#because of the anime releasing new episodes i thought of playing again

[natimiles]

Not fair! (Leviathan x reader)

Summary: Alone in your room, you use a quiet afternoon to do some personal errands. It’s a lot faster when there aren't demons trying to get your attention. So you go to Levi’s room for some quality time.

Words: 1207

Tags: teasing, but sfw. Romance, fluffy, established relationship; no pronouns for reader.

Crossposted on AO3.

You’re alone in your room and the house is strangely quiet for a Saturday. It’s usually so noisy that you can't even hear your own thoughts, but not this time. You know Lucifer’s at the castle, probably working again; Satan should be reading at that new cat cafe; the twins are at Purgatory Hall, because Beel overheard Luke saying that he wanted to bake a new recipe and invited himself to taste test — and Belphie tagged along because he said the sofa there is really comfy for afternoon naps; and Mammon and Asmo had a photoshoot together. Levi’s the only demon in his room, probably busy watching anime or playing that new game he bought. 

So you decide to use all that free and silent time to do some personal errands, like organize the closet and do homework. But it’s a lot faster to do everything you want when there aren't demons trying to get your attention or fighting each other in the hallway or breaking into your room to hide from a very angry Lucifer — who punished you as an accomplice for hiding the fugitive, even though you had no idea what was happening.

“And now what?” you think loudly while scanning your room. 

Sighing, you throw yourself on your bed and reach for you D.D.D. on the nightstand. There’s a notification from Devilflix that catches your attention: the premiere of the final season of your favorite series! You made Levi watch every episode with you a while ago and he kinda liked it. He even said that he wants to watch it with you when the new season is released. You check your messages but there’s nothing new. If he hasn’t texted you, it means he hasn’t even seen the notification yet. 

You head to the kitchen, grab a few snacks and make a beeline to Levi’s room. 

"Leeevi! Open up, please!” His door is always locked, so he made up this special secret knock just for you. It also serves as a password: whenever you needed to go there, you just had to knock at the rhythm he taught you, and the door would unlock. At first, he was startled every time you did it, but now he was so used to you entering his room whenever you wanted that he couldn’t help but frown in confusion when he heard a series of bangs on his door and your voice calling out for him. “My hands are full and, apparently, my feet can’t knock.”

"Oh!" he exclaims and, with a flick of his wrist, he opens the door. "Why didn’t you text me or something?"

“Sorry, I didn’t really think…” You kick the door closed and place the snacks by the beanbags beside him. Levi’s playing a video game and is trying to look at you, but looks like he’s in a very important part of the game. You bite your lip nervously. “Are you too busy right now?”

“No, no! It’s just that I could help you with all that if you texted me.” He senses you're a bit agitated but can't quite pin down the reason. His guts tell him that something's off, but at the same time, he's aware it might just be his own anxiety acting up. “Is everything ok?”

"All good." You kneel down behind him and place your hands on his shoulders. "Finished up all my errands and needed to come see you. Is that alright?”

"O-of course…" He’s been your boyfriend for a while now, but he still blushes when you’re close. It’s endearing.

You smirk and bring your face closer, resting your chin on his left shoulder. He can feel your breath, and it's making him nervous, but he's almost done with this phase and can't risk losing all his progress. He glances at you from the corner of his eye and almost dies when he realizes that you aren't watching him play; you’re staring at him.

“W-what is it?”

“Nothing.” You smile. Oh, you little devil. He senses your gaze tracing over him. His hands tremble, and he has to be careful not to press the wrong button. “I just wanted to come here. Like really wanted.” You move your hands down his elbows, applying just the right amount of pressure, then up his shoulder again, and he feels goosebumps all over his body.

“Ok…” He manages to say after a few seconds of silence. “I’m… I’m almost done here.”

You hum in agreement in his ear and his entire face blushes. You adore seeing Levi like this; sometimes, he flushes all the way up his ears, and it's such a lovely sight.

“Just be as quick as possible.” You begin massaging him, just the way you know he loves. You feel his body tense up and then melt beneath your fingers. “I need you.” You whisper in his ear and he’s tense again.

"I… I…" He's trying to say something while attempting to finish this stupid game soon. Why is this part so long? It feels like decades!

"Like a miracle, the 'save' message appears on the screen, signaling that it’s safe to turn off the game.

"Finally!" You move to his right side, letting your hands slide down his body. You bring your face closer and plant a quick kiss on his cheek, enough to make Levi feel like his whole body is set on fire.

"M-MC..." He takes a deep, shaky breath.

"We can finally do what I planned..." You lean over Levi and place your right hand on the floor in front of his body. He can feel his heartbeat in his ears, holding his breath. But as swiftly as your body approaches, it begins to move away, leaving him utterly confused. You raise your hand and reveal the TV remote you picked up from the floor, a smile spreading across your face. "The last season of my favorite series premiered a few hours ago. You said you wanted to watch it with me!"

"Wait, what?" He's astonished, to say the least. You're already searching for the series on Devilflix, wearing the worst evil smile on your face. He hates it when you tease him. "Did you... Was it..."

“I’m sorry, Levi, but you are soooo much fun to tease.” You laugh and he pouts.

"It's not fair, MC! I-it's not fair at all!" He grimaces and crosses his arms, though he's clearly not mad, just embarrassed.

"I'll make it up to you. Come here." You pat your lap invitingly.

“You bet you will.” He falls backward into your lap, resting his head on your thighs. “You’re so unfair sometimes.”

He's still mumbling his complaints when the series starts, and you silence him by running your fingers through his hair. You notice he's still looking at you, so you lean down and plant a chaste kiss on his lips.

“I’ll do more for you after we watch at least this episode. I promise.”

He huffs and turns to his side, watching the TV — or at least trying. But he's acutely aware of your fingers still stroking his head and your soft thighs beneath his cheek. He'll have a hard time trying to focus, so you better keep your promise.

Masterlists

[maddys-nerd-blog]

Maddy’s Top Five Favorite Male Characters in Media!

Hi again!!

I was asked an interesting question by @tending-the-hearth in a QNA thingy recently that I thought deserved it’s own post cuz admittedly, this is a hard one!

My favorite characters in media?

You’d be surprised to hear that some of people on this list were easy ringers for this list, but I still had a hard time choosing characters I loved more than the other!

Over the decades we’ve gotten a plethora of incredible shows, video games, movies, books and indie series that have gifted the world a new cast of characters that have won the hearts of millions across the globe. They can be dashing heroes, villainous rouges trying to take over the world, unappreciated side characters, supportive background characters or even blink and you miss them cameos! I’ve come to adore the grand scale of the animation medium and it’s offerings, so making a list like this is definitely not easy.

So for this list I’m doing the following;

One; Only one character per slot with ONE exception but I’ll get there.

Two; They can be a variety of characters ranging in importance. Hero, sidekick, background nobody, villain, supporting characters, etc. Anything goes!

Three; Video games are included!!

Four; Comic book exclusive characters are not allowed only for the sake of keeping the playing field fair. I’ll use added context from specific comic storylines to add onto my reasoning, but otherwise, that’s it.

Five; SPOILERS BECAUSE HALF OF THESE PICKS ARE IN SERIES THAT HAVE EITHER BEEN ONGOING FOR TWENTY YEARS OR ARE FINISHED. Read at your own risk!!!

So… on with the show!!

Top Five Male Characters in Media!

5: Throttle— Biker Mice From Mars. ( 1993-1996 )

A shocking new arrival for a list such as this, but a welcome addition nevertheless! For a little over two-ish months I’ve been watching Biker Mice and have taken a liking to it! What I assumed was just gonna be a knock-off of TMNT with uninspired writing turned out to be a surprising drama with subtle undertones of a darker story behind the gimmick of Martian mice coming to Earth.

Not only is it a very clever commentary on environmentalism and taking care of our planet— especially given the time period this was released with all the Ferngully movies and Captain Planet where they were encouraging eco-friendly movements— it’s also a shocking cartoon given the subject matter and it’s cast of characters. Throttle, Vinnie and Modo? They’re all veterans! And they’re all disabled! But the show never makes jokes or pokes fun at them for their hard comings, it’s treated with respect and the guys are there for one another.

Throttle is the leader of this group, and the leader of the rebellion at one point. He’s shown throughout the show to be this suave, cool headed guy who looks out for his bros, he’s got this kind of swagger to him that radiates ‘cool’ just from a design standpoint alone. Plus it also helps that Rob Paulsen provides the voice and HE SOUNDS SO COOL. As the resident badass in charge he’s always taking point and mostly has a more serious demeanor, but he’s also just a fun guy who wants to ride his bike and chill out with his friends.

Can I just add a side note here and say CAN WE PLEASE GIVE THIS POOR MAN A BREAK??? THE ORIGIN EPISODE OF HOW HE LOST HIS EYES HAD ME SHOOK AND THE NEW INFO WE GOT FROM THE CURRENT COMIC COMEBACK IS FREAKING HEARTBREAKING DUDE. LET THE MAN BREATHE AND EAT HOTDOGS.

4: Harvey Bullock— Batman the Animated Series. ( 1992-1995 )

Imma say this for the people all the way in the back:

NOBODY UNDERSTANDS HARVEY BULLOCK.

I feel like I’m all alone on the Bullock Defense Squad at this rate cuz the amount of slander this character gets by those who don’t bother to A) read his backstory or B) actually go the extra mile to research his trivia and learn what makes him tick, is frustrating. The writers make him out to be this slob that can’t do anything right, but I think that’s unfair cuz there’s more to him besides what we’re shown. Because when you take the time to look beneath all the stupid things people claim about him… he’s so interesting.

Firstly he’s Gordon’s BEST FRIEND. He’s ride or die for that man. Nobody is more loyal to Commissioner Gordon than Bullock. On the outside he might appear untrustworthy but he’s actually devoted to Gordon and his beliefs, even if his methods are more in line with Batman’s. ( Which is ironically hilarious that everyone tries to accuse Bullock of going too far, but when Batman does the same exact thing he’s praised as a hero. Makes ya think. )

Secondly he believes in justice and keeping Gotham safe, but the criminals that reek havoc on the city are so nuts and out of control he feels he has no idea what he’s doing. But the fact of the matter is, he’s wildly clever and intelligent! Look at the episode The Laughing Fish! Who figures out that Joker’s at the aquarium first? BULLOCK. Who beats BATMAN— the world’s greatest detective— to the punch??? BULLOCK!

He’s cunning and sly but in a good way! He uses his wits to solve cases and more often than not, he’s pretty damn scrappy! The audience is just made to believe he’s this bumbling oaf half the time. His determination is strong as hell! My favorite episode in all of BTAS is ‘A Bullet for Bullock’ because we get to see a side of him outside of the main cast that puts HIM in the spotlight. That entire episode is a love letter to the classic noir genre and the SOUNDTRACK??? ITS SO GOOD. ( This episode in particular even won a special award for its music )

He fights for good and tries to do the right thing, but not everyone sees it that way. But I, as the President of the Bullock Fanclub, love him the way he is!

3: Donatello ( Every version )— Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. ( 1984- Current Day )

DONATELLO IS BEST TURTLE 💜

This genius in every version is a lovable dork with a giant heart of gold. I don’t think there’s any iteration of this character that’s unlikeable! Ever since I got into the TMNT I quickly grew attached to the purple goober cuz he’s just so relatable! Purple is my second favorite color too cuz bias Donnie shows that no matter the odds he’s going to do whatever it takes to make his family or friends safe. In every single series he proves he’s a hellishly smart guy who values knowledge over combat, hence why he’s a pacifist by nature.

In 2012 he’s a geeky inventor with a big imagination and utilizes what limited resources he has to craft some of the most amazing things!

In 2003 he’s this gentle teddy bear of a guy who rarely wishes to battle, but if you hurt his family he’ll bring hell down upon you. Plus he’s just a sweetie who wants to keep making things he thinks will help his family.

In the Bayverse films he’s this tall, lanky fellow who yearns to be accepted and has so much wit and charm he’s basically this lovable beanstalk.

In Mutant Mayhem he’s a well meaning kid who wishes he could be a normal teenager, who fights so hard for humans to accept him and his mutant family, who’d an anime nerd and generally nice person.

In Rise he’s a full on menace to society and has so much snark that it could rival that of Hades from Hercules. He’s a scientist that searches high and low for the love and affirmation of a dad who doesn’t care about him, but with his brothers he’s got all the reassurance he needs.

Donnie goes through so much but gets back on his feet to keep fighting, he keeps pushing forward to strive for a better solution, he ALWAYS keeps trying to fix any problem because he feels it’s his purpose. This type of character can be used as a stereotype but in the right hands they can truly shine, and Donnie doesn’t simply shine; he dazzles. It also gives him the edge that in most of the shows he’s written with coded autism traits which… yes, please, more positive autistic representation, more of this INSTEAD OF THE BULLSHIT WE’VE BEEN FED.

Donnie is a kind, sweet, brave turtle. It’s no wonder why everyone loves him so much!!

BUT CAN WE STOP TRAUMATIZING HIM PLEASE, STOP ELECTROCUTING THIS GUY?? THE BABY HAS BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH—

2: Cole— Dragon Age: Inquisition. ( 2014 )

Autism in media has been hit or miss for DECADES. As I previously stated it’s very difficult to find positive autistic characters in our media. Autism is either used as a crutch by writers to make the ‘normal’ characters bring the ‘unaware and helplessly naive’ autistic person into the ‘real world.’ We’ve seen it time and time again and it’s terribly obnoxious. But to the writers who give a damn about writing authentic portrayals of autism, those people deserve special kudos because when it works, they work beautifully.

Case in point here; Cole.

Cole is the most amazing depiction of a young man with coded autism that’s never treated like a punchline or a side effect of his behavior. He’s the spirit of compassion— the living embodiment of kindness in the game. Cole is the way he is because of his past, where the Spirit finds Cole’s original form dying in a cell, and was so moved by his death he took his place to dedicate his life to helping people. And throughout Inquisition, on my first time playing it years ago, I just had to keep pausing the game during the idle companion conversations and go ‘THATS ME!’

The way he fidgets with his hands. The way his speech is so articulate and soft. The way he interacts with the other companions. The way he starts to break down when he’s in the Fade.

That was POWERFUL for me.

You gotta understand. In all my life as a young woman, I NEVER did such a thing. Because in my childhood there were ZERO characters with autism I could relate to! Not until Cole, and this wasn’t until 2019! Sure I’m a woman, but I related so much to him because of his struggles to understand what it meant to be in the mindset of someone who didn’t really understand how the world worked, or how to properly help people. As his title states, his compassion for aiding those who are hurting is infallible… and I’m not ashamed to admit his story arc made me tear up, and I CHOOSE FOR HIM TO ACCEPT HIS HUMAN SIDE IN GAME BECAUSE HE DESERVES TO BE HAPPY.

1: Brook and Pedro— One Piece. ( 1998- Current Day )

The only tie in this list but for good reason. It would feel wrong of me to only put one of these men on here, cuz both of them left a huge impact on me.

Brook saved my life as an impressionable twelve year old. Pedro made my heart break.

I’ve prattled on about my love for Brook previously, but he’s pretty important to me. This skeleton came at a time of my life where I’d been so severely depressed and bullied in middle school that I thought I had nothing to live for. Then I happened upon One Piece and my life was forever changed, but my perspective on the world also did when I got to Thriller Bark and was introduced to Brook.

At first glance you look at Brook and might see a silly, happy go lucky skeleton that sings and dances. But he’s so much more under the surface. He’s the first fictional character in media that made me weep for TWO HOURS.

Brook is a man who has SEEN SHIT. Brook is a man who had to endure so much loss when he was alive and when he came back from the dead. He lost his best friend. He watched his entire crew die. He was adrift at sea for fifty years, isolated from the world, almost going insane several times until the Straw Hats find him. He thinks he’s broken his oath to Laboon until he finds out his still waiting for him to come back.

Brook spends so much time being plagued by his trauma when we first see him that you forget he’s using his jokes as a way to cope, he’s trying so damn hard to keep living for the sake of the whale he befriended. He’s not just a musician with hellishly cool powers or a badass with a sword.

He’s an embodiment of a constant will of push forward.

Keep living, keep fighting, keep surviving and you’ll find your happiness waiting for you. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but soon, if you keep holding to hope, you’ll find your purpose in life and the people who will love you for who you are.

Brook— as crazy as it may sound— became my beacon of hope as a kid.

It’s because of this skeleton I’m still trying to be an artist.

As for Pedro, I met this character much later in life when I was catching up with the series ( I dropped Dressrosa ages ago at that point and I didn’t get back into the story until the end of Whole Cake ) and I was immediately interested in his character and his swaggering design!

Pedro is stoic, brave and cool headed, and he’s quite cautious of his surroundings because of terrible circumstances that have fallen on his shoulders. It’s not everyday you barely escape a Warlord with your life at the cost of a good friend of yours, and then YOU GET HALF YOUR LIFESPAN STOLEN FROM YOU ANYWAY.

Poor Pedro gets put through a wringer!

But as I continued to read the manga and saw how he took Carrot under his wing and made her his apprentice, how he fought so hard to defend Zou from Jack and his crew, his grit to see the Dawn of the Nee World, I was rooting for him to succeed! I wanted him to achieve his goals, I was so excited to see him kick Tomago’s ass! I was so excited when he teamed up with Brook!!

And then he sacrificed himself.

AND MY HEART SHATTERED.

It didn’t help that the anime made this moment all the more gut wrenching with the voice actors of Carrot and Pedro giving it their all and making me tear up like a baby.

His sacrifice impacted the others to keep moving forward and see their mission through to the end, and it gave Carrot her epic SULONG TRANSFORMATION LIKE HOLY SHIT DUDE!!

For the brief amount of time I got to spend rooting for Pedro, I really loved him! He shot right up there in my all-time favorite One Piece characters! Both Brook and Pedro are quite literally the ‘kings’ of this list… and my nerdy heart 🤣

Honorary Mentions:

Tech— Star Wars: The Bad Batch

Garrus Vakarian— Mass Effect trilogy.

Nightcrawler/ Kurt Wagner— X-Men

Ryoma Hoshi— Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Vander— Arcane

Cedric— Sofia the First

[raya-rhaenyra-ahsoka]

My Thoughts on Ep.06 - We Take a Zebra to Vegas, A rant (SPOILERS AHEAD!)

Actual Iris-messaging on screen! Good way to start the episode.

Yes, toss the drachma, SEAWEED BRAIN!

If you want the gods’ attention, you have to pay for it. Eh, not surprised since it’s kinda how children have to do to get their parents’ attention these days.

Wtf is Luke Castellan doing in Chiron’s office?

We know who stole the bolt. (Book-readers, we know who stole the bolt!)

*Calm expression* How do you know? and not *gasp* Really? Who is it? Very sus. 🤔

I do have a love-hate relationship with Clarisse La Rue as a character, but accusing her as the lightning thief? OH, HELL NO!

This convo:

Luke: Guys, what is this?

Percy and Annabeth: What?

Luke: When did you turn into an old married couple?

Percy and Annabeth:

Everyone in the fandom:

Luke channeling his big brother energy by teasing Annabeth, his little sister, to a boy her age. Annabeth’s going through that older-sibling-embarrassing-you-in-front-of-your-crush stage. It’s just typical sibling stuff.

Annabeth, externally: *pokerface*; Annabeth, internally: STOP EMBARRASSING ME!

Confirmed: Luke ships Percabeth. 🥰

Percy changing the subject because he’s also embarrassed.

Annabeth cuts off the connection before Percy can mention Hermes and tells him Luke and his dad aren’t on good terms.

Grover just figured out that the truck is driven by animal traffickers and insists that they free the animals is absolute peak characterization.

They’re like artists. Proceeds to release the animals in the middle of traffic.

How that convo basically went:

Percy: Idk about this, man.

Grover: Oh, they’ll be fine. I gave them the satyr’s blessing so they’ll be able to reach the wilderness safely.

Percy: Dude, I meant for these people.

Grover: Oh, uh, it’s fine. These people destroyed nature so idgaf about them. But the animals are fine, so let’s go!

Percy: So, which hotel is the Lotus Casino? It could be any building-

Annabeth: Duh! Obviously, it’s the one with the giant lotus blossom on it.

Percy: Seriously?

3 minors walking into a Casino hotel. Totally normal and not suspicious at all.

Dua Lipa’s Levitating instead of Lady Gaga’s Pokerface. I ain’t even mad.

WISE GIRL! WISE GIRL! WISE GIRL! HE CALLED HER WISE GIRL! 😍🥰

Of course, Annabeth insists Percy goes with her. Percabeth! 😍

Annabeth tells Percy about May Castellan, Luke’s Mom. It’s kinda early to know about this, but I’m not complaining. It just justifies Luke’s resentment of Hermes in the show.

Grover: *finds Augustus, a fellow Satyr* *Forgets everything*

Please tell me someone else heard some kid calling out BIANCA in the background. It's not just me, right? Please tell me it's the di Angelo siblings in the Lotus Casino. UNCLE RICK, WE NEED ANSWERS!

Percy explaining his nightmares and asks if they are real.

How that convo went:

Annabeth: Hmm, idk

Percy: How do you not know?

Annabeth: I may be smart but there are things I don’t know.

Percy: Wtf does that make me then?

Hermes/Alexander Hamilton not throwing away his shot. How does a bastard, son of a god and a Pleiad. Grow up to be a master trickster, according to Homer’s Illiad…

In Vegas you can be a new man...apparently, not.

Hermes: I’m not doing this again. You’re on your own, kids. Bye!

Annabeth: We’re friends of Luke’s.

Hermes: *surprise pikachu face* Damn it, let’s talk.

Hermes being an epitome of another crappy absent godly parent. Not surprised.

Annabeth doing what probably Luke taught her to do:

Annabeth: So I stole Hermes’ keys.

Percy: You what?

Annabeth: I turned invisible and picked his pocket.

Percy: You stole from the god of thieves?

Annabeth: Yes, I’m multi-talented. Lol

Percy: *lowkey falls in love*

The lotus fruit being pumped into the air is something new.

Percy: Grover got really old. 🤣

Percy and Annabeth chases Augustus around while Grover’s playing VR games.

Grover forgetting things because he was alone, while Percy and Annabeth remember because they have each other. PERCABETH!

Grover acting all carefree like a dentist just sedated him with nitrous oxide, while Percy and Annabeth are frantically looking for Hermes’ car will never be not funny.

TO THE DUMB KIDS. Yep, that note is for you.

Percy: So, who’s driving?

Percy and Annabeth turning to Grover because he’s the adult.

Grover: *still high* Idk man. Idk what we're even doing here.

Percy: Ok, I’ll do it. How hard can it be. If I killed the Minotaur, I can drive a cab.

Percy: How hard could this be? Proceeds to hit the car on several columns.

Percy getting angry because another car didn’t slow down and nearly hit them, then slamming the horn. Bruh, you’re inner New Yorker is showing and I’m here for it.

This scene: 😍😍😍

Me, watching this scene:

Percy and Annabeth smiling at each other then realizing the car’s scraping the wall. This shit cracked me up.

The truck nearly hitting them gave me a mini-heart attack. Good thing they’re in Hermes’ cab.

Percy half-nervous and half-excited to finally meet his Dad only to find a Nereid instead, giving him 4 teleportation pearls as a gift.

The title implying they took a Zebra to Vegas but we see no zebra? Come on! Anyway, that was a good episode. Can't wait for the Percy vs Ares showdown next week.

[inawickedlittletown]

Don't Make A Shadow Of Yourself (BuckTommy fic) - 8/12)

Summary: "A man who's pure of heart...may still become a wolf when the autumn moon is bright" - Howl (F+TM)

BuckTommy Werewolf AU. Throughout most of his adult life, Tommy had dealt with what he was. The duality of being a man and also an animal…a beast. Werewolves weren’t born, they were made. 

Words: 3,515

Read on Ao3

Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three

Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

-

Chapter Eight

Days later, Tommy was still a little dazed by his date with Evan. After dinner, they went to the movies. They’d wound up at one of those theaters that showed both the new releases and then older stuff. Tommy hadn’t looked up what was playing before the date, figuring that Evan could make the choice. So, when Tommy spotted You’ve Got Mail as an option, he almost let himself be disappointed that they probably wouldn’t be watching that, but then that was what Evan got them tickets for without even saying anything to him. 

“What?” Evan asked while they stood in line for popcorn. 

“I just — why did you pick that movie?” 

“Tom Hanks,” Evan said. “Well, and you told me you like romcoms. Not to mention it starts in fifteen minutes.” 

Tommy could have kissed him, especially because he’d noticed that three other movies were also starting around the same time. One of the Lord of the Rings movies, Inception, and a Marvel movie. Any of those would have been easy picks for Evan, but he’d gone with the romantic comedy all because of Tommy. 

Evan was just amazing and Tommy was replaying the way the date ended pretty much all the time in his head because it had ended with one of the best kisses that Tommy had ever had. Evan had just gone for it, his enthusiasm taking over and making the kiss just on the side of rough and deep and like Evan was making his best effort to devour Tommy entirely. To leave his mark behind. Tommy couldn’t wait to kiss him again. To see him again. 

If he’d thought that they texted constantly before, it increased after their date. 

Evan texted him all throughout his day out with his sister at the florist complete with pictures of the flowers they were considering. Evan texted him on his downtime on shift. Thoughts about a podcast episode that Tommy had told him to listen to, random facts that almost came out of nowhere. They didn’t talk about their date or the kisses they had shared so far, but Evan was flirty even over text and Tommy couldn’t help but flirt back. 

It was almost a whole week before Tommy got to see him again, but it was because the 118 was getting together at Hen and Karen’s house and somehow they decided to include Tommy. 

He arrived with a berry topped cheesecake in hand even though Hen had told him he didn’t need to bring anything. Karen opened the door. 

“Hey, come on in,” she said warmly. “Everyone’s outside. Buck hasn’t been cajoled into shifting yet, but it will happen with time so that’s always fun to watch.” 

Tommy didn’t know Karen all that well. He remembered meeting her back when he was still at the 118 and thinking that Hen had done well for herself. He knew Howie had been responsible for them getting together and — come to think of it — he was sort of responsible for him meeting Evan. 

Karen led him through the house. It was cozy and lived in. A family home. 

Athena and Hen were laughing at a table, the third chair seemingly Karen’s and a fourth pushed in. Bobby was once more behind the grill, apron on. His eyes searched for Evan, but he didn’t spot him. 

“Tommy’s here,” Karen announced. 

He got a chorus of hello’s. Tommy smiled and waved at everyone. 

“Where should I put this?” 

“Oh, right here is fine,” Hen said. 

He moved towards the table and Hen snatched the cheesecake from him and then motioned for him to take the fourth chair at the table. 

“Come sit with us. We can catch up.” 

“Can I get you a drink?” Karen offered. 

“Uh…just a beer is fine,” Tommy said. 

Karen smiled easily. “Coming right up.” 

They brought him right into their conversation, apparently a discussion about Evan’s attempts at getting Chim to allow him to plan a bachelor’s party for him. 

“Chim doesn’t want it, Athena,” Hen said. 

“I think Buck is just trying to show how much he appreciates Chim. Would it be so bad?” Athena asked. 

Hen let out a sigh. “It’s just adding one more thing that he doesn’t want.” 

“What does that mean?” Karen asked after placing Tommy’s beer in front of him and taking the remaining chair. 

“Well, the wedding was supposed to be small and now it’s become this whole thing,” Hen said. 

“Why is that?” Tommy asked. 

“Maddie’s parents.” 

Which meant Evan’s parents too. Evan had never once talked about or mentioned them, not that Tommy ever went into his own family. 

“What about them?” Tommy asked. 

“They offered to pay for the wedding,” Karen explained. “And since any wedding is gonna get expensive, Chim and Maddie decided to let them.”

“Things escalated from there,” Athena offered and from the way that her eyebrows raised Tommy could tell it hadn’t been in a good way. 

“Now,” Hen said, “the wedding is this big event. Maddie’s parents have invited some family friends and the guest list has gotten bigger than what either Maddie or Chim wanted. It’s been a bit stressful for them both.” 

“And now Buck wants to throw a bachelor’s party,” Karen said. “Well, maybe it won’t be a bad thing. What do you think, Tommy?” 

Tommy felt put on the spot. He ran a finger over the condensation on the beer bottle. “I guess if Howie is really opposed. But it could also be nice if the party isn’t something wild and crazy.” 

Hen hummed in response. 

“It also sounds like Evan is just trying to show Howie how much he welcomes him into the family,” Tommy added. 

The conversation shifted after that. Tommy was distracted, when he finally saw Evan. He seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with his sister. A serious one going by the way that they both looked more than a little agitated. 

“What’s going on over there?” Hen asked. 

“I don’t know,” Athena said. 

Tommy felt the strange pull to go to Evan and soothe him. It felt like the wolf wanting to break through. Instinct that didn’t make sense to Tommy in any way. He forced himself to stay put as Karen began discussing the newest thing at her job. 

“And how’s it been flying for air support?” Karen directed at him. 

“I love it,” Tommy said. 

“He’s pretty great at it too,” Hen added. 

Tommy looked down. “I do alright.” 

“Don’t sell yourself short, Kinard.” 

He told them a few stories from work and couldn’t deny how good it felt to be around people that understood him and knew a big part of him. Karen even asked about how he dealt with being a Werewolf and working air support. 

Athena in particular got a kick out of Tommy admitting that he pretended he was very superstitious about full moons. 

“That’s a new one. You’ll have to tell Bobby about that,” Hen said. 

“How, uh, how did you all find out about Buck?”

Buck had never told him, he realized, but he remembered how close Hen and Chim were by the time he left and how different things had started to seem when Bobby arrived, but it certainly hadn’t been like it was now. 

“He didn’t keep it hidden for long,” Hen said and she explained about the day she found out. 

“Of course it was to help someone out,” Tommy said. 

Hen nodded with a smile. “That’s our Buckaroo.” 

—

“No,” Buck said, shaking his head. “No. Maddie, tell them they can’t come a week early.” 

Maddie sighed. “It’s not like they’re going to listen to me. You know them, Buck. They weren’t asking as much as letting me know they were coming early.” 

“And where are they staying?” Buck asked. 

When Maddie had gotten the call, Buck had assumed it was something to do with the wedding. He hadn’t noticed it at first, the stress that Maddie was under. He’d known she was busy with wedding planning and to him it had just seemed like something good and happy. Maddie and Chim were finally getting married. 

Of course, it wasn’t as simple as that. Not when their parents got involved. 

After leaving home all those years ago, Buck hadn’t looked back. It went both ways in the sense that his parents never tried to reach out to him. Later he learned from Maddie that they had asked her if she knew about where he was and upon confirmation that Maddie knew he’d gone they’d just left it at that. Buck couldn’t pretend that it hadn’t hurt to know they didn’t care. It had made it easier to leave them behind, though. 

After he was bitten, that was when he was absolutely sure that he wouldn’t be talking to his parents any time soon. He didn’t even tell Maddie about his lycanthropy until she came out to California. It had been a real shock to her, but it wasn’t something that Buck was willing to hide when Maddie was right there in front of him. 

“Where are they staying, Maddie?” Buck asked. 

“I offered them the guest room at my house,” Maddie said. “I only thought they’d be here for the weekend.” 

Buck let out a breath. In truth he had no problem with his parents being around. He’d done alright the last time they came out, granted he’d been in a coma for a part of it. Still, he and Maddie had planned that out meticulously so they’d be gone before the full moon. It was the same reason that Maddie had picked out the day she did for the wedding, it was four days after the full moon which meant that if their parents were arriving a week beforehand they’d be there during the full moon. 

“Look, you’ll just have to be careful,” Maddie said. “I’ll tell them you’re working and keep them occupied with the wedding and Jee.” 

Buck let out a breath. “Yeah and then I’ll never hear the end of how I was so unhelpful during my own sister’s wedding.” 

Maddie looked frustrated. Annoyed with him even and he hated that, but he also knew that he was right and that things might go even worse. When it came down to it, Buck was the thing their parents hunted and they would hate him if they ever found out he was a Werewolf. A part of him even wondered if they might try to kill him. 

“I know you’re worried,” Maddie said. “And I’m sorry I’m bringing them back here again.” 

Buck sighed. He pulled her into a hug. “Just…I know you’re stressed but this will go so much worse if they figure out what I am. Even worse if they find out about Eddie. About Tommy.”

That made him tense up. What would they do to them…but no, Buck would keep his best friend and his — well, whatever he and Tommy were — he would keep them away from the Buckleys no matter what it took. 

“I know,” Maddie said. “I know. But you know we won’t let them do anything to any of you.”

He hugged Maddie and he watched her go to where Chim was sitting on a blanket on the grass with Jee and her toys. He could tell that Maddie was filling him in from the way that Chim tensed. The wedding was supposed to be happy and one of the best days for Maddie and Chim and it was slowly becoming something else instead. Buck didn’t want to add to the stress.

Walking towards Bobby, he spotted Tommy at the table. He hadn’t even known that he’d got there and his breath caught in his throat. Something inside him unfurled and he just…he let go because Tommy was just a few feet from him and already looking at him. Buck had never felt the way he felt about Tommy, not for anyone. 

“Buck? Are you alright?” Bobby asked. 

Buck turned to him at once. “I’m — yeah, I’m…turns out my parents are getting here earlier than we planned. They’ll be here during the full moon.” 

“They’re not going to find out, Buck,” Bobby said. “We’ll do anything we can to prevent that.” 

“I know,” Buck said. “I know. It’s just…” he trailed off. 

Bobby reached out, touching his shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Buck.”

He really really hoped so.

—

“What’s wrong?” Tommy didn’t get to ask until it was almost fully dark out. 

The whole day, he and Evan had wound up with other people between them. Tommy was happy to feel so included and to have more than just Evan as a reason to be there, but it almost felt like anytime he and Evan would get close someone would come along to start talking to one or both of them. 

“Wrong?” Evan asked. 

“Evan, something is bothering you.” 

Evan gave a short nod. “Turns out mine and Maddie’s parents are coming to stay the week before the wedding.”

Having gotten the sense that there was something up with Evan’s parents and going by this reaction, Tommy was even more sure there was something going on there that he didn’t know about. 

“Are you not okay with that?”

Evan chuckled. “Oh, I am definitely not okay with it. Maddie has a better relationship with them and they’re trying. You know, they helped them with the downpayment on the house and now they’re paying for the wedding, it’s all guilt money but it’s meant well.”

“And where do you fit in?” Tommy asked. 

“I fit in here,” Evan said. “With everyone here. There are some things that you can’t come back from.”

Maybe Evan wasn’t giving him a full detailed explanation, but Tommy understood. He understood better than most, so when he reached for Evan’s hand and Evan grasped it, he hoped to convey that understanding. Families were complicated. He hadn’t spoken to his in years. 

“We tried to plan it out so we could avoid the full moon,” Evan said. “Now they’ll be here during.” 

“They don’t know you’re a Werewolf,” Tommy said. 

Evan gave a nod. “I’m hoping they’ll never know.” And then he got really serious. He turned to stand directly in front of Tommy and grabbed his other hand. “Tommy, my parents…they can never know any of us are Werewolves.”

There was something there that Evan seemed to want to convey. He actually sounded kind of scared, which Tommy didn’t ever want to see on Evan again. 

“What’s…what’s going on, Evan?” 

Eddie, who had been convinced to shift into his wolf came running at them all of a sudden, bumping into Evan’s side and sending him right into Tommy, who grabbed hold of Evan. Evan leaned into him and fixed his arms to rest around Tommy’s waist and Eddie circled them, tail hitting their legs before he gave a wuff and left. 

“I think that’s Eddie asking why we’re both still on two legs,” Tommy said. 

Evan was still in his arms and Tommy pulled him in closer. Evan didn’t seem to mind. 

“Can I tell you later?” Evan asked. “It’s just—”

“Yes, Evan. Of course.”

He could feel the way that Evan relaxed and that was maybe concerning on its own. 

“Parents are complicated,” he said. “I get that. Are you gonna join Eddie?” 

“Only if you do it too?” Evan asked, smiling at him with just a touch of playfulness. 

In Tommy’s opinion, it was a bad idea to have three Werewolves in someone’s backyard, especially one that wasn’t all that big, but Evan was looking at him with so much hope that Tommy couldn’t have said no. He followed Evan to a spot around the house and they did quick work of their clothes. They walked out side by side and Tommy hadn’t been expecting that everyone was waiting for them. It made him self conscious and like he should just shift right back to human. 

Evan bumped his shoulder into his and when Hen approached, Evan put himself between them and Tommy watched as Hen pet Evan’s head and down his back. 

“Tommy,” she said, “you make a beautiful wolf.” 

He inched closer and her hand was hesitant when she touched him, but her fingers tangled in his fur gently and he could smell how happy and pleased she was. Howie approached them, Jee in his arms. Tommy had seen Evan and Eddie with the kids, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t scared about interacting with them himself, especially Jee who was the youngest and smallest. But Howie brought her closer and Tommy held himself still as her little hands touched him, patting him. Her giggles and how she tried to wrap her tiny arms around him melted his heart. 

Tommy met all of them again as a wolf. Maddie pet his head and scratched his ears. Christopher threw his arms around Tommy’s neck and Karen ran her fingers through his fur, fixing anything that had gotten rumpled. They all smelled wonderful and welcoming, but Evan’s scent was what Tommy gravitated towards. 

He stuck by him, couldn’t help but want to be near Evan. Evan seemed to feel the same. 

Tommy had no idea how long they ran around as wolves. He’d never been petted or had so many different hands in his fur. He hadn’t known how good it would feel or how it would make him feel like he actually belonged there. He didn’t want to think of them as pack, they weren’t there yet, but the possibility was there. The acceptance was there. 

“Come over?” Evan asked when they were both getting re-dressed. 

Tommy slipped his shirt on and turned to find Evan leaning against the side of Hen and Karen’s house. 

He looked amazing. Hair mussed, his shirt a little wonky. Tommy crossed the distance between them and Evan just waited for him, head tilted up like he was waiting to see what Tommy would do. Tommy leaned in towards him, pressed his hands on the house on either side of Evan and gave Evan just about enough time to push him away before he kissed him. Evan kissed back at once, drew him in closer with hands that landed on Tommy’s hips. 

The kiss was hungry, it was passionate. Tommy could keep kissing him forever if he were allowed. 

The sound of something falling tore them apart and they turned to find Eddie. He was only in jeans, shirt held to his chest bunched up. His shoes were what had tumbled out of his arms.

“Sorry,” Eddie said. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Then, he picked up his shoes and backed away, but he looked way too pleased with himself.

When Tommy looked back at Evan, he was leaning back against the house, but when their eyes met he let out a laugh and then his arms were around Tommy and his face was pressed to the space between Tommy’s neck and shoulder, still laughing. 

“Evan, we should go out there,” Tommy said. 

“I’ve been trying to find a way to tell them. But that…that works.” 

Evan laughed again and Tommy joined him. They hadn’t had that discussion. They hadn’t really talked about anything because they had kissed a few times and gone on a single date and been too busy to do more than flirt over text. 

“Eddie isn’t going back there to tell everyone is he?” Tommy asked. 

“He won’t,” Evan said. “He was just going to be the hardest to tell. Might give me some grief, but I’m glad he knows.”

—

Buck didn’t hate that Eddie found out by seeing him and Tommy kissing. He just mostly thought it was funny and that it made things easier for him. It eased the conversation that he and Eddie would have about it later. When he and Tommy finally did get back, Eddie met his eyes only to shake his head and look away. Hen raised an eyebrow in his direction and there was a moment when Buck thought that maybe she knew what was going on too. Considering how he’d called her before the first date, there was more than enough reason for him to think Hen definitely could put it together. 

They all headed out around the same time, picking up after themselves so it wouldn’t all be up to Hen and Karen. 

Eddie walked out with him and Tommy. Chris walking just ahead of them. 

“I didn’t want to see it, but I approve,” Eddie said before he went to help Chris get into the car. 

“Oh. I’m — it’s new.” 

Eddie chuckled. “I figured, though I should have seen it coming. See you at work?” 

“Yeah. See you. Bye, Chris!” 

Chris waved at him. 

When he got back to Tommy, he grabbed his hand. Their fingers linked together and Buck loved the way their hands fit. He loved that Tommy’s hand was bigger than his, but that they still managed to fit together. Tommy pulled him towards him and then in the direction of Buck’s Jeep.

[teablogreal]

Code Geass: Roze of the Recapture Episode 1 thoughts

Okay so like, although I wasn't big on Akito the Exiled or the creative choices made with the compilation films, I was actually really looking forwards to this one. Unlike most people, I genuinely don't mind them doing more with Code Geass. Like we have the og anime just there, its out and people can watch it (except they cant because r2 is jailed on crunchyroll auughhhhh). They even made it clear that the new Code Geass stuff from Akito onwards are in their own continuity. Genuinely I don't mind them just expanding more on their already established concepts, though I do have a preference for when they do newer things with them. So like, yeah. Roze of the Recapture is my favorite thing to come from this series in a good while.

So for those who don't know, Roze of the Recapture is a sequel not to the original series, but instead the compilation films that recapped the original series with minor changes to the events that took place in there. It also follows up on the corresponding movie that conveyed what happened afterwards, but basically all you need to know is that after Resurrection, we have a 5 year timeskip. There is a new cast of characters who so far don't tread over where the original cast stood, however they do pay homage and parallel some of the characters from the original series. Honestly, I think this is the only part that has me worried, as I'd love to see them play around more with new concepts. However I feel like after the end of the first episode, those concerns are pretty much quelled.

Okay so I'm not gonna skirt around the spoilers any further beyond this point.

Okay. I want to talk about that fucking twist??? Because like??????????? I did not fucking see that one coming but its such a fucking great way differentiate your protagonist from just being lelouch again while also playing with parallels. We effectively have somebody who's a figure of importance who is thought to be dead, however lives on to take revenge on Britannia as they have wronged this person. Key difference is that our character kinda strays away from this idea. I know a lot of people here are referring to Roze/Sakuya as our first female protag for a code geass anime and I'm sure thats probably what they're going for. However my brain just sees Sakuya being legally declared dead and then proceeding to taking the identity of not an entirely different girl, but rather this whimsical boy twink named Roze. Idk, kinda transmasc swag but also I absolutely love how we've all been played for fools prior to release. Like all the marketing had led us to believe this was going to be a story about two brothers doing shit but WOW did they have everybody fooled (including me). A shame that the trailers for the later movies kinda spoil this twist but I will fight to keep this a secret as much as possible from my friends until I get them to watch this.

Roze as a whole is a lot of fun as a character, big twist aside. I love how he feels a lot more like a trickster compared to Lelouch. Even though Lelouch had a bit of emphasis on him playing with people (the orange incident comes to mind), Roze steps that up with his geass. I'm so glad that its not just Lelouch's geass again. They do something fun with it, like conceptually after thinking about it for a while its actually crueler than Lelouch's geass. Theoretically Roze could force you into doing something without brainwashing you, you could do those things while being entirely conscious. If you say no? Then whatever you're told to do otherwise happens no matter what. I think thats just insane, it really opens the doors for so many things to be done with it in the same way that we saw Lelouch's geass being used to torment Suzaku.

Anyways I think its really funny how people are realizing this one has Ichiro Okouchi coming back to write for it not through the writing returning to its unsubtle "no shits given" attitude from the original series, but by them having yet another chess game that failed to understand the rules of chess. Its a tradition at this point.

[sage-nebula]

I'm about to start episode 15 of the Horizons anime (I was really behind), and I'd just like to say once again that the PokéAni fans that refused to watch it just because it didn't have Ash and/or the TRio in it are really, really missing out.

Aside from having gorgeous animation, music, and a fresh premise, the cast of characters in Horizons is really solid. The adults of the Rising Volt Tacklers crew (Friede, Orla, Mollie, Murdock, and Landau) are all interesting and are around just enough so that the kids are safe, but that the stakes are still raised high enough so that it's believable when the kids are in danger. Because the stakes in Horizons are genuine stakes; we are shown from the get-go that the primary antagonists, the Explorers, are not just goofy guys that can be trifled with, and they haven't come up with something they want to steal on the spot after a chance encounter, either. They are genuine threats that, at least at the point I'm watching, really are too strong for Liko and Roy to handle on their own, and so they need Friede and the rest of the RVT to help them train and become stronger. This doesn't mean that Liko and Roy are helpless and can't do anything -- they do quite a lot on their own! -- but there are stakes in the ongoing plot in this anime (and there is an ongoing, narrative plot!), and the adult crew are around just enough to help out when things get dicey for the kids, who are newbie trainers.

Liko is a really refreshing protagonist; she has a lot to learn about the world still and so is curious and ready to see and experience new things, but she's also cautious and unsure of herself and her place at first, which leads to her getting lost in her own thoughts and tripped up by her own anxiety at times. But we get to see her grow; she comes out of her shell a little more episode by episode, and seeing that marked character growth is wonderful to watch. Plus, as the primary protagonist, she's central to the ongoing narrative plot; the pendant that she inherited from her grandmother is what the Explorers are after, and she takes an active role in wanting to solve its mystery, taking the step herself to not be just a damsel needing to be protected by the RVT, but instead being the heroine of her own story (something she lampshades in an early episode lmao). She has a concrete motivation for being on this journey and stake in the plot. Liko is great!

And for everyone I've seen who says, "I miss Ash," well . . . Roy's your boy! Don't get me wrong, Roy is very much his own character and person; but Roy has a lot of the same personality beats that Ash did in the later sagas (you know, when they'd truly decided to throw out all semblance of who Ash was when he was originally conceived as a character to instead be who they wanted him to be vis-a-vis what type of shounen protagonist is popular nowadays). He's extremely energetic, loves pokémon and gets along with them readily, and is enthusiastic about seeing new places. Except this wasn't just an Ash copy-paste, because we're given concrete reasons for this, too; Roy grew up on a remote island near-ish Kanto, and never left that island for his entire life. He was always told fantastical stories about faraway adventures, but never got to experience them for himself, instead attending remote schools and spending his days otherwise playing with wild pokémon in the forests on his island. In fact, Roy grew up on one story in particular: the story of an ancient adventure who journeyed with six pokémon known as the Six Heroes, including a shiny Rayquaza, to the ends of the world. And then Roy finds an ancient pokéball containing that very Rayquaza, releases it on accident, and that gives him the motivation to join the RVT so that he can chase the Rayquaza and finally set off on a journey of his own, to solve the mystery of the ancient pokéballs and shiny Rayquaza. So again, it's a unique motivation and stake in the plot! While still, also, being a character type you're likely to enjoy, if you enjoyed the Ash who acted like a rockruff in order to train his rockruff. (Because Roy? Jumped off a rock over and over to try to teach a wattrel how to fly.)

The Horizons anime has an ongoing narrative plot that the main characters are actively engaged in and have a reason to pursue. (Because I forgot to mention, but Liko's pendant responds to Roy's ancient pokéball.) They're brand new, unique characters whose personalities are informed by their background and who grow as the episodes progress, because even the episodes that are a bit more slice of life are still informing them as characters and are progressing their characters forward. The ongoing plot is never forgotten, nor is the threat; in an episode where the crew is shopping, a merchant off-handedly mentions Amethio and his sidekicks (they're the main three Explorers that the RVT have faced so far), and Friede picked up the reference and pounced on the potential lead on what their enemies are up to, and so on. You fully believe that the adult crew of the RVT has known each other forever, and they're so warm and kind to Liko and Roy when they join the crew. Not to mention Dot, Murdock's niece, who is also absolutely delightful and I can't wait to see more of her.

All in all, I cannot stress this enough, if there are any fans of the Ash anime that still haven't checked out Horizons because they feel it won't be the same . . . well, it's not the same. But it's really, really, REALLY good. And you're really missing out on something great if you continue to pass it up.

[anarchic-miscellany]

Gundam SEED: A Dubbing Journey

More fun physical media tales! "Gundam SEED"

It's not the best Gundam series, but it's good fun and the first iteration of "Gundam" which I watched. Hence I have a sense of nostalgia for it, despite its flaws (looking at you 48 episode length...).

Anime is already a fairly niche field, despite the hilarious jokes and mainstream creep us filthy degenerates are making into modern society. The age old "debate" I guess, between those of us who have never seen the sun, seems to be between watching in the original language with subtitles, or watching it dubbed.

My personal thoughts go towards the dub. Aside from the fact that there are dozens and dozens of brilliant actors in this field who make the material fantastic and more accessible (Tara Platt, Yuri Lowenthal, Colleen Clinkenbeard, my homie Kirk Thornton, Steve Blum, Michelle Ruff, Wendee Lee, Kari Wahlgren, Todd Haberkon, Joel McDonald, so, so, so, so many others) to simply ignore the dub through snobbery is to disregard the hours and hours of effort and work put in by hard working, under-appreciated actors across the field. Voice actors are my jam.

So, "Gundam SEED" came out in 2002/2003 but was dubbed by the Ocean Group with Bandai in 2004, released by Beez on DVD. It's a good dub: No "Baccano!" or "Cowboy Bebop" but then again, what is? There are some great actors in this (Andrew Drummond's brother Brian plays the best character: Andrew Waltfeld THE DESERT TIGER, Lisa Ann Beley is the ship's captain, Trevor Devall from "Cowboy Bebop" and "Team America" as Mu La Flaga, Samuel Vincent as one of the two leads and, for some god-damned reason Brad "Light Yagami" Swaile as one of the best characters) as well as some lesser known names in the industry but also great in their parts. Chantal Strand is a standout as Lacus Clyne.

The dub was an excellent work, and my first exposure to the series, it's great.

The series was released on DVD, but had a rather short run: the always excellent Beez released it in the ever delightful format of five episodes per disc and one disc per box, their usual M.O.

I am going somewhere with this, bear with me.

So far so good.

In 2014 the series was re-released in HD, fine. Excellent! More of Beez's back catalogue coming out again and to the forefront is always a good thing.

However.

The dub was redone.

The actors, for the most part, were completely replaced from the top down. Gone were Matt Hill and Samuel Vincent as Kira and Athrun, gone were Drummond and Swaile. Everybody has been changed, right down to the lesser known actors playing some major parts in the series.

And they are the people who I want to talk about.

Bill Switzer, Sarah Johns and Lisa Ann Beley are not ever going to be household names, nor ever known truly amongst the clique-like cult who follow weaboo shit. But I am going to focus on these three people for a moment.

Respectively, in the Ocean Dub, they play Sai Argyle, Lt. Badgiruel and Captain Murrue Ramius, all fairly major characters in the series.

And they were replaced.

Bye, so long, farewell, hope that you got something out of the experience.

This isn't about rambling about how "the new dub sucks" or "Grrrr, change is bad" (well, maybe the latter a little) because, in all honesty, I haven't watched it. Heck, maybe it's fantastic!

But on a more philosophical level, I guess, consider this:

Mr Switzer, Ms Johns and Ms Beley have put a lot of work, time and effort into those parts, they're actors underappreciated, underpaid and glossed over in an already niche field, and then the one big piece of art they get to do, the one big part they have to be remembered and loved, is forgotten, soon to be washed away by the new dub. Sounds dramatic, sure, but now in future should Gundam SEED be sought out by people hoping to catch up on Gundam (though, why you'd start with "Gundam SEED" like a moron when the fantabulously gay "Gundam Wing" exists I shall never know) or just picked up and watched it's more likely that one will watch the remastered dub, and Mr Switzer and co will be banished and forgotten by history.

I guess what I wanted to say was simple:

Remember forgotten art, remember obscure actors, writers, producers and the like. All art has meaning, be it terrible, great or forgotten. Every piece of art has effort and love put into it by some people.

Don't let Bill Switzer and Sarah Johns and Lisa Ann Beley be mere forgotten footnotes.

Buy a DVD of something obscure and forgotten. Remember the effort put into it.

[berrychanx]

Tokyo Mew Mew New Ep 18 Toughts

Again this episode left me without words, i don’t know how or where to start. Guess I’ll start by saying what i liked the most

Number one gotta be kid Ryou playing scientist in his dad lab. not that the original depection of him was bad but this time I feel like he’s really into science, his father steps, the mew project everything

The original japanese subs said UMA which stands for Unidentified Mysterious Animal

ACTUAL SCIENCE AND UMA DNA LET’S GOOOOOO

From Keiichiro biography card,

this confirms his adoptation into the Shirogane family

The foreshadowing

Ryo’s father acknolodging his a must better scientist and researcher than him

Knowing the burdens Ryou will have if he continues the follow his foosteps

Aoyama nightmares continue, everything is under this blueish grey atmosphere, Darkness and ugly thoughts are consuming his mind

The Chimeras

They appeared cause Ryou was researching UMA? Or where the aliens already stablished on Earth? I hope we get answers to this

They have a gem, so it’s probably they were infused with an alien parasite by either the aliens or whatever Ryou was researching had escaped the lab

Family

Even though the shirogane family interaction with Keiichiro was short, i loved it, somehow I felt like he was a cared for member of their family and because of that the outcome was more emotional.

THANKS GOD, NEW DIDN’T MADE IT LOOK LIKE A SUICIDE LIKE IN THE MANGA OR A RANDOM FIRE STARTING LIKE IN THE ORIGINAL. She tried ... :( Mew Project The rest develops like in the manga and the original with Ryou having memorized everything but this time we get a glimpse into the research

They went to every spot that had the RDA they needed for research, based. We also see this two characters growing

I never about this because how cat Ryou looks in the original,but IS HE SUPPOSED TO BE A BLUE RUSSIAN?

Having Ichigo mention us, the mews, just  confirms what I’ve been saying, he cares for all the same way

A bit of character development on Ichigo side, she’s feeling guilty for the way she treats him, despite him caring for their safety even if its his fault that they’re in this situation, what a loop.

I love that they keep focusing on green enviromental solutions, more care for the enviroment, animals, plants, etc like we’d seen at the end of every TMM volume with WWF, this is the basic idea of TMM.

Nice plot idea for the aliens

It’s still a enemy of the day kinda of plot but with some truth behind its actions I LOVE IT

Can confirm this, I live near a river (Rio Tejo) and since the waters are more clean now every year we get visits from a dolphin family (will share videos later)

Confrontations

More Pie x Lettuce confrontation, YES YES YES, let’s develop this please, I want them to have a debate with each other

Lettuce stepping up, Ryou worried with her safety,, all it took was for her to stand firm in her belives, she was the best Mew for the job and she belives she can handle it then she’ll try no matter what, I know its hard to see but when Ryou’s looking at the red sea we can see a white thing moving, its Lettuce and Masha being swept away, that’s why Ryou says this line

I love how she relied on everyone trusting her to find the courage to keep going.

Preverance wins

The rainbow detail, thanks to the (mew) aqua and being sunny :’)

MVP, and the day is saved

Having the Nlue Knight not wanting Ichigo to fight anymore and only protecting her keeps following like the manga, I’ll share my thoughts when the reveal episode is released, to avoid spoilers for non-manga readers.

I loved Ryou’s reaction, as far as they all know, he can’t be trusted, he might be a manipulative character. Altough..... this leave little space to Ichigo wondering his identidy, because RYOU AND KEIICHIRO ARE RIGHT THERE

<3, Ichigo seeing her teammates are evolving, its so sweet

Aoyama ruining the mood XD but after what he witnessned on TV is normal for him to think that way.

I intreperted Ichigo line to what Aoyama said before, she’s not wondering about her relationship with him she said she’s happy being near him, she’s wondering about the planet’s conditions

This reverts back to episode 1, what can she do to protect the planet

I wonder what kind of approach will TMMN take to make Ichigo mind at ease, will it end with the final Mew Aqua, will it continue and develop to A La Mode? If she decides to follow alongside Aoyama’s dream, I hope they give us  a glimpse into A La Mode story.

[thelador-s-mclargehuge]

Episode 1 Behind The Scenes!

Welcome to Amateur Hour! I mean this whole series is amateur hour, but stating out was REALLY amateur hour. So most of the way our videos worked is we would do a weekly video (Either podcast or Over The Shoulder game review). And I’d release a Funny Joke Video every two weeks. I was given Carte Blanch over my videos and basically just kinda did them on my own. So everything I did was suuuper rudimentary My scripts weren’t formated very well, there were tons of spelling errors, stuff I’d cut out I’d leave in the document and just remember I cut it out. But all this worked just fine because I was the only one looking at them.

And the way I’d send people their lines was I would *send* people their lines over discord and have them send me back an audio file that they’d recorded. I didn’t even really do any audio directing aside from a couple of notes. I might have directed Dalsson and TheDragonLover (heretofore referred to as Dergo), but that was it.

For anyone who might want to make a narrative series, uh… don’t do this with your main cast. If you have a guest star who knows what their doing and might not be comfortable being directed in a discord call with a stranger, that’s fine. But for everyone else you’ll just end up playing phone tag for a a couple of VA lines that won’t be nearly as good if you just set the people down in a call and told them what kinda performance you want them to give. A thing that, And I cannot stress this enough, they will be fine with you doing and in fact would much prefer this to the alternative.

And if you sit multiple people down in the call and do their voice lines in one day, that’s just way better! Your actors will be more comfortable with more friends around, and after the session is over, you have multiple scenes worth of voice lines to work with! It’s one of those “We do this thing like this for a reason.” kinda deals.

But ultimately a lot of the What Worked for those videos I’d put out every two weeks, and the video essays, did not really work here. But anyway lets look at the actual video.

The like first scene you can see how the cutting around is really off. That’s because the footage of me just standing there lasted, like, 3 seconds and I had a minute of dialogue, so I HAD to keep cutting if I wanted to use that footage. I should have just started a new save and rerecorded it but… again amateur hour.

But. The first joke here I think is really good. I have a lot of thoughts about it, so I’m going to make it a separate thread. There’s quite a bit going on there and I’m really proud of it.

But the beginning of the video, and the beginning of the series as a whole, is just kinda me moving from bit to bit like I did in the previous Joke Videos. These started out as those with a tiny bit more structure.

The Conversation with Elderbug here is what got Lordfrezon to get a better mic. Like this video convinced the man to get a better microphone. But you’ll notice Elderbugs mouth keeps moving when he’s not taking. I didn’t start putting a still picture over the talking characters yet

The quirrel scene is probably the best put together in the entire video. The editing is sharp. and I realized I could like, just reverse the video of him looking at the Black Egg to make it a little more dynamic.

But most of the dynamic-ness of these scenes comes down to me zooming in and out of characters faces for emphasis. The footage I’m working with is a character with a one second animation loop and another character staring up at them. So I gotta do a lot of cuts and zooms to make it look like a conversation with multiple emotions in it is happening. And I already had a pretty good grasp of that thanks to the joke videos! Say what you will about youtube video editing, but it sure teaches you how powerful quick cutting for emphasis is!

This was also before I started putting Reverb on every scene that takes place in a tunnel… which most of them do, and if there’s one thing I love, love, love playing with, it’s reverb. Sound design is my passion tbh. It is also the only thing I have any formal training in! I was taught it by a bunch of 80s rockers who showed me how to use an old analog soundboard for live mixing! And I’ve always held to the idea that 75% of video editing is sound editing, and 95% of that sound editing is shit no one would notice unless it wasn’t there.

There a little after the Quirrel scene I got *extremely lucky* and found a sign mender. Which is a really rare event. Just immediately out of the gate I see that man. I’d never seen him before I was getting footage for the video and he blessed me with his presence like an angel. Thank you Sign Mender! You gave me a great bit about property destruction!

The Cornifer scene is firstly, a great look into how a voice role evolves over time, and secondly, a great exemplification of what I started this with. Just Direct Your VA’s. You’ll notice how Saine’s performance on his first line here are worse than any of the other ones he’s given. He didn’t know what I wanted. And if I would have simply directed him, that wouldn’t be a problem!

He did, however get to delever the funniest lines of the video. And he did a great job with those! And, another thing to Saine’s credit is he does a fantastic job as Iselda! Man eats up that whole scene! Just great shit there!

Sly’s change is less in that the voice evolved as time went on and more I changed the character. I focused more on the Shopkeeper aspect rather than the teacher aspect as his Central Thing, and ultimately I think that was the best choice. Surly Shopkeeper who can “Show You Da Ropes” Is always a great character and he’s a lot of fun to write. Also all the thing’s Sly says about ‘God’ put me in a bit of a bind because “Okay, so why the hell does this guy know about The Radiance… a thing that a lot of people were lied to about for decades?” So I had to come up with some stuff for that. But that’s the kind of problem I love solving. Because it goes from “Weird plot hole” to “Ooh new character aspect! let’s give this man some depth!

Dergo’s performance as Myla is the best one in the video. And it’s great that’s the case too, because of how much *that* kicks off a lot of the story. But, yeah 10/10 no notes. Dergo is incredibly good at this shit.

The end bit with the snail man is probably my biggest regret of the video. It very much does not fit in with the tone of everything else. It’s kinda something that just happens in the first episode and I hope everyone forgets about. The implication he just murdered the snail guy is funny but it doesn’t fit in the wider whole. Whole scene just is not very good tbh. I also probably should have had someone else voice the Snail man as well.

And I wholeass forgot I used a different font for the credits! But I think that’s that for the first episode. IT’s kind of just a collection of thoughts, but the episode is just kind of a collection of scenes so, there we go!

[chelseahotel2004]

hiii is the pokemon anime entertaining? are there multiple ones? i've never really played any of the games but i remember seeing a few episodes as a kid, thought it could be fun to watch some of it now as an adult :-)

this is a really good question! i love the pokemon anime, but i would be the first to say that it is not necessarily good. if you go into it expecting lots of crazy plot and character development, you are going to be pretty disappointed. but if you go into it understanding that it is a goofy show made for children, then you can have a lot of fun!! its a feel-good show to me with cute characters, fun plots, and (usually) exciting battles. i guess the best comparision i can make is that if you like old school magically girl animes like sailor moon or tokyo mew mew then you will probably like pokemon too? in the sense that they can both get a little repetitive at times, but for the most part they are just lots of fun :-D

as for whether there are multiple animes, the simple answer is yes. you can watch them all here (just make sure to use a good ad blocker). as for which series to watch, ive put some basic info about the main series below the cut

firstly, a basic synopsis: each series follows ash ketchum and his partner pikachu as they explore a new region in an attempt to become a pokemon master. along the way they meet new companions, catch new pokemon, develop new rivalries, fight team rocket, and challenge gym leaders to become the best of the best! each generation can stand alone, although there is continuity between them.

Original Series (seasons 1–5)

as the name implies, this is the original series and what most people think of when they hear 'pokemon anime'. here, ash travels with companions misty and brock through the kanto and johto region. if you are the kind of person who likes watching things in order, then this is the place to start. it introduces ash as a brand new trainer and explains how he and pikachu became partners. the animation and voice acting is definitely a product of its time, but is still charming in its own way. the main pitfalls of this generation for me are that the individual episodes can get a little bit boring at times (usually follows a repetitive formula). also, because they were still finding their footing, there is a lot of what i will lovingly call 'bullshit'. a lot of the battles dont make sense, and gym badges are given to ash for stupid reasons (like making a gym leader laugh instead of battling them). pokemon are released for no good reason and things just altogether get weird sometimes. ash is also just so dumb in this generation but i still love him. all in all though, this is the og, and it is rightfully iconic.

Advanced Generation (seasons 6–9)

this is the generation i grew up watching!! this gen introduces travelling companions may and max as ash journeys through the hoenn region. i think this is the most quintessential pokemon anime experience you can get. brock makes a return as a companion and in the later seasons they even return to kanto. the main focus is still ash's gym battles, but they also introduce pokemon contests in this generation with may which is a nice bit of variety. at times it can still get a little frustrating, but for the most part they cut down on all the bullshit. i feel obligated to let you know a lot of fans think that max is an annoying character. but personally i think they are wrong. anyways, this is just a classic pokemon adventure!

Diamond and Pearl (seasons 10–13)

diamond and pearl has ash travelling with dawn and brock once again as they explore the sinnoh region. this is basically advanced generation but with different characters and different locations. pokemon contests are a bigger deal in this generation, but the main focus is still gym battles. diamond and pearl is known for starting to bring in more nuanced character relationships and more interesting battling. most fans of this series like it because ash has an interesting dynamic with his main rival. ash is decently more competent in this generation. all in all, this is a solid series, although perhaps a bit of an awkward place to start considering its the last generation of the "classic" era.

Best Wishes! (seasons 14–16)

best wishes is a bit of an interesting series. it was intended as a soft-reset to the anime as a whole, so there are many changes from the previous generations. the tone of the main plot is much darker, with team rocket being a serious evil team rather than the goofy troublemakers that they used to be. in following with the reset, ash has completely new travelling companions with iris and cilan. if i am being honest, i find these companions to be more annoying than lovable, but that is just personal preference. this series also suffers from ash is also becoming less competent again, although not in the cute dumb way he was in the original series. i'm being harsh on this generation, but its really not all bad. if you want pokemon but a bit more mature, then this might be the series for you.

XY (seasons 17–19)

a brief disclaimer: i never finished this series. i had grown out of my pokemon phase when i started watching it, so most of what i am saying is based on what i know from other fans. that being said, XY takes place in the kalos region with new companions serena, bonnie, and clemont. most fans will point to this as being the best generation of the anime. the animation is much better, and there is more focus on developing plot. there are also some fan favourite pokemon that come out of this gen. ash is significantly more competent here, and on the whole is much more mature than previous series. to me, this generation is much more 'anime' than the others if that makes sense. if the reason you want to watch pokemon for the childhood whimsy, this is not the season for you. but if you want something with more plot that takes itself a bit more seriously, then i think you will enjoy XY.

Sun & Moon (seasons 20–22)

sun & moon is completely unlike any of the other generations that came before it. rather than journeying around a region to collect gym badges, ash instead lives in the alola region and attends school. as such, the supporting cast is not travelling companions, but rather his schoolmates. when this series came out, there was a huge outcry because people thought the cartoony animation style was ugly. these people are just haters. the animation in this generation is actually amazing. the tone of this series is also just way lighter. personally i find all the characters to be very lovable. this generation is also team rocket at their peak to me (still silly but not as annoyingly repetitive). i do wish this series had more battling though there is not nearly enough. sun & moon is definitely not a traditional pokemon experience, but its cute and fun so i love it. i'll put it this way - if you like my little pony, you will probably like sun & moon.

anyways! that was very long winded, but i hope it helped! i've left out some other series because i don't think they make for great starting point/i haven't watched them, but these are the main six. if you have any more questions please let me know because i could have easily written double the length and still had more to say.

[kaolinite91]

My review about One Piece Live Action (OPLA)

(Pic source: OPLA Netflix twitter)

Okaaay, you probably knew that I was one of old Nakama, since I've been following one piece for around 20 years (since elementary school haha)

And honestly when I saw the first plan about OPLA from Netflix.. I have a very great cynicism..because you know how baaaaad most of Hollywood anime adaptation were. The good anime adaptation which I think best was Gintama n Kenshin live action, but that's has major Japanese casts and in Japanese languange. But One Piece gonna have diverse casts..how scary. I really put my expectation bar..really...really low back at the time.

But then I saw the list of the casts and honestly, when I saw Inaki Godoy as Luffy for the first time, I kinda unsure and was like "hmm..let see his IG profile first", and I saw him somehow being naturally cheerful and goofy just like Luffy. And I saw his still from one of mexican drama where he looks really cool and badass. I was like " maybe this kid can be Luffy", my expectation kinda growing.

The cast for SH crew looks promising after I saw their profile..except from Taz because back then he has no IG yet. Very2 limited info from him. But after some times, I can see how he & the other cast really2 love the characters they are playing and worked hard for it. They were working with heart and it's shown..

Oda- sensei gives his thought about the adaptation too..and apparently he was the one who want the OPLA to be happened, tho he will be really strict about it. And I honestly I was starting to believe (I mean if the creator already said so), but great doubt still lingered in my heart.

Some months pass..finally the first picture of the cast with full outfits appeared, the first teaser during One Piece day..my expectation started to grew again. I got really hype tho people around me still really sceptical.

More info about how Oda approved Inaki as Luffy because his audition tape made Oda laughed. How Inaki got a strawhat from Luffy's seiyuu,Mayumi Tanaka, and all original anime seiyuu gonna voiced the chara in the live action too. He got a warm support from Shueisha and even met Oda himself and got a STRAWHAT from Goda? Well I started to BELIEVE!! I mean..this OPLA got support from the original source material!! How very awesome! I want this to succeed!

As a long time fans I got a secondhand nervousness.. I really want this live action to be successful. I already saw how the casts chemistry works really well during the interview etc..I want it to succeed!! I even shared a lot of the promotional media to my IG story which was rarely happened from me..hahaha

and after a bit more wait, the series released Yesterday at 31 August 2023. It's during weekday, on Thursday and the Netflix premiere in indonesia was at 14.00 wib. I applied for leave just to watched this Live action yesterday. How was it?? WORTH IT!!

I am so glad I love One Piece and so happy that my favorite manga got a very well made live action.

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Spoiler

Here're some of my faves things & moments:

- Many different approach in telling the story, so it felt fresh!! Because the main point were still conveyed but the location differ and some interaction between characters got adapted to catter the limited episodes (only 8 eps)

- many interesting new interaction!! Luffy and Nami interaction, zoro & nami, zoro & sanji etc..haha loves when SH crew appears

- I got teary eyes during flashback moments (Shanks gave his hat, Zeff advice to little Sanji, Bellemere moments 🥲🥹)

- Zoro very very cool and awesome..and honestly trying to rewatch with JP dub really made him even more WHOLESOME..omg

- when Sanji called Zoro mosshead

- when Ussop and Kaya kissed..hahaha (so there will be romance?)

- when Nami only hugged Zoro and Usopp & Sanji only saw from the sidewalk..

- love Nami theme song because it's pretty and sung by Aurora!

- loves the hidden easter egg: binks sake song, anime ost instrumental, mentioned Jaya, and story of Mobran Noland (even the story book!) Etc

- Garp denden mushi looks cute somewhow haha

- how Buggy looks super creepy like Joker hahaha but I love it! It's super interesting

- Helmeppo really annoying just like in the comic, Koby looks very similar with the comic counterpart too!!

- I love how the story combines SH POV with Koby as marine POV (which should be after vol 45), but it makes the introduction of the world more seamless and easier for the new fans ro enjoy

- JP Dub really a whole other experience!!! You must watch it at least twice I think! Hahaha original voice and JP dub!!

What I don't really like or can be improved:

- need more episodes, 8 was too short and made the story telling too packed.

-This also impacted the timing of the screen which supposed to build up the impactful scenes: like when Gold Roger dies,Zoro almost died from hunger, Shanks arm got eaten, Sanji's thankfulness to Zeff, Luffy's promise to helps Nami and when he yelled that Nami is his Nakama from Arlong park ruins.... it's not really highlighted. Kinda felt like just another ordinary scenes 🥹🥲😭

- somehow Luffy fight not really as dynamic as Zoro, so I kinda feel sad..but in east blue saga he still kinda weak(?) So maybe that's okay

- No Hachi in arlong park, no battle with Krieg...No usopp's little kids crew and somehow Merry died (I know he's more like NPC but it still sad because Kaya alone now)

- a bit more gory with blood etc

- Garp characterization...somehow a bit confusing. He seems a lot stricter than in the manga, and rarely laughing too.. which is okay. But why he really want to captured Luffy is still not understandable for me...? In vol 45 he just want to Meet Luffy as his Grandpa, but not sure in OPLA, is he still want to makes Luffy a marine? (Maybe I need to rewatch it). He contacted the Shichibukai to captured Luffy a bit stretched too..since Garp division in manga should be the part of marine who didn't believe in Shichibukai as 'protector of the sea'.

- how Genzou not have importance to the plot as Nami's and Nijiko's father... He should be the reason for the pinwheel, but in OPLA Bellemere the one who made it.

- Bellemere's name in the EN subtitles only written as Woman.. during Nami episode her name never mentioned and only written in her graveyard (saaaad)

- Sanji needs more screentime!! Huhuhu he just started join the crew in EP 7 and the episodes already finished at 8...saaad. I need more of him too 😭

- the SH crew interaction very limited because of the packed pacing and short number of episodes. I wish they can be explored more. It's funny because the screentime got divided into coby, helmeppo and garp interaction too. They really felt like another main characters.

- how Luffy recruitted the crew also not really highlighted, thus it's a bit weird on why suddenly Zoro want to follow him as his crew. it's kinda felt random..

-Luffy a lot more...wise and mature? I wish he looks more goofy like how Inaki in his IG stories. And because not many interaction with usopp yet..his childish part seems not really explored?

Maybe that's that for now.. but TLDR. It's a fun & fresh live action and I recommend you to watched it and be a new Nakama!

For me OPLA season 1 score was: 8.5/10

Ps. Above was the objective score from me because I kinda particular.. but subjective score with EN dub was 10/10, for JP dub is 11/10 because I love how fun and fresh it is!! (I still rewatching it for the JP dub hahaha)

[chipsncookies]

If you haven't watched the OG Ultraman or Shin Ultraman I highly recommend them. I finished watching og then watched shin with my brother today and they were so gooood.

Aughhh i really want to!!! 😭😭😭 Also, im gonna ramble bc i have a lot of thoughts about ultraman please excuse me

Recently i just got into ultraman again after leaving it so long ago (i think the last series i watched was cosmos?) and I've been so. Overwhelmed (in a good way) with how much there is to catch up!! I initially saw the new ultraman blazar series and I've been watching it alongside pokemon horizons since they're released so close in time, and really liking blazar (this is me with him👇)

About Shin Ultraman, i was aware about its existence but i didn't really care for it before because i wasn't into ultraman back then.

I'm a pokemon fan first and foremost, but i didn't have nostalgia for it because i never played the games as a child, only watched some of the anime. But ultraman? As a kid I watched taro and 80 on my uncle's cd collection and i watched Tiga Dyna Gaia Max Cosmos on tv every weekend, I sang along to their opening and endings...

So rediscovering ultraman with my fully formed brain, coupled with childhood nostalgia, revisiting familiar and also new faces, watching the UGF series, finding out the lore and story of the ultras... My heart is full of appreciation for this series man

^just recently found out that this gif is from ultraman moebius iirc, despite having seen it floating the internet (since deviantart iirc). What ppl say is true your childhood interests really come back to you 🥹

M87 (the shin ultraman song) makes me emotional even though I haven't even watched the movie, i still remember when i first listened to it last year (i follow the singer), I didn't really like it back then just confused, i also didn't care for shin ultraman because i was unfamiliar with the original series (im more of a TDG fan) but now, with rekindled interest and more knowledge, my chest almost burst just from listening to the song 😭

I feel like watching shin ultraman will destroy me emotionally and physically (i heard it's more serious and diverged from the main story?) Luckily i dont have nostalgia for it, if i did id probably explode

That said, I'm really considering watching it sometime, some of my (non ultra) friend also showed interest in it, i hope we'll be able to arrange a suitable time for it!!! 🥹🥹 I'm not sure if I'll pick up the original series tho because I'm currently in the process of (re)watching Gaia and eps where my old favs return. I recently watched the episode with Moebius and 80 and it freaking DESTROYED me, i cried like a little baby, they gave a proper ending to 80 and his students, even brought the actor back. Seeing him being old makes me cry, time has passed so much 😭😭😭

Sorry for the long rambling i have so much feelings about ultraman!!!

[duhragonball]

Next Steps

Last night, I finished everything I had planned for the 2023 DB Apocrypha Liveblog, but it’s July, and I feel like there’s things I’m leaving unfinished.  It was always going to be this way, since the DBS manga and SDBH web anime are ongoing series, so there’s bound to be some new material that comes out before the end of the year. 

Mostly, it just feels gratifying to get all the stuff that I have covered out of the way.  Some of these things that I hadn’t seen before have confounded me for years, and it’s nice to finally have it in the rear-view mirror.  But I keep wondering if there’s anything else I’ve missed.  So I’m going to try to organize my thoughts here. 

Stuff I definitely want to cover in 2023

Dragon Ball Super: Broly (again)

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

Super Dragon Ball Heroes Episode 50

Dragon Ball Super manga ch. 88-98

I didn’t make any plans for Super Hero because I didn’t know when the home video release would be, but now that’s come and gone, and I’ve got a DVD of the movie just sitting next to my TV, waiting for me to go through it.  

The same goes for the manga version of Super Hero, since I had no idea how far along the manga would be by now, but it looks like Toyotaro has reached the part of the movie where Gohan fights Gamma 1, so I think it’s reasonable to assume the arc will be done some time this fall. 

And I can’t believe the “Supreme Kai of Time” arc in SDBH will last much longer than Episode 50, so I might as well knock that one out if and when it ever comes out on YouTube. 

I’ve covered the Broly movie before, but I liked the idea of going through it again in the same year I did the rest of the DBS material.  It’s just nice and neat that way.

Stuff I might want to cover, but probably not this year.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes manga

Toyble’s Dragon Ball AF doujinshi 

The Dragon Ball GT stage play

There’s not a lot left, honestly, and I could pull up other things, but I feel like I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel.  Toriyama’s other manga series would be nice to read, but I think that goes beyond the scope of a Dragon Ball liveblogging experience.  It’s more like a separate project, like my liveblogs of JoJo or Hellsing. 

The SDBH manga may be useful for helping me understand the storyline in the web-series, and at the very least, I could say that I’d done it.  The GT stage play was something I wanted to check out, but I couldn’t find subtitles for it, so I’d just be watching actors goofing around on a set with no idea what they were talking about.  One day, I hope to find a proper translation. 

The DBAF fan manga is kind of important, even if it isn’t official.  I mean, neither were the Korean and Taiwanese movies, but they still left a mark on the franchise.  For one thing, Toyble is widely assumed to be Toyotaro, who’s been drawing the DBS manga for years now.  Perhaps more importantly, the fan manga is the most coherent representation of the Dragon Ball AF legend.  I doubt it’s very good, but I think it would be worth looking over to dispel some of the mystique of the thing. 

Anyway, I’ll probably wait until September or October to continue, so I don’t have to make any hard decisions tonight.  Mostly, I just want to make peace with the way this project has concluded.  It was a much simpler thing to end the 2019 liveblog, because I ran out of episodes and movies to cover.  There was a clear stopping point.  Here, not so much.  

But for the next eight weeks, I’m gonna be focusing on my fanfic, so you can consider the liveblog closed for the time being.  I’ll update the index page for it, and that’ll be that.

[semi-imaginary-place]

guess I'm on weekly release now. ep 40 that must have been the most confusing battle for megumi. getting his ass kicking planning to get hit just so he can get another hit in and then his opponent stabs himself through the head. i was not expecting this much characterization from jogo. like usually you can tell which characters are going to be important based on how "cool" the mangaka makes their visual design and jogo looks like a normal flunky but he has a fully fleshed out character. sukuna and jogo are having a naruto style heart to heart wtf.

ah i wanna watching gojo go feral again what ep was that... ep 33 huh was it that far back? guess this whole arc is more about the fallout of gojo being sealed. damn yeah who animated that cut with the arm. the animation for this series really is top notch all around but especially the fights, i think jjk has cemented it's place as best animated fights i in any anime i have ever seen. satoru-chan is so manically happy to be fighting. wow this episode feels so much longer than it actually is.

41: well at least sukuna is having fun. and he took an interest in megumi, this can't end well for megumi.

I wonder why the author made jujutsu high be 4 years. for even 1st years its essentially on job training with them already being put to work. I do wonder how much schooling they're actually getting. and then narratively at this point there aren't even 3rd years and when i checked the wiki 4th year characters dont exist. and then with nanami leaving, originally i thought he then went to college but he's a lot younger than i initially though and most office jobs want more than highschool. so does jjk give you a university degree at the end? i know japan has 4 year universities but do they do 2 year associate degrees? just an all round weird decision.

i started out curious why people were mad about the sukuna fight and now im reading the manga i guess

yuuji: I don't need purpose i'm going to be a cog in the machine

huh itadori is actually choso's brother. huh. but the whole thing with the cursed womb fetuses was that they were never born. i dont know what is going on here. and why didn't choso recognize the stitches earlier. if brain dude is swapping bodies then the genetic material like gametes should be changing or is the implication that yuuji is also made from cursed energy/weird human experimentation. ... panda's right yuji really is attracting older brothers.

*squints* is that kazakstan????? when did kazakstan become a world superpower???? idk if its the translation but im having trouble understanding. kenjaku changed people into being more suitable vessals and to give non sorcerers cursed techniques? because that's not what the text says. then was does the remote activation do? and why did he need mahito's technique? it wasn't garunteed he'd be able to absorb mahito. i cant make sense of this.

poor megumi just got dragged headfirst into clan politics.

does the culling game apply to all cursed technique users or just ones brain dude implanted?

145: instrumentality??????? instrumentality. -_-

maki's new design is goated, love the sleeves. i like her more i hope she pisses off more men. i also finally noticed that meimei isn't wearing a dress, it's a tricked out onsie. i love that design

152. suguru was too pure hearted. see you can totally get away with mass murder you just need to play the politics game.

alright my curiosity is sated. not like i was watching jjk for the plot anyways.

powered by children lol. madoka level harvest negative emotion energy as a renewable fuel source.

i think i get why people were saying the zenin clan is kinda incest-y

huh is gege trying to say gojo taught sukuna about love.

so sukuna just ate his own mumified corpse's head, im getting that right?

Saw someone compare gojo to achilles (so geto would be patroclus?) And im mad i didnt think of that first

[medea10]

So This is 2023 and What Have I Watched (& Played)

Hello Internet, it’s Medea once again doing her usual schtick. 2023 was definitely a…year! Yeah, I don’t see 2023 as anything worth while as 2024 is the year that’s going to cause a lot of havoc in my book. I’m hitting another old bitch milestone and I’m not digging it if you get my drift. But in terms of anime, there was no shortage of exciting moments. We’ve been introduced to new gems like Frieren, Skip & Loafer, and Oshi no Ko. Saw the satisfying conclusions to Attack on Titan. Surprise returns like Rurouni Kenshin! And of course, the best thing to happen in anime. Tracey Sketchit spoke for the first time in 16 ½ years.

YES, THAT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO ME!

Okay, let’s talk about the other crap that wasn’t as important as Tracey Sketchit. Per usual, I will give special acknowledgement for certain anime and games with these special categories. And I don’t discriminate in the year these animes and games were released, just as long as I watched or played it this year. So, if something was released in 2021, it totally counts here. Let’s hit it!

First Fandom of 2023: Oshi no Ko

Yeah, I’ve given this a lot of thought. I realize that this anime didn’t release until April 2023. Nothing against the animes I watched in the winter months, but the second I watched Oshi no Ko, I literally forgot what I watched in an instant. I think there was a Tokyo Revengers sequel and an anime about a tomboy girl. Like most of the internet, I was hooked because of the 82-minute premier. I was so enamored that I wanted to recommend this anime even though just one episode had just aired. It even got me to start reading manga again to see what happens next. I’m just glad Kinokuniya had several volumes. Oshi no Ko shows us the dark side to the entertainment industry in Japan. If you’re an idol and get married and have babies, it’s all over for your career. If you’re a child actor, things might not go well for you once you grow up. Social media can kill! This series seems to open up the conversation of how fans hold their favorite personalities to different standards and it can get all kinds of toxic from that.

Favorite Main Character of 2023: Liko from Pokemon Horizons

Look at that, a Pokemon main character I really like. Yeah, I’ve more often than not have given my blah feelings for Ash Ketchum and Red throughout the years. Despite my thoughts on those two, I was very conflicted when it came to Pokemon ending Ash and Pikachu’s adventure. But when they introduced Liko and Roy in that same breath, it gave me a little bit of optimism for the franchise. How often do we ever get an actual female lead in Pokemon? But does she live up to the hype? That’s for you to decide. My opinion is always janky at best. Liko was barely a day in a new school with her first pokemon before her world is turned upside-down with a shady group after her, a mysterious pokemon appearing to her inside of her pendant, and joining an explorer group where Crispin Freeman plays the leader. Liko, seems to handle herself really well considering all that just went down. Every week, I feel as though she’s improving, gaining more confidence, and ready to take on this lore that we’re learning more and more as the story progresses.

Favorite Villain of 2023: Kanoko, Kaya, and Shinichi Saimori from My Happy Marriage

I’ve made myself perfectly clear that when it comes to this category, I may hate the particular villain but will put them on this category if they’re truly evil enough. These three family members are that special category of rotten. Imagine you’re the main character and you have your father, step-mother, and step-sister treating you like a slave. That’s just layer one to the Saimori family. Miyo Saimori has lived this hell for nearly her whole life due to the fact that she doesn’t have supernatural powers like the rest of the family. Her actual father shunned her because of that fact. Her step-mother, Kanoko destroyed everything that belonged to Miyo’s birth mother and that brought Miyo comfort. And Kaya made it her mission to just destroy any shred of happiness Miyo comes across.

Now, you would think leaving the Saimori property at the end of episode 1 and getting engaged to someone would have ended the Saimori hell. No, it didn’t. Papa Saimori is still doing some shady dealings behind the scenes. And when Kanoko and Kaya learned that Miyo was happy living with Lord Kudou, they took it upon themselves to kidnap Miyo off the street, hold her captive in a shack, and beat her until she gives up her happiness with Kiyoka. I know at this point it felt like it was adding more fuel to the shock-value fire and in many ways, it was overkill. I’ll admit, it was. And I still hate these people. I know I should hate Eren Yeager more or Tetta Kisaki or even that guy who harmed Ai Hoshino. But this is my 2023 choice and I can’t see anyone else top…

YOU! Okay, hold my wig! Imma smack this bitch down!

Favorite Video Game Character of 2023: Bowser

From what? Nearly anything this year. And any other year for that matter! Every now and then, I will enjoy the shenanigans from that giant green lizard. Take your pick. Super Mario Wonder and RPG came out this year giving us some fun moments. Particularly with RPG where he kisses Mario, has nearly the best expressions of the game, and just proves to be the best bad-ass. Hell, even replaying some of my older titles from SNES and some Switch titles like Golf and Mario Party, he’s still the life of the party. And let’s not forget his big screen debut where Jack Black does the role justice. I knew he was going to be the best part of that film. Was I right? Fuck to the yeah, I was.

Jack Black is that awesome!

Favorite Game of 2023: …

I’ve had an interesting year when it comes to playing games. Earlier this year, I hit the nostalgia button by going backwards in game consoles. For several months, I found myself playing the following Pokemon games; Emerald, Platinum, HeartGold, and Black. Don’t judge, every now and then I will want this nostalgia where I play old Pokemon games while blasting some jazz music that used to play on the Weather Channel. Don’t we all? I know what you must be thinking.

But Medea, why those games? The window for getting event pokemon has closed eons ago. And unless you’re a genius with tools, you can’t change the clock battery on those GBA games.

Yeah, I know and don’t care. Emerald has the best pokemon and OST. Platinum and Black were guilty pleasures. And HeartGold, nay EVERY gen 2 game is my favorite!

It wasn’t until the middle of the year where I ventured onto a franchise I never played before and had fun with two of their games. One of them was released this year and the other was released in 2021. My favorite is the latter.

Story of Seasons – Pioneers of Olive Town

Yes, I love A Wonderful Life. I just happened to really like the other one just a smidge better. I think it’s because I feel like I have more time in Olive Town than Forgotten Valley. AWL has only 10 days a month while POOT has 28. Imagine what I learned after 40 days and you’re in the new year. That’s a death I’m still not over. I think it’s also because of some of the game mechanics and things you can do and get that kinda won me over. There’s a little more freedom when it comes to planting and animal care in Olive Town that I think I’ve come to appreciate a little more.

So…yeah. That’s my one not 2023 mention in this entry.

Final note for this entry: Iori is best boy of POOT and Nami is best everything in AWL.

Favorite Het Couple of 2023: Sylphiette x Rudeus Greyrat from Mushoku Tensei

Spoiler warning for this entry. Skip ahead if you’re not currently caught up with Mushoku Tensei. This is your only warning.

Never mind the spoilers of Rudeus’s love life and all of the drama that went down last season between him and Eris. This here was my OTP. I was a supporter of this from the get-go and in a preliminary move, called Eris a bitchy she-beast that Rudeus would never have interest in. Ha! Silly 2021 Medea and her silly thoughts. Well, time makes fools of us all and we wound up watching Rudeus get ditched. After that, he makes a detour at Lake Flaccid. A wonderful limbo where all you can do is play with two deflated blue balls. I am making absolutely no sense here, am I?

During the limp dick arc, Rudeus enters a magic academy where he meets a certain student that ended up reigniting that fire in his pants he sorely needed. Confusingly, though. Yeah, Rudy-boy thought for a second that he fell for another boy. But what Rudeus doesn’t know is that this is a girl and not just any girl, IT’S SYLPH! I and I’m pretty sure a multitude of fans were screaming at the top of their lungs every time these two were together during an episode. Yes, I just love seeing these two together after so many years away from each other. But Rudeus doesn’t know that’s her and Sylph is staying quiet. Eventually, these two officially reunite and Sylph even goes the extra mile to cure Rudeus’s erectile dysfunction. And after a night of passion and dick-curing, they’re engaged. I don’t care how disgustingly fucked it was to get to this point, a win is a win.

Favorite Yuri Couple of 2023: Hime Shiraki x Mitsuki Yano from Yuri is my Job!

It’s in the title. Was it my favorite ship of the year? Far from it. It’s just that this was the only Yuri couple I saw this year and, well, if the category fits. Plus, I’m not supporting the other ship that came from this title. Mitsuki and Yano were good friends years ago. But there was a falling out from them due to a misunderstanding. Now they’re in high school and they end up meeting each other again under strange circumstances. They are both employed at a café that’s heavy into acting like a Yuri-based, high school manga. Seriously, this is literally lesbian Ouran here. I’m glad these two are becoming friends again. Will it evolve into something more? Mitsuki’s blushing is a good indicator.

Favorite Yaoi Couple of 2023: Shuumei Sasaki x Yoshikazu Miyano from Sasaki to Miyano

Hey, two years in a row! Yeah, Sasaki to Miyano returned again this year with a movie. And just like last time, I was filled with the bubblies watching them again. Everyone was excited for the return of this wholesome couple, especially Crunchyroll and Kinokuniya. Probably to market the anime and manga, I guess! I have to give this story a lot of credit here as there’s talk of others accepting Sasaki and Miyano’s relationship for what it is including their friends, classmates, and even family members. Let’s not forget that while there are anime out there with gay couples, Japan (the country these stories come out of) are not too liberal about that. While not as extreme as places like Russia or Saudi Arabia, they’re also not cool with it like the U.S.

Fandom That You Didn’t Expect to Get Into: Pokemon Horizons

Yes, like everyone else who was attached to the original Pokemon anime, I was skeptical about this direction we were taking. The story of Ash and Pikachu was being retired and all of the characters and their pokemon we’ve all grown to love over the past 25 years were no longer going to be featured week to week. At least I got to see my baby Tracey one more time.

Moving onto Horizons, it was a nice change of pace to see new characters, a different kind of adventure that doesn’t revolve around winning gym badges, following not just Liko and Roy but older characters like Mollie and Friede, new villains not affiliated with Team Rocket, and a female heroine. Yes, I know Roy is there but…come on, she’s the first person we meet. We meet like six other main characters before Roy! There is so much mystery and intrigue when it comes to nearly every character on this show that I really wish Ash and his companions got more fleshed out during their time. Well, that’s why we have fanfics.

Fandom That Made An Unexpected Comeback: Rurouni Kenshin

Oro?

Did I expect a return of this 1990s classic? No, but I will happily take it. ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM ASIDE! Yes, I’m not going to sit here and deny what the creator of Rurouni Kenshin did. I really thought he deserved a harsher punishment than what he got, but that’s life unfortunately. And don’t cast stones that I’m watching something made by a convicted cum-bucket. Most of you will still sit there and watch the old episodes of Rick and Morty or Ren and Stimpy and those creators did horrendous things too. You ain’t squeaky clean!

Moving on! When executed correctly, a reboot can capture the audience of old and new fans. First of all, the animation is stupendous. They’re done by the same studio that did Tokyo Revengers and Cells at Work: Code Black. The music is wonderful, especially the opening and ending themes. And best of all, they’re sticking to the manga adaptation compared to the original series. No disrespect to the original, but you all have to admit that after the Kyoto arc, it all went straight to Hell. Especially after Studio Deen took over! As of this date, I’m hoping for a second season, for people to not cast judgement on the people who work on this (creator excluded), and that the series continues to go in this positive direction.

Fandom That Inspired the Most Crack: The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You

Every week watching this anime, I am mouth-on-the-floor. Is this another one of those borderline-hentai series that I’ve been throwing on this list every other year. No, it’s a harem. But not just any other harem anime. In the same year as Rent-A-Girlfriend’s 3rd season and in the same fucking anime season as the second season to Girlfriend, Girlfriend, we get an anime of a boy who is pre-destined to have 100 girlfriends. No fucking shit, 100 girlfriends! Rentaro has blown both Kazuya and Naoya out of the water and onto some jagged rocks.

Obviously, we’re not going to get the full 100 girlfriends any time soon. Hell, the season will probably end at 13 episodes with the same number we’re at as I’m writing this (which is 5). Still more than Naoya and Kazuya. Rentaro’s girlfriends consist of a curvaceous pink-haired girl with vivid sexual fantasies, a blonde tsundere with a flat-chest, a petite girl who communicates through a book on her phone, a girl we’re pretty sure she’s not a robot despite her name being Nano Eiai, and a confusing cluster-fuck that loves drugs and can change from a loli to a Tits-Mcgee in seconds. And all 5 end up doing more than just kissing and holding hands. ARE WE REALLY SURE THIS ISN’T A HENTAI?!

There’s also a vice principal that French kisses any student that runs down the halls and is voiced by Orochimaru.

ARE WE REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY SURE THIS ISN’T A HENTAI?!

Last Fandom of 2023: Tokyo Revengers – Tenjiku Arc

I know I started Tokyo Revengers at the beginning of the year. But I kept going back and forth with liking it and thinking it’s okay. Probably because of Hakkai’s family drama that did it. Or maybe the disappointment I felt when the Christmas Massacre felt like a fizzle once Mikey came in and ended Taiju’s career with one kick to the head. But then I was told to wait until this arc when shit does indeed go down.

Yeah, they’re right. I’ve been at the edge of my seat for a lot of this season. Yes, it is very clear that Takemichi is the underdog, the crybaby, the physically weakest member of the Tokyo Manji gang. His record shows that in nearly every fight up to this point. But he stands his ground against all odds and over 300 grunts Izana and Kisaki can throw at him. I’ve often referred to Takemichi as Homer Simpson in the episode “The Homer They Fall”. You can punch him, kick him, and even shoot him in the foot. He’s still standing. And it’s not easy when the top men of Toman are out of commission due to death in the family or got severely injured. It’s a shame every week I’m enjoying myself so much that as soon as I start hearing, “SAY MY NAME” I get pissed. And then I jam out because once again, the ED theme is a banger.

[nin-jay-go]

Sending this from my kinda not main but I was wondering how ningajo had changed from after the release of the movie. The last season I watched was skybound but I don't even remember if I finished that😭 but what I wanted to ask is does the story remain the same as it was b4 then? I've been trying to pick it back up for maybe 5+ years or so? The change in character design def threw me off and I felt kinda lost. (Sorry this is so long orz)

no you're good!! i love talking about my favorite show :D

you're correct in saying that the movie changed a lot of things. the character design, the world design, and the tone of the story changed a lot after the movie aired, and another change is lloyd's voice actor changing from jillian michaels to sam vincent (also the voice of double d from ed edd n eddy fun fact)

dw it took me a while to get used to the new designs (i remember being PISSED at the fact that they changed them djkghdkjfhg) keep in mind that there's also a canonical timeskip between s7 and s8

the story is.... well it's ninjago dfgjkhdkfjgh the core story remains the same, aka its a group of silly colorcoded ninja fighting crime and saving the world from being destroyed. again. but seasons 8, 9, and 10, usually referred to as the oni trilogy, have a much darker feel because the writers noticed their more mature audience and wrote to fit, while also still being a kids show.

the main change really happens after animation studios switch from wilfilm to wildbrain. wildbrain era (seasons 11-16) have a different animation ... vibe? like, the animation remains mostly the same, but there's different textures (hair gets textured, you can see every little wrinkle in leather, etc) and faces are animated differently, as well as using different animation techniques as is standard for a different animation studio, but the story also gets a big change

a bunch of things get tweaked post-wildbrain. for instance, the series is just ninjago now, not the masters of spinjitzu. elemental masters are just elementals. missions are called quests. sensei wu is now master wu (though i'm blanking on if this happens s8 or s11). they sometimes have anime segments (don't ask). and uh. most of the plotlines from the previous seasons are kinda... ignored? like, wildbrain heavily prioritizes its own seasons rather than the previous seasons, meaning a lot of that stuff becomes obsolete. tragic, but nothing we can do about it.

the main change in the wildbrain era is that the episodes are all 11 minutes long now instead of 22 minutes. this is remedied by having More episodes per season, but the shorter episodes are an interesting factor in how the seasons play out. many say that the seasons feel too rushed because of that, and i have to agree on some cases. but theyre decently handled for the longer seasons (s11 and s16)

so... the story. is it the same ninjago as s1-10 was? hard to say. post-movie was the start of an era for sure, and wildbrain had some thoughts about where it would go, but i can't say it's all bad. the oni trilogy is a masterpiece of writing (though its not wildbrain, its still wilfilms), s11 is pretty good if you ignore the bigger flaws, s12 is . ok i'm not the biggest fan but it's a very fun season its just clunky dkfghkdjhg but season 13 is amazing and i love it. seasons 14 and 15 are also good :) seabound esp

don't talk to me about the finale. i WILL rant about it. too much. this is a threat.

but despite it all, it's still ninjago. the same fun cast, the same stories of the ninja being dumbasses and saving the world, they just look slightly different. if the redesigns really bother you, there's not much i can say about that unfortunately. it took me a very long time to get used to it and i was in HEAVY denial for a while, but you warm up to them. after all, they gave us superstar <3 and that's all that matters

also you do not need to finish skybound it is . it's skybound! watch hands of time (s7) tho its very funny

tldr: i can't say whether the story stays the same post-wildbrain (s11-16), but i heavily recommend watching the oni trilogy. if the new designs squick you out, there's not a lot you can do but get used to it. if you want to give it another chance, go for it!! the movie either scared people off or invited people in, so it's up to you how you feel about the movie and its effect on the show. all i can say is you gotta make your own opinion about it, and if you wanna liveblog or stream any more thoughts about ninjago, feel free to message me again!! my askbox is open (and so are my dms if anything :D)