#bee movie (2003)

[spacedustmantis]

*cough cough* *pulling up notes* *squinting at notes* *realising i don't have bad vision* *unsquinting at the notes* *reading the notes*

how does the life series work in the FUCK I FORGOT THE AU NAME THIS WAS ALLL FOR NAUGHT

i am so glad you asked!!

alright so. the series of events goes like this:

one day grian, as he so often does, gets bored

in his defense immortality gets boring quick and he's been doing this for a While

so, he descends onto a random planet, one that in grian's opinion could do with a little entertainment. he draws up the rules of this game he's planning, pays a carefully selected bunch of cold-hearted, skilled, desperate-for-money workers and has them build a huge fucking arena, kidnap the planet's best fighters, and work on this project full time once it gets rolling

amongst the workers are a few incredibly talented medics, people who, with the right tech, could bring you back from death's door

grian personally installs chips into every contestant's brain that activate as soon as the person is not yet dead, but good as, and then put the body in a temporary stasis, so that it may be transported beneath the arena and the medics can do their work to send them back up fully restored so they can join the fray once more

the whole event is recorded via multiple cameras following around every contestant, edited down into a thrilling reality tv show, and broadcasted weekly for a good few years, which is how long it takes for the game to come to its conclusion

naturally there are a few quirks to this game

every contestant originally gets three lives, three times they get to enjoy the experience of dying, but soon enough a few of them figure out how to hack the chips. they can't seem to alter their function whatsoever, but they do figure out how to change the number of lives the chip grants you, and they also figure out that if the system clocks too many (or too few) lives granted overall in comparison to how many deaths there have been in total, it sends alarm bells ringing. and so there is an underground life trading ring that forms about seven months into the fight

somewhere in the arena there is whispered to be a strange stone statue that, if you play your cards right, bestows gifts to those who complete the tasks it gives them

there is an illness spreading through the arena, like a common cold, just much more destructive. it is known as "red fever" to some, to others it's simply "the bloodlust"

occasionally, caused by apparently nothing at all except coincidence, or some weird glitch in the system, or what certain people might call fate, two contestants get bound together on a metaphysical level. they share pain and wounds and death. they share all the bad, and none of the good

the overarching story roughly follows 3rd life (mostly bc that season works best as a mechs style retelling), with monopoly mountain and dogwarts as the two main factions that crystallize after a few months, but small story elements of each season are dotted around the plot, like one man who managed to defeat all his enemies by taking advantage of the secret keepers boons and playing dirty, or a woman who ran in solitude with only the company of her wolves and who against all odds was the last one standing - until the man she was bound to blew himself up, and her with it.

ultimately two people survive (these people are not grian and scar, but are played by them on stage). and then one person survives. and then the winner of the life game throws himself off of a cliff

of course, grian is not the biggest fan of watching as other people slaughter each other while he sits and does nothing, so naturally he joins the fight. no one knows or would even guess that the scrawny guy who maybe likes explosions a touch too much could be the same individual as The Spectator, the mysterious figure who is behind running the Life Game, not even the staff that has been hired to set it all up. grian, alongside committing murder, also keeps an eye on the game's development as well as the numbers the show gets online.

after a few months he runs into joel, whom he knows is one of the fan favorites, and sticks with him for a while. after joel dies his final death - shot through the heart by scott - he mechanizes him, and, after discovering that mechanizing joel also mechanized the man he was bound to, takes him and etho back to the xisuma to join the crew.

[kosher-martian]

We need more Hanukkah movies/specials. Real ones, not reskinned Hallmark movies. The only ones I can think of are:

A Rugrats Chanukah - a classic for us 90s kids.

Lamb Chop's Special Chanukah- I bet your grandparents had a copy on VHS.

Full Court Miracle - actually a really enjoyable Disney Channel Original Movie and one of two "basketball+ethnic holiday" movies they made, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

Eight Crazy Nights - no further comment

What, we couldn't even get to eight movies? We somehow control the entertainment industry and the best we could do is two specials, a TV movie, and a single theatrical release between 1995 and 2003?

I mean sure this plays nicely into my theory that the 90s were an unparalleled time of normalized (i.e. not gawking) Jewish visibility in US media that we have not seen since... but it doesn't have to be! The era of streaming and nonstop content means there has to be at least one desperate coked-out executive who'll throw money at us just to get content to push for the holidays.

You can have this one for free (just do a special thanks in the credits everyone will skip): Hanukkah, Chanukah, Chanuka! A spelling bee + Hanukkah movie.

[wlwcatalogue]

Yuri Subtext (?) Anime List

A supplement to my earlier yuri anime masterlist, this list covers anime which aren’t marketed as yuri but which prominently feature F/F pairs, whether canonical or subtext! Since subtext is so subjective, this post only includes series which I’ve actually watched, and so is by no means intended to be comprehensive.

Also, since the above description would not cover certain series with well-known yuri pairings, I've also included a few "bonus rounds" for the curious (although these are still limited to series I have watched).

At-a-glance list:

Revolutionary Girl Utena (39 episodes + 1 movie, 1997)

NOIR (26 episodes, 2001)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (12 episodes, 2011)

Haibane Renmei (13 episodes, 2002)

.hack//SIGN (26 episodes, 2002)

Read or Die / R.O.D. the TV (26 episodes, 2003)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (24 episodes, 2022)

Black Rock Shooter (8 episodes, 2010)

Izetta: The Last Witch (12 episodes, 2016)

Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll (movie, 2019)

Canaan (13 episodes, 2009)

Ga-Rei: Zero (12 episodes, 2008)

Bonus rounds:

Sailor Moon S3 (38 episodes, 1994) (subtext)

Mai-Hime (26 episodes, 2004) (canon)

Psycho-Pass (41 episodes + 3 movies, 2012) (canon)

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (24 episodes + movie, 2020) (canon)

Summaries under the cut!

1. Revolutionary Girl Utena (39 episodes + 1 movie, 1997) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

(Copied from the Yuri Anime Masterlist post, since technically it wasn’t marketed as yuri)

When she was a child, Tenjou Utena (Kawakami Tomoko) was saved by a passerby prince, so she decided that she too wanted to become a prince as an adult. Fast forward to high school, and she hasn’t forgotten that conviction: Utena gets sucked into a series of duels while trying to protect her best friend’s honour. After winning the first duel, she becomes ‘engaged’ to the eccentric “Rose Bride” Himemiya Anthy (Fuchizaki Yuriko), and the two start living together in the same dormitory.

First things first: there are a million content warnings for this series, including implied rape, sexual assault, incest, and homophobia. Although the issues are handled well (in my opinion), it does go to very dark places, so those wanting a light, fun anime to unwind to should look elsewhere. Second, this series is very much a psychological drama utilising the episodic duels as a way of hone in on Utena’s opponents and their stories, so Utena and Anthy’s relationship – though important – is definitely not the focus of the anime. Third, the TV series is limited to hinting at the romantic relationship between Utena and Anthy, not to mention that they spend most of the series being little more than acquaintances rather than actual friends. The movie Adolescence (which can be taken as a retelling or sequel, depending on your perspective) is much more explicit on this front, but also suffers from a significantly shorter runtime and a much more opaque approach to storytelling.

That being said! If you’re okay with all of the above, this series is pretty much essential. The simplistic premise belies a much more complex and nuanced story about gender roles, sexuality, and human relationships and remains one of the smartest anime ever made, over twenty years on.

2. NOIR (26 episodes, 2001) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

The first in anime studio Bee Train’s “girls with guns” trilogy, NOIR follows globetrotting assassin duo Mireille Bouquet (Mitsuishi Kotono) and Yuumura Kirika (Kuwashima Houko) as they partner up to search for Kirika’s missing memories and the truth behind Mireille’s parents’ deaths. The series is pleasingly restrained despite the sensational premise, alternating between “business trips” to far-flung locations and snapshots of the pair’s domestic life in Mireille’s Paris apartment, and devoting more time to the unfolding of the relationship between the prickly Mireille and puppy-like Kirika than to action sequences. I won't say too much due to spoilers, but their relationship numbers among my favorites due to how naturally it is developed throughout and how it is very much at the heart of the series both narratively and thematically.

This is also the first anime soundtrack entirely composed by the legendary Kajiura Yuki, heralding a long collaboration with director Mashimo Kouichi, and her mix of classical and modern sounds provides the perfect accompaniment to NOIR’s atmospheric cityscapes. Also, for fans of Mitsuishi’s work (Sailor Moon! Utena! Evangelion!), I’d say NOIR is a must-watch for her performance alone; her Mireille is brittle and proud, and she brings so much humanity and nuance to the role. In fact, I don’t care if you’re a fan of Mitsuishi or Kajiura or assassins or whatever, please just try the first episode— this anime deserves way more love!

3. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (12 episodes, 2011) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Puella Magi Madoka Magica opens with ordinary middle school girl Kaname Madoka (Yuuki Aoi) standing in the ruins of her hometown, watching as a lone girl struggles to defend what remains of the city against a much more powerful enemy. A little rabbit-like creature informs Madoka that the girl is sure to lose without her help, and so Madoka decides to become a magical girl right then and there— at which point she wakes up and dismisses it as a strange nightmare. But then that very day, her school receives a new transfer student who looks just like that mysterious girl, and she also finds a hurt animal that closely resembles the rabbit-like creature from her dream. Madoka is then faced with certain questions: do magical girls actually exist, and will she become one herself?

Since Madoka Magica was all the rage back in the early 2010s, I don’t think it too much of a spoiler to say that the cheery first three episodes hide a dark, gritty story which uses the concept of magical girls to explore the tumultuousness of adolescence. The queer subtext only comes in at the end but tight plotting and inventive presentation make this show a quick watch— and if you’re the type who likes queerness in fiction to be intense, world-shakingly significant, and a wee bit problematic, the payoff should be more than enough. A word of warning: there is a movie sequel called Rebellion, but if you’re happy with the ending of the anime, it’s best not to watch it (although I love the movie, myself).

Side note: I won’t go into it too much due to spoilers but if you liked Madoka Magica you might want to check out Serial Experiments Lain – even if most of it is utterly incomprehensible (as it was to me), it’s worth watching until the very end (wink). Also, for the rare fan of Rebellion, Adolescence of Utena is a must-watch if you haven’t checked it out already; so much can be said about its conceptual and aesthetic influences on Rebellion!

4. Haibane Renmei (13 episodes, 2002) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

(Note: slight spoilers about the tone and overall themes of the show – but I think it’s necessary for the purpose of writing a more representative summary.)

Written by ABe Yoshitoshi – character designer of cult classic anime Serial Experiments Lain and author of the very unfinished manga which this show adapts and significantly develops – Haibane Renmei starts off as a light-fantasy slice-of-life anime following freshly-arrived Rakka (Hirohashi Ryou) as she searches for a suitable job in the town of Glie, before transforming into a nuanced exploration of grief and depression about halfway through. To say more would be really too spoilery, but I just want to say that this has probably the most grounded and sensitive depiction of depression I have seen in an anime; it shows that sometimes people struggle even if everyone around them is kind and supportive, but remains hopeful about the healing power of time and understanding. The subtext is between the protagonist and Reki (Noda Junko), the first person she meets, who also helps her get acclimatised to her new life in Glie. Again, I won’t say more, but their relationship really is wonderful. That being said, this show does touch upon suicide and suicidal ideation in the course of discussing these themes, so please steer clear if that is something you are wary of.

5. .hack//SIGN (26 episodes, 2002) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

A standalone spinoff of the .hack PS2 games, this show was the most well-known anime about players getting trapped inside a multiplayer game before Sword Art Online’s arrival in 2012 (ironically, Kajiura Yuki composed the music for both). Rather than being an action-adventure story about a heroic protagonist trying to find a way back to the real world, SIGN stands out as an introspective piece, far more interested in the psychology of those who play online games and the issues of human connection and identity. In fact, the female protagonist is all too happy to remain within the MMORPG as male player-avatar Tsukasa (Saiga Mitsuki) after becoming unable to log out; the story is more about how the player grows to accept the real world with the help of the other players she meets, rather than about figuring out the exit route.

On the F/F side, some way into the series, Tsukasa makes an instant connection with fellow player-character Subaru (Nazuka Kaori) and they soon start spending a lot of time together. I really love their scenes together; the series' masterful use of body language, framing, and music all comes together to create these beautifully tender moments of intimacy. Although there’s no kiss scene nor explicit discussion of dating etc., a lot of the other characters talk about their relationship and perceive it as being romantic, to the point where one gets homophobically “worried” about Subaru when they find out that the player controlling male avatar Tsukasa is female. Tsukasa and Subaru's relationship becomes a lynchpin for both characters' development, and in general is used to illustrate the series' underlying themes in a thoughtful and heartwarming way.

6. Read or Die / R.O.D. the TV (26 episodes, 2003) Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

A spinoff of the Read or Die series which takes more from espionage thrillers and Hong Kong action flicks than shounen anime, R.O.D. the TV takes the unusual approach of starting with its main character - elite paper-maniuplating superspy Yomiko Readman (Miura Rieko) - being nowhere to be seen after burning down the British Library in a dramatic resignation announcement. Instead of focusing on her, or the spy agencies clashing in her absence, the story instead follows her friend Sumiregawa Nenene (Yukino Satsuki), who joins up with a trio of sisters with paper-manipulating powers and criminal connections in her quest to find out what happened to Yomiko. The queerness is mainly implied through Nenene's focus on Yomiko, which is unrequited and sadly fizzles out narratively speaking in the back half. Unfortunately, this is coupled with an increased focus on more heteronormative topics, such as Yomiko's grief over her dead male lover, and the child one of the characters had with the villain of the OVA. That being said, I also want to shout out this series' surprisingly earnest depiction of budding queerness in a young (like, elementary-school young) side character - something that is rare in fiction even now.

7. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (24 episodes, 2022) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

The most recent entry on this list by far (the final episode aired just a day ago at time of writing), The Witch from Mercury initially seems to forgo the Gundam franchise’s usual grand scale, being set in an academy run by the corporate giant Benerit Group. Main character and new student Suletta Mercury (Ichinose Kana) - the franchise’s first female protagonist since its beginnings in 1979 - accidentally bumbles her way into fighting a mecha duel, and, when she wins, is shocked to find that she is now engaged to the sole heiress of that self-same corporate giant, her classmate Miorine Rembran (Lynn). So far so Utena, but after the first episode, things start to diverge significantly: though the duels continue, the focus shifts to how big-picture tensions such as the manoeuvring within the Benerit Group and the conflict between the space colonisers and people on Earth play out within the student body, and how the arrival of Suletta and her mysteriously cutting-edge mecha start to shake up the status quo… until things come to an explosive head.

For those who curious about G-Witch due to Suletta and Miorine, but who wouldn’t normally be interested in Gundam or space operas, I’ll just say that if the hype has led you to expect a big queer romance where Suletta and Miorine shout their love from the rooftops, well, that’s not how it goes. It’s a mecha anime first and foremost, after all! But lower your expectations and you may be pleasantly surprised. Season 1 offers plenty to enjoy in terms of Suletta’s earnest attempts to be a good “bridegroom” and the tsundere Miorine’s bouts of jealousy over Suletta. And while their relationship takes a bit of a back seat in Season 2 due to there being So Much going on, it remains one of the key elements of the series and their scenes together are the emotional peaks of the season.

Side note: Some might criticise Gundam for taking so long to have a female main character, but let’s not forget about how the even older Ultraman (1966), Kamen Rider (1971), and Super Sentai (1975) franchises still have not had a single mainline series featuring a female protagonist… Come on guys, I’m dying for a female-led Kamen Rider over here!

8. Black Rock Shooter (8 episodes, 2010) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

One of the two anime inspired by the Hatsune Miku song of the same name, this Okada Mari-penned series hones in on the passionate friendships and jealousies of a group of middle-school girls. In a twist that feels informed by the psychological allegory of the popular Persona games, this interpersonal drama plays out in the surreal battle world of the music video, with the titular Black Rock Shooter being the main character’s alter-ego. Of particular interest is the first half’s focus on the blossoming friendship between protagonist Kuroi Mato (Hanazawa Kana) and her shy classmate Takanashi Yomi (Sawashiro Miyuki), which has strong overtones of two girls developing crushes on each other – it doesn’t go smoothly, but hey, that’s life.

9. Izetta: The Last Witch (12 episodes, 2016) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Set during what is basically World War 2, Izetta: The Last Witch asks the daring question of “What if a small European country about to be invaded by alternate-history Nazi Germany could fight back with magic… and what if it was (subtextually) yuri?” The show follows politically-minded princess Finé as she and her best friend (read: girlfriend) Izetta think up ways to leverage the latter’s witchy gifts to save the country from invasion – a rare case of a military anime where female characters are significantly involved at the strategic stage. Those who enjoy the classic princess-and-knight trope may find something to like as long as they are fine with Finé and Izetta not having much relationship development (as their dynamic is established from the start) and them not having many one-on-one scenes together (as the series’ main focus is on the political manoeuvring). Note that this show is also pretty heavy on the fanservice – IIRC there was at least one moment of egregious sexualisation per episode.

Side note: those who like Izetta may also want to check out Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing, a female-focused dieselpunk anime with a lot of military strategizing and a very cool world setting, though Izetta is better-paced and the main relationship is much more plot-significant. (That being said I do like the relationship between Fam side characters Tatiana and Alistair… Tatiana is probably the adult character with the most screentime in Fam, being the main characters’ commanding officer, and although it’s very background, she has this cutely settled dynamic with former piloting partner turned wife right-hand woman Alistair.)

10. Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll (movie, 2019) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

(Note: this entry’s a slightly weird one, it only covers the first 40 minutes of this movie due to it being basically two episodic stories smushed together into a single package, and only the earlier story is relevant to this list.)

In this standalone spinoff of the Violet Evergarden anime series – itself an adaptation of the light novel series by Akatsuki Kana – the titular protagonist Violet (Ishikawa Yui) takes a break from ghostwriting letters to serve as companion to aloof young noblewoman Isabella York (Kotobuki Minako) in her last months of finishing school. The story is a quiet coming-of-age tale focusing on how the kind (and rather dashing!) Violet helps Isabella to open up, or, in simpler terms, it’s fodder for butler-and-lady fans. Don’t get your hopes up too much, though: Violet learning about her romantic feelings for her deceased male superior is one of the main throughlines of the anime, and this (half of the) movie also ends with a heterosexual arranged marriage for Isabella. That being said, this movie is really a feast for the eyes, its historical-fantasy setting being brought out with beautiful backgrounds and detailed linework, so it’s worth checking out if you don’t mind the very Class S narrative.

Side note: if you want F/F butler-and-lady or princess-and-knight vibes I would really recommend watching Fate/Zero for Saber and Irisviel – yes Irisviel is already married to one of the (male) main characters and yes Saber is absolutely the main love interest for the famously-straight Fate/stay night, but their dynamic is really good and Saber gets to wear a stylish suit and be all chivalrous to a woman… Please watch the third episode of season 1 at least…

11. Canaan (13 episodes, 2009) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

There’s quite a lot going on in Canaan – perhaps unsurprisingly so for a spinoff of the FMV visual novel 428: Shibuya Scramble, which is famous for its intertwined storylines – but in true action-movie blockbuster style, all you really need to know is that the titular mercenary Canaan (Sawashiro Miyuki) is on a hunt for her mentor’s protégé-turned-murderer, and a lot of flashy fighting is involved. Also, there's no need to worry if you haven't played the original game, as Canaan is pretty much a standalone work and all of the significant characters are original to the anime. Yuri-minded viewers may enjoy her clashes with the villain Alphard (Sakamoto Maaya), but the main source of F/F subtext is her relationship with the young photographer Maria (Nanjo Yoshino), for whom she cares deeply and must rescue on multiple occasions. However, do be warned that the one canonically queer character in the show – Alphard’s subordinate Liang Qi (Tanaka Rie), who is fixated on her boss – is handled very badly, being portrayed as a raving predatory lesbian who is mocked, rejected, and finally killed by the object of her affections. Canaan and Maria’s relationship is also framed very definitively as friendship by the end of the series, although they don’t get paired off with male characters. IIRC there’s also some fanservice but I can’t remember the details as it was a long time ago, sorry.

12. Ga-Rei: Zero (12 episodes, 2008) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Back in the old days, I had heard this show talked about in the same breath as yuri classics such as Kannazuki no Miko and Mai-Hime, and, well, like those series it comes with significant caveats (though thankfully there is no sexual assault). Although it’s a prequel to the Ga-Rei manga by Segawa Hajime, the anime is basically standalone and focuses on original characters Kagura (Chihara Minori) and Yomi (Mizuhara Kaoru), the latter of whom welcomes protagonist Kagura into her family and demon-hunting squad, only to leave the team in a devastating betrayal. After the explosive opening, the series jumps back to explore the events leading up to that point; fans of director Aoki Ei’s work on Fate/Zero should note that the dark tone disappears in the third episode and never quite comes back even when things get serious. Viewers should also keep their F/F expectations in check, since despite the premise I would say the series is more plot- than character-focused, and on top of that a significant amount of time is devoted to Yomi’s relationship with her male fiancé (Yomi and Kagura have more screentime together, but there’s not much development whereas Yomi and her fiancé are given a whole romantic arc). There is one very fanservicey scene between Kagura and Yomi in a car early on (in episode 3?) which viewers may want to skip, but IIRC it’s an outlier and the rest of the series is nowhere near as bad.

Bonus Rounds

1. Sailor Moon S / Season 3 (38 episodes, 1994) (subtext) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Possibly the most widely-known F/F couple in anime, Haruka and Michiru (Ogata Megumi and Katsuki Masako, respectively), make their first appearance in episode 3 of the third season as mysterious newcomers who refuse to work alongside the Sailor Senshi. Apart from being consistently framed as an ideal couple throughout (they practically cruise to victory in a couple’s contest in episode 5 of S3), they also get some juicy narrative moments, being the main subject of the excellent episodes 17 and 21 – the latter being the mid-season climax. They return in S5 but I haven’t watched that season yet.

Side note: Utena fans may be particularly interested to hear that the aforementioned Haruka-and-Michiru-centric episodes 17 and 21 are helmed by key Utena creatives. Both were written by Enokido Yoji, Utena's lead scriptwriter, while episode 17 was directed by Igarashi Takuya (who storyboarded 5 Utena episodes) and episode 21 was directed by Utena director Ikuhara Kunihiko himself.

2. Mai-Hime (26 episodes, 2004) (canon) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Way back when, Mai-Hime was very popular among yuri fans for including a canonically queer female character who was in love with another female character… even though, like in Kannazuki no Miko which was broadcast the same year, she commits sexual assault against her. For those still curious, Mai-Hime starts out as a quirky fighting-monsters-and-going to school anime but turns into a battle royale where characters fight each other using robots – the twist being that the robots symbolise their love for the person most precious to them, and if destroyed, that person will die. The queer storyline comes in only in the last quarter or so, but is compellingly told and at least the queer character isn’t quite as maniacal or otherwise demonised compared to some others (looking at you, Liang Qi in Canaan). It's a fun reveal, so I won't spoil it here even if you're likely to have heard of it already.

3. Psycho-Pass (41 episodes + 3 movies, 2012) (canon) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

Psycho-Pass is set in a dystopian world where people are rated on their criminal tendencies; the main characters’ job as police officers is to arrest those whose tendencies exceed a certain level. The F/F is canon but very, very background; one of the surprise twists of the finale is that forensics expert Karanomori Shion (Sawashiro Miyuki), whose appearance screams “sexy doctor character” but is played with surprising warmth by Sawashiro, is actually in a relationship with seemingly aloof field officer Kunizuka Yayoi (Itou Shizuka). I only watched the first season and so can’t comment on the rest, but apparently they are still in a relationship in the third season.

4. My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (24 episodes + movie, 2020) (canon) - Anime News Network | MyAnimeList

An adaptation of Yamaguchi Satoru’s popular light novel series, this show headed the wave of reincarnated-villainess isekai, focusing on the bumbling Catarina Claes (Uchida Maaya) – in actuality an otaku who has been reincarnated into an otome game – as she tries desperately to remove her character’s image as a villainess and thereby inadvertently attracts the attentions of many a suitor. Among this reverse harem are three female characters Maria Campbell (Hayami Saori), Mary Hunt (Okasaki Miho), and Sophia Ascart (Minase Inori).

While the female suitors’ romantic interest in Catarina is generally not undermined or played as a joke, they are not necessarily treated as equally valid options compared to the male suitors - it doesn't feel like Catarina has a real chance of ending up with any of the female characters. I've heard this starts becoming more obvious in S2 (which I haven't watched), which apparently focuses on Catarina's relationship development with one particular male suitor compared to the others. Also, the VN spinoff had 6 routes in total (all 4 male suitors + 2 original male characters) but did not include a single female route, despite being non-canon in nature.

[funnyfooddatabase]

Kellogg’s Hunny B’s

Food

Type of Funny Food: Tie-In Product

Introduced: 2002

Location: Supermarkets

A honey-flavored cereal themed to the silly (now public domain) bear of the Hundred Acre Wood was released by Kellogg’s and Disney in the early 2000s.

The cereal shape varied- most of the pieces were shaped to look like B’s, but there were also yellow pieces in the shape of honey pots, Winnie-the-Pooh’s head, and bees. Later, pink pieces shaped like Piglet’s head would also be added, to celebrate the release of Piglet’s Big Movie in 2003. Allegedly, Eeyore pieces would be added even later, but there is no existing evidence of this.

[normalbeing404]

Welcome to one of my blogs!

my name is Momo Normal and my pronouns are she/they/it

I'm a trans enby girl that is bisexual

i was born in October of 2003

#momos stuff is my original post tag

this ( @normalbeing404 ) is my main blog

@woo-in-different-lengths is my gimmick blog

and @normal-reblogs is where I reblog a lot

i will post and reblog horny stuff sometimes

if you want to talk to me

here's some stuff i like:

origami

cats

dnd

the spiderverse movies

arcane

studio Ghibli

Bee and Puppycat

Jojo

Rebel Moon

Celeste

Baba is you

terraria

read only memories

a short hike

art

the matrix

also feel free to talk about your interests!

have a nice day!

[spacedustmantis]

you only think that bc i'm your cool older sibling

the truth is i'm actually still intimidated by my beloved mutuals. we may be family but the moment i say something that gets even the slightest negative reaction i'm in panic mode. also y'all are way cooler than me but that goes without saying

[rottmnt-honeybea]

Text under cut because it's a lot

1) I've had an influx of followers across all my platforms, so I wanted to update some character/story information.

2) This is Q.B.* Or Bea, my Rottmnt OC. A LOT of my videos will be about her.

3) She was a human, gifted in math and science, that was mutated into a Bee Mutant when Draxum's oozesquitoes were let loose in New York. She has three younger siblings: Miguel (12), and twins Lina and Rita (6). She's first generation Portuguese-American and the oldest daughter so you know she's got that ✨special trauma✨.

4) This is Roxo we love Roxo here. As a mutant she develops UV/Mystic sight (the ability to see UV light and Mystic signatures), Chlorokinesis (the ability to manipulate plants), and the ability to fly. She also created Roxo, the man-eating guard plant, who used to protect her garden and provide companionship to her until Bullhop killed him.

5) Donnie builds her a weapon they call Stinger, which is essentially a sword with a chain. Raph tries to teach Bea how to fight and defend herself, but she's very easily angered and relies on that a lot to power through a fight. And in Season 2 Bea becomes Draxum's student. Stinger does not make sense if you thing about it in the real world. It's a kids show, use your imagination.

6) Bea's story goes through four Major acrs and two Minor arcs. Major: Mutated, Missing Roxo, Student, Post-Shredder. Minor: Human Again, Battle Nexus Champion.

7) in "Doomed", my rottmnt Bad Future AU Donnie and Bea are partners. Donnie does tech engineering to give the Resistance weapons and Bea does Security. They've got two kids: Shelldon (upgraded to a full bodyH and Gemini.

8) Shelldon aids in security and has a number of weapons built into his body. Gemini is part of a Scavenger team with Casey and wields her father's mystic halberd-flail staff).

9) these 9 are bg characters/friends of Casey, Gemini, and Shelldon. The story will follow Bea, Donnie, the Hamato's, and the Mad Dogs as they navigate the early years of the apocalypse, then move onto the next generation of Hamato's, before eventually leading up to the events of the Rise movie. This is not a lighthearted fic/take on the Rise universe as it includes: body trauma (loss of eyes, arms, and legs), death, homophobia, self harm, and suicide. BUT it is currently being rewritten.

10) The Bea-Verse is just me sticking Q.B. Into other tmnt stories. Namely 1987, 2003, Bayverse, 2012, Rise, and Mutant Mayhem. And just like how the stories of the turtles, Splinter, April, and Casey all change—Q.B. goes through all those changes with them too.

*I completely forgot to say that the Q in Q.B. stands for Quinn. So her full name, for those unaware, is Quinn Bea Santos.

[glitterberryshortcake]

🌸 Hi everyone!! Welcome to my blog!! Here is my current bio! 🌸

💖 My name is Star!! I’m currently 18 years old and my pronouns are she/her. 💖

🌈 I have anxiety and autism, so please be aware that I’m very, very shy and that my social skills are not the best. 🦄

❤️ I’m a selfshipper and I crush on quite a lot of fictional characters! Below is a list of my F/Os! Please DNI if you have the same F/Os as me. ❤️

🩷 My main F/O is Mr. Paulson from Teamo Supremo! I’ve been dating/selfshipping with him since May 31, 2020! I love him sooo much!!! X3 🩷

🩵 My second main F/O is Mr. Tinkerton from The Legend of Frosty the Snowman! I’ve been dating/selfshipping with him since February 4th, 2023! I love him to bits!!! :3 🩵

💗Other F/Os:💗

To keep things short and simple, I will only list some of my F/Os.

• Dexter’s Dad (Dexter’s Laboratory)

• Principal Pankley (The Legend of Frosty the Snowman)

• The Postman (Olive the Other Reindeer)

• Percy Polie (Rolie Polie Olie)

• Mr. Baldwin (Fish Hooks)

• Hugh Test (Johnny Test)

• Kent Mansley (The Iron Giant)

• Sarge Snorkel (Beetle Bailey)

• Burt Burtonburger (Kid vs. Kat)

• Stanley Livingston (Tennessee Tuxedo And His Tales)

• Surge Protector (Wreck-It Ralph)

• Andrew Morris (Ron’s Gone Wrong)

• Roger Ramjet (Roger Ramjet)

• Adam Flayman (Bee Movie)

• The Teacher/Sensei/Mr. S (Doraemon)

💛 These characters are shipped with my various OCs!

Here is a link to the introduction of my OCs!! https://www.tumblr.com/glitterberryshortcake/742910635441012736/heres-an-introduction-of-my-ocs-and-the-fos 💛

🌼 I’m an artist and animator! Most of the content you will see on this blog are my selfshipping/OC x canon art, and fanart of my hyperfixations/interests! 🌸

🦄 Below is a list of my current hyperfixations/interests! 🦄

Current major hyperfixations: The Legend of Frosty the Snowman, Teamo Supremo, Lalaloopsy, Precure/Pretty Cure, My Little Pony (all generations), Strawberry Shortcake (2003 and 2009 generations), Care Bears (all generations), Animal Crossing, and Sanrio.

Other interests: Five Nights At Freddy’s, Poppy Playtime, Touhou, Paw Patrol, Tokyo Mew Mew, Ojamajo Doremi, Hfjone, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Danganronpa, and Splatoon.

⭐️ I know that this isn’t the best-looking bio, but it will be edited/updated and improved over time! ⭐️

🌈 Have a nice day/night!! :D 🌈

[cartoonmadness]

Multifandom sideblock for my fav comics / games / animated series / movies / short films / other stuff

My art blog is @peikonlainen

Movies

the Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

Alice in Wonderland (Disney)

Alladin

Akira

Barbie

Beauty and the beast

Bee movie

Book of life

Boy and the beast

the Boxtrolls

Captain Underpants movie

Catnapped

Chicken Run

Coraline

Craig before the creek

the Dark crystal

Disney movies

Ernest and Celestine

Ethel and Ernest

Flight of dragons

a Goody movie

the Great mouse detective

Gremlins and Gremlins 2

Hellraiser

Hercules (Disney)

Hoodwinked

Hotel transylvania

Kubo and the two strings

Kung fu Panda, 2 and 3

the Labyrinth

Land before time

the Last Unicorn

Lego movies

the Lion King

the Lord of the rings

Madagascar

Mary and Max

Mary Poppins

Megamind

the Midnight gospel

Missing Link

Monsters VS Aliens

the Muppets

Muppets movies

the Never ending story

One 100 and 1 dalmatians

Osmosis Joe

Paprika

Paranorman

Penguins of Madagascar

Ponyo

Porco Rosso

Puss in Boots and the last wish

the Prince of Egypt

the Rescuers

Return to oz

Rise of the guardians

the Road to El Dorado

Robin Hood (Disney)

Rock and rule

Rölli

Scooby-Doo animated movies

Secret of Nimh

Shrek, 2 and 4

Sinbad, legend of the seven seas

Spirit, staliom of the Cimarron

Studio Ghibli movies

Tekkonkinkreet

TMNT Mutant Mayhem

Toy story, 2 and 3

Treasure planet

Tree of Palme

Trolls movies

Turbo

Up

Wallace and Gromit

the Wizard of Oz

Wolf Children

Cartoons / Show / Anime

Adventure Time

Alfred J. Kwak

the Amazing wold of Gumball

Amphibia

Angelic Layer

Apple and Onion

As told by Ginger

Avatar the last airbender

Batman the animated series

Bluey

Bob's burgers

Bojack Horseman

Care bears

Centaurworld

Clone high

Count Duckula

Craig of the creek

Cyborg 009

the Dark crystal age of resistance

Darkwing Duck

Digimon 01 and 02

Ducktales (2017)

Evil con carne

Fiona and Cake

Fraiser

Futurama

Gargoyles

the Gilmore girls

Golden girls

Gravity Falls

Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

Hazbin hotel

Helluva boss

Infinity train

Jellytown!

Kaiba

Kid Cosmic

Kim Possible

Kipo

the Legend of Korra

Looney tunes

Mao Mao heroes of pure heart

Masters of the Universe 2002

Maya and the tree

Moomins

Moon girl and devil dinosaur

the Muppet show

Murder she wrote

My little pony (g1, friendship is magic and choose your tales)

Oggy and the cockroaches

Olivia

the Owl house

Ping Pong animated series

Pokemon

Reboot

Regular show

ROTTMNT

Saw 1 and 2

Sesame street

She-ra

Sherlock Hound

the Simpsons

Smiling friends

Spiderman

Spongebob

Tuca and Bertie

TMNT 80s/90s

TMNT 2003

Transformers (80s)

Transformers prime

Twelve forever

Unicorn - Warriors eternal

the Venture bros

Wander over Yander

Winx

Indie animations

the Amazing digital circus

Bigtop burger

Chikn Nuggit

the Devil and Daniel Mouse

Don't hug me I'm scared

Lackadaisy

Metal Family

Monkey Wrench

Soviet Union animations

Shred force

Spooky month

Wallace and Gromit

Comics / Manga

Adventures of Tintin

Bamse

Batman

Cyborg 009

Detective Conan

Donald Duck (Aku Ankka in Finnish)

Dragon ball

Garfield

Moomins

One Piece

Peanuts

Paradise kiss

Popeye

Niilo Pielinen

Spiderman

Spirou and Fantasio

Vinland saga

the Walking dead

Wimpy Witch

Books

Amazing land of Oz

Agatha Christie's books, Poirot and Miss Marple stories

Babar storybooks

Dr. Seuss's books

the Little Prince

Moomin books from Tove Jansson

Murderer's ape

Pettson and Findus

Pippi Longstocking

Sherlock Holmes stories

Uppo Nalle ja Nukku Ukko

Games

Animal crossing

Crash Bandicoot

Frog detective

Garage: bad dream adventure

Journey

Katamari

Kirby

Pokemon

Sly Cooper

Sonic the hedgehog games

Super Mario Bros games

the Walking dead

[spacedustmantis]

okay okay! so!!! kandra are essentially creatures which consume dead bodies and are able to recycle that matter into an exact copy of the previous creature. usually this is a human, but they've been shown to also be able to take the form of wolfhounds and other creatures (to their great displeasure). this mimics are absolutely exact (there's a kandra in the mistborn books who is able to flawlessly recreate another being and he claims his talent is average) and thus can be used as spies or other such useful things. this can result in what i like to call among us plotlines, wherein you're never quite sure if the person you're talking to is the real version or a kandra wearing them as a suit. most noble families in luthadel have one, which is reasonably troubling (but then a lot about the aristocracy in the final empire is)

this leads me on to the contract. it is made very clear that kandra follow strict rules, the main one being that they cannot kill any of the bodies they consume. bodies must be provided for them, and whoever provides these bodies becomes the kandra's master. kandras are bound to their masters by something repeatedly referenced as the contract (there seems to be a written version). the contract demands that a kandra follow orders given to them by their masters, but they can be sneaky and very literal about it. there is a kandra in the series called OreSeur who refuses to do anything helpful unless he is explicitly ordered to (even if his master asks him to do something, they often have to specify that it's an order)

kandra are related to creatures known as mist wraiths, which are basically more simplistic versions of them. they consume bodies, but can't take the full form. instead, they use the bones to add limbs and other features to themselves

anyway, i think kandra are really cool and epic and very interesting narratively

ooohhhh that's sooo fun. i love when powerful scary monsters take the role of servant, especially when unwillingly. makes me wonder though what exactly the "contract" is to be able to bind them to it. maybe i should read the mistborn books.... <- voice of a guy who hasn't read a book in five years at least

[kylekozmikdeluxo]

A FINDING NEMO Memory or Two

FINDING NEMO was one of the first films I actually really anticipated a long while before its release.

As a kid, I would often start anticipating movies once I saw a trailer in theaters during one of my frequent movie theater visits, and then that would be it. Whenever I was on the Internet, I wasn't frequenting movie news sites or anything like that. If anything, the release of FINDING NEMO had me going on those sites more often to see what was coming. What the news was...

I first saw concept art for FINDING NEMO in a DK-published hardcover book called DISNEY: THE ULTIMATE VISUAL GUIDE. I had gotten it as a birthday gift in October 2002. I was immersed into that book, a chronological tour through Disney feature film and even park history, throwing in television stuff as well. The page spreads so inviting, and so many great images and stills from the movies, made for really well put-together arrangements. My well worn-out copy is still with me.

The final page spread detailed movies then slated for 2003 and 2004... Only concept art for FINDING NEMO appeared, no stills from the actual movie. The images depicted were Nemo peaking out from behind a coral, Marlin and Dory looking at Sydney Opera House, and a long stretch of Nemo inside the dentist office fish tank. These images completely engrossed me. Just this colorful fish movie, incoming: I always had a thing for the underwater world anyways, between the many animal books I had as a kid to the nature documentaries I'd often see on like Animal Planet, Discovery Channel and such. I was taken to two big aquariums in home state every year or so, and was always fascinated and mesmerized by all those tanks, all that aquatic life. I had PC games about it, and there was also - semi-related - that Titanic phase I went through... The ocean, the sea, it's all very neat.

(As an add-on, the other movies on that page spread were PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE, THE JUNGLE BOOK 2, HOME ON THE RANGE, and BROTHER BEAR back when it was called "BEARS".)

Then, I got MONSTERS, INC. on DVD for Christmas... And when I saw that a teaser trailer for the movie was ON THERE?? I watched it over and over, along with just about everything else on that 2-disc DVD set...

I was all about FINDING NEMO, and I caught it on opening weekend... and loved it so much, I saw it two more times in theaters, which is something I rarely got to do as a kid back in the day. Then I was somehow able to rent it the Friday before its Tuesday DVD release. Rented it, over and over, til I got the DVD and VHS for Christmas. At the time, I didn't have a DVD player in my room, it was only in the family room and my mum's room... So the VHS sufficed, despite no bonus features! In early 2004, after winning a $200 gift card to Circuit City (lol, remember that? No? You might be a young'un reading this!) from a spelling bee, I bought an extension for my Xbox - which I also got for Christmas - that allowed me to play DVDs in my room. Yes, we kids/preteens of the early 2000s had it rough, haha.

On a personal note, this movie came out when my life was in a weird flux, and I was in a part of growing older that didn't go so smoothly. Not to divulge too much, but when you're autistic, neurodivergent, and you're coming of age in the early aughts... Not the nicest time, for sure... Yeah, things weren't easy... And at the end of the year, when the movie was finally out on DVD, I was going through a very big family loss. My first one, really... So, I really gotta hand it to FINDING NEMO for being one of the things that really helped get me through all of it... Just keep swimming, indeed...

Similarly, director Andrew Stanton's sophomore Pixar effort, WALL-E, got me through another tough time in my younger days...

I would say FINDING NEMO and MONSTERS, INC. made me fall in love with the work coming out of Pixar, especially in those early days when it was the movies being made exclusively by the Lasseter circle. As a little kid, I wasn't really that much into the TOY STORY movies, but I did like A BUG'S LIFE and played the PlayStation game quite a bit. MONSTERS, INC. I remember being a blur in the theaters for other reasons... But I asked for MONSTERS, INC. on video the year after because I did remember enjoying the door vault chase, so that was enough to make me want the disc and to watch it again. I got the DVD that Christmas, and as said earlier, I think the combination of that film, the FINDING NEMO teaser and the NEMO concept art in the DISNEY: THE ULTIMATE VISUAL GUIDE book turned me into a cultist for the Luxo lamp in December 2002, haha.

Then I went back to TOY STORY and TOY STORY 2, which I had on VHS, and gave those a proper re-watch. Now that I was 10, knew what computer animation was and how it was made, and having more of an appreciation for the way visual stories were told than I did at - say - age 6 or even 8... And I fell in love with both. Then I rented A BUG'S LIFE over and over until I was able to buy the DVD... I wanna say it was sometime in 2003, maybe early 2004, but it was the "Collector's" set DVD that promoted FINDING NEMO with a giant sticker on the shiny slipcover. Hell, if I remember correctly, I bought it at a Suncoast Motion Picture Company outlet in a mall... Back when there were more than... 4 of those across the country!

And then some 9 years later, I went and saw the 3D re-release... Surprisingly, for a movie made in 2003, it was converted wonderfully to 3D. The 3D actually added a very subtle but very immersive depth of field to many of the underwater scenes, it looked fantastic. So yes, I saw FINDING NEMO four times in theaters. I'd probably see it a fifth if it gets re-released for whatever reason, again.

It's a favorite of mine.

Hey, I once did a video essay on it, too!

Happy 20th Anniversary.

[dreamworks-rewatch]

Watchlist

Antz (1998)

The Prince of Egypt (1998)

The Road to El Dorado (2000)

Chicken Run (2000)

Shrek (2001)

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)

Shrek 2 (2004)

Shark Tale (2004)

Madagascar (2005)

Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

Over the Hedge (2006)

Flushed Away (2006)

Shrek the Third (2007)

Bee Movie (2007)

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

Monsters vs Aliens (2009)

How to Train your Dragon (2010)

Shrek Forever After (2010)

Megamind (2010)

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

Puss in Boots (2011)

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012)

Rise of the Guardians (2012)

The Croods (2013)

Turbo (2013)

Mr. Peabody and Sherman (2014)

How to Train your Dragon 2 (2014)

Penguins of Madagascar (2014)

Home (2015)

Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)

Trolls (2016)

The Boss Baby (2017)

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017)

How to Train your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)

Abominable (2019)

Trolls World Tour (2020)

The Croods: A New Age (2020)

Spirit Untamed (2021)

The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021)

The Bad Guys (2022)

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023)

[ruffboijuliaburnsides]

if there's one interesting thing about having such a weird relationship with my deadname and sense of identity as a kid, it's that i went through like 5 nicknames between the ages of 12 and 19 in an attempt to make it fit me. And this is entirely self-indulgent introspective rambling so it's going under a cut.

Like, up to 7th grade, I'd just gone by my full name, no nicknames at all (unless you counted my dad calling me Scooter sometimes). But in 6th grade was when my autDHD burnout had started and and my depression had really started to be A Thing, and I was desperate for 7th grade to go better than the disaster that was 6th grade, and I wanted to reinvent myself. Which is very hard when you go to a tiny private religious k-12 school where you had like 60 kids in your entire grade and 95% of them had been there since at least 3rd grade with you.

So I tried [Nick 1] which is staying unspecified bc i like to minimize the amount my deadname is attached to my online presence, as it's still legally attached to me, and both [Nick 1] and [Nick 2] are obvious derivatives. 7th grade and [Nick 1] were unsuccessful. I felt even less attached to [Nick 1] than my full name. so 8th grade I tried a different approach with [Nick 2]. A little better but still not right.

But then I was switching schools finally, going to public school where no one would know me or the embarrassing facts of my childhood, and I could be someone NEW.

And I was, tbh. I branched out of any like. recognisably related-to-my-full-name nicknames and decided to go by "Lisse" (pronounced "Lissie", but I was a pretentious 14yo so), and I really liked that one, actually. Kept it for probably 3 years I think? And then I went on a summer trip and was informed by my tripmates that I reminded them of Evie from the Mummy movies. Which, I adored her so I was fully on board with this comparison. But then they just started calling me that, and it fit so much better that it stuck for like... well 2003, probably at least 6-7 years, with a couple attempts at other nicknames online (Bee was one, hilariously now that I know of my sibling who also goes by that), until I changed the base name I was going by entirely and never looked back.

It's just. IDK it's wild, bc especially in that period of my teens, I essentially WAS a different person with all of those nicknames. Not entirely different, not unrecognizable, but it was like I associated different character traits with those nicknames, which meant I changed how I acted when I was going by them, without thinking about it. And I know this probably ultimately ties back a bit to the fact that I was developing Borderline Personality Disorder at the time, but it's just wild to look at all those people (+ Mina and Rosie, my two main internet handles over that period) that I was, none of whom were precisely me and all of whom were entirely me.

IDK I don't have a conclusion to this, it's just odd to me. Like I have memories of things that definitely happened when I was 11 and 15 but both feel like they should've happened when I was 13 because when I was 13 I was [Nick 2] and I associate that person with one of my earliest rebellious stages. and because I have such a golf-ball-sized-hole sieve of a memory and a dubious relationship with the passage of time, I look at those two things 4 years apart and say "yeah it all happened right in the middle there" and despite knowing it's impossible (one thing was an album that didn't even come OUT until I was 14), it's somehow the truth that both of those things happened when I was 13, because that's when I was [Nick 2] and that's when my memory and sense of self will allow these things to have happened.

brains are fuckin wild, man, especially when they're not working like they're supposed to.

[junipernight]

First Impressions/Foreign Tongue

Fandom: Teen Titans (2003)

Chapter 7: 1, 2, skip a few, 99, 100

Summary:  “I speak English, German, Latin, Romanian, Ancient Sumerian, and Sanskrit. Do you have anything I can read?” - Raven, Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo

_____

Raven and Starfire were very good friends. Absolute gal pals. Total besties. They went to the mall together. And to the movies. And to restaurants (both the cheerful bistros and the depressing cafes). Starfire liked to grab Raven’s hand whenever she wanted to show the darker girl something, and Raven found the habit was catching. Sometimes Raven sensed that her friend was frustrated. She suspected that Starfire wished they hung out more.

***

Starfire and Raven were the very best of friends, and Starfire was frustrated…. frustrated Raven couldn’t take a damn hint.

“How can someone so smart be as oblivious as an edderkop med en lille fødselsdags hat?!?”  she fumed.

Cyborg tried to hide his grin, by popping open the hood of the T-Car and peering inside.

“I have done the ‘taking her out’ to movies and to dinner,” Star continued, “I have held her hand and told her she looks beautiful, and even pulled ‘the move’ with the arm around the shoulders that earth films think so highly of, but this morning, I heard her tell Bee we were friends!”

Cyborg had been present for that video call; it had occurred on his arm.

What had actually happened was that Bee had called Cyborg to share the latest idiotic exploits of her team (mostly Speedy), had seen Raven in the background, and had commented how nice it must be to have a female friend on the team with her, to which Raven had noncommittally said ‘mm.’

Cyborg reached into the hood and started loosening and re-tightening the caps of various fluid tanks in the engine. 

There was nothing wrong with the T-Car, it just gave him something to do when his friends needed to vent or wanted advice.

“Have you considered,” he began thoughtfully, as he pulled out the oil stick and checked the level, “that Raven doesn’t know you're putting the moves on her because, as far as she knows, you’re always that friendly to people?”

“But she is an empath! She should sense my love!”

“I don’t know, maybe she does sense it, and thinks you just love life.”

Starfire made an angry noise—definitely not the sound of someone who was currently loving life—and Cyborg hurried to come up with some useful advice before any stray starbolts went flying. Then he’d have to fix the T-Car for real.

“Look, why don’t you try just talking to her? Do something different, go somewhere you’d never go with ‘just a friend’ and say “Raven, I love you, will you go out with me?” or something.”

Starfire’s head, upside down, appeared under the hood and looked at him beseechingly.

“But what if she says no?”

“If she says no, I will personally take you to my favorite sad spot to get consolation milkshakes,” said Cyborg. “But trust me; she’s not gonna say no.”

***

It was kinda stupid, how much Starfire wanted to kiss Raven again. Kissing had never been this important to her on Tamaran. There, it had been a utilitarian gesture, something you did when you needed to learn something. 

… Well, no, it hadn’t been strictly utilitarian… There had been a children’s game of some sort. Starfire didn’t know all the rules. As a heavily guarded princess in wartime, she hadn’t been allowed to partake. Blackfire had been better at sneaking away from the palace. Once, after she had snuck out, she came back with a new language on her tongue and gave it to Starfire. It had been their secret language for a time, one the guards and their parents didn’t possess.

(It had turned out to be Gordanian.)

Starfire didn’t want to learn another language from Raven, per se. Though she was glad Raven knew many more; it meant there was a chance, however slim, that Raven would need to kiss her again. 

Starfire found herself dreaming about gibberish-speaking villains. Raven would pull her away—into an alley, or sometimes, into the folds of her cloak— and their lips would touch…. and then someone, (usually Gizmo) would appear with a snot munching grin and an explosive, and send them flying apart

Starfire sighed, and flipped through more pages of a local travel guidebook Robin had given her for Christmas one year.

It wasn’t enough to continue this haphazard relationship with Raven. It wasn’t enough to keep waiting around, hoping for an occasional kiss. Starfire was going to be intentional, and brave, and direct. She was going to ask Raven on a date, and then she was going to ask to be her girlfriend. Her fingers stopped on a glossy page with a breathtaking photo on it.

And now she knew the perfect place.

***

Raven agreed to the daycation readily enough

They left late in the afternoon, and flew directly east. By the time they crossed the mountains, the sun was low at their backs, casting a warm golden glow over the landscape. 

Raven stopped in mid air, and turned to watch as the sun seemed to rest upon the ridgetop. Starfire took her hand. 

“It is a beautiful sunset,” Star said.

Raven hummed in agreement. They watched the sun sink for a few more moments before Raven said, “This time of day always reminds me of Azarath. The twin suns never rise or set there; they circle, always just below the horizon.”

Starfire tugged on her hand, and gestured for her to look south. A large canyon branched out below, a maze of flat-topped red rock and sheer cliffs, dotted with occasional weathered trees and patches of wildflowers. Raven knew what Starfire was trying to show her before she even said anything.

“This place reminds me of Tamaran,” Star said.

“From a distance, our homelands are pretty similar, huh?” 

***

They chose a hazy purple patch to land in, and settled in amongst the wildflowers. Then they unpacked the picnic basket, and for the next hour, they sat and ate and talked and laughed while the light slowly faded from the sky.

Eventually, they flopped back in the tall grass and turned off the lantern.

The canyon air was clean, away from the pollution and emotional miasma of hundreds of thousands of people. Raven breathed deep, letting the quiet night fill her lungs.

Even the pleasant, lush scent of night-blooming moon flowers had nothing on the sky though.

When the last of the sunlight finally vanished, the stars came out. The milky way arched overhead, as glittery as a city skyline, but with an opalescent sheen of subtle purples and pinks and oranges. 

Raven turned her head in the grass, about to ask if this was what the stars looked like from space, but the question died on her lips when she saw the intense way Starfire was looking at her. Starfire was glowing with emotions, a complex swirling whirlwind of feelings that reminded Raven of the night they first met.

Starfire reached over, and brushed a lock of hair out of Raven’s face.

“May I kiss you?” She asked.

Raven tensed. “Do you… need to learn a language?”

“No, I am asking for non-linguistic reasons.”

Raven kept pressing. “Do you enjoy kissing?”

“I enjoy kissing you.”

“Oh.”

“Raven,” Starfire huffed, part exasperated, part amused, part terrified. “I am asking for romantic reasons.”

“Oh.”

They stared at each other.

“... Yeah you can kiss me.”

Starfire beamed at her, her windblown hair haloed by the rising moon. She shuffled over in the grass, closing the distance between them. Then, very gently, Starfire cupped Raven’s cheek in her hand, and gave her a look so full of adoration that Raven couldn’t bear it.

Raven closed her eyes.

Their lips met.

Raven was suddenly hit with a rush of elation, that might have been hers and might have been Starfire’s and was probably both and that shone through her like sunlight on a cold autumn day. 

Starfire’s lips were warm and soft and gentle against her own; she threaded her fingers through Starfire’s hair, and Starfire’s arms wrapped around her, holding her close, until it felt like Starfire was the whole world, so entirely was Raven enveloped in her presence.

A warm huff of air brushed past her cheekbones, which meant at least one of them had remembered to breathe.

When Raven finally pulled away, she was startled to find they were floating in midair.

Starfire giggled. Raven couldn’t stop the reciprocal laugh that huffed out of her throat.

“You remember what I told you was the source of Tameranian flight?” Starfire whispered, already leaning in for another kiss.

“Unbridled-mmphf!”

***

“¿Puedo besarte?”

Starfire asked, in the backseat of the T-Car at night, a far cry away from fields of wildflowers or the twinkle of starlight.

Raven’s arm throbbed. Brother Blood’s sonic blast had knocked her out of the air and sent her sliding across the street, and now her joints felt wrong, and she could tell even without peeling back her sleeve that her forearm was raw and bloodied.

“It doesn’t make sense, why would Brother Blood announce his presence alone like this?” said Cyborg from the driver’s seat. It wasn’t really clear whether Cyborg was looking for an answer or debating with himself,.

“He always had a flair for the dramatic,” came Robin’s reply, crackly over the radio. 

“Trust me, I remember his monologues, Rob, but I’m telling you, it doesn’t feel right. The Blood I knew always had his pawns in place before he made a move.”

They came to a stoplight, and the R-cycle pulled up beside them.

“You think he’s lying about not starting up HIVE academy again?” 

She just wanted to go home, change into something sleeveless, and tend to her wounds.

“HIVE or no HIVE, I think he’s found followers somewhere, and he’s choosing not to reveal them yet,” Cyborg said grimly.

Raven winced.

“Hey, look at me,” Starfire said softly. “[It is going to be okay. Blood is too late to accomplish his goals.]” She alone among the Titans knew the role that Sebastian Blood had played in her conception.

Raven didn't answer, just cradled her arm closer to her chest after a pothole jostled the T-car.

Starfire tenderly grasped her injured wrist, brought it up to her mouth, and pressed a gentle kiss to her scraped knuckles

“[What are you doing?]"

“[It is an earth custom called the] boo-boo kiss. [This time, I will make you feel better.]"

“[That’s silly.]” 

“[Is not it working?”] She brushed the grit and gravel from Raven’s hand, and pressed a kiss to her palm.

“[... yeah, maybe it’s working.]

***

“Utinam ego te basia?”

Starfire asked Raven to kiss her many, many times. On a stormy night by the ocean, in the candlelit sanctuary of Raven’s room, surrounded by sunshine and wildflowers, caked in dust and blood and tears, Starfire asked Raven to kiss her.

And Raven almost always said yes.

****

“Poți să mă săruți de noapte bună?” Starfire whispered in her ear one night, when Raven was already halfway into dreamland. It took a moment for her tired brain to make sense of the words: Can I have a good night kiss?

Raven rolled over and blearily groped around until her hand found Starfire’s cheek.

“Starfire.” She kissed her on the mouth. “Stella Ignis.” Another kiss, this time on the forehead. “Meine liebe.” Kiss. “सुश्रोणी.” Kiss. “Go the fuck to sleep.” 

***

“Ĉu mi rajtas kisi vin?” 

They weren’t doing anything in particular. Just chilling on the couch, entwined, basking in the late afternoon sun and each other’s company. But suddenly it was a momentous occasion:

Because Raven had never asked Starfire before.

Starfire wiggled around until she could actually see Raven; it took quite a bit of maneuvering, since the shorter girl had been laying in her arms, half on top of her.  

There was a twinkle in Raven’s eye, as if she were amused by Star’s reaction; she clearly knew how big of a deal this was, despite her casual tone.

“Jes,” Star said in Azarathian. “Milfoje feliĉe, jes.”

***

“Må jeg kysse dig?” Starfire asked her beloved for the thousandth or so time.

It was very early in the morning. Raven didn’t move. Her eyes remained closed, and her head didn’t leave the valley of the pillow.

Starfire kept playing with the silken purple hair sprawled in curlicues between them. Maybe it was too early in the morning for Tamaranean, she thought. After all, her beloved did not have her innate ability to swallow new languages and make them her own. Then Raven twitched.

A low creaking sound like a stone being rolled away from a tomb rumbled through the mattress, and her favorite half-demon stretched. Her limbs (the flesh and bone ones as well as half a dozen tendrils of shadowy soul-self) extended lazily in all directions before settling around Starfire.

“Mmm, you may,” she replied in English.

Starfire smiled, and dipped her head down.

The kiss was long and languid; Starfire shivered in the delectable chill of the magic wrapped around her and the contrasting warmth of her kærestes embrace. Even just a few short months ago, Star knew, Raven would never have relaxed like this or allowed any trace of her demonic heritage to be so freely visible. It was only recently, when Star had admitted she also sometimes felt the pressure to assimilate, blend in, that the two of them had promised to be more open about their respective inhuman quirks with each other.

It was all so unlikely--that the two of them had become lovers, that they had met, that they had even survived their respective ordeals to do so. Starfire felt like the luckiest being in the entire universe to be tucked up in bed on a kind blue planet with her beloved.

***

“I speak every language you do now,” Star said one day, apropos of nothing, while the Titans were enjoying a beach day.

The tide was coming in, and Cyborg and Robin were having a competition to see who could bear to wade deeper into the cold Pacific water; only Starfire and BB (in whale form) could truly stand to swim. Raven preferred to watch the waves dash against the rocks from a safe distance.

Raven considered Starfire’s statement as she peered into a tide pool.

“Almost,” She conceded. “I don’t actually ‘speak’ Ancient Sumerian, so you can’t learn it from me.”

The way Starfire’s face fell was almost comical. She pouted at a starfish growing on a nearby rock, and sullenly wrung out her wet hair.

“I can still ask you to kiss me in Sumerian,” Raven teased. She crouched down, and plucked a feather from the edge of the tide pool. (It was a nice feather; maybe she would save it and turn it into a quill.)

In the wet sand, she carefully inscribed:

𒉈𒋢𒌒𒍝𒂊

Starfire beamed at her, and they kissed in Ancient Sumerian—briefly.

Raven recoiled. “You’re cold!” she exclaimed, in a tone of betrayal.

Starfire opened her arms. “Warm me?”

“No!” She took off flying down the beach, pursued by her cold, wet girlfriend.

***

Aqualad and Robin were making out in front of the coffee pot again.

“Really dudes? Right in front of my salad?” Beast Boy exclaimed. The two lover boys took no notice.

“You’re eating fruit loops,” Raven pointed out. 

“It’s a- nevermind.” Beast Boy spun around in his seat so he was facing away and irritably chomped down on a spoonful of fruity loops. “They’re so gross. I don’t see you guys smacking lips in every room in the tower.”

Starfire smiled mischievously. “Indeed; you never see us.”

Beast Boy gaped for a moment. Then he slammed down his bowl, covered his ears and fled the room, repeating “la la la, I’m not listening!” as he went. 

Starfire laughed, and Raven touched their smiles together.

The End

__________________________

Author’s note: This is… the end? I am…. finished? Wow, that hasn’t happened in *checks watch* eleven years.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read this far, and especially to everyone who encouraged me to continue this or left kind comments!! I am metaphorically kissing you all on the mouth right now.

First Chapter  |  Previous  |  Read it on AO3  |  Read it on FFN  |  Read it and review? 🥺

[annonniiiiieeeee]

I HAVE COME /kicks door/ Hello there my dear friend :D its good to have you back /virtual hugs <3/

Anyways heres my question

Sooo the Tenshu gang know they cant go into the upper word /aka New York/ at daylight bc of the humans and stuff..... but what about the goverment? specific a certain person whose name starts /w B 👀 who by asares del destino just kidnapted the turtle fam and did experementions with them. How would the Tenshu gang react to that? :)

/also me wanting to make so many drawing of your books and ideas but doesnt have the time bc school *proceeds to cry*/

Thank you my friend it’s good to be back.

I eagerly await whatever beautiful art you are will to bestow upon me.

But here’s the thing. I always forget about Bishop’s existence.

I haven’t reached that part of 2003. When I do I will let you all know and I will have more feelings about it.

Honestly Rise is so different from it predecessors in that it is very bright. Yes they acknowledge the fact that Bee York won’t be cool with …. This whole situation.

But they are also the only turtles to really go to the surface in daylight. They are in cosplay which is a lot more common then in 2003. They also have a whole mystic city to explore.

Rise has a much lighter tone to it. It still has its big emotional moments and the characters still have depth. But just even in it’s color palette it is much lighter.

2003 is very dark. It opens with the purple dragon as street thugs robbing people in and armor car. I’m pretty sure they were ready to kill Casey bull publicly beating him in like episode five. It is grungy and fits the dark super hero tone of shoes from that era. It’s not bad, but by any means. It doesn’t shy away from the cruelties of the world and the horrors of being mutants.

Yes the show is fully ridiculous in moments. Everything with the aliens comes out of no where and yet perfectly fits. When you watch it your like. “Yes what wonderful plot development” but when I try to explain it to my brother I would like I’m on crack. I love it so much.

That being said. Bishop a government agent that is here to experiment in the turtles. How does he fit in. In 2003 I can totally see it. I’m not at the part yet but it makes sense in there dark world that someone like that would exist and eventually come after them.

In rise the tone is so light. It’s hard to pitcher him in the show. Now after the movie? Where the government comes in to collect the remaining Krang?

Ya I can see someone like this showing up. Maybe he is crazy conspiracy theories that no one took seriously until the aliens show up. Maybe the government has deals with the hidden city to ignore mutants in New York as long as they aren’t causing harm.

Cause that’s the other thing. Rise has a lot of mutants that are just running businesses and not hiding. Like Repo liturally change the name of his business to Repo Mantis. He’s not hiding. Neither is Todd.

I don’t think Bishop can be this big scare government agent because the rise government doesn’t seem to care that mutants are in the street.

But a fanatic with a YouTube Channel? Or even a scientist studying evolution? Think like the crazy dentist. (Who I want to tackle some day because what the heck? He wants to go after Raph and boy howdy at I going to make that happen)

If Bishop exist in the rise universe he has to be his own entity because again their government does not care.

I will let you know more once I get to his 2003 arch but if y’all got ideas let me know.

[fandomaus-blog]

~~~~~~~~~ My master posts ~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~TMNT fandom~~~~~~~~~

Leo is the mom friend

Leosagi

2012 boys get their shells cleaned

Rise Raph loves getting his shell cleaned

Rottmnt lfls x tmnt 2003 crossover

Rottmnt lfls x tmnt 2003 crossover explained

Going to read LFLS

Mom! Leon going to clean you shell

Rottmnt x Acrane

Leosagi or leoichi

‘03 Mikey is the overprotective brother

‘03 Mikey need glasses

Spider-punk x ‘03 Mikey

‘03 Mikey hate if you talk bad about yourself

~~~~~~~~~Ducktales ~~~~~~~~~

Fanart for danganronpa x ducktales

Older magic team edit

Poe flirts with Gladstone

Gladstone is a light duck

~~~~~~~~~my post~~~~~~~~~

My edit

The bee movie

~~~~~~~~~Mario/SMG4~~~~~~~~~

Lgbtq Mario edit

~~~~~~~~~DC~~~~~~~~~

Tim having a villain girlfriend or boyfriend 🥺👉👈

HIS BEAUTIFUL HAIR😭

~~~~~~~~~Transformers~~~~~~~~~

Bumblebee and Starscream potential beef