#anyway no one does it like liza

[yung-sriracha]

Liza with a Z ( 1972 ) dir. Bob Fosse

[leezuhh]

it's crazy to me that there are people out there who still think that media and fiction do not affect how people think at all

[privatelife]

i feel like killing myself does anyone else feel like killing themselves

[m00sebaby]

just having a bit of a ramble dont mind me

[whowantslovergirl]

Kevin Ball x daughter reader ?

An: YESYESYESYES btw this is not a biological daughter so you can be yourself 💖💖😍😍💋💖😍🤓💖🤧 hope you enjoy my lovers 🤍

The Balls

Kevin ball x daughter! reader (THIS IS PLATONIC WE DONT DO THAT INCEST SHIT HERE but reader is female with she/her pronouns 🤭)

warnings: just cursing and suggestive cause its kev and reader is in a secret relationship with lip (just wanted to add that in) and that’s it hope you enjoy my lovers 🤍 miscellaneous masterlist

Summary: Cute moments with Kev and his daughter

posted: June 18,2023

first time you snuck out for a party:

You were walking downstairs to see your dad and your stepmom V dancing and making out in the kitchen. You make fake gagging noises. They turn around to see you.

“Blah! You guys are disgusting.” You say while laughing and getting something to eat out of the fridge.

“Ohhh but Y/N you are going experience this ‘disgustingness’ sooner or later.” Your dad said while going next to you to steal your bread. “Hey give me my bread back!” V laughs while seeing this cute little moment between you two. While you guys are chasing each other your phone buzzed.

V heard this. “Ooo who’s texting us?” She said with a smile. You check your phone. “Oh it’s just my friend Maddie-.”

“Ughh is that the weird one with all the piercings?” Kev asked while being disgusted.

“No that’s Mandy babe.” V answered for you.

“Hey back to my text. Anyway it’s just her asking to go to a party together but don’t worry I’m not going.”

“Hey what! Why aren’t you going?” Kev asked. You just shrugged. “I don’t like parties. I sneak out every time you guys have one in the bar.”

“With who?”

“Li- Liza…” It was Lip but they don’t have to know that. They both narrowed their eyes at you but didn’t say anything. “I’m going to the Gallaghers for a little bit.” They both nodded and you walked to your neighbors.

_____

You were in Lip’s room just talking and giggling with each other. “You know if my parents ask you anything about me sneaking out of the bar that one night, I snuck out with Liza ok?” He just nodded with a confused look on his face. “Do you wanna go to a party later tonight?” You nodded and realized that you already told your parents that you weren’t going.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing it’s just I told them that I wasn’t going.”

“Just sneak out.”

_____

As you were sneaking in after the party, you see your dad under a light.

“I thought you weren’t going to that party Y/N?”

fuck

“Ok before you get mad Liza convinced me and-.” You cut yourself off when your dad held up his hand. “I’m so proud of my little girl!” He got up and squeezed you in a hug. You are so confused. “You’re not mad?”

“No! Wait did you have sex of any kind?”

“No dad!”

“Then I’m not mad!”

when they find out you have a boyfriend:

You guys were sitting in the living room watching tv. And you get a text. You check to see who it is and it’s Lip saying and showing some dirty stuff. You giggle and put your phone face down. V saw this and nudged Kev.

“Why are smiling at your phone Y/N? Who’s texting us?” V asked with a smirk on her face.

“Nothing just Liza sent something funny.”

“Well can we see?” Kev asked.

“No it’s an inside joke.” You said while giggling.

They made a face at each other. You can hear them whispering and your dad gets up to the kitchen. “Y/N can you help me in the kitchen?! I need help!”

As you were getting up V got your phone, put in your password and saw ‘L ❤️’

“This picture definitely is not from a girl.” She whispered to herself.

You turn around since it was way too quiet and you see V on your phone. “Hey!” You run over and snatch your phone. “You have a boyfriend!”

“Oh my god my babygirl has a boyfriend!” Kev said while cheering.

Then you got bombarded with questions.

“Do we know him?”

“No he’s from the north side.”

Then the questions got worse.

“Oh my god you have a rich boyfriend!”

“Does he buy you stuff?”

Why did he have to send that?

when they find out the boyfriend is Lip:

Since your parents were out at the bar. You guys were in your room, making out and smiling at each other. “So they know you have a boyfriend now. What did you tell them?”

“Well I said that he’s from north side and my dad calls you you my rich hot daddy boyfriend.” He let out a little laugh. “And he’s right except for the rich part.” You laugh at the face he makes.

“Now let’s stop talking and keep making out with each other.” You lean in and he smiles into the kiss.

“What the fuck.”

You guys jumped off each other.

“Lip is the rich hot daddy boyfriend?!” Your dad yelled. He ran out to tell V.

“V come in Y/N’s room!”

She ran in and gasped. “Lip?!”

This is the worst.

An: HEYEYEYEYEYE guys ik y’all probably are like ‘this bitch said they were gonna be posting then haven’t posted’ SO IM SORRY im rewriting shocked and scared bc it was fucking terrible but until i post again my lovers 🤍 *hint: it’s a surprise* (i have no idea)

[lizaluvsthis]

Welcome again to Liza's Fixation...

I present to you...

Reasons why I document these kinds of stuff to how similar gay idiots have occurred to me for the past few years.

SMG34 AND SQUIDBOB (SUN AND MOON PAIR)

Quick reminder: the explanation is a bit too long so grab a seat and eat some snacks while ya read-

Sun & moon dynamic:

Noticing the differences in how optimistic spongebob and smg4 are in their own world even if the sh-t ass problem gets a bit more heavy to deal with? They both kept it there and still moved on even tho it was a bit of a problem in their life that impacted them already. Yet they still chose to move.

Pessimistic like Squidward and SMG3 they both sometimes ignore the ray of sunshine or sometimes would be the ones watching their optimistic sun/partner on the side glances or view to check up on them.

Likes/interests/love?

Now I'm not pretty sure about this one but if I were to think- that smg4 and spongebob would point out something or hint it. I'll be heading off to the part when they go soft on their moon. (Smg3 and Squidward)

Just like something that they do to soften their partner- smg4 looks at three with awes in his eyes like a baby- and spongebob looks at squid with sparkled eyes and or well- inclusions of his lip bitings/flirting/and too many attempts of him kissing his cheek/forehead/nose over and over from other episodes.

But since SMG4 and Three's dynamic are unlike the same- I do kind of see some parts of SMG4 being a little goof to Three as well.

The moon's effect"

OH YEAAAA PREPARE FOR THE TSUNDERE ACTIVATION!!!

Ahem- let's just say that just like SMG3 where he calls four baka about more than five times already- let's put this simply he likes four but tries to hide it as well.

And just the same thing as Squidward. He may hate the poriferan for being such a mess or annoying him on the other days, but at the same time, he deeply and truly does care about him even if he does NOT want to admit it right in front of his face.

Playing the cards as a moon dynamic could be a bit simple BUT it's also from the same part where that moon plays with its OWN actions.

A tsundere cant-NOT tell that person they're crushing just yet because mostly they think that it'll be such a rush. And well- wanted to take the sun's time to think or to feel around with them.

The sun's effect:

EUGHHH anyway- since the sun likes to give love, joy, and happiness to other people. Like spongebob and smg4 showering love out of platonic to people some patties or uhhh memes...

Sun has been and always been sensitive with stuff from how other people they're closest to act out to them.

Now let's just put the example of three opening up to four during that igbp arc.

And then also Squidward opened up to spongebob during that Fools in April episode.

The moon knows how sensitive suns are that they can't urge themselves to think about what would happen in advance due to their own consequences that dealt with their own actions to make the sun's life miserable.

Because deep down the moon has always been so miserable that they dont want to let their closest to get this negative feeling too. (Such as the sun does)

Friends? Enemies? Lovers? Foes?:

It would be funny how similar the dynamic is but a different type of situation they grew up having. They had slowburns coming tho!

Smg34 (enemies to friends) says on the wiki that his relationship with smg4 could and would possibly go to as "lovers" but it has never been admitted YET. Development grows (including uh igloo event-)

SO UHHH COUGH- COUGH- UHHHH YEAH... erm- ahem- uhhh his dynamic with three grew from just a simple seed then turned to grow into tiny roots of their bond then coming to a sprout blooming out right after the events of 2020 or 2021 have been shown.

Squidbob (friends to close friends) [according to their development during the seasons]

<THOUGH IT IS CONFIRMED SPONGEBOB IS ASEXUAL ACCORDING FROM OFFICIAL TWITTER!!!>

it seemed that spongebob had grown to admire Squidward as his co-worker to the point Squidward gets a bit used to it now and then he wouldn't mind anymore or THINK that spongebob is just an annoying loser.

wish to tell but I could not:

moon thought it would be a bit too embarrassing or a bit awkward if they were to say something about the mixed feelings they have with their certain sun.

But even if it were to hint out just like what Sponge and Four did to Squid and Three- and even if the moons were to do the same- it comes out from dodging the arrows. The hint of realizations.

Just like how we saw four trying his best to comfort and make it up to smg3 as much as possible without making him a bother or getting three to see him as a bastard in a way. (start of YouTube arc and trash friends) And then to spongebob trying to make it up for Squidward once his life got ruined even tho he tried to make his life even better, Squidward still sees him as an annoying yellow nuisance. So if we take this place to the moon's pov they could also find it such a hard time to actually reciprocate or to think about what could resolve their own problem without even being such a both as there is for them now. The situation that they carry is a lot heavier than what there is from the outcome and could lead to some sorts of stuff that they wouldn't want to happen just now/yet

The flow between their relationship:

I mostly thought about how the sun would have most of the time being a goof around to the moon when they're always down, so if it was the sun's turn to feel down. Moon also uses the same tactics in trying their best to comfort their moon.

It's like how smg4 felt bad about smg3 when he destroyed his own production. And like how it is to Spongebob when he destroyed something that Squidward felt upset about.

He never thought much at first but he also tried his best way to think about the situation to meld their situation together.

Nicknames? Flirting?

Fluids between their relationship of being actual friends to closer then to not close again.

When Squidward deals with having someone close to him (just like how spongebob does the same) he mostly engages with also saying nice words (rarely) and really means it to which spongebob could be so happy that Squidward would be showering out his true colors. Because of the sun's response, it's all a bit good to be true and they aren't sure about what to believe. But goes on along with it. Smg3 whose been the one to do things about helping or say a couple of nice words to four. Making HIM rethink about his stuff if it was all actually true and whatnot. Because the Three we all used to know was a villainy dude who was so obsessed with taking over Four's channel and what'd we get? A smooth development- (kinda rough but smooth still)

I think those are all I've got it's just literally the same things so yeah-

[101flavoursofweird]

The parallels between Kat and Ernest…

Baby Kat comes screaming into the world during a shipwreck. Her mother dies after giving birth to her, leaving Kat with nothing but the kindness of a fifteen-year-old Luke Triton to depend on. Luke takes Kat to Professor Layton, who adopts her as his own after a few years. Layton vanishes when Kat’s eleven, leaving her with a family (Rosa, Flora, Alfendi etc) who no doubt loves her but she experiences loneliness nonetheless. Perhaps she feels overlooked next to her siblings and her other extraordinary relatives…

Despite her father’s disappearance, Kat makes no secret of her last name. She adopts her own noble-sounding title to match her father’s: ‘Lady Layton’. She follows in Layton’s footsteps as a detective and she names her detective agency after him. When clients mistakenly request the help of the Professor Layton, Kat’s reactions range from self-aggrandising to outright offended. Kat wants to be famous in her own right. She wants attention— partly to extend the search for her father, partly to boost her own prestige— and she wants to help people. She wants to be respected as a true gentle-person and a puzzle-solver, just like her father. She also wants money and material items (clothes, decor, sweet treats etc)… not so much like her father, but Kat is still valid for this. If Randall can crave shiny things then so can Kat

On the other hand, we have Miles Richmond. Miles is born into wealth—  to one of the richest, most influential families in London. Miles’ grandfather poured his wealth into redeveloping London (maybe after Clive’s mobile fortress attack?). His family lived in a freaking castle, containing portraits of them.

Then, Grandpa Richmond dies, followed by Miles’ unnamed mother when Miles is twelve (I think)? Miles’ mama encourages him to grow up to be someone big, strong and powerful— a ‘great man’. She did this to rally Miles’ spirits, but Miles misinterpreted this as meaning that he needed to become more powerful than the Seven Dragons if he wanted to make them pay. I think he resented the Dragons more for the death of his mother rather than the loss of his family’s wealth… but then, I’m sure the money would have helped if his mother needed to see a doctor… 

Anyway when his mother dies, Miles is left destitute and orphaned. He changes his name to Ernest Greeves— hiding his identity and his past— and he eventually makes it to Gressenheller, where he meets Katrielle Layton.

Kat proves Ernest’s innocence in a crime— partly out of kindness, yes, but she also wanted to stick it to the police and she just wanted to solve the case and she was going to Gressenheller anyway, so… 

While Kat does have her gentle moments, such as when she comforts a lonely Liza and a weeping Ernest, I think we can all agree Kat isn’t the reserved, sometimes demure lady Flora is or a gentle-person in the same way Layton is. Kat is often brash, boastful, impatient, pushy, greedy, bratty, selfisheven… 

Kat isn’t your typical gentle-person, but she does have a good heart and a strong mind. Even after learning about her birth mother and her past for the first time, Kat is still adamant that Hershel Layton is her father, and that she is Katrielle Layton. She knows who she is, who her family are and she’s proud of it.

Ernest possesses more traits commonly associated with a gentle-person. Ernest seems diligent, studious, polite, optimistic, amiable, loyal to those he cares about— a lot like Professor Layton in many ways! 

However, underneath all that, Ernest does have a dark side. He can be vengeful, sneaky and manipulative… rather like a certain Clive Dove.

The problem for Ernest is that he is a gentle person at heart, and Kat knows this. When Kat reveals his plan and his true identity, Ernest doesn’t sneer at Kat, grab a hostage or unleash a giant robot from under the castle. He still sees Kat as a friend, and he stays with Kat after everything is cleared up with the Dragons.

Kat reassures Ernest that his mother did love him, no matter what. From Kat, Ernest learns that he doesn’t need to be a ‘great man’, with riches and influence and power to overcome people who stand in his way. He just needs to be himself— a young gentleman and Katrielle Layton’s assistant.

And maybe, in turn, maybe Ernest allows Kat to demonstrate that gentle, considerate side to her that was always there. Kat is great and Ernest is always there to remind her of that, but it’s okay if she’s gentle— vulnerable— sometimes too.

[outmakingmoonshine]

may i ask what do you mean by “Ebra is an older version of Carmy”?

Of course. A slight correction though, I said Ebra is a representation of an older version of Carmy.

Unfortunately I can't find the post now or remember who wrote it but months ago I read a post talking about the parallels between Tina & Ebra's story with Carmy & Syd. Especially their story in S2. Particularly with most, if not all, the scenes of Tina & Ebra travelling to and doing their refresher classes being transitioned either to or from the scenes of Carmy & Syd arriving at and working together in his apartment.

Ebra was struggling with his self confidence, his self belief, accepting change and growth, even his own ego & stubborness (all things we've seen Carmy struggle with too). Tina tried to help and encourage him but his anxiety was winning over and he struggled a lot internally. Then he just stopped showing up, not letting Tina know and leaving her to work alone. At one point Ebra was even working overtime on his own, chopping veggies after everyone else including Tina had left. This was all done in a handful of scenes over 1 and a half episodes but we've seen very similar (almost identical) story beats and plotlines throughout sydcarmy's story in S2 & S3.

We've also seen throughout the seasons, Tina really struggles with her self confidence and self belief and we've seen Syd struggle with those things too. My interpretation of the difference between them is Tina's been struggling with it for years so it's now settled in as a core belief. We saw it manifest in bouts of anxiety, panic and in her lack of patience finding a job in 3x06...which is understandble but Liza's performance and Ayo's directing really made a point of highlighting Tina's intense impatience and anxiety with her situation in 3x06. Syd's still young, she hasn't struggled with it for as many years so it hasn't settled in as a core belief yet but we're starting to see those bouts of anxiety and panic slowly get worse for her. Syd's also been characterized as impatient since S1.

It reads to me as if Ebra & Tina are a representation of what Carmy & Syd would be years in the future if Carmy doesn't work through his trauma, if they don't learn to communicate properly and listen to each other. That's why Ebra was portrayed as a slightly miserable, "done with life" character in S1. Based on 1x08 we can assume Carmy would also be miserable and "done with life" if things dont go the way he wants and hopes with Syd. (And Carmy does have hope, everything he's been doing the last 2 seasons is because he wants and hopes to be with Syd eventually.)

Lastly, if Carmy & Syd never happen romantically it's likely Syd will end up marrying someone anyway, she's not averse to loving relationships like Carmy is. We found out Tina is married to someone in S3 but she still has the connection with Ebra that Carmy & Syd would have if they never become a couple. At this point with the level of intimacy in Sydcarmy's relationship, even without really knowing much about each other or having a real friendship, they couldn't just go their seperate ways and forget about each other now. This undefined, intimate bond they've formed has tied them together. That's why Syd hasn't left already and is still struggling to decide even though Shapiro basically offered her everything Carmy has offered but wont actually give her; a clearly defined partnership and the chance to build and create something of her own. Carmy & Syd would end up just like Ebra & Tina; friends and partners. Tina frustrated and annoyed with stubborn Ebra at times. Ebra never making steps to grow on his own and having to be pushed and talked into doing new things by Tina, but both of them still sticking by each other in their slightly antagonistic but endearing partnership.

I wanna make it clear this is not all Tina & Ebra are though. They're both still their own characters outside of this representation, this show just likes to tell different layers of storytelling through the same characters.

Thank you for the ask, it was fun writing this!

[chaserainbows]

cooking some emerald (amano's cut) gym leader teams

roxanne's honestly fine i just think that most rock gym leader teams are very similar and wanted to give her some unique pokemon with the advantage that this makes her gym less of a clean sweep for mudkip and treecko while also giving torchic some neutral damage options

i was gonna say that brawly's team is kinda homophobic considering how overused the machop line is but upon Further Inspection he literally has no other option so i just evolved his ace since makuhita evolves really early and gave him an extra makuhita to show off the evolutionary line

wattson's an interesting case because his team was bad in rs then they fixed it in emerald and clowned it again in oras so really the only thing he needs is to have manectric as his ace

plusle and minun are there because they don't get used anywhere else and he has them (but doesn't use in battle) in oras he could totally keep his voltorb though

also i could add chinchou to give him a ground check but it doesn't really fit his vibe, maybe in rematches

flannery's the most tragic one because on one hand she has a fucking slugma and 2 members of the numel line even though literally everyone in team magma also uses them but on the other hand that's basically the best she can do since slugma evolves super late and hoenn only has 4 non-starter fire options even though it has 4 fire specialist npcs

jail

but yeah i gave her an underleveled magcargo because it's not even that good anyway and pulled in a ninetales from mt pyre because i think it kinda fits her vibe

norman's fun i like the idea of giving him both vigoroth and slaking because they're from the same line but work very differently so they feel distinct

i replaced linoone with dodrio because dodrio's a pokemon that you kinda tend to forget you can catch in hoenn while linoone's very common in his gym but also it's a pokemon you can find in johto and that's his home region

i wanted to give him girafarig for that same reason but the vibe wasn't vibing

winona has a really fun varied team in emerald honestly no notes

i COULD replace swablu with swellow since it's an iconic pokemon of hers in the anime but i kinda like the idea of swablu as a support team member that also foreshadows mother altaria about to clean house, if she had swellow here though it'd also make perfect sense

tate and liza are so camp like they're the only double battle gym leaders until gen 8 and they have a cool concept in emerald with all their pokemon being immune to ground for earthquake spam but at the same time almost every single pokemon they have is weak to water you need surf to get to them and surf's good in doubles in gen 3

their rsoras teams are even campier but i digress

they basically just need more pokemon that don't get one shot by surf so i added wobbuffet and chimecho because they don't get hit by earthquake and it's ridiculous how easy it is to get through emerald without knowing that chimecho exists

also wynaut can be found in mirage island which is very close to mossdeep and i like the implications

juan's also pretty good i basically just added a lanturn so he doesn't have less pokemon than tate and liza and because it does fit his vibe way better than wattson's

i was a little hesitant about keeping crawdaunt because it overlaps with sidney but it's probably okay since it's better for 2 league members to repeat crawdaunt instead of sharpedo like every fucking team aqua member

i also wanted to feature huntail and gorebyss somewhere but couldn't figure out where to fit them on the team and then i realized that they'd be almost perfect for matt and shelly to help them stand out from the rest of team aqua

[vanhelsingapologist]

I am submitting my formal request for folk music ~opinions~ ❤️

Folk music is another one of those genres that’s hard to pinpoint. It’s basically been merging with country and Americana for years. Further, are people asking for traditional folk? Folk metal? Indie folk? Baroque folk? But it’s all folk! Folk, folk, folk. I’ve written it so many times that it doesn’t look like a word. Anyway, I went contemporary/indie/roots folk for this. Started with more woodsy stuff, too.

• Empty Northern Hemisphere by Gregory Alan Isakov. Gregory Alan Isakov is one of those artists I adore and I think he pretty consistently nails it when it comes to folksy themes and instrumentation. His Weatherman album is pretty fantastic. He’s probably considered indie folk, if I had to put a finger on it.

• My Gal, My Guy by Darlingside. The first song I ever heard by them was called Harrison Ford, which is also pretty good, but there’s just something about this song! Also indie folk.

• Oats In The Water by Ben Howard. He has another great one called In Dreams. His earlier music sort of feels like standing in a dead forest. I can’t really explain it beyond that. His newer stuff is a bit more atmospheric, but it’s good.

• Bavarian Porcelain by Sea Wolf. His song Dear Fellow Traveller got some fandom airtime, but his whole discography is pretty good and soaked with forest imagery. My favorite album is probably White Water, White Bloom, but Cedarsmoke is very kind to me.

• Let This Remain by Alana Henderson. Henderson keeps making her way into my playlists. She sort of reminds me of Enya, sort of reminds me of something reminiscent of the Dresdon Dolls, but it’s just enough that she’s got this incredible unique sound.

• Francis by Haley Heynderickx and Max García Conover. This is another one that I have to physically restrain myself from looping. Their voices blend really well, and I’d also consider it my official endorsement of both their music. Heynderickx’s No Face and Show You A Body kill me and Conover’s collaboration on the everything in winter album is worth a listen.

• Deep Green by Marika Hackman. I feel like we can call Marika Hackman folk. Her voice is haunting, her lyrics stick, and she does really neat stuff instrumentally, and she had the folk sound. Not coffeehouse music, so I had to look to see what she’s categorized as. Alternative, it was. Her new album is less folksy, but We Slept At Last definitely is.

• Darlin Corey by Amythyst Kiah. If you haven’t heard any of her work, go listen as soon as possible. She’s got this deep, beautiful sound and writes about isolation in a way that really resonates. It’s hard to find artists who make folk that sounds a hundred years old, but she nails it every single time.

• Love Me Like You Used To by Lord Huron. Lord Huron is an old favorite, and I do think their Long Lost album is my favorite, despite Strange Trails being so well-known. Nothing makes you wanna awoo the way these guys do.

• Traveling On by The Decemberists. I’m a Decemberists fan first, person second. Sometimes I go about my day and “street side smokers, holy rollers” pops into my head at random. Hopefully, you will share my plight.

• Ofelia by Kiltro. Kiltro plays a mixture of shoegaze and Chilean folk. If that doesn’t sound like the best fucking time ever get AWAY from me. Creatures of Habit bumped all year before I graduated.

• The Weight by Amigo the Devil. Darker folk. I think he’s on a playlist called Murderfolk, which just about sums it up. I might put Amigo the Devil in the same camp as AJJ in terms of sound. Slightly different in lyricism.

• Northern Wind by Liza Anne. Their new stuff isn’t folk, but their old stuff is definitely indie folk. I sometimes describe them as drinking cold water, and I think that definitely sticks with their Two album.

As always, I have no idea what I’m talking about. Hope this is good!

[animehouse-moe]

The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2 Episode 13: Nothing Venture, Nothing Have I

Hot on the heels of the ending content for part 1, we're finally treated to the continuation that follows with part 2. It might not be the most flashy episode ever to return to, but it does a really great job of setting the tone and providing details, so I'll get right to it.

Firstly, in regards to details I highly recommend checking out the official MahoYome Twitter account as they provide a whole bunch of context and extra details right from the source. Chatting about why characters sit like they do, what might happen if Alcyone takes their mask off, and a great deal of other things. It's a treasure trove of aspects viewers might have missed during the episode.

Anyways, this is about my thoughts on the episode, not the Twitter account's. So, where to really begin. I guess in broad strokes, the direction and boarding through this first episode aren't anything impressive. There's good ideas, but a lot of it stems from the overall style of the season, so I don't feel like there's any real great ideas to point out purely in that context.

What I can point out visually is really cool stuff like this. The college has been sealed off so of course students are on edge, looking to the adults to know what's going on and what will happen. Mahoyome directly counters this by placing two key "adults" in front of the students. The first, the artificial fairy Alcyone that is playing the role of Philomela's guardian. The second is the enigmatic Zacheroni from the end of the previous cour. Both are characters that the students are unfamiliar with, and both are considered somewhat dangerous because of that.

So, how do you convey that feeling of distance and uncertainty? Mahoyome answers with 'stature'. By having the pair tower overtop of the students, you feel a disconnect that you don't see with the other staff within the college. It asserts their position as authority, but in a suffocating manner that can feel uncomfortable.

On the topic of big and imposing characters, Elias continues his story arc of discovering friendship. I really, really like that Yamazaki has separated him from Chise since it allows his experiences and understandings to feel far more organic. Well, maybe that's not the right word, but you can feel Elias groping around in the dark rather than having Chise's guiding hand to contextualize his experiences.

Let's go three for three on big and imposing, why not? The golems that Liza places around the college to patrol are very interesting for two reasons. The first, they're activated by her specialty quill magic (I mean, her last name is Quillyn). The second, what they provide isn't quite the feeling of safety, especially with how they're shown. It's a two parter, where the episode shows a bunch of areas populated by students during the day, and then re-uses those scenes with the golems to create that feeling of discomfort.

Now, onto the main event, Zacheroni's lesson. It does a lot, not really in terms of "wowing" the viewer, but providing context to the world and its characters. Yeah, it's a weird thing to say, but it's almost like Kafka is putting story above all else. Like they're passing up visual flair to ensure that the context of the events is passed through as much as possible. Can't say I'm complaining, but it's just an interesting observation.

So, let's talk what it does during the lesson then.

First of all, it separates the students in Chise's "class" into groups surrounding their socialization. Chise's group all being in one area, while Veronica and Philomela are in another, and so on and so forth. Just a fun little thing that preserves the social aspect of a classroom despite there not being any need to.

It also talks about the use of magic. It might be easy to forget, but how the average person can use magic is entirely different to how a proper sorcerer can wield it. Thankfully, Zacheroni reminds viewers as well as students of that fact. It's much easier to thrust a knife into someone than it is to unleash a spell that could kill them.

He also slips in the fact that protective and defensive magic are much easier to use than offensive.

And finally we get to Chise's fight against Zacheroni's familiar. It's not anything crazy, but once more it provides important visual details, like Chise letting go of the cube instinctually to free her hand to attack.

Perhaps more interesting than the cube though is how she destroys the familiar: by crushing it. Not anything special on its own, but Zacheroni specifically mentions crushing while chocking the one student. Did Chise internalize that aspect and that's why it was the attack chosen by her body? I'm not sure, but it presents a very curious idea about how the different aspects of her "self" interact with one another.

We get to see a few other fights, but they're not really special in what they do, as they provide mostly what you'd expect to see in terms of character details.

Though, I think one part that should be noted is the gazes given by Isaac and Zoe. I think it's also important to consider them both within the context of one another.

Isaac's gaze lands in a specific spot on Philomela, for example, and focuses on putting himself down and raising Philomela up. It's a great and subtle nod to the type of relationship Isaac sees and desires with Philomela as well as how he views himself as a person. That is, nothing more than a tool (though in his eyes, that's a tool maker).

Whereas in contrast, Zoe's gaze meets Lucy as a full person, focusing on her action and confidence during the lesson which inspires Zoe to continue on. It gives the relationship a far more wholesome feel to it that speaks to Zoe's desire to be equal with Lucy, whereas Isaac's is more self-pity and raw desire.

Now, last but certainly not least, Chise (and Rian) and Zacheroni's fight. Really great details where Zacheroni begins on the defensive and allows Chise to have the initiative. However, the more Chise gets into the fight and gets stirred up by Zacheroni, the more that other aspect in her appears. Because of that, Zacheroni actually ends up meeting her on the offensive, but not before his supervisor Sigrid can step in.

It's really an important detail, because we only get to see Zacheroni strike at Chise during this sequence. Chise herself makes no such moves herself. With that in mind, it makes it possible that while Chise was not using that side of herself, it was nonetheless present in her demeanor, which Zacheroni then picked up on.

And this is where the episode comes to an end. We get a scene about Mariel hiring what looks to be the creator of Alcyone, but nothing really too special. The majority of the episode is centered around the danger lurking about the college, and so it does a really solid job of conveying that. There's some off model characters here and there, and the use of CGI can be a little questionable at times, but Kafka remains ambitious with this cour with perhaps a bit more of a level headed approach. The use of CGI vines was most likely impossible to avoid, and there's not really any other massive uses of CGI in the episode. Nor do they try and go above and beyond their abilities with the fights. All in all, I'm very curious to see both how the stories goes over with this second cour, and how Kafka keeps things going in terms of visuals.

[pinkmarbella2050]

ETN Ramble: Season 2 AU

Right... I think this might be becoming a thing. I apologise now.

Anyway, hi, guys! Today, I'm gonna be rambling about a random ETN Season 2 AU I got when I was reading over my PMs with the lovely @rockonfishboy. I very well might write it and put it up on AO3, but I just need to get it out of my system first. So some quick context and TWs before we get into this: 1. Yes, I am obsessed with Season 2. A lot of the characters are very interesting and their dynamics are some of the most interesting in the show. Fight me.

2. This AU idea contains a ton of murder, a bit of stalking, torture and pretty much anything you can think of taken straight out of a horror movie (which is basically ETN, but WAY less censorship) and put into this fic. If you are triggered by any of the above (or anything in the tags that I may not have mentioned above), please do not read this post.

But with all that aside, let's go!

So this AU is based on what I call 'High School/College Horror'. If you need an example, think of things like Unfriended or House of Wax or Happy Death Day. Basically, the movie either features an event that took place at that time and that event triggers the story of the movie or the characters are around that age.

They may not be in college (depends on what exactly I wanna do), but to me, it has that same kind of energy.

Essentially, the AU revolves around the Season 2 cast in a huge mess; due to a massive misunderstanding on their part, Lauren died because of them at a party. In the words of Liza Koshy, Alex is single. And also, because of this, he's also now completely unhinged.

Because here's the thing; he thought he was doing everything right. He thought nobody would have to see this side of him, the side desperate for a normal life beyond his circumstances. He didn't have the best life, but with Lauren, he had a chance to overcome that, to escape it.

They took that away from him.

So his solution? Brutally torture and murder everyone, take their things and build a new life for himself out of the ashes he burned them down to.

Or force them into a death game or something. One of the two.

So what does he do? He makes a list. Gets all the information he can on Lauren's death and, from there, deduces who he thinks is the most-to-least responsible for her death.

From there, he will kill from bottom to top. That way, the people who are the most responsible will suffer more as more of their friends die.

...I swear, all he needs to be No Mercy Percy is a goddamn pepperbox at the rate I'm going. ANYWAY!

I think that one idea that would be really cool is that their deaths are based on their roles from Season 2. So for example:

Alex convinces Andrea her house is haunted and, when she's kinda went a loopy off of it, he kills her.

Alex kills Jesse during a break-in (IDK, Outlaws rob things, it made sense to me).

Tyler and Gabbie die in two of the most dramatic ways known to man.

DeStorm gets pushed onto train tracks.

Tana might have a liquor themed death.

Someone's having a Hitman-esque death.

Imagine Liza being baked into a pie.

Like, that kinda thing. I wanna give Stephen King a run for his money.

IDK how this list would look, but its gonna be wild. I have a feeling, if I do write this, its gonna be something interesting.

...God, I have a sick mind. But somehow, it made more sense than the Detective ramble!

Thanks for reading my carnage and I'll see you next time! Bye!

Your Author, Marbella. <3

[danglovely]

Regrading Taskmaster: S06E10 He was a different man.

*Score changes noted in parenthesis.

Series finale! Honestly, this season was a slog as evidenced by how slowly I got through it. Series Seven is a lot better (and one that a lot of people consider to be the best of all time).

That said, I've come off my Taskmaster fixation a bit. I'm still enjoying new episodes when they come out (including Australia and New Zealand), but now that I've stopped obsessing through these write-ups, it's getting harder. I at least want to get through Series Eight because it's my favorite, but this project might be naturally reaching its end.

Still, it's not like I'm on a deadline with this. I can always come back to it when I feel like. Anyway, let's wrap up Series Six.

Prize Task: The Least Appropriate Accessory For a Wedding Anniversary

How are you going to accessorize that?

Liza does a sandwich board stating "I Love Tom Hanks." Humor is subjective, but even as far as non sequiturs go, this is pretty weak. Russell does gift vouchers for a divorce lawyer. Pro - on topic. Con - a gift card that definitely isn't real because divorce lawyers don't give gift cards.

Alice thinks the mother of the bride should bring a positive pregnancy test. I fully agree. "She'll wear it as a corsage." Asim brings num-chuks. Even as non sequiturs go this is pretty weak.

Tim does a bunch of puns about bees! A for effort. B for execution.

Alice: 5 (+2) Asim: 2 (-3) Liza: 1 (0) Russell: 3 (-1) Tim: 4 (+2)

VT 01: Knock over the fewest skittles. You may place one item on each of the three ramp sections, or you may place two items on one of the ramp sections. Your items must be found on this table and may not include either you or the table. You may not tamper with the balls or the ramp.

What's that finger thing for?

Alex showed there was a right way to do this on YouTube! The only thing to evaluate here is whether anyone broke the rules. Possible trip-ups: (1) Wrong number of items in the section. (2) Items didn't come from the table. (3) Tampering.

Asim and Liza genuinely struggled understanding the rules. Alex's logic tracks that something that constitutes a singular form while it's on the table is an item. Asim narrowly avoids disqualifying by completely flubbing the task.

Alice, Russell, and Tim certainly seemed a bit smarter about it. It did seem like their attempts would have better results. Okay, maybe not Alice's banana peels. All said, this task was graded correctly.

Alice: 3 Asim: 3 Liza: 4 Russell: 5 Tim: 1

VT 02: Blow the candle out from the furthest distance. You may not relight the candle.

It was like an unhelpful Narnia.

This is going to be mean and people could call me incorrect about this, but it is brought up on the show and it should be taken seriously. Asim doesn't blow the candle out by any definition of the word. He knocks it over and it goes out.

Everyone else's score remain the same (+1 if you didn't get disqualified). Asim didn't complete the task.

Alice: 4 (+1) Asim: 0 (-5) Liza: 0 (0) Russell: 3 (+1) Tim: 5 (+1)

VT 03: Tell the Taskmaster you love him in the most meaningful way.

It was so . . . in me.

Liza wins. There's nothing to say about it. You have to see it and if you don't understand why Liza wins, I can't explain to you why Liza wins.

Russell gets one. He didn't do anything.

Asim's serenade was good enough to win the five in most instances. This wasn't one of those instances. Tim made himself Greg's mom which I thought was pretty inspired. Alice wrote, as Greg described it, a "heavily caveated declaration of love."

Alice: 2 Asim: 4 (-1) Liza: 5 Russell: 1 Tim: 3

Live Task: Display a number. You get one rosette if your number is higher than the person's on your right and one if its lower than the person's on your left. If you display the same number as someone else, you lose them all.

I am a creature of habit!

The only interesting part of this game (that is supposedly taking the world by storm) is that Alice asks Alex twice to let her pin the rosettes on herself.

There may be a game theory discussion to be had about this, but that's definitely not happening here. The scores remain unchanged.

Liza and Russell didn't get anything, but by rules I've set in the past -- zero is a number, so you do get points.

Alice: 5 (0) Asim: 4 Liza: 2 (+2) Russell: 2 (+2) Tim: 3 (0)

F I N A L

Episode --

Alice: 16 Asim: 13 Liza: 12 Russell: 14 Tim: 16

Alice and Tim TIE, which I took away from Alice in the past so I'M GIVING IT BACK TO HER.

Series --

I'm sure everyone's just as interested as me to learn who really won the series so let's math it up . . .

Alice: 133 Asim: 151 Liza: 149 Russell: 174 Tim: 179

Lost a hook, but won our hearts, it's Tim.

Actually surprised Liza didn't win it after calculation, I think odds on she was my favorite contestant this series. That said, good riddance to Series Six. I like you, but I don't like you.

Series Seven, let's go.

[georgiapeach30513]

your takes on CE characters are refreshing haha.

Though for me personally Steve is my baby and I will baby him until the end of time. He is my all time favorite character and is the farthest thing from a deviant or dom. I respect the people who imagine him as such but I cannot see it. I felt in the first avenger the entire movie they were disrespecting him and man was I sad for him. He was so damn earnest and positive throughout it and that’s what me cherish him. The soldiers booing him and throwing tomatoes at him. Him feeling like a dancing monkey but still found it in him to go rescue the 106th. what I loved so much about how they did the character in the first film was that even after he got the serum - he wasn’t immediately cool or accepted or even respected. He had to really earn it and I really enjoyed that gradual transition into him becoming the captain while Steve inside. But I digress. Everyone has different takes on how they feel marvel did his character and I really rather not ruin it with discourse.

But ransom - I am very intrigued by your take on ransom because most ppl tend to assume he’s evil to the core. I think he got written that way by rian johnson but Chris played him in a way that gave him a bit of a “possible redeemable” side but idk if he even meant to do that. Maybe it’s his own personality coming through - he honestly seems like even if he was trying to be this awful human being he can still be lovable. It’s like you can’t really hate him even if you’re supposed to. Idk how he does it.

It’s funny, when defending Jacob came out there was a split on twitter between ppl who were team Andy and those who were team Laurie. Some People thought Andy gaslit Laurie and also did some really dumb shit (hiding a murder weapon as a DA?). Andy wasn’t what I would call a super great lawyer. But I did think it was sad he seemed to have no friends and his whole life was Laurie and Jacob. I could understand why he was so ride or die for his family and I also thought it was super sad at the end when he told Laurie he loved her even if it didn’t mean much to her and she just walked away from him. (Don’t make your spouse your whole entire life, ppl. If it falls apart you’ll have nothing.) I do think his character had a lot of flaws and personally felt he did a lot of self sabotaging but I could also understand why he did it. One thing that did make me really really sad for him was that each time he would get angry or upset with either Jacob or Laurie he would still always want to make up or apologize. I think he just lived/loved for them both so much that he couldn’t bear the idea of losing them or having them be angry or walk away from him. In some ways, he’s kinda similar to Pete Brenner (sad upbringing, basically alone in life no family). For Andy, his self made family is all his has, then his work, and Pete, his work is all he has, then his family.

I haven’t seen all of his characters/films but one recent standout is Pete from pain hustlers. I extremely disagree with critics who claimed his character wasn’t enough or that he was lackluster. WRONG! Pete was FIRE to me and man do I want more of him. I’m still reveling from his performance because for a role that got so downplayed by critics, I was expecting basically nada but got so much more than I bargained for. The little bit about Pete’s background in foster care was very eye opening and the scene where he gives Liza that rookie of the year bracelet??? He got so timid and was like “just wait a bit before you pawn it” and I got so 🥺. He really liked Liza and I think that betrayal he felt from her really cut deep. So sad.

Anyways I digress. I just love your takes and the discourse on your blog!

You’re one of the few blogs I’ve seen where even if your personal views or preferences aren’t always the same as the anons who post to you, you are always respectful and give an open chance for discussion. I really dig that!

I love hearing takes on characters!! This is why I love Chris’ work. He plays his characters so nuanced and layered, so naturally people are going to pick up on different cues.

Now, what you said about Steve, I believe that for CATFA. But I think being out of time hardens him, and that’s why I have that take on Steve. Plus, I’ll be honest I can’t forgive him for leaving Bucky and Sam when they needed him. And he went back to Peggy after she said she lived her life. He showed how selfish he can be.

I think Chris is the reason Ransom was layered. You can tell that Rian wanted him to be very one note. But then Chris had those little pouts, and breath intakes. Ransom was a spoiled child that didn’t get love and attention that he wanted and deserved. There’s a reason that he’s Harlan’s favorite. He’s smart. He can be conniving but imagine that intelligence is for good? He would be so loyal if he found the person worth being loyal to.

I hear everything you’re saying about Andy and I agree. That’s why I get the vibes him and Laurie just weren’t good for each other. They barely knew each other when she got pregnant. So they grew apart instead of together.

Yes about Pete!! I’m so glad you picked up on all that! I found myself wanting and yearning to know more about Pete and his life. How did he end up in that situation? Because I think, like Ransom, Pete wanted love. He respected Liza so much. And the hurt 😭 Chris did so good!! I hate that most of the negative reviews focused on him. Because I think he was the saving grace.

If we can have good conversations about Chris and his career/characters I’m here for it. That’s who I’m a fan of.

[erins-quinn]

lil bear under here

I could do a whole fucking dissertation on why season three of a show is ALWAYS the most polarizing because it’s the one where show runners take the most risks that either connect with the audience big time or alienates them big time. without fail!!

I think, well right now I’m trying to absorb everything but I think that I’m not as miffed as others might be because like nothing happened? like stuff did but also no? like carmy and richie didn’t resolve shit, barely spoke beside screaming at each other actually. carmy and syd barely spoke (though the breadcrumbs we got idk those were delicious I GOT HER FULL NAMING HIM SHE SAID CARMEN *SIGH* among other things that were really romantic soulmate-y!!) and just did their half conversation staring contest thing, and carmy and nat also hardly spoke. there were a lot of important conversations but also not in the way that shit needed to be aired out and it wasn’t.

I liked the character study this season, that I will say for sure. the bottle like episodes were touching, and tina’s episode,,, my fucking god liza, ayo come get your emmy’s, but something is still missing and it’s the truth! between carm and syd, carm and rich, carm and nat! literally pushing everyone away. ik that’s the point but my god.

so besides the fact that there were too many half conversations and unfinished stuff, I’m dissatisfied. mhm. but as upset as I expected to be given my horrible relationship with third seasons? no. at least not right now lol that could change, it has before.

carmen is being such a shit, but I know he does love sydney and I really wish she’d told him so we could see him actually faced with losing her. and! cant believe he got away with the menu change thing bc he is actively fueling their demise review wise and financially. I love him very much but he’s being a fucking brat!

syd deserves the world, she deserves recognition and while I’m appreciative they express that concern for her I need it resolved. like yesterday. she cannot keep doing this and if she needs to leave she should go, and carmen should be on his knees begging for her to stay. he has a heart, he’s not taking the credit on purpose but still. in her position it’s a big deal. if they had a conversation he’d know (that’s where fic comes in WINK)

anyways I’m relieved overall. def the weakest but 10000% nothing fanfiction cannot fix. we’re not done here yet so let’s see if carmy can one day be the man sydney deserves, because fuck we all can see she wants him lmao. and him? he’s already gone.

[mazm-imagines]

Final entry for MazM Week!! Day 7 CATS EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. its kinda shit but its better than some of the other ones so . im rlly tired dawg... 524 words under the cut

“Has anything notable happened today?” Pyotr inquired before giving a sneeze. He gave a strained smile, attempting to hold in another one. Those damn cute cats…

“Nope! Not even little Hayashi has heard anything. Tough luck Mr. Belov!”

“I see… Thank you for looking for me either way.”

“Of course. How can I turn down my most valuable customer? You’re the only one that doesn’t call me a Japanese freak! Well, I am one, but still.” Not like Makoto actually cared for his lonely life. He had his cats’ company. His numerous, numerous cats.

“They’re foolish to overlook you then. Your intelligence isn’t any the least hampered by your status… I truly do wonder sometimes about your full potential.”

“Don’t start that ‘potential’ nonsense on me! You sound like my father. Just pet Hayashi alright?” Makoto outstretched Hayashi to Pyotr’s face. He in turn covered his face at the offer, already feeling his nostrils flare up in the beginning of a sneeze.

“I apologize Mr. Kimura… and you know I can’t pet her.”

“Ohhhh right you are.” 

Pyotr was very rarely scared of much. However he couldn’t deny that once Makoto was angered, something inside of him reacted as well. Such an unassuming man was the silent threat of Vladivostok Harbor, even if it’s not a direct threat. Makoto never wanted to touch a firearm again, and Pyotr wouldn’t ever plan on making him either.

“Cats live such wonderful lives, don’t you think so too Mr. Belov?”

“What do you mean?”

“They roam wherever they want! Just live their lives. No need for comfort. And yet they still get doted on and adored! As they should! Although I don’t care too much about that part- anyways! It must be nice to have that freedom.”

“You’re right… It must be nice.” How Pyotr wished he could just turn into a cat and run from his problems. Perhaps run away on a nice ship like the ones Liza told him about when they were children. 

“If I were to be a cat… hmmm. I’m not sure what breed I would be! What do you think, Hayashi?” He asked Hayashi on his lap. She was grooming her tail, only giving him a ’mraow’ before continuing. Makoto nodded furiously.

“You’re right… I didn’t think of that at all!”

“What did Hayashi say?”

“A Russian Blue! How about you Mr. Belov? What would you be if you were a cat?”

“E-eh? Let me think…”

“I think you would be a normal black cat.”

“Is it because of my hair?”

“Black cats are seen as omens of misfortune… very spooky and mysterious!”

“...”

“But, they’re just misunderstood, no? The sweetest cats I’ve met were all black cats!”

“T-thank you?”

“Not for you!” Makoto gave a harsh stare before loosening his knit eyebrows. A smile indicated that he was merely making a light hearted joke.

“Black cats are unassuming, merely coming and going in the shadows. Just like you Mr. Belov.”

“That does sound like me, yes.”

“Well! That settles it now! Thank you for visiting again. You really spare me from this monotonous routine.”

“Of course. I’ll be by again soon.”