#anyways i’ve decided i’m upset by this season actually

[ace-of-d1am0nds]

the message of the end of season 3: defeat (in their case literally) the image of the life your abusive parent created for you

the message of season 4, apparently: go to a different timeline in which your parent didn’t abuse you (a reality that will never happen in our real world because, unfortunately, timeline hopping does not exist), receive validation by “proving” to them that you were never worthy of abuse (you should never have to prove to anybody you are not worthy of abuse, you are inherent deserving to not be abused), and then subsequently await the incoming death you “deserve” by simply existing (you do not, in fact, deserve death for having been created despite what your abusive parents may have convinced both themselves and you)

[ninjatrashpanda]

Season 8 Episode 5 Write-Up

I’m predictable, but yes, I’ve watched this particular episode a lot more than the usual three to four times I do lmao, and I’ll probably watch it again a whole lot more during this week’s mini hiatus. Overall, ‘Masks’ was a lot less involved than the episodes before it, so I feel like this might actually be a little shorter than usual.

Anyway, if you’d like to see my thoughts on the previous episodes, you can find my masterlist here. Continue past the cut if you dare!

1. Henren and the plight of being a first responder parent

More Wilson family time! And Karen actually has lines this time!

Starting the episode with the Wilsons and Jee-Yun as the Wizard of Oz characters for an early Halloween photo shoot was a great choice. It’s a nice, lighthearted way to ease us into a nice, lighthearted episode. Y’know, before it pulls the rug out from under your feet and proceeds to rip out your heart and stomps on it. Fun!

Starting the episode proper, I’m a little torn right off the bat. Because yeah, Karen feeling that Hen is missing a lot of big milestones in Denny’s and now Mara’s lives because of her job is pretty valid, and I’m sure it’s a topic that isn’t once discussed and then done forever, especially since they now have two kids.

On the other hand, it did feel like she brought it up out of nowhere, and especially that close to Halloween when she knows that’s a busy night for first responders. I’m also not sure if that might have been the intention, because Hen seemed just as confused. And honestly, Denny and Mara weren’t even really upset either, so I don’t really know what Karen’s deal really is.

I will say that I’m not a big fan of how Hen (and by extension, Chimney) ended up “handling” the issue. Because they didn’t handle it. The way I understand it, either Hen or Chim could’ve taken Halloween off, so they…decided that neither was gonna take the day? Wouldn’t it, I don’t know, make more sense to say one of them takes Halloween off this year, and the other next year? Cause Karen has a point that being the only adult taking three kids trick or treating, even if Denny is a young teenager now, is a lot, and I’m sure she would’ve appreciated it had either Hen or Chim taken the opportunity to accompany her and the kids and help handle them. Hen basically unilaterally decided that Karen should do it all on her own, which is a major misstep in communication.

Also, Chim spends several moments of screen time lamenting that he’s missing his daughter’s first trick or treat. My man, I love you, but you…could’ve taken the day off and spent it with Jee (and Karen and the Wilson kids). The only person at fault you’re missing it is…you.

Aaaand we then basically get thrown into Denny getting hit by a car and pinned to the wall of a house right after that. Yes, we do get the short FaceTime scene in between there, but it doesn’t really do anything to really further the plot line outside of showing us Karen is still pissed. Also, uh, again, Denny, throughout that call? Isn’t upset. He’s totally cool with one of his moms missing Halloween. I genuinely still don’t get why Karen is this bent out of shape about it if the kids themselves are seemingly okay with it.

So, the car crash. Obviously, we knew it would happen from the promo after last week’s episode (and I pity those of us who streamed the episode the next day and chose not to watch the promo, therefore getting thrown into emotional turmoil and heart wrenching agony without notice). And I’m gonna go ahead and say we all probably knew from the getgo that Denny would be fine. No way they’d kill him off. 

Being prepared for the crash didn’t matter. Knowing the show wouldn’t kill Denny off didn’t matter. Because despite all of it, I was scared. The acting of everyone involved, from Aisha to Tracie to Declan to Kenny, pulled me in and made me feel like they might still do it, if that makes sense. I still knew they wouldn’t (to the point where “They wouldn’t do it” became my mantra throughout the whole sequence), but felt like they would, if that makes sense? I don’t know, I feel like I’m not explaining this properly.

Aisha and Tracie really brought their A game in this scene. Aisha sells Hen’s panic and anguish to the extent that I felt panicked and anguished. Tracie portraying Karen’s shocked, almost disbelieving lack of reaction was powerful in its own right, because you just know that later on, once the adrenaline wears off, she’s gonna break in half. Let’s get real here, ‘9-1-1’ is a silly show. It’s the show were sharks crash on the freeway, and bee-nados haunt Los Angeles. But every now and again, it shows us just what powerhouses it’s actors are, no matter whether they’re main, recurring, guests, whatever. Aisha and Tracie acted their asses off in this scene, and I appreciate them so much more than I could ever properly express with words.

This brings us to the hospital scene. Denny is safe. He’s injured, but out of the danger zone. Hen and Karen know their son will be okay, and it leads to them actually, properly talking about the issues they’ve had in the beginning of this episode. We have Hen wishing she had taken the night off, wondering if she could’ve stopped the whole thing, if she could’ve saved Denny. And we have Karen acknowledging how important Hen’s job is. It’s a nice, beautiful little scene that puts a nice bow on a slightly out-of-nowhere, but emotionally raw and resonant storyline. Karen’s “Thank God you were at work” has entered my list of 9-1-1 lines I’ll never forget. 

2. Tevan, Eddie, and the Curse of Billy Boils

Oliver Stark had way too much fun with his storyline this episode, and for good reason. I missed Buck being insane (affectionately), and putting any kind of superstition next to Eddie is always a treat. Add both a copious amount of Tevan cuteness, and the frankly amazing dynamic between Tommy and Eddie, and you have one of the best comic relief storylines the show’s ever had.

But let’s start at the beginning. Buck rents a dummy for the haunted house the 118 puts up in the firehouse. Except, surprise! It’s not a dummy, it’s actually a real, mummified body of a gunslinger from 200 years ago. 

And the biggest question about this is honestly: What. The. Hell???

Granted, Buck freaking out after he rips Billy’s arm off (in front of 15 children. Remember when Buck told a bunch of kids Santa’s not real? Looks like he can’t help but traumatize kids on the holidays) is hilarious (“He’s real! He’s real! He’s real! He’s real!”), but he does have a point. Why the hell did a prop store have a real, mummified body, and why did they rent it out to Buck as a dummy when they had it stored as a curio? I guess we’ll never know.

The hospital scene after Buck dislocates his shoulder (because Billy Boils cursed him 😂) might be my favorite scene in the Season so far. On top of Tommy being a concerned boyfriend (He came right after his shift! 🥰), we get Buck being, as I mentioned before, positively insane about this perceived “curse” Billy Boils put on him. Oliver’s delivery of his lines sounds so completely unhinged, I’m actually surprised Tommy, Eddie or the doctors didn’t have him transferred to a mental facility.

Speaking of the two of them, Tommy and Eddie’s dynamic is amazing, and I genuinely hope we get some scenes/storylines with just the two of them getting into shenanigans. Ryan and Lou’s chemistry is chaotic as hell, and I love it. Seriously, Eddie and Tommy could easily become the new Bobby and Michael, and I hope the show capitalizes on how well the two bounce off of each other.

Afterward, of course, we get Tommy and Buck in Buck’s loft, with Tommy being a perfect, doting, fussy boyfriend, bringing Buck a new ice pack, giving him some ibuprofen (No, I will not humor the “Buck is allergic to naproxen, Tommy poisoned him!” theory, Tommy clearly says he’s giving Buck an ibu, Buck takes it, which he wouldn’t if his naproxen allergy was affected by ibuprofen.), fluffs his pillow! (I don’t know why it’s the pillow fluffing that makes me melt into goo, but it is!) And instead of taking Buck’s bed upstairs, he sleeps on the couch with the tiniest blanket known to mankind while Buck sleeps on the armchair because of his shoulder, just so he can be close to him if he needs him.

Tommy Kinard, the man that you are ��

And of course, Tommy gets up early the next day to make his injured boyfriend breakfast, because obviously. I genuinely love the shock and terror when he sees the boils on Buck’s face. Lou already gets to be a lot more animated and expressive than he got to last season, and it’s paying off.

They call Eddie over, and we’re right back to the fantastic dynamic all three of them have with each other. We have Tommy teetering between worried and exasperated (and God, do I love how hard he instantly backtracks the moment Buck accuses him of finding him gross), while Eddie completely dismisses the existence of a curse in the first place, and reassures Buck that the boils are probably gonna clear up by next shift. I highly doubt that Buck could even work next shift, considering that he dislocated his shoulder yesterday, but whatever, this is the show where Chimney came back to work a month after his head was impaled with rebar, so.

“Probably allergies, he said. Probably just in my head, he said. Probably clear up by next shift, he said!” Oliver’s delivery of this particular part made my freaking night when I watched it for the first time, and Ryan absolutely nailed the grossed out can’t-even-look-at-you parts. Loved the part where Eddie actually gave Buck five bucks, and how Buck straight up just snatches the bill. This show is a comedy, and it’s amazing.

The hospital waiting room scene after Denny’s accident features a lot of foreshadowing, imo. Tommy not being in the group chat yet, and his comment about how good it must feel to have a crew like the 118, who always have each other’s back, is a very clear call back to last season, where he already expressed how jealous he was.

Honestly, I think Tommy is pretty lonely. Yeah, he seems to have quite a few friends, but he doesn’t necessarily seem close to anyone, surrounded by people, yet not feeling like he belongs anywhere. Which could just be a side-effect of him being a very recent addition to the recurring cast, but the writing choices around him seem to point toward this being part of his character, and potentially part of the hurdles Buck and Tommy allegedly face next episode. I’m looking forward to it!

And then we get to the last scene at the cemetery. Between Buck being his usual compassionate, empathetic self to a dead outlaw who died 200 years ago, talking about how he understands how painful going through life alone is (which just seems to be more foreshadowing about Tommy, tbh), and how Billy doesn’t have to be alone in death anymore, because Buck is in his posse now, this scene was a perfect blend of funny, heartwarming, and surprisingly deep.

Because yeah, of course Buck would empathize with Billy having been betrayed by his posse and dying alone. Buck knows probably better than any other main character what it means to be truly alone. Sure, he had Maddie when he was a kid, but she moved to Boston with Doug when he was twelve. So, like, Buck was alone, maybe with a few shallow friendships throughout middle and high school, from age twelve to age twenty-six, when he joined the LAFD and was assigned to the 118. This silly funeral scene is unironically one of the best showings of Buck’s empathy and emotional intelligence we’ve had in a while.

And, of course, we get Buck calling Tommy his boyfriend for the first time. It isn’t even presented as a big moment, he just casually says it, casually points at Tommy while he says it. And I think there’s a certain beauty in it, because it tells us that they’ve been official for a while now. In fact, I’d say everything regarding their storyline in this episode has been about how they’ve been official for a while. Tommy’s comfort level in Buck’s apartment, Tommy roasting Buck with Eddie, Buck and Tommy having cute little squabbles. This episode genuinely did such a good job at showing us how solid Tevan are, and it did it in a completely seamless way, without much shoehorned in dialogue. It’s honestly really well done.

Also, to end this section, we got four Evans this week, so I expect at least four Tah-mes next week. Maybe more. And more Evans. I’m craving it.

3. Miscellaneous scene thoughts

I’m gonna make this part short and sweet.

I loved Bobby putting on the romanian accent and calling himself “Cap Dracula.” It gave massive Dad vibes, and continues to allow him to be more lighthearted and funny this season, which Peter absolutely nails.

The haunted house scene was super fun, and I love how into it Hen and Chim were. Eddie being cringe af and failing to scare kids was not only funny, it was fitting ridiculously well, especially since his costume was…questionable. They could’ve done a better werewolf is what I’m trying to say.

Also, I’m pretty sure the LAFD would not spend this much money on a freaking haunted house. Like, that almost looked like a professional haunted house, with super professional looking makeup on Hen, and the whole extensive werewolf getup for Eddie.

Loved the Halloween call montage, especially Athena with the clown car. You gotta love how this show has Angela Bassett, and they utilize her by having her stop a drunk driver driving a little car full of clowns.

Speaking of Athena, I thought about giving her “plot” its own section, but it’s so little it barely qualifies as a C plot. Long story short, I don’t think the message was that the teen girls were fully responsible for Denny getting injured. But they were involved and carry part of the blame. Had they, and other kids like them, not needlessly and stupidly antagonized and pranked their vice principal, he wouldn’t have snapped and started chasing them down. Yes, he is mostly to blame, because he couldn’t properly control his emotions, but he was pushed to his breaking point by having his house vandalized again and again and again. Also, frankly, I question Maddie’s complete lack of sympathy and willingness to help in the guy's case. Sorry, but several people putting a flaming bag of shit on a man’s porch, throwing eggs at his house and covering it in toilet paper absolutely warrants the police. Being a kid doesn’t excuse ruining somebody’s home. Yes, the principal chasing the girls down and trying to run them off the road was extreme and unforgivable, but can we stop pretending they didn’t do anything wrong?

Like, is this an American thing? Excusing vandalism on Halloween and telling people they should just clean up the mess and shut their mouths? Do dispatchers actually go “Sorry, but not tonight, try again tomorrow morning”? I’m confused.

4. Final Thoughts

This was easily my favorite episode this season so far. I especially love how both major plots of the episode revolve around our main queer couples, yet you don’t even really notice because it just…feels natural. 9-1-1 didn’t feel it necessary to highlight that it focused a whole episode on two queer couples. The storylines also don’t revolve around queerness at all and would have happened the same way if Henren and Tevan were straight ships. The show, in ways you still don’t see that often, doesn’t treat its queer relationships differently from its straight ones, and I think that’s really neat.

*

And that’s it. If you read to the end, thank you for reading! If you want to discuss things with me, write a comment, reblog, shoot me an ask, whatever you want! Or don’t, that’s fine too. I’m gonna be back with more random thoughts next week.

Bye bye!

[clinicsharmartia]

DISCLAIMERS BEFORE YOU PROCEED!

This is a DELAYED character review. I know what’s going to happen to them in s2. I’m saying this as to say that I’m fully aware of the dramatic irony of some of these character reviews 😭 also this is a transcript from an audio I sent to my friends when I actually finished S1 so I’m sorry if some bits don’t make sense. I’ve edited a bit but not entirely.

TWD CHARACTER REVIEWS - SEASON 1

Rick Grimes: 10/10. He is an amazing person, he’s an even more amazing father. He's selfless, kind, gentle, understanding, caring, protective, loving, brave and so much more. The relationship that he has with people around him is so nice to watch. Him owning up to things immediately without knowing how people react is such a nice characteristic about him that I really hope he doesn't lose. He’s just— ugh I love him. I can’t wait to see how his character progresses and how his relationships change.

Lori Grimes: 9/10. She's an amazing mother. She's an amazing wife. She is a good person who is trying her best. So many people hate on Lori Grimes because she ‘cheated’ with Shane. He was a rebound. If I was in her situation I would do the same. You get told that your husband is dead during the apocalypse, which means he’s DEAD, never coming back, and you’re forced to live in the woods with your only son who only looking up to you in this moment. It is such a devastating situation to be in. You’re mourning and grieving while trying to keep your only son safe in this horrible horrible world and the next best thing to your husband, the closest thing your him, walks up to you to give you comfort, protection and security. Of course she would turn to him. Of course she would sleep with him. I would do the same thing. And the guilt on her face, you know she regrets it so much. She's so kind and sweet and protective. I know it's not gonna be for very long unfortunately but from what we have with Lori Grimes I cannot wait to see her progression in the show a character, as a mother, and as a wife.

Carl Grimes: 10/10. I'm pretty sure I teared up a bit when I first saw him on screen because he's just so little he's just a baby it's just a little baby boy he is so small. My maternal instincts kicked in fucking immediately when I saw him on screen. He's just a little kid and this is what I love about Carl Grimes. He is accurate representation of what happens of what would happen if you put a child in the apocalypse and then them having to go through puberty during the apocalypse. I am so fucking excited to see his character progression. I cannot wait for him to be sassy. I love him mwah.

Shane Walsh: -10/10. I know we need characters like him in these types of media, and I know that he was an important part of the plot, and I KNOW that he is a well written character, but I hate him so much. The only time I want him on screen is when he’s dying. The only time I want to see him open is mouth is when he’s screaming in agony. I hate him. Disgusting filth.

Daryl Dixon: 8/10. He's a very very funny character with a lot of baggage but he’s so loving and caring, just in his own ways. You can really tell that he wants to protect everyone there and that his act is just an act because he can’t admit to loving anyone. He’s a complex character and I like it a lot. Also, the way that people treat him in this season is so horrible. You come back after hunting for the group of people that you have decided you were going to look after and you see this guy rock up and he says “yeah your brother? yeah I left him for dead after I locked him up to a metal pipe on the top of a roof in the sweltering heat surrounded by zombies LOL. I'm Rick Grimes by the way” and people get upset with him getting angry at that? Then, people are saying you shouldn’t go and find him because no one likes him. And then you go after him anyways BECAUSE HES YOUR BROTHER and you find his SEVERED HAND instead. And then you come back and your camp gets attacked by walkers and one of your camp mates get bit, and when you say you should kill him to prevent any pain or suffering, people call you crazy and weird. WTF! Wtaf. Daryl is getting so much hate from them like what. Anyways I love Daryl, I can’t wait to see how his character develops and how his relationships change, and how he adapts to the new environments and people (because we all know what he’s like).

Glenn Rhee: 9/10. Glenn is an amazing guy. He's funny, a bit stupid and has some great lines as well. He's very smart, very valuable and his humanity and compassion is what really makes me love him. He saw a random stranger surrounded by zombies and instead of doing what he was supposed to do he took time out of his mission time out of that situation to save him. What could've very much gotten him killed to help the stranger. And then the stranger comes back and makes him do something that he really doesn't want to do (covering yourself in blood and guts and gore and walking through a street of zombies which could very much kill you in a second is not something he wants to do) but he does it anyways because he does it for the people that he cares about. Then he comes back to camp and the whole ambush happens and they're about to burn one of the camp members bodies and he yells at them and he says “we don't burn our people we bury them”. That line made me so so emotional and it means so much to me that they added that in because it is such an emotional and beautiful line for me. It honestly really highlights him as a character and the humanity and compassion he carries even after everything. I really loved him again. I can't wait to see his character progression, I can't wait to see how his relationships progress as well and how his skills are able to be used in the long run.

Dale: 8/10. I really love him. He’s a great guy doing his very best to try and teach and help the group. He is the word of wisdom, he is the one you look to for guidance. I absolutely adore him. Although, dragging Andrea out of suicide was not great, didn’t like that. Can’t wait to see how he’ll help the group in the future.

Andrea: 6/10. She is a little bit annoying, but she seems quite smart. I don't like how she treats certain people though. Like, I can't explain it but the way she goes about some things just urk me really bad. I think she has a lot of room for improvement, but right now she's okay. I want to see what she can bring to the table though.

Carol: 9/10. BAD ASS BITCH. She is amazing and funny and trying her best. I cannot wait to see her healing process and how her relationships change and how her skills develop. I love her.

T-DOG: 7/10. He's cool, I like him a lot. You can tell that he's trying his best and he has a nice voice. I think he can do a lot of good for the group in the later seasons as we can see that he's already helped quite a bit. Also, his loving and caring nature is really nice to see. Merle called him a racial slur and threatened to hurt him and still he went back to chain the door shut so he could have a chance to survive. He's super cool.

[itsslivernotsilver]

hi guys does anyone wanna hear about the dichotomy that mist and maddie form in reference to that god damn tomato from the og short stories. ok great here i go

pantheon definitely expands a LOT on the differences between the two sisters but ken liu’s bit about the tomato has always stood out to me and i’m kinda sad they didn’t keep it in the show but whatEVER!!!!!! anyways it’s such a perfect symbol for the glaring differences between mist and maddie and i’ve been thinking about this for almost a year now so i gotta get it out there

like. it’s so simple. it’s just a tomato.

🍅<—tomato. round and red 👍 (also i love that little interaction so much holy shit)

anyways it’s so simple in it’s design but the connections that each sister has with such basic object like this are so drastically different it’s crazy

maddie approaches it from a deeply emotional and human perspective. to her, a tomato means the taste of one, her grandma, her family’s garden, her family’s dog, and just like. general childhood memories. in the show, she represents the side of humanity that wants to stay physically in the real world. she’s obviously friendly with UIs and CIs given that like. yk. and she expresses curiosity in mist and her whole deal!!!!!

but she clearly has her biases and those are shown through her wants for her son and how upset she gets when he advocates for uploading (even though mist practically raised him too but whatever i’m not gonna get into that rn). anyways my point is that she’s approaching this tomato conversation with her experiences regarding physicality, nostalgia, and other “human” feelings

but mist doesn’t have any of those!!!!!! she doesn’t have any human experience at all. she approaches a tomato from an extremely technical and factual perspective. she brings up the species categorization, court cases, genome info, etc. she even decides to mention that, logically speaking, she knows more about tomatoes than maddie does (which is like??? girl????? a little unnecessary but true)

in the show there’s the conversation about nostalgia and her line about having the code for nostalgia but not being able to execute it because of a lack of memories fucks me up sooo bad

she loves maddie and everyone around her because she’s kinda just an actual embodiment of love but she can’t help but feel alone in a world where everyone moves so slow and nobody really gets that she can’t understand a lot of “human” emotions. it’s why she’s so ecstatic to introduce caspian to the cloud and why she’s so passionate about the drive with all the CIs who are just like her. but in this moment she tries her best to connect with maddie but ultimately can’t because of the sheer lack of similar experiences

they just can’t understand each other fully and they never will. they’re forced to agree to disagree over something as simple as a tomato and god that tension keeps me up at night

another thing that i thought was super interesting was how the maddie’s interest in mist was flipped in the show if that makes sense???? like in the stories, it’s clearly maddie who wants to learn more about mist. she tries her best to bridge the gap and it’s her idea to give mist a body. but in the show, it’s mist that seems “more obsessed” (heavy on the quotes) with maddie. she’s reaching out more and she asked for a body herself and maddie lashes out when mist does something while trying to help (don’t even get me started on caspian and his whole deal this season i’ll fucking kill someone)

ALSO i feel like this post is getting too long now but i wanna at least mention the quote at the beginning of the chapter cause holy shit man

anyways that’s it for now i think. i might make another post about the quote and the other stories and some other details i really liked for the nonexistent people who’ve seen this show 👍

[rui-drawsbox]

I’ve got so much work recently that the brain ain’t filled up yet but I have a couple ideas for the magical girl au :):):):) back on my usual bullshit lmao ✨✨✨

K so these mfers (Knights + Mika + Shu(eventually, give him time, a season two breakdown and a redemption arc) ) should go song karaoke together. They deserve it after all the horrors tbh. The little doll man should get to experience the epic highs and lows of awful greasy pizza at an establishment that isn’t a restaurant. Tsukasa, Izumi, and Shu should also be subjected to it tbh. Tsukasa might like it <3 Izumi and Shu however… malding, screaming and dying even.

Anyways it would be funny as hell if Shu also went to school with the knights. Cuz he’s the same age as Izumi and Leo anyways. Bruh, Arashi could just think that Shu is Mika’s crush 💀💀💀. On god that could make for some top tier comedic interactions. Mostly Arashi teasing Mika about his crush, and Mika frantically trying to assure her that it isn’t a crush cuz he wouldn’t be caught dead catching feelings for his boss. Meanwhile the idea that he could have a crush on his boss has been planted in the back of his mind and it’s only gonna keep growing. I feel like this would be funny for two reasons, one: hijinks, two: bigger emotional payoff when Mika does decide to leave him <<<333 break both of their hearts in one foul swoop.

also Leo being a menace to Shu. They should be in the same class. It would be funny.

Back on my fighting bullshit. I feel like Shu would never fight with his hands or with blades tbh. I feel like he would use a bunch of smaller dolls after losing Mika. Ones that he considers imperfect or something, idk man, something symbolic. + the dolls could almost look like they’re already falling apart and they deteriorate more and more as his mental state deteriorates (not as an in universe thing, just as a visual symbol for the audience to emphasize that Shu is breaking down lmao)

Also Shu and Mika should kiss. Arashi is the #1 wing woman tbh. I love her so much. She deserves to wear a pretty dress like in those super magical girl forms. Like madoka’s at the end of madoka magica when she does the thing, or any of the really powerful forms in precure.

also arashi should punch Shu in the face at one point. I’m thinking about him getting her sword away from her with dolls and being like “Hah! It seems as if you weren’t prepared for this eventuality girl! Kakakakaka! Now that I’ve disarmed you it’s impossible for you to defeat me! Now then, if you’ll excuse me I have more important matters to-” “AGHH!? You, you ignorant girl! You, you imbecile! Why I can’t believe you would-“ she raised her fist again so he finally shut the fuck up. He’s learning 🥰🥰🥰. Mika is probably upset about Shu getting punch tbh. Like he knows why Shu deserved it but he’s still a bit upset. He ain’t mad tho. Shu needed to have some sense beaten into him for once ✨✨✨.

I’m done for now ✨🥰✨🥰✨😎😎😎😎

I kind of want to write out a whole anime plot tbh. If I actually get around to finishing my current fic I might write an outline for this sometime tbh. If I get it done I’ll probably come drop it in your ask box unannounced. Or I’ll make a post and @you in it cuz that might be easier if it’s a whole ass outline.

I love ur ideas even though i forgot answer this ngl JSBDKS Drawings to compensate! It's the only i can do haha!

Anyways, this scene is definitely in the ending of the second season or an OVA about the 7 having daily adolescence adventures like they should had since the start lol

I feel like Leo would be an usual costumer in the karaoke, actually, this would be the group's hideout jsbfjs

Now, I love the idea of Mika staring too long to Shu in the corridors of the school and then Arashi notices and starts teasing him

Mika: no way i could possibly like my boss! He's just so cool and composed and smart and-

Shu, in his classroom:

And yes i think Shu and Mika should kiss, but i also think that Arashi and Mika should kiss, so my offer is:

Arashi: this is my boyfriend, Mika. And this Mika's boyfriend, Shu.

Basically, shumika=second chance trope, aramika=friends to lovers trope. And i love it

You know that i was thinking exactly the same about Shu's powers? He could never fight someone by himself, he would break before a finger lands on him jabfjsj

So yeah, i belive that he would have a dolls/mannequin army. In the first episodes he only uses Mika because he's the strongest, but when he loses him he would starts using unfinished dolls to fight, and with the pasta of episodes there would be more and more dolls but with a worse quality! Like Mika>Metal dolls>Wood dolls>Ceramic/industrial mannequins?. They would start being extremely fragile, like his mental stability😊!

You know Santa Clous from Chainsaw Man? Yeah i see Shu with a similar power but less OP ofc. Like he can control the movements/minds(?) of his artificial dolls but not people, Mika is the exception! Because Mika considered himself like Shu's doll! Once he starts making choices by himself he couldnt be controlled anymore!

Back to Arashi, im 100% sure that her powerup/god form has longer hair, following the more hair=more power formula. I also want to give the nerf or smth that have so much power she has to lose a lot of her humanity sense! She would become this "Justice God" or smth without emotions and the rest of her friends would have to fight/convince her back into normal!

Now. Yes. Arashi should punch people. Arashi should beat the shit out of people. Arashi should beat the shit out of Shu. I didn't gave her armor gloves for nothing.

Yes. Queen. Be scary. Be intimidating. Be your enemy's worst nightmare.

And you want to write the plot while i want to anímate the fucking fight scenes oUT OF MY HEAD I SWEAR IT WOULD LOOK SO COOL IF I KNEW HOW TO ANIMATE UGHH

I would love to read whatever you write about this au too! I'll read every ask you drop here even if i take forever to answer haha;;

[ratchelsatchel]

So I’ve been pretty sick the last week or so, I had a fever and ended up having hunger games renaissance. I’m talking watched the movies, read the books, and also read Peeta’s Games on A03 for the first time. I don’t half ass a renaissance, even when I’m sick. 

Anyways, after I reread the books and movies, I decided to leave a very long, at points chaotic review on Letterboxd for the hunger games to complain about all the important details they left out. Not only that, but explained how I thought a hunger games series would be so much better and basically rough drafted a season one. Here it is, please remember I had a fever of 101 and was on lots of cold medicine.

Listen, I get that this series was the start of the dystopian era for movies and such and when they were coming out I was 14 and obsessed. Probably would have loved almost any adaption they made. But as an adult rereading the books and watching the movie I’m so incredibly disappointed with them.

Katniss should have been played by someone younger, tinier, and honestly not been a white woman. I know the books never really address race and only describe her as olive skinned, but she is so clearly not coded to be white person. No offense to Jennifer Lawrence, she’s obviously a talented actress. The books also make it point multiple times to talk about how much smaller she was then the other tributes, even Peeta, who is supposed to be similar in size to Cato. And I think it takes away a LOT from the story to have her played by an actress that is so clearly not a child anymore. The whole point of the hunger games is it’s about actually children being forced into killing each other gladiator style! Katniss may be the “head of her house” even in the books but she is still a kid and taking that away changes the story drastically. I’ve read that the actress who played clove originally auditioned for Katniss and definitely think that would have been a way better fit despite being white as well. Also I hate how sterile they made Katniss in the movies, I know she is supposed to always be trying to be stoic, but they took away moments where she is overly emotional or laughing, or being angry with the capital. Another way of taking away an essential part of her character and humanity.

Aside from the main character problems, it’s frustrating to see how many little but significant changes were made.

Conversations between Katniss and Peeta were changed or omitted.

Hammitch and their stylists encouraging them to present themselves as a unit.

Peeta and katniss bonding because of their forced proximity and hammitch telling them to look like they like each other more.

Removing the avoxes storyline.

Madge not existing.

Not portraying the class differences within district 12 basically at all.

Katniss not loosing it, thinking she killed her family after firing the arrow at the pig.

So many little moments between katniss and peeta before the games to build up their story arc, it made it so hard to actually root for them and see romance between them. No fault to Josh hutcherson, honestly think he was very well cast as peeta. Maybe a little to old. (But that’s like the entire younger cast in my opinion, except Rue. Perfectly cast).

District 11 sending katniss the bread after she buries rue with the flowers. A support important detail in my opinion, and one that definitely upset snow and helped set up the catching fire and the upset in all the districts.

Even the tribute mutts at the end, I wanted them to be TERRIFYING like they were on the book. And yeah they were big and “scary”. But I wanted them to look like the tributes and do that creepy hind leg walking and have human like animation. Another way to drive home just how fucked the games are!!!!

The Cato rant and how quick his death was. In the books he fights off those mutts for what katniss describes as over the course of hours and is torture to her and peeta, until she is able to kill him.

Peeta not loosing his leg!! Another example of how even the winners of the games are left crippled physically and emotionally!!

Ughhh I know I’m missing a ton of other changes or omissions that upset me, but these are the biggest ones in my mind. I understand they were working within a pg13 rating and also a time limit. In my dream reality this book would have gotten a series adjacent in level to game of thrones or how books or even video games often get now. Would have given more time to explore the details and younger better casting. And definitely not a pg13 rating. These books are violent for a reason. Katniss would be quicker to anger and judgment. Hammitch would be less likable.

Shit here’s even an episode layout. The series itself would be three seasons. First season just the hunger games book. Let’s say 10 episodes for the whole book, each episode 30mins to an hour long. First episode ends with the reaping and katniss volunteering. Second episode goes up until the point of the night of their first training for the arena. Third episode ends after Peeta’s love declaration and katniss shoving peeta. Forth episode is all the start of the games up until when the careers find the other tribute by katniss and she realizes peeta is with them. Fifth episode ends with katniss being stung and barely escaping the tracker jackers. Sixth episode is all about katniss and rue together, ends with katniss honoring rue after she passes. Seventh episode is the rule change and katniss finding and nursing peeta back to health. Eighth episode is katniss going to get peeta medicine and ends with fox face dying. Ninth episode is the whole final battle between katniss, peeta, Cato and mutts; Ends when they announce rule change was not valid and that there can only be one winner, right as they pull out the berries. Tenth episode is the end of the games, aftermath and peeta & katniss finally making it home.

I’m def not a professional, just someone who loves this book series and wants to see it done authentically compared to the novels so it could be actually as impactful as the book series. Especially after seeing shows like the last of us succeed and be really well done compared to the story.

[dayshipper]

YOU GUYSSSS!!! I can’t even begin to think about what all of this means!!! Fair warning, this is really messy and unedited, just like the inside of my head atm, so I’m sorry if it doesn’t make much sense. Ok so let’s build up to THE pic by starting off with Kie in the red dress. I’ve got a couple of theories for this one. The first is pretty much the same as what I’ve said before which is that she gets kidnapped by that ‘Don’ guy somehow. 

Now I’m kinda thinking that after they’ve all been on the island for a bit, they venture off to find the nearest town to get a change of clothes, food etc. When they’re there, they find the ‘Don’ guy and overhear him talking about treasure/ bounty. They either decide to trust the guy and believe that he is working with them to get the gold, or they are playing him at his own game. Either way, I think Kiara is the bait. Maybe the guy takes a shine to her, or maybe thinks that she is someone that she isn’t. Maybe the pogues all get caught by him and she’s the only one who didn’t so she makes out that she isn’t with them in order to save them all and is working from the inside.

As for the photo of the moment! Ugh, the ANGST!!!! I actually don’t think that he is going in for a kiss here! 😬 I mean, I would LOVE for that to happen but I just don’t feel like that’s it. I also don’t think that he is touching her wrist/bracelets 😭 I know, I know it's blasphemy to say at this point. But I thought that JJ and Kie were grabbing each other's hands in the obx2 promo poster when they were on the dock but that wasn’t right, so hopefully I’m wrong again this time. Except this time, I’ll be happy to be wrong!

If we do go with the idea that he is holding/ touching her bracelet/ wrist, I’m thinking that the photo was taken right after he returns the bracelet to her (maybe she loses it 🤡) and lets go of her hand after putting it on her. They then have a moment because they realise how close they are to each other. Or he's touching the bracelet to make a point of how she's one of them and they're in this together.

However, I actually think that this scene is more about JJ trying to persuade her into doing something and Kiara is sad and defeated because she knows that it’d be the last thing she ever does if she goes along with it because of her parents. His hand looks like it's in a bit of a fist which makes me think that he might be frustrated or feeling resolute about whatever he is talking about to get his point across.

Or, maybe he is confiding in her about his dad. Maybe he heard something on the grapevine about him and he’s conflicted about what he thinks he should do. Or maybe his restitution is finally catching up to him and she’s trying to stop him from spiralling. He’s feeling sorry for himself (a bit like how he was after he escaped the ambulance) and she’s feeling upset that he thinks of himself the way he does.

I’ve tried not to read other people’s opinions on what they think is going on in this picture so that I wasn’t influenced but I did see some people think that JJ was confessing his feelings to Kiara after their hug in the previous episode. I don’t actually think that that’s what’s going on here. Again, if I’m wrong, I’ll never be happier (and as a Taurus, that means something), but I’m just agh I don’t know. I keep flip-flopping on this one!! I guess I just don’t see him confessing his feelings to her that early in the season! She looks too sad and he doesn’t look conflicted enough about it.

Overall, I think this picture shows JJ is continuing to realise his feelings for Kiara even more and will be making it more and more obvious as the season goes on.

It'll be subtle and monumental all at the same time. Anyways, these are just some ~preliminary~ thoughts that spring to mind. I’ll be sure to add more as I think of it 🥰

[get-your-fuckin-star-bitch]

[unwinding au] - season 3, part ?????

Aaaaaaaaagh i feel like I’m missing something what is it what am I

OHHHHHHHH

Michael didn’t get out of the institute using the mirrors, he doesn’t like using the mirrors (at all)-

He took the tunnels. He had no idea where he was going, but he took em anyway, cause he figured he had the best chance at finding the right way through.

He actually also took the tape recorder that was there, I was wrong. He didn’t want anyone to find out what he’d done (they sort of did anyway :( ) and also it had just become a “comfort item” at that point.

He sort of feels the same way about the recorders as Martin does, but also feels like they give him a sort of anchor to steady himself with so he can keep himself together.

[CONTINUED BELOW!!!!]

I really wish I could find some good maps of London so that I could plot out his course, but he tries going to his own apartment initially, only to find it surrounded by police/law enforcement.

So he feels very much like he’s got nowhere to go.

For the first time, he wishes he could just loose himself in a crowd and find himself somewhere else.

He’s just… too tall for it. He’s worried he’d just get spotted immediately.

But it turns out that doesn’t matter anymore. It’s as if no one can really see him, or at least can’t pick him out from the rest of the crowd. Which, by the way, is really uncomfortably bump-y and jostle-y, and he hates it just as much as he used to, but it works.

Not just to hide him, but to get him to where he’s going.

Somehow, he finds himself inside of a department store.

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so I decided it’s probably either Peter Jones or Harrods… but……

How tf do UK department stores work

help

Ummmmm heck it’s fine I’ll just wing it and revise later, at least i’ve got a vibe

So, Peter Jones and partners, runs into someone he knew before the institute.

I don’t know her name, but she’s pretty and a fantastic person and I tried to draw her one time but I don’t feel like it came out quite right, however I’m still going to drop it here.

(Uuuuugghhhhhhhh yeah there’s a lot I don’t like about how I drew this, I don’t feel like I got her features right and I wish I could go back and change it but it’s PENCIL and erasing/redrawing is ANNOYING aaaaaa /lh)

(I’m actually not going to insert the drawing. I just feel like it’s probably wrong in a hundred different ways, and I’d like to research some stuff further first before I make a finalized design.)

She and Michael talk a little bit, her manager comes over and does the whole “you’re paid to sell things to customers, not chat with them,” thing and Michael actually glares at him!

Yasmin(a?) (this is why i want to do more research, I don’t feel like that’s right aaaaaa) is completely taken aback by this, because the Michael Shelley she’d grown up with had barely ever glared at someone in this sort of a situation.

Michael was a tiny bit surprised by it, too, but fuck it- he was fed up, tired, on the run, possibly turning into a monster, and this clerk was being completely unreasonable (in his opinion). He was having a bad day and hadn’t seen his friend in years, couldn’t he just leave them alone?

Apparently not. The manager was getting very disgruntled, and curtly acknowledged him with a steely-eyed stare, and told him that if he wanted to make a fuss over the store’s management rules, he should leave the department and go speak with the (police? Upper management? Idk).

And thus a small standoff occurs. I’m honestly impressed that the manager could remain rigid in his stance with this tall guy basically looming over him, but by god he did- and then the usual thing of “I’m going to call the cops.”

And naturally, Michael gets both upset and a bit panicked.

The guy turns away to call someone on his phone, then notices some strange movement out of the corner of his eye and turns around to see Michael, looking… definitely different from how he did before.

He’s trying hard not to look at his friend, cause he feels like if he does, he’ll scare her, but the manager is staring right at him, into his twisting face, and screams after taking a few moments to register what’s going on.

And then Michael leaves.

——————

The police get there far too late to catch him exiting the building, and naturally, daisy is a little more than a bit miffed by this.

He’s just glad he could get away at all. He’s actually unaware that the police are following him.

Thing is, he didn’t actually even hurt anyone, he just scared the manager and ran away. Supposedly, no actual harm done, (the manager’s now marked but Michael doesn’t need to know that 🫠), so the police leave.

He considers checking in to a hotel or something, but… it feels like it’s too… risky.

So he just… sleeps wherever.

It’s awful.

His friend’s probably trying to figure out where he went, just so she can understand what the heck’s going on and why the police are trying to find him, cause last she heard, he was working at the infamous “Magnus Institute”, which, as far as she understands it, is essentially a fucked-up library of weird things. So maybe things had gotten a little too weird for him, or he’d just been some kind of serial-whatever this entire time. They hadn’t even explained the situation to her when they’d questioned her about him. She fully thought she was going to be arrested as an accomplice or something, which would have been awful, but apparently all they cared about was getting him.

And she kind of wanted to know why.

I mean- look. Scaring someone’s manager with a gun or blackmail or something is one thing. But with just a look? That stuff was not normal, she knew it wasn’t, and he was gonna have to spill everything to her.

Once she could find him, at least.

She took a few days off from work to wander around and see if she could look for him in… the shops, maybe, or nearby apartments. But nothing came up. No sandy-blond-haired skinny tall bastards in the directory, or around there anywhere. (Sounded like she was ordering Starbucks or something every time she asked around about him.)

She nearly tripped over him when she was passing through (insert place name here, I really need to get a map or else I’m just going to end up playing mad libs with location names for this, lmao).

She had been trying to find a bar she thought he might be relatively more comfortable at than the others in the area. Bars in general did not seem Michael’s style, but she was running out of options, and hey, he’d obviously changed at least a little bit since she’d seen him.

But the expression on his face when he looked at her, startled, confused — hell, maybe even hopeful — was exactly the same expression he’d worn that day that the two’d met each other the first time.

They’d both been different then, in their own ways. But now, it seemed like one of them had changed… well, a little more than would be possible for the other.

Still him, though. She could be sure about that.

And he needed some help.

“Hey.” She said simply, in greeting. “No complaining, no insisting on not bothering someone, we’re going to get you a bed.”

[ayoitsiris]

HEY FOLKS I HAVWNT POSTED IN TEN YEARS!!! HI!!!

AGGRETSUKO SEASON 5 CAME OUT!!

i have a LOT TO SAY ABOUT THIS SEASON so this is your warning for spoilers for the whole show and stuff

okay so first off they went really really really political with this season, which has garnered a lot of criticism for this season. I can’t really blame people for disliking it because it alters a lot from the shows original plot. however, this show was sorta political originally. i mean tadano straight up hates late stage capitalism and the show was made to critique work culture in japan. plus i didn’t hear as much critique when restuko decided to be an idol! never the less i think it’s endearing how the show kinda circled back to the original concern. they used haida and shikabane to show examples of how the way things are going in japan are affecting a wide range of people and how these issues never went away. I mean it definitely came out of left field but frankly i’ve always been a political person so this appealed to my tastes so i can kinda see why people would be upset. ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT HAIDA GETING REDEEMED!!!! he used to be my favorite character but he got super icky at the end of season 3 and in season 4 and maybe it’s because i’m going through unrequited love (as of 3 months right now😒) he was really just amazing this season. I also liked seeing more of his family dynamic and seeing how that kinda made him how he is. he got liberated from that environment at the same time him and retsuko were trying to change japan and it went down really nicely. I feel like now that the two of them are together and we don’t have to worry about haida acting like a nice guy we really get to enjoy their relationship ten fold. I also really enjoyed shikabane. I feel like she really encapsulates the way that the current state makes younger people feel. and how they are encouraged to give up early like that. i don’t really know how to voice my opinion on her but she’s so relatable and oh my god i LOVE her design. i feel like the writing this season was realllyy well done. I also feel like we got to see a little less tadano this season which bummed me out but we saw him a bit so that was nice. ALSO HAIDA AND AGGRETSUKO GOT MARRIED?!?!? I’ve been watching this show since 2018 (i was in like elementary school) and i’m actually so sad it’s over

anyway stan haida in his hard working era 😍😍 love y’all bye

[dokidokitsuna]

I’ve been thinking about this experience a lot lately, so I’m going to write a cathartic little blurb about it and hopefully just get it out of my head:

So a year or two ago, on this forum I belong to that’s mostly populated by other comic artists and writers, I started a thread to ask for suggestions about writing a character with no friends. Because I wanted to write this MC more like a normal girl, without “using my own art-obsessed life as a blueprint”-- basically, being an artist means I always have something to do alone, which makes being alone matter less, and I know it wouldn’t be the same if I wasn’t ‘like this’. But I don’t know any other way to live, so I wanted some outside perspectives.

What I didn’t anticipate was the appalling things people were willing to say to me about the mere idea of writing about a character with no friends...I’m not going to quote any of those comments directly, because the worst ones were actually pretty long and complex, and maybe I’m just being optimistic, but I believe they were mainly emotional reactions based on the hurt that they had felt during similar times in their lives (basically, the people who were MOST adamant that such a character should not exist were those who had also been friendless before, as backwards as it sounds).

But, uh...that emotion did not come out in good ways. o_O And just in general, being hurt is not an excuse to dehumanize others...which is exactly what happened. I got people telling me things like “forming friendships is a fundamental part of the human experience, why would you take that away” and “isn’t there enough sadness in the world without writing something so depressing” and “how do you expect to progress her story in any compelling way without relationships to base it on”...

Like, stuff so narrow-minded and unexpected (I’d been in that forum for over 4 years at that point) I was too shocked to even get angry.

Fortunately, most of the people who replied decided to be normal about it, but the fact that multiple people genuinely thought those things were okay to say, as if they carried no real-world implications whatsoever...that stuck with me. :/ It was genuinely upsetting that they apparently looked at that topic and went “Gee, I wonder why this clearly neurodivergent, introverted, seasoned writer wants to explore the concept of not having friends...it couldn’t possibly be a lived experience that they want to express through a fictional character...no, it MUST be because they just don’t understand how people or stories work, and I have to warn them before they make a terrible mistake!!”

And even if it wasn’t personal to me, and I was just writing it to explore a different worldview (as writers often do)...why the taboo?? Why is this, of all things, a character/story that ‘no one wants to read’?? So many threads started in that forum (some of them also by me) about stories starring murderers and abusers and actual supervillains go uncontested, but a story about a cute magical girl who just doesn’t happen to have friends crosses the line...? 

Even now I can’t understand why the reaction was so severe...generally, I think ‘social skill issues’ tend to hit people really close to home, but the idea of responding to such a thing with disgust and revulsion rather than kindness and understanding (or y’know, encouragement to portray a commonly stigmatized life experience in a non-negative light)...that escapes me. Even if I didn’t feel emotionally ready (?) to read about such an MC, I would never have the gall to try to guilt someone out of writing them.

Anyway, I don’t really have a snappy conclusion to make here...it’ll probably take a few more years of marinating in my brain for me to fully process what happened there. ._. I guess if anything I just wanna say that people without any friends or just people without any close friends exist in real life, we’re not all depressed and suicidal (in fact, some of us are-- dare I say it-- HAPPY regardless) and we still have lives and goals and thoughts and futures. Our stories matter, and other people don’t need to be ‘protected’ from them. That’s all.

[glitterynostalgia]

Below is a short story I wrote. I originally wrote it as a play Junior year and thought it would be fun to rewrite as a story:

“At Your Own Risk”

It’s a sunny June day in Vegas. We are here for my cousin’s boyfriend’s 21st birthday. She invited me and my sister, Chelsea. My cousin, Tara, and her boyfriend, Mason decided to go watch a movie while my sister and I shopped around. It’s semi annual sale season which is very important.

“First day in Vegas has been pretty relaxing actually. I didn’t know their outlet mall was so lively.” I comment.

I feel as I’ve seen everything already. Yet something catches my eyes. There’s a dark, mysterious looking building. In big red letters it reads “Lucy’s Luxaries”.

“Maybe, we should check this store out!” My sister Chelsea acknowledges.

“That feels like a dumb opening of a horror movie move.”

“I thought you wanted this summer to be about adventure, Yasmin.”

Chelsea gives me a look and walks in anyways. I try to grab her but she yanks her hand. I miss when she was 5 and I could easily pick her up and run. I decide to follow her. I mean if ghostface or Pennywise is in here, i can probably take them out.

As we walk in, I feel chills through my spine. There’s mysterious red handprints on the wall and ominous piano music.

A woman in a long black dress then walks over to us. I want to think maybe this is just like a Spencer’s or Hot Topic.

“Welcome girls, Come on in. Everything is 50% off. But both of you should be aware of one small thing.” The woman smiles.

“What thing?” I ask concerned

“ Don’t dare go through the painted line at the back”

Chelsea rolls her eyes and smiles a bit.

“Why? Is there construction or something?” Chelsea asks

“Not necessarily but we just don’t want a repeat of the incident.”

“Um what incident?” I question

“Let’s just say it’s called Lucy’s luxuries for a reason.” the woman insists.

“Oh I get it. This is money laundering. Well we aren’t snitches. I actually would love more money as well” Chelsea insists.

The woman grins, very sinister.

“No but you don’t want to make mother Lucy upset.”

I now feel this is the cue to run. Chelsea, however, starts laughing.

“Ok. First of all, Lucy is the most unscary name on the planet. Second, I am not scared of whatever you are trying to pull!” Chelsea insists.

“‘Chels! Don’t say that. Who is Lucy? What is the incident?”

The woman gives Chels an evil look and explains. “She was one of the original founders of the store. A jealous employee and her fought in the back. Lucy began losing a lot of blood after the employee cut her. She survived but something possessed her. She lives in the back of the store and no one who has crossed that line has survived a confrontation. Now. I’ll let you girls choose if you want to leave now or you could stay.”

Chels puts her hand over my mouth, “Oh, we will stay.”

The woman eerily walks away. I have so many bad feelings about this.

“Do you think the Lucy thing is real?,” I whisper.

“Of course not. It’s obviously a promotion stunt. It’s literally called Lucy’s Luxaries.” Chels claims.

I feel maybe I should believe Chelsea. I mean, she is 2 years younger but she is a psychology major. I’m a fashion design major. We look at a clothing rack full of vintage clothing. I see an old school Frank Sinatra t shirt.

“Ooh I love this,” I insist.

“Since when do you listen to Sinatra?” Chels questions.

“Ok Miss Gatekeeper. I just thought it was cute.”

“I mean it is pretty cute. Damn, don't be sassy.”

I then find a My Chemical Romance t-shirt. It looks pretty cool, except i notice something about their faces. Their eyes are dark red with no pupilsnand the members look like they’re scared.

“What the?” I show Chels.

“It’s probably a special edition.”

“Ok and why do they look scared with red eyes?”

“I'm not sure but doesn't MCR have a lot of random photoshoots?.”

Suddenly my phone dings. It's from a random number.

It says: “The end is coming for you, Yasmin.” I quickly show Chelsea.

“It could be a freaky prank. Just block the number.” Chelsea comforts,

She’s not wrong but still? This person knows my name? I mean it can’t be this Lucy lady because how would she know name?

Chelsea stops for a minute to think.

“Wait, maybe we would know if the Lucy thing is real if we look it up.” Chelsea insists.

I grab my phone and look up “Lucy’s Luxaries Las Vegas''. There’s an article from 2000 about the incident.

"Apparently the employee that killed her was a rival and had a plan to kill her. Lucy heard the employee's plan so she was a step ahead and tried to stab the employee first. The employee then fought back with a pocket knife right on Lucy’s throat."

"That's so sad but then how did they know she survived?" Chelaea asks.

"Lucy’s body somehow vanished before the ambulance arrived and the employee died suspiciously in prison. There’s a whole thread of sightings on reddit.”

"So the story really is true. Ok, I am so sorry Yasmin. Let’s leave.” Chelsea agrees.

My inner final girl was telling her that a while ago but now my inner final girl has different ideas.

“Maybe we should stay.” I say.

"Are you kidding me Yas? You're the one who wanted to leave in the first place"

"Well now I'm saying we should stay. Imagine how cool we would sound with this story.”

“Hmm, I don’t know. I think Mason and Tara might be waiting for us so let’s go.” Chels hesitates.

“Oh so now you're being the wimp? I thought this was an adventure summer” I defend.

“Alright, fine.”

Suddenly I notice Chels’ feet over the green line. This can not be good. Clothing racks started to rise and fall all over the floor. The lights start to flicker on and off. A random laugh can be heard. At the back of the store, this thick green fog started to show.

"I WASN’T EVEN OVER THE LINE.” Chels yells as we begin to run. The doors then close and lock. We can’t get out!

The mysterious woman appears.

“You went on the line and I overheard you both talk about Mother Lucy!” The woman exclaims, “Lucy gets angry very easily when people talk about the incident.”

“Listen, I didn’t believe at first because I didn’t know there was more to the story.” Chels hesitates.

Suddenly the woman’s demeanor changes into a huge smile. She begins cracking her neck. There’s a huge red scar. Her eyes glow red and her hair grows longer.

“There’s only one way to leave.” The woman insists,

“Well what is it?” I wonder,

“One of you comes and tries to defeat me.”

“I volunteer Chels as tribute.”

“Yasmin?!”

“I mean, you did step on the line and hey, this can be your final girl era.”

“Fine. What do I need?” Chelsea asks Lucy.

“Just a strong heart if you have one.”

As Chelsea gets closer to Lucy, there’s a strong wind.

“Ok why are you doing this though?” I ask.

I actually have no idea why I would ask that.

“I am always here to defeat humans. Humans are terrible.” Lucy exclaims.

“Ok I agree but you don't see me haunting the back of a store.”

Chels gives me the hand signal to shut up and falls.

I notice a tube filled with a bright red liquid. It's the same color I saw on that MCR shirt earlier.

“Ok. That's it. I'm going in. I must become the opposite of who I thought I was.” I tell myself.

“No! Yasmin! it's ok just go without me.” Chels exclaims.

Suddenly Lucy starts to chant. I don't know what's happening but I can feel something overpowering my body. I don't know what it is.

Lucy laughs.

“Yasmin?” I can hear Chelsea say.

I try to respond but something is overpowering me.

“I'm your nightmare.” I can hear the voice say.

“Yasmin! Snap out of it. Don't let her posses you!”

I can't speak. I try to overcome it.

“Look into my eyes and become one of us.” The deep voice says.

“No! Let go of my big sister.” Chelsea cries.

I try to scream “red” to guide her to the bottle. I don’t know if it was some sister telepathy because she is running towards the tube.

“Where are you going?” Lucy screeches.

“Oh no where.” Chelsea says as she grabs the red bottle.

“What's that?”

Suddenly I go blank. I can't see or feel anything but for some reason can still hear.

“Yasmin! Speak to me. I was wrong ok. I'm so sorry for putting you through this. Just speak to me. Please.” Chelsea exclaims.

“She’s gone.” Lucy laughs.

Suddenly I feel some of my senses come back.

“Chelsea. I'm gonna be okay. If I don't survive, you can do this without me. Be the final girl” I feel some last strength to say.

“No. I don't know how I'd live with myself. I love you.”

Chelsea starts to cry but then grabs the bottle from his pocket.

Chelsea throws the liquid at Lucy.

“Haha. You failed. You need to say the chant too.”

Chelsea tries to recite the chant Lucy tried earlier. Suddenly I'm feeling my body come back to normal.

“Chelsea?” I exclaim.

“Yasmin!” Chelsea cries and runs. We give each other a big hug.

“Now let's defeat this demon bitch.”

“I'm with you.”

I look at the bottle and see there's a saying on it.

“Hey maybe we need to say this?”

Chelsea agrees.

We say what's on the bottle. Suddenly the air becomes lighter and lighter.

“No! No! I do not lose.” Lucy screeches.

“Well there’s a first for everything.” I smile.

The light turns back on and everything is almost the same as when we came in.

“Now let's go. I just don't know how we'd explain this to Mason and Tara.” I wonder.

“I mean we can try to explain even though they’ll think it’s a prank.” Chels realizes.

Chelsea grabs her phone and calls Tara to pick us up. Chelsea and I walk towards the front to meet with Tara and Mason. We quickly go into the car.

“Hey guys how was your shopping trip?” Mason asks.

“Let's just say Chelsea battled a possible demon and I was possessed for like 20 minutes.” I respond.

Tara and Mason give us a look.

“Did they give you LSD when you entered the store? Did you see unicorns too?” Tara jokes.

“She's telling the truth. There's proof in my search history.” Chelsea defends.

“How about I just say I believe you and we all get ice cream so we can get out this freakish mall.” Mason insists.

“Ok let's do that.” Chelsea and I agree.

I don’t dare look back. This has been a pretty crazy day but what happens in Vegas, really does stay in Vegas.

[pennypenpen]

Why Total Drama (2023)'s Finale is some of the worst offical TD Media I've seen, and how overall, ruin my enjoyment of the season.

[OBVIOUS SPOILERS FOR THE FINALE OF TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND (2023) AND TW: MENTIONS OF SELF-HARM AND SUICIDE]

So, I was watching—or should I say rewatching—the finale with a friend of mine, and I noticed the mistreatment of Millie has got to be one of the worst things that Total Drama has ever approved of. Not only is it realistically upsetting and sad to see but the episode itself was just one big “Bully Millie” party for Priya and Bowie. 

Priya was justified in getting angry with Millie about the notes, yes, I will not deny her that; however, her treatment with Millie was not only uncharacteristically awful but disgusting as well. Not only did she go in-depth about how much she wants to put Millie down, but is also shoving it in her face because of what? Not to mention, nearly killing herself just because of what Millie did, literally almost dying in a pit of lava. Honestly, for 12 episodes straight, Priya was an okay character, a bit bland but alright. However, in one singular episode, she basically became unredeemable, and no. Her asking about the last page of the note and forgiving Millie is not only a rushed conclusion but unjustified by Priya’s behaviour as well.

Bowie isn’t innocent either, matter of fact, he’s nearly worse than Priya. Of course, he was playing the game (I’m emphasizing on was) but the fact that he not only shared Millie’s notebook—RIGHT AFTER they became legit friends, and they're only friends, he decided to rip them apart and show BOTH of their true colors (Millie was the target but it also showed Priya’s color as well.) Afterwhich, not only did he celebrate their breakup but also basically left Millie crying after she got eliminated by telling her that he ripped the last page where Millie wrote a lot of good things about Priya, just to make her feel even worse.

I do not care if Priya and Millie made up, this was just disgusting. Like genuinely, disgusting. From Millie crying all night and lamenting how she lost her only friend, to Priya basically telling Millie to kill herself and Bowie just not caring about the mental damage he just gave to someone—when it’s clearly shown that they were genuine friends.

Total Drama can get realistic. Yes, it’s low-key the backbone of the series, but this was too much, and left a horrid taste in my mouth. And besides that, no one else was better anyways. Julia….is not a good character—matter of fact, I consider her a bland character, because we’ve seen this archetype so many times in Total Drama that she doesn’t really have an identity of her own; Damien’s a nothing character, the only thing that he’s notable for is him being good at science and wanting to leave (Of course, total drama flipped this for the sake of it “being funny” which wasn’t, I’m sorry). The only redeemable thing about this episode was the constant love that Raj sent Bowie’s way and Ripper just trying to help Millie out as best as he can (honestly, it’s one of his best episodes—dare I say, it IS his best episode). But other than that, it’s nothing but a cesspool of just people bullying Millie for their own selfish gain or not hearing her out and just adding in the piece themselves—even if they don’t even have the foggiest clue on where it went.

This season was such a massive disappointment, there I said it, and I’m not going to repeat myself otherwise. From actual compelling characters (MK, being the best example) being kicked for characters that we’ve seen before (Julia, being the best example), the overuse of potty humor (episode 5 being the most prime example) and the writing going from serviceable to down right horrid. I can’t even say with a fake smile on my face, I do not like this season. It was just wasted potential that turned into a want—no, A NEED—of a rewrite because of what I’ve seen on Monday and again today…. It was gross.

[thearchivistsjournal]

Day 221,

We’re taking a break on the beach of a small island.  As it turns out, the second day of rowing is harder than the first as the previous day’s strain and exertion catches up with you.  I’ve tried taking more shifts from Lin to ease the burden on her, but the truth of the matter is I can’t even go half an hour without getting shaky and short of breath.  Not if I’m going to keep pace with Maiko anyway.  That said, slowing our pace is something we might seriously need to consider.

The island we’ve stopped at is interesting, but unfortunately difficult to properly explore.  It’s a smaller one, we could probably do a lap around it in the boats in ten or fifteen minutes but it’s tall.  Basically a pillar of stone sticking up out of the water two or three times the height of most of the buildings in the Village.  Only place for us to put in is a near-circular cove cut into one side of it with a crescent of sandy beach lining the inside of it giving a bit of walking space between the water and the sheer cliff face.  We could see trees on top from a distance and there are roots and vines visible near the top of the wall, but, like I said, we’ve got no good way up there.

The really strange part though is the thin waterfall draining from the top of the island into the sea.  You can’t see it from where we are now but if I listen for it I can hear it.  I can’t for the life of me figure out where the source for that waterfall could be coming from.  It feels improbable that the seawater could somehow be flowing up there as a natural spring.  Collected rainwater feels equally far fetched given that the waterfall would have drained it by now if it were anything short of the whole island being a hollow drum that fills up during the rainy season.  Perhaps some ancient pumping mechanism left by whomever or whatever built Cloud Tower?  But for what purpose?

A frustratingly unanswerable conundrum.  For now, I’ll distract myself with taking in the beauty of what I can see.  The beach is pristine and the water is amazingly clear.  If I stand up at the water’s edge I can see the coral reef that we passed over on the way in here in all its color and shining, swimming residents.  Pretty as it is though, we’ll probably need to get moving again before too long.  Once the tide goes out, getting back over that reef without scraping up the bottoms of our boat might be an iffy prospect.

Going to take a little bit of a walk to stretch my legs again before we leave.

*******

Another night, another campfire, another island.  We’ve got company this time though.  This place is full of tiny, round, long-beaked flightless birds with seemingly zero fear of predators.  They look something like kiwis but with brighter plumage.  Not that that comparison is going to make any sense to a non-outsider.

But as I said, zero fear.  A few of them actually tried pecking at us before just going about their business ignoring us once they determined we weren’t food.  Our actual food was a bit trickier to keep them out of until we realized that they can’t jump high enough to get into the boats.

Lin and Maiko didn’t find much suitable to eat on the island save for the birds.  There was some debate about that option but ultimately we decided against it and went with what we brought with us.  What it really came down to was Lin found the birds to be cute and Maiko didn’t want to upset her.

And they are cute.  As I’m writing this now, sitting cross-legged with my back against a tree, one has nestled in the space between my legs.  I think they like the warmth.  Once the sun went down and we made our fire, more started coming out of the woods and gathering around it.  Maiko keeps picking them up and gently tossing them a short distance away as they try to huddle around her, much to the rest of our amusement.  It’s the chickens all over again.  That thought seems to have occurred to Maiko as well because she’s already declared that she’ll be spending the night in her boat.

That’s not a bad idea honestly, but unfortunately the other boat’s not well suited to that and I don’t think we can fit more than one person in Maiko’s.

Well, I’m going to see if I can get up and join the others without disturbing this little fellow too much.

<==Previous          Next==>

[deepspacedukat]

I just realized I completely forgot to do this! Thanks for the tag @bigblissandlove1​ 💖 Sorry I’m late!!

Song I last listened to: “Dynasties and Dystopia” from the Arcane Soundtrack - it’s been stuck in my head for like three days and I’m not upset about it tbh.

Currently watching: “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” Season 2 - I am current, if anyone wants to scream about it with me. 👀 “The Mandalorian” Season 3 - Literally have only seen one episode of this season, so I’m a lil behind. Also, just started “Babylon 5″ last night and am about to start on the series for realsies since I only saw the prequel movie thing.

Currently reading: Mostly fanfiction, but also a book called “Hooked” by Emily McIntire - the fanfiction is great, the book, however, is leaving a bit to be desired. I’m only a single chapter in and I’ve found so many grammatical errors. Also, this is gonna sound super mean, but I don’t mean it to be: the tone sounds on par with a person who wrote a single oneshot fanfiction, got one (1) comment telling them that they did a good job, and they decided that that single comment meant that they were totally good enough to write a book and be the next Tolkein. Like...this is an actual book. This made it into print. People pay real life money for this. I...Hm, I don’t see how. We’ll see how this one goes. I could totally be pre-judging this, and if I am, I’ll make a post or something, but I...don’t think I am. This is poking that finely-honed fanfiction quality sensor button that I’ve developed over the past decade really really hard. Y’know, the one that tells you what sort of quality you can put up with for the sake of the blorbos? Yeah, that one. I don’t usually find it hard to like most books because I keep an open mind, but this one...that first chapter does not bode well for the rest of the book, tbh. Also, it’s apparently really popular?? So...idk. Anyway, I owe fanfic authors so much. I love you all. 💖

Current obsession: I keep bouncing between Shran and a handful of Romulans. Commander Shran takes up the brain mean one moment, then I have lunch or do a chore, and my brain switches over to S’Talon, Letant, Tokath, S’Talon... Oh, also! I watched “Babylon 5: The Gathering” last night and Commander Sinclair...I can already tell he’s going to be taking up a significant portion of the brainy bits. Chest hair chest hair chest hair sexy man with chest hair!! Also, Garibaldi is, uh...he’s not bad either, iykwim. Idk, my brain latched onto those two immediately. So uh...yep.

*ahem*

Anyone who wants to do this little game, feel free!! I am hereby tagging anyone who Vibes with this game and wants to join in! 😊💖

Tysm for tagging me @oconso and @linewire !! 🥰🥰🥰🥰 Sorry im so late lol :(

last song I listened to: Sexy Villain by Remi Wolf

currently watching: tbh nothing lmao

currently reading: fanfiction lol and The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

current obsession: f1 and my boys (lestappen), Indiana Jones (I cant wait to watch the movie akdgwkhwkwjwk), and deltarune!!

I'll tag @cupidskissx @linguine-pasta @marvelwasmadeforthebis and @cupofsquirrelfan if yall havent done it already!!

[starryknightwrites]

Safety and Why Adrien’s “Sudden” Crush on Marinette Makes So Much Sense

Season 5 sees Marinette jumping headfirst into a crush on Chat Noir because her faith in a relationship with Adrien has been rocked considerably. She doesn’t trust the strength of their friendship. She doesn’t trust that she’ll make the right decisions around him. The foundation isn’t even there for her to trust his love for her. Their future is fraught with uncertainty.

Chat Noir is her loyal partner. Chat Noir is in love with her. She’s comfortable with Chat Noir. Chat Noir is the safe romantic choice.

While it’s also true that she has gained a newfound respect and loyalty to Chat Noir, she is also rebounding with him pretty hard. Especially after his unwavering support of her in ‘Strike Back’. He is her rock.

Adrien is doing the same thing. Ladybug neglected Chat Noir. He upset Ladybug to her breaking point with his excessive wooing. Every time he has any hope for he and Ladybug, it is abruptly snatched away by Ladybug herself or outside forces.

Marinette is comforting and kind. Marinette is harmless. Marinette has never shown pushiness or aggression toward Adrien. Marinette feels safe- moreso than anyone else in his life besides Plagg- and his trust in her has been building since Season 1.

In ‘Gamer’, Adrien takes an ego hit. He dazzles his classmates by winning against Max- you can see a little Chat Noir coming out in his body language there. Only to be beaten easily by Marinette during their practice session. He laments his insecurities to her and she comforts him by giving him her lucky charm bracelet. This becomes a symbol of their friendship and mutual support and clearly means a lot to Adrien. It’s a comfort. He keeps it on him wherever he goes.

In ‘The Gorilla’, Adrien almost tells Marinette that he is uncomfortable modeling. I’ve seen people saying that his telling her in ‘Risk’ was “unearned”, but the truth is, he felt comfortable enough to open up to her 3 seasons prior.

Marinette takes Adrien to hide from his unhinged fan club in the fountain. She comments on how it’s awesome that he has such a popular ad and he says “I don’t know about that. It’s actually pretty… embarrassing”. He gets distracted by her pajamas and she becomes embarrassed at his wandering gaze. Then his fan club shows up and the chance to further elaborate never comes up, but he was super close to sharing his discomfort around modeling with her in that moment without the effects of Risk.

In ‘Frozer’, Marinette is the first person Adrien asks for advice about Kagami after ultimately deciding against all of the “close” adults in his life. Nino may have been the most obvious choice- but considering Nino’s hopelessness in ‘Animan’, I can understand why he trusted Marinette. And he felt comfortable enough with Marinette as a safe zone to ask her to come along.

In ‘Malediktator’, while the rest of the class is celebrating Chloe’s curt exit, Adrien is extremely put off. When Marinette explained what happened, he felt comfortable enough with her to disagree and to call her out on the “She was useless anyway” comment. I’m not sure what Adrien expected from Marinette after this. He’s used to people either punishing him for disagreeing or just ignoring him/standing their ground. But Marinette feels guilty and takes steps to remedy what happened and bring Chloe back- something he clearly appreciated in the end.

In the ultra controversial ‘Chameleon’, Adrien advised Marinette not to take an aggressive route with Lila and she listens, ceasing to try to expose her (*in an earlier edit, I said it didn’t stick, but I realized her exposure attempts in Catalyst came before Chameleon. Marinette did actually stick to her word.) Compare this to his conversation with Lila in the same episode in which he asks her not to lie to him and warns her about the class turning against her. He’s nice about it and offers his support, but Lila jumps on the defensive and accuses him of ‘playing superhero’. Similarly, when he gives Chloe advice, she won’t even change her ways for more than a day- even under threat of losing her friendship with him.

Lastly, Adrien allows himself to “slip” with Marinette. He trusts that she won’t admonish him for his jokes or “being silly” Marinette is quite silly herself (that’s why they made such a goofy couple in ‘Elation’). She only takes offense to his prank in Puppeteer 2 because she humiliated herself. She even apologizes profusely for the misunderstanding later.

‘Risk’ made clear to Adrien what MLB has been building to for seasons: Marinette feels like a safe and comfortable space for Adrien. His father is cold and controlling. Nathalie is cold and in league with his father. His bodyguard is emotionally distant and silent.  Chloe is pushy and doesn’t listen to him. Felix antagonizes him.  Lila is dishonest and manipulative with him. Ladybug has been a neglectful partner who he secretly reasons only wants him around as far as his miraculous can assist her. Kagami led their entire relationship and he felt uncomfortable challenging her. Nino was fine until Rocketear where he denounced Adrien’s entire alter ego as a useless playboy.

Even the fact that Marinette has never managed to confess properly, is a safety to Adrien. She’s never put any pressure on him. She’s always just been that cute, silly girl who is compassionate with him and stands up for what she believes in. Never controlling. Not at all intimidating. Down to listen. She’s (the everyday) Ladybug without the strife. Marinette is “safe”.

[mariaashby64]

You know this whole HBO Max deal has reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend the other day.

We were talking about how we watched our media and she expressed genuine surprise at the fact that I owned a dvd player. When she asked why I bothered spending money on dvds instead of streaming services I replied with the same answer I always give.

I actually like to own the things I like.

With HBO cancelling all these shows, it’s brought up hundreds and hundreds of posts about people crying tears and posting links and tips on how to pirate these shows instead and,

I’ve seen nothing about the dvds.

Now the full matter of the situation is complicated and as of now, from what I’ve heard, dvd sales are completely out of stock. But I find it interesting how so many people can cry over a show being gone when there was no talk of owning a piece of it.

I get some people don’t have that kind of budget. I get that some people don’t even have a dvd player any more, but if you’re going to throw your whole life into the digital era of streaming I’m afraid you’re going to have to face this problem time and time again. I can only offer you the consolation that there is still a place for ‘old technology’ if you ever decide to put your money elsewhere.

If you pirated this show beforehand and intended to pirate it again in the future, you don’t get to be upset about this. It’s not going to effect you. And I’m saying this as someone how did initially pirate this show. My access to this show hasn’t changed and the fandom still lives outside HBO Max. If you’re complaining about creators not getting paid then you are living in hypocrisy.

Anyway, this was supposed to be a dvd positivity post. I sincerely hope that the creators still have rights to dvd distribution and that they can get those restocked when they can. And when they do, I hope all of you go out and buy them because I don’t see how else that show is getting any funding for Season 5.

Oh,

and by they way, since it seems most of the fandom probably doesn’t know this, the Infinity train disk for S1 is One One: