weak in the game. Without Leon and just being by himself really gives him that spotlight to show off why he’s one of the strongest knights in Medagal. He spins his spear to deflect Vicious’s bullets, which sort of shows that even if he isn’t super buff, he’s a strategic guy.

Because the game was in a visual novel style, some scenes and such aren’t shown in full detail and only through implication. The manga allows some of these off-screen details to be fleshed out like showing off Nash’s sister Nisha in person and how sweet she is and seeing graphic  scenes like Kanata killing Cody. I think manga allows the scenes and characters to be a bit more expressive compared to the game where they only have a certain amount of expressions and what not. Heck, I quite love the ending scene of this first volume where Misella is shown stabbing Vicious while giving a ‘yandere girlfriend’ expression that you’d never expect Misella to have in-game.

Because this is a manga adaptation of a game, some important scenes are rearranged while some scenes have additional details either added or removed. For example, the scene with Kanata and Misella at the Brightblaze flower field is actually shown some time after Misella is announced of her adoption. In the game, it happens right after that scene. I honestly do think the manga does handle the timeframe a bit better because it did feel a little awkward placement-wise in the game. Meanwhile, some scenes in the game had Nash involved like him third wheeling Kanata and Misella’s little heart-to-heart moment which was removed from the manga and Kanata stumbling upon Cody and Misella’s conversation by himself and not having Nash show him what’s going on. Some additional scenes that was added are one rather icky scene with Cody and Misella that I’d rather not say and another scene where Kanata and Misella run away from an Enforcer but get separated when the latter falls off a steep ledge. I do like that the manga isn’t a 100% complete replication of the game and that the author is doing their best to make their own interpretation of the story while staying true to the game’s lore.

I guess my only real gripe about what I’ve read in Volume 1 is that the manga is written in a way that you’re expected to know the game’s lore about Vision Orbs and Enforcers. They don’t explain this for potential first-time readers, so there could be a chance that a person unaware of Crestoria’s story might have to look it up on the Internet to get a sense of why these people have Vision Orbs and why there are Enforcers. I mean, they explained what the Great Transgressor is but they couldn’t have time to explain the system of the world and what not?

Overall, this was a solid adaptation of the first half of the first chapter of the game. I have the other two volumes, but I don’t know when I’ll get to them. I think this is also a good item for Tales collectors to have. If you want to buy the manga, it’s available in some Japanese online stores. A friend said that Suguruya is a good place to buy it. I bought mine from CDJapan. My blog Arum Journal is affiliated with CDJapan, so here’s my post on where to buy the manga! If you do buy it from Japanese sites, beware of shipping prices. They can really eat up your wallet. If you do buy it from CDJapan, I do recommend getting it shipped from DHL because they’re the fastest. Anyways, if you have any additional questions about the first volume of the Crestoria manga, please let me know!