#and like yeah the sheep is kinda ugly but also what did you expect

[rainbow-crane]

Reasons why I won't be watching the Minecraft movie

1) That's Not Steve

I've never seen a franchise whitewash their own character as much as Mojang does with Steve, like the official art, the merchandise, and now the movie? Be so fr

His actual avatar is black. Like, that is not a white man. At all. How did we get here

[itsdappleagain]

CS WEEKLY: The Hot Rocks of Rio Caper Part 2!

HERE WE GO PART TWO BABY!!! START OF THE DADOWSAN ERA!!!

Le chevre looks so confused im crying

I LOVE THE RAGE ON HER FACE if this betrayal was real she would have GONE AFTER his ass

The operatives there have never heard shadowsan talk so much lmaooo

It would be such a good moment if carmen didn’t say falsehoods pls it sounds so unnatural

Shadowsan just powering through because carmen CANNOT take a hint im crying

Also MOSCOW IM CRYINGGGG i like how he was like ah yes. The only thing unbelievable about that is that coach brunt has never been there. Carmen being russian is otherwise totally plausible

The confusion on carmen’s face she looks so hopeless for a second :(((

PLS SHE BLINKS ONCE AND ALLL NEGATIVE EMOTION JUST VANISHES SHE GOES SO SOFT

The awkward threat im sobbing she’s so bad at acting on the spot ig

Tigress he is carrying a full grown woman WHY would you expect him to high 5 you

Also YEAH HE CARRIES HER LIKE A SHEEP

Carmen just making faces at him 

POOR LE CHEVRE JGSGTFHJ

Also uhhhhh carmens shoulders did a full rotation because her hands were tied behind her back before and now they are in front what happened there

CARMEN AND SHADOWSAN BICKERING IS SO FUNNY 

AND DO. YOU. MIND IM CRYING THEY HAVE SUCH A GOOD DYNAMIC FOR THESE COUPLE EPISODES they’re still figuring everything out

Shadow-san is used to an unruly sixteen year old he can boss around but now she’s just an unruly 20 something year old who he CANNOT boss around

Love how maelstrom doesn’t question le chevre tied up on the floor he’s like damn none of my business

She looked like she was about to ugly cry  The face in question:

Oh nvm they cant see le chevre my bad

PLS MAELSTROM JUST GOING omfg and putting his head in his hands is so funny

CARMEN STILL TRYING TO ARGUE WITH HIM BECAUSE SHE HAS LIKE 20 YEARS OF GRIEVANCES SHE NEVER GOT TO ARGUE WITH HIM ABOUT 

Pls carmen is unsufferable about it i love her

SHADOW-SAN JUST BLANK FACED SLAMMING THE TRAPDOOR BEHIND HER AS SHE GETS HER CLOTHES I NEVER SAW THAT BEFORE

Player is literally the smartest one here

MMMMMM OKAY THIS IS A FANTASTIC CHASE SEQUENCE there’s almost no dialogue so it gives everyone’s personalities time to shine in just how they RUN (and like. jump). I don’t have access to wifi rn but there’s a really good post analyzing how carmen/shadowsan/le chevre climp the same wall and how it showcases their personality/style read it if you can!!

edit: this one

The bus <3

Also i love carmen and shadowsan kinda just being buddies sometimes. Giving each other looks and smirks and shadow-san smiling when carmen half introduces him to player as an old friend

Mm the little tiny hints and clues as to shadowsan and carmen’s real history even this early in the season. Good shit

The dramatic zoom out revealing that the cleaners are cleaning up brunt’s temper tantrum wheeze

I ALSO really like carmen sort of being desperate to prove herself to shadow-san. Giving big wide smiles when something works her way, butting heads with him on method, trying to one-up his plans and ultimately having worse ones because he still has like 25 years of experience on her

HAHSHJDG did shadowsan even know they were working with carmen or did he just kidnap two random bozos and show them to carmen like

I wonder if they just pressed a rag up to abby trott’s mouth and told her to scream into the microphone JHDGD

WAIT WHERE DID THE ROPES GO

Zack sticks his tongue out for a split second jhdfgshfkhsd

Carmen having angry rants about shadow-san to her crew is so funny sahjdghsda

Zack was CHEATED he and shadow-san could have had such a fun dynamic but shadow-san HATES FUN

“Why would our perpetrator so oppenly flaunt her p" ZARI SHE’S DONE NOTHING BUT OPENLY FLAUNT HER POSITIONS????

ALSO JULIA IN TH ACME SUIT REVEAL SHE’S SO CUTE

Man she whipped her head around so fast that her glasses slid all the way down her nose

Julia is just like “don’t fucking trust devineaux zari literally he sucks so bad”

CHIEF DID DEVINEAUX….i was gonna say dirty but honestly accurate

Wasn’t there a month when it was super popular to simp over the supervisor guy

puts this here

MMMM NO

The music SLAPS

“MORE CHILDREN” he’s so funny

She’s hiding how disappointed she is that shadow-san didn’t acknowledge her “belly of the beast” line sobs

QUACK QUACK

YEHEAHHH INFODUMP SECTION once again blown away by how this show is able to make anything child friendly they’re talking about LITERAL D-DAY AND WORLD WAR TWO WITHOUT MENTIONING…ANYTHING. NO NAZIS NO NOTHING JUST DUCK BOATS

If it quacks like a duck and floats like a duck THEN ITS A WITCH A WIIITCH A WITCH

But yeah anyway there again is carmen looking to shadow-san for approval about it heheh

That poor child is going to see some shit

NOT THE HORRIFYING GREEN DRAGON FLOAT THEY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ANY LESS SUBTLE ABOUT THAT

���Its a beast” okay how about uhhh TIGRESS LE CHEVRE AND EL TOPO ARE STANDING ON IT

VILE trying to run those random people over is SO FUNNY

Also i feel like vile could have made that plan way easier. Like doing the float and duck boat could not have been easier than just smuggling them to the beach like. Normally

Him <333 when he has no further doubts about murdering shadow-san <333

WHAT IN THE HELL IS SHADOW-SAN CLIMBING ON THE GROOVES IN THE PAPER-MACHE BRICKS??

CARMEN WRECKING EVERYTHING AGAINKWHSFHGDFH

I love them bickering its so funny theyre just like. God yeah okay we’ll argue later but first lets kick some ass

Tigress eternal catgirl

MAN I DONT CARE IF THAT WAS FAKE ARMOR THAT HAD TO HURT SO BAD

“HAHA! “ “HOHO!”

“Teacher’s pet” okay ‘bossanova’

Fantastic fight scenes as always

Nah its just some random sinister unmarked green boat

HSDGDHGD YEAH GO SHADOWSAN

(mufasa voice) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

THEY ARE  S O P P I N G

Legend has it shadow-san eyebrow is still going up

The grudging admiration as shadow-san gets engulfed by a giant duck

BRUNT RAGING IN THE BACKGROUND AS MAELSTROM CONTINUES BEING SILENTLY DISAPPOINTED IS THE BEST GAG IN THE SHOW

Or how about THE ONLY FLOAT IN RIO THAT CAN GO ON WATER

IVY AND ZACK DANCING IN THE DUCK COSTUMES ARE SO CUTE

Shadow-san youre going to end up adopting those children

“Team carmen” oh no ma’am we call it team red around here. Canon means nothing to us

WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP SEEING THOSE GIANT SPARKLY PURPLE GEMSTONE AND GOING “uhhh its a rock”

Imagine waking up one day and rio has been randomly gifted HALF A BILLION DOLLARS

Carmen’s teensy tiny teacup

Lets make being at each other’s throats permanent <333

Okay so Ivy’s thingie is gone, so we have two options here. One, zack stole ivy’s thingie and threw it, then blamed it on her (doesn’t he like shadowsan?). TWO, IVY THREW IT BECAUSE SHE DOESN’T LIKE SHADOWSAN AND THEN SHE BLAMED IT ON ZACK which i think is the more likely and MUCh funnier option (also zack was TOTALLLY TATTLING ON HER)

“My crew my rules” only takes one arrest to turn into “MY CIRCUS MY MONKEYS”

God shadowsan and carmen have a fantastic dynamic together

Psh again with carmen never. Saying thank you or acknowledging anything ever. She got her emotional wasteland from shadowsan SAD /j

UGH you can SEE the conflict on his face- whether or not to tell her the truth. Its all just half truths but he’s SCARED

Carmen unknowingly leaning in and then checking herself…

Zari powerwalking across the street while julia is just like GIRL I CANT SEE

“Agent zari we keep making out in my dreams i know her face REAl well”

I like julia’s tiny hesitation. Zari is the senior agent, so she lets her lead across the street. But she also doesn’t jump at the chance to go. She takes a second, but knows what her job is

Also NINE LANES OF TRAFFIC agent zari KILLS it at crossy road

I love carmen’s look to the agents versus shadowsan’s. Carmen’s little smirk versus shadowsan’s disdain- shows the difference in perception between them

Gone With the Bus

Also julia’s gasp versus zari’s AUGH

I like how zari had to use the scanner to confirm that they were the same person like just. Look at the two pictures

People are constantly throwing evidence at julia that says carmen is working with vile and julia is constantly batting that evidence out of the air and spitting on it because she’s too gay

I mean it sort of gets to her I think. In Milan she tries to arrest Carmen but she changes her tune real fast

He’s been using that pen for. How long now

I LOVE THAT TRANSITION WITH THE PEN CLICK CUTTING TO BLACK ITS SO GOOD

Alright anyway these two episodes (hot rocks pt 1 and 2) took me my whole three and a half hour flight to analyze somehow. I guess I know why I get behind on them

ANYWAY yes so I love these two episodes. FANTASTIC setup for the rest of the episode and they introduce every major plotline that goes throughout the rest of the season beautifully. I’m so excited to see Julia in action more!!! Season 2 is my favorite season out of all of them so YEAHHH I’m so excited. Only a month left until summer and then I hopefully won’t get as behind on everything (fingers crossed)

[forabeatofadrum]

Happy Wednesday March 22, Cosmo had an idea! Thank you @aroace-genderfluid-sheep​ and @artsyunderstudy​ for the tags. I have A Lot to say. A Lot. A Lot.

First off, I actually did some fic writing 🥳! It’s been a long while and it felt so good. It’s for my AU Please! fic and man it’s also been ages since I wrote for that fandom. It felt good.

“Zimms-”

He hears Kenny before he feels the hit. His body hits the glass and fans of the opposite team roar. This isn’t new. Jack’s life has consisted of hockey ever since he was a baby. He knows how to take a check, but this one is different. He slides down the glass and he closes his eyes.

He needs to get up.

But instead, everything goes dark.

Now, here comes the long part. It’s about my thesis. I’m gonna put it all under the cut, together with the weather, cause again, it is long.

So, I got my feedback on my theoretical background and it’s... mixed. As in, I did too much, and not gonna lie, I was kind of expecting that. While I was writing it, I was constantly thinking to myself “I am being nuts”. I have over 50 sources for 3000 words. Basically, I am not surprised at all that my main feedback was to cut things, but I am still kind of saddened about it, because I loved writing it and I put a lot of effort in it. But also, on the same vein, I am not surprised. Hence the mixed feelings lol.

Now, a lot of stuff can be saved by rearranging my theoretical background. I, uh, got so lost in writing down the interesting things that I found that I completely forgot this is a theoretical background that is meant to introduce my own research, not a meta-analysis of sorts of the phenomenon. I kinda completely forgot to ask my research questions in my paper. As in, yes, I need to draw conclusions based on the theoretical background, which is what I have done now, but I also need to describe what I am going to do with it. But yeah, even when I rearrange my stuff, a lot will be cut so what am I going to do? I am going to give it to you, to preserve it, because again I am still really happy with it.

It’s a lot. Don’t worry if you do not want to read it.

The representation of queer women is limited and the existing representation is not always positive. Something that could be improved is the way the looks of queer women are shown. Ciasullo (2001) distinguishes three types of appearance: 1. the very feminine lipstick lesbian, 2. the ugly butch and 3. the everyday girl. These three types cause the appearance of queer women to be represented in a non-political way, so they lack depth. Instead, they fill a role in the mainstream. The lipstick lesbian was first received positively, because it removed the previous stereotype of the angry, militant, butch lesbian who secretly wants to be a man deep down (Dhaenens, 2013; Jackson & Gilbertson, 2009), but through lesbian chic it changed them into an object for men to watch. Indeed, queer women are still marketed as fan service for men (Annati & Ramsey, 2022; Diamond, 2005; Jackson & Gilbertson, 2009; Nölke, 2018). The butch is still portrayed as a threat to heterosexuality: she is scary, dominant and not sexy (Ciasullo, 2001). If a butch is portrayed in a more positive way, then being a butch is portrayed as a phase (Nölke, 2018). Finally, there is the everyday girl. This agrees with what Dow (2001) and McCarthy (2001) write about Ellen. The everyday girl conforms to the heterosexual order, which immediately portrays her as non-political, non-sexual and non-threatening (Hantzis & Lehr, 1994).

Ciasullo (2001) also emphasizes in her article that these three types of appearance create additional problems for women of colour. Women of colour are more likely to be seen as less attractive, because they do not easily conform to white beauty standards. That is not the only problem when it comes to racial diversity: there is also skewed representation. Research shows that most queer women are white and that queer women of colour are more affected by racist stereotypes (Annati & Ramsey, 2022). This also creates negative consequences for fans of colour, because fans adopt the racist ideas (Pande & Moitra, 2017). On the other hand, queer women of colour are also presented in a conforming way, namely conforming to white culture (Pande & Moitra, 2017; Yue, 2014). This makes it difficult for fans of colour to express their own culture (Stanfill, 2019), because not all cultures benefit greatly from the Western “I’m Coming Out” narrative (Weber & Weeks, 2022).

As indicated earlier, the term 'queer women' is used instead of 'lesbians'. This is because there are more sexual identities than homosexuality. Yet homosexuality is the most common (Bond, 2015; Sender, 2011). Bisexuals and pansexuals are depicted less because they threaten binary ideas about identity. This is why bisexuality is often portrayed as “one or the other” (Allen, 2022). Bisexual women are still portrayed as prone to cheating (Diamond, 2005). Asexuals are almost completely invisible, or they are not taken seriously by the media (Chen, 2020). Most of the characters are cisgender (Nölke, 2018) and trans women who appear in the media are often victims of (sexual) violence (Abbott, 2022).

There has been improvement in recent years, with TV series such as Pose, which stars trans women of colour (Joyrich, 2022), but several articles indicate that there is still much room for improvement and argue for intersectionality (Annati & Ramsey, 2022 ; DeCeuninck & Dhoest, 2016; Rodriguez, 2019; Yue, 2014).

Damn, this is Kill your darlings.

Look, I am not saying all of this will be completely gone. And this isn’t even the only part that needs to be “cut”. I just need to shorten it a lot. I will find a place somewhere for the core findings of this section, but alas, it is still a shame.

And now, the weather @quizasvivamos​ @blurglesmurfklaine​ @coffeegleek​ @esperantoauthor​ @otherworldsivelivedin​ @caramelcoffeeaddict​ @sillyunicorn​ @bazzybelle​ @dragoneggos​ @raenestee​ @tectonicduck​ @nightimedreamersworld​ @urban-sith​ @thnxforknowingme​ @captain-aralias​ @you-remind-me-of-the-babe​ @takitalks​ @justgleekout​ @cerriddwenluna​ @tea-brigade​ @ivelovedhimthroughworse​ @moodandmist​ @whogaveyoupermission​ @bookish-bogwitch​ @confused-bi-queer​@ionlydrinkhotwater​ @1908jmd​ @special-bc-ur-part-of-it​ @larkral​ @chen-chen-chen-again-chen​​ @cutestkilla​​ @nausikaaa​​/@wellbelesbian​​ @martsonmars​​ @facewithoutheart​​ @shrekgogurt​ @boyinjeans​

[rebelwith0utacause]

thanks for tagging me @pxrxmoore ^^ This looks cool!

feel free to answer all of them or just some of them or just ignore this all together, whatever you’re comfortable with, and then tag however many people you want!

1. what was your first encounter with fanfiction? 

I think the first time I ever came across fanfiction had to be either with Paramore + other VWT bands (ATL, BVB, The Maine) on Buzznet or with Avenged Sevenfold on Wattpad. I’m leaning towards the latter because I was reading stuff on Wattpad since 2007-8 and I listened to A7X more (plus I stopped reading/listening to new A7X stuff when Jimmy died in 2009/2010 which is also around the time I became active on Buzznet). Idk, it’s been so long and that entire era of my life is extremely blurry.

2. your favourite creation of your own of all time if you create stuff (feel free to link it)?

I once made a 10 ft macrame half hitch spiral braid out of wool. Basically just braided and braided until I no longer had wool (I might have added a bit more). I think I wore it 2-3 times as a belt, but it didn’t matter. It was something cool I could do and no one knew about it.

3. what vibe are you going for with your home decor (or what vibe do you wanna go for one day, if you don’t have your own place atm)? 

Don’t have my own place atm, but def something IKEA-ish, mainly whites and/or that greyish kinda light wood. I just like stuff that look pure and clean and would let my plants be the highlight. I’m thinking green minimal with lots of DIY furniture and white linens. 

4. first fandom you ever joined? what was it like? on what platform did it happen? 

Tbh, I feel like nothing compares to my 5sos phase so I’m gonna say 5sos. I’ve definitely been in others too (A7X, ATL, Paramore, Marvel/Tom Hiddleston, James McAvoy) but I’ve never been so immersed. Same goes for my metal bands, probably because most of them were either dead or disbanded by the time I started listening to them actively.

5. what are your sun, moon and rising signs, and do you think they make sense in relation to how you know yourself? 

I’m a Gemini-Cancer cusp sun, Pisces moon and Taurus ascendant and tbh I didn’t believe in this shit very much. But the more I started reading up, the more it clicked and made sense. I feel like I’m little bits of all, the good, the bad and the ugly but there are also sides of me that you see, sides I allow you to see and sides I keep hidden very deep inside my psyche that even I hardly see them and it just makes fkn sense.

6. if you write and/or read fiction (original or fanfiction), do the tropes/plots/character types you typically seek out to read and/or write about reflect something about you as a being or how you see the world?

I don’t necessarily think they do, but they might. I’m pretty sure I have a “nurse” syndrome irl so to counteract that need to help others I read fiction where others are helped (because probably deep down underneath all of that fixing I’m doing, I need someone to fix me). And by fictive fixing I mean all kinds of fixing whether it be actual wounds or psychological healing or even socialization and sex, it doesn’t matter, I’ll read it all. I’m also a very analytical person so I love doing a psych evaluation to both the characters and the writers.

7. what is the hardest obstacle you’ve had to overcome so far in life? 

There have been many and I always see the level of impact they had on me after I’ve overcome them completely and taken a few years to just dissect what happened. So I don’t know if these are the hardest but the most pivotal in my life so far have been learning how to overcome my fear of vehicles while battling depression at the same time, as well as learning how to stop feeling like I didn’t do enough to prevent someone else’s suicide.

8. what is your all time favourite song(s)? 

This is really hard because I listen to too much music tbh, but let me see: 

- Milice by Foltin, it’s a song in Macedonian about a girl called Milica and this guy is reminiscing about the beginning of their love, it’s just such a chill fusion song. 

- Youngblood by 5sos, it basically sends me into another dimension where I feel the hurt, anger and disappointment he’s feeling as well as the helplessness of knowing you’d probably never get over this person. Yeah, his voice has that much power over me.

- Face of Melinda by Opeth, this is a part of a concept album and while the backstory is pretty dark, the melody is so soft and serene and temperamental and violent at times, I just love it so fkn much.

- Nobody’s Wife by Anouk because we all have those badass bitch songs and mine happens to be this gem, followed by You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette.

- Outlines by All Time Low, idk what’s the deal with this song but it came out during the time when I was young but felt very old and I just couldn’t find my place in the world so I replayed the shit out of it and it somehow helped me heal.

9. what do you look for in a person you wanna keep in your life, be it a friend or a romantic partner or anything in between? 

I kinda don’t look for anything in particular I just look for traits that would piss me off and say buh-bye to those people from the get go. Like... I need ppl to be politically aware and vocal, but not politically blinded, I need them to be eco-conscious and I need them to hate capitalism as much as I do. I need them to be modern thinkers but not to a point where they believe and stand for every fad coming from Western civilization. Basically someone grounded and being able to evaluate the situation without being constantly swayed by others’ opinions. Some might call it stubborn, but I really think that globalization has made us lose the good side of our ego. The part that makes us stand for something we truly believe in and not just be another sheep in the herd. 

10. this is a bit of a difficult one, but have you ever had a moment of clarity, a conversation with someone that made you go “oh!”, or anything along those lines? 

It’s happened a few times, but I’m really self-reflective so those things are to be expected of me. The last one I remember was around March last year and I was in group grief therapy and the psychiatrist was basically talking about how to deal with grief and suicide prevention and how talking helps and we talked about dreams and overall health and such and during those conversations he talked about PTSD and what helps to alleviate the symptoms and get over it and my EUREKA! moment came when I realized I’ve been healing my PTSD unknowingly on my own for the past 5 years. Basically that was such a great experience and it put so many things in perspective for me. I mean I come from a society where all things mental health are brushed under the carpet as if they don’t exist. And I’m definitely not the type of person to label shit and feel helpless because I can’t fix it. If anything, I’d def get angry and try to fix it myself because I hate being in limbo. And hearing someone voice my thoughts and fears and tell me that I’ve been doing great was just... Idk, felt like a pat on the back and a tight hug at the same time. 

tagging @karajaynetoday @krindy33 @twilightmomentswithyou @tigerteeff @myloverboyash @talkfastromance4 @notinthesameguey @ashtonlftv if you want to do this or haven’t done this before :*

[mellz117]

Hi! I'm Mellz and I'm playing a Spyro game for the first time!

If this is your first time seeing my blog pop up in your searches, please consider taking a looksee. I'm the admin of @link-is-a-dork, and the Zelda series is just some of what I play, Mellz117 here is my blog for video games in general!

With that out of the way, I'm about to start. I'm only going to be writing down my thoughts as things happen, with images and clips added for context. This will not be PG, expect some no-no language. Go right to the read more if you don't wanna read my little guide thingy

Guide thingy: Certain things like events, long gaps between commentary, or days will be separated by a line of dots like that -> ……

Text relating to an image posted will have a blockquote either above and/or below the image

Dialogue exchanges will also be separated by a blockquote

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Interview with a Dragon

I'm not sure what Gnasty Gnorc did in the past to warrant these dragons.... draggin' (ta-da tss) him but like yo

Poor bruh. For an orc-ogre dude he's ugly in a cute way, like a bulldog. I picked the most flattering frame I could to help his case.

Ok, I'm in control now. The camera is very sensitive but everything else is so nice. Might turn off motion blur, it doesn't bother me so much but eh, it might affect how my gifs will look.

Oh no.... Oh No

Him. Do we ever see Nestor again later? I very much hope so.

Water bad? Got it.

I'm really digging these dragon designs. They're so cool!

HES A BUNCH OF SHEEP!

I love it!

No ok he was just a goat on stilts. Still love it XD

This game is really pretty.

I love Oswin's voice. It reminds me of someone but I'm not sure who....

I found a dude with a dragon's skull in his hand. Is he Hamlet? Darius, that's his name. Thanks for the tip my dude, it's not like I figured the out on my own. "Quick flame" yeah no duh lmao

The beginning of the Peacekeepers World theme gives me Forsaken Fortress vibes.

I'm having a good time so far. I love how bouncy everything is.

Wtf are these colored chests with the gems? What am I supposed to do to get their treasures?

Got it. Dive attack

Love Trondo. He was a bit meh at first but he's hilarious. I love his mannerisms.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

What's with all these ledges I can barely reach? It's infuriating. I keep falling to my doom.

Moving on.

In Cliffside Town.

All of a sudden I want soup.... this might be why!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Spyro: "What's on the other side of that river?"

Enzo: "Why don't you glide over there and find out?

BITCH IM TRYING

Done with the Peacekeepers World, onto the Magicmakers place. These wizard dudes are silly. Are they humans...?

So who is this balloon maker dude? He reminds me of a beaver.

On to Beast Maker's world. Oh shit it's a spooky bog.

A lot of these dragons are very chunky boys. Cute.

Does Claude share the same voice as the gator in The Princess and the Frog? A few dragons here sound like him, shoot me.

This place reminds me a lot of Wind Waker

...

FAT BOY!

FAT BOY!

I like how the dragons in the swamp resemble frogs and alligators, since they live among such animals in the bayou.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

AFTER SO MANY LIVES LATER, I COULDNT EVEN COUNT

FUCK

TREE TOPS

EAT MY ENTIRE ASS

I enabled the 99 lives cheat cuz I was having such a hard time. So I'm playing with those lives. A game over doesn't really set you back, just having to sit through annoying loading times as I wait to be brought back to the main world, then go back into the sub world, clearing out the enemies.... That gets annoying!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Moving on to Dream Weavers.

I hate jesters. I hate clowns. I hate all things of the sort.

.....Who voices Useni? He sounds so familiar but I can't pinpoint it! akdjgjsj

These dragons keep giving Spyro tips on things hes already figured out. "A fairy's kiss can enhance your flame" YEAH NO SHIT that's how I was able to reach you!

Ooh-hoo, now we at Gnasty Gnorc's realm. Dun-dun! How did he recapture these dragons, yet still not Spyro? Why did he not crystallize Spyro from the beginning?

Spyro sounds like a much less annoying Spongebob but that's probably because he is

Splat Fest at the Twilight Harbor!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Gnasty is big.

Gnasty is fast.

Gnasty is a LOOOOSERRRRR

No really that was kinda lame, that was anticlimactic. You chase him and blow fire at him twice. I get it, it's a kids' platformer but I'd like a little bit more of a challenging end boss ESPECIALLY with Tree Tops being a level. I can't imagine the frustration a child had to endure playing Tree Tops for the first time. Oh wait, yes I can. It was a nightmare lmao. I did have to watch a walkthrough on a few places that stumped me, I won't lie.

Overall I found the game very enjoyable. The controls are nice and responsive, the character designs are very fun, and the locations are gorgeous. I don't know much about the original release and how it handles so I can't compare, but visually I can, that's first sure!

I'm gonna take a bit of a break and play Kingdom Hearts 2!

[black-rose-writings]

Fate Season 2, Episode 1

Let’s get to the garbage fire

I say, before starting the episode a what looks like a literal garbage fire. Or at least a very trashy-looking party in the woods. Classy. Better than dead sheep, though.

Okay, a boy who looks and sounds like Philosopher’s stone era Neville is telling a couple to get a room.

And a sex scene. I did not need to see that. And a bitch is watching them.

The bitch is a bloodbender.

Some monster that eats the horny boy’s face.

Intro sequence.

Afea as ugly as ever, the music is barely passable.

Bloom is wearing very ugly clothes.

You’d expect a totalitarian regime would preffer their soldiers are like... disciplined?

Conspiracy time!

“You don’t know what you’re facing!” Then fucking tell her!

Bloom is a conservative, I guess. Not like... evil conservative. But definitelly a lot more in line with the rules than her OG counterpart.

Everyone looks worse than they did in season 1. Except maybe Musa. She wears something I could imagine OG!Musa wearing. Not a fan of short-hair!Stella.

Also... is Stella really wearing beige sweatpants and crocs? She looks like she’s going to take the trash out, not to school.

“Don’t fuck in the suite” seems like a reasonable rule, tbh.

Aisha boyfriend introduction? Okay I guess.

“Are you checking me out?” “No [insert practical reason]” is a trope I kinda don’t like.

The new Specialist uniforms are... still garbage. Just because it’s for adults doesn’t mean colors are banned.

Bad-ass music to show you how badass specialists are.

Sky’s dad is a cunt. Also, these guys can’t hold a candle to the OG specialists.

And Riven is a teacher’s pet, because he sucks up to the evil dictators.

Shitty bisexual and polyamorous representation incoming. And Riven is still gross.

And another unnecessary make-out session.

Beatrix can go fuck herself. She’s not evne funny this time.

Polaris AKA discount Omega, I assume.

Bloom’s planning a prison break. Because that’s not going to end horribly.

You didn’t even like the guy before he got arrested.

Why is Bloom so fucking focused on “how things used to be”? Bitch, I get that you’re coping, but this aint the way.

Maybe father your son instead of shitting on the man who actually did? My dude? I get that you’re evil, but like... jesus fuck.

For someone who’s been standing in the rain for a while, Stella’s surprisingly dry.

Why does Aisha even like this guy? Get some fucking standarts, man.

Well, you know, took you long enough to not absolutely hate each other. Shame all that bonding happened off-screen.

Secret evil lab time.

Sorry, Bea, I don’t think you’re in a position to demand shit from the Bitch in charge. This is going to end badly for you.

Okay, why don’t you clean it with magic? Oh, yeah, because Fate’s magic is fucking useless.

And Sky’s drinking alone in his room. And his dad is a piece of shit. He’s not even fucking sorry.

No, really, why is Bloom such a... conservative? Fucking disgrace

And, the plan is going to shit

“Keep up the pace and keep your mouth shut.” what a lovely advice.

Some kind of magic supressor, I assume. And that’s an oof.

And, Bloom is gonna find a body, I assume.

Fate doesn’t have creativity so they settle for shock value, I guess.

Time to meet discount Valtor.

Fuck that guy.

Like, hopefully, this is just a persona, but man... flanel?

So, she’s conservative because she blames herself. Got it.

Sky’s an artist, now? Oh, that’s a target.

That’s, what, third almost sex in this one episode? Jesus christ.

What’s Bloom doing?

Rosalind is torturing students for science. Okay.

[mittensmorgul]

More sheep and goats

I’ve been threatening to write long meta on 13.02, but there’s so much visual symbolism to parse out and it is so early in the season, so while there’s a barrage of imagery to sift through, it’s still a bit early to know what sort of weight to attribute to them, but a few of these things are also carryovers from s12. As such, Instead of writing that long meta, I’m gonna use this post as a pinboard of sorts and make some notes for future consideration.

(all screencaps from HotN)

We’ve already seen some hints (from bts and promo photos) that there’s a sort of cowboy/wild west theme running through at least a few of early season episodes, and that’s already become apparent between Dean’s Chuck Wagon Donuts and coffee, and the sign for the hotel:

Black Hat, with a side of glowing spur (which also resembles all the starburst lights Jerry Wanek is so enamored with). Even without knowing there’s an attached bar called the Black Spur yet, we’re already being subtly reminded of 10.01 and Dean’s “howling at the moon” with Crowley at another bar/motel called the Black Spur here. From 10.01, Black Spur and attendant blonde waitress/bartender that Dean had a relationship with (in a room with ugly yellow diamond-patterned lights in our prison imagery recap, while spending most of his time getting blazingly drunk and singing terrible karaoke and avoiding any sort of responsibility at all, since he was a demon and all that... but point being that Dean was with Anne Marie because she was there, and the alcohol was there, so he slept with her and drank and did whatever he wanted because he could):

And then the current Black Spur Bar, with attendant blonde waitress/bartender (who unbeknownst to Dean had been murdered and replaced by a yellow-eyed demon, but who Dean was as honest as he could be with, because he didn’t have any reason to lie. He also turned down her offer for another drink. Just because the alcohol was there and the waitress was there, didn’t mean he would just take them like he had in the past... a lot of this scene was a complete subversion of his Summer of Love...)

We even have a similar shot of her in profile as they have similar conversations from opposite ends of the line... One about abusive relationships, and the other about failing to live up to the expectations of an absent/abusive father.

Which brings me to the sign behind waitress!Asmodeus here:

While Dean had come to the bar to get a little reprieve from the horror of the last three days, he had ONE (1) drink, and not diving head first into a bottle, while looking through something on his phone in a rather contemplative and quiet fashion. It made me wonder if the place had reminded him of Crowley (and possibly their flickr albums), but also of Cas (who he’s been shown repeatedly to be in hardcore grieving mode over, and maybe scrolling through all the texting and emoticons Cas exchanged with him over the last few years). Whatever he’d been doing, it was clear he was looking for a little quiet space to collect his thoughts.

He’s interrupted by Asmodeus, who was fishing for information by doing what any bartender in an otherwise empty bar would do-- strike up a conversation with the only patron in the bar. I’ve read some pretty far-fetched theories that Dean should’ve been on his guard and suspicious of the woman, and that he was dumb for being so open and honest with her, and that it’s a definite sign that Dean is In A Bad Place™ and dangerously off the rails... and no? Just because he had a “bad feeling” about stopping at the motel/bar to begin with? (which they only apparently did because, as Sam said, Dean had been hallucinating sheep on the road... which actually reminded me of Cas’s dilemma over falling asleep in 9.03 when it was suggested that he count sheep, resulting in his perplexed wondering about what sheep...)

I’ve seen it suggested that the fact he didn’t immediately notice the waitress was actually Asmodeus was a sign that his “spidey senses” had failed, as a direct result of his current nihilistic mood. Even though it isn’t even until the following morning that they have any reason to suspect demonic involvement at all. They’d warded their rooms against angels, so Dean didn’t fear angels would be able to get to them for the time being. As far as Dean knows, he’s covered his bases.

Proof that his spidey senses (and self-preservation instinct) are still in full effect is his fight with the demon in his room the next morning. Even with his back turned, he knows there’s something behind him and he reacts appropriately. While talking with what he had no reason to believe was anything other than a human woman just trying to make polite conversation, he simply tried to do the same in return.

Asmodeus (walking around collecting empty beer bottles): Get you another? Dean (sitting at the bar with an undrunk shot of whiskey at his elbow, focused on his phone): Yeah, sure. Asmodeus: What the hell, you’re not driving, right? J.. I seen ya at the hotel. Passing through with, what? Your buddies? Dean (from a different angle, where the yellow and blue glowing Kingdom beer sign is now literally perched on his shoulder): Ah, that’s my brother, and... some messed up kid. Asmodeus: Aw, kid’s messed up? Dean: Yeah, issues with his dad. Asmodeus: The older fella? Dean: No, that’s uh, Donatello... uh, he’s a... guy we work with. Asmodeus: I hated my old man. I ran away myself. See, my mom would never stick up for me, but... (sighs) you know kids. No matter what, they still want the old man’s approval. Well, that’s how it was for me...  Dean: Yeah, That’s... that’s how it was with me, too. Asmodeus: I’m talking your ear off. I’ll-- I’ll grab you that drink. Dean: You know what? I’m good. Uh, I’m gonna take a walk. (he finally drinks his original drink and leaves)

NOTHING HE SAID IN THIS CONVERSATION WAS DANGEROUS OR LED TO ASMODEUS TAKING JACK. Nothing he said here was particularly secret info, and he obscured the actual truth of who the people he was with really were. He didn’t go announcing the kid’s father was Lucifer or that Donatello was a soulless former prophet of Chuck... I mean, this woman was trying to be nice to Dean, he was just trying to be left alone for a few minutes and still engaged in polite conversation that she essentially pushed on him, and excused himself after a reasonably polite amount of time. Notice through the entire conversation he continues looking down at his phone, signalling that he’s not really interested in conversation, yet the woman persists. If she’s noticing things happening at the motel enough to have noticed Dean’s associates, then he literally does need to give her some sort of reasonable story lest she get suspicious of him... That’s literally part of how Sam and Dean have always tried to blend into the background and not get noticed.

He was actually laying down what seemed like a reasonable cover story along the lines of reasonable cover stories they’ve always used in the past when locals got a bit overly-friendly or nosy about their business.

I did, however, find it interesting that after the establishing shot of the bar, the next shot we get is a wide shot in which the Fast Jack Ale sign is visible again, but is almost immediately obscured by this post beside Dean:

It’s on screen so quickly that there isn’t even a cap of it on HotN., but you can see it glowing a little bit from behind that post... I find it an interesting justaposition for an earlier shot, where Dean, Sam, and Jack first enter the hotel room. I’ve also seen a gif of this going around saying that Jack was the only one “in the light” in this shot:

Which is true in one sense, because you can barely see Sam in the shadows at the right, while Dean’s lit with red prison bar imagery... but at least he’s standing NEXT to a lamp. The source of light making Jack so bright isn’t visible to us, but the brightest light source in the room (that we can see, illuminating the bright blue wall over Jack’s shoulder in that first cap), Jack walks right to the center of the room and physically blots that light out with his body.

Considering the Fast Jack Ale light gets the same treatment by a big wooden post Dean’s leaning against in the bar scene, I find it interesting enough to point out here.

Okay, back to the shot of Dean in the bar, huddled around his phone... while the Fast Jack sign’s obscured behind him and all we see is the purple-to-pink glow above him (hello bi flag lighting). Thing is, as soon as Dean’s attention is drawn away from his phone, he’s reframed not against the bisexual colors, but with something protective hovering above his shoulder-- the Kingdom Beer sign most commonly associated with Cas.

Who said Cas wasn’t there to be the angel on Dean’s shoulder? Because that’s exactly what this shot’s implying throughout his entire conversation with Waitressmodeus. Short aside here to reiterate the comment I made last week about Jack walking around in the altogether looking for his “Father.” People thought I was joking when I suggested he hadn’t been talking to the pirate, but to the parrot on the pirate’s shoulder. I really wasn’t joking. For now, I’m taking this shot ^^ as proof that Jack was talking to the parrot.

It’s just like the shorts thing... Just because Cas said once, years ago, that he’s not there to perch on anyone’s shoulder... it’s kinda been his whole shtick for the last 10 years so...

Back to the point of this post... (sorry, as per usual, there will probably be more tangents I’ll run down... it’s because I have no other choice...)

Aside from the Kingdom, the obscured Fast Jack, and the 3 Sheeps, the only other glowing signs in this place are these:

The red and yellow Tom’s Tequila sign featured prominently in 11.21 (with very long meta attached here and here and here), but again it’s the red and yellow warning colors in this shot to counteract the blue and yellow heaven-coded Schultz sign (i.e. DEAAAAATH by duty). Note there’s no El Sol going on here, because Dean has no idea that the waitress isn’t anyone other than she appears to be. But the Tequila sign is sort of pointing to a bait-and-switch...

There’s also one of those infamous “caged halo” lights we so often associate with Cas on the ceiling behind Dean in this shot, but notice it’s switched off right now...

Also in the very near foreground of this shot, it’s hard to make out but it looks like two glowing beer taps, the handles of which are pink and blue. Just saying...

And again detouring back around to the original reason I starting putting all these images together... 

The 3 Sheeps meta from 12.16 and 12.18. 

We wrote a lot about different bible verses having to do with sheep and goats, including the passages from Luke where Jesus tells the parable of the prodigal son, which is the third version of the sheep/goats parable that he relates.

Sheep are mentioned several times in the Song of Solomon, as well. Throughout the bible people have been compared to sheep, flocks, etc. with the Lord as our shepherd. There’s no shortage of possible metaphorical comparisons to sheep imagery in the bible. But since we were specifically shown the Song of Solomon in this episode, I think that’s likely the source of comparison relevant to this particular episode.

But we also know that Jack himself is serving as a mirror for all three members of TFW. The Rule Of Three is applying in all sorts of different contexts through this one sign. :)

So there you go. I probably should’ve titled this Mittens Rambles On Pointlessly While Gesturing Wildly At Seemingly Random Stuff But I Swear All Of It ///Means Something///. None of this currently Means Anything yet, though. I’m just beginning to pin random stuff to my cork board. I haven’t even got out the red twine yet. I just wanted all of this potentially future relevant stuff in one place for ease of future pointing and screaming and red twine connect-the-dots. :P

[snowembrace]

So, I just watched the Emoji Movie

If you are easily offended by any sort of good/neutral review about this movie, I sincerely suggest you not to read any further than this. And most importantly, if you do, please respect my opinion. Thank you.

That being said, what do I think of the Emoji Movie?

Was it great? Meh (no pun intended)

Was it good? So and so

Was it worth a 0% (now 6%) score on Rotten Tomatoes? No, definitely not

It wasn’t a masterpiece, I will give you that. I’d be lying if I said it was a movie that I’d suggest to all my friends. But it wasn’t even a tragedy.

Lets start with saying that since the movie will come out in September here (I think), I had to watch it in English on streaming. I’d have watched it in streaming either way, but I would have probably watched it in italian, so I wouldn’t have been able to judge the original dub, whereas now I can do that too.

That being said, I’m going to analyze the aspects that I think are the most important.

─  Animation

I’ll be honest here. The animation was the real reason I’ve decided to give this movie a chance. It wasn’t on the same level as Disney of course, but it was still good. The animators get all the credit they deserve. The scenery was colorful, the characters' movements were well done, and overall it just felt nice to watch despite the low quality of the streaming.

Now take a look at this. This is the kind of animation that I consider a disgrace to humanity.

If anything, the Emoji Movie’s animators really put their heart in what they did, so props to them for that.

─  Humor

Was the movie hilarious? No, it wasn’t. But I must admit that I did snort at some parts. A few laughs from kids happened too during the streaming, so I guess I’m not the only crazy person out there who found some bits of the movie genuinely funny.

Personally the best idea of all, to me, was the fact that the elders were represented by the old “emoticons” that teens rarely use these days (not gonna lie, I still use them, but not as much as emojis, so yeah I guess the gag works and it works well) - :P :I :D

Another very small yet funny gag was the Poop emoji screaming “Oh shhhi- !” when Gene started messing up his own face in the cube. It might sound immature to someone who’s not seen the movie, but it actually made me snort when I first saw it. Oh, and the Internet Trolls (literally, green ugly trolls) were a nice touch too.

On the other hand, the “Poop, you’re soft.” “Not too soft, I hope.” pun was pretty much forgettable.

Overall the humor in this movie wasn’t great, but it still managed to bring a smile to my face at some point.

─  Dub

I personally think that the dub of this movie could have been done far better than this. Some of the voice actors sounded way too... bland to say the least. And no I’m not talking about Gene’s parents. As strange as it seems, those two worked. And they worked because to me it’s not easy to convey emotions through characters that are supposed to be just “meh” all the time. Yet they managed to let me know what they were feeling despite their completely emotionless expressions, which I consider a great achievement.

However, I agree on the fact that some of the scenes that included them felt way too long. No matter how good the actors are, the moment you find yourself talking or listening to a “meh” person/emoji, time seems to stop. And that’s what I personally consider the weak point of these characters.

Gene’s voice sounded a bit off to me. I don’t know why, it just did. And Patrick Stewart as Poop felt a bit... lazy. Surely not his best performance of all time.

─  Plot

The plot is overall fine, but it has its weak points as well. I’m not going to write it all down of course, I’m just going to talk about a few aspects of it.

First of all, no, Alex is not going to reset his entire phone because of a weird emoji. Despite what many people (who I guess have just seen the trailer and not the whole movie) thought, the owner of the phone in which Gene lives actually wants to take his phone to the shop because different apps started to malfunction due to Gene, Jailbreak and Hi-5 wondering around the phone and messing stuff up. So while you can still argue that deleting the entire phone might be a bit too much, it does make much more sense than what is shown in the trailer.

On the other hand, I agree with those who consider this movie a sort of rip-off of Wreck it Ralph and Inside Out (to some extent). Jailbreak being a princess emoji in disguise is a clear reference to Vanellope, the protagonists moving from app to app reminds us of both movies, and the ending with Gene turning meh for an instance and then being accepted for what he is takes obviously inspiration from Ralph turning bad and smashing Vanellope’s car only to be eventually accepted by the other baddies regardless of his good nature.

I personally think that the ending seemed a bit too rushed too. We never get to know what happened to Smiler, and that kinda disappointed me. A bot fell on her, and nothing more. Assuming that she wasn’t deleted, where did she go?

Gene’s parents breaking up also didn’t make much sense the way it’s been handled. I guess the writers just wanted an excuse to show that even Gene’s dad was a “malfunction” because he was able to feel different emotions, but you can’t just have them break up in one scene, appear 10 minutes after and immediately reunite. What was the point then? Was that mini sub-plot really necessary?

One thing I really liked was how Gene turned meh. The moment in which Jailbreak rejects him you can clearly see his face slowly turning into an emotionless, blank expression. It wasn’t as heartbreaking as the Titanic’s ending, but it did feel kinda sad to watch.

─  Characters

The characters were okay. Not the best, but not even tragic. I’ve already talked about Gene’s parents, and there’s not much to say about Gene himself. He’s different, he’s original, he’s just... fine. Jailbreak was fine as well. Nothing really stands out about them. Hi-5 served as comic relief, but he could sometimes be a bit annoying as well.

Smiler on the other hand had a great potential. She’s as creepy as a smiling face can be. A good villain, too bad she was defeated in a miserable way. What a waste.

─  The message

Unlike Dingo Pictures’ movies, the Emoji Movie did have a message it wanted to convey. The sad thing is that the whole story was filled with a lot of stereotypes as well - from teens using only emojis to express their feelings because they are not able to do it with words, to the importance of popularity and fans on social networks - which might distract you from the real meaning behind Gene’s adventure.

The idea of being accepted despite your differences, the good aspect of being the black sheep of the group is very important to me, because I myself always felt different from the people around me and this strikes at the core of my entire life. At the end Gene is celebrated for being an emoji that can express different feelings all at once (basically a .gif?) and he doesn’t have to follow the rules imposed by Smiler to feel loved by all his friends and family.

This is a nice message, especially in the world we live in today. You can’t deny that.

So overall, this movie featured a lot of product placement as well, which is never fully accepted by audiences, and I can understand why. It has its flaws, like all movies do. But did it deserve the treatment it received? I personally don’t think it did, but again, this is just my opinion. I’ve decided to watch this movie with no expectations, but also without prejudice. And it wasn’t an experience as traumatic as some people on here described it to be. Actually, it’s been quite enjoyable.

I honestly do not understand how a movie like this deserved a 1,7/10 on IMDb when abominations like these exist too.

It just doesn’t seem fair. Even just animation wise the Emoji Movie didn’t deserve a lower score than a solid 3 or 4. I would have given it more but there are too many aspects to analyze and animation is just one of them. It was just a mediocre animated film, but nothing less than that.

It obviously pains me to think that the Popeye Movie got cancelled because of the emojis, and I get that many people are extremely salty about it, but I tried to be as objective as possible with my review.

Again, you don’t have to agree with this. I just wanted to share my honest opinion and I hope everyone will be civil and respect it. Cheers!

[sketchy-vore]

Feraltale (3-6): Open Book

Happy birthday to me! Have a little present!

This is just a small thing since chapter 4 is going slow. This chapter could happen anywhere between chapter 3 and 6.

Here is the first chapter in case you haven’t read this story yet.

Our collection of books had drastically increased over the past few days. When we were younger I’d often be more careful about what to give to Paps, destroying everything that contained anything other than happy animals. Thicker, pictureless books weren’t that much trouble, Pap wasn’t that fond of reading.

Now though, both my brother and I were collecting much more. I still made sure never to let him know it was about ‘humans’, but we did take more of the books containing them home. Papyrus recognized these creatures were the same species as Frisk, but the exact name for their kind was still a mystery to him.

All he (actually we) really wanted was to figure out more about the little kid and learn more about their habits. The childish picture books actually helped me to figure out what to get to take care of the kiddo’s hygiene. (You won’t believe how much ‘toothpaste’ and packaged ‘toothbrush’es humans throw away, so wasteful.)

Our box didn’t have enough room for the books and all the other stuff anymore, so we even got a bookcase. Some parts of the nice wood were chipped and dirty and a few shelves had to be replaced with random planks, but it quickly got a place right next to our nest.

And as per tradition we would pick a book and read it before bed. It started out as it did when we were kids, only now there was a tiny human child giggling with tears in their eyes as I tried to mimic everything happening in the text on the pages. Now though, it had turned into a narrated, one-man theater, with the kid reading out loud, as I played all the roles and Papyrus cooed happily from the nest.

I was still careful in some cases though. The last time humans had been in contact with monsters they weren’t too fond of us, and even their children’s books showed it. It was hard to find anything in which monsters weren’t depicted in a bad or frightening light. I wanted to give Papyrus and Frisk something fun to read with friendly monsters and brave kids that they could relate to.

This book didn’t have humans interacting with monsters but it had looked kinda promising. The monster on the cover was kinda scary, but it didn’t look too malicious, and the tiny mouse didn’t look like it was worried or afraid. In the middle of the night with only my eyes to light up the pages, it looked a lot different though. Literally everything in this book was trying to eat the mouse, especially the monster. And on top of that, the monster was pretty dumb, fooled easily by the tiny mouse's tricks. The book was kinda smart, playing on the ‘brain over brawn’ trope, but I didn’t think it would be something encouraging to Pap and the kid.

I felt my shoulders sagging. This is what humans think of us. Ugly, scary, dumb creatures, hiding under beds and in closets, that wanted nothing more than to scare and eat their children. No wonder the kid had been so scared. Not just because I was big and different, but also because it was ingrained in their brain from childhood that they should be scared of us. That we would eat them. I was surprised the kid was even trusting me at all after just swallowing them like that.

“Oh, I love that book!”

I was pulled out off my musing by the sound of a soft, enthusiastic whisper.

Papyrus didn’t sleep for long periods of time, but when he did he was out like a light (contrasting to my long, restless sleeps). Still, the kid insisted to be as quiet as possible when either of us slept.

I felt some kind of nervous fear tingling along my spine as the kid pushed themself up on my leg to stumble into my lap. After they situated themself to sit there comfortably their tiny hands reached up for the book.

I had half a heart to keep it out of their reach and ignore the problem, but if the kid already knew what the book was about there wasn’t really any point in doing so. Plus it would probably just worry them and make things worse. Humans might be practically deaf and blind, and their nose permanently blocked, but the kid was smart enough to notice things.

Reluctantly I lowered the book, tiny hands aiding to pull it down even faster as it came within their reach. As soon as the book was in their tiny lap they flipped to the first page. They smiled and wiggled their toes as they read through the text at a record speed, me only being fast enough to take a good look at the colorful and only slightly faded pictures. They stopped at a picture of the mouse talking to a fox, surrounded by pictures of a giant maw and claws.

“Ya know, in some ways you are a bit like the Gruffalo.” The child paused for a second and giggled as they realized they just rhymed. “I mean, you got ‘terrible tusks and terrible claws and terrible teeth in your terrible jaws’. And you also got horns, you’re pretty big and...you really want to e-eat me for one reason or another.”

I could tell from their tone that they wanted to joke about it, but that little waver in their voice and the nervous twitch around their eyes were a dead giveaway. My shoulder hunched up to hide my face in as much fur as possible.

I had done goofed, the kid just confirmed it; I was scary and hideous. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have cared much about how I looked, but for the kid’s sake I was starting to wonder.

Were they still scared of me? Not for the obviously anymore, but instead subtly? With how rounded and soft humans were Paps and I must look positively ghastly. No wonder they had stayed scared for so long. They had no idea what I wanted and practically their entire childhood had taught them that we were evil and treacherous.

How did we even have a chance to return to the surface? A second war didn’t really appeal to me anymore. I wasn’t stupid, humans were far stronger than us. It would only be a matter of time before we were chased right back underground or wiped from the face of the earth entirely.

And I knew that if Frisk was kind and friendly there were most likely even more humans that would be like that too, even if they hid it so they themselves wouldn’t be hurt. And knowing those same kind people would be thrown straight into a war they didn’t want, either to fight for their life or to die a ‘coward’. And in turn, peace wouldn’t be an option either if this was the kind of information fed into human brains from birth.

I was startled out of my mulling once again when I felt two small arms wrapping around my waist. I looked down to see the kid staring back up, hands going as far around me as they could reach and their chest pressed against my belly. They opened up their mouth as soon as they were sure they had my full attention.

���It’s okay, you might look kinda scary at first, but your personality is severely lacking in that ‘terrible’ department.”

I blinked in confusion before I put a small smile on my maw. There they went again, trying to reassure me and make me feel better. It kinda helped to sooth some of my worries, not all of them, but I wasn’t gonna complain.

The kid smiled back before turning to the book once more. I spent the next few minutes looking over their shoulder, following along with the pictures with a mouse, fox, owl, snake and the Gruffalo itself. At the picture where the furry monster ran away from the tiny mouse, Frisk paused.

“This is why I like this book so much; No one got hurt. Maybe the fox, owl, snake and Gruffalo didn’t get to eat anything, but they could have made the story so much more mean spirited. They could have made the Gruffalo go eat the other animals, or the mouse could have tricked the Gruffalo into some kind of trap so it couldn’t return to the woods, and his home. But instead the mouse just scared all the animals a little bit so he would be safe.”

Their head tilted back to lean against my belly, eyes meeting mine again. “Especially in the past stories with monsters were much more mean spirited. Knights would kill all kinds of monsters to save the kingdom, or even just to impress a girl.” Their eyes gave an angry little roll at those last words. Kinda cute to see.

“Monsters have changed a lot the past few years, or at least the way humans look at them. Monsters used to represent the humans fear of the scary and unknown. I once read that humans created werewolves because they just couldn’t believe a human could be a senseless murderer, and there just had to be some kind of greater evil from unearthly origins.”

“But, as we became smarter and took the time to actually learn new things, we slowly started to get less scared of things. It’s going slow and there are still some things we need to learn to understand, but we’re getting better. And as humans changed, the way we see monsters changed too. In some cases it’s even a little ridiculous.”

I could feel my eyes widen and my eye-ridges creep up my forehead at their words, which actually seemed to excite the kid a bit.

“Yeah! I mean, look at dragons! In the past they were scary, flying creatures that poisoned water, burned villages and stole princesses and sheep. But right now practically everyone wants to hug a dragon!”

I squawked in surprise at that statement. It only made the kid even more enthusiastic, eyes bright and lively, arms moving around as they talked, it was getting kind of contagious.

“And you can see it in so many stories and books and games and movies too. Scary things are starting to get cool and even cute sometimes. There are still a lot of people that fight change and refuse to look at things in a new light and that wouldn’t like the idea of you guys existing. But Sans, there are so many reasons why many people would like and defend you guys!”

My breath caught in my throat. Sure, people that would rather want us gone were to be expected. But, many others of them on our side? Liking us? Defending us? Really? Would they really?

“I mean, there are these people that try to prove the paranormal creatures are real. And seeing that many cryptids actually exist will make them so happy! And then there are creative people that’ll love you and the way you live for inspiration! People will want to draw you and write stories! And scientist! Those guys will be having the best day of their lives! And people that like fantasy and strange creatures and MAGIC! Oooooooh, everyone would be over the moon just knowing you exist! I can just see all the grownups picking up their dreams of doing telekinesis and throwing around energy beams again!”

“And there are people that want to protect rare creatures and nature! There are even people that would actually fight other people to make sure you’re safe! Many people can be mean to others, but there are also so many that’ll stand up for you and even want you to get rights! That’s actually what so many people are fighting for right now; so people that are different can be happy and safe. Some of them can go a little overboard though, so you have to be a little car-”

Their enthusing stopped as they turned their face to look up at me. The lively shine in their eyes didn’t fade out completely like the last time they were so expressive, but there was nervousness and caution, instantly making me feel a little bit deflated as well.

“Uhm, I’m sorry for rambling, am I boring you?”

Boring me? How could they when they were being so vivid!?

I mentally checked my body language for anything the kid could interpret as boredom. My body was bent over them slightly, but my eyes had been on them at all times, trying to catch a bit of the glow that had been on their face just now.

Why would they think-?

I forced a soft smile onto my face as realization dawned on me. I brushed my claws through the kid’s hair a few times with a soft coo before pulling them into a hug, tucking their tiny head under my chin. Only then did I allow a grimace to appear.

Bastards, leave it to humans to take a kid’s enthusiasm. ...No, that wasn’t entirely true. The way they just talked; they believe in humans. Or at least, their ability to accept us. They really did. Their fellow humans created the things they were so excited about right now. Maybe, if they could make a kid so hopeful for the future, I could give most of the other humans the benefit of the doubt.

My attention was drawn down as the kid snuggled closer, yawning as they squeezed me softly.

Oh well, that’s for later. And that book could wait too.

At the moment, my mission was to see the kid rhapsodize like that again.