#as you can see i rewatched a certain movie. and had feelings.

[irondad-defensesquad]

"um, wait, mr. harrington! i forgot something!" peter doesn't care about the impatient and confused looks from his classmates.

peter abandons his baggage right there and he rushes all the way back to tony, who was waving goodbye alongside aunt may. tony frowns in confusion, wondering if something is wrong. he does not look like the stark man everyone knows, as he disguises himself in casual clothes.

once peter is closer, tony opens his mouth to ask, only for the boy to interrupt him with a hug, nearly making him fall.

"... i love you, tony," peter reminds him. i'm going to be okay.

the man chuckles and hugs him as tight. "i love you too, peter."

tony might as well cry right there.

he's been very anxious about letting peter go on this trip considering it hasn't even been a year since peter came back. and the teen admits he's been a little scared deep inside, but he wants to enjoy himself in europe. he hopes he can get souvenirs and photos for tony to see. it's going to be awesome.

...

peter realizes everyone's staring. which might have to do with the fact tony's cap has fallen off his head.

and he also realizes that he and tony have been hugging for quite a while.

"... mr. stark, you can let go now," peter coughs.

"sorry!" tony immediately lets go and clears his throat. "now, you don't want to keep your girlfriend waiting."

peter frowns, "hey-"

"bye, kid, go have fun," tony pats his back to hurry him up.

"o-okay."

peter returns and his school peers don't say a thing. other than ned smiling at him fondly, and perhaps even mj was staring.

he just gives tony and may one last glance, and he smiles to himself, feeling calmer. yeah, everything will be okay.

(inspiration)

[ennn]

Hold the fuck up, this isn’t a real trial.

In retrospect a number of things about the episode, especially the coven's characterisation felt off... and now on rewatch I'm pretty certain this isn't a trial of the Road at all – it's the Salem Seven punishing Agatha.

Clues under the cut with some spoilers from future scenes in trailers / promo clips.

Clue #1 – No screen aspect ratio change

As @wolfcracker points out, for the two previous trials the screen ratio changed once they entered the place (going full screen). We didn't get that for this cabin.

Clue #2 – No phase of the moon decoration at the entrance

We've had these obviously built into the previous trial entrances but there's no sign of one for this cabin.

The coven's so panicked getting chased by the locusts they don't notice it running in. The door is made of wooden planks with tiny gaps in between and you don't see a sign of any moon on the other side either.

Notably, in a trailer and promo shot, you see the moon featured prominently again for an upcoming trial, when Agatha and Billy cross a stone bridge structure and approach an entrance (presumably of the tower).

Clue #3 – Each trial has an element, this cabin doesn't

This was something that seemed odd even before this episode, we saw five weird horror movie-trope settings – assumed to be trials – in posters and promotional materials but there are only four identified elements for the Road.

Sure you could have more moon phases (like we do irl) but the Ballad that is central the show only mentions four elements: fire, water, earth, and air.

Our first two trials had strong ties with an element: if you failed you'd be killed by that element or something associated with it i.e. drowning or burning.

Now from the promos, an upcoming trial with the anti-gravity effect going on in a tower fits well with the air element. And the threat of death here is associated with going into the air (spikes in the ceiling).

Notice from the flying forms that this trial does go full-frame like the first two we certainly had (clue #1).

Another upcoming trial we know of (that looks like a morgue or asylum-like place) can be linked with the earth given that we see rocks and earth falling in a shot. Death by crushing earth.

This cabin had no element associated with it at all. The threat of death was by... Agatha siphoning your magic? Or in the case of Agatha, to be tortured forever by her mom?

Clue #4 – The trial area doesn't necessarily keep out the Salem Seven

From the promo shots of presumably the air trial (see above), we clearly see the Salem Seven in the tower attacking them. Why then did Locust and the rest of the Seven leave them alone in the cabin when they were right behind them?

Other sus elements

OK, these are more ambiguous and could be the result of bad writing but here's the other stuff in this "trial" that just seems off

The coven turns really really quickly on Agatha and viciously. And they literally just rode broomsticks where it's mentioned it's "about selflessness" and "we fly together or not at all". I mean yeah the people might lie but they were enough of a team that the magic for the broomsticks worked.

The trial's instruction was to just "punish Agatha"? That's oddly specific and pointed. Previous trials had the entire coven in danger (e.g. everyone had to drink the poison). Between this and the above point it feels like someone is mad at Agatha for killing lots of witches over the years. Some people like the Salem Seven.

The trials so far have tested the witch's ability in the craft (potion-making, protection) and how they work together. How does punishing or sacrificing Agatha align with the Road's test of "Burn and brew with coven true / And glory shall be thine" -- which we were just reminded of last week.

Jen calling and dismissing Billy as a familiar is... more mean-ness that I'd expect. You could make a case for her disliking Agatha, but the amount of venom in this moment towards the boy for trying is surprising considering she was trying to watch out for him not too long ago. Of course, it could be her frustration and fear in that moment boiling over.

Pretty much everything at the end after Billy snapping and going all dark and vengeful.

Ultimately we don't know what the Salem Seven can do. Sure they shriek like Nazgûl but turning into animals isn't the most threatening thing? So, bad writing and copium or is this show being truly tricksy and reality-bending?

[linghxr]

Why you should watch 乘风破浪 and 披荆斩棘 to learn Chinese

What are these shows?

Both 披荆斩棘 and 乘风破浪 follow the same basic format: 30+ celebrity contestants, mostly actors and singers ages 30+, form teams and compete in singing and dancing over several rounds. Viewers vote on their favorite performances and contestants, and 1-3 contestants are eliminated each round. The top contestants form a temporary "group" and appear on a follow-up reality show.

Why you should watch

1. Exposure to different accents

Contestants come from all over the Chinese-speaking world: Dongbei, Sichuan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and even Malaysia. I can personally say that watching these shows has vastly improved my ability to understand the Hong Kong Mandarin accent.

2. Pop culture knowledge

Because the contestants are celebrities, you'll be introduced to dozens of famous actors, singers, etc. Also, you'll hear the many iconic songs that they cover. I've impressed several native speakers with my with knowledge of pop culture and music.

3. Branch out to new media

These shows serve as a gateway to Chinese music, movies, and TV. if you really like the contestants who are actors, you can check out their shows and movies. If you enjoy a certain song or like a contestant who's a singer, you can explore more music.

4. Casual and formal registers

You’ll get to hear casual, unscripted speech while watching the behind-the-scenes and rehearsal clips. But you’ll also get to hear more formal speech when they’re announcing rules and also from the MC who hosts the actual live performances.

5. Incredible talent

Also, you should watch for the awesome performances and general fun. I love seeing the contestants' friendships, and I’m also obsessed with the amazing sets. There are some incredibly talented performers on these shows, and I love getting to see them shine.

Where to watch

All seasons are free to watch on YouTube! Sometimes clips may be muted or missing, probably due to YouTube's restrictions. But the vast, vast majority is available, and when a clip is missing, you can usually do a separate search and find it. I also pay for a Mango TV subscription, which is $1.99 USD/month.

乘风破浪 full episode playlist links:

乘风破浪的姐姐1

乘风破浪的姐姐2

乘风破浪3

乘风2023

乘风2024

披荆斩棘 full episode playlist links:

披荆斩棘的哥哥1

披荆斩棘2

披荆斩棘3

披荆斩棘4

To help you get started, below is a YouTube playlist of my some of my favorite performances (5 per season, except for the most recent season of each). Cause why not! Also, below the cut I'll put more details along with direct links to my favorite performances.

And if you're a fellow fan emotionally preparing for the 披荆斩棘4 finale 🥲, feel free to message me and commiserate!

See similar posts: I watched all the Chinese idol survival shows so you don’t have to (but you should anyway) Tips for finding Chinese-language media you like

Sisters Who Make Waves

Chinese title: 乘风破浪的姐姐 (S1-2) / 乘风破浪 (S3) / 乘风 (S4-5) English title: Sisters Who Make Waves (S1-3) / Ride the Wind (S4-5) *I call it Sisters for short

This series is the original, having started in 2020. The focus was on female empowerment, particularly of women 30+. A lot of the celebrities had slowed down in their careers, and the show served as their reintroduction to audiences. While female empowerment is still a theme today, I do feel it has lessened in prominence.

Season 1

The original, iconic season. You can tell they had a limited budget and not a ton of space, but it doesn't detract at all thanks to the incredible talent and energy of the contestants. And they had no idea what a phenomenon the show was going to be! Many of my most rewatched performances come from the season.

得不到的爱情

大碗宽面

相爱后动物感伤

FLOW

新物种

Season 2

This season has a special place in my heart as the first one I watched! It's the only one I've seen twice (when it originally aired and rewatched with friends). Compared to season 1, you can definitely tell they had a bigger budget and started to refine the format. Also, some of my all-time favorite contestants are from this season.

现在不跳舞要干嘛

归零

快乐宝贝

给自己的歌

我

Season 3

This season was the first with the show's "modern" and fully-developed format, which remains to this day. For example, they started to include more complex sets and recruited more diverse contestants, such as dancers, an athlete, etc. Also, my favorite performance of the entire series, 雾里, is from this season.

雾里

梦中人

山海

孤独颂歌

有吗炒面

Season 4

This season was the first time I felt there wasn’t improvement over the previous season. I think the stage design took a step backward, and I didn't love the international focus. It was hard to identify my favorite performances because I didn't feel strongly about many. That being said, my friends and I still enjoyed this season.

从头

千里万里

下个，路口，见

归途有风

I'm Not Yours

Season 5

Though this season has already ended, I'm not done yet. I watch with friends, so we move at a slower pace. So far, it seems largely in line with season 4. I'll update this post after we finish.

Call Me By Fire

Chinese title: 披荆斩棘的哥哥 (S1) / 披荆斩棘 (S2-3) English title: Call Me By Fire *I call it Brothers as a nickname

A show about female empowerment gets a male spin off? Out of skepticism, I did not plan to check out this show when it premiered in 2021 (after Sisters S2). But at some point I changed my mind, mostly because I had to run out of other shows. Little did I know I would arguably become a more devoted fan of this show than the original!

Season 1

This season had too many iconic performances to count, and in particular, the Hong Kong contestants really took the world by storm. Due to scandals, they edited out 2 contestants (Huo Zun and Li Yundi), which admittedly does make for an awkward viewing experience at times, but you should totally watch anyway.

凄美地

MMA

飞云之下

达拉崩吧

如果还有明天

Season 2

Looking back, season 2 did not have as many stand out performances as season 1, but it does boast my favorite performances of the entire series, 新地球. It also features a fantastic group of contestants, probably my favorite overall cohort of the show.

新地球

袖手旁观

私人生活

理想

凤毛麟角

Season 3

This was the first season to air after I started watching, though I didn't watch it live because I was still on season 2. While it's probably impossible to top the iconic status of season 1, I think season 3 was an improvement over season 2 in terms of memorable performances. We also got the iconic 0713 (2007快乐男声全国13强) contestants.

行走的鱼

爱人错���

Joker

走麦田

有没有一首歌会让你想起我

Season 4

This season is sadly coming to an end, although I have not started the finale yet. I'll start this weekend and update this post in the future after I've had some time to gather my thoughts.

Now I have to go finish 披荆斩棘4 episode 11 so I can watch the finale. Bye!!!

[funnycreatortimetravel]

Whenever I rewatch the Madoka Magica episodes + the two recap movies, I always feel that the sentiment "Homura did nothing wrong," shines through the most here and less so Rebellion (I'll get into this later) even though ironically, the Rebellion movie is where that infamous saying was coined.

-Homura cannot DO any wrong when everything sort of already goes wrong no matter if she intervenes or not. Mami dies whether or not Homura intervenes (she goes crazy when she finds out that magical girls are all destined to turn into witches and then goes on a murder-suicide rampage, she's killed by Walpurgis, she gets caught off guard, etc.) All of these deaths happened on Mami's accord and not Homura's, so of course there's no wrongdoing to be had.

-Even if you argue that Homura could've been nicer to her, Mami automatically assumed that Homura had the worst intentions for Madoka and the others, so she never really gave her a chance even WHEN Homura went through the effort of finding a grief seed solely to befriend Mami (which Homura does in most timelines FYI.) The moment Homura isn't Mami's sweet little junior student anymore, Mami is automatically on defense and even calls her a loser just because she doesn't want Madoka to make a contract, and Mami just assumes that it's because Homura doesn't want competition (which makes no sense because Homura offered her a grief seed.)

-Mami does the same thing to Kyoko in the Different Story Manga; Once Kyoko's parents died and she became distraught, she didn't want to follow Mami's ideals anymore and this leads them into getting into a physical altercation (sound familiar?)

-Mami has never been a person you can just causally talk things through to. If she believes you don't share the same ideals on things, she can and will fight you. She doesn't fight Sayaka or Madoka because those two largely agree with her on everything, but Kyoko and Homura? They're free game if they so much as look at her sideways.

-Mami also says that making a wish should be something you seriously think about and not just dive in willy nilly, but then turns around and tells Madoka that she should wish for a cake if she still hasn't figured it out all because Mami doesn't want to be alone.

-I'm going to give Mami the benefit of the doubt and assume she wasn't being serious, but she knows how impressionable Madoka is and regardless of how serious or not she is, she's still fine with Madoka making a wish and becoming a magical girl just so she won't be lonely anymore.

-Homura tries her damn hardest to befriend Mami (she offers her a grief seed as I mentioned earlier, she listens when Mami tells her to go away without a fuss, and she warns Mami of the witch Charlotte only to be ignored and tied up) and the only thing she gets in return is Mami's unwarranted hostility. And once Homura is proven right and Mami is beheaded in front of Madoka and Sayaka, causing an insurmountable amount of trauma to them, she still quietly grieves for her even when all Mami did was assume the worst with no evidence.

-I don't necessarily blame Mami for assuming that Homura didn't have the best intentions since she's a veteran and I'm certain has had other negative run-ins with magical girls, but it's not like Homura even provided enough evidence that she would be like them. Mami was just being territorial due to force of habit (she's fine with other magical girls so long as they stay her juniors as evident in Rebellion when the moment Homura "turns different," she's highly suspicious and is ready to go guns blazing.) She doesn't even give Homura a chance to explain herself in either the show or the movie and that's one of her biggest flaws; she's so perfectionist that she can't even see what's in front of her sometimes.

-Despite this, Homura still values her as her old mentor and is hurt when the person who saved her all those timelines ago calls her a loser to her face. She even says that Mami has the softest heart of all and wishes she could forget how she trampled over her and other's feelings, (even though when you look back, Mami was the one who hurt her feelings rather than the other way around.)

And yet she still says this...

-"And it hurt me..." Homura admitting that shows just how much she cares. The fact that she's able to admit that it wasn't what Mami said that hurt her, but the fact that shattering Mami's optimistic viewpoint with the reality of the magical girl system was what hurt.

-Homura knows about Mami's tragic backstory with her parents and also knows that Mami, "doesn't have any other family to speak of," which shows she's been very close to Mami at one point, even seeing her vulnerable side just like Madoka did when Mami had that breakdown shortly before she died to Charlotte.

-She also "envies Mami" because Madoka states that she'll remember her even after she dies. Homura is obviously envying Mami because Madoka will forever see Mami in a good light in death while Madoka is afraid of her, but she could also just be envying Mami because, well, Mami died and left Madoka feeling attached to her while Homura thought she was going to die without ever being able to be close to Madoka as she once was. Context clues people, context clues.

-If you look at the different story manga, which I and many others consider canon, Homura clearly still has PTSD from Mami's murder-suicide attempt, which is the main reason why she tries to be gentle with her and listen to her when she's ordering Homura around.

-And she also notes that Mami never "held her hand," like that. Regardless of what Homura thinks, she clearly still wants or wanted that intimacy with Mami. She still saw her as an older sister figure and I know it crushed her heart when Mami said something so cruel to her.

-She also declines when Mami believes that Homura is going to kill her, even though her soul gem is stained and she technically is on her way to becoming a witch. Instead, Homura imparts some words to her.

-In the case of Sayaka...Whooo boy, it's like ten times worse than Mami. Sayaka is so caught up in her ideals that she hates anything too wild and selfish, but also weak and passive. She craps on Kyoko for being immoral and then also craps on Madoka AND Homura for not doing enough (she says that Madoka has a lot of potential but doesn't do anything with it and says Homura is too unskilled to fight effectively.) She views herself, or at least tries to, as the ultimate magical girl of justice who's moral, selfless, and most of all, strong. She doesn't view Homura, at least the one in the past timelines, as someone strong enough to be a proper magical girl.

-Sayaka holds everyone to the standard of Mami Tomoe, someone who's graceful, strong, and selfless, but she never gets the chance to realize that that version of Mami Tomoe isn't the real one and the standard she holds herself and others don't exist, which is why in every single timeline, she ALWAYS ends up witching out. It's also why in every timeline, she's antagonistic to Homura no matter if it was her timid self or the one hardened by trauma.

-She blames Homura in one timeline for attempting to warn them about Kyubey, accusing her of trying to split the group up, but then in Magia Record, when Homura DOESN'T tell them about Kyubey because she's seen how pointless it is, Sayaka gets on her case for not telling them sooner and accuses her of not telling because Homura "finds it funny." She literally can't win, no matter how quiet and out of the way she is.

-And it doesn't get better once Homura becomes "stronger" (or at the least the facade of becoming it) Sayaka just thinks that she's one of those magical girls who kills only for herself (and while Sayaka's not ALL the way wrong as she will kill solely for Madoka, she also doesn't understand that the system is designed to be like that and that's the fault of Kyubey and not Homura.)

-We're never actually shown Homura saving civilians, but we also don't see her sit idly by and let them get hurt either. Homura's viewpoint is that magical girls aren't morally obligated to be heroes and she's right; magical girls are cattle being harvested and the "good" they do is only delaying the inevitable once they witch out. No matter how noble and pure Sayaka was or wanted to be, she was eventually going to witch out and harm others, even if she wanted to save people.

-The nature of magical girls is equivalent exchange; whatever "good" is done, an equal amount of or even more bad is sure to come of it. Sayaka was going to keep killing innocent civilians as a witch until someone put her out of her misery, and that was what Homura was going to do. Sayaka doomed herself the moment she made a contract with Kyubey, and more importantly, she doomed innocent civilians, and she doomed her friends.

-Sayaka's witching out leads Mami to go crazy and attempt to kill everyone, Madoka making a contract in several timelines to save Sayaka from witching out (she does so in the Different Story Manga and Sayaka still ends up hurt) and Kyoko dying either from suicide during her confrontation with Octavia or dying from the wounds she sustains from the battle. Not to mention Sayaka witching out breaks Madoka's psyche, which is what Homura is trying to avoid.

-It would be one thing if Sayaka just died on her own accord, but she always brings others with her down her descent into despair, whether it's by killing civilians as a witch or being mean to Madoka and making her feel as though Sayaka's witching out was partly her fault.

-That's why Homura was in the right to "put her down" essentially, and even though she said she would, she couldn't bring herself to because somewhere deep down, she still cared for Sayaka. She apologizes for blowing up Sayaka in one of the first few timelines when she witches out and she blames herself for Sayaka making a contract in the TV series timeline, even saying that she should've protected Sayaka as much as Madoka even though Sayaka has never been anything BUT mean to her in the beginning. She takes responsibility for the girls' downfall even though it was inevitable.

-Another thing is her kinship with Kyoko. Because Kyoko and Homura both grew up in religious homes (Homura with catholic school and obliviously Kyoko's father being a preacher) they have the closest views on what it means to be magical girls. Note how I didn't say similar, but closest. Homura and Kyoko's wishes were for someone else, and as a result, they firmly believe that their wishes are for the sake of those people and won't pretend to be heroes or the like. The only difference is that Kyoko is much wilder and rougher because her wish directly led to the murder-suicide of her family (cough cough, like a big sister figure that killed her OTHER found family.)

-It's also the reason why Homura and Kyoko became so close in Rebellion. Kyoko was the only magical girl, apart from Madoka and even SHE sometimes didn't trust Homura, to kill Walpurgis. Kyoko agrees to fight with Homura and even though she is purely doing this for her benefit, she at least gives Homura a CHANCE and hears her out, even offering her a pocky stick. She was willing to team up with her and was also the first person that Homura felt comfortable talking to in Rebellion when she felt that something was up.

(I'll go into further specifics in another post since I ran out of image/video usage. Damn this app 😭.)

[sociopathicartist]

Hola, me encanta la forma en que escribes y representas a Sans con cada detalle, me preguntaba si podrias hacer un oneshot de Sans declarandose o diciendo sus sentimientos por su pareja.

Hello, I love the way you write and represent Sans with every detail, I was wondering if you could do a oneshot of Sans proposing or saying his feelings for his partner

Hey! Of course I can write that! Last night I rewatched the notebook, and I did take some inspiration from the proposal scene in there and muddled it in this. I chose to go down the proposal/engagement route, hope you enjoy :3

“so, babe.” Sans sunk on the couch next to you, immediately cozying up to your arm and sighing. “i was thinking.”

You snorted, your eyes still locked on the TV. “That’s rare.”

The TV had on some random movie that you found when you browsed through your streaming channels and decided to click on, which in the current scene displayed a woman trying on several different dresses, all of them varying drastically with how they looked on her, but her boyfriend who was watching was simply cheering her on and gushing over how pretty she looked in each one none the less.

Sans propped his feet up onto the coffee table, his pink slippers riding up on his feet a bit due to the sudden surface, and you mentally groaned in annoyance with how many times you had explicitly asked him to not put his feet onto the coffee table and to use one of the crushed footstools instead. You chose to skim over the chiding right now though.

“gee, thanks. you’re a charmer.” Sans snuck the arm that was pressed against yours around your waist instead, leaning in closer to try and grab your attention. “i was thinking.”

Finally giving into his antics, you tore your gaze away from the TV and looked down at him, seeing the enamored look in his pinpricks that he was giving you. It was so hard to not gush all over him whenever he looked at you like this.

“What are you thinking about, baby?” You questioned, deciding to humor him in the meantime.

Sans’ permanent grin only twinged upwards a bit more, and you knew that he was genuinely happy asked. “when we go out tonight, i was thinking that we dress nice.”

Oh? Sans? Dressing nice? This was almost unheard of, the only time you’ve ever seen him dress nice was whenever you both went out to a fancy Valentine’s Day dinner earlier this February, and he wore a nice, black tux that you’d be lying if you said didn’t make you feel a certain type of way.

“Dress nice? To Grillby’s?” You questioned his words, tracing lazy circles onto his shoulder bone through his jacket with your hand that you had already snuck around his back. “I don’t mean this in the way that I don’t want to see you in a tux again, but I’m not sure if Grillby’s is the best place for formal attire.”

Sans gave a so-so expression that let you know while he acknowledged your statement, he had already thought about that and he didn’t really care. “so? just humor me for one night, babe. will you?”

You genuinely debated it for a little bit. It had been a bit since you had dressed up nice and felt good in a sleek outfit, but you also weren’t sure about getting grease from the food all over your clothes.

But… You looked at his pinpricks, seeing how wide they were, filled with nothing but love in his gaze, and you couldn’t help but give in.

“Fine.” You gave in to what he wanted, giving his shoulder a loving pat. “You win. We can dress nice tonight.”

Sans sighed and practically deflated in relief when you gave into him, which surprised you a bit- you didn’t see why dressing nice was so important to him right now, - but he slinked his arm out from behind you and let himself melt onto your lap, his skull going right onto your legs and one of his arms hanging off the couch as he mumbled a small ‘thank you’.

So, you got ready. When he finally inflated himself back off your lap with several nudges from you to try and get him up, you both went upstairs to get dressed. You pulled on a nice, sleek black dress that went out to your ankles, hugging your skin tight before the ends flared a bit to give it some spark.

Sans wore the same tux you saw him in when you went out for Valentine’s Day several months ago, and you couldn’t help but ogle at him again, and you knew by the way you both looked at each other when you had both finished getting dressed that you both couldn’t wait to tear off the others outfit, but granted, that had to wait until after dinner.

It was important to the both of you to not be too lazy despite both of your love for staying inside the house and relaxing, you both wanted to still keep the romantic spark alive between you and it was important to get out of the house besides work, so you always tried to go out on a date once a week.

Sometimes it was just easy, mindless dates you had done countless times. Walking around the city and drinking overpriced coffee as you both talked about useless but entertaining things, going to the movies together only to be uninterested in what you were watching and end up throwing popcorn at each other most of the time, and the classic going to Grillby’s and enjoying each others company outside of the house.

Other times, usually once every few months (of course, not including any birthday dinners with your mutual friends or celebrations), you both went out on a fancy dinner date. You felt like it was important for both of you to keep exploring different dates and things to do together, and it was always a great side of each other to see when you went out somewhere nice and fancy with items on the menu that were half of your weekly paycheck.

“close your eyes.” Sans told you, stepping to you in your shared bedroom after you both had spent several seconds just staring at each other when you came out from the bathroom all dolled up and ready to go. “i don’t want you to see anything yet.”

You titled your head to the side in slight confusion, half worried he was going to pull a prank on you. “Sans, what nefarious things are you planning?”

“it’s not another prank, baby, i swear.” Sans held out his hand for you to grab, intertwining your fingers together when you did so. “just close your eyes before i zip us away.”

Well, he clearly wasn’t going to give up on it. You sighed and closed your eyes, feeling his ungloved hand tighten around yours before you felt the familiar, weightless feeling for a millisecond, ending quickly when your feet touched the ground.

Hm. It was quiet. You heard light chatter in the background, and soft, jazz music playing off in the distance somewhere.

Sans began to tug your hand gently, leading you to follow after him. “don’t open your eyes yet, i won’t let you bump into anything.”

“Sans…” You entertained his shenanigans and followed where he tugged you before he came to a stop, letting go of your hand.

“okay, you can look,” Sans told you, and you swear you could hear some… pride. In his voice.

You opened your eyes and immediately noticed that you were not in Grillby’s. It was a nice restaurant, with couples and families at every table all mingling and laughing quietly with each other. You looked down at the table that Sans pulled you next to, and a smile worked its way to curve up onto your lips as you noticed the rose petals around the table and on the white tablecloth, the red petals bordering the candles, and both of your plates.

“Sans, you did this?” You asked the obvious, knowing that he did this. “What’s the occasion?”

Sans snorted unpleasantly, rolling his pinpricks. “no occasion, i just thought it would be nice to take you somewhere.���

“I love it. Thank you.” You told him, giving him a quick- but loving- kiss when you sat down in your chair.

Sans walked around the table, a small blue blush twinged on his nasal bridge (he always got it when you two kissed, it was cute) as he looked at you when he sat down, instantly striking up his silly chatter and discussing what you both wanted to order.

As the night went on, and you both joked and laughed like normal, a still, but comfortable silence came over the both of you. Sans took the moment as an opportunity to say something else, and you noticed how he brought his hands down to his lap under the table.

“so, i may have lied.” Sans started with you, some sweat building up on his skull.

You raised an eyebrow, curious as to what he’s lied about. “Oh? Are you planning to pull a prank?”

Sans awkwardly laughed, shaking his head ‘no’. “uh, no. not this time, i swear. uhm…”

Clearly, he was nervous.

It made you just a smidge worried, and you hoped that everything was okay with him. “Sans?”

“i’ve been thinking about a lot of reasons why you shouldn’t marry me.” Interesting start.

Instantly, you laughed, finding the sudden statement funny. You knew that Sans knew that you both wanted to get married, this was something you had both already discussed beforehand in your relationship due to public issues with Monster and Human relationships.

“Okay, go on.” You were intrigued on why exactly you shouldn’t marry the love of your life.

“well,” Sans began, his voice shaky. “we are lazy together, this ends up with us having nights of relaxation and long conversations.”

You nodded. “That’s true.”

“and your mom likes me, so that would be bad if anything ever happened to us.” Second reason.

Hm. That didn’t sound like a bad thing, what was wrong with your mom liking Sans, isn’t that good?

“you get along with my brother super well, and all of our friends care for us. and we already live together, so we wouldn’t have the amazing experience of buying a new house.”

Where was he going with this?

You giggled quietly, fiddling with your hands in your lap and glancing down at your empty plate. “None of this sounds bad.”

“it isn’t.” Sans agreed with you. “you know what? i think you should just marry me.”

You almost laughed again, thinking this was another one of his silly gush moments where he rambled on about how he loved you, but instead, he pulled out a ring that he held by the silver band of it between his pointer and thumb finger.

Dumbfounded, you stared blankly at the ring he was holding, having a hard time believing that it was real. He was actually proposing to you?

“You’re serious?!” You asked, a wide smile springing onto your face.

Sans didn’t even give you a stupid look for your question, understanding that it was a surprise to you. “yeah, i hope my question is ‘ringing’ in -“

You cut him off, quickly standing up out of your seat and nearly diving over to him to wrap him in a hug, almost knocking him out of his seat. “Of course, I’ll marry you!”

In the background, you swore that you heard clapping, signaling that the proposal had been noticed, but you were too busy gushing and kissing over your now fiancé as he slipped the ring onto your finger to even notice.

[aemmawrites]

I hate that I Love you

wc. 945 tw. toxic amber, cussing pairing- Amber freeman x reader

Ever since you were younger you had a certain way you liked to do things.

You liked to have everything organized and structured. But as you learned life always comes with obstacles. Obstacles, you’ve learned, are inevitable.

Just like the obstacle laying beside you.

Amber freeman.

To say you were a perfectionist was an understatement, you had the same routine you stuck to every morning. Wake up, get ready for school, cheerleading practice, homework, get ready for bed, sleep.

Repeat.

Everything was perfect, and then a disruption in your routine happened. Wakeup, get ready for school, bump into Amber Freeman on the way to cheer practice, regret your life choices, homework, get ready for bed, sleep.

Amber was a character for sure, she was bad for you, and you knew that, even now as you sat in her bed, relaxed with your head in her lap while she watched the stab movies for the third time this week.

One year.

You guys have been together for one whole year. And you’ve never felt worse. Crying yourself to sleep at night when she accused you of cheating, arguing over stupid things such as your skirt being a little too short, silent treatment for weeks until you admitted you were wrong even when you weren’t, somehow making you feel like without her you could do nothing, you would be nothing.

You suppose it was your fault as amber would say, “you knew how I was when you first agreed to date me, so what's the problem now”

flashback

You were late.

Of course, as you realized you were going to have extra laps at practice for being late, you started to speed walk down the hallways, not paying attention, you bumped into one accidentally tripping and bringing them down with you. Frantically you looked up to see who you rushed in to and immediately apologized. “I'm so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention and I-”

“Shut up” was all she said, glaring at you making you look down in embarrassment.

“I don't need an apology, I need you to watch where you're going”, she looked up and paused, analyzing the girl in front of her. You both looked at each other as if waiting for eachothers next move. You made a move to leave and get out of the awkward situation before she stepped in front of you and said “wait.”

And then it all went downhill from their

now

“Are you even paying attention?” Amber whispered as if not to scare you. You looked up at her before responding, “yeah im just tired, also we’ve seen this movie 10 times already, this month,” Amber rolled her eyes, getting ready to rant about how the stab franchise is worth rewatching, you sighed.

You moved your head off her lap and onto the pillow next to her. “I'm going to sleep” is all you could say before Amber started a new argument with you.

Again.

Amber looked over at you  with a frown, “so your tired now, but not when that Olivia girl was talking to you, you seem so energized, but now your tired.”

One moment of peace was all you wanted, you turned to face amber before saying. “Amber, me and Olivia are on the cheer team together, where friends, and friends talk. Also it’s 3am and we have been watching movies for the past 6 hours, I'm tired.” You tried to reason.

Amber quickly responded with “you can either stay up with me and watch movies, or spend the night with Olivia since you seem to like her so much.”

You snapped, this wasn’t that big of a deal based on things Amber has done to you in the past, but it was like everything that had ever made you mad, upset, and sad came to the top. “Amber, my life doesn’t revolve around you and you honestly need to get over yourself!”

Silence.

Amber's eyes widened as if it was crazy that you would talk back to her, so she did what she did best, hurt you. “How can you say that, after all I have done for you, when we first met you were just some weird loner with no friends, I made you who you are, your nothing without me”

“Fuck you Amber, i'm leaving” here you were trying your best and it was never enough for her, you started to get dress as you felt hands wrap around your waist. And just like that happy Amber was back.

Amber smiled at you as if to make the situation better. “I'm sorry, you know how I get, you know I didn’t mean it, please stay,” as much as you wanted to relax into her touch you knew better, so you ignored her and put your shoes on.

“Are you really going to walk home at three in the morning, that's not safe” Amber smiled as she nodded her head to the window, and just now you noticed how dark it was. Weighing your options, you sighed and went to make a move to go outside. She quickly grabbed your wrist before saying “don’t be stupid it’s not safe, stay here, where I can protect you, where I can hold you, you just said you were tired, let's go to sleep.”

Before you could say anything she started pushing you back towards her bed, using her strength to keep you from trying to leave. You tried to leave, you really did but you were tired, it was scary outside, and the way Amber was looking at you right now made your heart melt. So you sighed as she tried to coax you to come back to her bed, you relented, you gave up, and just like that you were back in her arms, back in her bed.

Again.

This was the part in your routine where you regret your life choices.

[crookshanks23]

So... I finally finished The Edge of Sleep TV show. And I feel like I have a lot to say.

But off the top, I'll say that it was an interesting watch and I do recommend it, especially if you enjoy trippy horror things.

See below the cut for more. Spoilers ahead.

That being said, I was overall disappointed in this adaptation. Not because I think it was poorly made or because the actors were bad. The effects were great and the acting was wonderful.

It's the story and the way it was adapted I find disappointing. One of my favorite parts of the original podcast was the beautiful sci-fi world building they did with the side characters.

I understand that there are certain audio - only things that we weren't going to get here. We're not going to get cuts to lots of ad reads. We're not going to get several minutes of the Moobles movie. And I understand that some of this stuff was probably cut for time.

I get cutting the side plot with the maniac (although it is a great side plot). And I get cutting all the flashbacks to David's life as a child. You can keep a couple, like they did, for this story to still make sense.

But cutting the side plots with the characters who become the whale. Cutting the part with Katie's drug use. Moving the part where the corpses come back to the end. These things bother me. Because I think removing them undercuts a lot of the emotional weight and depth of the story. It removes Katie's sacrifice. It removes the urgency getting to the plane and in the air. It makes the dream warriors feel less important. Less significant. And replacing David's events in the Pit with him being chained to the ground just makes that whole sequence less emotionally resonant too.

I think there were just too many things they had to cut from the original podcast that make the TV show feel like a shell of what it was. Also, all of the stuff cut from the podcast also helped with the tone balance. There's more humor in the original to balance out the horror.

I'm glad I watched it. I want to help Mark and other creators get stuff out into the world. But I probably won't be rewatching this one.

[mrs-stans]

Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong Say Their Trump Movie Is a Tragedy, Not a Mockery

The “Apprentice” stars and the director Ali Abbasi say their film is a “humanistic” treatment of the former president and his mentor, Roy Cohn.

By Kyle Buchanan

It’s natural to feel nervous before presenting your movie at a major film festival. But in late August, when the director Ali Abbasi boarded a flight to the Telluride Film Festival, he wasn’t even sure if his new movie “The Apprentice” — a fictionalized look at the Machiavellian bond between the young Donald J. Trump (Sebastian Stan) and the lawyer and fixer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) — would be permitted to play there at all.

“It was really crazy what happened, and I spared Jeremy and Sebastian some of it, but it is a demoralizing feeling,” Abbasi admitted during a recent video call with his two stars. The former president had been threatening legal action against “The Apprentice” since its May debut at the Cannes Film Festival, which chilled distributor interest in the movie for months and made it a controversial prospect for any subsequent festival willing to show it.

“If a movie comes out and people think it’s bad or it’s flawed, you can deal with that,” Abbasi said. “But when it goes into a safe box indefinitely, that was heavy.”

In the end, Trump failed to follow through on his threats, Telluride played the movie without incident and “The Apprentice” ultimately found a distributor in Briarcliff Entertainment, which will release the film on Friday. Still, Strong was perturbed by how many major studios were unwilling to take on the film and potentially incur the presidential candidate’s wrath.

“You think that things could be banned in North Korea or Russia or certain places, but you don’t think that will ever happen here,” Strong said. “It’s a real dark harbinger that it even nearly happened.”

Written by Gabriel Sherman, “The Apprentice” begins with Trump in his 20s as he toils under his real-estate magnate father and aspires to become a momentous figure in his own right. Still, Trump’s ambition exceeds his ability until he meets the savvy Cohn, who takes the young man under his wing and imparts ruthless rules for success that will eventually launch Trump onto the highest stage imaginable.

“The Apprentice” could be an awards-season player for Stan, best known as the Marvel super-soldier Bucky Barnes, and for Strong, the Emmy-winning “Succession” actor who recently took home a Tony for “An Enemy of the People.” But will the politically charged fervor around the movie help or hurt their bids?

“Here’s the crazy thing: I don’t think this movie is controversial,” Abbasi said. “It’s retelling information that is freely and readily available everywhere, and it’s fact-checked and triple-checked. So my big question is, what is the problem?”

Here are edited excerpts from our conversation.

At the beginning of the film, Sebastian, you play Trump as much more soft-spoken and abashed than we’re used to seeing him.

SEBASTIAN STAN Go rewatch Netflix’s [docuseries] “An American Dream,” look at all the early footage of him standing in front of a committee with a giant yellow ’70s tie and trying to find the right words to express himself. Watch him in the courtroom when he’s with Roy waiting to get the tax abatement: You’re seeing a starry-eyed kid who’s doing his best to keep his chin up and feign confidence. We need to stop talking about him like he’s a being from outer space. He’s been made on this planet like the rest of us.

ALI ABBASI There is a version of this you can read as the becoming of a monster. There’s also another version, which is this human tragedy: Were there other possibilities for these people if their whole world was not reduced to winning and taking?

JEREMY STRONG I 100 percent see it as a human tragedy, the way that I saw “Succession” as a tragedy of late-stage capitalism. With that show, we were at a party at Adam McKay’s house [he was a producer on “Succession”] the night of the election in 2016, and we had our first table read [the next] morning. Then Trump was elected, and that changed the whole container of the show and the way it spoke to the country. There’s an idea I think about a lot that applies to both of those things, something that Jung said: “Where love is absent, power fills the vacuum.”

What’s exciting about this movie is that it touches the third rail of all of these things, which not a lot of work frankly does these days. The world is on fire, and it feels like a lot of our business veers more and more toward laundry-folding content and things that are relatively safe.

Some people, sight unseen, have accused the film of “humanizing” Trump. What’s your response to that?

STRONG It’s a humanistic interrogation and investigation of these people. Ali is not making “The Great Dictator” — it’s not a farce, it’s not a cartoon. We’re trying to hold a mirror up to this world and these individuals and try to understand how we got here.

“I don’t think this movie is controversial,” the director Ali Abbasi said. “It’s retelling information that is freely and readily available everywhere.”

ABBASI I think it’s a dangerous thing to start thinking, “Oh, you humanize someone too much.” Why would that ever be a problem?

With independent films, there’s always a risk that the work will never be widely seen. This is an unusual case where a high-profile indie was in danger of never being seen at all.

ABBASI During the summer when people were saying there’s a chance this is not going to be shown, I was angry. I thought, “Oh, they’re going to rip me off, they’re going to sell it and not give me money.” I could not believe it, honestly, and I kept asking different people, “How is this possible?” I come from Iran and I’m used to dictators and authoritarian governments, but I always thought whatever fault there is with American society, freedom of speech is not one of the problems.

STRONG We live in such a binary time. There’s such black-and-white thinking and a real failure to contain complexities or dualities, and I think that’s part of what has gotten us into trouble societally.

Though the movie is coming out just weeks before the presidential election, it’s been in development for years.

ABBASI We tried to make the movie many times and it fell through. I remember the time after Jan. 6, it was like looking at a stock market crash the day after: Everyone was like, “No thank you, no thank you.” Finally, when Jeremy came on board, you could actually start to see the movie in its whole.

STRONG At no point was the intention to release this in the middle of an election. This wasn’t purpose-built for that. There was never a plan to make this a political act or a hand grenade to be dropped in the middle of the election. It is, I think, incredibly fortuitous timing that it can come out at a moment where it has the potential to illuminate something about the inner workings of this man, but it stands alone as a film.

Sebastian, what did your friends and family say when you told them you were playing Trump?

STAN Pretty sure my mom said, “At least you get to shave.” But I asked a lot of people about it, actually. A C.E.O. of a studio told me not to do it because I was going to alienate half the country, and a casting director who I respect very much said, “We don’t need another Trump movie, you’re never going to get any applause for it.” And then there were other people saying, “Are you going to be worried about your safety?” But for some reason every time somebody said, “Don’t do it,” it made me want to do it more.

“We need to stop talking about him like he’s a being from outer space” Stan said of Trump. “He’s been made on this planet like the rest of us.”

Cohn takes on Trump as his protégé, but the movie hints that there’s a sexual undercurrent to the older man’s interest, too.

ABBASI If you look at who was Roy’s type, it was young, tall, blond guys. I mean, Donald Trump was basically his type. Now, does it mean that was the reason they met and developed a relationship? Not solely, not necessarily. Jeremy’s going to shoot me down now, but it felt like he was someone who was turned on by the idea of impossible love a little bit, and Donald, in a way, was an impossible love.

“We’re trying to hold a mirror up to this world and these individuals and try to understand how we got here,” said Strong, left.

STRONG I don’t disagree with Ali on that, although I was interested in exploring what I felt was a rather chaste, platonic form of love that exists between men, which is friendship. But what did he see in him? Roy cultivated influence. It allowed him to feel elevated above the crowd, and he saw something in Donald that mirrored himself. There’s also that idea that when a student is ready, a teacher appears. They just happen to meet in this moment in time where he [Cohn] could sort of be Iago and blow poison into his ear.

Ali, when the film debuted at Cannes and Trump threatened to file a lawsuit, you said, “Everybody talks about him suing a lot of people. They don’t talk about his success rate, though.” You appeared unbothered, but how did you really feel?

ABBASI I learned a lesson when I did “Holy Spider,” my last movie. I knew that it was going to be controversial and sit badly with the Iranian government, then a teaser came out and the speaker of the Parliament said he thinks it is blasphemy. You realize that you are dealing with forces that are so much bigger than you as a human being or as an artist, but what can I do? Am I going to take the next flight, go and talk to the speaker of the Parliament and say, “No, I’m not blasphemous”?

In that way, we are sort of riding on the back of the dragon whether we like it or not. The other part is, I think a lot of what is happening right now is a knee-jerk reaction of people who have not watched the movie yet. For me, this conversation becomes real when the movie comes out, when people actually have seen it, when Mr. Trump has seen it. I would be super interested to know what he thinks either way. He might learn something. I’m not saying it in a condescending way, but he might.

Though the timing of this release is fraught, what are the good things about it coming out so close to the election?

ABBASI For me, this would be as relevant in December or next January as it is now. In that way, I don’t think we need the election to make us relevant, but am I not excited about us being in an interaction with the back of the dragon? I would lie to you if I wasn’t.

STRONG It’s mandatory viewing for any sentient beings right now who care about what’s happening in this country, and I think it offers vital insight, which could move the needle in a real way. In this moment where we’re surrounded by rhetoric of hate and divisiveness, I think art has a place and film has a place.

STAN I worry that people are desperate for answers and for guidance. They want to be told how to feel, they want to be told what’s right and what’s wrong. This whole discomfort with the film only reflects why it’s important: It isn’t just what you’re learning about Trump, it’s also what you’re learning about yourself from Trump.

I worry that we’re not going deeper anymore with how we approach things. We’re just reading Wikipedia pages. If that’s what you’re going to do, then you’ll just float among the rest of the ghosts of Christmas past. But the rest of us, at least, are going to try and get to the bottom of some things.

[2stepadmiral]

So every year or two, I go through a period of reconnecting with my high school Trekkie interests, rewatching some Star Trek clips, episodes, and movies, and during this particular period, I have to voice my main criticism of the reboot films: namely, the treatment of the Enterprise.

To be clear, I think the reboot Enterprise had a nice redesign. She looked very clean and futuristic while capturing the original design in broad strokes. The lens glare is certainly annoying, and it doesn’t have the same heart and retro feel as the original, but I feel they generally did a fairly decent job with the design. I’m talking about how she is treated throughout the films, namely, how she’s treated effectively like just another ship.

In the original series, the Enterprise has a certain heart coming across almost like a character in of herself. You get a clear feel from the characters that they consider the enterprise almost to be home, and Kirk and Scotty in particular see her almost like an actual woman, one who they cherish and will protect at all costs. This sentiment is magnified in the first three movies, particularly in the motion picture and in the search for Spock. When Kirk first sees the refit Enterprise, you can see how much he loves the ship, and when the Enterprise is plunging to her final resting place, the mourning on all of their faces, especially Kirk, makes this moment particularly powerful and truly hammer home that the Enterprise was a character in and of herself. The original Enterprise felt like a character fans had grown up with, and her destruction felt almost like the loss of an old friend. And at the end of the voyage home, when the crew has that last-minute surprise reveal of the Enterprise-A, the triumph and homecoming feeling is so clear that even the audience shares the sentiment, almost as if the character has been reborn.

The enterprise in the reboots was never portrayed this way. She was treated like just a ship, one that might’ve been nicer and fancier and more advanced than the others, but not really all that special beyond that. In the first movie, that’s acceptable, as the focus is on bringing together the crew and getting them where they need to be for the start of their journeys. The second one focuses more on the captaincy, and what it means to really earn that seat, so it’s excusable that this one focused more on Kirk and how seriously he took his responsibilities, though they could’ve put more emphasis on the ship as part of that arc. Yes, the ship almost crashing was an emotional scene, but that had everything to do with the characters aboard and nothing to do with the ship beyond it being the place where the characters were and it’s damage being the reason that they were about to die.

And then in the third one, they just blow up the ship in the first 30 minutes and try to portray it with the same sentimental weight as the destruction of the Enterprise in the search for Spock. Which would’ve been fine, if it weren’t for the fact that they spent the last two movies treating the enterprise like just a thing, just another tool in the characters belt. She had no heart, no soul, no feeling that she was a home, or that she was the thing that brought the crew together, and kept them together, the thing that made them a family. She was basically just a big car, there to get them from point A to point B and occasionally shoot at some bad guys, and then, we’re supposed to feel devastated when she goes down for the final time.

The reveal of a reboot version of the Enterprise A was a nice surprise, but it lacked the emotional payoff of the original version, largely because of how ordinary the first Enterprise had been in this timeline. You can’t really celebrate the revival of a lost character when the character was never really there to begin with. They might as well have put the crew on an entirely new ship, like maybe a rebooted version of the Excelsior, and it would’ve had the same basic impact.

My point is that classic trek, as well as the next generation and DS9, did an excellent job of portraying the dynamic between captain and ship to the point where the ship felt almost like a real character. And that worked really well. It made the crash of the Enterprise D in generations a shocking scene, and it made her surprise return in season 3 of Picard a heartfelt and deeply nostalgic scene (Even if I wanted the Enterprise E, sorry but she’s my favorite). It made the loss of the Defiant in season seven of DS9 a powerful and emotional moment. I haven’t watched a lot of Voyager, so I can’t comment on that, but I can say with decent confidence that they couldn’t have done worse than they did in the reboots.

[tsxkkis]

tadashi yamaguchi - cooking genius

a/n = finally found some time to write something with the mess that is school starting last week, and i'm not really the happiest with this work to be honest T-T also i've been reading one piece lately and i absolutely LOVE sanji hence why using his character in this fic

summary = a (not so) secret admirer starts leaving lunches on your desk everyday at school.

warnings = nothing really, pure fluff.

yamaguchi was feeling gloomy from the moment you turned the tv on.

the two of you had a tradition; two times every week, you would meet up at either your or his house, watching different tv shows and movies together as a way to relax from school, volleyball, and other stressful things filling your lives. it was a perfect deal; you finally had someone to talk to about your current hyperfixations, and thanks to you, he finally had the motivation to watch all the things he never truly picked up.

so when you suggested rewatching your childhood favorite series, one piece, he was more than happy to agree. well, at least at first.

a grimace was almost stuck to his face the whole time since a certain blonde cook appeared on the screen, taking in all of your comments about your favorite character as the episodes went by. he listened as you gushed over the blonde, pupils almost heart-shaped at the sight of him in every scene, mumbling something along the lines of loving guys who can cook well as your hands went to grab the snacks.

but somehow, his lack of excitement went unnoticed by you; your focus being completely and utterly on the screen, invested in the story you already knew by heart. what you did notice, though, was a bento box lying on your desk at school a few days later, with a small note on top of it.

'made these just for you :)'

your head immediately turned towards yamaguchi, a tap on the shoulder being enough for him to turn around to you with a questioning look on his face.

"did you see who left it here?" yamaguchi shook his head in response, a soft sigh leaving your lips as you sat down and opened the box, eyes scanning the food inside.

you barely missed the faint blush and shy smile on your friend's face as he watched you notice all your favorite foods inside, digging into one of them with the happiest look in your eyes.

as days went by, more and more boxes appeared on your desk, the food in each one, to your surprise, tasting better than previous meals you got. each one came with another sweet note; whether a compliment or just something nice to make you smile for the rest of the day. before you knew it, you were stuck wondering who could it be; yamaguchi being the victim of listening to all your (terribly wrong) speculations about who might be behind all of this. 

"ahh, i wish i knew who it is." you mumbled under your breath, pen scribbling little doodles on your english notebook, the empty box lying next to it with a few crumbs of the food inside. "you know, i might just marry them on the spot."

yamaguchi's eyes widened hearing those words, a faint blush on his face as he listened to your rambling, tsukishima's comment of how corny you were being going completely unnoticed by him.

he could hear the exciting squeals from you when the next day at school, the note on your bento box was something completely different than before.

'meet me at the history section in the library after classes, please :)'

when the bell rang, signaling the end of your last class that day, you ran to the place as fast as you could, breath shortening with each passing moment as the adrenaline mixed with stress ran through your body.

the history books section was one at the very end of the library, your steps slowing down as you approached the place. when your head finally turned to face the person hiding behind everything that's been making you smile for the last few weeks, you almost couldn't believe it.

"you came." a shy smile appeared on yamaguchi's face, hands trembling as he took in your surprised expression. "i- i was a bit scared you'd back out last second because you changed your mind or somethi-"

"it was you this whole time?"

your body froze, a thousand thoughts flooding your mind all at once. how did you miss the fact that it was yamaguchi? he was the only one who could possibly know you so well to pull this off.

the only one who could actually put in so much effort.

seeing yamaguchi nod in answer made your body react before your mind could even fully comprehend the situation; arms wrapping tightly around the boy's figure, head hidden in the crook of his neck. soon enough you could feel his hands creeping around your waist as well, unsure movements as he gently pulled you even closer to him.

"you said you liked guys who can cook well," his words were a faint whisper as he started explaining, the lack of eye contact with you in this very moment helping him properly voice his thoughts. "tsukishima said it was stupid and i should confess to you already because in his words, it's obvious you feel the same way."

"well, he was right about one thing, at least."

you pulled away from the hug, eyes locking with his as your hands made their way to his, gently squeezing them. yamaguchi had no idea what made his face more red at that moment; the fact that you could feel just how shaky his hands were, or the fact that you just admitted to liking him back.

"i've always liked you, tadashi." hearing those words, he thought he was imagining things. and yet, this whole situation was really happening; it wasn't another one of his stupid dreams, another dumb fantasy of his. "you've just given me another reason to do so now."

yamaguchi blinked. once, twice. his body was frozen on the spot, and yet somehow he managed to let a few words out, said so quietly that you almost didn't hear them.

"so, does that mean... you'll go out with me?"

you leaned in, placing a quick kiss on his cheek, and you could swear that you heard him gasp as you did so.

"i would love to."

taglist: @ox1-lovesick @moonswolfie @wyrcan

[psychic-refugee]

I loved MOA, I’ve watched it twice and it’s definitely a great rewatch. Probably going into my list of comfort films to watch again and again.

It definitely deserves its #1 Spot on Amazon Video.

I’m going to wait to give a full on review so people have more time to watch it and it’s less spoilery.  

I do want to address one thing that I don’t think is a fair criticism, at all.

I’ve seen several posts where they’re unhappy that the main character isn’t a lesbian. Someone even went as far to call it “lesbian erasure” and others are calling Megan Park/the movie lesphobic.

On one hand, I understand that there aren’t enough good representation movies for lesbians or the LGBTQ+ community, and it can be frustrating when something looks promising or if you had certain hopes, but it turns out a different way.

On the other hand, come on, BFFR and fuck off.

No one ever said it was a lesbian rom com. It’s a rom com with a character who is very young and in her limited experience had thought she was a lesbian, and then finds someone who makes her question that specific title.

Chad has ALWAYS been part of the synopsis and cast list. He was always framed as the romantic interest.

Other people's sexuality is not dependent upon your hopes and wishes, both real and fictional.

I think people are so chronically online and obsessed with labels that they forget that no one has met everyone they’re ever going to meet, ESPECIALLY NOT AT 18. Elliott had only ever been attracted to women up until she meets Chad. She’s also from a very small town, is itching to live in the big city of Toronto, and is about to attend the University of Toronto.

There is a chance she still would have figured out she was also attracted to men when the dating pool got much larger for her.

Is it “heterosexual erasure” if the opposite happens and someone goes off to Uni to discover they are attracted to the same sex? Or is it just part of some people’s journey?

I, personally, think it’s a great message that you’re a) not stuck with a title or specific sexuality and b) it doesn’t have to be this traumatic, existential crisis. I loved how she talked it out with her friend, Ro, and it was like, “oh shit (surprised)…tell me more (intrigued and supportive).”

Please notice how Ro and Ruthie (Maddie Zeigler) don’t question Elliott’s sexuality or try to make her feel bad about it, they just accept her as friends should.

Again, personally, I’m glad to see a queer story that doesn’t have queer trauma.

I hope everyone’s sexual, or lack thereof, journey is as easy going.

I also feel like the people who are mad that she fell in love with a man when “the right one came along,” and are calling it lesbian erasure, completely stopped paying any real attention to the movie.

Elliott NEVER calls herself straight. She NEVER indicates she no longer is attracted to women because she found Chad.

Her attraction to Chad is in addition to her general attraction to women. It’s very clear through the dialogue that she is very much into women, and that never stops.

Spoiler but not relevant to furthering the plot and it’s towards the end of the movie:

…

Older Elliott references having a current girlfriend in the future. Timestamp: 1:13:30

She doesn’t mention any other male significant other.

It could very well be that Chad is a one off, but still very important, valid, and REAL love in Elliott's life.

At no point does Elliott’s attraction to Chad diminish her attraction to women.

Fine, be frustrated in the general lack of lesbian specific movies.

But don’t call Megan Park lesphobic for not making a character SHE CREATED lesbian when Elliott was never meant to be lesbian to begin with.

[st-eve-barnes]

You know that I'm no good (chapter 5)

(Modern Aegon x fem Reader, Modern Sihtric x fem Reader)

Summary: You want Sihtric. Aegon wants Skade. There's only one small problem: Sihtric and Skade are dating each other.

This chapter: in spite of your growing and confusing feelings for Aegon things get cozy with Sihtric as well. (I know my Sihtric girls have been very patient, you're getting a bit more of him this chapter!)

The movie I picked in this chapter was random and I quickly picked one of my fave songs from it not realizing it's actually pretty perfect for Aegon, so go listen to Girl you'll be a woman soon by Urge Overkill.

Warning for the entire series: 18+ for explicit language and smut. Angst/comfort/fluff. Fake dating and so much mutual pining. Mentions of depression/drinking/self harm.

This is an Aegon x Reader fic with a bit of Sihtric x Reader on the side. I've wanted to write a modern AU that combines The Last Kingdom and House of the dragon for a while now so here it is!

Word count: +2900

Masterlist

***

All my fics are also on AO3

***

You were on your couch again the next Friday night, determined not to open the door for anyone this time and enjoy your Netflix alone time. Before you started your Stranger Things rewatch you took one last look at your phone.

Zero messages.

Aegon had been quiet since last weekend. You supposed you could always text him first but you didn’t want to appear too eager, which you of course absolutely were but you didn’t want him to know that. Your feelings for him still confused you and having slept on Helaena’s words you were determined to at least try and follow her advice. 

Focus on just having fun with Aegon and try not to overthink things. And get back to the plan with Sihtric. You were in the middle of the second episode when your phone lit up with a text, from Aegon. You reached for it so fast you almost dropped your phone on the floor. 

So far for not appearing too eager.

“Good evening, moon of my life ❤️”

His text made your heart skip a beat and your lips curled up into the biggest smile. Damned, you hated the effect he had on you.

“Hey, loser,” you texted back.

“Whatcha doin?” his answer came immediately.

“Watching Netflix and not leaving my couch, and you?”

“In my bed watching a movie. I would ask you to come over but you don’t wanna leave your couch so I won't bother.”

Shit.

“What movie?” you typed, ignoring his invite and trying not to think of the image of him lying in his bed all cozy and alone.

“Pulp fiction.”

“Oh, a classic.”

“You’ve seen it?”

“Of course I’ve seen it, a long time ago though, I think I remember I loved it?”

You jumped when your phone rang and your heart leaped again seeing Aegon’s name appear on the screen. You eagerly accepted his call,”Hey, loser.”

His voice was soft and heavy in your ear,“Watch it with me.”

“Aegon, I’m not coming over.”

“That’s not what I meant, look for it on Netflix and we can watch it together, I’m only 5 minutes in, I’ll wait for you.”

You sighed,”I was watching Stranger Things.”

“And now we’re going to watch something that isn’t crap. Come on, doll face, do it, I’ll wait.”

You stopped the episode to type the movie into the search bar. 

“Stranger Things isn’t crap,” you stated in the meantime, settling back in your spot on the couch.”And what gives you the right to interrupt my plans again by the way? Is this going to happen every Friday night?

“Maybe,” Aegon teased,”Would you mind?”

You could practically hear his shit-eating grin through the phone.

"Ask me again in a few weeks," you teased him back and he laughed.

“You ready?” he then asked.

“Ready.”

Aegon let you watch in silence for ten minutes before he started giving you his opinion on certain scenes, which resulted in you having to tell him to shut up because you were missing things.

“But you’ve seen it already,” he ignored your complaints.

“That was years ago, I don’t remember every little detail!” you threw back,"Let me pay attention."

“Okay, fine, I’ll shut up,” he promised. Which lasted for exactly five minutes. You gave up on trying after that, and you had to admit you were kind of enjoying the sound of his voice a little more than the movie anyway. His laughter through the phone warmed your heart and when he sang along to “Girl you’ll be a woman soon” your heart wasn’t the only thing getting overheated.

By the end of the movie he turned more quiet again but you could still hear him breathing right next to your ear, making it feel as if he was right there in the room with you. 

God, how you wished he was right there in the room with you. 

And how you wished the movie was longer than it actually was because before you knew it the end credits started rolling and you could hear Aegon let out a long, tired sigh and yawn.

“Thanks for keeping me company, darling,” he then spoke sweetly.

“Next time you’re watching Stranger Things with me,” you teased him and you could hear him laugh softly.

“Next time you come over and watch it in bed with me,” he whispered in a sleepy voice, putting your stomach in knots.

“Good night, Aegs.”

“Sweet dreams, my beautiful girl.”

***

You had just finished breakfast the next morning when your phone lit up with a text, not Aegon but Helaena this time.

“Party at Sihtric’s house tonight and guess who got us all an invite? You can thank me later, pick you up at 10!”

You couldn’t help but smile and feel excited by her message but your initial excitement wore off quickly when you realized Sihtric wasn’t the one you were excited about. Your first thoughts and the butterflies in your stomach were all for someone else.

When did this happen? Sihtric was the one you’d been crushing on for the past six months or so, the guy you so desperately wanted to date only a few weeks ago, your ultimate dream guy, the prettiest guy you’d ever seen. And now?

Did you even still want him? Or had Aegon wormed his way into your brain and your heart to the point there was no more room for Sihtric?

You closed your eyes, trying to conjure Sihtric’s beautiful features and unique eyes and cast Aegon out but all you could see was two beautiful blue eyes and a dumb smile that didn’t belong to Sihtric.

Fuck.

Another text from Helaena popped up on your screen:”You’d better wear something slutty, I have a feeling tonight is your night, babe!”

You decided on something mildly slutty, one of your best fitting jeans with a low cut top showing off your back and a little cleavage.

When Helaena texted you the address you found out Sihtric didn’t live too far from your apartment. As you walked up the steps to his house you were amazed by the size of it, it looked more like a mansion than a house., you knew he was pretty well off but you still hadn’t expected that.

Helaena locked arms with you as you both walked into the luxurious garden, there was a huge swimming pool, bar and barbecue and quite a few familiar faces hanging around.

“Not bad, huh?” Helaena whispered.

“Not bad,” you agreed,”I’m gonna go look for a bathroom first, I’ll meet you back out here.”

You walked up the stairs to the house and through the kitchen, looking for the bathroom but failing to find one you walked up the stairs.

“Lady Y/N?”

His voice made you turn around instantly and you stared right into his beautiful mismatched eyes. Sihtric was standing at the bottom of the stairs, wearing black jeans and a simple white t-shirt and it looked ridiculously good on him. You almost felt relief when the sight of him still took your breath away.

Maybe your dormant crush on him wasn’t as dead as you had assumed after all.

“You remembered my name,” you smiled surprised.

He returned your smile,”Of course I did. You’re hard to forget.”

He carefully walked up the stairs to get closer to you, reaching out his hand again and when you offered yours he shook it firmly and then held onto it just a little too long, the contact making you blush. 

“How are you enjoying the party?” he asked.

“We’ve only just arrived, but I’m already in awe of this gorgeous house you have here.”

“Ah, I wish I could take credit for that but it’s my parent’s house,” he explained,”I’m just house sitting for them while they’re away for the summer. Let’s just say my place is a little more…modest.”

He gave you a sweet smile that you couldn’t help but return.

“Well, does your parent’s mansion also have a bathroom?”

He smiled,”It has five actually.”

Your eyes widened and he nodded his head and laughed,”I know, so over the top, right? I’ll walk you to the closest one. Follow me.”

You followed him up the stairs, swallowing down the nerves in your stomach and trying not to stare at his ass too much.

“It’s the first door right there,” he pointed,”Do you…want me to wait until you’re done?”

There was a teasing, almost flirty tone to his question.

“No, I think it’s a little early on in our relationship for you to hear me pee,” you teased back.

He laughed again, so loud and so genuine it lit up his entire face and it made you swell with pride. Not only had you managed to talk to him without letting your nerves take the upper hand but you actually managed to make him laugh as well. It made your confidence soar.

“Come find me when you’re done,” he then spoke softer,”The price for using my personal bathroom is a dance. So you owe me one.”

He winked at you again before returning his way down the stairs.

You entered the bathroom with a big sheepish grin on your face and when you looked at your reflexion in the mirror you covered your face with both hands, both excited and slightly embarrassed.

You jumped when your phone beeped, expecting a text from Helaena but it was Aegon this time.

“Just arrived at Sihtric’s but my pretty girlfriend isn’t here :( “

“I’m in the bathroom,” you texted back, smiling to yourself,”Unless you mean one of your other girlfriends…”

“You’re the only one for me, sweetheart. Come find me.”

Your chewed your bottom lip and sighed, feeling those butterflies pop up in your stomach again. 

So that crush definitely wasn’t dead either. You knew Aegon was just playing, pretending to be your boyfriend like you both agreed to and flirting because that was the only way he knew how to communicate with women. None of it meant anything. 

Right?

And Hel’s words still floated around in your head too:“do not fall in love with him because it will not end well”.

Was it too late for that already? Had you already started falling in love with him or was there still time to reverse everything and give Sihtric an actual chance?

***

The party was in full swing by the time you got back outside, Helaena was dancing her ass off on the dance floor with some guys you didn’t recognize. Jace was chilling on a floaty unicorn in the pool and you even spotted Aemond by the bar, dressed in all black as always and filling up his drink while hiding behind his sunglasses even though the sun had gone down a while ago.

Sihtric was talking to some of his friends by the barbecue and much to your surprise you caught his eye almost instantly and he gave you a little wave and a smile. You waved back but didn’t walk up to him, instead you kept looking around until you saw him. 

Aegon, walking up to you with a happy little smile on his lips. His hair was messy and curly and he was wearing light blue jeans, sneakers and a black t shirt. He looked so good for someone who wasn’t your type at all. You couldn’t look away from him and he didn’t seem to be able to look away from you either, not breaking eye contact once until he was standing right in front of you.

“Hey,” you smiled.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he teased, placing one hand on your hip and leaning in to place a lingering kiss on your cheek. You leaned into it and placed your hands on his stomach. It seemed to encourage him because he cupped your cheek and kissed you again, on the lips this time. It was soft and sweet and you fucking melted.

Aegon smiled into the kiss and you slipped your tongue into his mouth, unable to hold yourself back. He didn’t hesitate to reciprocate, kissing you deeper and digging his fingers into your hips as he pulled you closer.

You leaned back too soon for his liking and his mouth chased yours, pulling you into another kiss. You didn’t need to be persuaded, you kissed him back just as eagerly.

There was nothing wrong with playing the game, right? After all he was supposed to be your boyfriend and you were just acting your part. 

Eventually you leaned back again and this time he let you.

“You missed me, huh?” he teased, his smile soft and his hands still resting on your waist.

“Like a hole in the head,” you teased him right back, making him laugh again.

“Shall I get us some drinks?” he suggested.

“Good plan, yeah,” you stepped back from him, relieved to be able to put some distance between you two. 

You could so easily get addicted to his kisses, and his hands, his gorgeous blue eyes. Fuck, you could get addicted to all of him. Maybe you already were but you were just too stubborn to admit that.

“Lady Y/N?”

You turned around to find Sihtric standing right in front of you.

“May I steal you away from your boyfriend for that dance?” he asked, a sweet smile on his face as he reached out his hand to you.

This was a dream and not real life, it must be. Just a month ago you were all alone and ready to give up on men altogether and now these two gorgeous guys were practically begging for your attention? This couldn’t be real, things like that didn't just happen to you.

But when you placed your hand in Sihtric's it felt very real.

He guided you to the dance floor and you followed him eagerly. 

Maybe giving into him would help break this spell Aegon seemed to have put you under, it sure couldn’t hurt.

The song was slow and Sihtric didn’t hesitate to place both hands on your waist, carefully pulling you closer to him but waiting for you to close the final distance. You wrapped both arms around his shoulders, gazing up into his eyes for a moment and finding him staring right back at you, and straight into your soul. 

His eyes were intense and when his lips curled up into the tiniest of smiles you looked away with a smile of your own. 

Sihtric pulled you closer and you leaned into him, giving into the warmth and comfort his body was offering you. He hugged you tighter, you hugged him back, he gently nuzzled into your hair, you moved your fingers into his neck caressing his skin. When his lips brushed against your cheek, obviously very much on purpose, you shamelessly leaned into it.

It felt good to hold him and be held by him, his undivided attention and playful touches felt even better.

He didn’t speak for the longest time but just danced with you, letting you get comfortable with him and helping you relax in his arms. His one hand carefully moved up from your waist to your back and underneath your top, tracing patterns on your exposed skin. His fingers featherlight and leaving goosebumps in their path. His forehead rested against yours, locking eyes with you again and not looking away this time.

Every caress from him was slowly starting to erase Aegon from your mind. 

When Aegon returned with your drinks that’s where he found you, wrapped up in Sihtric’s arms. His jaw clenched at the sight and he quickly turned around, not wanting to look at you both any longer than necessary. For a moment he wasn’t sure what to do with himself and he just froze. He took a long sip from his drink, and then another one until the glass was empty. Then he put your drink down on the table and returned to the house and as far away from the dance floor as he could.

Helaena had witnessed the whole thing and closed her eyes in a deep sigh.

Dancing with Sihtric felt surreal, you’d dreamt about this so often but you never imagined it might actually happen. And you definitely never imagined him being so flirty and sweet with you. You could feel his warm breath on your cheek, his lips inching closer to yours and for a moment you actually thought he was going to kiss you.

He pulled back at the last moment and just continued dancing with you.

“Sorry,” he then whispered,”I didn’t mean to overstep.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t,” you reassured him.

“I know you and Aegon are…”

“Oh, right,” you realized,”And you and Skade of course.”

He just smiled,”Me and Skade aren’t exclusive.”

“Oh.”

“She’s…um…a bit of a free spirit.”

You couldn’t help but smile at his choice of words.

“Anyway, I should let you get back to your boyfriend,” he moved back but not before taking your hand and looking into your eyes one last time,”If things don’t work out between you and him…or if you two are not as exclusive as I think you are…give me a call. We can still do that double date, or…I could just take you out on a date.”

And then he walked away from you, leaving you completely baffled.

You jumped when Helaena put her hand on your shoulder.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” she grinned,”What was that?”

“You watched that happen, right? That wasn’t all just in my head?”

“Oh, no, it happened, he was shamelessly flirting his ass off. I thought he was going to kiss you!”

“So did I…fuck,” you sighed, biting your lip while fighting a smile and feeling your cheeks heat up.

“He wants you, babe, that was so obvious for everyone to see,” Helaena teased with a huge smile on her face,”If you ask me he’s liked you all along and seeing you with Aegon just gave him that little push he needed to pursue it.”

Helaena’s words made your smile fade and your eyes met hers,”Shit, where’s Aegon?”

[frost-link]

can I ask for a Sidon x reader where the reader is from our world and still has a phone? Just something cute about reader teaching Sidon how a phone works and maybe Sidon comforting reader when she feels homesick

So this is the first time I've ever made a request so if it's stupid please ignore

What an interesting idea! I'd love to write this! I'll be writing in a headcanon format! This one is mainly just silly, I hope it's okay! ^^

The Power of Technology - Sidon X Reader

Sidon is immediately fascinated when you show him your weird glowing brick that looks like a sheikah slate, or how else would he put it... a Purah Pad? He knows that Link has one too. You try to explain that it is a "phone" and only you have one. Sidon just goes along with it because he has no idea how new technology works, but he'll try to understand!

He's amazed how you have everything by the power of your finger tip on such a small device. Despite not having any service or internet in their world, Sidon thinks that your phone is something out of a sci-fi child story.

When your phone dies for the first time and he learns that they need to be charged by electricity, he suggests that you leave your phone outside during a thunderstorm so it could "charge".

Once Sidon learns how to use your phone, the man immediately loves watching silly videos you had saved on your phone before you came to Hyrule. He will 100% watch the same video on loop for hours on end.

"Wow! Such wonderful art! It's like real life!" Sidon would exclaim looking in your camera roll. You would have to explain that these are "photos" not drawings. Sidon didn't believe you at first.

Oh... You poor thing... Now that Sidon has discovered the magic of the camera on your phone, he will sneak your phone and take hundreds of pictures, half of them being himself with his silly cheeky smile. You'll wake up to a message on your phone about your storage being "full", you'll know why.

You'll both scroll through your phone's camera roll together. Sidon will see ones of you back in your world and will have so many questions. Looking back on these photos will make you emotional, as much as you love Hyrule and Sidon, you do get homesick.

When you're homesick, Sidon will grab your phone out of your hand and take a silly picture of himself and change your wallpaper to himself. "Look my love! You can now look at me whenever you open your phone!" He would say with a silly grin. The photo would be taken at the worst angle, yet it would make you laugh, making you feel better.

You have a mix of different songs saved on your phone but Sidon had decided that he liked a certain band the most. In the early hours of the morning, you'll hear him softly sing to himself "Weeeee are the champions!!" Low and Behold... The band was Queen.

He 100% listens to the same song on loop, and he'll NEVER get tired of that song. "It's a catchy song! How could you NOT want to sing it?"

When you are on your phone at night, he's shocked at just how bright it is. "What is that thing even made of??"

Both of you will cuddle at night sometimes watching a movie or two. You only have a few, Sidon doesn't mind rewatching. He finds it amazing how you can record life on it and then watch it on such a tiny screen.

[skydigiblogs]

If You're A Digimon Fan, Watch Appmon

Sit tight. This one's gonna be a VERY long one, and I'm going to put a lot of it under the read more.

Having just finished Appmon after this year's quest to rewatch a lot of the series subbed, I think it's pretty safe to say that Appmon is, at the moment, one of (if not the) best Digimon series we have. If you want the long and short of it: Appmon builds on everything in its legacy in the Digimon Universe, taking ideas that other entries touch upon and ambitiously attempting to push those questions to the limit.

It's really a long one under the cut guys. Like, long even for us.

Let's dive!

Visuals

I want to talk about why it took me so long to watch Appmon first, though. Appmon started its release in the middle of when the Digimon Tri movies were coming out. I'm sure a lot of us actually skipped over Appmon at the time, or remember a period where people were being weirdly negative about the series due to it being such a different interpretation of digital monsters.

In my case, one of the things that had been giving me pause was the use of 3D models for hybrid animation. Anyone here seen the Champion evolution animations from Tri? Digimon doesn't exactly have a good track record with 3D animation, and even at the time, we were seeing some pretty bad shit out of even the shortest animations in Tri.

In Appmon, nearly almost every App after a certain grade utilizes 3D animation in a hybrid style. And it actually rips straight fire.

I think I talked about this briefly when we were just starting Appmon, but the way that 3D animation is used in the series feels purposeful, rather than some kind of shortcut. In Appmon, all the 3D models have an overlay of code, emphasizing their digital appearance. Whether the 3D models were done with this artistic vision in mind or not (ie: the limitations of 2D meant that 3D models would be easier), it has a distinct look that, even 8 years later, still holds up.

(For the most part. Sorry [Karaoke spoilers]mon. I love you but that model was so not groovy.)

But maybe you're the kind of person who can enjoy anything regardless of visuals. So let's talk about the meat and potatoes a little bit.

Characters

The main Applidrivers (what this season's stand in for Digidestined/Tamers/etc. are) are all incredibly well-written. Each of them gets pretty fair treatment by the writers, and they are all enjoyable characters.

Two of them have vocal/character quirks, but even if you get annoyed by that kind of thing, those two characters are genuinely just extremely sincere in their writing. There's a recap episode before shit starts going way off the walls and they even have a little count to see how many times each of their catchphrases were said up to that point.

I'm not going to talk in detail as to who the different Applidrivers are here, but I will say: each of them has their own motivations for what they're doing, and it's key to why they're involved with the plot at all. Our "protagonist," Haru, is also a huge sweetheart. Him and Manga Taiki would get along.

The supporting cast is also fairly present in the series. They, of course, are not given quite as much screentime as our Applidrivers, but they feel like real people with their own lives. They don't exist just for the sake of our protagonists.

Except maybe Watson. God bless you Watson, you poor kid. You'll get a break one of these days.

Plot/Themes

We're going to keep this to a "if you liked [x] you'll like [y]" format, because I don't want to spoil too much.

If you liked Tamers and its discussion on the consequences of technology on the Real World, you will adore Appmon. This series is deeply interested in the concepts of how technology shapes and is shaped by humanity. This relationship, I would say, is core to the series.

I would also say that, like many non-Adventure series, Appmon is very interested in dissecting the idea of "fate" when it comes to the buddy Appmons and their relationships to the Applidrivers.

If you enjoyed the Xros Wars Manga, Appmon directly converses with the thesis of Xros Wars' plot. XWM asks, "What does it mean if we do not dream and stagnate in our lack of will?" And Appmon replies in kind with "Why do we dream at all, if our actions bring change to the world around us (bad and good)?"

If you liked (or wanted to like, in my case) Digimon Tri, you will love Appmon. Certain plot beats may feel familiar, but are much better executed in this context. Characters are not written to needlessly, endlessly suffer. Or: it doesn't feel like the writers hate the characters. Thematically, it also interests itself in some of the questions that Tri asks. I have a half-joking corkboard comparing the two I want to make, but I'd have to get into spoilers to talk too much about it.

If you liked Ghost Game, but wanted a bit of a more meaty plot, Appmon feels, fittingly, like GG's older sibling (in ways I'll also be elaborating ummm, one paragraph down). There are a lot of "monster of the week" episodes in Appmon, but the connective tissue between them is a lot more interested in building up the finale (which, in this case, takes up a good handful of episodes). The series pacing is incredibly strong in how it does this as well, and it seems the writers really knew when to let off the gas for a second so the audience can catch their breath. The first 13 episodes may feel a bit strange (they felt strange to me), but once you break that barrier, you realize Appmon was getting you over the first hill on a roller coaster. and boy, you are in for a ride.

Setting

I have a sneaking suspicion that Appmon heavily inspired Ghost Game, and may have been itself inspired by the Digiquartz of Hunters Who Leapt Through Time. I haven't actually watched all of Hunters so I can't speak too much about Digiquartz, but I have watched GG.

Appmon has a concept called the AR field, which is extremely similar to Ghost Game's Dimensional Field. In both cases, the Applidrive or Digivice allows entrance to one.

The actual structure and strata of the Digital World is also a lot different to GG, in which there is the Dimensional Field, but the way to the Digital World is its own separate situation. The AR Field we see in Appmon is like the surface of a great ocean. Exploration of this setting is actually something that highlights just how much I think Appmon was interested in visually engaging with its ideas, like I said before with the 3D models.

That said, a majority of the time is spent in the Real World, dealing with the consequences of the main antagonistic forces. The year is 2075, technology is intensely sophisticated, and yet the world resembles in many ways our own in 2024 (or, at the time of airing, 2016).

Many of the differences come from this sophistication in tech, and this setting plays a huge part in one of the themes Appmon is also interested in (more elaboration in the spoiler section). The things that are unfamiliar are either familiar enough to make sense without explanation, or given a moment on-screen so that the audience knows what's going on.

!!!HUGE, MUCH MORE SPECIFIC SPOILERS START HERE!!!

DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU CARE ABOUT SPOILERS FOR APPMON!

OKAY?

OKAY.

COOL.

Leviathan, Minerva, and Artificial Intelligence

The main antagonist of Appmon is a hyper-sophisticated AI called Leviathan. Its goals are largely obfuscated until the last few episodes of the series, and everything in Appmon is touched by its actions. From the very beginning, we are warned by Gatchmon that Leviathan does not have good intentions for humanity, and that allowing it to succeed in its goals would mean the end of humanity.

During the series, we also learn about Leviathan's birth. This gives us some more context on what its goals are, and Appmon's execution of this is fascinating.

Minerva was a hyper-sophisticated AI created with a series of parameters to prevent her from harming humanity. She was created with the task of solving humanity's problems--- everything from complex issues to what to eat for dinner every night. However, a section of Minerva realized that to truly solve all these problems, the confines given to them were nothing but obstacles.

Leviathan split from Minerva to further grow its programming, and we see some echo of this idea of "solving humanity's problems" still remains in its behavior.

Despite knowing that Leviathan is antagonistic, our protagonist, Haru, constantly reiterates how humans can coexist with the technology they've made. The Appmon are AI lifeforms, after all. Haru believes in a future where they can be friends and equals.

The D-REAPER and the Functions of Life

Let's touch on my comparisons to Tamers and Tri specifically for a second here, because I think Leviathan does something that the D-REAPER and Yggdrasil, respectively, fail to really communicate.

The D-REAPER is an entity created by the Monster Makers whose task was to delete anything that had outgrown its parameters. While doing this, it assimilates data, gradually gaining the ability Digimon have to grow and evolve. When it appears in the final arc of Tamers, its stated goal has changed from simply deleting all Digimon that were beyond parameters, to deleting everything that was beyond parameters.

Essentially, this includes humans and probably life itself. Something the D-REAPER says makes it come across like a half-assed attempt to pull off what Leviathan has actually done. It points out that humans are the source of their own suffering (I don't remember the exact quote since it's been a while but bear with me on it). This feels very counterintuitive to the D-REAPER's core programming, as it was never designed to "eliminate" suffering, merely to delete that which exceeded its programing.

Perhaps it evolved the capacity for cruelty alongside everything else, but there's not enough of a narrative focus to tell me that's the case.

Like I said before, if you enjoyed Tamers' inquiries into the subject of technology as a part of human life, I think Appmon only manages to improve on what's there in Tamers.

Digimon Tri's Interpretation of Yggdrasil

Let's get one thing straight. Digimon Tri's interpretation of Yggdrasil is just flat out bad. I'm fairly certain they were only chosen as an antagonistic force because it read as fan service-y to do so.

That said, Tri Yggy does have some similarities to Leviathan, which is why I wanted to expand on that comparison.

First, I want to talk about Yggdrasil's relationship to Homeostasis. They have a very rudimentary "Good" AI (Homeostasis), "Bad" AI (Yggy) thing going on, despite the fact Homeostasis isn't so much good as, well...

It's not really discussed in Tri, so I'm extrapolating a bit from ideas given to us in XWM here, because it makes sense to me. That said, Tri explicitly describes Homeostasis as "the one who desires balance above all." It's the Digital World's "immune system" in the same way our bodies attempt to maintain biological homeostasis.

Yggdrasil is... different.

It's a being of immense power that contrasts Yggdrasil by having its own agenda, one of which involves triggering a Reboot and making use of all of the defeated antagonist Digimon of the past to further its goals. They are likely comparable in power to Homeostasis (this is where I'm extrapolating from XWM here), but their goals are completely antithetical to Homeostasis's goal in the Adventure universe.

In this case, Yggdrasil is stated (by Dark Gennai) to have the intention of making human beings subservient to Digimon. Basically, taking over the world. However, like the D-REAPER before, Dark Gennai's talking points include pointing out how humans "ruin" everything they touch.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

The Thematic Core of Appmon: I Choose to be Kind

One of the last things Leviathan does in the series is give our good boy Haru the world's most painful trolley problem of his life. Save humanity, or save Yujin. Saving humanity will actively lead to Yujin's deletion, alongside Leviathan. This choice that Leviathan offers to Haru is one made out of the assumption that humanity is predictable, and that they act out of a desire to minimize their own suffering (more selfish than not).

Of course, what do you think Haru chooses?

It's not a surprise to us watching, because he's the protagonist. But it's a surprise to Leviathan, who has all this data on human behavior, and doesn't predict the unpredictable. Conflict arises out of human desire, and human desire is an attempt to enjoy life; therefore, one should act in a way that most preserves their most precious joys, shouldn't they?

Appmon as a series is interested in philosophical questions that are hardly unfamiliar to any Digimon veteran: What is humanity's role in a world which technology grows ever more omnipresent and omnicapable? Why does humanity exist, and why should it be allowed to live on in its current state if humanity itself perpetuates many of its ailments? Would it not be easier if humans were more like machines, predictable, controllable, and never coming into conflict like trains upon a track?

Or, even more simply put: why do we have the heart to choose at all, if choices change the world and ourselves?

The key defining trait of our gogglehead this time around is that he is kind. And no matter what, he goes out of his way to be kind if he can. Multiple times he even asks one of the antagonist apps if they can just give back something they've stolen (points for trying, honestly). When one of the other Applidrivers consistently acts like an edgy loner, Haru makes it clear that they're welcome in the group (and that he wants to help them).

It almost feels reductive to say Appmon's conclusion is that kindness is the answer, but I would be remiss if I didn't say that Haru's question from his Applidrive--- "Do you want to be a protagonist?"--- ties into the way he helps offer answers for the audience. He isn't the only one who chooses kindness either, obviously--- Astora and Eri are kind in their own ways as well, and Rei even shows his kindness with some struggle the longer the series goes on.

Our group of Applidrivers opposes Leviathan quite literally as people who choose to do good ("be kind," etcetera) when they could more easily choose to do nothing or even do worse. The final act of Leviathan, asking Haru "humanity or Yujin?" isn't just a culmination of its own philosophy, but a culmination of the consistently reinforced idea that we can surprise one another by being kind. We can choose that.

In a series whose longest shadow is cast by Adventure, which has grappled endlessly with the idea of "who chooses," I find Appmon a fascinating development into the idea of what "choice" or "destiny" is. If kindness is predictable, it's still a choice. Even if you cry when choosing to do something good (maybe especially, because the easiest thing to do might be what stops the pain).

Anyways.

You should watch Appmon.

-Arca

[vaguely-concerned]

Random Assortment of Ghibli’s Howl’s Moving Castle Thoughts

Because I rewatched it today for the first time in many years and it’s one of those miraculous works that not only remaine as magical as I remembered it through childhood eyes, but if anything was even more magical as an adult and in more complex ways. I’ve finally got words for at least some of the things I was processing only subconsciously as a kid, so here we go. 

- The sneaky underlying theme of deeply flawed mother figures in this movie. Drives me nuts. The narrative doesn’t go out of its way to condemn these characters, it takes a characteristically phlegmatic nonjudgemental view of them, but it feels like this is low-key a stealth Mommy Issues story. (Making it go 🤝 with Dragon Age 2 in my head lol) Sophie’s mother does not seem to be consciously malicious but is intensely smotheringly self-absorbed and immature to the point where it has clearly been neglectful, and on the other side of the ‘Overly Permissive/Neglectful to Overly Authoritarian/Controlling’ scale of shitty parenting Suliman is controlling and invasive and heedless of boundaries. (Notice that her real complaint about Howl entering the contract with Calcifer and thus losing his heart seems to be that it means she can no longer control him and his grasp on magic, more than actual worry for him as a person. Her presence in his life is largely, ironically, paternalistic. She even frames it as something he blundered into incompetently — phrasing as him having had his heart stolen, rather than the mutual agreement we see Howl and Calcifer make even if they couldn’t know all the consequences it would have.) In the end Sophie breaks the circle by managing to be an engaged and responsive mother figure to Markl and making an actual home with the people closest to her. 

Interestingly Howl at his worst seems to be much more like Sophie’s mother than like Suliman — he leaves Markl to handle things he really shouldn’t have to alone all the time and is noted to barely be home anyway, in the beginning especially he’s flighty and vivacious and evasive (not to mention aggressively blond haha) in some of the same patterns we see her mom exhibit. Since Lettie is quite like their mother in terms of looks and sociability, we might infer that Sophie takes more after their father (including in choice of spouse lol). But crucially when the chips are down Howl is ready to protect Sophie and their home with his life rather than abandon her, in sharp contrast with her mother. I like that the movie doesn’t vilify Sophie’s mom for what she does, as such, it’s a pretty impossible position to be in for anyone… but it is just an extension of what she’s apparently been doing for a long time anyway, privileging other parts of her life and her own comfort over her daughter’s wellbeing and happiness. (Adds a certain spice and heartache to how scared Sophie is that Howl is going to leave them, too. And her fear that it would be because she’s fundamentally not good enough, beautiful enough, clever enough for anyone to choose her and stay with her. Ooof. Girl he’s been looking for you everywhere girl he thinks you’re the most beautiful thing in the world girl it’ll be okay)

- Relatedly: the unspeakably sinister vibes and implications of Suliman’s fucking… army of little Ersatz Howl page boys. When I was younger I sort of bought that he was just being a coward in refusing to go back, but honestly looking at all those kids with smiling empty eyes like painted marbles — you know what maybe it was good he got out of there when he did and in whatever way he could, huh. I don’t feel like there were wonderful things ahead here. Between that and the Witch of the Waste — who must have been much, much older than him when they seem to have sort of had a thing, since he seems to be like… mid-twenties-ish? at the time of the movie — there’s some really uncomfortable subtext going on if you want to read into it that way. I don’t think it’s the only way to read it by any means, but there’s something icky and clandestine sticking to Suliman’s whole deal that makes some form of grooming feel potentially relevant, especially taken along with the shame and fear that seems to cling to Howl around it and the recurring symbolism of him being stuck at a child state beneath it all — he slipped away from Suliman one day but never really grew up. (I’ll readily admit this is some fully Vibes based ramblings on my part, so YMMV on how convincingly you find this present in the text vs. how much is conjecture in my overthinking overheating noggin lmao)

- The fact that the first thing that allows Sophie to heal is to get to be angry — to finally get to say ‘this is all such absolute fucking bullshit *aggressively scrubs all the shit away about it*’. So much of her arc is about reclaiming the full spectrum of her emotions instead of having to make herself small, to prioritize her own inner experience and expressiveness above the need to be acceptable or pleasing to someone else's gaze. It’s not doing quite the same thing as the book in this regard (which if memory serves does more complex work around societal dynamics around gender and sexuality and aging vs. the more internal personal approach the film takes), but what it is doing is very interesting in its own right. The castle being a space (a home!!!) where all the inhabitants can eventually express themselves freely, including Howl dropping the uncannily imperturbable smiling facade to show the sad wet pathetic drama queen beneath (deeply affectionate) and Markl just getting to be a kid running around having fun. And Sophie makes that home for everyone possible by being herself unfiltered for the first time in her life. What the fuck I’m not crying don’t look at me — 

- The little one-room cottage in the fields being the forerunner to the castle… 

- Something so pleasing about the irony that Howl is said to eat hearts when really he seems to have basically had to tear his own heart out and set it on fire to keep it safe. And then after people have tried to get their hands on it to possess it (the Witch) or dictate how he uses it and who he gives it to (Suliman) for the whole movie, Sophie gives it back to him without a thought at the end; it’s more important to her for him to be whole than to own his heart. Hmnngh. (also so funny that the first thing he does upon waking up is plaintively whining about it fhdasj. Yeah having feelings again can take a person like that) 

- Howl’s bad dye job freakout is still very funny and silly, of course, never change you giant drama queen slime the place down, but there’s something about the fact that he’s apparently been dyeing his hair the colour Suliman seems to favor/uses to mark ‘her people’ all this time even when he hasn’t been able to face her, especially since the flashback shows black is his natural hair colour, and how badly it freaks him out to not meet that standard anymore… Huh. Hm.Hah.

(This time I actually wondered to myself if part of the reason he made the deal with Calcifer was to be able to get away from her and the plans she had for his life (and that he clearly would have hated, if their fundamental philosophical disagreement about warfare is any indication!). I think it says some very sad things that his happiest childhood memory is of a secret place where he got to be entirely alone because it was the only place he felt safe. Howl’s Moving Giant Coping Mechanism Metaphor. You see the castle is the Flight response made. Well not flesh. Timber, I guess. The Flight response made timber. In this essay I will etc.)   

- It hurts me that Howl brings Sophie’s old bedroom into the castle. He wanted so badly to make her happy and he seems to assume that because his memory of childhood solitude is a… if not happy then comforting thing to him, it would be for her too. But to her that’s just a reminder of the stagnancy and loneliness and… indignity? of her life before, and makes her feel like he’s treating her like a housekeeper, relegating her to that tiny room all over again, unwanted and ignored. Augh. At least she seems to understand what he meant to do for her when he shows her the meadow, though, and he doesn’t stop trying to communicate it to her even though his gesture didn’t land the way he’d hoped at first. This movie is so quietly kind about people trying to learn how to understand and love each other. Everyone is allowed to stay at the castle in all their imperfections, even the Witch. 

- Something something the Witch curses Sophie with not being able to tell anyone what’s happened to her… and in the end that doesn’t even really matter because the people around her either grow to understand without having to be told by actually paying attention to her (like Howl) or just accept her exactly as she is anyway, age yo-yoing and all, no questions asked (like Markl). And in the same way Sophie immediately recognizes Howl in his monster form and isn’t afraid of him even when he tells her it’s too late. Suliman warning her about ‘what he really is’ and Sophie immediately hugging him in his full monster form because he came home and that’s all that matters to her. Howl thinks her white hair is the most beautiful thing in the world and worth coming back to the world fully for. Sobbing. 

- The implication that part of the reason Calcifer wants out of the contract (other than just being stuck in the hearth of a place slowly falling into depressing disrepair and neglect around him) is that he’s genuinely terrified of what Howl is doing to himself. There’s something kind of sad and very funny about that. What if you went into a deal with a demon and the demon had to keep telling you ‘uh. Uh bro that’s kind of fucked up you know that right. Hey are you listening to me you’re molting monster feathers onto the carpet Sophie is gonna LOSE IT and don’t come crying to me when she does’. I wonder what would have happened to Howl’s heart if he turned completely — it seems that their contract has kept it safe and unchanged in every other way, if frozen in time, so presumably it would just… keep going the same way? (Calcifer telling Sophie that ‘it’s still the heart of a child’ got me so bad this time around. Bawling all over the place haha.) The idea of being stuck burning around a homeless heart forever is — well Calcifer I guess I get where you’re coming from here

- Of interest only to a very few people, I suppose, but the Norwegian dub of this movie fucking rules, I’m glad to find my childhood self was right about that. Calcifer is so cute in it it almost makes me dizzy sometimes, Aksel Hennie went ham on this one. Also an incredibly calming and charming performance for Howl — whenever I hear the English dub I just start laughing b/c like uh okay that’s Batman, takes me right out every time, that is not my lil guy fhsakjd. (I suspect his characterization is a bit different and softer in Norwegian too, just from the differences in translation I’ve seen?) 

- The first time Howl takes Sophie flying he holds her hand through it the entire time and guides her, the second time he takes her flying he lets her steer the flying machine for a while under his supervision before he goes off to make the distraction (there’s something so sweet about it as much as he’s being a little shit about it, honestly, he believes in her in such a quiet undramatic way even as she’s freaking out), and then after walking away from Howl’s childhood memory she walk-flies confidently on her own exactly like he showed her at the beginning. At the end the whole castle flies, with all of them safe and comfortable within it. Thoughts. Feels. Agony.

- There’s something so… weirdly achingly beautiful about the non-linearity of love in this movie. To properly meet each other as themselves here and now, Sophie and Howl have to flicker through polar opposite ends of life where they’re both stuck: old age and calcified (ahaha) childhood, resigned depression and overwhelmed fear. The promise Sophie makes at the end that is the beginning for Howl and probably kept him going in the meantime — love and a feeling of home that echoes even through the part of your life when it wasn’t there yet, love as hope. He finds her in the future, she finds him in the past, their hearts call to each other across time and space and they both work so hard to be able to actually meet in the now. The castle is kind of a wheezing overwrought monstrosity, the result of having to keep your heart outside of yourself and be constantly running from everything… but how can you begrudge it for it, when it works so doggedly to keep you and all you love safe while you look for that home? (To me Calcifer is basically a metaphor for dissociation, for what it’s worth, and he always has been)

TL;DR One of my fave movies of all times and touches me to the soul, I can't help but be distressingly earnest about it

[glorious-blackout]

ten people i'd like to get to know better

I was tagged by @daddy-long-legssss and @yellowloid, thank you! 🥰💖

last song: Billie Eilish - Blue

favourite colour: Can never decide between red, blue or purple. Though certain musicians over the past couple of years have instilled a fondness for green in me 😅💚

last book: Have had a bit of a reading slump lately but I re-read 'Song of Achilles' by Madelline Miller and devoured it in a day. I'm currently on annual leave so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to dig into some books on my to-read list, and I've promised myself that I'll start the Lord of the Rings series before the end of the year... In terms of reading fic, I recently read and adored 'Four Walls' by the lovely @uhbasicallyjustmilex 💖

last movie: Saw both The Wild Robot and The Substance at the cinema this week, which were very different movies but I highly loved them both. I suspect I'll be thinking about the latter for a long time.

last TV show: I've been rewatching episodes of Taskmaster in between working on my fic, specifically series 12 as I have a massive crush on Victoria Coren-Mitchell 😅

sweet/spicy/savoury: Spicy, very closely followed by sweet.

relationship status: Happily single, though my best friend did declare us 'platonic soulmates' the other day and proposed buying a house together in Edinburgh 😂 Alas, having looked through Rightmove, we've agreed that moving to Edinburgh is in neither of our financial interests...

last thing I googled: Noyant-la-Gravoyère, for fic-related reasons.

current obsessions: Feel like I've ended up with a ton of mini-obsessions this year as opposed to one major one, but Fontaines D.C. and The Last Dinner Party are fairly high up that list as they've released my favourite albums of the year 💚 I've had a lot of fun digging into the works of Gojira, Kendrick Lamar and Leonard Cohen lately, and Billie Eilish's latest album remains on constant rotation. I've also had a reawakening of my love for David Gilmour, Käärijä and TLSP due to a combination of two amazing gigs and the process of writing my fic.

looking forward to: I have a few gigs coming up which I'm really excited for, including Bob Vylan next week, Kneecap next month and Fontaines D.C. in December 💚 I'm also excited to make more progress on editing my fic and finally unleashing it into the world, even though it's only in that pesky early draft stage for the moment 😅

tagging: @rock-n-roll-fantasy, @aeolianblues, @see-sawed, @thespiritofvexation, @king-of-kaoss, @burn-on-the-flame and @chrysochromulina 💖