#and the VAs were there and dressed like their characters and it was so nice :') i love when VAs do that shit hehehe

[shirogane-oushirou]

[rambling about f.ate series news]

just watched the f.ate stream. f.sn hd with eng translation for the first time ever in a Funking Week, and then a.taraxia hd is ALSO in development???? crying sobbing wheezing passing out. i want to see s.aber and b.azett and l.ancer and my daughters r.in and i.lya and The Freak Himself k.otomine and and and---

[greengrungeemo]

I know the most emotional tale in Avatar Last Airbender tends to be Iroh's tale, especially because it's in honor and memory of his original VA, Mako! Iroh's my favorite character hands down. Toph too!

So, a scene I think about A LOT and get emotional to in ATLA is Katara & Toph's tale in Ba Sing Se. Specifically, after when Katara and Toph go to the spa and get their well-deserved break! They treat themselves to an awesome makeover and feel pretty. What's heartbreaking is that within 20 seconds (I counted) of them walking out of the spa and mentioning how they feel girly and good about themselves, they encounter a group of bullies who say, "Nice makeup", to which Toph thanks them, and they follow with, "... for a clown!" 20. SECONDS. They only had 20 seconds outside where they felt pretty, to be put down soon after. This results in Toph and Katara getting revenge and having a nice bonding moment afterwards.

It just bothers me and actually makes me cry every time I watch it. I know that's weird to admit, but bullying someone, especially a badass blind/disabled person, and making them not feel pretty when they were feeling pretty about themselves... just hurts really badly. I also know it's fiction, but it seems incredibly telling of a society we are when open-handed comments like that are thrown about carelessly, without ANY consideration of how the receiving end would feel, and how it would ultimately and potentially affect their entire day. Toph knows who she is deep down, the strongest bender around, and I think we all know who we are deep down to an extent, so it just sucks when people assume things about you and put their energy into putting you down unnecessarily. Be kind, have empathy! It's not hard! Women as a whole deserve to feel pretty about themselves and feel safe. We need to stop putting each other down.

I tear up the moment Toph has a tear fall from her face, because it's a sharpened painful tear from a lifetime of emotional burden. You can tell it really hurt. I'm gonna be there like Katara is for Toph, for all my friends and loved ones, always.

If anyone ever put you down for your appearance, how you dress, how you present yourself in any way, or for your disability/race/orientation, know for a fact that you're beautiful. Don't let any carelessly thrown about remark define you.

[storiesundercandlelight]

I jumped out of my bed when I saw you updated!! 🥹💕💖

The Geoffrey fic was amazing…! You’ve been well? Life is going oki?

I was kinda laughing the other day as I talked with a friend of new things we’ve been reading; and told her about u and was like “man, I miss them”. And whenever I got excited talking about books and then remembered some that disappointed me or were just plain I would said that again out of reflex; “man I miss them sm”

That’s my new “I should call them”. 🩵✨ You never disappoint, I’m so glad you’re alive and active!

I wasn’t into Geoffrey and after reading this I’m like that Kombucha girl video like “mmm nah, BUT lemme check twice just to be sure” 😭

Could I request something Jonathan xFem reader that begins with someone being super affected by voice/sounds/talking; taking things to something physical/NSFW? I’m super into Jonathan’s voice and accent; in gral all the VA’s did an amazing job!!

I’m super close to finishing the game now and DAMN they’re all (characters) so well made 🥹

Or just whatever you’d enjoy writing or been wanting to write for a while! I trust your amazing taste.

Take care of yourself and I hope you’re well and happy! Lots of hugs 💕🩷💕🩷✨!!!

There's Something In The Way You Speak

Here you go! I hope you love it! Jonathan's voice could definitely make us all go feral!! And Geoffrey is my best boy 🤣 I will make you love him!!

I haven't proof read this yet so I'm sorry for any mistakes! <3

Jonathan knew how easy it was to rile you up now, a small perk he was more than happy to take advantage of especially on a night like this. He'd hated social obligations before being changed into an Ekon, he still hated them. He couldn't even eat or drink to distract himself from the dull conversations he was pulled into.

Damn Edgar for forcing him to come to this thing. He knew it was all about keeping up appearances. The hospital requires funding Jonathan, these men fund us. So make them happy and feel like they are needed, because they bloody well are. The only perk to tonight? Having you by his side, dressed so finely. The curve of your neckline was bordering scandalous for this day and age, more than one set of eyes had landed on you tonight, much to Jonathan's annoyance.

But, as Jonathan had recently been made aware of, he had a little weapon to use against you. The memory made him smirk, your cheeks had grown so red after your all but blurted out the effects his voice had on you. I don't know, something about the tone and just the way you say things....just forget I said it alright?

He definitely would not be forgetting you said it, how could he just stand by and let quite possibly his best advantage over you go to waste. Before it was always Jonathan falling head over heels whenever you beckoned, how easily you made him want you, how simple it always was to make him lust after you. Oh how the tables have turned.

Jonathan moved closer to you, your body leaning delicately against one of the pillars adorning the room. It took a slight amount of bending to bring his lips right beside your ear before he whispered, nice a deep. "You know, I've been thinking about all of the doors in this hall. Where they lead to, which of them will be the one I'll pull you through, the one where I'll ravish you across whatever surface we find"

Your head turned towards him, eyebrows lifted and eyes wide in surprise. "Behave Dr.Reid" you whispered back.

"I don't want to behave, I want to fuck you" Jonathan felt your body tense beside him but this time he wasn't told off, you simply stared straight ahead, eyes flicking over the couples dancing or socialising. "Don't you want to?" His lips were all but pressing against your ears now, the soft tickle of his breath had you shivering.

"What I want is for you to behave" You quipped back, but Jonathan saw the redness growing on your cheeks, he was fairly curtained he'd never used that sort of language around you before....why wasn't it working? Jonathan straightened up, the glass of whiskey - still as full as when Edgar handed it to him- was the only thing he could use to occupy his hands as he tried to think of what else he could say to you.

Two - or was it three?- tedious conversations with men you had no desire to listen to, had come and gone since Jonathan's attempt to scandalise your thoughts. You wouldn't let him know it but your entire body had flashed hot and cold at his words. The idea of him whisking you away to have his way with you hadn't left your mind since he'd put the thoughts there.

Jonathan all but pouted his way through the conversations, waiting impatiently for them to end so he could try his luck again. He didn't have any ideas as far as what to exactly say to you, filthy talk wasn't exactly in his list of strengths, but the thrill of trying to rile you up was enough to keep him excited to try.

You had somehow managed to slip away from the small group that had Jonathan cornered, his eyes searched for you across the room, as the men in front of him continued their dull conversation. There you are. You had clearly just come from the bar, a tall glass in hand as you let your eyes wander over the room, stopping on the paintings along the walls. Truth be told Jonathan would feel happy enough to simply watch you from a distance, your beauty was always something that had him catching his breath each time he looked at you.

You felt Jonathan behind you before you heard him speak. "You abandoned me" He spoke low again, his lips not as close as before but close enough to have the hairs on the back of your neck prick up.

"You seemed to be doing alright"

"I don't appreciating you playing so hard to get...especially given how much effort I'm putting in to trying not to get hard while looking at you" Lord above this man would be the death of you, you turned your head towards him, catching him playing innocent as he met your. gaze.

"Have you gone mad?" Of all the time for Jonathan to be trying his new found technique to get you in the mood, now was certainly not the time! But the boyish smirk that pulled at his lips made you think that no matter where you happened to be at this moment, nothing was going to stop him.

"I think that one" Jonathan nodded his head towards a door positioned near the back of the room, out of the many doors that lined the walls between painting in the room, this one was likely the easiest to take and not be seen. "Given that it isn't locked of course, but I have a good feeling"

"You can't just wander around!" You whispered back to him. "One, people will notice you've gone-"

"After a while"

"And two, we can't just walk into whatever room we please, certainly not to do what you have in mind! What if someone catches us?"

"What if the sky falls on our heads? What if Priwen storms in and burns me at the stake? What if's are too boring for tonight my dear, and I have had the last three hours of nothing but boring so... shall we?"

Before you could even argue Jonathan had gripped your wrist and walked towards the door with much more confidence than you could muster. The creeping paranoia that someone would see you both sneaking away was almost enough to have you fighting against his pull. But before you knew it Jonathan had turned the knob on the door and pushed you both through it.

The hallways was dark, lit only by the moon light that came in through the windows on one side of the space, more doors lined the walls on the other side. "See? if it was in use tonight they would have lit it up" Jonathan walked forward leaving you by the doors you'd just come through. The first door he tried was locked, with a purse of his lips he moved onto the next one. "Hmm, a linen closet?" Again he moved onto the next, seemingly unhappy with this one also.

"Jonathan..."

"Perfect!" He motioned you over with a flick of his hand, only allowing you to get so close before pulling you once more through a door and into what looked like a small - very small - laundry room. Shelves covered one side of the room, an assortment of sheets and towels were folded neatly in stacks.

"Perfect? Oh lord if this is what you're calling perfect right now then you must have slipped a few marbles out, are you sure you're feeling alright?" Jonathan pulled the door closed quietly before reaching for a wooden chair sat off to the right of the room (presumably used when the servants were polishing or sewing) and fitting it under the handle, effectively locking you both in, and more importantly locking people out.

"There!" Jonathan turned to you, the boyish grin back. He gripped you by the hips moving you slowly backwards until you bumped into the counter top lining the other half of the room. You felt weightless for a moment as Jonathan lifted you onto the counter, his hands quickly pushing up your dress enough for his to stand between your thighs. "This is much better" His voice depended as he leaned forward, pressing his lips for your neck and trailing kisses up towards your jaw. "Do you know how difficult it has been for me tonight to see you dressed this way?"

Not that you imagined he wanted answer, but you wouldn't have been able to speak even if he had. Your mind was entirely too focused on the way Jonathan's hands travelled up your thighs, pushing under the bunched up fabric of your dress. "So many men were looking at you... I had a mind to let the beast take over....the walls would have looked better red"

You let yourself shiver fully, the idea of Jonathan being enraged at other men looking at you had you reaching out behind you, looking for support to keep you upright as he continued to lean over you. You felt the most subtle scrap of his fangs against your neck before he spoke again. "Will you let me have you? God I want you"

His voice grew deeper as lust quickly consumed him, his grip tightening on you as he lifted you again, just high enough to quickly slip your underwear down your legs. You couldn't even help yourself now as your hands slipped around the back of Jonathan's neck, pulling him in for a kiss that was entirely too needy and downright messy as you both started grabbing at each other. Your hands clashed with Jonathans as you both reached for his belt, but with a chuckle you both managed to free him, already so firm and ready.

Jonathan pulled you closer to the edge of the counter and by doing so, closer to him. "If we get caught-"

"Shh we won't" Jonathan nipped playfully at your bottom lip before lining himself up and pushing into slowly, his eyes closing as you enveloped him. "Christ you feel good" Hearing Jonathan's words of praise in this setting was new to you, he was far too much of a gentleman to whisper filth into your ear. But apparently those days were over.

Your gentle moans filled the small space as Jonathan moved against you, whispering and groaning against your neck, letting his fangs nip you in-between words. God knows if you weren't at a party you would tell him to bite down, to drink as he took you. It was almost as if Jonathan had the same thought as a broken whine tore out of him and his hips began moving faster.

You kept one arm behind you, using both the wall and counter top for support while the other pulled Jonathan closer to you, your lips finding his for another messy kiss. You knew it couldn't last forever but you desperately wanted it to, especially when Jonathan was being as vocal as he was.

He wasn't even sure what he was saying now, he'd lost the sense to form full sentences when you started rocking back against him, meeting his thrusts, your hand in his hair gripping and pulling him closer to deepen your already wild kiss. But Jonathan did know you were both so close, he could feel how tight you'd become around him, your face moved to press against his shoulder as you tried to conceal the moans that were falling from your lips.

You came with a shuddering gasp, you grip on each other tightening as Jonathan followed. It was only a few moments of you both regaining your senses before you pulled apart. Your eyes looked over Jonathan and a small smirk pulled at your lips at the sight of him, his hair messed and falling out of place, his tie and shirt was pulled and wrinkled but his fangs were what had your eyes lingering, they were extended, just visible as he looked back at you.

"You look a sight" Jonathan chuckled before righting himself and his clothes as best as he could, pushing his hair back with his hand before reaching forward to help you down from the counter. You started straightening yourself up as Jonathan bent down to retrieve your underwear from the floor. You reached for them but he pulled them back out of reach. Jonathan watched as confusion washed over your face before quickly tugging the fabric into his pocket.

"You cannot be serious"

Jonathan simply shrugged. "You wouldn't need them for long anyway" You huffed a disbelieving laugh at the man before you as he stood smugly by the door about to remove the chair he'd used to lock the door.

"Jonathan?" You both froze. Edgar. He didn't shout but he definitely spoke loudly enough for you both to hear him and be sure of who it was. Your eyes snapped to Jonathan, a clear I told you so, written all over your face.

Jonathan couldn't help it, he started smiling, and then giggling, covering his mouth with his hand so that Edgar - who was walking closer and closer to the door that hid you - wouldn't hear. You couldn't believe this, you couldn't believe him.

It took a few moments and a brief amount of panic when Edgar tried to the barricaded door before his footsteps receded down the hall. and then another few moments before either of you felt safe enough to crack open the door to see if the coast was clear. "See? I told you we'd be fine"

"Jonathan he will know as soon as he takes a look at us what we've been doing!"

"So you're telling me we should sneak out of one of the windows and go home? Excellent idea" You shook your head but you couldn't help the smile that grew on your face as you watched Jonathan check every single window on the way back down the hall to the party, just in case you could plot another great escape.

[beetlebugdash]

My live thoughts during The Owl House finale! (Major spoiler warning!)

Why so late at night for this finale

But 10/10 for disney for doing a marathon before the finale

WHY AM I ALREADY TEARING UP IT HASNT EVEN STARTED

HERE WE GO

Oh the song

It hurts OWWWWWWWWWWW

ALL THE CHARACTER GROWTH

Here comes the tears 

Oh that wasnt the episode?

Black screen?

Oh no different dimension

HEY!

bELOS?

Creepyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Im just as confused as you luz

DID STRINGBEAN JUST SAY HI?

I dont like this

NONONO PETREFICATION

O MY

LUZ VS AMITY?

Nightmareeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

EDA WHATS GOIN ON

NO

Oh shush lilith 

ITS ALL THEIR NIGHTMARES

Willow?

Are they puppets now and their living through the nightmares?

Nice suit evil dream Gus

NOT THE SHOVE

O gosh not hunter

A WITCHES BATTLE?

Its a witches duel

ITS NOT REAL!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

SMART VERY SMART

Now its the title!

And on a rubix cube

REUNITED YAY

THE KISSES AW

RAE RAE

DONT TOUCH FRANCOIS

Dog?

Belos is acting horribly sus rn

MANIPULATION EW

NOT FRANCOIS

“I can imagine”

WAIT HOW DID IT HAPPEN

EDA’S PALICEMAN IS ALIVE!

“Itty bitty spiders”

Kid dosent understand death….. Owch

Thank god there isnt any commercials

HES ALIVE?

RAINE FIGHT IT FIGHT IT

AMITY MOVED

WAIT I DIDNT KNOW THERE WERE COMMERCIALS

I DONT WANT A HACHIMALS FAMILY VACATION

NO

Ooooooooooooo owl house marathon monday (at 8pm smh)

Finally were back

JUMPSCARE PACMAN

10/10 music

Stinger hehe

Marbles?

KING ACTING LIKE A HAMSTER

JENGA!

The blushing and sadness awwww

Lucky number 13 hehe

USING THEM PRONOUNS FOR THE COLLECTOR

THEIR JUST A KID 

COLLECTOR LORE!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Abandonment issues ow

COLLECTOR IS AN INNOCENT KID!

ADOPT THE COLLECTOR 

THE LIGHT GLIPH

NOT BELOS

YES FIGHT RAINE

RAINE VS BELOS

“IM DONE” AHAHAHAHAHA

THATS THE TITAINS HEART

WAIT OWL HOUSE ABRIDGED YAY

Uh ohhhhhhhhhhhh

NOT THE MERGE NO

Im scared mom come pick me up

LIGHT GLYPH

MISS LILITH teehee

SAFETY FOR LUZ

Back to the owl house

“The bird house”

Series recap! Tying all the episodes together!

TALKIN ABOUT SPINOFFS

The mountains!

Kindness and forgiveness

Scary animation

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Holy crow thats a lotta magic

DID RAINE DIE?

YEAAA COLLECTOR MAGIC!

tHAT DOSENT WORK COLLECTOR

NONONONO

AMPHIBIA?

WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Oh my OH MY WHAT

EVEN HER MOM KNEW

KING AND EDA ARE PISSED

IM PISSED

Yep shes really gone wow

Dimension portal?

OW

Who what huh

HOOTY?

KINGS DAD

IN GHYPH PJS

BAD GIRL COVEN TSHIRT

“King and queen, best of both things”

AW BEST PARENT AWARD

Is that king andrias’s va?

THE BOILING ISLES

POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aw saying something to king TELL ME

Epic music is epic music

Rest in peace

CAMILLA IS AWAKE

Uh oh 

ARE THEY PULLING A SVTFOE?

Theyd better not be

YOU BROUGHT PAPER YAY

THE TEARS AND APPOLOGIES

BOOM

NEW FORM LUZ

WOA

LONG HAIR AND MATCHING EYES TOO

YOOOOOOOOOOO

COLLECTOR HELPING!

SMOOTH ANIMATION

AW

BOOM LIGHT

THE GLYPH IN THE MOUTH

Woa skys above

THE SMILE

NOT THE FLIPPING COMMERTIALS

FINALLY

Whistle?

RAINE!

AW

TEH KISSING

“Fluffier?”

AZURA SPEECH BUT LUZ

OH NO COLLECTOR

NOW EAT THIS SUCKERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Is he gone for good?

“I dont feel so good” -belos

AW THE ACCEPTANCE

ITS SO PRETTYYYYYYYYYYYY

Philip?

Oh just kick him already

KICK HIM YAY

Transformation sequence?

Back to nomal form aw

I LOAF YOU AW

Aw

IS THAT HOW IT ENDS?

STEVE!

AW REUNITED!

GAY KISS!

DARIUS AND HUNTER!

Idk how i feel about the music?

THE CUDDLING!

KISS!

HOOTYS LASHES

FRANCOIS!

Awwwww at least the collector gets a happy ending

No more glyphs…

Awwwwwwwww

LUZ!

COLLEGE?

TIMESKIP

PORTAL WORKS!

AWWWWWW

HUNTER MAKES PALICMAN

A flapjack gravestone awwwwwwwwwwwwww

THE MUSTACHE

LILITH GLOW UP

AMITY LOOKS AWESOME

Prof bump the gardner awwwwwww

Oooooooo new power

DARIUS AND AMITYS DAD SHIP?

Raine looks GOOD

GUS LOOKS COOL

EDA YESSSSSSSSSSSS

Eda became what she feared, a headmaster

KING-CENERA AW

A DRESS AND AZURA CAKE

Wow king is big

Aw a shooting star!

BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Oh that was a PERFECT ENDING!

[fluffyzoey]

Christmas in Uranium

A Ride the Cyclone Christmas oneshot I wrote, below the cut. Minor tws for dr*g mentions and swearing.

Oh yeah also it’s Nischa and PerfectDolls haha

I included a “bonus character” in here with a name I headcanon him to have, surprise!!

The first snowfall of the year came on November 25th. The air had cooled down significantly since the Fall Fair, and classes were back in full swing. The Christmas season had begun (despite Ocean’s insistence that it didn’t start until December first) and that could mean only one thing: the choir’s annual Secret Santa Swap. 

“Okay everyone!” Ocean climbed atop the wiggly stool, balancing herself by holding onto a table. She had in hand a top hat stolen from the costume closet behind the stage, filled with slips of paper. “I want everyone to pick a piece of paper to see who you’ll be shopping for this year!” She announced to the choir, who were gathered around her, watching with emotions that ranged from excitement to disdain. 

“I’ll go first!” She dug her hand into the hat, read off her piece of paper, then tucked it in the pocket of her dress. “Ricky, you go next.” 

Ricky adjusted his neon green sweater, which was far too big for him as it was, and reached out for the hat. He smiled when he read off the name, then took the hat from Ocean and passed it to Constance, who took a slip for herself then passed it to Penny. Penny drew a name, looking it over and looking slightly uneasy, then passed the hat to Noel, who took one for himself and passed the remaining piece to Mischa, without unfolding it. 

“The gift swap officially ends on December 15th!” Ocean reminded them. “Happy shopping!” 

“So…” Penny slumped down on Ricky’s beanbag chair a few days later. “I have no idea how to shop for presents. I got Connie, and she’s always making such sweet gifts for everyone, I don’t think anything I could get her could stack up!” 

Ricky looked at her thoughtfully. “I’m not much good at it either, to be honest. Normally I’d tell you to burn the paper in a fire, but since it’s Christmas, I have to be nice. Just…buy from the heart?”

”My heart is a raccoon.” Penny smiled. Ricky glanced at her, but Penny decided not to provide further information. 

“Yeah…right.” Ricky nodded along. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.” He stood up, grabbed his crutches, then started to make his way out. “I’m gonna grab a snack, want one?” She shook her head. “I’m gonna get going, I have shopping to do!!”

”Of course I get stuck buying for Ocean…” Noel grumbled, tossing himself onto his bed and staring up at the fairy lights that hung from his ceiling. “The biggest bitch in the entirety of St. Cassian’s, and I somehow have to come up with a gift she’ll like.”

He rolled over so his head was nestled against his pillow, burrowing into a blanket. “Well, I mean, she doesn’t have to like it, but it needs to be creative, at least. But maybe I should be nice just this one time?” He sighed, talking to no one in particular. “Think, think, what does Ocean like? School, being a bitch, most likely Penny…” he trailed off. He had an idea, and best of all, it wouldn’t take a single dollar!

“Ocean!” Mischa was banging on the ginger’s door a few days into the Secret Santa Swap time. “I need help with swap. It is not easy to buy present. I have no money. And also no ideas.” 

Ocean opened the door. “Mischa it’s ten o clock at night. In December. In Canada. It’s negative four degrees, where is your jacket?”

”Ukrainian men do not feel cold!” Mischa snapped, despite his chattering teeth and shivering form. “Only rage and-“

”Passion, yes Mischa, I get it.” Ocean sighed. “Come inside and I can help you with the gift thing.” She opened the door to her house. 

Mischa’s nose was nearly blown off—the entire place smelled of weed. Ocean seemed rather ashamed of this. “I know that face.” She said darkly. “My room smells better, I promise.” She pointed to a door at the end of the hallway. “In there.”

Mischa opened it up. Ocean’s room was vastly different than the rest of the house—while what he’d seen of the kitchen and living room was messy and grimy and smelled of drugs, Ocean’s bedroom was spotless and smelled of lavender and rosemary, thanks to one of those insense diffusors. The bed was neatly made—a twin sized mattress with pure white sheets and pillowcases. The walls were pale grey, the curtains sky blue, the ceiling and trim were white. It looked like a room you’d find at a rental house, almost as if Ocean put in effort to make it look like nobody lived there at all. 

She sat down in the chair in the corner, just a plain grey armchair, and looked at Mischa. “Who did you get for the swap if you don’t mind me asking?”

He glanced down at his feet, his face a bit red. Ocean got the memo. “Well, you know what he likes.” She said. “But… I feel your pain. I got Penny.”

Mischa scrunched his brow in confusion. “You like Penny? I thought you were…not a girl kisser.”

”The word is heterosexual, Mischa. You would be, erm, correct. Yeah, I must have misunderstood you. But…you got Noel, yes?”

”Yes.” He folded his hands. “What am I supposed to do? He is my poet!”

Ocean bit her lower lip in questioning. “Well, he doesn’t know you like him, right? He’s pretty dense. Not as dense as you, but dense, still. Maybe your Christmas present to him could be…” she mimed a ‘kissy face’. 

“And you could do same for Penny?” He chuckled, to which Ocean huffed. 

“I told you, I don’t like Penny.” She insisted. “Now are you going home or staying here?”

He sighed. “Neither is ideal. Your house smells like the boys’ bathroom by the teachers’ lounge. You know, the one where they-“

”Smoke weed, yes, I know.” Ocean finished. “My parents are really into…that stuff.” She scrambled to her desk, pulled a pack of matches out of the drawer, and proceeded to light another candle. “Perfect.”

“Mhm.” He looked back at Ocean’s. “I think I’ll go home. Smells better there.”

The walk home was tedious to say the least. Ocean lived on the very end of a one-way, dead-end street that led all the way through the woods that surround Uranium City, which, though sparse, were dark and scented of pitch. Mischa kicked up pebbles and sidewalk salt on the way home. The road was mostly clear, but he feared patches of black ice.

”Whole thing’s so dumb. I’ll never find something suitable for poet. May as well just give up.” He muttered, the cold night wind scooping up his words like air beneath a bird’s gentle wings. He remembered what his mother had told him about giving gifts, that the best ones came from the heart, but that was back in Ukraine, when the only person who would even want to give him a gift was his mother. Now, with a whole group of friends, and some very confusing feelings about Noel, this whole gift-giving thing was hard. 

When he finally got home, he was surprised to find the front door left unlocked for him. Usually it was shut and locked tight after his foster parents went to bed, whether Mischa was inside the house or not. Perhaps this was their early Christmas present to him.

He slipped inside and locked the door behind him for those fuckers’ sake, then made his way down the basement steps to his makeshift bedroom, which was really just a futon and a tv positioned on a milk crate. There was a shabby old rug, as well as a cardboard box filled with his foster parents’ old junk: a sewing machine and some scraps of fabric, a half-broken coffee maker, and a clock that was missing the hour hand. 

Mischa sat down on the futon and tore off the clothes he was wearing, leaning back for sleep in just his boxers, when he saw something peeking out of the box of junk: a spool of thread, with a needle sticking into it. Mischa remembered when his mother used to sew with him, little projects, like book-marks and pillowcases, but he imagined he could probably pull something off if he tried. So from that old box, Mischa, still clad only in his heart-patterned boxer shorts, gathered a pile of materials, fired up the sewing machine, and got to work. 

“What on Earth do I buy for someone who spends half his time drinking cheap vodka, and the other half watching slasher flicks?” Ricky stroked the head of his soft grey tabby cat, Buzz. Buzz purred and rolled over for belly rubs, but was no help in the Christmas shopping department. Ricky chuckled. “Everyone needs a cat like you, huh buddy? You’re like…free therapy with fur!” The cat rolled over again, this time sticking his rump up for Ricky to pet, and the boy obliged happily. 

“Maybe Mischa would appreciate a cat,” he laughed, “though I personally wouldn’t trust him with a creature’s life. I’m surprised he hasn’t accidentally burnt his house down yet.” Buzz gave a little ‘mrrp’ sound, as if he was agreeing. 

“Seriously, Buzzy Boy,” Ricky said impatiently. “Feels wrong to buy him, like, alcohol, but what else can I do? It’s not like he has any other interests besides rap and being angry.” He chewed on his inner cheek, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. “I’m at a loss for words.” 

Buzz leaped off Ricky’s lap, swishing his tail around his body and moving to groom himself with one of his forepaws. Ricky shifted his weight, glancing at Buzz, now down on the floor amongst Ricky’s scattering of art supplies.

Ricky was quite the artist in his spare time. He spent a lot of time making comics about Zolar and the Space-Age Bachelor Man, mostly for his own enjoyment. Then, he was struck with an idea. Amongst his art supplies were some pieces of scrap wood, previously part of a solar system model for class. But if he could cut them just right, paint them…

A meow interrupted his train of thought: Buzz was teetering precariously close to a recent work, which Ricky had done with paints. “No no, Buzz! Your-“

Crash!

Buzz recoiled and frantically tried to get all the paint off of his tail, which just resulted in all of the paint being knocked over. Ricky sighed. Brainstorming session was over, cleaning session had just begun. 

“Connie, whatcha doin?” A small voice asked from behind a door. It wasn’t even seven in the morning the Saturday before the swap, which was to take place on a Sunday, but the Blackwoods’ kitchen was already filled with the scents of fresh baked pastries and sweet fruits. Constance was standing in the center of the kitchen, surrounded by bowls and spoons and boxes of ingredients. 

“Oh! Henry!” She laughed. “Good morning!” Her little brother sleepily rubbed his eyes. 

“Whats with all the yummies? The sun just woke up.”

Constance laughed and set down the bowl of egg whites she was whipping, then scooped up Henry. “I’m perfecting a new cake recipe! You wanna help?” 

Henry nodded. “Can I lick the bowl?” 

She broke out in a grin. “Would I ever say no to you?” She set him down and handed him a bowl and some flour. “Four cups, and make sure you measure carefully!”

Constance had poured years of work into helping Henry become the best baking assistant she could ask for. And he really was incredible at it. A few moments later, she was provided with four cups of flour. “Thanks buddy!”

”What kinda cake are you making?” He prodded her again, tugging at her tattered purple lacy apron.

“Hey! No touching that.” She protested. “You know this old apron is falling apart and you aren’t helping.”

He pouted. “Sorry Connieeee~” he whined, to which she just sighed and smiled. “You wanna see what kind of cake I’m trying to make?” 

“Well…” Constance pointed to a piece of paper she had laid out on the kitchen table. “Take a peek!”

”Woahhhh~” Henry stared at it in awe. “Is that a space cake?” 

The drawing she had made was of a three-tiered cake, swirled with galaxy-hued icing and topped with what seemed to be an alien cat, probably made out of fondant or marzipan. 

“Space cake is an understatement.” She laughed, peering over his shoulder. “This is Ricky’s Christmas present. Think he’ll like it?” 

“He’s gonna love it!” Henry assured her, bouncing back to her side. “What kinda taste is it?”

”Oh, flavour? Marble!”

Henry looked up at her, eyes glimmering in confusion. “You put marbles in a cake? That doesn’t sound like it will taste too good, Connie. Why don’t you make it ‘nilla or chocolate?” 

“No, no,” she laughed, snorting a bit as she did so. “Marble just means it’s vanilla and chocolate swirled together.”

“So there’s no marbles in it?” Henry asked again, just to confirm. 

“No marbles. Wanna taste the icing?”

“Mhm!”

With Henry’s breakfast completely spoiled by sugar, Constance started cleaning up her mess, when there was a knock on the door. “Now who in Uranium is gonna show up this early? It’s seven in the morning! Mom and dad aren’t even awake yet!”

She got the door, revealing the paint-covered form of Ricky Potts in her doorway. 

Crap! She thought. His cake! He can’t know about that! 

Constance stepped out onto the front porch and slammed the door shut behind her. “Sorry. Messy in there. Henry’s baking.” She lied, hoping it wasn’t too blatantly obvious. Ricky, although far from dumb, seemed to buy it enough. “Also, why are you covered in paint?”

”Long story. Do you have stain remover?” 

“Not that I know of. Mom has to go grocery shopping today. You can try Noel though, he lives just up the street and he’s always got all that stuff. God forbid he get a single stain on that dress of his.” She explained. “I’ve gotta help Henry, and uh…” she tried to think of another believable lie. “Sew this.” She fingered with the hem of her apron. 

Ricky nodded along to all of this. “Thanks for the advice, Connie. See you tomorrow, at the secret swap thing?”

”See you then!”

The swap was held at Constance’s house, per her request. Her gift, apparently, was far too big for her to transport very far on her own. When the group got there, Constance was proudly displaying the most massive cake any of them had ever seen, and Henry was beaming as he showed it off. 

“Merry Christmas, Ricky!” Constance beamed as the male walked through the door, “From me and Henry!”

Ricky admired the cake for a long while, and probably would have done so for longer if his duty hadn’t called. He set his wrapped present, which was rather flat and rectangular, in Mischa’s hands. When the taller unwrapped it, he revealed a picture frame. The outside was painted with all sorts of colours and little green money symbols, $, which Mischa was greatly amused by. The picture in the center was of the whole choir at the Fall Fair, their hair all messed up and their faces reddened from a ride on the roller coaster there, just an old wooden one called The Cyclone. 

Mischa grinned. “Ricky, man, did I ever tell you what my mother told me about gifts?” 

Ricky shook his head. 

“She always said hand-made was best. Thank you, Space Jesus. I will treasure it for life.” 

At this moment, Penny shot to her feet. “My turn!” She held out a box, one of the ones that always held clothing when it was wrapped and under the tree. “For you.” She passed it to Constance. 

Constance tore at the wrapping, Henry helping to clean up the scraps. She opened the box and pulled out an apron: pale purple in hue, with little gold, pink, white, and blue clouds painted on with puffy paint. Her eyes started to tear up. “Penny…this is gorgeous…and my current apron is falling apart and…” she enveloped Penny in a quick hug. “You have no idea how much it means.”

”I suppose it is my turn, now.” Mischa held out a very lumpy, unevenly wrapped gift. He gave it a gentle toss toward Noel, who caught it without an issue. He ripped the paper off, and inside was the most beautiful ugly thing he’d ever seen. 

It was many different colours, really: blues and reds and greens and shades of grey and pink and everything in between. Its eyes were buttons, and it took the shape of a bear. Clearly homemade, and Mischa had really seemed to have poured his entire soul into the plush. 

If Constance had made a big deal shedding tears over the apron, than this was worse, because Noel was absolutely weeping, curled into Mischa’s side, holding the plush bear. 

Ocean, who really hadn’t spoken much since this whole thing had begun, got to her feet. “Listen, Penny…” she met the brunette’s eyes. “I really had no idea what to get you, and this really isn’t much…” she held out a tiny box, wrapped in gold paper with silver ribbons bound around it. Penny took great care not to tarnish it too much. 

Inside the box sat a very tiny clay lamb, painted as pure and white as freshly fallen snow. It was gorgeous and shiny and Penny looked at it in awe. “I…Ocean…” 

Ocean smiled. “Is it enough?”

”It’s plenty.” Penny finished. And with that, she shot to her feet, and pecked Ocean on the cheek. 

By the time the redhead calmed down from the little kiss, Noel’s tears had mostly dried. With a satisfied smirk, he held out Ocean’s present, a card, a gift card was what she expected. But when she opened it, all she found was a picture of a dog. A white dog. With the words “I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE” written across the front. On the back side of the slip of paper, Noel had written a note:

Congrats on coming out, Oce. Please kiss Penny before she dies of lesbian pining.

<3 Noel

(meme for reference)

[kukuandkookie]

Might copy and paste the text here later from my Twitter thread where I expressed why I enjoyed it, but I recently read My Little Poplar and ended up liking Bai Xinyu and Yu Fengcheng quite a bit!

Yu Fengcheng’s eventual regret was honestly written really well, and the relationship between the two leads has good chemistry. 👌

Even better is that it features Jian Suiying, who I also have gotten weirdly attached to???

Like objectively the book Jian Suiying comes from, In Love With an Idiot, has its flaws. Or rather, it employs tropes that really aren’t for everyone, which includes the main couple fighting constantly (so it’s basically fighting and then fucking and then fighting and then fucking and you get the idea), and it gets kind of overdramatic at times, as some very angsty-type stories can be—whether they’re from China (known as “dog blood” stories) or not.

I even found it a little silly that so many were so obsessed with Jian Suiying, and yet…

Here I am now, sliiiightly obsessed with him. 🤡😂

It’s just that! As I mentioned on my Twitter, he’s so unique for a shou/bottom/uke character!! Before he met Li Yu, he was always the top, and he’s sexually confident and pretty intelligent and ruthless and…well, temperamental. He does admittedly have a charm to him that works and I find it pretty amazing the author managed to predict that, since so many characters in her novels adore him BDMGIHSKD.

Even his red flags give him charm, because while he is problematic, the red flags make him an intriguing character. The author does a pretty good job at balancing the different aspects of him that make him technically infuriating and yet also compelling.

His charm is further boosted by the fact there’s actually a clip of one of his VAs just trying to cheer you up if you’re sad?? Like hello??? 🥺

It is no longer a surprise to me that Li Yu ended up so obsessed with Jian Suiying. 😆

Also I’ll note now the last image is actually by the My Little Poplar manhua artist while the others are from the manhua adaptation of Jian Suiying’s own novel! I like how the manhua artist draws him quite a bit since it feels so him. I’ve seen fan art and they sometimes feature him smaller and thus not domineering enough, even though they usually show him with the same hairstyle—which makes for a fun tangent on its own since danmei designs can be a bit “basic,” so when one specific design becomes a recognizable look for a character, I find it pretty cool.

In fact, one of my favourite details in My Little Poplar was watching Yu Fengcheng be very frustrated with how much Bai Xinyu looked up to Jian Suiying. 🤭

Also just seeing him show up always made me go “yay!” because it’s so fun getting to see him again, especially as part of his story aligns with My Little Poplar (as in the plots of both novels happen somewhat concurrently).

Similarly, the manhua adaptation, My Beloved Fool, has a really nice art style and I really like that the artist always lets Jian Suiying shine by really dressing him up. He and Shi Qi from Trap a Vicious Dog (another series I want to ramble about on why I’m enjoying it so far) are two manhua protagonists I know of who are like…confident smart corporate bosses that get stylish fits almost every manhua chapter, which is a nice detail ahaha.

My Beloved Fool has recently hit the heavy angst section of the novel so it’ll be depressing to follow for a while since you’ll just watch Li Yu fall apart as Jian Suiying suffers absolute hell. 😔

Someone even uploaded the first season of the vomic version of the manhua on YouTube. 👀

Similarly, I’m really excited for the My Little Poplar manhua to get to all the good bits of the story there, since Bai Xinyu develops a lot as a character and I find Yu Fengcheng’s regret especially well done. But evidently it’ll take quite some time to get there; first we have to get past the military bullying alfndkfjjss.

Anyway the actual reason I started typing this out before I spiralled into another huge ramble asjakfl is that I found In Love With an Idiot and My Little Poplar audio dramas on YouTube!!

I’d heard some In Love With an Idiot audio clips from something that some fans had shared to YouTube before, but it sounds like those clips were from a completely different audio drama than the one I landed on. I’m especially excited about the My Little Poplar one. Even if it’s not extremely high quality (I think Bing Xing Xia Deng aka Inferior by Nature aka The Selfish Gene has admittedly spoiled me because it was so high quality 😆), it’s still fun hearing these characters come to life aurally.

Even more so since iirc I saw a Twitter post saying the My Little Poplar and In Love With an Idiot got taken down officially, so they may only be accessible via online reuploads right now. I can’t find the post to confirm, but if true, I’m glad someone preserved them. 🙏

Update: I did find the other version’s VAs of the In Love With an Idiot audio drama! Except it’s maybe a…sequel? Where a Li Yu of the past transmigrates 5 years into the future when Li Yu and Jian Suiying are a couple?? It’s on MaoEr FM…and it’s for free. 👁️

In fact, I could totally ramble about the Bing Xing Xia Deng audio drama—which I already have for a friend, so I can just copy and paste that long-ass (slightly more incoherent because it’s a lot of fangirling) wall of text here haha. I am currently very obsessed with that series too because it really is high quality and I like how it evolved the novel it’s adapting, but my friend is the expert on it so I feel a bit more shy about sharing my thoughts sometimes.

Welp that went on quite a number of tangents but yeah. I’ve enjoyed these novels and I’m very happy they got audio dramas and that they are still out there to be enjoyed after everything. 🥺💕

OH and final note but…the fun fact about the 188男团 aka 188 Group, which is the overall series Jian Suiying and Bai Xinyu belong to (so-called because it’s 10 novels that share a universe and all feature (scum) gongs of 188 cm) got sort of made into an “actual” 男团, aka a boy band/group! I found the couple (?) songs they released and some fan songs and it’s nice seeing them all “singing” together alfjskfjs.

An English translation can be found here!

An English translation can be found here!

Me when I spy Jian Suiying, Li Yu, Yu Fengcheng, and Bai Xinyu especially in the MVs: 🥺

[ccborrega]

FRANKELDA AND HER GHOSTS 1. (Part 2)

Seeing how more and more english-speaking audience is apparently watched Frankelda now, I feel like it's a good moment to post the translation transcript I did of the first live event with the Ambriz brothers, 'Frankelda y sus Fantasmas'. Posting on parts for easy reading because it's over 20 pages long. These are basically Q&A of making-of aspects of the series, going from concepting and design to even edition and post-production, going through Voice-acting and even trivia. They do sometimes comment some lore, but are restricted in how much they can talk about it as it would apparently spoil upcoming things. Latter episodes have some guests, including Mireya Mendoza herself (Frankelda's VA both in english and spanish) Kevin Smithers, who composed the score and songs in the series and even the edition team in the most recent one! (It honestly gives me life to see how much Cinema Fantasma values the whole team.)

It's fair to warn you that it's probably better to have watched the entire first season before checking it out, as it contains commentary on things that might spoil you if you haven't. It's also worth noting that this one was recorded on November the 26th in 2021, back when we had no word of the film being made or the new dub and USA release. Some additional notes:

-El Coco and the Boogeyman are both used for the same character in this one because it's how they do it in the dub. -Something happens in there that I cannot describe with the screencaps alone and the transcript would feel naked without, so description is provided. It's magical, you'll see.

Arturo Ambriz: Good, let’s move to this question which is also really nice- well, we already replied to Val Guerrera’s question, which is: ‘Are you thinking about publishing a book for the show?’. Well, that one’s already settled. Let’s do… let’s move to the next one, which is: ‘Is there one puppet per character and a lot of changes, for instance, mouth, eyes, etc.? Or are there multiples and a lot of changes?’

Roy Ambriz: They’re one-of-a-kind.

Arturo Ambriz: Ah, wait. The question is by Bailey Val… Bailey Valquion.

Roy Ambriz: All the characters are unique, they’re priceless, they have a personality and that’s why there’s only one for each… no, but seriously, yes, there’s only one, because…when you watch the ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ making-of and you see there’s ten Jacks or something like that, I don’t know when- sorry, how many. We… I reiterate, being a Mexican production, new, and the such, we obviously didn’t have the budget to make a thousand copies of each character. So, what we did was make them the smart way in the puppet wing, so that we could fix them, and we had a very talented and… arrrgh! Super strong and buff puppet hospital team, just constantly fixing them again and again. Frankelda… yeah, there’s two Frankeldas, which is… something we hadn’t mentioned up ‘til now. There’s two Frankeldas because she was the character who had the most animated minutes on-screen, and the cool part is, if you look really closely, you can actually tell which is which, and that’s something we love.

If you watch the original ‘King Kong’ movie, the one from the 30s, there’s like three… the King Kong puppets were hand-made, they didn’t even cast them, Ray Harryhousen made them with wet cotton on latex and built them over… over skeletons he made…

Arturo Ambriz: Willis O’Brien.

Roy Ambriz: Ah, my bad, Willis O’Brien. I said Harryhousen but it’s Willis O’Brien. And he made them by hand. So, they’re not identical and there’s like three King Kongs, but it doesn’t matter because the illusion of life is there and, and you know it’s real. But, yeah, the hardcore ones, which I think is all of you, can figure out which one’s Frankelda mark one or mark two. But really, she’s one and the same, don’t worry, she sometimes just… likes to do her hair a little bit different, or arrange her dress some other way, because Frankelda never sits still and her… her spirit can take any shape she wishes to.

Arturo Ambriz: Next question… and it’s from Noemi Juárez… I wanted this one to show up. ‘¿Did you use the same figurine for Frankelda’s grandma and Magali’s hen witch?’ Let’s see, we can answer this one very plainly.  It’s not that it’s the same figurine, it’s not that it’s the same puppet. Could it be that perhaps, perhaps, it’s the same character…? Anything you’d like to add?

Roy Ambriz: Well… Frankel- I mean. Frankelda, her stories, to write them she has to base them off her own life because, and this is a tip I’m giving you, we’re giving you, if you want to tell your own stories, write about what you know. Write about what… what you’ve learned, what you like…

Arturo Ambriz: What you’ve lived, what hurts you.

Roy Ambriz: But this doesn’t mean it has to be hyper-realistic and like… a copy, an exact replica of what is. You can tackle it from fiction, fiction can help to make-up and transform, because you can transform yourself. So you can create characters from an aunt you knew or your friend’s mom who is really interesting, and you can create… and that’s what she does, and so, ask yourselves why Frankelda drew inspiration on her grandma, right? To… to make the witch- who, by the way, her name’s Totolina.

Arturo Ambriz: Good. Next question… ‘What was the production process for the songs? Did you guys make the concepts for the lyrics?’ Alex Rosas asks.

This question is really interesting, we’re definitely inviting Kevin Smithers to one of these, he’s the composer of our songs and our orchestral pieces, and we’ll be able to talk more about this. But look, here’s a really fun little history tidbit… originally, we’d only planned for one song in the whole series, and it was El Coco's.

It was the very first one we wrote, it was the very first one that got recorded. Actually, that one… the Boogeyman’s story only exists because when we… I think it was literally the day we got greenlit to produce this, Roy and I were talking about what we wanted to see on-screen and we said: ‘Ooooff… this hobo monster, El Coco. All scruffy and ragged… in an alley in Coyoacán… playing a thousand instruments and flying ghost kids out of his hat and forming a dead kids orchestra.’  We were like: ‘Yes! That’s what we want to do for this season of ’Frankelda’’. And we started working on the story, we started creating everything and that’s when we made the lyrics for what at the time we still called ‘The Boogeyman’s Waltz’ …

...and here’s El Coco dropping by, and- hang on, let me get this out of the way… we started to work on the Boogeyman’s song. Sergio Carranza sang it, it turned out amazing, it turned out absolutely breath-taking, and, well, we realized...

[Here Hernevalito hilariously falls off Herneval's arms and Roy tries to silently non-react to it...]

...maybe it was worth it for the whole series to be a musical and have one song per episode. Why? Because we love musicals, because at the end of the day… think about this, I mean, each song… and here’s a little tip in case you like to write songs… each song is a poem.

[Roy then discreetly sits Hernevalito on El Coco's horn.]

Each song is actually a poem, that’s why Herneval tells Francisca ‘Hey, why don’t you read me that poem you just wrote?’

[Success! No one saw that, right?]

and it’s a sung poem. Well, songs are poems, right? I don’t know if it’s our way to put in a little bit of… creative, poetic and philosophical writing into the show, on top of it making it a lot flashier, making it more memorable. You listen to the song and it reaches faster. So what we worked on with Kevin was, while we worked on the lyrics…

Roy Ambriz: Specially him.

Arturo Ambriz: We kept working them, writing them, and like… turning them over, looking for… concepts, which, come entirely from the scripts, because the scripts were there first, and once we were clear on which ones they were- what it was we wanted to say and how it could have a nice ring to it- it was then that Kevin Smithers got involved and he helped us to, well, create the music proper, and there’s some… some texts that got edited, and some got longer or got shorter, and it was a very organic process where we included parts of the script, the poetry part, the conceptual and musical part, and everything got combined. And, believe us, we’re really glad to see you liked the songs, you’ve sang them, you’ve posted videos, you know the lyrics. That’s a dream come true for us.

Roy Ambriz: Besides, soon you’ll be able to sing with Frankelda or Herneval. So stay tuned to our Tik Tok channel on the next weeks.

Arturo Ambriz: Yes. Yeah, that’s right.

Next question… ah, this is a good one. ‘Will new kids inspired on your crew show up for the next episodes?’ Danitza Rivas asks us.

Roy Ambriz: Yes! We’re really excited, we have a lot if ideas, we want to see them already. I really like how… I want to clarify, just because they’re based off… as a fun little nod, from- the characters, it doesn’t mean they’re, like… exact copies, right? Of… I mean, they’re fictional characters, that should always be clear.

But yeah, we’re really, really excited about getting to include more kids. Tormenting even more characters; because a writers job is always to torment their characters, that’s how you put them to the test and depending on how they face the challenges you make for them, that’s how you discover what their nature is like. In this case, we like how… they don’t make it, and it’s something really fun to do because there’s a nice little reflection in there. But yeah, there will be many other children- but also expect to catch a glimpse of old acquaintances, of old friends in there, for sure.

Arturo Ambriz: And… I was precisely trying to look for the question to see who made it a while ago… the truth is I lost it, hope someone can help me over here…

Roy Ambriz: Tinta Invisible.

Arturo Ambriz: Someone… no. Someone was asking how we got the idea to use members of the Cinema Fantasma team to be the inspiration for the kids. And yeah, that’s the reality, not everyone may know this but, all the kids that app-

Female background voice: Daniela Herrera.

Arturo Ambriz: What? Daniela Herrera? Daniela Herrera was asking this just a while ago. And we realized  we needed a bunch of kids and we didn’t want them to be generic. We wanted each one, even the ones in the background, just walking by, to have something unique to them that took a step away from cartoon stereotypes, where you always have… the chubby one, the red-haired one, the goth one. I mean, those stereotypes get on your nerves, right? So, we wanted everyone to be a combination of very particular elements, and we were like: ‘Well, people who work in Cinema Fantasma are visually fascinating, it’s like a whole new range of personalities, of shapes, of colors, of voices, everything.’

So, that was the best inspiration because it really is also an homage for our team, they do so much. I mean, this, the stop-motion, the series, the movies, it’s teamwork! And for the next seasons, we’ll keep using people from the team and new people too, people who’ve joined this crew to create more and more characters. I mean, this is part of ‘Frankelda’s DNA and will always be.

Roy Ambriz: Mm-hm.

Arturo Ambriz: OK. Let’s see… ah, this one. Go on and answer this one, Roy. It’s a question from Valeria Palacios: ‘Do people turn unto Spooks when they die or are Spooks born some other way?’

Roy Ambriz: No, a normal person doesn’t necessarily turn into a Spook when they die. It’s actually quite strange but, there’s Spooks who want to be human, like the Gnome- the Gnomes. They want to be human because they don’t like the… the place they were assigned to as Spooks. There’s Spooks who are fascinated by humans, like, from an anthropologic point of view. Like the Boogeyman, who loves to study them and has been doing it since he was… his dad used to bring him to watch him work when he was a kid.

Arturo Ambriz: Don Coco!

Roy Ambriz: Don Coco would bring him to watch him work, and he’d be gawking at them, and he loved them, and he’d say: ‘I just don’t get them. They’re so fragile and so… so stupid…’

Arturo Ambriz: ‘So temperamental!’

Roy Ambriz: So, they loved that. There’s Spooks that absolutely loathe humans, like the Mermaid, who used to have control over the territory and was worshiped as a goddess and now she hates that no one is even aware she’s there, and on top of it they polluted her world, and her pyramid lays forgotten. It’s undiscovered, it’s in Xochimilco but no one’s discovered it yet, it’s underwater.

And then there’s humans who want to be Spooks because they aren’t happy with their lives. Like Tamazola, Tochina and… which one am I missing?

Arturo Ambriz: Totolina.

Roy Ambriz: Totolina! Who are the three witches. In order to become Spooks, they had to figure out a lot of things, I can’t really give away too much because it’s a spoiler. And they had to perform a ritual which they’d been constructing for a long time before they could actually do it, and they hadn’t accomplished it until Magali came along… but there’s a reason they have so many caged animals in their kitchen, y’know?

Arturo Ambriz: You touched upon one of the questions someone… someone else made. This one’s by Alexa Casas: ‘Will we be seeing Don Coco in the next seasons?’

Roy Ambriz: Don Coco! Who can say?

Arturo Ambriz: What do you guys think? A bit of homework for you, you’ll see.

Next… ah, this one’s great: ‘Why did Herneval’s attitude change so much when he became a book?’ Picture this. You guys are maybe, I don’t know…

Roy Ambriz: No spoilers!

Arturo Ambriz: Yeah, no spoilers. You guys are… I don’t know if in middle school, high school, college or already graduates. What were you like five years ago? Picture yourselves ten years ago, the kind of personality you had, the way you spoke, OK? It’s been a hundred and fifty years. That’s all I’m saying.

Roy Ambriz: But, Herneval aged, didn’t he-? ahhh.

Arturo Ambriz: Spoiler! Spoiler, spoiler, spoiler… soc! OK, next question. Ooff, no, I’m not answering this question because it would be a huge, huge, huge spoiler…

Roy Ambriz: Let me see, what is it?

Arturo Ambriz: I’m gonna skip it.

Roy Ambriz: Read it and I won’t… they’ll just see my expression.

Arturo Ambriz: You sure?

Roy Ambriz: Yeah.

Arturo Ambriz: They’re asking, and there’s actually more than one person asking: ‘Whatever happened to Francisca’s body?’

…next question…

Roy Ambriz: Tinta Invisible.

Arturo Ambriz: Yes, yes, next question: ‘What’s Herneval’s biggest fear?’ by Meru Chan. Look how- this is a really nice question, it’s true, Spooks have fears too, right?  I mean… specially Herneval, Herneval shows himself as… fragile, vulnerable despite… he’s such a good… I was going to say ‘Good person’, but, let’s say he’s such a good Spook, and…

Roy Ambriz: A handsome lad.

Arturo Ambriz: And a handsome lad.

Roy Ambriz: The fussy book.

Arturo Ambriz: He’s gentlemanly, he’s kind, he’s passionate… but I definitely think that… not to give away to much: Herneval is very scared of loss. He’s afraid of having- people he loves and…

Roy Ambriz: Ah-ah! Erm…

Arturo Ambriz: OK. Yes. Yeah, that would have been a spoiler.

Let’s see, this question has no, no, no spoilers at all, and it’s… they’re asking… ‘What can I do if I want to learn animation but I’m already studying for a different career?’ Paulina Cortés is asking.

Roy Ambriz: I think this question might also be exemplified better along the next sessions as we get more of our friends parading here, who also created ‘Frankelda’. But in order to animate, to make an animated production, you’ll need lots and lots of different talents and abilities. It’s really funny because sometimes we get called ‘Animators’. The two of us. It’s like- that’s not true, we don’t animate. Well, I animated… a couple of things, but we’re not animators per se, we’re directors, were writers, we’re sculptors. So, an actual animator and with a big range too… I think that might be… too much, and it might be- what’s that word again? Like, overwhelming. Right? Like… too much. It’s… when, really, when you shred animation into tiny pieces, you realize you need someone who knows how to write, someone who knows how to administer a project, someone who can paint, someone who can draw well, and design. Someone…

Arturo Ambriz: Book-keeping.

Roy Ambriz: Book-keeping! You need a musician, or someone who knows about music, you need actors and voice actors. It’s endless, right? Someone who knows about tech, someone who knows about IT, someone who knows computer programming, who can do motion-controls. Who can do post-production-

Arturo Ambriz: Social-media.

Roy Ambriz: So… college is always a starting point, and this is something we always say, from experience. We graduated more or less, ten years ago, give or take. College is a starting point, it’s not that you have to stay there just because you got your degree in that area, it’s a starting point you chose for… a project. But from then on, it’s up to you and your guts, and your continued studies of many other things you didn’t really see in school, and to living, it’s up to you where you lead your life to and where you want to go, and whether you achieve that your calling is… aligning what you want to do for work, with earning money, and on top all of this, with your reason to live, because it’s your life project; and this is how you feel accomplished, and this is how you know you can do some good in the world, and if you manage to align all of that, it’s beautiful. We’re very happy we’re able to do this for a living, but it implies a lot of work and for you to move to where you want to be.

Arturo Ambriz: Next, it’s a question by Bets Chan Ching, and it’s: ‘What is the Spooks’ life cycle and is it the same as humans?’

Roy Ambriz: Hmmm…

Arturo Ambriz: This question is a really good one, such a good one, it’s something that will be gradually answered as the next seasons roll by. What we can say is, it’s definitely not exactly like a human being’s. But I think you can reflect on, I don’t know… have you realized there’s times you don’t want to do a specific homework, you’re scared of doing it because you’re convinced that you’re going to mess it up? And maybe if you’d done it immediately you would have spent half an hour doing it and then you’d be done, but because you didn’t do it during the week, well, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger in your mind, and it’s gigantic by Saturday and it’s even bigger by Sunday? And by Monday at four AM this homework, this fear of doing homework is just massively huge and it’s crushing you? And now something you could have gotten done in half an hour ruined your entire week? I think if we understand, like… fears, we can get a better idea of what the life cycle of Spooks is.

Roy Ambriz: ‘Anything? Heeheehee…’

Arturo Ambriz: Yes, exactly. It’s a very, very interesting question, but… actually, if we tried to completely explain it right now, it wouldn’t make any sense to you, you have to see it, you have to watch it happen little by little in the next seasons.

Ah, this question is really nice, Mansand Saga asks: ‘Did you have any problems with friends or family when you picked your career and to pursue your passion?’ …no. We happened to be in luck…

Roy Ambriz: In our specific case.

Arturo Ambriz: The two of us, specially, were lucky to have our parents, our friends, our family always supporting us. We specially got a lot of artistic stimulation- and corporate as well, from our parents, that’s how it’s always been. Our mom always made us draw, made us sculpt, made us get our hands dirty… I’m even exposing her a little bit here, but my mom would sometimes even let us skip school so we could go to an amusement park, or to the movies, or because- I don’t know, maybe even something like the weekend’s game got a bit too long and we wanted to finish it properly, like, we had those kinds of permissions.

So, it did help us big time to have that kind of help. In conclusion, if you see one of your friends wants to do this for a living, support them, cheer for them, because yes, there is a professional life for arts. Now, obviously, we’re aware that not everyone has this kind of family support, we have a lot of friends who experienced rejection in their homes in order to be able to make a living with this. But what we’re saying, the best message we can send about it is episode four of ‘Frankelda’s Book of Spooks’. That’s why we created the El Coco, that’s why we created Tere, that’s why we created these ghostly children who dance and make music, it’s because we’ve watched a lot of our friends and acquaintances get their passion stolen by the Boogeyman…

Roy Ambriz: And they just settled…

Arturo Ambriz: They settled, they dedicated themselves to something they didn’t even want to do, and suddenly it’s been ten, fifteen years, and they’re like: ‘Oh, my God, I wish I could turn back time and give myself unto the things I’m passionate about.’. So to keep that from happening to you guys, we made the Boogeyman and Tere.

Roy Ambriz: Play it for your aunts and uncles, the Boogeyman episode, when they get on your case.

Arturo Ambriz: Oooh, this one’s really, really good, only detail’s that the username of the asker is JICJ2442. They’re asking in Tik Tok, and it’s… ‘Will we see…?’ ah, we’re mixing our sources for the questions from all the social media, eh? They’re asking if we will ever see the Spooks’ world.

Roy Ambriz: Tsss… it’s what we want to show you the most!

Arturo Ambriz: It’s not so much the world, it’s the Kingdom of Spooks.

Roy Ambriz: Herneval’s Kingdom, y’know? And that of his parents, hm? So… that’s what we want to show the most. That’s where Francisca’s headed to right now, Frankelda, and, well, we hope we get to show it to you.

Arturo Ambriz: Alright, Camicatura is also asking when they’ll get to watch the series if they’re in Spain. This is a very, very good question. Look, there’s no precedent for this kind of series made in México or Latin-America, like… a stop-motion, horror musical, and one of such a high quality. I mean, it’s like a very odd mixture of elements, and there’s definitely plans for the international launch, so it can be watched all over the world, but that’s something we’re going to achieve little by little.

For us, the ideal scenario would be to get to a point where… where season two can launch simultaneously in every country that has HBOMax. But it’s a matter that’s not really in our hands, rather, they’re completely strategic on the part of HBOMax and Warner Bros.

Roy Ambriz: Now, if you want to watch it, you can write to HBOMax’s social media about wanting it to also arrive on Europe, and that would be great help, y’know? If more people around the world start requesting it, there are more chances that it’ll be authorized for more countries.

Arturo Ambriz: Great. Herneval’s little wing is covering your face quite a bit. Let’s see, you’re going to love answering this one, Roy, I’m sure. It’s: ‘Do Spooks only haunt kids or adults too?’

Roy Ambriz: They haunt everyone. Really, I think… children can get a better grasp of what a Spook is, and humans… they look for another explanation…

Arturo Ambriz: Adults.

Roy Ambriz: Adults. Like, children will see them as Spooks, and adults will too, but the Spooks won’t… won’t allow themselves to be seen quite as easily, because Spooks live anywhere you look, but you can’t see them for lack of knowing to look.

Arturo Ambriz: Great. This question is very nice, asked by Axel Imanol and it’s: ‘What was your inspiration for making ‘Tinta Invisible’? Honestly, I love that song a lot.’ Look, the lyrics to ‘Tinta Invisible’, like we said just a while ago, are a poem. It’s literally a poem, its inspiration comes from what writing implies, what making fiction implies. For instance, this line about… it’s one of the lines we like the most, it’s: ‘Reading, you inhabit the hidden.’ Picture it, right? If I have my ‘Harry Potter’ book here, well, it’s just an object, it’s like some sort of brick, right? A paper brick, my ‘Harry Potter’ book. But within those pages lies in hiding all of Hogwarts, and all of Diagon Alley, and it conceals… I don’t know, Azkaban Prison within. And it hides… the Weasleys with all of their kids.

So, within a paper brick, there’s this whole world, hidden. So, when you read it, when you read a book, when you read a story, you inhabit the hidden. Because, I swear to you, I’ve been in Hogwarts- because when I read Harry Potter, I picture myself walking around and climbing the magic stairs, and getting into one of the rooms… I don’t know, the classroom for Potions Class with Professor Snape. I mean, I’ve lived in Hogwarts by reading fiction. That’s what ‘Frankelda’ is about, that’s what ‘Tinta Invisible’ is about. ‘Tinta Invisible’ is a song that pays homage to the art of writing and fiction. If you analyze each line, it becomes very clear… well, not all that clear but all of the… the symbolism of what writing and creating something that doesn’t exist is hidden there.

Roy Ambriz: Here’s Frankelda’s ‘Harry Potter’ collection.

Arturo Ambriz: Oh, that’s so cool!

Roy Ambriz: The books.

Arturo Ambriz: Where did that come from?

Roy Ambriz: Walmart.

Arturo Ambriz: I’d never seen it. It’s really cool! Ahh, goody. Well, let’s see… ‘Frankelda and Herneval’s personality, did you plan it in advance or did you base it off someone?’

Roy Ambriz: Yes… our task as writers is to plan out the personality of each character, it’s… when you write a character, it’s like you’re living it, it’s like you’re placing yourself in their shoes and seeing the… I mean, you’re within their perspective and looking at the world from their eyes. Counterweights start emerging, right? And Dramatic Orchestrations, as they’re known, start emerging, like… Herneval, you’ve seen it yourselves. Young Herneval with Francisca isn’t the same as…Herneval-libro with Frankelda, and it’s not the same as Herneval-libro with Procustes, right? I mean, he changes, depending on who he’s with. Why? Because that’s life, you’re not the same when you’re alone with your friends to when you’re in a Christmas dinner with like family members you rarely see, you only meet them once a year, or when you’re in class. It changes.

So yeah, each personality and each character has to be written, has to be pondered, has to be rewritten, has to be erased and… and raised again, and gradually discovered. And, obviously that process starts with writing but is run by character design, art design, animation, run by voice actors, who also permeate it, and the character is uncovered throughout all of these processes.

Arturo Ambriz: Very good. Also… that’s the thing, I mean, you guys can see that so many of the characters we’ve seen in TV or movies are opposites, aren’t they? And Frankelda and Herneval-libro, spending so much time together on-screen, well they had to be opposites, right? One of them is red and the other is blue, it’s that simple, I mean, it’s a visual-psicological-narrative codification. Frankelda is an optimist, Herneval’s a pessimist. Frankelda’s cheerful, Herneval’s a grump. Frankelda always moves in circles, her hair has circular curls, her hand movements are circular; and the book is a small square, and everything about him is a square, right? So, this is a good tip for writing characters, thinking about opposites, thinking about complements, thinking about the Ying and the Yang.

Next question… this question is Meru Chan’s: ‘What made you change Herneval’s appearance from the Pilot?’

Roy Ambriz: It was a… that’s a rather interesting question. As we’ve said, when we made the season as opposed to the Pilot, we agreed that we had to improve everything. And the Pilot- we didn’t really wonder about that many things because it’s a Pilot, y’know? Obviously, we’d gotten less time, and the top priority was to show that the series could be great, so what we did when they greenlit the season was to think better about the characters. At some point, as you’ve seen in the concept art, Herneval was thought up as more of a demon, but it was way too obvious, and it could also have religious connotations we really don’t want there to be, so, we decided to ponder it. He’s not the Demon Prince, he’s the Prince of Spooks, I mean, he has to be a Spook. What’s a Spook? It’s something new.

So, we started to ponder and around this time, Ana Coronilla, who is the art director, had the idea- she was like: ‘I kind of see him as an owl.’ Because with Herneval, in order to make him princely, we kept thinking and got- we were creating with the Awesombrosos, trying to make him more reptilian, or some other thing, and when we said ‘Owl’, it was like ‘Wow, he looks amazing!’ and on top of that, he has to… like, the personality we want, and that’s when we said ‘It’s just, if this were a live-action, he’d be played by someone along the lines of Timothé Chalamet-‘ not sure I’m saying that right.

Arturo Ambriz: Timothee.

Roy Ambriz: Timothee Chalamet, so… well, we said ‘Him, plus owl, plus some other elements.’ And, well, we got hunk Herneval, and then we saw the book and the character progression made no sense anymore, the one from the Pilot, because he’s more snakelike. So it was like ‘OK, how are we going to rebuild the character so he still has Herneval’s essence that we’ve already gotten to know from the Pilot, but make it make sense that this character turned into the book?’. And that was the ruling on which we decided to make… to change the Hernevals.

Arturo Ambriz: Well, next question, by AB_8A_7: ‘If Herneval used to be the Prince of Spooks, does that mean the King will show up in a flashback?’

Roy Ambriz: Oooh…

Arturo Ambriz: You’re getting close to the… the heart of the matter. Definitely, obviously, we’re going to meet the King of Spooks, we don’t want to disclose anything else about him, but… but props to you guys for realizing it, right? If there’s a Prince, then who’s the King?

Roy Ambriz: Besides, somewhere… well. Nope. I was just about to spoil it!

Arturo Ambriz: No spoilers.

Roy Ambriz: But that’s the thing, it’s… how cool is it to think, who is Herneval’s dad? Why… why does Herneval have to go to the human realm? Why wasn’t he in the prologue? That is, why was he with Procustes and not his father? So you start to… to develop and sprout a lot of fun things…

Arturo Ambriz: Why is there an hourglass that’s close to the limit?

Roy Ambriz: No one’s talked about the hourglass, have they?

Arturo Ambriz: I haven’t really seen that much…

Roy Ambriz: Hmmm… go figure.

Arturo Ambriz: Anyway… well. This one was by La Reina Cuervo, who we’re already familiar with because we had an interview with her this week, real fun. She’s asking how much time Frankelda spent with Herneval before they got trapped. And that question, well, can’t be answered because it’s something we’re going to see in the next seasons, what happens during this process. That is, once they cross that threshold at the crypt, at the graveyard, what Herneval and Francisca had to do, how they got to where they are right now. For sure, it’s in there, this story that’s still going to develop further.

Next question… ah, well, this one’s really simple. 199501 asks: ‘I don’t know whether you already answered this one, but what are the three witches’ names?’ And, the witch who speaks the most, the one that turns into a hen, the one that sings, her name is Totolina. We just barely realized we never had them mention their names, but in production her name was always Totolina. Then, the witch that turns into a toad, her name is Tamazola, and the witch that turns into a rabbit, a hare, her name is Tochina. Yeah?

Next question… ‘Does Herneval have some sort of power?’ question by Blackroses.

Roy Ambriz: Well, you saw that already, he does, right? And… his power is used three times along the first season. We can’t say more, but he definitely has. Well, he’s the Prince of Spooks, he has to have something special to him.

Arturo Ambriz: OK, next question… ‘Why does Tere play the theremin?’. Question by Lagunas X. Look, we realized long ago that… the theremin is like, the musical instrument of ghosts. The theremin, in every B-movie in Hollywood where there’s ghosts or aliens, zombies, it’s like… a sound that doesn’t seem to belong to this world, because it’s really similar to a human voice. But at the same time it sounds like the mix between a robot and a… a howl. So, it’s like, hard to decipher. So, the theremin has this whole symbolic weight which we love, ever since we created this studio ten years ago, the bumper of the intro we had, which was the Cinema Fantasma bumper, you can hear a theremin. So, for us it’s always been like the theremin is the Cinema Fantasma musical instrument. Personally, it’s my favorite musical instrument.

So, when we started to unravel this episode which I’ve told you about a while ago, that we wanted to get to this big moment of the orchestra in the alley with the dead children and the Boogeyman dancing, we start to realize we needed, like… a character who wanted to make music in order to get to this moment, and we realized it would be very original to have her play the theremin, because we’ve seen a million boys and girls who play the violin or the guitar, even Coco and Book of Life have this, right? You can always look for something different to… to give the show a unique flavor.

Moving on, Yara Edith asks: ‘Why is Frankelda from Hidalgo?’ And, get this, originally, this was only going to last one hour and we’re at, I think, an hour and a quarter. Let’s… let’s answer a few more questions and we’ll call it a day, also so you guys can have a nice Friday and not just sit there listening to us. Right, so let’s go back to Yara Edith’s question. Why is Frankelda from Hidalgo?

Roy Ambriz: Because, well, something both of us really wanted to do is… make something that felt… a series that felt Mexican but by someone who actually lives in México, y’know? Like, for there to be these little elements no one else who didn’t live in México could have, and it’s mixed in with experience. One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to is the Panteón Inglés. I love it. One of my best friends hails from there, from Pachuca, but she’d take us… back in college we went a lot of times, to- Hi, Rosa, if you’re watching.

Arturo Ambriz: I don’t think she is.

Roy Ambriz: I don’t think so because I didn’t even give her a heads-up, but OK. But we traveled a lot, and we made a lot of- she’s a photographer. And we did a lot of photography exercises at Panteon Inglés, and it’s just gorgeous. And… truth is that when we were framing this series, we said: ‘It just would be so cool that she was a Victorian ghost, right? In this big house.’ And back at the Pilot we couldn’t really get into it, show it, how we want to break away from that cliché, I mean, she is Victorian, and she is from that period, but it’s not in Europe, it’s in México. Because mixing in with history -which is something we also love, like, mixing in bits of truth- it’s around this time that the British arrived in there to, well… care for and extract from the silver mines, they brought in a lot of things, right? Soccer, the pasties, which turned into pastes, and whatnot. We figured it’d be really nice if Frankelda’s house is European because his dad is British, but he’s a British man who fell in love with a Mexican woman, and Frankelda’s born from that union.  Why? Because Frankelda- as you know, well, in México we’re a mixture of the European and the Mexican-origin, and, and we’re not- it doesn’t matter anymore, to us, origin doesn’t matter anymore, just that we’re Mexican, and that’s very Mexican.

And so, Frankelda is Mexican. She makes her stories up with the mixture of things, of elements within her head, and what better place than… I mean, if this beautiful place that actually exists in real life inspires us, well, we wanted to also pay homage to that place, and even though it’s not exactly identical, it is a rather latent inspiration for us.

Arturo Ambriz: Alright. Now, Emily Delgado asks us whether we’re giving some kind of courses or bachelor, and, yeah, actually yes, we’ve given several of them. Next year, we’ll reactivate our section called ‘Cinema Fantasma EDU’ which is where we give our courses, bachelor degrees, workshops, conferences on stop-motion. That’s a great way to learn. Stay tuned to our social media, cause that’s where we’re giving notice. Thing is, between COVID and all the work we had with ‘Frankelda’, we had to put this project on hold, well, this whole year. But we’re eager to get back into it and get it done. This is something we love, and we’re exploring other options, really cool ones too, with a certain… how do I put this, brand that makes online courses to make a very specific kind of thing. Really cool, we’re working really hard, I don’t want to spoil that either, because it will be announced in due time, but we’ve got more options coming up so we can talk and we can try to impart some of the knowledge we’ve been saving up all these years by making these productions.

Roy Ambriz: Good.

Arturo Ambriz: Very good. And… I think this will be our last question.

Roy Ambriz: Last question!

Arturo Ambriz: Let’s see… I’m looking for one that’s real good.

Roy Ambriz: Yeah, close it up with some meat, go on.

Arturo Ambriz: Something that makes fans speculate?

Roy Ambriz: Yeah.

Arturo Ambriz: …there’s just so many good ones. Let’s see, for instance… ah, look, this one’s nice because it additionally comes all the way from Chile. Sent by Gabriel Beltrán, and it’s: ‘Are the Spooks’ stories told on the show based on real legends or inspired on something of the sort?’

Roy Ambriz: And, well… it’s a mix of everything, right? We aren’t basing them on anything specific per se. I feel like we’ve already seen so much in México, in Mexican adaptations about Mexican legends. Which is really cool, but it’s already been done, even in animation. So, we wanted to do new ones. There’s characters like, for instance- in the… originally in the pitch, back when we hadn’t thought so much about it, the witches… the original concept art is somewhere around, they were more… European, more classic, or United States-like, with the hat and the broom and the stockings. And we were like: ‘No, we want it to be…to feel more like… witches who have somehow been living around a lot of places in México or Latin-America for a while, and who, as luck would have it, right now are living around Colonia Roma maybe, or La Condesa, something to that effect. How do we make it feel specific?’

So… it obviously comes from, well, people- we can’t say ‘We invented witches, we invented mermaids.’ Or anything. But they’re more like… characters and archetypes we take and resignify to things we’ve lived through, things within our imagination, and things we want to see. Maybe the one that’s more inspired in an existing character which we felt had barely even gotten representation in Latin-America is El Coco. The Boogeyman, always-he comes from… our mom always tells us this story, we’d mentioned it a couple of times, but my grandpa used to say to her, because we collected toys, and back in the nineties they were all monsters and stuff like that, really cool stuff. And my grandpa used to tell my mom: ‘Why would they ever be afraid of the El Coco if they have that kind of toy and aren’t scared by it?’. So, this Boogeyman character, like… a bum, or, just something that’s not exactly what we have in the collective imagination, but we had that idea floating around, and, well… we decided to capture it. And I hope we can see more of the El Coco in the future.

Arturo Ambriz: Totally… well, I think we’ve reached the limit with this session. We’re obviously absolutely thankful to you, this is why we want to keep creating these opportunities to chat. We know there was a lot more questions but, think about it, we’d be here for five hours. We’d be happy to, but we also don’t want to ruin your Friday, so I think the good stuff has to be, like… like, in moderation.

We’ll also take this chance to tell you that we seriously are on the constant lookout for everything you’ve posted on social media- look, for example, I have a physical fanart right here, and it’s so cool! But trust me when I say all the digital ones, all the ones I’ve found, I’ve shared them on my Instagram account and I’ve been saving them. I feel like it’s like I’m filling up my Panini album, I’m logging in all the time to see what I can find and save it. And something we would love to do here in Cinema Fantasma, we’d just have to rearrange the space, is to print all the fanart you’ve made, print out all the fanart you’ve made and post it over a wall in Cinema Fantasma even just a small print. Because, trust me that, for both of us as well as the whole crew it’s mind-blowing to see you liked what we worked so hard on, what we toiled so much to make. Right now, we’re seeing some of the fanarts we love on screen…

Roy Ambriz: Just not Tik Tok because…

Arturo Ambriz: Uh-huh, not Tik Tok.

Roy Ambriz: Because we’re… on a different one.

Arturo Ambriz: But it’s not that…

Roy Ambriz: Look how gorgeous! Wow!

Arturo Ambriz: It’s not that we’re only seeing the ones we like the most, y’know? We like all of them, it’s just that we did a quick search right now and these are the ones we had close-at-hand to show, but really, we love all of them, and all of them have their charm.

Roy Ambriz: Yes, and they’re beautiful, thank you so much. We’re very, very, very grateful with all the Fankeldos and Fankeldas…

Arturo Ambriz: Or Spooks.

Roy Ambriz: Or Spooks, or…

Arturo Ambriz: The Owls.

Roy Ambriz: The Owls and the Writers.

Arturo Ambriz: The Quills.

Roy Ambriz: Anything you like, thank you so much because Frankelda is alive thanks to you. Something we can say is… ‘Frankelda’ is a celebration of fiction. So although there’s a… an official storyline which comes from us and Cinema Fantasma, Frankelda, the thing she likes the most is to be alive. So, consider the stories you make for her, when they’re in your minds, in your hearts, to be canon as well. To you, to the one reading right now, it’s real, because Frankelda is alive. So… draw her, write her, think about her. It's so nice to see it, really, we’re super thankful. It’s… this is the best possible present for us after… for the whole team, after… such difficult years in order to keep it afloat, where we had to, well… work so much, sacrifice some things in order to get it out there. So, this is super gorgeous, and we’re sending hugs to absolutely all of you guys and… an announcement. A fun one.

I think it should be up by now, a new filter that you can find, called ‘Frankeldízate’. If you want to turn into Frankelda or in… if you want to be real Fankeldos and Fankeldas, you can use that. Please, use it, it’s really fun. You can use it to sing, you can use it to write, for anything you want, it’s up. Start using it. Tag us, please, we love to see everything you make.

Arturo Ambriz: Something very important we nearly forgot is… we have a little surprise giveaway, OK? We have 5 posters, signed by the whole team. By the team who made ‘Frankelda’s Book of Spooks’, the Cinema Fantasma team. And we’re going to give it to the first five people who answer the following question and sent it to our mail, frankeldafanart@gmail.com.  Repeating the address, frankeldafanart@gmail.com, OK? First five people to send the answer to this question, we’ll get in touch with you through the mail to see about sending it. If it’s within México City, it will be through our messenger boy, our dear Arturo, but if you’re not in México City, well, we’ll look for a way to get it to you through national or international mail. OK? So, the mail is frankeldafanart@gmail.com and here’s the question, OK? And it’s: How… where does-? We mentioned it a while ago. Where does Herneval’s name come from?

Roy Ambriz: Go!

Arturo Ambriz: There it is, we went into it in detail a while ago, so if you paid attention, you can answer that question. And we’ll look for a way to make… make some other dynamic so we can give away this kind of things. Is there anything else you want to add, Roy?

Roy Ambriz: Well… please use the #Frankelda. You can use the other ones, they’re really cool. The ‘Que Listo Sos, Herneval’ one, all the ones you’re making up, but also use the #Frankelda on its own, because that way we can get everything thrown together and it’s like evidence for us to show the producers of you wanting a second season. Be insistent. If you wish, insist at the Cartoon Network LA and HBOMax LA social media accounts in your different kinds of posts, but use… flood them with requests for ‘Frankelda’s second season because that’s the only way we’re getting it. So, if there’s a massive second season bombing, it’s way easier, I hope no one kills me for saying that, but it’s the truth and I have to ask. So, well, I think that’s all for this session. If you liked it, expect more. We’ll be announcing the date for the next one along with our guest star soon.

Arturo Ambriz: Also, believe us when we say, as Roy did a while ago, if we can talk for a bit about what ‘Frankelda’ represents, well, we highly, highly, highly recommend for you to read. It’s never too late to get close to literature. We already made it easy for you, why not start with ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley? I’d be very surprised if you didn’t love it, truly, it’s fascinating. It’s a beautiful, philosophical, horror, science fiction book, it’s got everything, y’know? It has family drama, it has traditions, it has murder, it’s an incredible book. Read. Write. That’s something I struggle with a lot regarding my students, as we’ve mentioned, we teach in a handful of classes, and I do see sometimes how they lack… reading, and this is also why we were so insistent on the main character of the show being a writer.

So, well, we’re finishing up and, I just read a great suggestion and it’s that we should leave but first we should put Herneval and Frankelda together, and we should leave them like that for a minute, leave them like this for a minute… and leave. Thanks, goodbye.

Roy Ambriz: Goodbye!

Arturo Ambriz: It’s been great.

[notelasts]

— riff lorton’s rp plotting cheat sheet

Mun name: Jasmine

OOC Contact: discord is my preferred platform, but i can chat in ims if you don't have discord

Who the heck is my muse anyway:

leader of the jets. cocky, reckless, and impulsive. not a person you’d want to bring home to your parents. the dog motif made into a human. doomed by the narrative before it even begins. the mercutio character. nihilistic. doesn’t like looking back (because he’s scared of what he’ll see.)

he’s incredibly loyal but it’s incredibly hard to get him to trust you. he runs his mouth and it’s going to get him into trouble one day. his parents were awful and he ran away at the age of twelve. he’s been living with tony wyzek and tony’s ma ever since, but when tony got arrested, riff stopped coming around his apartment. he’s lived on the streets for four years (ages fourteen to eighteen). he causes trouble with the jets a lot, and the local authorities are quickly growing tired of it.

Points of interest:

physical features

riff is tall (six feet) and incredibly skinny. he hasn’t had a proper meal in months. if he were to take his shirt off, your muse could probably see his ribs.

he has three tattoos: one of a jet plane on his right shoulder, the word “happy” on his left shoulder, and a bouquet of hydrangeas and roses that he got for his girlfriend, graziella, on his right forearm.

riff is typically dressed in jeans held up by a belt, a pair of old boots, and either a tank top under an old flannel button up or just the tank top on its own. he owns one set of nice clothes, which he wears to dances.

he has a very angular face, which is only accentuated by the fact that he’s so skinny.

his legs appear to be incredibly long, both thanks to the jeans he wears and his skinniness.

he is typically somewhat filthy at all times. he doesn’t have easy access to a shower or a bath, so most of the time he’s covered in a thin layer of dirt and sweat. kiss him at your own risk.

miscellaneous

riff is a bit of a territorial kid. he will tell you if you’re on the jets’ turf when you’re not supposed to be or allowed to be.

he has a dog that follows him around after the events of the movie happen. the dog’s name is tony and he tries his best to keep riff out of trouble.

riff is the self proclaimed best dancer in the west side.

What they’ve been up to recently:

causing trouble

riff is the leader of a gang of teenage boys. he runs around a lot and is a general menace to the citizens of san juan hill. your muse is most likely to run into him (sometimes literally) on the street.

dancing

riff absolutely loves to dance. he can dance for hours and sometimes he will. it’s not uncommon for him to be at dances multiple times a week, and if he sees your muse there, he’ll probably invite them onto the floor. he can also give them lessons if they want some.

recovering in the hospital

he was stabbed in a gang fight and rushed to the hospital by valentina and the jets. he doesn’t spend much time there, but he absolutely hates it when he’s in there.

Where to find them:

the docks

the docks are on the jets’ territory and it’s where riff spends most of his time in the summer. he will most likely be hanging around with the rest of the gang. they tend to go swimming a lot, so your muse should be prepared for a lot of teenage boys in their underwear if they decide to make their way down.

the warehouse

another place on the jets’ territory. it’s an old mechanic shop that closed down when the demolition started, and the jets took it over as their home base. they have parties there a lot and will hole up there and talk strategy if needed. it’s where they store all their weapons, along with whatever alcohol or drugs they happen to have at the time.

doc’s drugstore

the drugstore owned by valentina is neutral territory. there’s no fighting allowed on the premises and valentina is very good about enforcing that rule. the jets like to hang around and play pinball or read the magazines that val has out for sale. they’ll pool their money for a candy bar sometimes, but most of the time, they just steal the candy.

Current plans:

mourn & mope & Be Miserable

riff’s best friend died in the fight that he was stabbed in and he’s not speaking to the jets. he’s drunk more often than he’s not and he tends to mope around san juan hill with tony the dog at his heels.

Desired interactions:

the nurses/doctors at the hospital he was at

riff didn’t spend very long in the hospital before he snuck out, but he hated every second of the time that he was there. your muse could be a nurse or a doctor charged with dealing with him. he wouldn’t be a very good patient, and would likely be snarking at them the whole time, but he’s in a lot of pain so you’ll have to forgive him for it.

random pedestrians (specifically post canon)

find riff in a ditch! bring him home! nurse him back to health before he dies! this is something that i love exploring but i rarely get to. i can’t promise that riff will be grateful for your muse’s actions, but at least he won’t be drunk and moping anymore.

the daughters of rich families

if your muse is a rich girl, riff will be trying to fluster her. he’s an absolute menace of a flirt, and he loves getting rich girls all flustered and blushing.

Offered interactions:

handyman

riff knows a little of everything when it comes to keeping a house maintained. he’ll never say it, but he’s good with his hands and he’s good at fixing things. if your muse needs their wiring redone or a toilet looked at, riff is your man. he can also check out their car if needed.

dancing lessons

he wouldn’t mind giving someone dancing lessons. it would be incredibly informal, as he’s not a teacher, but it wouldn’t be too bad of a lesson.

jet leader riff

this is another thing that i love writing but rarely get to. riff as the leader of the jets is a little cocky and asshole-ish, but i love writing him, so if your muse is okay with riff being rude to them, he will be rude to them.

Current open post/s:

i don’t have any opens. i prefer to plot out interactions.

Anything else?:

riff’s canon takes place in the 1950s and riff is, unfortunately, a product of his time. i do not condone or agree with his racist behavior, and though i don’t like writing it, i don’t ignore it. my interpretation of riff stops speaking to the jets after they attempt to rape anita, the girlfriend of the leader of their rival gang. my interpretation of riff also has a rule in place that forbids any violence against women or children, no matter their race. he has potential for change. getting him to realize that is going to be the hard part.

[adultswim2021]

Yappy Broads #1 | February 22, 2010 (online) | Pilot

Yappy Broads isn’t too complicated to explain. It’s a The View style women’s program with five “women”, four of which are men in drag doing very little to actually act like women. We got Larry Dorf, Tommy Blacha, Earthquake, and Dino Stamatopoulos all wearing freaking dresses and dang-ass woman wigs. Their straight woman is Shandi Finnessey, an actual former beauty queen. One could sexistly say that she is there to look hot, but that would suggest that anyone else involved had some other higher purpose for being there.

First they talk to a woman peddling a workout for your face called “Facersize”. There’s chatter about various topics of the day, and then Corey Feldman stinks it up by hawking his CD and his bad Lost Boys sequel. Have you seen it? I haven’t, but I bet it’s bad. The closing credits feature a close-up of Shandi holding a shaky bunny rabbit, which is pretty nice. 

The entire thing is ad-libbed, with a group of funny fellas all chiming in with attempts to be funny. There are moments that show promise, and they usually involve Dino being cantankerous. It seems highly edited down, yet the highlights are still sparse. The single defining moment of this show is Earthquake commenting on a nose exercise: “you know how much cocaine you could do with your nose like this? (no audience response) You be tore up! (no laughter).” To be fair to the show, I did laugh at that, but not in a nice way.

There’s something special about watching TV go off the rails. But this seems like it was designed to already be off the rails. I didn’t really enjoy this. I can’t tell if the problem is that they’ve edited it down too much or if they didn’t edit it down enough. I would love to see the unedited taping of these segments to judge for myself. Even if this were especially funny, it still seems a little wrong to air something like this on a weekly basis.

Anyway, Shandi Finnessey has only done one nude photoshoot and it was for Peta.

MAIL BAG

The Simpsons has killed off its beloved character Larry Dalrymple or "Larry The Barfly." Thoughts on this development? Memories to share? Comments? Questions? Dyns?

I actually watched some of a YouTube video about this and the commenter took issue with the story of the episode being about Larry being lonely and left-out Homer and his friend's fun adventures, because they observed that Larry seemed like he was friends with the hat guy, and that it was a horrible omission. Like the writers should just be presenting an episode that strives to not contradict the previous 800 episodes instead of doing a specific, interesting story. Seemed like a baby-brained way of complaining about the show. My baby-brained takes on cartoons are the only takes that truly matter.

Soul Quest Overdrive has the leader of the proud boys as a voice actor on the show. He was the one who spearheaded that whole January 6th insurrection thing back in 2021, the one that every news outlet was comparing to 9/11 when it was really more like the world's biggest temper-tantrum. He blamed the show being cancelled on the other VA's "Not being as funny" as him.

It's weird how I've hated that guy for as long as I've known about him, and him doing a 180 politics-wise did nothing to affect his standings. But January 6th is maybe the hardest I've ever laughed at anything, so I guess he does deserve some credit.

I don't really know WHY they changed them to sports equipment, this is pure conjecture, but maybe AS felt like having 2 food shows on at the same time was a bit too cheap/cash grabby, so they changed them to differentiate it a bit more. I know they've shot down shows related to hell and food when Development Meeting was still running since they hit that well so many times.

Yeah, that actually does sell the case for it being a creative decision. Maybe it's not sneaky at all, what they're doing.

As for "Eggball", if you look closely on the pinball machine you can see black shake as a decal on it, still on (HBO)max. They can erase a HNIC but they can never erase history.

I had read about black guy cup being on the machine, but I simply must admit that I did not notice it myself!!! Not sure what those letters mean there, but I'm going to assume that none of them are slurs and publish this immediately without looking it up.

[ecargmura]

Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective Episode 11 Review - The Mad Chameleon

My biggest worry going into this episode was whether this one would be as poorly written as Episode 5, which also happened to star Kawasemi, but it wasn’t. To my surprise, this was a lot better in execution. At least, I won’t have to worry about Kawasemi episodes being poorly written going forth.

Basically, Kawasemi has lost his groove ever since Yamane got arrested. He’s making basic errors and fumbling around a lot. Toto got sent to the Aichi Prefecture to help with a report, and to check up on Kawasemi on Amamiya’s request; while Amamiya just wants to see how bad Kawasemi is doing, she does care about him in her own way. The murder case regarding the Mad Chameleon was something Toto and Kawasemi happened to stumble upon as they were heading back from the souvenir shop; like I mentioned before, Toto is a crime magnet as crimes keep happening whenever he’s in the vicinity.

What I’ve noticed is that, in both Kawasemi episodes, the murderer is usually just a random person and not really a character for people to get assimilated with. Like with the Hand Collector, all we knew about him was his name, his obsession with hands, and that he already died. There wasn’t really any time to get to know about him; the same goes for the Mad Chameleon. We don’t know anything about this guy other than he’s someone Kawasemi arrests because he murdered someone. To be honest, I did feel a bit stupid as I couldn’t figure out the culprit. How was I supposed to know he had a watch? That felt like it came out of left field.

This episode is just Toto and Ron helping Kawasemi get his groove back; fortunately, Ron knows how to do so. The way he dressed up so slobbish was a test to see if the eagle eye would come back, but it was super hilarious. Ron calls himself Near-sighted Kamosemi and is trying to give Kawasemi a run for his money in order to help put his mojo back together. The way he copies Kawasemi was hilarious, especially with the tongs. He looks great with glasses though. It’s funny how he looks like the Persona 5 protagonist in front of the character voiced by the P5 Protagonist (Kawasemi’s VA voices him). Fortunately, it works as Kawasemi reverts back to his usual self by pointing out Ron’s imperfections; seeing Ron with two different socks and shoes was hilarious.

Other than the crime scene, the subplot around Ron is about him getting examined to see if his condition is genetic or something in his brain. It turns out that it’s neither. It’s just something that could have affected him after the incident. The mystery behind this disposition gets bigger. Though, it was nice seeing Dr. Usaki again. I also liked the part where Ron and Toto were in the train and they were talking about Ron having friends; Ron doesn’t have any friends, nor did he have any back then, but he considers Toto to be his friend. How sweet. It does make a bit of sense why Ron acts like a troll at times; he never had friends, so he’s unsure how to behave around them and whether people would tolerate his behavior. Toto knows how to behave around him and tolerates his antics, which is why Ron is rather fond of him.

Since last episode was a one-off murder crime, the opening for today’s episode got updated. When Toto meets up with Ron at the cafe, you can see the three girls from the last episode on the farthest left table. There’s also Chikori in front of the cafe entrance. It’s nice to see them! Now that there are two more episodes left, I’m curious on what they will be. Will they be a two-parter or two stand alone episodes? What are your thoughts on seeing Kawasemi again?

[blazernot]

Magnus Archives Season One Thoughts

Alright so I finished the first season of The Magnus Archives and I have plenty of thoughts.

I love John Sims- what a guy what a man! The man of all time. There's no way that this man wasn’t born with an office job, John came out of the womb a tax player. I love how the va changes his voice to match the stories but I just picture John getting really into reading these statements. The others watch from a distance as he gets into character. This is the only joy he gets from his job. He could log into a zoom meeting completely dressed while everyone else is still in pajamas. He wakes up at like 5:30 and organizes spoons or something. The heart to heart he has with Martin in the finale is living in my head rent free. “Because I’m scared” Ohmy goshhhhh. Local man denies what’s right in front of him because he doesn’t want to confront the unknown. I can’t even blame him like it can’t be easy to learn that there is no god only incomprehensible creatures that only want you dead. But he is also just a rude little man. I adore him. I can’t wait to watch him fall deep into paranoia 

The other three are so normal. Like Sasha, Martin, Tim? Normal people. These are just guys and I also love them. Like I don’t have a lot of thoughts about Tim except that I think he would’ve been the nice jock when he was a teen. Sasha and Martin have come head first with the worms and he’s like :D. Until the ending where he’s like D:. Idk why John doesn’t like Martin but I do. Martin to me is just like, he’s the new guy he just got out of school and doesn’t want to upset his boss. I think he and Sasha would watch cartoons together idk. Local man lives in the break room. 

I can’t choose a single favorite story, I think my favorites are The Piper, Lost Johns’ Cave, Cheating Death, Free Fall, and Jane’s one I can’t remember which one that was. But I honestly enjoyed them all. Despite just being audio it does a really good job of painting the picture. Like in free fall, the man just gets lost inside a windows background. The sky eats a guy and we just move past it. I really like Cheating Death and The Piper because of the historical stuff and I’m like :D!!! The Cave one was awful (In a good way) . I don't understand cavers. Why would you ever squish through a tiny space on Earth what the heck. Then the audio 

I didn’t know how they were going to pull off an attack but it worked really well! I am a little worried that as the series goes on it’ll lose some of its magic but I hope it doesn’t and I have faith. Once again I love John and Martin’s heart to heart and how John wants to be remembered. He’s been reading all these cases about people meeting unfortunate fates and people not knowing what happened to them, heck, homeboy doesn’t even know what happened to Guertrude. I don’t blame him. And the reveal of her being shot to death was something I wasn’t expecting. I was thinking that she would either be still alive somewhere or something something evil being but no, she’s just dead in a tunnel. Like John, I too was unsettled. I do not trust Elias. He hasn’t done anything but I do not trust him. I also do not trust that this is Sasha. She totally got wormed.

So at the end I just want to know more about these characters, like why are they here, what made John want to work here. Plz, John. That one conversation he and Sasha had “I don’t think this is a normal job” y’all work in the ghost place. Y’all work in the ghost place!! 

Concluding thoughts: Yeah. I gotta draw these guys and I’m looking forward to season two

[childofaura]

I know that your experience with FE Engage so far hasn’t been great but who were your favourite characters so far during your playthrough and why?

Augh man… I don’t know if I’m the best person to ask about characters; I dropped so many or didn’t pick others up because of how desperate I was to just progress; and with no constant skirmishes, I didn’t have the privilege to really invest in them when I was already investing in others.

So I’m gonna do a list of the characters I like, and a list of the characters I wish I could have invested in.

Characters I like:

Zelkov- Stated many times, but even though Ivy (unfairly) gets credit for bringing the rings to you, it was Zelkov who stole the rings and the Time Crystal. Chapter 11 was my most frustrating chapter at that time; the freezes, the teleporting, the extra movement. Zelkov was literally my shining light and that’s when I swore to marry him. Him being kind, gentle, and handsome was just a bonus.

Veyle: GOSH I CAN’T GET INTO IT IN JUST A SHORT LITTLE SEGMENT BUT VEYLE. IS PERFECT. There WILL be a whole post delving into her character.

Hortensia: I brought it up briefly but Hortensia really does (ONLY IN MY SUBJECTIVE OPINION) have the better character arc and personality. She’s also cute as a button and whoever voices her does an amazing job.

Rosado: Aside from being pretty and well-designed, Rosado’s actually a genuinely nice character and just… way better than Rosemary. I don’t know if the English VA says it with just as much flamboyance, but his Japanese “EMBLEMU, ENGAAAAAAGE!” is my favorite.

Jean: Listen, this kid is the ONLY original recruitable character in a paralogue (original, Anna doesn’t count). I’m gonna keep this kid with me no matter what.

Fogado: I honestly don’t need to say much. I do feel bad for saying this, but I think he’s more charismatic than Timerra, who I never used. I actually kind of ship him with Hortensia, so when all this is said and done, I kind of want to do a comic where they reunite again later when they’re both adults and they start catching feelings for each other. Mark my words, I WILL do it.

Mauvier: Man, this guy was one of my marriage options because his character was just so fascinating. As much as I’ve come around to Marni and Griss, their character development is very… last minute. Which feels really cheap because while it’s GOOD character backstory, you don’t get to enjoy it. But Mauvier’s growth and character was so well-defined and progressed properly that you just KNOW he’s gonna be important.

Alcryst: He may be timid but he crits at the most needed times, my man. Also again, I love his personality and character growth and dynamic with Diamant.

Citrinne: Also really cool, didn’t know she was Diamant and Alcryst’s cousin until supporting her with Diamant, which bugs me. That’s important info and I feel like she should have been included in the Brodia cutscenes.

Lapis: Listen. I love this baby girl. I love her to death. But her STATS, man. I get that I massively fucked up and promoted her too early (14 or 15), but I struggle with her keeping up. I’m NOT abandoning her though, I love my farm girl.

Etie: Stated before, but I like her unique character design (dainty-dressed lady with abs) and she’s saved my ass. Though it’s weird/funny how her bow twitches like cat ears during cutscenes.

So those were units I actually use, whom I like. And these ones are units I wish I could have invested in:

Panette: LOVE the Day of the Dead aesthetic, love that she’s a berserker. But at the time I was still trying to salvage Boucheron, so I never picked her up. Which sucks because I ended up dropping Boucheron completely.

Kagetsu: I REALLY wanted to work with him, because it’s fascinating that he’s the only Japanese-based character, he reminds me of Say’ri and Yen’fey. But I stuck with Lapis.

Saphir: I like her a lot, and I loved her support with Vander. But I just couldn’t get started on using her because she showed up so late, and I was trying to work with the units I had. I enjoy the older female characters.

Pandreo: Loved this party boy. I tried sticking with him for a few levels, but eventually had to go back to Jean. For what it’s worth though, he was a good reliable unit and I liked his character.

Boucheron: Ok I know I said I dropped him, but gosh dammit I REALLY wish he worked out! But he was super unreliable during my run (and I get it, that’s just how berserker units are in FE), wouldn’t land decently percentaged hits and wouldn’t crit very much. I think his character was pretty funny and well-defined, but they didn’t lean very much into the “cries easily” part of his personality for some supports.

Merrin: Wolf rider. That’s all I need to say.

But yeah, that’s the big ol’ comprehensive list. I probably will NOT be replaying Engage so I can’t really say much, though I’ll happily build most of these units in FEH when they get added.

[aeroplaneblues]

Alright! its time for top anime of 2022 list🎉

This year I didn't watched that many however I did found some good ones! 2 of those are recurring shows which I try to avoid, as this might be used as a rec list, but I like them that much!

the tldr; is on twitter

10- Vampire in the garden: this one was on netflix which I guess is why it didn't get that much attention, i like the concept and visuals were very nice its a bittersweet end but I quite enjoyed. 09- Raven of the inner palace: the story is interesting, its starts very monster of the week style with ghosts then moves to a main villain, the relationships between the MC and the rest of the cast is honestly the highlight. My only complain is pronunciation of the names are jp localized so I hope this gets a chinese dub. 08- Gundam: the witch of mercury: the last gundam i watched was wing and do not remember anything but i know its reputation, I gave this one a chance because the designs are really fun and I also went in with the idea that it was yuri bait. TURNS OUT this might not be what I was expecting, there is one more ep of this + the rest of the cour so I'm hoping it improves from here. The characters carry this for me even the background ones, they all feel like characters not props! Plus ZERO GRAVITY HUGS!! 07- Mob psycho 100 III: I know this list is numbered but I love all of these equally ! However, this in comparison with s1 and s2 is one of the weakest, maybe bc it had to close loose ends? idk but its still a good one, the moment I cry was with ekubo more than reigen i know i know but reigen had his moment in s2 and I think that hit harder. Time to read the manga! 06- My dress-up darling: this is ecchi, im saying this first bc if people barely tolerate bnha fanservice this is not for you. I usually avoid this but I was dumb and didn't saw the tag😂 and I got attached to the main characters and the story, I read the manga and the ecchi is very far and far between as the story progresses. I think it has a lot of heart and its quite fun love story, plus you learn so much about cosplaying! 05- Sasaki and miyano: cutest bl I've ever watched/read, sasaki reminds me of childe which I find it so funny I can't unsee it. Miyano isn't your uwu protagonist and their relationship is build sloooowly on a lot of love and respect. Its nice to see this type of bl without its usual uh nonsense. 04- The case study of vanitas II: the thing about this second season is that i didn't know if bones was going to adapt everything, the manga updates at shoujo pace and has had rough months of absence HOWEVER it was all adapted, like a month after the last ch came out we saw that ep which is the wildest thing for me tbh. Anyway that last ep is why this is here, it was the BEST fight scene ending like [SPOILERS] watch it, it was amazing. 03- Chainsaw man: yeah i know ofc this is here, this is one of the best adaptations I've ever watched, it is beyond perfect. Several episodes I felt like I was watching a movie, can't rec it enough it even has its own mads mikkelsen inspired character voiced by the same va of the other mads mikkelsen inspired character from my other fave show. Also love the detail how mappa draws shoes as fujimoto draws them. 02- Spy x family: this is another good adaptation, I started reading this manga in 2019?? And I kept thinking how GOOD of a story it was and it was a shame so little attention it got, but now with the anime its got the much deserved attention. I adore it immensely, here is hoping for a continuous success.

01- Bocchi the rock: THIS is at the top bc of how relatable it is for me and what a nice surprise to know its actually a good anime. I was expecting it to be another "cute girls do cute things" like "do it yourself" from this year and I wasn't wrong its just that it has a little more depth than that. All the girls have good and bad traits, goals and obstacles to overcome so the story focuses on that with their collective goal of playing music. As someone with social anxiety that lean on rock/playing guitar to make friends and not succeeding on that front I want to see bocchi accomplish her goals, its cathartic like that. Also the animator are truly having fun with the different styles of animating the jokes which is always a treat to watch.

If you got it to this part, thank you so much for reading! If you give any of this a chance and like them let me know! I love talking about anime as you can see haha. I hope next year the season isn't as dry mid way so I get to watch more!

Happy New Year!!🎉

[wallflower-koharu]

Hello again! This week, let’s ask this: who are some characters who have never met that you’d love to have meet? I think that Sapphire and Iris would have a lot of fun outdoorsy adventures! Alternately it would be immensely entertaining to put Gary, Ruby, Drew, Paul, Harley, Barry, Burgundy, and Gladion in a room together like some sort of hellish rival gathering just to see what happens. Bonus ask: place your guesses on how that would go if you feel like it. Go wild. 

Hi :) this is a nice ask. I always think of how different people would meet in pokeani and then I get salty about the missed opportunities.

Let's start with Chloe:

-Chloe and Marnie. I wished this since 2019, since they look opposites in outfits but also complementary. Yamper and Morpeko could have been best buddies and Marnie could have been the opportunity for Chloe to try battles.

Marnie is a character who looks stoic and intimidating, but she is just shy and struggles to show her true feelings. Chloe is more tough than her looks and can see through the appearence.

I imagined Chloe teaching Marnie how to smile, despite her not smiling that much during 2019-2020 (I don't blame her)

-Chloe and Lillie (and Mallow). Lillie, on the other way around, is similar to Chloe in looks (braid and white dress, also her last outfit with puffy sleeves looks like Lillie's sweatshirt. They both are studious, quiet and they had problems with pokemon in the beginning of the series. Also Eevee and Vulpix being fox buddies.

Mallow is the outgoing and welcoming one for the new people in Alola. She did welcome Ash, Goh and .... not Chloe. Okay, I liked the 2 second talk between Chloe and Suiren, but why make her interact only with eevee people????

-Chloe and Sonia. Yamper lovers. Sonia did struggle about her life path, like Chloe. She could have been a mother/big sister figure to her.

-Chloe and May. This will never happen, sigh. They could talk about their annoying (affectionate) little brothers.

-Chloe and Iris (and Misty) Iris and Misty could go so well together. Misty and Chloe would be the first and last pokegirl to meet and it would be fun to see their contrasting personalities. Iris' VA wanted Chloe and Iris to meet but got ignored.

-Chloe and Penny. The Paldea gang's fits SO WELL with Journeys ' characters.

Penny is a shy girl who had problems at school and has all of the Eeveelutions (or VeeVees). Chloe is drawn to shy people the most and had a school setting, also Eevee. They were made to be friends.

Also a nice detail: AU Chloe is a hacker like Penny.

-Chloe and Gary: uhm...it looks like Chloe wasn't allowed to interact with guys.

Gary has an Umbreon, is a professor's grandson and could have been a good mentor to Chloe.

All of the pokegirls should meet each other, most of all Misty and Serena: Misty likes Kalosian things, and Serena admires strong girls A LOT.

Mallow and May: food.

Mallow, Cilan and Brock: talking about recipes. Serena could join too, if they talk about desserts.

-Gary and Gladion (and Goh): the first two are my favorite Ash's rivals and could get along well together (also their Umbreons). Goh didn't interact with Gladion and I think it would have been funny. They would dislike each other at first but they would like each other in the end.

-Gary and Serena:

-....and then I threw a snowball at Ash. I still feel so bad.-

-No, you did great.

-Nessa, Misty and Sonia. Misty looks like their daughter and I think she would admire Nessa. Also Sonia and Misty are both really extroverted.

-Goh and Arven: They could go researching about the Herba Mystica together and they would bond over being the only child and absent parents. (Arven's case is more extreme but I think the writers would resize it in the anime)Arven becomes Goh's big brother.

-Nemona, Hop, Hau and Ash: Hop and Hau are already best friends in my AU. If Nemona and Ash could meet, the anime would be 100 percent about battles and nothing else anymore /j

-Bede and all of the mean rivals: Put them in a room, who will go out crying first? The room.

[bakuhoes-dumbass]

Aberration - Chapter 1

MHA!Various x Fem!Reader

Thriller/Horror/Drama

Criminal!AU

Words: 2.3k

A/N: Yay, here’s the first chapter of my new AU! It might be a little slower at first but it’ll pick up the further we get into it. So I hope you like this!

Warnings: Yandere Themes, Mentions of murder, blood, felonies, bullying, swearing.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of MHA, just this story. In no way does this reflect the characters, writers or VAs of the show/manga. MINORS DNI.

~~~

Aberration Masterlist/Character profiles

~~~

In this world, mutations, renamed as ‘Quirks’, are abnormal. Only about 5%-8% of the world population are known to have these so called ‘Quirks’. You are a graduate of one of the most prestigious science tech schools in the country. You’ve been selected to work for a secret scientific research facility that houses some of the most notorious criminals in the nation. Besides their crimes, what makes these individuals incredibly dangerous are their mutations. After meeting these individuals, they seem to have taking a liking to you. That should make your research and search for the cure all that much easier…

Right?

~~~

Before you stands one of the largest facilities you have ever seen. You take a deep breath, attempting to calm your rapidly beating heart. Adjusting the strap on your bag, you make your way into the research center.

Upon entering, you gasp in wonder. The inside is huge, tall pure white walls that meet at a double paned glass ceiling. In front of you is a wall of security, stretching to accommodate the vast interior of the lobby. You walk up to the nearest security officer and give them your information. Thankfully, you were on a list and after checking you over, you're granted entrance to the building.

That's where you meet a man and a woman, both dressed in white lab coats and carrying clipboards. You bow your head to the two of them and they return the gesture.

"Ms. Y/N, I presume? My name is Shota Aizawa and this is my assistant, Momo Yaoyorozu." The older of the two speak.

You smile at the two. "Yes, nice to meet you. I'm Y/N, L/N, graduate of UA science tech. I am so happy to be here and look forward to working with the two of you."

The younger girl nods and smiles, gesturing behind the two of them. "If you would kindly follow us, we can get started."

~~~

"Ms. Y/N, here's the list of the inmates you will be working with from this point on."

Momo hands you a clipboard containing pictures and descriptions of each individual. Your eyes scan the information on the page in front of you, your brow raising with each word you read. "There is… quite a bit of information on these individuals."

Aizawa nods. "Considering how dangerous the subjects are, it's best to have every detail we can."

You internally cringed at the term 'subject'. These were criminals, yes, but they were still living breathing people. Noone deserves to be dehumanized, no matter the reason.

Shaking your head of those thoughts, you continue to look over the notes in your hands. One in particular catches your eye. " 'Multiple counts of 3rd degree murder by reason of insanity' and yet he's only deemed as a level 4 danger?"

The doctor looks over your shoulder at the character profile. "Ah, yes. Fumikage Tokoyami. He's an interesting one, to say the least." You wait for him to continue, but seeing as it doesn't seem like he will, you gesture for him to elaborate. "Tokoyami himself is actually fairly harmless and incredibly cooperating, which is why he gets a level 4 only. However…" Aizawa looks down the hall of the facility to a door near the end. "Dark Shadow is deemed a level 9."

Your eyes shoot up in shock. "Dark Shadow? A level 9? Explain."

"Dark Shadow is his mutation. It's a completely sentient being that he harbors inside of him. Highly dangerous, more so if there is darkness." He looks back at you. "I'll let him explain the reason why he was instituted. He always prefers to explain the story himself."

The more Aizawa explains Tokoyami's situation, the more your excitement builds up, wanting desperately to meet this man. This was such an interesting mutation and you couldn't wait to hear everything he had to tell you. You take a breath to calm your childish manner and clear your throat.

"If it's alright with you, sir, I'd like-" You look down at your clipboard once again. "'Inmate 06' to be the first one I meet with."

Aizawa nods and writes something down in his notebook. "Very well. Follow me this way please."

You follow the doctor down the long white hallway, your excitement growing with each step. Along the way, you notice each door on the facility that lines either side of the stretched hall. Each door had a narrow window towards the top and a small number engraved underneath. You don't take too much notice and keep following the doctor to your destination. However, an eerie feeling makes you freeze in your tracks.

You slowly rotate your head and look at the inmate's door you stopped next to. The color drains from your face as you see two ice blue eyes peering right into yours. It felt like your breath was stolen, a hint of fear and anxiety built up within you from this intense gaze. After what felt like hours, you snap your gaze back to Aizawa and Momo, who were standing in front of a door you were also supposed to be at.

"I would highly advise you to keep cautious while you are in this facility. While we keep all inmates in cuffs that neutralize their mutations, the technology has not been 100% perfected yet and parts of their powers may leak out. That is why we have additional precautionary measures in place for each inmate." Aizawa gives you an impartial look as you walk over. "Now. The only special precaution with Inmate 06 is the lights must stay on at all times. There are no light switches in his cell, so nothing should go wrong. But like I said, always stay cautious."

You nod your head at the doctor's words and turn to face the door. Aizawa places a hand onto the keypad next to the door, scanning his prints before buzzing and opening the door. You give the man one last nod before making your way inside the room. The room itself is bare. White floors, white walls and an equally white ceiling. Nothing was in there except a desk with a chair and a bed.

On top of that bed sat a young man with the body of a human and the head of a crow. Your eyes widen in awe at the beautiful being in front of you. Tokoyami tilts his head and gives you a curious look.

"Oh. Hello, there. I've never seen you before."

The deep voice of the man shocks you. You bow your head and give the bird man a smile. "Hello, Tokoyami. My name is Y/N. I'm the new scientist at this facility. I'm here to get to know and observe you all to help further our findings for a cure. I hope we can be friends."

Tokoyami blinks. "You want to be… friends? With us?"

"Yeah, of course. Why not?" Your smile never leaves your face.

"Well, maybe because we're all… felons? The greater majority of us being murderers?"

"I truly believe everyone deserves a second chance." You gesture to the desk chair, silently asking if you could sit. The man nods and you greatly take your seat. "Now, would you ever be so kind as to answer a few questions for me, Tokoyami? I would like to get to know you a little better." You take out your pen and notebook, opening to a fresh page.

Tokoyami nods again and you give him a smile. "Just a few standard questions first. Can you please state your full name, age and date of birth?"

"Fumikage Tokoyami, age 22, October 30th."

"What is the name of your quirk and how does it work?"

Tokoyami fiddles with the quirk-cancelling cuffs around his wrists at the mention of his quirk but answers anyway. "It's called Dark Shadow. It's a fully sentient shadow that resides inside my body. It can come out when I call call it or it can show itself on it's own. But it's always connected to me and cannot be separated. It…" Tokoyami takes a breath. "It gets stronger the darker my surroundings are. So the less light, the less control I have over it. If it gets too dark, it completely takes over me, no longer under my control."

The longer you listen to him, the wider your eyes get and the more they shine in wonder. "That is incredible! To have that kind of quirk is truly fascinating!"

Hearing your words of praise would have made Tokoyami blush, if he could. He clears his throat in embarrassment. "Why, thank you for those kind words. Though, I doubt having this...quirk, as you say, is all to be impressed about."

You shake your head. "You may not think so, but really, I've never seen anything like it." You excitedly write a few things down before making eye contact with him again. "Now onto my final question of the day. Can you please tell me the reason why you are here?"

Tokoyami stays silent for a moment, staring at nothing in particular, residing in his thoughts. You clear your throat and he looks up to you. You give him a small, comforting smile and it causes Tokoyami's heart to beat harder. For some unknown reason, he suddenly feels like he can trust you with anything.

"I've been charged with multiple counts of 3rd degree murder." He sighs, recalling that day. "I was invited to a college party on a date, by someone whom I had grown quite infatuated with. I never really was one to socialize and never really had any friends. But I really liked this person, so I went. At first it was going okay, nothing too out of the ordinary. Then, the host decided that playing truth or dare was the way to go.

 So my date dragged me to sit down and join them. Every time I was asked, I always chose truth. And everytime, their questions were about my appearance, my mutation. Laughing at all my answers, mocking my looks, talking about how unnatural I was. The more they asked, the more my anxiety and anger built up. But my stubbornness didn't want to show any weakness, so I stayed. 

Finally, I decided to just choose dare instead. At that point, I decided that nothing could be more humiliating than what they've already done." His sharp, red eyes flickered to yours. "Oh, how wrong I was. They dared me to go into the closet with my so-called 'date'. We were shut in and from then, they decided to tell me how this whole thing was a set up, just to humiliate me. That anyone with mutations like myself should just disappear because of how disgusting we are." He spits out that word like it was rotten food. "Remember how I said Dark Shadow gains control in the dark? Well, with my anger rising and the fact that it was almost pitch black in that closet, I lost control of myself and Dark Shadow took control of me. Next thing I remember, I was standing in the middle of the college dorm party, blood painting the floors, the walls, and the entirety of my class slaughtered."

You almost dropped your pen in shock but regained your composure. You give the poor young man a sad smile. He sighs and finishes off his explanation. "I was arrested and charged with multiple counts of 3rd degree murder by reason of insanity, considering I was technically not in my right state of mind at the time."

The two of you sit there in silence, basking in all this new-found information. You close your notebook and set your pen down, facing Tokoyami directly. "Listen to me. There is nothing wrong with the way you look or your quirk. Just because it isn't the societal norm, doesn't mean it's disgusting or wrong. Remember that."

Tokoyami blinks in surprise."Um, thank you." Those were the only words he could say, as how shocked he was at what you said.

You tilt your head and stare at him. "If I may ask, would I be able to feel your head? I'm very curious as to what your feathers feel like. It would greatly help my research as well."

"Oh. U-um, yeah. Sure."

You move to gently sit next to Tokoyami, so as to not startle him too much. You slowly lift your hand and place it on his head, eyes lighting up as you card your fingers through his feathers. "Oh wow, they're so soft!"

Tokoyami's heart speeds up, his feathers ruffling at your touch. He gazes at you with something akin to admiration. No one was ever gentle with him like this before. After another few seconds, you retreat your hand, Tokoyami almost whimpering at the absence.

"Well, I better get going. I have quite a few more things to do today before my shift is over." You gather up your things and bow your head at the half bird boy. "I greatly appreciate your time and look forward to our future sessions. Have a good rest of your day!" You smile at Tokoyami before heading back to the door and signaling Aizawa to open it.

"Goodbye, Ms. Y/N. I look forward to meeting with you again." Tokoyami watches you leave his room. Once you're gone, he runs his hand through his feathers, imagining they were your fingers.

As the door closes, you turn to Aizawa who gives you a disappointed look.

"What?"

"You touched the inmate. Why in the hell would you do that?"

You place your hand on your hip and give the doctor a stern look. "I was curious about his mutation and wanted to see how it felt."

He sighs and runs a hand down his face. "We try to avoid any physical contact with any of the inmates, as it may trigger something deep within them. Remember, Y/N. Every single one of these individuals are dangerous and unstable. Any abnormal behavior could result in catastrophic consequences."

You sigh and shake your head, giving him a chaste nod. "Yes, Sir. You're right. I promise to heed your warning and modify how I work."

The doctor looks satisfied as he turns on his heel and walks further down the long hallway. You quickly follow to keep up. "Now, on to your next subject. Inmate 04, Eijiro Kirishima." You flip the page of your inmate profiles to see a picture of a red-haired man. "He is of a higher danger level, so make sure to keep your guard up. And for the love of God, under any circumstances…

Do not touch him."

~~~

Taglist: @theblueslytherin @sterassion @somechick30003 @meena-in-a-nutshell @justtj-andnonumberspls @zombieonna @amajikiwife @yulifee @atexansadventureintokinkandlife @ep-ip-ha-ny @hcneymilkks @pastelmoonwitche @stayarmytinyzenmoa-l @railmeddy @unlimitedfirepheonix @confaegion @drownedbytears @burntcrips @silverqueenie @the-lady-writes-what @awkward-confused 

[If your name is bolded, I was unable to tag you.]

[fific7]

Evil Twins - Part 1

Billy Russo & Aleksander Morozova x Reader

Summary: When two worlds which have already collided then collide with yours - that’s an explosive situation.

A/N: This does not follow canon, it’s mainly a mix of fluff and angst with quite a lot of lemon zest 🍋 My Fantasy Punisher/Shadow and Bone crossover AU.

Warnings: 18+ NSFW due to sexual content including oral and unprotected* sex between consenting adults. Some drinking & swearing.

*Irl, please don’t go wild in the country without protection.

(My photo edit)

New York City

Billy Russo awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright in bed and grabbing for his Glock. What the hell? Thunder was rumbling loudly overhead and he sighed, putting the gun back under his pillow and laying his head back down. It was probably the bright flash of the lightning followed by the beginning of the thunderclap that had awakened him.

He was just closing his eyes again when he spotted something, only vaguely visible in the dim light from outside, in the corner of his room. It was…. swirling?

Grabbing his gun again, he sat up and pointed the Glock at the corner. It was getting bigger. “You’ve got two seconds to show yourself before I blow your fucking head off,” he announced, calmly.

He squinted a bit to get a better look but it didn’t make much difference. What the fuck was it?! Smoke? He decided he had no choice and leant over, switching on the wall-mounted bedside light.

The… smoke cloud?… was still increasing, becoming bigger and blacker with every second. Then he saw the vaguest silhouette of a tall figure within it, moving towards him. He leapt out of bed, on the far side of it so it was between him and whatever the fuck this was.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Aleksander Morozova - or General Kirigan, the Darkling, the Black Heretic, the Starless Saint, whichever of his many names he decided to call himself at any given point in time - could see a tall figure brandishing some kind of strange gun at him as he began to emerge from the swirling shadows.

Following certain unfortunate incidents - including a huge and furious argument with his darling mother - he’d decided it would be politic to get out of Ravka for a while, much as he didn’t really want to. But this wasn’t where he should’ve ended up. What was this place?

He emerged completely from the shadows and immediately felt something bounce off his kefta. He heard a ‘ding’ and looked down at the wooden floor at his feet. A bullet.

Looking quickly back up, he saw that the man opposite him was glaring at him, eyes wide and unbelieving, gun still pointing at him. He also realised that looking at this man was like looking in a mirror.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy was dumbfounded. He’d just shot the fucker! And the bullet had bounced off him. Fuck. He threw the gun down onto the bed and slid his hand under his other pillow, pulling out his Ka-Bar. No way he’d get past that.

He took a moment to have a good look at the dude opposite him.

Dressed in riding boots and some kinda long black tunic thing, with a black fur-collared full-length cape over it. What a freak! Was he a goth or something? But then he realised something even freakier…. this guy looked exactly like him.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

The two of them were still contemplating each other, when finally Billy spoke. “Who are you? And what are you?”

Aleksander laughed. “Usually it’s me asking those questions.” Billy huffed, “You’re in my fuckin’ apartment, so just answer them!” He saw the guy draw himself up, and he said, “I am Aleksander Morozova, also known as General Kirigan, commander of the Second Army of the Grisha.”

“Means fuck all to me,” grunted Billy. “One name not enough for you? And why do you look like me? Are you some kinda shapeshifter or somethin’?”

“I have many names because I am centuries old. And I don’t know what a… shapeshifter?…is,” said the other, “…but I am the Shadow Summoner. And who are you? Where is this?” he waved a hand round at the apartment.

Billy scoffed, “Centuries old?!! Oh fuck off. You’re the same age as me by the looks of ya! I’m Billy Russo, ex-US Marine Lieutenant and now CEO of Anvil. That’s a security company, mainly staffed by ex-military vets. And this….” he also waved his hand around, “…is my penthouse apartment in New York City.”

Aleksander shook his head, “I have never heard of that place.”

Billy eye-rolled, “How can you not have heard of New York?!” he asked, incredulously. “And what the fuck is a Shadow Summoner?”

“It’s becoming obvious we are from two different worlds. I seem to have been diverted from my intended course, I don’t know why,” shrugged Aleksander. “Well maybe it’s time you took off to wherever it is you were headed for in the first place,” said Billy.

“It seems that I have been brought here for some specific reason,” replied Aleksander, “and it also seems I cannot leave for the moment, I have already tried.” He waved both hands around, firstly extending and then curling up his fingers, watching them closely as he did but it was clear that nothing at all was happening. “You see? Nothing. It is worrying to me. My shadows are no longer obeying my commands at present.”

Billy sighed and perched on the edge of his bed, “Great! Just fuckin’ great! This is just…! So when can you leave?” The other man spread out his arms, “I have no idea.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Devon, UK

Way across the Atlantic, you were already hard at work in your little bookstore in Appledore, Devon. You had a snug apartment above the store and had filled it with lots of your favourite things. It was a cute little coastal town and you loved living there. The community was small and friendly especially in the winter months, only increasing in summer with all the tourists who came to stay. As long as you made a decent living during the holiday season - which you normally did - then winter was a much calmer, chilled time of year.

You added a final book to the new display in the centre of your store and stepped back to take in how it was looking. Yeah, not bad if you did say so yourself. It was comprised of a fantasy trilogy for young adults about some ancient guy who could summon up shadows, and was a bit of a villain from what you could tell from the story synopsis on the book covers.

Not your cup of tea, to be honest. Generally speaking, all types of action stories were more your thing - something with a bit of ‘va-va-voom’. In fact, you were looking forward to tonight when you’d decided you were going to sit down with a nice tub of ice cream and rewatch one of your favourite series. The one with a relentless avenging ex-Marine whose family had been killed and his psycho ex-Marines buddy. Who happened to be rather hot to your mind.

You sighed a little, heading back behind the counter. That was the only thing about Appledore. It was a lovely place, but there was a distinct lack of hot guys.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

New York City

Billy and Aleksander were sitting on separate sofas in Billy’s living area, eyeing each other warily. Aleksander had been trying to explain to Billy all about his world, the Grisha, the Fold, volcras, Ravka, the Sun Summoner, sand skiffs - as much as he could.

It had blown Billy’s mind, to be honest. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. In turn, he’d explained all about his military career and the shitshow which had eventually developed once he’d come back to New York. Aleksander looked as equally confused as Billy.

Billy sighed, “I mean, what the hell are you gonna do? You don’t belong here. I need to go to work in a couple of hours. I’m not leaving you here so I’d need to take you to Anvil with me, and you sure as hell can’t go out looking like that.”

Aleksander looked down at his kefta which he’d unbuttoned. His cape was draped over the back of the sofa. “What is wrong with the way I look?” he huffed. “S’pose I could always say you were going to a Comic Con,” muttered Billy. “A what?” “A Comic Con. it’s where fans of fantasy comics go to have fun. They dress up as their favourite characters sometimes. I could always say it was cosplay.”

Aleksander shook his head, “I still don’t understand what you’re talking about. Are you saying I’d look out of place in my uniform? All the Grisha wear these,” he pointed at his kefta. “Not what we wear here,” said Billy, “…and I still don’t get why you look so much like me.”

“I have no idea!” said Aleksander, through gritted teeth, “I told you that already!” “Alright, alright! Calm down.” “I AM CALM!!!” roared the other man.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

New York City

Slightly later that morning, Billy was showered, suited and booted and ready for work. He’d persuaded his uninvited visitor to put on a borrowed leather jacket of Billy’s over his kefta as Aleksander refused to take it off. He’d also made him put on a pair of black trainers, which he’d done very reluctantly. These two items had instantly transformed the freaky-looking guy into someone at least a little more acceptable to your average New Yorker.

Aleksander was wriggling around in the jacket, “It’s not very comfortable.” Billy heaved yet another large sigh - he felt like this was all he’d been doing this morning - “Look, just wear it! You’ll get used to it.” He noticed the other guy sniffing at the collar of the jacket, then his eyes lifted to Billy’s, “You wear perfume?!” “Men’s cologne,” snapped Billy, “or aftershave, as it’s also known because - guess what! - you use it after you’ve shaved!”

His fingers stroking his chin, Aleksander nodded, “Okay, that I understand. We do not use this perfume in Ravka.” “Cologne!” yelled Billy. “Fine, cologne then. Why don’t you like it when I call it perfume? That’s what it is, after all.” “Women wear perfume. Men wear cologne. Okay? Now c’mon, I’m gonna be late.”

Billy strode over to his front door and tried to open it. The handle wouldn’t budge. He shook it, rattled it, pulled the door handle back and forward, exerting more and more strength but nothing worked. He stood back from the door. “It won’t open,” he said, rather unnecessarily. He looked at Aleksander, “Is this you? Or something to do with you?” “No!” he protested, “I have nothing to do with this.”

A somewhat raspy female voice spoke from behind them, “No, but I do.”

The two men swung round, both gaping as they saw that there were what could only be described as rippling waves distorting the whole interior of Billy’s flat. The light had also diminished quite drastically and then they both saw a woman’s head and shoulders start to become defined and then fully visible in amongst the ripples. She seemed to float there at head height but she obviously wasn’t physically present.

“Mother!” exclaimed Aleksander.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Devon, UK

You snuggled down amongst the soft cushions on your sofa, tub of ice cream and spoon in hand and scrolled to the series you were looking for. It was quite gory in places but you loved it - except for the bit right at the end where the hot dude got killed. That made you sad although you couldn’t deny he definitely had psychopathic tendencies.

As you were looking for the one you wanted to watch, another series caught your eye in the ‘Suggested for You’ section. Hey, it must be based on that trilogy of books you had in the store right now. Maybe you’d give it a try after you’d finished your current one.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

New York City

“Mother?” echoed Billy, “….what’s going on here?!”

The woman’s head swivelled towards him then back to Aleksander. “My two boys, together again. How sweet.”

“What!?” said the two men in tandem. She gave a bitter laugh, “How I managed to produce two such problematic children, I’ll never know.” “What are you talking about, Baghra?” ground out Aleksander. Billy was just standing there, dumbfounded and looking between the two of them when suddenly her glare focussed in on him.

“Maxim.” Billy returned her stare, “I’m Billy!” he corrected her. She shook her head, “You will forever be Maxim to me. And as I’m your mother, do not argue with me. Now…. no doubt Aleksander has been making a great fuss about how he’s many centuries old, has he?” “He did mention it,” said Billy, begrudgingly. She nodded, “I thought he might have. Listen to me, both of you. You are twins, so obviously you were born within minutes of each other. To me.” The two men exchanged glances, before looking back at her. “It became obvious to me that Aleksander - from a relatively early age - was going to cause himself and everyone around him nothing but trouble and strife, so I took a radical step.” “What did you do, Baghra?” questioned Aleksander.

“If you’d have patience, I’m trying to tell you!” she snapped, before continuing, “I got one of the few Heartrenders in existence at that time to take Maxim out of Ravka to a secret location. There, he placed him in long-term suspended animation. When you…” she pointed an accusatory finger at Aleksander, “….started all that nonsense with the Sun Summoner and hunting for the stag, I travelled with another Heartrender to where Maxim was, and brought him out of his enforced hibernation. I had to protect him as there was no guarantee you’d survive, Aleksander.” She stared at his scowling face and carried on speaking.

“He had no memories remaining of his past life and so I took him into the forest, there is a portal there which only I know of. There used to be more knew about it but I am the only one left now. Other universes can be reached through it. And I decided to send Maxim to another one. This one. It was only three months ago in Ravkan time, but in this universe more than thirty years have passed.”

“Wait… what?!” Billy was pissed. “You… you just threw me into some portal and walked away? Not knowing where I would end up?” “I had to save one of my sons!” she spat out, “…the other one had lost his mind and was on a collision course with disaster!” Billy put his head in his hands, before looking up again and raging at her, “I was abandoned for a second time by the woman I thought was my mother in this universe! She was a drug user, a total mess! I was placed in an orphanage… it was terrible!” He saw a remorseful look pass over her face for a split second, “I am sorry, Maxim! But I had no choice. Then I had to step in again when he…” pointing again at Aleksander, “….was nearly killed by volcras. I managed to get him to the portal before he fully regained consciousness. He thinks it was his idea to leave Ravka after we had an argument, but I managed to plant that idea in his mind before I pushed him into the portal.”

Billy and Aleksander both snorted in unison, then glanced at each other again. Billy looked back at her, “You’re sorry? That doesn’t quite cover it. I went to war! And now I’m in a very bad situation due to things which went down in Afghanistan during that war.” Aleksander chipped in, “And how dare you make a decision like sending me to another universe without consulting me first?”

The sigh Baghra gave echoed round the apartment. “You are a pair of ungrateful whelps! And now it sounds like I have to get you of trouble too!” She pointed at Billy this time. “I firstly had to find some very old documents about it, but I managed to find out how to enter the limbo section of the portal, which this is, because I wished to speak to both of you before I sent you on your next journey.” She lifted her hands and swirled them around in a kind of ritualistic fashion, “Be on your way to the next universe!” she chanted, and suddenly the rippling got even more pronounced.

Billy and Aleksander began feeling overwhelmingly dizzy, feeling as if they were falling but in fact realised they seemed to be rushing through time and space.

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Devon, UK

It was Saturday tomorrow so because you could sleep in a bit as you opened later, you finished the first series (but not the second one - it always upset you) of the one you’d originally been watching, and had then moved on to the one based on the trilogy.

You peered more closely at your TV screen - yeah! you were right, the hot bad guy looked so similar to the hot bad dude in the other series they could be twins! Was it the same actor? You’d need to check on the credits but it must be, surely.

No reflection on the series you were watching, but having finished your ice cream you dozed off during episode 6.

You woke up - you had no idea how much later - and as you sat up slightly, realised that you were feeling very strange. Standing up from the sofa, you were so dizzy that you collapsed back down onto it. You tried not to panic, but you’d no clue as to why you felt so unwell all of a sudden.

Then you noticed that your apartment appeared to be rippling. Rippling??!! What the…. The rippling waves began to die down a little and you were suddenly aware of two looming figures standing over you. Their outlines and features slowly became more defined, more solid, and eventually you realised you were looking up at both the hot bad dudes from the TV.

Of course you were.

Okay, your reeling mind said to you, maybe the celestial Powers That Be had been listening when you were complaining about the lack of hot guys in your town.

They were both looking down at you, clear interest in their eyes. Maybe because you were wearing silky shorts with matching tank T. Your sleepwear didn’t leave too much to the imagination.

So you stared at them, and they stared right back at you, although again you were acutely aware of two sets of very dark eyes roaming all over your body.

You wondered if someone had spiked your ice cream.

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