#anyway. trying not to say anything spoilery but!!! so good.

[followingeggs]

look. say what you will about matt and trey but “assistant to mr stone- trey parker” actually got to me….

[lanternlightss]

guys i keep thinking about loop and nameless bard being friends. they are. rotating around up there

[keiicom]

Yjh things the Webtoon 'forgot' to mention or to point out bc they hate novel yjh

Warning for vague webtoon spoilers ig?? No spoilery names are named and no unreleased scenarios are mentioned/specified btw but I thought I'd add this warning just in case :)

He waited three days on the bridge for kdj to resurface after he dropped him in the Ichytosaurs mouth. Just. Waited there.

He smiles when Kdj tries his food and says it's good (it's more like a tiny smug smile tbh)

He is a WORRIER. Man worries about everything, but sucks at expressing it through actions bc that's when he's most easily misunderstood. It is EXTREMELY easy to misunderstand his actions unless the other characters ask him what he's doing and why [after he explains, he turns out to be actually really thoughtful tbh]

When he tells 41st round shin yoosung to "quit her blabbering"...he wasn't that harsh in the novel. The line was changed (still don't know why) but originally he said something about not having enough time, and wasn't a complete asshole.

Also during that same arc/scene it was revealed that he woke her up because he genuinely didn't think she'd attack him/be mad at him iirc, so it wasn't him being stupid, just somewhat naive

When Iris called KDJ ugly he actually stepped forward and intimidated her by glaring so she'd stop talking :) because he sensed fighting spirit in her and he decided to react lmao

His eyebrow moves similarly to a caterpillar when he's about to make an important decision (note: kdj points this out in the novel because he's always staring at yjh I swear to god there's proof)

Yjh puts on a 'cool' face when he's been caught or called out after trying to be sneaky (he's SO BAD at being sneaky istg I love this man so much)

He sometimes uses his skills for stupid and petty shit *said lovingly with heart eyes*

He's more likely to give someone/an NPC a quick death than to make them suffer until they die

He always goes along with KDJ's plans, even though Kdj barely tells him ANYTHING about them ever 😭 He glares but still goes along with them I NEED Y'ALL TO UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS- /lh

He drags his sword on the ground when he's happy/satisfied with something, or generally in a good mood. Also Loves to clean his sword (I think the webtoon added a scene of him cleaning the sword like. once)

He loves his sister more than anything (we haven't seen a lot of scenes with yoo mia AND yjh in the webtoon yet but I have high expectations for those knowing how much he adores her in the novel)

Mans RUNS to help every time kdj is in danger, unless he genuinely thinks kdj 1) can handle the situation himself or 2) deserves the punishment

He has MONOLOGUES in his head even though he only ever says like two sentences thakrhsjfjb, and is very eloquent when given the chance to explain his thought process/reasoning

[which kdj rarely lets him do. bc he's hellbent on doing the talking and most other characters don't expect yjh to talk anyway]

The hand holding scene that was turned into a weird wrist holding scene? Yes originally they held hands (he wasn't as angry then either)

He's a serial texter and will spam message people

He loves dumplings

He gets jealous when other people monopolize Dokja's attention for too long (also canon, ex: Sangah, [redacted 1], sometimes han sooyoung, [redacted 2], [redacted 3] 💀 and WILL glare at Kdj or demand answers depending on how severe the transgression is)

He's tired. So, so tired.

HE CAN LAUGH

he doesn't let Han Sooyoung live out of pride/not wanting to lose to kdj (???? what even was that). he lets her live because he doesn't want kdj to think poorly of him / alternatively he doesn't want to lose him as an ally. Not everything is about pride with him 🫠

he looks embarrassed after hearing yoo mia tell him he looks "happy when you talk about [kdj]". the narration also gives her statement some credibility, because "she knows him well since she's his sister". but of course they made him look angry instead of embarrassed 🙄 bc god forbid he shows any other facial expression ever

He's nosy (again: said lovingly with heart eyes). You'll notice how even when he pretends not to care, he'll still stick around to see how things develop/gather info on 'important' stuff. If he's not interested, he'll just leave, bc he's the kind of guy to just do that. So if he doesn't leave, even if he's pretending not to care... you see where I'm going with this

He has a sense of humor, believe it or not (though most of the time he's hilarious without meaning to)

When [redacted] asked yoo joonghyuk what his deal was with kdj and why he wanted him in his group he said "kdj is necessary for this world. I need him." but webtoon decided to skip that line 🫠

Yjh says "I guess your mother doesn't like me" instead of this "like mother like son" bullshit, because the second one implies dokja doesn't like him. which couldn't be farther from the truth

Yoo Joonghyuk actually looks distraught when he realizes he's the one that has to kill kdj. To the point kdj has to tell him to not make that face.

He holds him tenderly as kdj falls, and tries to hang onto him as he's dragged away.

I'd add more but the rest is spoilers fhajhrjeka so yeah I'll just wait to see what webtoon does first and I'll update this as they go

[vigilskeep]

you gonna check out Vows & Vengeance? Would love to get your first impression/takes on it

yeah i listened to ep 1 this morning!! one comment without context: the line “more or less” made me choke on my drink

some comments with spoilery context under the cut:

nadia & elio are fine, i wish their dialogue was a little less uhhh self-aware and expository (“we are having an argument and this is exactly how i feel and i will explain why my backstory is responsible! now i will state your character flaws clearly out loud for the audience!”) that’s a pet peeve of mine. they and their relationship feel a bit generic to me overall. like i say they’re just kind of fine

i guess i did enjoy that nadia’s right and elio does act like a magister and immediately try to solve problems like a magister when they come up. i always like when there’s a new character and the things they say ring true for where they’re coming from, it makes them feel uhhh rooted in the world? i suppose tevinter social class being plot relevant at all is nice in terms of just knowing they’re grounding things in the established lore

people announcing their spells by name so that you know what’s going on was deeply goofy i can’t decide whether or not i loved it

neve attempting to freeze an entire fucking bay to stop a boat and only failing because a magister cast his way out was insane. i said this about her protective dome in the initial gameplay reveal, but she is doing magic on a level we simply have not seen

ummmmm i liked the appearance from our good old wolf pal. it’s funny i feel like i’ve gotten much more fond of him lately. but at the same time whenever we’re not seeing him from an inquisition inner circle member’s perspective i kind of re-learn the way i saw him when he killed felassan at the end of the masked empire. the way i see him when he’s not the guy the inquisition knows, you know? he seems more dangerous and unpredictable to me when we’re looking through a different set of eyes than as one of the people he had to interact with for so long and deal with as people rather than merely obstacles to his greater purpose. i don’t inherently trust him or put anything past him in the same way when he’s dealing with someone he doesn’t have that uh soft spot for

though that “i’m sorry” when things went bad seems demonstrative of the effect dai had on him. it’s not exactly the response of a man who can still convince himself these aren’t really people. anyway no idea what happened in that funny little ritual but rip to another of his a+ plans. you’ll get there one day buddy

not entirely convinced at all that it’s really elio that nadia is hearing 😬

the idea that a person in tevinter hears the words “the hinterlands” and immediately knows it means the hinterlands in ferelden (which i can only assume is what it means) is so stupid i was genuinely taken aback like be serious jsgsjsjsk

[dangermousie]

Honestly I think you're one of my favourite kdrama bloggers on here and I'm curious: what are the kdramas you consider to be perfect? Like top to bottom not a single flaw seen. What's the best of dramaland for you?

Awww thank you! I love this type of ask too!

Any list of mine is gonna be of course vvv subjective (I am not a romcom lover for example) and I can guarantee you that the moment I hit post, I am gonna lose my mind because I will remember I forgot something.

Also, no flaw by definition excludes some of my faves where there are a few minor flaws but the rest is so amazing it doesn't matter (The Legend First King's Four Gods comes to mind - the first ep ie prologue set 1k years before the main story - is a lil cheesy. But the rest is so good I don't even care and same for My Dearest where I'd perhaps remove the final amnesia bit but it's a perfect drama otherwise with the rest so good I don't even care. So perhaps they should be listed.)

But anyway here are are some dramas where I have not seen a single flaw, perfect dramas.

Mawang (also known as The Devil or Lucifer) - probably the best kdrama dealing with revenge ever made - the damage, the driving need, the destruction of self and yet destruction of self without it. To really explain anything about it would be spoilery so all I am going to say is it revolves around an icy lawyer with a secret, a hot headed cop chasing a string of murders, and a librarian who can read past events by touching objects or people. The way I cried. The way I stared in shock as it ended. The sheer perfection of it all - the acting, the relationships, the writing. I get emotional just thinking of it.

IRIS - yup, an action drama. I am not much of a fan of various sequels/spin-offs (involving different characters, you do not need to watch anything else if you watched IRIS or to watch IRIS to watch the others) but the original is amazing. Sure, it's an actioner. It's also an amazing character study of a person taken apart and trying to put himself together, of past tangling, of people passing or failing tests set by life. It's just - AAAAAAAAA also yet another drama I bawled for hours over.

Train - Yoon Si Yoon is a cop slipping between alternate universes in search of a killer seems like a procedural with a side of scifi but it's more of a meditation on love and loss and what drives us to keep living (or not.)

Someday - hands down the most obscure kdrama on this list, this is a tale of four people whose lives intersect - a mangaka seeking inspiration, a sort of private detective hiding unimaginable trauma under his sunny demeanor, a manipulative yet childlike psychologist and a business minded friend of the last one, the sanest of them all. When people discuss healing dramas, this is the one that comes to mind. My favorite is the detective's arc because it's one of those trauma sunshine things where he's coping, coping, coping and then...stops.

Empress Ki and 6 Flying Dragons - if you watch only two long sageuks, make it these ones. They are smart (esp 6FD), and they are such amazing complex character studies of people being hollowed out by power. The OTPs are amazing and what I love but the character study is even better. And both are epic in all senses of the world.

Speaking of sageuks, Slave Hunters (also known as Chuno) about a former nobleman who's a slave hunter now, an escape slave who used to be a general, and a slave woman masquerading as an aristocrat is my favorite sageuk of all time - a love story, a character story, and a story of the dispossessed, this is smart and grim and hopeful and just - if there was ever a perfect sageuk, this is it.

The Princess' Man and Flower of Evil - ie Moon Chae Won loves a feral mess and goes MINE! TPM is a smart emotional sageuk, one of the best out there and FoE is a study of love and trauma.

Something Happened in Bali, Padam Padam, A Love to Kill, Spring Waltz, Thank You, Snow Queen, That Winter the Wind Blows - old school melodramas (perhaps not TY so much, it's more complicated in genre) that push people to the limits to expose their deepest selves.

My Country the New Age, Hong Gil Dong, Rebel the Thief Who Stole the People, The Crowned Clown, Return of Iljimae - they focus on class in period setting (just as Chuno did) and make me care and think.

Worlds Within - seemingly about lives of studio workers, this is a rare drama where you feel you are peeking at real people.

Gloria and Family Honor - 50 ep drama where I'd remove nothing and that feels so intimate.

W Two Worlds, Extraordinary You, The Moon in the Day, Live Up to Your Name, Queen In Hyun's Man - high concepts that improbably work and make you think and feel.

Secret Garden, City Hunter, Healer, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Faith, Tale of the Nine Tailed, I Hear Your Voice - just a wonderful good time.

Gaksital - take a bad guy, make him your protag, slowly redeem him and put him through hell.

Bad Guys - a bleak take on revenge and truth but also a damn good time at the same time somehow.

Beyond Evil and Cruel City - about cops but not really. About forgiveness, love and limits.

Come and Hug Me - brought me back to kdramas. A love story and trauma story and a bit of a thriller. It's everything.

Beauty Inside, Last Scandal, City Hall, My Girl, Delightful Girl Chunhyang and Hometown Cha Cha Cha - it is very rare for me to love romcoms. These few make the list. They also made me cry so make of it what you will.

Shut Up Flower Boy Band - the only time I liked a teen drama.

Capital Scandal and Chicago Typewriter - masterpieces dealing with the 1930s revolutionaries.

Que Sera Sera - if you love dysfunction and intense shipping, oh boy!

I am sure the moment I hit post, I will remember something else, but this will do for now.

ETA: aaaaaa Damo!!! My very first sageuk and what a way to start!!! Perfection.

ETA2: Arang and the Magistrate! OK Shin Min Ah is in an awful lot of these...

[fallenclan]

you mentioned something about your "notes" before, is there any chance we could see them if they're not spoilery?

they're not especially interesting, just the outline of what i wanted the comic to be, but sure :) i'll put them below the cut

Osprey: Feather?

Osprey: What’s wrong?

Feather: (pause, then crumbles) You’ve always been able to read me better than anyone else. It’s just…

Feather: [sigh] What’s the point? Nobody wants to believe me, I know that. 

Osprey: I’ll always want to believe you. Try me?

Feather: (stressed smile, but relieved)

Feather: It’s been going on for moons. Ever since Ravenstar became leader…

(big camp view to indicate time passing)

Feather: That’s everything, I think. I just- don’t know what to do.

Feather: I can’t go throwing out baseless accusations about Ravenstar--the clan loves him. He was chosen by Starclan. Nobody will believe he’s the reason I can’t speak to them.

(view from entrance) Osprey: You need to find the final cat, then. Someone with a strong connection to Starclan.

(cat silhouette) Feather: Yeah. I just don’t know where to start. Or how to do it without Ravenstar suspecting anything.

Feather: I know what he’d do if he knew. I have you to think about, and Snowkit and Harekit.

Osprey: Whatever you need, I’ll do everything I can to-

(stops)

(turns)

Honey: I think… I might be able to help you.

TO BE CONTINUED

(paws padding along)

Feather: Stay quiet. Try not to act out of place.

Dark: (glances back to Honey. She looks determined)

(exiting camp)

Feather: (thinking) Almost out of camp. Then we’ll be-

Raven: Ah, Feathersight.

(he and Flamefall are sitting just outside camp, as if having a chat)

Feather: Ravenstar. Good evening.

Raven: Going out for herbs?

Feather: Er- borage. Yes. And Honeysong is helping us carry.

Raven: (stares)

Feather, Dark, & Honey: (stare back. Feather is sweating so bad)

Raven: Well, don’t let me stop you. Best of luck.

Feather: Thank you, Ravenstar.

(they pass by them. Ravenstar looks unperturbed. Flamefall frowns.)

(wide shot of fallenclan territory. They traveling. roadtrip)

(they descend down into the Cave)

Dark: You’re lucky y’know, most warriors never get to go to the Glowcave. Even I’ve only been twice.

Feather: Once.

Dark: That you know of. Anyway, can you really see ghosts?

Honey: All the time. When I was a kit, they were so vivid that I thought they were real half the time. Now they’re always wispy and faded like the wind is tearing them apart. 

Feather: (pauses, looking forlorn and troubled)

Feather: (looking forward) This is it.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

(all 3 standing looking at the shrooms. establish)

Feather: Have you ever seen Silverbelly?

Honey: The dark bengal molly with the scar on her shoulder? Yeah, she hangs around the medicine den a lot. She’s my great-grandmother, right?

Feather: That’s right. She was…

(he trails off, trying to find the right words. fails)

Feather: She was a great cat. Fallenclan misses her.

Honey: (looks sadly at him)

Dark: So, what now?

Honey: We’re supposed to drink the water, right?

Feather: No, that’s usually only necessary for leader ceremonies. Normally they just… appear.

Dark: Like that?

(shakey, shadowy form stands over the water)

Feather: (eyes widened) Stars…

(zoom on shaky form. Big big eyes)

Honey: She wants us to drink.

Dark: What? How do you know?

Honey: (steps up and drinks the water)

(shadowy forms explode out of every crevice, screaming and incoherent)

Shadows: (very glitched and broken) STOP HIM! STOP HIM!

Honey: (terrified)

Feather & Dark: (terrified. Feather curls around Dark as if to protect him)

Shadows: STOP HIM! ONE MORE! ONE MORE!

Honey: One more?

Shadows: ONE MORE! THE LAST ONE! BEFORE WE CAN’T-

(shadows dissipate)

Feather: Stars, I… I could barely understand them.

Dark: Did they say…

Honey: One more. The last one.

Honey: There’s another cat.

[deadzonedenizen]

THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN

RAMBLING ABOUT OCS: GIBBY EDITION

BASIC CONCEPT IDEA:

Before we start with the rambling, we first need to start with the JTTW character she is based on.

According to this article, there are four monkeys of havoc, Wukong and Macaque making up half of them. Horse Monkey will be a ramble for another time. Right now, we're putting our focus on the gibbon.

Lots of space-themes going on with this little guy. When I first read this bit, you know the first character that came into mind?

Now you know the reason behind Gibby's Halloween costume. So anyways, that collector inspiration already gave me a basic idea of what I wanted Gibby to be as a character. Bouncy little kid that has too much power for her own good.

Other inspirations for her character include Mebh from Wolfwalkers, Young Eda from The Owl House, Spinel from Steven Universe, and later on Kingsley from Yaelokre. The first two especially influenced Gibby's hair design, the third tracks with her ability to stretch her arms, and the last with a good chunk of her personality.

DESIGN:

Probably the first thing you'd notice from Gibby design-wise is her giant hair. I've decided to give her that hair to give her a sort of silhouette that resembles a shooting star. With Gibby herself, she is somewhere around two-three lego heads tall. I mean- gibbons are already teeny, and especially the young by default, so of course Gibby's gonna be fun-sized.

With her color palette, I chose colors from the more pastel-y side to emphasize that childlike wonder that's basically associated with her. Fun fact, her hair is a reference to how she was born ;)

Her clothes, I wanted it to look like something you'd find a FFM monkey demon wearing, while still referencing Gibby's former job as the Jade Court's jester by adding what's basically a faded version of the Celestial Realm's signature turquoise and gold, and putting jester-like design bits like the little bells and mismatched colors. I also want the outfit to look like something she made herself.

NOTES FURTHER INTO DEVELOPMENT:

I can't really say too much without spoiling some bits of Ship In A Bottle, so I'll try to avoid anything that borders too close to that. Instead, I'll list each of the details from the JTTW Gibbon's description + how it's applied to Gibby.

'Seize the sun and moon'

Okay, so she can't literally manipulate celestial bodies all over the place. Instead, it's reflected on her flutes. Yes, Bell's flutes are actually hers, and are just meant to serve as Bell's training wheels with his powers. The flutes have a second form that resembles sunwheels (Though it would be appropriate to call the moon flute's wheel form a moonwheel).

Usually only one flute can be used in this form at a time. Which of the flutes can be used in its wheel form depends on whether it's day and night (moonwheel only for night, sunwheel only for day). The only time both can be used in their wheel forms is during an eclipse, or if the flutes are being used by two people. (Something I need to update in Ship In A Bottle 💀)

I haven't designed the wheel forms yet, but the sunwheel has its rays more emphasized, and the moonwheel's appearance depends on the moon's current phase. The sunwheel also resembles a suncatcher, while the moonwheel resembles a dreamcatcher with magpie feathers (for Ship In A Bottle readers, no you can't make oaths with them).

'Shorten a thousand mountains'

Ooooohhh boy, this is one of the more spoilery bits. All I need to say is...there was a reason they had to trap Gibby in the calabash. Gibby's abilities that aren't mentioned anywhere else here fall under this category. That's how you know these are her more...unstable abilities. Thankfully she'd need a good supply of power to source the energy needed for all of that. Otherwise it'd be really...disastrous. An ability I can safely mention without spoilers tho, is her ability to...literally shorten mountains. And by that, I mean cause chunks of land to break off from the ground and remain floating in air. A lot of floating islands can be contributed to her.

'Distinguish the auspicious from the inauspicious'

Or in Gibby terms, her gut feelings. AKA her intuition. There is a small legend about her, where if she appears in your dreams, it's a sign of that dream possibly foretelling a future event. So she's basically an omen, good or bad depending on the dream. Being a dream-hopper, she tends to be more attracted to dreams that likelier to be a sign about the future.

Another small legend basically makes her a wishing star-like figure. If you wish upon a star, you're inviting Gibby to visit your dream (dream, as in your wish in this context).

In the waking world, her gut feelings are a bit weaker. Simply put, the closer that specific event is to happening, the stronger her gut feeling is. For an event that could happen maybe a year into the future, Gibby would only get a slight gut feeling that she could easily just wave off. For an event that's a second from happening, Gibby gets literal vision flashes before they actually happen. This makes her a really good dodger, making her difficult to attack.

'Manipulate planets and stars'

Again she can't just play pinball with celestial bodies whenever she wanted (and believe me, she does). The planet bit is less referenced compared to the star bit (for a reason involving another oc).

Reading this far into my rambling, you already see a lot of star motifs with Gibby. Well another is her ability to manipulate stardust, which can put people to sleep if she's not careful. She generates stardust using her flutes, and the stardust is how she makes clones of herself, and even other people. The stardust can act like pixie dust too. Sprinkle a bit of it on something, and that's how you make that something float (remember the floating islands?). Yes, she can manipulate normal sand too (also a reference to her birth).

Stars and other celestial bodies also make up a good chunk of how she can tell if her gut feelings are a false alarm or not, since the position of celestial bodies can predict someone's d*stiny in Chinese astrology.

Gibby as a celestial primate

Whereas Wukong is the sun and Macaque is the moon, Gibby is the stars. Whereas Wukong is the hero and Macaque is the warrior, Gibby is the jester. I like to think that there's this sort of duality when it comes to pairs of celestial primates.

Wukong represents the unchanging sun, and the fact that it never stops shining. You just can't help but notice him, but even dare to make eye contact, and you might mark yourself as an enemy.

Macaque represents the ever-changing moon, its different phases reflecting in how Macaque is better able to adjust to different situations. You don't always notice him. Sometimes he shines brightly with a dramatic display, and sometimes he's blended with the shadows of the night.

Gibby represents the playful stars. Her head is in the clouds and she's almost always literally floating. She embodies the whimsies of childhood, the curiosity of youth, and the world through the lens of a child.

So you already have a bit of a hint about down-to-earth Mandrill's character, hint hint nudge nudge ;)

[shreddeddescent]

ok ok one last insanity check for everyone ok this is a lil different. like lemme just say im clearly someone who likes to go to the dark zone but also try and claw my way back out. i do sappy funny shit most of the time. and the writing of this thing has gotten long and insane, timelines have jumped as i try and parse events. as in i started w a scenario where raph nearly got sold out to his father and is rescued by his brothers immediately. we go to a place where he wasnt and is rescued later. theres been inbetweens where hes rescued but bad things happen despite that. all of this has led me to like his inner turmoils (diagnosis) and the other characters inner turmoils more. how they feel about each other how theyve coped. its good to jump around so im glad i havent said too much as if its all set in stone. im glad im not trying to write a fanfiction to SHARE if that makes sense.

my current shit that has gotten the longest was from the worst case scenario of his lack of rescue and i feel like... i dont need to say what that was? but i think i should point out that descent has a second meaning. its not just the spiralling downward, its also the root word of descendant. that was my feeling about the poetry of it.

so ill say i do feel like im in the danger zone of being fucking murdered for this but i wanna say it anyway cuz i think itll be ok. i think you guys will get it cuz ur being nice. im exploring shit and having fun. it gets raw, it gets hard, but its working out.

so i started writing this au as "ok so heres a scene where raph is just hanging out w casey, hes trying to tell her to control her anger, and theyre fighting a bit. and he fucking flashes back and realized hes a csa victim. let the story unravel from there"

and im currently in the. insane writing area of "what if ur presumed aborted kids come back from the future/pocket dimension to take care of u cuz theyre like 30 and have coped w what they are and know you have no adults around who give a shit. and theyre amazing and kind and want to help you."

shits.......... gone off the rails. idk what else to say. i am having fun exploring insanity and seeing if i can reign it in. if i didnt do that i wouldnt have come up w half the shit i have. so like. uh. idk if youll see anything of said thing okay. its weird i know it is. but honestly i feel like the insanity and seeing how real i can make it feel, how i can parse feelings over it is working well. maybe this all sounds spoilery or weird. i was really thinking "ill just draw out things chronologically" but im struggling with that for some reason. but this au is on my mind uh 24/7 and its good to just be like "ok, heres where my head is at, if thats not what you wanna hear about it the unfollow button is right there"

but i also feel like ive been OVERLY POINTING OUT. that this isnt a story for kids. so please try not to judge me too harshly. its just a fucking.... how insane can i go and tell you about it thing. i guess.

[anhed-nia]

BLOGTOBER 10/14-10/15/2024: JUNGLE HOLOCAUST and HOLOCAUST 2000

For these two days I chose two Italian movies that featured the word "holocaust", end of the world scenarios, primordial caves, gross awkward sex, and Massimo Foschi. If you think I put a lot of thought into this, you'd be wrong! But one of these movies was a lot better than I expected, and one was much weirder, so that's a net positive.

If you heard the title JUNGLE HOLOCAUST and the name Ruggero Deodato in the same sentence, you might fairly assume that the infamous Italian director made a second movie about a white Westerner fighting off man-eating primitives to capitalize on the notoriety of his name-making 1980 video nasty CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. But you would be wrong! Though to be fair, I'm not sure when his 1977 movie LAST CANNIBAL WORLD got that alternative title--like if it was for home video releases after 1980, or if JUNGLE HOLOCAUST really was Deodato's first "holocaust" title. I'm curious about the use of that word in exploitation movies in general; post-1980 genre films would certainly be trying to associate themselves with CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, but what meaning did it have for exploitation producers in the 1970s? Obviously it was enough for two different groups (Erre Cinematografica, and Titanus and The Rank Organization, respectively) would put out JUNGLE HOLOCAUST and HOLOCAUST 2000 the same year. I'm not even sure how to estimate the place the actual-Holocaust held in the public consciousness at the time; it wasn't even a lifetime away in the '70s, but we know how the events of past decades can suddenly, crazily seem like literally-ancient history to younger people. The Frankfurt Auschwitz trials took place in the mid-60s, which I mention just to say that Holocaust-related legal processes were ongoing for some time. Evidence of ongoing processing in the collective unconscious can be found in the nazploitation boom of 1976-77; MARATHON MAN was '76 and THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL was '78.. JUNGLE HOLOCAUST and HOLOCAUST 2000 have little or nothing to do with the events of WWII, but so I don't know if that I've added anything meaningful with this rant; I'm just curious about it.

Um anyway. JUNGLE HOLOCAUST is a much better movie than you probably think it is. Massimo Foschi plays an oil prospector who gets stranded in Malaysia and captured by cannibals, whereupon he forces cavewoman Me Me Lai to help him fight his way back to civilization. Of course, it bears all the hallmarks of its fairly-maligned genre--extreme racial caricatures, extreme rape, extreme animal cruelty, and extreme gut-munching--but it's also surprisingly good, if you can eat around that stuff. Foschi's stay in the cannibal caves is like a Boschian fever dream, beautifully photographed with a fascinating soundscape to match, and there's a certain subversive power in the way the gleeful cannibals dominate Foschi--and by proxy, the viewer. Sadly I haven't been able to remember who, but one critic pointed out that the cannibal movies (of which JUNGLE is only the second, though really the first recognizable one) are usually sun-drenched affairs, which makes the chiaroscuro imagery of the cave quite unusual.

It's also worth saying that Foschi really lives this adventure. I mean of course he wasn't really kidnapped by cannibals, but he really spends the whole movie nude or nearly so, really braved the hostile jungle with its leech-infested waters for the shoot, really eats everything from beetles to putrid offal, really spars with an angry toucan. In a way JUNGLE HOLOCAUST has more in common with some forms of experimental theater than it does with a regular old exploitation movie. It is the real deal, and I recommend it if you have the stomach for it.

HOLOCAUST 2000, on the other hand, is like, all crazy. This is going to be spoilery, but probably the best way to discuss this movie is to tease out how convoluted it is. Kirk Douglas plays entrepreneur Robert Caine who plans to open a nuclear power plant near a sacred cave in Israel, amid protests and prophecies of doom. Foschi plays a madman who tries to kill him, in one of a series of events suggesting that the power plant is going to trigger the apocalypse described in the Book of Revelations. The plant itself, which seems semi-sentient, is likened to the Biblical Beast of the Sea with all its destructive power, and there's a pretty fun dream sequence about this...but then there's a separate prophecy about how Caine's seed (ew!) will beget the Antichrist, which presumably comes about when he knocks up a girl reporter (Agostina Belli), who then starts acting more or less like Damien in THE OMEN. But then also there's the matter of Caine's androgynous adult son Angel (Simon Ward), who strangled his twin brother in the womb, and there's some hemming and hawing about which twin embodied goodness and which one embodied evil, for whatever reason. So there's sort of two Antichrists in this movie? I don't know. There's a lot going on.

I don't feel great about this, but I cannot avoid talking about the graphic sex scene between 30 year old Agostina Belli and Kirk Douglas, who is 61 and looks even older. We all know that the entertainment industry prefers to take "an old American fossil and put it next to some young rising star," as Sergio Martino put it; I'm forever thinking about Maggie Gyllenhaal losing a role because she was told she was too old to play Clint Eastwood's girlfriend. But even so, I think we rarely or never see naked Clint Eastwood in bed with his too-young costars, and HOLOCAUST 2000 offers the startling and protracted spectacle of Kirk Douglas's wrinkly, hairy, mottled old fingers roving over Agostina Belli's young, poreless flesh. It's really intense and I don't know how the audience is supposed to feel about it exactly; the dialog occasionally concedes that she's too young for him, but it really feels more like he's too old for HER, and the prophecies about his "seed" made you think, you know, a guy in his 60s might not be able to give a woman a very healthy baby. That's a thing, whether we talk about it or not. But I really started to wonder if it would change anything if there were always graphic sex scenes in movies that have a male lead who is 50+ and a love interest who is 20 years or more his junior. If viewers always had to see the guy's aged body pressed against the dramatically different-looking woman, it might be a helpful visual representation of how problematic these casting decisions are. Like unless the story is really focused on how two people in love overcome a gap in age/experience/health/etc--or unless the story is specifically about gerontophilia--people should either stop doing this, or be more frank about what they're proposing.

[eerna]

So was it any good? tbosas I mean

Well,,,,,,,,, kind of? I had fun, but also went in knowing they won't pay attention to what I loved about the book so my expectations were properly low. TBOSAS is my fav THG book so a different adaptation exists in my head

Non-spoilery: The movie is divided in parts like the book, but there is no rhyme or reason why, no dramatic breaks or changes like in the books. The Reaping isn't on July 4th because of course. Tom Blyth as Coriolanus was a surprise because I expected nothing from him other than looking sort of like old Snow. The movie naturally removed any and all nuance from his character and kept spelling out everything, but there were a few scenes where they let him yknow, act out how his character is supposed to feel, and it was really good! Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray was more of a mixed bag - sometimes she was fantastic in selling the over-the-top dramatic flare, but other times (especially towards the beginning) it was just weird. I firmly believe this is because the movie didn't fully commit to Lucy Gray as a charming crowd director who keeps her heart hidden and instead made her a more honestly vulnerable girl. She dazzled in musical numbers, though, that girl is a performer through and through! Viola Davis was bad I am so sorry but I felt like I was watching a Disney Channel performance and it's entirely the movie's fault and not hers. Peter Dinklage was super good as Dean Highbottom, he makes him all sad and lost without being over-the-top. The rest of the cast was also good. I loved the sets and the costumes, very in-line with what I'd imagined. The night/dark scenes were so dark that subtitles felt like they were burning into my eyes, it was the absolute worst quality dark scenes I've ever seen in a big movie.

Spoilery:

They removed Coriolanus' obsessive love for Lucy Gray and turned it sooo muted :(((( He didn't even want to kiss her before the Games! He didn't try to control her or feel jealousy or ANYTHING that could imply he might turn on her one day!! His emotional changes and impatience and politeness and selfish kindness are also all gone now. Sejanus and he aren't nearly as close as in the book, but there was this funny moment where the two of them had a more intense forehead touch moment than any Coriolanus shared with Lucy Gray and it made me chuckle. Tigris and Coriolanus were very very well done, I loved how she was always his first bestie!!! But I am sort of annoyed they turned it from "Tigris puts Coriolanus down for the way he treats others" to "Tigris is scared Coriolanus will become his dad". Lucy Gray's Reaping was absolutely horrible, she threw a singing fit instead of being a confident performer, so it makes no sense that she just flips a switch into untouchable after. Loved the snake charmer climax where everyone stands up for Lucy Gray and proves that Capitol needs a victor! It worked better for the movie than the book version, and the way the music exists as a meta instrumental scene where the score eventually catches up to her singing - THAT is how ALL her songs should have been treated!!! The way music worked was one of my biggest issues, sometimes they were totally off tonally from what their role was in the books (The Ballad of Lucy Gray Baird this is about YOU Maiah Wynne's version makes me sob to this day while the movie version is only saved by Rachel's passion) and only the snake song was properly utilized as a plot point. They were such good opportunities for exposition that is more subtle than just putting whatever is Coriolanus feeling in clunky dialogue. And the clunky dialogue WAS constantly used to make up for the amount of internal monologues, even if it made zero sense -at the end they literally had Lucy Gray say "Haha if you destroyed the guns and killed me you could go to District 2 no sweat hahahaha anyway I'll go get some potatoes bye" like what. In what world would she literally tell him that. She is supposed to be a smart survivor. They also put "it's things we love most" quote as the final line in the movie, and I can't describe what a stupid choice that was, because if it wasn't there the movie would go "Highbottom tells Coriolanus he won't be able to forget Lucy Gray-> Coriolanus' proud exit where he believes to be the victor as snow falls down -> Can't Catch Me Now end credits including the snow motif", which would have been SO much stronger since that song delivers the "Lucy Gray eventually caught up to Coriolanus" message and we don't get it spelled out like we're 5 years old. It's not the only part of the movie where references to the OG stick out like a sore thumb, and I am once again asking Why. Why don't you think your audience is smart enough to understand.

[drsteggy]

Work in Progress Wednesday

So this isn’t REALLY a WIP, it was more an exercise in writing a scene from a different perspective. This is a later scene from Farore, but from Impa’s perspective. I guess it is technically a little spoilery but whatever. I wanted to share something today so here it is

Impa does not think she will ever really get used to the cold of the Hebra region. The clouded sky seems to close in on the party making its way north, and the entire camp is in a tight circle around the fire. She clutches a tin cup of tea, enjoying the heat of the brew in her hands. The fire dances and pops, drawing her in.

And then Link is next to her. He pulls his wool cloak close to his throat.

“Hey I didn’t see much of you today, how did the ride go?” He fiddles with his gloves, not looking at her yet. He clearly has something on his mind, but he is going to need to come around to things on his own.

“Pretty well. The horse they have me on has a mind of his own, though, and ignores me.”

He turns to her, always ready to talk about horses. “I can teach you some things to get around that. Might be useful if he decides to bolt someday.”

She lets him ramble a bit, watching him relax as he goes on about leg and seat, nodding as he offers advice. When he is done, he turns back to the fire and straightens up.

Here it comes, she thinks. The real reason he came over here.

“Impa.. do you sleep, ever?”

******

She arrives at his tent an hour later. He greets her with a smile and a remarkably tense posture. “You’re sure this is okay?” He asks, rubbing the back of his neck.

She wonders if he gets this wound up every time he has a sleepover with someone.

“Of course.” She smiles, keeping her voice open and friendly. “You do still want me to stay?”

He meets her eyes. She notes the clench of his jaw and the quickness of his breath. Finally, he gives a sharp nod. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

“Great, let’s get settled.”

Link’s tent is really just meant for one. Impa crawls in and wraps herself in the blanket she brought with her. She pats the space next to her, inviting him in.

“Snug. It’s going to be cozy, but there’s room.”

He hesitates and for a moment she thinks he might call things off. Then he joins her, settling in inches from her. She can smell the horse on him, and a note of sweat.

“I’m not trying to do anything improper.” He says, his voice soft.

“I know. I trust you.” She assures him. “You’re not my type anyway.”

“What?” He sounds a little surprised.

She laughs. “Has no one ever said that to you before? I’m not attracted to you. I like women.”

“Oh.”

She laughs again. “That can't be a new idea for you, you were in Gerudo how long? I know that guard -Tasako? you were involved with…”

He squirms. “Has a female partner, yes, we are acquainted. They got married.”

“Why don’t you try and get some sleep? You might feel more comfortable with your back against mine.”

She rolls to her other side, resting her head on her arm. She can feel his breath on the back of her neck before he shifts and leans his back against hers. Hopefully he will sleep peacefully tonight.

“I kissed a man once.” His voice floats out of the darkness. “Like, a real kiss.”

Impa feels a small blossom of surprise, but keeps herself still. “Is this something you want to talk about?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. It’s something to talk about and it isn’t all, you know.”

So he can’t sleep, or he isn’t ready to. “If you want to tell me, I’d like to hear.”

“I only ever told Tasako before.” His words come slowly, as though he is now weighing them. “I mean, I was just trying everything when I first got to Castletown. I’d never been on my own like that.”

“He was in my cohort. His name was Shad. We hung out a lot and did dumb teenager stuff. Like we used to take horses and race and jump over stupid things.” She can hear the smile in his voice now. So this is a good memory.

When Link had first taken the sword, she had found a Shad, who had reportedly been his friend. That man had been very closed lipped, though, refusing to say more than he’d been acquainted but hadn’t so much as thought about Link in years. Impa had given up, thinking it a dead end.

This has to be the same guy. “The stable master never caught you?”

“Oh, he caught us,” Link chuckles. “Yeah, we cleaned a lot of stalls over that.”

Link continues on, telling a story about a summer friendship that had sparks. He spins it slowly, but if he takes his time because he is remembering something with fondness or there’s a different reason, she can’t quite tell.

“We went swimming one day and it just turned into being rowdy and wrestling and stuff and then he stopped and asked if he could tell me something and I just said sure.”

“What did he tell you?”

“He said he really wanted to kiss me.”

“And…?” Even Impa can hear the anticipation in her voice. She hopes he kissed Shad. She hopes he did it a lot.

Link shrugs against her back. “I had kissed a few girls and I really liked that. A lot. So I said ok.”

“You’re killing me. Was it good? Did you like it?”

Link huffs. “It was his first kiss, I’m pretty sure, so it was just okay. I did like it.”

“What happened to Shad?”

“I don’t know, we were pretty young, we drifted when summer ended.” He pauses, sighing before continuing on. “Training got more intense. He started to hang out with others. I got involved with a woman who saw me as a toy though I didn’t understand that then. I went to Gerudo, I ended up here.”

They are both quiet. Impa is still learning the edges and depths to Link, and tonight she feels she might be in a little further than he intended. His stillness feels unsettled. Maybe ashamed.

He shouldn’t feel that way about that story.

“Link? It’s okay if you decided it wasn’t for you. It’s okay if you liked it. It’s okay if you’re still not sure how you feel.”

He doesn’t answer her but presses his back against hers more firmly.

He does finally slip off to sleep. She keeps a quiet watch, meditating on the day and what’s ahead.

When he bolts up with a strangled sound in his throat, she turns and throws an arm across his chest. His heart gallops in his chest as she whispers to him that’s it’s okay, everything is okay. He slumps back to his bedding and she moves her hand to his shoulder.

“That was something,” she whispers. “Is that every night?”

He shakes his head “Just recently,” he crosses his arms. “It’s not even anything specific. It’s just...it’s like just feelings. There’s no images or action, it isn’t really a dream.

“I think they come from outside of me.”

“A message, maybe.”

“Something like that.”

They lay together, silent, Impa running her thumb back and forth over his shoulder. She will do this as long as he needs her to. Eventually the tension in his body melts away and he settles into her.

“Impa, thank you for staying with me. This is definitely better.”

“You’re welcome.”

[takeariskao3]

Hey! I know you've been working a lot in tpfy and I don't want to confuse you or something xd. but I'm curious about why AG Harry is pushing Ginny away. I thought maybe he's scared she won't love him again or some other stupid noble reason. A couple weeks ago you did like an analysis of tpfy Ginny and Harry, and I would love if you could do something like that for AG Harry too. if you want and like to do it ofc. Thank you for everything<3

omg i would LOVE to do this. you honestly have no idea how much i love talking about hjp and the nightmare scenarios i throw him into. though, i'm not sure how ~spoilery~ i want to get.. so it might not be as in depth as my tpfy asks from a few weeks ago but yeah i'd love to talk about already gone h/g!!

under the cut for length and spoilers

so harry starts out in a real pickle. the love of his life, and his wife of three years, has woken up from a weeks long coma with no memory since he led her on a fruitless rescue mission where they all almost died. she doesn't remember any part of their romantic history, but she also doesn't remember anything from her 6th year and the war.

after ginny finds out about fred, and goes unconscious again, it is vaguely hinted that ginny's emotions have a direct effect on her lucidity. therefore in the spirit of trying to keep her conscious until the healers can find out what exactly went wrong when they removed the parasite, harry and the weasleys decide to... uhh... hide her entire life from her just in case something triggers another collapse.

so much happens behind the scenes that ginny has absolutely no clue about and that was very intentional and on purpose. mostly because i love it when readers find out things at the same time she does, but also because i honestly don't think i could accurately portray harry's mental state. like genuinely. but i'm getting off track.

ok, so why is harry pushing ginny away? excellent question i'm so glad you asked. harry is afraid. and he isn't going to do anything (ANYTHING) to jeopardize her health/mental well-being. at this point behind the scenes molly, george, and hermione are like "seriously harry, tell your wife she's married to you." to which he replies "absolutely not." anyways, they decide to wait him out and not push it because we all know how harry gets. however, after ginny passes out at the memorial lunch, his fears all the sudden are MASSIVELY JUSTIFIED so he says fuckk all this, i'm out. but in a 'i am terrified my wife is going to faint and never wake up' kind of way.

so fast forward to after the night at the hog's head. ginny is super pissed, right? but also, harry was like super right. finding out she was married sorta did mess her up a bit.

but us, as readers, we are kinda like.. who cares yeah? she knows! she finally knows! except harry is still pretty stand-off-ish.... wonder what that's about (insert eye emoji here)

there's more to it obviously, i'm just being funny... but i can give you a two hints on what to be on the lookout for:

the flashbacks.. what happens when you take away the context of someone's love story.. can they still love in the same ways? where does that leave harry? how can he in good conscious give ginny back the worst year of her life? would he ever be that selfish?

the parasite.. where did it come from? how did ginny get it?? why?? what is going on in the wizarding world at the moment that would have anything to do with them???

also just a reminder that we have two very big things coming up... a potential experimental treatment and an anniversary. both of which were very VERY fun chapters to outline and draft. and by fun i mean they made me cry.

thanks so much for the question <333 i adore talking about my fics

[immortalbutterflycos]

For the WIP ask game:

💾What is your document of your wip/ a wip called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as)

And:

❤️❤️❤️

Good morning~ (it's 8 am here when I'm writing this) I meant for this to be my first post of the day, but while trying to find the information I have, I found out that the summary section of Google Docs was deleted along with all of my "summaries" (which are, because my brain simply cannot function on a "normal" level, actually extensive plot notes that I now lost forever. Which is super cool~ ^.^ <3 Just another reason why I prefer to write on paper I guess...

Anyway, sorry about that, I'm not in a super fantastic mood rn.

BUT! To answer your question, unfortunately, I don't have an extremely fun one for this for the main fic that I've been working on. But that is primarily because I literally have -and I'm not kidding because I went back and counted them all- Ninety-nine docs relevant to this fic and I'm about to start on #100 because I just thought of a new plot point yesterday (that I thankfully wrote on paper since I was at work) and I need to give it a home.😂

And that is JUST for 'The Art of Running for Our Lives' (aka TAoRfOL since writing that title out every time is exhausting 😂)

I had to make a whole-ass Masterlist of docs with their links so that I could keep track of them and all of the titles are more spoilery than anything so that I know that what information I need to find will be in that doc before I click on it.

I started writing this fic in March, 2023 and I wish that I could tell you that this was all simple overkill, but I wish it was. It's not even posted yet but this plot has a grand total of 8 main characters and the AU I'm doing is so niche that I'm trying to merge magic systems (to an extent) and keeping track of timelines is wild in this one even without my ADHD getting in the way of things.

I'd say I do this because I hate myself, but this is very much a passion project and I really just want to do it the justice it deserves. 💜

That being said, I do have a few doc titles I'm willing to share because I think they're silly (I know, it took a WHILE to get here. Have I mentioned that I have really bad unregulated ADHD? 😂)

"TAoRfOL Cheat Sheet: [insert character name here]"

"James isn't doing well (TAoRfOL)"

"Post-[redacted] Dorlene Heist"

"I was in my feels..."

✨Bonus from other AU's:✨

"The cat distribution system but the cat is Regulus"

and finally,

"this was supposed to be smut how did I get here..?"

TL;DR: I have ADHD so there is no 1 specific doc for my fic. And also because I apparently need to dip my toes in every pond I find, (write too many fics/AUs at once), most of my docs are titled "[blank] AU" with a small description of the contents in the title.

Also apparently I can't give a simple answer to any of these ask games. Hope this is okay because I have no self-control and I'm very passionate about this fic.

[norman-ratri-truther]

alright guess who caved in and decided to go and watch the rest of season 4 using the google translate camera on my phone AND HOLY SHIT. without spoiling anything: I already thought this before watching but my opinion that this is one of the best cartoons ever made just gets proven right every single episode like it is perfect I genuinely don't know how the show manages to raise the bar every single season its actually crazy, this season is definitely the best we've had so far and that is saying something because the first 3 seasons are incredible and I haven't even finished it yet I've got a few eps left

Beware it will get very spoilery from this point onwards so do not read if u haven't watched yet !!!

anyway just finished Episode 6 and I genuinely am like. actually shouting and gasping out loud because of this episode oh my GODDD this episode is insane???? I expected we'd finally get some backstory on MK and stuff but HOLY SHIT this is WAY crazier than I thought ,

I'm probably missing / misunderstanding a lot of dialogue because of google translate but from what I've picked up I have so many questions and theories I'm/?.1/1.1// I guess they get answered in the rest of the season which I am gonna try and watch tomorrow if I can but oh my GOD.

LIKE WHAT??????? WHAT IS THIS

I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST WUKONG BUT IT HAS MK'S HAIR ???????????????????????????

IM GOING INSANE THIS SHOW IS SO GOOD

[keyofjetwolf]

The Pallbearers Club, by Paul Tremblay

Did I like this? Did I not? YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE

Let's start with the things I can say for sure. (Light spoilers to follow, but nothing too egregious.)

I loved the idea behind this, and the style that carried it through. The basic gist here is a memoir written by this guy, Art Barbara (fake name), who is a general sad sack disaffected Gen X'er who loves music and crawling up his own ass. His memoir -- beginning around 1988 when he's 17 and going through to the "now" of 2020-ish -- is scattered with commentary, refutations, and alternate points of view by his oldest friend, Mercy (also fake name), who has found and is reading the book.

LOVED THIS. Loved what essentially comes down to dueling unreliable narrators. Loved what could almost be considered a four-way conversation between Art, Mercy, the author, and the reader about memory and nostalgia, choice and blame, growth and stagnation. There's some good shit here.

DID NOT LOVE how ponderously long it took to get there. At around 270 pages, this isn't an over long book, but ye gods, did it feel like it took FOR FUCKING EVER sometimes.

(We get a bit more spoilery under the cut)

And it's tough to know whose fault that is, or if it's a "fault" at all. Those navel-gazing, aimless parts, that's Art, that's his life, in his own words, as inescapable to us as it feels to him. Is it a fault that I'm sitting here like "Oh my god my guy GET THE FUCK ON WITH IT" when I'm pretty sure that's exactly the way I'm supposed to feel about him?

Quite possibly not, but we also probably could've gotten that with like twenty pages less of Art meandering through the Providence music scene.

In many ways, the book never really grows beyond its premise, but again, is that the point? The characters themselves are rooted in place, perpetually locked in a space that has been swallowed by years and abandoned by relevance. Even Bob Mould went solo, kids.

I think to fully decide my feelings on The Pallbearers Club, I might have to read more by Paul Tremblay. This is my first exposure to his work, so it's tough for me to say with confidence what's stylistic choice versus stylistic failing. Is pondering and aimless more Art, or Paul?

You may note, if you've read the book or even just the publisher's description, I've completely left out anything to do with horror or supernatural or whatever. Those parts are there, for sure, even crucial to the central glue of the plot, but I found them surprisingly extraneous. Even by "this isn't really about this" horror standards, it all felt irrelevant. Or perhaps the more correct word is incidental. I'm not even sure the author (the Art author) intended his readers to believe he was truly dealing with spoopy spoops, or if he was just metaphoring super hard, with that particular brand of pretentious arrogance only the truly insufferable can wield.

So yeah, I still have no idea if I liked it or not. I may also have uncomfortably identified with some stuff in here, which was very rude, but anyway. Hell of a premise, though, and done well enough that I'll happily try another of Paul Tremblay's books.

[icharchivist]

DGM 248 spoilery thoughts:

(link to the chapter there)

-There's something so soft and intimate about all of them naping together it makes me want to cry

-Allen sleeping with the jar is so upsetting :(

-"haha yeah Allen! Go stay hydrated! this is what you deserve king! .... something is going to go wrong."

-AND WHAT A THING. HELLO NEA? ITS BEEN A WHILE.

-NEA YOU CANT SAY THAT TO PEOPLE

-World's most adorable and annoying parasite.

-Man Nea is REALLY MAD Allen forgot about him. But he is really being a bitch about it :sob:

-Also Nea REALLY doesn't want Allen to go to the Campbell Mansion? I hope it doesn't discourage Allen since it's our only clue as to bring Lavi back in the story since it's the only place that seems to hold answers. But if anything that just makes the mansion even more suspicious to hold actual answers.

-EXCUSE ME EXCUSE ME EXCU???? HAS ALLEN NOT BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH PEOPLE USING HIM

-first this page absolutely slaps, it looks gorgeous

-Second, that's good Allen knows about it now, i kinda. forgot he wasn't aware of it yet

-but third: Nea and the WORST WAYS to inform someone they should start having an identity crisis.

-He's SOOO petty about the fact Allen gave himself to him, then forgot about him, and now is actively working against him. Fucking blows man.

-So like does Allen have to expect Nea to pop up from any mirrors to give him existential crisis at all time. poor lad.

-Allen you were doing such a good job at finally opening up to the people around you and not lying and faking a smile to pretend that everything was alright while nothing is. Sweetie you had made progress like, yesterday night. Please. Don't lie now. especially when Nea told you something super important that everyone could try to learn about.

Esp since you have Kanda with you right now like *grabs his shoulders* how about you talk with mister "was forcefully reincarnated in a new body without my memories" when the man inside of you tells you you've been reincarnated in a new body without your memories, but out of your own free will. Allen. Allen.......

I mean i know why he does that, Allen always takes everything upon himself and all but :( god this is so sad, he was making progress and Nea just came along and ruined everything again.

im in shamble.

Anyway it was a great chapter reminding us of the threat Nea has and how difficult the whole thing is emotionally speaking for Allen.

Damn all i wanted was him to be hydrated and now he has yet another identity crisis :( this guy never wins.

Chapter was gorgeous also. A wonderful read. thank you Hoshino-sensei. And thank you to Kougeki scans as always!